The Little Church in the Pines
April 14, 2024
Sermon by: Pastor Tom
Heaven
I chose this today for two reasons: first, I was asked to do so, and second, I have yet to speak on the subject before this, though I have, of course, spoken of it many times during sermons. So, I have taken on the challenge.
The time I had the personal waking vision of heaven, I never got further than the edge, so to speak, but that was impressive in that #1, I got to see Jesus, and #2, the colors. We think white is white here…, but it is indescribably white there, as blue is far richer than our blue sky. The colors seemed to be radiating light themselves. Stunning.
Some have reported having been there and come back…and given my own experience, who am I to say they haven't? However, rather than taking their descriptions into account here, again, I think it best to stick to Scripture.
Heaven, Heavens, and Heavenly are mentioned over 557 times in the Bible, so there was no need to go anywhere else to speak on them, though I have used some commentaries and word studies, all focusing on Scripture itself.
On a far different note, yet the same subject.
There have been countless religious, secular, and even romantic songs written about heaven.
Here is a romantic one sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers:
Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And my heart beat so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together, dancing cheek to cheek!
I remember seeing it on film…..
Here is a Christian one……..
We will sing one at the end of the service.
When we reach heaven, we'll sing and shout the victory in just one line.
Do any of you have what you would consider a firm opinion on what you believe heaven is like?
I don't know if you will by the time I finish, but perhaps you will at least gain more understanding than you do. I did.
Now imagine the disciples and Jesus all together in the Upper Room. He begins to tell them what lay before Him soon.
The disciples are distressed…..He goes on to say that one of them will betray Him and another will deny he even knew him.
As they murmur among themselves, asking who among us could do these things…Jesus says to them and today to us, "Let not your heart be troubled. Heaven is the KEY."
According to an April 24, 2000, Washington Post of all papers article, 88% of all Americans believe in a literal place called
heaven, and important statistic because imagine what our society would be like if we didn't believe in heaven….
A society that didn't believe would be obsessed with youth. It would spend millions of dollars trying to look, act, and try to stay young, through plastic surgery, diets and exercise, ad-Infinium. Crime would soar without fear of an eternal judgment. Theology that would become based on here and now only so, therefore, let go of much of what Jesus taught about how we are to live, morality, laws, justice, standards of living, etc., even theology that based itself on the here and now prosperity and self-worship. Ours is the first generation to teach that, materially, one can have heaven on earth.
Pastors today have tremendous pressure to "teach to the times" to scratch where it itches. Few want to hear about heaven. This lifestyle caused a classic English minister to say, "While everyone is preaching to the times, may not one pastor, please stand out and speak for eternity."
Some pastors are preaching themselves out of the very position God has called them to by the congregations that they have been called to shepherd.
Cultural relevancy has become the New Gospel, its new foundation on which to build a new and godless culture…full of all the right words but without the heart and soul of Jesus Christ.
HOW DO WE KNOW THERE IS AN ETERNITY…….
Let's look at all the people, including Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. For in heaven, there is no past, present, or future but a continual now. According to Einstein, it is proven that time stops when one travels at the speed of light, and he validated that because God Himself is light (1 John 1:5) in His presence, time ceases.
Time is often our biggest frustration here on earth…there will be no frustration, no please, give me just one more minute, day, hour, week, month or year so I can accomplish all that I want to.
Most people have the idea that heaven is sort of like a long, Sunday afternoon nap…plucking a few strings on a harp, eating a grape or two and then, lounging around on a white cloud. Not true, for in heaven you will experience to the fullest extent the desires of your heart.
Perhaps you LOVE music….we know there are choirs in heaven, and either you can be a part of one or even perhaps be a director and write songs for them.
Maybe you love gardening, I saw myself the grass was greener on the other side…and guess what? No weeds Ancil.
Also, you might be a people person. The people you know here you will know there…for "when we all get together, we'll sing and shout the victory! If you remember, with our new reconstituted bodies not only will we recognize each other, but there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, disease, deformities, if you are bald now you and I will have a full head of hair…attested again by my own waking vison where when I saw dad…who looked 25, completely bald he had a full head of black hair…and mom who was quite overweight, had her youthful figure back…both looking radiant.
Also…as I shared last week….after the resurrection in Jesus new body…He sat on the beach with His disciples and at freshly caught fish and bread….He also in this body, walked through walls and would both appear and disappear as evidenced when the disciples were gathered together, Thomas now with them who was not when He last appeared to them…Thomas said he would not believe unless he could put his fingers in the holes in Jesus' hands and put his hand in Jesus' side. Suddenly Jesus was in the midst of them and offered to Thomas His hands and His side to prove to him His resurrected body…and Thomas, now believed and said, My Lord and My God.
We all have questions with our whys. Why do bad things happen to good people…why did my child drown…why did our house burn to the ground….Now, what I am going to say next is a personal opinion. That it really won't matter once we are there….so free and full and rich will it be…just to be in the presence of our Lord and God that we will have laid aside all our questions…and look to the moment, feeling it fully, being at peace, true peace for the first time in our existence….that we simply lay all our questions and burdens down.
Psalm 139 tells us that all our days are written in a book. Could it be that the book is what science now calls the DNA genetic code, the strand wherein is packed all of one's characteristics, appearance, and entire being? So much information is crammed into the DNA genetic code that it would fill volumes in our encyclopedia. With that in mind, could it be that even if a baby is aborted or dies prematurely, his or her genetic code will be fully alive and real in heaven?
Hang on…..Jesus said. "It's not ever yet, for the first will be last; the last will be first; and the score will be settled.
I believe we will be surprised on many occasions as to who we will find there….for remember Jesus' is the judge…not you and I, and His judgment will be fair and will have more to do with the heart of the individual than at times our errant acts….for He knows the causation…
Heaven will be a place of wholeness…compelling thought-provoking environment….great beauty….all encompassed in TRUE LOVE, NOT CONDITIONAL….
So far I have except for my own experience of the intensity of colors, not speaking of heaven's description.
One very important fact we must remember above all else it is the dwelling place of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit….and that they are HOLY, therefore it is not just a place, but THE PLACE…..
The Bible is filled with descriptions of heaven, but John during his imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos, brings us through his many visions…a true REVELATION through what he experienced and saw, giving us the most detailed and vivid imagery of what heaven is like.
In it, he describes the NEW heaven and NEW earth that will be created when this one passes away.
The physical description includes the new city Jerusalem made of pure gold, walls adorned with precious jewels, and gates of pearls. with streets of transparent glass, and a river of life flowing from the throne of God Himself.
It is written the size to be 1400 miles in length, width and height. It also has a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
It has no need for a sin or moon, for the glory of God illuminates it.
It is written that the Tree of Life on both sides of the river, which bears twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit consistently.
The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
The city is described as a city of great beauty and glory.
The Throne of God is described as being surrounded by a rainbow that looks like an emerald.
From the throne coms flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.
There is a multitude of angels…..then the saints. US!
Heaven is not just a place of peace and rest, but activity, Part of that activity is worship and also of service in God's Temple.
Heaven is the place where Sin and Satan no longer exist, no more curse, no night or day….no moon or sun.
There will be perfect peace, joy, and love.
John, in Revelation 22:4 says, "They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
This verse shows that believers show that believers will have a one-on-one personal relationship with God being marked as His own.
As I was finishing this up…..I decided to do what I said I wasn't going to do and look for a testimony of someone who had an experience of heaven.
As I write this I come across Margaret. I would say she was in her late 50s or early sixties. She was in her doctor's office undergoing an exam, when she had a sudden huge increase in her blood pressure….immediately concerned the doctor began to work on her and called for an ambulance...for a hospital was nearby….and they rushed her to it…
In the emergency room, her heart stopped….at that moment she said, "I found myself….looking down at my own body, and saw my husband in the corner of the room with a stricken face…and all those who were working to resuscitate me…the next thing I knew was I was met by an angel."
Immediately following that I became aware that everywhere I looked the colors were vibrant…and there was a beautiful stream, trees, fields of flowers, tall waving grass…..and the scent of all of them together was incredibly beautiful….
Then I began to see people coming toward me. My mother and father, others that I had known, all, came to greet and welcome me.
Behind them, I saw a brilliant light…so bright that I could not bear to look at it…but I felt a powerful, wonderful love emanating from the light, and I knew it was my heavenly Father….
8.I then saw something that puzzled me…it was a toddler running through the grass, laughing and joyous….again, still puzzled Jesus now there, told me this was the baby I lost shortly after he was born…looking at him in wonder, my happiness was so great that I cried tears of JOY….
At this time the Lord said to me….this was a gift…and that I would be going back to my body and life…to share what I saw, heard and felt….and I did….I am now often called to tell what happened to me….to give others encouragement not only for themselves but for those they have lost or who are dying….
As it turns out, Margaret was legally dead for eleven minutes….
She remembers entering back into her body….hearing voices and feeling pain from those who had continued to work on her body and heart….then, seeing the look on her husbands face…at the moment the monitor showed her heart beating…and her gasp as she took that first breath.
Dead…eleven minutes with no brain damage…but a sore chest.
Hebrews 13:5….Be content with what you have and where you are….because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Having seen my parents in heaven….I too was joyous….and that I did, has carried me through some rough times…..times that I have held on to hope…for myself, and for those that I too love and care for. I had the privilege of praying with my mother several months before she died from stomach cancer….while visiting her in Pennsylvania….where she lived and I was raised.
Revelation 21:4: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
I hope this has encouraged you….and given you a measure of hope for what lies ahead…for though we try to live fully the lives we have here are on earth….they are but dust in the wind compared to the one that lies ahead…..Hallelujah
April 14, 2024
Sermon by: Pastor Tom
Heaven
I chose this today for two reasons: first, I was asked to do so, and second, I have yet to speak on the subject before this, though I have, of course, spoken of it many times during sermons. So, I have taken on the challenge.
The time I had the personal waking vision of heaven, I never got further than the edge, so to speak, but that was impressive in that #1, I got to see Jesus, and #2, the colors. We think white is white here…, but it is indescribably white there, as blue is far richer than our blue sky. The colors seemed to be radiating light themselves. Stunning.
Some have reported having been there and come back…and given my own experience, who am I to say they haven't? However, rather than taking their descriptions into account here, again, I think it best to stick to Scripture.
Heaven, Heavens, and Heavenly are mentioned over 557 times in the Bible, so there was no need to go anywhere else to speak on them, though I have used some commentaries and word studies, all focusing on Scripture itself.
On a far different note, yet the same subject.
There have been countless religious, secular, and even romantic songs written about heaven.
Here is a romantic one sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers:
Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And my heart beat so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together, dancing cheek to cheek!
I remember seeing it on film…..
Here is a Christian one……..
We will sing one at the end of the service.
When we reach heaven, we'll sing and shout the victory in just one line.
Do any of you have what you would consider a firm opinion on what you believe heaven is like?
I don't know if you will by the time I finish, but perhaps you will at least gain more understanding than you do. I did.
Now imagine the disciples and Jesus all together in the Upper Room. He begins to tell them what lay before Him soon.
The disciples are distressed…..He goes on to say that one of them will betray Him and another will deny he even knew him.
As they murmur among themselves, asking who among us could do these things…Jesus says to them and today to us, "Let not your heart be troubled. Heaven is the KEY."
According to an April 24, 2000, Washington Post of all papers article, 88% of all Americans believe in a literal place called
heaven, and important statistic because imagine what our society would be like if we didn't believe in heaven….
A society that didn't believe would be obsessed with youth. It would spend millions of dollars trying to look, act, and try to stay young, through plastic surgery, diets and exercise, ad-Infinium. Crime would soar without fear of an eternal judgment. Theology that would become based on here and now only so, therefore, let go of much of what Jesus taught about how we are to live, morality, laws, justice, standards of living, etc., even theology that based itself on the here and now prosperity and self-worship. Ours is the first generation to teach that, materially, one can have heaven on earth.
Pastors today have tremendous pressure to "teach to the times" to scratch where it itches. Few want to hear about heaven. This lifestyle caused a classic English minister to say, "While everyone is preaching to the times, may not one pastor, please stand out and speak for eternity."
Some pastors are preaching themselves out of the very position God has called them to by the congregations that they have been called to shepherd.
Cultural relevancy has become the New Gospel, its new foundation on which to build a new and godless culture…full of all the right words but without the heart and soul of Jesus Christ.
HOW DO WE KNOW THERE IS AN ETERNITY…….
Let's look at all the people, including Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. For in heaven, there is no past, present, or future but a continual now. According to Einstein, it is proven that time stops when one travels at the speed of light, and he validated that because God Himself is light (1 John 1:5) in His presence, time ceases.
Time is often our biggest frustration here on earth…there will be no frustration, no please, give me just one more minute, day, hour, week, month or year so I can accomplish all that I want to.
Most people have the idea that heaven is sort of like a long, Sunday afternoon nap…plucking a few strings on a harp, eating a grape or two and then, lounging around on a white cloud. Not true, for in heaven you will experience to the fullest extent the desires of your heart.
Perhaps you LOVE music….we know there are choirs in heaven, and either you can be a part of one or even perhaps be a director and write songs for them.
Maybe you love gardening, I saw myself the grass was greener on the other side…and guess what? No weeds Ancil.
Also, you might be a people person. The people you know here you will know there…for "when we all get together, we'll sing and shout the victory! If you remember, with our new reconstituted bodies not only will we recognize each other, but there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, disease, deformities, if you are bald now you and I will have a full head of hair…attested again by my own waking vison where when I saw dad…who looked 25, completely bald he had a full head of black hair…and mom who was quite overweight, had her youthful figure back…both looking radiant.
Also…as I shared last week….after the resurrection in Jesus new body…He sat on the beach with His disciples and at freshly caught fish and bread….He also in this body, walked through walls and would both appear and disappear as evidenced when the disciples were gathered together, Thomas now with them who was not when He last appeared to them…Thomas said he would not believe unless he could put his fingers in the holes in Jesus' hands and put his hand in Jesus' side. Suddenly Jesus was in the midst of them and offered to Thomas His hands and His side to prove to him His resurrected body…and Thomas, now believed and said, My Lord and My God.
We all have questions with our whys. Why do bad things happen to good people…why did my child drown…why did our house burn to the ground….Now, what I am going to say next is a personal opinion. That it really won't matter once we are there….so free and full and rich will it be…just to be in the presence of our Lord and God that we will have laid aside all our questions…and look to the moment, feeling it fully, being at peace, true peace for the first time in our existence….that we simply lay all our questions and burdens down.
Psalm 139 tells us that all our days are written in a book. Could it be that the book is what science now calls the DNA genetic code, the strand wherein is packed all of one's characteristics, appearance, and entire being? So much information is crammed into the DNA genetic code that it would fill volumes in our encyclopedia. With that in mind, could it be that even if a baby is aborted or dies prematurely, his or her genetic code will be fully alive and real in heaven?
Hang on…..Jesus said. "It's not ever yet, for the first will be last; the last will be first; and the score will be settled.
I believe we will be surprised on many occasions as to who we will find there….for remember Jesus' is the judge…not you and I, and His judgment will be fair and will have more to do with the heart of the individual than at times our errant acts….for He knows the causation…
Heaven will be a place of wholeness…compelling thought-provoking environment….great beauty….all encompassed in TRUE LOVE, NOT CONDITIONAL….
So far I have except for my own experience of the intensity of colors, not speaking of heaven's description.
One very important fact we must remember above all else it is the dwelling place of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit….and that they are HOLY, therefore it is not just a place, but THE PLACE…..
The Bible is filled with descriptions of heaven, but John during his imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos, brings us through his many visions…a true REVELATION through what he experienced and saw, giving us the most detailed and vivid imagery of what heaven is like.
In it, he describes the NEW heaven and NEW earth that will be created when this one passes away.
The physical description includes the new city Jerusalem made of pure gold, walls adorned with precious jewels, and gates of pearls. with streets of transparent glass, and a river of life flowing from the throne of God Himself.
It is written the size to be 1400 miles in length, width and height. It also has a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
It has no need for a sin or moon, for the glory of God illuminates it.
It is written that the Tree of Life on both sides of the river, which bears twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit consistently.
The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
The city is described as a city of great beauty and glory.
The Throne of God is described as being surrounded by a rainbow that looks like an emerald.
From the throne coms flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.
There is a multitude of angels…..then the saints. US!
Heaven is not just a place of peace and rest, but activity, Part of that activity is worship and also of service in God's Temple.
Heaven is the place where Sin and Satan no longer exist, no more curse, no night or day….no moon or sun.
There will be perfect peace, joy, and love.
John, in Revelation 22:4 says, "They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
This verse shows that believers show that believers will have a one-on-one personal relationship with God being marked as His own.
As I was finishing this up…..I decided to do what I said I wasn't going to do and look for a testimony of someone who had an experience of heaven.
As I write this I come across Margaret. I would say she was in her late 50s or early sixties. She was in her doctor's office undergoing an exam, when she had a sudden huge increase in her blood pressure….immediately concerned the doctor began to work on her and called for an ambulance...for a hospital was nearby….and they rushed her to it…
In the emergency room, her heart stopped….at that moment she said, "I found myself….looking down at my own body, and saw my husband in the corner of the room with a stricken face…and all those who were working to resuscitate me…the next thing I knew was I was met by an angel."
Immediately following that I became aware that everywhere I looked the colors were vibrant…and there was a beautiful stream, trees, fields of flowers, tall waving grass…..and the scent of all of them together was incredibly beautiful….
Then I began to see people coming toward me. My mother and father, others that I had known, all, came to greet and welcome me.
Behind them, I saw a brilliant light…so bright that I could not bear to look at it…but I felt a powerful, wonderful love emanating from the light, and I knew it was my heavenly Father….
8.I then saw something that puzzled me…it was a toddler running through the grass, laughing and joyous….again, still puzzled Jesus now there, told me this was the baby I lost shortly after he was born…looking at him in wonder, my happiness was so great that I cried tears of JOY….
At this time the Lord said to me….this was a gift…and that I would be going back to my body and life…to share what I saw, heard and felt….and I did….I am now often called to tell what happened to me….to give others encouragement not only for themselves but for those they have lost or who are dying….
As it turns out, Margaret was legally dead for eleven minutes….
She remembers entering back into her body….hearing voices and feeling pain from those who had continued to work on her body and heart….then, seeing the look on her husbands face…at the moment the monitor showed her heart beating…and her gasp as she took that first breath.
Dead…eleven minutes with no brain damage…but a sore chest.
Hebrews 13:5….Be content with what you have and where you are….because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Having seen my parents in heaven….I too was joyous….and that I did, has carried me through some rough times…..times that I have held on to hope…for myself, and for those that I too love and care for. I had the privilege of praying with my mother several months before she died from stomach cancer….while visiting her in Pennsylvania….where she lived and I was raised.
Revelation 21:4: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
I hope this has encouraged you….and given you a measure of hope for what lies ahead…for though we try to live fully the lives we have here are on earth….they are but dust in the wind compared to the one that lies ahead…..Hallelujah
The man, Jesus!
(OBSERVING HIM IN REAL TIME AND UP CLOSE, IF INDEED WE COULD HAVE)
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
2100 SOUTH BIG SPRINGS LOOP ROAD
ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
PO Box 292
83429
Have you ever given thought to this? If you had been alive In Jesus time and one of His followers. Not a disciple, but an ordinary person (of course the disciples were ordinary too) but one of those many who were so taken up by His personality, persona, teachings, and of course the occasional miracle, having left your home and lifestyle to become an itinerant follower of His. What you would have seen and heard. And had you had the skill of writing, taking notes for yourself. A rather hard thing to do in those days, but let’s say it is possible.
I had desired prior to arriving at this subject to talk about today wanting to keep the next several Sunday’s informative but also a bit upbeat.
While doing research, I accidentally came across an editorial (surprise) when I sat to write this, as I had determined to do so ahead of when I found the article, and so some of it I incorporated into my sermon today.
One of the questions is, who was the Man Jesus?
His personality, including the ways he perceived people and events, how He expressed Himself, using body language, facial expressions, voice and inflections. These of course we have no idea, but In the movie, (The Passion) the little I have seen of it…. the actor playing Jesus did a wonderful job in capturing what might have been how His followers and the crowds would have seen and heard Him.
What I am going to voice next as I researched a variety of circumstances in the New Testament…. I came up with 15 aspects of His personality, which of course do not fully capture who He was.
I perceive Him as….
· COMPASSIONATE TO ALL, and with His passion to reveal both Himself and God the Father to the masses, therefore JESUS WAS INCLUSIVE, for no one was to be left out of the message (THE GOSPEL)
· He is also……according to Scripture,
· OUR FRIEND
· SERVANT OF ALL
· LOVING
· FORGIVING
· COMMITTED
· PRAYERFUL
· GENTLE
· PATIENT
· AWESOME SELF CONTROL
· HUMBLE
· FORCEFUL AND CONFRONTIVE WHEN NECESSARY
· And last but by no means the least…HE WAS KIND
There are more I could have used, for He is in personality and spiritually, was and is the summation of God His Father, and ours.
In the first aspect of His personality, He as I said above was and is COMPASSIONATE AND INCLUSIVE, and is seem on several occasions. you would have seen where He spent a lot of time around the dinner table. Many of His most frequently quoted messages and standout stories happened while sharing a meal with others. If then, you would have looked closely, often the company around Him was diverse, therefore inclusive, remarkably so given the religious laws in the Jewish world for separation from both sinners and Gentiles. All those outside Judaism.
Mark 213. “Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him and He taught them. Vs. 14. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, FOLLOW ME,” So he arose and followed Him. 15, Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many….and they followed Him.
16. And when the Scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “how is it that he eats and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 17. When Jesus heard it, He said to them.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinner, to repentance.”
He shared meals with the outcasts. He even spent time with the self-righteous religious elite as well.
He deeply and simply cared for all people, even those who had broken every rule of law, and were seen as unclean.
He even dined at the tables of the wealthy, whose riches were often won with lies and through corruption. But even then, some of these men gave up lives of comfort, and become one of the itinerate I spoke of earlier.
He crossed racial and religious boundaries to the shock many around Him. He invited everyone, no matter who or what they were, to share a meal during His preaching at the Sermon on the Mount.
When asked why He did so, He replied. “I came into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to Me.’
He was indeed a radical of radicals, which of course became part of the reasons for Him being crucified. No one even considered up until then embracing ALL of humanity.
The religious do-rights of course began to whisper behind His back. They called Him (the friend of sinners). Amen and Amen to that.
It was supposed to be an insult, but Jesus wore it proudly. He was a friend to everyone…even the self-righteous.
What better concept to win someone to your side…and my friends here today, it is still a good and wonderful way to get to know people. Even non-believers.
This ties into the song that I read to you over a month ago, called “WE WILL BREAK DIVIDINGS WALLS” which is exactly what JESUS WAS ALL ABOUT…. the song of which I will read to you again now, since it dovetails so beautifully into what I am sharing about Jesus……. where He called us His friends.
Today…in our country, there exists division and strife, hypocrisy and downright meanness….as during my 78 years I have never seen before, and it is painful and causes pain.
We encounter people who call themselves Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, taking His open invitation to all…and turning it into an exclusive club, while outside their circles are those in need of His LOVE, GRACE, MERCY AND EVEN CARE.
I will say it again…. JESUS WAS RADICALLY INCLUSIVE!
What would this broken world look like if we Christians emulated just this aspect of His personality….and where it became the norm for us, and really today if we did this and could see into the spiritual realm, we just might see Jesus sitting among us smiling and shaking His head in the affirmative, pleased by out outreach.
In some small but good way…. both our Community focused BBQ’s, and our Annual Pancake Breakfast yesterday, are just such an outreach.
Sometimes strangers sit with us….and our LDS friends and neighbors, with whom I believe in the past several years we have broken down some walls of division in fellowship, with open arms and hearts.
RADICALLY INCLUSIVE…that has to be us. Although, we don’t live in an area with a great deal of racial or ethnic diversity, we do live in an area with those who are at times in need…and we even there have reached out…and need to keep an eye and ear open for those who can use our help.
I am reminded of one of our visitors last Sunday, Preston, when I met him at the door, asking me if sinners were allowed in. I responded, not only allowed but welcomed as we shook hands as old friends, warmly and firmly.
MOVING ON TO JESUS BEING OUR FRIEND
(John 1:35-51, John 15:5)
His words were direct and simple, “I have called you, My friends.”
These words capture the essence of John’s depiction of the Jesus’ relationship with the disciples, and since we too are His disciples, us! He too is our Friend…spelled with a capital F.
The relational element He had with them and now with us is critical.
Upon our accepting Jesus as our Savior, Lord and God, there are multiple elements that come into play, but foremost is as I said above, the relationship we can build with Him.
A real and viable, and intimate and loving friendship.
In all the religions of the world…. none offer to their followers the closeness and intimacy of a personal relationship that He offers to us.
The disciples were not just buddies basking in the radiance of Jesus’ friendship, but also His workers, in bringing the Gospel to the world….as we too are to do.
I spoke last week of the way we live our lives or are supposed to live our lives, in what I call Lifestyle Evangelism to our neighbors, our relatives and even strangers.
Give this some real thought and be thankful that you have been chosen to do a great thing.
It is precisely this double connection between friendship and labor, that holds the key as to how this interactive friendship works as John relates. Our lifestyle evangelism work, and works…producing, or is supposed to produce good fruit.
Here is a setting we might have found ourselves in as a noted follower.
It’s been a long day of listening to Jesus teach, hot and dry. The crowds were large creating a lot of dust. One of the things you were assigned to by the disciples, was to make sure if anyone fainted or it looked like things might get out of hand…you and a few others would step in to take care of what needed to be done.
Jesus has dispersed the crowd, everyone from the town is heading home, thinking and pondering all they heard that day.
The sun had set, as the night air was already cooling as it often does in the desert. Those who were serving like yourself, along with the disciples, were preparing to sit around a fire that was being made…. ready to share a cold dinner of barley bread, cheese, grapes, honey, leeks….
As the meal was progressing…. this time of intimacy was always looked forward to by everyone. As usual, Jesus, no longer having to speak loudly to be heard…would continue teaching...and occasionally some event or events of the day would be discussed…. perhaps something humorous that had occurred would be laughed over by all…including the Lord…and discussed was the attitude of the people overall…. the healings that took place…the tears of gratefulness, and a quiet reverence as the evening was coming to a close…would settle over the gathering. A Psalm would be sung…a stringed instrument, similar to a dulcimer, might be played. God
was certainly worshiped and spoken of in reverential voices…. all with a grateful heart considering themselves blessed…for being able to be a part of what God was doing though this Man, this prophet and teacher and friend.
It wasn’t yet common yet for Jesus to be spoken openly among the crowd as the Messiah. But many were thinking…”is this the Messiah? Yet, this gathering had heard Him say so, talked among themselves of it……hoped and prayed it was so, and therefore saw themselves as blessed.
These next Scriptures…illustrate one of my favorite stories as a little boy.
Luke 19:1- 10 READ
They had never met…. yet Jesus called Zacchaeus’s name…their verbal exchange happened so quickly and spontaneously…there was no time for anyone to have said to Him that’s Zacchaeus….
Zacchaeus…certainly knew who Jesus was…and yearned in his heart to hear Him speak and see Him up close.
His deepest yearning was now met….in a way he could not have imagined or hoped…the LORD was not only called Him by name but was going to stay in his home, eat his food…sleep in his house.
The beautiful thing is, He knows us all by name….
Have each of you responded….by simply saying…yes Lord…I hear you calling me in my spirit…in my heart….and yes, Lord, I accept your call.
John 10:9-16 READ
(OBSERVING HIM IN REAL TIME AND UP CLOSE, IF INDEED WE COULD HAVE)
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
2100 SOUTH BIG SPRINGS LOOP ROAD
ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
PO Box 292
83429
Have you ever given thought to this? If you had been alive In Jesus time and one of His followers. Not a disciple, but an ordinary person (of course the disciples were ordinary too) but one of those many who were so taken up by His personality, persona, teachings, and of course the occasional miracle, having left your home and lifestyle to become an itinerant follower of His. What you would have seen and heard. And had you had the skill of writing, taking notes for yourself. A rather hard thing to do in those days, but let’s say it is possible.
I had desired prior to arriving at this subject to talk about today wanting to keep the next several Sunday’s informative but also a bit upbeat.
While doing research, I accidentally came across an editorial (surprise) when I sat to write this, as I had determined to do so ahead of when I found the article, and so some of it I incorporated into my sermon today.
One of the questions is, who was the Man Jesus?
His personality, including the ways he perceived people and events, how He expressed Himself, using body language, facial expressions, voice and inflections. These of course we have no idea, but In the movie, (The Passion) the little I have seen of it…. the actor playing Jesus did a wonderful job in capturing what might have been how His followers and the crowds would have seen and heard Him.
What I am going to voice next as I researched a variety of circumstances in the New Testament…. I came up with 15 aspects of His personality, which of course do not fully capture who He was.
I perceive Him as….
· COMPASSIONATE TO ALL, and with His passion to reveal both Himself and God the Father to the masses, therefore JESUS WAS INCLUSIVE, for no one was to be left out of the message (THE GOSPEL)
· He is also……according to Scripture,
· OUR FRIEND
· SERVANT OF ALL
· LOVING
· FORGIVING
· COMMITTED
· PRAYERFUL
· GENTLE
· PATIENT
· AWESOME SELF CONTROL
· HUMBLE
· FORCEFUL AND CONFRONTIVE WHEN NECESSARY
· And last but by no means the least…HE WAS KIND
There are more I could have used, for He is in personality and spiritually, was and is the summation of God His Father, and ours.
In the first aspect of His personality, He as I said above was and is COMPASSIONATE AND INCLUSIVE, and is seem on several occasions. you would have seen where He spent a lot of time around the dinner table. Many of His most frequently quoted messages and standout stories happened while sharing a meal with others. If then, you would have looked closely, often the company around Him was diverse, therefore inclusive, remarkably so given the religious laws in the Jewish world for separation from both sinners and Gentiles. All those outside Judaism.
Mark 213. “Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him and He taught them. Vs. 14. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, FOLLOW ME,” So he arose and followed Him. 15, Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many….and they followed Him.
16. And when the Scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “how is it that he eats and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 17. When Jesus heard it, He said to them.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinner, to repentance.”
He shared meals with the outcasts. He even spent time with the self-righteous religious elite as well.
He deeply and simply cared for all people, even those who had broken every rule of law, and were seen as unclean.
He even dined at the tables of the wealthy, whose riches were often won with lies and through corruption. But even then, some of these men gave up lives of comfort, and become one of the itinerate I spoke of earlier.
He crossed racial and religious boundaries to the shock many around Him. He invited everyone, no matter who or what they were, to share a meal during His preaching at the Sermon on the Mount.
When asked why He did so, He replied. “I came into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to Me.’
He was indeed a radical of radicals, which of course became part of the reasons for Him being crucified. No one even considered up until then embracing ALL of humanity.
The religious do-rights of course began to whisper behind His back. They called Him (the friend of sinners). Amen and Amen to that.
It was supposed to be an insult, but Jesus wore it proudly. He was a friend to everyone…even the self-righteous.
What better concept to win someone to your side…and my friends here today, it is still a good and wonderful way to get to know people. Even non-believers.
This ties into the song that I read to you over a month ago, called “WE WILL BREAK DIVIDINGS WALLS” which is exactly what JESUS WAS ALL ABOUT…. the song of which I will read to you again now, since it dovetails so beautifully into what I am sharing about Jesus……. where He called us His friends.
Today…in our country, there exists division and strife, hypocrisy and downright meanness….as during my 78 years I have never seen before, and it is painful and causes pain.
We encounter people who call themselves Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, taking His open invitation to all…and turning it into an exclusive club, while outside their circles are those in need of His LOVE, GRACE, MERCY AND EVEN CARE.
I will say it again…. JESUS WAS RADICALLY INCLUSIVE!
What would this broken world look like if we Christians emulated just this aspect of His personality….and where it became the norm for us, and really today if we did this and could see into the spiritual realm, we just might see Jesus sitting among us smiling and shaking His head in the affirmative, pleased by out outreach.
In some small but good way…. both our Community focused BBQ’s, and our Annual Pancake Breakfast yesterday, are just such an outreach.
Sometimes strangers sit with us….and our LDS friends and neighbors, with whom I believe in the past several years we have broken down some walls of division in fellowship, with open arms and hearts.
RADICALLY INCLUSIVE…that has to be us. Although, we don’t live in an area with a great deal of racial or ethnic diversity, we do live in an area with those who are at times in need…and we even there have reached out…and need to keep an eye and ear open for those who can use our help.
I am reminded of one of our visitors last Sunday, Preston, when I met him at the door, asking me if sinners were allowed in. I responded, not only allowed but welcomed as we shook hands as old friends, warmly and firmly.
MOVING ON TO JESUS BEING OUR FRIEND
(John 1:35-51, John 15:5)
His words were direct and simple, “I have called you, My friends.”
These words capture the essence of John’s depiction of the Jesus’ relationship with the disciples, and since we too are His disciples, us! He too is our Friend…spelled with a capital F.
The relational element He had with them and now with us is critical.
Upon our accepting Jesus as our Savior, Lord and God, there are multiple elements that come into play, but foremost is as I said above, the relationship we can build with Him.
A real and viable, and intimate and loving friendship.
In all the religions of the world…. none offer to their followers the closeness and intimacy of a personal relationship that He offers to us.
The disciples were not just buddies basking in the radiance of Jesus’ friendship, but also His workers, in bringing the Gospel to the world….as we too are to do.
I spoke last week of the way we live our lives or are supposed to live our lives, in what I call Lifestyle Evangelism to our neighbors, our relatives and even strangers.
Give this some real thought and be thankful that you have been chosen to do a great thing.
It is precisely this double connection between friendship and labor, that holds the key as to how this interactive friendship works as John relates. Our lifestyle evangelism work, and works…producing, or is supposed to produce good fruit.
Here is a setting we might have found ourselves in as a noted follower.
It’s been a long day of listening to Jesus teach, hot and dry. The crowds were large creating a lot of dust. One of the things you were assigned to by the disciples, was to make sure if anyone fainted or it looked like things might get out of hand…you and a few others would step in to take care of what needed to be done.
Jesus has dispersed the crowd, everyone from the town is heading home, thinking and pondering all they heard that day.
The sun had set, as the night air was already cooling as it often does in the desert. Those who were serving like yourself, along with the disciples, were preparing to sit around a fire that was being made…. ready to share a cold dinner of barley bread, cheese, grapes, honey, leeks….
As the meal was progressing…. this time of intimacy was always looked forward to by everyone. As usual, Jesus, no longer having to speak loudly to be heard…would continue teaching...and occasionally some event or events of the day would be discussed…. perhaps something humorous that had occurred would be laughed over by all…including the Lord…and discussed was the attitude of the people overall…. the healings that took place…the tears of gratefulness, and a quiet reverence as the evening was coming to a close…would settle over the gathering. A Psalm would be sung…a stringed instrument, similar to a dulcimer, might be played. God
was certainly worshiped and spoken of in reverential voices…. all with a grateful heart considering themselves blessed…for being able to be a part of what God was doing though this Man, this prophet and teacher and friend.
It wasn’t yet common yet for Jesus to be spoken openly among the crowd as the Messiah. But many were thinking…”is this the Messiah? Yet, this gathering had heard Him say so, talked among themselves of it……hoped and prayed it was so, and therefore saw themselves as blessed.
These next Scriptures…illustrate one of my favorite stories as a little boy.
Luke 19:1- 10 READ
They had never met…. yet Jesus called Zacchaeus’s name…their verbal exchange happened so quickly and spontaneously…there was no time for anyone to have said to Him that’s Zacchaeus….
Zacchaeus…certainly knew who Jesus was…and yearned in his heart to hear Him speak and see Him up close.
His deepest yearning was now met….in a way he could not have imagined or hoped…the LORD was not only called Him by name but was going to stay in his home, eat his food…sleep in his house.
The beautiful thing is, He knows us all by name….
Have each of you responded….by simply saying…yes Lord…I hear you calling me in my spirit…in my heart….and yes, Lord, I accept your call.
John 10:9-16 READ
The Little Church in the Pines
2100 South Big Springs Road
P.O. Box 292
Island Park, Idaho 83429
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
208-240-2327
~ . ~
"Is it too Good to be True?"
John 14:6
Jesus said, “ I am The Way, The Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father
except through Me.”
We Christians are often criticized for claiming that Jesus is the only way to
God. After all, there are currently several billion non-Christians in the
world. Are we truly so narrow minded and bigoted that we think these
people will be excluded from heaven, just because they happened to be
born in the wrong country or have been taught the wrong religion?
A Jewish Rabbi, by the last name of Boteach summed up the feelings of
many when he said. “I am absolutely against any religion that says one
faith is superior to another. I don’t see how that is anything different than
spiritual racism. It’s a way of saying that ‘we’ are closer to God than you,
and that’s what often leads to hatred, schism, wars and more.
Those who make such objections have a point. If, and this is a big IF, if
indeed Jesus is merely one more religious teacher out of countless others, then His claim would be absurd. Asked, how can one person have a monopoly on the truth or proclaim His is the only “way” to God? Well, all
of that depends on who He is, and that which backs up His statements of
self, but in His case…His claims are backed by Holy Scripture going back
several thousand years, and the results which followed not only His claims
but evidence that permits a verdict of affirmation.
There is that in regards to the question, and there is more to this question
that requires delving deeper into it, for it is only a part of what the question
contains that requires more than one answer…but many. After all, as I
mentioned last week, all human beings are finite and fallible, while God is
infinitely greater than our minds can even begin to comprehend, eternal,
including the great mystery of what we call the Trinity.
But, backing up a bit in regards to our claiming and siding with Jesus in His
statement that all human beings are to come to God the Father through
Himself, Jesus Christ…..if You asked a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or an
Orthodox Jew if their religion was the only true religion in the world, what
would their answer be? It would be an affirmative YES, and yet, when we
Christians believe and affirm that Christianity is, according to Jesus’ own
words on multiple occasions, we are the bigoted, narrow minded and
prejudiced ones, but, these other major religions can say they are the one
true religion and not be accused as we are, of all the adjectives I used
above.
So, if Jesus, is in fact, God Himself, being a part of what again, we call
the Holy Trinity, that puts His claim in an entirely different light, and we
who believe He is in fact who He says He is….is vital to the depth and truth
of our own personal faith, and The Church He said He came to build, and
also referring back to His statement, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
and no one can come to the Father, except through Me.”
Remember, all Scripture is “God breathed and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person of
God may be competently equipped for every good work. 2 nd Timothy 3:16-
17
Through Jesus statements of self-affirmation…we Believers find His words,
words of Hope. With that hope should never be pride of arrogance…..and
prejudice, but, we should be driven to our knees to pray for the world and
the salvation of all her people.
The Jews were perhaps the most religious people on earth. They
worshiped and worship the God revealed in the same Bible that you and I
read and use, as our guide to living a godly life, only of course in our Bible,
is the New Covenant…or better known as the New Testament, in tandem
with the Old Testament which verifies the fulfilling all the Prophets of old
testified about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World, not just
the Jews.
When Jesus made this claim, He added, “if you really know Me, you will
know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen
Him.
Jesus was not displaying arrogance, nor was He trying to foster “spiritual
racism,” as stated by the Rabbi, but He was simply stating the truth which
is why, when He was lifted up to heaven after His resurrection in front of the
disciples who accompanied Him, He said to them, in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go
therefore into all the world , not just the Israel….and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And
remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” His being the
Christ…was and is to be recognized and accepted by all of humanity.
He did not go all that He endured for the few, but for all who would call
upon His name and be saved….beginning of course li with His
miraculous birth…His ministry until the age of 33, His life, death and
resurrection. He did this out of love for all of humanity.
Paul says in 2 nd Corinthians 5: “And God has given to (US) through Jesus,
the task of reconciling others to Him.” Beginning with His disciples…and
passed on to us we every Human Beings are to live our lives in what I call
Lifestyle Evangelism, simply said…how we live our lives daily should draw
other to the Christ within us, and sharing our own testimony with them of
Him, and how He changed and is changing our lives for the better, and we
are not to be silent, but to give them the opportunity to come to Him also.
Of course, there are those called to preach, teach, evangelize, minister, as
priests, pastors, missionaries, etc., for to be CALLED is more than choosing an occupation, for to be called is to accept and fulfill a God-given purpose ordained by God Himself.
Please, again, remember, beginning with the basics, in that there is only
one God…as is stated in many places, but let’s start with Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:5-12
“I am God, the only God there is. Besides Me there are no real gods. I
have no god-rivals.” I AM the beginning and the end, and He, the only God,
became by design and choice, a man in the person of Jesus Christ, and as
Jesus walked this earth, He showed us what He, God. is really like and
gives us the opportunity by choice to truly KNOW Him, in as far as we can
comprehend. We could wait for another god to show up, but there is no
other!
Now going back again….about our spiritual racism and narrow mindedness
as to being members of the one true religion, Paul says this about the
unbelievers in the world we are concerned about who have never heard of
(in the right way or means) in regard to what the Rabbi said of other
religions, though not stated specifically in these words,
Paul responds to the question of those who have never heard of Jesus
Christ, “It is not my business to judge those outside the church, but God will
judge them, according to the way they lived their lives, with that which God
planted in the hearts of all men, which is the knowledge of right and wrong.”
So, unbelievers will face what is called a fair judgement, as Scripture says,
when standing before God, as the Lamb’s Book of Life is opened in their
case, and they are judged according to their works and their choices of
actions in choosing right or wrong. This is also found in Revelation 20
which speaks of the full and different spectrums of judgements for both
Believers and non-believers, if you care to read it.
Another part of the question; is Salvation and Eternal Life too good to be
true through the act of Jesus Christ upon the cross?
All of the above…is tied into hope and faith….and now I ask this question,
does any human emotion run as deep as hope?
Love is deep but can be shattered, broken, betrayed, lost. I believe
through experience that having experienced broken love, there can remain
a thread of hope, but what kind of hope?
Is it a passive hope, an aggressive hope, a worried or anxious hope….or a
faith-filled assured hope? All I can say, (in my opinion) is that, if our hope is
in Jesus Christ…it is then an assured hope., where we are told “all things
work together for good for those who love Him, who have been called
according to His purpose,” but if our hope is in hope itself…it is a lost hope.
This is where faith and hope are interwoven into one strong thread.
To my way of thinking….and understanding, this is a promise, and having
now established all that I have prior…I now want to talk about the guts of
this promise alone….and how we should view and proceed in living out our
daily lives where no matter how our day unfolds….hoping this should
encourage us, or perhaps you view this as just a “pie in the sky” statement.
This verse should bring comfort, direction, and hope to each and all of us
every day.
In our times of great trial and pain…quoting Philip Yancey in his book
“Disappointment With God, ” “God weeps with us so that we may one day
laugh with Him”
When I think of the prophets and their prophecies regarding Jesus that
were so right on…there are other prophecies that are meant to build HOPE
in us, especially in difficult times.
On the new heaven and new earth are spoken of in both Isaiah and
Revelation.
The New Heaven and New Earth will be God resetting and recreating the
heavens and the earth, where sin and the effects of sin will no longer be
present. The enemy of both God and us will have been destroyed forever.
We will enjoy the beauty of God’s Presence in all His glory and the beauty
will be beyond anything we can imagine today….and we are also
told….that animals will be there where the wolves and lambs will feed
together in the same field, and a lion and the lions grace in peace along
side the wolves and lambs….and that there will be no more death, pain or
tears, for ALL will be made new and during the reset, will once again be
back to the original plan of Creation.
Or goal should be to live fully in right choices today and to worship God and
His Son…with vibrancy, depth, passion and love.
When I say this….and you respond in your mind, what is your reaction?
Do you believe it….is it real to you or is there a part of you that
responds….it sounds like a fairy tale….it is too difficult to grasp or
understand…do you question it all?
If you fully believe the first part of who Jesus is….in His fullness, and who
together, He, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are, then why not open
your mind and spirit to this second part of God’s plan….where our JOY will
be full and our hearts (remember the new bodies) will still see, hear, think,
feel and be without the pain of aging, harm or death. We will be as He is….
This is the guts of the promises of God, as LOVE is at the CORE OF
HOPE….OUR HOPE.
Philip Yancey also said in his book, “I see the Old Testament as one long
record of God’s concessions to be with His people. He went to the extreme
in His Son being the means by which we can enter and become all that He
has for us.
Next week I want to speak on DRAWING CLOSER TO THE SON, ON
FEAR NOT…FOR THE LORD THY GOD IS WITH THEE, AND THAT WE
CAN GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
Please remember that Jesus Christ is at the CORE of our HOPE, not hope
itself….and in the fulfilment of all that has been promised us…though Him
and because of Him. Our LORD.
2100 South Big Springs Road
P.O. Box 292
Island Park, Idaho 83429
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
208-240-2327
~ . ~
"Is it too Good to be True?"
John 14:6
Jesus said, “ I am The Way, The Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father
except through Me.”
We Christians are often criticized for claiming that Jesus is the only way to
God. After all, there are currently several billion non-Christians in the
world. Are we truly so narrow minded and bigoted that we think these
people will be excluded from heaven, just because they happened to be
born in the wrong country or have been taught the wrong religion?
A Jewish Rabbi, by the last name of Boteach summed up the feelings of
many when he said. “I am absolutely against any religion that says one
faith is superior to another. I don’t see how that is anything different than
spiritual racism. It’s a way of saying that ‘we’ are closer to God than you,
and that’s what often leads to hatred, schism, wars and more.
Those who make such objections have a point. If, and this is a big IF, if
indeed Jesus is merely one more religious teacher out of countless others, then His claim would be absurd. Asked, how can one person have a monopoly on the truth or proclaim His is the only “way” to God? Well, all
of that depends on who He is, and that which backs up His statements of
self, but in His case…His claims are backed by Holy Scripture going back
several thousand years, and the results which followed not only His claims
but evidence that permits a verdict of affirmation.
There is that in regards to the question, and there is more to this question
that requires delving deeper into it, for it is only a part of what the question
contains that requires more than one answer…but many. After all, as I
mentioned last week, all human beings are finite and fallible, while God is
infinitely greater than our minds can even begin to comprehend, eternal,
including the great mystery of what we call the Trinity.
But, backing up a bit in regards to our claiming and siding with Jesus in His
statement that all human beings are to come to God the Father through
Himself, Jesus Christ…..if You asked a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or an
Orthodox Jew if their religion was the only true religion in the world, what
would their answer be? It would be an affirmative YES, and yet, when we
Christians believe and affirm that Christianity is, according to Jesus’ own
words on multiple occasions, we are the bigoted, narrow minded and
prejudiced ones, but, these other major religions can say they are the one
true religion and not be accused as we are, of all the adjectives I used
above.
So, if Jesus, is in fact, God Himself, being a part of what again, we call
the Holy Trinity, that puts His claim in an entirely different light, and we
who believe He is in fact who He says He is….is vital to the depth and truth
of our own personal faith, and The Church He said He came to build, and
also referring back to His statement, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
and no one can come to the Father, except through Me.”
Remember, all Scripture is “God breathed and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person of
God may be competently equipped for every good work. 2 nd Timothy 3:16-
17
Through Jesus statements of self-affirmation…we Believers find His words,
words of Hope. With that hope should never be pride of arrogance…..and
prejudice, but, we should be driven to our knees to pray for the world and
the salvation of all her people.
The Jews were perhaps the most religious people on earth. They
worshiped and worship the God revealed in the same Bible that you and I
read and use, as our guide to living a godly life, only of course in our Bible,
is the New Covenant…or better known as the New Testament, in tandem
with the Old Testament which verifies the fulfilling all the Prophets of old
testified about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World, not just
the Jews.
When Jesus made this claim, He added, “if you really know Me, you will
know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen
Him.
Jesus was not displaying arrogance, nor was He trying to foster “spiritual
racism,” as stated by the Rabbi, but He was simply stating the truth which
is why, when He was lifted up to heaven after His resurrection in front of the
disciples who accompanied Him, He said to them, in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go
therefore into all the world , not just the Israel….and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And
remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” His being the
Christ…was and is to be recognized and accepted by all of humanity.
He did not go all that He endured for the few, but for all who would call
upon His name and be saved….beginning of course li with His
miraculous birth…His ministry until the age of 33, His life, death and
resurrection. He did this out of love for all of humanity.
Paul says in 2 nd Corinthians 5: “And God has given to (US) through Jesus,
the task of reconciling others to Him.” Beginning with His disciples…and
passed on to us we every Human Beings are to live our lives in what I call
Lifestyle Evangelism, simply said…how we live our lives daily should draw
other to the Christ within us, and sharing our own testimony with them of
Him, and how He changed and is changing our lives for the better, and we
are not to be silent, but to give them the opportunity to come to Him also.
Of course, there are those called to preach, teach, evangelize, minister, as
priests, pastors, missionaries, etc., for to be CALLED is more than choosing an occupation, for to be called is to accept and fulfill a God-given purpose ordained by God Himself.
Please, again, remember, beginning with the basics, in that there is only
one God…as is stated in many places, but let’s start with Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:5-12
“I am God, the only God there is. Besides Me there are no real gods. I
have no god-rivals.” I AM the beginning and the end, and He, the only God,
became by design and choice, a man in the person of Jesus Christ, and as
Jesus walked this earth, He showed us what He, God. is really like and
gives us the opportunity by choice to truly KNOW Him, in as far as we can
comprehend. We could wait for another god to show up, but there is no
other!
Now going back again….about our spiritual racism and narrow mindedness
as to being members of the one true religion, Paul says this about the
unbelievers in the world we are concerned about who have never heard of
(in the right way or means) in regard to what the Rabbi said of other
religions, though not stated specifically in these words,
Paul responds to the question of those who have never heard of Jesus
Christ, “It is not my business to judge those outside the church, but God will
judge them, according to the way they lived their lives, with that which God
planted in the hearts of all men, which is the knowledge of right and wrong.”
So, unbelievers will face what is called a fair judgement, as Scripture says,
when standing before God, as the Lamb’s Book of Life is opened in their
case, and they are judged according to their works and their choices of
actions in choosing right or wrong. This is also found in Revelation 20
which speaks of the full and different spectrums of judgements for both
Believers and non-believers, if you care to read it.
Another part of the question; is Salvation and Eternal Life too good to be
true through the act of Jesus Christ upon the cross?
All of the above…is tied into hope and faith….and now I ask this question,
does any human emotion run as deep as hope?
Love is deep but can be shattered, broken, betrayed, lost. I believe
through experience that having experienced broken love, there can remain
a thread of hope, but what kind of hope?
Is it a passive hope, an aggressive hope, a worried or anxious hope….or a
faith-filled assured hope? All I can say, (in my opinion) is that, if our hope is
in Jesus Christ…it is then an assured hope., where we are told “all things
work together for good for those who love Him, who have been called
according to His purpose,” but if our hope is in hope itself…it is a lost hope.
This is where faith and hope are interwoven into one strong thread.
To my way of thinking….and understanding, this is a promise, and having
now established all that I have prior…I now want to talk about the guts of
this promise alone….and how we should view and proceed in living out our
daily lives where no matter how our day unfolds….hoping this should
encourage us, or perhaps you view this as just a “pie in the sky” statement.
This verse should bring comfort, direction, and hope to each and all of us
every day.
In our times of great trial and pain…quoting Philip Yancey in his book
“Disappointment With God, ” “God weeps with us so that we may one day
laugh with Him”
When I think of the prophets and their prophecies regarding Jesus that
were so right on…there are other prophecies that are meant to build HOPE
in us, especially in difficult times.
On the new heaven and new earth are spoken of in both Isaiah and
Revelation.
The New Heaven and New Earth will be God resetting and recreating the
heavens and the earth, where sin and the effects of sin will no longer be
present. The enemy of both God and us will have been destroyed forever.
We will enjoy the beauty of God’s Presence in all His glory and the beauty
will be beyond anything we can imagine today….and we are also
told….that animals will be there where the wolves and lambs will feed
together in the same field, and a lion and the lions grace in peace along
side the wolves and lambs….and that there will be no more death, pain or
tears, for ALL will be made new and during the reset, will once again be
back to the original plan of Creation.
Or goal should be to live fully in right choices today and to worship God and
His Son…with vibrancy, depth, passion and love.
When I say this….and you respond in your mind, what is your reaction?
Do you believe it….is it real to you or is there a part of you that
responds….it sounds like a fairy tale….it is too difficult to grasp or
understand…do you question it all?
If you fully believe the first part of who Jesus is….in His fullness, and who
together, He, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are, then why not open
your mind and spirit to this second part of God’s plan….where our JOY will
be full and our hearts (remember the new bodies) will still see, hear, think,
feel and be without the pain of aging, harm or death. We will be as He is….
This is the guts of the promises of God, as LOVE is at the CORE OF
HOPE….OUR HOPE.
Philip Yancey also said in his book, “I see the Old Testament as one long
record of God’s concessions to be with His people. He went to the extreme
in His Son being the means by which we can enter and become all that He
has for us.
Next week I want to speak on DRAWING CLOSER TO THE SON, ON
FEAR NOT…FOR THE LORD THY GOD IS WITH THEE, AND THAT WE
CAN GREAT EXPECTATIONS.
Please remember that Jesus Christ is at the CORE of our HOPE, not hope
itself….and in the fulfilment of all that has been promised us…though Him
and because of Him. Our LORD.
The Little Church in the Pines
AUGUST 6, 2023
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
~ ~
Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
“Jesus said, ‘This then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven holy be Your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Amen
Prayer in the simplest explanation is a conversation you (we) have with God. Our conversations may differ (which I will explain shortly) when it comes to our motivation, meaning and purpose. Hence, we find there are a variety of prayers as examples in the Bible. In our own prayer times with God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ our motivation has and will change, depending on that which we are seeking Him for. We will look at examples on how to pray, to develop our personal prayer lives, and to allow prayer to nourish our relationship with both our Father and Jesus, His Son.
Too often, prayer is one of the least used tools for both personal spiritual growth as well as effective in that which we both hope and desire. An untapped resource, and unexplored continent within us where untold blessings remain to be found.
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
This is a need Paul is asking the Colossians church to get on their knees and pray for.
Vs. 3
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
F.B. Meyer, the author of a great little book, “The Secret of Guidance” said, “The great tragedy of the Christian life is NOT unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer.”
He goes on to say, “instead of it being something we do every day, like breathing and walking and talking, it seems to have become like one of those glass covered boxes on the wall that says, “break in case of emergency.” It is too true that so very often we pray more often and more earnestly when a crisis of some kind comes into our life.
I read story of a man who encountered trouble while flying his personal airplane. He called the control tower and said in a bit of a panic saying, “pilot to tower, I’m 300 miles from the airport, six hundred feet above ground, and am running out of fuel, descending rapidly. Please advise. Over.” “Tower to pilot,” the dispatcher began, “repeat after me: ‘OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN…”’
Luke 11:9 is where we find the promise that says, “ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.”
Each of those verbs are in the present tense. ASK, SEEK, KNOCK….
Keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on seeking…KEEP ON, KEEP ON, KEEP ON. Do not give up…it is not that God is hard of hearing…it is that sometimes it is a test of faith, and other times…we are asking in and for the wrong reasons, and other times…it just isn’t the time for the answer, as well as times when the answer isn’t the one we want, and that in itself is the answer.
There is a difference between a persistent prayer and a long prayer. A person who is persistent in prayer does not necessarily have to pray for a long time. Persistence means not giving up.
Some of us quit because we don’t believe prayer will make a difference…. going by feelings instead of pursuing in faith apart from what we feel. We are not to live by our feelings but to live by the commandments of our Lord who tells us to pray without ceasing.
George Mueller…who was both an evangelist and responsible for starting orphanages all over
England…by praying…for finances, buildings, people, etc., was known as one of the greatest prayer warriors of all times, had this to say about persistence in prayer.
“It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up praying,” when it seems to become work and we haven’t received and answer in a timely fashion…the truth is that, in order to persist in prayer, we simply do that (persist) and if we do so…we will find a spirit of prayer coming on us as we devote ourselves to it. This is when we have passed the go line and answers will come in the least expected ways, though the least expected people and events.
Now…are there different ways to pray? OF COURSE, THERE ARE…………………….
Just as there are different reasons to pray!
Physically, of course on our knees, on our feet, in a room behind closed doors, in a chair, in a valley, on a mountain top. A car, a boat, a plane, anywhere, any time. None of these really matter, what matters is how Jesus used a parable to explain it is the condition of our heart and humility.
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received the reward in full (that is, the recognition they seek)
But when YOU pray, to into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The Bible is full of robust prayers, whispered prayers, worshipful prayers, pleading prayers, joyful prayers, intercessory prayers, thankful prayers and many more.
Whatever kind of prayer we bring to God, let it be sincere, authentic, for by doing so…. we will develop a deeper personal relationship with Him.
There is what is called a prayer of WORSHIP OR ADORATION.
This prayer is focused on worshiping the Lord out of deep love, respect and admiration. Prayers such as these come from a place of genuine, authentic awe of who the Lord is, and all that He does.
Psalm 148:13 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.”
Next is a PRAYER OF CONFESSION………………………………
Confessing our sins is a significant way to pray as followers of Jesus. Often, Jesus called those He interacted with to confess their sins and to sin no more. THE WOMAN AT THE WELL.
“Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ AND…You forgave the guilt of my sin”) Psalm 32:5). King David.,
There is what is called a PRAYER OF VOWS OR PROMISE
Praying a promise to the Lord is a prayer that we may pray when we are making a life-changing commitment where we need God’s strength and guidance to fulfill. As an example. We vow or promise never to drink another alcoholic beverage…because once we do…it’s all over, and the effect it has on those we love is disastrous. Another term is pledge to God, just as we see in Hannah’s vow, should be followed through…and before making such a pledge or vow…we need to think through our decision.
Example…In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me and not forget your servant but give me a son, then I will give him up to the Lord for all the days of his life.1 Samuael 1:10-11
NEXT IS CALLED A PRAYER OF REFLECTION AND RESTORATION
Many of us need this prayer in our busy lives. Prayers of silence draw us away from prayers filled with words, and into a place where we quiet ourselves down and reflect. These types of silent prayers provide us needed time to reflect on God’s goodness. This type of prayer is valuable to how we learn to hear from the Lord and allow Him to sit and meditate “beside the still waters”.
These times can be restorative and can achieve in us an inner peace and contentment far beyond anything else we can do.
Jesus often would do this, sometimes going into the desert to be alone with His Father, or to the Olive Grove on the mount to find restoration as during His ministry He was always giving, when not being confronted by the religious leaders. You should try this type of prayer sometime when frazzled and overwhelmed.
How about prayer for HELP FOR DELIVERANCE………………….
When you are facing challenges, hardships, oppression or depression, we can pray for a breakthrough. We pray this prayer for help because God is the One who can aid us in ways no one else can.
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.” Psalm 107:6
This prayer combined with the one for REFLECTION AND RESTORATION can be one powerful tool on a very personal level.
Right now, as I look around, I know some of you that are going through some really hard things, and some for quite a while. It is our role and place in the body to lift-up to heaven you and your challenges, your struggles. This type of prayer can be met on several levels of those in need.
We may not see dramatic results and then again, we may, but every prayer lifted-up will in some way, help those for whom we pray.
Deliverance comes in a variety of manifestations.
Colossians 1:9
We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you.
The last I want to speak of today is called A PRAYER OF BLESSING
Prayers of Blessing are often said for someone who is moving, even if to another church. Someone starting a new job, or new graduates. We pray blessings over newlyweds, newborns, or even over a new home, and the list goes on.
Prayers of blessings are found throughout Scripture and are powerful ways to ask for God’s best to be poured out.
Let’s say someone is no longer satisfied, or feels their needs are not being met in this church. Instead of grumbling and causing disruption to the rest of the body who find it otherwise, it would be best if they come to leadership with their decision to go elsewhere. If after a discussion they still decide to leave, it would be great if they would permit leadership and the congregation to be able to pray over them and with them that they may find what they are looking for…instead of just never showing up again.
That too is a prayer of GRACE.
These are just several illustrations…of the meaning of, and power of prayer.
In the booklet OUR DAILY BREAD…. I am going to finish by reading from it…. the results of a reluctant prayer…. but who in spite of her or his negative feelings…. KEPT ON PRAYING….and the results of being obedient to do so.
IT IS CALLED LOVE THROUGH PRAYER……………………………….
READ
I PRAY, may God’s blessings and love be upon you. Each and every one of you. Not only today…but tomorrow and every day. To give you strength, comfort, health, love and JOY, and especially His generous GRACE. Amen
AUGUST 6, 2023
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
~ ~
Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
“Jesus said, ‘This then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven holy be Your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Amen
Prayer in the simplest explanation is a conversation you (we) have with God. Our conversations may differ (which I will explain shortly) when it comes to our motivation, meaning and purpose. Hence, we find there are a variety of prayers as examples in the Bible. In our own prayer times with God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ our motivation has and will change, depending on that which we are seeking Him for. We will look at examples on how to pray, to develop our personal prayer lives, and to allow prayer to nourish our relationship with both our Father and Jesus, His Son.
Too often, prayer is one of the least used tools for both personal spiritual growth as well as effective in that which we both hope and desire. An untapped resource, and unexplored continent within us where untold blessings remain to be found.
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
This is a need Paul is asking the Colossians church to get on their knees and pray for.
Vs. 3
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
F.B. Meyer, the author of a great little book, “The Secret of Guidance” said, “The great tragedy of the Christian life is NOT unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer.”
He goes on to say, “instead of it being something we do every day, like breathing and walking and talking, it seems to have become like one of those glass covered boxes on the wall that says, “break in case of emergency.” It is too true that so very often we pray more often and more earnestly when a crisis of some kind comes into our life.
I read story of a man who encountered trouble while flying his personal airplane. He called the control tower and said in a bit of a panic saying, “pilot to tower, I’m 300 miles from the airport, six hundred feet above ground, and am running out of fuel, descending rapidly. Please advise. Over.” “Tower to pilot,” the dispatcher began, “repeat after me: ‘OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN…”’
Luke 11:9 is where we find the promise that says, “ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.”
Each of those verbs are in the present tense. ASK, SEEK, KNOCK….
Keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on seeking…KEEP ON, KEEP ON, KEEP ON. Do not give up…it is not that God is hard of hearing…it is that sometimes it is a test of faith, and other times…we are asking in and for the wrong reasons, and other times…it just isn’t the time for the answer, as well as times when the answer isn’t the one we want, and that in itself is the answer.
There is a difference between a persistent prayer and a long prayer. A person who is persistent in prayer does not necessarily have to pray for a long time. Persistence means not giving up.
Some of us quit because we don’t believe prayer will make a difference…. going by feelings instead of pursuing in faith apart from what we feel. We are not to live by our feelings but to live by the commandments of our Lord who tells us to pray without ceasing.
George Mueller…who was both an evangelist and responsible for starting orphanages all over
England…by praying…for finances, buildings, people, etc., was known as one of the greatest prayer warriors of all times, had this to say about persistence in prayer.
“It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up praying,” when it seems to become work and we haven’t received and answer in a timely fashion…the truth is that, in order to persist in prayer, we simply do that (persist) and if we do so…we will find a spirit of prayer coming on us as we devote ourselves to it. This is when we have passed the go line and answers will come in the least expected ways, though the least expected people and events.
Now…are there different ways to pray? OF COURSE, THERE ARE…………………….
Just as there are different reasons to pray!
Physically, of course on our knees, on our feet, in a room behind closed doors, in a chair, in a valley, on a mountain top. A car, a boat, a plane, anywhere, any time. None of these really matter, what matters is how Jesus used a parable to explain it is the condition of our heart and humility.
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received the reward in full (that is, the recognition they seek)
But when YOU pray, to into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The Bible is full of robust prayers, whispered prayers, worshipful prayers, pleading prayers, joyful prayers, intercessory prayers, thankful prayers and many more.
Whatever kind of prayer we bring to God, let it be sincere, authentic, for by doing so…. we will develop a deeper personal relationship with Him.
There is what is called a prayer of WORSHIP OR ADORATION.
This prayer is focused on worshiping the Lord out of deep love, respect and admiration. Prayers such as these come from a place of genuine, authentic awe of who the Lord is, and all that He does.
Psalm 148:13 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.”
Next is a PRAYER OF CONFESSION………………………………
Confessing our sins is a significant way to pray as followers of Jesus. Often, Jesus called those He interacted with to confess their sins and to sin no more. THE WOMAN AT THE WELL.
“Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ AND…You forgave the guilt of my sin”) Psalm 32:5). King David.,
There is what is called a PRAYER OF VOWS OR PROMISE
Praying a promise to the Lord is a prayer that we may pray when we are making a life-changing commitment where we need God’s strength and guidance to fulfill. As an example. We vow or promise never to drink another alcoholic beverage…because once we do…it’s all over, and the effect it has on those we love is disastrous. Another term is pledge to God, just as we see in Hannah’s vow, should be followed through…and before making such a pledge or vow…we need to think through our decision.
Example…In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me and not forget your servant but give me a son, then I will give him up to the Lord for all the days of his life.1 Samuael 1:10-11
NEXT IS CALLED A PRAYER OF REFLECTION AND RESTORATION
Many of us need this prayer in our busy lives. Prayers of silence draw us away from prayers filled with words, and into a place where we quiet ourselves down and reflect. These types of silent prayers provide us needed time to reflect on God’s goodness. This type of prayer is valuable to how we learn to hear from the Lord and allow Him to sit and meditate “beside the still waters”.
These times can be restorative and can achieve in us an inner peace and contentment far beyond anything else we can do.
Jesus often would do this, sometimes going into the desert to be alone with His Father, or to the Olive Grove on the mount to find restoration as during His ministry He was always giving, when not being confronted by the religious leaders. You should try this type of prayer sometime when frazzled and overwhelmed.
How about prayer for HELP FOR DELIVERANCE………………….
When you are facing challenges, hardships, oppression or depression, we can pray for a breakthrough. We pray this prayer for help because God is the One who can aid us in ways no one else can.
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.” Psalm 107:6
This prayer combined with the one for REFLECTION AND RESTORATION can be one powerful tool on a very personal level.
- Another is when we pray for someone else or a situation that needs intervention…called A PRAYER OF INTERCESSION
Right now, as I look around, I know some of you that are going through some really hard things, and some for quite a while. It is our role and place in the body to lift-up to heaven you and your challenges, your struggles. This type of prayer can be met on several levels of those in need.
We may not see dramatic results and then again, we may, but every prayer lifted-up will in some way, help those for whom we pray.
Deliverance comes in a variety of manifestations.
Colossians 1:9
We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you.
The last I want to speak of today is called A PRAYER OF BLESSING
Prayers of Blessing are often said for someone who is moving, even if to another church. Someone starting a new job, or new graduates. We pray blessings over newlyweds, newborns, or even over a new home, and the list goes on.
Prayers of blessings are found throughout Scripture and are powerful ways to ask for God’s best to be poured out.
Let’s say someone is no longer satisfied, or feels their needs are not being met in this church. Instead of grumbling and causing disruption to the rest of the body who find it otherwise, it would be best if they come to leadership with their decision to go elsewhere. If after a discussion they still decide to leave, it would be great if they would permit leadership and the congregation to be able to pray over them and with them that they may find what they are looking for…instead of just never showing up again.
That too is a prayer of GRACE.
These are just several illustrations…of the meaning of, and power of prayer.
In the booklet OUR DAILY BREAD…. I am going to finish by reading from it…. the results of a reluctant prayer…. but who in spite of her or his negative feelings…. KEPT ON PRAYING….and the results of being obedient to do so.
IT IS CALLED LOVE THROUGH PRAYER……………………………….
READ
I PRAY, may God’s blessings and love be upon you. Each and every one of you. Not only today…but tomorrow and every day. To give you strength, comfort, health, love and JOY, and especially His generous GRACE. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
4100 South Big Springs Loop Road
P.O. Box 292
Island Park, Idaho 83429
July 23rd, 2023
Pastor Tom Shanor
The 23rd Psalm
Expository
READ THE FIRST FOUR VERSES
This Psalm of King David’s is poetic, beautiful, and a love letter from God written through David, both Shepherd and King. for David you see, had a deep love of God and a heart for God….and like you and I, he was not perfect, and in fact sinned grievously in having Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle, so he could have her as his own.
David coming to recognize his sins of not just this situation, but others also, humbled himself before God….in a meaningful prayer that came from his heart.
Create in me a clean hear, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from the]y presence O LORD
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;
And renew a right spirit within me.
His Joy of the LORD was the mainstay of David’s heart, reflected not only in this prayer…. but in the deep and intimate relationship they shared on an ongoing basis.
God though, did not prevent David from enduring hardships and adversity, for it was through these very rough things and situations as an example when being pursued by Solomon, running and hiding is damp caves… that humbled the king, and brought him to his place of repentance and then reconciliation.
The intimacy God and David shared comes out prophetically as David writes this song of praise and promise. And as in the case of such writings they are to be an example to us as well.
David, before being anointed as king, was a mere shepherd…..and understood personally and deeply that role, for He sees God as not another shepherd, but the Shepherd of all who love and follow Him, but not only Himself but His Son as our Shepherd also, in union with Him….remember too that scripture has Jesus referred to as being our Shepherd, as the One to whom we turn to and sometimes even run to, in our own times of need for solace and comfort. Remember, that a shepherd actually carries a lamb who is rebellious (a wanderer or runaway) around his neck…talking to it, therefore creating bond that will never be broken….as the lamb comes to depend and adore his shepherd…that too is us…when we leave the flock…being rebellious…obstinate and sometimes too independent for our own good.
This Psalm is one of the most widely known and loved scriptures in the Bible, often memorized and repeated all over the world in all nations. It is known as the Universal Psalm, the Pearl of Psalms.
As our LORD is known as the King of Kings
Are you a child of God? Then you can read the 23rd Psalm and apply those words personally to yourself. His flock are those who follow Him as Jesus Said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I KNOW THEM, and they who KNOW Me and follow Me, and no one but Me. You, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
John 10:11 reads…He is the “Good Shepherd, who gives His life for His sheep.”
This picture of the Divine Shepherd leading His flock fills the first four verses of Psalm 23. David’s memory of the past fills his mind here as he writes, though a king now, he remembers those days with fondness, practicing his sling shot until he became and expert, days and nights alone sleeping lightly, in case a wolf or mountain lion attempted to infiltrate the flock, and carry one or more off to kill and eat. David sees himself as a wanderer moving away from God, and how God kept calling for Him in David’s own heart, soul and spirit, just as He does for us when we wander off or even deliberately disobey Him. In this mode both our present and future is at stake….God reminds us of what was, what is, and what can be….if we just listen to the gentle and loving voice of our Shepherd Jesus Christ, as He speaks to us through His written Word, or the still small quiet, but relentless voice of His Holy Spirit through our conscience.
The other part of the picture in these four verses, gives the different methods that God uses in leading His flock; or, we might say, the various manifestations through which He leads us, are described in order. There are three: REST, WORK, and SORROW.
Rest in the past; (for the past choices has brought us to where we are today, some not to be repeated….and we are to work and live fully in the present; for the fear and sorrow comes to all of us in the valley of shadow…yet to come. That last walk on this earth.
The Psalmist puts rest and refreshment first, because this is the way God deals with us often. His blessings span our years. (Think about it) for when we look back over life, the trials (where we learn our most valuable life lessons) have brought us to today…and the LOVE we have experienced, both giving and receiving from our LORD and those dearest to us, outweighs the trials and sorrows.
Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning.”
You and I who know Him, cannot rest in our mind and heart until the weight of a guilty conscience is removed. For God heals the troubled soul when we confess, as we are forgiven. And there is no sin that will not be forgiven when genuine repentance is asked for. When we are then united with Him in spiritual communion, our heart finds a deep rest, and satisfaction like no other. Then, as we read the Rhema Word of God when spoken, bring fresh revelation, and these words are the words of Jesus…the thirsty soul drinks deep from the cool, still waters.
As an addendum here, David wrote this Psalm during a time of personal and deep spiritual renewal.
Verse 3
The restored soul is then led on to another stage in God’s plan for life…for His name’s sake.”
This says, God lead us into work, into service for Him by doing the works that He put in place for us to do. Remember, He sees the beginning and the end…for He is the Alpha and the Omega, Himself…the Beginning and the End. The only God, as He states these words Himself written in our Scriptures.
Exodus 34:14 “For you shall worship no other god (little ‘g’ ) for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the End”
I spoke of this not long ago…. where Jesus in talking to Philip says in response to Philip asking Jesus to show him the Father, and Jesus' response…have I not been with you this long Philip and yet you do not know Me. For when you seem Me…. You see the Father.
God in all these words and applications…go far beyond which our finite minds can comprehend…for God is also a mystery, for we cannot grasp the magnitude and complexity of God, and nor are we supposed to….
This rest I now speak of is this…”.in green pastures and refreshment by the still waters” …. are for this reason….to fit us for His work.
This is in reference to our everyday lives. It does not mean entering full time ministry, unless it does …but for most of us, to see God in everything and everyone…and ministering to the needs of people, and even animals and the natural world on and in which we live. He meets us where we are and leads us to where we are to go…. just as He led me here, and to the other four areas in the country where my family and I started new churches. We, in our rest…can therefore hear the still quiet words of His voice…through His word, through our circumstances, and even from those around us. Taking time to listen is a major key.
In the Gospel plan, works do not precede rest, but follow rest. The restoration of the soul comes first; then the works of righteousness follow. We are NOT saved by our works, but we are His workmanship…but works made ready by Him and His will for us, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Here is a fact. All Ten Commandments…. not five or eight of them…are repeated in principle in the New Testament and are taught by both Christ and the Apostles which back up and integrate with this Psalm. The Good Shepherd leads His sheep in paths of righteousness to the very gates of the city of heaven, and then into eternity with all that awaits us. Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are they that follow His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: WHY? Because God is with us…for Thou art with me: Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”
Our Shepherd does not always keep us from sorrow as I have already spoken of…but He is with us in sorrow. Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, being thrown into the intensely hot furnace…because they stood by their beliefs and conscience…not being burned in the fire, but the form of a Fourth walked with them in the flames. That was the LORD.
When Paul stood before Nero, He was not alone. In 2 Timothy 4:16-17, he says: “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me! Notwithstanding, the LORD stood with me and strengthened me.”
Life, no matter how long we live is transitory…and over before we realize it…unexpectedly, we may come to the deepest, darkest valley of all…the valley of shadow and death. But even there and then, the Good Shepherd is with us, and we need not fear it. His love, law and gospel, contribute to both our correction and comfort in all things and at all times.
We may not always be able to see or understand, but we are told that “all things work together for good to them that love God” Romans 8:28. We may not know “why’ of many of our experiences, but the KNOW that Jesus knows, and that is sufficient.”
A father was holding his little blind daughter on his knee, when a friend who had called on him took her into his arms. The little girl did not cry or resist. The father surprised, asked, “Aren’t you afraid honey? You don’t even know who is holding you.”
No…was her quick reply, “I don’t know, but you do daddy.” She didn’t have to know, for if her father let her be held, she knew it was all right. Her faith in her dad was enough.
THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
In these last two verses of the 23rd Psalm we read: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou annointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD FOREVER. Vs’s 5-6
Remember, the sheep are people. We gather around the Lord’s table as in the last supper as the disciples gathered around the table…here in this world we do so in our celebration called COMMUNION, perhaps the most meaningful gathering we have. Today, when we come to the table, though we are not sitting around it, we will be doing exactly that which the disciples themselves did…with Jesus at the center of their gathering. It is a time for us to lay aside any thought that it is the table of the church that we see here…but His table…all our eyes are focused on Him as we are enrapt at the words He is speaking to us…and though they at that time did not fully understand….the reality of that came to them….and brought back to their minds this time they spent with Him…the most intimate and beautiful time they had ever spent together.
Meditate on the words in this Psalm. ”Thou preparest a table before me.” The LORD prepares it; it is His to prepare, but it is for us!
The LORD supplies all our needs…not our wants, but our needs even in the presence of our enemies. Now it is more than rest or work, for with it comes conflict. He provides for us here in this world…but this is just a prelude to the one to follow, and the one David writes about here… the one to follow.
The day is coming, the day is coming, do you hear me? The day is coming when the Good Shepherd will call all of us to the great feast in His kingdom to come.
There, it will not matter what we will wear, what we do…. for we have passed the test…and though each of us is special to us and knows each one of us by name…. we are equally loved, and we will sit with Him as one.
All our enemies will be gone…and no new ones will ever come along. Be they person, disease, rejection, hatred, jealousy, gossip, unkindness, overreaching government, and more. But there will be celebration and JOY forever more.
Revelation 7:16-17
“They (we) shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, not any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
The sheep of the Lord’s pasture will be the distinguished guests.
The next sentence…. reads, “My cup runneth over.” God’s blessing here (our Salvation) and the hereafter, is more than we are capable of conceiving of…so other worldly and beautiful, heavenly…beyond our comprehension, and these words thrill me…”
Goodness and mercy…which I spoke of last week, will follow us all the days of our lives with Him.
As an ancient shepherd led his sheep, his two sheep dogs guarded the rear to keep straying sheep in the path of the shepherd and draw attention to the wounded and lost if that occurred. So, through life, like two angels of God, goodness and mercy will follow us and encamp about us. Then WE shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever and ever. Amen
Today…. I desired to bring you a message of hope, a message of the LORD’s love for all of us….
There is a mixture here of reality…. of mystery and of promise. Some of it hard for us to comprehend perhaps…but that doesn’t lessen the present and future reality of all of it.
The past is brought forward…the present is so vitally important to tomorrow…our future, and where we will spend it.
It is a personal choice…for each and every one of us……
That is the greatest reality we are faced with…. who will you choose to follow…. for there are only two destinations and two beings to follow.
The three in One God…. or God’s and our enemy…Satan.
Joshua 24:15 “CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE?
Brought to you by Shepherd and King…. David
4100 South Big Springs Loop Road
P.O. Box 292
Island Park, Idaho 83429
July 23rd, 2023
Pastor Tom Shanor
The 23rd Psalm
Expository
READ THE FIRST FOUR VERSES
This Psalm of King David’s is poetic, beautiful, and a love letter from God written through David, both Shepherd and King. for David you see, had a deep love of God and a heart for God….and like you and I, he was not perfect, and in fact sinned grievously in having Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle, so he could have her as his own.
David coming to recognize his sins of not just this situation, but others also, humbled himself before God….in a meaningful prayer that came from his heart.
Create in me a clean hear, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from the]y presence O LORD
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;
And renew a right spirit within me.
His Joy of the LORD was the mainstay of David’s heart, reflected not only in this prayer…. but in the deep and intimate relationship they shared on an ongoing basis.
God though, did not prevent David from enduring hardships and adversity, for it was through these very rough things and situations as an example when being pursued by Solomon, running and hiding is damp caves… that humbled the king, and brought him to his place of repentance and then reconciliation.
The intimacy God and David shared comes out prophetically as David writes this song of praise and promise. And as in the case of such writings they are to be an example to us as well.
David, before being anointed as king, was a mere shepherd…..and understood personally and deeply that role, for He sees God as not another shepherd, but the Shepherd of all who love and follow Him, but not only Himself but His Son as our Shepherd also, in union with Him….remember too that scripture has Jesus referred to as being our Shepherd, as the One to whom we turn to and sometimes even run to, in our own times of need for solace and comfort. Remember, that a shepherd actually carries a lamb who is rebellious (a wanderer or runaway) around his neck…talking to it, therefore creating bond that will never be broken….as the lamb comes to depend and adore his shepherd…that too is us…when we leave the flock…being rebellious…obstinate and sometimes too independent for our own good.
This Psalm is one of the most widely known and loved scriptures in the Bible, often memorized and repeated all over the world in all nations. It is known as the Universal Psalm, the Pearl of Psalms.
As our LORD is known as the King of Kings
- The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
Are you a child of God? Then you can read the 23rd Psalm and apply those words personally to yourself. His flock are those who follow Him as Jesus Said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I KNOW THEM, and they who KNOW Me and follow Me, and no one but Me. You, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
John 10:11 reads…He is the “Good Shepherd, who gives His life for His sheep.”
This picture of the Divine Shepherd leading His flock fills the first four verses of Psalm 23. David’s memory of the past fills his mind here as he writes, though a king now, he remembers those days with fondness, practicing his sling shot until he became and expert, days and nights alone sleeping lightly, in case a wolf or mountain lion attempted to infiltrate the flock, and carry one or more off to kill and eat. David sees himself as a wanderer moving away from God, and how God kept calling for Him in David’s own heart, soul and spirit, just as He does for us when we wander off or even deliberately disobey Him. In this mode both our present and future is at stake….God reminds us of what was, what is, and what can be….if we just listen to the gentle and loving voice of our Shepherd Jesus Christ, as He speaks to us through His written Word, or the still small quiet, but relentless voice of His Holy Spirit through our conscience.
The other part of the picture in these four verses, gives the different methods that God uses in leading His flock; or, we might say, the various manifestations through which He leads us, are described in order. There are three: REST, WORK, and SORROW.
Rest in the past; (for the past choices has brought us to where we are today, some not to be repeated….and we are to work and live fully in the present; for the fear and sorrow comes to all of us in the valley of shadow…yet to come. That last walk on this earth.
The Psalmist puts rest and refreshment first, because this is the way God deals with us often. His blessings span our years. (Think about it) for when we look back over life, the trials (where we learn our most valuable life lessons) have brought us to today…and the LOVE we have experienced, both giving and receiving from our LORD and those dearest to us, outweighs the trials and sorrows.
Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning.”
You and I who know Him, cannot rest in our mind and heart until the weight of a guilty conscience is removed. For God heals the troubled soul when we confess, as we are forgiven. And there is no sin that will not be forgiven when genuine repentance is asked for. When we are then united with Him in spiritual communion, our heart finds a deep rest, and satisfaction like no other. Then, as we read the Rhema Word of God when spoken, bring fresh revelation, and these words are the words of Jesus…the thirsty soul drinks deep from the cool, still waters.
As an addendum here, David wrote this Psalm during a time of personal and deep spiritual renewal.
Verse 3
The restored soul is then led on to another stage in God’s plan for life…for His name’s sake.”
This says, God lead us into work, into service for Him by doing the works that He put in place for us to do. Remember, He sees the beginning and the end…for He is the Alpha and the Omega, Himself…the Beginning and the End. The only God, as He states these words Himself written in our Scriptures.
Exodus 34:14 “For you shall worship no other god (little ‘g’ ) for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the End”
I spoke of this not long ago…. where Jesus in talking to Philip says in response to Philip asking Jesus to show him the Father, and Jesus' response…have I not been with you this long Philip and yet you do not know Me. For when you seem Me…. You see the Father.
God in all these words and applications…go far beyond which our finite minds can comprehend…for God is also a mystery, for we cannot grasp the magnitude and complexity of God, and nor are we supposed to….
This rest I now speak of is this…”.in green pastures and refreshment by the still waters” …. are for this reason….to fit us for His work.
This is in reference to our everyday lives. It does not mean entering full time ministry, unless it does …but for most of us, to see God in everything and everyone…and ministering to the needs of people, and even animals and the natural world on and in which we live. He meets us where we are and leads us to where we are to go…. just as He led me here, and to the other four areas in the country where my family and I started new churches. We, in our rest…can therefore hear the still quiet words of His voice…through His word, through our circumstances, and even from those around us. Taking time to listen is a major key.
In the Gospel plan, works do not precede rest, but follow rest. The restoration of the soul comes first; then the works of righteousness follow. We are NOT saved by our works, but we are His workmanship…but works made ready by Him and His will for us, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Here is a fact. All Ten Commandments…. not five or eight of them…are repeated in principle in the New Testament and are taught by both Christ and the Apostles which back up and integrate with this Psalm. The Good Shepherd leads His sheep in paths of righteousness to the very gates of the city of heaven, and then into eternity with all that awaits us. Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are they that follow His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: WHY? Because God is with us…for Thou art with me: Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”
Our Shepherd does not always keep us from sorrow as I have already spoken of…but He is with us in sorrow. Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, being thrown into the intensely hot furnace…because they stood by their beliefs and conscience…not being burned in the fire, but the form of a Fourth walked with them in the flames. That was the LORD.
When Paul stood before Nero, He was not alone. In 2 Timothy 4:16-17, he says: “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me! Notwithstanding, the LORD stood with me and strengthened me.”
Life, no matter how long we live is transitory…and over before we realize it…unexpectedly, we may come to the deepest, darkest valley of all…the valley of shadow and death. But even there and then, the Good Shepherd is with us, and we need not fear it. His love, law and gospel, contribute to both our correction and comfort in all things and at all times.
We may not always be able to see or understand, but we are told that “all things work together for good to them that love God” Romans 8:28. We may not know “why’ of many of our experiences, but the KNOW that Jesus knows, and that is sufficient.”
A father was holding his little blind daughter on his knee, when a friend who had called on him took her into his arms. The little girl did not cry or resist. The father surprised, asked, “Aren’t you afraid honey? You don’t even know who is holding you.”
No…was her quick reply, “I don’t know, but you do daddy.” She didn’t have to know, for if her father let her be held, she knew it was all right. Her faith in her dad was enough.
THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
In these last two verses of the 23rd Psalm we read: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou annointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD FOREVER. Vs’s 5-6
Remember, the sheep are people. We gather around the Lord’s table as in the last supper as the disciples gathered around the table…here in this world we do so in our celebration called COMMUNION, perhaps the most meaningful gathering we have. Today, when we come to the table, though we are not sitting around it, we will be doing exactly that which the disciples themselves did…with Jesus at the center of their gathering. It is a time for us to lay aside any thought that it is the table of the church that we see here…but His table…all our eyes are focused on Him as we are enrapt at the words He is speaking to us…and though they at that time did not fully understand….the reality of that came to them….and brought back to their minds this time they spent with Him…the most intimate and beautiful time they had ever spent together.
Meditate on the words in this Psalm. ”Thou preparest a table before me.” The LORD prepares it; it is His to prepare, but it is for us!
The LORD supplies all our needs…not our wants, but our needs even in the presence of our enemies. Now it is more than rest or work, for with it comes conflict. He provides for us here in this world…but this is just a prelude to the one to follow, and the one David writes about here… the one to follow.
The day is coming, the day is coming, do you hear me? The day is coming when the Good Shepherd will call all of us to the great feast in His kingdom to come.
There, it will not matter what we will wear, what we do…. for we have passed the test…and though each of us is special to us and knows each one of us by name…. we are equally loved, and we will sit with Him as one.
All our enemies will be gone…and no new ones will ever come along. Be they person, disease, rejection, hatred, jealousy, gossip, unkindness, overreaching government, and more. But there will be celebration and JOY forever more.
Revelation 7:16-17
“They (we) shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, not any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
The sheep of the Lord’s pasture will be the distinguished guests.
The next sentence…. reads, “My cup runneth over.” God’s blessing here (our Salvation) and the hereafter, is more than we are capable of conceiving of…so other worldly and beautiful, heavenly…beyond our comprehension, and these words thrill me…”
Goodness and mercy…which I spoke of last week, will follow us all the days of our lives with Him.
As an ancient shepherd led his sheep, his two sheep dogs guarded the rear to keep straying sheep in the path of the shepherd and draw attention to the wounded and lost if that occurred. So, through life, like two angels of God, goodness and mercy will follow us and encamp about us. Then WE shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever and ever. Amen
Today…. I desired to bring you a message of hope, a message of the LORD’s love for all of us….
There is a mixture here of reality…. of mystery and of promise. Some of it hard for us to comprehend perhaps…but that doesn’t lessen the present and future reality of all of it.
The past is brought forward…the present is so vitally important to tomorrow…our future, and where we will spend it.
It is a personal choice…for each and every one of us……
That is the greatest reality we are faced with…. who will you choose to follow…. for there are only two destinations and two beings to follow.
The three in One God…. or God’s and our enemy…Satan.
Joshua 24:15 “CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE?
Brought to you by Shepherd and King…. David
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho 83429
July 16, 2023
I Desired Mercy and Not Sacrifice
Hosea 6:6 (KJV)
“For I desired MERCY, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of the God more than burnt offerings.”
I am going to first attempt to put this into the actual context…and event that took place where Jesus alluded to. Well, here goes.
Tax collectors and other outcasts had gathered in Matthew’s house for a feast. In the center of the hubbub, Jesus and his followers reclined at the dinner table.
Noticing Jesus’s presence among such riffraff, the good old fault finders..the Pharisees scoffed. How could Jesus even consider Himself a rabbit and eat dinner with such a disreputable bunch? So they pulled a few of His Jesus’s converts aside and huffed. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
(Matthew 9:10)
Overhearing their question. Jesus responded. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (vs. 12). The religious leaders’ blindness, the self-righteous, always see on the surface…unable to comprehend what is right in front of them…both the reason for being with those who not only need truth…but to actually sit and meet or talk with them on a level they can understand and need.
Then Jesus astonished the Pharisees. He said to them, “GO and learn what this means. 1. I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Vs 13). He was as I read above, quoting my opening verse from the prophet Hosea, who, centuries earlier, had condemned the Jews for attempting to excuse their idolatry and their oppression of the poor by offering the prescribed animal sacrifices.
God always values MERCY over Sacrifices.
How could He otherwise reveal God’s love to these people, unless He hung out with them. The RELIGIOUS…it appears…cannot see past the surface, so caught up in performance and appearing to have it all together…condemning instead of godly love and MERCY in action.
The Pharisees looked around Matthew’s house and saw nameless ‘tax collectors’ and ‘sinners.’ Jesus saw people He cared about, people He wanted to hang out with. Please remember this if you remember nothing else from this morning. Everything is personal with Jesus…above all else, it is about a relationship. Yours and His…as one. He knows each of us by name. X2
He said, “Love one another as I have Loved you.” (John 13:34)
Anytime we reach out to help, motivated not by the adulation we might receive…but because our motivation is our love for the Father, and for Jesus….being a genuine servant as we are all called to be, emulating the LORD Himself, as illustrated.
In being filled with the knowledge of God…more than the show and ritual of a sacrifice…God desires from all who know Him, and are filled with the knowledge of Him, and to exhibit that knowledge in us through MERCY we are to exhibit toward one another, are, strangers, enemies, friends, coworkers, and ALL human beings, which is also reiterated in the New Testament by Jesus where He tell the illustration/parable of the Good Samaritan.
The priest, the lawyer, all who should know and shown the Grace and Mercy of God towards those who have been abused…should have known better.
Webster’s Dictionary…describes MERCY as “compassion or forbearance”
The opposite of doing good in His name instead of what we can receive from doing so..might be summed up this way. “ Aren’t I something, helping out this person who’s less fortunate than I am?”
PRIDE
Pride is a sin…for with it we put ourself before God..and as an example…PUTIN…who’s pride is killing hundreds of thousand to prove to himself He is a warrior and leader..but one who sends others into war to be killed, while he sits in his office all blustery and in PRIDE which will eventually be the death of him.
Micah 6:8
I am going to incorporate into this from Hosea, this verse from Micah.
“He has shown thee, O man,
what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE MERCY, and to walk HUMBLY with thy God.
Join with me in a prayer please….
Lord, hear our prayer…open our ears that we might hear, open our eyes that we might see into Your spiritual realm…help us O Lord our God…to recognize, that instead of pointing our finger and wagging our tongue in judgement of others, we should be offing both grace and mercy…for none of us is perfect. Only You God, and Your Son Jesus Christ…are perfect.
Let us first check within ourselves before we ever, ever pronouncement judgement on someone else.
You said Jesus…who ever of you is without sin, cast the first stone.
Amen
It is our place in this life in Jesus Christ to be humble in our approach to God, to our loved ones, our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. To our enemies and to the unsaved, especially as we represent to the world around us, Jesus Christ, in what we both do and say.
You see, we are all too often are consumed by what we “perceive” as to be another person’s faults/sins, and what appears to be their obvious weaknesses that we often fail to correctly see where WE are in our own fault finding and where we are coming from. So, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit to reveal, convict and set us free from the traps of our own self-righteousness and judgement.
Being humble does not mean feigned meekness and especially not weakness, for we are strong in the power of His might. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and the power of His might.”
It doesn’t mean walking with our heads down and eyes averted…it also doesn’t mean using the power of His might in us to aggressively go at someone. In truth and knowledge, going to back to Hosea 6:6, where God entreats us to acquire and apply HIS knowledge in every situation, we find ourselves in. In being able to, this means we have sought Him, His written Word, His Spirit, His attitude…and in showing no anger or spiritual pride, or simply coming at someone with attitude…instead, we are to approach people and situations as if Jesus were standing right there with us, for He is, as by His Spirit He lives in us.
Luke 18:9-14 is a perfect illustration to bring into this sermon.
READ
In this parable Jesus was talking directly to those who trusted in their own self-righteousness, and because of it, they carried within themselves and on their shoulders, a continual “attitude” which religious people all too often carrying…meaning they think they are better than the people they are talking to or being surrounded by, perhaps, even in their own churches.
A man or woman who walks with God, through His Son Jesus Christ, and led by His Holy Spirit…KNOWS that his or her right-ness is founded ONLY in his or her one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ and definitely not in his or her good works, for that often adds to their puffed up opinion of themselves.
We are to look down on NO ONE…for Scriptures says to esteem or hold up others- more highly than we do ourselves.
That’s a tough one….for who can have better opinions for be more right than we are! WHO?
I am not wanting to belabor this too much or too long, BUT, once this lesson is learned and lived out, our lives and the lives of those we encounter will please both ourselves and the Lord.
ATTITUDE….is critical in our lives as Christians.
You fail, I fail, we all fail, but when we do, it is to be a time of honest and genuine assessment with ourselves and with God…and seek Him as to the way we are to rectify and approach that failure and to make it good.
We are NOT to be (religious) people…we are to be God’s people, His children, reflecting an image of Jesus Himself to others. We are to KICK OUT….attitude…and walk in Love, Grace, Mercy and compassion, forgiveness and restoration…all cloaked in humility. I have often described humility as controlled strength…as Jesus Himself often exhibited.
In tandem with Salvation…my favorite word is GRACE. “The FREE and unmerited favor of God…as manifested in the Salvation and restoration of we sinners….with the bestowal of BLESSINGS…another great word full of promise. I said the word unmerited…which means…we have not and cannot earn it…it is FREE FOR ALL ACCEPT our Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God.
Amazing isn’t it! AMAZING GRACE…how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…I once was lost, but now am found, was blind…BUT NOW I SEE.
MERCY-GRACE-HUMILITY-FORGIVENESS-RESTORATION, results in the JOY of our SALVATION…all undergirded and on Jesus GREAT FOUNDATION OF LOVE.
God said and says; “I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy: the I will say to those who were not My people, you ARE My people! And they will say in return…YOU ARE MY GOD!
C.S. Lewis, attending a conference, but having arrived late he heard a debate going on as to what set Christianity apart from all other religions.
Some said…Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
Others…all the good that has come from Christianity to the world.
Others…it being the largest organized religion on the planet.
Others..threw in their opinions, and Lewis, having hear enough, go their attention and stated firmly and quietly, one word, and that word quietly spoken…both quietly and reverently stopped the debate as all agreed.
GRACE
Think about it….GRACE IS SOMETHING WE CANNOT EARN, IT RESOUNDS WITH THE WORDS OF Paul found in Ephesians 2:8
King James Version
FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES…IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
The MERCY God showed to then, we Gentiles who were not originally the (chosen) and special people set apart (humbly) for the Glory of God…by MERCY AND GRACE…now are. Those who believe in, adhere to and Love Jesus, scripture says, we are now His people…and we are through the trials, and joys of life…ARE BEING MADE INTO THE IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST, and as Jesus showed us this great mercy…we are to be equally MERCIFUL….to all people…because…WE ARE TO BE LIKE HIM.
The word MERCY occurs over 250 times in the Bible…and is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit, so let’s not tread on the GRACE and MERCY given to us freely, but reach out and embrace them….as part of our on-gong development as Christians.
Remember this…Jesus said, that we are to be in the world, but not of it…meaning our values and ideals are to be moral, pure, right and incorruptible. That truth can be seen objectively, as eternal and inseparable from God’s character.
Being blessed by God does not mean we are better…for we are all saved only by GRACE.
It cost Jesus Christ His life to bestow these gifts on us…and so we should humbly and with gratitude of heart, embrace and pull them into the depths of our heart, mind and soul.
He call us into a deeper spiritual walk and maturity.
We should leave here today…saying…”we can do all things through Christ…who enables and strengthens us.”
For Today..is the day of our salvation…as is every day…for His MERCIES are NEW EVERY MORNNG…GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS O LORD….
I will finish with this….
Ephesians 2 READ
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU, as we now take our first step to COMMUNION. As you will hear Jesus Himself tell us both what to do and why we do it.
Island Park, Idaho 83429
July 16, 2023
I Desired Mercy and Not Sacrifice
Hosea 6:6 (KJV)
“For I desired MERCY, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of the God more than burnt offerings.”
I am going to first attempt to put this into the actual context…and event that took place where Jesus alluded to. Well, here goes.
Tax collectors and other outcasts had gathered in Matthew’s house for a feast. In the center of the hubbub, Jesus and his followers reclined at the dinner table.
Noticing Jesus’s presence among such riffraff, the good old fault finders..the Pharisees scoffed. How could Jesus even consider Himself a rabbit and eat dinner with such a disreputable bunch? So they pulled a few of His Jesus’s converts aside and huffed. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
(Matthew 9:10)
Overhearing their question. Jesus responded. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (vs. 12). The religious leaders’ blindness, the self-righteous, always see on the surface…unable to comprehend what is right in front of them…both the reason for being with those who not only need truth…but to actually sit and meet or talk with them on a level they can understand and need.
Then Jesus astonished the Pharisees. He said to them, “GO and learn what this means. 1. I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Vs 13). He was as I read above, quoting my opening verse from the prophet Hosea, who, centuries earlier, had condemned the Jews for attempting to excuse their idolatry and their oppression of the poor by offering the prescribed animal sacrifices.
God always values MERCY over Sacrifices.
How could He otherwise reveal God’s love to these people, unless He hung out with them. The RELIGIOUS…it appears…cannot see past the surface, so caught up in performance and appearing to have it all together…condemning instead of godly love and MERCY in action.
The Pharisees looked around Matthew’s house and saw nameless ‘tax collectors’ and ‘sinners.’ Jesus saw people He cared about, people He wanted to hang out with. Please remember this if you remember nothing else from this morning. Everything is personal with Jesus…above all else, it is about a relationship. Yours and His…as one. He knows each of us by name. X2
He said, “Love one another as I have Loved you.” (John 13:34)
Anytime we reach out to help, motivated not by the adulation we might receive…but because our motivation is our love for the Father, and for Jesus….being a genuine servant as we are all called to be, emulating the LORD Himself, as illustrated.
In being filled with the knowledge of God…more than the show and ritual of a sacrifice…God desires from all who know Him, and are filled with the knowledge of Him, and to exhibit that knowledge in us through MERCY we are to exhibit toward one another, are, strangers, enemies, friends, coworkers, and ALL human beings, which is also reiterated in the New Testament by Jesus where He tell the illustration/parable of the Good Samaritan.
The priest, the lawyer, all who should know and shown the Grace and Mercy of God towards those who have been abused…should have known better.
Webster’s Dictionary…describes MERCY as “compassion or forbearance”
The opposite of doing good in His name instead of what we can receive from doing so..might be summed up this way. “ Aren’t I something, helping out this person who’s less fortunate than I am?”
PRIDE
Pride is a sin…for with it we put ourself before God..and as an example…PUTIN…who’s pride is killing hundreds of thousand to prove to himself He is a warrior and leader..but one who sends others into war to be killed, while he sits in his office all blustery and in PRIDE which will eventually be the death of him.
Micah 6:8
I am going to incorporate into this from Hosea, this verse from Micah.
“He has shown thee, O man,
what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE MERCY, and to walk HUMBLY with thy God.
Join with me in a prayer please….
Lord, hear our prayer…open our ears that we might hear, open our eyes that we might see into Your spiritual realm…help us O Lord our God…to recognize, that instead of pointing our finger and wagging our tongue in judgement of others, we should be offing both grace and mercy…for none of us is perfect. Only You God, and Your Son Jesus Christ…are perfect.
Let us first check within ourselves before we ever, ever pronouncement judgement on someone else.
You said Jesus…who ever of you is without sin, cast the first stone.
Amen
It is our place in this life in Jesus Christ to be humble in our approach to God, to our loved ones, our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. To our enemies and to the unsaved, especially as we represent to the world around us, Jesus Christ, in what we both do and say.
You see, we are all too often are consumed by what we “perceive” as to be another person’s faults/sins, and what appears to be their obvious weaknesses that we often fail to correctly see where WE are in our own fault finding and where we are coming from. So, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit to reveal, convict and set us free from the traps of our own self-righteousness and judgement.
Being humble does not mean feigned meekness and especially not weakness, for we are strong in the power of His might. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and the power of His might.”
It doesn’t mean walking with our heads down and eyes averted…it also doesn’t mean using the power of His might in us to aggressively go at someone. In truth and knowledge, going to back to Hosea 6:6, where God entreats us to acquire and apply HIS knowledge in every situation, we find ourselves in. In being able to, this means we have sought Him, His written Word, His Spirit, His attitude…and in showing no anger or spiritual pride, or simply coming at someone with attitude…instead, we are to approach people and situations as if Jesus were standing right there with us, for He is, as by His Spirit He lives in us.
Luke 18:9-14 is a perfect illustration to bring into this sermon.
READ
In this parable Jesus was talking directly to those who trusted in their own self-righteousness, and because of it, they carried within themselves and on their shoulders, a continual “attitude” which religious people all too often carrying…meaning they think they are better than the people they are talking to or being surrounded by, perhaps, even in their own churches.
A man or woman who walks with God, through His Son Jesus Christ, and led by His Holy Spirit…KNOWS that his or her right-ness is founded ONLY in his or her one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ and definitely not in his or her good works, for that often adds to their puffed up opinion of themselves.
We are to look down on NO ONE…for Scriptures says to esteem or hold up others- more highly than we do ourselves.
That’s a tough one….for who can have better opinions for be more right than we are! WHO?
I am not wanting to belabor this too much or too long, BUT, once this lesson is learned and lived out, our lives and the lives of those we encounter will please both ourselves and the Lord.
ATTITUDE….is critical in our lives as Christians.
You fail, I fail, we all fail, but when we do, it is to be a time of honest and genuine assessment with ourselves and with God…and seek Him as to the way we are to rectify and approach that failure and to make it good.
We are NOT to be (religious) people…we are to be God’s people, His children, reflecting an image of Jesus Himself to others. We are to KICK OUT….attitude…and walk in Love, Grace, Mercy and compassion, forgiveness and restoration…all cloaked in humility. I have often described humility as controlled strength…as Jesus Himself often exhibited.
In tandem with Salvation…my favorite word is GRACE. “The FREE and unmerited favor of God…as manifested in the Salvation and restoration of we sinners….with the bestowal of BLESSINGS…another great word full of promise. I said the word unmerited…which means…we have not and cannot earn it…it is FREE FOR ALL ACCEPT our Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God.
Amazing isn’t it! AMAZING GRACE…how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…I once was lost, but now am found, was blind…BUT NOW I SEE.
MERCY-GRACE-HUMILITY-FORGIVENESS-RESTORATION, results in the JOY of our SALVATION…all undergirded and on Jesus GREAT FOUNDATION OF LOVE.
God said and says; “I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy: the I will say to those who were not My people, you ARE My people! And they will say in return…YOU ARE MY GOD!
C.S. Lewis, attending a conference, but having arrived late he heard a debate going on as to what set Christianity apart from all other religions.
Some said…Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
Others…all the good that has come from Christianity to the world.
Others…it being the largest organized religion on the planet.
Others..threw in their opinions, and Lewis, having hear enough, go their attention and stated firmly and quietly, one word, and that word quietly spoken…both quietly and reverently stopped the debate as all agreed.
GRACE
Think about it….GRACE IS SOMETHING WE CANNOT EARN, IT RESOUNDS WITH THE WORDS OF Paul found in Ephesians 2:8
King James Version
FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES…IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
The MERCY God showed to then, we Gentiles who were not originally the (chosen) and special people set apart (humbly) for the Glory of God…by MERCY AND GRACE…now are. Those who believe in, adhere to and Love Jesus, scripture says, we are now His people…and we are through the trials, and joys of life…ARE BEING MADE INTO THE IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST, and as Jesus showed us this great mercy…we are to be equally MERCIFUL….to all people…because…WE ARE TO BE LIKE HIM.
The word MERCY occurs over 250 times in the Bible…and is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit, so let’s not tread on the GRACE and MERCY given to us freely, but reach out and embrace them….as part of our on-gong development as Christians.
Remember this…Jesus said, that we are to be in the world, but not of it…meaning our values and ideals are to be moral, pure, right and incorruptible. That truth can be seen objectively, as eternal and inseparable from God’s character.
Being blessed by God does not mean we are better…for we are all saved only by GRACE.
It cost Jesus Christ His life to bestow these gifts on us…and so we should humbly and with gratitude of heart, embrace and pull them into the depths of our heart, mind and soul.
He call us into a deeper spiritual walk and maturity.
We should leave here today…saying…”we can do all things through Christ…who enables and strengthens us.”
For Today..is the day of our salvation…as is every day…for His MERCIES are NEW EVERY MORNNG…GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS O LORD….
I will finish with this….
Ephesians 2 READ
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU, as we now take our first step to COMMUNION. As you will hear Jesus Himself tell us both what to do and why we do it.
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
208-240-2327
This is the day! Today!
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 118:24
This day, today, [in which God has saved me] is the day that the Lord has made: Let us…rejoice and be glad in it.
As a prelude to today’s sermon, I want to point out to you that in offering worship to God, there is no set style or manner of doing so for all of Christendom and, in fact, there is a great variety of ways…. perhaps beginning with a solemn service…to an exuberant JOY filled service where there may be dancing, banner waving…shouts of Hosanna, etc., and all in between.
My goal this morning is to help broaden our understanding of what manner of worship pleases God….and whether the worship we offer Him, if any, or the above and more, is dependent on one thing alone. Pay attention please. Is our worship service and expression, genuine .and coming from the heart, or is it (as it is for some) for show. If either exuberant or solemn…or is it because what is being offered by us, is the way we have always done it.
Something to think about………
Now, on with the message. The one thing we know about life in being alive, and waking up in the morning if we do? (smile) is how we know we have another day, for that day, today is what we know we have… for now, and really at least for that moment. So uncertain is life.
So, in knowing this….we can make a choice to REJOICE that God has chosen to give us another new morning, another new day, and not only to REJOICE in Him, and the gift of that day before us, but in REJOICING WE ARE TO BE GLAD….Though, there is a possibility depending on what happened yesterday, or further back, we could be mourning something that has deeply affected us, but if we believe God is with us, and knows all that is going on in our sorrow, remember that the verse also say this, to ALWAYS REJOICE in even difficult times.…and, there is a verse that to me parallels this verse, and which in time God says, will minister to us in a profound and internally touching way, with His love, and His presence, bringing to us understanding and healing, as He did with Daivid …for this verse is a promise fulfilled for David, and for us…………and it is:
Psalm 30:11
“You, Oh God, have turned my mourning into dancing; You have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, there’s that word again.
It is at that time in our sorrow or uncertainty, we can make a choice, a choice to go into His always open arms and believe…. that all things work together for good, to those that are called and live according to His will, or NOT.
When we choose to do so, He will meet us, and we will see this promise fulfilled.
In the previous verses of the first one I read, it emphasizes that David is reminded that any strength and relief, and eventual JOY he experiences, has one source…GOD…David here is in the process of praying to God to remove his personal sorrow…praying “Hear me O LORD, AND HAVE MERCY, and as he repents of his sin, his failure, repenting of how his sin not only adversely affected himself…but also, the people of Israel, he waits upon the LORD. Never try to get ahead of God…waiting is often critical to hearing God answer.
As God hears David’s genuine repentance…. God is moved and responds in forgiveness and love to David’s prayer.
Repentance…. always brings us closer to GOD, and is what we are called to do though Jesus, His Son. The burden of sin we are carrying, is immediately lifted off of our mind, heart, emotions, soul and spirit, freeing us to hear God’s Spirit speak in His till quiet voice.
Now, the verse I first quoted continues with these words.
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto You forever.”
Following repentance...comes an offering of thanks.
This particular reason for David’s mourning and necessary repentance, was not because of a loss in his life…except for the loss of peace he no longer had, being disconnected from God by His sin, but mostly for being disobedient to God…and reaping the consequences of his choice to sin, which is sometimes the case with us…our own sins, will at times result in others being affected, especially those closest to us, depending on what it or they are.
We…need to be careful….as to the choices we make and as in David’s case here, was not by neglect or accident, but deliberate.
David wanted what David wanted, and then got what David didn’t want. Repercussions that went far beyond himself.
He goes on to say, after his genuine repentance.
Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear and revere You, O God. Which You have prepared for those who trust in You.
And I will add to that…. in ALL things.
Be of good courage…and love the LORD, all of you, His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, ALL YOU WHO HOPE IN THE LORD!
Hear David as he cries out….to God
Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence O God,
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
Restore unto me, the Joy of Thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.
This is such a beautiful prayer of genuine repentance…
In going back to Psalm 11:30, there are often four things we do needlessly. #1. We fail to recognize and live fully in today. #2. We also too often carry yesterday's mistakes and unforgiven sin into today. Needlessly, not realizing the weight we carry, because we fail to recognize or ignore our actions or thoughts as sin…. having therefore having not offered genuine repentance. #3. ties into the first…causing us NOT to be able to fully live in THIS DAY, TODAY. #4 We too often live instead for tomorrow to escape today, because we think tomorrow will be a better day than the one, we know we have. Please listen, it is also involving our attitude in each day we have, but our attitude is a choice over which we do have the power within us to change…. we may have to work at it, but that is another sermon.
Let’s now look at the word REJOICE. Most of us have little problem with being glad, but REJOICE…for the more stoic of us this might be a bit of a problem, ummmm, not might, but is usually a more than a bit of a problem. Especially as Ken Watts (most of you know Ken) is often says to me about himself and the denomination He is a part of rejoicing he says…. “Especially with the frozen chosen” …. (These are his words not mine) because He claims to be a backsliding Presbyterian, and saying “we don’t do those sorts of things. Don’t push us he says.”
The dictionary describes REJOICING this way…REJOICING, IS TO EXPRESS GREAT JOY OR DELIGHT, expressed as David did, as he “danced before the LORD (as a single example) in bringing the ARK of the COVENANT back to Jerusalem. In expressing his great JOY, Michael his wife, looked down on him from a roof top, embarrassed and angry with him as she said, he is making a fool of himself. Well, the LORD was displeased by her, and because of her reaction and words, there were consequences with her that followed.
Then there are, as an example, the charismatic churches…where people not only clap, but lift their hands in JOY and Worship, sometimes dance and as I noted earlier…. wave banners, also expressing at times what is called Holy Laughter.
A less expressive example that I remember well in the Methodist Church I pastored in Florence, Oregon…two little sisters ages, 7 and 5, would, when the hymn was joyous, move from their pew into the center aisle and dance…and it was so spontaneous and delightful for the whole church, except for one old gentleman (my age)…who would just look at them and frown, and on occasion voicing to me (fortunately not to the girls) and others, how it was not proper and should be stopped. Never did though. The Lord was blessed as were the rest of us.
In religion…we often relegate God to our confining box of how we think worship ought to be expressed…because mostly, other more expressive worship makes some of us, the word might be, uncomfortable, and God forbid, we be uncomfortable in a church service, because we are unable to see that God has many dimensions, and many facets of His personality…and yes, God has a personality as reflected clearly throughout the Bible sometimes expressing very human like emotions…since were given them in the first place by Hm.
We as individuals see God in a variety of ways. Some of us are comfortable with God as the great benevolent Grandfather in heaven, others as a wise wizard archetype, others as a puppeteer, or a stern frowning taskmaster, ready to lash out and smack us on the back of the head for every wrong we do. Still others see God as an absentee landlord, (this was Einstein) who created the world and then went off to a celestial Acapulco to rest, checking back in once in awhile to see what we have been up to…and then going back in disgust at what He sees.
But…. Here is a description of just who He really is we can get a solid handle on…which we find in a discourse between Phillip and Jesus in John 14:9 when Phillip asks Jesus to reveal the Father to him.
Use voice inflections. (a sigh) He says… “Have I been with you all this time Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me…. has seen the Father. So, why are you asking me to show Him to you. The two are one and the same, yet separate. A beautiful mystery…of course we have to include the creative person of the Holy Spirit.
Billy Sunday said, “IF YOU HAVE NO JOY IN YOUR RELIGION, THERE IS A LEAK IN YOUR CHRISTIANITY SOMEWHERE.
Charles Spurgeon, a famous minister/evangelist and author said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY, of course comes from the word REJOICE. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
Here is the bottom line to all of this….IT SHOULD BE OUR GOAL TODAY AND EVERY DAY THAT WE ARE GIVEN….”TO PLEASE THE LORD OUR GOD,” in as many ways possible. Being a people of JOY…laughter, heart-felt worship, loving His WORD, His Son and each other…expressed not only in our voices but in our actions and deeds…forgiving, restoring, helping, loving…one another as Christ loves us. Never holding grudges and be kind, patient, gentle, understanding, of which Jesus was all these and more, and remember in seeing and knowing Jesus, we are introduced to the wonderful revelation of knowing our Father, who art in Heaven.
To finish I am going to read Isaiah 55, verses 6-12.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways,
And the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on them,
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return to it without watering the earth and make it bud for the sower and bread for the eater,
So, I my WORD that goes out from My mouth:
It will not return to Me empty,
But will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
With this we will sing a hymn and then share in Communion
YOU WILL GO OUT IN JOY
AMD BE LED FORTH IN PEACE;
THE MOUNTAINS AND THE HILLS
WILL BURST INTO SONG BEFORE YOU,
AND ALL TREES OF THE FIELD WILL CLAP THEIR HANDS.
Someday…. the world and the universe will sound with JOY at the great coming of THE DAY OF THE LORD
When He returns for His own…
Those who rejoice in the name and person of the LORD Jesus Christ.
AMEN!
Island Park, Idaho
208-240-2327
This is the day! Today!
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 118:24
This day, today, [in which God has saved me] is the day that the Lord has made: Let us…rejoice and be glad in it.
As a prelude to today’s sermon, I want to point out to you that in offering worship to God, there is no set style or manner of doing so for all of Christendom and, in fact, there is a great variety of ways…. perhaps beginning with a solemn service…to an exuberant JOY filled service where there may be dancing, banner waving…shouts of Hosanna, etc., and all in between.
My goal this morning is to help broaden our understanding of what manner of worship pleases God….and whether the worship we offer Him, if any, or the above and more, is dependent on one thing alone. Pay attention please. Is our worship service and expression, genuine .and coming from the heart, or is it (as it is for some) for show. If either exuberant or solemn…or is it because what is being offered by us, is the way we have always done it.
Something to think about………
Now, on with the message. The one thing we know about life in being alive, and waking up in the morning if we do? (smile) is how we know we have another day, for that day, today is what we know we have… for now, and really at least for that moment. So uncertain is life.
So, in knowing this….we can make a choice to REJOICE that God has chosen to give us another new morning, another new day, and not only to REJOICE in Him, and the gift of that day before us, but in REJOICING WE ARE TO BE GLAD….Though, there is a possibility depending on what happened yesterday, or further back, we could be mourning something that has deeply affected us, but if we believe God is with us, and knows all that is going on in our sorrow, remember that the verse also say this, to ALWAYS REJOICE in even difficult times.…and, there is a verse that to me parallels this verse, and which in time God says, will minister to us in a profound and internally touching way, with His love, and His presence, bringing to us understanding and healing, as He did with Daivid …for this verse is a promise fulfilled for David, and for us…………and it is:
Psalm 30:11
“You, Oh God, have turned my mourning into dancing; You have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, there’s that word again.
It is at that time in our sorrow or uncertainty, we can make a choice, a choice to go into His always open arms and believe…. that all things work together for good, to those that are called and live according to His will, or NOT.
When we choose to do so, He will meet us, and we will see this promise fulfilled.
In the previous verses of the first one I read, it emphasizes that David is reminded that any strength and relief, and eventual JOY he experiences, has one source…GOD…David here is in the process of praying to God to remove his personal sorrow…praying “Hear me O LORD, AND HAVE MERCY, and as he repents of his sin, his failure, repenting of how his sin not only adversely affected himself…but also, the people of Israel, he waits upon the LORD. Never try to get ahead of God…waiting is often critical to hearing God answer.
As God hears David’s genuine repentance…. God is moved and responds in forgiveness and love to David’s prayer.
Repentance…. always brings us closer to GOD, and is what we are called to do though Jesus, His Son. The burden of sin we are carrying, is immediately lifted off of our mind, heart, emotions, soul and spirit, freeing us to hear God’s Spirit speak in His till quiet voice.
Now, the verse I first quoted continues with these words.
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto You forever.”
Following repentance...comes an offering of thanks.
This particular reason for David’s mourning and necessary repentance, was not because of a loss in his life…except for the loss of peace he no longer had, being disconnected from God by His sin, but mostly for being disobedient to God…and reaping the consequences of his choice to sin, which is sometimes the case with us…our own sins, will at times result in others being affected, especially those closest to us, depending on what it or they are.
We…need to be careful….as to the choices we make and as in David’s case here, was not by neglect or accident, but deliberate.
David wanted what David wanted, and then got what David didn’t want. Repercussions that went far beyond himself.
He goes on to say, after his genuine repentance.
Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear and revere You, O God. Which You have prepared for those who trust in You.
And I will add to that…. in ALL things.
Be of good courage…and love the LORD, all of you, His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, ALL YOU WHO HOPE IN THE LORD!
Hear David as he cries out….to God
Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence O God,
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
Restore unto me, the Joy of Thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.
This is such a beautiful prayer of genuine repentance…
In going back to Psalm 11:30, there are often four things we do needlessly. #1. We fail to recognize and live fully in today. #2. We also too often carry yesterday's mistakes and unforgiven sin into today. Needlessly, not realizing the weight we carry, because we fail to recognize or ignore our actions or thoughts as sin…. having therefore having not offered genuine repentance. #3. ties into the first…causing us NOT to be able to fully live in THIS DAY, TODAY. #4 We too often live instead for tomorrow to escape today, because we think tomorrow will be a better day than the one, we know we have. Please listen, it is also involving our attitude in each day we have, but our attitude is a choice over which we do have the power within us to change…. we may have to work at it, but that is another sermon.
Let’s now look at the word REJOICE. Most of us have little problem with being glad, but REJOICE…for the more stoic of us this might be a bit of a problem, ummmm, not might, but is usually a more than a bit of a problem. Especially as Ken Watts (most of you know Ken) is often says to me about himself and the denomination He is a part of rejoicing he says…. “Especially with the frozen chosen” …. (These are his words not mine) because He claims to be a backsliding Presbyterian, and saying “we don’t do those sorts of things. Don’t push us he says.”
The dictionary describes REJOICING this way…REJOICING, IS TO EXPRESS GREAT JOY OR DELIGHT, expressed as David did, as he “danced before the LORD (as a single example) in bringing the ARK of the COVENANT back to Jerusalem. In expressing his great JOY, Michael his wife, looked down on him from a roof top, embarrassed and angry with him as she said, he is making a fool of himself. Well, the LORD was displeased by her, and because of her reaction and words, there were consequences with her that followed.
Then there are, as an example, the charismatic churches…where people not only clap, but lift their hands in JOY and Worship, sometimes dance and as I noted earlier…. wave banners, also expressing at times what is called Holy Laughter.
A less expressive example that I remember well in the Methodist Church I pastored in Florence, Oregon…two little sisters ages, 7 and 5, would, when the hymn was joyous, move from their pew into the center aisle and dance…and it was so spontaneous and delightful for the whole church, except for one old gentleman (my age)…who would just look at them and frown, and on occasion voicing to me (fortunately not to the girls) and others, how it was not proper and should be stopped. Never did though. The Lord was blessed as were the rest of us.
In religion…we often relegate God to our confining box of how we think worship ought to be expressed…because mostly, other more expressive worship makes some of us, the word might be, uncomfortable, and God forbid, we be uncomfortable in a church service, because we are unable to see that God has many dimensions, and many facets of His personality…and yes, God has a personality as reflected clearly throughout the Bible sometimes expressing very human like emotions…since were given them in the first place by Hm.
We as individuals see God in a variety of ways. Some of us are comfortable with God as the great benevolent Grandfather in heaven, others as a wise wizard archetype, others as a puppeteer, or a stern frowning taskmaster, ready to lash out and smack us on the back of the head for every wrong we do. Still others see God as an absentee landlord, (this was Einstein) who created the world and then went off to a celestial Acapulco to rest, checking back in once in awhile to see what we have been up to…and then going back in disgust at what He sees.
But…. Here is a description of just who He really is we can get a solid handle on…which we find in a discourse between Phillip and Jesus in John 14:9 when Phillip asks Jesus to reveal the Father to him.
Use voice inflections. (a sigh) He says… “Have I been with you all this time Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me…. has seen the Father. So, why are you asking me to show Him to you. The two are one and the same, yet separate. A beautiful mystery…of course we have to include the creative person of the Holy Spirit.
Billy Sunday said, “IF YOU HAVE NO JOY IN YOUR RELIGION, THERE IS A LEAK IN YOUR CHRISTIANITY SOMEWHERE.
Charles Spurgeon, a famous minister/evangelist and author said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY, of course comes from the word REJOICE. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
Here is the bottom line to all of this….IT SHOULD BE OUR GOAL TODAY AND EVERY DAY THAT WE ARE GIVEN….”TO PLEASE THE LORD OUR GOD,” in as many ways possible. Being a people of JOY…laughter, heart-felt worship, loving His WORD, His Son and each other…expressed not only in our voices but in our actions and deeds…forgiving, restoring, helping, loving…one another as Christ loves us. Never holding grudges and be kind, patient, gentle, understanding, of which Jesus was all these and more, and remember in seeing and knowing Jesus, we are introduced to the wonderful revelation of knowing our Father, who art in Heaven.
To finish I am going to read Isaiah 55, verses 6-12.
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways,
And the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on them,
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return to it without watering the earth and make it bud for the sower and bread for the eater,
So, I my WORD that goes out from My mouth:
It will not return to Me empty,
But will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
With this we will sing a hymn and then share in Communion
YOU WILL GO OUT IN JOY
AMD BE LED FORTH IN PEACE;
THE MOUNTAINS AND THE HILLS
WILL BURST INTO SONG BEFORE YOU,
AND ALL TREES OF THE FIELD WILL CLAP THEIR HANDS.
Someday…. the world and the universe will sound with JOY at the great coming of THE DAY OF THE LORD
When He returns for His own…
Those who rejoice in the name and person of the LORD Jesus Christ.
AMEN!
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
208-240-2327
Sermon
"Morning Has Broken”
You are a miracle….
Genesis 1:5
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light,”
God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning ~ the first day.
Morning to me…is the most sweet and wonderful time of the day. With the coming of morning…..that starts with pre-dawn light, and the darkness first begins to recede In the clear sky one can still see the Morning Star (Venus) quite clearly. Jesus is called the bright and Morning Star. The first we see in the evening sky and the last to recede in the Morning, before the coming of the rising of the Sun, pouring its life-giving rays upon this magnificent orb in the vastness of the Universe. A spectacular creation like no other, majestic, light and water filled, teeming with life of such a variety to astonish if but take the time to reflect in the morning light of all that covers and fills this place we call home.
Those who do such things as I am about to share, the mathematics of the chances of earth as it is even existing as it does, are one in seven hundred quadrillion, given that there are an estimated 100 billion planets in the knows universe. There are nine zeros in a billion, and 15 zeros in a quadrillion. So therefore, in this estimated billion, the earth should not even exist.
And yet, here it is and here we are!
Whether you know it or not, each one of us is a miracle according to science. It is estimated that the probability of your existence is the probability that two million people will sit together to play a game of dice with trillions of faces. Each rolls the dice and they all come up with exactly the same number is 550 billion, 343 million, 279 thousand.001 that you and I even exist.
All to say You and I are a miracle…here is one more example. Imagine that there is a lifebuoy thrown somewhere in an ocean, and there is only ONE turtle in its vastness swimming underwater (somewhere). The probability that you will appear on earth just as you are and exist as you do, is as small as the probability that that turtle will stick its head out of the water in the middle of this lifebuoy, in a single attempt. The estimated chances are 1/700 trillion.
Each of us is a true miracle…so unlikely in our personal uniqueness as we are, is almost impossible, and yet…here we are!
It all began in the mind of God, who desired more than angels, but desired beings who would by their own free-will, choose to want to both acknowledge their God and creator and, in and the deepest sense be companions.
What began in the heart and thoughts of God, began noted in Genesis also. Genesis 1:26, Then God said, “Let us, and who is us, but the eternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Let us make human beings” in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish int eh sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along on the ground.” So, God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female He created them.
Listen closely to these words. Then God blessed them, and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish of sea (go for it fishermen, or fisherwomen) the birds in the sky, and the animals.
WE are each a miracle. When you consider all those who lived before us…and here we are…with consciousness and awareness, each of us are here, now…. a miracle. We need to remember this, when we have trouble finding value in ourselves.
In what ways are we made in God’s image? God obviously did not create us exactly like Himself… and never would we become like Him in this life or the one to follow, because God has not physical body. God is Spirit. Instead, we are reflections of God’s glory when we live in the fullness of His Son. Our reason, and creativity, speech, and self-determination is in the image of God. We have been given the goal to reflect His character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness.
Knowing…and I mean KNOWING that we are made in
God’s image and thus share many of His characteristics provides a solid basis for our self-worth. Our worth is not based on our possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness or how many are aware of who we are.
Criticizing or down grading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities He has given us. Knowing we are a person of worth in His eyes should lift us out of even the poor choices we make, the mistakes we make, the sins we commit. I want you to say, with me. “I AM VALUABLE IN GOD’S EYES”
And when He told us in His word to reign over the earth and all that is in it, He expected and expects us to take sound responsibility for how we use the resources He has given us, in that we are not to be careless and wasteful as we fulfill His charge. God was careful in His planning to see that our every need would be fulfilled, but holds us ultimately responsible as to our caretaking, not only of our resources and environment…but the bodies He has given us, so as to not overuse and overindulge.
Moderation avoids extremes, exercises restraint, and is related to good old “self-control”. Moderation is a good thing, but living a life of moderation is an uphill battle in today’s world. The Bible teaches that excess doesn’t work so well, and if we pay attention to what the WORD tells us…it helps us understand how and why we should live in moderation.
OUR LIVES ARE A MIRACLE….YOU ARE A MIRACLE….we may not be the brightest and best….on the scale of intellect, looks, giftings, etc., but God in His wisdom, if we follow HIM, BELIEVE IN HIM, LOVE HIM, WORSHIP HIM, GIVE HIM HIS DUE CREDIT, TRUST HIM, will help us through all that life brings our way. We may not understand all that happens to us…but if we have enough faith, we can persevere in and through it with His help and grace and grit.
EVERY MORNING IS NEW MORNING…PRECEDING A NEW DAY. A day in which we will have choices to make concerning the least of things to sometimes great things, and seemingly overwhelming things.
It began for us in what the Bible calls the fifth morning of Creation. A morning radiant in pure light…where water ran pure, trees, scrubs, flowers were creating an paradisical environment, perfect for us, human beings to flourish and grow.
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in this paradise before the FALL…but we know it came, putting an end to that which had such a radiant, light and life filled beginning, but when it happened it came with huge consequences that affected not only humans, but all of creation. From the mite to the mightiest.
And so... life went on, and on….and the light of that first day dimmed over the eons…so much so that catastrophic events, wars, death, droughts, floods….and continues to this day.
YET…God never lost His deep love for those whom He created, because here we sit today…. redeemed by His great plan of redemption. His Son….
I sometimes am overwhelmed by both His Love and His Grace.
The first part of Creation included that first morning when all was perfect. The second part of His plan took effect with the birth, life and death of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Humanity had reached such a level of darkness and despair that there was only one way out of it that sin be conquered and overcome…by one great and final sacrifice…the One closest to His heart…His to be…only begotten Son.
He who descended from heaven…to take on the body of a human in order to experience what it is like for us, in a life and planet still beautiful in many ways…but One who was a greater light than the light that fell on earth that first morning…had to come to begin to right the great wrong that was done, and the results perpetuated for a time upon all mankind.
After the darkness of, that horrific day and night…a new form of , light has come into the world, with the ability to transform once again a then fallen world, but this time….the light would shine from within than from above, as individual human beings given the free-will to choose…whom from that day on, when He rose…and entered physically an ALTOGETHER NEW Being…into THE NOW SECOND MORNING of a NEW DAY FOR HUMANITY….that bring us to the song we sang just before the sermon…listen please to the words as I read them….
Imagine you are watching from a distance yourself on the edge of the garden…..
Morning is breaking, like the first morning
Blackbird is speaking, like the first bird,
Praise in the singing praise for the morning.
Praise for them springing fresh from the WORD
Sweet is the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven
Like the first dew-fall…on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness, where HIS FEET PASS
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning,
Born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation,
Praise every morning,
GOD’S RECREATION OF THAT FIRST DAY….
A NEW BEGINNING…ON A NEW DAY…FOR ALL OF HUMANITY!
In the form of a man…. God…brighter than the light He Himself created…. a light that pierces to the core of darkness, and shatters it with a resounding HALLELUIJAH…HALLELUIAJAH
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST……. HALLELUIAJAH
In the song I read the words…Re-Creation the first day.
Re Creation aligns with Re Birth…. a new chance of a new life, transformed by the Light and Power of God….is available for every individual in the world…as Jesus said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always…to the very end of the age.
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE…CHOSE TODAY, WHOM YOU WILL SERVE…YOURSELF or JESUS CHRIST.
Island Park, Idaho
208-240-2327
Sermon
"Morning Has Broken”
You are a miracle….
Genesis 1:5
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light,”
God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning ~ the first day.
Morning to me…is the most sweet and wonderful time of the day. With the coming of morning…..that starts with pre-dawn light, and the darkness first begins to recede In the clear sky one can still see the Morning Star (Venus) quite clearly. Jesus is called the bright and Morning Star. The first we see in the evening sky and the last to recede in the Morning, before the coming of the rising of the Sun, pouring its life-giving rays upon this magnificent orb in the vastness of the Universe. A spectacular creation like no other, majestic, light and water filled, teeming with life of such a variety to astonish if but take the time to reflect in the morning light of all that covers and fills this place we call home.
Those who do such things as I am about to share, the mathematics of the chances of earth as it is even existing as it does, are one in seven hundred quadrillion, given that there are an estimated 100 billion planets in the knows universe. There are nine zeros in a billion, and 15 zeros in a quadrillion. So therefore, in this estimated billion, the earth should not even exist.
And yet, here it is and here we are!
Whether you know it or not, each one of us is a miracle according to science. It is estimated that the probability of your existence is the probability that two million people will sit together to play a game of dice with trillions of faces. Each rolls the dice and they all come up with exactly the same number is 550 billion, 343 million, 279 thousand.001 that you and I even exist.
All to say You and I are a miracle…here is one more example. Imagine that there is a lifebuoy thrown somewhere in an ocean, and there is only ONE turtle in its vastness swimming underwater (somewhere). The probability that you will appear on earth just as you are and exist as you do, is as small as the probability that that turtle will stick its head out of the water in the middle of this lifebuoy, in a single attempt. The estimated chances are 1/700 trillion.
Each of us is a true miracle…so unlikely in our personal uniqueness as we are, is almost impossible, and yet…here we are!
It all began in the mind of God, who desired more than angels, but desired beings who would by their own free-will, choose to want to both acknowledge their God and creator and, in and the deepest sense be companions.
What began in the heart and thoughts of God, began noted in Genesis also. Genesis 1:26, Then God said, “Let us, and who is us, but the eternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Let us make human beings” in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish int eh sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along on the ground.” So, God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female He created them.
Listen closely to these words. Then God blessed them, and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish of sea (go for it fishermen, or fisherwomen) the birds in the sky, and the animals.
WE are each a miracle. When you consider all those who lived before us…and here we are…with consciousness and awareness, each of us are here, now…. a miracle. We need to remember this, when we have trouble finding value in ourselves.
In what ways are we made in God’s image? God obviously did not create us exactly like Himself… and never would we become like Him in this life or the one to follow, because God has not physical body. God is Spirit. Instead, we are reflections of God’s glory when we live in the fullness of His Son. Our reason, and creativity, speech, and self-determination is in the image of God. We have been given the goal to reflect His character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness.
Knowing…and I mean KNOWING that we are made in
God’s image and thus share many of His characteristics provides a solid basis for our self-worth. Our worth is not based on our possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness or how many are aware of who we are.
Criticizing or down grading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities He has given us. Knowing we are a person of worth in His eyes should lift us out of even the poor choices we make, the mistakes we make, the sins we commit. I want you to say, with me. “I AM VALUABLE IN GOD’S EYES”
And when He told us in His word to reign over the earth and all that is in it, He expected and expects us to take sound responsibility for how we use the resources He has given us, in that we are not to be careless and wasteful as we fulfill His charge. God was careful in His planning to see that our every need would be fulfilled, but holds us ultimately responsible as to our caretaking, not only of our resources and environment…but the bodies He has given us, so as to not overuse and overindulge.
Moderation avoids extremes, exercises restraint, and is related to good old “self-control”. Moderation is a good thing, but living a life of moderation is an uphill battle in today’s world. The Bible teaches that excess doesn’t work so well, and if we pay attention to what the WORD tells us…it helps us understand how and why we should live in moderation.
OUR LIVES ARE A MIRACLE….YOU ARE A MIRACLE….we may not be the brightest and best….on the scale of intellect, looks, giftings, etc., but God in His wisdom, if we follow HIM, BELIEVE IN HIM, LOVE HIM, WORSHIP HIM, GIVE HIM HIS DUE CREDIT, TRUST HIM, will help us through all that life brings our way. We may not understand all that happens to us…but if we have enough faith, we can persevere in and through it with His help and grace and grit.
EVERY MORNING IS NEW MORNING…PRECEDING A NEW DAY. A day in which we will have choices to make concerning the least of things to sometimes great things, and seemingly overwhelming things.
It began for us in what the Bible calls the fifth morning of Creation. A morning radiant in pure light…where water ran pure, trees, scrubs, flowers were creating an paradisical environment, perfect for us, human beings to flourish and grow.
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in this paradise before the FALL…but we know it came, putting an end to that which had such a radiant, light and life filled beginning, but when it happened it came with huge consequences that affected not only humans, but all of creation. From the mite to the mightiest.
And so... life went on, and on….and the light of that first day dimmed over the eons…so much so that catastrophic events, wars, death, droughts, floods….and continues to this day.
YET…God never lost His deep love for those whom He created, because here we sit today…. redeemed by His great plan of redemption. His Son….
I sometimes am overwhelmed by both His Love and His Grace.
The first part of Creation included that first morning when all was perfect. The second part of His plan took effect with the birth, life and death of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Humanity had reached such a level of darkness and despair that there was only one way out of it that sin be conquered and overcome…by one great and final sacrifice…the One closest to His heart…His to be…only begotten Son.
He who descended from heaven…to take on the body of a human in order to experience what it is like for us, in a life and planet still beautiful in many ways…but One who was a greater light than the light that fell on earth that first morning…had to come to begin to right the great wrong that was done, and the results perpetuated for a time upon all mankind.
After the darkness of, that horrific day and night…a new form of , light has come into the world, with the ability to transform once again a then fallen world, but this time….the light would shine from within than from above, as individual human beings given the free-will to choose…whom from that day on, when He rose…and entered physically an ALTOGETHER NEW Being…into THE NOW SECOND MORNING of a NEW DAY FOR HUMANITY….that bring us to the song we sang just before the sermon…listen please to the words as I read them….
Imagine you are watching from a distance yourself on the edge of the garden…..
Morning is breaking, like the first morning
Blackbird is speaking, like the first bird,
Praise in the singing praise for the morning.
Praise for them springing fresh from the WORD
Sweet is the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven
Like the first dew-fall…on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness, where HIS FEET PASS
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning,
Born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation,
Praise every morning,
GOD’S RECREATION OF THAT FIRST DAY….
A NEW BEGINNING…ON A NEW DAY…FOR ALL OF HUMANITY!
In the form of a man…. God…brighter than the light He Himself created…. a light that pierces to the core of darkness, and shatters it with a resounding HALLELUIJAH…HALLELUIAJAH
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST……. HALLELUIAJAH
In the song I read the words…Re-Creation the first day.
Re Creation aligns with Re Birth…. a new chance of a new life, transformed by the Light and Power of God….is available for every individual in the world…as Jesus said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always…to the very end of the age.
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE…CHOSE TODAY, WHOM YOU WILL SERVE…YOURSELF or JESUS CHRIST.
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho 83429
“WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM LENT?”
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor April23, 2023
Philippians 2: 5-7 Berean Study Bible
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to take advantage of…. but humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
These verses are most often used when speaking of the INCARNATION of Christ, coming in the form of a human, as a baby.
But…it also fits very well into His place in His history as a man, so as to know first-hand, what it was to be a human by having not only the likeness, but also literally the flesh, bones, heart, etc. in order to be able to touch, feel the wind and the heat, the cold and rain, the dust in His lungs and the grass under His feet. To become exhausted and exhilarated, to laugh and to cry. To be angry and to feel JOY. To be loved and to be hated. To ultimately be rejected and killed, while the whole time preaching and exhibiting love…..even to those who in time would kill Him.
LENT IS ALL ABOUT HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH US, IN ORDER TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO NOT ONLY BE SAVED, BUT IN A VERY REAL SENSE…IN SOME VERY REAL WAYS TO BECOME LIKE HIM.
IDENTIFICATON
This metaphorical story by Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a powerful king who falls in love with a lowly peasant maiden, having seen her on one of his kingly outings to be seen among His people.
The maiden is unaware of the king falling in love with her upon first sight, and the king is so deeply smitten and worried. Knowing as he does that love is built, and stands on a strong and mutual foundation of equality, (that is quite a statement just made) x2, He asks himself, how can this vast gap between us be bridged?
He does not want to overwhelm her and have her come to love him simply because of his importance and position, and by revealing his love for her in all its’ depth. Nor would elevating her immediately to royal status work, for he knew not what her reaction might be, for she may already be in love to another man.
The only possible solution to the king’s problem is remarkably simple to him, but in the eyes of those in his court, insane. Since the union could not be brought about through her elevation, it must be attempted by him to descend. The king in his own mind, (now keep in your mind, that this is all about His deep and abiding love for this ordinary, yet extraordinary woman) he MUST dressed in peasant’s attire and demeanor, enter her world completely and attempt to win her love.
Only then can he be sure that she (by her free will and choice), will return her love for his love, because of his humility, and showing His love also by His actions and sacrifice, by leaving His exalted position, He hopes she will see with clarity, the reasons for loving him in return, and desiring with her whole heart, mind and soul…to follow him wherever He takes her…to live her life with and for Him as he would do the same in return for her. Jesus Christ and His Church…the bride of Christ…of which He said…the gates of Hell and all that would be thrown at it by both man and Satan, would withstand….and stand, never, never to be taken down or destroyed, though the multitude of choices and decisions by man would attempt to do that very thing.
This is the unfathomable nature of true love…Christ’s love for His own Creation….to descend to our level….to become like us….in the process of showing us how to become like Him.
It is also akin to His transfiguration…..not in that we become gods, but that we can become in essence, through our own transfiguration, like God, by dying to self be remade into the likeness of the Son of God….how? by believing in Him….we then take on His nature, relegating our ego to that of a servant, dying to selfishness, no longer putting ourselves first…to be born again in His image….to put on the new self….the spiritual self through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming instead as one that possesses, professes and exhibits His qualities found in Galatians 5. The same qualities He exhibited all throughout His life and ministry, those being the Fruit of the Spirit, and before I read these…and while I read them, looking both within and without as to whether You and I have these as our first responsive nature, when happenings, people and times run contrary to exhibiting them. What is our first response to adultery, sorcery, hatred, contentions, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries and the like, of which we are told beforehand, just as we were told, of those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but these behaviors instead….are to be manifested in us……first and foremost, they being Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control, for against such there is no law….these are the keys to the kingdom within us…and once within us…we will help to change the world, by being examples to all the world, but especially to the world we live in every day….here, in Island Park….of Jesus within us, for IF we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us NOT become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The dynamics of LENT AND EASTER…came and comes through God’s choice, to reduce, to diminish, to descend to the level of humanity for mysterious and obvious, practical reasons that, lie at the heart of our faith in the birth, life, death, resurrection and coming again of Jesus the Christ, the Savior and King, which no longer is a mystery but became evident to the world through His elevation on the CROSS, as he descended into the grave, to rise TRIUMPHANT OVER DEATH, by turning the world right side-up, after many thousands of years of being upside down, and as in all things human….as is often the case, takes a long time to get through to us. It will also take, as we are familiar with Jesus’ own prophecies, as well as the book for Revelation…things are going to have to get a whole lot worse before the RESTORATION comes.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS…..AND THIS I HAVE SAID MANY, MANY TIMES AND WILL SAY IT MANY, MANY TIMES MORE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS GOD’S LOVE FOR US………
I too have said this before. The most sung about, the most sought after, the most needed….the most elevating…the most fulfilling emotion man can experience is LOVE.
I have also read the word to this song before….
What the world needs now, is love sweet love,
No, not just for some, but for everyone……..everyone.
We need to consider this one thing very seriously, which was spoken by one Marilynne Robinson….
“What if we accept God’s love for humanity, a love so great that it caused God to become human, as a sign that we are worth it? All of us…from the least to the greatest. Love for all and all in One…THE One, the ONLY ONE.” THE GREAT I AM.
To properly value this pledge of fervent LOVE, the OVERALL INCARNATION.THE TRANFIGURATION.THE RESURECTION. AND LAST HIS COMING AGAIN for the Church and to set up a 1000-year reign…. We must see the world as deserving of what I just said, and so I ask you this question.
What did or if you are not a believer in the totality of who Jesus is, what would tip the balance toward accepting the truth of the Gospel, which includes all the afore mentioned personification of His deity?
Would He have to appear before you as He appeared to His disciples, where He showed the wounds in His hands, feet and side.
Would He have to perform some miracle as those watching Him die on the cross, saying “if You is the Son of God, come down off that cross and we will believe!
What would it take…but for those of you who do believe in His divinity, what for you did it take?
Do you remember the General of WWII, an intellectual who set about to discredit Christ and therefore Christianity, visiting libraries around the world, reading all he could read to write his treatise to finally expose the falseness of our faith, only to find himself on his knees, accepting Christ as His Lord and Savior
What would it take? I ask you?
He descended…to be born, live, die and RESURRECTED simply and inexplicably because of His love you each of us…. and the entire world.
His adopted humanity was to taste and eat and digest our lives to understand … our experiences more fully our drudgery, our excitement, our Joy, and sorrow….and He did. In His travels He did not create bread out of nothing for Himself when He was hungry, nor make wine out of water for Himself…or create a comfortable bed out of the air so He would not have to sleep on the ground…no, He chose to live like and with His disciples, never elevating Himself and His needs above theirs.
In his Divinity School Address, Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that (we) should accordingly consider Jesus in this way, a new way, and he said this to those listening intently to Him speak….” Alone in history he estimated the greatness of man. One man…was true to what is in you and me. He saw that God incarnates Himself in man, and evermore goes forth anew, to take possession of His World. He said, in this jubilee of sublime emotion, ‘I AM
DIVINE,’ and through Me, God acts, through Me, God speaks. Would You see God, see Me, or see yourself…for God is in your very being from the very beginning of creation…otherwise, you would not exist. Jesus is the only soul in history, who appreciates the worth of man…so much so, that He died to redeemed man from himself, and to bring him into the divine.
We would do well to remember in the midst of our daily lives, how quickly, without Him (using Hitler and Naziism as an example) how quickly mankind can fall into apathy, depravity and become evil human beings capable of the worst of sin…. today, we can look at Ukraine, look at Chad and Lori Vallow, in what they did to their own children, coyotes as they are called, selling children, even babies into sex slavery….and the list goes on. Why God doesn’t just give this ole earth a kick into oblivion, is because He through His Son, sees we are redeemable…..as He looks at us through the eyes of Jesus.
In summation… “so let us say Christ entered the world as essential and complete truth, cosmic truth is far beyond our capability to comprehend, let alone understand….BUT….IN FAITH, BELIEVING, He, Jesus, came to us in a form accessible and believable to us, God in the body of a man………and the He should do so is an one of those absolute statements…..OF OUR VALUE TO HIM, which we by our ego and behaviors….we often obscure.
When we give it thought…. because of Christ……it is possible to recognize the human dignity He originally created us, to become a deep and abiding reality. WE are sacred to Him, and therefore should lay claim to all that He enables us to be.
Our most creative thoughts, our best ideas, our most generous impulse, our kindest deed, our sweetest words, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, just, pure, pleasing, excellent….and worthy of praise can come from Him…. through us….to the ugliest and worst of humankind…..to make a difference for good, our Utmost for His Highest…all because He loves us, and we in turn love Him.
Amen
Island Park, Idaho 83429
“WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM LENT?”
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor April23, 2023
Philippians 2: 5-7 Berean Study Bible
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to take advantage of…. but humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
These verses are most often used when speaking of the INCARNATION of Christ, coming in the form of a human, as a baby.
But…it also fits very well into His place in His history as a man, so as to know first-hand, what it was to be a human by having not only the likeness, but also literally the flesh, bones, heart, etc. in order to be able to touch, feel the wind and the heat, the cold and rain, the dust in His lungs and the grass under His feet. To become exhausted and exhilarated, to laugh and to cry. To be angry and to feel JOY. To be loved and to be hated. To ultimately be rejected and killed, while the whole time preaching and exhibiting love…..even to those who in time would kill Him.
LENT IS ALL ABOUT HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH US, IN ORDER TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO NOT ONLY BE SAVED, BUT IN A VERY REAL SENSE…IN SOME VERY REAL WAYS TO BECOME LIKE HIM.
IDENTIFICATON
This metaphorical story by Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a powerful king who falls in love with a lowly peasant maiden, having seen her on one of his kingly outings to be seen among His people.
The maiden is unaware of the king falling in love with her upon first sight, and the king is so deeply smitten and worried. Knowing as he does that love is built, and stands on a strong and mutual foundation of equality, (that is quite a statement just made) x2, He asks himself, how can this vast gap between us be bridged?
He does not want to overwhelm her and have her come to love him simply because of his importance and position, and by revealing his love for her in all its’ depth. Nor would elevating her immediately to royal status work, for he knew not what her reaction might be, for she may already be in love to another man.
The only possible solution to the king’s problem is remarkably simple to him, but in the eyes of those in his court, insane. Since the union could not be brought about through her elevation, it must be attempted by him to descend. The king in his own mind, (now keep in your mind, that this is all about His deep and abiding love for this ordinary, yet extraordinary woman) he MUST dressed in peasant’s attire and demeanor, enter her world completely and attempt to win her love.
Only then can he be sure that she (by her free will and choice), will return her love for his love, because of his humility, and showing His love also by His actions and sacrifice, by leaving His exalted position, He hopes she will see with clarity, the reasons for loving him in return, and desiring with her whole heart, mind and soul…to follow him wherever He takes her…to live her life with and for Him as he would do the same in return for her. Jesus Christ and His Church…the bride of Christ…of which He said…the gates of Hell and all that would be thrown at it by both man and Satan, would withstand….and stand, never, never to be taken down or destroyed, though the multitude of choices and decisions by man would attempt to do that very thing.
This is the unfathomable nature of true love…Christ’s love for His own Creation….to descend to our level….to become like us….in the process of showing us how to become like Him.
It is also akin to His transfiguration…..not in that we become gods, but that we can become in essence, through our own transfiguration, like God, by dying to self be remade into the likeness of the Son of God….how? by believing in Him….we then take on His nature, relegating our ego to that of a servant, dying to selfishness, no longer putting ourselves first…to be born again in His image….to put on the new self….the spiritual self through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming instead as one that possesses, professes and exhibits His qualities found in Galatians 5. The same qualities He exhibited all throughout His life and ministry, those being the Fruit of the Spirit, and before I read these…and while I read them, looking both within and without as to whether You and I have these as our first responsive nature, when happenings, people and times run contrary to exhibiting them. What is our first response to adultery, sorcery, hatred, contentions, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries and the like, of which we are told beforehand, just as we were told, of those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, but these behaviors instead….are to be manifested in us……first and foremost, they being Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control, for against such there is no law….these are the keys to the kingdom within us…and once within us…we will help to change the world, by being examples to all the world, but especially to the world we live in every day….here, in Island Park….of Jesus within us, for IF we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us NOT become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The dynamics of LENT AND EASTER…came and comes through God’s choice, to reduce, to diminish, to descend to the level of humanity for mysterious and obvious, practical reasons that, lie at the heart of our faith in the birth, life, death, resurrection and coming again of Jesus the Christ, the Savior and King, which no longer is a mystery but became evident to the world through His elevation on the CROSS, as he descended into the grave, to rise TRIUMPHANT OVER DEATH, by turning the world right side-up, after many thousands of years of being upside down, and as in all things human….as is often the case, takes a long time to get through to us. It will also take, as we are familiar with Jesus’ own prophecies, as well as the book for Revelation…things are going to have to get a whole lot worse before the RESTORATION comes.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS…..AND THIS I HAVE SAID MANY, MANY TIMES AND WILL SAY IT MANY, MANY TIMES MORE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS GOD’S LOVE FOR US………
I too have said this before. The most sung about, the most sought after, the most needed….the most elevating…the most fulfilling emotion man can experience is LOVE.
I have also read the word to this song before….
What the world needs now, is love sweet love,
No, not just for some, but for everyone……..everyone.
We need to consider this one thing very seriously, which was spoken by one Marilynne Robinson….
“What if we accept God’s love for humanity, a love so great that it caused God to become human, as a sign that we are worth it? All of us…from the least to the greatest. Love for all and all in One…THE One, the ONLY ONE.” THE GREAT I AM.
To properly value this pledge of fervent LOVE, the OVERALL INCARNATION.THE TRANFIGURATION.THE RESURECTION. AND LAST HIS COMING AGAIN for the Church and to set up a 1000-year reign…. We must see the world as deserving of what I just said, and so I ask you this question.
What did or if you are not a believer in the totality of who Jesus is, what would tip the balance toward accepting the truth of the Gospel, which includes all the afore mentioned personification of His deity?
Would He have to appear before you as He appeared to His disciples, where He showed the wounds in His hands, feet and side.
Would He have to perform some miracle as those watching Him die on the cross, saying “if You is the Son of God, come down off that cross and we will believe!
What would it take…but for those of you who do believe in His divinity, what for you did it take?
Do you remember the General of WWII, an intellectual who set about to discredit Christ and therefore Christianity, visiting libraries around the world, reading all he could read to write his treatise to finally expose the falseness of our faith, only to find himself on his knees, accepting Christ as His Lord and Savior
What would it take? I ask you?
He descended…to be born, live, die and RESURRECTED simply and inexplicably because of His love you each of us…. and the entire world.
His adopted humanity was to taste and eat and digest our lives to understand … our experiences more fully our drudgery, our excitement, our Joy, and sorrow….and He did. In His travels He did not create bread out of nothing for Himself when He was hungry, nor make wine out of water for Himself…or create a comfortable bed out of the air so He would not have to sleep on the ground…no, He chose to live like and with His disciples, never elevating Himself and His needs above theirs.
In his Divinity School Address, Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that (we) should accordingly consider Jesus in this way, a new way, and he said this to those listening intently to Him speak….” Alone in history he estimated the greatness of man. One man…was true to what is in you and me. He saw that God incarnates Himself in man, and evermore goes forth anew, to take possession of His World. He said, in this jubilee of sublime emotion, ‘I AM
DIVINE,’ and through Me, God acts, through Me, God speaks. Would You see God, see Me, or see yourself…for God is in your very being from the very beginning of creation…otherwise, you would not exist. Jesus is the only soul in history, who appreciates the worth of man…so much so, that He died to redeemed man from himself, and to bring him into the divine.
We would do well to remember in the midst of our daily lives, how quickly, without Him (using Hitler and Naziism as an example) how quickly mankind can fall into apathy, depravity and become evil human beings capable of the worst of sin…. today, we can look at Ukraine, look at Chad and Lori Vallow, in what they did to their own children, coyotes as they are called, selling children, even babies into sex slavery….and the list goes on. Why God doesn’t just give this ole earth a kick into oblivion, is because He through His Son, sees we are redeemable…..as He looks at us through the eyes of Jesus.
In summation… “so let us say Christ entered the world as essential and complete truth, cosmic truth is far beyond our capability to comprehend, let alone understand….BUT….IN FAITH, BELIEVING, He, Jesus, came to us in a form accessible and believable to us, God in the body of a man………and the He should do so is an one of those absolute statements…..OF OUR VALUE TO HIM, which we by our ego and behaviors….we often obscure.
When we give it thought…. because of Christ……it is possible to recognize the human dignity He originally created us, to become a deep and abiding reality. WE are sacred to Him, and therefore should lay claim to all that He enables us to be.
Our most creative thoughts, our best ideas, our most generous impulse, our kindest deed, our sweetest words, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, just, pure, pleasing, excellent….and worthy of praise can come from Him…. through us….to the ugliest and worst of humankind…..to make a difference for good, our Utmost for His Highest…all because He loves us, and we in turn love Him.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Island park, Idaho
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Come as You Are
>---------------<
Last week, I put together a scenario where we found Jesus sitting up on the stone slab, that His body had lain for three days and three nights….and as He reentered His body…..He lay there, reflecting on the past several days and nights. The time He and His Father had just spent together communicating, in whatever manner the chose.
I had a dream one night where Jesus and I talked simply by thinking. It was rather marvelous.
Now, after His reflecting….He became very aware of what was to come next, and as He sat up…the stone rolled away from the entrance, and early morning light flooded His once dark tomb.
The outside morning beckoned Him to come….to enjoy the beauty of His own Creation, before the rest of His journey was to take place.
And so….He stood, and silently walked into the radiant morning light, feeling the warmth of the sunlight from heaven, on His face and arms. The scent of fresh dew on the grass beneath His feet…as the hymn we just heard describe. The garden wet from the night’s dew, on the fresh grass.
The same sun that shone on Eden, shone here too. Morning’s first light. The light of Creation from this one star in billions, bringing with it, as light warmed the flowers and grasses, the sound of insects whirring…Morning had broken like the first morning.
New life…as in each Spring….the freshness of that original first morning….springs to life once again in the radiance of His glorious light.
His is the sunlight…His is the morning…come to life, as He has come back to life. Bringing with His RESURRECTION….a new and fresh start for all of mankind, if they so choose.
Never more accurately spoken in the words….Mine, HIS, is the sunlight, His is the morning…born of the one light Eden saw play, praise for the morning, praise for the evening, born of the ONE LIGHT as Eden saw play. As He is the WORD OF God….fresh from the WORD…fresh, anew and vibrant…alive, the very WORD of God Himself.
Paralleling….The Song of Solomon (which by the way, is said to be an allegory, a love story of Christ and His Church, Us…….with these words, because winter as spoken here is where most living things go dormant and some seem to die….but with roots going deep…wait patiently for the warmth of the Spring Sun, to once again bring them out of the seeming death they suffered…..as in winter…death comes, as in Spring life…comes back….and as death came to He who now stands in this dew covered garden, radiant as He never was while in His human body, except at His Transfiguration….which was just a forerunner of what was to come.
Arise….See! lo the winter is past, the (rain) snow is over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of the doves (the blackbird has spoken, like the first bird) is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit…the fruit of a new beginning. The blossoming vine (Jesus is called the Vine) spreads its, His fragrance all over the land..arise, come.
As He says to us…come, all you are weary and heavily burdened, come, and I will come you rest. Come…unto Me.
COME, as the hymn says, COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP,
COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO GIVE YOUR HEART.
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE TO WORSHIP
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE, BEFORE YOUR GOD….COME
This last line….is such a powerful and beautiful one….no religious cloak to have to wear….no false piety….no fear that you aren’t good enough…no one is, but by GRACE you are saved…no fear of rejection…for all who come to Him are welcomed into the fold…the family of God…it doesn’t matter your heritage, blood line, wealth, what you have accomplished, what you haven’t accomplished, all that you need is a heart and mind seeking Jesus in honesty and humility.
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE….NOW…TODAY!
No prepping….no need for fine clothing..,,,,Sunday’s best. Whatever that is!
JUST AS YOU ARE…COME!
THE BATTLE’S BEEN WON…
THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID…just be genuine, real, authentic in recognizing your need for Jesus.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE. They who believes in Me will live, even though they die.”
This was in response to Martha’s query about Lazarus, in regard to his death. She recognized that one day He would live again, but Jesus had much more in store for Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Much more…..as Lazarus was to come back to life…through the power of the One, who was with her in her grief.
This miracle was but one of four in the New Testament raised from the dead….themselves resurrected. Lazarus was the one that really upset the religious leaders, for not only did they plot to put Jesus to death, but Lazarus as well.
The others were the son of Nain’s widow Luke 7:14-15, where Jesus had compassion on her as this was her only son, her only means of support.
The second was Jarius’s daughter, Luke 8:52-55 Where He was laughed at prior to the miracle….and they laughed no more.
Then came Lazarus, the third….but this power given by the Holy Spirit, the very power Jesus used not only in raising the dead, but His Power to raise Himself….the Spirit of the trinity, the Triune God as passed down to His followers……
For we find Peter in the book of ACTS, getting down on his knees and praying…saying ‘Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
Then Paul…preaching for a very long time….a man named Eutychus…in Acts 20:9…seated in a window fell asleep while (this is a direct quote) Paul talked on and one, feel asleep , fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed, “ he said, he is no longer dead…he’s alive.”
THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION…THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…the same Spirit…that Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem…for, the Power from on High…is a great and powerful gift….
There are 10 signs in the New Testament of the Resurrection of Jesus.
There were direct Messianic prophecies, and allusions and indirect references as well. Some were as to the person of Jesus, others to the events that would transpire. Some were but foreshadows, such as Jesus would offer “good news” for the brokenhearted, the bruised, the forsaken, the outcasts, etc.
9. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus took place in the context of a world view that is unsurpassed in it’s breadth, depth, coherence, consistency and emotional and even rational power.
10. God promised Isaac the whole world would be blessed by his descendent….Genesis 28:13 14. That descendent is Jesus Christ.
Listen…I could have gone on and on with what I have discovered in attempting to put this together..as there are so many written alliances, parallels, metaphors, allegories, etc…that speak of Jesus in the Old Testament as to fill a book…..
Oh, it already exists….it is called the Bible.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS….BECAUSE OF WHO HE WAS AND IS…PROVEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN……
15 WORDS…encapsulates it all.
EVERYONE (no, not just some, but “EVERYONE WHO CALLS UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL BE SAVED.”
To that….I say…AMEN AND AMEN…SO BE IT!
YOU SEE…MORNING HAS BROKEN, EVEN THIS MORNING…LIKE THE FIRST MORNING, AND WITH THAT MORNING, LIKE THIS MORNING…CAME INTO THE WORLD THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THAT MANY THOUGHT THEY COULD EXTINGUISH…IT IS A LIVING LIGHT…AND IT IS HE……WHO HAS MADE THE WAY WHERE THERE SEEMED TO BE NO WAY, AND THAT WAY COMES DOWN TO ONE WORD ONLY….AND THAT ONE WORD?
THAT WORD IS “JESUS!”
Island park, Idaho
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Come as You Are
>---------------<
Last week, I put together a scenario where we found Jesus sitting up on the stone slab, that His body had lain for three days and three nights….and as He reentered His body…..He lay there, reflecting on the past several days and nights. The time He and His Father had just spent together communicating, in whatever manner the chose.
I had a dream one night where Jesus and I talked simply by thinking. It was rather marvelous.
Now, after His reflecting….He became very aware of what was to come next, and as He sat up…the stone rolled away from the entrance, and early morning light flooded His once dark tomb.
The outside morning beckoned Him to come….to enjoy the beauty of His own Creation, before the rest of His journey was to take place.
And so….He stood, and silently walked into the radiant morning light, feeling the warmth of the sunlight from heaven, on His face and arms. The scent of fresh dew on the grass beneath His feet…as the hymn we just heard describe. The garden wet from the night’s dew, on the fresh grass.
The same sun that shone on Eden, shone here too. Morning’s first light. The light of Creation from this one star in billions, bringing with it, as light warmed the flowers and grasses, the sound of insects whirring…Morning had broken like the first morning.
New life…as in each Spring….the freshness of that original first morning….springs to life once again in the radiance of His glorious light.
His is the sunlight…His is the morning…come to life, as He has come back to life. Bringing with His RESURRECTION….a new and fresh start for all of mankind, if they so choose.
Never more accurately spoken in the words….Mine, HIS, is the sunlight, His is the morning…born of the one light Eden saw play, praise for the morning, praise for the evening, born of the ONE LIGHT as Eden saw play. As He is the WORD OF God….fresh from the WORD…fresh, anew and vibrant…alive, the very WORD of God Himself.
Paralleling….The Song of Solomon (which by the way, is said to be an allegory, a love story of Christ and His Church, Us…….with these words, because winter as spoken here is where most living things go dormant and some seem to die….but with roots going deep…wait patiently for the warmth of the Spring Sun, to once again bring them out of the seeming death they suffered…..as in winter…death comes, as in Spring life…comes back….and as death came to He who now stands in this dew covered garden, radiant as He never was while in His human body, except at His Transfiguration….which was just a forerunner of what was to come.
Arise….See! lo the winter is past, the (rain) snow is over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of the doves (the blackbird has spoken, like the first bird) is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit…the fruit of a new beginning. The blossoming vine (Jesus is called the Vine) spreads its, His fragrance all over the land..arise, come.
As He says to us…come, all you are weary and heavily burdened, come, and I will come you rest. Come…unto Me.
COME, as the hymn says, COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP,
COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO GIVE YOUR HEART.
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE TO WORSHIP
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE, BEFORE YOUR GOD….COME
This last line….is such a powerful and beautiful one….no religious cloak to have to wear….no false piety….no fear that you aren’t good enough…no one is, but by GRACE you are saved…no fear of rejection…for all who come to Him are welcomed into the fold…the family of God…it doesn’t matter your heritage, blood line, wealth, what you have accomplished, what you haven’t accomplished, all that you need is a heart and mind seeking Jesus in honesty and humility.
COME, JUST AS YOU ARE….NOW…TODAY!
No prepping….no need for fine clothing..,,,,Sunday’s best. Whatever that is!
JUST AS YOU ARE…COME!
THE BATTLE’S BEEN WON…
THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID…just be genuine, real, authentic in recognizing your need for Jesus.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE. They who believes in Me will live, even though they die.”
This was in response to Martha’s query about Lazarus, in regard to his death. She recognized that one day He would live again, but Jesus had much more in store for Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Much more…..as Lazarus was to come back to life…through the power of the One, who was with her in her grief.
This miracle was but one of four in the New Testament raised from the dead….themselves resurrected. Lazarus was the one that really upset the religious leaders, for not only did they plot to put Jesus to death, but Lazarus as well.
The others were the son of Nain’s widow Luke 7:14-15, where Jesus had compassion on her as this was her only son, her only means of support.
The second was Jarius’s daughter, Luke 8:52-55 Where He was laughed at prior to the miracle….and they laughed no more.
Then came Lazarus, the third….but this power given by the Holy Spirit, the very power Jesus used not only in raising the dead, but His Power to raise Himself….the Spirit of the trinity, the Triune God as passed down to His followers……
For we find Peter in the book of ACTS, getting down on his knees and praying…saying ‘Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
Then Paul…preaching for a very long time….a man named Eutychus…in Acts 20:9…seated in a window fell asleep while (this is a direct quote) Paul talked on and one, feel asleep , fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed, “ he said, he is no longer dead…he’s alive.”
THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION…THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…the same Spirit…that Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem…for, the Power from on High…is a great and powerful gift….
There are 10 signs in the New Testament of the Resurrection of Jesus.
- There are four ancient biographies for us to read. All written by eyewitnesses, who when faced with death by execution or recant, all but one of the 12 chose death, rather than deny their Lord….and the truth He spoke, died, and rose again. We know that people will die for a cause, but these men died for a set of facts as well as the person of Jesus.
- There is another book written by John…the book of Revelation, that testifies not only Jesus resurrection, but His coming again in glory, along with the many events to come prior to this coming again.
- Historical evidence shows that: the grave was empty; the grave clothes were neatly left sitting on the sone slab. The stone was rolled away and the Roman guards were beside themselves with fear and trembling. No one ever claimed to steal Jesus’ body as the religious leaders said they would.
- There are (not counting Paul), eleven recorded times that Jesus appeared to people, proving He was resurrected. These appearances were to : men and women, individuals, couples, groups, and at least one crowd. The appearances were inside and outside, in different locations, and at different times of the day. He was physically touched by Thomas and others, audibly heard, visually seen, and He even ate food in the presence of witnesses.
- None of these witnesses were fully convinced that Jesus would rise form the dead before He actually did. All of them knew him before His death, so they knew He was the very same Jesus who died before their eyes on the cross.
- An explosion of growth came as Peter testified before what became a crowd of thousands of who and what Jesus was, and that they stood in danger of judgment for what the crowd, many of them who had called for His death. They too, most of them had already heard the rumors of His having been resurrected and seen in a variety of places, times and events. This crowd, (knowing the possibilities of their being judged and punished by the religious leaders and civil leaders, chose that day to override their own fears of persecution and say yes to His being the Messiah…the SAVIOR, THE SON OF GOD.
- Add to these the prophecies given over the centuries leading up to this event, that just such a Messiah would come from God, and die and rise. Jesus Himself prophesied of the events prior to them happening. A body of writings called the Bible, of both the Old Covenant and New Covenant that have proved time and time again over the millennia to be wise, insightful, verifiable, historical, and accurate, in regard to the plight of we humans and our history.
- A scholar named Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah and His times. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at the least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry.
There were direct Messianic prophecies, and allusions and indirect references as well. Some were as to the person of Jesus, others to the events that would transpire. Some were but foreshadows, such as Jesus would offer “good news” for the brokenhearted, the bruised, the forsaken, the outcasts, etc.
9. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus took place in the context of a world view that is unsurpassed in it’s breadth, depth, coherence, consistency and emotional and even rational power.
10. God promised Isaac the whole world would be blessed by his descendent….Genesis 28:13 14. That descendent is Jesus Christ.
Listen…I could have gone on and on with what I have discovered in attempting to put this together..as there are so many written alliances, parallels, metaphors, allegories, etc…that speak of Jesus in the Old Testament as to fill a book…..
Oh, it already exists….it is called the Bible.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS….BECAUSE OF WHO HE WAS AND IS…PROVEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN……
15 WORDS…encapsulates it all.
EVERYONE (no, not just some, but “EVERYONE WHO CALLS UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL BE SAVED.”
To that….I say…AMEN AND AMEN…SO BE IT!
YOU SEE…MORNING HAS BROKEN, EVEN THIS MORNING…LIKE THE FIRST MORNING, AND WITH THAT MORNING, LIKE THIS MORNING…CAME INTO THE WORLD THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THAT MANY THOUGHT THEY COULD EXTINGUISH…IT IS A LIVING LIGHT…AND IT IS HE……WHO HAS MADE THE WAY WHERE THERE SEEMED TO BE NO WAY, AND THAT WAY COMES DOWN TO ONE WORD ONLY….AND THAT ONE WORD?
THAT WORD IS “JESUS!”
The Little Church in the Pines
April 9, 2023
Easter Service
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
And Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hast anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, (literally and spiritually) to set a liberty those that are bruised, (bruised emotionally, physically, and spiritually by the religious leaders of the LAW) and to preach the acceptable year of the LORD. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the Rabbi and sat down. And the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He said to them. This day is this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears. And all were witness to His words, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.
He spoke then and speaks today through His written word and us. His words then and now, 1,993 years later still are meant for the brokenhearted, for deliverance, give sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those that are bruised…..all through the Gospel delivered once and for ALL, during His three years of ministry…and His death on the CROSS….HIS RESURRECTION….AS UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE…WITH A MIGHTY TRIUMPH OVER HIS FOES; HE AROSE A VICTOR FROM THE DARK DOMAIN, AND HE LIVES FOREVER WITH HIS SAINTS TO REIGN! HE AROSE, HALLELUIJAH! CHRIST AROSE!
He is not as Ghandhi said, a good man and teacher. As others have said, a man of peace, but not the Son of God. Today, the majority of Americans think this same thing. “Jesus is a Great Teacher yet reject His claims to be God.”
What do you think?
Here are words from another hymn that tell us who He is.
I serve a RISEN SAVIOR, He’s in the world today; I KNOW that He is LIVING, whatever men may say:
I SEE His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him He’s always near.
In all the world around me, I see His loving care, and though my heart grows weary, I never will despair.
I know that He is leading through all the storm blast, the day of His appearing will come at last.
Rejoice, Rejoice O Christian, lift up your voice and sing, Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King.
The HOPE of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find, none other is so loving, so good and kind. He walks with me and talks with me, along life’s narrow way, you ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.
THE EVIDENCE OF HIS RESURRECTION LIES WITHIN EACH OF US WHO HAVE COME TO ACCEPT AND KNOW HIM AS THE LIVING CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
I have had people say to me in regards to the Holy Spirit, that “unless you speak in tongues you are not filled with the Spirit” and in return I say to them…. the sign of being filled with the Spirit is a changed life…because when we receive Jesus as our LORD and Savior, we at that moment become filled with the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
For centuries there are those who have searched and researched for evidence to prove not only that Jesus existed, evidence outside of the Bible…and of course there is, but also evidence that He was resurrected, and though I think looking for and finding evidence is good…it is not necessary for me, because I know that He knows me and I know Him as He has shown me personally in multiple ways and times, by what He has done in and for me.
To me…. a changed life is the obvious and real evidence….and all that I need to affirm He is who both the Old Testament and New Covenant says He is.
A change life….
A young man in his teens took a seat with others of his peers in the new church he was attending. It was time to share as they often did with each other what they had been through the past week. His name was William…he wanted to share, so he quietly bowed His head, breathed a silent prayer, then spoke.
“Some people don’t’ let me forget I’ve been in jail.” “Sometimes, I’m the one who doesn’t let me forget all the bad things I’ve done.” He held up his Bible, smiling. “But…God says He’s given me a new life. And then said, and He’s offering the same gift to you and to everyone.”
Many suffer from self-abuse…and outside abuse, family abuse, friend abuse…these are the (bruised) among us, or are us. We struggle to feel forgiven, accepted because all too often our past haunt us. Through His resurrection…he broke the chains that find us.
The Apostle Paul, who considered himself the worst of sinners (1Timothy 1:12-17), affirmed that believers in Jesus Christ need to stop seeing people and Christ from “a human point of view” (2 Corinthians 5-16) As a “new person” or “new creation” who’ve been reconciled to God through Jesus death and resurrection our sins are no longer counted against us. We have a new identity…reconstituted…made new in Christ.
Our problem often is that we focus on our old insufficiencies and failures…. for the enemy of both God and us…loves to bring them back up to pull us down. God through Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to rely on to bring us back up…to our position in Christ as complete and total successes. WE are called THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD!
What I am about to say now has fallen out of favor, but it was a phrase that Billy Graham probably used the most often in his evangelistic services. That phrase that comes straight from Jesus Himself is this. NIV reads, “Jesus replied to the question, “what must I do to be saved?” “Very truly I tell you, no one cand see the kingdom of God unless they are ‘born again.’”
In Billy’s 58 years of serving Jesus…. he never backed down from this simple phrase…and in those 58 years, over 210 million men, women and children became believers and followers of the RISEN CHRIST. How many people have you and I brought to Him? Is it no longer important? Why are we here today…to honor our religion or to honor and worship our Lord? In the process of following Him and emulating Him….and being like Him…without being an evangelist, people should want to know what it is about us…. they perhaps like and even admire. Is it Jesus in us…. or because of our charismatic personalities, good taste in clothes, worldly success, our work ethic…and I am not saying those can’t be a part of why they do…if they do…but in our essence…in our heart…ultimately it should be Jesus in us. The RESURRECTED AND RISEN JESUS.
Here is what come notable Christians have said about Jesus & the Cross.
Max Lucado
The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity…
“One beam horizontal, the other vertical…. One represents the width of His love; the other the height of His holiness…where God forgave His children without lowering His standards.”
Ann Graham Lotz
If Jesus forgave those who nailed Him to the CROSS, and if God forgive you and me, how can you without your forgiveness from someone else?
Marvin Williams
In His death on the cross, Jesus took all our wrongdoing on Himself and offered us His forgiveness. Because He took it upon Himself…. we don’t have to suffer the punishment we deserve.
Today’s sermon…. a very basic one I know…. purpose, is to keep us aware of:
#1. To fully realized the cost to Jesus, and as we celebrate His RESURRECTION, we fully understand the reason we do celebrate…. far beyond colored eggs, jelly beans, marshmallow peeps and chocolate rabbits.
#2. To understand the POWER behind His RESURRECTION and that the same power is available to us to live victorious Christian lives…out of love for Him and our thankfulness, by offering Him ourselves and our worship.
#3. To understand and put into our lives all the benefits that come from being His disciple….as He says to all His disciples…” go ye into all the world making disciples of all nations and peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you ALWAYS, to the very end of the age.
A BLESSED AND HAPPY EASTER TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!
REJOICE AND BE GLAD FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU!
April 9, 2023
Easter Service
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
And Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hast anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, (literally and spiritually) to set a liberty those that are bruised, (bruised emotionally, physically, and spiritually by the religious leaders of the LAW) and to preach the acceptable year of the LORD. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the Rabbi and sat down. And the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He said to them. This day is this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears. And all were witness to His words, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.
He spoke then and speaks today through His written word and us. His words then and now, 1,993 years later still are meant for the brokenhearted, for deliverance, give sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those that are bruised…..all through the Gospel delivered once and for ALL, during His three years of ministry…and His death on the CROSS….HIS RESURRECTION….AS UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE…WITH A MIGHTY TRIUMPH OVER HIS FOES; HE AROSE A VICTOR FROM THE DARK DOMAIN, AND HE LIVES FOREVER WITH HIS SAINTS TO REIGN! HE AROSE, HALLELUIJAH! CHRIST AROSE!
He is not as Ghandhi said, a good man and teacher. As others have said, a man of peace, but not the Son of God. Today, the majority of Americans think this same thing. “Jesus is a Great Teacher yet reject His claims to be God.”
What do you think?
Here are words from another hymn that tell us who He is.
I serve a RISEN SAVIOR, He’s in the world today; I KNOW that He is LIVING, whatever men may say:
I SEE His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him He’s always near.
In all the world around me, I see His loving care, and though my heart grows weary, I never will despair.
I know that He is leading through all the storm blast, the day of His appearing will come at last.
Rejoice, Rejoice O Christian, lift up your voice and sing, Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King.
The HOPE of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find, none other is so loving, so good and kind. He walks with me and talks with me, along life’s narrow way, you ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.
THE EVIDENCE OF HIS RESURRECTION LIES WITHIN EACH OF US WHO HAVE COME TO ACCEPT AND KNOW HIM AS THE LIVING CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
I have had people say to me in regards to the Holy Spirit, that “unless you speak in tongues you are not filled with the Spirit” and in return I say to them…. the sign of being filled with the Spirit is a changed life…because when we receive Jesus as our LORD and Savior, we at that moment become filled with the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
For centuries there are those who have searched and researched for evidence to prove not only that Jesus existed, evidence outside of the Bible…and of course there is, but also evidence that He was resurrected, and though I think looking for and finding evidence is good…it is not necessary for me, because I know that He knows me and I know Him as He has shown me personally in multiple ways and times, by what He has done in and for me.
To me…. a changed life is the obvious and real evidence….and all that I need to affirm He is who both the Old Testament and New Covenant says He is.
A change life….
A young man in his teens took a seat with others of his peers in the new church he was attending. It was time to share as they often did with each other what they had been through the past week. His name was William…he wanted to share, so he quietly bowed His head, breathed a silent prayer, then spoke.
“Some people don’t’ let me forget I’ve been in jail.” “Sometimes, I’m the one who doesn’t let me forget all the bad things I’ve done.” He held up his Bible, smiling. “But…God says He’s given me a new life. And then said, and He’s offering the same gift to you and to everyone.”
Many suffer from self-abuse…and outside abuse, family abuse, friend abuse…these are the (bruised) among us, or are us. We struggle to feel forgiven, accepted because all too often our past haunt us. Through His resurrection…he broke the chains that find us.
The Apostle Paul, who considered himself the worst of sinners (1Timothy 1:12-17), affirmed that believers in Jesus Christ need to stop seeing people and Christ from “a human point of view” (2 Corinthians 5-16) As a “new person” or “new creation” who’ve been reconciled to God through Jesus death and resurrection our sins are no longer counted against us. We have a new identity…reconstituted…made new in Christ.
Our problem often is that we focus on our old insufficiencies and failures…. for the enemy of both God and us…loves to bring them back up to pull us down. God through Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to rely on to bring us back up…to our position in Christ as complete and total successes. WE are called THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD!
What I am about to say now has fallen out of favor, but it was a phrase that Billy Graham probably used the most often in his evangelistic services. That phrase that comes straight from Jesus Himself is this. NIV reads, “Jesus replied to the question, “what must I do to be saved?” “Very truly I tell you, no one cand see the kingdom of God unless they are ‘born again.’”
In Billy’s 58 years of serving Jesus…. he never backed down from this simple phrase…and in those 58 years, over 210 million men, women and children became believers and followers of the RISEN CHRIST. How many people have you and I brought to Him? Is it no longer important? Why are we here today…to honor our religion or to honor and worship our Lord? In the process of following Him and emulating Him….and being like Him…without being an evangelist, people should want to know what it is about us…. they perhaps like and even admire. Is it Jesus in us…. or because of our charismatic personalities, good taste in clothes, worldly success, our work ethic…and I am not saying those can’t be a part of why they do…if they do…but in our essence…in our heart…ultimately it should be Jesus in us. The RESURRECTED AND RISEN JESUS.
Here is what come notable Christians have said about Jesus & the Cross.
Max Lucado
The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity…
“One beam horizontal, the other vertical…. One represents the width of His love; the other the height of His holiness…where God forgave His children without lowering His standards.”
Ann Graham Lotz
If Jesus forgave those who nailed Him to the CROSS, and if God forgive you and me, how can you without your forgiveness from someone else?
Marvin Williams
In His death on the cross, Jesus took all our wrongdoing on Himself and offered us His forgiveness. Because He took it upon Himself…. we don’t have to suffer the punishment we deserve.
Today’s sermon…. a very basic one I know…. purpose, is to keep us aware of:
#1. To fully realized the cost to Jesus, and as we celebrate His RESURRECTION, we fully understand the reason we do celebrate…. far beyond colored eggs, jelly beans, marshmallow peeps and chocolate rabbits.
#2. To understand the POWER behind His RESURRECTION and that the same power is available to us to live victorious Christian lives…out of love for Him and our thankfulness, by offering Him ourselves and our worship.
#3. To understand and put into our lives all the benefits that come from being His disciple….as He says to all His disciples…” go ye into all the world making disciples of all nations and peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to OBEY everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you ALWAYS, to the very end of the age.
A BLESSED AND HAPPY EASTER TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!
REJOICE AND BE GLAD FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU!
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
February 19, 2023
SERMON
“How the New Testament was Created”
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Now…you do not have to raise your hand in answer to this question unless you want to. How many of you would consider yourself to have been a good student all through your academic years?
Most of all did you enjoy history…let us say, American history? Knowing the background and history00 of what formed and continues to form our nation.
There are people who are curious about how things work, and to understand the history of how something came into being and whether it could be relied upon….because of the research or foundation on which it is built, and or the reliability of the person who conceived of, then researched, designed and then built upon all that knowledge and interacting possibilities as to how this thing or creation would react in relations to other devices or creations.
Religion…of which there are estimated 4,300 religions, not denominations, but different religions in the world according to Adherent, a non-religious organization that keeps track of the ebb and flow of religions.
Some of these religions have specific similarities and others are extremely far apart from any other religion. Some are benign, and others are extremely aggressive and demanding. Some are downright frightening in their belief and demands on its adherents.
There are many of, both sects and cults under the umbrella of Christianity. Some come close to orthodox Christianity, and some have added and deleted in some instances many of the main tenants of the faith as to be under the category of a cult. Most cults have one very central underlying similarity…and that is deep control by many rules and requirements if you are to receiving any benefits. both on earth in their religion to achieve the earned position of working their way to heaven, or paradise, or whatever celestial place awaits them.
C.S. Lewis, once attending a conference of several different Christian denomination entered the meeting during an ongoing discussion as to what unique virtue or point of doctrine, set Christianity apart from all the other religions of the world.
Good ole Lewis quickly entered the discussion as he was wont to do, and said, “there is one thing and one alone that sets Christianity apart from all the other religions in the world.” My question to you sitting here I ask you…. What is the answer?
IT IS GRACE
Before Jesus…even in Judaism, GRACE was not a major doctrine of their beliefs. GRACE (just so you know) …IS, “the free and unmerited or earned favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings,” purchased for us by the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God who took and takes away the sin of the world.
CHRISTINAITY STANDS APART FROM THEM ALL…WITH THIS ONE VIRTUOUS GIFT….and we, you and I need to remember this and be grace-filled and graceful people.
How do we learn this….and all the other virtues and graces that we have in our faith in Jesus…. we learned them through the teachings of Jesus, and the letters written by those who walked with Him (His disciples, and by two others. One who met Him on the road to Damascus. Paul….and the physician Luke, both the most educated of the writers, though in two completely different areas. These teachings of Jesu and Paul, all are contained in our New Testament, the second part of the Bible.
If…we want to understand something well we need to study it, and that includes its’ foundational background. The living history of its beginning, journey, and final formation.
So…now for the history lesson.
The New Testament is also referred to as the New Covenant.
Covenant in this sense means, “an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and the followers of Jesus Christ.”
It is easy to forget that the earliest Christians did not have the New Testament…they, from the letters of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, Hebrews, Corinthians, Colossians, and others would become part of it.
The Gospels were not written until later still, probably in the 70s-90s AD. Until then, the stories and teachings of Jesus were mostly verbal, told from the disciples themselves and others carrying them with them wherever they went. One of the remarkable things is how similar the Gospels are…considering this. That is why there are some things mentioned in one that is not in another, because each of the Gospel writers sometimes would recall things that another did not or perhaps was not present at that time.
Thus, it was a generation or two of these new Believers thus managed without an actual written record of Jesus.
This next question comes up then. How did the individual letters and gospels come to be regarded and accepted as Holy Scripture?
Surprisingly, there were a good many (so called) gospels beside the four we revere, but they were all much later in origin than the canonical ones, the sole possible exception being a Gospel called the Gospel of Thomas. This book is one that contains a collection of Jesus’ saying that includes some not now in the New Testament. There are also other letters and apocalypses…that is, books purporting to offer revelations from Godin the same way as the Book of Revelation-claiming to come from various apostles, but they are also from the late second century at the earliest, hence, could not be written by the apostles at all. These were men who claimed revelation…. attempting to be seen as prophets and leaders worthy of reverence. In some ways this still goes on today.
Hence. The importance of reading and following the canonized, meaning, writings sanctioned by early church authorities…as to be genuine and revered.
This having been done at large gatherings of official leaders of the church…coming together just for this purpose to compare, study and sort through, under the guidance of the Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God all the known documents then available. Meticulous and thorough in all their documentation, never in a hurry…but seeking truth and doubling down on what they would agree and disagree on.
The turning point at which our present New Testament books ceased to be occasional writings and became Scripture, was really in the second century. By the time a man named Justin Martyr, and another names Irenaeus came along…. We find extensive quotations from New Testament books.
From that point on…. the mid 200’s it was fairly settled as to what was genuine and what was not.
ANOTHER QUESTION NOW COMES UP…AGREEING ON WHAT IS TO BE CANNONIZED AND WHAT TO DISCARD.
The turning point for the Christian faith came in the second half of the fourth century, when ‘orthodox’ bishops poured over all existing documents in their possession, discarding those which were heretical. This was done at specific councils that met for this purpose. At Laodicea in 363 A.D.
It was in 367 that a list was circulated by one Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, which finally established the content of the New Testament we have today.
Arriving at this last time the collection of books and letters, which listed exactly those that then and now, form the New Testament, as the only ones to be accepted and believed, complete as to the TRUTHS of the life of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilled.
I have not spoken of the book of ACTS yet, so will now.
Luke as perhaps I mentioned earlier….is believed to be its author.
Much of ACTS is first-hand knowledge that came from those who were present that amazing day…. Peter of course being the main person of focus, who became the top guy in the newly formed church.
Jesus Christ said this about the formation of an established church in Matthew 16, which ties Peter as we see in the book of acts rising to the position spoken of by Jesus.
He said to them….” But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and, on this rock, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell SHALL NOT PREVAL AGAINST IT!”
The church established that day would never be defeated or replaced…. JESUS said so, and what He said STANDS TO THIS DAY.
The Gospel that Jesus brought us, the one and only Gospel, the One True Church….is still standing the test of time, though there have been more than several who have tried to replace it, and some even destroy it. There is no new Gospel, no new revelation, for as Jesus said with His final words on the cross.
IT IS FINISHED…. COMPLETED. HIS WORK WAS DONE!
Revelation 22:18-19
I, (John) testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part of the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Deuteronomy 4:2
You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Proverbs 30:6
Do not add to His words, or he will reprove you, and you will be proven a liar.
Proverbs 30:5-6
Every word of God is tested; for He is shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proven a liar.
Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I have commanded you, you shall be careful to do: you shall not add to nor take away from it.”
For those who would attempt to change the Gospel or pervert it, Jesus said this…” You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
THERE WAS AND IS NO NEED TO ADD TO OR TAKE AWAY.
All that we need to know about God and His Son and His Spirit is written on these pages….
WE UPON HIS DEATH, ENTERED INTO THE TIME PERIOD CALLED THE TIME OF GRACE…. unearned, undeserved favor. Our work is simply believing…and in believing we desire to please God by our choices and behaviors…. not for any higher place in His favor and or higher place in heaven…for all that comes simply from believing and living for Jesus as written once and for all in the New Testament.
Island Park, Idaho
February 19, 2023
SERMON
“How the New Testament was Created”
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Now…you do not have to raise your hand in answer to this question unless you want to. How many of you would consider yourself to have been a good student all through your academic years?
Most of all did you enjoy history…let us say, American history? Knowing the background and history00 of what formed and continues to form our nation.
There are people who are curious about how things work, and to understand the history of how something came into being and whether it could be relied upon….because of the research or foundation on which it is built, and or the reliability of the person who conceived of, then researched, designed and then built upon all that knowledge and interacting possibilities as to how this thing or creation would react in relations to other devices or creations.
Religion…of which there are estimated 4,300 religions, not denominations, but different religions in the world according to Adherent, a non-religious organization that keeps track of the ebb and flow of religions.
Some of these religions have specific similarities and others are extremely far apart from any other religion. Some are benign, and others are extremely aggressive and demanding. Some are downright frightening in their belief and demands on its adherents.
There are many of, both sects and cults under the umbrella of Christianity. Some come close to orthodox Christianity, and some have added and deleted in some instances many of the main tenants of the faith as to be under the category of a cult. Most cults have one very central underlying similarity…and that is deep control by many rules and requirements if you are to receiving any benefits. both on earth in their religion to achieve the earned position of working their way to heaven, or paradise, or whatever celestial place awaits them.
C.S. Lewis, once attending a conference of several different Christian denomination entered the meeting during an ongoing discussion as to what unique virtue or point of doctrine, set Christianity apart from all the other religions of the world.
Good ole Lewis quickly entered the discussion as he was wont to do, and said, “there is one thing and one alone that sets Christianity apart from all the other religions in the world.” My question to you sitting here I ask you…. What is the answer?
IT IS GRACE
Before Jesus…even in Judaism, GRACE was not a major doctrine of their beliefs. GRACE (just so you know) …IS, “the free and unmerited or earned favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings,” purchased for us by the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God who took and takes away the sin of the world.
CHRISTINAITY STANDS APART FROM THEM ALL…WITH THIS ONE VIRTUOUS GIFT….and we, you and I need to remember this and be grace-filled and graceful people.
How do we learn this….and all the other virtues and graces that we have in our faith in Jesus…. we learned them through the teachings of Jesus, and the letters written by those who walked with Him (His disciples, and by two others. One who met Him on the road to Damascus. Paul….and the physician Luke, both the most educated of the writers, though in two completely different areas. These teachings of Jesu and Paul, all are contained in our New Testament, the second part of the Bible.
If…we want to understand something well we need to study it, and that includes its’ foundational background. The living history of its beginning, journey, and final formation.
So…now for the history lesson.
The New Testament is also referred to as the New Covenant.
Covenant in this sense means, “an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and the followers of Jesus Christ.”
It is easy to forget that the earliest Christians did not have the New Testament…they, from the letters of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, Hebrews, Corinthians, Colossians, and others would become part of it.
The Gospels were not written until later still, probably in the 70s-90s AD. Until then, the stories and teachings of Jesus were mostly verbal, told from the disciples themselves and others carrying them with them wherever they went. One of the remarkable things is how similar the Gospels are…considering this. That is why there are some things mentioned in one that is not in another, because each of the Gospel writers sometimes would recall things that another did not or perhaps was not present at that time.
Thus, it was a generation or two of these new Believers thus managed without an actual written record of Jesus.
This next question comes up then. How did the individual letters and gospels come to be regarded and accepted as Holy Scripture?
Surprisingly, there were a good many (so called) gospels beside the four we revere, but they were all much later in origin than the canonical ones, the sole possible exception being a Gospel called the Gospel of Thomas. This book is one that contains a collection of Jesus’ saying that includes some not now in the New Testament. There are also other letters and apocalypses…that is, books purporting to offer revelations from Godin the same way as the Book of Revelation-claiming to come from various apostles, but they are also from the late second century at the earliest, hence, could not be written by the apostles at all. These were men who claimed revelation…. attempting to be seen as prophets and leaders worthy of reverence. In some ways this still goes on today.
Hence. The importance of reading and following the canonized, meaning, writings sanctioned by early church authorities…as to be genuine and revered.
This having been done at large gatherings of official leaders of the church…coming together just for this purpose to compare, study and sort through, under the guidance of the Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God all the known documents then available. Meticulous and thorough in all their documentation, never in a hurry…but seeking truth and doubling down on what they would agree and disagree on.
The turning point at which our present New Testament books ceased to be occasional writings and became Scripture, was really in the second century. By the time a man named Justin Martyr, and another names Irenaeus came along…. We find extensive quotations from New Testament books.
From that point on…. the mid 200’s it was fairly settled as to what was genuine and what was not.
ANOTHER QUESTION NOW COMES UP…AGREEING ON WHAT IS TO BE CANNONIZED AND WHAT TO DISCARD.
The turning point for the Christian faith came in the second half of the fourth century, when ‘orthodox’ bishops poured over all existing documents in their possession, discarding those which were heretical. This was done at specific councils that met for this purpose. At Laodicea in 363 A.D.
It was in 367 that a list was circulated by one Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, which finally established the content of the New Testament we have today.
Arriving at this last time the collection of books and letters, which listed exactly those that then and now, form the New Testament, as the only ones to be accepted and believed, complete as to the TRUTHS of the life of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilled.
I have not spoken of the book of ACTS yet, so will now.
Luke as perhaps I mentioned earlier….is believed to be its author.
Much of ACTS is first-hand knowledge that came from those who were present that amazing day…. Peter of course being the main person of focus, who became the top guy in the newly formed church.
Jesus Christ said this about the formation of an established church in Matthew 16, which ties Peter as we see in the book of acts rising to the position spoken of by Jesus.
He said to them….” But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and, on this rock, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell SHALL NOT PREVAL AGAINST IT!”
The church established that day would never be defeated or replaced…. JESUS said so, and what He said STANDS TO THIS DAY.
The Gospel that Jesus brought us, the one and only Gospel, the One True Church….is still standing the test of time, though there have been more than several who have tried to replace it, and some even destroy it. There is no new Gospel, no new revelation, for as Jesus said with His final words on the cross.
IT IS FINISHED…. COMPLETED. HIS WORK WAS DONE!
Revelation 22:18-19
I, (John) testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part of the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Deuteronomy 4:2
You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Proverbs 30:6
Do not add to His words, or he will reprove you, and you will be proven a liar.
Proverbs 30:5-6
Every word of God is tested; for He is shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proven a liar.
Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I have commanded you, you shall be careful to do: you shall not add to nor take away from it.”
For those who would attempt to change the Gospel or pervert it, Jesus said this…” You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
THERE WAS AND IS NO NEED TO ADD TO OR TAKE AWAY.
All that we need to know about God and His Son and His Spirit is written on these pages….
WE UPON HIS DEATH, ENTERED INTO THE TIME PERIOD CALLED THE TIME OF GRACE…. unearned, undeserved favor. Our work is simply believing…and in believing we desire to please God by our choices and behaviors…. not for any higher place in His favor and or higher place in heaven…for all that comes simply from believing and living for Jesus as written once and for all in the New Testament.
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
________ <> _______
SERMON
THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY
The TRUTH ON WHICH ALL OF CHRISTIANITY STANDS
Colossians 1:15-20
In the book of Colossians, Paul is writing to the Colossians Church, which is going through some difficult times doctrinally. It seems that among those who make up the leadership of the church, some have gotten away from the central truths that were taught to them, causing dissension and serious difficulties, dividing the church.
It is curious to think of this situation and how quickly error manifests itself, not just in the Colossian Church but in many of the new churches that have sprung up after Pentecost. Wolves in sheep's clothing, so to speak, who are desirous of attention and wanting to be leaders themselves, have already found their way into the fold. All you need to do to see this is read the Book of Revelation, where Jesus has instructed John to write to the churches throughout the diaspora. In other words. the church that began after the day of Pentecost.
This is one of the churches where, because of Paul's imprisonment, he had not been to this location or met with these people in person. We are not told who began the work. Still, Paul being Paul, is determined to correct the errors by way of his authority and position called by Jesus as an Apostle. The letters he writes to them point out very clearly what doctrine they are to follow to remain faithful to the doctrine of Christ, thereby living out the Central Truth of what came to be known as Christianity.
As a side note, in believers being called Christians, it was in Antioch that Paul and Barnabas came to teach a large and growing church. In that church, believers were first given the name Christians, not so named by themselves but by the unbelievers around them, who watched this fledgling church multiply. In fact, at first, the Believers rejected the name, not liking it, but as we know, it stuck. The word itself appears only three times in the entire New Testament.
In first Peter 4:16, they are instructed by Peter, who tells them not to be ashamed if they suffer because the name has been applied to them since it carries the name of Jesus Christ.
Also, we read this in Acts 26:28, where it is recorded that Herod Agrippa says satirically to Paul, "In a short time you think to make me a Christian!".
Now back to Colossians….in verses 12-14, Paul lists five benefits God gives all believers through Christ:
Most people, and even some Christians, cringe regarding the blood of Christ being spoken of as it is and its value and importance.
Blood is spoken of often because blood represents life. Life as we know it on earth when it comes to humans and mammals, when eliminated, is almost instant death.
The animal sacrifices the Jews used to represent forgiveness of their sin and their forgiveness through the shedding of blood had long been established in the Old Testament. Again, blood represents life, and giving of one's life is the greatest sacrifice one can provide for another.
This long establishment of animal sacrifices and the shedding of blood was a forerunner pointing to the greatest of all sacrifices, where God demanded a sacrifice to atone for all human sin, a way to come to Him and a way to, as later came to light eternal life.
Also, before the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt back to their homeland, where lambs (also representing Jesus, who is called the Lamb of God) as the blood of the slain sheep, were placed over the doors of the homes of the Jews so that the angel of death would not visit the house where it was placed if not there, the firstborn son in that house would die. Again Jesus is not only the only begotten Son of God but the firstborn and only-born Son, another parallel.
Exodus 12:29 "And that night at midnight, the LORD struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed.
There are hundreds of prophecies and parallels throughout the Old Testament that point to the coming of Christ, and vital to His coming was His sacrifice on the cross of the atonement for all the sins of humankind.
Verse 1:13 in Colossians still refers to being rescued from the domain of the kingdom of darkness.
Though I have seen it in part just a small snippet, which is enough, let me tell you. The Colossians feared the unseen forces of darkness, but Paul says that true believers have been transferred from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, from guilt to forgiveness, and from Satan's power to God's power. We have been rescued from a rebel kingdom (established when Satan rebelled in heaven, taking 1/3 of the angels with him, thereby establishing on earth and in the air the earth and under the earth and unseen kingdom of darkness.
Verses 15 and 16, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we4 can't see, such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him (Jesus) and for Him.
It is stated here that not only is Jesus equal to God. Philippians 2:6, he is God John 10:30,38, 12:45 as the visible image of the invisible God!
He is the exact representation of God. He not only reflects God, but He reveals God to us John 1:18; 14:9: as supreme over all creations, He has all the authority and priority. He came from heaven, not from the dust of the earth, even though during His sojourn here, he had an earthly body, and He is Lord of all.
There are those among us that work to diminish not only His teachings but His person, His role, and His position. Once that is started, it begins to break down the CENTRAL TRUTHS OF all I spoke. Then when this begins, it is the mind and hands of those doing so, and where it takes them, and those who follow them is into the very darkness that Jesus rescued us from. Into sectarianism, even cults, like the little Dutch boy who saved the village by keeping his finger in the hole in the dike. He discovered the whole TRUTH OF THE CENTRALITY OF CHRISTIANITY would be in danger of no longer being able to stand against the wiles and schemes of the enemy of God in Christ.
Listen to the rest of these verses.
17. He existed before anything else
18. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise to form the dead. So, he is first in everything.
19. For God in all His fulness was pleased to live in Christ.
Verse 20….one of the most powerful of all Scripture…….
“and through Him… (His Son Jesus Christ). God reconciled EVERYTHING to Himself!
EVERYTHING……….AND THEREFORE EVERYONE………………………. HE MADE PEACE WITH EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH THROUGH CHRIST'S BLOOD
OPEN YOUR BIBLE AND READ VERSES 21-23 READ
REREAD THIS – BUT YOU MUST CONTINUE TO BELIEVE THIS TRUTH AND STAND FIRMLY IN IT. DON'T DRIFT AWAY……
FINISH VERSES 28-29 READ.
Now as we come to the table of the Lord, let us come with a perhaps more profound knowledge of the character of Jesus and be grateful for all that we just heard that He did for us and for anyone who feels the Holy Spirit saying, come to me all you who are heavy laden and "I" will give you rest.
It's just that simple KEEP THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN THING. JESUS IS THE MAIN THING…NOT THE RELIGIOUS TRAPPINGS OF MAN-MADE RULES AND REGULATIONS….AND OBSERVATIONS…but Scripture says, ALL WHO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED…. THAT IS THE MAIN THING!
Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
________ <> _______
SERMON
THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY
The TRUTH ON WHICH ALL OF CHRISTIANITY STANDS
Colossians 1:15-20
In the book of Colossians, Paul is writing to the Colossians Church, which is going through some difficult times doctrinally. It seems that among those who make up the leadership of the church, some have gotten away from the central truths that were taught to them, causing dissension and serious difficulties, dividing the church.
It is curious to think of this situation and how quickly error manifests itself, not just in the Colossian Church but in many of the new churches that have sprung up after Pentecost. Wolves in sheep's clothing, so to speak, who are desirous of attention and wanting to be leaders themselves, have already found their way into the fold. All you need to do to see this is read the Book of Revelation, where Jesus has instructed John to write to the churches throughout the diaspora. In other words. the church that began after the day of Pentecost.
This is one of the churches where, because of Paul's imprisonment, he had not been to this location or met with these people in person. We are not told who began the work. Still, Paul being Paul, is determined to correct the errors by way of his authority and position called by Jesus as an Apostle. The letters he writes to them point out very clearly what doctrine they are to follow to remain faithful to the doctrine of Christ, thereby living out the Central Truth of what came to be known as Christianity.
As a side note, in believers being called Christians, it was in Antioch that Paul and Barnabas came to teach a large and growing church. In that church, believers were first given the name Christians, not so named by themselves but by the unbelievers around them, who watched this fledgling church multiply. In fact, at first, the Believers rejected the name, not liking it, but as we know, it stuck. The word itself appears only three times in the entire New Testament.
In first Peter 4:16, they are instructed by Peter, who tells them not to be ashamed if they suffer because the name has been applied to them since it carries the name of Jesus Christ.
Also, we read this in Acts 26:28, where it is recorded that Herod Agrippa says satirically to Paul, "In a short time you think to make me a Christian!".
Now back to Colossians….in verses 12-14, Paul lists five benefits God gives all believers through Christ:
- He has enabled us to share in our inheritance through Christ. Corinthians 5:21 "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, "so that we could be made right with God through Christ."
- He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness….
- He has brought us into His eternal kingdom. Ephesians 1:5-6 God decided to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gives Him great pleasure.
- He purchased our freedom from sin and judgment with His own blood. Hebrews 9:12 "With His own blood…not the blood of goats and calves…He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all time and secured our redemption forever. "
- He has forgiven all our sins. Ephesians 1:7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. 8. Showing us wisdom and understanding.
Most people, and even some Christians, cringe regarding the blood of Christ being spoken of as it is and its value and importance.
Blood is spoken of often because blood represents life. Life as we know it on earth when it comes to humans and mammals, when eliminated, is almost instant death.
The animal sacrifices the Jews used to represent forgiveness of their sin and their forgiveness through the shedding of blood had long been established in the Old Testament. Again, blood represents life, and giving of one's life is the greatest sacrifice one can provide for another.
This long establishment of animal sacrifices and the shedding of blood was a forerunner pointing to the greatest of all sacrifices, where God demanded a sacrifice to atone for all human sin, a way to come to Him and a way to, as later came to light eternal life.
Also, before the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt back to their homeland, where lambs (also representing Jesus, who is called the Lamb of God) as the blood of the slain sheep, were placed over the doors of the homes of the Jews so that the angel of death would not visit the house where it was placed if not there, the firstborn son in that house would die. Again Jesus is not only the only begotten Son of God but the firstborn and only-born Son, another parallel.
Exodus 12:29 "And that night at midnight, the LORD struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the prisoner in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of their livestock were killed.
There are hundreds of prophecies and parallels throughout the Old Testament that point to the coming of Christ, and vital to His coming was His sacrifice on the cross of the atonement for all the sins of humankind.
Verse 1:13 in Colossians still refers to being rescued from the domain of the kingdom of darkness.
Though I have seen it in part just a small snippet, which is enough, let me tell you. The Colossians feared the unseen forces of darkness, but Paul says that true believers have been transferred from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, from guilt to forgiveness, and from Satan's power to God's power. We have been rescued from a rebel kingdom (established when Satan rebelled in heaven, taking 1/3 of the angels with him, thereby establishing on earth and in the air the earth and under the earth and unseen kingdom of darkness.
Verses 15 and 16, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we4 can't see, such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him (Jesus) and for Him.
It is stated here that not only is Jesus equal to God. Philippians 2:6, he is God John 10:30,38, 12:45 as the visible image of the invisible God!
He is the exact representation of God. He not only reflects God, but He reveals God to us John 1:18; 14:9: as supreme over all creations, He has all the authority and priority. He came from heaven, not from the dust of the earth, even though during His sojourn here, he had an earthly body, and He is Lord of all.
There are those among us that work to diminish not only His teachings but His person, His role, and His position. Once that is started, it begins to break down the CENTRAL TRUTHS OF all I spoke. Then when this begins, it is the mind and hands of those doing so, and where it takes them, and those who follow them is into the very darkness that Jesus rescued us from. Into sectarianism, even cults, like the little Dutch boy who saved the village by keeping his finger in the hole in the dike. He discovered the whole TRUTH OF THE CENTRALITY OF CHRISTIANITY would be in danger of no longer being able to stand against the wiles and schemes of the enemy of God in Christ.
Listen to the rest of these verses.
17. He existed before anything else
18. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise to form the dead. So, he is first in everything.
19. For God in all His fulness was pleased to live in Christ.
Verse 20….one of the most powerful of all Scripture…….
“and through Him… (His Son Jesus Christ). God reconciled EVERYTHING to Himself!
EVERYTHING……….AND THEREFORE EVERYONE………………………. HE MADE PEACE WITH EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH THROUGH CHRIST'S BLOOD
OPEN YOUR BIBLE AND READ VERSES 21-23 READ
REREAD THIS – BUT YOU MUST CONTINUE TO BELIEVE THIS TRUTH AND STAND FIRMLY IN IT. DON'T DRIFT AWAY……
FINISH VERSES 28-29 READ.
Now as we come to the table of the Lord, let us come with a perhaps more profound knowledge of the character of Jesus and be grateful for all that we just heard that He did for us and for anyone who feels the Holy Spirit saying, come to me all you who are heavy laden and "I" will give you rest.
It's just that simple KEEP THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN THING. JESUS IS THE MAIN THING…NOT THE RELIGIOUS TRAPPINGS OF MAN-MADE RULES AND REGULATIONS….AND OBSERVATIONS…but Scripture says, ALL WHO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED…. THAT IS THE MAIN THING!
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Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom Shanor
Year-Round Pastor
Blessed Are………
MATTHEW 5
…..This discourse to come…follows on the heels of Jesus choosing Simon,
renamed by Jesus, Peter. Also, Andrew, Peter’s brother.
Jesus words to Peter and Andrew were, “Come, follow me, and I will show
you how to fish for people.” Their response was immediate, for they
dropped their nets right where they were, and followed Him. Shortly after,
while walking along the shore they came across two other fishermen, who
also happened to be brothers, James and John.
The two brothers were sitting in a boat when Jesus called to them. Like
Peter and Andrew, they immediately dropped the nets they were repairing,
got out of the boat and followed Jesus, leaving behind I’m sure, a rather
confused father whose name was Zebedee. Whether Jesus and these two
had previous encounters we are not told, but perhaps His magnetism and
authority captured their spirits, minds and hearts immediately, and their
lives like those of Peter and Andrew would never of course be the same, as
it also would not be for the other disciples to come.
You’ll note that that didn’t make excuses about why it wasn’t a good time
for them. They left at once. Jesus calls each of us to follow Him, perhaps in
a different way, but a call it still is. The call to a new life…centered in Him,
leaving the old life with its ways behind us, moving forward led by His Spirit
and His Words.
We are told that soon afterwards, Jesus began traveling throughout Galilee
teaching in their synagogues and announcing the Good News of the
Kingdom of God. From that time on His ministry exploded, where large
crowds began to follow Him wherever He went. Quoted here… “people
from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from
east of the Jordan River.
The time has arrived for Him to teach what I call the core principles of
living, by noting very important qualities that would serve not only those
listening during those several days of teaching, but all, including those
down through the years to come, and you and I today.
And seeing the multitudes, multitude means “a mass of ordinary people
without power or influence. Simple, everyday ordinary people, seemingly
beyond counting. He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His
disciples came to be with Him.
Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “
His focus was the multitude….and His disciples. I can see them in the
warm arid air….sun beating down on them….and on Him. An unnatural
quiet….the air filled with expectation. Perhaps some of those there that day
had been healed by Him. Those who heard rumors…some who simply followed the crowd…who knows why they came but each was a personal choice.
Each expectant….
Perhaps in this multitude of people….you can find yourself. If not in one of
the seven listed here, but in our own personal category, or even perhaps if
not you, someone you know that needs a word, and act of kindness, a word
of wisdom, financial or physical help. A pat on the back….a word of
encouragement to bring peace.
Speaking to the poor
Those in mourning
Religious leaders and those hungry for God
Those in need of a loving word, to show mercy to them.
Those whose main goal in life was to KNOW God as deeply as possible,
seeking words that would take them deeper.
The mediators, the one’s who always got in the middle of difficult situations
between people…to mediate peace.
Lastly, for those who were persecuted and suffered because of their faith,
then, and as we find out, in the future. Many, including the disciples sitting
there…all but one who would one day be executed for their faith in this man
about to speak. Little did they know, little did they know what would one
day come their way, and for those who one day would read these words
knowing that perhaps they too would suffer persecution, even death.
BLESSED ARE…..blessed means “endowed with divine favor and
protection, which brings pleasure or relief as a welcome contrast to what
one has previously experienced.
Did you find yourself here….or are you just happy and content to hear
Jesus speaks to others…with such depth of love and concern.
I AM GOING TO FOCUS HERE A BIT ON PEACE, for peace can inhabit
each of the people in each of their so-called categories. If so…in each of
them, whether it be mercy, seeking purity, those in mourning, the religious
leaders, certainly those who take on the role of mediation…need the peace
of the Lord that passes all understanding. Peace. Sweet Peace. The peace
that only the Spirit of God can give us…you know, the one passes all
understanding and can be maintained in the midst of any of these
situations.
Let’s all take a moment…to seek His peace right now, by following my
simple directions.
No matter what preceded your journey here today and perhaps even your
journey here….was not the best….anyway. Back to peace.
1. Move your shoulders around a little…
2. Take a couple of deep breaths, leaving the air out slowly.
3. Still the crowded thoughts in your mind….
4. And smile….now look at each other.
PEACEMAKER.
ARE YOU? Or, do you stand on the periphery when something happens.
Or, even within you….when let’s say you are faced with making a decision
for either yourself or someone else. If it is between people, there is a good
word to interject here.
RECONCILIATION….
Jesus prioritizes the ministry of reconciliation deeply and often, doing so in
this statement, Blessed are. This is the birthright and birth-assignment of
God’s sons and daughters. Peace is often not easily won….prayer, hope,
mediation and actually getting involved is vital. It obviously came at a great
cost to Jesus. “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do
not be afraid.”
The only way we can become a peacemaker like Him, is to be like
Him….putting into practice the things that he emulated for us. Walk in step
with Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to empower us and pour the LOVE of
God into OUR hearts before we attempt to assist others.
As the church…we are called to unity…not only that peace is continually in
our midst…but that we by doing so are an example to those in our own
community and beyond.
Jesus said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” Luke 2:49
His last will and testament was, as I quoted above, “Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you.’
What we do with His peace available to us…is simply up to us!
Peace is the result of be a forgiving person, filled with His Spirit. When
peace rules in our hearts (Colossians 3:15) we CAN BE PEACEMAKERS.
If within us we have erected walls of difference.. .and walls of
indifference….we MUST break those down before we can be the
peacemakers that Jesus desires we be.
In our world where people and groups and races, and opinions exists as
large and far apart as the galaxies…..our CALLING is to ACTIVELY AND
DELIBERATELY as individuals and the church to resolve conflicts…not
having any of our own.
The number one thing to do is pray…the second is LISTEN. One of the
most very difficult things we can do…and I really mean LISTEN, before we
respond.
It is our CALLING TO LISTEN IN LOVE…. and care for those on both sides
of any one issue, even one a divisive as abortion as an example.
HATRED, YELLING AND DERIDING….WILL ONLY DIVIDE People
further… to the point when there is no listening to each other….so full are
we of our own thoughts and opinions.
LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN
FIRST.
There is a third side to every divisive issue…that is God’s side, the side of
PEACE.
PEACEMAKING if I can say it this way, means going into the family
business….the business of being God’s family.
Here is a deeper description of being Believers, family business.
These are Jesus words…..
Matthew 5:13-16.
“You…are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be
seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot by men.
You…are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
My words here….unless all the lights are extinguished.
Nor, does anyone light a lamp and put it under something, but on a
lampstand, and it then gives light to all who are in that room.
LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE ALL PEOPLE, THAT THEY MAY
SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.
Not to highlight us individually, that we are praised, but that those who
receive it and those who see it, may know that it is Jesus in us….as the
reason for the GOOD WORKS INCLUDED IS THE WORK OF BEING
PEACEMAKERS.
All praise and honor to HIM…..Amen.
READ STORY
Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom Shanor
Year-Round Pastor
Blessed Are………
MATTHEW 5
…..This discourse to come…follows on the heels of Jesus choosing Simon,
renamed by Jesus, Peter. Also, Andrew, Peter’s brother.
Jesus words to Peter and Andrew were, “Come, follow me, and I will show
you how to fish for people.” Their response was immediate, for they
dropped their nets right where they were, and followed Him. Shortly after,
while walking along the shore they came across two other fishermen, who
also happened to be brothers, James and John.
The two brothers were sitting in a boat when Jesus called to them. Like
Peter and Andrew, they immediately dropped the nets they were repairing,
got out of the boat and followed Jesus, leaving behind I’m sure, a rather
confused father whose name was Zebedee. Whether Jesus and these two
had previous encounters we are not told, but perhaps His magnetism and
authority captured their spirits, minds and hearts immediately, and their
lives like those of Peter and Andrew would never of course be the same, as
it also would not be for the other disciples to come.
You’ll note that that didn’t make excuses about why it wasn’t a good time
for them. They left at once. Jesus calls each of us to follow Him, perhaps in
a different way, but a call it still is. The call to a new life…centered in Him,
leaving the old life with its ways behind us, moving forward led by His Spirit
and His Words.
We are told that soon afterwards, Jesus began traveling throughout Galilee
teaching in their synagogues and announcing the Good News of the
Kingdom of God. From that time on His ministry exploded, where large
crowds began to follow Him wherever He went. Quoted here… “people
from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from
east of the Jordan River.
The time has arrived for Him to teach what I call the core principles of
living, by noting very important qualities that would serve not only those
listening during those several days of teaching, but all, including those
down through the years to come, and you and I today.
And seeing the multitudes, multitude means “a mass of ordinary people
without power or influence. Simple, everyday ordinary people, seemingly
beyond counting. He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His
disciples came to be with Him.
Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
- Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall
- be filled.
- Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.
- Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
- Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is
- the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of
- evil against you falsely for MY sake.
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “
His focus was the multitude….and His disciples. I can see them in the
warm arid air….sun beating down on them….and on Him. An unnatural
quiet….the air filled with expectation. Perhaps some of those there that day
had been healed by Him. Those who heard rumors…some who simply followed the crowd…who knows why they came but each was a personal choice.
Each expectant….
Perhaps in this multitude of people….you can find yourself. If not in one of
the seven listed here, but in our own personal category, or even perhaps if
not you, someone you know that needs a word, and act of kindness, a word
of wisdom, financial or physical help. A pat on the back….a word of
encouragement to bring peace.
Speaking to the poor
Those in mourning
Religious leaders and those hungry for God
Those in need of a loving word, to show mercy to them.
Those whose main goal in life was to KNOW God as deeply as possible,
seeking words that would take them deeper.
The mediators, the one’s who always got in the middle of difficult situations
between people…to mediate peace.
Lastly, for those who were persecuted and suffered because of their faith,
then, and as we find out, in the future. Many, including the disciples sitting
there…all but one who would one day be executed for their faith in this man
about to speak. Little did they know, little did they know what would one
day come their way, and for those who one day would read these words
knowing that perhaps they too would suffer persecution, even death.
BLESSED ARE…..blessed means “endowed with divine favor and
protection, which brings pleasure or relief as a welcome contrast to what
one has previously experienced.
Did you find yourself here….or are you just happy and content to hear
Jesus speaks to others…with such depth of love and concern.
I AM GOING TO FOCUS HERE A BIT ON PEACE, for peace can inhabit
each of the people in each of their so-called categories. If so…in each of
them, whether it be mercy, seeking purity, those in mourning, the religious
leaders, certainly those who take on the role of mediation…need the peace
of the Lord that passes all understanding. Peace. Sweet Peace. The peace
that only the Spirit of God can give us…you know, the one passes all
understanding and can be maintained in the midst of any of these
situations.
Let’s all take a moment…to seek His peace right now, by following my
simple directions.
No matter what preceded your journey here today and perhaps even your
journey here….was not the best….anyway. Back to peace.
1. Move your shoulders around a little…
2. Take a couple of deep breaths, leaving the air out slowly.
3. Still the crowded thoughts in your mind….
4. And smile….now look at each other.
PEACEMAKER.
ARE YOU? Or, do you stand on the periphery when something happens.
Or, even within you….when let’s say you are faced with making a decision
for either yourself or someone else. If it is between people, there is a good
word to interject here.
RECONCILIATION….
Jesus prioritizes the ministry of reconciliation deeply and often, doing so in
this statement, Blessed are. This is the birthright and birth-assignment of
God’s sons and daughters. Peace is often not easily won….prayer, hope,
mediation and actually getting involved is vital. It obviously came at a great
cost to Jesus. “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do
not be afraid.”
The only way we can become a peacemaker like Him, is to be like
Him….putting into practice the things that he emulated for us. Walk in step
with Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to empower us and pour the LOVE of
God into OUR hearts before we attempt to assist others.
As the church…we are called to unity…not only that peace is continually in
our midst…but that we by doing so are an example to those in our own
community and beyond.
Jesus said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” Luke 2:49
His last will and testament was, as I quoted above, “Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you.’
What we do with His peace available to us…is simply up to us!
Peace is the result of be a forgiving person, filled with His Spirit. When
peace rules in our hearts (Colossians 3:15) we CAN BE PEACEMAKERS.
If within us we have erected walls of difference.. .and walls of
indifference….we MUST break those down before we can be the
peacemakers that Jesus desires we be.
In our world where people and groups and races, and opinions exists as
large and far apart as the galaxies…..our CALLING is to ACTIVELY AND
DELIBERATELY as individuals and the church to resolve conflicts…not
having any of our own.
The number one thing to do is pray…the second is LISTEN. One of the
most very difficult things we can do…and I really mean LISTEN, before we
respond.
It is our CALLING TO LISTEN IN LOVE…. and care for those on both sides
of any one issue, even one a divisive as abortion as an example.
HATRED, YELLING AND DERIDING….WILL ONLY DIVIDE People
further… to the point when there is no listening to each other….so full are
we of our own thoughts and opinions.
LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN
FIRST.
There is a third side to every divisive issue…that is God’s side, the side of
PEACE.
PEACEMAKING if I can say it this way, means going into the family
business….the business of being God’s family.
Here is a deeper description of being Believers, family business.
These are Jesus words…..
Matthew 5:13-16.
“You…are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be
seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot by men.
You…are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
My words here….unless all the lights are extinguished.
Nor, does anyone light a lamp and put it under something, but on a
lampstand, and it then gives light to all who are in that room.
LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE ALL PEOPLE, THAT THEY MAY
SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.
Not to highlight us individually, that we are praised, but that those who
receive it and those who see it, may know that it is Jesus in us….as the
reason for the GOOD WORKS INCLUDED IS THE WORK OF BEING
PEACEMAKERS.
All praise and honor to HIM…..Amen.
READ STORY
Little Church in the Pines
"What the World Needs Now"
4th Sunday of our Advent Journey
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
December 18, 2022
Sometimes I enjoy listening to music made popular from my high school days in the early sixties, which was the case last week.
The one I am about to mention that I came across is in this sermon, though actually came a few years after my graduation, which was on my 18th birthday in 1963.
In 1965 Burt Bacharach wrote the music to lyrics written by Hal David and first sung by English singer Jackie De Shannon.
That song is “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love….and it is, if you listen closely, the writer talking to the Lord and stating his opinion as to what the world needed then….and it remains the same now.
Here are the lyrics….and following the sermon, or in the middle, I haven’t decided yet…will have you hear the song, and if you want, to sing along. We did this once before several years ago with the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Actually, it was about this time of year because all my kids were here, and my son-in-law Clint thought (in the beginning) what is he doing? He is now a Chaplin in the Army for the 101st Airborne in Romania.
Anyway, when I heard it, it struck me immediately it belonged in today’s message…there are countless people whose deepest desire is simply to LOVE, and be LOVED and since I am speaking on LOVE today, I thought it would both appropriate and fun to tie this into the message. As true as it was then…it is today.
We are made by God to LOVE AND BE LOVED….as our Lord exemplified in all that He said and did.
Here are the lyrics….
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing there is just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No, not just for some….but for EVERYONE
LORD…we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb.
There are oceans and rivers
Enough to cross, enough to last till the end of time
What the world needs now, is love sweet love
It’s the only thing, there is just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, but for EVERYONE
Lord, we don’t’ need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields
Enough to grow
There are moonbeams and sunbeams
Enough to shine
O LISTEN LORD, if you want to know
What the world needs now, is love sweet love
No not just for some, but for EVERYONE
EVERYONE….EVERYONE…..needs love, but not everyone receives love or even has the chance to give love. Sadly…..
What did Jesus say about love…..”LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and your neighbor as yourself.
The core of all He taught and said….emanates always from this aspect of God’s personality. Sometimes it is hard to grasp this when going through difficult times….but know, LOVE is the bedrock of who God and Christ in God are.
It’s time for a lovely illustration of the meaning and potential depth of love.
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly man in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb at the clinic.
He, without being rude, said to the nurse he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:15 a.m. close by.
The nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see hm. She said, “I saw him looking repeatedly at his watch and since she was not busy at the desk, decided to evaluate the wound and stitches.
On her examination she found it to be healed, so she talked to one of the doctor’s, got the approval and needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of him, she asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment since he was in such a hurry.
The elderly man said to her, that “no” but that he needed to go to the nursing home adjacent to the clinic to eat breakfast with his wife.
She inquired as to his wife’s health. He told her that she had been there for quite a while and that she was suffering with Alzheimer’s. As they talked, she asked him if he would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, and that she had not recognized him for the last five years.
The nurse was surprised, and asked him, “and you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t recognize who you are?” He smiled as he patted her hand and said, “She doesn’t recognize me anymore, but I still know who she is.”
She, his wife is just one of the EVERYONE’S who needs love..
Look at an infant now….this woman once had been as we all once were….born as Jesus….a human baby.
Those of us who raised our children from infancy on….there are several ways they communicate. Crying….#1, fussing #2…arms & legs flailing…#3 red face from either holding their breath or crying so hard…they are flushed.
What are they asking for, or rather demanding?
1. Food would be first
2. Diaper uncomfortable
3. Tummy ache (have to burp
4. Have gas
5. Pain from some source unknown
6. Need held/comforted
What does mom or dad do first?
Pick him or her up and ask what is wrong….as if they understand, but, just hearing mom’s or dad’s voice often quiets them down right away.
The first thing we do after picking them up is not yell at them, but start talking in a soft, soothing, loving voice. They feel our love by touch and by words…oh, and giving them food or changing their diaper. LOVE manifests itself in many ways…and some of them are, well, obvious and others not so. But touch, not only for little ones but for us too…
The right kind of touching and holding is love at its best.
Love can be seen in a look, a gesture, a word.
Here are some of the other manifestations of love.
1. Listening to the person of our focus at that moment.
2. Offering support if needed be it emotional, physical or material….from whatever the world has done to them as they confide in you, a burden begins to be lifted, and you can see the tension leave their face…and their shoulders come up a bit higher.
3. Believe in them….until proven if it happens they are not being honest and sincere. Time will tell, and a lesson learned.
4. Encourage them in whatever way you believe is best.
Treat them as you would have others treat you in similar circumstance…always.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 READ
As I said early on….in this world there are those born who have never known love….and I wish it were not so.
What is that old saying?
It is better to have loved and lost(that love) for any number of legitimate reasons, than to have never loved at all.
Once we have tasted love..we are changed. But because we love someone….also doesn’t mean all will necessarily go smoothly, but even there is it comes to an end…does not mean it won’t come again. There is risk involved in loving someone or even something.
Once a baby feels the warmth, hears the voice and feels the comfort of love….they too will never be the same, even if they cannot grasp the understanding of it in words….their little beings need it when they don’t have it and want it.
Another wonderful manifestation of a love language is music….be it instrumental only, or with words, as in the song I started out with in this message.
There are more songs written about love than about any other subject.
AND SPEAKING OF MUSIC….Larry…I’m reminded of your sister with Alzheimer’s…and the place music has in her life at this stage. EXAMPLE….
Let’s hear the song now…..and as in Don’t Worry be Happy, sing along. VIDEO. PLAY.
GOD IS THE ORIGIN, ESSENCE AND SUMMATION OF LOVE, and all the outflow of events and people that manifest love.
The greatest gift…is LOVE, brought to us by the One, who with the most humble begging on earth….sought to express that love in the end in the most horrendous and brutal endings.
1 John 4:19 we love each other because He first loved us.
John 15:9 – 17. This is My commandment…not suggestion or even why we should, but just plain and simple…”love each other.”
In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible love is mentioned 898 times.
There are four distinct types of Biblical love.
1. Phillia Love…As love that is not romantic. This love is usually shared between those we are close to, family and or friends.
2. Eros Love…A love that is romantic.
3. Philautia Love….is a love and respect we should have for ourselves, and the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
4. Mania Love…This is a love in which we are obsessed. This love that leads to false spiritual truths….and is often done by putting things on a pedestal….stronger and higher than our love for truth and God.
The Greeks have three words for love.
1. Eros, Agape, and Phileo
2. Agape is the highest and deepest form of love. unconditional love.
3. Eros is more sexual and romantic.
4. Phileo love is a friendship based on love.
In our youthful years….eros is at times off the charts, but as we mature and come into a deeper understanding of life, we more deeply value Agape love…and find that love can be shown in so many wonderful ways, both little and big. This love is a union of souls…two souls created by God who in coming together as in the wedding vows spoken…through the good and the difficult, seeking each other out for counsel, opinions and unified decisions. Equal in stature before God, because they have become truly ONE. That love takes time, takes forgiveness, takes listening, takes choosing our words before speaking at times, takes loving that other person more than we love ourselves.
And remember this from the song….EVERYONE NEEDS LOVED AND DURING THIS LIFE EVERYONE IS LONGING FOR LOVE, though many say they aren’t….down deep inside EVERYONE IS.
BUT FIRST…LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, MIND AND STRENGTH…and He will give you the desires of your heart. That is the desires that line up with His truths and teachings. His life and His love as an example to us.
Unconditional love is amazing….and we at times say God loves us unconditionally, but I do not find that anywhere written, but it sounds good.
The condition for eternal life…and salvation is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate even today.
The conditions for a good life…lie in again, the teachings and commandments of Jesus. And a truly good life….is not measured by our material success but by our humility and grace, and kindness, and mercy and justice….and LOVE, the greatest gift
"What the World Needs Now"
4th Sunday of our Advent Journey
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
December 18, 2022
Sometimes I enjoy listening to music made popular from my high school days in the early sixties, which was the case last week.
The one I am about to mention that I came across is in this sermon, though actually came a few years after my graduation, which was on my 18th birthday in 1963.
In 1965 Burt Bacharach wrote the music to lyrics written by Hal David and first sung by English singer Jackie De Shannon.
That song is “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love….and it is, if you listen closely, the writer talking to the Lord and stating his opinion as to what the world needed then….and it remains the same now.
Here are the lyrics….and following the sermon, or in the middle, I haven’t decided yet…will have you hear the song, and if you want, to sing along. We did this once before several years ago with the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Actually, it was about this time of year because all my kids were here, and my son-in-law Clint thought (in the beginning) what is he doing? He is now a Chaplin in the Army for the 101st Airborne in Romania.
Anyway, when I heard it, it struck me immediately it belonged in today’s message…there are countless people whose deepest desire is simply to LOVE, and be LOVED and since I am speaking on LOVE today, I thought it would both appropriate and fun to tie this into the message. As true as it was then…it is today.
We are made by God to LOVE AND BE LOVED….as our Lord exemplified in all that He said and did.
Here are the lyrics….
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing there is just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No, not just for some….but for EVERYONE
LORD…we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb.
There are oceans and rivers
Enough to cross, enough to last till the end of time
What the world needs now, is love sweet love
It’s the only thing, there is just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, but for EVERYONE
Lord, we don’t’ need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields
Enough to grow
There are moonbeams and sunbeams
Enough to shine
O LISTEN LORD, if you want to know
What the world needs now, is love sweet love
No not just for some, but for EVERYONE
EVERYONE….EVERYONE…..needs love, but not everyone receives love or even has the chance to give love. Sadly…..
What did Jesus say about love…..”LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and your neighbor as yourself.
The core of all He taught and said….emanates always from this aspect of God’s personality. Sometimes it is hard to grasp this when going through difficult times….but know, LOVE is the bedrock of who God and Christ in God are.
It’s time for a lovely illustration of the meaning and potential depth of love.
It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly man in his 80’s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb at the clinic.
He, without being rude, said to the nurse he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:15 a.m. close by.
The nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see hm. She said, “I saw him looking repeatedly at his watch and since she was not busy at the desk, decided to evaluate the wound and stitches.
On her examination she found it to be healed, so she talked to one of the doctor’s, got the approval and needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of him, she asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment since he was in such a hurry.
The elderly man said to her, that “no” but that he needed to go to the nursing home adjacent to the clinic to eat breakfast with his wife.
She inquired as to his wife’s health. He told her that she had been there for quite a while and that she was suffering with Alzheimer’s. As they talked, she asked him if he would be upset if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, and that she had not recognized him for the last five years.
The nurse was surprised, and asked him, “and you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t recognize who you are?” He smiled as he patted her hand and said, “She doesn’t recognize me anymore, but I still know who she is.”
She, his wife is just one of the EVERYONE’S who needs love..
Look at an infant now….this woman once had been as we all once were….born as Jesus….a human baby.
Those of us who raised our children from infancy on….there are several ways they communicate. Crying….#1, fussing #2…arms & legs flailing…#3 red face from either holding their breath or crying so hard…they are flushed.
What are they asking for, or rather demanding?
1. Food would be first
2. Diaper uncomfortable
3. Tummy ache (have to burp
4. Have gas
5. Pain from some source unknown
6. Need held/comforted
What does mom or dad do first?
Pick him or her up and ask what is wrong….as if they understand, but, just hearing mom’s or dad’s voice often quiets them down right away.
The first thing we do after picking them up is not yell at them, but start talking in a soft, soothing, loving voice. They feel our love by touch and by words…oh, and giving them food or changing their diaper. LOVE manifests itself in many ways…and some of them are, well, obvious and others not so. But touch, not only for little ones but for us too…
The right kind of touching and holding is love at its best.
Love can be seen in a look, a gesture, a word.
Here are some of the other manifestations of love.
1. Listening to the person of our focus at that moment.
2. Offering support if needed be it emotional, physical or material….from whatever the world has done to them as they confide in you, a burden begins to be lifted, and you can see the tension leave their face…and their shoulders come up a bit higher.
3. Believe in them….until proven if it happens they are not being honest and sincere. Time will tell, and a lesson learned.
4. Encourage them in whatever way you believe is best.
Treat them as you would have others treat you in similar circumstance…always.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 READ
As I said early on….in this world there are those born who have never known love….and I wish it were not so.
What is that old saying?
It is better to have loved and lost(that love) for any number of legitimate reasons, than to have never loved at all.
Once we have tasted love..we are changed. But because we love someone….also doesn’t mean all will necessarily go smoothly, but even there is it comes to an end…does not mean it won’t come again. There is risk involved in loving someone or even something.
Once a baby feels the warmth, hears the voice and feels the comfort of love….they too will never be the same, even if they cannot grasp the understanding of it in words….their little beings need it when they don’t have it and want it.
Another wonderful manifestation of a love language is music….be it instrumental only, or with words, as in the song I started out with in this message.
There are more songs written about love than about any other subject.
AND SPEAKING OF MUSIC….Larry…I’m reminded of your sister with Alzheimer’s…and the place music has in her life at this stage. EXAMPLE….
Let’s hear the song now…..and as in Don’t Worry be Happy, sing along. VIDEO. PLAY.
GOD IS THE ORIGIN, ESSENCE AND SUMMATION OF LOVE, and all the outflow of events and people that manifest love.
The greatest gift…is LOVE, brought to us by the One, who with the most humble begging on earth….sought to express that love in the end in the most horrendous and brutal endings.
1 John 4:19 we love each other because He first loved us.
John 15:9 – 17. This is My commandment…not suggestion or even why we should, but just plain and simple…”love each other.”
In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible love is mentioned 898 times.
There are four distinct types of Biblical love.
1. Phillia Love…As love that is not romantic. This love is usually shared between those we are close to, family and or friends.
2. Eros Love…A love that is romantic.
3. Philautia Love….is a love and respect we should have for ourselves, and the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
4. Mania Love…This is a love in which we are obsessed. This love that leads to false spiritual truths….and is often done by putting things on a pedestal….stronger and higher than our love for truth and God.
The Greeks have three words for love.
1. Eros, Agape, and Phileo
2. Agape is the highest and deepest form of love. unconditional love.
3. Eros is more sexual and romantic.
4. Phileo love is a friendship based on love.
In our youthful years….eros is at times off the charts, but as we mature and come into a deeper understanding of life, we more deeply value Agape love…and find that love can be shown in so many wonderful ways, both little and big. This love is a union of souls…two souls created by God who in coming together as in the wedding vows spoken…through the good and the difficult, seeking each other out for counsel, opinions and unified decisions. Equal in stature before God, because they have become truly ONE. That love takes time, takes forgiveness, takes listening, takes choosing our words before speaking at times, takes loving that other person more than we love ourselves.
And remember this from the song….EVERYONE NEEDS LOVED AND DURING THIS LIFE EVERYONE IS LONGING FOR LOVE, though many say they aren’t….down deep inside EVERYONE IS.
BUT FIRST…LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, MIND AND STRENGTH…and He will give you the desires of your heart. That is the desires that line up with His truths and teachings. His life and His love as an example to us.
Unconditional love is amazing….and we at times say God loves us unconditionally, but I do not find that anywhere written, but it sounds good.
The condition for eternal life…and salvation is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate even today.
The conditions for a good life…lie in again, the teachings and commandments of Jesus. And a truly good life….is not measured by our material success but by our humility and grace, and kindness, and mercy and justice….and LOVE, the greatest gift
december_18_2022_bulletin_4th_advent_love.docx | |
File Size: | 3882 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Little Church in the Pines
December 4, 2022
"The Gift of Peace"
Message by: Connie Funkhouser
An Apprentice of Jesus Christ
Our Journey of Advent continues:
Hope Becomes Peace . . .
The Star of Bethlehem mentioned in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus was the sign that drew those wise seekers to the Savior thousands of years ago. It must have led them over rough routes and smooth routes, through easy passages and routes that appeared difficult, with no way to cross. It remained before them as they undoubtedly encountered friends and fellow travelers as they sat in the company of deceptive and powerful people.
Through all the circumstances and surprises of their journey, the STAR never faltered or failed. It faithfully pointed the way to our Messiah, Jesus, The Prince of Peace.
So together we continue to look for The Light today as we follow the STAR on our Journey of Peace.
I know I am not the only one, that loves our last Hymn – “It Is Well with My Soul.” Written in 1873, this old hymn is loved by many because of its message: “When peace like a river attendeth my way/when sorrow like sea billows roll/whatever my lot/thou hast taught me to say/IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.”
When we think of Peace, we often think of the absence of hardship, trouble, violence, and fear. As the hymn so beautifully captures, this journey of Peace is not immune from those things. In fact, they are central to the story. On this journey we learn that Peace is not the absence of trouble, but rather the PRESENCE OF GOD.
This journey of Peace is certainly an appropriate journey for our world today. Just as the ancient Roman world must have felt during that first Christmas, our world seems full of violence and warfare, and uncertainty. The pressures of our daily lives bombard us at an unparalleled pace. Ours is a world in desperate need of Peace! But, take Hope . . . it is a world where the PRINCE OF PEACE has walked and understood. He has come, and He is present, and He will come again. HIS Peace is available today.
How do you picture that night Jesus was born? So many images and songs focus on a picture of a silent night – a peaceful moment when all was calm and bright. If such a moment occurred on that first Christmas, it was probably a very short-lived moment. Mary gave birth in an animal shelter and it does not sound like it was a 5-Star animal shelter. Soon the shepherds started arriving to visit Mary’s new baby within hours of His un-sanitized birth. And do not forget the company of angels rejoicing and worshipping with abandon. It is no wonder an angel had to tell the shepherds not to be afraid and then assure them they brought a message of peace: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14).
There was noise, hurt, pain, struggle, and fear that first Christmas. And yet there was great joy and deep Peace of the highest order.
Sound familiar? Our journey of Peace is not one separated from the realities of life but a journey of Peace in the midst of life with all the noise and chaos.
Not sure about any of you, but I acknowledge the fact that my life, and maybe yours too, are far from peaceful. But as we let the words of Jesus, “God’s Truth, God’s Promises” wash over us and through us, He brings His calming message to our spirits, our souls.
Jesus brings Peace right into the center of our hurt and frantic striving, He brings the power to cease the noise, calm the storm, and overwhelm our hearts with His renewing sense of perfect Peace. I
The prophet Isaiah’s words reveal something very important about Peace: “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).
Peace is not a feeling or state of being . . . Peace is a Person! Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Throughout Jesus’ life and teaching, we see that Peace comes from the Person of Jesus and the Gift of the Holy Spirit – God’s Presence with us. By sending His Son, God sent Peace into the world. When we abide (obey) with Him, we abide with Peace. And as we abide with Peace, we learn to trust God with the unpeaceful parts of our lives, and we find ourselves transformed within.
This Advent, we are invited to rest in God’s Peace, preparing our hearts for the Prince of Peace to be born. The world cannot give us Peace, nor can we find it in ourselves without the Gift of God’s Grace.
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my {Covenant of Peace} shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10).
God promised us Peace everlasting – Shalom. Shalom is the Hebrew word for Peace, but not a temporary, worldly Peace that is found in between our lives. It is a spiritual peace found in being made whole again. God’s promise is not that we can rest after a project, event, before or after a meeting, or after all the guests leave, but that we are always at Peace, having been reconnected - Reconciled with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God’s Peace gives assurance that all is right in our souls, even if we cannot resolve all the issues affecting us or predict the outcome. Peace is knowing that the Lord of the universe is by our side and resting in that truth. Our Lord and Savior impose no conditions but simply tell us to come to Him as we are, with our sins and problems, and He will give us rest and Peace. God’s Peace provides the assurance that He is still in control.
Peace with God and the Peace of God: The word Peace in the Bible refers to a mental attitude of tranquility based on a personal relationship with God. It is a word that describes the result of a person’s correct response to God’s Grace. Biblical Peace is more than the absence of conflict, it is taking action to restore a broken situation. It is more than a state of inner tranquility; it is a state of wholeness and completeness. Biblical peace is not something we can create on our own, it is a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John14:27-28) This Peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers us completely, from the top of our heads to the souls of our feet. “Your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the Peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to us. [DO NOT BE AFRAID is mentioned in the Bible 365 times – one for every day of the year. Coincidence, I believe not.]
In the midst of all that was happening that first Christmas, we are told “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). On the surface, Mary’s life had not become more peaceful. If anything, life got even crazier with the announcement of her miraculous pregnancy. Through all this, we can look to Mary as a perfect example, she was learning to trust the ONE who was in control. Reflecting on our personal worlds, we can control only so much. When we surrender our control, stop worrying, stop planning, and stop competing – to the Prince of Peace, we can find deep and sincere rest in Him. The inner and outer chaos, the anxiety, noise, and busyness of life may not change, but we can experience Peace because we trust the ONE in control.
As we read the papers, watch the news, and surf the internet, we realize how desperate our world is for peace. Countries are at war, refugees have been displaced, and the violence in our schools, homelessness, and the list goes on. Against this tragic setting, our path may not look much like a journey of Peace even as we look forward to Christmas.
This is where the Peace we experience now can shine the brightest. It may not make sense against the surrounding circumstances, but again the Bible encourages us to draw close to God and rely on Him for His Peace. Maybe this is the paradox of prayer. So often we come to God asking Him to change our circumstances or those around us. Sometimes He does, but most often He changes our hearts and perspectives. As we pour out our hearts and connect with Him, we are able to see a little more as He does, to trust more confidently in His ability to handle things no matter what, and to settle in the Peace of His goodness and His faithfulness – to tap into that sense that it is all going to be okay no matter what, one way or another, because of Who is holding us.
During our Advent Journey, may I encourage you to encounter the Peace of Christ by taking the psalmist’s words to heart, “Be still, and know I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Such stillness can be a precious commodity in this busy holiday season and life in general, but taking a short pause can allow us to breathe deeply and connect with Jesus Himself. Our intimate and deep relationship with our Lord and Savior can fill us with Peace through His Spirit who resides from within.
Do a Peace review each day. Just as coaches and athletes sometimes watch game day videos so they can analyze and improve their skills, imagine Jesus and you 😊 watching a video replay of the previous day. 😊 Yikes! As we reflect on our morning, afternoon, and evening, consider this: In what ways did I experience God’s Peace, and in what ways did I fail to experience God’s Peace when I could have should have?
Peace; God’s peace has either arrived in our hearts or is on the way. Once accepted and unwrapped it makes us peaceful when all-natural reasoning says we should be upset. God gives us the Gift of Peace when we turn to Him in faith. For on that first Christmas, He sent His only Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as the greatest gift of all, the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promise. We all are familiar with Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you Peace.”
If you sacrificed all you had to buy me a priceless and personalized Christmas gift and I never took the time to unwrap and open it, how would you feel? Rightfully, you would be disappointed and hurt at my callous rejection of your generosity. For me, the gift would be worthless and have zero benefits. It is astounding that so many people choose to celebrate Christmas without ever opening their greatest and most expensive Gift. . . and maybe we know of someone that does not know how. If so, we know what to do.
Jesus Christ is God’s Christmas Gift to us, WRAPPED up in Jesus are all the benefits and blessings that we need.
The Gift of Peace, given to us by our Creator ~ Open it, cherish it, and share it.
Please pray with me:
God, thank you that in the midst of the chaos and pain of our lives, You invite us into Your Peace. Help us to abide with the Prince of Peace and to rest in the Peace that comes from trusting in You. Give us the courage to trust You with our lives and with the situations we see in the world around us. Fill us with Your Peace. Keep us in Your Perfect Peace. Let it continually restore us and draw us to You! And let us bring Your Peace into the often-chaotic world around us. COME, LORD, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR PEACE. Amen!
Please join me in keeping Christ in Christmas 😉
December 4, 2022
"The Gift of Peace"
Message by: Connie Funkhouser
An Apprentice of Jesus Christ
Our Journey of Advent continues:
Hope Becomes Peace . . .
The Star of Bethlehem mentioned in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus was the sign that drew those wise seekers to the Savior thousands of years ago. It must have led them over rough routes and smooth routes, through easy passages and routes that appeared difficult, with no way to cross. It remained before them as they undoubtedly encountered friends and fellow travelers as they sat in the company of deceptive and powerful people.
Through all the circumstances and surprises of their journey, the STAR never faltered or failed. It faithfully pointed the way to our Messiah, Jesus, The Prince of Peace.
So together we continue to look for The Light today as we follow the STAR on our Journey of Peace.
I know I am not the only one, that loves our last Hymn – “It Is Well with My Soul.” Written in 1873, this old hymn is loved by many because of its message: “When peace like a river attendeth my way/when sorrow like sea billows roll/whatever my lot/thou hast taught me to say/IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.”
When we think of Peace, we often think of the absence of hardship, trouble, violence, and fear. As the hymn so beautifully captures, this journey of Peace is not immune from those things. In fact, they are central to the story. On this journey we learn that Peace is not the absence of trouble, but rather the PRESENCE OF GOD.
This journey of Peace is certainly an appropriate journey for our world today. Just as the ancient Roman world must have felt during that first Christmas, our world seems full of violence and warfare, and uncertainty. The pressures of our daily lives bombard us at an unparalleled pace. Ours is a world in desperate need of Peace! But, take Hope . . . it is a world where the PRINCE OF PEACE has walked and understood. He has come, and He is present, and He will come again. HIS Peace is available today.
How do you picture that night Jesus was born? So many images and songs focus on a picture of a silent night – a peaceful moment when all was calm and bright. If such a moment occurred on that first Christmas, it was probably a very short-lived moment. Mary gave birth in an animal shelter and it does not sound like it was a 5-Star animal shelter. Soon the shepherds started arriving to visit Mary’s new baby within hours of His un-sanitized birth. And do not forget the company of angels rejoicing and worshipping with abandon. It is no wonder an angel had to tell the shepherds not to be afraid and then assure them they brought a message of peace: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14).
There was noise, hurt, pain, struggle, and fear that first Christmas. And yet there was great joy and deep Peace of the highest order.
Sound familiar? Our journey of Peace is not one separated from the realities of life but a journey of Peace in the midst of life with all the noise and chaos.
Not sure about any of you, but I acknowledge the fact that my life, and maybe yours too, are far from peaceful. But as we let the words of Jesus, “God’s Truth, God’s Promises” wash over us and through us, He brings His calming message to our spirits, our souls.
Jesus brings Peace right into the center of our hurt and frantic striving, He brings the power to cease the noise, calm the storm, and overwhelm our hearts with His renewing sense of perfect Peace. I
The prophet Isaiah’s words reveal something very important about Peace: “For to us a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).
Peace is not a feeling or state of being . . . Peace is a Person! Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Throughout Jesus’ life and teaching, we see that Peace comes from the Person of Jesus and the Gift of the Holy Spirit – God’s Presence with us. By sending His Son, God sent Peace into the world. When we abide (obey) with Him, we abide with Peace. And as we abide with Peace, we learn to trust God with the unpeaceful parts of our lives, and we find ourselves transformed within.
This Advent, we are invited to rest in God’s Peace, preparing our hearts for the Prince of Peace to be born. The world cannot give us Peace, nor can we find it in ourselves without the Gift of God’s Grace.
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my {Covenant of Peace} shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10).
God promised us Peace everlasting – Shalom. Shalom is the Hebrew word for Peace, but not a temporary, worldly Peace that is found in between our lives. It is a spiritual peace found in being made whole again. God’s promise is not that we can rest after a project, event, before or after a meeting, or after all the guests leave, but that we are always at Peace, having been reconnected - Reconciled with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God’s Peace gives assurance that all is right in our souls, even if we cannot resolve all the issues affecting us or predict the outcome. Peace is knowing that the Lord of the universe is by our side and resting in that truth. Our Lord and Savior impose no conditions but simply tell us to come to Him as we are, with our sins and problems, and He will give us rest and Peace. God’s Peace provides the assurance that He is still in control.
Peace with God and the Peace of God: The word Peace in the Bible refers to a mental attitude of tranquility based on a personal relationship with God. It is a word that describes the result of a person’s correct response to God’s Grace. Biblical Peace is more than the absence of conflict, it is taking action to restore a broken situation. It is more than a state of inner tranquility; it is a state of wholeness and completeness. Biblical peace is not something we can create on our own, it is a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John14:27-28) This Peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers us completely, from the top of our heads to the souls of our feet. “Your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the Peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to us. [DO NOT BE AFRAID is mentioned in the Bible 365 times – one for every day of the year. Coincidence, I believe not.]
In the midst of all that was happening that first Christmas, we are told “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). On the surface, Mary’s life had not become more peaceful. If anything, life got even crazier with the announcement of her miraculous pregnancy. Through all this, we can look to Mary as a perfect example, she was learning to trust the ONE who was in control. Reflecting on our personal worlds, we can control only so much. When we surrender our control, stop worrying, stop planning, and stop competing – to the Prince of Peace, we can find deep and sincere rest in Him. The inner and outer chaos, the anxiety, noise, and busyness of life may not change, but we can experience Peace because we trust the ONE in control.
As we read the papers, watch the news, and surf the internet, we realize how desperate our world is for peace. Countries are at war, refugees have been displaced, and the violence in our schools, homelessness, and the list goes on. Against this tragic setting, our path may not look much like a journey of Peace even as we look forward to Christmas.
This is where the Peace we experience now can shine the brightest. It may not make sense against the surrounding circumstances, but again the Bible encourages us to draw close to God and rely on Him for His Peace. Maybe this is the paradox of prayer. So often we come to God asking Him to change our circumstances or those around us. Sometimes He does, but most often He changes our hearts and perspectives. As we pour out our hearts and connect with Him, we are able to see a little more as He does, to trust more confidently in His ability to handle things no matter what, and to settle in the Peace of His goodness and His faithfulness – to tap into that sense that it is all going to be okay no matter what, one way or another, because of Who is holding us.
During our Advent Journey, may I encourage you to encounter the Peace of Christ by taking the psalmist’s words to heart, “Be still, and know I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Such stillness can be a precious commodity in this busy holiday season and life in general, but taking a short pause can allow us to breathe deeply and connect with Jesus Himself. Our intimate and deep relationship with our Lord and Savior can fill us with Peace through His Spirit who resides from within.
Do a Peace review each day. Just as coaches and athletes sometimes watch game day videos so they can analyze and improve their skills, imagine Jesus and you 😊 watching a video replay of the previous day. 😊 Yikes! As we reflect on our morning, afternoon, and evening, consider this: In what ways did I experience God’s Peace, and in what ways did I fail to experience God’s Peace when I could have should have?
Peace; God’s peace has either arrived in our hearts or is on the way. Once accepted and unwrapped it makes us peaceful when all-natural reasoning says we should be upset. God gives us the Gift of Peace when we turn to Him in faith. For on that first Christmas, He sent His only Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as the greatest gift of all, the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promise. We all are familiar with Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you Peace.”
If you sacrificed all you had to buy me a priceless and personalized Christmas gift and I never took the time to unwrap and open it, how would you feel? Rightfully, you would be disappointed and hurt at my callous rejection of your generosity. For me, the gift would be worthless and have zero benefits. It is astounding that so many people choose to celebrate Christmas without ever opening their greatest and most expensive Gift. . . and maybe we know of someone that does not know how. If so, we know what to do.
Jesus Christ is God’s Christmas Gift to us, WRAPPED up in Jesus are all the benefits and blessings that we need.
The Gift of Peace, given to us by our Creator ~ Open it, cherish it, and share it.
Please pray with me:
God, thank you that in the midst of the chaos and pain of our lives, You invite us into Your Peace. Help us to abide with the Prince of Peace and to rest in the Peace that comes from trusting in You. Give us the courage to trust You with our lives and with the situations we see in the world around us. Fill us with Your Peace. Keep us in Your Perfect Peace. Let it continually restore us and draw us to You! And let us bring Your Peace into the often-chaotic world around us. COME, LORD, JESUS, YOU ARE OUR PEACE. Amen!
Please join me in keeping Christ in Christmas 😉
December 4, 2022 Bulletin | |
File Size: | 138 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The Little Church in the Pines
November 27, 2022
Thanks-living with Thanks-Giving
Tom Shanor, Pastor
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will in Christ Jesus for you.
Pandemic 2020, and until now, has filled and changed our lives to the extent we will know only as time goes forward. As for now, the news continues to be filled with rumors, divisions, strife, anger, suspicion, with the result bringing out both the good and ugly in people. Paranoia reigns even now amidst all of this and more. It is time for you and I…to set aside rumors, conspiracies, irrational, emotional responses, and pray more, seek God more, along with His Wisdom. It is our role to be examples to others.
As Christians, these words of Paul’s should resonate in us through it all. “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Our joy, our prayers, and our thankfulness often fluctuates with our circumstances, and that is only normal. I have heard and experienced myself, and know examples of ordinary people, who through their belief/faith, came through extremely difficult and even extraordinary circumstances, managing to be and do all three of these. Being thankful, prayerful and some, even joyful. Doing so goes against our natural reactions, but, when we make a conscious decision, a choice to do what God in Christ tells us to, it is always for our benefit and well-being, both for the benefit of ourselves and others. In being obedient to the truths of Jesus’ teaching however, we can then begin to see not only our circumstances more from His perspective, but those of other people and yes, ourselves in difficult circumstances with a new perspective. A spiritual perspective that affects our natural ones. Not that we are our every should be joyful
in the suffering of others or our own….but joyful in that God knows our pain, our fears, our hopes and even dreams, but how to avoid circumstances such as we sometimes find ourselves in, we often can’t as it is the way this world works, (for now), and our attitude through it all, will often influence and even determine the outcome.
A well-known stress researcher named Hans Seyle, claims though his research results, that two attitudes. more than any others influence the quality of our everyday lives, and on those two emotions depends our peace of mind, and our feelings of security or insecurity. Of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the way we make our way through our daily life.
The most destructive emotion is revenge, but in contrast, deep contrast, among ALL emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence of stress in human relations; and that is the choice, accompanied by feelings of gratitude, thankfulness and thanks-giving, looking for those things that we have to be thankful for. At times it may seem, and will be a fact that our difficulties circumstances seem to outweigh the good. The death of someone we love, a divorce, an estranged child or even friend.
If we control (and we can through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit) control the emotion behind the feelings, and take them captive as we are also told to, take every negative thought captive to the obedience of Jesus…and give them over to Him, trusting Him with everything we are and have, trusting Him…that in time all things will work together for good. Taking captive those ponderous emotions….and even starting with something small that indeed we are grateful for….is a great first beginning. Even a small thing such as this, will allow us then to the take the next step, find the next thing to be grateful for, and in time, continuing to do this….in a short amount of time, you will begin to feel lighter, casting all your emotional, mental and even physical burdens on Jesus for then you will sense the burden becoming lighter…for as in this picture, it shows how it works.
Victor Frankl, a researcher who studies the history of the Nazi death-camps, discovered through the writings of many of the Jewish prisoners to be uplifting, where they spoke of taking the time
to be thankful…. and to count their blessings. He wrote that these prisoners dreamed at night about a certain set of things more than other things, and those things were from the everyday, ordinary common things in their lives prior to their imprisonment. Warm read with melting butter, cakes, warm baths, their own beds, these dreams manifested and carried over into their then daily horrible lives feelings of comfort and relationships, giving them the ability to not only make it through the day but believe that in time their circumstances would get better. HOPE carried them through, those who made it.
Frankl said that the prisoners appreciated beauty in the ordinary as never before. In one especially poignant paragraph he wrote: “if someone had seen our faces on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp, as we beheld the mountains of Salzburg,” no one would have believed our faces were those of men and women who had given up all hope of life and liberty. Despite this, or maybe because of it, we were carried away by the natural beauty we were beholding which we had missed for such an exceedingly long time.”
~ In the devotional “Springs in the Valley” the author tells of men who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He found that the seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. “And where is that? Asked the man. Satan replied in anger, “In the heart of a grateful person!
In everything give thanks,
In everything give thanks,
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus,
Concerning you…..
1st Thessalonians 5:18 (again)
~ Please note that this verse does not say for everything but in everything.
~ To give Him thanks, in the midst of PERHAPS a very real and difficult situation you are living every day, shows that you are reaching out and up, simply saying and asking….God, I need you now, perhaps more or equal to (though different) any situation I have ever been through. I may not understand, but that is because my understanding is limited and finite, and Yours Jesus, is being able to see the beginning to the finish. Infinite! Open my heart Lord, that I might see the good, see the road ahead paved with Your Grace, Mercy and Love.
~ Living this life that we have been given comes with risks, daily risks both great and small. Since the fall of mankind, sin and its consequences have pervaded mankind and the world, yet not overwhelmed the earth and all that is on it, and will not! In my opinion, it has broken down the walls of purity that once had been established in the beginning, and the results were and are Illness, disease, disagreements, wars, pollution and as you know, so much more. The unexpected can and will continue to happen and as a result, often painful and distressful…..sometimes even to the point of death events occur. That is the reality we live in and with.
~ In my understanding and opinion, God does not point His finger at you and say, “I am giving you cancer, or cause the death of a child, or instigate a divorce, or I am going to cause you to be in a deadly accident. Or, I am going to bring about this hurricane, killing both the innocent and guilty together because of Gay marriage, or any number of social changes. That is not the God I have come to know these past 77 years. That is life in its sometimes-stark reality. Bad things happen to “so-called good people,” and good things happen to “so-called bad people.” But what He does do….is allow (for now) the earth and all who inhabit it to live in and under the consequences of how the natural world functions since the Fall of mankind….but one day, one fine day, all that will change.
~ For…as in those of the past, and the circumstances of today, as difficult and even awful as they may be….He desires that we call on Him in those, so that He, being invited by us to walk with us through these circumstances, and we, then know in our spirit and
soul that we do not walk alone. That His strength can be our strength, His wisdom our wisdom, His patience our patience and so much more.
~ We can join with Him, and with others of like-mindedness in prayer, giving thanks for what we do have, and where we have been, that brought us to where we are today. Together, when we suffer sorrow, together we can find comfort and even a measure of Joy. The literal touch of His hand…through one another’s hands.
~ If we start our day with the Lord in an attitude of giving thanks our day will be so much better, in every way……like-giving thanks for what we call the ordinary…of which many people do not have. A warm bed, food in the cupboards, heat, clothing to keep us dry and warm, bathrooms, showers, friends and family to interact with, perhaps a job (especially today) or even retirement that allows us to live as we do. ….how about the magnitude of medical facilities and physicians, nurses, etc. A place where mountains, forests, lakes and wildlife all come together in one area in which we can find joy during anytime of the year.
~ We…are blessed!
With the holiday THANKSGIVING arriving this Thursday, may we count the blessings we have, name then one by one, count the many blessings, see that God has done.
Last year I spoke on the Puritans, their circumstances, what caused them to sell everything they owned and crammed themselves on the Mayflower….to start a new colony of religious freedom in a new world…the courage, the manifest destiny of them doing so, and the costs. Remarkable….
This year with so many changes….and we know that the only constant in the Universe is change…we simply, and I mean simply need to trust God in all and everything, all the time. Love one another, take care of each other, encourage one another,
There are and have been so many changes socially, politically, financially, relationally, and some of them dramatically….without JESUS we might begin to lose hope, but as long as we KNOW that
God is on our side….and He is, we have MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
~ Though I do not know the circumstances of your lives, I do know some things that for some of you are very difficult and your heart aches. Please, instead of continual worry, offer up words of thanksgiving and words of prayer, trusting that all things will work together for the good for you.
As we all are aware….this coming Friday
have. Fear could be what we move and live and have our being in….but instead, using of course caution and common sense, we can move in thankfulness, joy and prayer. Loving, supporting and encouraging one another in the Lord every day and during this time of uncertainty.
~ Please….as you leave today, leave with a grateful heart.
~ In finishing this message this morning, I am going to ask us to sing this song,
GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now,
Let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
BENEDICTION
November 27, 2022
Thanks-living with Thanks-Giving
Tom Shanor, Pastor
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will in Christ Jesus for you.
Pandemic 2020, and until now, has filled and changed our lives to the extent we will know only as time goes forward. As for now, the news continues to be filled with rumors, divisions, strife, anger, suspicion, with the result bringing out both the good and ugly in people. Paranoia reigns even now amidst all of this and more. It is time for you and I…to set aside rumors, conspiracies, irrational, emotional responses, and pray more, seek God more, along with His Wisdom. It is our role to be examples to others.
As Christians, these words of Paul’s should resonate in us through it all. “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Our joy, our prayers, and our thankfulness often fluctuates with our circumstances, and that is only normal. I have heard and experienced myself, and know examples of ordinary people, who through their belief/faith, came through extremely difficult and even extraordinary circumstances, managing to be and do all three of these. Being thankful, prayerful and some, even joyful. Doing so goes against our natural reactions, but, when we make a conscious decision, a choice to do what God in Christ tells us to, it is always for our benefit and well-being, both for the benefit of ourselves and others. In being obedient to the truths of Jesus’ teaching however, we can then begin to see not only our circumstances more from His perspective, but those of other people and yes, ourselves in difficult circumstances with a new perspective. A spiritual perspective that affects our natural ones. Not that we are our every should be joyful
in the suffering of others or our own….but joyful in that God knows our pain, our fears, our hopes and even dreams, but how to avoid circumstances such as we sometimes find ourselves in, we often can’t as it is the way this world works, (for now), and our attitude through it all, will often influence and even determine the outcome.
A well-known stress researcher named Hans Seyle, claims though his research results, that two attitudes. more than any others influence the quality of our everyday lives, and on those two emotions depends our peace of mind, and our feelings of security or insecurity. Of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the way we make our way through our daily life.
The most destructive emotion is revenge, but in contrast, deep contrast, among ALL emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence of stress in human relations; and that is the choice, accompanied by feelings of gratitude, thankfulness and thanks-giving, looking for those things that we have to be thankful for. At times it may seem, and will be a fact that our difficulties circumstances seem to outweigh the good. The death of someone we love, a divorce, an estranged child or even friend.
If we control (and we can through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit) control the emotion behind the feelings, and take them captive as we are also told to, take every negative thought captive to the obedience of Jesus…and give them over to Him, trusting Him with everything we are and have, trusting Him…that in time all things will work together for good. Taking captive those ponderous emotions….and even starting with something small that indeed we are grateful for….is a great first beginning. Even a small thing such as this, will allow us then to the take the next step, find the next thing to be grateful for, and in time, continuing to do this….in a short amount of time, you will begin to feel lighter, casting all your emotional, mental and even physical burdens on Jesus for then you will sense the burden becoming lighter…for as in this picture, it shows how it works.
Victor Frankl, a researcher who studies the history of the Nazi death-camps, discovered through the writings of many of the Jewish prisoners to be uplifting, where they spoke of taking the time
to be thankful…. and to count their blessings. He wrote that these prisoners dreamed at night about a certain set of things more than other things, and those things were from the everyday, ordinary common things in their lives prior to their imprisonment. Warm read with melting butter, cakes, warm baths, their own beds, these dreams manifested and carried over into their then daily horrible lives feelings of comfort and relationships, giving them the ability to not only make it through the day but believe that in time their circumstances would get better. HOPE carried them through, those who made it.
Frankl said that the prisoners appreciated beauty in the ordinary as never before. In one especially poignant paragraph he wrote: “if someone had seen our faces on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp, as we beheld the mountains of Salzburg,” no one would have believed our faces were those of men and women who had given up all hope of life and liberty. Despite this, or maybe because of it, we were carried away by the natural beauty we were beholding which we had missed for such an exceedingly long time.”
~ In the devotional “Springs in the Valley” the author tells of men who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He found that the seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. “And where is that? Asked the man. Satan replied in anger, “In the heart of a grateful person!
In everything give thanks,
In everything give thanks,
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus,
Concerning you…..
1st Thessalonians 5:18 (again)
~ Please note that this verse does not say for everything but in everything.
~ To give Him thanks, in the midst of PERHAPS a very real and difficult situation you are living every day, shows that you are reaching out and up, simply saying and asking….God, I need you now, perhaps more or equal to (though different) any situation I have ever been through. I may not understand, but that is because my understanding is limited and finite, and Yours Jesus, is being able to see the beginning to the finish. Infinite! Open my heart Lord, that I might see the good, see the road ahead paved with Your Grace, Mercy and Love.
~ Living this life that we have been given comes with risks, daily risks both great and small. Since the fall of mankind, sin and its consequences have pervaded mankind and the world, yet not overwhelmed the earth and all that is on it, and will not! In my opinion, it has broken down the walls of purity that once had been established in the beginning, and the results were and are Illness, disease, disagreements, wars, pollution and as you know, so much more. The unexpected can and will continue to happen and as a result, often painful and distressful…..sometimes even to the point of death events occur. That is the reality we live in and with.
~ In my understanding and opinion, God does not point His finger at you and say, “I am giving you cancer, or cause the death of a child, or instigate a divorce, or I am going to cause you to be in a deadly accident. Or, I am going to bring about this hurricane, killing both the innocent and guilty together because of Gay marriage, or any number of social changes. That is not the God I have come to know these past 77 years. That is life in its sometimes-stark reality. Bad things happen to “so-called good people,” and good things happen to “so-called bad people.” But what He does do….is allow (for now) the earth and all who inhabit it to live in and under the consequences of how the natural world functions since the Fall of mankind….but one day, one fine day, all that will change.
~ For…as in those of the past, and the circumstances of today, as difficult and even awful as they may be….He desires that we call on Him in those, so that He, being invited by us to walk with us through these circumstances, and we, then know in our spirit and
soul that we do not walk alone. That His strength can be our strength, His wisdom our wisdom, His patience our patience and so much more.
~ We can join with Him, and with others of like-mindedness in prayer, giving thanks for what we do have, and where we have been, that brought us to where we are today. Together, when we suffer sorrow, together we can find comfort and even a measure of Joy. The literal touch of His hand…through one another’s hands.
~ If we start our day with the Lord in an attitude of giving thanks our day will be so much better, in every way……like-giving thanks for what we call the ordinary…of which many people do not have. A warm bed, food in the cupboards, heat, clothing to keep us dry and warm, bathrooms, showers, friends and family to interact with, perhaps a job (especially today) or even retirement that allows us to live as we do. ….how about the magnitude of medical facilities and physicians, nurses, etc. A place where mountains, forests, lakes and wildlife all come together in one area in which we can find joy during anytime of the year.
~ We…are blessed!
With the holiday THANKSGIVING arriving this Thursday, may we count the blessings we have, name then one by one, count the many blessings, see that God has done.
Last year I spoke on the Puritans, their circumstances, what caused them to sell everything they owned and crammed themselves on the Mayflower….to start a new colony of religious freedom in a new world…the courage, the manifest destiny of them doing so, and the costs. Remarkable….
This year with so many changes….and we know that the only constant in the Universe is change…we simply, and I mean simply need to trust God in all and everything, all the time. Love one another, take care of each other, encourage one another,
There are and have been so many changes socially, politically, financially, relationally, and some of them dramatically….without JESUS we might begin to lose hope, but as long as we KNOW that
God is on our side….and He is, we have MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
~ Though I do not know the circumstances of your lives, I do know some things that for some of you are very difficult and your heart aches. Please, instead of continual worry, offer up words of thanksgiving and words of prayer, trusting that all things will work together for the good for you.
As we all are aware….this coming Friday
have. Fear could be what we move and live and have our being in….but instead, using of course caution and common sense, we can move in thankfulness, joy and prayer. Loving, supporting and encouraging one another in the Lord every day and during this time of uncertainty.
~ Please….as you leave today, leave with a grateful heart.
~ In finishing this message this morning, I am going to ask us to sing this song,
GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now,
Let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
BENEDICTION
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 13, 2022
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Genesis 1:26
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
HOW ARE WE LIKE GOD while BEING MERE HUMAN BEINGS, and BEING COMPLETELY HUMAN?
Even the thought that we can become a God with all our weaknesses and fallibility is both outrageously egotistical and ignorant.
My hope and goal this morning, is for us to see ourselves as the title says, how we are like God….and to see God as our original, and singular source of existence, therefore our inspiration as to how to live. Without Him we would not be. Our ancestors did not rise out of gas and slime but we were made in the image of our Creator. Creation existed before us, so why in all this vastness, this planet that as I said last week, the mere fact that it exists is one in 700 Quadrillion. There are fifteen zeros in one quadrillion, and in 700 Quadrillion there are ten thousand five hundred zeros.
We know we exist because …we see, hear, feels, think, (most of the time) and we know by experience as those who came before us have died, that our time here is but for a short while. There are some people, in trying to comprehend, understand and grasp the enormity of this topic…this world, life, its meaning, our meaning, who have literally lost their minds, or have sunk into hopeless
despair unable to make sense of all of it. Without God…there is no future so we may as well, eat, drink and do whatever we want, for tomorrow we die. Tomorrow being a allegory of course, but you understand.
Let’s start now. with the Scripture that I read that underscores this topic. And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness!”
The Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim. El is the singular form. “Elohim” refers to ‘three or more’ Thus, the very word “God” in Hebrew speaks of the Trinity. This is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith/religion, and one which makes complete spiritual sense and yet for many is so very difficult to comprehend, for there is an element of Christianity that does not believe in the Trinity.
In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I received a call on the church phone from someone who wanted to know if I believed in the Trinity, then went on to say I was not only wrong but heretical and proceeded rather strongly to point out my error. I could tell that no matter what I said…I was going to be WRONG…and he was determined rather vociferously and self-righteously to point out where and how he could disprove it. The conversations didn’t last too long. He was more interested in speaking His opinion than listening to my response.
Well, you see, we too, are triune beings. We are 1. Body 2. Soul and 3. Spirit
The body refers to our physical being.
2.The soul refers to our mind. Emotions and personality, and because of these giving us relational and social skills, we can relate to the world around us and each other.
3.The spirit refers to our eternal being and enables us to believe in, communicate with and worship God. Animals have bodies and souls. But, they do not have spirits, because they are not made in God’s image, in their likeness.
“So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”…..meaning sustain your existence from it and, (this is amazing) assist God in taking it back from God’s enemy and ours, as we in time would come to understand….united with Christ and God’s Holy Spirit the part we are to play in His grand plan.
We know we do not resemble God physically….for John 4:24 says, “God is sprit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
My take on us being like God, supports the idea that God endowed humans with a certain kind of awareness, one which animals and other created beings were not given. We possess the capacity (God given) to live moral lives, by reason, purpose, planning, language, individual personality, creating community, and to live far beyond just obtaining food and shelter.
Morality and purpose apart from survival is distinctly human, and with this comes something I have spoken of recently….that God created us in as evidenced by all people groups in the world, a desire, no need to subject ourselves to a Being whom we give reverence and adulation to. It is that place created by God that generates and drives us to seek God, for in doing so it also gives us the meaning for our existence. God is purpose driven….as are we. This too is how we are like God.
All our experiences mean something, as they are a tool by which we grow in knowledge, wisdom, deeper purpose and understanding. We see and understand beauty, we see the consequences of wrong choices both in the environment and in our souls, mind and bodies, having the reasoning ability to (if we are smart) to not make those choices again, and correct if possible the results of such.
Here is the bottom line…..we are unique among all of creation.
We call Him Father. Father can refer to a metaphorical being who is considered to be the founder or Creator of all that exists.
Morality and purpose solely apart from God could not exist. Jehovah God…a unique name as revealed in the Bible (Exodus
3:15) and comes from a Hebrew verb that means “to become” and a number of scholars suggest that the name literally means “He Caused to Become.” This definition well fits Jehovah’s role as the Creator and the Fufiller of His purpose, giving us insight to know the Person behind the name Jehovah, especially His dominant quality….LOVE.
As an offshoot of direction I am going to address a bit of science and scientists, most who believe we have evolved and our closest living relatives are Chimpanzees. I certainly am not boing to clarify or argue with science because I do not have the knowledge, education or wisdom to do so, but I do have as I spoke of not so long ago, quoting a Biblical version of thinking….using reason, facts and Scripture….in conjunction with scientific facts.
Chimpanzees are often incorrectly put in the monkey family….but they are according to DNA in the Great Ape family, and according to science..so are we. The other Great Ape is the Gorilla.
There is only one species of human being alive…homo Sapiens. In the past many scientists tried to argue that there were several species of humans, and would often hasten to add that they themselves belonged to the “superior species.” That sounds like human beings. : )
This may give you some things to think about. It is often said that humans and Chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA, but it is now stated it is somewhere between 85 and 95 %. What that does show us is that we have a common environmental and creation factor. DNA is in every living thing on earth….as an example, we have about half the same DNA as a banana, so once again that simply shows we of the same creation.
Humans have some of the least genetic variations of all species…which is why inbreeding can cause genetic problems. Now this is amazing…..”two completely unrelated humans, regardless of race are genetically more similar than two sibling chimpanzees. X2
All DNA originates from God….therefore His signature DNA is in everything that exists, from the mite to the mighty.
WE humans are most like God…but indeed can never become a god, for it is not in our DNA.
Psalm 9:20 …..The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
Psalm 8:5…..What is human being, that you take thought of them, for You have made them “a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”
Psalm 89:47a…..Remember, how short their lives are.
1 Corinthians 2:13a….”When we tell you these things, (concerning God, Creation and Jesus) we do not use words that come from human wisdom.”
Being human and being given by God free will, and following the fall of man….each of us carries within us the capacity for both great good and great evil. Events close by and around the world tells us this. Great depth of love and deep hatred.
Amazing creativity and horrifying destruction. In our medical field we go to great lengths to save a life….and so easily destroy the life of an innocent in the womb. We are a dichotomy….which is where we differ greatly from God as show to us in His Son.
What truly sets us apart this morning from all other living beings is our God-given call to seek and to connect with our God through Jesus Christ…and the wisdom and strength to learn and abide in what it means to be a friend of God. The ability to come together to accomplish collectively what we cannot alone, but only if our heart, soul and spirit are united in Jesus Christ.
Forsake not the assemblying together….be of one mind….worship the Lord in the Spirit of holiness.
Being a mere human is easy because that is what we are…but being a human filled with the Presence and Spirit of God…now then, we will be a force to be reckoned with, for if God is for us who can be against us.
We have the capacity to be like God…but not God-like. There is a vast difference.
I spoke last week on one of my favorite virtues….KINDNESS, where one gesture of that virtue extended can make a huge difference the both the giver of that kindness and the receiver….and it is the same for all seven of them To be like God….all seven of those can a should be a part of our God-given DNA.
A tree cannot produce both good and bad fruit….a tree planted beside the still waters of Grace…nourished by the Spirit of God within us….in being like God, the origin of all good things…we must exhibit these in our quest to be like His Son.
LOVE is number 1.
From that love will flow Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.
As mere human beings….with God in our lives….can accomplish great and wonderful things…..IF ONLY….WE DESIRE TO BE ‘LIKE HIM”
Humble thyself in the sight of the lord…
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord…
And He will lift you up…higher and higher
And He will lift you up…
Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In choosing to do these, you will be fully the human being created by God for His good works, and for the betterment of yourself, and those whom you encounter every day of your lives.
You are made in the image and likeness of God….show it.
It is just that simple…..and pure.
God Bless You…Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 13, 2022
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Genesis 1:26
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
HOW ARE WE LIKE GOD while BEING MERE HUMAN BEINGS, and BEING COMPLETELY HUMAN?
Even the thought that we can become a God with all our weaknesses and fallibility is both outrageously egotistical and ignorant.
My hope and goal this morning, is for us to see ourselves as the title says, how we are like God….and to see God as our original, and singular source of existence, therefore our inspiration as to how to live. Without Him we would not be. Our ancestors did not rise out of gas and slime but we were made in the image of our Creator. Creation existed before us, so why in all this vastness, this planet that as I said last week, the mere fact that it exists is one in 700 Quadrillion. There are fifteen zeros in one quadrillion, and in 700 Quadrillion there are ten thousand five hundred zeros.
We know we exist because …we see, hear, feels, think, (most of the time) and we know by experience as those who came before us have died, that our time here is but for a short while. There are some people, in trying to comprehend, understand and grasp the enormity of this topic…this world, life, its meaning, our meaning, who have literally lost their minds, or have sunk into hopeless
despair unable to make sense of all of it. Without God…there is no future so we may as well, eat, drink and do whatever we want, for tomorrow we die. Tomorrow being a allegory of course, but you understand.
Let’s start now. with the Scripture that I read that underscores this topic. And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness!”
The Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim. El is the singular form. “Elohim” refers to ‘three or more’ Thus, the very word “God” in Hebrew speaks of the Trinity. This is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith/religion, and one which makes complete spiritual sense and yet for many is so very difficult to comprehend, for there is an element of Christianity that does not believe in the Trinity.
In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I received a call on the church phone from someone who wanted to know if I believed in the Trinity, then went on to say I was not only wrong but heretical and proceeded rather strongly to point out my error. I could tell that no matter what I said…I was going to be WRONG…and he was determined rather vociferously and self-righteously to point out where and how he could disprove it. The conversations didn’t last too long. He was more interested in speaking His opinion than listening to my response.
Well, you see, we too, are triune beings. We are 1. Body 2. Soul and 3. Spirit
The body refers to our physical being.
2.The soul refers to our mind. Emotions and personality, and because of these giving us relational and social skills, we can relate to the world around us and each other.
3.The spirit refers to our eternal being and enables us to believe in, communicate with and worship God. Animals have bodies and souls. But, they do not have spirits, because they are not made in God’s image, in their likeness.
“So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”…..meaning sustain your existence from it and, (this is amazing) assist God in taking it back from God’s enemy and ours, as we in time would come to understand….united with Christ and God’s Holy Spirit the part we are to play in His grand plan.
We know we do not resemble God physically….for John 4:24 says, “God is sprit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
My take on us being like God, supports the idea that God endowed humans with a certain kind of awareness, one which animals and other created beings were not given. We possess the capacity (God given) to live moral lives, by reason, purpose, planning, language, individual personality, creating community, and to live far beyond just obtaining food and shelter.
Morality and purpose apart from survival is distinctly human, and with this comes something I have spoken of recently….that God created us in as evidenced by all people groups in the world, a desire, no need to subject ourselves to a Being whom we give reverence and adulation to. It is that place created by God that generates and drives us to seek God, for in doing so it also gives us the meaning for our existence. God is purpose driven….as are we. This too is how we are like God.
All our experiences mean something, as they are a tool by which we grow in knowledge, wisdom, deeper purpose and understanding. We see and understand beauty, we see the consequences of wrong choices both in the environment and in our souls, mind and bodies, having the reasoning ability to (if we are smart) to not make those choices again, and correct if possible the results of such.
Here is the bottom line…..we are unique among all of creation.
We call Him Father. Father can refer to a metaphorical being who is considered to be the founder or Creator of all that exists.
Morality and purpose solely apart from God could not exist. Jehovah God…a unique name as revealed in the Bible (Exodus
3:15) and comes from a Hebrew verb that means “to become” and a number of scholars suggest that the name literally means “He Caused to Become.” This definition well fits Jehovah’s role as the Creator and the Fufiller of His purpose, giving us insight to know the Person behind the name Jehovah, especially His dominant quality….LOVE.
As an offshoot of direction I am going to address a bit of science and scientists, most who believe we have evolved and our closest living relatives are Chimpanzees. I certainly am not boing to clarify or argue with science because I do not have the knowledge, education or wisdom to do so, but I do have as I spoke of not so long ago, quoting a Biblical version of thinking….using reason, facts and Scripture….in conjunction with scientific facts.
Chimpanzees are often incorrectly put in the monkey family….but they are according to DNA in the Great Ape family, and according to science..so are we. The other Great Ape is the Gorilla.
There is only one species of human being alive…homo Sapiens. In the past many scientists tried to argue that there were several species of humans, and would often hasten to add that they themselves belonged to the “superior species.” That sounds like human beings. : )
This may give you some things to think about. It is often said that humans and Chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA, but it is now stated it is somewhere between 85 and 95 %. What that does show us is that we have a common environmental and creation factor. DNA is in every living thing on earth….as an example, we have about half the same DNA as a banana, so once again that simply shows we of the same creation.
Humans have some of the least genetic variations of all species…which is why inbreeding can cause genetic problems. Now this is amazing…..”two completely unrelated humans, regardless of race are genetically more similar than two sibling chimpanzees. X2
All DNA originates from God….therefore His signature DNA is in everything that exists, from the mite to the mighty.
WE humans are most like God…but indeed can never become a god, for it is not in our DNA.
Psalm 9:20 …..The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
Psalm 8:5…..What is human being, that you take thought of them, for You have made them “a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”
Psalm 89:47a…..Remember, how short their lives are.
1 Corinthians 2:13a….”When we tell you these things, (concerning God, Creation and Jesus) we do not use words that come from human wisdom.”
Being human and being given by God free will, and following the fall of man….each of us carries within us the capacity for both great good and great evil. Events close by and around the world tells us this. Great depth of love and deep hatred.
Amazing creativity and horrifying destruction. In our medical field we go to great lengths to save a life….and so easily destroy the life of an innocent in the womb. We are a dichotomy….which is where we differ greatly from God as show to us in His Son.
What truly sets us apart this morning from all other living beings is our God-given call to seek and to connect with our God through Jesus Christ…and the wisdom and strength to learn and abide in what it means to be a friend of God. The ability to come together to accomplish collectively what we cannot alone, but only if our heart, soul and spirit are united in Jesus Christ.
Forsake not the assemblying together….be of one mind….worship the Lord in the Spirit of holiness.
Being a mere human is easy because that is what we are…but being a human filled with the Presence and Spirit of God…now then, we will be a force to be reckoned with, for if God is for us who can be against us.
We have the capacity to be like God…but not God-like. There is a vast difference.
I spoke last week on one of my favorite virtues….KINDNESS, where one gesture of that virtue extended can make a huge difference the both the giver of that kindness and the receiver….and it is the same for all seven of them To be like God….all seven of those can a should be a part of our God-given DNA.
A tree cannot produce both good and bad fruit….a tree planted beside the still waters of Grace…nourished by the Spirit of God within us….in being like God, the origin of all good things…we must exhibit these in our quest to be like His Son.
LOVE is number 1.
From that love will flow Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.
As mere human beings….with God in our lives….can accomplish great and wonderful things…..IF ONLY….WE DESIRE TO BE ‘LIKE HIM”
Humble thyself in the sight of the lord…
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord…
And He will lift you up…higher and higher
And He will lift you up…
Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In choosing to do these, you will be fully the human being created by God for His good works, and for the betterment of yourself, and those whom you encounter every day of your lives.
You are made in the image and likeness of God….show it.
It is just that simple…..and pure.
God Bless You…Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
October 9, 2022
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
Tom Shanor, Pastor
Sermon
“In Jesus Name”
Matthew 1:21 (KJV)
And she will bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.
John 16:24b
Ask, using My name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant JOY.”
There are a half dozen Scriptures stating mostly the same thing with little variation. The NAME OF JESUS the CHRIST is the most recognized name in the world today. His name to this day carries great import and power. Many love Him by His name and many then and today hate the name of JESUS, as we hear all too often.
I had a rather odd experience in the Trout Hunter last week. A young woman (waitress) I got to know through our Old Men’s Breakfast at the Lake Side Lodge, her no longer there, was pregnant last time I saw her. She now has of course this beautiful little boy about a year and a half old.
She came up to me, asking in a sweet and gentle manner if I would consider baptizing this little one, come Spring in the river. We talked and agreed to stay in touch. About two minutes later, she was talking to a friend who asked her a question. Her answer, quite
forcefully and loudly was JESUS CHRIST…. are you crazy. The disconnection absolutely floored me.
I have to say…. I cringe every time I head the name of JESUS used as a exclamatory swear word.
So…after that illustration….. what is in a name? I’m going to spend a bit of time explaining from several different viewpoints and cultures, coming then back to the Nome of JESUS, and the value and importance attributed to His name.
I am going to throw in here this little word of wisdom. When life starts crowding in on you….circumstances are pushing down on you…and you feel your knees starting to buckle whether literally or metaphorically, so this, which is something I do myself, first, with my lips moving, and quietly begin to simply say the name of JESUS….and as soon as I do that, my soul, spirit, mind and body immediately begin to find His calming Presence…finding at first a small measure of peace….and then it deepens as I continue to say His Name slowly, deeply and repetitively.
A beautiful name…a name that carries with it love, power and meaning, applicable in any and all disruptive situations. Try it yourself and you will find what I say here is true.
So, what’s in a name?
Everything we are, publicly and privately. It, whether, as in Tom, which is shared by many others, still identifies me. Put together my face with my name and who knows what thoughts are going to arise….and which will differ of course, depending on the individual.
Some good perhaps, and some not so good.
As is the case in most people, we have a first, middle and last name, sometimes more. At times there may be a title such as pastor, doctor, nurse, lawyer, etc…. that may be in front of the our name or after our name depending on how it is used. This title also further identifies us more specifically.
Now…then there is our family name. Carpenter as an example…. originally, most like an ancestor was a carpenter, and
became attached not only to the carpenter, then his sons, etc., finally landing as their last name, hence their root name.
My last name is Shanor…originally spelled Schoe’ner, its root being both Jewish (Yiddish) and German….and comes from the Biblical word Shinar…. from the Babylonian Empire…where there lies “a beautiful, level plain”…which is what Shinar means….but also, it has been adapted to mean the wonderful taste of Shiner beer.
All of your last names in particular has a unique and most likely interesting root…even Jones and Smith.
In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east, (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names are thought to be extremely powerful and act in some ways as a separate manifestation of a person or even deity. This *viewpoint, is responsible for the reluctance to use the proper name of God…in Hebrew writing or even speech. Yahweh in Hebrew is the proper name of God, not to be taken lightly, or spoken flippantly for fear of what might happen in showing disrespect to God the Almighty!
In Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of JESUS, even though he was not a follower of Jesus, (having seen the disciples casting out demons in JESUS name) he decided to try it…and it worked! The disciples got very upset about this and wanted to come against this man…and Jesus told them not to, saying “anyone who is for us, is not against us!” Hence…the power in His name…used by a stranger, had the power in and of itself, to be effective in the ministry of this stranger.
In specifically a Catholic exorcism, it is believed that in order for a demon to be cast out (referring to the illustration of Jesus casting out the demons in the man at the graveyard, whose name was Legion, because there were so many in possession of him, causing them to go into a herd of pigs that we are told ran en-mass into a lake and drowned, as illustrated here can only happen once the demon is identified by name. Now…most likely there are some here who do not believe in demons, but by not believing we are
diminishing the Person and Name of Jesus, and to a measure His ministry. As I stated I think just last week, I have both seen and heard the voices of more than one. Along with this methodology having personally used it. It works….in the name of JESUS.
Also, we find some places in the Bible, where names have been changed to more significantly apply to, and describe the new person and their new identity.
A few examples: Solomon name means peace, and the Solomon was the only king in Israel whose reign was completely without war.
Abram and is wife Sari were renamed by God to Abraham and Sarah, at the institution or establishing of the Abrahamic covenant. (Genesis 17:4 and 15. Simon was renamed Peter by Jesus when he was given the “Keys to Heaven, and when Saul’s name was changed to Paul after His personal and dynamic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Jesus, as I read earlier, was given His name by God Himself, spoken through the visitation…. JESUS, which is pronounced correctly as we speak it….but also ‘hay-SOOS,’ Hebrew in origin and its translated meaning being,” THE LORD OF SALVATION.”
It is also short of Joshua, from the Hebrew name Jehoshua, which is derived from Jehovah or Yeshua. All having to do with salvation. All applicable to the name of Jesus…and because of its root, you can understand the accumulated power that came with it.
There are many TITLE names given or ascribed to Jesus throughout Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, and I am doing to tell you what some of them are.
ALMIGHTY ONE, “Who is and was and who is to come.” Rev. 1:8
Here is the applicable life lesson as Christians for us in all of this….as it comes down to one thing.
Since we are most likely known in part by our faith…. we either enhance our name by our words and behavior, or we detract and possibly demean our name….and therefore the name of JESUS also, since we represent Him to all those who know us by our name, our faith, our words and in general our lives.
Live up to the WONDERFUL name of JESUS…and in lifting Him up, we in turn…are lifted up.
Now…to close this message/sermon…we are going to listen to a music video…. written and performed by Hillsong…. titled,
“WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME”
October 9, 2022
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
Tom Shanor, Pastor
Sermon
“In Jesus Name”
Matthew 1:21 (KJV)
And she will bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.
John 16:24b
Ask, using My name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant JOY.”
There are a half dozen Scriptures stating mostly the same thing with little variation. The NAME OF JESUS the CHRIST is the most recognized name in the world today. His name to this day carries great import and power. Many love Him by His name and many then and today hate the name of JESUS, as we hear all too often.
I had a rather odd experience in the Trout Hunter last week. A young woman (waitress) I got to know through our Old Men’s Breakfast at the Lake Side Lodge, her no longer there, was pregnant last time I saw her. She now has of course this beautiful little boy about a year and a half old.
She came up to me, asking in a sweet and gentle manner if I would consider baptizing this little one, come Spring in the river. We talked and agreed to stay in touch. About two minutes later, she was talking to a friend who asked her a question. Her answer, quite
forcefully and loudly was JESUS CHRIST…. are you crazy. The disconnection absolutely floored me.
I have to say…. I cringe every time I head the name of JESUS used as a exclamatory swear word.
So…after that illustration….. what is in a name? I’m going to spend a bit of time explaining from several different viewpoints and cultures, coming then back to the Nome of JESUS, and the value and importance attributed to His name.
I am going to throw in here this little word of wisdom. When life starts crowding in on you….circumstances are pushing down on you…and you feel your knees starting to buckle whether literally or metaphorically, so this, which is something I do myself, first, with my lips moving, and quietly begin to simply say the name of JESUS….and as soon as I do that, my soul, spirit, mind and body immediately begin to find His calming Presence…finding at first a small measure of peace….and then it deepens as I continue to say His Name slowly, deeply and repetitively.
A beautiful name…a name that carries with it love, power and meaning, applicable in any and all disruptive situations. Try it yourself and you will find what I say here is true.
So, what’s in a name?
Everything we are, publicly and privately. It, whether, as in Tom, which is shared by many others, still identifies me. Put together my face with my name and who knows what thoughts are going to arise….and which will differ of course, depending on the individual.
Some good perhaps, and some not so good.
As is the case in most people, we have a first, middle and last name, sometimes more. At times there may be a title such as pastor, doctor, nurse, lawyer, etc…. that may be in front of the our name or after our name depending on how it is used. This title also further identifies us more specifically.
Now…then there is our family name. Carpenter as an example…. originally, most like an ancestor was a carpenter, and
became attached not only to the carpenter, then his sons, etc., finally landing as their last name, hence their root name.
My last name is Shanor…originally spelled Schoe’ner, its root being both Jewish (Yiddish) and German….and comes from the Biblical word Shinar…. from the Babylonian Empire…where there lies “a beautiful, level plain”…which is what Shinar means….but also, it has been adapted to mean the wonderful taste of Shiner beer.
All of your last names in particular has a unique and most likely interesting root…even Jones and Smith.
In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east, (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names are thought to be extremely powerful and act in some ways as a separate manifestation of a person or even deity. This *viewpoint, is responsible for the reluctance to use the proper name of God…in Hebrew writing or even speech. Yahweh in Hebrew is the proper name of God, not to be taken lightly, or spoken flippantly for fear of what might happen in showing disrespect to God the Almighty!
In Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of JESUS, even though he was not a follower of Jesus, (having seen the disciples casting out demons in JESUS name) he decided to try it…and it worked! The disciples got very upset about this and wanted to come against this man…and Jesus told them not to, saying “anyone who is for us, is not against us!” Hence…the power in His name…used by a stranger, had the power in and of itself, to be effective in the ministry of this stranger.
In specifically a Catholic exorcism, it is believed that in order for a demon to be cast out (referring to the illustration of Jesus casting out the demons in the man at the graveyard, whose name was Legion, because there were so many in possession of him, causing them to go into a herd of pigs that we are told ran en-mass into a lake and drowned, as illustrated here can only happen once the demon is identified by name. Now…most likely there are some here who do not believe in demons, but by not believing we are
diminishing the Person and Name of Jesus, and to a measure His ministry. As I stated I think just last week, I have both seen and heard the voices of more than one. Along with this methodology having personally used it. It works….in the name of JESUS.
Also, we find some places in the Bible, where names have been changed to more significantly apply to, and describe the new person and their new identity.
A few examples: Solomon name means peace, and the Solomon was the only king in Israel whose reign was completely without war.
Abram and is wife Sari were renamed by God to Abraham and Sarah, at the institution or establishing of the Abrahamic covenant. (Genesis 17:4 and 15. Simon was renamed Peter by Jesus when he was given the “Keys to Heaven, and when Saul’s name was changed to Paul after His personal and dynamic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Jesus, as I read earlier, was given His name by God Himself, spoken through the visitation…. JESUS, which is pronounced correctly as we speak it….but also ‘hay-SOOS,’ Hebrew in origin and its translated meaning being,” THE LORD OF SALVATION.”
It is also short of Joshua, from the Hebrew name Jehoshua, which is derived from Jehovah or Yeshua. All having to do with salvation. All applicable to the name of Jesus…and because of its root, you can understand the accumulated power that came with it.
There are many TITLE names given or ascribed to Jesus throughout Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, and I am doing to tell you what some of them are.
ALMIGHTY ONE, “Who is and was and who is to come.” Rev. 1:8
Here is the applicable life lesson as Christians for us in all of this….as it comes down to one thing.
Since we are most likely known in part by our faith…. we either enhance our name by our words and behavior, or we detract and possibly demean our name….and therefore the name of JESUS also, since we represent Him to all those who know us by our name, our faith, our words and in general our lives.
Live up to the WONDERFUL name of JESUS…and in lifting Him up, we in turn…are lifted up.
Now…to close this message/sermon…we are going to listen to a music video…. written and performed by Hillsong…. titled,
“WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME”
october_9_2022_bulletin.docx | |
File Size: | 1377 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The Little Church in the Pines
JESUS V
GOD ON HIS KNEES
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
August 4, 2022
John 9:12,
Jesus said, “I am the LIGHT of the world. The who follow Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the LIGHT OF LIFE.”
This was said about Jesus by Yale historian Jeroslave Pelikan who wrote, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about Him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost 20 centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of the name of Jesus Christ, how much would be left?”
It turns out that the life of Jesus is a comet with an exceedingly long tail. Here are some of the shards of His impact that most often surprise people.
Jesus said…Let the little children come to Me. Such as there make up the kingdom of heaven…and we are to be like them in innocence and love.
In the ancient world children were routinely left to die of exposure-especially if they were the wrong gender (you can guess which was the wrong one) also they were then as they are still today in some countries, sold into slavery, married at a very young age to old men…. and all too often sold as sex slaves.
Jesus’ treatment of and view of children led to the forbidding of these practices in our Western Culture….
A Norwegian scholar whose last name was Bakke, wrote a study of this impact, simply title: “When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity.”
NLT of Matthew 19:14, Jesus said to His disciples who were working at keeping the children at bay…” Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.”
Understanding this leads us into what I believe is one of the most important and easiest behavior to adopt……aspect of Jesus’ character, and that would be and is KINDNESS…
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
As we know, sometimes that’s easier said than done! Certain things, people and events pop up in life than test our patience and alter our mood, sometimes drastically. We may have a strained relationship with a family member, a church family member, a co-worker, neighbor or even a friend who at any moment can trigger us into the negative.
Showing KINDNESS takes a desire to do so…and learning why it is important…. then applying it in, if possible, all situations.
To some people it just seems to come naturally, but to others of us…well, you know.
There were times when Jesus showed the opposite of kindness, but…remembering His reasons…one being in the case of confrontation with the religious leaders, kindness was seen by them as a weakness to be taken advantage of. JESUS, in confronting them, sometimes harshly, was His attempt to get their attention as to the state of their own hard hearts, and to show them their religion as they lived It, was impossible for the ordinary man and woman, and to understand the harshness of the lives most of these people led, and therefore, to have compassion and show kindness.
We too need to be reminded, that showing kindness toward one another benefits everybody. It’s all about channeling the Love of
God in Jesus to those immediately around us, every day, in every way that we can.
Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on the, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
If being kind does not come easy to us…. Jesus examples and His teachings, are there to show us who believe in and follow Him, as His disciples….to show us the way. As in all things that are difficult and need to be changed within us…. we must first see the need for change, and then the desire to change. Without those it will be impossible.
Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay you for your good deed.”
Bottom Line…. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Humility
Perhaps the most important character quality or VIRTUE of JESUS in setting the examples He did was HUMILITY.
VIRTUE, is a morally positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good.
HUMILITY, is little understood and because of that, practiced all too little. It’s importance in both our spiritual and secular sides of life if followed, would improve not only our own lives, but the lives of those we interact with every day.
There is a song that uses these words…. “Humble thyself in the sight of the LORD, and HE will lift you up…. higher and higher, and He will life you up. From James 4:10
We spend far too much time attempting to lift ourselves up higher and higher, so others will think highly of us, when, if we
take the road of humility and were lifted up by Him, it would be a genuine and authentic lifting by the LORD Himself.
We love and look for the praises of others all too much, counting on them to cause us to FEEL SMART, TALENTED, WORTHWHILE…OF VALUE, often because in ourselves, down deep inside we don’t FEEL it…and all the while it is the inner man and woman we need to be nurturing and paying close attention to what we are feeding ourselves with.
The best and simplest way to describe humility is “to put others before our selves” just as JESUS did. This does not mean we don’t count or work towards being successful in whatever choices we make.
It simply means we do not over-indulge ourselves, while letting others do without the basics of life…a life worth living.
1. Housing
2. Food
3. Clothing
4. Clean water
Would you not think that JESUS would also want these things for all people?
Many churches have stepped up to help those less fortunate…. & God will look with favor upon them.
2nd Chronicles 7:14“and My people who ae called by My name who humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, (narcissism included) then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
Augustine said, “If you ask me, what is the first precept of the Christian religion? I will answer; first, second and third, HUMILITY.” There is to be no place for pride in our religion or our personal faith. All that we are, all that we have, and all that we desire to be, should be grounded in Jesus Christ alone, given to us as a free gift…. WE DID NOT AND CANNOT EARN IT!
I would be neglectful if I did not address this next word in regard to HUMILIYY, and that word is PRIDE.
Philippians 2:8 to finish HUMILITY first.
“and being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.”
PRIDE….in one’s ability to follow all the rules, ordinances, etc. (the spiritual dos and don’ts that some religions and even churches deem necessary…to make them FEEL HOLY and pridefully better than those who don’t…. have thereby sinned in the process of LOOKING and SOUNDING holy.
This is why we do good works…. Mark 9:41, For truly I say to you, (this is Jesus speaking) whoever gives someone a cup of water to drink because they belong to Christ will by no means lose His or her reward.” MOTIVATION behind what we do is everything.” BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM….AND GOD HAS PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME ACTS OF SERVANTHOOD FOR US TO DO….and will present them to us in our everyday lives.
It is only by honoring God above all else, and humbling ourselves by thanking Him for using us to help others, and by doing so help build His Kingdom on earth…and by doing so, find favor in His sight…as we follow in the footsteps of JESUS!
THIS NEXT EXAMPLE CHURCH…IS TO ME THE EPITOME, THE TOP OF THE SCALE IN HUMILITY…. THE OPPOSITE OF PRIDE, AS EXAMPLED BY WHAT JESUS DID ON THE NIGHT IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAYED, found in John, Chapter 23.
“so, He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin…. (Can you imagine the consternation and questions flooding the minds of those gathered there, “what is going on, what is Jesus going to do?” and He got to His knees (this is God Himself in His Son” for when you see the Son, you see the Father.” And began to wash the disciples’ feet, not only washing, but drying them with the towel from around His waist.
I have always been in awe of this singular action of love, …. this profound show of HUMILITY…. even more than any miracle He brought in all His ministry…. ON HIS KNEES…washing the smelliest, dirtiest members of their bodies….and in doing so, fully and completely exampling for all of us…the true meaning of lack of pride and example of HUMILITY.
IF PRIDE DRIVES US OR OUR CHURCH…. WE HAVE MISSED THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY…THE HEART OF JESUS AND THE FATHER…. the meaning of our lives.
HUMBLE THYSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND He will lift you up…higher and higher, and he will lift you up.
Amen
Obviously…Jesus loves you…. every one of you.
Can you say amen to that………….
JESUS V
GOD ON HIS KNEES
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
August 4, 2022
John 9:12,
Jesus said, “I am the LIGHT of the world. The who follow Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the LIGHT OF LIFE.”
This was said about Jesus by Yale historian Jeroslave Pelikan who wrote, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about Him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost 20 centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of the name of Jesus Christ, how much would be left?”
It turns out that the life of Jesus is a comet with an exceedingly long tail. Here are some of the shards of His impact that most often surprise people.
Jesus said…Let the little children come to Me. Such as there make up the kingdom of heaven…and we are to be like them in innocence and love.
In the ancient world children were routinely left to die of exposure-especially if they were the wrong gender (you can guess which was the wrong one) also they were then as they are still today in some countries, sold into slavery, married at a very young age to old men…. and all too often sold as sex slaves.
Jesus’ treatment of and view of children led to the forbidding of these practices in our Western Culture….
A Norwegian scholar whose last name was Bakke, wrote a study of this impact, simply title: “When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity.”
NLT of Matthew 19:14, Jesus said to His disciples who were working at keeping the children at bay…” Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.”
Understanding this leads us into what I believe is one of the most important and easiest behavior to adopt……aspect of Jesus’ character, and that would be and is KINDNESS…
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
As we know, sometimes that’s easier said than done! Certain things, people and events pop up in life than test our patience and alter our mood, sometimes drastically. We may have a strained relationship with a family member, a church family member, a co-worker, neighbor or even a friend who at any moment can trigger us into the negative.
Showing KINDNESS takes a desire to do so…and learning why it is important…. then applying it in, if possible, all situations.
To some people it just seems to come naturally, but to others of us…well, you know.
There were times when Jesus showed the opposite of kindness, but…remembering His reasons…one being in the case of confrontation with the religious leaders, kindness was seen by them as a weakness to be taken advantage of. JESUS, in confronting them, sometimes harshly, was His attempt to get their attention as to the state of their own hard hearts, and to show them their religion as they lived It, was impossible for the ordinary man and woman, and to understand the harshness of the lives most of these people led, and therefore, to have compassion and show kindness.
We too need to be reminded, that showing kindness toward one another benefits everybody. It’s all about channeling the Love of
God in Jesus to those immediately around us, every day, in every way that we can.
Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on the, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
If being kind does not come easy to us…. Jesus examples and His teachings, are there to show us who believe in and follow Him, as His disciples….to show us the way. As in all things that are difficult and need to be changed within us…. we must first see the need for change, and then the desire to change. Without those it will be impossible.
Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay you for your good deed.”
Bottom Line…. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Humility
Perhaps the most important character quality or VIRTUE of JESUS in setting the examples He did was HUMILITY.
VIRTUE, is a morally positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good.
HUMILITY, is little understood and because of that, practiced all too little. It’s importance in both our spiritual and secular sides of life if followed, would improve not only our own lives, but the lives of those we interact with every day.
There is a song that uses these words…. “Humble thyself in the sight of the LORD, and HE will lift you up…. higher and higher, and He will life you up. From James 4:10
We spend far too much time attempting to lift ourselves up higher and higher, so others will think highly of us, when, if we
take the road of humility and were lifted up by Him, it would be a genuine and authentic lifting by the LORD Himself.
We love and look for the praises of others all too much, counting on them to cause us to FEEL SMART, TALENTED, WORTHWHILE…OF VALUE, often because in ourselves, down deep inside we don’t FEEL it…and all the while it is the inner man and woman we need to be nurturing and paying close attention to what we are feeding ourselves with.
The best and simplest way to describe humility is “to put others before our selves” just as JESUS did. This does not mean we don’t count or work towards being successful in whatever choices we make.
It simply means we do not over-indulge ourselves, while letting others do without the basics of life…a life worth living.
1. Housing
2. Food
3. Clothing
4. Clean water
Would you not think that JESUS would also want these things for all people?
Many churches have stepped up to help those less fortunate…. & God will look with favor upon them.
2nd Chronicles 7:14“and My people who ae called by My name who humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, (narcissism included) then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
Augustine said, “If you ask me, what is the first precept of the Christian religion? I will answer; first, second and third, HUMILITY.” There is to be no place for pride in our religion or our personal faith. All that we are, all that we have, and all that we desire to be, should be grounded in Jesus Christ alone, given to us as a free gift…. WE DID NOT AND CANNOT EARN IT!
I would be neglectful if I did not address this next word in regard to HUMILIYY, and that word is PRIDE.
Philippians 2:8 to finish HUMILITY first.
“and being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.”
PRIDE….in one’s ability to follow all the rules, ordinances, etc. (the spiritual dos and don’ts that some religions and even churches deem necessary…to make them FEEL HOLY and pridefully better than those who don’t…. have thereby sinned in the process of LOOKING and SOUNDING holy.
This is why we do good works…. Mark 9:41, For truly I say to you, (this is Jesus speaking) whoever gives someone a cup of water to drink because they belong to Christ will by no means lose His or her reward.” MOTIVATION behind what we do is everything.” BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM….AND GOD HAS PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME ACTS OF SERVANTHOOD FOR US TO DO….and will present them to us in our everyday lives.
It is only by honoring God above all else, and humbling ourselves by thanking Him for using us to help others, and by doing so help build His Kingdom on earth…and by doing so, find favor in His sight…as we follow in the footsteps of JESUS!
THIS NEXT EXAMPLE CHURCH…IS TO ME THE EPITOME, THE TOP OF THE SCALE IN HUMILITY…. THE OPPOSITE OF PRIDE, AS EXAMPLED BY WHAT JESUS DID ON THE NIGHT IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAYED, found in John, Chapter 23.
“so, He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin…. (Can you imagine the consternation and questions flooding the minds of those gathered there, “what is going on, what is Jesus going to do?” and He got to His knees (this is God Himself in His Son” for when you see the Son, you see the Father.” And began to wash the disciples’ feet, not only washing, but drying them with the towel from around His waist.
I have always been in awe of this singular action of love, …. this profound show of HUMILITY…. even more than any miracle He brought in all His ministry…. ON HIS KNEES…washing the smelliest, dirtiest members of their bodies….and in doing so, fully and completely exampling for all of us…the true meaning of lack of pride and example of HUMILITY.
IF PRIDE DRIVES US OR OUR CHURCH…. WE HAVE MISSED THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY…THE HEART OF JESUS AND THE FATHER…. the meaning of our lives.
HUMBLE THYSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND He will lift you up…higher and higher, and he will lift you up.
Amen
Obviously…Jesus loves you…. every one of you.
Can you say amen to that………….
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
July 24, 2022
~ <> ~
“GOD IS IN PURSUIT OF YOU”
& All who will humble themselves
2nd Chronicles 7: 14
“If My people who are called by my name and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their land.”
My reason for this sermon is to clarify the scope of God’s pursuit of you and I, through His Son Jesus Christ. The depth of His love is shown through Jesus, in His freewill choice to become a living sacrifice, that we might through His birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection be made acceptable to God, and adopted into the very family of God. Having given us this great gift, proves that He pursues and will pursue us to the ends of the earth while we still have breath. If not at that point we turn and say yes Lord, yes. It is then too late…our fate is sealed.
A poem was written by poet Francis Thompson of London England. Francis was a Catholic mystic. At the request of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left his career and home to pursue his talent as a writer and poet. His success was moderate until 1893 when he published a poem titled “The Hound of Heaven.” 182-line poem that had an impact on most of the Christian world at that time, highly regarded and influencing deeply J.R.R. Tolkien, himself a writer, who wrote and published
The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and more.
Of the 182 lines in The Hound of Heaven, I will read but 20. It is written in Middle English Vocabulary….and therefore somewhat difficult to grasp….but for 20 lines, I think you will understand the heart of what Thompson has written.
Again….to show the world the scope and depth of God’s pursuit of you and I.
READ THE 20 LINES….
Besides this I researched Scripture that parallels this poem, seeking to find and highlight a few verses to share with you.
** Psalm 139:1-18 (READ) Please listen closely.
When I read those words, I am moved by the absolute wonder of God, the awe and majesty of the Work of His Hands in creating us., you and I, and not only us…..but the Universe, the Galaxy we are a small infinite part of…CREATION…where at this moment, we and universe itself is traveling outward at the rate of 67,000 miles per hour.
Even at this stage in life…aging…my heart continues to beat, my eyes continue to see, my mind continues to think, my mouth to speak and my ears to hear….albeit now with the help of hearing aids.
God created the MITE and the MIGHTY…AND ALL IN BETWEEN, and the inner-workings and outer workings of each is beyond wonder….think about it…you, I, are unique in all the world…a small but amazing thing…7 Billion, 937 million, 081 thousand and 566 people…and not one duplicate in finger prints. Incredible.
HOW MARVELOUS ARE THY WORKS AND WONDERS O GOD AND LORD!
And Yet….HE PURSUES US….ARE WE WATCHING, LISTENING as we hear in our hearts minds and circumstances…His footfalls behind us.
Hebrews 13:5b reads, “For He Himself has said, “I..will never leave you or abandon you.” As He pursues us so relentlessly, He will most certainly NOT abandon us, unless up to the end of our lives, we choose to say NO, and it will Not be Him who abandons us, but we Him…by turning our so called intellectual, doubt-filled backs on Him.
One of the things that drives us….is, our quest to understand life and what it is all for/about? The most fundamental question ever asked by mankind….is there more beyond here and now? The answer is found in God…and that answer is YES, if you will allow that special place created by Him in your mind and heart be permitted to respond in faith…to YES LORD, YES.
During these brief Scripture quotes what you will hear is a love story. The Love and pursuit of God for all people…as all people are people created by God.
Jesus Christ brought to us the miracle of inclusion into the family of God, as we read in Galatians 3:28, “ For you are ALL children of God through faith in Christ Jesus,. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothing. There is not longer Jew nor Gentile, slave or free, male or female….for, YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS!
The details that God tracks us with are as I read I will isolate and read again….as they pertain to our everyday lives.
1. You know me when I sit down and when I stand up.
2. You know what I am thinking.
(Now that one is one I don’t want at time anyone to know, and especially God.)
3. You see me when I am traveling…and resting
4. You KNOW everything I do…everything.
5. You know what I am going to say before I say it.
6. Where can we go to hide from God…nowhere.
God knows…we are told….and yet, He, does not reject us. The parable of the Prodigal son, as I mentioned last week…tells the complete story of who He is.
He desires we be…all we were created to be…fully, especially who we can be in Him…and we are still ALL in the process of becoming….our choices are vitally important in this journey.
Difficulties and even tragedies at times wash up on our shore and touches us all….yet in the midst of the storms we can take refuge in the knowledge of His love for us. An illustration would be the peace in the eye of a hurricane, while the winds and rain completely surround that one place of calm.
In verse 5….of the Psalm….”You go before me…and, as (the Hound of Heaven) you follow after me. All of these things again, are too wonderful for me to understand….as David further says, “I can NEVER escape from Your Presence,” though we certainly do try to sometimes…and even at times fool ourselves into thinking we can. We can’t.
The entire Bible, in all its drama, stories and even the parable of Jesus, are about God’s pursuit of a relationship….a relationship that is both give and take with we mere human beings. Incredible.
God is as creative as He is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel to feed them in the desert is the same one that set them free from Egypt, but also to captivity in Babylon, doing what needs to be done to get our attention…that He is indeed pursuing us, be it in one specific thing or in everything.
Both kind and stern, tender and tough, faithfully fir, patiently urgent, eagerly tolerant, softly shouting, gently thundering. “I WANT YOU” I NEED YOU TO SEE THIS” “I WANT YOU TO DO
THIS, HEAR THIS….but Never FORCING, ALWAYS ENCOURGING.
Jesus said….”I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE” that gives life. “I AM the Light of the World. “I AM” the resurrection and the life.” I AM THE DOOR. “I AM, the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
Honest questions we are free to ask…there is nothing He can’t handle….and He will never stop His work in us….this Hound of Heaven.
He will whisper and He will shout. He will take away our burdens, and even take away our blessings. If there is a thousand steps between us and God…He will take 999, but leave the last one for us to take….for that final step IS OURS, and that one is THE ONE WHERE WE TURN AROUND TOWARD HIM AND STEP INTO HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARMS.
A Capella…..a song from the Charismatic Movement Days….
God will make a way…where there seems to be no way.
He words in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me,
He will be my guide….hold me closely to His side,
With love and strength for each new day,
He will make a way….He will make a way,
By a roadway in the wilderness, You lead me,
Rivers in the desert I will see…
Heaven and earth will fade…but His Love will still remain,
And He will do something new today…..For you!
What do YOU want out of your faith….our of your personal relationship with God and His Son?
Amen
Island Park, Idaho
July 24, 2022
~ <> ~
“GOD IS IN PURSUIT OF YOU”
& All who will humble themselves
2nd Chronicles 7: 14
“If My people who are called by my name and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their land.”
My reason for this sermon is to clarify the scope of God’s pursuit of you and I, through His Son Jesus Christ. The depth of His love is shown through Jesus, in His freewill choice to become a living sacrifice, that we might through His birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection be made acceptable to God, and adopted into the very family of God. Having given us this great gift, proves that He pursues and will pursue us to the ends of the earth while we still have breath. If not at that point we turn and say yes Lord, yes. It is then too late…our fate is sealed.
A poem was written by poet Francis Thompson of London England. Francis was a Catholic mystic. At the request of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left his career and home to pursue his talent as a writer and poet. His success was moderate until 1893 when he published a poem titled “The Hound of Heaven.” 182-line poem that had an impact on most of the Christian world at that time, highly regarded and influencing deeply J.R.R. Tolkien, himself a writer, who wrote and published
The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and more.
Of the 182 lines in The Hound of Heaven, I will read but 20. It is written in Middle English Vocabulary….and therefore somewhat difficult to grasp….but for 20 lines, I think you will understand the heart of what Thompson has written.
Again….to show the world the scope and depth of God’s pursuit of you and I.
READ THE 20 LINES….
Besides this I researched Scripture that parallels this poem, seeking to find and highlight a few verses to share with you.
** Psalm 139:1-18 (READ) Please listen closely.
When I read those words, I am moved by the absolute wonder of God, the awe and majesty of the Work of His Hands in creating us., you and I, and not only us…..but the Universe, the Galaxy we are a small infinite part of…CREATION…where at this moment, we and universe itself is traveling outward at the rate of 67,000 miles per hour.
Even at this stage in life…aging…my heart continues to beat, my eyes continue to see, my mind continues to think, my mouth to speak and my ears to hear….albeit now with the help of hearing aids.
God created the MITE and the MIGHTY…AND ALL IN BETWEEN, and the inner-workings and outer workings of each is beyond wonder….think about it…you, I, are unique in all the world…a small but amazing thing…7 Billion, 937 million, 081 thousand and 566 people…and not one duplicate in finger prints. Incredible.
HOW MARVELOUS ARE THY WORKS AND WONDERS O GOD AND LORD!
And Yet….HE PURSUES US….ARE WE WATCHING, LISTENING as we hear in our hearts minds and circumstances…His footfalls behind us.
Hebrews 13:5b reads, “For He Himself has said, “I..will never leave you or abandon you.” As He pursues us so relentlessly, He will most certainly NOT abandon us, unless up to the end of our lives, we choose to say NO, and it will Not be Him who abandons us, but we Him…by turning our so called intellectual, doubt-filled backs on Him.
One of the things that drives us….is, our quest to understand life and what it is all for/about? The most fundamental question ever asked by mankind….is there more beyond here and now? The answer is found in God…and that answer is YES, if you will allow that special place created by Him in your mind and heart be permitted to respond in faith…to YES LORD, YES.
During these brief Scripture quotes what you will hear is a love story. The Love and pursuit of God for all people…as all people are people created by God.
Jesus Christ brought to us the miracle of inclusion into the family of God, as we read in Galatians 3:28, “ For you are ALL children of God through faith in Christ Jesus,. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothing. There is not longer Jew nor Gentile, slave or free, male or female….for, YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS!
The details that God tracks us with are as I read I will isolate and read again….as they pertain to our everyday lives.
1. You know me when I sit down and when I stand up.
2. You know what I am thinking.
(Now that one is one I don’t want at time anyone to know, and especially God.)
3. You see me when I am traveling…and resting
4. You KNOW everything I do…everything.
5. You know what I am going to say before I say it.
6. Where can we go to hide from God…nowhere.
God knows…we are told….and yet, He, does not reject us. The parable of the Prodigal son, as I mentioned last week…tells the complete story of who He is.
He desires we be…all we were created to be…fully, especially who we can be in Him…and we are still ALL in the process of becoming….our choices are vitally important in this journey.
Difficulties and even tragedies at times wash up on our shore and touches us all….yet in the midst of the storms we can take refuge in the knowledge of His love for us. An illustration would be the peace in the eye of a hurricane, while the winds and rain completely surround that one place of calm.
In verse 5….of the Psalm….”You go before me…and, as (the Hound of Heaven) you follow after me. All of these things again, are too wonderful for me to understand….as David further says, “I can NEVER escape from Your Presence,” though we certainly do try to sometimes…and even at times fool ourselves into thinking we can. We can’t.
The entire Bible, in all its drama, stories and even the parable of Jesus, are about God’s pursuit of a relationship….a relationship that is both give and take with we mere human beings. Incredible.
God is as creative as He is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel to feed them in the desert is the same one that set them free from Egypt, but also to captivity in Babylon, doing what needs to be done to get our attention…that He is indeed pursuing us, be it in one specific thing or in everything.
Both kind and stern, tender and tough, faithfully fir, patiently urgent, eagerly tolerant, softly shouting, gently thundering. “I WANT YOU” I NEED YOU TO SEE THIS” “I WANT YOU TO DO
THIS, HEAR THIS….but Never FORCING, ALWAYS ENCOURGING.
Jesus said….”I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE” that gives life. “I AM the Light of the World. “I AM” the resurrection and the life.” I AM THE DOOR. “I AM, the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
Honest questions we are free to ask…there is nothing He can’t handle….and He will never stop His work in us….this Hound of Heaven.
He will whisper and He will shout. He will take away our burdens, and even take away our blessings. If there is a thousand steps between us and God…He will take 999, but leave the last one for us to take….for that final step IS OURS, and that one is THE ONE WHERE WE TURN AROUND TOWARD HIM AND STEP INTO HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARMS.
A Capella…..a song from the Charismatic Movement Days….
God will make a way…where there seems to be no way.
He words in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me,
He will be my guide….hold me closely to His side,
With love and strength for each new day,
He will make a way….He will make a way,
By a roadway in the wilderness, You lead me,
Rivers in the desert I will see…
Heaven and earth will fade…but His Love will still remain,
And He will do something new today…..For you!
What do YOU want out of your faith….our of your personal relationship with God and His Son?
Amen
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File Size: | 358 kb |
File Type: | docx |
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
Island Park Idaho
July 24, 2022
GUILT ~ HOW NOT TO HAVE IT & HOW TO GET RID OF IT ONCE YOU HAVE IT
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 32
“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed are those to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
John 3:20
“Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings!”
Guilt
The word guilt….is NOT in the New Testament….only SEVEN times in the Old Testament. Now the word GUILTY is the Old Testament only one time, but four times in the New. With the two words combined that is a total of 12 times out of the 783,137 total words in the King James Version of today’s Bible.
So you know how detail oriented the Scribes were in making copies of Holy Scripture…..and to me this is paramount as to comparing the Dead Seas Scrolls as one example of accuracy to the Old Testament we have today.
The scribes would take one chapter at a time that they knew to be completely accurate by number of course every chapter, every paragraph, every word and also every letter.
IF…in comparing what they had completed let’s say in a Chapter, and found one number out of sync, just one of the thousands of numbers compared to, they would burn what they had just finished and start over again. That is why the Dead Sea Scrolls verified the Old Testament as we know it today, finding very, very few differences.
Now onto guilt and guilty.
There has been an enormous impact on Christianity in the church and in the lives of individuals using these two words. Both when understood and used correctly in conjunction with our conscience influenced by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can be very beneficial. When used incorrectly as a means of control and wrongly inflicted by both men and women…. can, and has caused GREAT HARM, again, to both the church and individuals.
My desire today is to bring us to a deeper understanding of the intent of guilt as I said in the sermon title…how to get rid of it once embraced, either correctly or incorrectly, and to tell the difference between the two.
GUILT is defined as an emotion which is cognitive, and an experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes accurately, or NOT – that they have compromised our known biblical endorsed standards of conduct or have violated a universally accepted moral standard……and bearing the significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is also closely related to again, the feeling of remorse.
Keep in your mind….our God given conscience, the written word and the significance of the still small voice of the Spirit speaking to our conscience.
WE all KNOW, unless we are a sociopath or psychopath know what we know is acceptable and not acceptable. We can compromise that level of knowledge and even quiet that still small voice by the choices we make to choose the wrong.
Guilt, especially those of us who had or have inward struggles that seem to beset us on a daily basis, for most of our lives…..know the consequences all to well…..when we make wrong choices….GUILT! Sometimes overwhelming guilt having pronounced ourselves guilty…..not even needing someone else to do so for us.
On occasion I submit to these words Jesus spoke to me and speaks to you. “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28….sometimes it works and other times the battle is bigger than that.
Churches…yes, churches especially churches, usually beginning with the Minister….if again, seeking control, not ministering to…but control, establishing rules and regulations…..that often exceeded, as an example the religious leaders of Jesus’ day…adding laws on top of laws to control people by making themselves (the leaders) stand out from the crowd of the everyday people…acting all holy and righteous while inside being full of dead men’s bones. Jesus words. Guilt…wrongfully imposed is deadly and spirit killing.
Conscience, conscience, conscience…a gift from God to keep us on the narrow pathway to salvation and eternal life.
My own pathway in my twenties, experimenting with LSD, Marijuana, other drugs…. going on my own Magical Mystery Tour…Transcendental Meditation, Astrology, Numerology…..reading Steppenwolf, Carlos Castanneda, Carly Jung, Freud, Siddhartha….etc. etc. but all I found was more confusion and drugs that easily could have taken my life by the choices I was making. Yet, in my mind I could not quiet that still small voice…. that kept saying….there is only one way Tom….and it’s Me, Jesus. I knew the truth down deep in my soul and in my spirit…. but it took years to come out of the deceptions of that darkness and into His marvelous light of freedom….no reason to be beset by the guilt I carried over my choices….but yet….He never let me go….never forsook me, but like the Prodigal son’s day…waited and watched patiently…until I got out of the pig pen…and started my journey home.
That guilt was a healthy guilt…. a God given guilt that was tied to real and not imagined sin/choices. Jesus Christ is always ready…. when we finally say yes, to open His arms, so that the moment we turn around….there He is, arms open, waiting for us to run into them…home. He was for me and is for you.
That which we have to realize…is, that indeed we are all sinners, guilty of wrong thoughts, sometimes erroneous statements….and hurtful deeds, by way of words we say to people…and sometimes physical. We need to learn tact…for tact is keeping inside the unsaid part of what you think. We are too
loose often with our judgement and criticisms…causing sometimes along with guilt…shame. Shame on us.
Noel Coward, the famous playwright, pulled an interesting prank, so to speak, on twenty of the most famous men he knew in London. The anonymous note read simply. “Everybody has found out what you are doing. If I were you I would leave town as quickly as you can.
As the story goes…. all twenty men literally and actually left town.
What if you opened your mail one day and found such a note? What would race through your mind. Would shame or guilt along with fear coming surging to the surface of your mind?
Guilt is the dread of the past…a pain that wells up within our heart because we committed or thought we committed some offense, or failed to do something right we could have done and didn’t. Some of those things we carry around for years…some to our deaths. It can be crippling….and prevent us from having a full and rich life. We work overtime trying to prove to God and man that though they, man, does not know….God does…..trying to prove to God that we truly are repentant, using our good deeds to make a way above it all when in fact….all we need to do….once….in true repentance….ask for forgiveness and step into the enveloping, loving arms of Jesus….and He will take those and place in us….His GIFT OF LOVING GRACE….never more to remember that sin, that deed…as far as the east is from the west….and yet, we hesitate to take that step of grace…because we think we don’t deserve it…..and we don’t. That is why it is a free GIFT…. LOVE, ACCEPTANCE AND FORGIVENESS.
When Christ sets us free…we are free, free indeed.
David…. committed murder and adultery….and in Psalm 32…..he writes. “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear, and in repentance, he found his release from that guilt was sweet…like honey.
1. As in his case like ours….and in AA…and other recovery groups, individuals ADMIT both their struggle and guilt that came from the results of their choices…that washed over not only themselves…but others dear to them.
2. Confront the guilt…if indeed it is justifiable guilt, and you will know if it is or isn’t.
Example…My name is Tom…and I have sinned against God by sinning against myself and my family…..Genuine guilt is genuinely good. False guilt imposed by others and lies…and control can be discerned and prayed away.
Genuine Guilt unrepented can cause physical, psychological and spiritual sickness. If we don’t deal with our guilt, our guilt will deal with us.
3. CONFESS YOUR GUILT…. the Catholics have one up on us. They can go to confession and even if they have sinned grossly…the priest has taken a vow to tell no one about it/them. They like we could have gone directly to Jesus…but sometimes we use this as an excuse to keep it within us. when there is a deep need to get it out.
Go to someone you trust…. truly trust…and ask them to listen and then to pray with you. Yes…there is danger…in that sometimes that person will share in allegedly confidence with someone else. I have had that happen…but, even there…God turned a horrible situation into a blessing…. a huge blessing…. because in being honest and forthright, He will work all things together for good. I guarantee it.
CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL…. THE MIND…. THE HEAR, THE SPIRIT.
4. As the song LET IT GO…. says…. Let it go. Forget it once you have gone to the Lord, the pastor, the priest…the friend…. just let it go. If it keeps coming back, that is Satan and his minions trying to drag you back into that dark and dangerous place…
As we discussed somewhat on Friday morning…read God’s word, memorize some vital Scriptures and say them out loud so your ears also hear them…. sing…. pray…. go for a walk….to replace the negative thoughts and guilt with a positive, active replacement.
David…. became quite the song writer….in both his times of guilt and then in His freedom from it.
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART…OH GOD
AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME
CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM THY PRESNECE O LORD
TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME
RESTORE UNTO ME
THE JOY OF MY SALVATION
AND RENEW A RIGHT SPRIT WITHIN ME.
God will be faithful to take it away….and you must be faithful to let Him keep it……
THE CONCLUSION IS THIS. HOW DARE WE DEMEAN FORGIVENESS BOUGHT AT SO GREAT A PRICE…. ASKING FOR REPEATED FORGIVENSS IS POINTLESS.
ONCE FORGIVEN…. SERIOUS DEMEANS HIS GIFT AND GIFTS TO US
WE BELIEVE HIM…OR WE DON’T….AND I…. I CHOOSE THIS DAY, THIS MOMENT TO BELIEVE…….
As we move now towards communion…. this is the day of your freedom, if you choose it…ask Him now as His Spirit is speaking to you…to give you the freedom you so deeply desire….
PEACE…LIKE RIVER…. LIKE A RIVER IN YOUR SOUL….
AMEN
While the bread and juice is being passed to you…take this time to come to the One who called you into His love and family….and allow Him to search you….and if anything be found….by Him. . .you will know…and give it….no matter what it is, and that Peace that is beyond understanding will reside in your heart and mind…. HALLELUIA ~ AMEN
Island Park Idaho
July 24, 2022
GUILT ~ HOW NOT TO HAVE IT & HOW TO GET RID OF IT ONCE YOU HAVE IT
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 32
“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed are those to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
John 3:20
“Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings!”
Guilt
The word guilt….is NOT in the New Testament….only SEVEN times in the Old Testament. Now the word GUILTY is the Old Testament only one time, but four times in the New. With the two words combined that is a total of 12 times out of the 783,137 total words in the King James Version of today’s Bible.
So you know how detail oriented the Scribes were in making copies of Holy Scripture…..and to me this is paramount as to comparing the Dead Seas Scrolls as one example of accuracy to the Old Testament we have today.
The scribes would take one chapter at a time that they knew to be completely accurate by number of course every chapter, every paragraph, every word and also every letter.
IF…in comparing what they had completed let’s say in a Chapter, and found one number out of sync, just one of the thousands of numbers compared to, they would burn what they had just finished and start over again. That is why the Dead Sea Scrolls verified the Old Testament as we know it today, finding very, very few differences.
Now onto guilt and guilty.
There has been an enormous impact on Christianity in the church and in the lives of individuals using these two words. Both when understood and used correctly in conjunction with our conscience influenced by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can be very beneficial. When used incorrectly as a means of control and wrongly inflicted by both men and women…. can, and has caused GREAT HARM, again, to both the church and individuals.
My desire today is to bring us to a deeper understanding of the intent of guilt as I said in the sermon title…how to get rid of it once embraced, either correctly or incorrectly, and to tell the difference between the two.
GUILT is defined as an emotion which is cognitive, and an experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes accurately, or NOT – that they have compromised our known biblical endorsed standards of conduct or have violated a universally accepted moral standard……and bearing the significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is also closely related to again, the feeling of remorse.
Keep in your mind….our God given conscience, the written word and the significance of the still small voice of the Spirit speaking to our conscience.
WE all KNOW, unless we are a sociopath or psychopath know what we know is acceptable and not acceptable. We can compromise that level of knowledge and even quiet that still small voice by the choices we make to choose the wrong.
Guilt, especially those of us who had or have inward struggles that seem to beset us on a daily basis, for most of our lives…..know the consequences all to well…..when we make wrong choices….GUILT! Sometimes overwhelming guilt having pronounced ourselves guilty…..not even needing someone else to do so for us.
On occasion I submit to these words Jesus spoke to me and speaks to you. “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28….sometimes it works and other times the battle is bigger than that.
Churches…yes, churches especially churches, usually beginning with the Minister….if again, seeking control, not ministering to…but control, establishing rules and regulations…..that often exceeded, as an example the religious leaders of Jesus’ day…adding laws on top of laws to control people by making themselves (the leaders) stand out from the crowd of the everyday people…acting all holy and righteous while inside being full of dead men’s bones. Jesus words. Guilt…wrongfully imposed is deadly and spirit killing.
Conscience, conscience, conscience…a gift from God to keep us on the narrow pathway to salvation and eternal life.
My own pathway in my twenties, experimenting with LSD, Marijuana, other drugs…. going on my own Magical Mystery Tour…Transcendental Meditation, Astrology, Numerology…..reading Steppenwolf, Carlos Castanneda, Carly Jung, Freud, Siddhartha….etc. etc. but all I found was more confusion and drugs that easily could have taken my life by the choices I was making. Yet, in my mind I could not quiet that still small voice…. that kept saying….there is only one way Tom….and it’s Me, Jesus. I knew the truth down deep in my soul and in my spirit…. but it took years to come out of the deceptions of that darkness and into His marvelous light of freedom….no reason to be beset by the guilt I carried over my choices….but yet….He never let me go….never forsook me, but like the Prodigal son’s day…waited and watched patiently…until I got out of the pig pen…and started my journey home.
That guilt was a healthy guilt…. a God given guilt that was tied to real and not imagined sin/choices. Jesus Christ is always ready…. when we finally say yes, to open His arms, so that the moment we turn around….there He is, arms open, waiting for us to run into them…home. He was for me and is for you.
That which we have to realize…is, that indeed we are all sinners, guilty of wrong thoughts, sometimes erroneous statements….and hurtful deeds, by way of words we say to people…and sometimes physical. We need to learn tact…for tact is keeping inside the unsaid part of what you think. We are too
loose often with our judgement and criticisms…causing sometimes along with guilt…shame. Shame on us.
Noel Coward, the famous playwright, pulled an interesting prank, so to speak, on twenty of the most famous men he knew in London. The anonymous note read simply. “Everybody has found out what you are doing. If I were you I would leave town as quickly as you can.
As the story goes…. all twenty men literally and actually left town.
What if you opened your mail one day and found such a note? What would race through your mind. Would shame or guilt along with fear coming surging to the surface of your mind?
Guilt is the dread of the past…a pain that wells up within our heart because we committed or thought we committed some offense, or failed to do something right we could have done and didn’t. Some of those things we carry around for years…some to our deaths. It can be crippling….and prevent us from having a full and rich life. We work overtime trying to prove to God and man that though they, man, does not know….God does…..trying to prove to God that we truly are repentant, using our good deeds to make a way above it all when in fact….all we need to do….once….in true repentance….ask for forgiveness and step into the enveloping, loving arms of Jesus….and He will take those and place in us….His GIFT OF LOVING GRACE….never more to remember that sin, that deed…as far as the east is from the west….and yet, we hesitate to take that step of grace…because we think we don’t deserve it…..and we don’t. That is why it is a free GIFT…. LOVE, ACCEPTANCE AND FORGIVENESS.
When Christ sets us free…we are free, free indeed.
David…. committed murder and adultery….and in Psalm 32…..he writes. “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear, and in repentance, he found his release from that guilt was sweet…like honey.
1. As in his case like ours….and in AA…and other recovery groups, individuals ADMIT both their struggle and guilt that came from the results of their choices…that washed over not only themselves…but others dear to them.
2. Confront the guilt…if indeed it is justifiable guilt, and you will know if it is or isn’t.
Example…My name is Tom…and I have sinned against God by sinning against myself and my family…..Genuine guilt is genuinely good. False guilt imposed by others and lies…and control can be discerned and prayed away.
Genuine Guilt unrepented can cause physical, psychological and spiritual sickness. If we don’t deal with our guilt, our guilt will deal with us.
3. CONFESS YOUR GUILT…. the Catholics have one up on us. They can go to confession and even if they have sinned grossly…the priest has taken a vow to tell no one about it/them. They like we could have gone directly to Jesus…but sometimes we use this as an excuse to keep it within us. when there is a deep need to get it out.
Go to someone you trust…. truly trust…and ask them to listen and then to pray with you. Yes…there is danger…in that sometimes that person will share in allegedly confidence with someone else. I have had that happen…but, even there…God turned a horrible situation into a blessing…. a huge blessing…. because in being honest and forthright, He will work all things together for good. I guarantee it.
CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL…. THE MIND…. THE HEAR, THE SPIRIT.
4. As the song LET IT GO…. says…. Let it go. Forget it once you have gone to the Lord, the pastor, the priest…the friend…. just let it go. If it keeps coming back, that is Satan and his minions trying to drag you back into that dark and dangerous place…
As we discussed somewhat on Friday morning…read God’s word, memorize some vital Scriptures and say them out loud so your ears also hear them…. sing…. pray…. go for a walk….to replace the negative thoughts and guilt with a positive, active replacement.
David…. became quite the song writer….in both his times of guilt and then in His freedom from it.
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART…OH GOD
AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME
CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM THY PRESNECE O LORD
TAKE NOT THY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME
RESTORE UNTO ME
THE JOY OF MY SALVATION
AND RENEW A RIGHT SPRIT WITHIN ME.
God will be faithful to take it away….and you must be faithful to let Him keep it……
THE CONCLUSION IS THIS. HOW DARE WE DEMEAN FORGIVENESS BOUGHT AT SO GREAT A PRICE…. ASKING FOR REPEATED FORGIVENSS IS POINTLESS.
ONCE FORGIVEN…. SERIOUS DEMEANS HIS GIFT AND GIFTS TO US
WE BELIEVE HIM…OR WE DON’T….AND I…. I CHOOSE THIS DAY, THIS MOMENT TO BELIEVE…….
As we move now towards communion…. this is the day of your freedom, if you choose it…ask Him now as His Spirit is speaking to you…to give you the freedom you so deeply desire….
PEACE…LIKE RIVER…. LIKE A RIVER IN YOUR SOUL….
AMEN
While the bread and juice is being passed to you…take this time to come to the One who called you into His love and family….and allow Him to search you….and if anything be found….by Him. . .you will know…and give it….no matter what it is, and that Peace that is beyond understanding will reside in your heart and mind…. HALLELUIA ~ AMEN
Little Church in the Pines
June 26, 2022
”WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT HIMSELF?”
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
What He and Old Testament Scripture….says about Him, coincide, and dovetails deeply and beautifully. Together, they are like the parallelisms that I spoke of last week, which we find mostly in the Psalms. Prophecy is similar to a parallelism, in regard to Jesus, for prophecy and its’ fulfillment thereof, are identical in their meaning, intent and fulfilment.
We truly cannot have one without the other in regards to the prophetic Word, and He Jesus, Himself in their oneness of fulfillment… for if you try to live only in the Old…you miss the fulfilment of the New….and we run the danger of having an incomplete spiritual life if we ….the deeper we move into our own life with Jesus, and all that was prophesied as to who He was and would be, believing He is the fulfillment of all that was said to be coming…we can be like Him, enriched and whole.
In being who He said He was and is to this day, often runs contrary to much of today’s thinking, even in so-called Christian circles. There is a new world order of spirituality arising…which is becoming more and more conflictive with orthodox Christianity. We, who call ourselves Christians just by being called as such, and even more so, if we are white…for we are the new number one enemy of change that is sweeping, in particular our nation.
This is not a sermon with political leanings but a sermon again, as I said on who Jesus said He was according to both Scripture and all that He lived and taught…us, about Himself.
I am taking a risk here….even with some of you. My sermons are in my own mind intentional and hopefully challenging…sometimes uplifting and even joyful, sometimes pointed and with the intention of challenging you in your own spiritual life to go beyond the comforting, and into the deeper things of God.
Many of us do not like to be pushed or challenged, thinking that life itself is challenging enough, and all we want to hear are comforting
and uplifting words. Well, I can tell you this. Jesus spent a lot of His time teaching pointed challenging lessons, to get the attention with intention of those who were just going along, and those who were stuck in the then present, with feet dragging all along the way towards a destination they did not want to find themselves in.
If you were here last week, you heard some challenging words from Jesus. For in the New Testament…Matthew 6:15 comes with a warning from the Lord to us. “But if you do not forgive others their sins, you Father will NOT forgive your sins.” Not my words….but His. Not my challenge, but His!
Jesus came to this earth and lived with His own Creation to purchase us from the bondage of sins. He was born as Scriptures says of a virgin and was brought up and finally gave His life to death on the cross…as the sacrifice God demanded to redeem us. That may seem cruel…but that is what His own Eternal Father required. Me, I would have chosen another way…but it seems there was NOT another way….so says God’s Word.
He said so many things concerning heaven, hell, and how to live here on planet earth to please God and He also made some significant comments about HIMSELF that are to be given special attention.
The words of Jesus that He spoke about Himself have had and if believed…will continue to be given special attention as to their meaning, intent and outworking as the past 2000 years have proven.
Some of these you will readily embrace, others you will reject, but possibly to your own peril.
JESUS SAID: “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE: NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER, BUT THROUGH ME.”
He is the peacemaker, no doubt ultimately there will be peace on earth…but He also is the divider. These words of His may rankle some of you….but again, His words…not mine.
Am I not to speak of them because they make some of us angry or socially unacceptable in today’s culture or just plain
uncomfortable…am I to choose which ones to speak on and not to speak on, for this very reason? What gives me the right or you the right to choose what you want to believe and adhere to? ( I guess you can…that is up to you) For me, I either believe all He say He is…or none of it, and become perhaps an atheist, agnostic or nothing. My choice.
Matthew 10:34-34 “Do NOT think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, I have NOT come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of this own household.”
WOW, what are we to think of those words. I can tell you they make a bunch of people uncomfortable, even here today. Especially saying that “Jesus is the only way to the Father” whether it is in our own household, work for even church. By doing so, we will make even some members of our own household upset.
His response…even further exacerbates what He just said. “There’s gong to be some severance, some tension, some difficulty if you’re standing up for Me (Jesus) and living for Me. But, if you value family or friendship more than you value Me…(these next words cut to the quick) you’re not worthy of Me.”
In being His spokesperson…..I run the high risk of being unlike…put down…maybe even replaced….I don’t know, but I do know I am held accountable for that which I speak to you….and I fear God more than whatever it is you may say or feel about me. I have to be obedient….
I took on one of the toughest first….hoping I can perhaps enjoy bringing forth some that are to follow…and are a lot easier to speak on.
JESUS SAID…IN John 6:48 “ I AM THAT BREAD OF LIFE.”
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: those that come to me shall never hunger, and they that believes in me shall never thirst.”
He said this because, He is the source of pure spiritual food, and no one will remain incomplete, when He or she decides to receive Him as God come in the flesh….our deliverer and Savior…the Messiah.
A life in Him will give us a full spiritual belly……balanced and nutritious…and tasty beyond belief.
JESUS SAID…I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: they that follow Me shall NOT walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”
HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…His claims are really true and we can understand it while we accept him and follow Him by faith, for His words show us the light of God’s truth and ways…as we see the impact of change lives not only in ourselves but in others. Millions of people have testimonies of Him taking them out of the darkness of pain and despair into healing and restoration. People from all nations and all walks of life, from the poor to the rich, from the criminal to the saint…from darkness into His marvelous light.
“I AM THE DOOR: by Me if anyone enter in, they shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture” there’s that full belly again!”
John 10:9
Another one of those not so popular statements of His to deal with……..TRUE OR FALSE” true of course, but at what cost?
I could have avoided it altogether, but the Spirit said no.
No one can reach heaven without receiving Jesus, as He alone si the door through Him we and access the promises of the Father who made this amazing planet we live on. After our death, we all will be standing before His judgment seat. All these can be known only through Jesus and that is why He claims Himself as the door.
AND JESUS SAID UNTO HER…I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; they that believeth in Me, though they were dead, yet shall they live: And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Eternal Life….
JEUS SAID: “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
The Bible describes mankind as the sheep, who are in need of a shepherd. Here, Jesus narrates Himself as The Good Shepherd who give His life to protect How own sheep. He did not hesitate to sacrifice Himself to save His people from the judgement of God.
The role of a Shepherd is to take care of the sheep in every way, for sheep can be somewhat stupid and follow the crowd into some bad places. He uses a staff…with a hook handle, to place around their necks to pull them out if they get themselves in a hard to get out of place…the staff also can be used to beat off those who are attacking the sheep….and to ferret out snakes as he walks along ahead of the sheep. For His sheep will follow and trust Him…completely for He has proven to them He is trustworthy. They hear His voice and follow him…as He sings, talks and even whistles to them.
He tells us He CAME FROM ABOVE…AND HAS BEEN WITH THE FATHER FROM THE BEGINNING….
John 16:28…”I CAME FORTH FROM THE FATHER, AND HAVE COME INTO THE WORLD: AGAIN, I WILL LEAVE THE WORLD AND GO BACK TO MY FATHER.
HE SAYS…I AM THE VINE and you are the branches: Those that live in me, and I in them, the same will bear much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.
HE ALSO SAYS: in Matthew 11:28-29 These words that that have helped us in times of great difficulty. “Come unto Me, all of you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am Meek and Lowly in heart: and these words that go straight to our hearts.” You shall find rest for your souls.”
I AM GOING TO FINISH WITH THESE WORDS OF HIS…..
Mark 14:61-62
“But He held His peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked Him, and said to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM: AND YOU SHALL SEE THE SON OF MAN SITTING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER AND COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
With those words….His death was sealed…and with these words next…were some of the last He spoke from the CROSS He was crucified on, and they are words that spoke of His deep and eternal love for all of mankind.
Even in His agony….Jesus’ concern was for the forgiveness of those who counted themselves among his enemies. He asked the Father to forgive the thieves on the cross who jeered at Him. He asked the Father to forgive the Roman soldiers who had mocked Him, spit on Him, beat Him, yanked out His beard, whipped Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, and nailed Him to the cross. Jesus asked forgiveness for the angry mob that had mocked Him and called for His crucifixion. Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
That is the Man/God I desire to believe in and follow….that is the Man/God who knows what LOVE IS, AND WHAT IT SOMETIMES REQUIRES…THAT IS THE MAN/GOD WITH WHOM I BELIEVE EVERY WORD HE SPOKE TO BE THE GOSPEL TRUTH, even though at time I may feel uncomfortable with.
IF I COMPROMISE HIS WORDS in some places…I open the door to error and unbelief in others….and am in essence creating my own belief system….religion, based on what I want to feel….and believe in part, not in wholeness. Dare I do this to my own peril? Do you?
There is in Luke 44..after His resurrection, where He spoke to the disciples these words, and with these I will finish.
He said, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
45. And He opened their understanding that they might fully understand the Scriptures.
I too hope and pray He opens yours, no matter how uncomfortable and challenging they may be to you.
Amen
June 26, 2022
”WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT HIMSELF?”
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
What He and Old Testament Scripture….says about Him, coincide, and dovetails deeply and beautifully. Together, they are like the parallelisms that I spoke of last week, which we find mostly in the Psalms. Prophecy is similar to a parallelism, in regard to Jesus, for prophecy and its’ fulfillment thereof, are identical in their meaning, intent and fulfilment.
We truly cannot have one without the other in regards to the prophetic Word, and He Jesus, Himself in their oneness of fulfillment… for if you try to live only in the Old…you miss the fulfilment of the New….and we run the danger of having an incomplete spiritual life if we ….the deeper we move into our own life with Jesus, and all that was prophesied as to who He was and would be, believing He is the fulfillment of all that was said to be coming…we can be like Him, enriched and whole.
In being who He said He was and is to this day, often runs contrary to much of today’s thinking, even in so-called Christian circles. There is a new world order of spirituality arising…which is becoming more and more conflictive with orthodox Christianity. We, who call ourselves Christians just by being called as such, and even more so, if we are white…for we are the new number one enemy of change that is sweeping, in particular our nation.
This is not a sermon with political leanings but a sermon again, as I said on who Jesus said He was according to both Scripture and all that He lived and taught…us, about Himself.
I am taking a risk here….even with some of you. My sermons are in my own mind intentional and hopefully challenging…sometimes uplifting and even joyful, sometimes pointed and with the intention of challenging you in your own spiritual life to go beyond the comforting, and into the deeper things of God.
Many of us do not like to be pushed or challenged, thinking that life itself is challenging enough, and all we want to hear are comforting
and uplifting words. Well, I can tell you this. Jesus spent a lot of His time teaching pointed challenging lessons, to get the attention with intention of those who were just going along, and those who were stuck in the then present, with feet dragging all along the way towards a destination they did not want to find themselves in.
If you were here last week, you heard some challenging words from Jesus. For in the New Testament…Matthew 6:15 comes with a warning from the Lord to us. “But if you do not forgive others their sins, you Father will NOT forgive your sins.” Not my words….but His. Not my challenge, but His!
Jesus came to this earth and lived with His own Creation to purchase us from the bondage of sins. He was born as Scriptures says of a virgin and was brought up and finally gave His life to death on the cross…as the sacrifice God demanded to redeem us. That may seem cruel…but that is what His own Eternal Father required. Me, I would have chosen another way…but it seems there was NOT another way….so says God’s Word.
He said so many things concerning heaven, hell, and how to live here on planet earth to please God and He also made some significant comments about HIMSELF that are to be given special attention.
The words of Jesus that He spoke about Himself have had and if believed…will continue to be given special attention as to their meaning, intent and outworking as the past 2000 years have proven.
Some of these you will readily embrace, others you will reject, but possibly to your own peril.
JESUS SAID: “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE: NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER, BUT THROUGH ME.”
He is the peacemaker, no doubt ultimately there will be peace on earth…but He also is the divider. These words of His may rankle some of you….but again, His words…not mine.
Am I not to speak of them because they make some of us angry or socially unacceptable in today’s culture or just plain
uncomfortable…am I to choose which ones to speak on and not to speak on, for this very reason? What gives me the right or you the right to choose what you want to believe and adhere to? ( I guess you can…that is up to you) For me, I either believe all He say He is…or none of it, and become perhaps an atheist, agnostic or nothing. My choice.
Matthew 10:34-34 “Do NOT think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, I have NOT come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of this own household.”
WOW, what are we to think of those words. I can tell you they make a bunch of people uncomfortable, even here today. Especially saying that “Jesus is the only way to the Father” whether it is in our own household, work for even church. By doing so, we will make even some members of our own household upset.
His response…even further exacerbates what He just said. “There’s gong to be some severance, some tension, some difficulty if you’re standing up for Me (Jesus) and living for Me. But, if you value family or friendship more than you value Me…(these next words cut to the quick) you’re not worthy of Me.”
In being His spokesperson…..I run the high risk of being unlike…put down…maybe even replaced….I don’t know, but I do know I am held accountable for that which I speak to you….and I fear God more than whatever it is you may say or feel about me. I have to be obedient….
I took on one of the toughest first….hoping I can perhaps enjoy bringing forth some that are to follow…and are a lot easier to speak on.
JESUS SAID…IN John 6:48 “ I AM THAT BREAD OF LIFE.”
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: those that come to me shall never hunger, and they that believes in me shall never thirst.”
He said this because, He is the source of pure spiritual food, and no one will remain incomplete, when He or she decides to receive Him as God come in the flesh….our deliverer and Savior…the Messiah.
A life in Him will give us a full spiritual belly……balanced and nutritious…and tasty beyond belief.
JESUS SAID…I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: they that follow Me shall NOT walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”
HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…His claims are really true and we can understand it while we accept him and follow Him by faith, for His words show us the light of God’s truth and ways…as we see the impact of change lives not only in ourselves but in others. Millions of people have testimonies of Him taking them out of the darkness of pain and despair into healing and restoration. People from all nations and all walks of life, from the poor to the rich, from the criminal to the saint…from darkness into His marvelous light.
“I AM THE DOOR: by Me if anyone enter in, they shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture” there’s that full belly again!”
John 10:9
Another one of those not so popular statements of His to deal with……..TRUE OR FALSE” true of course, but at what cost?
I could have avoided it altogether, but the Spirit said no.
No one can reach heaven without receiving Jesus, as He alone si the door through Him we and access the promises of the Father who made this amazing planet we live on. After our death, we all will be standing before His judgment seat. All these can be known only through Jesus and that is why He claims Himself as the door.
AND JESUS SAID UNTO HER…I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; they that believeth in Me, though they were dead, yet shall they live: And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Eternal Life….
JEUS SAID: “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD: the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
The Bible describes mankind as the sheep, who are in need of a shepherd. Here, Jesus narrates Himself as The Good Shepherd who give His life to protect How own sheep. He did not hesitate to sacrifice Himself to save His people from the judgement of God.
The role of a Shepherd is to take care of the sheep in every way, for sheep can be somewhat stupid and follow the crowd into some bad places. He uses a staff…with a hook handle, to place around their necks to pull them out if they get themselves in a hard to get out of place…the staff also can be used to beat off those who are attacking the sheep….and to ferret out snakes as he walks along ahead of the sheep. For His sheep will follow and trust Him…completely for He has proven to them He is trustworthy. They hear His voice and follow him…as He sings, talks and even whistles to them.
He tells us He CAME FROM ABOVE…AND HAS BEEN WITH THE FATHER FROM THE BEGINNING….
John 16:28…”I CAME FORTH FROM THE FATHER, AND HAVE COME INTO THE WORLD: AGAIN, I WILL LEAVE THE WORLD AND GO BACK TO MY FATHER.
HE SAYS…I AM THE VINE and you are the branches: Those that live in me, and I in them, the same will bear much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.
HE ALSO SAYS: in Matthew 11:28-29 These words that that have helped us in times of great difficulty. “Come unto Me, all of you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am Meek and Lowly in heart: and these words that go straight to our hearts.” You shall find rest for your souls.”
I AM GOING TO FINISH WITH THESE WORDS OF HIS…..
Mark 14:61-62
“But He held His peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked Him, and said to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM: AND YOU SHALL SEE THE SON OF MAN SITTING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER AND COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
With those words….His death was sealed…and with these words next…were some of the last He spoke from the CROSS He was crucified on, and they are words that spoke of His deep and eternal love for all of mankind.
Even in His agony….Jesus’ concern was for the forgiveness of those who counted themselves among his enemies. He asked the Father to forgive the thieves on the cross who jeered at Him. He asked the Father to forgive the Roman soldiers who had mocked Him, spit on Him, beat Him, yanked out His beard, whipped Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, and nailed Him to the cross. Jesus asked forgiveness for the angry mob that had mocked Him and called for His crucifixion. Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
That is the Man/God I desire to believe in and follow….that is the Man/God who knows what LOVE IS, AND WHAT IT SOMETIMES REQUIRES…THAT IS THE MAN/GOD WITH WHOM I BELIEVE EVERY WORD HE SPOKE TO BE THE GOSPEL TRUTH, even though at time I may feel uncomfortable with.
IF I COMPROMISE HIS WORDS in some places…I open the door to error and unbelief in others….and am in essence creating my own belief system….religion, based on what I want to feel….and believe in part, not in wholeness. Dare I do this to my own peril? Do you?
There is in Luke 44..after His resurrection, where He spoke to the disciples these words, and with these I will finish.
He said, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
45. And He opened their understanding that they might fully understand the Scriptures.
I too hope and pray He opens yours, no matter how uncomfortable and challenging they may be to you.
Amen
~The LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES ~
"The Birth of the Church"
Genesis 1: 1 - 2
Pentecost, that Fateful Day it all Began
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
1. In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. 2. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Thus, we find the Spirit actively involved in Creation. The same Holy Spirit that descended in the form of a Dove on Jesus at His baptism…and the same Holy Spirit that fell on the disciples, and later the Gentiles, all those gathered together in the city, to wait for the Promise of the Father, just as Jesus told His disciples in Luke 24:49. “And behold, I am sending the Promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you are clothed with POWER from on high!”
This same Holy Spirit…who is the third person of the Trinity…. who too is the Great I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end…the Eternal God…who changes not.
The role of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is multitudinous, and has many functions and many names.
Joel 2:28 & 29.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Remember, you and I are called to be the servants of the Lord.)
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Mark 1:8 NIV “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
There are verses after verses that speak of the many roles and names of the Holy Spirit, as noted His role spoken of in the very beginning of God’s Holy Word…. Genesis. From there it expands and expands.
The Holy Spirit as I read and have read who He is….is Creative Power of God in action, and all knowledgeable presence of the love of God, the very heart of God, in intent.
There are verses to back each and all of His role and names…….
He is also simply “the Spirit “as quoted in Genesis
He is the “Good Spirit”
He is “The Eternal Spirit”
He is “The Lord”
He is the “Paraclete” or Helper and Comforter.
He is the “Spirit of the Sovereign Lord”
He is the “Spirit of the Living God”
The “Spirit of your Father”
The “Spirit of Life and the Spirit of Grace”
The “Spirit of Prophecy”
The “Spirit of Truth”
The “Spirit of Holiness”
The Spirit of Justice and Judgement”
The Spirit of “Wisdom and Revelation”
The “Spirit of Fire” as in the tongues of flames hovering over the heads of the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
The Spirit of “His own Glory” and the Glory of His Son”
The Spirit’s names and titles are useful in helping us understand His many manifestations…and that which He does for us and in us.
In Judaism…. the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is THE DIVINE FORCE, QUALITY AND INFLUENCE over all His creatures and Creation itself.
He is the Author of all verified Scripture
The is the Comforter…halleluiah
The Advocate, who intercedes on our behalf.
Counselor
Guide
Indweller…. He who lives in each and all of us…. who know Jesus
He is the Intercessor
The author of Revelation
Our Teacher
Our witness within us of the true revelation of Christ.
The Spirit is called “witness” because He verifies and testifies to the fact that we are children of God, that Jesus and the disciples who performed miracles were sent by God, and that the books of the Bible are divinely inspired. Further, by giving the gift of the Spirit to Believes, He witnesses to us and the world of His Love, Power and Might…..through us, that indeed we belong to God.
There is an App being advertised on TV called CALM. It is simply and beautifully done. You see a tree in full leaf….its leaves are moving gently and beautifully…..and the only sound you hear is the sound of the breeze blowing through and moving those leaves…
It is described as the earth breathing…..
I am reminded every time I see and hear it….that is like the Living Breath of God’s Spirit….moving in our lives….touching every fiber of our being….breathing into the us the breath of LIFE, our Life on
earth and our Life in Christ…..still now thy soul…(let’s take a moment here as a gentle experiment) breathe in deeply and evenly…..letting your breath go……gently……and KNOW that God lives in you….and is indeed in you….because Christ and His Kingdom is within you….
Responding to a question from the Pharisees about when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said, “the kingdom of God does not come with observations; nor will they say, “See here! Or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
How that must have made them angry…..as once again He was trying to teach them…about the soul and Spirit….not to live and judge by the letter of the law…but by the beauty and the Holiness of God, our living God…living within us.
And Now….the Church and Pentecost….all this up to this point was in preparation for what God by His Spirit was about to do.
I woke up at 4:42 Friday morning…having in my sleep mulling over today’s message to come….when I heard two words. KICK START.
I immediately thought of Greg Neil and his many years of riding on and then flying off of motorcycles…..and puzzled over what this had to do with the message for today….and then I got it.
You see….from the time when Jesus ascended…telling the disciples and those who followed Him…to “to go back to the city and wait until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit….” Again, His words, “And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain the city (Jerusalem” until YOU ARE CLOTHED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH.” POWER!
Up to this time…. there was no church, so to speak, but being obedient to do as Jesus requested…. many were gathered together, praying, fasting perhaps….seeking whatever this Promise coming was.
They had just chosen by lots…. Matthias to take the place of Judas, now dead. Verse 26 of Acts 1, and they cast their lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. Ad he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
So far…all is good….there is an air of expectancy…..heightened by the completion of this task…and from the ongoing prayer and expectations. The engine is humming…..powerful…and then the KICK START….AND DOWN IT CAME……ENGAGED!!! Engine and tork…. coming together.
And suddenly…. unexpectedly and POWERFULY, well, let’s read it from the Word. CHAPTER 2:1-4…. (READ)
This event…unexplainable…supernatural…powerful…embraceable….
The foundation laid…. the right people and events in place…..people gathered from all over the known world….present…the timing perfect. VERSES 5-13…. WHATEVER CAN THIS MEAN…….
VERSE 14-39
A VITAL CHURCH BEGINS….40-47
As these people from so many different nations…dispersed…they took with them…Jesus….no iPhone needed….no TV cameras needed…but people with a new breath of life and love…. began…with Him, this new Savior….in their hearts….the church began mightily and powerfully….
The disciples too…being obedient, all becoming missionaries. Church planters…. the spiritual tidal wave of Jesus Christ…..his love, truth and salvation….a whole new world from this God-man…a humble uneducated carpenter….
In the last 100 years, the number of Christians in the world has quadrupled from approximately 600 million in 1910 to well past 2.5 billion presently, and still growing.
GOD BLESS THE CHURCH in all its denominations and differences, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox,
Protestants, High Churches, Low Churches…. Home Churches, Cowboy Churches, etc…….as long as she, we keep the main thing the main thing, and that is JESUS CHRIST as the HOPE of the WORLD…SAVED BY GRACE….AND NOT BY WORKS…. As it is led by imperfect, but hopeful, Christ filled people…saved by GRACE…and in love with their LORD….who made a way to the Father by the Son, and empowered by His WORD AND HIS HOLY SPIRIT….however He chooses to manifest Himself in us…the church. Be open and welcoming to the very Spirit of God…..for He…knows best.
Ephesians 2:8….” For it is by GRACE that YOU have been saved, though faith….and this is not from yourselves…for it is THE GIFT OF GOD…IN CHRIST.
AMEN
"The Birth of the Church"
Genesis 1: 1 - 2
Pentecost, that Fateful Day it all Began
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
1. In the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. 2. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Thus, we find the Spirit actively involved in Creation. The same Holy Spirit that descended in the form of a Dove on Jesus at His baptism…and the same Holy Spirit that fell on the disciples, and later the Gentiles, all those gathered together in the city, to wait for the Promise of the Father, just as Jesus told His disciples in Luke 24:49. “And behold, I am sending the Promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you are clothed with POWER from on high!”
This same Holy Spirit…who is the third person of the Trinity…. who too is the Great I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end…the Eternal God…who changes not.
The role of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is multitudinous, and has many functions and many names.
Joel 2:28 & 29.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Remember, you and I are called to be the servants of the Lord.)
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Mark 1:8 NIV “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
There are verses after verses that speak of the many roles and names of the Holy Spirit, as noted His role spoken of in the very beginning of God’s Holy Word…. Genesis. From there it expands and expands.
The Holy Spirit as I read and have read who He is….is Creative Power of God in action, and all knowledgeable presence of the love of God, the very heart of God, in intent.
There are verses to back each and all of His role and names…….
He is also simply “the Spirit “as quoted in Genesis
He is the “Good Spirit”
He is “The Eternal Spirit”
He is “The Lord”
He is the “Paraclete” or Helper and Comforter.
He is the “Spirit of the Sovereign Lord”
He is the “Spirit of the Living God”
The “Spirit of your Father”
The “Spirit of Life and the Spirit of Grace”
The “Spirit of Prophecy”
The “Spirit of Truth”
The “Spirit of Holiness”
The Spirit of Justice and Judgement”
The Spirit of “Wisdom and Revelation”
The “Spirit of Fire” as in the tongues of flames hovering over the heads of the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
The Spirit of “His own Glory” and the Glory of His Son”
The Spirit’s names and titles are useful in helping us understand His many manifestations…and that which He does for us and in us.
In Judaism…. the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is THE DIVINE FORCE, QUALITY AND INFLUENCE over all His creatures and Creation itself.
He is the Author of all verified Scripture
The is the Comforter…halleluiah
The Advocate, who intercedes on our behalf.
Counselor
Guide
Indweller…. He who lives in each and all of us…. who know Jesus
He is the Intercessor
The author of Revelation
Our Teacher
Our witness within us of the true revelation of Christ.
The Spirit is called “witness” because He verifies and testifies to the fact that we are children of God, that Jesus and the disciples who performed miracles were sent by God, and that the books of the Bible are divinely inspired. Further, by giving the gift of the Spirit to Believes, He witnesses to us and the world of His Love, Power and Might…..through us, that indeed we belong to God.
There is an App being advertised on TV called CALM. It is simply and beautifully done. You see a tree in full leaf….its leaves are moving gently and beautifully…..and the only sound you hear is the sound of the breeze blowing through and moving those leaves…
It is described as the earth breathing…..
I am reminded every time I see and hear it….that is like the Living Breath of God’s Spirit….moving in our lives….touching every fiber of our being….breathing into the us the breath of LIFE, our Life on
earth and our Life in Christ…..still now thy soul…(let’s take a moment here as a gentle experiment) breathe in deeply and evenly…..letting your breath go……gently……and KNOW that God lives in you….and is indeed in you….because Christ and His Kingdom is within you….
Responding to a question from the Pharisees about when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said, “the kingdom of God does not come with observations; nor will they say, “See here! Or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
How that must have made them angry…..as once again He was trying to teach them…about the soul and Spirit….not to live and judge by the letter of the law…but by the beauty and the Holiness of God, our living God…living within us.
And Now….the Church and Pentecost….all this up to this point was in preparation for what God by His Spirit was about to do.
I woke up at 4:42 Friday morning…having in my sleep mulling over today’s message to come….when I heard two words. KICK START.
I immediately thought of Greg Neil and his many years of riding on and then flying off of motorcycles…..and puzzled over what this had to do with the message for today….and then I got it.
You see….from the time when Jesus ascended…telling the disciples and those who followed Him…to “to go back to the city and wait until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit….” Again, His words, “And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain the city (Jerusalem” until YOU ARE CLOTHED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH.” POWER!
Up to this time…. there was no church, so to speak, but being obedient to do as Jesus requested…. many were gathered together, praying, fasting perhaps….seeking whatever this Promise coming was.
They had just chosen by lots…. Matthias to take the place of Judas, now dead. Verse 26 of Acts 1, and they cast their lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. Ad he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
So far…all is good….there is an air of expectancy…..heightened by the completion of this task…and from the ongoing prayer and expectations. The engine is humming…..powerful…and then the KICK START….AND DOWN IT CAME……ENGAGED!!! Engine and tork…. coming together.
And suddenly…. unexpectedly and POWERFULY, well, let’s read it from the Word. CHAPTER 2:1-4…. (READ)
This event…unexplainable…supernatural…powerful…embraceable….
The foundation laid…. the right people and events in place…..people gathered from all over the known world….present…the timing perfect. VERSES 5-13…. WHATEVER CAN THIS MEAN…….
VERSE 14-39
A VITAL CHURCH BEGINS….40-47
As these people from so many different nations…dispersed…they took with them…Jesus….no iPhone needed….no TV cameras needed…but people with a new breath of life and love…. began…with Him, this new Savior….in their hearts….the church began mightily and powerfully….
The disciples too…being obedient, all becoming missionaries. Church planters…. the spiritual tidal wave of Jesus Christ…..his love, truth and salvation….a whole new world from this God-man…a humble uneducated carpenter….
In the last 100 years, the number of Christians in the world has quadrupled from approximately 600 million in 1910 to well past 2.5 billion presently, and still growing.
GOD BLESS THE CHURCH in all its denominations and differences, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox,
Protestants, High Churches, Low Churches…. Home Churches, Cowboy Churches, etc…….as long as she, we keep the main thing the main thing, and that is JESUS CHRIST as the HOPE of the WORLD…SAVED BY GRACE….AND NOT BY WORKS…. As it is led by imperfect, but hopeful, Christ filled people…saved by GRACE…and in love with their LORD….who made a way to the Father by the Son, and empowered by His WORD AND HIS HOLY SPIRIT….however He chooses to manifest Himself in us…the church. Be open and welcoming to the very Spirit of God…..for He…knows best.
Ephesians 2:8….” For it is by GRACE that YOU have been saved, though faith….and this is not from yourselves…for it is THE GIFT OF GOD…IN CHRIST.
AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 1, 2022
A Merry (JOYOUS) Heart is the JOY of the LORD!
Proverbs 17:22
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…. but a broken spirit drieth up the bones.” A merry or (JOYOUS) heart is the JOY of the LORD!”
We are just starting as a nation…as individuals, to come out of a long period of people, many people, including some of us, who have felt and some still do of being dried up…. with sadness, sorrow and questions unanswered yet. COVID, being a huge part of this, some of us having experienced sickness and even loss, of family and friends. In our congregation we lost to death Les Kiel, Willie Scheel, Missy and have people we love fighting cancer and other diseases that are ugly and frightening…. then we come to those who have moved away. Carl and Judy, Jack and Julie, Mark and Jodi, Dan and Drew, and Bruce and Toni…. plus, several others who have chosen not to attend our services and the church. For a congregation of our size, over a dozen people now gone is a huge loss….as we were friends of them all….and each added their own uniqueness to who we were and are.
When we look at all these people…plus in our own families and friends it has been a really rough year emotionally, spiritually and physically. Yet…this is how life is…. never static…. always changing. On the up side…. we also have gained new brothers and sisters in Christ….in the past year….and even recently and in this we find JOY! And along with these…. our summer members are starting to arrive.
Adding to this…. having just having come through LENT, the crucifixion and RESURRECTION OF our Lord Jesus Christ…it is time Psalm 30:11 says “Thou hast turned my mourning into ‘dancing’ for me Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Here are synonyms of gladness…. (Blessedness, happiness, JOY. Jubilance, Jubilation, Light-heartedness, Merriness, mirth and interestingly triumph.
There is a chorus from the 70’s that uses this verse, by turning it in to a simple song. Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing for me, thou hast put off my sackcloth, thou hast turned my morning into gladness for me, and girded me with gladness. To the end Thy glory may sing praise unto Thee, and not be silent, Oh Lord my God, I will give praise unto Thee forever.
When this came into being I was part of a small charismatic congregation that met in a little school gym in Moran, Wyoming, next to Grand Teton National Park…..our pastor was a former Baptist Minister from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The gathering was made up of cattle ranchers, guest ranches, Forest Service people, smattering of millionaires’ and then like myself and themselves, ordinary, everyday people who loved the Lord, each other, and felt the desire within us to express that love openly and often in song.
Among all those conservative people…they loved to lift their hands up unto the Lords…and sway back and forth in JOY, JUBILATION, MERRINESS, and not last of all, TRIUMPH in their own journey with each other and with Jesus. A very special time in my own personal spiritual life. I was in my thirties then… and of course now in my seventies it still feels like it was yesterday.
There is such a WONDERFUL FREEDOM in worship when we are not afraid of what the person next to us, or in the back watching us thinks of us…. because worship is such a multi-faceted act of LOVE AND THANKFULNESS TO THE LORD….IT CAN MANIFEST ITSELF IN MANY WAY…love of Him….and focus on Jesus…can lift us out of our human inhibitions…and worry about what others think of us. David of course danced before the LORD…Scripture says, in ABANDON…Samuel 6:14 “And David danced with all his might before the LORD.”
Now…don’t misread me here….I am not suggestion that we do the same, but yet, I am saying that perchance if some every does worship in this manner that none of us pass negative judgement on them….you see, this liturgical season upon us now, and with Spring “coming” Jesus having risen….we should have JOY, Gladness, Triumph, Happiness, Jubilation flowing through our spirits and our persons….a lighter step….and anticipation of His Presence in us growing, maturing and drawing closer and closer to Jesus…..ritual is wonderful and meaningful, but too is spontaneous and heart-felt LOVE and JOY.
When we are deep in our personal and abiding relationship with our Lord Jesus and the Father, the unexpected may happen…for this relationship can be deep and it is personal. NOT ONLY IN THE UNEXPECTED, but in our ordinary, every-day lives, even the mundane. For…. God is with us, God is in us, God is around us and God works through us…. IF WE LET HIM.
How temporal we are…as has been proven this last several years…though this is not new thought to us, it has been frequently brought to our attention by all the circumstances we have endured. How vulnerable we are….no matter how secure we foolishly try to think we are….by resisting changes and resisting challenges that confront us.
Our ATTITUDE and the things we prioritize our lives with are critical to how we will endure when difficulty comes…but yet even here, Paul says to REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE.
The values we cherish…we need to share. Why in God’s name would we even want to be critical, nay-sayers, judgers, being hard on people instead of helping, loving and lifting some of the burdens off their shoulder…and also not holding back (because of pride) when we too should share with others our own. In the Body OF Christ, the Church…we are to share both our JOYS and our NEEDS. The correct attitude….and the way we approach both the
difficulties and GOOD…can bring about healing in a multitude of ways.
PROVERBS 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good…like a medicine,
Like a medicine is a merry heart,
But a broken spirit drieth up the bones,
A merry heart is the JOY of the LORD!
Dr. Norman Cousins…on the medical staff at UCLA School of Medicine for years…. was diagnosed with having a strange, rare kind of disease that destroys the connective tissue of the body. The physicians he worked with gave him (knowing something was wrong) after many tests relayed to him that they were sorry, but there is really nothing we can do, as you know it is a degenerative disease and you dear friend are going to die from it.
Dr. Cousins said, “Well, I don’t want to just sigh, sit back and let it happen…I will not give up. (Remember the all the words I spoke in understanding the scope of meaning gladness, some being gladness, happiness, jubilation, triumph, merry and others.
He TRANSFORMED his attitude he was tempted immediately to adopt…an attitude of acceptance…well, here is what he chose to do and did.
1. He set himself on a regime of exercise.
2. He took high doses of Vitamin C
3. This became his adopt4ed ATTITUDE…. a mental choice.
4. He took his mega doses of Vitamin C and watched movies of slap-stick comedy including the 3-Stooges, Cartoons, the MARX Brothers and every funny movie he could locate, and as he watched in segments…he found that in 10 minutes of hearty laughter gave him a whole hour free of pain.
5. He discovered as he did this, that gradually he began to feel better and better more consistently.
The day came when he went back to his fellow physicians for more tests, and after a full battery of them, they relayed to him
the news, themselves astounded, and in joy, said, “we don’t know what has happened, because there is no known cure for this disease as you well know…..but your battery of tests reveal you are completely healed.
He went on to live another 20 years disease free, writing a book named “Anatomy of an illness, in which he made the point that ATTITUDE, cheerfulness, gladness, laughter…a merry heart, this having been written over 3000 years ago by one King Solomon.
A heart full of gladness is a trusting heart, uncrowded by fear, negativity, anger, doubt, trouble.
We all know that at times it is a very difficult world we live in, a world filled to overflowing with sins of all kind and magnitude leading to sickness, despair, brokenness and heart-ache.
Every instead of being overwhelmed, we choose to rejoice in the Risen LORD of our Salvation. Also remembering, that one fine day the one who Rose from the dead…will return…just as the disciples saw Him go…so He will return.
What a day of rejoicing that will be…for when, we all see Jesus we’ll SING and SHOUT THE VICTORY.
Whatever assails us if from a sinful world and the enemy of God, in our attitude…we are to CHOOSE to remember Jesus will walk with us, side by side, and eventually, if necessary, carry us, until we reach the destination of being with Him.
Proverbs 14:30 a. “A heart at peace give life to the body, between what goes on in the inside and the manifestations that occur on the outside. Our Goal is to have a heart set on Him…. Peace like a river will flow from Him to you…and overflow to others.
Proverbs 18:1 says, A man or woman’s spirit sustains them in sickness, but if their spirit is crushed, they cannot stand.
Song…He walks with me, and He talks with me.
And He tells me I am His own,
And the things we share as we tarry there.
None other than Christ alone…………. To wrap this up…. here are keys to developing an attitude of peace, joy and gladness.
1. Cultivate your relationship with God as the priority.
2. Keep the long view of life…. with eternity in your heart.
3. Cultivate a forgiving spirit…at whatever cost.
4. Be aware of who you associate with on a regular basis.
5. Be a load lifter, not a burden maker.
6. Something as simple as listening to good music speaks to you heart, mind and spirit.
7. Live a life of active serving and giving without expecting a return.
8. Come to KNOW and PRCTICE the teaching of our LORD.
9.Put on a glad heart…. with the JOY of the LORD as your strength.
REMEMBER THESE WORDS OF JESUS.’
“LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS….AND I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR ABANDON YOU.”
This is a story that parallels, well you can decide what story it parallels and where ultimate forgiveness based on LOVE…. has a similar impact, as the original story affected and affects the world to this day, and both would affect anyone one who reads and understands the depth of what lies beneath it.
I’ll close with this………….
A pastor in Connecticut had a son, the JOY of His life who was needlessly murdered.
This pastor, living out his faith and beliefs visited the young man in prison who murdered his son. Over time with forgiveness being offered by the pastor, the young man asked his forgiveness and accepted Jesus as his LORD and SAVIOR.
The Reverend Walter Everett not only got to know well but came to love him deeply. Therefore, the pastor was instrumental in getting the man released from prison early. He recently officiated at his wedding. Here is a quote from the pastor. “I had known people whose loved ones had been murdered, and years later were still consumed, being eaten alive from the inside, consumed by their anger and hatred. I could not let that happen to me.”
IF it is, gladness of heart you desire…IF it is, the JOY of the Lord that is your strength. IF it is, peace like a river that flows both into, through and from you.
This pastors’ love is a replica of God’s love for us. Though His beloved Son was killed….and those who did so deserved punishment even unto death…instead they were offered forgiveness…unto life. Eternal life….and still are to this day.
Yes. He was brutalized, scored and put to death…. what came next as I spoke about last week…. instead of punishment and death…comes life…a life possible, no matter the circumstances, even in this life…gladness of heart…a merry heart-attitude, does good like medicine. Amen!
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 1, 2022
A Merry (JOYOUS) Heart is the JOY of the LORD!
Proverbs 17:22
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…. but a broken spirit drieth up the bones.” A merry or (JOYOUS) heart is the JOY of the LORD!”
We are just starting as a nation…as individuals, to come out of a long period of people, many people, including some of us, who have felt and some still do of being dried up…. with sadness, sorrow and questions unanswered yet. COVID, being a huge part of this, some of us having experienced sickness and even loss, of family and friends. In our congregation we lost to death Les Kiel, Willie Scheel, Missy and have people we love fighting cancer and other diseases that are ugly and frightening…. then we come to those who have moved away. Carl and Judy, Jack and Julie, Mark and Jodi, Dan and Drew, and Bruce and Toni…. plus, several others who have chosen not to attend our services and the church. For a congregation of our size, over a dozen people now gone is a huge loss….as we were friends of them all….and each added their own uniqueness to who we were and are.
When we look at all these people…plus in our own families and friends it has been a really rough year emotionally, spiritually and physically. Yet…this is how life is…. never static…. always changing. On the up side…. we also have gained new brothers and sisters in Christ….in the past year….and even recently and in this we find JOY! And along with these…. our summer members are starting to arrive.
Adding to this…. having just having come through LENT, the crucifixion and RESURRECTION OF our Lord Jesus Christ…it is time Psalm 30:11 says “Thou hast turned my mourning into ‘dancing’ for me Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Here are synonyms of gladness…. (Blessedness, happiness, JOY. Jubilance, Jubilation, Light-heartedness, Merriness, mirth and interestingly triumph.
There is a chorus from the 70’s that uses this verse, by turning it in to a simple song. Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing for me, thou hast put off my sackcloth, thou hast turned my morning into gladness for me, and girded me with gladness. To the end Thy glory may sing praise unto Thee, and not be silent, Oh Lord my God, I will give praise unto Thee forever.
When this came into being I was part of a small charismatic congregation that met in a little school gym in Moran, Wyoming, next to Grand Teton National Park…..our pastor was a former Baptist Minister from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The gathering was made up of cattle ranchers, guest ranches, Forest Service people, smattering of millionaires’ and then like myself and themselves, ordinary, everyday people who loved the Lord, each other, and felt the desire within us to express that love openly and often in song.
Among all those conservative people…they loved to lift their hands up unto the Lords…and sway back and forth in JOY, JUBILATION, MERRINESS, and not last of all, TRIUMPH in their own journey with each other and with Jesus. A very special time in my own personal spiritual life. I was in my thirties then… and of course now in my seventies it still feels like it was yesterday.
There is such a WONDERFUL FREEDOM in worship when we are not afraid of what the person next to us, or in the back watching us thinks of us…. because worship is such a multi-faceted act of LOVE AND THANKFULNESS TO THE LORD….IT CAN MANIFEST ITSELF IN MANY WAY…love of Him….and focus on Jesus…can lift us out of our human inhibitions…and worry about what others think of us. David of course danced before the LORD…Scripture says, in ABANDON…Samuel 6:14 “And David danced with all his might before the LORD.”
Now…don’t misread me here….I am not suggestion that we do the same, but yet, I am saying that perchance if some every does worship in this manner that none of us pass negative judgement on them….you see, this liturgical season upon us now, and with Spring “coming” Jesus having risen….we should have JOY, Gladness, Triumph, Happiness, Jubilation flowing through our spirits and our persons….a lighter step….and anticipation of His Presence in us growing, maturing and drawing closer and closer to Jesus…..ritual is wonderful and meaningful, but too is spontaneous and heart-felt LOVE and JOY.
When we are deep in our personal and abiding relationship with our Lord Jesus and the Father, the unexpected may happen…for this relationship can be deep and it is personal. NOT ONLY IN THE UNEXPECTED, but in our ordinary, every-day lives, even the mundane. For…. God is with us, God is in us, God is around us and God works through us…. IF WE LET HIM.
How temporal we are…as has been proven this last several years…though this is not new thought to us, it has been frequently brought to our attention by all the circumstances we have endured. How vulnerable we are….no matter how secure we foolishly try to think we are….by resisting changes and resisting challenges that confront us.
Our ATTITUDE and the things we prioritize our lives with are critical to how we will endure when difficulty comes…but yet even here, Paul says to REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE.
The values we cherish…we need to share. Why in God’s name would we even want to be critical, nay-sayers, judgers, being hard on people instead of helping, loving and lifting some of the burdens off their shoulder…and also not holding back (because of pride) when we too should share with others our own. In the Body OF Christ, the Church…we are to share both our JOYS and our NEEDS. The correct attitude….and the way we approach both the
difficulties and GOOD…can bring about healing in a multitude of ways.
PROVERBS 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good…like a medicine,
Like a medicine is a merry heart,
But a broken spirit drieth up the bones,
A merry heart is the JOY of the LORD!
Dr. Norman Cousins…on the medical staff at UCLA School of Medicine for years…. was diagnosed with having a strange, rare kind of disease that destroys the connective tissue of the body. The physicians he worked with gave him (knowing something was wrong) after many tests relayed to him that they were sorry, but there is really nothing we can do, as you know it is a degenerative disease and you dear friend are going to die from it.
Dr. Cousins said, “Well, I don’t want to just sigh, sit back and let it happen…I will not give up. (Remember the all the words I spoke in understanding the scope of meaning gladness, some being gladness, happiness, jubilation, triumph, merry and others.
He TRANSFORMED his attitude he was tempted immediately to adopt…an attitude of acceptance…well, here is what he chose to do and did.
1. He set himself on a regime of exercise.
2. He took high doses of Vitamin C
3. This became his adopt4ed ATTITUDE…. a mental choice.
4. He took his mega doses of Vitamin C and watched movies of slap-stick comedy including the 3-Stooges, Cartoons, the MARX Brothers and every funny movie he could locate, and as he watched in segments…he found that in 10 minutes of hearty laughter gave him a whole hour free of pain.
5. He discovered as he did this, that gradually he began to feel better and better more consistently.
The day came when he went back to his fellow physicians for more tests, and after a full battery of them, they relayed to him
the news, themselves astounded, and in joy, said, “we don’t know what has happened, because there is no known cure for this disease as you well know…..but your battery of tests reveal you are completely healed.
He went on to live another 20 years disease free, writing a book named “Anatomy of an illness, in which he made the point that ATTITUDE, cheerfulness, gladness, laughter…a merry heart, this having been written over 3000 years ago by one King Solomon.
A heart full of gladness is a trusting heart, uncrowded by fear, negativity, anger, doubt, trouble.
We all know that at times it is a very difficult world we live in, a world filled to overflowing with sins of all kind and magnitude leading to sickness, despair, brokenness and heart-ache.
Every instead of being overwhelmed, we choose to rejoice in the Risen LORD of our Salvation. Also remembering, that one fine day the one who Rose from the dead…will return…just as the disciples saw Him go…so He will return.
What a day of rejoicing that will be…for when, we all see Jesus we’ll SING and SHOUT THE VICTORY.
Whatever assails us if from a sinful world and the enemy of God, in our attitude…we are to CHOOSE to remember Jesus will walk with us, side by side, and eventually, if necessary, carry us, until we reach the destination of being with Him.
Proverbs 14:30 a. “A heart at peace give life to the body, between what goes on in the inside and the manifestations that occur on the outside. Our Goal is to have a heart set on Him…. Peace like a river will flow from Him to you…and overflow to others.
Proverbs 18:1 says, A man or woman’s spirit sustains them in sickness, but if their spirit is crushed, they cannot stand.
Song…He walks with me, and He talks with me.
And He tells me I am His own,
And the things we share as we tarry there.
None other than Christ alone…………. To wrap this up…. here are keys to developing an attitude of peace, joy and gladness.
1. Cultivate your relationship with God as the priority.
2. Keep the long view of life…. with eternity in your heart.
3. Cultivate a forgiving spirit…at whatever cost.
4. Be aware of who you associate with on a regular basis.
5. Be a load lifter, not a burden maker.
6. Something as simple as listening to good music speaks to you heart, mind and spirit.
7. Live a life of active serving and giving without expecting a return.
8. Come to KNOW and PRCTICE the teaching of our LORD.
9.Put on a glad heart…. with the JOY of the LORD as your strength.
REMEMBER THESE WORDS OF JESUS.’
“LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS….AND I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR ABANDON YOU.”
This is a story that parallels, well you can decide what story it parallels and where ultimate forgiveness based on LOVE…. has a similar impact, as the original story affected and affects the world to this day, and both would affect anyone one who reads and understands the depth of what lies beneath it.
I’ll close with this………….
A pastor in Connecticut had a son, the JOY of His life who was needlessly murdered.
This pastor, living out his faith and beliefs visited the young man in prison who murdered his son. Over time with forgiveness being offered by the pastor, the young man asked his forgiveness and accepted Jesus as his LORD and SAVIOR.
The Reverend Walter Everett not only got to know well but came to love him deeply. Therefore, the pastor was instrumental in getting the man released from prison early. He recently officiated at his wedding. Here is a quote from the pastor. “I had known people whose loved ones had been murdered, and years later were still consumed, being eaten alive from the inside, consumed by their anger and hatred. I could not let that happen to me.”
IF it is, gladness of heart you desire…IF it is, the JOY of the Lord that is your strength. IF it is, peace like a river that flows both into, through and from you.
This pastors’ love is a replica of God’s love for us. Though His beloved Son was killed….and those who did so deserved punishment even unto death…instead they were offered forgiveness…unto life. Eternal life….and still are to this day.
Yes. He was brutalized, scored and put to death…. what came next as I spoke about last week…. instead of punishment and death…comes life…a life possible, no matter the circumstances, even in this life…gladness of heart…a merry heart-attitude, does good like medicine. Amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
Island park, Idaho
April 24, 2022
"What Comes Next & Where Do We Go From Here?"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
This morning I am returning close to where we left off last Sunday. Mary and Mary Magdalene are running to find the disciples to explain to them what just took place, concerning Jesus and give them the message the angel had given the women to relate to the disciples.
(As a side note)
At times, when I both read Scripture and am being read to, I like to put myself somewhere in the mix…in this case perhaps as a disciple, or one of the men on the road to Emmaus, or even perhaps one of the women as I attempt to gauge their thoughts and even emotions.
You might try it also…I have quite a bit of Scripture to read…..so, please listen close….thank you. “What Comes Next” following His RESSURECTION is what you are about to hear.
Luke 24, starting with verse 5-43 READ (Two accounts)
Matthew 28:18-20 READ
LUKE 24:44-52 READ
Comments on verses 5-9
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the central fact (remember I said fact, established fact) of both our church history and the foundation on which this tact is is built. The pivotal point on which all of Christianity revolves, and without it there would be no Church today. Jesus’ resurrection in unique in religious history.
Other religions have strong ethical systems, concepts, about paradise and the afterlife and various holy words or precepts on which they are founded. Only Christianity tells us of the One True God who came in human form, born of a human mother and the Spirit of God Himself….with the promise of His literal return to reign and rule, His love and care palpable and tangible.
SO, WHY IS THE RESURRECTION SO VITALLY IMPORTANT?
Before I read what comes next….I want you to pause (selah) and think about this. About how blessed we are….and about how loving God is, and how awesome Jesus was and is. We have a tendency, to gloss over things that we hear often, but once-in-a-while and even every day, it is good to ponder….to be thankful and to understand on a deep level, all that Jesus is…and all that He did and does for us, every single day of our lives. Reflection is a good thing, or if, you don’t believe in the Resurrection, or that He is the Son of God our Savior and friend, what would be the point of even coming here to meet and sing about a mere man, upright and moral and loving albeit….for sure, but still a mere man. Coming to the table of the Lord and taking part in Communion would be pointless.
1. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the Kingdom of Heaven has broken into earth’s history, into our world today, because of fallen human choices and decisions men with outsized ego’s, lusting for power and control have put us, as never before on the brink of disaster and potentially eradication as a people and the planet itself.
2. His promise to come again, He will take us from the brink of destruction to the establishment of a Kingdom of peace on earth…and goodwill to mankind, and His promises will be fulfilled, as was His promise to come back from the dead came into being. Scripture does not lie, is not made up, is not temporal but eternal….IT IS TRUTH. While many struggle to find and seek TRUTH…WE HAVE IT RIGHT HERE IN OUR HANDS, AVAILABLE TO US EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY….AND YET, WE NEGLECT IT, MUCH TO OUR SHAME, AND POTENTIAL FOR PERSONAL SPRITUAL GROTH IGNORED.
3. We find though that because they have not yet heard of the resurrection it will take
4. Jesus’ bodily resurrection shows us that the living Christ is ruler of God’s eternal KINGDOM, not a false prophet or imposter.
5. We can be certain of our own resurrection because He resurrected, as I said above, and by doing so, broke the hold on death for us, bringing us NEW life…in Him. This is our hope and our faith, in that He fulfilled all the prophecies related to His resurrection, and will fulfill all of those related to His return,
6. The POWER that brought Jesus back to life, is available to us to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life.
7. The Resurrection is the basis for the church’s witness to the world. Jesus is more than just a human leader as I already explained; He is the Son of God.
An Old, but at one time contemporary chorus we sang in the early charismatic days goes like this.
My HOPE is in you Lord,
My STRENGTH is in you Lord,
In You, It’s in you!
I’ll praise you with all of my life,
I’ll praise you with all my strength
With all of my life, with all of my strength,
All of my HOPE Is in you……repeat.
WE WILL GO IN LUKE TO THE NEXT EVENT…….
We find two men on the road to Emmaus that witnessed all that took place with Jesus. We are never told one of the men’s names, but the other is Cleopas. As they walked along the road, they were discussing these things that had happened, Jesus suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing Him.
He asks them (already knowing of course) “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short; sadness written across their faces.
These men of course had not heard that He had been resurrected from the dead. Their sadness and sorrow were palpable.
3. We find though, that because they have not yet heard of the resurrection, it will take the disciples encountering Him as He reveals Himself by the holes in His hands and feet for them to do so. They remain to this day, as a testimony forever of His great love for us. This comes just a bit later, but now……
READ Luke 28-34
As the saga of the two men continues…..as they join with the 11 in Jerusalem
NOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS WHERE JESUS APPEARS NOT ONLY TO THE MEN FROM EMMAUS….BUT THE 11.…..READ LUKE 35-48 for almost the rest of the story.
In Scripture He opened their minds to understand…..just as today, the Holy Spirit will open our minds to also understand, and all we need to do for this to happen is ask Him.
His role as a prophet we find in Deuteronomy 18:15-20
His sufferings were prophesied in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53
His resurrection was predicted in Psalm 16:9-11 and Isaiah 53:10
Psalm 16: 9-11 His RESURRECTION PSALM
No wonder my heart is glad and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For You will not leave my soul among the dead or allow Your Holy One to rot in the grave.
Youi will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence, and the pleasures of LIVING with you forever.
Next and lastly we come to the ASENCION…..remembering He has a physical body…as prover by eating and those. Specifically stated, Thomas, who placed his fingers in the wounds in Jesus’ hands and feet.
Verse 50-53…..
Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting up His hands to heaven, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up to heaven. So, they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great JOY.
Jesus’ leaving must have been awe inspiring and amazing…..Put yourself there for that……but also seeing Him go in such manner, would have further deepened their faith, as to His return, having seen and experienced His Resurrection. He
Remember also His words to them where He told them to wait (together) in the city until they received the Holy Spirit in Power and Might…..which when this happened, would equip them to fulfill His last commandment, a commission to both them and us…which they fulfilled in an amazing way as led by the Spirit.
Mark 16:15-16
Called the Great Commission, for us too…in our everyday lives as witnesses, or called to go to the remotest places on the earth….as many have done. READ
Well…that is quite a commission…..and quite a variety of experiences along the way for some…..
“I AM THE RESURECTION AND THE LIFE. ANYHONE…WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL LIVE, EVEN AFTER DYING. EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN ME AND BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER EVER DIE.”
SO SAYETH THE LORD HIMSELF…..BLESSED BE HIS WORDS.
Island park, Idaho
April 24, 2022
"What Comes Next & Where Do We Go From Here?"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
This morning I am returning close to where we left off last Sunday. Mary and Mary Magdalene are running to find the disciples to explain to them what just took place, concerning Jesus and give them the message the angel had given the women to relate to the disciples.
(As a side note)
At times, when I both read Scripture and am being read to, I like to put myself somewhere in the mix…in this case perhaps as a disciple, or one of the men on the road to Emmaus, or even perhaps one of the women as I attempt to gauge their thoughts and even emotions.
You might try it also…I have quite a bit of Scripture to read…..so, please listen close….thank you. “What Comes Next” following His RESSURECTION is what you are about to hear.
Luke 24, starting with verse 5-43 READ (Two accounts)
Matthew 28:18-20 READ
LUKE 24:44-52 READ
Comments on verses 5-9
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the central fact (remember I said fact, established fact) of both our church history and the foundation on which this tact is is built. The pivotal point on which all of Christianity revolves, and without it there would be no Church today. Jesus’ resurrection in unique in religious history.
Other religions have strong ethical systems, concepts, about paradise and the afterlife and various holy words or precepts on which they are founded. Only Christianity tells us of the One True God who came in human form, born of a human mother and the Spirit of God Himself….with the promise of His literal return to reign and rule, His love and care palpable and tangible.
SO, WHY IS THE RESURRECTION SO VITALLY IMPORTANT?
Before I read what comes next….I want you to pause (selah) and think about this. About how blessed we are….and about how loving God is, and how awesome Jesus was and is. We have a tendency, to gloss over things that we hear often, but once-in-a-while and even every day, it is good to ponder….to be thankful and to understand on a deep level, all that Jesus is…and all that He did and does for us, every single day of our lives. Reflection is a good thing, or if, you don’t believe in the Resurrection, or that He is the Son of God our Savior and friend, what would be the point of even coming here to meet and sing about a mere man, upright and moral and loving albeit….for sure, but still a mere man. Coming to the table of the Lord and taking part in Communion would be pointless.
1. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the Kingdom of Heaven has broken into earth’s history, into our world today, because of fallen human choices and decisions men with outsized ego’s, lusting for power and control have put us, as never before on the brink of disaster and potentially eradication as a people and the planet itself.
2. His promise to come again, He will take us from the brink of destruction to the establishment of a Kingdom of peace on earth…and goodwill to mankind, and His promises will be fulfilled, as was His promise to come back from the dead came into being. Scripture does not lie, is not made up, is not temporal but eternal….IT IS TRUTH. While many struggle to find and seek TRUTH…WE HAVE IT RIGHT HERE IN OUR HANDS, AVAILABLE TO US EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY….AND YET, WE NEGLECT IT, MUCH TO OUR SHAME, AND POTENTIAL FOR PERSONAL SPRITUAL GROTH IGNORED.
3. We find though that because they have not yet heard of the resurrection it will take
4. Jesus’ bodily resurrection shows us that the living Christ is ruler of God’s eternal KINGDOM, not a false prophet or imposter.
5. We can be certain of our own resurrection because He resurrected, as I said above, and by doing so, broke the hold on death for us, bringing us NEW life…in Him. This is our hope and our faith, in that He fulfilled all the prophecies related to His resurrection, and will fulfill all of those related to His return,
6. The POWER that brought Jesus back to life, is available to us to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life.
7. The Resurrection is the basis for the church’s witness to the world. Jesus is more than just a human leader as I already explained; He is the Son of God.
An Old, but at one time contemporary chorus we sang in the early charismatic days goes like this.
My HOPE is in you Lord,
My STRENGTH is in you Lord,
In You, It’s in you!
I’ll praise you with all of my life,
I’ll praise you with all my strength
With all of my life, with all of my strength,
All of my HOPE Is in you……repeat.
WE WILL GO IN LUKE TO THE NEXT EVENT…….
We find two men on the road to Emmaus that witnessed all that took place with Jesus. We are never told one of the men’s names, but the other is Cleopas. As they walked along the road, they were discussing these things that had happened, Jesus suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing Him.
He asks them (already knowing of course) “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short; sadness written across their faces.
These men of course had not heard that He had been resurrected from the dead. Their sadness and sorrow were palpable.
3. We find though, that because they have not yet heard of the resurrection, it will take the disciples encountering Him as He reveals Himself by the holes in His hands and feet for them to do so. They remain to this day, as a testimony forever of His great love for us. This comes just a bit later, but now……
READ Luke 28-34
As the saga of the two men continues…..as they join with the 11 in Jerusalem
NOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS WHERE JESUS APPEARS NOT ONLY TO THE MEN FROM EMMAUS….BUT THE 11.…..READ LUKE 35-48 for almost the rest of the story.
In Scripture He opened their minds to understand…..just as today, the Holy Spirit will open our minds to also understand, and all we need to do for this to happen is ask Him.
His role as a prophet we find in Deuteronomy 18:15-20
His sufferings were prophesied in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53
His resurrection was predicted in Psalm 16:9-11 and Isaiah 53:10
Psalm 16: 9-11 His RESURRECTION PSALM
No wonder my heart is glad and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For You will not leave my soul among the dead or allow Your Holy One to rot in the grave.
Youi will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence, and the pleasures of LIVING with you forever.
Next and lastly we come to the ASENCION…..remembering He has a physical body…as prover by eating and those. Specifically stated, Thomas, who placed his fingers in the wounds in Jesus’ hands and feet.
Verse 50-53…..
Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting up His hands to heaven, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up to heaven. So, they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great JOY.
Jesus’ leaving must have been awe inspiring and amazing…..Put yourself there for that……but also seeing Him go in such manner, would have further deepened their faith, as to His return, having seen and experienced His Resurrection. He
Remember also His words to them where He told them to wait (together) in the city until they received the Holy Spirit in Power and Might…..which when this happened, would equip them to fulfill His last commandment, a commission to both them and us…which they fulfilled in an amazing way as led by the Spirit.
Mark 16:15-16
Called the Great Commission, for us too…in our everyday lives as witnesses, or called to go to the remotest places on the earth….as many have done. READ
Well…that is quite a commission…..and quite a variety of experiences along the way for some…..
“I AM THE RESURECTION AND THE LIFE. ANYHONE…WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL LIVE, EVEN AFTER DYING. EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN ME AND BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER EVER DIE.”
SO SAYETH THE LORD HIMSELF…..BLESSED BE HIS WORDS.
Morning Has Broken
(a New Day Has Dawned)
April 17, 2022
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
After the fear and horror of this day 1,988 years ago…with the arrest and trial…of Jesus. After enduring His beating and berating from both the high priest and the crowd, followed by carrying His cross through the crowd and up the road, to the top of the hill called Golgotha, then after being roughly stretched out on that same cross, splinters digging into His already torn and beaten flesh, His head still wearing a crown of thorns pushing into his forehead, due to His inability to hold His head up….and little to no strength left in Him. Then in finality and brutally…..spikes….not nails, were driven into each hand, which was contrary to the Roman executioners normally placing the spikes through the wrists to support the body weight….to cause more pain, the hands more sensitive and more easily broken, would cause extreme pain. His feet placed together on a small platform, spikes driven through the tops of His feet slanted up toward the ankles, separating the bones of the feet, thus unable as in His hands, to support His entire body weight…causing even more pain. Once that was finished the cross was roughly pulled upright…and roughly dropped into a pre-dug hole in the ground, hitting the bottom hard, causing agonizing pain throughout His body, especially where the spikes were holding Him to the cross, His head rocking back and forth…. driving each thorn yet deeper.
People wept…others jeered…others prayed, hearts broken, those who had believed in His message, some…..now doubting, now fearing for their own lives if associated with this Jesus.
Those who continued to hold on to their faith, seeing their long awaited Messiah….dying, like an ordinary man. Meanwhile….His beloved mother doing what she has done all these many years…painfully pondering, remembering the promises the angel had given her. So many memoires, as her heart, broken…..yet with
hope still burning, still believing, though perhaps not understanding, her pain almost overwhelming her, asking God, why, why, why?
This horror filled day, now turning to the darkness of night, darker than any can remember, one can still hear muffled tears and literally feel the depth and magnitude of sorrow in the air, as they all hear His voice piercing the darkness…My God My God…why have you forsaken Me…..a short time thereafter barely audible, Jesus last words spoken as a man….”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they have done….His head gently dropping, He breathes His last breath and dies.
SILENCE
Then…a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
This man wen to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the boy to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean liner cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had had hewn out of rock; and he had a large stone rolled against the door of the tomb.
Mary his mother and Mary Magdalene were there sitting opposite the door of the tomb.
On Saturday…the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to speak with Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise. Pilate then commanded that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So, the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go and make it as secure as you know how.” So, they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and placing there a guard.
Night has passed…. the earth seems unnaturally still.
Morning is soon to break…the last of the stars are fading from the early morning sky, and as this day begins to dawn Mary, Jesus’ mother and Mary Magdalene, came to the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the LORD had descended from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, becoming like dead men.
The two Mary’s, after experiencing the earthquake…. seeing an angel….then having him talk to them…I am sure they were overwhelmed emotionally….even showing fear. But, hearing these words after asking “where have they have moved Him, the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come see…..the place where the LORD had lay. The angel called Him LORD, for He is the LORD of heaven and earth. “Go quickly,” “and tell His disciples, that He is risen from the dead, and indeed you will see Him.” So, they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and GREAT JOY. They are excitedly exclaiming to each other, it’s true…it’s true. He has risen as He said from the dead, and they ran to bring His disciples the words of the Angel.
As the two women ran…. the sun broke over the distant mountains, and MORNING HAS finally BROKEN, in all the beauty and stillness, LIKE THE VERY FIRST MORNING of Creation, and birds are singing, like the first bird, finding JOY in the beauty of the new day.
Listen to these words from the Hymn……
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning, praise for the springing fresh from the WORD. The Living Word, the Risen Savior.
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven…like the first dewfall on the first grass, praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in completeness where His feet pass. Just imagine…. after the unnatural darkness, the pain and sorrow…now dispelled forever, that beautiful fresh morning with the fresh and pure dew-covered grass…. the sounds of birdsong in the air, early rays of sunlight highlighting the ground with dappling
shadows...the light heavenly in its clarity…and among the tombs, this one in particular, now open, that was sealed three days earlier, the seal now broken supernaturally, and the ONE who was entombed, once dead, now treads the dew-covered grass taking in the early morning freshness, the scent of flowers, the hum of bees collecting their nectar….and out there, out there, is a whole world…. unknowing as to what is taking place as they sleep.
This ONE, “Jesus” who broke down the barrier between life and death, bringing the Son of God-light, this is His morning, born of the One Light Eden saw play! Praise with elation, Praise Every Morning, and God’s Re-Creation, of the new day. This is the dawning of the day of SALVATION…for ALL, who hunger and thirst after righteousness and truth.
LET’S SING THIS HYMN FOUND ON page 6, in your hymnals, “MORNING HAS BROKEN.”
His pathway to the CROSS has purchased for us….a pathway to the Father…to a realm we cannot even being to imagine….time without end…in very presence of the ONE God, Jehovah- Jireh, translated, means “God our Provider.”
This pathway is for EVERYONE who acknowledges Jesus Christ as their SAVIOR….and REPENTS OF THEIR SIN….though sometimes others cannot believe just how deep this acceptance and forgiveness can reach. How on earth can Jesus forgive even the most vile of sinners….well… He both can and does. To me…this true story I am about to read to this day, many question both the man’s sincerity and Salvation as well as how could the SAVIOR possibly forgive some sins. But you see…. that is why He came…not for the religious, but for all sinners, even the vilest of them….so great is both His forgiveness and GRACE.
I DOUBT NOT…that this man was saved and sanctified…. because, He has accepted me…. of all people….me. Therefore, I LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES ME….no matter what you may think of me, I rely
on Him and Him alone for my redemption…being up here every Sunday is not about pleasing or inspiring you…though I am pleased when that happens….but it is about pleasing Him first by reaching into your life…perhaps even to convict you…or at times to get you to look deep within yourself to see where you…and I need to undergo the TRANSFORMATION THAT ONLY CAN COME THROUGH YOUR LOVE FOR HIM…..you may consider yourself an arbiter of wisdom and discernment….when in fact you may be nothing more than an unkind critic.
THAT MAN/GOD WHO DIED ON THAT CROSS, DIED ON IT AND ROSE AGAIN TO TRANSFORM US FROM THE EARTHLY TO THE HEAVENLY…. FOCUSED ON OUR MAIN GOAL OF BEING LIKE HIM IN EVERY WAY.
There have been in the past and clearly are in the present who will be required to give up everything….to be like and live like Him.
That we are recognized as followers and disciples of His should make us very careful about how we live or lives……are we? This Easter Sunday…let us examine ourselves….and if found wanting, of which He by His Spirit will point out if we permit Him…. CHANGE from our earthly temperament to His heavenly one…. otherwise, He died in vain, but we KNOW He didn’t…. there are many living dramatically changed lives…. because of simply saying YES LORD, YES.
EASTER IS ABOUT LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION…NOT ONLY HIS BUT OURS…. THINK ABOUT IT, WILL YOU?
HIS NAME CARRIES WITH IT….SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR US, BUT THE CHOICE IS OURS….TO ACCEPT OR REJECT……PRASIE HIM….
Now to the story………………………………………………………………
THE MONSTER FROM MILWAUKEE
His NAME.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about His Name
Master, Savior Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain…
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all Heaven and earth proclaim,
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away, but there’s
somethings about that name.
The Risen Christ……. beckons, come, comes……………
Amen
That true story ……and the life of your story….is what EASTER is all about.
REDEMPTION AND TRANSFORMATION………………………………. AMEN
(a New Day Has Dawned)
April 17, 2022
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
After the fear and horror of this day 1,988 years ago…with the arrest and trial…of Jesus. After enduring His beating and berating from both the high priest and the crowd, followed by carrying His cross through the crowd and up the road, to the top of the hill called Golgotha, then after being roughly stretched out on that same cross, splinters digging into His already torn and beaten flesh, His head still wearing a crown of thorns pushing into his forehead, due to His inability to hold His head up….and little to no strength left in Him. Then in finality and brutally…..spikes….not nails, were driven into each hand, which was contrary to the Roman executioners normally placing the spikes through the wrists to support the body weight….to cause more pain, the hands more sensitive and more easily broken, would cause extreme pain. His feet placed together on a small platform, spikes driven through the tops of His feet slanted up toward the ankles, separating the bones of the feet, thus unable as in His hands, to support His entire body weight…causing even more pain. Once that was finished the cross was roughly pulled upright…and roughly dropped into a pre-dug hole in the ground, hitting the bottom hard, causing agonizing pain throughout His body, especially where the spikes were holding Him to the cross, His head rocking back and forth…. driving each thorn yet deeper.
People wept…others jeered…others prayed, hearts broken, those who had believed in His message, some…..now doubting, now fearing for their own lives if associated with this Jesus.
Those who continued to hold on to their faith, seeing their long awaited Messiah….dying, like an ordinary man. Meanwhile….His beloved mother doing what she has done all these many years…painfully pondering, remembering the promises the angel had given her. So many memoires, as her heart, broken…..yet with
hope still burning, still believing, though perhaps not understanding, her pain almost overwhelming her, asking God, why, why, why?
This horror filled day, now turning to the darkness of night, darker than any can remember, one can still hear muffled tears and literally feel the depth and magnitude of sorrow in the air, as they all hear His voice piercing the darkness…My God My God…why have you forsaken Me…..a short time thereafter barely audible, Jesus last words spoken as a man….”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they have done….His head gently dropping, He breathes His last breath and dies.
SILENCE
Then…a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
This man wen to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the boy to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean liner cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had had hewn out of rock; and he had a large stone rolled against the door of the tomb.
Mary his mother and Mary Magdalene were there sitting opposite the door of the tomb.
On Saturday…the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to speak with Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise. Pilate then commanded that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So, the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go and make it as secure as you know how.” So, they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and placing there a guard.
Night has passed…. the earth seems unnaturally still.
Morning is soon to break…the last of the stars are fading from the early morning sky, and as this day begins to dawn Mary, Jesus’ mother and Mary Magdalene, came to the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the LORD had descended from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, becoming like dead men.
The two Mary’s, after experiencing the earthquake…. seeing an angel….then having him talk to them…I am sure they were overwhelmed emotionally….even showing fear. But, hearing these words after asking “where have they have moved Him, the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come see…..the place where the LORD had lay. The angel called Him LORD, for He is the LORD of heaven and earth. “Go quickly,” “and tell His disciples, that He is risen from the dead, and indeed you will see Him.” So, they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and GREAT JOY. They are excitedly exclaiming to each other, it’s true…it’s true. He has risen as He said from the dead, and they ran to bring His disciples the words of the Angel.
As the two women ran…. the sun broke over the distant mountains, and MORNING HAS finally BROKEN, in all the beauty and stillness, LIKE THE VERY FIRST MORNING of Creation, and birds are singing, like the first bird, finding JOY in the beauty of the new day.
Listen to these words from the Hymn……
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning, praise for the springing fresh from the WORD. The Living Word, the Risen Savior.
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven…like the first dewfall on the first grass, praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in completeness where His feet pass. Just imagine…. after the unnatural darkness, the pain and sorrow…now dispelled forever, that beautiful fresh morning with the fresh and pure dew-covered grass…. the sounds of birdsong in the air, early rays of sunlight highlighting the ground with dappling
shadows...the light heavenly in its clarity…and among the tombs, this one in particular, now open, that was sealed three days earlier, the seal now broken supernaturally, and the ONE who was entombed, once dead, now treads the dew-covered grass taking in the early morning freshness, the scent of flowers, the hum of bees collecting their nectar….and out there, out there, is a whole world…. unknowing as to what is taking place as they sleep.
This ONE, “Jesus” who broke down the barrier between life and death, bringing the Son of God-light, this is His morning, born of the One Light Eden saw play! Praise with elation, Praise Every Morning, and God’s Re-Creation, of the new day. This is the dawning of the day of SALVATION…for ALL, who hunger and thirst after righteousness and truth.
LET’S SING THIS HYMN FOUND ON page 6, in your hymnals, “MORNING HAS BROKEN.”
His pathway to the CROSS has purchased for us….a pathway to the Father…to a realm we cannot even being to imagine….time without end…in very presence of the ONE God, Jehovah- Jireh, translated, means “God our Provider.”
This pathway is for EVERYONE who acknowledges Jesus Christ as their SAVIOR….and REPENTS OF THEIR SIN….though sometimes others cannot believe just how deep this acceptance and forgiveness can reach. How on earth can Jesus forgive even the most vile of sinners….well… He both can and does. To me…this true story I am about to read to this day, many question both the man’s sincerity and Salvation as well as how could the SAVIOR possibly forgive some sins. But you see…. that is why He came…not for the religious, but for all sinners, even the vilest of them….so great is both His forgiveness and GRACE.
I DOUBT NOT…that this man was saved and sanctified…. because, He has accepted me…. of all people….me. Therefore, I LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES ME….no matter what you may think of me, I rely
on Him and Him alone for my redemption…being up here every Sunday is not about pleasing or inspiring you…though I am pleased when that happens….but it is about pleasing Him first by reaching into your life…perhaps even to convict you…or at times to get you to look deep within yourself to see where you…and I need to undergo the TRANSFORMATION THAT ONLY CAN COME THROUGH YOUR LOVE FOR HIM…..you may consider yourself an arbiter of wisdom and discernment….when in fact you may be nothing more than an unkind critic.
THAT MAN/GOD WHO DIED ON THAT CROSS, DIED ON IT AND ROSE AGAIN TO TRANSFORM US FROM THE EARTHLY TO THE HEAVENLY…. FOCUSED ON OUR MAIN GOAL OF BEING LIKE HIM IN EVERY WAY.
There have been in the past and clearly are in the present who will be required to give up everything….to be like and live like Him.
That we are recognized as followers and disciples of His should make us very careful about how we live or lives……are we? This Easter Sunday…let us examine ourselves….and if found wanting, of which He by His Spirit will point out if we permit Him…. CHANGE from our earthly temperament to His heavenly one…. otherwise, He died in vain, but we KNOW He didn’t…. there are many living dramatically changed lives…. because of simply saying YES LORD, YES.
EASTER IS ABOUT LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION…NOT ONLY HIS BUT OURS…. THINK ABOUT IT, WILL YOU?
HIS NAME CARRIES WITH IT….SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR US, BUT THE CHOICE IS OURS….TO ACCEPT OR REJECT……PRASIE HIM….
Now to the story………………………………………………………………
THE MONSTER FROM MILWAUKEE
His NAME.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about His Name
Master, Savior Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain…
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all Heaven and earth proclaim,
Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away, but there’s
somethings about that name.
The Risen Christ……. beckons, come, comes……………
Amen
That true story ……and the life of your story….is what EASTER is all about.
REDEMPTION AND TRANSFORMATION………………………………. AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
March 20, 2022
“GOD, YOU ARE MY GOD”
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Having studied and read and read on Lent…. this has been a hard boat to row with today’s message. It seems each denomination that celebrates Lent…. has added in places emphasis on an interesting number of things, people and events.
My emphasis this Third Sunday of Lent comes down to my sermon title. “O God, You, are my God, which is found in Psalm 63, which you just heard read to you. VS. 1. “O God, thou art ‘my God’ early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus, will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name.
God wants to hear from us in our minds, words and in our actions the fact that not only do we acknowledge that He is…but that,
We seek Him early in the morning, at noon-time, mid-afternoon, evening and night. Seek is purposeful and active.
We long for Him…as the deer pants for the water. (The same way we long for love…for acceptance, for companionship…. that feeling like no other, when that longing is fulfilled.
We long to see His Power, glory…. His majesty….in not only the sanctuary…but though our bodies, our actions manifested in our bodies…for Christ said our bodies are a living sanctuary of God, and what we do with and through them either magnifies His glory and power or denigrates them….and Him.
We long for the manifestations of His lovingkindness towards us and those we cherish…. better it is said, than life itself.
And because of this, not only in our church sanctuaries and body sanctuary…. we will give Him our ultimate best…by worshiping His Son…with our lips/words of praise, even lifting up our hands in
submissive praise, thereby worshiping Father God, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
We do this actively……not only by lifting our voices, hands and arms, but getting on our knees, and at time even on our faces before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In all of this…this worship must come deep within our souls, not by rote or because it is part of a celebration, but to FEEL with our God -given emotions…that deep seated love of connective expression.
Listen to more of Psalm 63, the benefits of such a connection.
My soul shall be satisfied…. pause, as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with JOYFUL lips. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Because thou have been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee….and thy right hand upholdeth me.
He is our helper.
He satisfieth the longing of our souls.
JOY will be a part of our everyday life, irrespective of our circumstances.
We will rejoice in the God of our Salvation.
When is the last time or the first and only time…. have you felt the deep longing of your soul awash in satisfaction, awash in JOY, Feel God with feelings of LOVE, that He was holding you in His hands, when you were so in awe of Him that you went to your knees in grateful worship? That you were so thankful to Jesus Christ for taking your sins upon His own body…. shedding His life-giving blood for your salvation…that gratefulness filled your whole being.
When…. or ever? Intellectual acceptance of His deity is essential, but so is a deeply, heart-felt personal experience in able to understand His great sacrifice.
The first two weeks of Lent... the focus was on repentance and forgiveness, for those who desire to come out of the dry and weary land of sin and self-focus, hence selfishness.
The season is to remind us of our need for the Savior…. knowing that He is coming….and recognizing the journey that we, together with Him, deeply personal….and humbling need not walk behind Him, but with Him…as He journeys to the CROSS and all that it hold for both Jesus and us.
At times elevated beautifully into His presence…and other times holding on the hem of His garment…and also AT TIMES walking arm in arm with Him…. this dear Lord of ours.
He gave, and gives each of us, an opportunity to a complete change in direction in our lives if needed…Luke 15:17-20. Each of us is until we come to accept Jesus into our lives…. a prodigal son or daughter.
This choice comes with both the gift and sometimes it seems, the curse of FREE WILL. We should never, ever, feel that God maneuvers us like puppets on strings…but can and at times will, engineer our circumstances to get our attention…and He will never tire of doing do…that is His love for us, but it is ultimately our choice, Him or us.
17. When the son came to his senses, (how many never come to their senses because of pride, intellect, pursuits, wealth, power, etc.) he said, “how many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! Eating with pigs, (spiritually) he says to himself, I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. ‘So, he got up and went to his father.
BUT, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he RAN to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
This is what this journey of LENT is all about…. coming home, to our Father (God) through repentance, forgiveness and restoration, adopted through Jesus in to the forever family of God.
Repentance….is a human activity and a gift from God, made possible through Jesus.
Isaiah says, “Turn to the LORD! while he can still be found. Call out to God for He is near. Give up your crooked ways and your evil self-centered thoughts.
I know, that, whenever the Father of the prodigal son went outside for any reason, he would always look in the direction that his son had walked away…hoping and praying that one day he would see that same son come back home by the path he took away. And he did. His faith…never diminished…as ours should stay strong…whether we too have a prodigal or are a prodigal.
This coming home is what God wants for all His children…red and yellow, black and white…. for all are precious in His sight. That is the enormity of God’s love, in that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him…shall not perish but, inherit (as son and daughters of God) eternal life. John 3:16
As the Father and his son were blood…so too are we, recognizing when we come to the Lord’s table…we are also blood family of our God and Father through His Son.
Think about this…. IF, another one of those IF’s. IF we are in a close relationship with our LORD, we are more likely to do the right thing, bearing good fruit in terms of acts of love for others, that helps build up the Kingdom of God. If we are distant from God, we are more likely to serve as in the Prodigal Son’s initial action, our own interests, thwarting God’s purposes.
IF ONLY…. we would follow through and do what I spoke of a couple of Sunday’s ago…. HUMBLE OURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD…and He will lift us up…higher and higher, and He will lift us up!
PRAYER….
March 20, 2022
“GOD, YOU ARE MY GOD”
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Having studied and read and read on Lent…. this has been a hard boat to row with today’s message. It seems each denomination that celebrates Lent…. has added in places emphasis on an interesting number of things, people and events.
My emphasis this Third Sunday of Lent comes down to my sermon title. “O God, You, are my God, which is found in Psalm 63, which you just heard read to you. VS. 1. “O God, thou art ‘my God’ early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus, will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name.
God wants to hear from us in our minds, words and in our actions the fact that not only do we acknowledge that He is…but that,
We seek Him early in the morning, at noon-time, mid-afternoon, evening and night. Seek is purposeful and active.
We long for Him…as the deer pants for the water. (The same way we long for love…for acceptance, for companionship…. that feeling like no other, when that longing is fulfilled.
We long to see His Power, glory…. His majesty….in not only the sanctuary…but though our bodies, our actions manifested in our bodies…for Christ said our bodies are a living sanctuary of God, and what we do with and through them either magnifies His glory and power or denigrates them….and Him.
We long for the manifestations of His lovingkindness towards us and those we cherish…. better it is said, than life itself.
And because of this, not only in our church sanctuaries and body sanctuary…. we will give Him our ultimate best…by worshiping His Son…with our lips/words of praise, even lifting up our hands in
submissive praise, thereby worshiping Father God, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
We do this actively……not only by lifting our voices, hands and arms, but getting on our knees, and at time even on our faces before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In all of this…this worship must come deep within our souls, not by rote or because it is part of a celebration, but to FEEL with our God -given emotions…that deep seated love of connective expression.
Listen to more of Psalm 63, the benefits of such a connection.
My soul shall be satisfied…. pause, as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with JOYFUL lips. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Because thou have been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee….and thy right hand upholdeth me.
He is our helper.
He satisfieth the longing of our souls.
JOY will be a part of our everyday life, irrespective of our circumstances.
We will rejoice in the God of our Salvation.
When is the last time or the first and only time…. have you felt the deep longing of your soul awash in satisfaction, awash in JOY, Feel God with feelings of LOVE, that He was holding you in His hands, when you were so in awe of Him that you went to your knees in grateful worship? That you were so thankful to Jesus Christ for taking your sins upon His own body…. shedding His life-giving blood for your salvation…that gratefulness filled your whole being.
When…. or ever? Intellectual acceptance of His deity is essential, but so is a deeply, heart-felt personal experience in able to understand His great sacrifice.
The first two weeks of Lent... the focus was on repentance and forgiveness, for those who desire to come out of the dry and weary land of sin and self-focus, hence selfishness.
The season is to remind us of our need for the Savior…. knowing that He is coming….and recognizing the journey that we, together with Him, deeply personal….and humbling need not walk behind Him, but with Him…as He journeys to the CROSS and all that it hold for both Jesus and us.
At times elevated beautifully into His presence…and other times holding on the hem of His garment…and also AT TIMES walking arm in arm with Him…. this dear Lord of ours.
He gave, and gives each of us, an opportunity to a complete change in direction in our lives if needed…Luke 15:17-20. Each of us is until we come to accept Jesus into our lives…. a prodigal son or daughter.
This choice comes with both the gift and sometimes it seems, the curse of FREE WILL. We should never, ever, feel that God maneuvers us like puppets on strings…but can and at times will, engineer our circumstances to get our attention…and He will never tire of doing do…that is His love for us, but it is ultimately our choice, Him or us.
17. When the son came to his senses, (how many never come to their senses because of pride, intellect, pursuits, wealth, power, etc.) he said, “how many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! Eating with pigs, (spiritually) he says to himself, I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. ‘So, he got up and went to his father.
BUT, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he RAN to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
This is what this journey of LENT is all about…. coming home, to our Father (God) through repentance, forgiveness and restoration, adopted through Jesus in to the forever family of God.
Repentance….is a human activity and a gift from God, made possible through Jesus.
Isaiah says, “Turn to the LORD! while he can still be found. Call out to God for He is near. Give up your crooked ways and your evil self-centered thoughts.
I know, that, whenever the Father of the prodigal son went outside for any reason, he would always look in the direction that his son had walked away…hoping and praying that one day he would see that same son come back home by the path he took away. And he did. His faith…never diminished…as ours should stay strong…whether we too have a prodigal or are a prodigal.
This coming home is what God wants for all His children…red and yellow, black and white…. for all are precious in His sight. That is the enormity of God’s love, in that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him…shall not perish but, inherit (as son and daughters of God) eternal life. John 3:16
As the Father and his son were blood…so too are we, recognizing when we come to the Lord’s table…we are also blood family of our God and Father through His Son.
Think about this…. IF, another one of those IF’s. IF we are in a close relationship with our LORD, we are more likely to do the right thing, bearing good fruit in terms of acts of love for others, that helps build up the Kingdom of God. If we are distant from God, we are more likely to serve as in the Prodigal Son’s initial action, our own interests, thwarting God’s purposes.
IF ONLY…. we would follow through and do what I spoke of a couple of Sunday’s ago…. HUMBLE OURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD…and He will lift us up…higher and higher, and He will lift us up!
PRAYER….
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Little Church in the Pines
Humble Thy Self in the Sight of the Lord
March 10, 2022
Sermon by: Pastor Tom Shanor
2nd Chronicles 7:14
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
This verse is accounted as the second time that God appears to Solomon in the Temple, as He seeks God’s wisdom and direction.
Think about that…. God spoke to Solomon. This verse also more than any other in 2nd Chronicles, is the best-loved. It holds a promise from God, prefaced with the word IF. IF my people…at that time the people of Israel. He is speaking here of TRUE REPENTANCE, not just I’m sorry, but heart felt; and Spirit led, after both personal and national introspection, seeking forgiveness…. God will grant it. Look what will follow once forgiven.
Their sins and transgressions are forgiven, with the promise of healing for individuals and across their land.
This VERSE is called a REVIVAL PRAYER for ALL the ages, and peoples of mankind.
This verse reveals a PRINCIPLE applicable to God’s people in any period of history then, today and in times to come. It is the responsibility though, of God’s people, to seek God for His mercy, when sin unrepented brings with it the consequences of loss of the ability to love, in a Godly way no longer following the moral laws of God, and instead of turning inward with the focus on self-gratification, there is the necessity for us to always also, look outward, not forgetting or neglecting to help with the needs of those who are desolate, poor and forsaken.
Again, this is a two-fold condition, with a three-fold result. for ALL God’s people (those called by His name). IF they, (we) will humble ourselves (turn from (our self-focused sin) and seek His face in prayer, intense and sincere prayer, only then, will God hear us, forgive, and heal both the individual and our Land which today desperately needs healing. As a nation, we are divided into many segments, politically, culturally, race, denominations, families,
churches and more. These words of Jesus I am going to read tells us the results of this division, Matthew 12:25 “Every nation divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” This same thing He says is also found in Mark 3:25, “and if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”
This is true also for individuals who are broken spiritually, who are broken mentally, who are divided in their own conscience. Forgiveness is such a vital part of being healthy in every way. Unrepented sin…for those who experience guilt knowing and acknowledging personal sin…. yet, not willing and humbling themselves before the Lord and repenting, will never find wholeness and peace, potentially causing mental illness, emotional fracture, physical discord resulting in disease and unrest.
“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up, higher and higher and He will lift you up.”
America’s 5 great revivals have started with just several people, repentant and seeking God’s face….or presence, focused on praying not only for themselves and forgiveness, but for church, their town and nation, while also praying for a visitation of God’s Holy Spirt, who is the Spirit of Power and might, as evidenced in the Great Visitation on the Disciples, on the Day of Pentecost…and which then spread from the Disciples, first of all through Peter, when the first time He spoke, following his encounter with the Holy Spirit…a dramatically changed man, focused, and with new spiritual power…5000 were converted to Christ…and it spread like a great wave around the city, the nation and then the world.
HUMBLE THYSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD….AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP!
Some Christians do not want revival, do not understand it, see it as arcane and strange in today’s Christianity…irrelevant and irrational both personally and for our nation…and they also fear this strange power, as to why and how He, the Holy Spirit might express Himself through them, possibly making them look foolish (in the eyes of others). Speaking in tongues as an example, and, yes, He still
moves in those same way IF He chooses.…sometimes expressing Himself through prophecy and even as a mighty rushing wind, of which I have experienced these three, and would love to see tongues of flame or whatever gift the Spirit chooses to bestow.
At the core of receiving this Gift, that which is He Himself, lay the Virtue of HUMILITY. There are 5 steps to humility and prayer I am going to go over with you.
#1. HUMILIITY IS SIMPLY PUTTING GOD AND OTHERS FIRST above our own desires. It is as I have stated before, not weakness, this humidity, but controlled strength. The Spirit is God’s POWER given to us, not to feel that we are special…but to guide and strengthen us as we proclaim the TRUTH of who He is and, also the nature and person of His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior, Lord and Friend.
So, number one our list is Humility, God cannot and will not make us humble, but He sure can engineer our circumstances, to show and teach us what it means to be humble.
Have you ever been humbled?
Have you ever felt humble in the presence of someone?
Here is a story of a God loving humble woman in the deep south over 60 years ago, and a chain gang made up convicted criminals who had escaped, only to be caught and put in, well, you’ll hear the rest of the story.
READ: "Book of Amazing Angels"
The Day an Angel Fed Angels
(June 1)
Genuine humility is a beautiful thing to behold and experience, in both self and others….it is almost like beholding the LORD Himself.
#2. I have already spoken of, as a way of restoration/by repentance and forgiveness. It is PRAYER, and in this instance what to pray for. PRAY for a fuller revelation of God’s glory by seeking His Presence, and you will KNOW when you come into His Presence with THANKSGIVNG IN YOUR HEART. You will know in your KNOWER.
3. Scripture says turn from everything that contradicts the Spirit (for He will reveal those contradictions by both His still small voice, and the written word of God, Holy Scripture) and give us the
direction our prayers are to go, with the promised results: God will hear our prayer, will cleanse us from all sin, and will bring healing where it is needed…again, for the church, for the nation and for His people. “Not my will we willingly say, but Thine be done.”
Psalm 42 describes how we are to seek God in prayer when come to Him, VS.1, As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee, O God. Vs.2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Are our prayers are being prayed in this manner…..not as a side note, but with the totality of our being. whether for repentance or in intercession. Do we know what it is to pray in this depth and manner, knowing who it is we are praying to! Not to the wind, sky or mountains, but to the ALMIGHTY GOD. Not to a man who evolved to God, but the God who says I AM, I AM the Great I am. The ONLY God, who created the heavens and the earth and all that lives and breathes upon it and, finding their (our) sustenance from all else that God created, as we are born, grow, and able to be sustained.
Isaiah 57: For thus says the Lord and Lofty One, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with those who have a contrite and HUMBLE SPIRIT, to revive the spirit of the HUMBLE, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to those who are far off and to those who are near., says the LORD, and I will heal them.
Now, I am going to moving into the New Testament….for I have been only in the Old Testament up to this time.
Romans 12:16
Harmony comes from HUMILITY….for He says, “be of the same mind toward one another. Do NOT set your mind on those of position and power…but associate with the HUMBLE and do NOT be wise in your own estimation (mind) PRIDE
James 4: 6-10 READ
6. He give us grace and in doing so He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the Humble”
7. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil….and he will flee from you. Submit and Resist…. both we do by choice…..both take strength…given by our hearts submitting again, to God’s Holy Spirit.
8. A promise here. “Draw near to God…and He will draw near to you.” Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you who are double minded.”
9. “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and you joy to gloom.”
In other words, until you take care of your unrepentant sins you cannot find joy, laughter, contentment, peace….do not have one foot in right living and another in sin.
10. HUMBLE YOURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD…and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP……HIGHER AND HIGHER, AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP.
The Bible warns us that exalting ourselves will result in a disgraceful fall, but, humbling ourselves leads us to exaltation in both this and the world to come.
I think by now….you get the picture of the importance, not only during this Lenten season, leading up to the capture, trial, execution, death and ultimately the RESURRCTION of our Lord, call for us to go through this period of time of introspection, repentance and restoration. It is our free wills making the right choices to do the right things.
Why? Because it is the way we can show God, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit that we love them, need them and are grateful for indeed what together…they have done for us.
Humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord….and He will lift us up.
Let’s pray for revival…let’s pray for ourselves to be right with God through Christ and healing across not only this country we love....but across the world...that potentially today, stands at the brink of a war of potential annihilation.
HUMBLE YOURSELF IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP, HIGHER AND HIGHER AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP.
Amen…………
Let us come to the Table of the Lord humbly, thankfully, in contrition and yet in JOY. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH. “
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THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
“PATIENCE ~ THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD”
February 13, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Here is a promise…. from Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…. they will mount up with wings as Eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” “Teach me LORD, teach me LORD, to wait.” To be patient, to endure to the end, or to the solution.
Patience does not come by wishful thinking, and the lack of it is impatience… with restlessness and irritability, and sometimes manifested in anger.
Patience as a NOUN, is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
HOW MANY OF US…HAVE THIS ONE DOWN PAT?
Waiting and Patience cannot be separated, and remember these words; “teach me LORD, teach me LORD…to wait.”
Question? How does He teach us?
Answer, by the circumstances in our everyday lives . . .that’s how.
Waiting…oh, waiting, especially when whatever we are waiting for is being held up due to, as an example, someone in charge who either does not know what they are doing, or, deliberately doing things to hold not only ourselves, but others who are waiting. That is as power ploy.
Most of us are patient when fishing, because we know how fussy those creatures can be. But we expect it in fishing and so for the most part we may be disappointed, but not irate.
Something as standing in line at the grocery store, where at the cashier stand…someone is paying in cash and is going through their purse digging out the correct amount, including coins.
Or as an example (this showing my patience) when I was working on my house several years ago, I was at Lowe’s buying paint. There was one man handling seven customers, but instead of delaying one person on the phone…. he was making the seven of us wait, barely acknowledging us. Well…what do I do after five a tolerable amount of time? Everyone has been looking at everyone else making eyes and whispering to themselves then each other.
I walk over and push the help button on the counter. No one comes even after more time has passed. So, I leave the line, by the way, I was the very first in the line, and go to find “the manager of the store” finally finding him, tell him our dilemma, (for the guy is still on the phone) Instead of him coming over to help, he sends one poor confused woman who knows nothing about paint in to help, and then he pats me on the shoulder, turns around and walks away. You don’t want to know what I was thinking and about to do, but by sheer will stuff it down inside. The poor woman can sense the pressure, and gingerly works her way to behind the desk. By this time the worst of me has risen to the surface, but before I go in and take over…..I used to work as manager of a paint and accessories department in a large hardware store, the man finally gets off the phone….looking at all of us rather apprehensively, but knows I was first in line and my paint had been mixed and shaken and the whole time I could have gone in and taken it with me, he gets it out of the shaker and gives it to me without even a apology.
In living and manifesting my impatience, I almost lost it… almost, but I WAS a force to be reckoned with, and not a good force.
After I left the store…. I had to deal with what I was feeling, and have to admit I never prayed during that whole time. The thing I should have and could have done…. could have been done without the looks, the resentment and the anger which had been eating up my insides. The steps I took, still could have been taken, but without all the intense emotional feelings. Could have been.
So much in life is involved in waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our thoughts (or try to) sigh long and loud, fretting in frustration.
During that time, God might have been saying, calm down, and I will help you even in this very small thing. Perspective…very small thing. Yes. In reality it was a very small thing, but often it is the small everyday frustrations and events that can seriously trip up our faith and behavior.
Waiting is one of life’s best teachers, for in life only can we learn the virtue of…. well, waiting, waiting patiently while God, unseen, works in us and for us. It is His desire and for our good that we develop patience and endurance….and along with those, the ability to trust, even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for. Whatever it is!
Sometimes waiting is an event designed by God to show us where we are in this area of our lives…. because the outflow of impatience often washes over on to the innocent, even harming them. Road Rage is one of the most severe of repercussions from impatience.
For we Christians…. our outflow should be one of grace and patience. That does not mean we cannot interfere or get involved, but how we do so is the most important God is teaching us.
It is undoubtedly one of the most difficult disciplines to learn, though we certainly have ample opportunity to do so. (smile)
I am sure that all of you have stories similar to mine.
Here is an example of patience learned through experience I believe I have used before, but it is so clear and precise I just had to use it today.
A little fact you may not know. Pandas consume 20 to 30 pounds of bamboo each day.
The Chinese farmer learned through their ancestors on how to raise bamboo and what their expectations were to be….
They plant the seed just like any other seed, watering it and fertilizing it on a regular basis.
The first year, nothing, absolutely nothing happens, no shoot of any kind appears, but they patiently continue to water and fertilize and weed.
The second, third and fourth year, still nothing. Then, the fifth year, still being faithful from having learned patience…they continue their routine. Finally, the shoots appear, and in a period of six weeks that fifth year, they all grow roughly ninety feet.
The question…. what was happening during those five years? The answer…each seedling was growing down instead of up…. reaching a depth that would sustain the 90 feet of upward growth.
This can be a picture of our spiritual growth. We need to nurture and plant down in us TRUTHS, that will sustain us in difficult times and in time in which we desperately need patience and other virtues that God asks us to willingly learn.
The obvious facts are…what really counts in our lives, is both what and how we grow inside our mind, heart and spirit, by the work we MUST do, in all of the areas we know we need to grow in to be spiritually strong…and in the power of His might.
When tests comes and they will come, and we wait on the LORD and what He has taught us…. manifesting those life lessons, we will be able to stand….and not only stand but stand strong…. for if we don’t, we will fall, and great that fall will be…because we will have shallow spiritual roots, having paid so much attention to the outside things….and little to the inside.
This true account I am about to read….is about persistence, vision and patience. It is both exhilarating and tragic. He had vison to know where he was desiring to go…and patiently in defeat after defeat…he kept on…. though not without mistakes.
Read:
"Unbroken by Failure"
February 12
The Book of Amazing Stories
It is proven time and time again, that those who spend time, (as I spoke of last week) cultivating their life in God through Christ, are those who when difficulties and trials came…they came through them, not untouched, but with an inward strength and ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength to do so. Being a believer is no protection from hard times in life….it is simply that we have the Creator on our side, walking by our side, through it all. Through it all! Along with Him, we also have each other…of the same faith and the same Savior, as we are all brothers and sisters in God’s family.
THREE THINGS I AM GOING TO FINSIH WITH
#1. Let God be your hope. 2nd Chronicles 20:12 “Our eyes are set upon You, for my eyes are ever on the LORD.”
#2. BE STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD. (Psalm 4610) “Wait quietly on the LORD, patiently getting to know Him.”
#3. Give ourselves to Him. Submitting our wills to Hs, for He works through and in all things for our own good.
As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, He will never leave or forsake us. He is with us because He wants to renew our strength as the end of whatever it is we have endured. In these times if we allow Him, He builds into men and women in the image of His Son, Jesus.
Romans 8:28…. from the Message reads, “We can be sure that every detail of our lives of lives in our love for God, are worked into something good.”
FINALLY, (You, having endured with patience my rather long sermon)
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience, in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, wrote, “nothing is more noticeable that the quiet, even poise of Jesus life. Never flustered whatever happened to Him, never taken off guard, however He was assaulted and assailed by men or demons, in the midst of a fickle, unpredictable people, hostile religious rulers, sometimes faithless disciples…always calm always collected. Christ the dedicated and consistent Son of His Father…doing no more and more less than God had appointed Him to do. No restlessness, no hurry, only once concerned for His future, but once reconciled to what awaited Him, said to His Father, “nevertheless, not My will be done, but Yours Father,”
In the midst of turmoil, relentless accusations, threats and ruthlessness…. was ever such a peaceful, disciplined, patient and Grace-filled life lived by anyone, but Him.
They who wait on God loses no time, but gains love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation.
I will end with what I began with.
Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, teach me LORD< teach me LORD to wait.”
Teach me, teach me…teach me…. that I might learn.
To God be the Glory…great things He has done.
Amen
“PATIENCE ~ THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD”
February 13, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Here is a promise…. from Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…. they will mount up with wings as Eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” “Teach me LORD, teach me LORD, to wait.” To be patient, to endure to the end, or to the solution.
Patience does not come by wishful thinking, and the lack of it is impatience… with restlessness and irritability, and sometimes manifested in anger.
Patience as a NOUN, is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
HOW MANY OF US…HAVE THIS ONE DOWN PAT?
Waiting and Patience cannot be separated, and remember these words; “teach me LORD, teach me LORD…to wait.”
Question? How does He teach us?
Answer, by the circumstances in our everyday lives . . .that’s how.
Waiting…oh, waiting, especially when whatever we are waiting for is being held up due to, as an example, someone in charge who either does not know what they are doing, or, deliberately doing things to hold not only ourselves, but others who are waiting. That is as power ploy.
Most of us are patient when fishing, because we know how fussy those creatures can be. But we expect it in fishing and so for the most part we may be disappointed, but not irate.
Something as standing in line at the grocery store, where at the cashier stand…someone is paying in cash and is going through their purse digging out the correct amount, including coins.
Or as an example (this showing my patience) when I was working on my house several years ago, I was at Lowe’s buying paint. There was one man handling seven customers, but instead of delaying one person on the phone…. he was making the seven of us wait, barely acknowledging us. Well…what do I do after five a tolerable amount of time? Everyone has been looking at everyone else making eyes and whispering to themselves then each other.
I walk over and push the help button on the counter. No one comes even after more time has passed. So, I leave the line, by the way, I was the very first in the line, and go to find “the manager of the store” finally finding him, tell him our dilemma, (for the guy is still on the phone) Instead of him coming over to help, he sends one poor confused woman who knows nothing about paint in to help, and then he pats me on the shoulder, turns around and walks away. You don’t want to know what I was thinking and about to do, but by sheer will stuff it down inside. The poor woman can sense the pressure, and gingerly works her way to behind the desk. By this time the worst of me has risen to the surface, but before I go in and take over…..I used to work as manager of a paint and accessories department in a large hardware store, the man finally gets off the phone….looking at all of us rather apprehensively, but knows I was first in line and my paint had been mixed and shaken and the whole time I could have gone in and taken it with me, he gets it out of the shaker and gives it to me without even a apology.
In living and manifesting my impatience, I almost lost it… almost, but I WAS a force to be reckoned with, and not a good force.
After I left the store…. I had to deal with what I was feeling, and have to admit I never prayed during that whole time. The thing I should have and could have done…. could have been done without the looks, the resentment and the anger which had been eating up my insides. The steps I took, still could have been taken, but without all the intense emotional feelings. Could have been.
So much in life is involved in waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our thoughts (or try to) sigh long and loud, fretting in frustration.
During that time, God might have been saying, calm down, and I will help you even in this very small thing. Perspective…very small thing. Yes. In reality it was a very small thing, but often it is the small everyday frustrations and events that can seriously trip up our faith and behavior.
Waiting is one of life’s best teachers, for in life only can we learn the virtue of…. well, waiting, waiting patiently while God, unseen, works in us and for us. It is His desire and for our good that we develop patience and endurance….and along with those, the ability to trust, even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for. Whatever it is!
Sometimes waiting is an event designed by God to show us where we are in this area of our lives…. because the outflow of impatience often washes over on to the innocent, even harming them. Road Rage is one of the most severe of repercussions from impatience.
For we Christians…. our outflow should be one of grace and patience. That does not mean we cannot interfere or get involved, but how we do so is the most important God is teaching us.
It is undoubtedly one of the most difficult disciplines to learn, though we certainly have ample opportunity to do so. (smile)
I am sure that all of you have stories similar to mine.
Here is an example of patience learned through experience I believe I have used before, but it is so clear and precise I just had to use it today.
A little fact you may not know. Pandas consume 20 to 30 pounds of bamboo each day.
The Chinese farmer learned through their ancestors on how to raise bamboo and what their expectations were to be….
They plant the seed just like any other seed, watering it and fertilizing it on a regular basis.
The first year, nothing, absolutely nothing happens, no shoot of any kind appears, but they patiently continue to water and fertilize and weed.
The second, third and fourth year, still nothing. Then, the fifth year, still being faithful from having learned patience…they continue their routine. Finally, the shoots appear, and in a period of six weeks that fifth year, they all grow roughly ninety feet.
The question…. what was happening during those five years? The answer…each seedling was growing down instead of up…. reaching a depth that would sustain the 90 feet of upward growth.
This can be a picture of our spiritual growth. We need to nurture and plant down in us TRUTHS, that will sustain us in difficult times and in time in which we desperately need patience and other virtues that God asks us to willingly learn.
The obvious facts are…what really counts in our lives, is both what and how we grow inside our mind, heart and spirit, by the work we MUST do, in all of the areas we know we need to grow in to be spiritually strong…and in the power of His might.
When tests comes and they will come, and we wait on the LORD and what He has taught us…. manifesting those life lessons, we will be able to stand….and not only stand but stand strong…. for if we don’t, we will fall, and great that fall will be…because we will have shallow spiritual roots, having paid so much attention to the outside things….and little to the inside.
This true account I am about to read….is about persistence, vision and patience. It is both exhilarating and tragic. He had vison to know where he was desiring to go…and patiently in defeat after defeat…he kept on…. though not without mistakes.
Read:
"Unbroken by Failure"
February 12
The Book of Amazing Stories
It is proven time and time again, that those who spend time, (as I spoke of last week) cultivating their life in God through Christ, are those who when difficulties and trials came…they came through them, not untouched, but with an inward strength and ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength to do so. Being a believer is no protection from hard times in life….it is simply that we have the Creator on our side, walking by our side, through it all. Through it all! Along with Him, we also have each other…of the same faith and the same Savior, as we are all brothers and sisters in God’s family.
THREE THINGS I AM GOING TO FINSIH WITH
#1. Let God be your hope. 2nd Chronicles 20:12 “Our eyes are set upon You, for my eyes are ever on the LORD.”
#2. BE STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD. (Psalm 4610) “Wait quietly on the LORD, patiently getting to know Him.”
#3. Give ourselves to Him. Submitting our wills to Hs, for He works through and in all things for our own good.
As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, He will never leave or forsake us. He is with us because He wants to renew our strength as the end of whatever it is we have endured. In these times if we allow Him, He builds into men and women in the image of His Son, Jesus.
Romans 8:28…. from the Message reads, “We can be sure that every detail of our lives of lives in our love for God, are worked into something good.”
FINALLY, (You, having endured with patience my rather long sermon)
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience, in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, wrote, “nothing is more noticeable that the quiet, even poise of Jesus life. Never flustered whatever happened to Him, never taken off guard, however He was assaulted and assailed by men or demons, in the midst of a fickle, unpredictable people, hostile religious rulers, sometimes faithless disciples…always calm always collected. Christ the dedicated and consistent Son of His Father…doing no more and more less than God had appointed Him to do. No restlessness, no hurry, only once concerned for His future, but once reconciled to what awaited Him, said to His Father, “nevertheless, not My will be done, but Yours Father,”
In the midst of turmoil, relentless accusations, threats and ruthlessness…. was ever such a peaceful, disciplined, patient and Grace-filled life lived by anyone, but Him.
They who wait on God loses no time, but gains love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation.
I will end with what I began with.
Isaiah 40:31 “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, teach me LORD< teach me LORD to wait.”
Teach me, teach me…teach me…. that I might learn.
To God be the Glory…great things He has done.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
February 6, 2022
"Creation and Time"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
It begins here. GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning…God created the heavens and the earth. The simple statement that God created the heavens and the earth is one of the most challenging concepts confronting the modern mind. The vast galaxy we live in is spinning at the remarkable speed of 490.000 miles per hour. Our galaxy still needs 200 million years to make a single rotation at this breakneck speed. And even more mind-boggling is that there are over one billion other galaxies like ours in the universe. This knowledge should give us a humbling perspective of God, the world, our galaxy, and the universe. We go to bed at night, sleep, and rise in the morning without ever thinking about these facts.
We are 98% water, 2 percent other elements, and live, breathe, talk, walk, hear, see, interpret, and interact so complex that it is mind-boggling.
Some scientists say that the number of stars in the creation is equal to all the grains of all the sands on the world's beaches. Yet…this complex sea of spinning stars and worlds functions with remarkable order, efficiency, and harmony.
To say that the Universe "just happened" or "evolved" because of its efficiency and harmony or order takes more faith than believing in creation.
There, of course, is disharmony between science and creation and the place of God in all of this.
There is disharmony in the discussion about the age of the world and the universe. Science says the earth is over a billion years old and halfway through its life cycle, destined to die and unable to sustain life. But scripture says though this may be true…. that God will at that time, "create and new heaven and a new earth."
Science has not been able to establish that there is God or to confirm there is not. Some Creationists say the earth, according to the Bible, is approximately 7000 years old. Yet, scientists, geologists, etc., have learned to read the earth and its progress, measuring with radiocarbon and other earth sciences. And as an example, it has been proven by science the Appalachians were once as high as the Rockies, that nearby, Grand Teton, now 14,766 feet, was once 36,000 feet in elevation. That at one time in the earth's history, all the land was joined as one central continent.
2 Peter 3:8 reads, "Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Acknowledging that God exists, how did God create the earth, the Galaxies, and the Universe. This too is still a subject of great debate. Some say with an explosion, but an explosion of what? How matter and anti-matter form is still being explored.
Remember the joke I told once, where it was said two scientists had discovered the pathway to creation. Scientists, governments, reporters gathered by the hundreds both in person and watching on TV. The first thing they did was pick up a handful of soil…. and suddenly, out of nowhere, came a God-like voice that said, "Oh no, you don't, you make your own soil, this is mine."
Now… this following statement is my opinion. Not being an intellectual or a scientist, but a "poor humble pastor," I know the Bible does not say how long these periods were. There are two basic views about the (days of creation. #1. Each day was a literal 24- hour period. #2. Each day represents an indefinite period of time, perhaps even millions of years.
What is more important than this is the question, how did God create the earth and the universe?
The earth as an example…. and these two illustrations as examples were created in an orderly fashion. He did not create plants before there was light, and He created man and woman as unique beings capable of communication with Him. No other part of creation can claim that remarkable privilege…. given to humankind alone.
In many allegories and storied illustrations, Christians have often taken the literal approach to interpretation, much to the chagrin and amusement of Jewish Biblical Scholars.
Wisdom is what we need, using reasoning and research to gain wisdom, and wisdom is what we will receive when we ask God by His Holy Spirit to assist and reveal to us correct interpretations.
Add to this those Christians who are believers in a Flat-earth with edges, and those who believe in a hollow earth containing hell.
Proof, proof, and more proof. I sincerely believe in science and its quest for honest answers to the natural order of things. God gave us the brains we need to explore, make improvements, maintain order, and all within the existing laws of God.
In verse 25, God saw that His work was good. He looked at all that He had accomplished and said it was good, and it certainly was.
God did not need to create the world and the universe; he chose to create it. Why? God is love, and love is best expressed toward something or someone else….so God created the world and people as an expression His love. We should avoid reducing God's creation to merely scientific terms. Remember that God created the universe out of love.
The Creation story teaches us much about God and ourselves. First, we learn:
This world and the Universe are NOT a product of blind chance and probability; God created it!
This is where our faith plays a significant role because our minds, though amazing, are finite, and finite minds often cannot comprehend the infinite. As a minor example…. we can try to come up with the highest number possible, but we cannot do it. Likewise, we cannot limit the infinite God with finite understanding.
To my limited way of thinking…. all of this sermon and the subject itself is a mind-stretcher. I have to pause…and think about it, and the result is that sometimes it is simply impossible for me to do.
But…instead of retreating right now…. or stopping, I want to throw in another related subject, which is TIME. What role does time play in our lives and the universe?
Is time man created…. to make sense of progression and regression? The first sentence I started with today reads "in the beginning."
Since there is, as stated in Genesis, a beginning, there too must be an ending. Time Passages.
Time plays a huge role in our lives….and progression and revelation. It is the continued sequence of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past, present, and future.
Because time exists and everything (except God the Trinity) evolves and changes. Prophecy is all about time……passages and the events that are to occur, then do occur and come into being.
Once something has happened…we cannot go back and take it back or change it.
Time plays a role in creation as we have already heard.
On this planet and in this universe…. we cannot hold back the passage of time and its consequences, good or bad. Mountains rise and wear down. We are born, live, and die. Once where there were seas, are now deserts. Once there were powerful nations, they are now dissolved and no more.
Christ's birth, death, resurrection, and coming back to earth to set up His kingdom are all within the parameters of time.
Once again…in prophecy….as the prophets spoke of Jesus' birth and who and what He was and is…the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow….is as God not affected by time. We are…
In our time on this plane and planet…. we have choices to make, choices that affect us now and in the future times.
Time allows us to reflect, gain knowledge, and choose to do the right things that God has pre-ordained and directed us to live for Him.
In Ecclesiastes…. a book which various authors wrote; we find this understanding of life…within the passages of time.
READ
We are to use the time we have wisely……for we have it but once, for when eternity is our lives…our future has been chosen by the decisions made here in our time.
2 Timothy is powerful….in Paul's letter to him as he says, "He" God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity …in their hearts, except that no one can find out the word that God does from beginning to end."
The ending spoken of here… is the end of time as we know…. for eternity, a word that is full and powerful…. in its meaning…and part of the infinite that we often find so hard to understand. Being…without aging…being, simply being.
This earth is our proving ground…. how are we doing?
Here is when time came to be…. for there was a time it was not. In 2 Timothy 1:9, we read, "According to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His purpose and GRACE which was given to us 'before time began' therefore before there was an earth, a human being…we were destined in this world to be, and were appointed by His purpose to a calling as His followers.
Earth…was created for us…. within an extended time, expression…. to destiny as sons and daughters of God. Time limits us and our decisions……also for a purpose that we may not even comprehend or understand…for they are His purposes, which thank God includes His treasure house of GRACE…. unsolicited, unearned, unexpected and bestowed.
Time is spoken of fifteen times in the New Testament, and in each case calls us to recognize the essence of time, as we have come to understand it, that what we have here is limited…as well as the time for the existence of this planet itself that we temporarily call home.
We live in a mixed existence…. of spiritual and what we call natural. A mixture of matter and spirit. Of all the things spoken of in Ecclesiastes.
Eternity in our hearts will guide us, while we live these finite lives here on earth…. what a remarkable dichotomy…. (a division or contrast between two things that are and are represented as being opposed or entirely different). It's no wonder we sometimes get sidetracked….and the answer within time, while here, is that God gave us three important things. His Son and all the gifts needed by us, His Holy Spirit….and His written Word…to help sort out our calling between the natural and the spiritual.
Time is of the essence…in our lives on planet earth, within our galaxy, within the universe, as eternity calls from within us, leading us to a far more meaningful and rich existence, with the Father and Son and Spirit…. for all of eternity.
Amen
February 6, 2022
"Creation and Time"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
It begins here. GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning…God created the heavens and the earth. The simple statement that God created the heavens and the earth is one of the most challenging concepts confronting the modern mind. The vast galaxy we live in is spinning at the remarkable speed of 490.000 miles per hour. Our galaxy still needs 200 million years to make a single rotation at this breakneck speed. And even more mind-boggling is that there are over one billion other galaxies like ours in the universe. This knowledge should give us a humbling perspective of God, the world, our galaxy, and the universe. We go to bed at night, sleep, and rise in the morning without ever thinking about these facts.
We are 98% water, 2 percent other elements, and live, breathe, talk, walk, hear, see, interpret, and interact so complex that it is mind-boggling.
Some scientists say that the number of stars in the creation is equal to all the grains of all the sands on the world's beaches. Yet…this complex sea of spinning stars and worlds functions with remarkable order, efficiency, and harmony.
To say that the Universe "just happened" or "evolved" because of its efficiency and harmony or order takes more faith than believing in creation.
There, of course, is disharmony between science and creation and the place of God in all of this.
There is disharmony in the discussion about the age of the world and the universe. Science says the earth is over a billion years old and halfway through its life cycle, destined to die and unable to sustain life. But scripture says though this may be true…. that God will at that time, "create and new heaven and a new earth."
Science has not been able to establish that there is God or to confirm there is not. Some Creationists say the earth, according to the Bible, is approximately 7000 years old. Yet, scientists, geologists, etc., have learned to read the earth and its progress, measuring with radiocarbon and other earth sciences. And as an example, it has been proven by science the Appalachians were once as high as the Rockies, that nearby, Grand Teton, now 14,766 feet, was once 36,000 feet in elevation. That at one time in the earth's history, all the land was joined as one central continent.
2 Peter 3:8 reads, "Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Acknowledging that God exists, how did God create the earth, the Galaxies, and the Universe. This too is still a subject of great debate. Some say with an explosion, but an explosion of what? How matter and anti-matter form is still being explored.
Remember the joke I told once, where it was said two scientists had discovered the pathway to creation. Scientists, governments, reporters gathered by the hundreds both in person and watching on TV. The first thing they did was pick up a handful of soil…. and suddenly, out of nowhere, came a God-like voice that said, "Oh no, you don't, you make your own soil, this is mine."
Now… this following statement is my opinion. Not being an intellectual or a scientist, but a "poor humble pastor," I know the Bible does not say how long these periods were. There are two basic views about the (days of creation. #1. Each day was a literal 24- hour period. #2. Each day represents an indefinite period of time, perhaps even millions of years.
What is more important than this is the question, how did God create the earth and the universe?
The earth as an example…. and these two illustrations as examples were created in an orderly fashion. He did not create plants before there was light, and He created man and woman as unique beings capable of communication with Him. No other part of creation can claim that remarkable privilege…. given to humankind alone.
In many allegories and storied illustrations, Christians have often taken the literal approach to interpretation, much to the chagrin and amusement of Jewish Biblical Scholars.
Wisdom is what we need, using reasoning and research to gain wisdom, and wisdom is what we will receive when we ask God by His Holy Spirit to assist and reveal to us correct interpretations.
Add to this those Christians who are believers in a Flat-earth with edges, and those who believe in a hollow earth containing hell.
Proof, proof, and more proof. I sincerely believe in science and its quest for honest answers to the natural order of things. God gave us the brains we need to explore, make improvements, maintain order, and all within the existing laws of God.
In verse 25, God saw that His work was good. He looked at all that He had accomplished and said it was good, and it certainly was.
God did not need to create the world and the universe; he chose to create it. Why? God is love, and love is best expressed toward something or someone else….so God created the world and people as an expression His love. We should avoid reducing God's creation to merely scientific terms. Remember that God created the universe out of love.
The Creation story teaches us much about God and ourselves. First, we learn:
- He is definitely creative.
- As the Creator, He is distinct from His creation.
- He is eternal and in control of the world.
This world and the Universe are NOT a product of blind chance and probability; God created it!
This is where our faith plays a significant role because our minds, though amazing, are finite, and finite minds often cannot comprehend the infinite. As a minor example…. we can try to come up with the highest number possible, but we cannot do it. Likewise, we cannot limit the infinite God with finite understanding.
To my limited way of thinking…. all of this sermon and the subject itself is a mind-stretcher. I have to pause…and think about it, and the result is that sometimes it is simply impossible for me to do.
But…instead of retreating right now…. or stopping, I want to throw in another related subject, which is TIME. What role does time play in our lives and the universe?
Is time man created…. to make sense of progression and regression? The first sentence I started with today reads "in the beginning."
Since there is, as stated in Genesis, a beginning, there too must be an ending. Time Passages.
Time plays a huge role in our lives….and progression and revelation. It is the continued sequence of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past, present, and future.
Because time exists and everything (except God the Trinity) evolves and changes. Prophecy is all about time……passages and the events that are to occur, then do occur and come into being.
Once something has happened…we cannot go back and take it back or change it.
Time plays a role in creation as we have already heard.
On this planet and in this universe…. we cannot hold back the passage of time and its consequences, good or bad. Mountains rise and wear down. We are born, live, and die. Once where there were seas, are now deserts. Once there were powerful nations, they are now dissolved and no more.
Christ's birth, death, resurrection, and coming back to earth to set up His kingdom are all within the parameters of time.
Once again…in prophecy….as the prophets spoke of Jesus' birth and who and what He was and is…the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow….is as God not affected by time. We are…
In our time on this plane and planet…. we have choices to make, choices that affect us now and in the future times.
Time allows us to reflect, gain knowledge, and choose to do the right things that God has pre-ordained and directed us to live for Him.
In Ecclesiastes…. a book which various authors wrote; we find this understanding of life…within the passages of time.
READ
We are to use the time we have wisely……for we have it but once, for when eternity is our lives…our future has been chosen by the decisions made here in our time.
2 Timothy is powerful….in Paul's letter to him as he says, "He" God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity …in their hearts, except that no one can find out the word that God does from beginning to end."
The ending spoken of here… is the end of time as we know…. for eternity, a word that is full and powerful…. in its meaning…and part of the infinite that we often find so hard to understand. Being…without aging…being, simply being.
This earth is our proving ground…. how are we doing?
Here is when time came to be…. for there was a time it was not. In 2 Timothy 1:9, we read, "According to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His purpose and GRACE which was given to us 'before time began' therefore before there was an earth, a human being…we were destined in this world to be, and were appointed by His purpose to a calling as His followers.
Earth…was created for us…. within an extended time, expression…. to destiny as sons and daughters of God. Time limits us and our decisions……also for a purpose that we may not even comprehend or understand…for they are His purposes, which thank God includes His treasure house of GRACE…. unsolicited, unearned, unexpected and bestowed.
Time is spoken of fifteen times in the New Testament, and in each case calls us to recognize the essence of time, as we have come to understand it, that what we have here is limited…as well as the time for the existence of this planet itself that we temporarily call home.
We live in a mixed existence…. of spiritual and what we call natural. A mixture of matter and spirit. Of all the things spoken of in Ecclesiastes.
Eternity in our hearts will guide us, while we live these finite lives here on earth…. what a remarkable dichotomy…. (a division or contrast between two things that are and are represented as being opposed or entirely different). It's no wonder we sometimes get sidetracked….and the answer within time, while here, is that God gave us three important things. His Son and all the gifts needed by us, His Holy Spirit….and His written Word…to help sort out our calling between the natural and the spiritual.
Time is of the essence…in our lives on planet earth, within our galaxy, within the universe, as eternity calls from within us, leading us to a far more meaningful and rich existence, with the Father and Son and Spirit…. for all of eternity.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Sunday, January 16, 2022
“GOD IN CONFLICT? NEVER!”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. NO, I came to accomplish their purpose.”
The role of the prophets….is two-fold as God spoke through them, thereby communicating with His people, and it was a serious role. Not one word was to change, and often the people would complain and want to hear something other than what God was telling them.
1… To keep the people on the right path in how to live for Him and serve Him.
2… To keep fresh in their heart and minds the reality of the coming of the Messiah.
With Jesus, righteousness no longer consisted entirely of observances of the external legal code. Animal sacrifices were no longer sufficient to receive forgiveness… for the greatest sacrifice to come would take care of sin forever, for the whole human race, not just the Jews. A new element was presented and raised as a standard before and for the people. Thus came a deeper and excellent understanding and participation in the meaning of forgiveness and Grace.
He, Jesus Christ, sees us… you and I, as disciples or apprentices to Him. Learning from His teachings, His example, and empowered by His Spirit to come. Having learned and taken to heart these teachings… we were then and now to live them out as an example to the world of what great gift we were given….so that forgiveness and salvation did not come from external sacrifices, but an internal
acceptance of God’s very own Son. Works were now to come, not because of an established external Law, but because the Law of LOVE and GRACE was established in our HEARTS AND MIND In Christ Jesus.
I have said this on many occasions. When God looks at us, He looks at us through the GREAT SACRIFICE of His Son, by which we are then accepted, adopted into the family of God. Not by our blood, or that of animals, but the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ.
This is a high-calling we are called to, and one which we need to take seriously, first with understanding founded first in the Old Testament, and expanded upon by Jesus as He says to us, “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS…HANGS ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” THE BIG THREE.
THINK ABOUT THIS…. THE KEYWORD ON WHICH THESE COMMANDMENTS ARE FOUNDED IS THE KEYWORD THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, AND WHICH IS ITS THEME. YES…THAT WORD IS “LOVE.”
John 10:30
Just as the Old and New Testaments are ONE…the Old, the foundation being laid for the New…Jesus further solidifies His ONENESS with God. “The Father and I are One.” God established this truth…when He answered Moses’ question, who are you? His answer was, “I AM THAT I AM!” Since the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are One…in understanding this statement, we must also know that they are in unity in every way. Every word spoken; every deed is done…in UNITY. The journey they have taken us on…all of humankind from the beginning, starting with Adam, then Abraham to today, is exactly as it is supposed to be, and beyond upon the return of Jesus Christ.
With the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and coming again…the two Covenants became ONE… two words joins the Old and New Testaments.
The first is Jesus, and the second is Grace, therefore in word and deed…. please, if you remember nothing else from this message. GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW, AND LOVE TRUMPS THEN ALL.
Even all TEN COMMANDMENTS, WHICH ARE VALID TODAY, CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED by LOVING THE FATHER, THROUGH HIS SON…. not by willful human obedience, but because we love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We still have a portion of Christians who thunder the Old Testament as often as they can to enslave people to the Law, mainly because those who lead the groups desire to be seen as priests and almost kings with the bottom-line being CONTROL. They are to be obeyed…or those following them will be cast out unless they are obeyed. GRACE is not even considered.
For these people…it is still an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, their sole source, and version of what it means to be Christian.
These two approaches have resulted in wars, strife, confusion, chaos, religious powerhouses, the destruction of people groups, enslavement, etc. We…you and I are called to live like and be like Jesus Christ.
Remember, the Old Testament’s purpose was to lay the foundations for the New Testament….and therefore finds its fulfillment in the New. I started with this verse… “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets, NO, I came to accomplish the purpose for their existence.”
Some say God is in Conflict with Himself…by offering such diverse teachings…. that is because they do not understand the purpose behind the Old….and another part of that purpose is this. To show humankind that we are incapable of making it on our own. Fraught with confusion, strife, war and all the things I spoke of earlier. Look at the condition of the world today….and our history.
WE NEED THE GUIDANCE AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH God through His Son….to make the world work the way it is supposed to.
THE EVIDENCE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
“GOD IN CONFLICT? NEVER!”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. NO, I came to accomplish their purpose.”
The role of the prophets….is two-fold as God spoke through them, thereby communicating with His people, and it was a serious role. Not one word was to change, and often the people would complain and want to hear something other than what God was telling them.
1… To keep the people on the right path in how to live for Him and serve Him.
2… To keep fresh in their heart and minds the reality of the coming of the Messiah.
With Jesus, righteousness no longer consisted entirely of observances of the external legal code. Animal sacrifices were no longer sufficient to receive forgiveness… for the greatest sacrifice to come would take care of sin forever, for the whole human race, not just the Jews. A new element was presented and raised as a standard before and for the people. Thus came a deeper and excellent understanding and participation in the meaning of forgiveness and Grace.
He, Jesus Christ, sees us… you and I, as disciples or apprentices to Him. Learning from His teachings, His example, and empowered by His Spirit to come. Having learned and taken to heart these teachings… we were then and now to live them out as an example to the world of what great gift we were given….so that forgiveness and salvation did not come from external sacrifices, but an internal
acceptance of God’s very own Son. Works were now to come, not because of an established external Law, but because the Law of LOVE and GRACE was established in our HEARTS AND MIND In Christ Jesus.
I have said this on many occasions. When God looks at us, He looks at us through the GREAT SACRIFICE of His Son, by which we are then accepted, adopted into the family of God. Not by our blood, or that of animals, but the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ.
This is a high-calling we are called to, and one which we need to take seriously, first with understanding founded first in the Old Testament, and expanded upon by Jesus as He says to us, “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS…HANGS ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” THE BIG THREE.
THINK ABOUT THIS…. THE KEYWORD ON WHICH THESE COMMANDMENTS ARE FOUNDED IS THE KEYWORD THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, AND WHICH IS ITS THEME. YES…THAT WORD IS “LOVE.”
John 10:30
Just as the Old and New Testaments are ONE…the Old, the foundation being laid for the New…Jesus further solidifies His ONENESS with God. “The Father and I are One.” God established this truth…when He answered Moses’ question, who are you? His answer was, “I AM THAT I AM!” Since the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are One…in understanding this statement, we must also know that they are in unity in every way. Every word spoken; every deed is done…in UNITY. The journey they have taken us on…all of humankind from the beginning, starting with Adam, then Abraham to today, is exactly as it is supposed to be, and beyond upon the return of Jesus Christ.
With the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and coming again…the two Covenants became ONE… two words joins the Old and New Testaments.
The first is Jesus, and the second is Grace, therefore in word and deed…. please, if you remember nothing else from this message. GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW, AND LOVE TRUMPS THEN ALL.
Even all TEN COMMANDMENTS, WHICH ARE VALID TODAY, CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED by LOVING THE FATHER, THROUGH HIS SON…. not by willful human obedience, but because we love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We still have a portion of Christians who thunder the Old Testament as often as they can to enslave people to the Law, mainly because those who lead the groups desire to be seen as priests and almost kings with the bottom-line being CONTROL. They are to be obeyed…or those following them will be cast out unless they are obeyed. GRACE is not even considered.
For these people…it is still an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, their sole source, and version of what it means to be Christian.
These two approaches have resulted in wars, strife, confusion, chaos, religious powerhouses, the destruction of people groups, enslavement, etc. We…you and I are called to live like and be like Jesus Christ.
Remember, the Old Testament’s purpose was to lay the foundations for the New Testament….and therefore finds its fulfillment in the New. I started with this verse… “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets, NO, I came to accomplish the purpose for their existence.”
Some say God is in Conflict with Himself…by offering such diverse teachings…. that is because they do not understand the purpose behind the Old….and another part of that purpose is this. To show humankind that we are incapable of making it on our own. Fraught with confusion, strife, war and all the things I spoke of earlier. Look at the condition of the world today….and our history.
WE NEED THE GUIDANCE AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH God through His Son….to make the world work the way it is supposed to.
THE EVIDENCE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
god_in_conflict_-_never_.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The Little Church in the Pines
TO STAY OFFENDED IS OFFENSIVE ~ to the Lord!
January 9, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
This message is not exactly what one might expect for the second Sunday of a New Year…. but, one that I believe we all need to hear. There is no one in particular that this message is meant for. GOT THAT? So, no speculation is warranted. (smile)
Therefore, today’s subject matter I chose because of its sensitivity, and sometimes impact on all of us when it happens. I am going to try to bring it in a straightforward manner while hoping that you will not be offended by my doing so. It is to teach all of us the impact and the importance of words….and tongue. James 3:6 “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
That…is what I call straight-forward.
James was an elder of the church and known for his wisdom and ability to intercede in church strife…which yes, was in the church way back then.
As I move forward, please recall the source of these words, and the impact they should have on all of us, especially when we are tempted to ignore them.
There is I guess what we could call a spiritual song more than a hymn, that became popular I believe back in the ’70s.
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you,
I want to be a vessel you work through
I want to be more like you……………!
As a Christian, this should be one of the bottom lines of our faith, and if successful, sets in motion all the good that we can accomplish in our Christian walk.
To be like Him…. will always mean changes in our acceptance of self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, including family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers.
To be like His. There will definitely be areas of lives, that the Holy Spirit and the written word will reveal to us. Then we call upon the Holy Spirit once recognized, to help us accomplish our goal(s).
For those among us, or those we know who have struggled with, as an example, alcohol. The first thing we must do is recognize there is a need for change. The second step then is our ability to move forward with the Spirts’ help, and the help of friends and family. This will often mean taking corrective steps of action. And if, and when, we fail…and we certainly may, then once again, get up on feet learning from that failure, and moving forward in the direction the Lord has shown us.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have pastored. To my way of thinking and through my experience of pastoring, and counseling, it is one of the most hurtful and damaging sins a person can commit.
Let’s hear what Jesus and a few disciples have to say about this topic.
The first I already spoke of, and that coming from James.
The topic is centered more on not so much the offense itself, but, and on holding onto offense.
Offense, offending, offended, offensive, and offend start with the letter word “off,” something is off, something is wrong…off-ended.
These multiple words all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. We can choose to be resentful, annoyed, and even outraged. Typically, as a result of a ‘perceived’ or a deliberate and intentional insult. It can be personal or aimed at someone else.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do, then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing or things when given the choice.
So, how do we show Him we love Him? He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love Me will do what I say!”
A perceived or deliberate offense is to be handled in this way. In humility, not in outrage. Matthew 23:12. “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Also, please remember, humility is not being weak, it is deliberate and controlled strength.
“Tact is the unsaid part of what you are thinking.”
This now is one of my favorite verses and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44 and can only be achieved when we are like Him. “You have heard it said Jesus says, “to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you.” (in word or in deed) my addition. He goes on to say, “you will be acting as true children of your Father who is in heaven if you do as He says.” “Lord, I want to be more like You” (Let’s say it together).
These next verses are the essence of it all, and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like Jesus. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Let’s say this together also).
At best…staying offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To “stay offended” should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians, no “right” according to our Lord, to hold on to an offense. We all have initially been offended and sometimes with a very good reason or reasons, but to get to the root of the issue and make peace, is of exceptional importance in being like Him.
The Lord was hurled all sorts of offensive words and actions, and the only response He had to these, was to use the Word of God, Scriptures in almost every instance in response, and use them He did in just the right manner. He though never held on to them as He hung on the Cross and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they have done.” As He was consistently an example to us…. we too must do and be as He was…. with His help and His guidance.
There was one major offense that He took, but that was not personal, and that offense we know very well was where He proclaimed that He was offended for His Father, because the Jewish leadership, permitted the Temple of God to be used for personal gain and corruption.
His outrage was expressed in Luke 19:46. Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, “My Temple shall be called a house of prayer; but YOU, have turned it into a den of thieves.”
TO HOLD ON TO OFFENSE TOWARD A PERSON, MEANS YOU HAVE NOT GRASPED OR INCORPORATED INTO YOUR LIFE THE REALITY AND UNDERSTANDING OF GRACE.
Wednesday…. I was actually deeply hurt by someone….and it took me half a day to understand, that indeed I had truly done nothing to deserve it…but it was simply the easiest way for them to accomplish their goal…and that was to exit themselves from my life. I still do not understand why, but right now that is not important. The important thing is that I had to let it go, or it would have poisoned me spiritually and physically, emotionally and mentally. I JUST HAD TO LET IT GO….and put it into His hands to resolve, if ever it would be. I took a deep breath upon this recognition and from that moment on a HEAVY burden lifted off of me even though I was left with residual sadness. I will remain open to reconciliation if indeed the opportunity comes.
We Christians are to be ministers of reconciliation, peacemakers, with understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness, and finally forgiveness if necessary, and then restoration.
These are the virtues that Jesus exhibited and asks us to exhibit no matter how we feel.
How we would change the world if we just quit being self-righteous and full of indignation, speaking of all the wrongs that have been, or perceived, to have been done to us, instead of simply giving it all over to HIM.
If indeed we are to be useful to Jesus, we must learn to be “shockproof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meets OUR expectations and criteria? It is bad out there…you all know that. Even when confronting actual lawlessness and sin, and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early church was) ready to be an example of our Lord, who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son, a police detective and SWAT team member, also Chaplin of the Police Department, often sees the darkest of deeds, and people who perform them. His greatest pain he says is when it involves innocent children.
David says he first, always attempts to treat them with dignity and understanding, but it seldom works. If their response is aggressive or manipulative…he has to immediately, move into the offensive mode. To keep his soul healthy, he does not give into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are…at that moment.
If…there is a conflict involving us…. we have to make sure; we are not the one who accelerates it, but in as much as possible, bring it to a peaceful resolution with the potential for restoration.
Please…… listen closely to these words and act accordingly with the TRUTHS we know. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any. Being humble which I have said before is controlled strength.
Today, the news agencies, reporters, and others rely on we Christians to generate press. It seems they know how to rile us up and by design, can manipulate us to respond with a knee-jerk reaction…creating more negative news that is our fault.
Does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting, in a healthy and even godly manner, instead of an unchecked emotional response. Our goal in any situation, be it at home, at work, at play, in our churches, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation. First, to bring peace within ourselves, healing, and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, be it personal or not, let us be certain we are not the ACCELEERANT, but instead the fire extinguisher, as James wrote and with which I started this message.
James 3:6. “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body. It can set our whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
But instead, let us live out the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” to prevent them from being what we lead with, every-day!
Amen
TO STAY OFFENDED IS OFFENSIVE ~ to the Lord!
January 9, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
This message is not exactly what one might expect for the second Sunday of a New Year…. but, one that I believe we all need to hear. There is no one in particular that this message is meant for. GOT THAT? So, no speculation is warranted. (smile)
Therefore, today’s subject matter I chose because of its sensitivity, and sometimes impact on all of us when it happens. I am going to try to bring it in a straightforward manner while hoping that you will not be offended by my doing so. It is to teach all of us the impact and the importance of words….and tongue. James 3:6 “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
That…is what I call straight-forward.
James was an elder of the church and known for his wisdom and ability to intercede in church strife…which yes, was in the church way back then.
As I move forward, please recall the source of these words, and the impact they should have on all of us, especially when we are tempted to ignore them.
There is I guess what we could call a spiritual song more than a hymn, that became popular I believe back in the ’70s.
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you,
I want to be a vessel you work through
I want to be more like you……………!
As a Christian, this should be one of the bottom lines of our faith, and if successful, sets in motion all the good that we can accomplish in our Christian walk.
To be like Him…. will always mean changes in our acceptance of self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, including family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers.
To be like His. There will definitely be areas of lives, that the Holy Spirit and the written word will reveal to us. Then we call upon the Holy Spirit once recognized, to help us accomplish our goal(s).
For those among us, or those we know who have struggled with, as an example, alcohol. The first thing we must do is recognize there is a need for change. The second step then is our ability to move forward with the Spirts’ help, and the help of friends and family. This will often mean taking corrective steps of action. And if, and when, we fail…and we certainly may, then once again, get up on feet learning from that failure, and moving forward in the direction the Lord has shown us.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have pastored. To my way of thinking and through my experience of pastoring, and counseling, it is one of the most hurtful and damaging sins a person can commit.
Let’s hear what Jesus and a few disciples have to say about this topic.
The first I already spoke of, and that coming from James.
The topic is centered more on not so much the offense itself, but, and on holding onto offense.
Offense, offending, offended, offensive, and offend start with the letter word “off,” something is off, something is wrong…off-ended.
These multiple words all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. We can choose to be resentful, annoyed, and even outraged. Typically, as a result of a ‘perceived’ or a deliberate and intentional insult. It can be personal or aimed at someone else.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do, then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing or things when given the choice.
So, how do we show Him we love Him? He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love Me will do what I say!”
A perceived or deliberate offense is to be handled in this way. In humility, not in outrage. Matthew 23:12. “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Also, please remember, humility is not being weak, it is deliberate and controlled strength.
“Tact is the unsaid part of what you are thinking.”
This now is one of my favorite verses and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44 and can only be achieved when we are like Him. “You have heard it said Jesus says, “to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you.” (in word or in deed) my addition. He goes on to say, “you will be acting as true children of your Father who is in heaven if you do as He says.” “Lord, I want to be more like You” (Let’s say it together).
These next verses are the essence of it all, and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like Jesus. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Let’s say this together also).
At best…staying offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To “stay offended” should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians, no “right” according to our Lord, to hold on to an offense. We all have initially been offended and sometimes with a very good reason or reasons, but to get to the root of the issue and make peace, is of exceptional importance in being like Him.
The Lord was hurled all sorts of offensive words and actions, and the only response He had to these, was to use the Word of God, Scriptures in almost every instance in response, and use them He did in just the right manner. He though never held on to them as He hung on the Cross and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they have done.” As He was consistently an example to us…. we too must do and be as He was…. with His help and His guidance.
There was one major offense that He took, but that was not personal, and that offense we know very well was where He proclaimed that He was offended for His Father, because the Jewish leadership, permitted the Temple of God to be used for personal gain and corruption.
His outrage was expressed in Luke 19:46. Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, “My Temple shall be called a house of prayer; but YOU, have turned it into a den of thieves.”
TO HOLD ON TO OFFENSE TOWARD A PERSON, MEANS YOU HAVE NOT GRASPED OR INCORPORATED INTO YOUR LIFE THE REALITY AND UNDERSTANDING OF GRACE.
Wednesday…. I was actually deeply hurt by someone….and it took me half a day to understand, that indeed I had truly done nothing to deserve it…but it was simply the easiest way for them to accomplish their goal…and that was to exit themselves from my life. I still do not understand why, but right now that is not important. The important thing is that I had to let it go, or it would have poisoned me spiritually and physically, emotionally and mentally. I JUST HAD TO LET IT GO….and put it into His hands to resolve, if ever it would be. I took a deep breath upon this recognition and from that moment on a HEAVY burden lifted off of me even though I was left with residual sadness. I will remain open to reconciliation if indeed the opportunity comes.
We Christians are to be ministers of reconciliation, peacemakers, with understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness, and finally forgiveness if necessary, and then restoration.
These are the virtues that Jesus exhibited and asks us to exhibit no matter how we feel.
How we would change the world if we just quit being self-righteous and full of indignation, speaking of all the wrongs that have been, or perceived, to have been done to us, instead of simply giving it all over to HIM.
If indeed we are to be useful to Jesus, we must learn to be “shockproof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meets OUR expectations and criteria? It is bad out there…you all know that. Even when confronting actual lawlessness and sin, and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early church was) ready to be an example of our Lord, who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son, a police detective and SWAT team member, also Chaplin of the Police Department, often sees the darkest of deeds, and people who perform them. His greatest pain he says is when it involves innocent children.
David says he first, always attempts to treat them with dignity and understanding, but it seldom works. If their response is aggressive or manipulative…he has to immediately, move into the offensive mode. To keep his soul healthy, he does not give into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are…at that moment.
If…there is a conflict involving us…. we have to make sure; we are not the one who accelerates it, but in as much as possible, bring it to a peaceful resolution with the potential for restoration.
Please…… listen closely to these words and act accordingly with the TRUTHS we know. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any. Being humble which I have said before is controlled strength.
Today, the news agencies, reporters, and others rely on we Christians to generate press. It seems they know how to rile us up and by design, can manipulate us to respond with a knee-jerk reaction…creating more negative news that is our fault.
Does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting, in a healthy and even godly manner, instead of an unchecked emotional response. Our goal in any situation, be it at home, at work, at play, in our churches, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation. First, to bring peace within ourselves, healing, and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, be it personal or not, let us be certain we are not the ACCELEERANT, but instead the fire extinguisher, as James wrote and with which I started this message.
James 3:6. “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body. It can set our whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
But instead, let us live out the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” to prevent them from being what we lead with, every-day!
Amen
January 9, 2022 Sermon | |
File Size: | 30 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The Little Church in the Pines
January 2, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Embracing the new sometimes means letting go of the OLD” “Pardon Me?”
Old is described as in a person, as such, looking around, some of us (self as an example) in comparison to the younger among us, immediately tells one thing for sure…old is evident, and there are different degrees of old. There is kind of old, then old, then really old.
Here is a description. “The old man lay propped up on cushions.” Well, that was me a few times while the 17 of my kids, their spouses and my grandkids swirled around me for three days when here for Christmas. It was awesome…but it was all I could do at times not to run out of the house and into my car for a respite. Which, I actually did a couple of times, under some ruse of having to come over here to the church and do some work…which I found to do of course.
Change and old as a rather light medium would be Clothing styles which sometimes change dramatically…also every year there are new models of cars, and to some of us, in regards to technology….and today, big time, are phones, many or even most of us want the latest and newest, which means giving up the old.
Then there is another category of old we should give up but either can’t seem to or (secretly) don’t want to give up. That may fall under the category of habits, i.e., eating too much, drinking too much, spending too much money, etc. etc. Some of these may also fall under the category of sin. Again, possibly secret.
Then there is another category….and these can be most devastating, and that is in the area of emotions. Easily getting angry with the ramifications of too often taking the anger out on those we love. Gossip, especially under the guise of many who feel the person they are talking to about someone or something the person you are talking to, really should know, often malicious, and at times with painful and even devastating outcomes.
There is even another category….and this one is for some, the most painful of all. That one is not forgiving one’s-self. Here is a simple story I came across, named Pardon and Peace. Page 85. READ
There are those of us who carry around burdens for year upon year that we think are just too awful to be forgiven, carrying it or them around as a dead weight, totally forgetting or never really having the understanding of the meaning of forgiveness, and grace. “Come unto Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Verses 28-30 are in contrast to the heavy burden of legalism (which most of us even today carry, feeling unworthy of the forgiveness and grace offered us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) In truth we are unworthy, but God in Christ has made the Way, and to deny that His death cannot forgive us we are denying His sacrifice itself as too weak.
Whether it is something as simple as clothing style, a car, a phone, or deeper such as bad habits, secret sins, self-condemnation…all of these things can be made new in Christ, otherwise, why did He die. He died to set you free from anything or even anyone who might drag you out of His presence and grace.
Perhaps some of you are good at making a resolution and sticking to it, for the time it takes to break it or change…a strong will. Most of us need help beyond ourselves to accomplish the goals and changes we KNOW we need.
We can ask help from family or friends, and that is a good thing to do, but too often we need a higher help. An almighty helper. The One who Jesus sent and sends us, the Holy Spirit of God Himself.
BUT FIRST…. we have to be honest with ourselves as to our need, for if we are not, we will never come to that place of freedom from, which in time can consume us and affect those around us, sometimes devastatingly.
TO BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES FIRST ALLOWS US TO ALSO BE HONEST WITH OUR LORD… a giant step in the progress of a healthy spiritual, mental and emotional life.
NOW LET’ S MOVE ON TO THE NEW…….
THEN WE WILL SEE HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER…………………. TO CREATE SOMETHING REAL AND LASTING.
These are one of my very favorite verses…
Lamentations 3:22-25. “Though the Lord’s Mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail note. They are NEW every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul. Therefore, I HOPE in Him.”
Going back briefly to the title of this message….” Embracing the NEW means sometimes letting go of the OLD.”
Remember…. The OLD, meaning carrying the burden of legalism, instead of embracing forgiveness and grace.
May churches today lean heavily on dos and don’ts, therefore embracing legalism. Many also go180 degrees in the opposite direction…embracing humanism instead of TRUTH. You might ask, what is the difference. The difference is that one is completely CHRIST CENTERED, AND THE OTHER HUMANISTIC CENTERED, WHERE EVERYTHING IS TAILORED TO HUMAN LOVE AND IT’S MULLTITUDE OF EVERY EXPANDING EXPRESSIONS.
Here are some verses regarding NEW.
God is faithful to those who follow Him….in both the Old and NEW Testaments…. the NEW manifesting what I have been speaking of all along…Forgiveness and Grace…. nullifying the OLD legalism, which meant earning one’s way into the Kingdom of God. I had lunch several weeks ago in Jackson with an Orthodox Jewish man who told me that in all of the churches in the world, the Mormon church most closely resembled Judaism is the Mormon Church. Their systematic theology of doctrine and covenants, is the
theology of earning by good works and following the laws of the church as the only way to heaven.
FORGIVENESS AND GRACE, FORGIVENSS AND GRACE. FREEDOM THOUGH DOES NOT MEAN WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT…. INSTEAD, IT MEANS WE WILL DESIRE OUT OF LOVE FOR OUR LORD TO BE ALL THAT HE HAS MADE A WAY FOR US TO BE…LIKE HIM.
His Mercies are NEW every morning.
God also tells us…upon the return of His Son, our Lord, He will create after the last great battle between the Lord and Satan, and those who follow Him…He states in Jeremiah 65:17, “For behold, I create NEW heavens and a new earth.”
Matthew 26:28” For this is MY blood of the NEW COVENANT, WHICH IS SHED FOR MANY FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.”
The same theme is throughout the whole New Testament and that theme is NEW…contrary to what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9
The things that have been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done…and there is no NEW thing under the sun. WRONG SOLOMON….
Not only the establishment of Forgiveness and Grace…but even a new Creation is on its way.
This one I love….it is, well you will now hear. John 13:34-35
Jesus said, “A NEW commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another, and by this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
There is that same NEW love theme again…you can’t just get away from it!
Another of my favorites…….” Therefore, IF anyone is in Christ, he or she is a NEW creation; for OLD things have passed away; behold, all things have become NEW.
Here comes another part of the forgiveness, grace and love. Verse 18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the MINSITRY OF RECONCILATION.
This reconciliation is first personal in our own reconciliation to Christ, and then we are ministers by living our lives as a testimony, by assisting our Lord in reconciling the world…our neighbors and friends to HIM.
Early on I spoke of anger and its ramifications when unchecked. Colossians 3:9-10. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the OLD man or woman with these deeds, 10 and put on the NEW man or woman who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created Him.
These next verses speak of the Character of the NEW person in Him. Listen closely to see where we in our daily lives stand. READ COL. 3:12-16-page 1675. (Black ribbon)
I hope I have given you some things to think and pray about.
I also hope and pray…. Good things…good changes…. new mercies, abundant grace, love, reconciliation, hope and health are with each of us this coming year.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; may He show you His favor and give you PEACE. AMEN
Numbers 6:24-26
January 2, 2022
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Embracing the new sometimes means letting go of the OLD” “Pardon Me?”
Old is described as in a person, as such, looking around, some of us (self as an example) in comparison to the younger among us, immediately tells one thing for sure…old is evident, and there are different degrees of old. There is kind of old, then old, then really old.
Here is a description. “The old man lay propped up on cushions.” Well, that was me a few times while the 17 of my kids, their spouses and my grandkids swirled around me for three days when here for Christmas. It was awesome…but it was all I could do at times not to run out of the house and into my car for a respite. Which, I actually did a couple of times, under some ruse of having to come over here to the church and do some work…which I found to do of course.
Change and old as a rather light medium would be Clothing styles which sometimes change dramatically…also every year there are new models of cars, and to some of us, in regards to technology….and today, big time, are phones, many or even most of us want the latest and newest, which means giving up the old.
Then there is another category of old we should give up but either can’t seem to or (secretly) don’t want to give up. That may fall under the category of habits, i.e., eating too much, drinking too much, spending too much money, etc. etc. Some of these may also fall under the category of sin. Again, possibly secret.
Then there is another category….and these can be most devastating, and that is in the area of emotions. Easily getting angry with the ramifications of too often taking the anger out on those we love. Gossip, especially under the guise of many who feel the person they are talking to about someone or something the person you are talking to, really should know, often malicious, and at times with painful and even devastating outcomes.
There is even another category….and this one is for some, the most painful of all. That one is not forgiving one’s-self. Here is a simple story I came across, named Pardon and Peace. Page 85. READ
There are those of us who carry around burdens for year upon year that we think are just too awful to be forgiven, carrying it or them around as a dead weight, totally forgetting or never really having the understanding of the meaning of forgiveness, and grace. “Come unto Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Verses 28-30 are in contrast to the heavy burden of legalism (which most of us even today carry, feeling unworthy of the forgiveness and grace offered us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) In truth we are unworthy, but God in Christ has made the Way, and to deny that His death cannot forgive us we are denying His sacrifice itself as too weak.
Whether it is something as simple as clothing style, a car, a phone, or deeper such as bad habits, secret sins, self-condemnation…all of these things can be made new in Christ, otherwise, why did He die. He died to set you free from anything or even anyone who might drag you out of His presence and grace.
Perhaps some of you are good at making a resolution and sticking to it, for the time it takes to break it or change…a strong will. Most of us need help beyond ourselves to accomplish the goals and changes we KNOW we need.
We can ask help from family or friends, and that is a good thing to do, but too often we need a higher help. An almighty helper. The One who Jesus sent and sends us, the Holy Spirit of God Himself.
BUT FIRST…. we have to be honest with ourselves as to our need, for if we are not, we will never come to that place of freedom from, which in time can consume us and affect those around us, sometimes devastatingly.
TO BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES FIRST ALLOWS US TO ALSO BE HONEST WITH OUR LORD… a giant step in the progress of a healthy spiritual, mental and emotional life.
NOW LET’ S MOVE ON TO THE NEW…….
THEN WE WILL SEE HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER…………………. TO CREATE SOMETHING REAL AND LASTING.
These are one of my very favorite verses…
Lamentations 3:22-25. “Though the Lord’s Mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail note. They are NEW every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul. Therefore, I HOPE in Him.”
Going back briefly to the title of this message….” Embracing the NEW means sometimes letting go of the OLD.”
Remember…. The OLD, meaning carrying the burden of legalism, instead of embracing forgiveness and grace.
May churches today lean heavily on dos and don’ts, therefore embracing legalism. Many also go180 degrees in the opposite direction…embracing humanism instead of TRUTH. You might ask, what is the difference. The difference is that one is completely CHRIST CENTERED, AND THE OTHER HUMANISTIC CENTERED, WHERE EVERYTHING IS TAILORED TO HUMAN LOVE AND IT’S MULLTITUDE OF EVERY EXPANDING EXPRESSIONS.
Here are some verses regarding NEW.
God is faithful to those who follow Him….in both the Old and NEW Testaments…. the NEW manifesting what I have been speaking of all along…Forgiveness and Grace…. nullifying the OLD legalism, which meant earning one’s way into the Kingdom of God. I had lunch several weeks ago in Jackson with an Orthodox Jewish man who told me that in all of the churches in the world, the Mormon church most closely resembled Judaism is the Mormon Church. Their systematic theology of doctrine and covenants, is the
theology of earning by good works and following the laws of the church as the only way to heaven.
FORGIVENESS AND GRACE, FORGIVENSS AND GRACE. FREEDOM THOUGH DOES NOT MEAN WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT…. INSTEAD, IT MEANS WE WILL DESIRE OUT OF LOVE FOR OUR LORD TO BE ALL THAT HE HAS MADE A WAY FOR US TO BE…LIKE HIM.
His Mercies are NEW every morning.
God also tells us…upon the return of His Son, our Lord, He will create after the last great battle between the Lord and Satan, and those who follow Him…He states in Jeremiah 65:17, “For behold, I create NEW heavens and a new earth.”
Matthew 26:28” For this is MY blood of the NEW COVENANT, WHICH IS SHED FOR MANY FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.”
The same theme is throughout the whole New Testament and that theme is NEW…contrary to what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9
The things that have been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done…and there is no NEW thing under the sun. WRONG SOLOMON….
Not only the establishment of Forgiveness and Grace…but even a new Creation is on its way.
This one I love….it is, well you will now hear. John 13:34-35
Jesus said, “A NEW commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another, and by this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
There is that same NEW love theme again…you can’t just get away from it!
Another of my favorites…….” Therefore, IF anyone is in Christ, he or she is a NEW creation; for OLD things have passed away; behold, all things have become NEW.
Here comes another part of the forgiveness, grace and love. Verse 18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the MINSITRY OF RECONCILATION.
This reconciliation is first personal in our own reconciliation to Christ, and then we are ministers by living our lives as a testimony, by assisting our Lord in reconciling the world…our neighbors and friends to HIM.
Early on I spoke of anger and its ramifications when unchecked. Colossians 3:9-10. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the OLD man or woman with these deeds, 10 and put on the NEW man or woman who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created Him.
These next verses speak of the Character of the NEW person in Him. Listen closely to see where we in our daily lives stand. READ COL. 3:12-16-page 1675. (Black ribbon)
I hope I have given you some things to think and pray about.
I also hope and pray…. Good things…good changes…. new mercies, abundant grace, love, reconciliation, hope and health are with each of us this coming year.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; may He show you His favor and give you PEACE. AMEN
Numbers 6:24-26
The Little Church in the Pines
December 19, 2021
“WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS?”
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Love ~
This subject of which the fourth candle of Advent has been lit today, is perhaps the most important word in every human language that exists. There is no way to measure it…. for it has no boundaries.
More music written, poems created, emotions shared, movies made, and which without, our world would be a very different world indeed. This LOVE is what makes the world a better place….a world set apart from all others that we know of. It can turn wrongs into right and sadness into JOY, tragedy into hope and Hope into Love.
This one thing I am going to establish before moving on, and that is the source of LOVE, as it begins with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. ONE GOD IN THREE UNIFIED IN LOVE.
With this there is one verse that (stands out to me) as perhaps the most important regarding LOVE, and that verse is found in Luke 10:27…quoting Jesus Himself. He answered, “You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and LOVE your neighbor as yourself.” X2
Therefore…with every fiber of our being. If we do not truly LOVE God….we cannot love to the depth that God enables us to love, where LOVE can move mountains. Where LOVE can do the impossible.
The second most important love verse (in my opinion) is found of course in 1 Corinthians 13:13. Written by Paul. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do NOT have LOVE, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I am nothing If I give ALL I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I gave nothing.
“LOVE IS patient, love is kind. It does NOT envy, it does NOT boast, it is NOT proud. IT does NOT dishonor others, it is NOT self-seeking, it is NOT easily angered, it keeps NO record of wrongs. LOVE does NOT delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. IT ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres.”
“LOVE never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I thought like a child, and I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
AND NOW these three remain: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.”
LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS.
We show we have LOVE in multitude of ways, as I just spoke of from Corinthians. LOVE given creates more love…LOVE taken away can leave irreparable damage…except in Jesus, who can restore all things…when we are willing, for He makes a way where we see no way.
We all need love…though many intellectually say they do not because of people, and or events in their lives that either hurt, and in some situations destroyed their own capacity to even begin to understand what LOVE is. This is a true and tragic tragedy. I can say with full assurance…that if given the opportunity to come into the kingdom of God through Salvation in Jesus Christ, they will experience what LOVE is for the first time in their lives. I have seen it happen.
The word LOVE is in the Old Testament 310 times and in the New Testament 348 times.
The old saying “LOVE make the world go around” I am not sure of but I am sure that without it, there would be no HOPE, JOY or PEACE of any kind. What love we have and share certainly makes our world a more beautiful place in the UNIVERSE.
Out of curiosity, I researched how many songs have been written about LOVE, and found that this question is impossible to answer because LOVE is one of the most common themes in music. Thus, there are millions of songs about love: losing love, finding love, missing a loved one, wishing for love, searching for love, grateful for love, etc.
There was one secular song that came to my mind, so I looked up the words. One of which refers to the Lord in searching for it. I felt that if I could get away in my sermon with “Be Happy, Don’t Worry, I could do this one without too much repercussion. Smiling.
HERE IS THE SONG. It is the title of my sermon.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It’s the only things that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some, but for everyone.
LORD, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb,
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross, enough to last ‘til the end of time!
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No. not just for some, but for everyone!
LORD, we don’t need another meadow,
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow,
There are sunbeams and moon beams enough to shine,
Oh, listen LORD, if YOU want to know.
What the world needs now, is LOVE, sweet LOVE
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet LOVE,
NO, not just for some, oh, but just for every, every, everyone!
This is what Jesus, this Advent Season, since that day so long ago, when born…. came to bring all of humanity. HIS LOVE….
And with that LOVE, Salvation, Eternal life…. HOPE, PEACE, JOY AND the greatest of these and more…. LOVE.
“A TRUE LOVE STORY…. Denied in Life, Together in Death”
Selah, So be it!
December 19, 2021
“WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS?”
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Love ~
This subject of which the fourth candle of Advent has been lit today, is perhaps the most important word in every human language that exists. There is no way to measure it…. for it has no boundaries.
More music written, poems created, emotions shared, movies made, and which without, our world would be a very different world indeed. This LOVE is what makes the world a better place….a world set apart from all others that we know of. It can turn wrongs into right and sadness into JOY, tragedy into hope and Hope into Love.
This one thing I am going to establish before moving on, and that is the source of LOVE, as it begins with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. ONE GOD IN THREE UNIFIED IN LOVE.
With this there is one verse that (stands out to me) as perhaps the most important regarding LOVE, and that verse is found in Luke 10:27…quoting Jesus Himself. He answered, “You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and LOVE your neighbor as yourself.” X2
Therefore…with every fiber of our being. If we do not truly LOVE God….we cannot love to the depth that God enables us to love, where LOVE can move mountains. Where LOVE can do the impossible.
The second most important love verse (in my opinion) is found of course in 1 Corinthians 13:13. Written by Paul. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do NOT have LOVE, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I am nothing If I give ALL I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I gave nothing.
“LOVE IS patient, love is kind. It does NOT envy, it does NOT boast, it is NOT proud. IT does NOT dishonor others, it is NOT self-seeking, it is NOT easily angered, it keeps NO record of wrongs. LOVE does NOT delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. IT ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres.”
“LOVE never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I thought like a child, and I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
AND NOW these three remain: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.”
LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS.
We show we have LOVE in multitude of ways, as I just spoke of from Corinthians. LOVE given creates more love…LOVE taken away can leave irreparable damage…except in Jesus, who can restore all things…when we are willing, for He makes a way where we see no way.
We all need love…though many intellectually say they do not because of people, and or events in their lives that either hurt, and in some situations destroyed their own capacity to even begin to understand what LOVE is. This is a true and tragic tragedy. I can say with full assurance…that if given the opportunity to come into the kingdom of God through Salvation in Jesus Christ, they will experience what LOVE is for the first time in their lives. I have seen it happen.
The word LOVE is in the Old Testament 310 times and in the New Testament 348 times.
The old saying “LOVE make the world go around” I am not sure of but I am sure that without it, there would be no HOPE, JOY or PEACE of any kind. What love we have and share certainly makes our world a more beautiful place in the UNIVERSE.
Out of curiosity, I researched how many songs have been written about LOVE, and found that this question is impossible to answer because LOVE is one of the most common themes in music. Thus, there are millions of songs about love: losing love, finding love, missing a loved one, wishing for love, searching for love, grateful for love, etc.
There was one secular song that came to my mind, so I looked up the words. One of which refers to the Lord in searching for it. I felt that if I could get away in my sermon with “Be Happy, Don’t Worry, I could do this one without too much repercussion. Smiling.
HERE IS THE SONG. It is the title of my sermon.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It’s the only things that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some, but for everyone.
LORD, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb,
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross, enough to last ‘til the end of time!
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No. not just for some, but for everyone!
LORD, we don’t need another meadow,
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow,
There are sunbeams and moon beams enough to shine,
Oh, listen LORD, if YOU want to know.
What the world needs now, is LOVE, sweet LOVE
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What the world needs now is love, sweet LOVE,
NO, not just for some, oh, but just for every, every, everyone!
This is what Jesus, this Advent Season, since that day so long ago, when born…. came to bring all of humanity. HIS LOVE….
And with that LOVE, Salvation, Eternal life…. HOPE, PEACE, JOY AND the greatest of these and more…. LOVE.
“A TRUE LOVE STORY…. Denied in Life, Together in Death”
Selah, So be it!
The Little Church in the Pines
November 28, 2021
Sermon ~ HOPE can be a prayer
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Advent…. within this word lies great anticipation, hope, prayer, prophets and prophecies fulfilled. For millennia a people, devoted to God, chosen by God, kept within their hearts, that HOPE alive. Their love of God, full and rich…. generation after generation having passed without that HOPE realized…. but one night, one glorious night…it happened! He arrived! Not in the manner anticipated, but quietly, beautifully…yet, on that serene night the storm clouds were already forming. With the beauty of His birth came the anticipation and darkness of His death…His fate was foretold and sealed.
But now, our focus is on His advent into the world.
HOPE at times it seems is all we have…. but HOPE turned into prayer goes from being passive to being alive and active, able to achieve what HOPE itself cannot.
There is a new hymn being sung this Advent Season in celebration of HOPE and light over darkness.
Veiled in darkness Judah lay, waiting for the Promised Day;
While across the shadowy night streamed a flood of glorious light,
Heavenly voices singing then, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men;”
Heavenly voices chanting the, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”
Still the earth in darkness lies. Up from death’s dark vale arise,
Voices of a world in grief, prayers of those who seek relief.
Now the darkness peals out again, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men,”
Light of light, we humbly pray, shine upon Thy world today;
Break the gloom of our dark night, fill our souls with love and light,
Send Thy blessed Word again, “Peace on earth, good will to men.”
Amen
Here is the background history of this hymn….
Abject hopeless lay across the land…for over a year, war had raged in Europe, and as dark war clouds hung over the earth, Rights wrote a hymn in response to the hopelessness and darkness that he felt in his own heart.
The hymn opens by focusing on the darkness that hung over Judah, which was shattered by the glorious light that came with the birth of Christ and the gifts to someday come of “peace on earth, and good will to mankind.
In the lighting of the candles, comes to us the HOPE realized when we too feel hopeless, followed by PEACE, JOY and LOVE. For in these the Christ Child, the Light of the World came with these gifts no matter the circumstances that we face and endure.
Just as in the land of Judah…
The second verse is written to remind us that to this day, a measure of darkness still covers our land…. but one day, one day, at the time of God’s choosing that darkness will also be destroyed, replacing it the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when He returns to rule and reign over all the earth.
In our own time of darkness (now) with Covid, with wars still raging, with persecution of Christians as never before in history, as morality declines and people lose HOPE, He remains our HOPE and our light. This is when we hold onto HOPE for peace on earth, and turn that HOPE into active, vibrant prayer.
It is our obligation to pray for “peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind.
The third verse of the hymn actually provides us with a prayer for the Light that God sent to the earth in Jesus Christ to shine upon us TODAY, to shatter our own personal darkness as well and to fill our souls with love and light, bringing once again within us, peace
and goodwill. First, between us and God; then secondly between each other.
We know that it is Jesus who ultimately brings us personal peace, national peace and world-wide peace.
In this world, it seems the bad news keeps mounting up, whether from ongoing wars, terrorist attacks, attacks on our judicial system, on our police officers, a fellow human being driving his vehicle into spectators at a hometown parade, the political and social divisions, the pain mounts up and up to greater heights, causing fear and hopelessness to pervade our lives…we should pray as we have never prayed before that the light of Jesus would shine in us and through us, and on us, so that we can lead the way to be the people of light and peace he calls all of us, all of us to be.
Far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of LIGHT…Romans 13:11-12
Listen to the words of the hymn once again…
Veiled in darkness Judah lay, waiting for the promised day,
While across the shadowy night,
Streamed a floor of glorious light,
Heavenly voices chanting then,
“Peace on earth, goodwill to man,”
“Peace on earth, goodwill to man,”
Still the earth in darkness lies,
Up from death’s dark vale arise
Voices of a world in grief, prayers of those who seek relief.
Now the darkness pierced again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Light of light, we humbly pray,
Shine upon Thy world today;
Break the gloom of our dark night,
Fill our souls with love and light,
Send Thy blessed Word again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Send Thy blessed Word again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man!
READ: THE LONG PRAYER OF HOPE THAT CHANGED AMERICA – APRIL 28TH
November 28, 2021
Sermon ~ HOPE can be a prayer
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Advent…. within this word lies great anticipation, hope, prayer, prophets and prophecies fulfilled. For millennia a people, devoted to God, chosen by God, kept within their hearts, that HOPE alive. Their love of God, full and rich…. generation after generation having passed without that HOPE realized…. but one night, one glorious night…it happened! He arrived! Not in the manner anticipated, but quietly, beautifully…yet, on that serene night the storm clouds were already forming. With the beauty of His birth came the anticipation and darkness of His death…His fate was foretold and sealed.
But now, our focus is on His advent into the world.
HOPE at times it seems is all we have…. but HOPE turned into prayer goes from being passive to being alive and active, able to achieve what HOPE itself cannot.
There is a new hymn being sung this Advent Season in celebration of HOPE and light over darkness.
Veiled in darkness Judah lay, waiting for the Promised Day;
While across the shadowy night streamed a flood of glorious light,
Heavenly voices singing then, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men;”
Heavenly voices chanting the, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”
Still the earth in darkness lies. Up from death’s dark vale arise,
Voices of a world in grief, prayers of those who seek relief.
Now the darkness peals out again, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men,”
Light of light, we humbly pray, shine upon Thy world today;
Break the gloom of our dark night, fill our souls with love and light,
Send Thy blessed Word again, “Peace on earth, good will to men.”
Amen
Here is the background history of this hymn….
Abject hopeless lay across the land…for over a year, war had raged in Europe, and as dark war clouds hung over the earth, Rights wrote a hymn in response to the hopelessness and darkness that he felt in his own heart.
The hymn opens by focusing on the darkness that hung over Judah, which was shattered by the glorious light that came with the birth of Christ and the gifts to someday come of “peace on earth, and good will to mankind.
In the lighting of the candles, comes to us the HOPE realized when we too feel hopeless, followed by PEACE, JOY and LOVE. For in these the Christ Child, the Light of the World came with these gifts no matter the circumstances that we face and endure.
Just as in the land of Judah…
The second verse is written to remind us that to this day, a measure of darkness still covers our land…. but one day, one day, at the time of God’s choosing that darkness will also be destroyed, replacing it the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when He returns to rule and reign over all the earth.
In our own time of darkness (now) with Covid, with wars still raging, with persecution of Christians as never before in history, as morality declines and people lose HOPE, He remains our HOPE and our light. This is when we hold onto HOPE for peace on earth, and turn that HOPE into active, vibrant prayer.
It is our obligation to pray for “peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind.
The third verse of the hymn actually provides us with a prayer for the Light that God sent to the earth in Jesus Christ to shine upon us TODAY, to shatter our own personal darkness as well and to fill our souls with love and light, bringing once again within us, peace
and goodwill. First, between us and God; then secondly between each other.
We know that it is Jesus who ultimately brings us personal peace, national peace and world-wide peace.
In this world, it seems the bad news keeps mounting up, whether from ongoing wars, terrorist attacks, attacks on our judicial system, on our police officers, a fellow human being driving his vehicle into spectators at a hometown parade, the political and social divisions, the pain mounts up and up to greater heights, causing fear and hopelessness to pervade our lives…we should pray as we have never prayed before that the light of Jesus would shine in us and through us, and on us, so that we can lead the way to be the people of light and peace he calls all of us, all of us to be.
Far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of LIGHT…Romans 13:11-12
Listen to the words of the hymn once again…
Veiled in darkness Judah lay, waiting for the promised day,
While across the shadowy night,
Streamed a floor of glorious light,
Heavenly voices chanting then,
“Peace on earth, goodwill to man,”
“Peace on earth, goodwill to man,”
Still the earth in darkness lies,
Up from death’s dark vale arise
Voices of a world in grief, prayers of those who seek relief.
Now the darkness pierced again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Light of light, we humbly pray,
Shine upon Thy world today;
Break the gloom of our dark night,
Fill our souls with love and light,
Send Thy blessed Word again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man
Send Thy blessed Word again,
Peace on earth, goodwill to man!
READ: THE LONG PRAYER OF HOPE THAT CHANGED AMERICA – APRIL 28TH
Little Church in the Pines
November 7, 2021
Pastor Connie Day
How open are you about your life?
How much do you let other people see who you really are?
It can be difficult to let people see our failures and shortcomings.
We freely share our celebrations and successes, but it’s hard to let others get a glimpse of our weaknesses.
We don’t usually speak openly about the ways we have messed up.
When we make a mistake, We often try to cover it up. We hope that no one saw it. We try to fix it before someone notices.
Sometimes we even try to keep ourselves from seeing the reality of who we are. We justify our actions and our words, pretending that they weren’t that bad, (even when deep down we know that we were wrong).
When I read the first part of our scripture reading today, I kind of felt bad for the priests.
Here they are, working all day long on their feet, offering sacrifices again and again in an attempt to atone for sin.
But the writer of Hebrews says that despite their daily, repetitive work, they will never be successful.
The sacrifices they offer “can never take away sins.”
No matter how hard they try.
No matter how dedicated they are.
No matter how many hours they put in, they will never accomplish what they are trying to do.
It’s the same for us.
No matter how hard we try to cover it up, we are imperfect beings. We fail often. We do the wrong things. We say the wrong things. We cause damage to God’s creation, including to people who are precious and loved in God’s sight.
And we know it. We know how often we fail. But like the priests, who offer sacrifices day by day, we try desperately to cover it up. We justify our actions. Sometimes we compare ourselves with others: “At least I’m not as bad as he is!” Or we say things like, “I didn’t have any choice.” “It wasn’t really my fault.” Sometimes we minimize our actions: “I’m only human. It’s not that bad.”
Sometimes we try to make up for it. Saying, “I’m sorry.” Trying to fix what is broken. Trying to cover up the mistake.
As much as possible, we try to hide our shortcomings from others. But do have someone with whom you can be completely honest? Do you have someone in your life that loves you just as you are—warts and all? Someone who sees the good, the bad, and the ugly and is there through it all with you? Someone who will never leave your side, and will never give up on you?
There is freedom in dropping the charade.
When we can be honest
When we can confess the truth
When we don’t have to pretend
When we can admit that we have failed…we have fallen short
I was at a school leaders conference this week.
As you might imagine, a gathering of school leaders (founders of charter schools in Idaho) could be a time of displaying great confidence: talking about the great things that are happening in our schools telling others about the ways we are successful maybe even trying to convince others that we are doing better — that things are going better—than they actually are and there is some of that, I suppose.
But there are also the real connections.
I have a friend in this group of amazing educators with whom I can talk freely. She did some work with me last year at the school here in Island Park. She helped me through our verification process for Special Education; (which is kind of a complicated process) She gave me information I needed to get things in order, and to answer questions that would be asked. And through that process, I had to be honest with her about the things I didn’t know. I had to tell her about mistakes that I had made and things that I had not done right. She helped me, without judgement, to fix the mistakes and to learn what needs to be done to satisfy the requirements of the State Department of Education.
At the conference on Friday, I had a question about something that I wasn’t sure we were doing right. I didn’t really want to ask. Because if we were doing it wrong, I didn’t want to get in trouble. And I didn’t want people to think that I’m not a good school leader, or that I don’t really know what I’m doing.
So I asked Jennifer. I knew she would have the information I needed. And I knew she could help. And I knew she wouldn’t judge me.
It’s a relief: to not have to hold the questions inside.
It’s a relief to be able to be honest about my lack of knowledge, and even about the things I haven’t done right. A burden of fear, shame, and guilt can be lifted by telling the truth about it.
Do you have someone like that in your life?
Do you have someone with whom you can be completely honest even about the ugly stuff?
You do, of course.
God is always there for you. God sees all that you are: all you’ve done right, and all you’ve done wrong. God knows your motives and the inner workings of your heart. Sometimes we can fool the people around us, but God knows it all. When you confess your sin When you tell the truth about who you are and what you have done You are not sharing any information that God does not already know. But confession is good for the soul. Confession allows you to lay down the burden of guilt and shame Our sin is real. And it can be crippling. It keeps us from living the life that God wants us to live: a life of joy and peace a life of justice and truth a life lived in the very presence of God who loves us more than anyone ever could and who wants the best for us.
We can do things that will make us feel better about ourselves, and that will work for a while; but it doesn’t really solve the problem. The sin/guilt is still there But Christ has actually done something about it. We are no longer under the power of sin. We no longer need to carry/feel the burden of it. It’s “taken care of”. The burden is lifted. Christ offered himself so that our sin could be removed: not just for a while, but forever. Through Christ, God has forgiven our sin, and he promises, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Not because of who we are, but because of what he’s done.
Not because of what we’ve done, but because of who he is.
When God looks at us, he sees beloved children.
This is the foundation of the message in the passage from Hebrews.
Jesus has taken care of our sin. And, unlike the priests who were standing day after day, offering sacrifices, Jesus offered a single sacrifice for sin, and then he sat down. It is finished.
We are forgiven. We are set free from the power of sin. We are free to live in God’s presence, without fear. That’s the foundation of this passage.
And then, there’s a “therefore”.
Therefore. It’s a word of cause and effect. Whereas this…. therefore this…
It’s a word that expects a response.
This has happened, therefore…this should happen.
The word “therefore” in verse 19 is followed by four imperatives.
Since Jesus gave himself to atone for our sins…
Since Christ has set us free from the power of sin…
There are four things that follow:
1. (vs.22) “Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith”
God invites us into his holy presence. We might not think we are worthy. And we’re not. But Jesus has taken care of that. Some people are afraid of God’s judgment: afraid that if they step into a church, the walls will fall in on them. Some people have experienced judgement and rejection from “the people of God” and have no desire to come into God’s presence. (Sometimes religious people are a barrier) Sometimes we trust in our own goodness.
We ignore or justify our sin rather than recognizing it and confessing it.
The good news of Christ is that we do not need to be afraid to tell the truth about who we are. We can be honest with God and with ourselves, trusting that God has taken care of it, and loves us “no matter what”.
By being honest, we can be transformed. We can be changed, cured, set in a new direction. We can even become a catalyst of change in our world, through the power of Christ. Knowing that we are graciously loved and forgiven, we can be a gracious, loving presence to others.
Approach with a true heart… (bring your true self) and trust that God loves you just as you are. God welcomes you into his holy presence.
2. (vs.23) “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.”
Remember, it is not your faithfulness that makes it possible to live in God’s presence: it is God’s faithfulness. So even when you mess up, even when you utterly fail, hold on to the promise of God’s gracious love. Don’t waver. Don’t worry. Only believe. Then “have a little talk with Jesus” and keep trusting that God has not rejected you. God loves you, just as you are. Because God is faithful.
3. (vs. 24) “Let us consider how to provoke one another…”
Provoke is usually thought of as a negative: provoking someone is stirring up a response (usually of anger or irritation). Provoking one another is fairly easy. We see it on social media all the time. Usually, a person is trying to make a point, but the result rarely (if ever) provokes change. Either people who already agreed with you express their agreement, or people who don’t agree are provoked to anger or frustration.
They may respond. They may “scroll on”.
But the provocation results in a negative written response, or a negative feeling. What does it mean to provoke one another to love? How can we provoke one another to “good deeds”? If we put all of our creative energy into provoking goodness, the world might be a better place.
Consider, today and this week, how you might provoke someone to love.
Consider how to provoke someone to good deeds.
Consider how you might demonstrate love, and what “good deeds” you might do to make a difference in someone else’s life today and this week.
4. (vs.25) Don’t neglect to meet together…but encourage one another .It’s easy to neglect meeting together, especially when we feel like we are somehow not “good enough” to be in church. What should our “meetings” be, given the teachings of this passage? We should meet with honesty about who we are, openness about our struggles, failures, shortcomings; trusting in God’s gracious love and forgiveness, “normalizing mistakes” so that others feel free to admit that they also make mistakes, celebrating the goodness and graciousness of our God, seeking to live lives that are faithful to God, acknowledging our desire to follow God’s ways, even when we know we won’t always live up to the high and holy expectations, loving each other in spite of all our shortcomings, forgiving each other and encouraging each other to follow the way of Christ The church is not a gathering of saints.
This is a place where sinners meet to celebrate God’s love for us. We are here to help each other grow to be what God has created us to be. We are here to encourage each other: to lift each other up, to remind each other of God’s grace, to help each other focus on what God wants us to be and do.
God loves us as we are and invites us to live our lives freely in His presence…
Therefore:
November 7, 2021
Pastor Connie Day
How open are you about your life?
How much do you let other people see who you really are?
It can be difficult to let people see our failures and shortcomings.
We freely share our celebrations and successes, but it’s hard to let others get a glimpse of our weaknesses.
We don’t usually speak openly about the ways we have messed up.
When we make a mistake, We often try to cover it up. We hope that no one saw it. We try to fix it before someone notices.
Sometimes we even try to keep ourselves from seeing the reality of who we are. We justify our actions and our words, pretending that they weren’t that bad, (even when deep down we know that we were wrong).
When I read the first part of our scripture reading today, I kind of felt bad for the priests.
Here they are, working all day long on their feet, offering sacrifices again and again in an attempt to atone for sin.
But the writer of Hebrews says that despite their daily, repetitive work, they will never be successful.
The sacrifices they offer “can never take away sins.”
No matter how hard they try.
No matter how dedicated they are.
No matter how many hours they put in, they will never accomplish what they are trying to do.
It’s the same for us.
No matter how hard we try to cover it up, we are imperfect beings. We fail often. We do the wrong things. We say the wrong things. We cause damage to God’s creation, including to people who are precious and loved in God’s sight.
And we know it. We know how often we fail. But like the priests, who offer sacrifices day by day, we try desperately to cover it up. We justify our actions. Sometimes we compare ourselves with others: “At least I’m not as bad as he is!” Or we say things like, “I didn’t have any choice.” “It wasn’t really my fault.” Sometimes we minimize our actions: “I’m only human. It’s not that bad.”
Sometimes we try to make up for it. Saying, “I’m sorry.” Trying to fix what is broken. Trying to cover up the mistake.
As much as possible, we try to hide our shortcomings from others. But do have someone with whom you can be completely honest? Do you have someone in your life that loves you just as you are—warts and all? Someone who sees the good, the bad, and the ugly and is there through it all with you? Someone who will never leave your side, and will never give up on you?
There is freedom in dropping the charade.
When we can be honest
When we can confess the truth
When we don’t have to pretend
When we can admit that we have failed…we have fallen short
I was at a school leaders conference this week.
As you might imagine, a gathering of school leaders (founders of charter schools in Idaho) could be a time of displaying great confidence: talking about the great things that are happening in our schools telling others about the ways we are successful maybe even trying to convince others that we are doing better — that things are going better—than they actually are and there is some of that, I suppose.
But there are also the real connections.
I have a friend in this group of amazing educators with whom I can talk freely. She did some work with me last year at the school here in Island Park. She helped me through our verification process for Special Education; (which is kind of a complicated process) She gave me information I needed to get things in order, and to answer questions that would be asked. And through that process, I had to be honest with her about the things I didn’t know. I had to tell her about mistakes that I had made and things that I had not done right. She helped me, without judgement, to fix the mistakes and to learn what needs to be done to satisfy the requirements of the State Department of Education.
At the conference on Friday, I had a question about something that I wasn’t sure we were doing right. I didn’t really want to ask. Because if we were doing it wrong, I didn’t want to get in trouble. And I didn’t want people to think that I’m not a good school leader, or that I don’t really know what I’m doing.
So I asked Jennifer. I knew she would have the information I needed. And I knew she could help. And I knew she wouldn’t judge me.
It’s a relief: to not have to hold the questions inside.
It’s a relief to be able to be honest about my lack of knowledge, and even about the things I haven’t done right. A burden of fear, shame, and guilt can be lifted by telling the truth about it.
Do you have someone like that in your life?
Do you have someone with whom you can be completely honest even about the ugly stuff?
You do, of course.
God is always there for you. God sees all that you are: all you’ve done right, and all you’ve done wrong. God knows your motives and the inner workings of your heart. Sometimes we can fool the people around us, but God knows it all. When you confess your sin When you tell the truth about who you are and what you have done You are not sharing any information that God does not already know. But confession is good for the soul. Confession allows you to lay down the burden of guilt and shame Our sin is real. And it can be crippling. It keeps us from living the life that God wants us to live: a life of joy and peace a life of justice and truth a life lived in the very presence of God who loves us more than anyone ever could and who wants the best for us.
We can do things that will make us feel better about ourselves, and that will work for a while; but it doesn’t really solve the problem. The sin/guilt is still there But Christ has actually done something about it. We are no longer under the power of sin. We no longer need to carry/feel the burden of it. It’s “taken care of”. The burden is lifted. Christ offered himself so that our sin could be removed: not just for a while, but forever. Through Christ, God has forgiven our sin, and he promises, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Not because of who we are, but because of what he’s done.
Not because of what we’ve done, but because of who he is.
When God looks at us, he sees beloved children.
This is the foundation of the message in the passage from Hebrews.
Jesus has taken care of our sin. And, unlike the priests who were standing day after day, offering sacrifices, Jesus offered a single sacrifice for sin, and then he sat down. It is finished.
We are forgiven. We are set free from the power of sin. We are free to live in God’s presence, without fear. That’s the foundation of this passage.
And then, there’s a “therefore”.
Therefore. It’s a word of cause and effect. Whereas this…. therefore this…
It’s a word that expects a response.
This has happened, therefore…this should happen.
The word “therefore” in verse 19 is followed by four imperatives.
Since Jesus gave himself to atone for our sins…
Since Christ has set us free from the power of sin…
There are four things that follow:
1. (vs.22) “Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith”
God invites us into his holy presence. We might not think we are worthy. And we’re not. But Jesus has taken care of that. Some people are afraid of God’s judgment: afraid that if they step into a church, the walls will fall in on them. Some people have experienced judgement and rejection from “the people of God” and have no desire to come into God’s presence. (Sometimes religious people are a barrier) Sometimes we trust in our own goodness.
We ignore or justify our sin rather than recognizing it and confessing it.
The good news of Christ is that we do not need to be afraid to tell the truth about who we are. We can be honest with God and with ourselves, trusting that God has taken care of it, and loves us “no matter what”.
By being honest, we can be transformed. We can be changed, cured, set in a new direction. We can even become a catalyst of change in our world, through the power of Christ. Knowing that we are graciously loved and forgiven, we can be a gracious, loving presence to others.
Approach with a true heart… (bring your true self) and trust that God loves you just as you are. God welcomes you into his holy presence.
2. (vs.23) “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.”
Remember, it is not your faithfulness that makes it possible to live in God’s presence: it is God’s faithfulness. So even when you mess up, even when you utterly fail, hold on to the promise of God’s gracious love. Don’t waver. Don’t worry. Only believe. Then “have a little talk with Jesus” and keep trusting that God has not rejected you. God loves you, just as you are. Because God is faithful.
3. (vs. 24) “Let us consider how to provoke one another…”
Provoke is usually thought of as a negative: provoking someone is stirring up a response (usually of anger or irritation). Provoking one another is fairly easy. We see it on social media all the time. Usually, a person is trying to make a point, but the result rarely (if ever) provokes change. Either people who already agreed with you express their agreement, or people who don’t agree are provoked to anger or frustration.
They may respond. They may “scroll on”.
But the provocation results in a negative written response, or a negative feeling. What does it mean to provoke one another to love? How can we provoke one another to “good deeds”? If we put all of our creative energy into provoking goodness, the world might be a better place.
Consider, today and this week, how you might provoke someone to love.
Consider how to provoke someone to good deeds.
Consider how you might demonstrate love, and what “good deeds” you might do to make a difference in someone else’s life today and this week.
4. (vs.25) Don’t neglect to meet together…but encourage one another .It’s easy to neglect meeting together, especially when we feel like we are somehow not “good enough” to be in church. What should our “meetings” be, given the teachings of this passage? We should meet with honesty about who we are, openness about our struggles, failures, shortcomings; trusting in God’s gracious love and forgiveness, “normalizing mistakes” so that others feel free to admit that they also make mistakes, celebrating the goodness and graciousness of our God, seeking to live lives that are faithful to God, acknowledging our desire to follow God’s ways, even when we know we won’t always live up to the high and holy expectations, loving each other in spite of all our shortcomings, forgiving each other and encouraging each other to follow the way of Christ The church is not a gathering of saints.
This is a place where sinners meet to celebrate God’s love for us. We are here to help each other grow to be what God has created us to be. We are here to encourage each other: to lift each other up, to remind each other of God’s grace, to help each other focus on what God wants us to be and do.
God loves us as we are and invites us to live our lives freely in His presence…
Therefore:
- Bring your true self
- Trust in God’s faithfulness
- Provoke each other (in all good things)
- Support and encourage each other to keep the faith
The Little Church in the Pines
October 17, 2021
“The Second Coming of Jesus Christ”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
When Pam and I were in the waiting room at the Alpine Dermatology Clinic in Rexburg…the subject came up of today’s sermon. We both remembered how as children it kind of scared us.
For me I associated the Lord’s coming with the Atomic Bomb and Russia, for I could see (in my kid’s mind) no other reason of His coming back…. other than it being a very unsettling time in our nation’s history. I also was (being a little sinner) afraid I would be left behind, so I was always praying for forgiveness so that would not be the case. Every time the firehouse sirens would go off in our little neighborhood, I would run home as quickly as possible to be with my mother who could comfort me.
We don’t hear much about His Second Coming these days, and I can’t remember the last time I heard a sermon on this subject or for that matter preached one, though we do hear quotes of wars and rumors of wars, Armageddon, earthquakes, famines, pestilence…and a plethora of so-called prophets, proclaiming the date that Jesus is coming back. On that note, let me read to you what Jesus said about setting dates for His arrival, in Matthew 24:36, But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. NIV
This was in response to His disciples question found in Matthew 24:3. Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came` to Him privately, saying, “Tell us when will these thing be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the Age?”
He then goes into some of those things we are to be aware of. I will read directly now His words of warning. (MATTHEW 24:1-36.
Let’s go back a bit….and see places in the Old Testament where it speaks of this great and terrible day of the Lord, mentioned in Joel. Terrible being for those who have rejected Him as Lord and Savior.
Zechariah 14: 9And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be…The Lord is One, and His name One.
In Isaiah 11:4 we hear, “But with the righteous He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall say the wicked.
Christ’s first coming accomplished this in the spiritual realm (Colossians 2;15) He will consummate it literally and spiritual at the end of this age, the age of Grace. (Rev. 19:11-16 and 20:11-15.
Listen to this quote found in Joel, which Jesus spoke of, and which I have just read, almost word for word. “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”
He spoke often of His Kingdom…the Kingdom within us, and Kingdom to come upon His Second arrival. The Kingdom without end…Amen.
In Acts 1:9-11 the disciples have just watched Jesus rise out of sight in front of their very eyes…. can you imagine the looks on their faces of astonishment, and the adrenaline rushing through their bodies as they witness this?
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud receive Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.
Eyewitnesses…. many have scorned even the ideas, not only of a resurrection, but of this whole concept of a returning Christ, of the kingdom of God…of miracles, of deity, seeing the Bible itself of nothing but fables and stories told of keep people subject to a religious history, governed simply by men to manipulate and control people. Not only control but to garner from these, a way of living, and for some, living well.
Witnesses…ten of the 12 original disciples willing to sacrifice their lives for a myth…. I doubt it. One having hung himself because of the grief he felt in having betrayed the One. I doubt. Since then, since 1901 to the year 2000 more Christians have died for their faith than all the centuries combined, since the beginning of Christianity. You will be shocked at the number, for in the 20th century alone, approximately 45 million Christians have been martyred, at the hands of Communists, Islamic regimes, Chinese, North Korea and African militants.
Why is this….? Because by our religion and faith…. we stand in the way of oppression…not willing to compromise into accepting corruption and a social order that demands individuals be allowed the freedom to choose….instead of the social orders that say the collective, and the loss of individuality is the only way to achieve the greater good for the greatest number. Belief in God stands in the way of the progression of human development the intellectuals tell us. We are thought of as fools, uncapable of making decisions that go beyond our selfishness. You see, they know that faith gives hope, and out of hope comes life….. a life that includes food for the soul and spirit. For without soul or spirit….we are nothing more than pieces of meat. It is out of the soul and spirit that comes life, love, creativity, joy, happiness, contentment, meaningful relationships.
It is our faith….in miracles, in Jesus Chris as the Son of the Living God, that shapes us into decent and good people, intent on moving beyond selfishness that includes (or should) loving God, loving His Son and loving ourselves, neighbors and strangers and even our enemies.
Our belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ…is the second part of His promises to us. The first being salvation…the second, eternal life with Him in a place where there is not pain, no sorrow, no tears, no death…but life…abundant and rich, forever more.
The Second Coming, we are told will be seen by all.
Revelation 1:7… “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him. All the nations of the world will mourn for Him.” Yes! Amen
I spoke of His kingdom to come earlier….but before He establishes his Kingdom on earth, Jesus will (we are told) come for His living church just prior to His return….this is commonly known as the Rapture. At that time (again we are told) the dead will rise and living Christians will be as the term expresses “caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.”
In this resurrection, those who have died in Christ will have their redeemed souls and spirits united with a body similar to Christ’s glorified body.
Christians living (we are told) will not die, but will be changed to be like Christ. This expectation is a motivation for holy living, as well as a source of comfort. No one we heard earlier in this message, knows or will know the day or the hour when this will all take place, and therefore, we are to be ready in season and out of season, or any moment.
Scripture says that after the rapture of the Church, Christians will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. He will reward us; on the basis of the works, we have accomplished. This is not a judgment to determine our salvation, but a reward for that which we accomplished for and through Christ. (Something to think about) The Rapture will also initiate a period that the Bible characterizes as the “Great day of His wrath,” the Great Tribulation” as it is called…also the “time of Jacob’s trouble. It will be a time of unprecedented events that will affect Israel and all nations of the earth. Its purpose will be to prepare Israel for the Messiah they denied and continue to deny.
At the end of the Tribulation, for times of great trouble world-wide, Jesus will return…. with the hosts of heaven, as well as the Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth….that will last a thousand years.
I am not going to speak in depth about the Tribulation, for there are several hypotheses as to the timing of this event. There are those who speak of #1. The Partial Rapture View
2. The Mid-tribulation Rapture View
3. Pre-Wrath Tribulation Rapture View
4. The Post-Tribulation Rapture View
Leaving that aside…at His coming…. we are told Satan and his followers will be cast into the Lake of fire, and he Satan, will be bound for a thousand years, then released for a brief time to lead those who continued to follow him into a final rebellion.
The nations and their representatives will be judged. Israel will be restored. Christ will reign for a thousand years, with firmness represented by an iron rod….to keep those still in internal rebellion in check. For many though, it will be an unprecedented time of both material and spiritual blessings, since the curse (Satan) will have been bound.
After the thousand years, the Messianic kingdom will close with apostasy and rebellion once more, since His iron rod of holding things in check will have been removed, but He will crush this uprising in the last battle of the ages…and Satan will be defeated once and for all.
All those who rejected the Word of God (Jesus) will now be resurrected, and then judged by Christ and they too cast into the lake of fire, the place where the judgment they brought upon themselves will be executed. What that lake of fire is literally, we are told very little about.
At this time……. there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness and goodness triumph forever, now being the new and everlasting norm.
There will also be a new Jerusalem, and the eternal presence of God living among all those who will have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord, Savior and Friend.
October 17, 2021
“The Second Coming of Jesus Christ”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
When Pam and I were in the waiting room at the Alpine Dermatology Clinic in Rexburg…the subject came up of today’s sermon. We both remembered how as children it kind of scared us.
For me I associated the Lord’s coming with the Atomic Bomb and Russia, for I could see (in my kid’s mind) no other reason of His coming back…. other than it being a very unsettling time in our nation’s history. I also was (being a little sinner) afraid I would be left behind, so I was always praying for forgiveness so that would not be the case. Every time the firehouse sirens would go off in our little neighborhood, I would run home as quickly as possible to be with my mother who could comfort me.
We don’t hear much about His Second Coming these days, and I can’t remember the last time I heard a sermon on this subject or for that matter preached one, though we do hear quotes of wars and rumors of wars, Armageddon, earthquakes, famines, pestilence…and a plethora of so-called prophets, proclaiming the date that Jesus is coming back. On that note, let me read to you what Jesus said about setting dates for His arrival, in Matthew 24:36, But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. NIV
This was in response to His disciples question found in Matthew 24:3. Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came` to Him privately, saying, “Tell us when will these thing be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the Age?”
He then goes into some of those things we are to be aware of. I will read directly now His words of warning. (MATTHEW 24:1-36.
Let’s go back a bit….and see places in the Old Testament where it speaks of this great and terrible day of the Lord, mentioned in Joel. Terrible being for those who have rejected Him as Lord and Savior.
Zechariah 14: 9And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be…The Lord is One, and His name One.
In Isaiah 11:4 we hear, “But with the righteous He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall say the wicked.
Christ’s first coming accomplished this in the spiritual realm (Colossians 2;15) He will consummate it literally and spiritual at the end of this age, the age of Grace. (Rev. 19:11-16 and 20:11-15.
Listen to this quote found in Joel, which Jesus spoke of, and which I have just read, almost word for word. “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”
He spoke often of His Kingdom…the Kingdom within us, and Kingdom to come upon His Second arrival. The Kingdom without end…Amen.
In Acts 1:9-11 the disciples have just watched Jesus rise out of sight in front of their very eyes…. can you imagine the looks on their faces of astonishment, and the adrenaline rushing through their bodies as they witness this?
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud receive Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.
Eyewitnesses…. many have scorned even the ideas, not only of a resurrection, but of this whole concept of a returning Christ, of the kingdom of God…of miracles, of deity, seeing the Bible itself of nothing but fables and stories told of keep people subject to a religious history, governed simply by men to manipulate and control people. Not only control but to garner from these, a way of living, and for some, living well.
Witnesses…ten of the 12 original disciples willing to sacrifice their lives for a myth…. I doubt it. One having hung himself because of the grief he felt in having betrayed the One. I doubt. Since then, since 1901 to the year 2000 more Christians have died for their faith than all the centuries combined, since the beginning of Christianity. You will be shocked at the number, for in the 20th century alone, approximately 45 million Christians have been martyred, at the hands of Communists, Islamic regimes, Chinese, North Korea and African militants.
Why is this….? Because by our religion and faith…. we stand in the way of oppression…not willing to compromise into accepting corruption and a social order that demands individuals be allowed the freedom to choose….instead of the social orders that say the collective, and the loss of individuality is the only way to achieve the greater good for the greatest number. Belief in God stands in the way of the progression of human development the intellectuals tell us. We are thought of as fools, uncapable of making decisions that go beyond our selfishness. You see, they know that faith gives hope, and out of hope comes life….. a life that includes food for the soul and spirit. For without soul or spirit….we are nothing more than pieces of meat. It is out of the soul and spirit that comes life, love, creativity, joy, happiness, contentment, meaningful relationships.
It is our faith….in miracles, in Jesus Chris as the Son of the Living God, that shapes us into decent and good people, intent on moving beyond selfishness that includes (or should) loving God, loving His Son and loving ourselves, neighbors and strangers and even our enemies.
Our belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ…is the second part of His promises to us. The first being salvation…the second, eternal life with Him in a place where there is not pain, no sorrow, no tears, no death…but life…abundant and rich, forever more.
The Second Coming, we are told will be seen by all.
Revelation 1:7… “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him. All the nations of the world will mourn for Him.” Yes! Amen
I spoke of His kingdom to come earlier….but before He establishes his Kingdom on earth, Jesus will (we are told) come for His living church just prior to His return….this is commonly known as the Rapture. At that time (again we are told) the dead will rise and living Christians will be as the term expresses “caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.”
In this resurrection, those who have died in Christ will have their redeemed souls and spirits united with a body similar to Christ’s glorified body.
Christians living (we are told) will not die, but will be changed to be like Christ. This expectation is a motivation for holy living, as well as a source of comfort. No one we heard earlier in this message, knows or will know the day or the hour when this will all take place, and therefore, we are to be ready in season and out of season, or any moment.
Scripture says that after the rapture of the Church, Christians will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. He will reward us; on the basis of the works, we have accomplished. This is not a judgment to determine our salvation, but a reward for that which we accomplished for and through Christ. (Something to think about) The Rapture will also initiate a period that the Bible characterizes as the “Great day of His wrath,” the Great Tribulation” as it is called…also the “time of Jacob’s trouble. It will be a time of unprecedented events that will affect Israel and all nations of the earth. Its purpose will be to prepare Israel for the Messiah they denied and continue to deny.
At the end of the Tribulation, for times of great trouble world-wide, Jesus will return…. with the hosts of heaven, as well as the Church to establish the Messianic Kingdom on earth….that will last a thousand years.
I am not going to speak in depth about the Tribulation, for there are several hypotheses as to the timing of this event. There are those who speak of #1. The Partial Rapture View
2. The Mid-tribulation Rapture View
3. Pre-Wrath Tribulation Rapture View
4. The Post-Tribulation Rapture View
Leaving that aside…at His coming…. we are told Satan and his followers will be cast into the Lake of fire, and he Satan, will be bound for a thousand years, then released for a brief time to lead those who continued to follow him into a final rebellion.
The nations and their representatives will be judged. Israel will be restored. Christ will reign for a thousand years, with firmness represented by an iron rod….to keep those still in internal rebellion in check. For many though, it will be an unprecedented time of both material and spiritual blessings, since the curse (Satan) will have been bound.
After the thousand years, the Messianic kingdom will close with apostasy and rebellion once more, since His iron rod of holding things in check will have been removed, but He will crush this uprising in the last battle of the ages…and Satan will be defeated once and for all.
All those who rejected the Word of God (Jesus) will now be resurrected, and then judged by Christ and they too cast into the lake of fire, the place where the judgment they brought upon themselves will be executed. What that lake of fire is literally, we are told very little about.
At this time……. there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness and goodness triumph forever, now being the new and everlasting norm.
There will also be a new Jerusalem, and the eternal presence of God living among all those who will have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord, Savior and Friend.
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Scripture Reading: Exodus 23:20-23 (Yeuleta Bradley)
The statement “My name is in Him” shows that this messenger is the Angel of the Lord, who is none other than God Himself; with the promise of His presence and protection comes the warning “obey His voice,” for the Lord is a Holy God who cannot dwell in the presence of sin. Obedience is the evidence of reality of the covenant relationship.
The Angel of the Lord “encamps all around those who fear Him” Psalm 34:7.
Angels – God’s Special Agents;
The Doctrine of Angelology October 10, 2021
by: Connie Funkhouser
A topic that I do not think has been spoken of before, and hopefully my message will be fresh and enlightening.
* * I am a self-proclaimed Angel Collector * *etc., etc.
Do you believe in Angels? If you do believe in Angels, how much is scriptural vs fable? Do we actually have a Guardian Angel? If we do, is it the same for everyone, or are we given a specific Guardian Angel?
The fact that God created a realm of beings other than mankind should pique our curiosity and broaden our knowledge of God, and what He is doing and how He works in the universe. We are not to think that man is the highest form of created being. Between man and God there exist creatures of higher than human intelligence and power.
They are superhuman, but not divine. Some have remained faithful to God, carry out His work. Others, who fell from their created state of holiness, live to oppose God and His children. God’s care and concern for His creation is evident in the ministrations of good angels. By contrast, Satan and his minion seek to prevent the purposes of God, but God has limited their powers.
When we come to the discussion of angels, we are entering upon a subject that in some ways is the most unusual and puzzling of all theology. When I was deciding what direction to go with my morning message, I came across this several times. Me being me, thought, take the plunge and learn while I research and write.
Ancient theologians describe the topic of angels as the most remarkable and difficult of all. It is therefore a topic that it is tempting to omit or neglect. Some would say that Christian doctrine would be unaffected if we were to bypass this area, and in a sense that it is true. It would be possible to maintain the doctrines of creation and providence (wisdom) without reference to angels, for God most certainly created and can sustain and guide the universe by His own direct action, without utilizing angels as His agents. Yet, the teaching of Scripture is that He has created these spiritual beings and has chosen to carry out many of His acts through them. Therefore, if we are to be faithful students of the Bible, God’s Word, we have no choice but to learn and speak of these created beings.
There are several views about when Angels were created: the first is based on Genesis 2:1 which says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts (angels and other creatures) of them.
The second view: is based on Exodus 20:1 that states, “In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” By following that thought the Angels may have been created by the sixth day. Another view is that God created the Angels in Heaven with Him where they had been given their ranks, and duties to carry out following the Creation of Earth.
Supporting this idea is Job 38: 6-7, “The morning stars (references to heavenly beings) shouted for joy at the time when God laid the foundations of the cornerstone and sunk its bases in the process of forming or founding it.” Prior to the temptation of Eve, the angel, Lucifer, and his followers sinned against God by trying to assume His throne. This event must have occurred after the seventh day because in Genesis 1:31, God saw everything that He had made and beheld and said, “It is very good.” Once again; I mentioned this above; Genesis Ch. 2:1 continues, “thus the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them were finished.”
I have noted the difficulty of the subject. One reason is that while there are abundant references to angels in the Bible, they are not very helpful for developing an understanding of angels. Every reference to angels is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what He does, and how He does it. Since details about angels are not significant for that purpose, they tend to be omitted.
Again, by angels we mean those spiritual beings that God created higher than humans, some of whom have remained obedient to God and carry out His will, and others of whom disobeyed, lost their holy condition, and now oppose and hinder His work. My message will highlight the obedient angels and the various ways that our Creator has used and uses His Special Agents.
The Hebrew and Greek basic meaning for angel is “messenger,” whether human or angelic. When used of angels, the term highlights their message-bearing role. The author of Hebrews tells us in 1:6b & 1:7 “Let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels He says, who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” The Son is superior to angels because He is the Sovereign the one to be worshipped, while the angels are ministers/messengers, that is, servants of God. Hebrews quotes Psalm 104 because that psalm places angels in a long list of created objects which God’s sovereignty controls.
Angels do the biding of God and Jesus. Angels minister to believers. They obey and worship God, carry out His plans, carry out punishment and watch over the earth. They praise and glorify God, sing, shout, and have emotions. Two examples are when Jesus was born and when someone turns to Jesus for salvation. In addition to singing and praising, Angels can speak to people. Angels being spirits or spiritual creatures, usually do not have physical bodies. However, on important and selective occasions, they take on the appearance of humans. They are also in charged with guarding and protecting us. Angels observe God’s people with interest. And yes, Scripture does mention that angels appear to have the ability to fly. (Revelation 14:6)
Humans and Angels are the only moral and highly intelligent beings created, however . . . unlike humankind, Angels are not made in the image of God, and they are not subject to the limitation of human flesh. Angels are powerful, mobile, and knowledgeable, but not omniscient – the capacity to know everything/perceiving all things, Angels are not omnipotent – one who has unlimited power or authority, and lastly Angels are not omnipresence – the fact of being present everywhere and at the same time.
Old Testament terms for Angels are “Holy Ones”, (Ps.89:5,7) *the unfallen angels, they were created perfect without flaw or sin, they are called holy because of their purpose. They were set apart by God and for God as His servants and as attendants to His holiness. Another OT term; “Watchers”, (Dan. 4:13, 17, 23). Collectively, they are referred to as “the council” (Ps.89:7), “the assembly” (Ps. 89:5), and “Host” or “Hosts” as in the very common expression “Lord or Lord God of Hosts” found more than sixty times in the book of Isaiah alone.
Frequently, when “Angels” appear in the New Testament, there is an associated phrase making clear that it is referring to angels: A few that may sound familiar:
The angels in heaven (Matt. 24:36) Jesus says, “but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Heavenly Hosts (Luke 2:13) “and suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God . . . “
Spirits (Hebrew 1:14) “are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are not specifically mentioned in the creation account (Genesis 1-2). But that they were created is however clearly implied in Psalm 148:2,5-6
Read . . . Yeuleta please
The angels, as well as the celestial objects mentioned in verses 3-4 (which I did not read) are declared to have been created by the Lord.
This also is declared in Colossians 1:16 – 17
Read . . . Yeuleta please
All things were created through Him and for Him. Not only did God create all things, everything was created for His purposes. Angels have not always existed; but are part of the universe that God created. Another reminder, that despite the ministries that angels carry out for believers, it is important to remember that the Lord of hosts is our Savior, He is the one who ultimately sends them. We are not to give worship to the created, but to our Creator.
Like the angel in Revelation emphatically said to John: I love this verse 22:8-9 – “I John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
We humans may have tendencies to exalt Angels unduly, giving them worship and reverence due only to the Deity. The most extended passage on Angels, Hebrews 1:5-2:9, makes a point of establishing that Christ is superior to the Angels. Although He was made for a time a little lower than the angels, He is every way superior to them. While Jesus became for a time subordinate to the Father, the angels always are subordinate to and carry out the will of God; they do not act on independent initiative. Although superior to human beings in many of their abilities and qualities, they are part of the class of created and thus finite, (definable and limited) beings. As totally spiritual beings they are unique among the creatures, but they are nonetheless creatures.
Angels derive their great power from God and remain dependent on His favorable will or permission to exercise it. They are restricted to acting within the limits of His permission. This is true even of Satan, whose ability to afflict Job was circumscribed by the will of the Lord. God’s angels act only to carry out His commands, not independently. Only God does the miraculous.
In most cases Angels are not seen. The Lord had to open the eyes of Balaam before he could see the angel standing in his way. (Num. 22:31). Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant; then the young man saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). When angels are seen, they typically have human like appearance, so that they may well be mistaken for humans. Luke tells us in chapter 2:9 & 9:26; sometimes the Glory of the Lord shines from them --- perhaps the reason they are sometimes seen to be wearing white clothing of brilliant appearance. Matthew describes the Angel of the Lord who rolled the stone from Jesus’ tomb: “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow (Matthey 28:3).
Elaborate schemes have been worked out at times regarding the organization of the angelic hosts. We do know there are arch-angels, who are evidently of higher stature than ordinary angels, but we do not know how many there are. The New Testament makes over a hundred references to angels, but only twice in the Bible is the term arch-angel used, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9. Only Michael is identified by the name as an arch-angel. Michael meaning; “who is like God?” Gabriel is often commonly thought of as an archangel, perhaps because he is another angel specifically named. Gabriel means, ‘man of God” or “God is strong.”
The cherub (cherubim plural) is the highest order of class, created with indescribable powers and beauty. Their main purpose and activity might be summarized in this way: they are proclaimers and protectors. The Holy of Holies.
The seraph (seraphim) is pictured surrounding and serving as a throne guardian of God in Isaiah 6:2. It means to recognize God as extremely, perfectly holy. Therefore, they praise and proclaim the perfect holiness of God
.
† Where does the so-called and maybe the most popular of angels – Our Guardian Angel enter into this equation?
What did Jesus mean in Matthew 18:10 when he said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven”?
It is possible that “their angels” refers to a specific angel assigned to each disciple. There is one other text that some think points in this direction. When the praying believers in Acts 12 could not believe that Peter was knocking at the gate, since he was supposed to be in prison, they said, “It is his angel!” (Acts 12:15). That may or may not imply that all believers have an angel assigned to them. It may only imply that in that situation God had commissioned an angel to use Peter’s voice (Acts 12:14), and perhaps awaken even more urgent prayer for him.
It is even more difficult in Matthew 18:10 to conclude that each believer has an angel assigned to him. What it says is, “In heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” The word “their” certainly implies that these angels have a special personal role to play in relation to Jesus’s disciples. But the plural “angels” may simply mean that all believers have numerous angels assigned to serve them, not just one.
The promise here is better than the tradition that every saint has one personal guardian angel. What Hebrews 1:14 says is that all the angels — all of them — are specifically sent “for ministry” not minister “to” Christians, but ministry “for the sake of” Christians. This means that everything angels do, everywhere in the world, at all times, is for the good of Christians. An angel who does something by God’s assignment anywhere in the world is fulfilling the promise that God will work all things for the good of all Christians — everywhere. This is a sweeping and stunning promise. All angels serve for the good of all Christians all the time. They are Agents of God. Romans 8:28.
As obscure and strange though this belief in good and evil angels may seem to some, it has a significant role to play in the life of the Christian:
† It is a comfort and an encouragement to us to realize that powerful and numerous unseen agents are available to help us in need.
† The angels’ praise and service of God gives us an example of how we are to conduct ourselves now.
† I think it is sobering to realize that even angels who were close to God succumbed to temptation and fell.
† We receive confidence from the realization that powerful though Satan and his accomplices are, there are definite limits on what they can do.
† We can therefore, by the Grace of God, resist him successfully. And we can know thru God’s Word that his ultimate defeat is certain.
† An angel may bring an important message but it is the Holy Spirit who truly makes the lives of Christians completely different than anyone else.
† Angels are ministering Spirits. They minister to our needs by bringing us messages of Hope and Joy. By writing a letter of Joy or sending a card of Hope to someone, you can be an Angel too . . .
Amen!
BENEDICTION
A Wish, A Hope, A Prayer
I wish that every one of your days will dawn with a sense of hope streaming in with the sunlight, a sense of strength woven into the winds, and as many things to be thankful for as there are stars in the evening sky.
I hope that the distance between where you are and where you want to be grows shorter every day. I will never stop wishing that your journey through this world will be touched by kindness, inspired by wisdom, graced with understanding, and kept safe from all harm.
I hope and pray that you have a charmed existence, and that your heart will always be an open window to a joy so lasting and deep.
And I pray that you will always have an Angel watching over you, there to trace on your wonderful face a smile that you can share and keep.
Amen!
†Douglas Pagels
The statement “My name is in Him” shows that this messenger is the Angel of the Lord, who is none other than God Himself; with the promise of His presence and protection comes the warning “obey His voice,” for the Lord is a Holy God who cannot dwell in the presence of sin. Obedience is the evidence of reality of the covenant relationship.
The Angel of the Lord “encamps all around those who fear Him” Psalm 34:7.
Angels – God’s Special Agents;
The Doctrine of Angelology October 10, 2021
by: Connie Funkhouser
A topic that I do not think has been spoken of before, and hopefully my message will be fresh and enlightening.
* * I am a self-proclaimed Angel Collector * *etc., etc.
Do you believe in Angels? If you do believe in Angels, how much is scriptural vs fable? Do we actually have a Guardian Angel? If we do, is it the same for everyone, or are we given a specific Guardian Angel?
The fact that God created a realm of beings other than mankind should pique our curiosity and broaden our knowledge of God, and what He is doing and how He works in the universe. We are not to think that man is the highest form of created being. Between man and God there exist creatures of higher than human intelligence and power.
They are superhuman, but not divine. Some have remained faithful to God, carry out His work. Others, who fell from their created state of holiness, live to oppose God and His children. God’s care and concern for His creation is evident in the ministrations of good angels. By contrast, Satan and his minion seek to prevent the purposes of God, but God has limited their powers.
When we come to the discussion of angels, we are entering upon a subject that in some ways is the most unusual and puzzling of all theology. When I was deciding what direction to go with my morning message, I came across this several times. Me being me, thought, take the plunge and learn while I research and write.
Ancient theologians describe the topic of angels as the most remarkable and difficult of all. It is therefore a topic that it is tempting to omit or neglect. Some would say that Christian doctrine would be unaffected if we were to bypass this area, and in a sense that it is true. It would be possible to maintain the doctrines of creation and providence (wisdom) without reference to angels, for God most certainly created and can sustain and guide the universe by His own direct action, without utilizing angels as His agents. Yet, the teaching of Scripture is that He has created these spiritual beings and has chosen to carry out many of His acts through them. Therefore, if we are to be faithful students of the Bible, God’s Word, we have no choice but to learn and speak of these created beings.
There are several views about when Angels were created: the first is based on Genesis 2:1 which says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts (angels and other creatures) of them.
The second view: is based on Exodus 20:1 that states, “In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” By following that thought the Angels may have been created by the sixth day. Another view is that God created the Angels in Heaven with Him where they had been given their ranks, and duties to carry out following the Creation of Earth.
Supporting this idea is Job 38: 6-7, “The morning stars (references to heavenly beings) shouted for joy at the time when God laid the foundations of the cornerstone and sunk its bases in the process of forming or founding it.” Prior to the temptation of Eve, the angel, Lucifer, and his followers sinned against God by trying to assume His throne. This event must have occurred after the seventh day because in Genesis 1:31, God saw everything that He had made and beheld and said, “It is very good.” Once again; I mentioned this above; Genesis Ch. 2:1 continues, “thus the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them were finished.”
I have noted the difficulty of the subject. One reason is that while there are abundant references to angels in the Bible, they are not very helpful for developing an understanding of angels. Every reference to angels is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what He does, and how He does it. Since details about angels are not significant for that purpose, they tend to be omitted.
Again, by angels we mean those spiritual beings that God created higher than humans, some of whom have remained obedient to God and carry out His will, and others of whom disobeyed, lost their holy condition, and now oppose and hinder His work. My message will highlight the obedient angels and the various ways that our Creator has used and uses His Special Agents.
The Hebrew and Greek basic meaning for angel is “messenger,” whether human or angelic. When used of angels, the term highlights their message-bearing role. The author of Hebrews tells us in 1:6b & 1:7 “Let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels He says, who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” The Son is superior to angels because He is the Sovereign the one to be worshipped, while the angels are ministers/messengers, that is, servants of God. Hebrews quotes Psalm 104 because that psalm places angels in a long list of created objects which God’s sovereignty controls.
Angels do the biding of God and Jesus. Angels minister to believers. They obey and worship God, carry out His plans, carry out punishment and watch over the earth. They praise and glorify God, sing, shout, and have emotions. Two examples are when Jesus was born and when someone turns to Jesus for salvation. In addition to singing and praising, Angels can speak to people. Angels being spirits or spiritual creatures, usually do not have physical bodies. However, on important and selective occasions, they take on the appearance of humans. They are also in charged with guarding and protecting us. Angels observe God’s people with interest. And yes, Scripture does mention that angels appear to have the ability to fly. (Revelation 14:6)
Humans and Angels are the only moral and highly intelligent beings created, however . . . unlike humankind, Angels are not made in the image of God, and they are not subject to the limitation of human flesh. Angels are powerful, mobile, and knowledgeable, but not omniscient – the capacity to know everything/perceiving all things, Angels are not omnipotent – one who has unlimited power or authority, and lastly Angels are not omnipresence – the fact of being present everywhere and at the same time.
Old Testament terms for Angels are “Holy Ones”, (Ps.89:5,7) *the unfallen angels, they were created perfect without flaw or sin, they are called holy because of their purpose. They were set apart by God and for God as His servants and as attendants to His holiness. Another OT term; “Watchers”, (Dan. 4:13, 17, 23). Collectively, they are referred to as “the council” (Ps.89:7), “the assembly” (Ps. 89:5), and “Host” or “Hosts” as in the very common expression “Lord or Lord God of Hosts” found more than sixty times in the book of Isaiah alone.
Frequently, when “Angels” appear in the New Testament, there is an associated phrase making clear that it is referring to angels: A few that may sound familiar:
The angels in heaven (Matt. 24:36) Jesus says, “but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Heavenly Hosts (Luke 2:13) “and suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God . . . “
Spirits (Hebrew 1:14) “are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are not specifically mentioned in the creation account (Genesis 1-2). But that they were created is however clearly implied in Psalm 148:2,5-6
Read . . . Yeuleta please
The angels, as well as the celestial objects mentioned in verses 3-4 (which I did not read) are declared to have been created by the Lord.
This also is declared in Colossians 1:16 – 17
Read . . . Yeuleta please
All things were created through Him and for Him. Not only did God create all things, everything was created for His purposes. Angels have not always existed; but are part of the universe that God created. Another reminder, that despite the ministries that angels carry out for believers, it is important to remember that the Lord of hosts is our Savior, He is the one who ultimately sends them. We are not to give worship to the created, but to our Creator.
Like the angel in Revelation emphatically said to John: I love this verse 22:8-9 – “I John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
We humans may have tendencies to exalt Angels unduly, giving them worship and reverence due only to the Deity. The most extended passage on Angels, Hebrews 1:5-2:9, makes a point of establishing that Christ is superior to the Angels. Although He was made for a time a little lower than the angels, He is every way superior to them. While Jesus became for a time subordinate to the Father, the angels always are subordinate to and carry out the will of God; they do not act on independent initiative. Although superior to human beings in many of their abilities and qualities, they are part of the class of created and thus finite, (definable and limited) beings. As totally spiritual beings they are unique among the creatures, but they are nonetheless creatures.
Angels derive their great power from God and remain dependent on His favorable will or permission to exercise it. They are restricted to acting within the limits of His permission. This is true even of Satan, whose ability to afflict Job was circumscribed by the will of the Lord. God’s angels act only to carry out His commands, not independently. Only God does the miraculous.
In most cases Angels are not seen. The Lord had to open the eyes of Balaam before he could see the angel standing in his way. (Num. 22:31). Elisha prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant; then the young man saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). When angels are seen, they typically have human like appearance, so that they may well be mistaken for humans. Luke tells us in chapter 2:9 & 9:26; sometimes the Glory of the Lord shines from them --- perhaps the reason they are sometimes seen to be wearing white clothing of brilliant appearance. Matthew describes the Angel of the Lord who rolled the stone from Jesus’ tomb: “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow (Matthey 28:3).
Elaborate schemes have been worked out at times regarding the organization of the angelic hosts. We do know there are arch-angels, who are evidently of higher stature than ordinary angels, but we do not know how many there are. The New Testament makes over a hundred references to angels, but only twice in the Bible is the term arch-angel used, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9. Only Michael is identified by the name as an arch-angel. Michael meaning; “who is like God?” Gabriel is often commonly thought of as an archangel, perhaps because he is another angel specifically named. Gabriel means, ‘man of God” or “God is strong.”
The cherub (cherubim plural) is the highest order of class, created with indescribable powers and beauty. Their main purpose and activity might be summarized in this way: they are proclaimers and protectors. The Holy of Holies.
The seraph (seraphim) is pictured surrounding and serving as a throne guardian of God in Isaiah 6:2. It means to recognize God as extremely, perfectly holy. Therefore, they praise and proclaim the perfect holiness of God
.
† Where does the so-called and maybe the most popular of angels – Our Guardian Angel enter into this equation?
What did Jesus mean in Matthew 18:10 when he said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven”?
It is possible that “their angels” refers to a specific angel assigned to each disciple. There is one other text that some think points in this direction. When the praying believers in Acts 12 could not believe that Peter was knocking at the gate, since he was supposed to be in prison, they said, “It is his angel!” (Acts 12:15). That may or may not imply that all believers have an angel assigned to them. It may only imply that in that situation God had commissioned an angel to use Peter’s voice (Acts 12:14), and perhaps awaken even more urgent prayer for him.
It is even more difficult in Matthew 18:10 to conclude that each believer has an angel assigned to him. What it says is, “In heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” The word “their” certainly implies that these angels have a special personal role to play in relation to Jesus’s disciples. But the plural “angels” may simply mean that all believers have numerous angels assigned to serve them, not just one.
The promise here is better than the tradition that every saint has one personal guardian angel. What Hebrews 1:14 says is that all the angels — all of them — are specifically sent “for ministry” not minister “to” Christians, but ministry “for the sake of” Christians. This means that everything angels do, everywhere in the world, at all times, is for the good of Christians. An angel who does something by God’s assignment anywhere in the world is fulfilling the promise that God will work all things for the good of all Christians — everywhere. This is a sweeping and stunning promise. All angels serve for the good of all Christians all the time. They are Agents of God. Romans 8:28.
As obscure and strange though this belief in good and evil angels may seem to some, it has a significant role to play in the life of the Christian:
† It is a comfort and an encouragement to us to realize that powerful and numerous unseen agents are available to help us in need.
† The angels’ praise and service of God gives us an example of how we are to conduct ourselves now.
† I think it is sobering to realize that even angels who were close to God succumbed to temptation and fell.
† We receive confidence from the realization that powerful though Satan and his accomplices are, there are definite limits on what they can do.
† We can therefore, by the Grace of God, resist him successfully. And we can know thru God’s Word that his ultimate defeat is certain.
† An angel may bring an important message but it is the Holy Spirit who truly makes the lives of Christians completely different than anyone else.
† Angels are ministering Spirits. They minister to our needs by bringing us messages of Hope and Joy. By writing a letter of Joy or sending a card of Hope to someone, you can be an Angel too . . .
Amen!
BENEDICTION
A Wish, A Hope, A Prayer
I wish that every one of your days will dawn with a sense of hope streaming in with the sunlight, a sense of strength woven into the winds, and as many things to be thankful for as there are stars in the evening sky.
I hope that the distance between where you are and where you want to be grows shorter every day. I will never stop wishing that your journey through this world will be touched by kindness, inspired by wisdom, graced with understanding, and kept safe from all harm.
I hope and pray that you have a charmed existence, and that your heart will always be an open window to a joy so lasting and deep.
And I pray that you will always have an Angel watching over you, there to trace on your wonderful face a smile that you can share and keep.
Amen!
†Douglas Pagels
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The Little Church in the Pines
October 3, 2021
Sermon ~ John the Apostle
And His Gospel
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John, the APOSTLE also called John the Beloved….was the apostle who, well, here is the story found in John 13:23 as Jesus and the disciples shared in the meal known as the Last Supper, leading with this statement he spoke in verse 21, “When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke. 23. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ chest one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. That disciple was John, and this account was written by John himself in his Gospel. He also was the youngest of the disciples.
He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, his brother was James the Greater, another of the twelve, and John whom the Church fathers also identified him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Beloved and John the Elder (though being the youngest) as he lived the longest of the twelve, and the ONLY ONE to die of natural causes, all the others being martyred. Instead of executing John, he was exiled by Emperor Titus Flavius Comitianus in 95 AC on the Island of Patmos, living a large portion of his life in cave, where he wrote the Book of Revelation, from where last week I read about His encounter with the risen Lord, who revealed Himself to John as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord.
Later John was able to leave Patmos, finishing out his life at the age of 93 in Ephesus, where he wrote His Gospel account specifically at that time to the Hellenistic Christian living in Ephesus. Hellenistic being those converts to Christianity who were educated in Greek philosophy, the dominant philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world. Many of these converts being the intellectuals of their day.
I love history….and the amazing thing in regards to our Christian history is, there are a vast number of documents that can be verified and trusted, as to the content of which they tell an accurate history of our faith.
There is a tradition held as regards to John’s parentage, is that his mother Salome was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother, making Salome Jesus’ aunt, and her sons John and James, Jesus’ cousins.
Now if you will remember…John the Baptist’s mother was a cousin of Jesus’ mother Mary…also making John the Baptist, and Jesus second cousins.
Other interesting facts. Peter, James and John were the only three of the disciples to witness the Transfiguration, and these same three were the only ones to witness Jesus’s agony in the garden at Gethsemane.
Jesus referred to John and James as the Sons of Thunder, and the gospel story relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on the inhospitable Samaritan town, that would not offer them hospitality but instead asked them to leave, but Jesus rebuked them, the disciples that is. In this encounter also, Jesus stated that in forbidding a non-disciple from casting out demons in Jesus’ name, He said to them, “he who is not against us in on our side”
The most beautiful of John’s time with his Lord, came when he was the only disciple who remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary, alongside the Myrrhr-bearers, Myrrh, a spice used for perfume, incense and medicine, often in burials. At the cross, John received instruction from Jesus, to take Mary his mother into his home to care for her… which was His very last legacy while alive.
With John’s background somewhat covered, let’s now move into His Gospel this amazing man/disciple/apostle, wrote.
His purpose in writing this Gospel which is made up of letters written to the Hellenistic Church was to correct in love, heresy, that at that time recently manifested itself in the church because of men (so called teachers) who had once been true members of the then body of Christ…but now ere corrupting truths and doctrine established by Paul and others, including himself.
…. John writing this now 50 years later, was still in awe, still reverberating in his spirit, heart and emotions, his own role in all that took place concerning Jesus. His love for His Lord flowed from the core of his being. He knew Jesus intimately, and we, of course are not privy to the one-on- one conversations he must have had with Jesus. In these first five verses of John1, He speaks of the eternal divinity of Jesus and His role in all of Creation.
Listen as I read them……….
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word was God. (The Trinity) And He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through HIM, and without HIM nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
1:1 IN THE BEGINNING…is an allusion to Genesis 1:1 with the intention of linking Jesus the Word with the God of Creation. The event of Jesus’ incarnation, therefore, had cosmic significance. THE WORD is as I stated Jesus Christ, the eternal, ultimate expression of God in the OT. God spoke the world into existence and in this gospel also, God spoke His final word through the living Word, His Son.
The phrase “the Word was God” attributes deity to the Word without defining all of the Godhead as The Word.
Now, you can understand why, including his deeply personal encounter with the transformed Servant King, to the King of Kings, you perhaps, can understand why John cannot tolerate false teachings and error…and, like Jesus often did, John corrects the erring congregation/church, not in anger and condemnation, but in love…the same love he has been given by his Lord and friend. The same love He also experiences every day he is alive. So, as both he and Jesus give us this gift…we too, should give to others.
…In adding to this affirmation of John’s love of Jesus and of TRUTH, Peter’s testimony. 2nd Peter 1. Listen to Peter’s own words as they come along side of John’s beautifully.
His divine power has given to us…. all things that pertain to LIFE…*He is the WORD of life *In Him is life *His life…is the light of men….
This…is who today….in this place….and in our hearts, we celebrate, we worship, we bow down….as he laid down His life…for us. …willingly…. that all men, women and children should acknowledge and follow Him, and His examples as to how to live.
Verse 2…His manifested LIFE, that not only John and Peter have experienced…but you and I also. We ordinary men, women and children…ordinary in the same way as John, Peter, Paul, Mary, Martha, Lazarus…. hundreds, thousand, millions and now billions of earth’s inhabitants do today. He is the Word of Life…who when Phillip asked, show me the Father, Jesus responded back in John 14:9-11, Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me Phillip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father,
(I cherish those words) for they tell me that God and Jesus share exactly the same family attributes or characteristics…those of love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, goodness, faithfulness, patience, kindness and restoration, at any time and place for anyone…because of Jesus.
THAT IS WHY WE CELEBRATE…WHY WHEN WE ARE SET FREE, WE ARE FREE INDEED! Do you get it….do you?
Today…we sang a hymn about the blood of Christ and what in His shedding it…brought us.
BLOOD IS LIFE….
Healthy blood…means a healthy life…. a healthy immune system…. that prevents impurities (sin) from taking over our lives.
…even pagan religions recognized where the source of life was…which is why so many offered blood sacrifices….
…. Our walk in the LIGHT, is a test of fellowship with God, since the life of fellowship is a life that is continually cleansed from sin by His shed blood. It also involves our relationships with one another, which by the health of those relationships indicates also our health as Believers/Disciples.
As John walked in the light and love of His Friend, I came across another testimony of this kind of relationship John had, that this other man also had….and we all can have.
The man you may have heard of…Dwight D. Moody, famous preacher and evangelist, now gone to be with the Lord many years ago. He and his ministry had and still has a very deep impact on both America and the world.
Here are His words…. I have come to Him as the best friend I have ever found, and I can trust Him in our relationship. I have believed He is the Savior; I have believed He is God; I have believed His atonement on the Cross is mine, and I have come to Him and submitted myself on my knees, surrendered everything to Him, and gotten up and stood by His side as my friend, and there isn’t any problem in my life, nor is there isn’t any uncertainty in my work, but I turn and speak to Him as naturally as to someone in the same room, and I have done it these years…because, I trust in Him…completely.
In this Gospel, John’s purpose was to keep these and today we believers from sinning, from believing untruths, staying on the narrow pathway to life.
Realistically…no one can go through life without sinning, even the best of us. We are weak, but He is strong….and we need His ongoing strength, wisdom and faith…that when we do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, His Son.
God is the God of GRACE.
READ ROMANS 3:21-26
PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME
THANK YOU JESUS………………
Listen to these last words…. “To demonstrate, or show us at this present time HIS righteousness, that HE might be just and the JUSTIFIER of the one (that’s us) who has FAITH in Him.” Not works, but faith…Romans 10:17
Faith comes by hearing…and hearing by the Word of God,” which brings about changed hearts and lives.”
Today…before we come to the Table of the Lord….do any of you need an attitude, heart, tongue, mind, life forgiven, restored, changed?
At this time…. take a little time to allow the Spirit, the Revealer and Comforter…. search your mind, and soul, as to wrongs that need both forgiven and set right. It is your duty…………………………….
AMEN
October 3, 2021
Sermon ~ John the Apostle
And His Gospel
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John, the APOSTLE also called John the Beloved….was the apostle who, well, here is the story found in John 13:23 as Jesus and the disciples shared in the meal known as the Last Supper, leading with this statement he spoke in verse 21, “When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke. 23. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ chest one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. That disciple was John, and this account was written by John himself in his Gospel. He also was the youngest of the disciples.
He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, his brother was James the Greater, another of the twelve, and John whom the Church fathers also identified him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Beloved and John the Elder (though being the youngest) as he lived the longest of the twelve, and the ONLY ONE to die of natural causes, all the others being martyred. Instead of executing John, he was exiled by Emperor Titus Flavius Comitianus in 95 AC on the Island of Patmos, living a large portion of his life in cave, where he wrote the Book of Revelation, from where last week I read about His encounter with the risen Lord, who revealed Himself to John as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord.
Later John was able to leave Patmos, finishing out his life at the age of 93 in Ephesus, where he wrote His Gospel account specifically at that time to the Hellenistic Christian living in Ephesus. Hellenistic being those converts to Christianity who were educated in Greek philosophy, the dominant philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world. Many of these converts being the intellectuals of their day.
I love history….and the amazing thing in regards to our Christian history is, there are a vast number of documents that can be verified and trusted, as to the content of which they tell an accurate history of our faith.
There is a tradition held as regards to John’s parentage, is that his mother Salome was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother, making Salome Jesus’ aunt, and her sons John and James, Jesus’ cousins.
Now if you will remember…John the Baptist’s mother was a cousin of Jesus’ mother Mary…also making John the Baptist, and Jesus second cousins.
Other interesting facts. Peter, James and John were the only three of the disciples to witness the Transfiguration, and these same three were the only ones to witness Jesus’s agony in the garden at Gethsemane.
Jesus referred to John and James as the Sons of Thunder, and the gospel story relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on the inhospitable Samaritan town, that would not offer them hospitality but instead asked them to leave, but Jesus rebuked them, the disciples that is. In this encounter also, Jesus stated that in forbidding a non-disciple from casting out demons in Jesus’ name, He said to them, “he who is not against us in on our side”
The most beautiful of John’s time with his Lord, came when he was the only disciple who remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary, alongside the Myrrhr-bearers, Myrrh, a spice used for perfume, incense and medicine, often in burials. At the cross, John received instruction from Jesus, to take Mary his mother into his home to care for her… which was His very last legacy while alive.
With John’s background somewhat covered, let’s now move into His Gospel this amazing man/disciple/apostle, wrote.
His purpose in writing this Gospel which is made up of letters written to the Hellenistic Church was to correct in love, heresy, that at that time recently manifested itself in the church because of men (so called teachers) who had once been true members of the then body of Christ…but now ere corrupting truths and doctrine established by Paul and others, including himself.
…. John writing this now 50 years later, was still in awe, still reverberating in his spirit, heart and emotions, his own role in all that took place concerning Jesus. His love for His Lord flowed from the core of his being. He knew Jesus intimately, and we, of course are not privy to the one-on- one conversations he must have had with Jesus. In these first five verses of John1, He speaks of the eternal divinity of Jesus and His role in all of Creation.
Listen as I read them……….
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word was God. (The Trinity) And He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through HIM, and without HIM nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
1:1 IN THE BEGINNING…is an allusion to Genesis 1:1 with the intention of linking Jesus the Word with the God of Creation. The event of Jesus’ incarnation, therefore, had cosmic significance. THE WORD is as I stated Jesus Christ, the eternal, ultimate expression of God in the OT. God spoke the world into existence and in this gospel also, God spoke His final word through the living Word, His Son.
The phrase “the Word was God” attributes deity to the Word without defining all of the Godhead as The Word.
Now, you can understand why, including his deeply personal encounter with the transformed Servant King, to the King of Kings, you perhaps, can understand why John cannot tolerate false teachings and error…and, like Jesus often did, John corrects the erring congregation/church, not in anger and condemnation, but in love…the same love he has been given by his Lord and friend. The same love He also experiences every day he is alive. So, as both he and Jesus give us this gift…we too, should give to others.
…In adding to this affirmation of John’s love of Jesus and of TRUTH, Peter’s testimony. 2nd Peter 1. Listen to Peter’s own words as they come along side of John’s beautifully.
His divine power has given to us…. all things that pertain to LIFE…*He is the WORD of life *In Him is life *His life…is the light of men….
This…is who today….in this place….and in our hearts, we celebrate, we worship, we bow down….as he laid down His life…for us. …willingly…. that all men, women and children should acknowledge and follow Him, and His examples as to how to live.
Verse 2…His manifested LIFE, that not only John and Peter have experienced…but you and I also. We ordinary men, women and children…ordinary in the same way as John, Peter, Paul, Mary, Martha, Lazarus…. hundreds, thousand, millions and now billions of earth’s inhabitants do today. He is the Word of Life…who when Phillip asked, show me the Father, Jesus responded back in John 14:9-11, Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me Phillip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father,
(I cherish those words) for they tell me that God and Jesus share exactly the same family attributes or characteristics…those of love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, goodness, faithfulness, patience, kindness and restoration, at any time and place for anyone…because of Jesus.
THAT IS WHY WE CELEBRATE…WHY WHEN WE ARE SET FREE, WE ARE FREE INDEED! Do you get it….do you?
Today…we sang a hymn about the blood of Christ and what in His shedding it…brought us.
BLOOD IS LIFE….
Healthy blood…means a healthy life…. a healthy immune system…. that prevents impurities (sin) from taking over our lives.
…even pagan religions recognized where the source of life was…which is why so many offered blood sacrifices….
…. Our walk in the LIGHT, is a test of fellowship with God, since the life of fellowship is a life that is continually cleansed from sin by His shed blood. It also involves our relationships with one another, which by the health of those relationships indicates also our health as Believers/Disciples.
As John walked in the light and love of His Friend, I came across another testimony of this kind of relationship John had, that this other man also had….and we all can have.
The man you may have heard of…Dwight D. Moody, famous preacher and evangelist, now gone to be with the Lord many years ago. He and his ministry had and still has a very deep impact on both America and the world.
Here are His words…. I have come to Him as the best friend I have ever found, and I can trust Him in our relationship. I have believed He is the Savior; I have believed He is God; I have believed His atonement on the Cross is mine, and I have come to Him and submitted myself on my knees, surrendered everything to Him, and gotten up and stood by His side as my friend, and there isn’t any problem in my life, nor is there isn’t any uncertainty in my work, but I turn and speak to Him as naturally as to someone in the same room, and I have done it these years…because, I trust in Him…completely.
In this Gospel, John’s purpose was to keep these and today we believers from sinning, from believing untruths, staying on the narrow pathway to life.
Realistically…no one can go through life without sinning, even the best of us. We are weak, but He is strong….and we need His ongoing strength, wisdom and faith…that when we do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, His Son.
God is the God of GRACE.
READ ROMANS 3:21-26
PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME
THANK YOU JESUS………………
Listen to these last words…. “To demonstrate, or show us at this present time HIS righteousness, that HE might be just and the JUSTIFIER of the one (that’s us) who has FAITH in Him.” Not works, but faith…Romans 10:17
Faith comes by hearing…and hearing by the Word of God,” which brings about changed hearts and lives.”
Today…before we come to the Table of the Lord….do any of you need an attitude, heart, tongue, mind, life forgiven, restored, changed?
At this time…. take a little time to allow the Spirit, the Revealer and Comforter…. search your mind, and soul, as to wrongs that need both forgiven and set right. It is your duty…………………………….
AMEN
The Holiness of God
Why it matters to him and should to us
September 26, 2021
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
KNOWING Christ in God….as much as we can, as told to us in the Bible is critical to our well-being as Christians in our daily life, and of course in our life to come.
GOD the Father, Jesus His Son and God the Holy Spirit are the core center of all life, of all matter, of all that we see, hear, feel and sense.
GOD IS LIFE AND IS FOUNDATIONAL FOR LIVING THE LIFE HE HAS GIVEN TO EACH AND ALL OF US again, though His only Begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, the Savior.
In Him is life, In Him is life
And His life is the light of men
He came unto His own
And His own received Him not
And His life is the light of men
Knowing God is foundational for living a godly and righteous life. If we have not developed a sense of the primacy of God, we will not get out of life…all that He desires and made available to us, living only partial lives. God in Christ is to be the literal CENTER of who we are. Not God in the margins; not God as an option, not God on the weekends, but Bod at the center and circumference; God fir and God last; the Alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
Think about it…. creation, how God created us with the ability to also create…. but using only as our building mediums that which He had already created.
I recall a humorous story where scientists have out of soil created life….in their excitement they publish papers, claiming that the secret to creating life has been discovered, and set about to show the world via satellite their discovery. All poised and television cameras are ready to broadcast this miraculous event to the world, they with an instrument, start picking up the soil. When suddenly a voice from out of nowhere it seems, deep and resonant says, wait a minute boy…get your own dirt, you cannot use mine.
The central scientific quest has from the beginning been to discover scientifically, rationally, with telescopes, trips to the moon, drilling to the core of the earth…. analyzing water, particles from space, etc., the source and beginning of not only the world but the universe.
They (for the most part) cannot believe that God is behind and the source of it all…. although, Albert Einstein (not believing in a personal God) believed in intelligent design. Not only Einstein, but Freud and even Charles Darwin
God to them, an intelligent force, who created the world and universe, but then removed (it or himself) from it all, allowing it all the freedom, including mankind to evolve.
We, who believe in a personal God, a caring and loving God, creating in His own way, and time, including time itself, is with us and has a plan…from the beginning to the end…. which is the second beginning, at the return of Christ.
Since He is the Creator….and we the created….how can we the created, do anything other than revere…give honor to…worship….worship is one of several avenues provided to enter into the PRESENCE of this sometime mysterious God (in a deep and abiding sense) who is HOLY, who is SPIRIT and who is TRUTH….for if we understood and knew all there was to know about Him….(which is impossible anyway) He would cease to be God...for the finite (us) cannot fully grasp the (INFINITE) Him.
As some religions believe, in following the rules and precepts of their religion…they in time can become gods. The arrogance and ego of mankind can be enormous…. FUTILE, STUPID…regardless of intelligence.
Man…and on occasion (Elizabeth Clair Prophet as an example) has been attempting to become gods for a very long time. and in a great variety of ways by creating their own religion, with themselves as the center focus to be worshiped.
In the Bible there is the account of a King…at first a good king who caught up in himself….and his high opinion of who he was. He began his reign in Godliness, doing “what was right in the sight of the Lord.” He sought after God and God blessed him. He was victorious in battle, strengthening Jerusalem’ s walls of defense. Dug massive cistern in the desert both for defense and daily use, stimulated great expansion n the nations agriculture. For the most part of his reign. he was known as a great and beloved king.
BUT…his story ends on a sad, tragic note. The last years of his life were like those of a Shakespearian tragic hero. His life became marred by the sin of pride (reminds me of some of our own Christian Evangelists and Leaders) Anyway…. after acquiring great wealth and power…simply said, it all went to his head.
He began to take away from the glory of God (now this reminds me as I shared a couple of weeks ago, the fall of the Morning Star, who became Satan) and as we found out in that allegory, that God doesn’t like that very much, after all Uzziah received all, he had acquired, from the blessings of God in wisdom and in wealth and power as a result of Uzziah’s original intent and attitude.
He even tried to take the place of God as he boldly entered the Temple, arrogantly claiming for himself the rights that God had given ONLY to the priests. When the priests of the Temple tried to stop his act of sacrilege, he became enraged…and while he was screaming at them in fury, leprosy broke out on his forehead. The Bible says of him.
“He lived in a separate house…being a leper…cut off from the house of the Lord. Chronicles 26:21
When the king finally died…Isaiah went to the Temple, presumably look for consolation in a time of national mourning, for the people had not stopped loving him…and what Isaiah saw was not what he had anticipated. “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated upon the throne...high and lifted up, and His robe filled the Temple. Isaiah 6:1
The earthly king was dead, but Isaiah was given the gift of seeing the real King…the King of Glory, of heaven and earth, the One who sits on the throne of heaven for ever and ever. Amen
There is a song that goes this way…. about our call to holiness, by living a holy life, and God’s holiness.
Holiness, holiness is what I long for,
Holiness is what I need,
Holiness, holiness is what He wants… from me
Take my heart and mold it,
Take my will, transform it,
To Yours, to Yours oh Lord.
Our wills…must be stripped and transformed into His will, by knowing Him intimately…we will.
Worship…as I said earlier…is one of the several avenues we can, by choice take…in understanding holiness…worship via song, prayer, obedience, doing good, speaking life, living rightly…will bring us into the presence of God Himself.
In worship we can touch the eternal…as we being to see beyond ourselves and our standard senses…and in doing so, we find REVERENCE captivating us…. touching a sense of awe...when we find we are entering into His Presence.
What also happens is we find HOPE rising within us…hope realized that there is life after death….and there is One who absolutely loves us…and this love…it is Holy…beginning to understand why Holiness means so much to Him…for it is a UNION THAT God has created us for…a love union between the Creator and His created, as illustrated in the allegory of Adam and Eve and God…where in paradise, they all walked together in Harmony and Unity…. before the fall.
Psalm 95, verses 6 & 7 contain a song….
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord, our God our Maker,
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His Pasture
And the sheep of His hand.
And the sheep of His hand.
Another king…who grievously sinned before God…knowing and loving God….and through his sin separated from God…through repentance and forgiveness restored…wrote and sang this song.
Create in me a clean heart O God
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
Restore unto me, the joy of thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.
You see…listen now…. God is in the business of both restoration and renewal…. through the sacrificial gift of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ…. that’s what it’s all about folks…all about!
And when God does forgive…it is without hesitation… not so much from our plea…. but the plea of His son through the power of the Cross…
We can approach God…. because Jesus stands between us as out intermediary…on our behalf.
And through the renewed right spirit within us…we kneel before the Lord our God our Maker….and worship Him…. because we want to, not because it is required of us…and because we were made to.
I am going to finish with this…. a meeting the Apostle John had with Jesus as he, John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, because of His testimony of faith in the Son of God.
Revelation 1:9-18 (read)
This….is our Lord revealing His holiness in appearance…the very same rejected, bloody and tortured Jesus…the very same one who said…from that instrument of death, the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” He who lovingly and full of meaning…. calls us His friends…………………………….
John 15:13… “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His for His friends.”
Today…is the day of our Salvation…today…is a new day in understanding a little more…. of the Holiness of Our God and Savior, so let’s not forget…as we live out our ordinary, everyday lives…remembering and honoring the One who created us…and breathed into us the breath of life…
As we come to the celebration of His life, death and resurrection, and coming King…. we are to surrender to Him completely, asking for the forgiveness of our sins and the thankfulness for our restoration and renewal.
Why it matters to him and should to us
September 26, 2021
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
KNOWING Christ in God….as much as we can, as told to us in the Bible is critical to our well-being as Christians in our daily life, and of course in our life to come.
GOD the Father, Jesus His Son and God the Holy Spirit are the core center of all life, of all matter, of all that we see, hear, feel and sense.
GOD IS LIFE AND IS FOUNDATIONAL FOR LIVING THE LIFE HE HAS GIVEN TO EACH AND ALL OF US again, though His only Begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, the Savior.
In Him is life, In Him is life
And His life is the light of men
He came unto His own
And His own received Him not
And His life is the light of men
Knowing God is foundational for living a godly and righteous life. If we have not developed a sense of the primacy of God, we will not get out of life…all that He desires and made available to us, living only partial lives. God in Christ is to be the literal CENTER of who we are. Not God in the margins; not God as an option, not God on the weekends, but Bod at the center and circumference; God fir and God last; the Alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
Think about it…. creation, how God created us with the ability to also create…. but using only as our building mediums that which He had already created.
I recall a humorous story where scientists have out of soil created life….in their excitement they publish papers, claiming that the secret to creating life has been discovered, and set about to show the world via satellite their discovery. All poised and television cameras are ready to broadcast this miraculous event to the world, they with an instrument, start picking up the soil. When suddenly a voice from out of nowhere it seems, deep and resonant says, wait a minute boy…get your own dirt, you cannot use mine.
The central scientific quest has from the beginning been to discover scientifically, rationally, with telescopes, trips to the moon, drilling to the core of the earth…. analyzing water, particles from space, etc., the source and beginning of not only the world but the universe.
They (for the most part) cannot believe that God is behind and the source of it all…. although, Albert Einstein (not believing in a personal God) believed in intelligent design. Not only Einstein, but Freud and even Charles Darwin
God to them, an intelligent force, who created the world and universe, but then removed (it or himself) from it all, allowing it all the freedom, including mankind to evolve.
We, who believe in a personal God, a caring and loving God, creating in His own way, and time, including time itself, is with us and has a plan…from the beginning to the end…. which is the second beginning, at the return of Christ.
Since He is the Creator….and we the created….how can we the created, do anything other than revere…give honor to…worship….worship is one of several avenues provided to enter into the PRESENCE of this sometime mysterious God (in a deep and abiding sense) who is HOLY, who is SPIRIT and who is TRUTH….for if we understood and knew all there was to know about Him….(which is impossible anyway) He would cease to be God...for the finite (us) cannot fully grasp the (INFINITE) Him.
As some religions believe, in following the rules and precepts of their religion…they in time can become gods. The arrogance and ego of mankind can be enormous…. FUTILE, STUPID…regardless of intelligence.
Man…and on occasion (Elizabeth Clair Prophet as an example) has been attempting to become gods for a very long time. and in a great variety of ways by creating their own religion, with themselves as the center focus to be worshiped.
In the Bible there is the account of a King…at first a good king who caught up in himself….and his high opinion of who he was. He began his reign in Godliness, doing “what was right in the sight of the Lord.” He sought after God and God blessed him. He was victorious in battle, strengthening Jerusalem’ s walls of defense. Dug massive cistern in the desert both for defense and daily use, stimulated great expansion n the nations agriculture. For the most part of his reign. he was known as a great and beloved king.
BUT…his story ends on a sad, tragic note. The last years of his life were like those of a Shakespearian tragic hero. His life became marred by the sin of pride (reminds me of some of our own Christian Evangelists and Leaders) Anyway…. after acquiring great wealth and power…simply said, it all went to his head.
He began to take away from the glory of God (now this reminds me as I shared a couple of weeks ago, the fall of the Morning Star, who became Satan) and as we found out in that allegory, that God doesn’t like that very much, after all Uzziah received all, he had acquired, from the blessings of God in wisdom and in wealth and power as a result of Uzziah’s original intent and attitude.
He even tried to take the place of God as he boldly entered the Temple, arrogantly claiming for himself the rights that God had given ONLY to the priests. When the priests of the Temple tried to stop his act of sacrilege, he became enraged…and while he was screaming at them in fury, leprosy broke out on his forehead. The Bible says of him.
“He lived in a separate house…being a leper…cut off from the house of the Lord. Chronicles 26:21
When the king finally died…Isaiah went to the Temple, presumably look for consolation in a time of national mourning, for the people had not stopped loving him…and what Isaiah saw was not what he had anticipated. “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated upon the throne...high and lifted up, and His robe filled the Temple. Isaiah 6:1
The earthly king was dead, but Isaiah was given the gift of seeing the real King…the King of Glory, of heaven and earth, the One who sits on the throne of heaven for ever and ever. Amen
There is a song that goes this way…. about our call to holiness, by living a holy life, and God’s holiness.
Holiness, holiness is what I long for,
Holiness is what I need,
Holiness, holiness is what He wants… from me
Take my heart and mold it,
Take my will, transform it,
To Yours, to Yours oh Lord.
Our wills…must be stripped and transformed into His will, by knowing Him intimately…we will.
Worship…as I said earlier…is one of the several avenues we can, by choice take…in understanding holiness…worship via song, prayer, obedience, doing good, speaking life, living rightly…will bring us into the presence of God Himself.
In worship we can touch the eternal…as we being to see beyond ourselves and our standard senses…and in doing so, we find REVERENCE captivating us…. touching a sense of awe...when we find we are entering into His Presence.
What also happens is we find HOPE rising within us…hope realized that there is life after death….and there is One who absolutely loves us…and this love…it is Holy…beginning to understand why Holiness means so much to Him…for it is a UNION THAT God has created us for…a love union between the Creator and His created, as illustrated in the allegory of Adam and Eve and God…where in paradise, they all walked together in Harmony and Unity…. before the fall.
Psalm 95, verses 6 & 7 contain a song….
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord, our God our Maker,
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His Pasture
And the sheep of His hand.
And the sheep of His hand.
Another king…who grievously sinned before God…knowing and loving God….and through his sin separated from God…through repentance and forgiveness restored…wrote and sang this song.
Create in me a clean heart O God
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
Restore unto me, the joy of thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.
You see…listen now…. God is in the business of both restoration and renewal…. through the sacrificial gift of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ…. that’s what it’s all about folks…all about!
And when God does forgive…it is without hesitation… not so much from our plea…. but the plea of His son through the power of the Cross…
We can approach God…. because Jesus stands between us as out intermediary…on our behalf.
And through the renewed right spirit within us…we kneel before the Lord our God our Maker….and worship Him…. because we want to, not because it is required of us…and because we were made to.
I am going to finish with this…. a meeting the Apostle John had with Jesus as he, John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, because of His testimony of faith in the Son of God.
Revelation 1:9-18 (read)
This….is our Lord revealing His holiness in appearance…the very same rejected, bloody and tortured Jesus…the very same one who said…from that instrument of death, the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” He who lovingly and full of meaning…. calls us His friends…………………………….
John 15:13… “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His for His friends.”
Today…is the day of our Salvation…today…is a new day in understanding a little more…. of the Holiness of Our God and Savior, so let’s not forget…as we live out our ordinary, everyday lives…remembering and honoring the One who created us…and breathed into us the breath of life…
As we come to the celebration of His life, death and resurrection, and coming King…. we are to surrender to Him completely, asking for the forgiveness of our sins and the thankfulness for our restoration and renewal.
Little Church in the Pines
September 19, 2021
Vision of Mission Statements
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Last week I spoke regarding the church, our church, and every church in its need, to be a healthy and full functioning church, that the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ came to establish on earth….and the need for unity among believers…to function in harmony. Harmony means being in unison, or of one heart and mind.
The things I am going to talk about today are meant not for just this, but for all churches.
I spent a lot of time in workshops with those who were, like myself, early on in my ministry…learning how to start up a new church. There are two aspects that are to guide a church through its inception, and throughout its history. These characteristics are both guides and core values, that keep the church on the correct pathway, in fulfilling its destiny for and in the Kingdom of God.
They are called the Vison and Mission Statements….and are to be referred to throughout the life of the church.
They are, in this order…
#1. THE LOVE…of Jesus expressed through us, you and I and to all who enter these doors. All!
#2. TRUTH…from God’s Word…in action, at home, church, work and play.
#3. UNITY, again as I spoke of last week, in the Spirit, in the bond of peace.
#4. GENUINE FELLOWSHIP, always, reflected in Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Mercy and Goodness.
#5. WORSHIP…expressed to God from our hearts and everyday lives.
#6. SERVING is the last, but vitally important….one another and our neighbors…in love.
OUR PURPOSE…Luke 4:18-19
Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to PREACH THE GOSPEL to the poor. He has sent Me to HEAL the brokenhearted, to preach DELIVERANCE to those in captivity and RECOVERY of sight to the blind, to set at LIBERTY those who are oppressed, to PREACH the acceptable year of the Lord.
This last means a space of time that is characterized by
God’s GRACE, REDEMPTION, AND DELIVERANCE. In Isaiah, the Acceptable Year of the Lord referees to God’s restoration of His people from Babylonian captivity…for us it means releasing us from the captivity of sin….and into the freedom, and peace and joy that He desires for all His children.
The same things He did, He said we also could do….and more, using as our guide Love, Truth, Unity, Genuine Fellowship, Worship, Serving…. all with His purpose of presenting His Gospel of love, forgiveness, and restoration.
OUR CALL is to flow in the River of His Life…as His, and each other’s servants….
OUR MISSION is also to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the spiritually and physically impaired, the oppressed and to All who are in need and to ALL WHO ASK, IN ALL Ways.
OUR REQUEST…is, that God through His Son, and by His Spirit, will fill us and enable us to accomplish His will individually and together.
Self-interest is one of our great obstacles to living out these core values. Self-interest alone can kill the spirit of unity and harmony quicker than almost any other obstacle.
Revelation 1:5&6 reads, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blook…and HAS MADE US (you and I) priests and kings to His God and Father. So, how can a servant be both a servant and a king. I have the answer to that.
He, the Christ is the example…think of how He served. By healing, by feeding, by laying down His life for the average person and woman not only of His day, but ours.
He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords…but His servant leadership proves to us both His heart and God’s…and is to be our example.
A priest is a person, man, or woman…who represents God…in all HIS authority, as the King side tells us…and to minister…mean ministering…. always and in all situations and places we find ourselves. Ministering means nurturing…taking care of, giving direction, covering, and protecting…and much more. As was said in the verse I read first this morning…. we are called, all of us to the MINISTRY OF RECONCILATION.
Jesus is the ultimate leader in that He is God come in the flesh. Therefore, we can and must learn from Him, and though He is omniscient, he has chosen to teach and models to us certain ways of living. In Jesus if found the examples of a servant leader.
Think about this…. regard the moon. The moon exhibits no light from within, but outwardly only. It only reflects the light of the sun, as we also are to reflect the light of the Son of God to the world.
You and I are called to what I call “a More Excellent Ministry,” found in 1 Corinthians 12:31. “And now abide FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE…these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.
And in this “More Excellent Ministry…ALL His promises for us were fulfilled in the cross…the ultimate ministry of LOVE…HIS LOVE, because through our RECONCILATION TO HIM...we are to minister to others as He does to us….
This most excellent Ministry…operates in us according to the power of the creative, spoken Word, and it flows to and from us in two primary directions through
1. Forgiveness
2. Blessing others.
Scripture also says…those who follow Him…all the way, said to those who overcome…He will grant mercy….
Because of His sacrifice…. God sees not our sins when He looks at us, for He sees us through our acceptance and belief in His Son…
“for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1, and if we are without condemnation….it is to others as servant-priests we bring to them the same gifts of freedom that we have been given. Do you understand this so far?
Here is an example of what I am speaking about, which I found in an old Daily Bread…called LEVEL GROUND
Galatians 3:26-29
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
James 3:17 “The wisdom (a recurring theme of mine) that is from above is…full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Civil war General Robert E. Lee, a devout Christian, visited a church in Washington D. C. During the Communion service, General Lee, a deep southerner who of course lost the war and fought over the right to own slaves…. was seen kneeling beside a black man. Later, when someone asked how he could do that, Lee replied. “My friend, all ground is level at the foot of the Cross.”
“What makes that ground so level? The awfulness of our sins, the terrible price Jesus paid to forgive them, and the love He has for ALL people. Prejudice cannot survive in soil from the ground beneath the Cros, for prejudice is evil”
YOUR MINISTRY (we are all as Believers called into ministry…and that is how we live our everyday lives, WITHOUT PREJUDIGE…not only racial, but all prejudice.
Your MINSITRY WITHOUT WALLS works two ways…to keep out or keep in…that depends on the openness of our lives. Some people have been so abused and used that wall s are built to protect them…but in the mind of Christ, which was the mind of the Father…there are and were not walls. Jesus Christ destroyed them even though we often re-erect them based on our prejudices. But, through the Cross He will (if they come to Him) bring PEACE to those whom the enemy has tried to destroy through abuse.
God is our defender and our reconciler…. Rom.6:20 “The God of peace will crush Satan under our feet.” Retaliation is not ours…Deut. 32:35.” To God belongs vengeance, and recompense; for their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of calamity will soon be at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.”
Remember this, so please listen…Genesis 50:20. “But as for you, your thought evil against me; but God meant it for good, to being to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive”
All that is good flows to us from the Ascended Christ. It flows to ALL His children without condemnation, with prejudice, without walls and without retaliation. Understand?
The key or catalyst which works all these principles in the mind that controls or does not control the tongue. In the positive the Tongue repeating the Spoken Word operates the mercy of God into my and your ministry. The SECRET to LIFE and HEALTH is a tongue that can be controlled and instead of judgement and negative words…should come instead a mouth filled with the WORDS OF LIFE…not death. Our lips and our speech must agree in all areas of our lives, with His Word and His Spirit,
Prov. 15:4
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness is a breach in the spirit.
Psalm 50:23 Who ever offers praise glorifies Me: and to they that keep their conversation right will I show the salvation of God.
And lastly: “What, the, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us…who can be against us.” X2
Hold up your hand, right or left and look at it for a moment. Ok, put it down. What you are seeing is what I am calling a TONGUE SMACKER.
When recognition comes as to the words you have just chosen to speak…that brought any one of those things I spoke of. Prejudice, Untruth, Unkindness, Gossip, oh, I did not speak of that one, but still a good point, Judgement, Retaliation, etc. just take your hand and SMACK YOUR TONGUE. YES. SMACK YOUR TONGUE.
We should have a group practice session! What do you think?
Here in what has become a swear expletive…I wish I could smack a few tongues over…. when the name of God or that of Jesus Christ is used in an unworthy manner. Such a beautiful names used to voice anger, retaliation, judgment, etc., but I cannot for that too would be contrary to what I should instead say, which is so simple. “I would appreciate it if you would not use my Lord’s name in vain when around me. Thank you….
The last today in our individual and collective ministry of reconciliation is a ministry without idolatry. An idol can be anything or any person we allow to come between Jesus Christ and us. ANYTHING….be it made of mortar, stone, wood, metal, emotion, prejudice, walls, habits…flesh and blood! Anything we sacrifice to and sacrifice and mean sacrifices of money that could go to the poor, ministries. You can figure it out…. if you let the Word and the still small voice of our conscience spoke by the Holy Spirit to us.
Who we are…the truth of who we are will be recognized in the fruit we produce. Excellent work, good words, good habits, generosity, kindness, goodness, mercy, grace, patience, etc., etc. etc.
Use your own measuring rod…. our conscious…. given only to we humans…undergirded by His written Word….be honest, and be forthright with yourself in your measuring yourself.
Closing with this from 2nd Corinthians 4:1-4, God’s written word.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s Word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, that would be the god of this world (with all it is self-seeking selfishness) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ…. who is the image of God.
A lot to think about here…. remember if you want to go over this to use as a help in your own assessment of where you are in your lifestyle ministry of your everyday life, you can find it posted on our website and on Facebook.
To God be the Glory…. Amen
NEXT WEEK…GOD’S GENEROUS HEART…………………………….
September 19, 2021
Vision of Mission Statements
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Last week I spoke regarding the church, our church, and every church in its need, to be a healthy and full functioning church, that the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ came to establish on earth….and the need for unity among believers…to function in harmony. Harmony means being in unison, or of one heart and mind.
The things I am going to talk about today are meant not for just this, but for all churches.
I spent a lot of time in workshops with those who were, like myself, early on in my ministry…learning how to start up a new church. There are two aspects that are to guide a church through its inception, and throughout its history. These characteristics are both guides and core values, that keep the church on the correct pathway, in fulfilling its destiny for and in the Kingdom of God.
They are called the Vison and Mission Statements….and are to be referred to throughout the life of the church.
They are, in this order…
#1. THE LOVE…of Jesus expressed through us, you and I and to all who enter these doors. All!
#2. TRUTH…from God’s Word…in action, at home, church, work and play.
#3. UNITY, again as I spoke of last week, in the Spirit, in the bond of peace.
#4. GENUINE FELLOWSHIP, always, reflected in Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Mercy and Goodness.
#5. WORSHIP…expressed to God from our hearts and everyday lives.
#6. SERVING is the last, but vitally important….one another and our neighbors…in love.
OUR PURPOSE…Luke 4:18-19
Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to PREACH THE GOSPEL to the poor. He has sent Me to HEAL the brokenhearted, to preach DELIVERANCE to those in captivity and RECOVERY of sight to the blind, to set at LIBERTY those who are oppressed, to PREACH the acceptable year of the Lord.
This last means a space of time that is characterized by
God’s GRACE, REDEMPTION, AND DELIVERANCE. In Isaiah, the Acceptable Year of the Lord referees to God’s restoration of His people from Babylonian captivity…for us it means releasing us from the captivity of sin….and into the freedom, and peace and joy that He desires for all His children.
The same things He did, He said we also could do….and more, using as our guide Love, Truth, Unity, Genuine Fellowship, Worship, Serving…. all with His purpose of presenting His Gospel of love, forgiveness, and restoration.
OUR CALL is to flow in the River of His Life…as His, and each other’s servants….
OUR MISSION is also to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the spiritually and physically impaired, the oppressed and to All who are in need and to ALL WHO ASK, IN ALL Ways.
OUR REQUEST…is, that God through His Son, and by His Spirit, will fill us and enable us to accomplish His will individually and together.
Self-interest is one of our great obstacles to living out these core values. Self-interest alone can kill the spirit of unity and harmony quicker than almost any other obstacle.
Revelation 1:5&6 reads, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blook…and HAS MADE US (you and I) priests and kings to His God and Father. So, how can a servant be both a servant and a king. I have the answer to that.
He, the Christ is the example…think of how He served. By healing, by feeding, by laying down His life for the average person and woman not only of His day, but ours.
He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords…but His servant leadership proves to us both His heart and God’s…and is to be our example.
A priest is a person, man, or woman…who represents God…in all HIS authority, as the King side tells us…and to minister…mean ministering…. always and in all situations and places we find ourselves. Ministering means nurturing…taking care of, giving direction, covering, and protecting…and much more. As was said in the verse I read first this morning…. we are called, all of us to the MINISTRY OF RECONCILATION.
Jesus is the ultimate leader in that He is God come in the flesh. Therefore, we can and must learn from Him, and though He is omniscient, he has chosen to teach and models to us certain ways of living. In Jesus if found the examples of a servant leader.
Think about this…. regard the moon. The moon exhibits no light from within, but outwardly only. It only reflects the light of the sun, as we also are to reflect the light of the Son of God to the world.
You and I are called to what I call “a More Excellent Ministry,” found in 1 Corinthians 12:31. “And now abide FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE…these three, but the greatest of these is LOVE.
And in this “More Excellent Ministry…ALL His promises for us were fulfilled in the cross…the ultimate ministry of LOVE…HIS LOVE, because through our RECONCILATION TO HIM...we are to minister to others as He does to us….
- WITHOUT CONDEMNATION
- WITHOUT PREJUDICE
- WITHOUT WALLS
- WITHOUT RETALIATION
- WITHOUT PROFANITY
- WITHOUT IDOLATRY
This most excellent Ministry…operates in us according to the power of the creative, spoken Word, and it flows to and from us in two primary directions through
1. Forgiveness
2. Blessing others.
Scripture also says…those who follow Him…all the way, said to those who overcome…He will grant mercy….
Because of His sacrifice…. God sees not our sins when He looks at us, for He sees us through our acceptance and belief in His Son…
“for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1, and if we are without condemnation….it is to others as servant-priests we bring to them the same gifts of freedom that we have been given. Do you understand this so far?
Here is an example of what I am speaking about, which I found in an old Daily Bread…called LEVEL GROUND
Galatians 3:26-29
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
James 3:17 “The wisdom (a recurring theme of mine) that is from above is…full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Civil war General Robert E. Lee, a devout Christian, visited a church in Washington D. C. During the Communion service, General Lee, a deep southerner who of course lost the war and fought over the right to own slaves…. was seen kneeling beside a black man. Later, when someone asked how he could do that, Lee replied. “My friend, all ground is level at the foot of the Cross.”
“What makes that ground so level? The awfulness of our sins, the terrible price Jesus paid to forgive them, and the love He has for ALL people. Prejudice cannot survive in soil from the ground beneath the Cros, for prejudice is evil”
YOUR MINISTRY (we are all as Believers called into ministry…and that is how we live our everyday lives, WITHOUT PREJUDIGE…not only racial, but all prejudice.
Your MINSITRY WITHOUT WALLS works two ways…to keep out or keep in…that depends on the openness of our lives. Some people have been so abused and used that wall s are built to protect them…but in the mind of Christ, which was the mind of the Father…there are and were not walls. Jesus Christ destroyed them even though we often re-erect them based on our prejudices. But, through the Cross He will (if they come to Him) bring PEACE to those whom the enemy has tried to destroy through abuse.
God is our defender and our reconciler…. Rom.6:20 “The God of peace will crush Satan under our feet.” Retaliation is not ours…Deut. 32:35.” To God belongs vengeance, and recompense; for their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of calamity will soon be at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.”
Remember this, so please listen…Genesis 50:20. “But as for you, your thought evil against me; but God meant it for good, to being to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive”
All that is good flows to us from the Ascended Christ. It flows to ALL His children without condemnation, with prejudice, without walls and without retaliation. Understand?
The key or catalyst which works all these principles in the mind that controls or does not control the tongue. In the positive the Tongue repeating the Spoken Word operates the mercy of God into my and your ministry. The SECRET to LIFE and HEALTH is a tongue that can be controlled and instead of judgement and negative words…should come instead a mouth filled with the WORDS OF LIFE…not death. Our lips and our speech must agree in all areas of our lives, with His Word and His Spirit,
Prov. 15:4
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness is a breach in the spirit.
Psalm 50:23 Who ever offers praise glorifies Me: and to they that keep their conversation right will I show the salvation of God.
And lastly: “What, the, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us…who can be against us.” X2
Hold up your hand, right or left and look at it for a moment. Ok, put it down. What you are seeing is what I am calling a TONGUE SMACKER.
When recognition comes as to the words you have just chosen to speak…that brought any one of those things I spoke of. Prejudice, Untruth, Unkindness, Gossip, oh, I did not speak of that one, but still a good point, Judgement, Retaliation, etc. just take your hand and SMACK YOUR TONGUE. YES. SMACK YOUR TONGUE.
We should have a group practice session! What do you think?
Here in what has become a swear expletive…I wish I could smack a few tongues over…. when the name of God or that of Jesus Christ is used in an unworthy manner. Such a beautiful names used to voice anger, retaliation, judgment, etc., but I cannot for that too would be contrary to what I should instead say, which is so simple. “I would appreciate it if you would not use my Lord’s name in vain when around me. Thank you….
The last today in our individual and collective ministry of reconciliation is a ministry without idolatry. An idol can be anything or any person we allow to come between Jesus Christ and us. ANYTHING….be it made of mortar, stone, wood, metal, emotion, prejudice, walls, habits…flesh and blood! Anything we sacrifice to and sacrifice and mean sacrifices of money that could go to the poor, ministries. You can figure it out…. if you let the Word and the still small voice of our conscience spoke by the Holy Spirit to us.
Who we are…the truth of who we are will be recognized in the fruit we produce. Excellent work, good words, good habits, generosity, kindness, goodness, mercy, grace, patience, etc., etc. etc.
Use your own measuring rod…. our conscious…. given only to we humans…undergirded by His written Word….be honest, and be forthright with yourself in your measuring yourself.
Closing with this from 2nd Corinthians 4:1-4, God’s written word.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s Word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, that would be the god of this world (with all it is self-seeking selfishness) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ…. who is the image of God.
A lot to think about here…. remember if you want to go over this to use as a help in your own assessment of where you are in your lifestyle ministry of your everyday life, you can find it posted on our website and on Facebook.
To God be the Glory…. Amen
NEXT WEEK…GOD’S GENEROUS HEART…………………………….
Little Church in the Pines
September 05, 2021
Peace Like a River (at all times and all places)
Luke 1:78 & 79
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
These words were spoken prior to the birth of Jesus….prophetically about John and his role in the coming ministry of the Savior, the forerunner as he was called…..and this light was to come from the One John introduced to the world, when he said behold, “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
This peace….is that peace…that we are told passes all understanding….it is a gift, a supernatural gift….that the Holy Spirit brings to us in the midst of, we are told…ALL the difficulties and trails that we will endure in this life. Not some, but ALL.
In order to receive this peace…our faith must be founded on the bedrock of who Jesus is….for we are to build or foundation on solid rock….not on shifting sand..
Philippians 4:6 says, “The Lord is Near! Do not be anxious about anything, instead, in every situation with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God; And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
How many of us can claim to have this kind of peace when we are assaulted with things such as disease, broken hearts, estranged relationships, loss of a job, the loss of someone we love deeply, storms, earthquakes, war, and the list seems to be never ending of the terrible things than can and sometimes do come our way in this arena called life.
Is this peace and its availability to us realistic…is it truly possible? Is it?
Be anxious for nothing, but everything, by prayer and supplication let your request be made known to God…
Prayer is to be the rock we stand on in those times, for in prayer our focus in triune. What or who we are praying for, the vessel (us) who is doing the praying and who we are praying to.
We can…replaced anxiety in deeply focused prayer….another element of becoming less anxious, is when we can lose ourselves in worship by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs unto the Lord, thanking Him in everything, even if it go cross ways to what we are feeling.
The key is changing our focus from the problem to the problem solver.
Especially in times such as we have for months, now years that we have gone through. Fear mounts up over family and friends, anxiety surfaces, so how can we respond to those feelings of anxiety and walk confidently that aligns us with these verses.
We run from pain…it is only natural, but any good doctor will tell us pain is trying to communicate to us that something in our body, mind heart and soul needs attention.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians about the peace spoken of here (was when he was in prison) and was all about giving thanks, and in doing so, was guarding his heart and mind (being isolated and alone…Paul’s only companion was the Lord Himself.
We have so many examples to draw strength from as examples, including those of the Lord Himself when He faced imminent torture, and eventual death.
There are 256 verses on fear and anxiety in the Bible…one for every day including leap year.
There are also some practical things you can do to alleviate anxiety and fear. A simple thing as changing your scenery by going for a drive or a walk, exercise, garden, clean house, go out for a dessert or simply a cup of coffee, or best of all some ice cream!!
At night when anxiety knocks on my door as it did the other night, having a hard time even praying…..I got up, when out to the kitchen, made some hot tea and a piece of toast, sat at the table and in doing just that simple thing, a new perspective began to come to me….I had to quiet the inner turmoil to hear that still small and wonderful voice of the Holy Spirit within me.
Another way…. Is to do something for someone else. It can be something small or monumental, depending on their need and your resources.
Another is simply talking to a friend….there is someone I could call anytime day or night and they will listen to both my irrational and rational fears and or needs.
We all need peace and, in many ways, we seek peace, Christ illustrated this by going off by Himself on occasion, to pray or just sit alone in the presence of His Father.
In the New Testament, the word “peace” has a different meaning from the way we typically use it in our everyday language. When we use the word “peace’ we are usually referring to the absence of something. The absence of struggle, strife, conflict or even noise. In the New Testament the word “peace” (arene) ereine in Greek) refers primarily to the presence of something or someone.
An example is a right relationship….not only with God, but with another person. In the second chapter of Ephesians, Paul explains. “But now you, who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. FOR HE IS OUR PEACE; FORO IN His flesh (by His birth, ministry, death and resurrection) he has made both groups, Jew and Gentile into one, and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. (2:14)
FOR HE IS OUR PEACE…HE, IS OUR PEACE…GO TO HIM, on your knees, prostrate on the floor, standing with your hands raised to Him, or simply sitting in a chair, and most of all in your heart and mind.
DIVISIONS exist today more than I have ever seen before. Divisions in opinions, divisions in families, divisions in the workplace, divisions in churches, divisions in politics, divisions in a multitude of places and ways. We talk more about our divisions than we talk about what we agree or have in common.
The chasms we erect are most often emotionally based….where we cannot always give a rational and forthright discussion before dissolving into irrational words and behaviors.
Since Christ is our peace….we are not to wait until we FEEL LIKE IT, but instead at that moment CHOOSE to do and say the right thing. For our emotions are too often like chains around our lives…chains of bondage, which takes away our freedom from doing and being the people God in Christ has called us to be.
When that peace is achieved….it takes on the supernatural presence of Holy Spirit. Jesus says we can choose to have this peace or reject it, at all times, in all places and with all people. The choice is our….did you hear me, the choice is ours…..one more time, the choice is ours to make.
John 14:27….Jesus says, “I am leaving you with a gift…peace of mind and heart. And the peace is giving a gift the world cannot give. Do not be troubled or afraid.
LISTEN TO PSALM 61……O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer,
From the ends of the earth, I cry unto you for help.
When my heart is overwhelmed,
Lead me to the rock, that is higher than I, that
Is higher than I.
For you are my safe refuge,
A fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
May I live forever in your presence,
Safe…beneath the shelter of Your wings….IN PEACE.
In this sanctuary….right now, I am asking each of you to think about what Jesus says to us about peace…about Himself as our peace.
Peace…like a river in your soul….running pure and fresh….because of His great love for us…and the grace He has bestowed upon us.
Today…is the day of your salvation…your day of accepting His peace in place of any turmoil in your lives.
If dis-peace has overwhelmed you….trust in Him with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding…and in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path…way to peace. He wants to help carry your burden, for your burden is heavy….and with Him it will be light.
If you have been wronged….in as much is possible…You…attempt to make it right instead of waiting for that person to come to you.
Sometimes I look out over all of you from up here and know some of the things you have endured…and you know some of the things I have endured. Some that have caused you and I pain, real pain. I know that not one of us is perfect, but each of us have a choice in releasing hurts and pain….for as He Himself said while nailed to the cross. “Father, forgive them…for they do not know what they are doing.”
Choose this day…who you will serve….the wrong done to you or the one who sets the captives free? The wrong you have done to others…or even to yourself. Rectify the wrong done….any way you can. Your choice.
In this mix of who we are…giving our great diversity even in this little building, the only way we can all get along…and be of one mind, heart and spirit is through Jesus Christ who is in each and all of us…this is the only way, the way that is right.
In this mix as it has been in all the churches I have pastored. I found and find great joy at times in seeing what I see. I see a people who have a desire to worship God, who love His Son and desire to live in the Spirit. We are told to
be one in the Spirit and one in the Lord….that goes beyond this one hour or so that we gather together in His Holy Name.
CHOICES….every day, we have choices. Let us choose to make the right ones.
We can choose to harbor ill will, unkind words, anger, self-righteousness, judgement, or any other negative emotion or negative thinking…of which all of these will harm both us and others, but, if you are tired of harboring such things…today is the day, in the presence of God and one another to release them to Him. Your choice.
Will we choose Peace at any cost? Perhaps a cost to our pride. Will you…and will I? We are known by both or words and actions…that come through our choices.
Choose this day…whom you will serve? Let a glorious day of freedom if needed.
We can truly worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness….by knowing Him so intimately and deeply….that our love for Him simply flows from our clean heart.
As David said to the Lord,
Create in me a clean heart O God,
And renew a right spirit within me,
Cast me not away from Thy presence O Lord,
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me, the joy of my salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me……..
Sing it with me would you……………………..
AMEN
September 05, 2021
Peace Like a River (at all times and all places)
Luke 1:78 & 79
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
These words were spoken prior to the birth of Jesus….prophetically about John and his role in the coming ministry of the Savior, the forerunner as he was called…..and this light was to come from the One John introduced to the world, when he said behold, “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
This peace….is that peace…that we are told passes all understanding….it is a gift, a supernatural gift….that the Holy Spirit brings to us in the midst of, we are told…ALL the difficulties and trails that we will endure in this life. Not some, but ALL.
In order to receive this peace…our faith must be founded on the bedrock of who Jesus is….for we are to build or foundation on solid rock….not on shifting sand..
Philippians 4:6 says, “The Lord is Near! Do not be anxious about anything, instead, in every situation with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God; And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
How many of us can claim to have this kind of peace when we are assaulted with things such as disease, broken hearts, estranged relationships, loss of a job, the loss of someone we love deeply, storms, earthquakes, war, and the list seems to be never ending of the terrible things than can and sometimes do come our way in this arena called life.
Is this peace and its availability to us realistic…is it truly possible? Is it?
Be anxious for nothing, but everything, by prayer and supplication let your request be made known to God…
Prayer is to be the rock we stand on in those times, for in prayer our focus in triune. What or who we are praying for, the vessel (us) who is doing the praying and who we are praying to.
We can…replaced anxiety in deeply focused prayer….another element of becoming less anxious, is when we can lose ourselves in worship by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs unto the Lord, thanking Him in everything, even if it go cross ways to what we are feeling.
The key is changing our focus from the problem to the problem solver.
Especially in times such as we have for months, now years that we have gone through. Fear mounts up over family and friends, anxiety surfaces, so how can we respond to those feelings of anxiety and walk confidently that aligns us with these verses.
We run from pain…it is only natural, but any good doctor will tell us pain is trying to communicate to us that something in our body, mind heart and soul needs attention.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians about the peace spoken of here (was when he was in prison) and was all about giving thanks, and in doing so, was guarding his heart and mind (being isolated and alone…Paul’s only companion was the Lord Himself.
We have so many examples to draw strength from as examples, including those of the Lord Himself when He faced imminent torture, and eventual death.
There are 256 verses on fear and anxiety in the Bible…one for every day including leap year.
There are also some practical things you can do to alleviate anxiety and fear. A simple thing as changing your scenery by going for a drive or a walk, exercise, garden, clean house, go out for a dessert or simply a cup of coffee, or best of all some ice cream!!
At night when anxiety knocks on my door as it did the other night, having a hard time even praying…..I got up, when out to the kitchen, made some hot tea and a piece of toast, sat at the table and in doing just that simple thing, a new perspective began to come to me….I had to quiet the inner turmoil to hear that still small and wonderful voice of the Holy Spirit within me.
Another way…. Is to do something for someone else. It can be something small or monumental, depending on their need and your resources.
Another is simply talking to a friend….there is someone I could call anytime day or night and they will listen to both my irrational and rational fears and or needs.
We all need peace and, in many ways, we seek peace, Christ illustrated this by going off by Himself on occasion, to pray or just sit alone in the presence of His Father.
In the New Testament, the word “peace” has a different meaning from the way we typically use it in our everyday language. When we use the word “peace’ we are usually referring to the absence of something. The absence of struggle, strife, conflict or even noise. In the New Testament the word “peace” (arene) ereine in Greek) refers primarily to the presence of something or someone.
An example is a right relationship….not only with God, but with another person. In the second chapter of Ephesians, Paul explains. “But now you, who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. FOR HE IS OUR PEACE; FORO IN His flesh (by His birth, ministry, death and resurrection) he has made both groups, Jew and Gentile into one, and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. (2:14)
FOR HE IS OUR PEACE…HE, IS OUR PEACE…GO TO HIM, on your knees, prostrate on the floor, standing with your hands raised to Him, or simply sitting in a chair, and most of all in your heart and mind.
DIVISIONS exist today more than I have ever seen before. Divisions in opinions, divisions in families, divisions in the workplace, divisions in churches, divisions in politics, divisions in a multitude of places and ways. We talk more about our divisions than we talk about what we agree or have in common.
The chasms we erect are most often emotionally based….where we cannot always give a rational and forthright discussion before dissolving into irrational words and behaviors.
Since Christ is our peace….we are not to wait until we FEEL LIKE IT, but instead at that moment CHOOSE to do and say the right thing. For our emotions are too often like chains around our lives…chains of bondage, which takes away our freedom from doing and being the people God in Christ has called us to be.
When that peace is achieved….it takes on the supernatural presence of Holy Spirit. Jesus says we can choose to have this peace or reject it, at all times, in all places and with all people. The choice is our….did you hear me, the choice is ours…..one more time, the choice is ours to make.
John 14:27….Jesus says, “I am leaving you with a gift…peace of mind and heart. And the peace is giving a gift the world cannot give. Do not be troubled or afraid.
LISTEN TO PSALM 61……O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer,
From the ends of the earth, I cry unto you for help.
When my heart is overwhelmed,
Lead me to the rock, that is higher than I, that
Is higher than I.
For you are my safe refuge,
A fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
May I live forever in your presence,
Safe…beneath the shelter of Your wings….IN PEACE.
In this sanctuary….right now, I am asking each of you to think about what Jesus says to us about peace…about Himself as our peace.
Peace…like a river in your soul….running pure and fresh….because of His great love for us…and the grace He has bestowed upon us.
Today…is the day of your salvation…your day of accepting His peace in place of any turmoil in your lives.
If dis-peace has overwhelmed you….trust in Him with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding…and in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path…way to peace. He wants to help carry your burden, for your burden is heavy….and with Him it will be light.
If you have been wronged….in as much is possible…You…attempt to make it right instead of waiting for that person to come to you.
Sometimes I look out over all of you from up here and know some of the things you have endured…and you know some of the things I have endured. Some that have caused you and I pain, real pain. I know that not one of us is perfect, but each of us have a choice in releasing hurts and pain….for as He Himself said while nailed to the cross. “Father, forgive them…for they do not know what they are doing.”
Choose this day…who you will serve….the wrong done to you or the one who sets the captives free? The wrong you have done to others…or even to yourself. Rectify the wrong done….any way you can. Your choice.
In this mix of who we are…giving our great diversity even in this little building, the only way we can all get along…and be of one mind, heart and spirit is through Jesus Christ who is in each and all of us…this is the only way, the way that is right.
In this mix as it has been in all the churches I have pastored. I found and find great joy at times in seeing what I see. I see a people who have a desire to worship God, who love His Son and desire to live in the Spirit. We are told to
be one in the Spirit and one in the Lord….that goes beyond this one hour or so that we gather together in His Holy Name.
CHOICES….every day, we have choices. Let us choose to make the right ones.
We can choose to harbor ill will, unkind words, anger, self-righteousness, judgement, or any other negative emotion or negative thinking…of which all of these will harm both us and others, but, if you are tired of harboring such things…today is the day, in the presence of God and one another to release them to Him. Your choice.
Will we choose Peace at any cost? Perhaps a cost to our pride. Will you…and will I? We are known by both or words and actions…that come through our choices.
Choose this day…whom you will serve? Let a glorious day of freedom if needed.
We can truly worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness….by knowing Him so intimately and deeply….that our love for Him simply flows from our clean heart.
As David said to the Lord,
Create in me a clean heart O God,
And renew a right spirit within me,
Cast me not away from Thy presence O Lord,
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me, the joy of my salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me……..
Sing it with me would you……………………..
AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
August 22, 2021
ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Proverbs 16:18-24 and Proverbs 13:10
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Tying into last week’s sermon on WISDOM
“By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised come WISDOM”
WISDOM IS LIVING HUMBLY BEFORE GOD AND MAN…..AS STATED IN THIS MORNING’S CALL TO WORSHIP
Those who listen to instruction will prosper
Those who trust in the LORD will be joyful!
The wise….are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive.
Most of you know, and most likely most of us have read Jane Austin’s novel, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or even seen the movie, which is excellent.
Jane’s story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of her making hasty judgments (not wise) and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential.
Ahhhh….but only if we could all achieve that place of wisdom?
A protagonist is the main character among all the leading characters in any play, movie, or even real life in every and any family, workplace, school, etc. In your life….you, are the
protagonist, as am I in mine., though in our homes, work place and even in any church….though as in a play, novel, etc. there are the main protagonists, in a movie the lead character, the same in a novel and real life, and what you and I as the main protagonist in our own lives, we learn along the way, and then hopefully apply what we learn, or don’t, and the application of that knowledge and action, affects not only us, but those in our own circle and beyond, as does theirs. It is called the ripple affect…so in some minute and I mean minute way …every action we take affects everybody else. Using the president of the United States…supposedly she is the main protagonists in our nation, whose decisions of course have the ability to have that ripple affect all around the world, and at times beyond. Much like analogy of a pebble being thrown into the center of a calm pond….where the pebble fell and depending on how large eh pebble or in some cases a large rock…..the ripples” move forth in all directions from that center until eventually depending on the size of the not only the rock or pebble, but the pond, the further the ripples go, in most cases the smaller the effect because they are absorbed eventually by the larger mass of water or in life by those closest to us, and then beyond….and then, they as protagonists react to those in their own circle created, until, finally somewhere the diffusion ceases to exist.
Do you think that pride can be both good and bad? Yes, in my opinion….depending on our motives and what the foundation our pride is. If totally self-centered it will be harmful to not only others, to our-selves as well.
Pride is an inwardly focused “emotion” that carries two ‘anti-ethical’ meanings. Anti-ethical means they are NOT compatible and do not belong together and never will. Within the negative connotation PRIDE refers to foolish and an irrationally corrupt sense of one’s own self, or another’s, or even a group’s self-determined personal value, status, or accomplishments. Example would be a church denomination that believes that they only are the only true church.
One denominational church is the “Churches of Christ,” and they are only one of more than several who believe they are the only true church. Another is Jehovah Witnesses.
God has given us as a gift, and in some cases when used corruptly by individuals, this gift….for it all starts there, can turn around and swallow us. Free will…choices…egos, selfishness, narcissism.
Moderation, love the word and meaning in all things is spoken highly of except one…..I will get to that.
1Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Philippian’s 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto all, for the Lord is at hand.” Healthy Pride in moderation, with the right motivation and focus thereof can a good thing.
Pride in what is ok to have Pride in, let’s say accomplishments, of both, yourself, your kids, your friends, your church, but not to excess. In this kind of acceptable pride, we also need to thank God, acknowledging that He is the source of all that is good, of every and all kinds, thanking Him for the abilities we and others, we know we, and they have.
Some evangelists/pastors start out well, sincere motives, but all too often, those with great and even modest success became prideful in what they believe are their accomplishments, , and with this pride came corruption, money is flowing, people seem happy and the Spirit it seems is moving….and with this inward corruption, it is manifested outwardly, usually in the form of materialism and then can, and often does denigrate to a sexual level….as in the example Mr. Swaggert, Mr.Jerry Falwell Junior, Ted Haggard and Jim and Tammy Baker….and the only reason I mention the names is because it points out the reality of PRIDE and end its end results, with their
eventual down-fall. Otherwise, it is just theory, but with names of actual people who have fallen…it is real., it happens.
But, with the Grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ, manifested in forgiveness and restoration…..with true repentance, these and others like them can be restored both internally and externally.
Now this is another category and ….is just my opinion. A man or woman of the cloth’s lifestyle should not be bigger, and income more than the average member of their church, the average being from the individual’s income to that of the wealthiest, because our income comes from the people in the church, and should reflect that moderation Peter is speaking of, so that we can be on this level, be an example to all. This does not mean a Christian and or a leader in the church can’t be wealthy, yet I also believe that wealth should never be flaunted in excess by anyone in the church.
I know several wealthy Christians who live modestly, but very well, with both quality and quantity, but not excessively so, and having worked hard to get what they have, and often these folks, spread their wealth around to ministries and individuals in need, who benefit greatly through their generosity, most of which few know about, because they do so out of their love and respect for God, as they come to know the needs of those around them. My family and I have benefited often and gratefully, because of those whose generosity touched our lives in times of great need while raising three kids and pastoring a fledgling church. For two years, a drove a hundred miles round trip to a job, plus 80 hours a week in building the little church. In time….God blessed us and I did have to continue to do that.
Pride goes before destruction. Leaders of all kinds, but especially in the church need to know humility, and need to be simply grateful that God has placed them (us) inn such a position, to where they (we) can not only please Him but touch the lives of others in many ways. A leader is called by Jesus to be the servant of all, but Peter and Paul and states, that the congregation or church too, has a responsibility toward its leaders.
We find that in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 which says, ”Now we ask you brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
Pastors and admonishing…..whew…that is a biggie. I have had to do this on occasion, but I too have at times had to be humble enough to accept some constructive admonishing, not for the purpose of their being right….as much as their looking out for my well-being and gave me (recently) some constructive criticism…all done in the right spirit and with the right motive.
Hebrews 13-17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as those who must give and account. (Obey ( hmmm) I didn’t write this). Obey them so that their work will be a JOY, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
My role, along with your role…is to serve one another in love, and by doing so we serve Him. Pride has no place in any of the variety of roles that we are to take on in the church.
Prideful people are really insecure people, needing to inflate themselves, their egos…..and as a result, through power and force (if in the position to use it) through manipulation and sometimes even fear. These people are demanding and demeaning, controlling and lack compassion, and even something so simple as understanding.
Oswald Chambers says, “Pride” is a sin of whose presence its’ victim is least conscious. Prideful people are so caught up in themselves that they can’t see where they are or that they need to change. There are he says, three test by means of which pride can be revealed.
1. The Test of Precedence. How do WE react when another person is selected for an assignment or position, we had worked toward and perhaps even expected.? When someone else is promoted and we are overlooked? When another person outshines us in gifts and accomplishments?
2. The Test of Sincerity. In our moments of HONEST self-criticism, needing to talk to someone, we will open up with private struggles, and things about those struggles, and entrust them to a trusted friend, only to discover that they repeated what we had shared with others. I had that happen…and it seemed it was doing to destroy all that the Lord and I had built in one of our churches….but it did not, and what came of intense situation and struggle, was God’s grace intervened and “all things worked together for good” though it took a long time to see it.
3. The Test of Criticism: Criticism is the easiest and sometimes the meanest thing a person can do…..it is so unkind if not true, but even if true, why we criticize and how we criticize is critical. Pray first…and make sure that what or who you are going to criticize is necessary….and not just a different opinion shared in a hurtful way. If we see something in someone and we believe that they would benefit from our observations, then we do so in the right place, the right time, and the right way, for the right reasons.
Yet even in unjust criticism, there is something we can learn and glean good from. Think about it.
I think I used this illustration a few years ago, but I so like it I just felt it was perfect for today.
Two ducks and a rather egotistical frog developed a friendship in their small pond. The ducks were rather generous to the frog even though he could at times be very puffed up about his own place in the little pond.
Well, their pond dried up due to a drought. They ducks knew that they could easily fly to another location, but what of their little friend, the frog? Finally, they thought about it and thought about it….deciding to fly with a stick between their two bills, and with the frog holding onto the stick by his mouth. All when well, until a man looked up and saw them pass close to him overhead. “What a clever idea, “ said the man. “I wonder who thought of it.”
The frog (being egotistical) opened his mouth and said, “I did.” And of course, fell and splattered onto the sidewalk in front of the man.”
PRIDE will manifest itself in unexpected ways, times, and places if it is in us….it will show up if there…. We may not see it, but others will…and hopefully in a kind way tell us.
Healthy pride is manifested in a healthy ego, and knowing who we are in Christ, because He said in Mark 12:31 “And love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all our mind.’ And Love your neighbor as yourself.” For in doing this….all the Law and the prophet’s words are fulfilled….
SONG
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you.
I want to be a vessel you work though,
Lord, I want to be more like you!
If indeed we are like Him….we will never have an issue with Pride.
Our desire and hunger should be fed to grow into the likeness of our Lord Jesus. Amen
We have a song for you this morning to finish out this message with. You are welcome to sing along if you so desire…………..
It tells us….in this Psalm/Song….how much we should desire to be Like Him.
August 22, 2021
ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Proverbs 16:18-24 and Proverbs 13:10
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Tying into last week’s sermon on WISDOM
“By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised come WISDOM”
WISDOM IS LIVING HUMBLY BEFORE GOD AND MAN…..AS STATED IN THIS MORNING’S CALL TO WORSHIP
Those who listen to instruction will prosper
Those who trust in the LORD will be joyful!
The wise….are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive.
Most of you know, and most likely most of us have read Jane Austin’s novel, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or even seen the movie, which is excellent.
Jane’s story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of her making hasty judgments (not wise) and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential.
Ahhhh….but only if we could all achieve that place of wisdom?
A protagonist is the main character among all the leading characters in any play, movie, or even real life in every and any family, workplace, school, etc. In your life….you, are the
protagonist, as am I in mine., though in our homes, work place and even in any church….though as in a play, novel, etc. there are the main protagonists, in a movie the lead character, the same in a novel and real life, and what you and I as the main protagonist in our own lives, we learn along the way, and then hopefully apply what we learn, or don’t, and the application of that knowledge and action, affects not only us, but those in our own circle and beyond, as does theirs. It is called the ripple affect…so in some minute and I mean minute way …every action we take affects everybody else. Using the president of the United States…supposedly she is the main protagonists in our nation, whose decisions of course have the ability to have that ripple affect all around the world, and at times beyond. Much like analogy of a pebble being thrown into the center of a calm pond….where the pebble fell and depending on how large eh pebble or in some cases a large rock…..the ripples” move forth in all directions from that center until eventually depending on the size of the not only the rock or pebble, but the pond, the further the ripples go, in most cases the smaller the effect because they are absorbed eventually by the larger mass of water or in life by those closest to us, and then beyond….and then, they as protagonists react to those in their own circle created, until, finally somewhere the diffusion ceases to exist.
Do you think that pride can be both good and bad? Yes, in my opinion….depending on our motives and what the foundation our pride is. If totally self-centered it will be harmful to not only others, to our-selves as well.
Pride is an inwardly focused “emotion” that carries two ‘anti-ethical’ meanings. Anti-ethical means they are NOT compatible and do not belong together and never will. Within the negative connotation PRIDE refers to foolish and an irrationally corrupt sense of one’s own self, or another’s, or even a group’s self-determined personal value, status, or accomplishments. Example would be a church denomination that believes that they only are the only true church.
One denominational church is the “Churches of Christ,” and they are only one of more than several who believe they are the only true church. Another is Jehovah Witnesses.
God has given us as a gift, and in some cases when used corruptly by individuals, this gift….for it all starts there, can turn around and swallow us. Free will…choices…egos, selfishness, narcissism.
Moderation, love the word and meaning in all things is spoken highly of except one…..I will get to that.
1Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Philippian’s 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto all, for the Lord is at hand.” Healthy Pride in moderation, with the right motivation and focus thereof can a good thing.
Pride in what is ok to have Pride in, let’s say accomplishments, of both, yourself, your kids, your friends, your church, but not to excess. In this kind of acceptable pride, we also need to thank God, acknowledging that He is the source of all that is good, of every and all kinds, thanking Him for the abilities we and others, we know we, and they have.
Some evangelists/pastors start out well, sincere motives, but all too often, those with great and even modest success became prideful in what they believe are their accomplishments, , and with this pride came corruption, money is flowing, people seem happy and the Spirit it seems is moving….and with this inward corruption, it is manifested outwardly, usually in the form of materialism and then can, and often does denigrate to a sexual level….as in the example Mr. Swaggert, Mr.Jerry Falwell Junior, Ted Haggard and Jim and Tammy Baker….and the only reason I mention the names is because it points out the reality of PRIDE and end its end results, with their
eventual down-fall. Otherwise, it is just theory, but with names of actual people who have fallen…it is real., it happens.
But, with the Grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ, manifested in forgiveness and restoration…..with true repentance, these and others like them can be restored both internally and externally.
Now this is another category and ….is just my opinion. A man or woman of the cloth’s lifestyle should not be bigger, and income more than the average member of their church, the average being from the individual’s income to that of the wealthiest, because our income comes from the people in the church, and should reflect that moderation Peter is speaking of, so that we can be on this level, be an example to all. This does not mean a Christian and or a leader in the church can’t be wealthy, yet I also believe that wealth should never be flaunted in excess by anyone in the church.
I know several wealthy Christians who live modestly, but very well, with both quality and quantity, but not excessively so, and having worked hard to get what they have, and often these folks, spread their wealth around to ministries and individuals in need, who benefit greatly through their generosity, most of which few know about, because they do so out of their love and respect for God, as they come to know the needs of those around them. My family and I have benefited often and gratefully, because of those whose generosity touched our lives in times of great need while raising three kids and pastoring a fledgling church. For two years, a drove a hundred miles round trip to a job, plus 80 hours a week in building the little church. In time….God blessed us and I did have to continue to do that.
Pride goes before destruction. Leaders of all kinds, but especially in the church need to know humility, and need to be simply grateful that God has placed them (us) inn such a position, to where they (we) can not only please Him but touch the lives of others in many ways. A leader is called by Jesus to be the servant of all, but Peter and Paul and states, that the congregation or church too, has a responsibility toward its leaders.
We find that in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 which says, ”Now we ask you brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
Pastors and admonishing…..whew…that is a biggie. I have had to do this on occasion, but I too have at times had to be humble enough to accept some constructive admonishing, not for the purpose of their being right….as much as their looking out for my well-being and gave me (recently) some constructive criticism…all done in the right spirit and with the right motive.
Hebrews 13-17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as those who must give and account. (Obey ( hmmm) I didn’t write this). Obey them so that their work will be a JOY, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
My role, along with your role…is to serve one another in love, and by doing so we serve Him. Pride has no place in any of the variety of roles that we are to take on in the church.
Prideful people are really insecure people, needing to inflate themselves, their egos…..and as a result, through power and force (if in the position to use it) through manipulation and sometimes even fear. These people are demanding and demeaning, controlling and lack compassion, and even something so simple as understanding.
Oswald Chambers says, “Pride” is a sin of whose presence its’ victim is least conscious. Prideful people are so caught up in themselves that they can’t see where they are or that they need to change. There are he says, three test by means of which pride can be revealed.
1. The Test of Precedence. How do WE react when another person is selected for an assignment or position, we had worked toward and perhaps even expected.? When someone else is promoted and we are overlooked? When another person outshines us in gifts and accomplishments?
2. The Test of Sincerity. In our moments of HONEST self-criticism, needing to talk to someone, we will open up with private struggles, and things about those struggles, and entrust them to a trusted friend, only to discover that they repeated what we had shared with others. I had that happen…and it seemed it was doing to destroy all that the Lord and I had built in one of our churches….but it did not, and what came of intense situation and struggle, was God’s grace intervened and “all things worked together for good” though it took a long time to see it.
3. The Test of Criticism: Criticism is the easiest and sometimes the meanest thing a person can do…..it is so unkind if not true, but even if true, why we criticize and how we criticize is critical. Pray first…and make sure that what or who you are going to criticize is necessary….and not just a different opinion shared in a hurtful way. If we see something in someone and we believe that they would benefit from our observations, then we do so in the right place, the right time, and the right way, for the right reasons.
Yet even in unjust criticism, there is something we can learn and glean good from. Think about it.
I think I used this illustration a few years ago, but I so like it I just felt it was perfect for today.
Two ducks and a rather egotistical frog developed a friendship in their small pond. The ducks were rather generous to the frog even though he could at times be very puffed up about his own place in the little pond.
Well, their pond dried up due to a drought. They ducks knew that they could easily fly to another location, but what of their little friend, the frog? Finally, they thought about it and thought about it….deciding to fly with a stick between their two bills, and with the frog holding onto the stick by his mouth. All when well, until a man looked up and saw them pass close to him overhead. “What a clever idea, “ said the man. “I wonder who thought of it.”
The frog (being egotistical) opened his mouth and said, “I did.” And of course, fell and splattered onto the sidewalk in front of the man.”
PRIDE will manifest itself in unexpected ways, times, and places if it is in us….it will show up if there…. We may not see it, but others will…and hopefully in a kind way tell us.
Healthy pride is manifested in a healthy ego, and knowing who we are in Christ, because He said in Mark 12:31 “And love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all our mind.’ And Love your neighbor as yourself.” For in doing this….all the Law and the prophet’s words are fulfilled….
SONG
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you.
I want to be a vessel you work though,
Lord, I want to be more like you!
If indeed we are like Him….we will never have an issue with Pride.
Our desire and hunger should be fed to grow into the likeness of our Lord Jesus. Amen
We have a song for you this morning to finish out this message with. You are welcome to sing along if you so desire…………..
It tells us….in this Psalm/Song….how much we should desire to be Like Him.
August 22, 2021 Sunday Bulletin | |
File Size: | 657 kb |
File Type: | docx |
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
August 14, 2021
Proverbs 3:1-8
THE WAY OF WISDOM
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
One of the primary themes of Proverbs is wisdom. The words “wisdom,” “wise,” and “understanding” occur more than 140 times. Wisdom is frequently contrasted with foolishness. Wisdom brings lie, blessing, honor, and the very favor of God Himself, while foolishness can bring disaster of multiple way and means. Proverbs urges us to seek diligently and earnestly after wisdom.
This passage is, where Solomon is attempting to teach his own son the value of wisdom and consequences of choice in not choosing wisdom over foolishness.
READ this time…..verses 1-15
This sermon will encapsulate two secondary themes, and those being “Encouragement” and “Trust.”
We have as all are aware been and are still going through difficult times long enough that it has taken on the time parameters of a season.
TRUST BRINGS ENCOURAGEMENT
All TRUST IN UNDERGIRDED BY FAITH
A hymn that calls us to sing of Trusting our Lord Jesus Christ says this,
Simply trusting every day, trusting through the stormy way;
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all;
Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the day goes by;
Trusting Him whatever may befall, trusting Jesus…..is my call!
Now, is a bit of a history lesson, starting with the author, Solomon of course, son of David and Bathsheba, also king of Israel for forty years. Solomon was quite mercurial…and in his youth, romantic to say it kindly, evidenced by the well-known and quoted “Song of Solomon.”
In his middle years he wrote Proverbs, where we find the Scriptures and teachings relevant even for today, imparting some very practical and spiritual wisdom.
In his mature years came Ecclesiastes, where he is inclined to philosophy and some at times, very annoying (to me) cynicism. Though smart, and perhaps even brilliant given the breadth of his knowledge as evidenced by the scope and depth of his writings.
History tells us under his leadership, Israel reached its greatest geographical extent and enjoyed the least violent period in her history. The resulting “peace” brought unprecedented prosperity to the nation, which became a cause of wonder and admiration in the then known world.
This well-known Scripture is employed, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This fear means reverential awe of God, and what we can be and do when we put Him first in our lives. These diverse truths of “wisdom” center on six themes.
1. Wisdom (the ability to judge and acct according to God’s directive) is the MOST valuable of all assets.
2. Wisdom is available anyone who desires it and does what it takes to achieve obtaining it.
3. Wisdom, true wisdom originates in God…not self…and comes by following His instructions as to how to.
4. Wisdom and righteousness go together, as do “trust and faith” Righteousness means living as God would have us live, and in do so, wisdom will come.
5. Evil people suffer the consequences of evil choices, as at time under the corrective hand of God, good people who choose to leave God out of purposeful bad choices.
6. The simple, the fool, the lazy, the ignorant, the proud, the sin-filled are not to be emulated in any way, shape, or form.
The antithesis or the opposite of goodness follows suit in all of Proverbs, such as,
trust verses worry
faith verses doubt
wisdom verses foolishness
right living verses self-centered sinful living
good verse evil
honor verses dishonor
industry verses laziness
truth verse lies
light verse darkness
peace verses violence
discipline verses slovenliness
man (at times and multiple ways) verses God Himself.
and on, and on, and on and on…………we live in a world of choices and a world of opposites…we are to choose this day whom we will serve!
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR WHAT? HEART
There are times we waste time trying to figure out what we don’t understand, and with those times when they come, we NEED to TRUST AND OBEY…FOR THERE IS NOT OTHER WAY.
Verses 5 & 6…be sensitive and listen close as God speaks to us through His written word and the still-small-voice of His Holy Spirit.
If we do this…one thing…..He will always walk beside us, no matter what it is we are going through…for He said, as I am fond of saying….” I will never leave you or forsake you” ever.
In these two verses contain the very heart and essence of the Torah. These are Jesus words to us, only they go a bit further in
both intent and meaning. “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” ‘“on these commandments hang all the law and prophets.”’
With our HEART, used as a metaphor…..which encompasses the totality of our lives, since the beating of our heart keeps the blood flowing throughout our bodies, nourishing every minor and major aspect of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives. Without it working properly, there are serious (as we know) consequences, and so, it contains powerful emotions, affections, and desires. Our affections are deep currents that steer our lives. Thank of it as the rudder of a ship, therefore they need to be healthy, grounded in truth, good choices, and love.
Earlier, I spoke of TRUST and ENCOURAGEMENT….The area of devotion is determined by whatever or whomever we find the greatest value in….what is it for you and I? I challenge you to think about it. Will you please?
Matthew 6:21 read, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. That which we value the highest
will take the highest priority in our lives.
NO matter our circumstances…..if in our hearts we are devoted (which simply means loving and loyal)
Trusting will simply be there….and encouragement comes through knowing He is always there, or here, for us in all circumstances, even the most difficult.
I equate TRUST and FAITH relationally together…as essential in their combination for a solid and faithful life in Christ.
Quite often faith and trust are tossed about in our religious jargon easily and without distinction. Wisdom achieved helps in this area. They are like salt and pepper…each flavoring the food we eat, but in distinctly different ways.
FAITH IS A NOUN….it is something we HAVE…AND GROWS…as He more and more takes root in our lives. There is biblical KNOWING that over time and experience we, He and each of us becomes quite intimate.
TRUST IS A VERB….and together they produce solid (noun) faith, trust is action taken by us. Trust is something we choose to do…to know this and how they work together is gained wisdom…..
While FAITH SAYS HE CAN, TRUST SAYS HE WILL!
While writing this last sentence….an old and I mean old once popular song came to mind…showing just how old I am.
Goes like this…..
Love and Marriage, love, and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage,
And I tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other!
I have to say….that these two at times seem hard to hold on to, at times. Times when it seems thing, events, people, etc. are so seemingly dark…and difficult that they could never be right again…..trusting, that there is a future and a hope when all seems hopeless…..but remember this. That God sees the beginning and the end, and all in between. We don’t. We see and live in the now. I have a rather interesting true story to read to you…from my Book of Amazing Stories. Because the event taking place in this story is so devastating…there was no way these people could anything but disaster. Yet…well, listen.
READ………..
At times, expressing, no matter the circumstances, the fear you and I (such as I just read) may have in such difficult times of our own distress….wavering, or honest fearful questions, all of which He finds no fault, knowing our weaknesses far better than even we do, as well as our strengths. You must KNOW this. He knows You…..and He, loves you and will walk with
you and at times carry you…to the end, which is just the beginning. Find encouragement in His truths, in His love and grace, and mercy, and goodness and kindness. Will you?
We have two choices here…two options of attitude, just two. Listen to this last illustration.
There is a book written by Allan Emery called “Little Lessons of Large Importance,” where he tells of one Ken Hansen who visits a young employee in the hospital who had a long and serious operation, the outcome questionable. Just like our Jo Dee.
Alex, said His boss quietly, “you know I have had a number of serious operations. I KNOW the pain of trying to talk and I think I KNOW what question you are trying to ask yourself. There are two verse I am going to give you, they, being Genesis 42:36 and Romans 8:28.
You have two options of ‘attitude’, just two and ‘you’ need the perspective of the latter option.” Hansen turned to the young man, read them, then prayer with Alex and left.
#1. Attitude. And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is not more, and you want to take Benjamin. ‘All these things are against me!’” Gen.42:36
#2. Attitude. “And we KNOW that ‘all things work together’ for good too those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
The young employee took the message of the letter to heart, the result being a long, but full recovery.
He received encouragement through both Scripture and His employer, who had gained WISDOM through his own life’s circumstances….passing both His FAITH…and learned TRUST in the Lord his God to this young man.
Where is your attitude this morning in whatever circumstances you face at this moment….or are coming down the road yet unaware? What circumstances have already taught you WISDOM you can
share with others to help them in their own personal journey. THINK ABOUT IT…and do this. When the opportunity presents itself, share your wisdom to encourage someone or ones, and please don’t hesitate to do so, thereby proving to Him you are a true and faithful servant, and friend and disciple of Jesus Christ.
Selah, (pause and think about this)
Amen!
August 14, 2021
Proverbs 3:1-8
THE WAY OF WISDOM
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
One of the primary themes of Proverbs is wisdom. The words “wisdom,” “wise,” and “understanding” occur more than 140 times. Wisdom is frequently contrasted with foolishness. Wisdom brings lie, blessing, honor, and the very favor of God Himself, while foolishness can bring disaster of multiple way and means. Proverbs urges us to seek diligently and earnestly after wisdom.
This passage is, where Solomon is attempting to teach his own son the value of wisdom and consequences of choice in not choosing wisdom over foolishness.
READ this time…..verses 1-15
This sermon will encapsulate two secondary themes, and those being “Encouragement” and “Trust.”
We have as all are aware been and are still going through difficult times long enough that it has taken on the time parameters of a season.
TRUST BRINGS ENCOURAGEMENT
All TRUST IN UNDERGIRDED BY FAITH
A hymn that calls us to sing of Trusting our Lord Jesus Christ says this,
Simply trusting every day, trusting through the stormy way;
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all;
Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the day goes by;
Trusting Him whatever may befall, trusting Jesus…..is my call!
Now, is a bit of a history lesson, starting with the author, Solomon of course, son of David and Bathsheba, also king of Israel for forty years. Solomon was quite mercurial…and in his youth, romantic to say it kindly, evidenced by the well-known and quoted “Song of Solomon.”
In his middle years he wrote Proverbs, where we find the Scriptures and teachings relevant even for today, imparting some very practical and spiritual wisdom.
In his mature years came Ecclesiastes, where he is inclined to philosophy and some at times, very annoying (to me) cynicism. Though smart, and perhaps even brilliant given the breadth of his knowledge as evidenced by the scope and depth of his writings.
History tells us under his leadership, Israel reached its greatest geographical extent and enjoyed the least violent period in her history. The resulting “peace” brought unprecedented prosperity to the nation, which became a cause of wonder and admiration in the then known world.
This well-known Scripture is employed, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This fear means reverential awe of God, and what we can be and do when we put Him first in our lives. These diverse truths of “wisdom” center on six themes.
1. Wisdom (the ability to judge and acct according to God’s directive) is the MOST valuable of all assets.
2. Wisdom is available anyone who desires it and does what it takes to achieve obtaining it.
3. Wisdom, true wisdom originates in God…not self…and comes by following His instructions as to how to.
4. Wisdom and righteousness go together, as do “trust and faith” Righteousness means living as God would have us live, and in do so, wisdom will come.
5. Evil people suffer the consequences of evil choices, as at time under the corrective hand of God, good people who choose to leave God out of purposeful bad choices.
6. The simple, the fool, the lazy, the ignorant, the proud, the sin-filled are not to be emulated in any way, shape, or form.
The antithesis or the opposite of goodness follows suit in all of Proverbs, such as,
trust verses worry
faith verses doubt
wisdom verses foolishness
right living verses self-centered sinful living
good verse evil
honor verses dishonor
industry verses laziness
truth verse lies
light verse darkness
peace verses violence
discipline verses slovenliness
man (at times and multiple ways) verses God Himself.
and on, and on, and on and on…………we live in a world of choices and a world of opposites…we are to choose this day whom we will serve!
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR WHAT? HEART
There are times we waste time trying to figure out what we don’t understand, and with those times when they come, we NEED to TRUST AND OBEY…FOR THERE IS NOT OTHER WAY.
Verses 5 & 6…be sensitive and listen close as God speaks to us through His written word and the still-small-voice of His Holy Spirit.
If we do this…one thing…..He will always walk beside us, no matter what it is we are going through…for He said, as I am fond of saying….” I will never leave you or forsake you” ever.
In these two verses contain the very heart and essence of the Torah. These are Jesus words to us, only they go a bit further in
both intent and meaning. “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” ‘“on these commandments hang all the law and prophets.”’
With our HEART, used as a metaphor…..which encompasses the totality of our lives, since the beating of our heart keeps the blood flowing throughout our bodies, nourishing every minor and major aspect of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives. Without it working properly, there are serious (as we know) consequences, and so, it contains powerful emotions, affections, and desires. Our affections are deep currents that steer our lives. Thank of it as the rudder of a ship, therefore they need to be healthy, grounded in truth, good choices, and love.
Earlier, I spoke of TRUST and ENCOURAGEMENT….The area of devotion is determined by whatever or whomever we find the greatest value in….what is it for you and I? I challenge you to think about it. Will you please?
Matthew 6:21 read, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. That which we value the highest
will take the highest priority in our lives.
NO matter our circumstances…..if in our hearts we are devoted (which simply means loving and loyal)
Trusting will simply be there….and encouragement comes through knowing He is always there, or here, for us in all circumstances, even the most difficult.
I equate TRUST and FAITH relationally together…as essential in their combination for a solid and faithful life in Christ.
Quite often faith and trust are tossed about in our religious jargon easily and without distinction. Wisdom achieved helps in this area. They are like salt and pepper…each flavoring the food we eat, but in distinctly different ways.
FAITH IS A NOUN….it is something we HAVE…AND GROWS…as He more and more takes root in our lives. There is biblical KNOWING that over time and experience we, He and each of us becomes quite intimate.
TRUST IS A VERB….and together they produce solid (noun) faith, trust is action taken by us. Trust is something we choose to do…to know this and how they work together is gained wisdom…..
While FAITH SAYS HE CAN, TRUST SAYS HE WILL!
While writing this last sentence….an old and I mean old once popular song came to mind…showing just how old I am.
Goes like this…..
Love and Marriage, love, and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage,
And I tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other!
I have to say….that these two at times seem hard to hold on to, at times. Times when it seems thing, events, people, etc. are so seemingly dark…and difficult that they could never be right again…..trusting, that there is a future and a hope when all seems hopeless…..but remember this. That God sees the beginning and the end, and all in between. We don’t. We see and live in the now. I have a rather interesting true story to read to you…from my Book of Amazing Stories. Because the event taking place in this story is so devastating…there was no way these people could anything but disaster. Yet…well, listen.
READ………..
At times, expressing, no matter the circumstances, the fear you and I (such as I just read) may have in such difficult times of our own distress….wavering, or honest fearful questions, all of which He finds no fault, knowing our weaknesses far better than even we do, as well as our strengths. You must KNOW this. He knows You…..and He, loves you and will walk with
you and at times carry you…to the end, which is just the beginning. Find encouragement in His truths, in His love and grace, and mercy, and goodness and kindness. Will you?
We have two choices here…two options of attitude, just two. Listen to this last illustration.
There is a book written by Allan Emery called “Little Lessons of Large Importance,” where he tells of one Ken Hansen who visits a young employee in the hospital who had a long and serious operation, the outcome questionable. Just like our Jo Dee.
Alex, said His boss quietly, “you know I have had a number of serious operations. I KNOW the pain of trying to talk and I think I KNOW what question you are trying to ask yourself. There are two verse I am going to give you, they, being Genesis 42:36 and Romans 8:28.
You have two options of ‘attitude’, just two and ‘you’ need the perspective of the latter option.” Hansen turned to the young man, read them, then prayer with Alex and left.
#1. Attitude. And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is not more, and you want to take Benjamin. ‘All these things are against me!’” Gen.42:36
#2. Attitude. “And we KNOW that ‘all things work together’ for good too those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
The young employee took the message of the letter to heart, the result being a long, but full recovery.
He received encouragement through both Scripture and His employer, who had gained WISDOM through his own life’s circumstances….passing both His FAITH…and learned TRUST in the Lord his God to this young man.
Where is your attitude this morning in whatever circumstances you face at this moment….or are coming down the road yet unaware? What circumstances have already taught you WISDOM you can
share with others to help them in their own personal journey. THINK ABOUT IT…and do this. When the opportunity presents itself, share your wisdom to encourage someone or ones, and please don’t hesitate to do so, thereby proving to Him you are a true and faithful servant, and friend and disciple of Jesus Christ.
Selah, (pause and think about this)
Amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Idaho
July 25, 2021
John 6:37-40
The Impact of one man, Jesus the Christ
By having Jan read the Scripture she did, to me, speaks of the duty that Jesus asked of all of us, and that duty is to live our lives for Him and show it….and in a great variety of ways and vocations, be they, let us say a custodian, a physician, a teacher, a salesperson, a business owner, an artist, a song writer, etc., etc., etc.
In doing this we will fulfill His words spoken to all who call themselves disciples of Christ; “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nation (help the people, teaching them of Me, to believe in Me, and obey My words, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
There are countless ways to teach, countless ways to exhibit His role and place in our lives….and it is in this myriad of ways that we find people turning to Him….loving Him….devoted to Him….living out their lives for Him as they come to understand His great sacrifice, in obeying the Father, the One God, the Great I AM. That sacrifice being His willingness to die for the sins of the men and women of the world, who come to Him in acknowledgment and repentance. At that moment they are filled sealed by the Holy Spirit of God unto salvation….life with Him forever more.
In 2018 almost to the day I wrote and preached a sermon remarkably like this one. No one man born has impacted the world in almost every way possible.
Jesus….a common name in His day, born in the humblest of circumstances. Think about this. The story as it unfolds as we follow in the Bible is a remarkable tale. The fulfilment of words from the prophets of old, down to the smallest jot and tittle. Born, in the
then and still tiny nation of Israel, not formally schooled except by the religious leaders of his then hometown. The school was a religious school only….learning from the Torah His history, which was the history of His own people.
The adopted son of a carpenter, He Himself following in the footsteps of Joseph…learning a trade that would add income to the family needs, splinters, calloused hands, learning to develop and eye for detail, while again, learning, devouring Holy Scripture than one day He would use to confound the religious leaders of His day, with far deeper understanding of their true meaning that any of them could claim.
Though in many ways His childhood was not unlike that of the other children in His community.
Except….He, this child of His literal Father, Jehovah God, the One God, Creator of all….would have a deep and eternal IMPACT, not only the nation where he was raised, but throughout the entire world….and for all of eternity.
To my way of thinking, though all these are amazing in and of themselves, as I will cover some, maybe all of them to a degree, the last one, the changed lives of billions of everyday human beings, is the most important of all, because that one itself is why and how all the other influences and changes come to be.
Throughout recorded human history, the IMPACT of Jesus has never even come close to being surpassed. No other person has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of both His followers and the world’s population. People who encounter and accept the Risen Christ are transformed….from within, then without. History is replete with their and our stories. To the degree often that transformation is often being compared to being “born again.” Their and our source of power for change for the better comes through His teachings and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit whom we receive the moment we believe.
It is just that simple……but involves a dedicated willingness to desire and then obey….and that transformation is both intellectual and spiritual transformation.
The power in and of Christ knows no boundary of time or space. In our age and in ages past, many skeptics have been convinced that Jesus was not the Christ, or that there ever would be a Christ, and set out to prove it. For example…Lew Wallace, a famous general and known as a literary Genius, was a known atheist. For two years (listen please) for two years Wallace studied in the leading libraries of both Europe and America, seeking information that would forever destroy Christianity and nullify Christ. While writing the second chapter of his book outlining his arguments, he suddenly found himself on his knees crying out to Jesus, “My Lord and My God.” His life turned around 180 degrees…now speaking with the same fervor and intellect as another man on the road to Damascus.
Similarly, the late C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University in England was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ for years. But he too, in intellectual honesty, submitted to Jesus as his God and Savior, while studying the “evidence” he had hoped would confirm His previous denial that Christ was both divine and God.
Both men when on to write books such as Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, The Lion, the With and the Wardrobe, The Great Divorce, The Chronicle of Narnia, The Problem of Pain….and many others as a witness as to the power and Person of God….and His Creativity in Man.
The IMPACT of Jesus Christ, the Son of God continues to this day, influencing and changing the lives of those who in all honesty, are seeking truth…..I believe at some time not far off there will once again (because of what is coming on our country and world) be great numbers who will come to Him because of the events that are unfolding in our nation…with the loss of hope, order, lawlessness, justice and more….because in time of great need. people recognize their inability to put in place that which needs to accomplish and will call on God to intervene.
As I spoke on two weeks ago, God’s system of Justice is the primary outline of our own system of Justice. So extensive is the Christian contribution to our laws, our economics, arts and even our calendar. AD which means ‘the year of the Lord” meaning the reckoned year of the birth of Jesus, counting the years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting the years prior to this era. There is no zero in this schematic, so, the year AD1, immediately follows the year,1BC. This calendar is that which the world turns on. The birth of this child, born in this tiny obscure town in the tiny nation of Israel.
COMPASSION AND MERCY
Kennedy and Newcombe in a book the two authors collaborated on, writing detail of the rise of charity in the name of Jesus over the centuries, still going on deeply and profusely without much recognition. Historians record that prior to Jesus, the ancient world left little trace of any compassionate and merciful organized charitable effort. Period!
For example, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is a classic illustration that is still a part of our language today, in pointing out this example of doing good birthed in Christianity….for even our enemies. We are all neighbors He says, and we are to love our neighbors and our enemies…doing good to both.
This concept was born of Christ and has changed the world tremendously.
We have the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, religious hospitals, church supported food kitchens, housing for the homeless. Orphanages all over the world, and oh so many more such organizations that work by and through the Christian churches.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Christianity exalts monogamous love, which provides the basis for a lasting and exclusive family circle geared toward providing for and loving family units.
EDUCATION
From the beginning of Judaism, there was an emphasis on the written Word, as recorded by those assigned to let each generation to grown in and its history and God’s voice in their lives.
The phenomenon of education in American and now the world, has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. In order of promote Biblical literacy, Christians have been at the forefront of not only Scriptural learning….but practical and vocational learning. All this was accelerated with the advent of the printing press which was primarily invented for the printing of Bibles. Many of the world’s languages were first set to print by Christian missionaries for people to eventually be able to read the Bible for themselves.
The very first work printed on the Gutenberg printing press was the Bible, of which I have one page of one of the very first published. On this page are smudges that are said to perhaps be blood because it was against the law (the Catholic Church) persecuted unto death those who were printing Bibles….for the Church wanted only the priests to be able to do so, and most of even them could not read in those days.
Art is another witness as to the power of God….on the ceilings, walls, and canvases were painted powerful depictions of scenes from the Bible….so much so, that people were often overwhelmed by their majesty, and beauty, and even simplicity…as illustrations of stories they told, that many came to Believe because of them.
Music, another avenue to spiritual rebirth and the power of words and song….as authors told of their own spiritual journeys, moving many to understand for the first time the beauty and sometimes glory of God…and simply at times of God’s love for the world and all its people. Music is one of the most powerful witnesses to the world as exampled in the Messiah, the Passion of Christ set to music, hymns such as “How Great Thou Art”. “Amazing Grace” “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” “It Is Well with My Soul” and so many others.
All of these are but witnesses as to the IMPACT of HIS WITNESS TO HIMSELF….AND WHO HE IS….AND OUR WITNESS AS TO HIS IMPACT ON US….
I am coming back to this where I started….that the Greatest Witness to the IMPACT of Jesus Christ to unbelievers….is YOU and I, who are to live lives that reflect His ministry and His life, as He exampled for us as to how to live….
Now to make this personal….Jesus IMPACT on Today’s world results in their being 7:3 billion Believers……and the reason, because of the witness for the most part of everyday Christians.
The question I leave with us is this….What IMPACT are you and having in our daily lives….on our neighbors, enemies and even our families….and friends.
Macks Inn, Idaho
July 25, 2021
John 6:37-40
The Impact of one man, Jesus the Christ
By having Jan read the Scripture she did, to me, speaks of the duty that Jesus asked of all of us, and that duty is to live our lives for Him and show it….and in a great variety of ways and vocations, be they, let us say a custodian, a physician, a teacher, a salesperson, a business owner, an artist, a song writer, etc., etc., etc.
In doing this we will fulfill His words spoken to all who call themselves disciples of Christ; “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nation (help the people, teaching them of Me, to believe in Me, and obey My words, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
There are countless ways to teach, countless ways to exhibit His role and place in our lives….and it is in this myriad of ways that we find people turning to Him….loving Him….devoted to Him….living out their lives for Him as they come to understand His great sacrifice, in obeying the Father, the One God, the Great I AM. That sacrifice being His willingness to die for the sins of the men and women of the world, who come to Him in acknowledgment and repentance. At that moment they are filled sealed by the Holy Spirit of God unto salvation….life with Him forever more.
In 2018 almost to the day I wrote and preached a sermon remarkably like this one. No one man born has impacted the world in almost every way possible.
Jesus….a common name in His day, born in the humblest of circumstances. Think about this. The story as it unfolds as we follow in the Bible is a remarkable tale. The fulfilment of words from the prophets of old, down to the smallest jot and tittle. Born, in the
then and still tiny nation of Israel, not formally schooled except by the religious leaders of his then hometown. The school was a religious school only….learning from the Torah His history, which was the history of His own people.
The adopted son of a carpenter, He Himself following in the footsteps of Joseph…learning a trade that would add income to the family needs, splinters, calloused hands, learning to develop and eye for detail, while again, learning, devouring Holy Scripture than one day He would use to confound the religious leaders of His day, with far deeper understanding of their true meaning that any of them could claim.
Though in many ways His childhood was not unlike that of the other children in His community.
Except….He, this child of His literal Father, Jehovah God, the One God, Creator of all….would have a deep and eternal IMPACT, not only the nation where he was raised, but throughout the entire world….and for all of eternity.
- His impact would deeply influence & elevate the VALUE of human life.
- Compassion and Mercy
- Grace as deep as Universe itself
- Marriage and Family
- Education
- Moral advancements
- Government and social order throughout the entire world
- Science
- Art, Music, Literate
- Freedom on a new level
To my way of thinking, though all these are amazing in and of themselves, as I will cover some, maybe all of them to a degree, the last one, the changed lives of billions of everyday human beings, is the most important of all, because that one itself is why and how all the other influences and changes come to be.
Throughout recorded human history, the IMPACT of Jesus has never even come close to being surpassed. No other person has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of both His followers and the world’s population. People who encounter and accept the Risen Christ are transformed….from within, then without. History is replete with their and our stories. To the degree often that transformation is often being compared to being “born again.” Their and our source of power for change for the better comes through His teachings and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit whom we receive the moment we believe.
It is just that simple……but involves a dedicated willingness to desire and then obey….and that transformation is both intellectual and spiritual transformation.
The power in and of Christ knows no boundary of time or space. In our age and in ages past, many skeptics have been convinced that Jesus was not the Christ, or that there ever would be a Christ, and set out to prove it. For example…Lew Wallace, a famous general and known as a literary Genius, was a known atheist. For two years (listen please) for two years Wallace studied in the leading libraries of both Europe and America, seeking information that would forever destroy Christianity and nullify Christ. While writing the second chapter of his book outlining his arguments, he suddenly found himself on his knees crying out to Jesus, “My Lord and My God.” His life turned around 180 degrees…now speaking with the same fervor and intellect as another man on the road to Damascus.
Similarly, the late C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University in England was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ for years. But he too, in intellectual honesty, submitted to Jesus as his God and Savior, while studying the “evidence” he had hoped would confirm His previous denial that Christ was both divine and God.
Both men when on to write books such as Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, The Lion, the With and the Wardrobe, The Great Divorce, The Chronicle of Narnia, The Problem of Pain….and many others as a witness as to the power and Person of God….and His Creativity in Man.
The IMPACT of Jesus Christ, the Son of God continues to this day, influencing and changing the lives of those who in all honesty, are seeking truth…..I believe at some time not far off there will once again (because of what is coming on our country and world) be great numbers who will come to Him because of the events that are unfolding in our nation…with the loss of hope, order, lawlessness, justice and more….because in time of great need. people recognize their inability to put in place that which needs to accomplish and will call on God to intervene.
As I spoke on two weeks ago, God’s system of Justice is the primary outline of our own system of Justice. So extensive is the Christian contribution to our laws, our economics, arts and even our calendar. AD which means ‘the year of the Lord” meaning the reckoned year of the birth of Jesus, counting the years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting the years prior to this era. There is no zero in this schematic, so, the year AD1, immediately follows the year,1BC. This calendar is that which the world turns on. The birth of this child, born in this tiny obscure town in the tiny nation of Israel.
COMPASSION AND MERCY
Kennedy and Newcombe in a book the two authors collaborated on, writing detail of the rise of charity in the name of Jesus over the centuries, still going on deeply and profusely without much recognition. Historians record that prior to Jesus, the ancient world left little trace of any compassionate and merciful organized charitable effort. Period!
For example, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is a classic illustration that is still a part of our language today, in pointing out this example of doing good birthed in Christianity….for even our enemies. We are all neighbors He says, and we are to love our neighbors and our enemies…doing good to both.
This concept was born of Christ and has changed the world tremendously.
We have the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, religious hospitals, church supported food kitchens, housing for the homeless. Orphanages all over the world, and oh so many more such organizations that work by and through the Christian churches.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Christianity exalts monogamous love, which provides the basis for a lasting and exclusive family circle geared toward providing for and loving family units.
EDUCATION
From the beginning of Judaism, there was an emphasis on the written Word, as recorded by those assigned to let each generation to grown in and its history and God’s voice in their lives.
The phenomenon of education in American and now the world, has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. In order of promote Biblical literacy, Christians have been at the forefront of not only Scriptural learning….but practical and vocational learning. All this was accelerated with the advent of the printing press which was primarily invented for the printing of Bibles. Many of the world’s languages were first set to print by Christian missionaries for people to eventually be able to read the Bible for themselves.
The very first work printed on the Gutenberg printing press was the Bible, of which I have one page of one of the very first published. On this page are smudges that are said to perhaps be blood because it was against the law (the Catholic Church) persecuted unto death those who were printing Bibles….for the Church wanted only the priests to be able to do so, and most of even them could not read in those days.
Art is another witness as to the power of God….on the ceilings, walls, and canvases were painted powerful depictions of scenes from the Bible….so much so, that people were often overwhelmed by their majesty, and beauty, and even simplicity…as illustrations of stories they told, that many came to Believe because of them.
Music, another avenue to spiritual rebirth and the power of words and song….as authors told of their own spiritual journeys, moving many to understand for the first time the beauty and sometimes glory of God…and simply at times of God’s love for the world and all its people. Music is one of the most powerful witnesses to the world as exampled in the Messiah, the Passion of Christ set to music, hymns such as “How Great Thou Art”. “Amazing Grace” “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” “It Is Well with My Soul” and so many others.
All of these are but witnesses as to the IMPACT of HIS WITNESS TO HIMSELF….AND WHO HE IS….AND OUR WITNESS AS TO HIS IMPACT ON US….
I am coming back to this where I started….that the Greatest Witness to the IMPACT of Jesus Christ to unbelievers….is YOU and I, who are to live lives that reflect His ministry and His life, as He exampled for us as to how to live….
Now to make this personal….Jesus IMPACT on Today’s world results in their being 7:3 billion Believers……and the reason, because of the witness for the most part of everyday Christians.
The question I leave with us is this….What IMPACT are you and having in our daily lives….on our neighbors, enemies and even our families….and friends.
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File Type: | docx |
Little Church in the Pines
July 4, 2021 ~ Independence Day
"The Bible" Is it the foundation of the Constitution?
Macks inn, Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom Shanor
Today, as we are all well aware, July 4th is a day recognized across our nation and even the world, as the day of celebration of our INDEPENDENCE from England….a hard fought and hard-won war, costing the lives of 6,800 Americans who fought for freedom, and who willingly laid down their lives for the freedom of those they loved and our freedoms today. . In addition, there were 6,100 wounded, and upwards of 20,000 that were taken as prisoners. Historians believe that at least an additional 17,000 deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,000-12,000 who died while prisoners of war, and so, 245 years later, you and I can freely, gather here, in this little church, without fear of repercussions and, as we know, out of that war came our Constitution, which became our foundation liberty and justice for all, built on their sacrificial deaths.
It is a day of pride, gratefulness, patriotism, of parades, fireworks, bands, and more….and yet, sadly, not all-American citizens celebrate this day, today, as there are those working within and without our nation, to take away many of the freedoms we have come to take for granted.
We are a nation because God has ordained it….and unless, for some reason or reasons, as exampled in the days shortly after Jesus’ ministry, and ascension as Israel and the Temple were destroyed, just as He said they would be, and as a result the Jewish nation ceased to exist, and her people were scattered across the globe, just as it was foretold. Called the Diaspora, until the Great and Awesome day of His return, also as foretold, when all those who are His will be gathered, to Celebrate Jesus, peace, justice and full and grateful hearts.
Whether we continue to stand as a nation depends on our hearts, our willingness to right wrongs, our continued striving for justice for
all, along with repentance and the ensuing forgiveness and restoration, as we place God, in whom we trust, at the forefront of our own sense of right and wrong, seeking guidance and wisdom from Him using as our guide first, the Bible, where we can read and follow the Ten Commandments, and Christ’s teachings on forgiveness, grace, mercy and justice… and second, our God breathed, through the inspiration of His Most Holy Spirit, our Constitution.
· I am calling this sermon today a spiritual history lesson, and hope that in its’ brevity you will leave today, knowing and understanding more than you knew and understood coming in.
This is not at all about politics…this is about our godly foundation laid out by the men who forged, perhaps, the greatest human document of freedom, ever conceived by men under the guidance again, of His Spirit and truth, for by knowing these self-evident truths, and both believing in and practicing them, will keep us on the right path that God has laid out for us, and that in its’ creation, was established to be by the people and for the people. Those words spoken by Abraham Lincoln in His Gettysburg address….following the Civil War, where 500,000 Americans were killed, in an attempt to make one of those wrongs I spoke of above, right, that of the enslaving of other human beings whose skin was not like ours, at a great cost, as often, hard and right decisions are made. Our democracy is built to be self-correcting in their governmental procedures and practices….and our great Constitution, laid the bedrock or foundation for this to happen, throughout our history, past, present and future.
How did the Bible influence our U.S. Constitution? It did so through the men who, who as you will hear, led lives equal to their task. Like us, mere human beings doing their best, under God’s leading to live decent and godly lives. None of them were perfect as none of us are perfect…and so it seems that God often uses, especially, those who are willing….to be instruments in His hands and He will do the rest.
Christians and critics, to this day, at times hotly debate how the Bible influenced this document. Secularists argue that contrary to popular opinion, the Founding Fathers were mostly “deists” at best and, never intended any religious influence in matter of government. A deist holds to the “Belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator, but one who does not intervene in the Universe, or in the world, specifically in any way.”
A brief look at the words of the Convention and the Constitution that it produced, and the religious background of its signers in their personal beliefs prove the secularists wrong. Very wrong in the area.
FYI…also, the words, separation of church and state, are not in the Constitution, but because of my time constraint I could not further explain where it came from and though, we chose unlike the Church of England for example…to have no specific Church or even religion define us a nation…for we allow for the freedom of diverse beliefs, even though our own foundation is most assuredly Christian, as evidenced by as you will now hear, the signers thereof.
Of the 56 signers, this was their religious affiliations………
Episcopalian/Anglican 32 men, 57.1%
Congregationalist 13……….23.2%
Presbyterian 12……….21.4%
Quaker 2…………3.6%
Unitarian Universalists 2…………3.6%
Catholic 1…………1.8%
TOTAL 56……….100%
Not one deist among them……………………………………………
These men were individuals who were Delegates to Congress at that time….possessing many basic similarities. Most, but not all were American born. Eight, foreign born, all but one subscribed to Protestantism, and for the most part political non-extremists….and
many who at first had hesitated at any thought of separation from England, let alone rebellion and the resultant war.
The Book,(THE BIBLE) and the personal beliefs of these men, repeatedly, served as their major reference in the formation of our Constitution was evidentially, the Bible. Their knowledge of and adherence to God’s written word, was what produced the rights of both the individual and the limitations of government in governing.
In pulpits across the nation during those tumultuous times, ministers preached, taught hope, and the dream of collective thinking, and prayerful summations of again, HOPE, if these self-evident trusts were practiced and adhered to.
Reverend Phillips Payson, A.M, preached, saying “We may, then, consider, “What reason have we to expect that, by the blessing of God, These Untied States may prosper and flourish, into a great American Republic, and ascend into high and distinguished honor among the nations of the earth. “To make Thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name and in honor.”
Those words were spoken not in pride…but again, in hope clothed in prayerful humility.
He goes on to say, “that our system of dominion and civil polity would be imperfect without the true religion; or that from diffusion of virtue, among the people of any community, would arise to their greatest secular happiness: which will terminate in this conclusion,”
“That, holiness ought to be the goal of all civil government and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God.”
This next part I mentioned earlier, but it needs repeated. “We are not perfect, but today by denying portions through destruction of our history, has and will make us vulnerable to corruption from within and without. Denial…and elimination create untruths that as the further we recede from the truth, each generation that follows will have no truth on which to build the future.
Still, as a great nation today, we have time to turn from the direction we are heading toward, repent and reaffirm our dependence on a Being, God, greater than ourselves. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence were a profoundly intelligent, religious, and ethically minded group. Four of them were former full-time preachers, and many more were sons of clergymen. Other professions held by signers include lawyers, merchants, doctors, and educators. These Individuals too, were for the most part active churchgoers.
These signers have long inspired deep admiration among secularists, and by traditional religionists, who appreciate the Declaration’s recognition of God as the source of the right enumerated by the document.
I have so much more I could have said….so much more evidence that I could have given, but instead am going to close this message and a message it is…..with a quote from President John Adams.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
This a profound statement…and a warning….that as we move further and further away from these self-evident truths as our foundations…we will continue to falter as attempts continue to be made to destroy or rewrite and teach our youth into the pathway of Marxism. All one needs to do is look at the countries that adopted this corrupt system, where only the elite (who claim to be smarter than the rest of us) make the decisions for all of us….because we are too ignorant…and UTOPIA stand, allegedly at our doorstep.
God give us the strength and wisdom as to know who to countermand, how to stand strong…yet, how to be godly, and, unmoving in His truths, as He says to us in Micah 6:8. “He has shown you O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Amen
July 4, 2021 ~ Independence Day
"The Bible" Is it the foundation of the Constitution?
Macks inn, Island Park, Idaho
Pastor Tom Shanor
Today, as we are all well aware, July 4th is a day recognized across our nation and even the world, as the day of celebration of our INDEPENDENCE from England….a hard fought and hard-won war, costing the lives of 6,800 Americans who fought for freedom, and who willingly laid down their lives for the freedom of those they loved and our freedoms today. . In addition, there were 6,100 wounded, and upwards of 20,000 that were taken as prisoners. Historians believe that at least an additional 17,000 deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,000-12,000 who died while prisoners of war, and so, 245 years later, you and I can freely, gather here, in this little church, without fear of repercussions and, as we know, out of that war came our Constitution, which became our foundation liberty and justice for all, built on their sacrificial deaths.
It is a day of pride, gratefulness, patriotism, of parades, fireworks, bands, and more….and yet, sadly, not all-American citizens celebrate this day, today, as there are those working within and without our nation, to take away many of the freedoms we have come to take for granted.
We are a nation because God has ordained it….and unless, for some reason or reasons, as exampled in the days shortly after Jesus’ ministry, and ascension as Israel and the Temple were destroyed, just as He said they would be, and as a result the Jewish nation ceased to exist, and her people were scattered across the globe, just as it was foretold. Called the Diaspora, until the Great and Awesome day of His return, also as foretold, when all those who are His will be gathered, to Celebrate Jesus, peace, justice and full and grateful hearts.
Whether we continue to stand as a nation depends on our hearts, our willingness to right wrongs, our continued striving for justice for
all, along with repentance and the ensuing forgiveness and restoration, as we place God, in whom we trust, at the forefront of our own sense of right and wrong, seeking guidance and wisdom from Him using as our guide first, the Bible, where we can read and follow the Ten Commandments, and Christ’s teachings on forgiveness, grace, mercy and justice… and second, our God breathed, through the inspiration of His Most Holy Spirit, our Constitution.
· I am calling this sermon today a spiritual history lesson, and hope that in its’ brevity you will leave today, knowing and understanding more than you knew and understood coming in.
This is not at all about politics…this is about our godly foundation laid out by the men who forged, perhaps, the greatest human document of freedom, ever conceived by men under the guidance again, of His Spirit and truth, for by knowing these self-evident truths, and both believing in and practicing them, will keep us on the right path that God has laid out for us, and that in its’ creation, was established to be by the people and for the people. Those words spoken by Abraham Lincoln in His Gettysburg address….following the Civil War, where 500,000 Americans were killed, in an attempt to make one of those wrongs I spoke of above, right, that of the enslaving of other human beings whose skin was not like ours, at a great cost, as often, hard and right decisions are made. Our democracy is built to be self-correcting in their governmental procedures and practices….and our great Constitution, laid the bedrock or foundation for this to happen, throughout our history, past, present and future.
How did the Bible influence our U.S. Constitution? It did so through the men who, who as you will hear, led lives equal to their task. Like us, mere human beings doing their best, under God’s leading to live decent and godly lives. None of them were perfect as none of us are perfect…and so it seems that God often uses, especially, those who are willing….to be instruments in His hands and He will do the rest.
Christians and critics, to this day, at times hotly debate how the Bible influenced this document. Secularists argue that contrary to popular opinion, the Founding Fathers were mostly “deists” at best and, never intended any religious influence in matter of government. A deist holds to the “Belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator, but one who does not intervene in the Universe, or in the world, specifically in any way.”
A brief look at the words of the Convention and the Constitution that it produced, and the religious background of its signers in their personal beliefs prove the secularists wrong. Very wrong in the area.
FYI…also, the words, separation of church and state, are not in the Constitution, but because of my time constraint I could not further explain where it came from and though, we chose unlike the Church of England for example…to have no specific Church or even religion define us a nation…for we allow for the freedom of diverse beliefs, even though our own foundation is most assuredly Christian, as evidenced by as you will now hear, the signers thereof.
Of the 56 signers, this was their religious affiliations………
Episcopalian/Anglican 32 men, 57.1%
Congregationalist 13……….23.2%
Presbyterian 12……….21.4%
Quaker 2…………3.6%
Unitarian Universalists 2…………3.6%
Catholic 1…………1.8%
TOTAL 56……….100%
Not one deist among them……………………………………………
These men were individuals who were Delegates to Congress at that time….possessing many basic similarities. Most, but not all were American born. Eight, foreign born, all but one subscribed to Protestantism, and for the most part political non-extremists….and
many who at first had hesitated at any thought of separation from England, let alone rebellion and the resultant war.
The Book,(THE BIBLE) and the personal beliefs of these men, repeatedly, served as their major reference in the formation of our Constitution was evidentially, the Bible. Their knowledge of and adherence to God’s written word, was what produced the rights of both the individual and the limitations of government in governing.
In pulpits across the nation during those tumultuous times, ministers preached, taught hope, and the dream of collective thinking, and prayerful summations of again, HOPE, if these self-evident trusts were practiced and adhered to.
Reverend Phillips Payson, A.M, preached, saying “We may, then, consider, “What reason have we to expect that, by the blessing of God, These Untied States may prosper and flourish, into a great American Republic, and ascend into high and distinguished honor among the nations of the earth. “To make Thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name and in honor.”
Those words were spoken not in pride…but again, in hope clothed in prayerful humility.
He goes on to say, “that our system of dominion and civil polity would be imperfect without the true religion; or that from diffusion of virtue, among the people of any community, would arise to their greatest secular happiness: which will terminate in this conclusion,”
“That, holiness ought to be the goal of all civil government and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God.”
This next part I mentioned earlier, but it needs repeated. “We are not perfect, but today by denying portions through destruction of our history, has and will make us vulnerable to corruption from within and without. Denial…and elimination create untruths that as the further we recede from the truth, each generation that follows will have no truth on which to build the future.
Still, as a great nation today, we have time to turn from the direction we are heading toward, repent and reaffirm our dependence on a Being, God, greater than ourselves. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence were a profoundly intelligent, religious, and ethically minded group. Four of them were former full-time preachers, and many more were sons of clergymen. Other professions held by signers include lawyers, merchants, doctors, and educators. These Individuals too, were for the most part active churchgoers.
These signers have long inspired deep admiration among secularists, and by traditional religionists, who appreciate the Declaration’s recognition of God as the source of the right enumerated by the document.
I have so much more I could have said….so much more evidence that I could have given, but instead am going to close this message and a message it is…..with a quote from President John Adams.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
This a profound statement…and a warning….that as we move further and further away from these self-evident truths as our foundations…we will continue to falter as attempts continue to be made to destroy or rewrite and teach our youth into the pathway of Marxism. All one needs to do is look at the countries that adopted this corrupt system, where only the elite (who claim to be smarter than the rest of us) make the decisions for all of us….because we are too ignorant…and UTOPIA stand, allegedly at our doorstep.
God give us the strength and wisdom as to know who to countermand, how to stand strong…yet, how to be godly, and, unmoving in His truths, as He says to us in Micah 6:8. “He has shown you O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Amen
Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Idaho
June 27, 2021
"Thy Loving Kindness is Better than L:ife"
Pastor Tom Shanor
Thy loving kindness is better than life,
Thy Loving Kindness is better than Life,
My lips shall praise Thee, thus will I bless Thee,
I will lift up my hand in Thy Name………………
Psalm 63:3-4 (NKJ version) reads, “Because Thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee….because Your loving devotion is better than life….my lips will glorify you.”
The Psalmist is totally involved in this personal worshipful psalm that he is writing….so deep and so great is his love for God, his thoughts, his heart his words….all equal worship.
How can this measure and depth of love of God come to be, in a mere human being, with a God that he can neither see, or touch? His faith is deep and in conjunction with, produces automatically worship…his faith in the reality of His personal relationship with God, because, he has taken the time to cultivate this one-on-one relationship to the depth that is evident in the Psalm.
Worshiping God should involve our feelings because love even in its most basic level…involves feelings. Love often is expressed in forms and in individuals, which are at times new to us, though possibly even uncomfortable, at first, can, if we allow them, to bring freshness and joy into our devotional life, our times of worship and even in study. In true worship….not just in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, but singing them fully engaged in the words and the music and the focusing on the recipient of our worship, can take us to new depths.
Again, worship can and often should involve our feelings….our feelings that rise up, because we are connecting to the One God who gave and gives us life….the very air we breathe, every step we take, every view our eyes take in….sometimes overwhelmed with
gratefulness, we should feel free to express that joy with true emotion and true adoration of our God and by doing so…we honor God. This can be through formal expressions, and deep and passionate expression.
Dynamic devotion at times produces dynamic expression!
Take for instance a worship band. Three of the four churches I started had worship team with bands, using drums, horns, violins, guitar, banjo, piano’s, at times almost a full orchestra, celebrated by those who are playing the instruments and those participating in the singing….as I said a few weeks ago, “clap your hands….all yet people….shout unto God with a voice of triumph, clap your hands all ye people, shout unto God with a voice of praise. Hosanna, Hosanna….shout unto God with a voice of praise.
That may have possibly made some of you UNCOMFORTABLE…….but if one would look at the faces, the body language, listening to the volume of singing….these are most often people (yes, and most often young, but not always) who are doing what Scripture says we are free to do….their hearts are most often, full and in tune with the heart of God. Worship becomes a time of celebration….which then exalts the Person and fulness of God the Creator. God is gloriously present when we worship Him in connection with our hearts, mind, soul, spirit and sometimes even our bodies….as his Word examples and instructs.
If you do not believe me…read Psalm 100, Psalm 30, and many more. Even Jesus talked about giving and invitation to dance and no one would.
I hope you all do not mind me singing as often as I seem to be doing so during my sermons of late….but I just cannot help it.
This song….is about a person, a human being that is so one with God through Christ…that (they) are the very air they breathe.
This is a song that expresses this.
This is the air I breathe,
This is the air I breathe,
Your Holy Presence
Living in me
This is my daily bread,
This is my daily bread,
Your very word
Spoken to me,
And I….I’m desperate for You,
And I….I’m lost without You,
You are the air I breathe,
Your Holy Presence
Living in me
This is my daily bread,
This is my daily bread (the bread of life)
Your very word
Spoken to me,
And I….I’m desperate for You,
And I….I’m lost without You,
I am lost without You……….
So lost without You, so lost without You.
I am personally….lost without God. Without the One and Only God…who exhibits to me and hopefully at times through me….
These aspects of Him that make my life more meaningful, richer, and fuller….when my focus is on Him….and Him through me as I
reach out to others, who also need Him, and looking for a sure way to rise out of the mire that life sometimes pulls us into.
Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the KINDNESS and LOVE of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of our own righteousness, or the things we have done….but because of His MERCY. He saved us through the washing of REBIRTH and RENEWAL by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us GENEROUSLY through Jesus Christ our Savior….Jesus Christ, the name above all names, so, that, having been justified by grace (and not our good deeds) we might become heirs, having the Hope of eternal life.”
In my daily life, little stirs me more in my love of and for Jesus and hope for mankind than simple acts of kindness. I cannot explain it….but whether small acts or large ones…when I see a person being simply kind to someone…or someone is kind to me….I am stirred deeply…and voice in my head and sometimes out loud my gratefulness to the fullness of God….for those acts, which lift me up.
2nd Samuel 2:6 says this, May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same kindness because you have done this.
Kindness often shows up in unexpected ways. After the ship Paul while a prisoner on his way to Rome to stand trial broke apart in a storm….and being told by God that no one would perish….all ending up on a beach where the native population had been watching the ship break apart….instead of being attached in Acts 28:2 he says, “The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.”
What I am about to read is one of the greatest stories of kindness that I have ever come across….the kind that God would be right in the center of…doing out of kindness what to the giver would, well, you will see. It is called The Imperfect Story of Perfection (READ)
It is not a religious story….does not point to Jesus, but points to the fact that within all of us….with compassion, comes kindness that we are all capable of. Random or planned.
When I hear these stories……….of acts of kindness, I am always moved….always believe and aware that God, in and through Jesus uses ordinary people like us….if we are but willing to help change the world one kind act at a time…..and to me they are God breathed….God, in the very air we breathe….the fresh and very real breath of the Spirit coming into and moving through both believers and non-believers….making our world a better place,
When I attribute these acts to God….working through His Created beings, us….I cannot help but want to express to Him my gratefulness, that often lifts me out of my own self-centeredness, that in me turns into worship……that this God, though His Son created such magnificence, also gives us the ability to care. Care enough to reach up and out….to help often ease the pain and ache of someone in need, be it small or large.
Life tests us continually….there are conflicts at every turn, struggles with family and friends, irritating strangers we encounter and so on. Sometimes it is hard to be kind and do good to those immediately around us. But it is the hard things that build into us godly character….for good.
Galatians 6:13….For you, were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but through love, be kind to one another.
Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them, for by treating others how we want to be treated, is one of the best ways to display our God-like hearts, as an act of worship.
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Rewards, come with kindness)
Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in a persons’ heart weighs them down, but a kind word makes them glad.”
THE GOOD NEWS….it costs us nothing to speak kind words to others and even to ourselves.”
1 Samuel 20:14 “But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live.”
Kindness has a secondary benefit….it also makes us healthier….scientifically, by being kind produces endorphins that improve effects such as improved blood flow….synapses are produced by our brain that are beneficial. A merry heart, or a grateful heart is good like a medicine….and all these together make a heart full of gratitude….and gratitude towards God for giving us the ability and actions, in showing kindness that by doing these acts, produces through that gratitude…worship.
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks unto the Holy One, give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ His Son….and now, let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done for me….for us.
Here is a good verse to hold on to….COLOSSIANS 3:12
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Let us say this together as noted on the insert in your bulletin….
This is part of the Good News…for it is God’s desire for us to be always kind too one another. We have been chosen…to do well for and be well to, our sisters and brothers in Jesus.
You are now going to watch a music video…LIFTING UP the WONDEFUL NAME OF JESUS….who was often kind….speaking to and for those who were despised and hated, rejected, and spat upon. The outcast….the brokenhearted, the diseased….offering healing, listening, touching the untouchables. The unforgiven…now forgiven.
You see…in my own eyes….I consider myself one of those I just spoke of….therefore my gratefulness is deep and real.
Pastor Tom
Macks Inn, Idaho
June 27, 2021
"Thy Loving Kindness is Better than L:ife"
Pastor Tom Shanor
Thy loving kindness is better than life,
Thy Loving Kindness is better than Life,
My lips shall praise Thee, thus will I bless Thee,
I will lift up my hand in Thy Name………………
Psalm 63:3-4 (NKJ version) reads, “Because Thy loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise Thee….because Your loving devotion is better than life….my lips will glorify you.”
The Psalmist is totally involved in this personal worshipful psalm that he is writing….so deep and so great is his love for God, his thoughts, his heart his words….all equal worship.
How can this measure and depth of love of God come to be, in a mere human being, with a God that he can neither see, or touch? His faith is deep and in conjunction with, produces automatically worship…his faith in the reality of His personal relationship with God, because, he has taken the time to cultivate this one-on-one relationship to the depth that is evident in the Psalm.
Worshiping God should involve our feelings because love even in its most basic level…involves feelings. Love often is expressed in forms and in individuals, which are at times new to us, though possibly even uncomfortable, at first, can, if we allow them, to bring freshness and joy into our devotional life, our times of worship and even in study. In true worship….not just in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, but singing them fully engaged in the words and the music and the focusing on the recipient of our worship, can take us to new depths.
Again, worship can and often should involve our feelings….our feelings that rise up, because we are connecting to the One God who gave and gives us life….the very air we breathe, every step we take, every view our eyes take in….sometimes overwhelmed with
gratefulness, we should feel free to express that joy with true emotion and true adoration of our God and by doing so…we honor God. This can be through formal expressions, and deep and passionate expression.
Dynamic devotion at times produces dynamic expression!
Take for instance a worship band. Three of the four churches I started had worship team with bands, using drums, horns, violins, guitar, banjo, piano’s, at times almost a full orchestra, celebrated by those who are playing the instruments and those participating in the singing….as I said a few weeks ago, “clap your hands….all yet people….shout unto God with a voice of triumph, clap your hands all ye people, shout unto God with a voice of praise. Hosanna, Hosanna….shout unto God with a voice of praise.
That may have possibly made some of you UNCOMFORTABLE…….but if one would look at the faces, the body language, listening to the volume of singing….these are most often people (yes, and most often young, but not always) who are doing what Scripture says we are free to do….their hearts are most often, full and in tune with the heart of God. Worship becomes a time of celebration….which then exalts the Person and fulness of God the Creator. God is gloriously present when we worship Him in connection with our hearts, mind, soul, spirit and sometimes even our bodies….as his Word examples and instructs.
If you do not believe me…read Psalm 100, Psalm 30, and many more. Even Jesus talked about giving and invitation to dance and no one would.
I hope you all do not mind me singing as often as I seem to be doing so during my sermons of late….but I just cannot help it.
This song….is about a person, a human being that is so one with God through Christ…that (they) are the very air they breathe.
This is a song that expresses this.
This is the air I breathe,
This is the air I breathe,
Your Holy Presence
Living in me
This is my daily bread,
This is my daily bread,
Your very word
Spoken to me,
And I….I’m desperate for You,
And I….I’m lost without You,
You are the air I breathe,
Your Holy Presence
Living in me
This is my daily bread,
This is my daily bread (the bread of life)
Your very word
Spoken to me,
And I….I’m desperate for You,
And I….I’m lost without You,
I am lost without You……….
So lost without You, so lost without You.
I am personally….lost without God. Without the One and Only God…who exhibits to me and hopefully at times through me….
These aspects of Him that make my life more meaningful, richer, and fuller….when my focus is on Him….and Him through me as I
reach out to others, who also need Him, and looking for a sure way to rise out of the mire that life sometimes pulls us into.
Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the KINDNESS and LOVE of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of our own righteousness, or the things we have done….but because of His MERCY. He saved us through the washing of REBIRTH and RENEWAL by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us GENEROUSLY through Jesus Christ our Savior….Jesus Christ, the name above all names, so, that, having been justified by grace (and not our good deeds) we might become heirs, having the Hope of eternal life.”
In my daily life, little stirs me more in my love of and for Jesus and hope for mankind than simple acts of kindness. I cannot explain it….but whether small acts or large ones…when I see a person being simply kind to someone…or someone is kind to me….I am stirred deeply…and voice in my head and sometimes out loud my gratefulness to the fullness of God….for those acts, which lift me up.
2nd Samuel 2:6 says this, May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same kindness because you have done this.
Kindness often shows up in unexpected ways. After the ship Paul while a prisoner on his way to Rome to stand trial broke apart in a storm….and being told by God that no one would perish….all ending up on a beach where the native population had been watching the ship break apart….instead of being attached in Acts 28:2 he says, “The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.”
What I am about to read is one of the greatest stories of kindness that I have ever come across….the kind that God would be right in the center of…doing out of kindness what to the giver would, well, you will see. It is called The Imperfect Story of Perfection (READ)
It is not a religious story….does not point to Jesus, but points to the fact that within all of us….with compassion, comes kindness that we are all capable of. Random or planned.
When I hear these stories……….of acts of kindness, I am always moved….always believe and aware that God, in and through Jesus uses ordinary people like us….if we are but willing to help change the world one kind act at a time…..and to me they are God breathed….God, in the very air we breathe….the fresh and very real breath of the Spirit coming into and moving through both believers and non-believers….making our world a better place,
When I attribute these acts to God….working through His Created beings, us….I cannot help but want to express to Him my gratefulness, that often lifts me out of my own self-centeredness, that in me turns into worship……that this God, though His Son created such magnificence, also gives us the ability to care. Care enough to reach up and out….to help often ease the pain and ache of someone in need, be it small or large.
Life tests us continually….there are conflicts at every turn, struggles with family and friends, irritating strangers we encounter and so on. Sometimes it is hard to be kind and do good to those immediately around us. But it is the hard things that build into us godly character….for good.
Galatians 6:13….For you, were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but through love, be kind to one another.
Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them, for by treating others how we want to be treated, is one of the best ways to display our God-like hearts, as an act of worship.
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Rewards, come with kindness)
Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in a persons’ heart weighs them down, but a kind word makes them glad.”
THE GOOD NEWS….it costs us nothing to speak kind words to others and even to ourselves.”
1 Samuel 20:14 “But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live.”
Kindness has a secondary benefit….it also makes us healthier….scientifically, by being kind produces endorphins that improve effects such as improved blood flow….synapses are produced by our brain that are beneficial. A merry heart, or a grateful heart is good like a medicine….and all these together make a heart full of gratitude….and gratitude towards God for giving us the ability and actions, in showing kindness that by doing these acts, produces through that gratitude…worship.
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks unto the Holy One, give thanks because He has given Jesus Christ His Son….and now, let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done for me….for us.
Here is a good verse to hold on to….COLOSSIANS 3:12
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Let us say this together as noted on the insert in your bulletin….
This is part of the Good News…for it is God’s desire for us to be always kind too one another. We have been chosen…to do well for and be well to, our sisters and brothers in Jesus.
You are now going to watch a music video…LIFTING UP the WONDEFUL NAME OF JESUS….who was often kind….speaking to and for those who were despised and hated, rejected, and spat upon. The outcast….the brokenhearted, the diseased….offering healing, listening, touching the untouchables. The unforgiven…now forgiven.
You see…in my own eyes….I consider myself one of those I just spoke of….therefore my gratefulness is deep and real.
Pastor Tom
Little Church in the Pines
June 06, 2021
"This Today is the Day!"
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
A Prelude………………….
Vs.4. REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS….AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE
Philippians 4:4
Come on Lord….always.
Here are the rest of the verses that go along with that simple but deep phrase.
Vs. 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.
Vs.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.
Vs.7. And…the PEACE of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN…AMEN.
I only wish that with all that this last year and almost a half that we have all gone through….I wish that, I had remembered these verses. Not only remembered them…but had them emblazoned in fire on my heart and in my mind. FEAR of many verities managed to infiltrate my mind at time to the extent that I trembled….especially when one of my unsought Panic Attacks snuck up on me following my two TIA’s.
Fear swept through me like a tornado, and I had to repent before the Lord for not trusting Him completely, in that even if I had died, He would have been with me….and I could have felt His Presence instead of overriding fear.
Fear itself…can kill.
This year has seen many changes in our little church. From the loss of over a dozen people who have moved away, and loss of several through their deaths. Just this last week my sister-in-law Karen…a lovely gentle spirited (but lost soul) unexpectedly died. Alone….with no family or friend to hold her hand or speak any words of comfort. Living in a rooming house….one room, which had rarely been cleaned.
I think of Nancy Phillips, Elsie Grey, Willie Scheel, and my friend Adam Jacobson and others who have died in the parameter of this year.
I think of the changes coming….as more of you decide the winters are too long and hard to endure, and you too moving on. My daughter and son-in-law splitting up, and this list could go on and on…as I grieve for those who lost loved ones in this extended pandemic. The abuse of our police officers…..the loss of those who just because of their race or sexuality who have been targeted and both maimed and killed…..our cities being taken over to an extent by anarchists. Fire in the streets……Marxism raising its ugly head as a supposed solution…
And amid all this reflection and thinking….the words, REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE keep coming back to me.
Does this mean we should not mourn; we can’t get angry; we can’t voice our disgust and despair? Is that what this means?
NO…that is not what this means….but it does mean that within us, as we look to our Lord for comfort, even when we do not understand intellectually with our minds…..He is there to put an arm around us and hold us close….if we will just ask. The closer we are to Him in our daily lives…the easier it will be to ask. Believe….hold on to.
PLEASE pay attention to these next words for in them is truth, truth that is specifically Christian…specifically from the Savior, the Lord.
You see….we see, feel, sense, assess, live in the finite….we see things in the short term….we claim to have faith…and when temporal events happen it is difficult to see and feel beyond them because they are the here and now.
As we walk in faith, and being a Christian is certainly a walk of faith, we must LEARN, and I mean LEARN to see our present life and circumstances in light, in scope, of the future promises that God in Christ has given us in His written word. That this is not the end….but the interim.
We are beings in progress….and what we all endure is not to an end, but to a beginning that takes faith to see and believe in. We are told we can endure trials/suffering now because we KNOW OR SHOULD KNOW IN OUR KNOWER…that all this is transitory, as we head toward eternity with Him, and eternity is an exceptionally long time, very. The Lord also say we can be content in every circumstance. Not meaning we must stay in a difficult circumstance…unless we feel by faith, we must….for there often is something we are to learn in our progression of faith. He asks us (we do not have to) but He asks us to set our eyes on Jesus until we see Him face to face.
Remember the words spoken to John in the Book of Revelation, for ultimately (Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain….for the old order of things has passed away.”
KNOWING THIS….BELIEVING THIS….UNDERSTANDING THIS as truth….is why we can REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS….because it is temporal….and this truth is eternal.
My question…is our faith strong enough to take this in and live it out.
This brings us to TODAY….for TODAY IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE….and we KNOW WE HAVE because we are alive at this moment. We do not know about tomorrow or the next day or tonight, but TODAY, RIGHT NOW is what we know we have.
Philippians 4:4 has it’s root in Psalm 118:24 which also states, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let US rejoice and be glad in it!”
This sermon, REJOICE….I had hoped this morning, along with the music….would be a way of helping us to gently in some way to leave the past, and look forward to the future….for too often we hold on to the past, dragging it along with us like chains.
I myself feel like rejoicing a bit…..There is a difference between happy and rejoice. Joy suggests a more complete, ecstatic, consuming passion than mere happiness, but is a willful choice in
spite of circumstances…as a means of worshiping God, knowing that He has all under his covering.
Rejoice has the root word Joy….which again, is more expressive than mere happiness. It usually involves making noises, like clapping of hand, stomping of feet, jumping in the air with hands raised…all things in worship that many of us are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with.
You see, the word of God tells us there are many dimensions of God’s personality…and yes, He has personality because Jesus said, “when you see Me, you see the Father.” It is the Spirit of God that calls us into rejoicing.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, Rejoice…..and again, I say Rejoice………………
I am asking you this morning a question regarding an aspect of God, and His personality that perhaps many of you are unfamiliar with and along with this theme just might stretch you a bit. In a study “meeting God” the first chapter starts out with this. “Some people think of God as the impersonal soul of the Universe or even the sum-total of everything that is. Others, like to believe He is like a kindly grandfather in the sky, always available to grant our requests. Still, others see God as an absentee landlord (Albert Einstein believed this) who created the world and then went off to a celestial vacation to let things progress on their own. There is not a universally agreed upon description or definition of ‘God,’ and ideas about Him vary from individual to individual and religion to religion.
Moving on from there…..in our Bibles and the Scripture contained thereof, there is as portrait painted that God is often a God of Joy, Happiness, enjoys Celebrations, Songs and even Dance. Believe it or not.
So, this morning, I am as stated, going to use Scripture and some personal experiences and illustrations to back this up as to these character traits of God’s personality.
None of have an issue with singing….unless for some it is off key, or they can’t sing at all. That is….unless the singing is too expressive as in this example of Psalm 100, where it starts out with the word SHOUT. “Shout with Joy to the Lord of all the earth!
Worship the Lord with Gladness
Come before Him singing, with Joy!
Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He has made us, and we are His. We are His people…the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with THANKS-GIVING, go into His courts with Praise.
SHOUT…JOY EXPRESSED, GLADNESS, SINGING WITH JOY AND PRAISE….SHOUT WITH JOY ALL THE EARTH! DON’T HOLD BACK for it beings the Living God great pleasure that those whom He has created…love and love expressing that love.
Here is another one from Psalm l47. This one just might curl the hair of some of you….but remember, it is God’s word….Holy Scripture. It reads…COME, EVRYONE! CLAP YOUR HANDS!
SHOUT TO GOD WITH JOYFUL PRAISE!
We sometimes clap our hands when someone had sung for us or played an instrument for praise and worship.
Some to this day ‘feel’ because of its expressiveness sees it as irreverent.
Years ago…in the beginning of what is known as the charismatic movement within Christiandom….we love to sing this simple chorus. CLAP YOUR HANDS, ALL YE PEOPLE
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF TRIUMPH
CLAP YOUR HLANDS ALL YE PEOPLE…………
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF PRAISE
HOSANNA, HOSANNA,
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF TRIUMPH
PRAISE HIM, PRAISE HIM
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF PRAISE!
Colossians 3:16b “Sing Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord with thankful hearts.”
Thankfulness (and we have much to be thankful for) is backed up by both rational and emotional responses to both small and great blessings….events, people, and situations.
Yet….as a leader…..as I Lead it is also my responsibility to see that all things in our time of worship are to be done decently and maintain order….chaos is not seemingly or to be permitted, yet, on the day of Pentecost…when the Holy Spirit descended as the Lord promised He would….there was lot of orderly but overt and unusual expressions of the Holy Spirit happening that may have seemed chaotic… but I will save that for another time and message.
Anyone here ever been to a full-Pentecostal service? Well, I will say….it can be quite an experience. One that makes even me uncomfortable…..yet…God often moves in their midst in sometimes miraculous ways….so, I am not going to criticize, though over the course of my years of ministry…I have had to on rare occasion, step up and stop some behavior that was out of place and context in a service.
Anyone know who Billy Sunday was…..well, Billy said, “if you have no JOY in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
The famous evangelist Charles Spurgeon, minister and author said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in Joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the tase and comforting to the heart.
In 2nd Samuel 6, King David is returning the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, because the Philistines had captured and taken it. David made a few serious mistakes on the way it was being carried back, but through those acts corrected his mistakes, and was so joyous and joyful that the Ark was coming home….that he danced before the lord. Yep, danced. Verse 14 says “David danced before the Lord with all his might, wear his priestly garments.” He was criticized by his first wife Michael which had some serious consequences for her, for the Lord God was pleased by the passionate, loving expression of David’s dance.
David says in verse 21. “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family.
One more illustration…..in the Methodist Church I pastored in Florence, Oregon….we had two young sisters, ages 3 and 5 who during the worship times (always dressed in cute dresses) when the songs began, would both come into the center aisle and just dance their little hearts out…up and down the aisle. I loved it, but I had in the congregation one rather old curmudgeon who thought it was disrespectful and hated it, talked to me about stopping them….and I of course said I would not, but would encourage him to try it. Didn’t go over very well…..they continued and he never did.
The Lord God who made us……Christ who was with Him from the beginning…..placed in us a spirit capable of deep joy….happiness, with the ability to express that JOY in REJOICING….
You may not have the personality to do so…or the desire, but we must never criticize those who in their genuine expression of emotion, in their love of God….choose to do so…not for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves but for the joy of free expression in sincerity of their love of God, should never be criticized.
I have a question….can you imagine loving God so deeply, so actually real and felt to the point of JOY, TEARS, EMOTION?
I have….twice, in dance. One of those times on a Sunday Service during worship, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, not ask, but tell me to do so. Without hesitation I did. Surprisingly…..no one was offended or shocked….
My wife told me later that day, that as I was dancing out of obedience to the Spirit, and to the Lord….that she actually saw Jesus dancing with, in and around me.
That…just blew my mind…that I should be so blessed because of my obedience…to have danced with my Lord.
Religion….can box us in….
Faith, when alive and real can set us free….
To be willing to move out of the box of religion and into the realm of faith in a living God….with and into the Spirit of Truth and Life, an abundant Life….that can literally bring us JOY, PEACE, LAUGHTER…AND SO MUCH MORE….even amid pain, loss, sorrow, mourning and grief.
God is with us always….the Infinite side by side with the temporarily finite. Us. Jesus, and you, me, together one day….before and with the Father, when the time comes that comes to all. For He said…..HE…the Lord, would NEVER, EVER, LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US. For He died to make us Holy, and Created us to give us life, eternal life when we freely choose to believe in Him. Amen
*REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE*
June 06, 2021
"This Today is the Day!"
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
A Prelude………………….
Vs.4. REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS….AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE
Philippians 4:4
Come on Lord….always.
Here are the rest of the verses that go along with that simple but deep phrase.
Vs. 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.
Vs.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.
Vs.7. And…the PEACE of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN…AMEN.
I only wish that with all that this last year and almost a half that we have all gone through….I wish that, I had remembered these verses. Not only remembered them…but had them emblazoned in fire on my heart and in my mind. FEAR of many verities managed to infiltrate my mind at time to the extent that I trembled….especially when one of my unsought Panic Attacks snuck up on me following my two TIA’s.
Fear swept through me like a tornado, and I had to repent before the Lord for not trusting Him completely, in that even if I had died, He would have been with me….and I could have felt His Presence instead of overriding fear.
Fear itself…can kill.
This year has seen many changes in our little church. From the loss of over a dozen people who have moved away, and loss of several through their deaths. Just this last week my sister-in-law Karen…a lovely gentle spirited (but lost soul) unexpectedly died. Alone….with no family or friend to hold her hand or speak any words of comfort. Living in a rooming house….one room, which had rarely been cleaned.
I think of Nancy Phillips, Elsie Grey, Willie Scheel, and my friend Adam Jacobson and others who have died in the parameter of this year.
I think of the changes coming….as more of you decide the winters are too long and hard to endure, and you too moving on. My daughter and son-in-law splitting up, and this list could go on and on…as I grieve for those who lost loved ones in this extended pandemic. The abuse of our police officers…..the loss of those who just because of their race or sexuality who have been targeted and both maimed and killed…..our cities being taken over to an extent by anarchists. Fire in the streets……Marxism raising its ugly head as a supposed solution…
And amid all this reflection and thinking….the words, REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE keep coming back to me.
Does this mean we should not mourn; we can’t get angry; we can’t voice our disgust and despair? Is that what this means?
NO…that is not what this means….but it does mean that within us, as we look to our Lord for comfort, even when we do not understand intellectually with our minds…..He is there to put an arm around us and hold us close….if we will just ask. The closer we are to Him in our daily lives…the easier it will be to ask. Believe….hold on to.
PLEASE pay attention to these next words for in them is truth, truth that is specifically Christian…specifically from the Savior, the Lord.
You see….we see, feel, sense, assess, live in the finite….we see things in the short term….we claim to have faith…and when temporal events happen it is difficult to see and feel beyond them because they are the here and now.
As we walk in faith, and being a Christian is certainly a walk of faith, we must LEARN, and I mean LEARN to see our present life and circumstances in light, in scope, of the future promises that God in Christ has given us in His written word. That this is not the end….but the interim.
We are beings in progress….and what we all endure is not to an end, but to a beginning that takes faith to see and believe in. We are told we can endure trials/suffering now because we KNOW OR SHOULD KNOW IN OUR KNOWER…that all this is transitory, as we head toward eternity with Him, and eternity is an exceptionally long time, very. The Lord also say we can be content in every circumstance. Not meaning we must stay in a difficult circumstance…unless we feel by faith, we must….for there often is something we are to learn in our progression of faith. He asks us (we do not have to) but He asks us to set our eyes on Jesus until we see Him face to face.
Remember the words spoken to John in the Book of Revelation, for ultimately (Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain….for the old order of things has passed away.”
KNOWING THIS….BELIEVING THIS….UNDERSTANDING THIS as truth….is why we can REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS….because it is temporal….and this truth is eternal.
My question…is our faith strong enough to take this in and live it out.
This brings us to TODAY….for TODAY IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE….and we KNOW WE HAVE because we are alive at this moment. We do not know about tomorrow or the next day or tonight, but TODAY, RIGHT NOW is what we know we have.
Philippians 4:4 has it’s root in Psalm 118:24 which also states, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let US rejoice and be glad in it!”
This sermon, REJOICE….I had hoped this morning, along with the music….would be a way of helping us to gently in some way to leave the past, and look forward to the future….for too often we hold on to the past, dragging it along with us like chains.
I myself feel like rejoicing a bit…..There is a difference between happy and rejoice. Joy suggests a more complete, ecstatic, consuming passion than mere happiness, but is a willful choice in
spite of circumstances…as a means of worshiping God, knowing that He has all under his covering.
Rejoice has the root word Joy….which again, is more expressive than mere happiness. It usually involves making noises, like clapping of hand, stomping of feet, jumping in the air with hands raised…all things in worship that many of us are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with.
You see, the word of God tells us there are many dimensions of God’s personality…and yes, He has personality because Jesus said, “when you see Me, you see the Father.” It is the Spirit of God that calls us into rejoicing.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, Rejoice…..and again, I say Rejoice………………
I am asking you this morning a question regarding an aspect of God, and His personality that perhaps many of you are unfamiliar with and along with this theme just might stretch you a bit. In a study “meeting God” the first chapter starts out with this. “Some people think of God as the impersonal soul of the Universe or even the sum-total of everything that is. Others, like to believe He is like a kindly grandfather in the sky, always available to grant our requests. Still, others see God as an absentee landlord (Albert Einstein believed this) who created the world and then went off to a celestial vacation to let things progress on their own. There is not a universally agreed upon description or definition of ‘God,’ and ideas about Him vary from individual to individual and religion to religion.
Moving on from there…..in our Bibles and the Scripture contained thereof, there is as portrait painted that God is often a God of Joy, Happiness, enjoys Celebrations, Songs and even Dance. Believe it or not.
So, this morning, I am as stated, going to use Scripture and some personal experiences and illustrations to back this up as to these character traits of God’s personality.
None of have an issue with singing….unless for some it is off key, or they can’t sing at all. That is….unless the singing is too expressive as in this example of Psalm 100, where it starts out with the word SHOUT. “Shout with Joy to the Lord of all the earth!
Worship the Lord with Gladness
Come before Him singing, with Joy!
Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He has made us, and we are His. We are His people…the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with THANKS-GIVING, go into His courts with Praise.
SHOUT…JOY EXPRESSED, GLADNESS, SINGING WITH JOY AND PRAISE….SHOUT WITH JOY ALL THE EARTH! DON’T HOLD BACK for it beings the Living God great pleasure that those whom He has created…love and love expressing that love.
Here is another one from Psalm l47. This one just might curl the hair of some of you….but remember, it is God’s word….Holy Scripture. It reads…COME, EVRYONE! CLAP YOUR HANDS!
SHOUT TO GOD WITH JOYFUL PRAISE!
We sometimes clap our hands when someone had sung for us or played an instrument for praise and worship.
Some to this day ‘feel’ because of its expressiveness sees it as irreverent.
Years ago…in the beginning of what is known as the charismatic movement within Christiandom….we love to sing this simple chorus. CLAP YOUR HANDS, ALL YE PEOPLE
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF TRIUMPH
CLAP YOUR HLANDS ALL YE PEOPLE…………
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF PRAISE
HOSANNA, HOSANNA,
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF TRIUMPH
PRAISE HIM, PRAISE HIM
SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF PRAISE!
Colossians 3:16b “Sing Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord with thankful hearts.”
Thankfulness (and we have much to be thankful for) is backed up by both rational and emotional responses to both small and great blessings….events, people, and situations.
Yet….as a leader…..as I Lead it is also my responsibility to see that all things in our time of worship are to be done decently and maintain order….chaos is not seemingly or to be permitted, yet, on the day of Pentecost…when the Holy Spirit descended as the Lord promised He would….there was lot of orderly but overt and unusual expressions of the Holy Spirit happening that may have seemed chaotic… but I will save that for another time and message.
Anyone here ever been to a full-Pentecostal service? Well, I will say….it can be quite an experience. One that makes even me uncomfortable…..yet…God often moves in their midst in sometimes miraculous ways….so, I am not going to criticize, though over the course of my years of ministry…I have had to on rare occasion, step up and stop some behavior that was out of place and context in a service.
Anyone know who Billy Sunday was…..well, Billy said, “if you have no JOY in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
The famous evangelist Charles Spurgeon, minister and author said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in Joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the tase and comforting to the heart.
In 2nd Samuel 6, King David is returning the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, because the Philistines had captured and taken it. David made a few serious mistakes on the way it was being carried back, but through those acts corrected his mistakes, and was so joyous and joyful that the Ark was coming home….that he danced before the lord. Yep, danced. Verse 14 says “David danced before the Lord with all his might, wear his priestly garments.” He was criticized by his first wife Michael which had some serious consequences for her, for the Lord God was pleased by the passionate, loving expression of David’s dance.
David says in verse 21. “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family.
One more illustration…..in the Methodist Church I pastored in Florence, Oregon….we had two young sisters, ages 3 and 5 who during the worship times (always dressed in cute dresses) when the songs began, would both come into the center aisle and just dance their little hearts out…up and down the aisle. I loved it, but I had in the congregation one rather old curmudgeon who thought it was disrespectful and hated it, talked to me about stopping them….and I of course said I would not, but would encourage him to try it. Didn’t go over very well…..they continued and he never did.
The Lord God who made us……Christ who was with Him from the beginning…..placed in us a spirit capable of deep joy….happiness, with the ability to express that JOY in REJOICING….
You may not have the personality to do so…or the desire, but we must never criticize those who in their genuine expression of emotion, in their love of God….choose to do so…not for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves but for the joy of free expression in sincerity of their love of God, should never be criticized.
I have a question….can you imagine loving God so deeply, so actually real and felt to the point of JOY, TEARS, EMOTION?
I have….twice, in dance. One of those times on a Sunday Service during worship, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, not ask, but tell me to do so. Without hesitation I did. Surprisingly…..no one was offended or shocked….
My wife told me later that day, that as I was dancing out of obedience to the Spirit, and to the Lord….that she actually saw Jesus dancing with, in and around me.
That…just blew my mind…that I should be so blessed because of my obedience…to have danced with my Lord.
Religion….can box us in….
Faith, when alive and real can set us free….
To be willing to move out of the box of religion and into the realm of faith in a living God….with and into the Spirit of Truth and Life, an abundant Life….that can literally bring us JOY, PEACE, LAUGHTER…AND SO MUCH MORE….even amid pain, loss, sorrow, mourning and grief.
God is with us always….the Infinite side by side with the temporarily finite. Us. Jesus, and you, me, together one day….before and with the Father, when the time comes that comes to all. For He said…..HE…the Lord, would NEVER, EVER, LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US. For He died to make us Holy, and Created us to give us life, eternal life when we freely choose to believe in Him. Amen
*REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE*
Little Church in the Pines
May 30, 2021
Memorial Day Service Message
The Day . . . It's Inception, Purpose and Celebration
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Today, Memorial Day, this Service, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, is Dedicated to the Brave Men and Women who gave their lives and limbs to fight for this one Nation Under God, indivisible and with Liberty and Justice for All, the United States of America, so that we the people might meet and worship freely without fear . . .
God Bless them All!
In my 30 years of ministry….today is the first time that my focus is the in-depth and non-political celebration and observation of MEMORIAL DAY. Of course, I have always before, during or afterwards had a tribute of those of our fellow country men and women who have served…and are currently serving our United State of America.
It is not my desire as you will recognize, to have this service be, a political rally of any kind, or for any one party, president, etc. My sole desire is to honor those as mentioned above.
I know, you know, we all know that we are not perfect as individuals or as a nation….in fact, as individuals and as a nation we have made some very grave and terrible mistakes. As individuals and as a nation it is our responsibility to acknowledge our mistakes and attempt to correct them, which I, in my 75 years have seen myself and we as a nation do. Sometimes it seems we move too slowly and not deep enough…..but for the most part our attempts are sincere and honest.
I know, and you know, that despite those mistakes, we have been a beacon of light shining in the darkness, not only during times of war, but in times of natural disasters and even sometimes political upheavals in other parts of the world. We are a generous nation…..a generous people, and it is my prayer that we remain so.
We have a great tool…..in fact several, that we fail to use as deeply and consistently as we can and should. The first tool is PRAYER. The second is honest and open discussion when we find ourselves differing (sometimes deeply) from one another. I find we all too often do not respect one another as we should when those differences are being manifested.
Jack Newsome sent me a quote from his mother this last week, and it reads “Show respect even to people who you think don’t deserve it, not as a reflection of their character…but as a reflection of yours.”
Think about that…………………..
I may, and do disagree with some of you in some specific areas, both political and non-political…..but I should not rip you apart…..though I do have the right (thank God) to disagree with, and enter into a meaningful and thoughtful dialogue with you, sometimes even passionately.
I wrote back to Jack…”We seem to have lost the beauty and wisdom of this type of exchanges….as individuals and as a nation.”
He wrote back, “WOW! I had not thought of that as a nation, and how we treat those who may be of different political views.
This is a man with a doctorate in psychology……
I responded…EXACTLY…it is being exampled every day in our Senate, Congress, Oval Office and media…..and (not just by this administration, or this Congress and Senate, but previous ones.
In respect of and for those (as written in the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “He who died to make men holy, let us live to make men free. Glory Halleluiah!
Living to make men free…..takes courage, takes a genuine desire to want freedom for all men and women, regardless of their race, their skin color, their ethnicity, their sex, their personality.
In our hymnal…..on page 684, you can read this.
There is no color barrier with God,
He is color blind.
There are many practical problems which still, must be wisely and with understanding and co-operation, worked out.
But one thing is certain,
That the color barrier
And the Christian Church cannot go together.
The Bible teaches loyalty to country as exampled in the protection of God regarding the nation of Israel, but loyalty and love of
country does not mean that we cannot to criticize and work toward a more perfect union, a more just nation for all its people.
It is the world which God so loved and loves, that Christ laid down His life for…..a world made up of individuals….a great variety of races, as well as those who came before us, for us now…and for those who come after us.
And, within the church, we are a representation the world that is to be the family of God.
We, you, and I, as we meet in this little church, made up of many different denominational backgrounds……are to be an example first, to one another, second, to the community in which we live, and thirdly….to the world as a whole.
Those men and women who gave their lives, and some their limbs came, and still come from all races. Both sexes, with some rich, some poor, some beautiful, some homely…..some small, some large, some well-educated some with little education. All…men and women just like us.
The greatest tragedy is that war itself….was and is the reason for their sacrificial loss.
Men….until the great and awesome day of His coming, will continue to wage war for a great variety of reasons, with the outcome of the majority of the losses being the innocent everyday men and women, both, those who fight and those who simply as ordinary citizens want to live out their lives in peace.
Christ calls us to be peacemakers…..for in the Sermon on the Mount He says “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) As peacemakers, we are to strive to crate peace and attempt to reconcile tings and people that are at odds with one another.
Many of our troops are sent to various places, and even nations to act as peacekeepers and by their individual and corporate behavior as peace makers. This is where they see the people, they are keeping the peace for as equal to themselves….people, men and women just like them, who deserve, just by being people, the right to live peaceful and good lives.
We are to pray for peace every day…………………………………….
Whether our men and women are engaged in what is called a just war, or engaged in peacekeeping….they are always to be peacemakers…..and not only them….but we, who have called upon the God of the Universe….the Savior, our Lord….as He, God calls us to be like His Son.
We have had those in our congregation who worked for the CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security…..those who served in the Navy, the Army, the Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Special Forces.
We all owe them….our freedom and our lives. Our freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Assembly and Petition, Freedom to bear arms, Freedom of Press and with those the Bill of Rights. The various amendments that give us additional freedoms.
No nation on this earth has within its framework such a magnificent system of justice….when it is honored as was intended by the framers of the Constitution.
My heart breaks for all of those killed in all our wars, as an example, the remains just recently identified….Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl M. Bradley, just 19 years old…from Shelley, Idaho who died on the USS Oklahoma. A young man who could have had a full life. a family of his own…..chose, to serve their beloved nation and us.
Because of him and them….we can sit here today in this 82-year-old log building….exercising the freedom of religion….to worship our Lord and God….together, without fear of our door being broken down and arrested for this simple but beautiful freedom.
We are blessed….thank you Fireman 2nd Class, Carl M. Bradley, and all of those like you.
Who in this congregation today….served in one of the several armed force branches of our nation and where?
Would you stand please and tell us……………………Thank you!
We Honor You!
Who in here has, or had a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, brother, sister, relative of any kind? Could you stand and state their name?
We honor them………..
May 30, 2021
Memorial Day Service Message
The Day . . . It's Inception, Purpose and Celebration
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Today, Memorial Day, this Service, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, is Dedicated to the Brave Men and Women who gave their lives and limbs to fight for this one Nation Under God, indivisible and with Liberty and Justice for All, the United States of America, so that we the people might meet and worship freely without fear . . .
God Bless them All!
In my 30 years of ministry….today is the first time that my focus is the in-depth and non-political celebration and observation of MEMORIAL DAY. Of course, I have always before, during or afterwards had a tribute of those of our fellow country men and women who have served…and are currently serving our United State of America.
It is not my desire as you will recognize, to have this service be, a political rally of any kind, or for any one party, president, etc. My sole desire is to honor those as mentioned above.
I know, you know, we all know that we are not perfect as individuals or as a nation….in fact, as individuals and as a nation we have made some very grave and terrible mistakes. As individuals and as a nation it is our responsibility to acknowledge our mistakes and attempt to correct them, which I, in my 75 years have seen myself and we as a nation do. Sometimes it seems we move too slowly and not deep enough…..but for the most part our attempts are sincere and honest.
I know, and you know, that despite those mistakes, we have been a beacon of light shining in the darkness, not only during times of war, but in times of natural disasters and even sometimes political upheavals in other parts of the world. We are a generous nation…..a generous people, and it is my prayer that we remain so.
We have a great tool…..in fact several, that we fail to use as deeply and consistently as we can and should. The first tool is PRAYER. The second is honest and open discussion when we find ourselves differing (sometimes deeply) from one another. I find we all too often do not respect one another as we should when those differences are being manifested.
Jack Newsome sent me a quote from his mother this last week, and it reads “Show respect even to people who you think don’t deserve it, not as a reflection of their character…but as a reflection of yours.”
Think about that…………………..
I may, and do disagree with some of you in some specific areas, both political and non-political…..but I should not rip you apart…..though I do have the right (thank God) to disagree with, and enter into a meaningful and thoughtful dialogue with you, sometimes even passionately.
I wrote back to Jack…”We seem to have lost the beauty and wisdom of this type of exchanges….as individuals and as a nation.”
He wrote back, “WOW! I had not thought of that as a nation, and how we treat those who may be of different political views.
This is a man with a doctorate in psychology……
I responded…EXACTLY…it is being exampled every day in our Senate, Congress, Oval Office and media…..and (not just by this administration, or this Congress and Senate, but previous ones.
In respect of and for those (as written in the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “He who died to make men holy, let us live to make men free. Glory Halleluiah!
Living to make men free…..takes courage, takes a genuine desire to want freedom for all men and women, regardless of their race, their skin color, their ethnicity, their sex, their personality.
In our hymnal…..on page 684, you can read this.
There is no color barrier with God,
He is color blind.
There are many practical problems which still, must be wisely and with understanding and co-operation, worked out.
But one thing is certain,
That the color barrier
And the Christian Church cannot go together.
The Bible teaches loyalty to country as exampled in the protection of God regarding the nation of Israel, but loyalty and love of
country does not mean that we cannot to criticize and work toward a more perfect union, a more just nation for all its people.
It is the world which God so loved and loves, that Christ laid down His life for…..a world made up of individuals….a great variety of races, as well as those who came before us, for us now…and for those who come after us.
And, within the church, we are a representation the world that is to be the family of God.
We, you, and I, as we meet in this little church, made up of many different denominational backgrounds……are to be an example first, to one another, second, to the community in which we live, and thirdly….to the world as a whole.
Those men and women who gave their lives, and some their limbs came, and still come from all races. Both sexes, with some rich, some poor, some beautiful, some homely…..some small, some large, some well-educated some with little education. All…men and women just like us.
The greatest tragedy is that war itself….was and is the reason for their sacrificial loss.
Men….until the great and awesome day of His coming, will continue to wage war for a great variety of reasons, with the outcome of the majority of the losses being the innocent everyday men and women, both, those who fight and those who simply as ordinary citizens want to live out their lives in peace.
Christ calls us to be peacemakers…..for in the Sermon on the Mount He says “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) As peacemakers, we are to strive to crate peace and attempt to reconcile tings and people that are at odds with one another.
Many of our troops are sent to various places, and even nations to act as peacekeepers and by their individual and corporate behavior as peace makers. This is where they see the people, they are keeping the peace for as equal to themselves….people, men and women just like them, who deserve, just by being people, the right to live peaceful and good lives.
We are to pray for peace every day…………………………………….
Whether our men and women are engaged in what is called a just war, or engaged in peacekeeping….they are always to be peacemakers…..and not only them….but we, who have called upon the God of the Universe….the Savior, our Lord….as He, God calls us to be like His Son.
We have had those in our congregation who worked for the CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security…..those who served in the Navy, the Army, the Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Special Forces.
We all owe them….our freedom and our lives. Our freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Assembly and Petition, Freedom to bear arms, Freedom of Press and with those the Bill of Rights. The various amendments that give us additional freedoms.
No nation on this earth has within its framework such a magnificent system of justice….when it is honored as was intended by the framers of the Constitution.
My heart breaks for all of those killed in all our wars, as an example, the remains just recently identified….Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl M. Bradley, just 19 years old…from Shelley, Idaho who died on the USS Oklahoma. A young man who could have had a full life. a family of his own…..chose, to serve their beloved nation and us.
Because of him and them….we can sit here today in this 82-year-old log building….exercising the freedom of religion….to worship our Lord and God….together, without fear of our door being broken down and arrested for this simple but beautiful freedom.
We are blessed….thank you Fireman 2nd Class, Carl M. Bradley, and all of those like you.
Who in this congregation today….served in one of the several armed force branches of our nation and where?
Would you stand please and tell us……………………Thank you!
We Honor You!
Who in here has, or had a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, brother, sister, relative of any kind? Could you stand and state their name?
We honor them………..
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
May 16, 2021
Honest * Integrity = Truth
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Honesty, Integrity, Truth, Valor, Justice, Loyal, Committed. So many fine words that carry such promising and valuable qualities, that each of us as followers of Jesus Christ are to exhibit daily. I think of Him and His brief life…. all that He did, taught, exampled by living out His own words. Words spoken by Him that speak as boldly and cutting edge as much today as they did when He walked this earth.
Then…there are the many who so loved and love Him, admired, and admire Him, and to this day follow Him, living and giving as He, Himself did. His being an example that no man or woman can live up to, to the extent He did, though, some come close.
Here…was a completely honest man/God, who because of who He was could not do otherwise. In His humanity, being both fully human and in being God, fully God.
There is only One of Him….and could be only One of Him. He was not a man who became God, He was and is The God who became man. That…is TRUTH.
His life of Honesty was marked as being free from deceit or untruthfulness, being sincere. Our lives as Christians who be a life marked with integrity and honesty, yet because we (through the Fall of Mankind, our kind and born with the seed of sin, honesty is something we must work at! An honest life, a life living out truth is so vitally important on many, no not many, but all areas of our lives from relationships, starting with our parents, siblings, eventual spouses, and our own children. In our homes, in our workplaces, in our churches, in our recreation, and, also our neighbors, enemies and strangers.
This can only be accomplished with divine help from our Divine Lord. Matthew 7:16 tells us that we are known (by everyone we know and some we do not), by the fruit or deeds that we produce. Let us be, yes, examples, living breathing, speaking examples of our God of truth and life, by first-of-all, desiring to be so. That means that we are to be less self-focused, and more Jesus focused. You, yes you, sitting today, and me standing her right now, (and I am the
one talking) could and just may walk out the door following this service, never really having heard this truth. Never desiring to think about these words, and how they could be and should be applied to all aspects of our lives. Why do we come to such a service as this…. if not to both worship and come with an expectation to be challenged to grow spiritually into the image of the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, our God.
The Lord Himself is challenging you, me, today….to grow beyond your, our own often self-centeredness, otherwise, why would He teach and example for us as He did and does? Why? We are only on this earth for a short while, so instead why don’t we simply, eat, drink, party and spend our time doing only what we want to, with, how and where we want? Why are we here? Today, here?
God calls us to rightness….to honesty, to integrity, to truth, to justice, to charity or love, to give without expecting anything in return.
2 Corinthians 8:21 reads, teaches, says, “for we are taking pains to do what I right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man. Taking pains simply means working at it…for we do have to work at it to put others before our self. We are self-centered at the core of our fallen nature. BUT…. again….we have to want to. We must see the importance (in the eyes of the Lord) to “want to.”
2nd Timothy 2:15 reads, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles (or lives out) the truth that he or she knows.
Ephesians 4:25 reads, “We are to not lie, but speak truth to one another, because we are the body of Christ, together as one with Him.
Almost the whole world knows this one….but only if the whole world would live it out, how awesome it would be.
Luke 6:31…Pay close attention…and ask yourself, “do I do this?” Do I really do this? Do I really?
“Treat others as you would have them treat you!” X3 (let us say it together)
We could say it this way. “I will treat others as I want them to treat me.” This makes it more personal and applicable….
As you get up, out of your seat today….and begin to mingle amongst each other, then as you leave, get in your car, and begin interacting with those you are with…. remember what you said during the service… “I wills treat you as I want you to treat me.”
And how is it you want to be treated? Think about it.
How do you really want to be treated? REALLY?
Honestly….and with integrity…. justly, kindly, with respect?
This is a good one.
Proverbs10:9…Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.
I am agreeing with this…. A lie can only be hidden so long, for I guarantee (having had experience here) the truth will one day come out. Then…. there will be the consequences, for with justice always in God’s hands…. it is true.
Oh…I like this one.
Proverbs 24:26 “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.”
Are you listening to these…..for here is another one, not quite like the last one, but meaningful.
Psalm 1112:5 “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.
Generosity comes from an honest person who has the ability to see through the eyes of God, where there is a need, and how to respond to it.
Generosity…. does not always entail giving money…but giving of one’s time and self. There is as marvelous story of an extremely self-centered youth, who upon becoming a man, who upon hearing (through the word of God) saw himself for what through his choices he had become…and how that Word, spoken by a priest during mass turned his life around. This is an extreme story…. but God’s generosity through us can be from the finite (the smallest of things) to like this man, infinite in scope…. giving the ultimate, himself.
Would you like to hear it? It is titled “Kissing the Beggar’s Lips” which ties into Proverbs 24:26 “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” This was not a kiss of passion, but in a way, it led to a life of fulfilling the passion of God through this man. “Treating Others Like He Would Desire to be Treated if in the same condition of those he reached out to, in the most humbling and exalted ways.
READ……Now that…is life worth living. Treating others as you desire to be treated if you found yourself in such a needy position.
Jesus said, “if you give someone as a small a thing as a glass of water to someone who is thirsty….it is as though you are giving to Him.
Living honest lives…..in every area of our lives can be the most difficult at times….that which we have to do.
Honesty is being truthful……..without personal bias
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness, whole and undivided.
Sadly…there are those who in being what they deem as honest, use what they know….as a weapon instead of an instrument for healing and restoration.
Honesty and truthfulness is a necessity…..but how we wield it is as vital as the honest truth itself.
God desires we be honest and truthful….but we also need the wisdom, that comes along with the truths we know, and that goes for both Biblical and personal, for we have the potential to kill someone spiritually, if we wield truth in such a way as to attack a person, that would cause them to feel unwanted and worthless…..we can kill someone literally by any truth that should be handled lovingly in the act of correction perhaps, but never to destroy. but instead, restore.
Being brutally honest…. can sometimes be just that, brutal. How we speak truth, reveals where our heart is….in how we handle the truths honestly, regarding both ourselves and someone else needs wisdom.
Jesus was brutally honest at times with the pharisees and religious leaders of his day…. but, his reason was that they were so full of themselves and so hard hearted….it was the only way He could break through to them of their all-consuming self-centeredness.
There are even those who would use God’s truths to simply hold power of people who are looking for a place to belong…a place where they feel wanted, secure and home. We have to be on the lookout for just such as these….all the time. Therefore, we are to test every word that anyone who claims to be of or from God says to us, and that includes this person here. Me.
I attempt by the wisdom of God and His power, to speak truth, truthfully, honestly and without persona bias. Sometimes I am misunderstood and therefore should have done a better job in my presentation….and when that happens you have the freedom to come to me and honestly and with the right attitude talk with me, not to me about your concerns.
Today…in our nation, and in both our churches and government, there are those who are twisting the very words of Jesus in such a way as to change their meaning and intent. His words are to bring life, but also correction and direction. We should not run from correction but embrace the truths that are spoken to correct us. We…need to know the written Word ourselves, not just relying on others like myself to explain it to you….and the reason for that is for self-edification, correction, encouragement, comfort….and direction. So that if you hear something being misspoken or misused…. you will know it and respond in such a way as to correct the speaker. For many who claim to speak the truth…are liars and deceivers if possible, even leading astray the elect/chosen.
I’m going to end this with Philippians 4:8-9.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy…think about these things, for whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the peace of God will be in and with you.”
I say AMEN TO THAT!
In saying amen….I am going to read them again……………….
You know…you just cannot go wrong with those in your life!
SELAH…think about it!
John 8:32…truth is all about freedom. NLT…And you…will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Jesus Himself is the truth that sets us free. He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what right. He frees us from continued slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He shows us clearly the way to life…even eternal life with God. Thus, Jesus does not give us the freedom to do what we want, but the freedom to follow God in Christ, as we seek to know and serve God. Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God designed us to be.
May 16, 2021
Honest * Integrity = Truth
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Honesty, Integrity, Truth, Valor, Justice, Loyal, Committed. So many fine words that carry such promising and valuable qualities, that each of us as followers of Jesus Christ are to exhibit daily. I think of Him and His brief life…. all that He did, taught, exampled by living out His own words. Words spoken by Him that speak as boldly and cutting edge as much today as they did when He walked this earth.
Then…there are the many who so loved and love Him, admired, and admire Him, and to this day follow Him, living and giving as He, Himself did. His being an example that no man or woman can live up to, to the extent He did, though, some come close.
Here…was a completely honest man/God, who because of who He was could not do otherwise. In His humanity, being both fully human and in being God, fully God.
There is only One of Him….and could be only One of Him. He was not a man who became God, He was and is The God who became man. That…is TRUTH.
His life of Honesty was marked as being free from deceit or untruthfulness, being sincere. Our lives as Christians who be a life marked with integrity and honesty, yet because we (through the Fall of Mankind, our kind and born with the seed of sin, honesty is something we must work at! An honest life, a life living out truth is so vitally important on many, no not many, but all areas of our lives from relationships, starting with our parents, siblings, eventual spouses, and our own children. In our homes, in our workplaces, in our churches, in our recreation, and, also our neighbors, enemies and strangers.
This can only be accomplished with divine help from our Divine Lord. Matthew 7:16 tells us that we are known (by everyone we know and some we do not), by the fruit or deeds that we produce. Let us be, yes, examples, living breathing, speaking examples of our God of truth and life, by first-of-all, desiring to be so. That means that we are to be less self-focused, and more Jesus focused. You, yes you, sitting today, and me standing her right now, (and I am the
one talking) could and just may walk out the door following this service, never really having heard this truth. Never desiring to think about these words, and how they could be and should be applied to all aspects of our lives. Why do we come to such a service as this…. if not to both worship and come with an expectation to be challenged to grow spiritually into the image of the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, our God.
The Lord Himself is challenging you, me, today….to grow beyond your, our own often self-centeredness, otherwise, why would He teach and example for us as He did and does? Why? We are only on this earth for a short while, so instead why don’t we simply, eat, drink, party and spend our time doing only what we want to, with, how and where we want? Why are we here? Today, here?
God calls us to rightness….to honesty, to integrity, to truth, to justice, to charity or love, to give without expecting anything in return.
2 Corinthians 8:21 reads, teaches, says, “for we are taking pains to do what I right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man. Taking pains simply means working at it…for we do have to work at it to put others before our self. We are self-centered at the core of our fallen nature. BUT…. again….we have to want to. We must see the importance (in the eyes of the Lord) to “want to.”
2nd Timothy 2:15 reads, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles (or lives out) the truth that he or she knows.
Ephesians 4:25 reads, “We are to not lie, but speak truth to one another, because we are the body of Christ, together as one with Him.
Almost the whole world knows this one….but only if the whole world would live it out, how awesome it would be.
Luke 6:31…Pay close attention…and ask yourself, “do I do this?” Do I really do this? Do I really?
“Treat others as you would have them treat you!” X3 (let us say it together)
We could say it this way. “I will treat others as I want them to treat me.” This makes it more personal and applicable….
As you get up, out of your seat today….and begin to mingle amongst each other, then as you leave, get in your car, and begin interacting with those you are with…. remember what you said during the service… “I wills treat you as I want you to treat me.”
And how is it you want to be treated? Think about it.
How do you really want to be treated? REALLY?
Honestly….and with integrity…. justly, kindly, with respect?
This is a good one.
Proverbs10:9…Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.
I am agreeing with this…. A lie can only be hidden so long, for I guarantee (having had experience here) the truth will one day come out. Then…. there will be the consequences, for with justice always in God’s hands…. it is true.
Oh…I like this one.
Proverbs 24:26 “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.”
Are you listening to these…..for here is another one, not quite like the last one, but meaningful.
Psalm 1112:5 “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.
Generosity comes from an honest person who has the ability to see through the eyes of God, where there is a need, and how to respond to it.
Generosity…. does not always entail giving money…but giving of one’s time and self. There is as marvelous story of an extremely self-centered youth, who upon becoming a man, who upon hearing (through the word of God) saw himself for what through his choices he had become…and how that Word, spoken by a priest during mass turned his life around. This is an extreme story…. but God’s generosity through us can be from the finite (the smallest of things) to like this man, infinite in scope…. giving the ultimate, himself.
Would you like to hear it? It is titled “Kissing the Beggar’s Lips” which ties into Proverbs 24:26 “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” This was not a kiss of passion, but in a way, it led to a life of fulfilling the passion of God through this man. “Treating Others Like He Would Desire to be Treated if in the same condition of those he reached out to, in the most humbling and exalted ways.
READ……Now that…is life worth living. Treating others as you desire to be treated if you found yourself in such a needy position.
Jesus said, “if you give someone as a small a thing as a glass of water to someone who is thirsty….it is as though you are giving to Him.
Living honest lives…..in every area of our lives can be the most difficult at times….that which we have to do.
Honesty is being truthful……..without personal bias
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness, whole and undivided.
Sadly…there are those who in being what they deem as honest, use what they know….as a weapon instead of an instrument for healing and restoration.
Honesty and truthfulness is a necessity…..but how we wield it is as vital as the honest truth itself.
God desires we be honest and truthful….but we also need the wisdom, that comes along with the truths we know, and that goes for both Biblical and personal, for we have the potential to kill someone spiritually, if we wield truth in such a way as to attack a person, that would cause them to feel unwanted and worthless…..we can kill someone literally by any truth that should be handled lovingly in the act of correction perhaps, but never to destroy. but instead, restore.
Being brutally honest…. can sometimes be just that, brutal. How we speak truth, reveals where our heart is….in how we handle the truths honestly, regarding both ourselves and someone else needs wisdom.
Jesus was brutally honest at times with the pharisees and religious leaders of his day…. but, his reason was that they were so full of themselves and so hard hearted….it was the only way He could break through to them of their all-consuming self-centeredness.
There are even those who would use God’s truths to simply hold power of people who are looking for a place to belong…a place where they feel wanted, secure and home. We have to be on the lookout for just such as these….all the time. Therefore, we are to test every word that anyone who claims to be of or from God says to us, and that includes this person here. Me.
I attempt by the wisdom of God and His power, to speak truth, truthfully, honestly and without persona bias. Sometimes I am misunderstood and therefore should have done a better job in my presentation….and when that happens you have the freedom to come to me and honestly and with the right attitude talk with me, not to me about your concerns.
Today…in our nation, and in both our churches and government, there are those who are twisting the very words of Jesus in such a way as to change their meaning and intent. His words are to bring life, but also correction and direction. We should not run from correction but embrace the truths that are spoken to correct us. We…need to know the written Word ourselves, not just relying on others like myself to explain it to you….and the reason for that is for self-edification, correction, encouragement, comfort….and direction. So that if you hear something being misspoken or misused…. you will know it and respond in such a way as to correct the speaker. For many who claim to speak the truth…are liars and deceivers if possible, even leading astray the elect/chosen.
I’m going to end this with Philippians 4:8-9.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy…think about these things, for whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the peace of God will be in and with you.”
I say AMEN TO THAT!
In saying amen….I am going to read them again……………….
You know…you just cannot go wrong with those in your life!
SELAH…think about it!
John 8:32…truth is all about freedom. NLT…And you…will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Jesus Himself is the truth that sets us free. He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what right. He frees us from continued slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He shows us clearly the way to life…even eternal life with God. Thus, Jesus does not give us the freedom to do what we want, but the freedom to follow God in Christ, as we seek to know and serve God. Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God designed us to be.
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
"Our Journey With Jesus"
May 9, 2021
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
The words journey, journeyed, journeying, journeyer are replete in both the Old and New Testaments. As an example, the first time it is used is in the Old Testament found in Genesis 11:2, And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. (Shinar and Shanor) FYI have the same meaning, "a level beautiful plain." A Hebrew word.
In the New Testament, we read in Acts 9:3, And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly, there, shined round about him a light from heaven.
Also, FYI…there is a difference between a trip and a journey. They are often confused as words that give the same meaning though those who have a good understanding of the English language know the difference. Me, I had to look it up, even though I suspected there was a difference.
They can also be used as both nouns and verbs.
Journey means "if you want to talk about a particular piece of travel, you can use the word journey as in the first Illustration in Genesis…..they journey from the east to the plain of Shinar.
On the other hand, a trip indicates both the movement and the trip together, not necessarily mentioning the place left or the destination.
I suppose to be accurate, I should have titled this message differently to be correct, but Connie had already printed the title on the bulletin.
Jesus and I (we) together are on a trip, journeying from where we met, to our mutual destination, heaven. When we met and how we met is a vital part of our journey because when and where will be, a reflection of that vital starting point. We will never forget it and often look back in gratitude, and sometimes solemn joy, that what came to be, though unexpected or expected, was the beginning of our life-long journey "together ~ in Christ Alone.
In Christ alone, it means that there will be no other figure, or god (with a small g), or religion. It is in Christ alone….that we find our journey, though at times filled with troubles, gains and losses, friends and foe, stormy seas to cross and high mountain-tops to climb…we will journey together, forever. Our faith may waver, our hearts may be broken, our health compromised, loved ones going the way all of us go ultimately.
As the Hymn, we heard last week….when He carries us on His shoulder, when He holds our hands to keep us from falling off, when there is only one set of footprints in the sand…..and we wonder how we are going to make it through….He, again, as I said last week, will never leave us…never forsake us.
In Christ Alone…we find our foundation strong, able to walk as He walked. We find in the Hymn you will both see and hear what He does for us in this journey if we will take the time to come to know Him well and deep. By His Spirit, we will be able at times feel His breath upon us, lifting us into places we could never have imagined, even in the most troubling of times.
When I was 25, I was introduced to Transcendental Meditation through a friend. I became quite a devoted follower, taking two times a day, twenty minutes each time to meditate, using my mantra, a word that later I found was the name of a Hindu god. I was faithful to my new religion but battled within myself as to how my belief in Jesus could co-exist with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
I attended a conference outside of Logan, Utah, with a good friend to listen to the teachings of the Maharishi on video, and of course to delve deeper into meditation, by the way of which I had some rather intense experiences, but in one video, a follower asked him about Jesus. His answer was, He was a great teacher but no more than that. At that moment, I felt within myself a deep conviction, having been born-again in Christ to know that what was just said was a lie. At that moment….with that conviction growing, I turned my back on TM, never to take it up again.
Even during that wayward time, I knew that the Lord had indeed never left or forsaken me but stayed by my side, patiently talking to me through His written word and beckoning me ever back to where I needed to be.
In Christ Alone…….
As we purposefully walk this journey, ever aware of our ultimate destination, here are some of the teachings that He gives us, again, in His word and in our hearts to learn an live out. You will be familiar with them as I often speak of them. Sometimes though, we don't go far enough and do enough to validate the essence and depth of what He is calling us to do and, most of all, be.
These tell me when I both do them and see you doing them, that indeed we are His disciples….His followers, the true children of God.
PLEASE listen closely to these…..and ask the living Spirit of God if this is who you are…..because it is who we should be. Like Him.
This journey together, and in Christ Alone, for each and all of us is in many ways a difficult one because in it….we are to be humble and yet strong, live and yet die to ourselves. Be joyful even when sorrow surrounds us.
Roy Anthony Borges was a prison inmate who, becoming a Christian, had some very bad things to unlearn. All his life, he had been taught to hate, hate his enemies, and hate those whom he envied who had more and better than he had, using every opportunity he could to take from them, even while behind prison walls. One of his most consistent enemies was a fellow inmate, Rodney, who stole his radio and headphones one day while Roy was playing volleyball in the prison yard. The radio, a gift from his mother, was dear to him. The earphones had been a Christmas gift from his sister. Roy was angry, very angry, and wanted revenge. But, as he prayed, it seemed to him that this was a test from God.
Day after day, Roy wanted to respond as he would have in the past, violently, to know the wisecrack grin off Rodney's face. But the Lord had something else in mind for him. Romans 12:20-21 kept coming back again and again to him where Paul's instruction was to avoid vengeance and leave it to God to take care of it. Roy began to look at Rodney through the eyes of Jesus and have compassion for him. He then started praying for Rodney. He began to live out this teaching, trusting God to accomplish something good in Rodney's life.
Over time, Roy's hatred for Rodney began fading, and he found himself helping his enemy by telling him about Jesus and what he believed how he was to respond.
Then one day…..Roy wrote later, "I saw Rodney kneeling next to his bunk reading a Bible, and I knew…..that good had overcome evil.
Good overcomes evil, and daylight disperses the darkness. A candlelight, though tiny, can be seen on a dark windless night over a distance of ten miles.
Our light…the light of Christ in us, when we are living our everyday lives as examples of Him can be seen by all who know us, but even among strangers….as well as our enemies.
I would say almost all of us have people whom we could have a reason to hate or even dislike, but that is not to be the way of a Believer, a follower of Jesus. In hate, we have the most to lose, for we cannot have the peace of God in us if we hate, and knowing what that peace is….and how it feels when it is gone, indeed we are the real losers.
I once had a member of my congregation in Lander, Wyoming, ask me when I was going to cease speaking on love, forgiveness, and peace….etc., and start revealing how we should react to our corrupt government and those who hated us. His way was to buy more guns and get ready for the time when we would have to defend ourselves against our enemies.
He left the church shortly after that.
Jesus' love and, therefore, ours is not tied into or requires affectionate love, but a deliberate choice to stand down from hating and by doing good. It is just that simple….though simple in theory, is as we know difficult (under our own power) but not His.
He tells us not to emulate or be like the world…but be like Him. "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat, and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink." These are fundamental ways to turn from hatred to expressing who Jesus is in our Journey with Him. It is not at all an easy journey, but we can do all things, all things, through the love and power of Christ.
This I am about to share is a bit like a parable that will require you to give some thought to, for it goes a bit deeper than what the words convey on the surface…..for it is a metaphor.
There is an old story of a holy man who, while meditating under the shade of a tree by a small brook, noticed a scorpion struggling to get out of the swirling, rapid water. Its effort to climb onto a rock was futile as the side was wet and steep, the current being too strong. The holy man, taking pity on the creature and its efforts, tried to help it. But the scorpion kept striking back at him, even in the water.
A friend of the holy man, passing by, said, "don't you realize that it is the nature of the scorpion to attack and sting, my friend."
"Yes," said the holy man, "but it is my nature to save and rescue. Why should I change my nature just because the scorpion doesn't change his?'
There will be many things, people, events, temptations, distractions that will attempt to try and knock us off this path, this journey with Him. We must keep our eyes on Him…on Christ Alone. We must. Not only for our sake but for the sake of those who, through our relationship with Him will too, be touched by His great grace, mercy, forgiveness, and yes, love.
Our Christian nature…..is not the nature of the fallen world, but the new nature of a new world to come, becoming new men and new women….as we journey together with Him, we become more and more like Him, in every way. He carries our baggage, eventually ridding both Himself and us of it….completely…..to where we together become ONE. In Christ alone……………SONG.
Island Park, Idaho
"Our Journey With Jesus"
May 9, 2021
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
The words journey, journeyed, journeying, journeyer are replete in both the Old and New Testaments. As an example, the first time it is used is in the Old Testament found in Genesis 11:2, And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. (Shinar and Shanor) FYI have the same meaning, "a level beautiful plain." A Hebrew word.
In the New Testament, we read in Acts 9:3, And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly, there, shined round about him a light from heaven.
Also, FYI…there is a difference between a trip and a journey. They are often confused as words that give the same meaning though those who have a good understanding of the English language know the difference. Me, I had to look it up, even though I suspected there was a difference.
They can also be used as both nouns and verbs.
Journey means "if you want to talk about a particular piece of travel, you can use the word journey as in the first Illustration in Genesis…..they journey from the east to the plain of Shinar.
On the other hand, a trip indicates both the movement and the trip together, not necessarily mentioning the place left or the destination.
I suppose to be accurate, I should have titled this message differently to be correct, but Connie had already printed the title on the bulletin.
Jesus and I (we) together are on a trip, journeying from where we met, to our mutual destination, heaven. When we met and how we met is a vital part of our journey because when and where will be, a reflection of that vital starting point. We will never forget it and often look back in gratitude, and sometimes solemn joy, that what came to be, though unexpected or expected, was the beginning of our life-long journey "together ~ in Christ Alone.
In Christ alone, it means that there will be no other figure, or god (with a small g), or religion. It is in Christ alone….that we find our journey, though at times filled with troubles, gains and losses, friends and foe, stormy seas to cross and high mountain-tops to climb…we will journey together, forever. Our faith may waver, our hearts may be broken, our health compromised, loved ones going the way all of us go ultimately.
As the Hymn, we heard last week….when He carries us on His shoulder, when He holds our hands to keep us from falling off, when there is only one set of footprints in the sand…..and we wonder how we are going to make it through….He, again, as I said last week, will never leave us…never forsake us.
In Christ Alone…we find our foundation strong, able to walk as He walked. We find in the Hymn you will both see and hear what He does for us in this journey if we will take the time to come to know Him well and deep. By His Spirit, we will be able at times feel His breath upon us, lifting us into places we could never have imagined, even in the most troubling of times.
When I was 25, I was introduced to Transcendental Meditation through a friend. I became quite a devoted follower, taking two times a day, twenty minutes each time to meditate, using my mantra, a word that later I found was the name of a Hindu god. I was faithful to my new religion but battled within myself as to how my belief in Jesus could co-exist with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
I attended a conference outside of Logan, Utah, with a good friend to listen to the teachings of the Maharishi on video, and of course to delve deeper into meditation, by the way of which I had some rather intense experiences, but in one video, a follower asked him about Jesus. His answer was, He was a great teacher but no more than that. At that moment, I felt within myself a deep conviction, having been born-again in Christ to know that what was just said was a lie. At that moment….with that conviction growing, I turned my back on TM, never to take it up again.
Even during that wayward time, I knew that the Lord had indeed never left or forsaken me but stayed by my side, patiently talking to me through His written word and beckoning me ever back to where I needed to be.
In Christ Alone…….
As we purposefully walk this journey, ever aware of our ultimate destination, here are some of the teachings that He gives us, again, in His word and in our hearts to learn an live out. You will be familiar with them as I often speak of them. Sometimes though, we don't go far enough and do enough to validate the essence and depth of what He is calling us to do and, most of all, be.
These tell me when I both do them and see you doing them, that indeed we are His disciples….His followers, the true children of God.
PLEASE listen closely to these…..and ask the living Spirit of God if this is who you are…..because it is who we should be. Like Him.
- Love your enemies.
- Pray for those who persecute you.
- Do not love only those who love you, but those who hate you.
- Do good to those who hate you and spitefully use you.
- Bless those who curse you.
- Pray for those who would harm or hurt you.
- Give beyond what is expected of you.
- Do not pan or carry out vengeance or retaliation.
- Love justice and extend mercy.
- Forgive, even when you feel justified in not doing so.
This journey together, and in Christ Alone, for each and all of us is in many ways a difficult one because in it….we are to be humble and yet strong, live and yet die to ourselves. Be joyful even when sorrow surrounds us.
Roy Anthony Borges was a prison inmate who, becoming a Christian, had some very bad things to unlearn. All his life, he had been taught to hate, hate his enemies, and hate those whom he envied who had more and better than he had, using every opportunity he could to take from them, even while behind prison walls. One of his most consistent enemies was a fellow inmate, Rodney, who stole his radio and headphones one day while Roy was playing volleyball in the prison yard. The radio, a gift from his mother, was dear to him. The earphones had been a Christmas gift from his sister. Roy was angry, very angry, and wanted revenge. But, as he prayed, it seemed to him that this was a test from God.
Day after day, Roy wanted to respond as he would have in the past, violently, to know the wisecrack grin off Rodney's face. But the Lord had something else in mind for him. Romans 12:20-21 kept coming back again and again to him where Paul's instruction was to avoid vengeance and leave it to God to take care of it. Roy began to look at Rodney through the eyes of Jesus and have compassion for him. He then started praying for Rodney. He began to live out this teaching, trusting God to accomplish something good in Rodney's life.
Over time, Roy's hatred for Rodney began fading, and he found himself helping his enemy by telling him about Jesus and what he believed how he was to respond.
Then one day…..Roy wrote later, "I saw Rodney kneeling next to his bunk reading a Bible, and I knew…..that good had overcome evil.
Good overcomes evil, and daylight disperses the darkness. A candlelight, though tiny, can be seen on a dark windless night over a distance of ten miles.
Our light…the light of Christ in us, when we are living our everyday lives as examples of Him can be seen by all who know us, but even among strangers….as well as our enemies.
I would say almost all of us have people whom we could have a reason to hate or even dislike, but that is not to be the way of a Believer, a follower of Jesus. In hate, we have the most to lose, for we cannot have the peace of God in us if we hate, and knowing what that peace is….and how it feels when it is gone, indeed we are the real losers.
I once had a member of my congregation in Lander, Wyoming, ask me when I was going to cease speaking on love, forgiveness, and peace….etc., and start revealing how we should react to our corrupt government and those who hated us. His way was to buy more guns and get ready for the time when we would have to defend ourselves against our enemies.
He left the church shortly after that.
Jesus' love and, therefore, ours is not tied into or requires affectionate love, but a deliberate choice to stand down from hating and by doing good. It is just that simple….though simple in theory, is as we know difficult (under our own power) but not His.
He tells us not to emulate or be like the world…but be like Him. "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat, and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink." These are fundamental ways to turn from hatred to expressing who Jesus is in our Journey with Him. It is not at all an easy journey, but we can do all things, all things, through the love and power of Christ.
This I am about to share is a bit like a parable that will require you to give some thought to, for it goes a bit deeper than what the words convey on the surface…..for it is a metaphor.
There is an old story of a holy man who, while meditating under the shade of a tree by a small brook, noticed a scorpion struggling to get out of the swirling, rapid water. Its effort to climb onto a rock was futile as the side was wet and steep, the current being too strong. The holy man, taking pity on the creature and its efforts, tried to help it. But the scorpion kept striking back at him, even in the water.
A friend of the holy man, passing by, said, "don't you realize that it is the nature of the scorpion to attack and sting, my friend."
"Yes," said the holy man, "but it is my nature to save and rescue. Why should I change my nature just because the scorpion doesn't change his?'
There will be many things, people, events, temptations, distractions that will attempt to try and knock us off this path, this journey with Him. We must keep our eyes on Him…on Christ Alone. We must. Not only for our sake but for the sake of those who, through our relationship with Him will too, be touched by His great grace, mercy, forgiveness, and yes, love.
Our Christian nature…..is not the nature of the fallen world, but the new nature of a new world to come, becoming new men and new women….as we journey together with Him, we become more and more like Him, in every way. He carries our baggage, eventually ridding both Himself and us of it….completely…..to where we together become ONE. In Christ alone……………SONG.
Little Church in the Pines
Why Pray?
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
April 25, 2021
Today’s sermon comes from the Reflections Column this week that Connie Funkhouser wrote and from a conversation Kelley, who wants to have a ‘long conversation’ on prayer. I referred her to the Reflections article, but her question to me was “why should we pray if God already knows the outcome, and basically predestined it?” Well, that set me to thinking….because when she asked me this, I was standing outside her new trailer on the doorstep trying to get it to work. But Kelley is like that, in that her mind is going all the time for it is not the first time she has said “we have to have a long conversation,” and most likely will not be the last.
PRAY….the word itself is a verb, meaning there is action in praying, in more than several ways and forms. It is simply (no matter the place or form) a request or petition being made in a hopefully and hope-full and humble manner…given the multiple reasons we set out to make a petition. We are doing so….because, whatever it is we are praying for is most often something beyond our ability to do anything about, and therefore we go to the one God, complete in His Son and Spirit, to ask to be heard and present our request.
At this time, I am recommending Connie’s article in the Island Park News if you have not read it. I in some ways will be most likely repeating or rather backing up what was written and written so thoroughly and well, that it should be read.
Most of you know that I enjoy statistics, so here are several that tie in well with my topic.
PRAYER manifests itself not only in petitioning, but in worship, confession and in giving thanks.
You can be anywhere, any place and at any time and pray. Prayers are not MORE effective just because they take place in a church building, for it is more effective if they are coming from a sincere and humble, needy heart/person.
When we sing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs, they are in a very real sense a prayer denoting worship and adoration…especially if we are really paying or praying attention to the words themselves, and how we are singing them as they tell a story of most often our love of and for God,
In some ways prayer is one of the most mysterious aspects of our Christian journey. We sometimes wonder if God really hears our prayers and have a real effect on both our lives and the lives we are praying for. Do we have to use certain words, said in certain ways or with certain intonations….the simple answer to that is simply NO.
It should be recognized as a privilege. Here we are, so many of us ordinary every-day people….and by being given the gift of being able to communicate with God through prayer, worship, petitions, and thanksgiving. We are privileged because He desires that we do so. He likes, yes, likes being acknowledged by our talking to and with Him. In all the ways we engage in conversation with God, He desires deeply that we always be honest with Him, for really, He can see right through us when we are not.
There are people who through their prayers love to draw attention to themselves because they are (in their own opinion) quite good at
using the right words, the right tone and all else that they are putting into it. It is really the people around them they are hoping to impress more than the sincerity of their petitions or singing.
Remembering who God is, which of course comprises the entire Godhead…should be enough to humble ourselves both before man and God.
Prayer is also an invitation to get to know Him better. He is so far above us yet so near to us in His Son, Jesus who Scripture points out to us their holiness, and comprehendible since He reveals Himself to us. God allows us to approach Him. In fact, HE desires it. We are to communicate with Him as though we were talking with a close friend or family member that we trust and love, because they, like Him are listening to us. To deepen our understanding of who God is to pray often, commune often in all situations….and by doing this we deepen our relationship.
It is so remarkably simple to understand, because the more time we spend with a person or with God Himself, the better the relationship has the potential to become. (think about it)
We should exercise (think about that word) this privilege of prayer because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for in bridging the communication gap. Heretofore, it was only the priests who were permitted to legally pray for the sins of the people, and other’s petitions, but again, the priests along with the sacrifices. That all changed with the ultimate sacrifice…of Christ on the Cross. Because of what He did, we can now (every one of us) go the Lord in prayer.
Hebrews 4:15-16 refers to Jesus as (OUR High Priest) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning). Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we then receive mercy and find grace, to help us in our time of need(s).” Because of Jesus and Jesus only, we are free to pray and to pray boldly.
We also pray because we are commanded to Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him and bless His name!” Thanking God, praising Him and blessing Him are all aspects of PRAYER.
Matthew 6:5-13 describes Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray. He begins with discourse by saying,” and when you pray,” which tells us that it is assumed we will pray, or am called to pray, as He, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray with instructions to ask, seek and knock. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul writes, “pray without ceasing” meaning, how we live out our everyday lives is also a prayer, because in doing so rightly, in representing Him we draw others to Him….this is called a lifestyle prayer.
Jesus sets an example of prayer for us that together we pray this prayer every Sunday as part of our Communion celebration. This prayer is found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.
The Lord’s prayer, also sometimes called the Disciples Prayer has been memorized by countless Christians throughout our history and like we, prayed corporately. This prayer is helpful as a model.
Our Father in heaven, holy be your name: Jesus begins His exemplary prayer, by first acknowledging He, whom we are praying to, for God is our Father, meaning that He cares for us. God resides in heaven, and His Kingdom within us, implying we honor His name. We declare His name is Holy. This opening line, then, recognizes that God is both our Father and our King.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. After acknowledging the character of God, we pray for His will to be ours…our relationship so tight, so good that whatever we pray without wavering is within His will. We submit our will to His. We trust His way is better and pray that as we pray humbly and sincerely…our wills united-as-one, will be done.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts (or sins) as we forgive our debtors, or those who sin against us, for in forgiving we are forgiven…and our wills will be united as one.
We not only desire God’s will on a scale bigger than ours, but also in the small details of our lives. We look to Him for our daily needs in the physical, spiritual, practical, relational, and emotional. Matthew 6:33.
Truly, though we may not acknowledge it as much as we should, our biggest need is forgiveness, and if we think otherwise, we really need it. With His forgiveness we are made truly alive in Christ, and when forgiven we must ALWAYS remember to forgive. For by being forgiven and forgiving we will find ourselves able to obey His commandment to love Him, our neighbors, our enemies, and ourselves. When we can do this act of mercy and grace….we are in step with Him…….loved and cared for, our wills at that moment are one.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: this final request demonstrates a heart that is eager to please God. God will never lead us into temptation, though the enemy of God and ourselves will certainly try to do so. God is not the author of evil. This part of the prayer becomes an agreement with God that we do not want to sin against Him. This prayer calls us to be aware of the evil that often tempts us, thereby because of our prayer of relationship, we will then choose Him and His will over the temptations that come our way. 1 Corinthians 10:13. In a very real sense…we are asking God to keep us from harm, again, this means spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical harm.
The closing words of this prayer, “For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever….is a reminder of God’s sovereign control, great power and what we do choose is acknowledging who He is.
DOES PRAYER CHANGE GOD’S MIND…………………………………?
In Revelation 22:13, God describes Himself saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” God is omniscient. He has known His plans for the world before the beginning of time.
Some have questioned the notion that God is unchanging because of examples in Scripture where God, having created humankind, regrets that they have fallen into sin. Likewise, God as an example sends Jonah to Nineveh to tell the people to repent or He will destroy them…and they were a great heathen city. They upon hearing the ever-reluctant prophet Jonah, do indeed repent. This is not to say He regretted His decision to destroy them or that He changed His mind, but rather and (listen closely) He was comforted by their repentance and had compassion on them.
So…if God has already made up His mind, why should be pray? The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing, in faith, in Jesus’ name.
He transforms our hearts, so that our will becomes His will in all we pray…and hope. X2
Prayer does change things. God is omniscient and sovereign. His mind does not change, but God did then, and will use those prayers now as part of carrying out His will. He uses it to change us, and He uses it to draw our attention to His participation in circumstances. PRAYER is mysterious in many ways.
We like things that are tangible, that we can hold, see, smell, and know they are real. But prayer, like faith….all so often mysterious and as real, vital and important, as all of those things.
Prayer makes us co-workers in and with Christ in God, as we are part of His creation…part of His will. We are one in the Spirit we are One in the Lord….and have been since the beginning. Together in this great mystery called life….as we learn, as we exercise better and better communication with the God of the Universe through His only Begotten Son. The better we get to know Him, the better we get to know ourselves…and those betters together, can truly become one in the Spirit and One in the Lord….to the point of however we pray, we pray in unity as One, together.
I have one personal experience I want to share with you, though there are many, where the effective prayers of a righteous man touched me physically, and therefore also spiritually because it opened my eyes to the value of prayer.
Thirty years ago……………………………….
There have been many prayers I have seen answered, though not always is the way I desired, but in retrospect…knew that God moved and what was best was best.
Jesus prayed often, everywhere He went, as His life was a living prayer.
In the Bible is a prayer called the Prayer of Jabez….
The prayer of Jabez is found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.” One interesting thing about his little segment of Scripture is its location, right in the middle of a long genealogical record. The recorder pauses his listing of heritage to provide further information about Jabez., likely because his life was so noteworthy.
Born in pain and branded with a name that sound like the Hebrew word for “pain,” Jabez’s future did not look especially bright. However, he prayed to God with confidence! (that is noteworthy) He requested God’s blessing, enlargement of territory, God’s hand (or guidance) and God’s protection. Jabez specifically asked that God, would keep him from the pain his name implied. He wanted to live a life marked by God, not one marked by the pain of the world. God granted Jabez’s requests!
We, too, can approach God confidently Hebrews 4:14-16 and ask for His blessing, expansion of our influence, guidance, and protection (Matthew 6:9-13; 6:32-33; James 1:5…with an expectation of hope, faith, and assurance.
Please join me now as I pray these Scriptures as a prayer, for and over each of you here and all of you out there……………………….
May the Lord Bless you,
And keep you.
The Lord make His face to shine upon you And be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His face toward you,
And give you peace, His everlasting peace! Amen!
Why Pray?
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
April 25, 2021
Today’s sermon comes from the Reflections Column this week that Connie Funkhouser wrote and from a conversation Kelley, who wants to have a ‘long conversation’ on prayer. I referred her to the Reflections article, but her question to me was “why should we pray if God already knows the outcome, and basically predestined it?” Well, that set me to thinking….because when she asked me this, I was standing outside her new trailer on the doorstep trying to get it to work. But Kelley is like that, in that her mind is going all the time for it is not the first time she has said “we have to have a long conversation,” and most likely will not be the last.
PRAY….the word itself is a verb, meaning there is action in praying, in more than several ways and forms. It is simply (no matter the place or form) a request or petition being made in a hopefully and hope-full and humble manner…given the multiple reasons we set out to make a petition. We are doing so….because, whatever it is we are praying for is most often something beyond our ability to do anything about, and therefore we go to the one God, complete in His Son and Spirit, to ask to be heard and present our request.
At this time, I am recommending Connie’s article in the Island Park News if you have not read it. I in some ways will be most likely repeating or rather backing up what was written and written so thoroughly and well, that it should be read.
Most of you know that I enjoy statistics, so here are several that tie in well with my topic.
- The word PRAY itself is in the Bible 313 times, fewer than I anticipated.
- The word PRAYED 65 times.
- The word PRAYER 109 times.
PRAYER manifests itself not only in petitioning, but in worship, confession and in giving thanks.
You can be anywhere, any place and at any time and pray. Prayers are not MORE effective just because they take place in a church building, for it is more effective if they are coming from a sincere and humble, needy heart/person.
When we sing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs, they are in a very real sense a prayer denoting worship and adoration…especially if we are really paying or praying attention to the words themselves, and how we are singing them as they tell a story of most often our love of and for God,
In some ways prayer is one of the most mysterious aspects of our Christian journey. We sometimes wonder if God really hears our prayers and have a real effect on both our lives and the lives we are praying for. Do we have to use certain words, said in certain ways or with certain intonations….the simple answer to that is simply NO.
It should be recognized as a privilege. Here we are, so many of us ordinary every-day people….and by being given the gift of being able to communicate with God through prayer, worship, petitions, and thanksgiving. We are privileged because He desires that we do so. He likes, yes, likes being acknowledged by our talking to and with Him. In all the ways we engage in conversation with God, He desires deeply that we always be honest with Him, for really, He can see right through us when we are not.
There are people who through their prayers love to draw attention to themselves because they are (in their own opinion) quite good at
using the right words, the right tone and all else that they are putting into it. It is really the people around them they are hoping to impress more than the sincerity of their petitions or singing.
Remembering who God is, which of course comprises the entire Godhead…should be enough to humble ourselves both before man and God.
Prayer is also an invitation to get to know Him better. He is so far above us yet so near to us in His Son, Jesus who Scripture points out to us their holiness, and comprehendible since He reveals Himself to us. God allows us to approach Him. In fact, HE desires it. We are to communicate with Him as though we were talking with a close friend or family member that we trust and love, because they, like Him are listening to us. To deepen our understanding of who God is to pray often, commune often in all situations….and by doing this we deepen our relationship.
It is so remarkably simple to understand, because the more time we spend with a person or with God Himself, the better the relationship has the potential to become. (think about it)
We should exercise (think about that word) this privilege of prayer because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for in bridging the communication gap. Heretofore, it was only the priests who were permitted to legally pray for the sins of the people, and other’s petitions, but again, the priests along with the sacrifices. That all changed with the ultimate sacrifice…of Christ on the Cross. Because of what He did, we can now (every one of us) go the Lord in prayer.
Hebrews 4:15-16 refers to Jesus as (OUR High Priest) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning). Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we then receive mercy and find grace, to help us in our time of need(s).” Because of Jesus and Jesus only, we are free to pray and to pray boldly.
We also pray because we are commanded to Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him and bless His name!” Thanking God, praising Him and blessing Him are all aspects of PRAYER.
Matthew 6:5-13 describes Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray. He begins with discourse by saying,” and when you pray,” which tells us that it is assumed we will pray, or am called to pray, as He, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray with instructions to ask, seek and knock. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Paul writes, “pray without ceasing” meaning, how we live out our everyday lives is also a prayer, because in doing so rightly, in representing Him we draw others to Him….this is called a lifestyle prayer.
Jesus sets an example of prayer for us that together we pray this prayer every Sunday as part of our Communion celebration. This prayer is found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.
The Lord’s prayer, also sometimes called the Disciples Prayer has been memorized by countless Christians throughout our history and like we, prayed corporately. This prayer is helpful as a model.
Our Father in heaven, holy be your name: Jesus begins His exemplary prayer, by first acknowledging He, whom we are praying to, for God is our Father, meaning that He cares for us. God resides in heaven, and His Kingdom within us, implying we honor His name. We declare His name is Holy. This opening line, then, recognizes that God is both our Father and our King.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. After acknowledging the character of God, we pray for His will to be ours…our relationship so tight, so good that whatever we pray without wavering is within His will. We submit our will to His. We trust His way is better and pray that as we pray humbly and sincerely…our wills united-as-one, will be done.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts (or sins) as we forgive our debtors, or those who sin against us, for in forgiving we are forgiven…and our wills will be united as one.
We not only desire God’s will on a scale bigger than ours, but also in the small details of our lives. We look to Him for our daily needs in the physical, spiritual, practical, relational, and emotional. Matthew 6:33.
Truly, though we may not acknowledge it as much as we should, our biggest need is forgiveness, and if we think otherwise, we really need it. With His forgiveness we are made truly alive in Christ, and when forgiven we must ALWAYS remember to forgive. For by being forgiven and forgiving we will find ourselves able to obey His commandment to love Him, our neighbors, our enemies, and ourselves. When we can do this act of mercy and grace….we are in step with Him…….loved and cared for, our wills at that moment are one.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: this final request demonstrates a heart that is eager to please God. God will never lead us into temptation, though the enemy of God and ourselves will certainly try to do so. God is not the author of evil. This part of the prayer becomes an agreement with God that we do not want to sin against Him. This prayer calls us to be aware of the evil that often tempts us, thereby because of our prayer of relationship, we will then choose Him and His will over the temptations that come our way. 1 Corinthians 10:13. In a very real sense…we are asking God to keep us from harm, again, this means spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical harm.
The closing words of this prayer, “For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever….is a reminder of God’s sovereign control, great power and what we do choose is acknowledging who He is.
DOES PRAYER CHANGE GOD’S MIND…………………………………?
In Revelation 22:13, God describes Himself saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” God is omniscient. He has known His plans for the world before the beginning of time.
Some have questioned the notion that God is unchanging because of examples in Scripture where God, having created humankind, regrets that they have fallen into sin. Likewise, God as an example sends Jonah to Nineveh to tell the people to repent or He will destroy them…and they were a great heathen city. They upon hearing the ever-reluctant prophet Jonah, do indeed repent. This is not to say He regretted His decision to destroy them or that He changed His mind, but rather and (listen closely) He was comforted by their repentance and had compassion on them.
So…if God has already made up His mind, why should be pray? The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing, in faith, in Jesus’ name.
- We should pray with the right motive.
- We should depend on God and Him alone, choosing to obey
- Him.
- 1 John 5:14-15 “And this we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we KNOW that we have the request that we have asked for.”
He transforms our hearts, so that our will becomes His will in all we pray…and hope. X2
Prayer does change things. God is omniscient and sovereign. His mind does not change, but God did then, and will use those prayers now as part of carrying out His will. He uses it to change us, and He uses it to draw our attention to His participation in circumstances. PRAYER is mysterious in many ways.
We like things that are tangible, that we can hold, see, smell, and know they are real. But prayer, like faith….all so often mysterious and as real, vital and important, as all of those things.
Prayer makes us co-workers in and with Christ in God, as we are part of His creation…part of His will. We are one in the Spirit we are One in the Lord….and have been since the beginning. Together in this great mystery called life….as we learn, as we exercise better and better communication with the God of the Universe through His only Begotten Son. The better we get to know Him, the better we get to know ourselves…and those betters together, can truly become one in the Spirit and One in the Lord….to the point of however we pray, we pray in unity as One, together.
I have one personal experience I want to share with you, though there are many, where the effective prayers of a righteous man touched me physically, and therefore also spiritually because it opened my eyes to the value of prayer.
Thirty years ago……………………………….
There have been many prayers I have seen answered, though not always is the way I desired, but in retrospect…knew that God moved and what was best was best.
Jesus prayed often, everywhere He went, as His life was a living prayer.
In the Bible is a prayer called the Prayer of Jabez….
The prayer of Jabez is found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.” One interesting thing about his little segment of Scripture is its location, right in the middle of a long genealogical record. The recorder pauses his listing of heritage to provide further information about Jabez., likely because his life was so noteworthy.
Born in pain and branded with a name that sound like the Hebrew word for “pain,” Jabez’s future did not look especially bright. However, he prayed to God with confidence! (that is noteworthy) He requested God’s blessing, enlargement of territory, God’s hand (or guidance) and God’s protection. Jabez specifically asked that God, would keep him from the pain his name implied. He wanted to live a life marked by God, not one marked by the pain of the world. God granted Jabez’s requests!
We, too, can approach God confidently Hebrews 4:14-16 and ask for His blessing, expansion of our influence, guidance, and protection (Matthew 6:9-13; 6:32-33; James 1:5…with an expectation of hope, faith, and assurance.
Please join me now as I pray these Scriptures as a prayer, for and over each of you here and all of you out there……………………….
May the Lord Bless you,
And keep you.
The Lord make His face to shine upon you And be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His face toward you,
And give you peace, His everlasting peace! Amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
"Who Are We, Really?"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
April 18, 2021
The past Days, weeks, months of reflections……a roller coaster ride unlike any I personally have experienced, ever. Through all these reflections I have been able to see and measure changes, priorities and well, feelings, which have and continue to ebb and flow.
To myself I have asked this question on more than several occasions, “who are you, really? I am the same and yet different than I was this time last year. That is normal thinking, I think.
Solomon said, “that there is nothing new under the sun,” and that may be true, but it is certainly new to me….in the realization that my and our humanity, is really very fragile….and how we hold on to it so long (some of us) is astounding. There is little that is stable, starting with the earth under our feet. Everything is in motion, absolutely everything. Nothing in this world, or universe is static.
….The fact that we exist at all, and our reason(s) for existing, is the one constant question that mankind has been asking itself from the beginning of self-awareness, or creations, which brings me back to my sermon title, “Who AM I, REALLY AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE AM I HERE?
For me, in order to be able to understand even a small measure of this question, Who Am I, Really, I first have to come to the conclusion (or go crazy) that indeed there is a reason and purpose for my existence. If not….all is futile.
I know this, we do live, we do love, we do hate, we do good, we do harm. Given these options that we have, why not embrace what we know we have and, doing our very best to be the very best we can be.
You see….we also, and you know this, live in a world of opposites. Stability/conflict ~ oceans/deserts ~ mountains/plains ~ order/chaos ~ love/hate ~ young/old ~ bad/good….and the list goes on and on and on.
These opposites have the effect of destabilizing even the stable, or what appears to be stable. Some of us…some of us, go through life it seems mostly unfazed by life’s conundrums. Others of us are affected by most everything that occurs in these opposites.
Bringing order out of randomness and seemingly opposites is one of the attributes that God has given us (some of us more than others) the ability to do so.
First perhaps, we can start with mankind’s internal need to believe in someone or something greater than itself. This is evident throughout our history as humans. Now this one could say this relates back to the question of our existence, because it seems we have a built in need to BELIEVE. Every people group or culture has the need for Deity as evidenced by the vast diversity of religions in the world.
33% Christian
21% Muslim
13% Hinduism
5.8% Buddhism
2.3 % Atheist
.35% Sikhism
0.23% Judaism
0.2% Baha’i
24% Other or local
Each of course believes it to be THE TRUE RELGION, yes, even atheism is considered to be a religion.
What drives this need….now, this is my opinion. It is driven by the simple truth that God is behind it all. God knows mankind better than mankind himself and has placed in all of mankind this need to acknowledge and seek Him for answers, for fulfillment, for purpose, direction, thereby giving us HOPE beyond what we ourselves are capable of conjuring up.
Within each of us….is a seed for potential….a seed that contains that desire or quest for Deity…and within that seed is potential for good, and since the Fall of Mankind, evil.
I can never prove to you….the existence of God….but I can show you by “Who I Am, If….I am following His teachings and laws, the evidence of His existence by how I live my life. Therefore, the responsibility lies solely in my willingness, to choose order over chaos, right over wrong, good over evil. And how do we know these truths that produce this evidence?
Well…we have a manual. This manual has withstood the onslaught of cultural change, of direct and violent opposition, of all-out war and hatred for what it contains and the truths that lie therein.
I must measure WHO I AM, Really, buy my desire and therefore willingness to once again, simply BELIEVE. To the intellectual I am naïve or even perhaps simple minded, yet the beauty of my faith or belief is born out in hopefully, WHO I AM, REALLY.
It also comes down to TRUTH. There are those who say, “what is truth?” Prove it to me? Well, I have already discussed that, so I will now say, “the truth is in the pudding”, or in the fruit that TRUTH produces according to Scripture, for by choosing that which is proven right, tells us that there are certain characteristics that flow out of truth, that benefits both individuals and mankind as a whole.
Philippians 4:8…tells us this. “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable…if anything is excellent or worthy of praise…think about these things.” And I add….”and do them.”
Galatians 6:4 reads, “but let each one, examine his own work.” The outflow of his or her life, using the measuring rod of the Manual and the Teacher.
These qualities…that lead to behavioral out-workings and even attitudes, brings us to as written in Galatians 5:22.” for the fruit of the Spirit, (now listen closely to these please) and measure who you really are, by them. “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These give and bring life, not only life…but abundant life and a good life, a rich life, an enjoyable
life, leading ultimately to eternal life…with the Teacher, the Savior, Jesus the Christ. These are the FRUIT…THE DELICIOUS, LIFE GIVING FRUIT OF FAITH THAT WE ARE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE PRODUCING to one another, including spouses, children, friends, co-workers, fellow Believers…and yes, even our enemies. For, if we walk by the Spirit, let us all walk in the Spirit.
These virtues are characterized as FRUIT in contrast to works. The Holy Spirit in us produces them, and not our own efforts (though by our effort and will) we turn ourselves over to the Spirit who then works through us.
Look at the contrast between the works of the flesh (as they are called) to the works of the Spirit. For the works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries and the like.
Well, there we go.
So…there really is a contrast between good…and bad, or evil.
There is a bit of an addendum here that I will add on. “Let us not become conceited (which is intellectual-ego centered) provoking one another and envying one another. For if one thinks of him or herself to be better than others, he or she deceive themselves.”
Humility is the complete opposite, of so-called intellectual objectivism, or ego-biased so-called strength. Humility is controlled strength. If you or I need to put someone down to build ourselves up we are truly not only at the bottom of the intellectual barrel, but the humanity barrel.
WHO ARE WE, WHO AM I, REALLY?
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with Christ-like love, in honor preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in Hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly n prayer; distributing to the needs of the
saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not think you are wise in your own opinions.
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, instead give it to God, for Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Now here too is where we go beyond what any other religion I have read or heard of says “therefore, if your enemy is hungry feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink.”
“Do not be overcome by evil…but overcome evil with good.”
These next words I am going to say are from the mouth of Jesus Himself as quoted. Jesus answered, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Have ever you head such love, understanding, kindness, patience, grace, mercy, tenderness, hope, humility, from the mouth of any other teacher or any other religion? Ever?
And I will almost end with these words, in that we really are to be like Him. That is who we are, really.
Following on the heels of Easter…..what we need and have needed this past year especially, and the year to come, is HOPE….someone to help us through all the losses, the pain, tears, sorrows…..and I tell you this with full assurance, He has been with us all the way….all the time, for all we need to do is this, is turn to Him, who stands ready every second of every day, to embrace and hold us closely to Himself. Comforting, encouraging and sometimes carrying us through our darkest times, for He said and says to all of us, “I ~ will never leave you (no way) or forsake you (no way) ever.”
Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away every ear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passe away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Amen
"Who Are We, Really?"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
April 18, 2021
The past Days, weeks, months of reflections……a roller coaster ride unlike any I personally have experienced, ever. Through all these reflections I have been able to see and measure changes, priorities and well, feelings, which have and continue to ebb and flow.
To myself I have asked this question on more than several occasions, “who are you, really? I am the same and yet different than I was this time last year. That is normal thinking, I think.
Solomon said, “that there is nothing new under the sun,” and that may be true, but it is certainly new to me….in the realization that my and our humanity, is really very fragile….and how we hold on to it so long (some of us) is astounding. There is little that is stable, starting with the earth under our feet. Everything is in motion, absolutely everything. Nothing in this world, or universe is static.
….The fact that we exist at all, and our reason(s) for existing, is the one constant question that mankind has been asking itself from the beginning of self-awareness, or creations, which brings me back to my sermon title, “Who AM I, REALLY AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE AM I HERE?
For me, in order to be able to understand even a small measure of this question, Who Am I, Really, I first have to come to the conclusion (or go crazy) that indeed there is a reason and purpose for my existence. If not….all is futile.
I know this, we do live, we do love, we do hate, we do good, we do harm. Given these options that we have, why not embrace what we know we have and, doing our very best to be the very best we can be.
You see….we also, and you know this, live in a world of opposites. Stability/conflict ~ oceans/deserts ~ mountains/plains ~ order/chaos ~ love/hate ~ young/old ~ bad/good….and the list goes on and on and on.
These opposites have the effect of destabilizing even the stable, or what appears to be stable. Some of us…some of us, go through life it seems mostly unfazed by life’s conundrums. Others of us are affected by most everything that occurs in these opposites.
Bringing order out of randomness and seemingly opposites is one of the attributes that God has given us (some of us more than others) the ability to do so.
First perhaps, we can start with mankind’s internal need to believe in someone or something greater than itself. This is evident throughout our history as humans. Now this one could say this relates back to the question of our existence, because it seems we have a built in need to BELIEVE. Every people group or culture has the need for Deity as evidenced by the vast diversity of religions in the world.
33% Christian
21% Muslim
13% Hinduism
5.8% Buddhism
2.3 % Atheist
.35% Sikhism
0.23% Judaism
0.2% Baha’i
24% Other or local
Each of course believes it to be THE TRUE RELGION, yes, even atheism is considered to be a religion.
What drives this need….now, this is my opinion. It is driven by the simple truth that God is behind it all. God knows mankind better than mankind himself and has placed in all of mankind this need to acknowledge and seek Him for answers, for fulfillment, for purpose, direction, thereby giving us HOPE beyond what we ourselves are capable of conjuring up.
Within each of us….is a seed for potential….a seed that contains that desire or quest for Deity…and within that seed is potential for good, and since the Fall of Mankind, evil.
I can never prove to you….the existence of God….but I can show you by “Who I Am, If….I am following His teachings and laws, the evidence of His existence by how I live my life. Therefore, the responsibility lies solely in my willingness, to choose order over chaos, right over wrong, good over evil. And how do we know these truths that produce this evidence?
Well…we have a manual. This manual has withstood the onslaught of cultural change, of direct and violent opposition, of all-out war and hatred for what it contains and the truths that lie therein.
I must measure WHO I AM, Really, buy my desire and therefore willingness to once again, simply BELIEVE. To the intellectual I am naïve or even perhaps simple minded, yet the beauty of my faith or belief is born out in hopefully, WHO I AM, REALLY.
It also comes down to TRUTH. There are those who say, “what is truth?” Prove it to me? Well, I have already discussed that, so I will now say, “the truth is in the pudding”, or in the fruit that TRUTH produces according to Scripture, for by choosing that which is proven right, tells us that there are certain characteristics that flow out of truth, that benefits both individuals and mankind as a whole.
Philippians 4:8…tells us this. “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable…if anything is excellent or worthy of praise…think about these things.” And I add….”and do them.”
Galatians 6:4 reads, “but let each one, examine his own work.” The outflow of his or her life, using the measuring rod of the Manual and the Teacher.
These qualities…that lead to behavioral out-workings and even attitudes, brings us to as written in Galatians 5:22.” for the fruit of the Spirit, (now listen closely to these please) and measure who you really are, by them. “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These give and bring life, not only life…but abundant life and a good life, a rich life, an enjoyable
life, leading ultimately to eternal life…with the Teacher, the Savior, Jesus the Christ. These are the FRUIT…THE DELICIOUS, LIFE GIVING FRUIT OF FAITH THAT WE ARE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE PRODUCING to one another, including spouses, children, friends, co-workers, fellow Believers…and yes, even our enemies. For, if we walk by the Spirit, let us all walk in the Spirit.
These virtues are characterized as FRUIT in contrast to works. The Holy Spirit in us produces them, and not our own efforts (though by our effort and will) we turn ourselves over to the Spirit who then works through us.
Look at the contrast between the works of the flesh (as they are called) to the works of the Spirit. For the works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries and the like.
Well, there we go.
So…there really is a contrast between good…and bad, or evil.
There is a bit of an addendum here that I will add on. “Let us not become conceited (which is intellectual-ego centered) provoking one another and envying one another. For if one thinks of him or herself to be better than others, he or she deceive themselves.”
Humility is the complete opposite, of so-called intellectual objectivism, or ego-biased so-called strength. Humility is controlled strength. If you or I need to put someone down to build ourselves up we are truly not only at the bottom of the intellectual barrel, but the humanity barrel.
WHO ARE WE, WHO AM I, REALLY?
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with Christ-like love, in honor preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in Hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly n prayer; distributing to the needs of the
saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not think you are wise in your own opinions.
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, instead give it to God, for Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Now here too is where we go beyond what any other religion I have read or heard of says “therefore, if your enemy is hungry feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink.”
“Do not be overcome by evil…but overcome evil with good.”
These next words I am going to say are from the mouth of Jesus Himself as quoted. Jesus answered, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Have ever you head such love, understanding, kindness, patience, grace, mercy, tenderness, hope, humility, from the mouth of any other teacher or any other religion? Ever?
And I will almost end with these words, in that we really are to be like Him. That is who we are, really.
Following on the heels of Easter…..what we need and have needed this past year especially, and the year to come, is HOPE….someone to help us through all the losses, the pain, tears, sorrows…..and I tell you this with full assurance, He has been with us all the way….all the time, for all we need to do is this, is turn to Him, who stands ready every second of every day, to embrace and hold us closely to Himself. Comforting, encouraging and sometimes carrying us through our darkest times, for He said and says to all of us, “I ~ will never leave you (no way) or forsake you (no way) ever.”
Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away every ear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passe away.”
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Amen
Little Church in the Pines
The Journey after the Cross
(Now What?)
April 11, 2021
by; Connie Funkhouser
Easter is the beginning, not the conclusion. Just as our faith does not end with Good Friday crucifixion, neither does it end with Easter resurrection. The New Testament, God’s New Covenant, Our Journey after Calvary continues.
Resurrection is certainly a pivotal moment, but there is another act to follow . . . things are just now getting interesting . . . If you quit reading the Greatest Story Ever Told and was inspired by the most famous Author of all time, you will miss what unfolds when Jesus is rescued from the jaws of death.
Jesus’ future, His resurrection prophesied/planned by God Himself is absolutely 100% linked to our future. You may say, “but Connie, the Bible is a story that is two -thousand years old, an entirely different culture, there is no way we could apply that ancient story to our life’s today.” I am here to tell you, it can, and it does. During Bible Study, reading, and studying @ home I cannot tell you how many times I have looked up and said, only the names of changed. (And in my case even the names have not changed. Seems I hire Saras, Jacobs, Martha, Matthews, Josephs, Micahs, Katrinas ☺ oh kidding, and the list continues)
There is more to the story, our purpose during this exact moment in time, is more than simply making our way to heaven. Here are you few slang theologies or putting one’s beliefs into a nice box. See if any of these sounds familiar to you?
Resurrection, as Clarence Jordon says, “is God’s refusal to stay on the other side of the grave. God raised Jesus, not as an invitation to us to come to heaven when we die, but as a declaration that He Himself has not established permanent residence on earth. The resurrection places Jesus on this side of the grave, here and now, amid this life – our life today! The Good News of the resurrection is not that we shall die and go home with Him, but that He is risen and comes home with us, bringing all His hungry, thirsty, sick, distraught, lonely, messed up, broken, outcast, marginalized, way-ward brothers and sisters with Him.”
Clarence Jordan, a farmer, and New Testament Greek scholar was the founder of Koinonia Farm, a small and influential religious community in southwest Georgia. He was also instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity.) Which is a big non-profit in southeast Idaho.
Easter does not exhaust the biblical narrative of God’s saving work. There is more. What began with Adam and Eve, what began again with Noah and the ark, and again with Israel’s escape from Egyptian bondage, and again with Jonah emerging from the whale’s belly, and again with Israel’s repeated returns from exile, and again with Mary’s pregnancy . . . all these beginnings and new beginnings, now uniquely confirmed and summarized and restated in the resurrection, are the prelude to the final act in the story, one step short of the dramatic conclusion of the Salvation Story.
Jesus did not say “I am finished.”
He said, “It is finished.” He was just getting started. . . .
With most men their work stops @ their death, but with Christ it had only begun.
The crucifixion of Jesus is our gateway to salvation. Salvation: does not mean merely deliverance from sin or personal holiness. The Salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from ourselves, and being placed in perfect union with Him.
God is not the author of evil. To those who believe in Jesus, He is the Savior of abounding love and forgiveness. God created this world, and He created man to have a relationship with Him. On the cross when Jesus said, “it is finished,” the debt of this sinful world was paid in full. The gift of a personal relationship with God was offered. When we believe in Jesus, we have no sin for God to judge. God is not a celestial prison warden jangling the keys on a bunch of lifers—He is a shepherd seeking His flock, a Father waiting for his son. Our sin was crucified on Calvary, and we now can have an intimate and deeply personal relationship with God . . . No longer our judge.
No one can make themselves pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations - - - He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature that is placed in us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ salvation is that it changes our heredity. He does not change human nature - - - He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason why salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. There is nothing easier than getting saved because it is solely God’s sovereign work. – “Look to Me and be saved” we are told in (Isaiah 45:22). The cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain was absorbed by the Heart of God. Salvation is our Gift, a Gift from God.
On Easter Sunday we do focus on the sacrifice of Jesus @ Calvary and His resurrection. From His atonement springs our blessed assurance of eternal life. Many people who trust Christ as their Savior know they are saved but are not certain about their eternal security – the work of God that assures us that our redemption is permanent. They believe their deliverance can somehow be forfeited through wrong actions.
If our salvation is based on anything other than the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross, then we will find ourselves on shaky ground. Therefore, some believers attempt to involve themselves in the redemption process by their good works or right behavior. Sadly, they are always prone to wavering faith because they feel they must continuously earn the Lord’s goodwill to get to heaven.
If we add a single work requirement to it, then it is no longer given to us freely; it is payment for services rendered. That is not how God works in our life. Absolutely nothing can revoke what He has given us. We can accept that He has made us secure. God’s grace in redemption is a gift . . .
Salvation begins with God – not with us. He chooses us and then we believe. In putting the matter that way, I simply mean to declare that salvation is all His grace, all of God, all the time. So, when Paul says, “God chose us for salvation,” I am happy and content believing it is just as written. That does not mean I can fully explain (far from it) every nuance of how our choices – our free will fit into God’s sovereign plan for the universe. I believe that God arranges circumstances of life (and movements of the heart) to bring us to the place where we have no other choice but to freely choose to trust in Christ for our salvation.
God will seek us -- how long? Until he finds us. And when He has found the last rebellious soul and has depopulated hell, then death will be swallowed up in victory, and Christ will turn over all things to the Father that he may be all and in all.
To some that will seem like a contradiction, to others it will seem like a simple statement of biblical truth. Is there a mystery here? Yes of course, and I would much prefer a theology with some mystery in it than a theology that claimed to fully explain the mind of God. When it comes to salvation, we bring the sin that makes salvation necessary, and God brings everything else. Naturally, we are not robots or puppets on a string, and when we come to Christ, we do not come mindful of any compulsion. We come by faith because we want to come. And in our coming we discover later that God was drawing us to Himself all along by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we trust and live by faith, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what “paid in full” really means in our lives. If you are troubled by this, or wonder how it could be, just remember that you are on the right track when your view of salvation gives all the Glory to God. Magnify the Lord as Savior, give Him the credit, and you will be moving in the right direction, your journey is of hope and promise.
Salvation springs from the Heart of God who loved and gave His Son for us. We have been chosen, we were called by the work of the Holy Spirit to come to Christ for our salvation, we believe in God’s Word, and one day we will share in Christ’s glory.
God, the Author of History has a purpose. He is not making all this up as He goes along. Everything in the universe plays a role in the outworking of God’s plan. This ought to give us enormous confidence as we face the uncertainties of life. If we believe that everything in our life is a hit and miss affair, if we think that the events of each day just happen by chance, then we will be a prisoner to our circumstances. We will be up when things are good, and we will be down when things are bad. How wonderful it is to rest in the knowledge that our God is working out His plan for us in everything that happens to us . . . the good, the bad, the positive, and the negative, the happy and the sad. / There is no one who wants to be saved who cannot be saved! Rest assured on this truth. No one will be in hell who truly ought to be in Heaven. No one will be in hell who says, “I wanted to be saved but God would not save me.” Such a thing simply cannot happen. If you have the desire to know God, you can be confident that He gave that longing to you. (There maybe resistance, but truly save your energy, you will not win when playing tug-o-war with God.) God is always the initiator in salvation. God calls, we respond. God calls, we believe. God calls, we come to Christ. When God wanted to populate Heaven, He sent His Son to die for us. Then He sent His Spirit to draw us. And He gave us His word so we would know the truth. And He even gives us faith to believe the Gospel.
Everything is different because we now live in a world where death did not have the final word, where truth and goodness and love are the final realities, and where a resurrection has happened. We must never forget salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has a profound depth.
The perfecting of salvation will be realized in the glorification of true believers @ Christ’s second advent, His second coming. In this consummation of the entire movement of salvation, Christians will be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The following is from the book “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. Specifically, 10/07.
“The revealed truth of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took on Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took on Himself the heredity of sin that no man can even touch. God made His own Son “to be sin” that He might make the sinner into a saint. It is revealed throughout the Bible that our Lord took on the sin of the world through identification with us, not sympathy for us ( I Love that). He deliberately took on His own shoulders, and endured in His own body, the complete, cumulative sin of humanity. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” and by so doing He placed salvation for the entire human race solely based on redemption. Jesus Christ reconciled humanity, putting it back to where God designed it to be. And now anyone can experience that restoration, being brought into oneness with God, on the basis of what our Lord has done on the cross.
The Doctrine of Salvation or Soteriology is a lot more complex and in-depth. Composing my morning message, reading, and re-reading, I kept thinking that my summary of salvation is elementary in so many ways. But I was “compelled” to following my initial train of thought, and I sincerely hoped that the Holy Spirit had someone(s) in attendance or viewing that needed to hear this.
My focus and concern was I wanted to invite you on the journey after Calvary and collect what is yours. It is up to us to invite God into our life and to Live in the Presence of God every day, all the time.
I used to tell our Juvenile Correction Students this scenario: and I may have shared before, but it illustrates the many gifts and blessings that our Creator has for us. . . . . .
Amen!
The Journey after the Cross
(Now What?)
April 11, 2021
by; Connie Funkhouser
Easter is the beginning, not the conclusion. Just as our faith does not end with Good Friday crucifixion, neither does it end with Easter resurrection. The New Testament, God’s New Covenant, Our Journey after Calvary continues.
Resurrection is certainly a pivotal moment, but there is another act to follow . . . things are just now getting interesting . . . If you quit reading the Greatest Story Ever Told and was inspired by the most famous Author of all time, you will miss what unfolds when Jesus is rescued from the jaws of death.
Jesus’ future, His resurrection prophesied/planned by God Himself is absolutely 100% linked to our future. You may say, “but Connie, the Bible is a story that is two -thousand years old, an entirely different culture, there is no way we could apply that ancient story to our life’s today.” I am here to tell you, it can, and it does. During Bible Study, reading, and studying @ home I cannot tell you how many times I have looked up and said, only the names of changed. (And in my case even the names have not changed. Seems I hire Saras, Jacobs, Martha, Matthews, Josephs, Micahs, Katrinas ☺ oh kidding, and the list continues)
There is more to the story, our purpose during this exact moment in time, is more than simply making our way to heaven. Here are you few slang theologies or putting one’s beliefs into a nice box. See if any of these sounds familiar to you?
- Lay-a-way Theology: Give your heart to Jesus now so you can go to heaven later. Easy installments of weekly church attendance.
- Transport Theology: Buy your ticket now in case the glory train comes early. Then just hang out till the whistle blows. Nothing else much matters once you have your ticket in hand.
- Life Insurance Theology: Once you read the policy and make arrangements for the payments, you file it away and hope you do not have to cash it in any time soon.
Resurrection, as Clarence Jordon says, “is God’s refusal to stay on the other side of the grave. God raised Jesus, not as an invitation to us to come to heaven when we die, but as a declaration that He Himself has not established permanent residence on earth. The resurrection places Jesus on this side of the grave, here and now, amid this life – our life today! The Good News of the resurrection is not that we shall die and go home with Him, but that He is risen and comes home with us, bringing all His hungry, thirsty, sick, distraught, lonely, messed up, broken, outcast, marginalized, way-ward brothers and sisters with Him.”
Clarence Jordan, a farmer, and New Testament Greek scholar was the founder of Koinonia Farm, a small and influential religious community in southwest Georgia. He was also instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity.) Which is a big non-profit in southeast Idaho.
Easter does not exhaust the biblical narrative of God’s saving work. There is more. What began with Adam and Eve, what began again with Noah and the ark, and again with Israel’s escape from Egyptian bondage, and again with Jonah emerging from the whale’s belly, and again with Israel’s repeated returns from exile, and again with Mary’s pregnancy . . . all these beginnings and new beginnings, now uniquely confirmed and summarized and restated in the resurrection, are the prelude to the final act in the story, one step short of the dramatic conclusion of the Salvation Story.
Jesus did not say “I am finished.”
He said, “It is finished.” He was just getting started. . . .
With most men their work stops @ their death, but with Christ it had only begun.
The crucifixion of Jesus is our gateway to salvation. Salvation: does not mean merely deliverance from sin or personal holiness. The Salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from ourselves, and being placed in perfect union with Him.
God is not the author of evil. To those who believe in Jesus, He is the Savior of abounding love and forgiveness. God created this world, and He created man to have a relationship with Him. On the cross when Jesus said, “it is finished,” the debt of this sinful world was paid in full. The gift of a personal relationship with God was offered. When we believe in Jesus, we have no sin for God to judge. God is not a celestial prison warden jangling the keys on a bunch of lifers—He is a shepherd seeking His flock, a Father waiting for his son. Our sin was crucified on Calvary, and we now can have an intimate and deeply personal relationship with God . . . No longer our judge.
No one can make themselves pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations - - - He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature that is placed in us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ salvation is that it changes our heredity. He does not change human nature - - - He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.
The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason why salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. There is nothing easier than getting saved because it is solely God’s sovereign work. – “Look to Me and be saved” we are told in (Isaiah 45:22). The cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain was absorbed by the Heart of God. Salvation is our Gift, a Gift from God.
On Easter Sunday we do focus on the sacrifice of Jesus @ Calvary and His resurrection. From His atonement springs our blessed assurance of eternal life. Many people who trust Christ as their Savior know they are saved but are not certain about their eternal security – the work of God that assures us that our redemption is permanent. They believe their deliverance can somehow be forfeited through wrong actions.
If our salvation is based on anything other than the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross, then we will find ourselves on shaky ground. Therefore, some believers attempt to involve themselves in the redemption process by their good works or right behavior. Sadly, they are always prone to wavering faith because they feel they must continuously earn the Lord’s goodwill to get to heaven.
If we add a single work requirement to it, then it is no longer given to us freely; it is payment for services rendered. That is not how God works in our life. Absolutely nothing can revoke what He has given us. We can accept that He has made us secure. God’s grace in redemption is a gift . . .
- Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
- Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
Salvation begins with God – not with us. He chooses us and then we believe. In putting the matter that way, I simply mean to declare that salvation is all His grace, all of God, all the time. So, when Paul says, “God chose us for salvation,” I am happy and content believing it is just as written. That does not mean I can fully explain (far from it) every nuance of how our choices – our free will fit into God’s sovereign plan for the universe. I believe that God arranges circumstances of life (and movements of the heart) to bring us to the place where we have no other choice but to freely choose to trust in Christ for our salvation.
God will seek us -- how long? Until he finds us. And when He has found the last rebellious soul and has depopulated hell, then death will be swallowed up in victory, and Christ will turn over all things to the Father that he may be all and in all.
To some that will seem like a contradiction, to others it will seem like a simple statement of biblical truth. Is there a mystery here? Yes of course, and I would much prefer a theology with some mystery in it than a theology that claimed to fully explain the mind of God. When it comes to salvation, we bring the sin that makes salvation necessary, and God brings everything else. Naturally, we are not robots or puppets on a string, and when we come to Christ, we do not come mindful of any compulsion. We come by faith because we want to come. And in our coming we discover later that God was drawing us to Himself all along by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we trust and live by faith, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what “paid in full” really means in our lives. If you are troubled by this, or wonder how it could be, just remember that you are on the right track when your view of salvation gives all the Glory to God. Magnify the Lord as Savior, give Him the credit, and you will be moving in the right direction, your journey is of hope and promise.
Salvation springs from the Heart of God who loved and gave His Son for us. We have been chosen, we were called by the work of the Holy Spirit to come to Christ for our salvation, we believe in God’s Word, and one day we will share in Christ’s glory.
God, the Author of History has a purpose. He is not making all this up as He goes along. Everything in the universe plays a role in the outworking of God’s plan. This ought to give us enormous confidence as we face the uncertainties of life. If we believe that everything in our life is a hit and miss affair, if we think that the events of each day just happen by chance, then we will be a prisoner to our circumstances. We will be up when things are good, and we will be down when things are bad. How wonderful it is to rest in the knowledge that our God is working out His plan for us in everything that happens to us . . . the good, the bad, the positive, and the negative, the happy and the sad. / There is no one who wants to be saved who cannot be saved! Rest assured on this truth. No one will be in hell who truly ought to be in Heaven. No one will be in hell who says, “I wanted to be saved but God would not save me.” Such a thing simply cannot happen. If you have the desire to know God, you can be confident that He gave that longing to you. (There maybe resistance, but truly save your energy, you will not win when playing tug-o-war with God.) God is always the initiator in salvation. God calls, we respond. God calls, we believe. God calls, we come to Christ. When God wanted to populate Heaven, He sent His Son to die for us. Then He sent His Spirit to draw us. And He gave us His word so we would know the truth. And He even gives us faith to believe the Gospel.
Everything is different because we now live in a world where death did not have the final word, where truth and goodness and love are the final realities, and where a resurrection has happened. We must never forget salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has a profound depth.
The perfecting of salvation will be realized in the glorification of true believers @ Christ’s second advent, His second coming. In this consummation of the entire movement of salvation, Christians will be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The following is from the book “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. Specifically, 10/07.
“The revealed truth of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took on Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took on Himself the heredity of sin that no man can even touch. God made His own Son “to be sin” that He might make the sinner into a saint. It is revealed throughout the Bible that our Lord took on the sin of the world through identification with us, not sympathy for us ( I Love that). He deliberately took on His own shoulders, and endured in His own body, the complete, cumulative sin of humanity. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” and by so doing He placed salvation for the entire human race solely based on redemption. Jesus Christ reconciled humanity, putting it back to where God designed it to be. And now anyone can experience that restoration, being brought into oneness with God, on the basis of what our Lord has done on the cross.
The Doctrine of Salvation or Soteriology is a lot more complex and in-depth. Composing my morning message, reading, and re-reading, I kept thinking that my summary of salvation is elementary in so many ways. But I was “compelled” to following my initial train of thought, and I sincerely hoped that the Holy Spirit had someone(s) in attendance or viewing that needed to hear this.
My focus and concern was I wanted to invite you on the journey after Calvary and collect what is yours. It is up to us to invite God into our life and to Live in the Presence of God every day, all the time.
I used to tell our Juvenile Correction Students this scenario: and I may have shared before, but it illustrates the many gifts and blessings that our Creator has for us. . . . . .
Amen!
Little Church in the Pines
April4, 2021
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Easter…………a new day begins with a new morning!
It is now early morning…the morning following a day and night of dramatic and mind-numbing events….beginning, with the arrest, trial, and subsequent death of Jesus, known as a prophet, the Messiah…and by His own words, the Son of God.
That night previous, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was a supernatural darkness over all the land. Jesus, at the ninth hour cried out with a loud voice saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me,” soon followed by His very last words “Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit!” And at that moment He gave up His Spirit….and died.
His disciples, their families, his own mother, and those who loved and followed Him, believing, trusting that He, their Jesus was the One…the One all of Israel had for generations been waiting for. The One who would lead them out of bondage and into a kingdom where God’s glory would prevail, and peace would reign, from the throne of David once more, but this time across the world.
Hope, belief, faith for some dies easily…for others, they cling with the tenacity born to those of deep faith…for a miracle. Through their tears, through their shattered dreams and hopes they cling. Some remembering He would as He said come back to life….a resurrection spoken of. Hope does not die easily….for some.
That night also events happened that fueled their hopes. Were they rumors, did they really happen? The darkness, the earthquake felt by all in themselves were mind numbing, but the rumor that the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and during the earthquake rocks were split….and the graves opened, where it is said many of the bodies of the saints who had died were raised from the dead.
So amazed and even terrified were some, that when centurion and, those with him, who were guarding Jesus at His tomb, saw felt the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying “Truly this was the Son of God.”
His tomb sealed and guarded during those night hours because of the demands of the religious leaders, fearing that Jesus body might be taken by His disciples….thereby spreading a false rumor that He had risen from the dead as He had stated He would.
It is pre-dawn…a clear and beautiful morning is coming. The eastern sky showing ever so slightly that lovely pre-dawn glow, but what is this, what is happening? The ground once again begins to move a sudden there is a great earthquake; for as we learn later, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone form the door and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who were on their way to the tomb, shaken by the earthquake, still in mourning and tears continued on, encountering the angel who spoke to them said, “do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go…go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold I have told you.”
And as they went to tell His disciples behold, Jesus met them there, (in the garden) saying, “Rejoice!” so they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Let us sing…on page 106 MORNING HAS BROKEN……………
That morning broke as equal, if not even superior to the first morning of Creation. The pure light…not only from the early morning sun, but the pure light that radiated from the newly risen Son of God.
The Light that He brought was going to restore and break, the chains of bondage that the enemy of God bound humanity with, called sin. The beginning of a New Creation.
In time then, time present and time to come, we would then begin to the see the first fruits of this New Creation. An opportunity for each, and every individual man, woman, and child, given the opportunity by this Man/God, Jesus the Christ, to be healed, set free and even made whole by His Love, Grace, Salvation, and restoration.
No matter the degree of hurt, abuse, pain, sorrow, desolation, or rejection, He promises and delivers to us, the JOY of our SALVATION! Halleluiah.
No one cares as much as He does for all of humanity. From the least to the greatest, the poor to the rich, red, and yellow, black, and white…and all in between, are precious in His sight.
Beneath our skin, aside from our successes and failures, our looks, our body types, our sexuality….beneath these and more, He, looks at the pain, the heart, the soul, and spirit of each of us. What He wants to do is to wrap His arms around all of us, all of humanity and draw us close to his breast, to where we feel His broken heart beating for us.
He knows even more intimately than we know ourselves, all that we do through, endure and dream.
Oh, how He loves you and me.
Oh, how He loves you and me,
He gave His life,
What more could He give,
Oh, how He loves you,
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me….
You see…we are often bound by our past. By people who have hurt us, some deliberately and some not so. But, you see, pain is pain, abuse is abuse, sorrow is sorrow….and yes, sometimes it hurts and binds us more when it happens to be someone we love and care for who hurts us, be it physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual. When these things happen, sometimes in our loss of those we love, it hurts even more.
But you see…He promises us that one day all will be good. One day He says there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears.
One day….the chains that even still bind us, He wants you and me, to walk up to Him and say, Lord, I know you can do it, so would you please break these chains that hurt me and bind me, so that I can walk into Your open arms and be comforted, made free, made whole. Will you hold me?
You broke the chains of death….and You, even in this life, as well as the next to come can set me free. All I need to be is willing. Willing to let them go, no matter who, what, where, when, how they came to be.
I ask you to take them now….and envelope me, us, in your Resurrected arms until I no longer can or want to cry. Let today be my resurrected day….that you will have turned my MOURNING into dancing for me…You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, where together, arm in arm, we walk on the cool grass with morning dew still on it.
A new day can dawn….a resurrection is possible, if indeed we simply say yes Lord, yes.
I read a remarkable story yesterday called “The Butterfly Miracle” I am going to read to you, for in some ways it is an Easter story….a story of life and death and hope/faith. I know your heart will be touched . . . Perhaps deeply.
“The Book of Amazing Stories”
"March 30 ~ The Butterfly Story"
by; Robert Petterson
April4, 2021
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
Easter…………a new day begins with a new morning!
It is now early morning…the morning following a day and night of dramatic and mind-numbing events….beginning, with the arrest, trial, and subsequent death of Jesus, known as a prophet, the Messiah…and by His own words, the Son of God.
That night previous, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was a supernatural darkness over all the land. Jesus, at the ninth hour cried out with a loud voice saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me,” soon followed by His very last words “Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit!” And at that moment He gave up His Spirit….and died.
His disciples, their families, his own mother, and those who loved and followed Him, believing, trusting that He, their Jesus was the One…the One all of Israel had for generations been waiting for. The One who would lead them out of bondage and into a kingdom where God’s glory would prevail, and peace would reign, from the throne of David once more, but this time across the world.
Hope, belief, faith for some dies easily…for others, they cling with the tenacity born to those of deep faith…for a miracle. Through their tears, through their shattered dreams and hopes they cling. Some remembering He would as He said come back to life….a resurrection spoken of. Hope does not die easily….for some.
That night also events happened that fueled their hopes. Were they rumors, did they really happen? The darkness, the earthquake felt by all in themselves were mind numbing, but the rumor that the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and during the earthquake rocks were split….and the graves opened, where it is said many of the bodies of the saints who had died were raised from the dead.
So amazed and even terrified were some, that when centurion and, those with him, who were guarding Jesus at His tomb, saw felt the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying “Truly this was the Son of God.”
His tomb sealed and guarded during those night hours because of the demands of the religious leaders, fearing that Jesus body might be taken by His disciples….thereby spreading a false rumor that He had risen from the dead as He had stated He would.
It is pre-dawn…a clear and beautiful morning is coming. The eastern sky showing ever so slightly that lovely pre-dawn glow, but what is this, what is happening? The ground once again begins to move a sudden there is a great earthquake; for as we learn later, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone form the door and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who were on their way to the tomb, shaken by the earthquake, still in mourning and tears continued on, encountering the angel who spoke to them said, “do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go…go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold I have told you.”
And as they went to tell His disciples behold, Jesus met them there, (in the garden) saying, “Rejoice!” so they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Let us sing…on page 106 MORNING HAS BROKEN……………
That morning broke as equal, if not even superior to the first morning of Creation. The pure light…not only from the early morning sun, but the pure light that radiated from the newly risen Son of God.
The Light that He brought was going to restore and break, the chains of bondage that the enemy of God bound humanity with, called sin. The beginning of a New Creation.
In time then, time present and time to come, we would then begin to the see the first fruits of this New Creation. An opportunity for each, and every individual man, woman, and child, given the opportunity by this Man/God, Jesus the Christ, to be healed, set free and even made whole by His Love, Grace, Salvation, and restoration.
No matter the degree of hurt, abuse, pain, sorrow, desolation, or rejection, He promises and delivers to us, the JOY of our SALVATION! Halleluiah.
No one cares as much as He does for all of humanity. From the least to the greatest, the poor to the rich, red, and yellow, black, and white…and all in between, are precious in His sight.
Beneath our skin, aside from our successes and failures, our looks, our body types, our sexuality….beneath these and more, He, looks at the pain, the heart, the soul, and spirit of each of us. What He wants to do is to wrap His arms around all of us, all of humanity and draw us close to his breast, to where we feel His broken heart beating for us.
He knows even more intimately than we know ourselves, all that we do through, endure and dream.
Oh, how He loves you and me.
Oh, how He loves you and me,
He gave His life,
What more could He give,
Oh, how He loves you,
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me….
You see…we are often bound by our past. By people who have hurt us, some deliberately and some not so. But, you see, pain is pain, abuse is abuse, sorrow is sorrow….and yes, sometimes it hurts and binds us more when it happens to be someone we love and care for who hurts us, be it physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual. When these things happen, sometimes in our loss of those we love, it hurts even more.
But you see…He promises us that one day all will be good. One day He says there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears.
One day….the chains that even still bind us, He wants you and me, to walk up to Him and say, Lord, I know you can do it, so would you please break these chains that hurt me and bind me, so that I can walk into Your open arms and be comforted, made free, made whole. Will you hold me?
You broke the chains of death….and You, even in this life, as well as the next to come can set me free. All I need to be is willing. Willing to let them go, no matter who, what, where, when, how they came to be.
I ask you to take them now….and envelope me, us, in your Resurrected arms until I no longer can or want to cry. Let today be my resurrected day….that you will have turned my MOURNING into dancing for me…You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, where together, arm in arm, we walk on the cool grass with morning dew still on it.
A new day can dawn….a resurrection is possible, if indeed we simply say yes Lord, yes.
I read a remarkable story yesterday called “The Butterfly Miracle” I am going to read to you, for in some ways it is an Easter story….a story of life and death and hope/faith. I know your heart will be touched . . . Perhaps deeply.
“The Book of Amazing Stories”
"March 30 ~ The Butterfly Story"
by; Robert Petterson
Palm Sunday * Holy Week * Passion Week
March 28, 2021
by; Connie Funkhouser
Pastor Tom knowing this week is a favorite of mine, and after last Sunday’s service, here I stand before you to share about Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and why this week “Holy Week” is also known as Passion Week.
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. The final week of Lent. The final and most profound week of Jesus’ journey to the Cross. A few interesting facts . . . .
Palm Sunday triggered the countdown to the greatest and most scared week of Earth’s history since Creation. The creation of our Universe, spoken into existence by our Creator, certainly was a grand event. But the universe shackled by the bondage to sin, groaning in anticipation of being liberated, must have rejoiced in the redemptive events of this week.
Jesus is wrapping up His 3-year ministry. He has done a lot of healing and teaching in the last three years but some of His important work will take place in His final week.
Jesus and His disciples have come to Jerusalem for Passover feast. But Jesus will not only celebrate the feast He will end up being the sacrificial lamb for the Passover meal. Tensions are high as the religious leaders are searching for a way to capture Jesus and have Him killed for blasphemy. The disciples are aware of this and they too are worried about what will happen when they go into the city. Massive crowds are coming to Jerusalem for Passover, so the tension also comes with some excitement.
By this point, Jesus of Nazareth has gained a reputation. Not only has Jesus taught the Scriptures like no one has ever taught them, but He has physically healed people, and the latest thing He has done to really upset the religious leaders was He literally raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. The religious leaders are frantically trying to figure out who Jesus really is, and how they can stop Him from creating more disruption among the religious establishment.
The NT Gospels recount the story:
On the first day of the week Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey. In Biblical times, it was common for Jewish kings or important people to arrive by a procession riding on a donkey. The donkey symbolized peace, so those who chose to ride donkeys showed that they came with peaceful intentions. Jesus even then reminded us that He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus made His way into Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover festival fulfilling an ancient prophesy.
In Zechariah 9:9, we are told;
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The crowds of people welcomed Him and placed their clothes and palm branches on the road, shouting, “Hosanna (save now) to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9 NKJV). The Roman road climbed steeply to the crest of the Mount of Olives, affording a spectacular view of the Desert of Judea to the east and Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley to the west.
Palm branches, the significance of the Palm Branch during this time of year. God's Word tells us the multitudes of people cut palm branches and waved them in the air, laid them out on the ground before Jesus as He rode into the city. The palm branch represented goodness and victory and was symbolic of the final victory Jesus would soon fulfill over death.
It was Palm Sunday and because Sally had a sore throat stayed home from Church. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches. Sally asked what they were for. “People held them over Jesus’ head as He walked by,” her father told her. Wouldn’t you know it, Sally replied. “The one Sunday I don’t go to Church and He shows up.”
Christian’s recall, recount, reflect, and reminisce the events leading up to Jesus’ death by crucifixion, and according to their faith, His Resurrection.
This week includes five days of special importance:
Passion: is a feeling of intense enthusiasm for or compelling desire for someone or something. Passion can range from eager interest in or admiration for an idea, proposal, or cause. An enthusiastic enjoyment of an interest or activity; a strong attraction, excitement, or emotion towards a person.
Jesus did feel strongly about His impending death and resurrection, but that is not why we call it Passion Week. Attributing this week of remembrance to the English word “passion” has a long history, much longer than any of us have been alive. It dates back @ least to the 12th century (old English), and stems from the late Latin noun passio. Which meant suffering or “enduring.” Therefore, the Passion of the Christ, the week leading up to His enduring and suffering for us.
Jesus was/is passionate about us and His mission to the Cross. Passion is deep, focused, and a driving force to. I am not sure about you, and I can only speak for myself, but my passion and what I have chosen to be passionate about has on more than one occasion met with negativity, criticism, resentment, and resistance. I am ok with this, since I know, really know and am confident in the passions I do have are centered in God’s Word, His Truth.
I wonder, whether you are sitting here or watching Live Stream, are you thinking about your passions, do you waver when they are questioned? Maybe what created your passion(s) is from enduring and amid unthinkable suffering. We do know this; Jesus did not put the brakes on His donkey and turn His entourage and donkey around. The passion that He harbored for His assignment was true, it was deep-rooted in His very soul, and He “knew” what and how was about to unfold. The Son of God’s passion was unquestionably a deep conviction, a great devotion, a motivating and compelling action that must be taken to fulfill prophesy.
Jesus, God our Father is intensely passionate about reconciling us to Him. The great passion of God’s heart is that we will want to “KNOW” Him. God is talking about more than our salvation. An understanding of God starts when we begin to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, but there is even more than that. He wants us to know all about Him! God’s main passion is His creation – His people.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus that is passionate spiritually?
The following is a brief story, and Jesus delivers the punch line: “Martha, Martha” He tell His hostess. “You are worried and distracted about many things; there is need for only one. Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her.” Luke's Gospel (Luke 10:38–42).
Everything, therefore, hangs on the one thing that Jesus mentions, the one thing that Mary has chosen and apparently her sister, Martha has not. (Mary and Martha remind me of my Grandma Daisy 102 and Great Auntie Ethel 101. Share a little story.)
I am sure most know the story of Jesus entering Martha and Mary’s home and the different reactions from the two sisters.
At 1st it looks as though the one thing that is necessary - is to sit @ Jesus’ feet, to assume a disciple’s posture; this over something so useful as bustling about to make your guests feel @ home.
It is even possible to set up the two sisters as examples of different vocations. Martha the thoughtful, and fortunate one that she devotes herself to prayer, to spiritual practice. Martha on the other hand, seems like the rest of us, who struggle with the demands of life in the world, and praying on the run, if @ all.
The distinction between Mary and Martha, contemplation and action, prayer, and service, comes across as a tidy distinction. Life is rarely neat. Issues of faith are rarely simple.
Something more is involved here. The story of Jesus as a guest in the home of these women does not justify dividing believers into two classes: spiritual aristocrats and the rest of us. Instead, it challenges all of us, and does so in a way that need not separate us from each other.
What makes Mary of Bethany an example is not that she sits @ the feet of Jesus. What makes her sister Martha need her example is not that she labors to accommodate others. What is @ stake lies elsewhere. A contemporary name for it is passionate spirituality.
Passionate spirituality takes many forms. It does not have to be emotional rather than reasonable, extroverted rather than introverted, or contemporary rather than traditional. What makes some spirituality passionate is prayer, enthusiasm, and boldness. People of passionate spirituality live committed lives. They practice and apply their faith with joy and enthusiasm. Passionate spirituality can spill out through service and study and devotion. It can be apparent in whatever one does.
The problem with Martha is not her hospitality. It is how she does not let her hospitality become a channel for spirituality marked by passion. Instead, she becomes distracted and complains to Jesus about her sister rather than speaking directly to her sister. While Mary listens to Jesus, Martha presumes to tell Him what she must do. Apparently, Martha is driven by duty (or in my case an urgency to clean), rather than to take delight in the presence of their guest. She may be an effective organizer, a great cook, attentive in all that she does, but she is simply responsible, not inspired, even on the day when Jesus Himself comes to dinner.
What makes Mary an example is not the simple fact that she listens to Jesus, but that she does so in a way that is passionate and bold. Jesus does not so much commend her behavior as the spirit behind it. Mary takes the role of a disciple, sitting @ the teacher’s feet. This is not something women in her society did, this is a role reserved for men. Yet, this is where she places herself, or rather listening to her inner passion, where the Spirit leads her.
Passionate spirituality is more God’s gift than it is anything we do. It is more for us to welcome than for us to achieve. It results from a series of conversions, a series of transformations.
Each of us is called repeatedly, invited to turn away from something and toward something else. The transformations that occur in our lives may cause us to turn toward God, toward Christ, toward a Church family and friends, toward the poor, to a life of prayer, toward a certain form of service, toward the world that God loves.
Each of us is invited many times to turn in a new direction. Passionate spirituality happens again and again when we answer these calls and enter new dimensions of the great gift of life. We cannot make these calls happen, but we can leave ourselves undefended so that we can hear such a call when it does present itself. Spiritual practices, properly understood, are to a large degree a form of listening to the Holy Spirit who resides within.
In this way, prayer, scripture, helping those in need, going on a faith-based retreat, and many others are ways for us, like Mary to sit @ Jesus’ feet and listen to what He wants to tell us.
We may find it risky and uncomfortable, for all sorts of reason, some of them self-imposed, to undertake spiritual practices in a receptive way, to answer the call to continuing our conversions/transformations, to become aflame with passionate spirituality or what Jesus calls the one thing necessary. We may after all find ourselves taken to unexpected places. And I am not necessarily speaking of physically relocating one’s life, but a new life in Christ with new and a fresh purpose.
Passionate spirituality took a biblical farm hand name Amos away from the tending of sycamore trees and made him into a prophet of God. He responded to his call.
Passionate spirituality took a slave from Maryland’s Eastern Shore named Harriet Tubman and made her into the Moses of her people. She responded to the call.
Passionate spirituality took Oscar Romero, a conventional cleric from the tortured country of El Salvador and made him into a voice for the voiceless. Oscar responded.
Fishermen dropped their nets, left their families, abandoned their comfort zones to follow Jesus and become His inner circle. They answered and responded.
Our Daisy’s Angels’ Ministry Team answered a call to volunteer and committed ourselves to ministering to a chapel full of Juvenile offenders. We responded . . . and speaking for myself, look where it has taken me. To a lifestyle of study, of reading and composing written assignments upon assignments, learning to articulate my words to paper, a passionate commitment, a highly focus and disciplined life, and for some of my peers, an exceedingly boring and lonely life.
As we contemplate Holy Week and the passion driven followers of Jesus, we must remember what our Lord endured for our salvation. He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice of sin on the altar of the cross and washed away our sins with His blood.
We have so much to be grateful for this week. The enemy knows that, and you can bet, he is going to do everything he can to try and distract us away from the true meaning of what this Holy Week means. God’s word is unstoppable. One thing we can be sure of – God keeps His word. We can count on Him, trust Him, and believe His Word. Today as we remember Palm Sunday, we are assured that God will keep His Word about the future. How do we know that for certain? Because He has kept His Word so perfectly and exactly in the past.
Our responsibility is to repent of our sins. Our crucified Lord on the cross is a vivid image of His love. Meditating on His passion will strengthen us against temptation, move us to frequent confession and I am not talking about publicly confessing, just a sincere and deep conversation with God.
Today, Palm Sunday is significant as we begin Holy Week. I encourage you to delve into the meaning of this week and what is about to transpire. Scripture relates the grand story of how God has acted in grace to save His way-ward children. Reflect on God’s promise of salvation that is offered to all. This journey that Jesus willingly took to the cross is for us, yes, all of us. God’s plan to save us is about to unfold. Reflect, marvel, sit in a state of amazement and gratitude because this is for You! ☺ The gift of salvation happens on Calvary.
Calvary where we come with our sin and receive His salvation. Calvary, where we come with our ruin and receive His righteousness. Calvary, the place where we come with our darkness and receive His light. Calvary, the place where we come with our hate and rebellion and receive His love. I suggest making the journey and collect what is yours.
Of course, I am talking figuratively. Go to the cross, take all your brokenness, and lay them down. Take all your baggage stuffed full of regrets, sins, the should haves, the what ifs, your heavy burdens and placed those bags at the foot of the cross. Get on your knees and give it “all” to our Lord and Savior and tell Him, “Thank You!” Get up and begin a fresh new beginning with a life centered in God’s Word and discover your God-given purpose(s). Your life will be transformed
Not ready yet, it is okay, fortunately God is patient, diligent, and His vigilance never waivers with us, His creation.
Holy Week is a reminder that God is not finished. Hope is still coming. God is not done. In this Holy Week, may God direct our thoughts and attention towards what matters most, Jesus Christ our King...
Let us choose to focus on worshipping our Lord, thanking Him for the gift of His sacrifice, celebrating the power of the Resurrection, and the new life found in Him alone. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Cor. 9:15
If you are able . . . make sure to witness the sunrise on Easter morning. Remember, the Son, S-O-N is rising for You!
Amen!
March 28, 2021
by; Connie Funkhouser
Pastor Tom knowing this week is a favorite of mine, and after last Sunday’s service, here I stand before you to share about Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and why this week “Holy Week” is also known as Passion Week.
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. The final week of Lent. The final and most profound week of Jesus’ journey to the Cross. A few interesting facts . . . .
- The final week of Christ’s life is captured for us in the NT across 28 chapters out of 89 chapters that make up the Four Gospels.
- Just for perspective - - - out of those 89 chapters in the Four Gospels:
- Christ’s entire 42-month (or 168 weeks, or 3-1/2 yr.) of ministry is covered in 61 of those 89 chapters.
- Christ’s Final Week fills another 28 chapters.
- We know so much more about Christ’s final week, than any other week in the Bible.
Palm Sunday triggered the countdown to the greatest and most scared week of Earth’s history since Creation. The creation of our Universe, spoken into existence by our Creator, certainly was a grand event. But the universe shackled by the bondage to sin, groaning in anticipation of being liberated, must have rejoiced in the redemptive events of this week.
Jesus is wrapping up His 3-year ministry. He has done a lot of healing and teaching in the last three years but some of His important work will take place in His final week.
Jesus and His disciples have come to Jerusalem for Passover feast. But Jesus will not only celebrate the feast He will end up being the sacrificial lamb for the Passover meal. Tensions are high as the religious leaders are searching for a way to capture Jesus and have Him killed for blasphemy. The disciples are aware of this and they too are worried about what will happen when they go into the city. Massive crowds are coming to Jerusalem for Passover, so the tension also comes with some excitement.
By this point, Jesus of Nazareth has gained a reputation. Not only has Jesus taught the Scriptures like no one has ever taught them, but He has physically healed people, and the latest thing He has done to really upset the religious leaders was He literally raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. The religious leaders are frantically trying to figure out who Jesus really is, and how they can stop Him from creating more disruption among the religious establishment.
The NT Gospels recount the story:
On the first day of the week Jesus riding on the colt of a donkey. In Biblical times, it was common for Jewish kings or important people to arrive by a procession riding on a donkey. The donkey symbolized peace, so those who chose to ride donkeys showed that they came with peaceful intentions. Jesus even then reminded us that He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus made His way into Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover festival fulfilling an ancient prophesy.
In Zechariah 9:9, we are told;
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The crowds of people welcomed Him and placed their clothes and palm branches on the road, shouting, “Hosanna (save now) to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9 NKJV). The Roman road climbed steeply to the crest of the Mount of Olives, affording a spectacular view of the Desert of Judea to the east and Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley to the west.
Palm branches, the significance of the Palm Branch during this time of year. God's Word tells us the multitudes of people cut palm branches and waved them in the air, laid them out on the ground before Jesus as He rode into the city. The palm branch represented goodness and victory and was symbolic of the final victory Jesus would soon fulfill over death.
It was Palm Sunday and because Sally had a sore throat stayed home from Church. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches. Sally asked what they were for. “People held them over Jesus’ head as He walked by,” her father told her. Wouldn’t you know it, Sally replied. “The one Sunday I don’t go to Church and He shows up.”
Christian’s recall, recount, reflect, and reminisce the events leading up to Jesus’ death by crucifixion, and according to their faith, His Resurrection.
This week includes five days of special importance:
- The first is Palm Sunday also referred to as Passion Sunday. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.
- Maundy Thursday – Commemorates the Last Super.
- Good Friday – The most solemn day of the Church year. Jesus was crucified.
- Holy Saturday – A day of somber reflection on what a world would be like w/o Jesus.
- Easter – Hallelujah, we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior.
Passion: is a feeling of intense enthusiasm for or compelling desire for someone or something. Passion can range from eager interest in or admiration for an idea, proposal, or cause. An enthusiastic enjoyment of an interest or activity; a strong attraction, excitement, or emotion towards a person.
Jesus did feel strongly about His impending death and resurrection, but that is not why we call it Passion Week. Attributing this week of remembrance to the English word “passion” has a long history, much longer than any of us have been alive. It dates back @ least to the 12th century (old English), and stems from the late Latin noun passio. Which meant suffering or “enduring.” Therefore, the Passion of the Christ, the week leading up to His enduring and suffering for us.
Jesus was/is passionate about us and His mission to the Cross. Passion is deep, focused, and a driving force to. I am not sure about you, and I can only speak for myself, but my passion and what I have chosen to be passionate about has on more than one occasion met with negativity, criticism, resentment, and resistance. I am ok with this, since I know, really know and am confident in the passions I do have are centered in God’s Word, His Truth.
I wonder, whether you are sitting here or watching Live Stream, are you thinking about your passions, do you waver when they are questioned? Maybe what created your passion(s) is from enduring and amid unthinkable suffering. We do know this; Jesus did not put the brakes on His donkey and turn His entourage and donkey around. The passion that He harbored for His assignment was true, it was deep-rooted in His very soul, and He “knew” what and how was about to unfold. The Son of God’s passion was unquestionably a deep conviction, a great devotion, a motivating and compelling action that must be taken to fulfill prophesy.
Jesus, God our Father is intensely passionate about reconciling us to Him. The great passion of God’s heart is that we will want to “KNOW” Him. God is talking about more than our salvation. An understanding of God starts when we begin to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, but there is even more than that. He wants us to know all about Him! God’s main passion is His creation – His people.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus that is passionate spiritually?
The following is a brief story, and Jesus delivers the punch line: “Martha, Martha” He tell His hostess. “You are worried and distracted about many things; there is need for only one. Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her.” Luke's Gospel (Luke 10:38–42).
Everything, therefore, hangs on the one thing that Jesus mentions, the one thing that Mary has chosen and apparently her sister, Martha has not. (Mary and Martha remind me of my Grandma Daisy 102 and Great Auntie Ethel 101. Share a little story.)
I am sure most know the story of Jesus entering Martha and Mary’s home and the different reactions from the two sisters.
At 1st it looks as though the one thing that is necessary - is to sit @ Jesus’ feet, to assume a disciple’s posture; this over something so useful as bustling about to make your guests feel @ home.
It is even possible to set up the two sisters as examples of different vocations. Martha the thoughtful, and fortunate one that she devotes herself to prayer, to spiritual practice. Martha on the other hand, seems like the rest of us, who struggle with the demands of life in the world, and praying on the run, if @ all.
The distinction between Mary and Martha, contemplation and action, prayer, and service, comes across as a tidy distinction. Life is rarely neat. Issues of faith are rarely simple.
Something more is involved here. The story of Jesus as a guest in the home of these women does not justify dividing believers into two classes: spiritual aristocrats and the rest of us. Instead, it challenges all of us, and does so in a way that need not separate us from each other.
What makes Mary of Bethany an example is not that she sits @ the feet of Jesus. What makes her sister Martha need her example is not that she labors to accommodate others. What is @ stake lies elsewhere. A contemporary name for it is passionate spirituality.
Passionate spirituality takes many forms. It does not have to be emotional rather than reasonable, extroverted rather than introverted, or contemporary rather than traditional. What makes some spirituality passionate is prayer, enthusiasm, and boldness. People of passionate spirituality live committed lives. They practice and apply their faith with joy and enthusiasm. Passionate spirituality can spill out through service and study and devotion. It can be apparent in whatever one does.
The problem with Martha is not her hospitality. It is how she does not let her hospitality become a channel for spirituality marked by passion. Instead, she becomes distracted and complains to Jesus about her sister rather than speaking directly to her sister. While Mary listens to Jesus, Martha presumes to tell Him what she must do. Apparently, Martha is driven by duty (or in my case an urgency to clean), rather than to take delight in the presence of their guest. She may be an effective organizer, a great cook, attentive in all that she does, but she is simply responsible, not inspired, even on the day when Jesus Himself comes to dinner.
What makes Mary an example is not the simple fact that she listens to Jesus, but that she does so in a way that is passionate and bold. Jesus does not so much commend her behavior as the spirit behind it. Mary takes the role of a disciple, sitting @ the teacher’s feet. This is not something women in her society did, this is a role reserved for men. Yet, this is where she places herself, or rather listening to her inner passion, where the Spirit leads her.
Passionate spirituality is more God’s gift than it is anything we do. It is more for us to welcome than for us to achieve. It results from a series of conversions, a series of transformations.
Each of us is called repeatedly, invited to turn away from something and toward something else. The transformations that occur in our lives may cause us to turn toward God, toward Christ, toward a Church family and friends, toward the poor, to a life of prayer, toward a certain form of service, toward the world that God loves.
Each of us is invited many times to turn in a new direction. Passionate spirituality happens again and again when we answer these calls and enter new dimensions of the great gift of life. We cannot make these calls happen, but we can leave ourselves undefended so that we can hear such a call when it does present itself. Spiritual practices, properly understood, are to a large degree a form of listening to the Holy Spirit who resides within.
In this way, prayer, scripture, helping those in need, going on a faith-based retreat, and many others are ways for us, like Mary to sit @ Jesus’ feet and listen to what He wants to tell us.
We may find it risky and uncomfortable, for all sorts of reason, some of them self-imposed, to undertake spiritual practices in a receptive way, to answer the call to continuing our conversions/transformations, to become aflame with passionate spirituality or what Jesus calls the one thing necessary. We may after all find ourselves taken to unexpected places. And I am not necessarily speaking of physically relocating one’s life, but a new life in Christ with new and a fresh purpose.
Passionate spirituality took a biblical farm hand name Amos away from the tending of sycamore trees and made him into a prophet of God. He responded to his call.
Passionate spirituality took a slave from Maryland’s Eastern Shore named Harriet Tubman and made her into the Moses of her people. She responded to the call.
Passionate spirituality took Oscar Romero, a conventional cleric from the tortured country of El Salvador and made him into a voice for the voiceless. Oscar responded.
Fishermen dropped their nets, left their families, abandoned their comfort zones to follow Jesus and become His inner circle. They answered and responded.
Our Daisy’s Angels’ Ministry Team answered a call to volunteer and committed ourselves to ministering to a chapel full of Juvenile offenders. We responded . . . and speaking for myself, look where it has taken me. To a lifestyle of study, of reading and composing written assignments upon assignments, learning to articulate my words to paper, a passionate commitment, a highly focus and disciplined life, and for some of my peers, an exceedingly boring and lonely life.
As we contemplate Holy Week and the passion driven followers of Jesus, we must remember what our Lord endured for our salvation. He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice of sin on the altar of the cross and washed away our sins with His blood.
We have so much to be grateful for this week. The enemy knows that, and you can bet, he is going to do everything he can to try and distract us away from the true meaning of what this Holy Week means. God’s word is unstoppable. One thing we can be sure of – God keeps His word. We can count on Him, trust Him, and believe His Word. Today as we remember Palm Sunday, we are assured that God will keep His Word about the future. How do we know that for certain? Because He has kept His Word so perfectly and exactly in the past.
Our responsibility is to repent of our sins. Our crucified Lord on the cross is a vivid image of His love. Meditating on His passion will strengthen us against temptation, move us to frequent confession and I am not talking about publicly confessing, just a sincere and deep conversation with God.
Today, Palm Sunday is significant as we begin Holy Week. I encourage you to delve into the meaning of this week and what is about to transpire. Scripture relates the grand story of how God has acted in grace to save His way-ward children. Reflect on God’s promise of salvation that is offered to all. This journey that Jesus willingly took to the cross is for us, yes, all of us. God’s plan to save us is about to unfold. Reflect, marvel, sit in a state of amazement and gratitude because this is for You! ☺ The gift of salvation happens on Calvary.
Calvary where we come with our sin and receive His salvation. Calvary, where we come with our ruin and receive His righteousness. Calvary, the place where we come with our darkness and receive His light. Calvary, the place where we come with our hate and rebellion and receive His love. I suggest making the journey and collect what is yours.
Of course, I am talking figuratively. Go to the cross, take all your brokenness, and lay them down. Take all your baggage stuffed full of regrets, sins, the should haves, the what ifs, your heavy burdens and placed those bags at the foot of the cross. Get on your knees and give it “all” to our Lord and Savior and tell Him, “Thank You!” Get up and begin a fresh new beginning with a life centered in God’s Word and discover your God-given purpose(s). Your life will be transformed
Not ready yet, it is okay, fortunately God is patient, diligent, and His vigilance never waivers with us, His creation.
Holy Week is a reminder that God is not finished. Hope is still coming. God is not done. In this Holy Week, may God direct our thoughts and attention towards what matters most, Jesus Christ our King...
Let us choose to focus on worshipping our Lord, thanking Him for the gift of His sacrifice, celebrating the power of the Resurrection, and the new life found in Him alone. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Cor. 9:15
If you are able . . . make sure to witness the sunrise on Easter morning. Remember, the Son, S-O-N is rising for You!
Amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
March 21, 2021
Is it Possible? Absolutely!
Micah 6:8
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
As we know by experience, life is full of requirements and expectations, it just is, if we are going to live together in community and harmony. There are realistic and applicable expectations, fundamental ones as well as unrealistic and absurd ones. When they come from God Himself though, we had better listen for our own good. His are never unrealistic, absurd, or irrelevant. They are always life-applicable and necessary for the well-being of we as individuals, and for humanity-as-a-whole.
MICAH 6:8 – “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is, to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God.”
This verse encapsulates the heart of God, and with that my goal and our eventual destination in today’s message. We will now go over these again, one by one.
a. We have been told!
b. What is good in the sight of God.
c. What our requirements are that need to be fulfilled in us being accepted by Him and they are:
d. Justice
e. Mercy
f. Humility
Think about just these three requirements and expectations, that if indeed they and they alone were fulfilled by us, how different the world would be. We need to look deep within our hearts and lives, examining ourselves through the eyes of the Spirit and see where we fall short.
We will become more intimate with this verse and these words as we go along in today’s message, for they are foundational to our Christian journey in making us more like Jesus.
I am now going to do a bit of what I call ‘a weaving’ of these words into a tapestry of a good life for each and all of us.
A requirement is in its essence a commandment.
Here is the meaning of each in their simplest definition.
1. Commandment, an important ‘rule’ given by God that tells us how to behave.
2. Rule, a statement that tells us what is or is not permitted, in-any-given situation we find ourselves in as Believers.
3. Requirement, something that must be done.
4. Expectation, a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen, if stated clearly what is expected.
5. Faithful; keeping our promises and doing what we are supposed to do, thereby showing true and constant loyalty to God.
6. Benefits, a good or helpful result or effect of doing what is expected.
Weaving these six together in a complete paragraph comes next!
“Commandments are important rules given by God, instructing us as to how to live our lives, and these rules or commandments tell us what is, or even perhaps what is not expected in our daily living, requiring of us, the needed musts that He instructs us in His expectations, of what will be the outcome or likely to happen. As we are faithful in keeping our promises, by doing what we are supposed to do, thereby showing Him our love and true consistent loyalty, for in doing so, the results will be beneficial and both helpful and good.
In Jesus’ teachings there have been determined by scholars to be thirty-eight actual commandments. These commandments in their totality, offer to us ‘the way of life’ that if followed, will bless, and enrich us that no other way offered to us can give us.
My question at this point is, is this easy? and my answer is no, but it is also not impossible. For in Christ we are told, all things are possible. This, friend, is the crux on which all of these and their successes or failure depends. Do we want to please God or ourselves? Do we want to have full and rich lives or not? What must come about first, is the desire to love and worship Him, or ourselves. When the desire of our focus is settled, that is the first step toward pleasing God. These virtues can be woven into the very fabric of our lives if we but desire them to be there, for God will enable us to become master weavers of our own lives when He is working the shuttle.
Jesus said, “IF…you indeed love Me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
These teaching of His will clearly tell us if we follow a form of religion, or instead true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
We can be like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or like all the rest of the geysers., for it is not the largest in the Park, but certainly the most predictable or reliable.
As Christians, if we adhere to the commandments of Jesus, desiring to follow them, we too can be relied upon to be faithful and true because of the requirement and expectation that are being fulfilled. These, flowing from Him through us, as we interact with one another, with strangers and family members making changes for the better! Not only our lives and world, but all those whom we touch every day will benefit from our adherence to these virtues. Being Faithful is the key.
As we learn by studying His Commandments or requirements, it will also become noticeably clear to us, that God, being the God of expectations, is also the God of grace, justice, mercy, and humility, as exampled in Jesus when He washed the feet of His disciples.
Of the acknowledged thirty-eight commandments, there is one that in the past several decades became quite unpopular to speak of, and we find that one in John 3:7 – “You must be born again” (I have heard too many Christians speak against this statement, yet it was Jesus Himself who said it, and He NEVER said anything He did not mean. Just one of those requirements.) The benefits we are told is when doing so, (being born again) we receive eternal life, but not only eternal life, but eternal life with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in a place called Heaven. This is as opposed to the alternative, for it seems everyone born has an eternal life….the difference being, where one spends it. These are not my words, but I sure do not mind saying them.
Do you remember the man reaching out to Jesus when He stated this to him? John 3:4, Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be re-born. Well, that was rational question.
In John 3:5, Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (baptism) and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Let us put it all together here….and this is called the “Message of the Kingdom.”
Upon repentance, (asking for the forgiveness of a person’s personal sins) then accepting what the Bible says about who Jesus the Christ as…(the begotten Son of God) and then turning to God in a new faith or belief in Him, for salvation. (benefit!) Acts 3:19. Turning from sin is NOT the definition of repentance but it is one of the results of genuine faith-based belief.
I will try to sum it up as best I can. “Upon repentance, a new order of life opens up to the new believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus used the term “new birth” to dramatically indicate three things.
1. Without a new birth there is no life, and no relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
2. In a New Birth, a new perspective is born as we now begin to see with new eyes and hear with new ears, the truth of the Kingdom of God. God’s Word becomes alive and clear, as the Holy Spirit brings us fresh revelations of truths.
3. Through this new birth we are given a second birth, not literally physically, yet literally in the Spiritual realm, by entering that new realm of growing faith, where God’s position in our lives is now being realized. (2nd Corinthians 5:17) It is now a re-qualifying experience, opening the possibilities, of our existence to a new supernatural dimension of life, and outfitting us for our new and vital spiritual journey.
Over the years there was formed a pattern that still exists in some religious circles, as to how to be born again. You had to get up, walk down an aisle (if there was one) to the front of the church building, and confess (in front of the congregation that indeed you were a sinner) inviting Jesus into your heart, so to speak. This I experienced personally at the age of 12 and found it to be a most memorable and wonderful experience. But in my opinion, this is but one way, this is not the only way. What occurs between you and God is between you and God, and to how this relationship comes about. One fact is that indeed it is through Christ and Christ alone. Publicly, privately, in a dump or in a mansion, a church, or a pool hall, it just does not matter. The moment you realize you by faith you believe, you at that moment are born again.
From that moment on it is a time to recognize that indeed, God will require of you, me, and all of us that call upon HIM, that we begin to live out Micah 6:8, and, that our new attitude and outlook, is focused on becoming like Jesus, who lived out and continues to live out humility, justice, and mercy as well as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We are also told this beautiful revelation in Romans 8:1, “There is NOW no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!” Nada, never, no way, NO condemnation! God now sees us solely through the eyes of His Son. Justified and whole.
Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care!
For, He set you there.
Is your place a large place?
Guard it with care!
For He set you there.
Whatever your place,
You are not alone,
But His place, and
He set you there.
Therefore. Tend it with care…………
Wherever we are now, is where we are supposed to be. It is here and now that God called us to be His followers, doing His will, learning His ways, so that His Son is given the freedom by us, to work through us, in assisting and loving others into the Kingdom of God.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ…help us to learn from You, opening our minds and spirit to your Holy Spirit…who teaches us in all things….also helping us to remember Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God. Amen
Story…….read. . . .
March 21, 2021
Is it Possible? Absolutely!
Micah 6:8
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
As we know by experience, life is full of requirements and expectations, it just is, if we are going to live together in community and harmony. There are realistic and applicable expectations, fundamental ones as well as unrealistic and absurd ones. When they come from God Himself though, we had better listen for our own good. His are never unrealistic, absurd, or irrelevant. They are always life-applicable and necessary for the well-being of we as individuals, and for humanity-as-a-whole.
MICAH 6:8 – “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is, to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God.”
This verse encapsulates the heart of God, and with that my goal and our eventual destination in today’s message. We will now go over these again, one by one.
a. We have been told!
b. What is good in the sight of God.
c. What our requirements are that need to be fulfilled in us being accepted by Him and they are:
d. Justice
e. Mercy
f. Humility
Think about just these three requirements and expectations, that if indeed they and they alone were fulfilled by us, how different the world would be. We need to look deep within our hearts and lives, examining ourselves through the eyes of the Spirit and see where we fall short.
We will become more intimate with this verse and these words as we go along in today’s message, for they are foundational to our Christian journey in making us more like Jesus.
I am now going to do a bit of what I call ‘a weaving’ of these words into a tapestry of a good life for each and all of us.
A requirement is in its essence a commandment.
Here is the meaning of each in their simplest definition.
1. Commandment, an important ‘rule’ given by God that tells us how to behave.
2. Rule, a statement that tells us what is or is not permitted, in-any-given situation we find ourselves in as Believers.
3. Requirement, something that must be done.
4. Expectation, a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen, if stated clearly what is expected.
5. Faithful; keeping our promises and doing what we are supposed to do, thereby showing true and constant loyalty to God.
6. Benefits, a good or helpful result or effect of doing what is expected.
Weaving these six together in a complete paragraph comes next!
“Commandments are important rules given by God, instructing us as to how to live our lives, and these rules or commandments tell us what is, or even perhaps what is not expected in our daily living, requiring of us, the needed musts that He instructs us in His expectations, of what will be the outcome or likely to happen. As we are faithful in keeping our promises, by doing what we are supposed to do, thereby showing Him our love and true consistent loyalty, for in doing so, the results will be beneficial and both helpful and good.
In Jesus’ teachings there have been determined by scholars to be thirty-eight actual commandments. These commandments in their totality, offer to us ‘the way of life’ that if followed, will bless, and enrich us that no other way offered to us can give us.
My question at this point is, is this easy? and my answer is no, but it is also not impossible. For in Christ we are told, all things are possible. This, friend, is the crux on which all of these and their successes or failure depends. Do we want to please God or ourselves? Do we want to have full and rich lives or not? What must come about first, is the desire to love and worship Him, or ourselves. When the desire of our focus is settled, that is the first step toward pleasing God. These virtues can be woven into the very fabric of our lives if we but desire them to be there, for God will enable us to become master weavers of our own lives when He is working the shuttle.
Jesus said, “IF…you indeed love Me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
These teaching of His will clearly tell us if we follow a form of religion, or instead true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
We can be like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or like all the rest of the geysers., for it is not the largest in the Park, but certainly the most predictable or reliable.
As Christians, if we adhere to the commandments of Jesus, desiring to follow them, we too can be relied upon to be faithful and true because of the requirement and expectation that are being fulfilled. These, flowing from Him through us, as we interact with one another, with strangers and family members making changes for the better! Not only our lives and world, but all those whom we touch every day will benefit from our adherence to these virtues. Being Faithful is the key.
As we learn by studying His Commandments or requirements, it will also become noticeably clear to us, that God, being the God of expectations, is also the God of grace, justice, mercy, and humility, as exampled in Jesus when He washed the feet of His disciples.
Of the acknowledged thirty-eight commandments, there is one that in the past several decades became quite unpopular to speak of, and we find that one in John 3:7 – “You must be born again” (I have heard too many Christians speak against this statement, yet it was Jesus Himself who said it, and He NEVER said anything He did not mean. Just one of those requirements.) The benefits we are told is when doing so, (being born again) we receive eternal life, but not only eternal life, but eternal life with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in a place called Heaven. This is as opposed to the alternative, for it seems everyone born has an eternal life….the difference being, where one spends it. These are not my words, but I sure do not mind saying them.
Do you remember the man reaching out to Jesus when He stated this to him? John 3:4, Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be re-born. Well, that was rational question.
In John 3:5, Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (baptism) and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Let us put it all together here….and this is called the “Message of the Kingdom.”
Upon repentance, (asking for the forgiveness of a person’s personal sins) then accepting what the Bible says about who Jesus the Christ as…(the begotten Son of God) and then turning to God in a new faith or belief in Him, for salvation. (benefit!) Acts 3:19. Turning from sin is NOT the definition of repentance but it is one of the results of genuine faith-based belief.
I will try to sum it up as best I can. “Upon repentance, a new order of life opens up to the new believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus used the term “new birth” to dramatically indicate three things.
1. Without a new birth there is no life, and no relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
2. In a New Birth, a new perspective is born as we now begin to see with new eyes and hear with new ears, the truth of the Kingdom of God. God’s Word becomes alive and clear, as the Holy Spirit brings us fresh revelations of truths.
3. Through this new birth we are given a second birth, not literally physically, yet literally in the Spiritual realm, by entering that new realm of growing faith, where God’s position in our lives is now being realized. (2nd Corinthians 5:17) It is now a re-qualifying experience, opening the possibilities, of our existence to a new supernatural dimension of life, and outfitting us for our new and vital spiritual journey.
Over the years there was formed a pattern that still exists in some religious circles, as to how to be born again. You had to get up, walk down an aisle (if there was one) to the front of the church building, and confess (in front of the congregation that indeed you were a sinner) inviting Jesus into your heart, so to speak. This I experienced personally at the age of 12 and found it to be a most memorable and wonderful experience. But in my opinion, this is but one way, this is not the only way. What occurs between you and God is between you and God, and to how this relationship comes about. One fact is that indeed it is through Christ and Christ alone. Publicly, privately, in a dump or in a mansion, a church, or a pool hall, it just does not matter. The moment you realize you by faith you believe, you at that moment are born again.
From that moment on it is a time to recognize that indeed, God will require of you, me, and all of us that call upon HIM, that we begin to live out Micah 6:8, and, that our new attitude and outlook, is focused on becoming like Jesus, who lived out and continues to live out humility, justice, and mercy as well as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We are also told this beautiful revelation in Romans 8:1, “There is NOW no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!” Nada, never, no way, NO condemnation! God now sees us solely through the eyes of His Son. Justified and whole.
Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care!
For, He set you there.
Is your place a large place?
Guard it with care!
For He set you there.
Whatever your place,
You are not alone,
But His place, and
He set you there.
Therefore. Tend it with care…………
Wherever we are now, is where we are supposed to be. It is here and now that God called us to be His followers, doing His will, learning His ways, so that His Son is given the freedom by us, to work through us, in assisting and loving others into the Kingdom of God.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ…help us to learn from You, opening our minds and spirit to your Holy Spirit…who teaches us in all things….also helping us to remember Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God. Amen
Story…….read. . . .
The Little Church in the Pines
March 14, 2021
“WHAT IS SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
What is so amazing about Grace ties into what is so amazing about Life. Really, life is simply (but not so simply) a fact I am not always able to grasp even though
I live. The enormity of space…eternity…this amazing little dot we live on…amazing! That not only the mere fact of life, on earth, but the resources to sustain life and for it to prosper are all here. We take for granted all these facts, and live as if what? That life is our due? I tell you this, it is a gift, and should be recognized as such. A gift that we should use in the very-best ways possible as a means of giving thanks to God for it.
At the center of this amazing thing called life is God. Not a god, but THE GOD, for God is not a concept but a reality. We know it, we sense it, we feel Him. The order of life, the body we live in, so amazing! From dust and water…and the elements that God used to create both the Universe and us, amazing. Not only us, but from the mite to the mighty, amazing, the diversity of life, PERFECT in Creation, but when the perfect went awry through man who not being content to live in peace, harmony, and unity with all that God gave him, because he wanted to be like God…. came the fall. Unity, harmony became disunity and confusion resulting in a rift, when Gods and our enemy entered the picture and, as a result, the need for mankind, now exploding upon the earth to be able to become once again reconciled to the Creator through what and who? Through Jesus Christ and GRACE, because of His great life and sacrifice of that life for us. GRACE and RECONCILIATION THROUGH HIS SACRIFICE is nothing short of AMAZING. And all it takes is acknowledgment of the Savior with the forgiveness of sins, and the GRACE that separates them from us as far as the East is from the West! Vanished forever…that is Grace. God planted within us the desire for Him, for His Son at the very beginning of Creation. Many of us have tried to fill that space with so many other things.
And people….and yet the hunger for God, un-satiated, remains in us, which drives us on and up and into, finally, hopefully, the One who breathed life into us.
Amazing Grace……how sweet the sound ~ that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Twas GRACE that taught my heart to fear, and “grace” my fears relieved; how precious did that “Grace” appear…the hour I first believed.
He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come;
His Grace hath brough me safe thus fare, and Grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve not less day to sings God’s praise, than when we’d first begun.
(READ THE HISTORY OF THE HYMN)
Yes, I have spoken on GRACE before and will again, but it has been a while since a singular topic, and feel deeply the need for myself and all of us to simply remember the great and mighty “gift” that it is, and as we draw close to Easter and what it cost our Lord to bestow on us this gift….and what it cost Him to give it.
The first stanza of the hymn speaks of fear, so I am going to try and clarify the meaning of that fear. I believe what Newton is saying here is that without GRACE, with the GRACE given freely to all who come to that Saving Grace in Jesus, here, in this stanza is specific to himself. That the acknowledgment of his own sins…the weight of not having that GRACE…would cause him to be swallowed up by the sins that weighed on him, causing fear to rise within him to the degree of an it, then becoming a great fear, an awful fear, and that the result without this free grace ultimately….is not just physical death, but a total separation of himself from God in Christ. Do you understand….it would mean conscious separation, because Scripture tells us all will live forever, no annihilation, but conscious separation from the Savior. John Newton came deeply into the understanding of what GRACE meant to him. Freedom, freedom from fear, darkness, separation, and death.
He goes on to say…. how precious, how valuable, how light-filled Grace is, when both received….and then given to others, when through us, by way of witness of our lives and words………………
John Newton, following a difficult upbringing, his mother dying when he was but seven, because of the choices he made as a young man eventually let to his deep conversion…once recognizing his then immediate and eternal value of this GRACE.
Freely, freely you have received…freely, freely give. Go in my name and because you believe…. others will know that I live.
I have mentioned Philip Yancy before…because of his book he wrote and published called “What’s So Amazing About Grace.” I recall a line he wrote saying, “Little did I know what I was getting into when I began writing a book on the word grace. He goes on to say, “I chose the topic out of my concern that some of us in the U.S. Church have lost our way, and that we stand in danger of losing our most important contribution to the world, (along with the message of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ) because we fail…we fail…to both understand and live out the grace given to us in our everyday interactive lives with each other and our neighbors.”
Philip also says, “I truly believe that the future of the church in America and the world, depends on how we master the ‘gift’ of giving Grace, not His grace for only He can give that, but the grace given to us working out through us to others…being grace-filled.
What makes Christianity so radically different from all the other religions in the world. C.S. Lewis put it this way. “Grace”
Think about this…. where in the Muslim religion is grace ever mentioned. The entire world and all its religions are considered by them as faithless infidels, worthy of being if not converted, killed. Without one iota of mercy or grace.
There are a few religions such as Buddhists, which incorporate peace into their faith, and here the four notables of that religion.
1. Existence is suffering.
2. Suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment, (sin)
3. There is a cessation to suffering that can be reached in life. And that is called Nirvana.
4. There is a pathway to Nirvana, but only a few can find within themselves the discipline to achieving it. Nirvana is being One with all of creation.
There is the Bahai Faith…. which is a new religion, (19th Century) teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. They acknowledge Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad as predecessors to “the Bab, who is the one yet to come, called Bahuaullah, who will unify the world under one all-knowing God. Unknown to them, this is true as Jesus Christ will do so when He returns to earth.
If you adhere to any one of these faiths only…. then there is no grace extended…the idea is to incorporate the best of them all if indeed they can be found.
GRACE….as you know or perhaps do not know, cannot be earned…for in Western Christian theology, Grace is “the love and mercy given to us by God, because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have, will do or can earn it”. Undeserved, but given freely.
Christ paid for it…. period. Be grateful and accept it…. please.
Why do we sometimes find it so hard to extend to others this GRACE in us (having been forgiven ourselves by Christ) who have offended us?
Because it is beneath us to condescend to do so?
Because they offended us and therefore do not deserve it?
Because we want to feel superior to them…add infinitum.
Because of this, we often nurture the offense to the point where It rules our lives.
These among many others…. if not reconciled, become chains around our mind, heart and spirit that can blind and bind us to the need of letting the offense go. No longer walking in grace, it soon becomes almost possible to live without our self-righteousness indignation, hurt, anger…thereby making reconciliation next to impossible.
It is not out business to go around pointing fingers at others, pointing out their failures or sins…. but, for the most part we have all on occasion done so. In this area we don’t need any training either, as it seems to come naturally. Experience comes quickly and can be fed to the degree of becoming a ravaging beast. Then too often our tongue gets involve, blaming, accusing, gossiping, condemning for these actions keep us in control….and we like being in control.
I have mentioned Corrie Ten-Boom and her sister Betsy who from Holland ended up in a concentration camp for aiding Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution. It is all about grace……. titled, “The Deepest Pit of All” READ (from
One last illustration;
On April 4th, 1968, American Civil Rights Leader, known as Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated, leaving millions angry and disillusioned. In Indianapolis, a largely African American crowd had gathered to hear Robert F. Kennedy speak. They had not yet heard of Dr. King’s death, so Kennedy (heart-broken and shattered himself,) chose to share the tragic news. He appealed for calm by acknowledging not only his, but their loss……the country’s loss and his, having lost his own brother President Kennedy, and the abiding pain he carried within himself.
Kennedy then quoted a variation of an ancient poem.
Even in our sleep,
Pain which we cannot forget,
Falls, drop by drop upon our heart,
Until in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom…through the awful grace of God,
“Wisdom through the ‘awful Grace of God’ is a remarkable statement. It means this…. that God’s Grace should fill us with awe, for it gives us the opportunity to grow in wisdom and Grace itself, during life’s most difficult times, will, when receiving and giving, change our lives for the better, and make us into men and women of gratitude and grace…. not judgment.
It will make us into kinder and gentler people…. with the side effect of doing the same to others when they see us being like our Lord.
God help us all…every one of us…to live such lives that in turn will bring us, us, health, peace and even joy, where no matter what comes our way, we can say and sing as we did last week. “It is Well with My Soul” for it will be well with your soul because of being men and women of God’s grace through Christ.
Acts of Grace begins with the small things, things as simple as small acts of kindness…so that when the big opportunities come, we will automatically do the right thing, because we were faithful in the small things. We will have stepped into that water I spoke of last week…. for we will have His Peace, Like a River in our soul.
Amen….
What is so amazing about Grace……Everything!
(Selah)
March 14, 2021
“WHAT IS SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?"
by: Pastor Tom Shanor
What is so amazing about Grace ties into what is so amazing about Life. Really, life is simply (but not so simply) a fact I am not always able to grasp even though
I live. The enormity of space…eternity…this amazing little dot we live on…amazing! That not only the mere fact of life, on earth, but the resources to sustain life and for it to prosper are all here. We take for granted all these facts, and live as if what? That life is our due? I tell you this, it is a gift, and should be recognized as such. A gift that we should use in the very-best ways possible as a means of giving thanks to God for it.
At the center of this amazing thing called life is God. Not a god, but THE GOD, for God is not a concept but a reality. We know it, we sense it, we feel Him. The order of life, the body we live in, so amazing! From dust and water…and the elements that God used to create both the Universe and us, amazing. Not only us, but from the mite to the mighty, amazing, the diversity of life, PERFECT in Creation, but when the perfect went awry through man who not being content to live in peace, harmony, and unity with all that God gave him, because he wanted to be like God…. came the fall. Unity, harmony became disunity and confusion resulting in a rift, when Gods and our enemy entered the picture and, as a result, the need for mankind, now exploding upon the earth to be able to become once again reconciled to the Creator through what and who? Through Jesus Christ and GRACE, because of His great life and sacrifice of that life for us. GRACE and RECONCILIATION THROUGH HIS SACRIFICE is nothing short of AMAZING. And all it takes is acknowledgment of the Savior with the forgiveness of sins, and the GRACE that separates them from us as far as the East is from the West! Vanished forever…that is Grace. God planted within us the desire for Him, for His Son at the very beginning of Creation. Many of us have tried to fill that space with so many other things.
And people….and yet the hunger for God, un-satiated, remains in us, which drives us on and up and into, finally, hopefully, the One who breathed life into us.
Amazing Grace……how sweet the sound ~ that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Twas GRACE that taught my heart to fear, and “grace” my fears relieved; how precious did that “Grace” appear…the hour I first believed.
He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come;
His Grace hath brough me safe thus fare, and Grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve not less day to sings God’s praise, than when we’d first begun.
(READ THE HISTORY OF THE HYMN)
Yes, I have spoken on GRACE before and will again, but it has been a while since a singular topic, and feel deeply the need for myself and all of us to simply remember the great and mighty “gift” that it is, and as we draw close to Easter and what it cost our Lord to bestow on us this gift….and what it cost Him to give it.
The first stanza of the hymn speaks of fear, so I am going to try and clarify the meaning of that fear. I believe what Newton is saying here is that without GRACE, with the GRACE given freely to all who come to that Saving Grace in Jesus, here, in this stanza is specific to himself. That the acknowledgment of his own sins…the weight of not having that GRACE…would cause him to be swallowed up by the sins that weighed on him, causing fear to rise within him to the degree of an it, then becoming a great fear, an awful fear, and that the result without this free grace ultimately….is not just physical death, but a total separation of himself from God in Christ. Do you understand….it would mean conscious separation, because Scripture tells us all will live forever, no annihilation, but conscious separation from the Savior. John Newton came deeply into the understanding of what GRACE meant to him. Freedom, freedom from fear, darkness, separation, and death.
He goes on to say…. how precious, how valuable, how light-filled Grace is, when both received….and then given to others, when through us, by way of witness of our lives and words………………
John Newton, following a difficult upbringing, his mother dying when he was but seven, because of the choices he made as a young man eventually let to his deep conversion…once recognizing his then immediate and eternal value of this GRACE.
Freely, freely you have received…freely, freely give. Go in my name and because you believe…. others will know that I live.
I have mentioned Philip Yancy before…because of his book he wrote and published called “What’s So Amazing About Grace.” I recall a line he wrote saying, “Little did I know what I was getting into when I began writing a book on the word grace. He goes on to say, “I chose the topic out of my concern that some of us in the U.S. Church have lost our way, and that we stand in danger of losing our most important contribution to the world, (along with the message of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ) because we fail…we fail…to both understand and live out the grace given to us in our everyday interactive lives with each other and our neighbors.”
Philip also says, “I truly believe that the future of the church in America and the world, depends on how we master the ‘gift’ of giving Grace, not His grace for only He can give that, but the grace given to us working out through us to others…being grace-filled.
What makes Christianity so radically different from all the other religions in the world. C.S. Lewis put it this way. “Grace”
Think about this…. where in the Muslim religion is grace ever mentioned. The entire world and all its religions are considered by them as faithless infidels, worthy of being if not converted, killed. Without one iota of mercy or grace.
There are a few religions such as Buddhists, which incorporate peace into their faith, and here the four notables of that religion.
1. Existence is suffering.
2. Suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment, (sin)
3. There is a cessation to suffering that can be reached in life. And that is called Nirvana.
4. There is a pathway to Nirvana, but only a few can find within themselves the discipline to achieving it. Nirvana is being One with all of creation.
There is the Bahai Faith…. which is a new religion, (19th Century) teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. They acknowledge Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad as predecessors to “the Bab, who is the one yet to come, called Bahuaullah, who will unify the world under one all-knowing God. Unknown to them, this is true as Jesus Christ will do so when He returns to earth.
If you adhere to any one of these faiths only…. then there is no grace extended…the idea is to incorporate the best of them all if indeed they can be found.
GRACE….as you know or perhaps do not know, cannot be earned…for in Western Christian theology, Grace is “the love and mercy given to us by God, because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have, will do or can earn it”. Undeserved, but given freely.
Christ paid for it…. period. Be grateful and accept it…. please.
Why do we sometimes find it so hard to extend to others this GRACE in us (having been forgiven ourselves by Christ) who have offended us?
Because it is beneath us to condescend to do so?
Because they offended us and therefore do not deserve it?
Because we want to feel superior to them…add infinitum.
Because of this, we often nurture the offense to the point where It rules our lives.
These among many others…. if not reconciled, become chains around our mind, heart and spirit that can blind and bind us to the need of letting the offense go. No longer walking in grace, it soon becomes almost possible to live without our self-righteousness indignation, hurt, anger…thereby making reconciliation next to impossible.
It is not out business to go around pointing fingers at others, pointing out their failures or sins…. but, for the most part we have all on occasion done so. In this area we don’t need any training either, as it seems to come naturally. Experience comes quickly and can be fed to the degree of becoming a ravaging beast. Then too often our tongue gets involve, blaming, accusing, gossiping, condemning for these actions keep us in control….and we like being in control.
I have mentioned Corrie Ten-Boom and her sister Betsy who from Holland ended up in a concentration camp for aiding Jews fleeing from Nazi persecution. It is all about grace……. titled, “The Deepest Pit of All” READ (from
One last illustration;
On April 4th, 1968, American Civil Rights Leader, known as Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated, leaving millions angry and disillusioned. In Indianapolis, a largely African American crowd had gathered to hear Robert F. Kennedy speak. They had not yet heard of Dr. King’s death, so Kennedy (heart-broken and shattered himself,) chose to share the tragic news. He appealed for calm by acknowledging not only his, but their loss……the country’s loss and his, having lost his own brother President Kennedy, and the abiding pain he carried within himself.
Kennedy then quoted a variation of an ancient poem.
Even in our sleep,
Pain which we cannot forget,
Falls, drop by drop upon our heart,
Until in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom…through the awful grace of God,
“Wisdom through the ‘awful Grace of God’ is a remarkable statement. It means this…. that God’s Grace should fill us with awe, for it gives us the opportunity to grow in wisdom and Grace itself, during life’s most difficult times, will, when receiving and giving, change our lives for the better, and make us into men and women of gratitude and grace…. not judgment.
It will make us into kinder and gentler people…. with the side effect of doing the same to others when they see us being like our Lord.
God help us all…every one of us…to live such lives that in turn will bring us, us, health, peace and even joy, where no matter what comes our way, we can say and sing as we did last week. “It is Well with My Soul” for it will be well with your soul because of being men and women of God’s grace through Christ.
Acts of Grace begins with the small things, things as simple as small acts of kindness…so that when the big opportunities come, we will automatically do the right thing, because we were faithful in the small things. We will have stepped into that water I spoke of last week…. for we will have His Peace, Like a River in our soul.
Amen….
What is so amazing about Grace……Everything!
(Selah)
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
MACK’S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO 83429
208-240-2327
March 7, 2021
“Peace Like a River” Pastor Tom Shanor
Peace is described as a “State of Harmony, characterized by alack of conflict of violence, anger, retribution, and freedom from fear of any kind. I would further describe it as benign…. serenity….free from conflict within or without. “Still my heart” A state of being, characterized as place I love being in!
Its Spring…birds are singing, butterflies are flitting, bees are humming, in repose NEARBY under a tree, lies a young fawn, nestled up close to its mother. Both have their eyes shut…sunlight dappling through the branches of the tress as the river almost silently ripples by, as water bugs are scurrying across the ripples looking for something to eat. Mountains lie in the distance, still snow-cap covered. Lying on the cool grass is me…or you…free (for the moment) of pain or worry of any kind. So perfect, timeless and all enveloping is the feeling, that we hold on to as long as we possibly can letting go of even those unsettling things that often wait in the periphery of our mind.
Because being human, and recognizing by experience of daily living, all could change in the matter of one second. One nano second. We know this, which is why at that moment we are holding on to this all-encompassing peace as long as we possibly can. I call it “peace, but, with an edge,” for we cannot seem to do the impossible, the impossible of being totally and completely at peace without that edge, of the unexpected events, person or noise that is going to bring us back to the reality that all things are fleeting…the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Us.
Yet…. Jesus said to us in John 14:27, My Peace I leave with you; “My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (that is fleeting peace) Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV) WOW…if only.
The question is, if this peace is given to us, why then are we so little and seldom at peace? Is it our lack of understanding, lack of faith, of trust? What is it that allows fear at times to overwhelm us? Why is it we cannot seem to appropriate or hold onto this statement, planting it deeply within us, so that when occasions come, that take us by the mind and heart shaking us to the core of our being….or even lightly, how can we more fully hold on to this elusive thing place called Peace.
I know the answer….and when I fail to hold onto that peace, I can only point to myself, pointing out to myself, that it is simply because of those questions I posed above, where I lack the faith, and most of all I lack the radical trust…that Jesus who said these words meant them, and it is up to me to build and stabilize and deepen my one-on-one relationship with Him. And in doing this, I then will find His words resonating throughout my whole being, head to toe. fingertip to fingertip. (PRAYER)
Dear God…. In this season of Lent, we are reminded of our own difficulties and struggles. Sometimes the way has seemed too dark. Sometimes we feel like our lives have been marked by such grief and pain that we cannot see how our circumstances can ever change. But in the midst of our weakness and lack of that radical trust, we ask that You be strong for us on our behalf.
Lord, rise within us. and may Your Spirit shine through us, healing every broken place within us. Align Your power to be manifest through our own weaknesses and shortsightedness, so that other will recognize it is You who is at work on our behalf.
We ask that You, will trade the ashes of our lives for the beauty and Peace of Your Presence, not only at the moment of our greatest need but at every moment of our lives.
May we trade our mourning for dancing as David said, “Thou has turned my mourning into dancing for me, Thou has put off my sackcloth, and wrapped me in gladness. Our grief traded for the oil of Joy by inviting the Presence of Your Holy Spirit into us. We trade now, today, our despair for hope and because we can, we praise You. We choose to give You our thanks today and believe that this season of confusion and darkness will fade away, as You shine the light of Your face upon, us and upon this world.
That indeed You that are with us in whatever we face, and that You are greater than this or any trial we endure…because You and I and we, can face them together. We know and recognize that You are Sovereign, and we are grateful our victory is in Christ Jesus Your Son, our Friend, Lord, Savior and Advocate. On Christ the Solid Rock we stand…. all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
My we be confident that You still have Good in store for our future, “for You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind…. also, with a future and a hope. Amen
Given the events of my own life these past several months in particular, today’s message is based on my own need to come to a better place than I have been. To gain a deeper understanding, and a deeper radical faith, than heretofore that I have ever had, by listening and building new ways to look at my own life, and you, yours, seeing where we can garner some new insight. You see, it starts here (in our mind) fueled by the Spirit and by our Lord’s teachings and example, being fueled by our need. This message of PEACE began at the birth of our Lord and one day will be established forever at His second arrival. As I said, it starts (here in our minds) and then is taken hold of by our soul and spirit…seen by us as a possible major turning point in our lives.
We can spend time watching the news, reading online, or in the newspapers and magazines, telling us of all the horrible things that are happening in our world, the pain so many endure and succumb to every day, even though we allegedly here live in a visual paradise, we cannot escape the world, no matter how much or how hard we try…. the world will seek us out.
Interestingly, lately, I have read and heard so-called prophets today, who say our role as Christians is to take over the government by elections, etc., (called Kingdom Now theology) and as Christians, governmentally we are to turn our nation and then the world around, through our Christianity….yes, this is becoming a growing focus out there, as I have listened on the radio to a pastor in Idaho Falls, called the River of Life (of all things) a Geneva Bible preacher,, who talks more about the government and Constitution than he does about Scripture, but it is never going to happen. What happens by those means, pointed out to us by history itself never works, for power corrupts when good men become inflated by their own success, and begin to compromise their beginning high ideals, for the sake of staying and gaining more power. I stated this in a sermon not long ago, that religion and politics are an extremely dangerous combination, hence, not have a state recognized church. Religion marrying politics causes great division, authoritarianism…and just plain dangerous trouble. That we a nation proclaim to be under God, and that is good, as well as individuals in government who w profess allegiance to God…. that is good. Basing our moral society on God’s commandments…that too is good, but using religion, any religion in a world as to force its citizens to follow and obey it will only bring disaster.
UNTIL that is…. the One, the Son of God returns. Then according to Holy Scripture, He will reign with love, justice, and righteousness. The King of kings and Lord of lord.
These false prophets I speak of, have already drawn many into their web of idealism, and corrupted truth for lies. Jesus said these words to us, “For many will come in My name, claiming; ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that YOU are not deceived, for these things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many places,” All these are the beginning of Sorrows. Matthew 24:5-7 See to it that you are not alarmed.
“Peace…. like a river (no matter our circumstances) attendeth our soul.”
The Puritan, Thomas Watson put it this way: “God the Son is called the Prince of Peace. He came into thew world with a song of peace: of “peace on earth, goodwill toward mankind.” He went out having preached a legacy of Peace, saying to us, “My peace I give unto you.” Christ’s earnest prayer was for peace; He prayed that his people might be one (Song)
We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our Love.
Christ not only prayed for peace but bled for peace: having made peace through the blood of His Cross.” He died not only to make peace between God and man, but between man and man. Christ suffered on the Cross thereby He bought peace, paid for it, for you and for me when in our greatest time of need, He gives it to us, when we reach out…. taking and holding onto it. This He did for you and for me, and for all those who call upon His name…for He is there, here and everywhere, even now. For Scriptures say when two or three are gathered in His name…He is Present.
In the center of the whirlpool, while the waters rush around,
There’s a space of perfect stillness, though without turmoil it is found.
All is calm and all is quiet, scarcely even a sense of sound.
Who with us…despite the conflict…when in Christ our peace is found.
Have you seen the picture of a huge wave rushing around a towering lighthouse, where in an open doorway on the opposite side, at the bottom stands a man…unaware of what is coming?
I did a little research…and found that the man was unscathed, simply backing in…and closing the door….
THERE IS A RIVER OF LIFE….SO DIFFERENT THA THAT TOWERING WAVE…. for all we need to do is step up to the edge, trusting that it is not too cold or hot, not to swift or stagnant, wade in slowly as it drifts (this river of life) beckoning us to enter. First our feet…then up to our knees…thighs, waist, chest, neck….and allow ourselves to immerse ourselves into the current…of His river. Feeling no fear…. only trust and then joy…………………………
There is a river of life flowing over me….
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see,
Open’s prison doors, sets the captives free,
There is a river of life flowing out of me.
When we observe the life of Jesus as He walked His journey to the Cross…. nothing is more noticeable than the quiet even poise, of His life. Never flustered whatever came His way, never taken off guard, however assailed by men or demons while in the midst of fickle, volatile people, hostile rulers, sometimes faithless disciples, always calm, always collected. Christ, tireless teacher, leader indeed…but doing no more, no less, than God had appointed Him to do, not restless, nor in a hurry, no worry.
Was ever…such a peaceful life up unto the end was lived, under conditions so intense, dangerous, and unsettling.
We might say, but He was God, and He could do all these things, and yet we know “He wept” He feared…He identified so with us while in this earthly journey he became as one of us, and so having gone through (as I said two weeks ago) the same things we go through, only more, He says to us…..We CAN do ALL Things
through He (Jesus the Christ) who will strengthen and enable us…to do.
The Lord is aware of how you feel when you are under pressure, when you are physically sick or mentally exhausted, or emotionally distraught.
You…. are precious to Him. He invites each of, in this crazy, chaotic, upside down world to join Him, in the River of His life….and to trust Him with all your heart, mind and strength…and to walk together, forever WITH Him…..
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear,
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer,
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer,
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; but
Take it to the Lord in Prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful?
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer,
Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in prayer……….
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
IN HIS ARMS HE’LL TAKE AND SHIELD THEE;
THOU WILT FIND A SOLACE THERE
…Do you want peace…peace like a river in your soul? Do need peace with all the things and people in our everyday life?
Immerse yourself in Him………that River of Life, believing His parting words…. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world give. Do not let your hearts be troubled, DO NOT BE AFRAID!”
LET’S PRAY………….
The Lord who heals all your sins, bless you and keep you;
The face of the Lord who heals all your afflictions shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Light of the countenance of the Lord who redeems your life, be lifted upon you…and give you peace………. Amen
MACK’S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO 83429
208-240-2327
March 7, 2021
“Peace Like a River” Pastor Tom Shanor
Peace is described as a “State of Harmony, characterized by alack of conflict of violence, anger, retribution, and freedom from fear of any kind. I would further describe it as benign…. serenity….free from conflict within or without. “Still my heart” A state of being, characterized as place I love being in!
Its Spring…birds are singing, butterflies are flitting, bees are humming, in repose NEARBY under a tree, lies a young fawn, nestled up close to its mother. Both have their eyes shut…sunlight dappling through the branches of the tress as the river almost silently ripples by, as water bugs are scurrying across the ripples looking for something to eat. Mountains lie in the distance, still snow-cap covered. Lying on the cool grass is me…or you…free (for the moment) of pain or worry of any kind. So perfect, timeless and all enveloping is the feeling, that we hold on to as long as we possibly can letting go of even those unsettling things that often wait in the periphery of our mind.
Because being human, and recognizing by experience of daily living, all could change in the matter of one second. One nano second. We know this, which is why at that moment we are holding on to this all-encompassing peace as long as we possibly can. I call it “peace, but, with an edge,” for we cannot seem to do the impossible, the impossible of being totally and completely at peace without that edge, of the unexpected events, person or noise that is going to bring us back to the reality that all things are fleeting…the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Us.
Yet…. Jesus said to us in John 14:27, My Peace I leave with you; “My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (that is fleeting peace) Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV) WOW…if only.
The question is, if this peace is given to us, why then are we so little and seldom at peace? Is it our lack of understanding, lack of faith, of trust? What is it that allows fear at times to overwhelm us? Why is it we cannot seem to appropriate or hold onto this statement, planting it deeply within us, so that when occasions come, that take us by the mind and heart shaking us to the core of our being….or even lightly, how can we more fully hold on to this elusive thing place called Peace.
I know the answer….and when I fail to hold onto that peace, I can only point to myself, pointing out to myself, that it is simply because of those questions I posed above, where I lack the faith, and most of all I lack the radical trust…that Jesus who said these words meant them, and it is up to me to build and stabilize and deepen my one-on-one relationship with Him. And in doing this, I then will find His words resonating throughout my whole being, head to toe. fingertip to fingertip. (PRAYER)
Dear God…. In this season of Lent, we are reminded of our own difficulties and struggles. Sometimes the way has seemed too dark. Sometimes we feel like our lives have been marked by such grief and pain that we cannot see how our circumstances can ever change. But in the midst of our weakness and lack of that radical trust, we ask that You be strong for us on our behalf.
Lord, rise within us. and may Your Spirit shine through us, healing every broken place within us. Align Your power to be manifest through our own weaknesses and shortsightedness, so that other will recognize it is You who is at work on our behalf.
We ask that You, will trade the ashes of our lives for the beauty and Peace of Your Presence, not only at the moment of our greatest need but at every moment of our lives.
May we trade our mourning for dancing as David said, “Thou has turned my mourning into dancing for me, Thou has put off my sackcloth, and wrapped me in gladness. Our grief traded for the oil of Joy by inviting the Presence of Your Holy Spirit into us. We trade now, today, our despair for hope and because we can, we praise You. We choose to give You our thanks today and believe that this season of confusion and darkness will fade away, as You shine the light of Your face upon, us and upon this world.
That indeed You that are with us in whatever we face, and that You are greater than this or any trial we endure…because You and I and we, can face them together. We know and recognize that You are Sovereign, and we are grateful our victory is in Christ Jesus Your Son, our Friend, Lord, Savior and Advocate. On Christ the Solid Rock we stand…. all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
My we be confident that You still have Good in store for our future, “for You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind…. also, with a future and a hope. Amen
Given the events of my own life these past several months in particular, today’s message is based on my own need to come to a better place than I have been. To gain a deeper understanding, and a deeper radical faith, than heretofore that I have ever had, by listening and building new ways to look at my own life, and you, yours, seeing where we can garner some new insight. You see, it starts here (in our mind) fueled by the Spirit and by our Lord’s teachings and example, being fueled by our need. This message of PEACE began at the birth of our Lord and one day will be established forever at His second arrival. As I said, it starts (here in our minds) and then is taken hold of by our soul and spirit…seen by us as a possible major turning point in our lives.
We can spend time watching the news, reading online, or in the newspapers and magazines, telling us of all the horrible things that are happening in our world, the pain so many endure and succumb to every day, even though we allegedly here live in a visual paradise, we cannot escape the world, no matter how much or how hard we try…. the world will seek us out.
Interestingly, lately, I have read and heard so-called prophets today, who say our role as Christians is to take over the government by elections, etc., (called Kingdom Now theology) and as Christians, governmentally we are to turn our nation and then the world around, through our Christianity….yes, this is becoming a growing focus out there, as I have listened on the radio to a pastor in Idaho Falls, called the River of Life (of all things) a Geneva Bible preacher,, who talks more about the government and Constitution than he does about Scripture, but it is never going to happen. What happens by those means, pointed out to us by history itself never works, for power corrupts when good men become inflated by their own success, and begin to compromise their beginning high ideals, for the sake of staying and gaining more power. I stated this in a sermon not long ago, that religion and politics are an extremely dangerous combination, hence, not have a state recognized church. Religion marrying politics causes great division, authoritarianism…and just plain dangerous trouble. That we a nation proclaim to be under God, and that is good, as well as individuals in government who w profess allegiance to God…. that is good. Basing our moral society on God’s commandments…that too is good, but using religion, any religion in a world as to force its citizens to follow and obey it will only bring disaster.
UNTIL that is…. the One, the Son of God returns. Then according to Holy Scripture, He will reign with love, justice, and righteousness. The King of kings and Lord of lord.
These false prophets I speak of, have already drawn many into their web of idealism, and corrupted truth for lies. Jesus said these words to us, “For many will come in My name, claiming; ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that YOU are not deceived, for these things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many places,” All these are the beginning of Sorrows. Matthew 24:5-7 See to it that you are not alarmed.
“Peace…. like a river (no matter our circumstances) attendeth our soul.”
The Puritan, Thomas Watson put it this way: “God the Son is called the Prince of Peace. He came into thew world with a song of peace: of “peace on earth, goodwill toward mankind.” He went out having preached a legacy of Peace, saying to us, “My peace I give unto you.” Christ’s earnest prayer was for peace; He prayed that his people might be one (Song)
We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our Love.
Christ not only prayed for peace but bled for peace: having made peace through the blood of His Cross.” He died not only to make peace between God and man, but between man and man. Christ suffered on the Cross thereby He bought peace, paid for it, for you and for me when in our greatest time of need, He gives it to us, when we reach out…. taking and holding onto it. This He did for you and for me, and for all those who call upon His name…for He is there, here and everywhere, even now. For Scriptures say when two or three are gathered in His name…He is Present.
In the center of the whirlpool, while the waters rush around,
There’s a space of perfect stillness, though without turmoil it is found.
All is calm and all is quiet, scarcely even a sense of sound.
Who with us…despite the conflict…when in Christ our peace is found.
Have you seen the picture of a huge wave rushing around a towering lighthouse, where in an open doorway on the opposite side, at the bottom stands a man…unaware of what is coming?
I did a little research…and found that the man was unscathed, simply backing in…and closing the door….
THERE IS A RIVER OF LIFE….SO DIFFERENT THA THAT TOWERING WAVE…. for all we need to do is step up to the edge, trusting that it is not too cold or hot, not to swift or stagnant, wade in slowly as it drifts (this river of life) beckoning us to enter. First our feet…then up to our knees…thighs, waist, chest, neck….and allow ourselves to immerse ourselves into the current…of His river. Feeling no fear…. only trust and then joy…………………………
There is a river of life flowing over me….
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see,
Open’s prison doors, sets the captives free,
There is a river of life flowing out of me.
When we observe the life of Jesus as He walked His journey to the Cross…. nothing is more noticeable than the quiet even poise, of His life. Never flustered whatever came His way, never taken off guard, however assailed by men or demons while in the midst of fickle, volatile people, hostile rulers, sometimes faithless disciples, always calm, always collected. Christ, tireless teacher, leader indeed…but doing no more, no less, than God had appointed Him to do, not restless, nor in a hurry, no worry.
Was ever…such a peaceful life up unto the end was lived, under conditions so intense, dangerous, and unsettling.
We might say, but He was God, and He could do all these things, and yet we know “He wept” He feared…He identified so with us while in this earthly journey he became as one of us, and so having gone through (as I said two weeks ago) the same things we go through, only more, He says to us…..We CAN do ALL Things
through He (Jesus the Christ) who will strengthen and enable us…to do.
The Lord is aware of how you feel when you are under pressure, when you are physically sick or mentally exhausted, or emotionally distraught.
You…. are precious to Him. He invites each of, in this crazy, chaotic, upside down world to join Him, in the River of His life….and to trust Him with all your heart, mind and strength…and to walk together, forever WITH Him…..
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear,
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer,
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer,
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; but
Take it to the Lord in Prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful?
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer,
Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
Take it to the Lord in prayer……….
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
IN HIS ARMS HE’LL TAKE AND SHIELD THEE;
THOU WILT FIND A SOLACE THERE
…Do you want peace…peace like a river in your soul? Do need peace with all the things and people in our everyday life?
Immerse yourself in Him………that River of Life, believing His parting words…. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world give. Do not let your hearts be troubled, DO NOT BE AFRAID!”
LET’S PRAY………….
The Lord who heals all your sins, bless you and keep you;
The face of the Lord who heals all your afflictions shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Light of the countenance of the Lord who redeems your life, be lifted upon you…and give you peace………. Amen
Little Church in the Pines
February 28, 2021
Connie Funkhouser - subbing for Pastor Tom Shanor
“STRONG – CONFIDENT?”
No, my friends, I Am far from it. What you are seeing is a simple - weak person, with a very faithful and strong God.
When our Daisy's Angels' Ministry Team volunteered @ the Juvenile Correction Center, I wanted to be relatable. Not someone that they would think . . .. Lady you have no idea what I have done, or who we are. Of course, they were correct, but it was important that they knew who was behind the visual image of me. I knew they thought I was an individual that had it all together, composed, self-assured, wearing nice clothes, and once we were done with our 1-1/2hrs. of volunteer service we would not give them another thought until the following month. In those thoughts they were wrong. Extremely wrong.
I told them that I was an individual that lacked confidence, not a little, but a lot! So much so that I chose to find confidence not from myself, but from the Holy Spirit that resides within . . . . to “Be Confident in God!” It was important to our Team that we shared that confidence and how it was attainable.
So, we had them write out affirmation statements about themselves. We could see they were struggling so I showed them the one that I made for myself as an example. . .. show mine – we called them “I Am Statements” and I do have on there I Am Confident in God.
Their affirmation statements were not to be what they were, but what they could and would accomplish through the power of God. I do not know how many we made, but it was a lot. One cool thing was the JCC facility let the Teens tape their statements to the walls in their cottages. We requested that they read them morning and night to remind themselves of what they were capable of by remaining in faith and having an intimate and personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.
I often wonder how many Teens that have completed the program still have their I Am Statements and have checked off the desires of their hearts.
I am going to read 5 verses from Scripture then ask a question:
(New International Version and King James Version)
What is the one word that is missing from all these verses?
SELF – Correct ☺
What does it mean to have confidence in God?
God-confidence means depending completely upon God and His strength to handle the things in our lives. It is not about our strength or the confidence that we put into earthly things.
We all need confidence, but the question is where does true confidence come from? It only comes from Christ. If our confidence is coming from any other source it will fail in the end. When our confidence comes from anything other than God, we will never be satisfied. When we take our focus off God, our confidence will suffer. God needs to be our confidence. We need to get closer to Him. I do not think I am telling you anything new when I say, “He is” our everlasting source for all that we need.
We live in a world where self-confidence is the phrase of the 21 century. There is so much talk about self-confidence and how important it is. While yes, confidence is important, but as a Christian, do we really think we should be relying on ourselves instead of God? Absolutely not! There is a hierarchy God want us to follow. So, let us look @ God-confidence vs self-confidence and I will do my best to illustrate that God-confidence is truly the only way to go.
Dictionary.com gives us two definitions of self-confidence. The first definition is a realistic confidence in one’s own judgment, ability, and power. The second definition is excessive or inflated confidence in one’s own judgment or ability. First realistic and then excessive? In any event, it is all about us!
As a Christian, these definitions go completely against the grain of what God wants for us. It is not about our strength or the confidence that we put into earthly things like money, education, people, and appearance. Self-confidence has limited potential but – God-confidence has unlimited possibilities (Renee Swope). We must place no confidence in our own works, but only in God. Having a Godly focus means to seek those things from above.
The first step in God-confidence is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Once we have a personal relationship with our Lord, God-confidence starts with prayer.
When we get so focused on a trial, we will not be able to seek joy in the Lord. God helps to calm down our hearts. When we are confident in the Lord, we know that there are many promises in Scripture that we can pray for. “God you said my mind would be @ peace if I trust in you. Help me to trust.” God will honor that prayer and He will give us a special peace in Him. (Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him/God”).
Confidence in prayer is achieved by having special intimate alone time with God. There are many ppl that know what God can do and they know all about God, but knowing God intimately eludes them. They have never prayed for more of His presence in their lives. This is where confidence comes from, naturally prayer, but committing oneself to living in the Presence of God. We cannot afford not to be alone w/God. There must be an un-satisfied appetite for study, for God’s Word. The passion for truth in scripture is an extension of the passion we have for God.
Believing in God and Believing God are not the same, and it is important that we understand the distinction to live the victorious Christian life. Believing in God is saying, “I know God exists.” But believing God is trusting what He has said about Himself, about us, and about the relationship He desires to have with us. This goes beyond our basic salvation to having utmost faith and confidence in Jesus for every detail of our lives. Harboring full confidence that fear does not come from the Lord --- confidence, a sense of belonging, and clarity do. We can be sure that God is going to give us the strength, the love, the wisdom to face whatever may come.
We want confidence that our prayers will be answered. We want confidence in Him in the hardest of situations. We want a boldness in our lives that we never had before. Therefore, we must get alone w/God every day.
Personally, I have an open dialogue with God, I feel as though I pray my way through the day. So much so, I can pray as I am talking to someone and petitioning the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, which is a reflection on my words. A few summers ago, Pastor Tom recommended this book: 2 Chairs . . . I too recommend it. Crazy, I now brew my coffee and hightail it upstairs to spend time in my 2 Chairs before I begin the day. I look forward to that one-on-one intimate time with Jesus. And I admit, there have been times when I have said, I no longer know what to say or how to pray, please Holy Spirit who resides from within, take over for me, I am lost - I am crushed. And then I listen . . . .
Every time we are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to us. “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27) - - a peace which brings unconstrained confidence and covers us completely, from the tops of our heads to the soles of our feet.
Faith is not some casual emotion, but a strong, determined, and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is Holy Love. Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
Faith is the supreme effort of our life’s – throwing ourselves with abandon and total confidence upon God. God ventured His “All” in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our “All” with complete abandon confidence in Him.
The author of Hebrews tells us in 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
1 John 4:17 tells us, “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment.” In this world we are called to be like Jesus. Every single verse that I have referenced so far, reinforces that we can have confidence because God is enough and, in Him, we are enough.
It is also important to remember that our worth does not come from our actions. Instead, our worth lies in God. He created us for His honor and glory and for His pleasure. He has known us from the very beginning and values us so very much that he created a plan for sinful mankind, even before the foundation of the world.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, created him; male and female created he them.”
We are made, not if we are made, in the image of God, then why do we struggle with our worth? Obviously, because of sin. But our true basis of worth can only be found through faith in Jesus and by accepting His free gift of salvation. As a result, we are precious to God. We were and are so important to Him, that He sent His only begotten Son.
Our worth from our Lord is why in a contest of God-confidence vs self-confidence, God wins every time. Our worth upon acceptance of Jesus as our Savior will never change, unlike self-worth of the world, which can change by the minute.
One of the truths of our identity in Christ is that we can approach God with freedom and confidence and when we are secure in our identity in Christ, we have no need to promote, protect, or prove ourselves. We have His complete attention and unfailing love. We freely and humbly point to Jesus instead of ourselves. We rest in our relationship with God, humbly serving as Jesus did, wherever He leads us. His Spirit assures us that we belong to Him.
We are God’s masterpiece. God knows and loves us just the way we are. Sometimes, I do struggle with comparisons, which is a sin, I know . . . however in those times of doubt, my Heavenly Father is waiting for me, for us, to turn to Him for strength. God-confidence is not walking into a room checking everyone out or comparing yourself to everyone, it is walking in . . . not comparing yourself to anyone @ all.
To love, live and be an Apprentice of Jesus Christ, is more than a catchphrase, more than a lesson to be taught. Loving, living, and learning from God’s Word is an ongoing way of life. When we open our hearts to God’s life transforming work, the Spirit begins the process of reshaping us into the likeness of Jesus. The life poured into us gives us a new nature and overflows into our relationship with others. The Spirit’s transforming presence flows into every aspect of our lifes: personal, professional, public, and private. Concern for others, humility, and God-confidence reshapes our lives.
I am going to end with a story that I enjoy, and I am confident you will too ☺
Every month Martin’s parents took a trip too Grandmas and came home on the same train the next day.
One day Martin said to his parents, “I am all grown up. Can I ride the train and go to Grandma’s alone?”
After a brief discussion, his parents agreed. They stood with him as he waited for the train to arrive. They said goodbye to their son and gave him a few last-minute tips and instructions.
Martin repeated to them, “I know. I’ve been told this a thousand times.” As Martin was about to get onboard, his father murmured in his ear . . . “Son if you feel bad or insecure, this is for you.” And he put something in his pocket.
Now Martin was alone, sitting on the train as he had wanted, without his parents for the first time. He was admiring the landscape out the windows. Around him people pushed and shoved while getting on and off the train during each stop. The conductor made some comments about him being alone. One person looked @ Martin with eyes of sadness and pity.
Martin was feeling more uneasy and insecure, with every minute that passed, and now was scared. He felt concerned and alone. He put his head down, and with tears in his eyes, he remembered his Dad had put something in his pocket. Trembling, he searched for what his Dad had given him. Upon finding the piece of paper, Martin read, “Son, I am in the last train car.”
I read this and instantly thought, God is so like that. When we are going through moments or phases of insecurities, loneliness, questioning our life’s, may we always remember God is right with us. Not in the last train car, but sitting right beside us, His Spirit is so close to us that He resides within us. Always offering His support, His strength, even trusting that we will remain confident in Him, and loving us regardless of whatever situation we find ourselves.
Do not let obstacles along the road of eternity shake your confidence in God’s promises.
*** The HOLY SPIRIT is God’s SEAL that you will arrive ***
(David Jeremiah).
Amen!
February 28, 2021
Connie Funkhouser - subbing for Pastor Tom Shanor
“STRONG – CONFIDENT?”
No, my friends, I Am far from it. What you are seeing is a simple - weak person, with a very faithful and strong God.
When our Daisy's Angels' Ministry Team volunteered @ the Juvenile Correction Center, I wanted to be relatable. Not someone that they would think . . .. Lady you have no idea what I have done, or who we are. Of course, they were correct, but it was important that they knew who was behind the visual image of me. I knew they thought I was an individual that had it all together, composed, self-assured, wearing nice clothes, and once we were done with our 1-1/2hrs. of volunteer service we would not give them another thought until the following month. In those thoughts they were wrong. Extremely wrong.
I told them that I was an individual that lacked confidence, not a little, but a lot! So much so that I chose to find confidence not from myself, but from the Holy Spirit that resides within . . . . to “Be Confident in God!” It was important to our Team that we shared that confidence and how it was attainable.
So, we had them write out affirmation statements about themselves. We could see they were struggling so I showed them the one that I made for myself as an example. . .. show mine – we called them “I Am Statements” and I do have on there I Am Confident in God.
Their affirmation statements were not to be what they were, but what they could and would accomplish through the power of God. I do not know how many we made, but it was a lot. One cool thing was the JCC facility let the Teens tape their statements to the walls in their cottages. We requested that they read them morning and night to remind themselves of what they were capable of by remaining in faith and having an intimate and personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.
I often wonder how many Teens that have completed the program still have their I Am Statements and have checked off the desires of their hearts.
I am going to read 5 verses from Scripture then ask a question:
(New International Version and King James Version)
- Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
- Isaiah 30:15 “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
- Philippians 3:3a “Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.”
- Galatians 5:10 “I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind.”
- 1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
What is the one word that is missing from all these verses?
SELF – Correct ☺
What does it mean to have confidence in God?
God-confidence means depending completely upon God and His strength to handle the things in our lives. It is not about our strength or the confidence that we put into earthly things.
We all need confidence, but the question is where does true confidence come from? It only comes from Christ. If our confidence is coming from any other source it will fail in the end. When our confidence comes from anything other than God, we will never be satisfied. When we take our focus off God, our confidence will suffer. God needs to be our confidence. We need to get closer to Him. I do not think I am telling you anything new when I say, “He is” our everlasting source for all that we need.
We live in a world where self-confidence is the phrase of the 21 century. There is so much talk about self-confidence and how important it is. While yes, confidence is important, but as a Christian, do we really think we should be relying on ourselves instead of God? Absolutely not! There is a hierarchy God want us to follow. So, let us look @ God-confidence vs self-confidence and I will do my best to illustrate that God-confidence is truly the only way to go.
Dictionary.com gives us two definitions of self-confidence. The first definition is a realistic confidence in one’s own judgment, ability, and power. The second definition is excessive or inflated confidence in one’s own judgment or ability. First realistic and then excessive? In any event, it is all about us!
As a Christian, these definitions go completely against the grain of what God wants for us. It is not about our strength or the confidence that we put into earthly things like money, education, people, and appearance. Self-confidence has limited potential but – God-confidence has unlimited possibilities (Renee Swope). We must place no confidence in our own works, but only in God. Having a Godly focus means to seek those things from above.
The first step in God-confidence is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Once we have a personal relationship with our Lord, God-confidence starts with prayer.
When we get so focused on a trial, we will not be able to seek joy in the Lord. God helps to calm down our hearts. When we are confident in the Lord, we know that there are many promises in Scripture that we can pray for. “God you said my mind would be @ peace if I trust in you. Help me to trust.” God will honor that prayer and He will give us a special peace in Him. (Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him/God”).
Confidence in prayer is achieved by having special intimate alone time with God. There are many ppl that know what God can do and they know all about God, but knowing God intimately eludes them. They have never prayed for more of His presence in their lives. This is where confidence comes from, naturally prayer, but committing oneself to living in the Presence of God. We cannot afford not to be alone w/God. There must be an un-satisfied appetite for study, for God’s Word. The passion for truth in scripture is an extension of the passion we have for God.
Believing in God and Believing God are not the same, and it is important that we understand the distinction to live the victorious Christian life. Believing in God is saying, “I know God exists.” But believing God is trusting what He has said about Himself, about us, and about the relationship He desires to have with us. This goes beyond our basic salvation to having utmost faith and confidence in Jesus for every detail of our lives. Harboring full confidence that fear does not come from the Lord --- confidence, a sense of belonging, and clarity do. We can be sure that God is going to give us the strength, the love, the wisdom to face whatever may come.
We want confidence that our prayers will be answered. We want confidence in Him in the hardest of situations. We want a boldness in our lives that we never had before. Therefore, we must get alone w/God every day.
Personally, I have an open dialogue with God, I feel as though I pray my way through the day. So much so, I can pray as I am talking to someone and petitioning the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, which is a reflection on my words. A few summers ago, Pastor Tom recommended this book: 2 Chairs . . . I too recommend it. Crazy, I now brew my coffee and hightail it upstairs to spend time in my 2 Chairs before I begin the day. I look forward to that one-on-one intimate time with Jesus. And I admit, there have been times when I have said, I no longer know what to say or how to pray, please Holy Spirit who resides from within, take over for me, I am lost - I am crushed. And then I listen . . . .
Every time we are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to us. “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27) - - a peace which brings unconstrained confidence and covers us completely, from the tops of our heads to the soles of our feet.
Faith is not some casual emotion, but a strong, determined, and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is Holy Love. Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
Faith is the supreme effort of our life’s – throwing ourselves with abandon and total confidence upon God. God ventured His “All” in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our “All” with complete abandon confidence in Him.
The author of Hebrews tells us in 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
1 John 4:17 tells us, “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment.” In this world we are called to be like Jesus. Every single verse that I have referenced so far, reinforces that we can have confidence because God is enough and, in Him, we are enough.
It is also important to remember that our worth does not come from our actions. Instead, our worth lies in God. He created us for His honor and glory and for His pleasure. He has known us from the very beginning and values us so very much that he created a plan for sinful mankind, even before the foundation of the world.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, created him; male and female created he them.”
We are made, not if we are made, in the image of God, then why do we struggle with our worth? Obviously, because of sin. But our true basis of worth can only be found through faith in Jesus and by accepting His free gift of salvation. As a result, we are precious to God. We were and are so important to Him, that He sent His only begotten Son.
Our worth from our Lord is why in a contest of God-confidence vs self-confidence, God wins every time. Our worth upon acceptance of Jesus as our Savior will never change, unlike self-worth of the world, which can change by the minute.
One of the truths of our identity in Christ is that we can approach God with freedom and confidence and when we are secure in our identity in Christ, we have no need to promote, protect, or prove ourselves. We have His complete attention and unfailing love. We freely and humbly point to Jesus instead of ourselves. We rest in our relationship with God, humbly serving as Jesus did, wherever He leads us. His Spirit assures us that we belong to Him.
We are God’s masterpiece. God knows and loves us just the way we are. Sometimes, I do struggle with comparisons, which is a sin, I know . . . however in those times of doubt, my Heavenly Father is waiting for me, for us, to turn to Him for strength. God-confidence is not walking into a room checking everyone out or comparing yourself to everyone, it is walking in . . . not comparing yourself to anyone @ all.
To love, live and be an Apprentice of Jesus Christ, is more than a catchphrase, more than a lesson to be taught. Loving, living, and learning from God’s Word is an ongoing way of life. When we open our hearts to God’s life transforming work, the Spirit begins the process of reshaping us into the likeness of Jesus. The life poured into us gives us a new nature and overflows into our relationship with others. The Spirit’s transforming presence flows into every aspect of our lifes: personal, professional, public, and private. Concern for others, humility, and God-confidence reshapes our lives.
I am going to end with a story that I enjoy, and I am confident you will too ☺
Every month Martin’s parents took a trip too Grandmas and came home on the same train the next day.
One day Martin said to his parents, “I am all grown up. Can I ride the train and go to Grandma’s alone?”
After a brief discussion, his parents agreed. They stood with him as he waited for the train to arrive. They said goodbye to their son and gave him a few last-minute tips and instructions.
Martin repeated to them, “I know. I’ve been told this a thousand times.” As Martin was about to get onboard, his father murmured in his ear . . . “Son if you feel bad or insecure, this is for you.” And he put something in his pocket.
Now Martin was alone, sitting on the train as he had wanted, without his parents for the first time. He was admiring the landscape out the windows. Around him people pushed and shoved while getting on and off the train during each stop. The conductor made some comments about him being alone. One person looked @ Martin with eyes of sadness and pity.
Martin was feeling more uneasy and insecure, with every minute that passed, and now was scared. He felt concerned and alone. He put his head down, and with tears in his eyes, he remembered his Dad had put something in his pocket. Trembling, he searched for what his Dad had given him. Upon finding the piece of paper, Martin read, “Son, I am in the last train car.”
I read this and instantly thought, God is so like that. When we are going through moments or phases of insecurities, loneliness, questioning our life’s, may we always remember God is right with us. Not in the last train car, but sitting right beside us, His Spirit is so close to us that He resides within us. Always offering His support, His strength, even trusting that we will remain confident in Him, and loving us regardless of whatever situation we find ourselves.
Do not let obstacles along the road of eternity shake your confidence in God’s promises.
*** The HOLY SPIRIT is God’s SEAL that you will arrive ***
(David Jeremiah).
Amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn
Island park, Idaho 83433
♥ February 14, 2021 ♥
Valentine’s Day (it’s origin) You will be surprised & moved.
SERMON: PAIN (what good is it?)
I know, I know…. quite a topic for Valentine’s Day, but since Valentine’s Day is not a religious holiday, and this Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten Season, called Ash Wednesday, I chose to talk about one of the most difficult parts of being a human being….one topic with two streams that come together in the place of pain in Lent and pain in our lives. Most of us (especially those of us who are older) are seldom pain free, choosing of course, which is simply common sense, to alleviate it as much as possible, but at times impossible to do so completely, so we adapt, and as long as we can, deal with it as best as we can and with as good an attitude…. that sometimes takes work.
As I said above, we are entering this Wednesday according to the Church calendar, the Lenten Season. During this six-week period (a sober one) leading up to the death of Jesus, we commemorate and eventually celebrate on Easter Sunday His journey of pain, sorrow and death…. all coming together victoriously in the Lord’s Triumphant Resurrection.
It is often a dark and troubling journey, one aspect of which we will be covering today, as we (the world) currently are in a time of travail, and a time of what I have come to call The Year of Tears. Eventually, Grace will enter the scene…eventually, there once again will be light and joy, and laughter. But, for now, let us continue by starting with Isaiah 52:14 which correlates to my sermon title and specifically Lent. It reads, “Many were amazed when they saw Him. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.” (direct quote from the Bible) In Mel Gibson’s movie “The Christ,” if you saw it you will remember that the Jesus was so disfigured by being beaten, cut and whipped so deeply, that indeed He was unrecognizable, and that yes, He barely seemed human. All for us.
Isaiah 53:2-5 continues, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet, it was our weakness He carried, and we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins. But! He was pierced for our rebellion, He was crushed for our sins, and He was beaten so we could be made whole.”
Now, there is so much pain in the world that I am surprised the world itself is not groaning under its weight. I am going to give you these few verses to help sustain us, and help us overcome those events, people and pain that could overwhelm us, if we tried to bear the weight of it ourselves. Through this journey, especially now in this season let us look to Hebrews 2:17, for in these verses we hear of why and how, Jesus came to understand more fully by being one of us, what indeed it is to be human. Listen closely please. “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like us, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, (for us) to make propitiation or atonement…. which means, appeasing God, and by doing so, incurring divine favor therefore avoiding divine retribution…all of it comes down to His sacrificing His life….to appease God for our sins.”
Knowing as He did, what lay ahead…. the pain He would have to endure, it was necessary for Him to be as human as we are, like us, His brothers, and sisters, and thereby literally by doing so, deepening His understanding by experiencing what we experience, so that, He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest as He stands before the judgement seat of God interceding on our behalf. Talking to God for us. (the man in the middle) so that when God sees us, He sees us of the faith, through the sacrifice and blood that he willingly bled for us. Because of this, Jesus says to us in His Word, that “therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
He knows…by experience our pain, deeply. He understands, yet, as in how own case, did not and does not always alleviate it, as His was not alleviated. Sometimes what we endure, teaches us valuable lessons of endurance, compassion, mercy, grace and understanding. When times like these come upon us….we can go to Him who Himself experienced emotional pain, the pain of rejection on the deepest level, pain from bodily injury, but as He cried out to His Father, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me where I can hear and feel in his words the anguish in His cry….and in some small way we can identify with it…rejection is one of the most painful emotions that we as human being can experience. The loneliness of it at times crushing as it was to Him.
In using the words He expressed at that moment, literally quoting Scripture from the Old Testament in Psalm 22…a deep expression of the anguish he felt when He took the sins of the world upon Himself….which in doing so for that moment, caused a separation or rift from His Father….and then in Luke 24:46 Jesus then shouts out, the separation about to be healed with these words, “Father….Abba….I entrust my Spirit into Your hands.” And with these words he breathed His last…and in that moment, He was immediately back into the Presence of His Father.
When we are enduring pain, from the lightest to the deepest, it should give us a bit of comfort in knowing what we feel, He felt. At times such as these I have to attempt at least, to do what I spoke briefly of and of which we sang two weeks ago….I put my hands in the rough by tender hands of the man who stilled the water, calmed the sea…who raised the dead….who set and sets today, the captives free. Those bound by extremely difficult situations…. of so many different kinds.
Job, St. Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and others have contributed to the ongoing dialogue swirling around not only us, but the proverbial questions of those who doubt the existence of God. “Why do bad things happen to good people, let alone the so-called bad ones.’ For some, stories of personal suffering, persecution and martyrdom provide encouragement and a reminder of the pain He endured. Others suggest suffering is a character-building opportunity. This is all true…but it goes deeper, for pain is one of the most powerful tools for learning…both how to avoid it and if we cannot, endure it and learn what we can from it.
The upside of pain is this…. practically speaking, and on the lighter side of the subject. It tells us simply that something is wrong. If we did not feel pain, we would not know we were either sick or injured and would not seek and answer to find healing. This next thing I am saying to men mostly. They, we too often make the mistake of not addressing the pain in a timely manner, thinking erroneously a times that just to ignore it…until we cannot….and then in some cases it is too late to heal….and the consequences are never good. God made us smarter than that, and we need to address our fears instead of burying them….by sanely seeking help in all four arenas we experience pain in…those being physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Jesus walked boldly and with pre-ordained purpose into His pain, embracing it, for the benefits that lay ahead for Him and us. Why God required His self-sacrifice through the death of His Son is because, He is a God of justice…. justice based on moral principles, whereas I said earlier there had to be by design and then planning, an atonement for sin. A sacrifice…. the greatest one that could be made. Otherwise, sin, error, evil would one day win out and God forbid, that just could not be allowed to happen.
Sin…is not a word we hear much about these days for the world has moved into a very gray area of right and wrong, often excusing behavior that needs to be defined as sin and is not….and this makes people uncomfortable and above all else human beings love to be comfortable.
You have the knowledge by observation alone, that we live daily in a world of opposites and sometimes deeply opposing forces. Duality is the nature of our world. Light and dark, earth and water, rain and drought, desert and jungle, mountains and plains, rich and poor, strength and weakness, health and illness, good and evil, war and peace, pain and comfort…and many more. Duality…. such as these
few mentioned co-exist, but in coexisting create both beauty and chaos.
Into this chaos came the God/Man, Jesus Christ, to reconcile the world through justice into wholeness. That day is yet physically to come, though spiritually it has been accomplished through His atonement.
There is much we can learn in and from pain that otherwise we would not learn, not only for ourselves but for others…. we can learn compassion, tenderness, gratefulness, kindness, mercy, even justice….and in doing so, we can also learn to appreciate our differences, join together in exhibiting and practicing these learned values. To appreciate this day, the day we currently have….and are gifted with. Looking through the big picture window of life in the Spirit, and not through the dirty window of emotion, where we do not clearly see things as they really are, we will at times allow ourselves due to our circumstances, choose the wrong attitude, even feeling justified in becoming, petty, vindictive, mean, angry, hateful, spiteful, and thereby even causing more pain, self-inflicted pain that can wash out and over on to others.
We all know by experience, that pain manifests itself in many different areas of our lives, to where we are affected, as I said earlier, emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Who can say with complete understanding which of these four areas are or can be, the most painful, or the most damaging, for all can be long term or temporary? Once having experienced it and then it is gone, we are grateful, incredibly grateful but what did we learn?
It is part of creation….and without its presence we would quickly destroy ourselves. Dr. Paul Brand, a deeply committed medical missionary works with lepers, and sees firsthand the suffering they endure. One of the problems with leprosy is that these people cannot feel pain in the affected part of their bodies. Dr. Brand speaks about what a tragedy it is for them that they cannot. He said, “If I had the power to eliminate pian, I would not exercise that right.’ Pain’s value is too great.
There is the necessary protective value of pain. He goes on to say, that when a healthy person has an injured leg as an example, he or she feel the pain and therefore does not put their weight on that injured leg. A leper not feeling the injury, wherever it is, will continue to use that injured limb to where it is destroyed, having never felt a thing.
We learn from our encounters or battles with it, in all the four areas I spoke of for it is a gift in our design from God. Pain unifies the body. Dr. Brand says, “I can tell the health of a human body by its reaction to pain. I f the body does not react, I know something is dreadfully wrong.”
Suffering….is a real and important element of our Faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I choose to lose all else. Philippians 3:8
I am now going to read to you one of the most painful, yet beautiful true stories I have ever read, of a young woman’s long and difficult triumph over pain.
READ
Kechi…like Jesus, was horribly disfigured…. both endured, both triumphed, each in their own way. Yet…it was He who having endured His pain, as she said…” enables her to walk with the confidence of one who knows that He sees her as beautiful, and instead of feeling resentment, she confesses “that all things work together for the good of those who love God.” Romans 8:28
God bless Kechi and all who endure great pain of any kind….and God bless you…each and all of you, with His great Grace and Mercy, but most of all His deep and everlasting love.
Amen (so be it)
Macks Inn
Island park, Idaho 83433
♥ February 14, 2021 ♥
Valentine’s Day (it’s origin) You will be surprised & moved.
SERMON: PAIN (what good is it?)
I know, I know…. quite a topic for Valentine’s Day, but since Valentine’s Day is not a religious holiday, and this Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten Season, called Ash Wednesday, I chose to talk about one of the most difficult parts of being a human being….one topic with two streams that come together in the place of pain in Lent and pain in our lives. Most of us (especially those of us who are older) are seldom pain free, choosing of course, which is simply common sense, to alleviate it as much as possible, but at times impossible to do so completely, so we adapt, and as long as we can, deal with it as best as we can and with as good an attitude…. that sometimes takes work.
As I said above, we are entering this Wednesday according to the Church calendar, the Lenten Season. During this six-week period (a sober one) leading up to the death of Jesus, we commemorate and eventually celebrate on Easter Sunday His journey of pain, sorrow and death…. all coming together victoriously in the Lord’s Triumphant Resurrection.
It is often a dark and troubling journey, one aspect of which we will be covering today, as we (the world) currently are in a time of travail, and a time of what I have come to call The Year of Tears. Eventually, Grace will enter the scene…eventually, there once again will be light and joy, and laughter. But, for now, let us continue by starting with Isaiah 52:14 which correlates to my sermon title and specifically Lent. It reads, “Many were amazed when they saw Him. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.” (direct quote from the Bible) In Mel Gibson’s movie “The Christ,” if you saw it you will remember that the Jesus was so disfigured by being beaten, cut and whipped so deeply, that indeed He was unrecognizable, and that yes, He barely seemed human. All for us.
Isaiah 53:2-5 continues, “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet, it was our weakness He carried, and we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins. But! He was pierced for our rebellion, He was crushed for our sins, and He was beaten so we could be made whole.”
Now, there is so much pain in the world that I am surprised the world itself is not groaning under its weight. I am going to give you these few verses to help sustain us, and help us overcome those events, people and pain that could overwhelm us, if we tried to bear the weight of it ourselves. Through this journey, especially now in this season let us look to Hebrews 2:17, for in these verses we hear of why and how, Jesus came to understand more fully by being one of us, what indeed it is to be human. Listen closely please. “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like us, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, (for us) to make propitiation or atonement…. which means, appeasing God, and by doing so, incurring divine favor therefore avoiding divine retribution…all of it comes down to His sacrificing His life….to appease God for our sins.”
Knowing as He did, what lay ahead…. the pain He would have to endure, it was necessary for Him to be as human as we are, like us, His brothers, and sisters, and thereby literally by doing so, deepening His understanding by experiencing what we experience, so that, He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest as He stands before the judgement seat of God interceding on our behalf. Talking to God for us. (the man in the middle) so that when God sees us, He sees us of the faith, through the sacrifice and blood that he willingly bled for us. Because of this, Jesus says to us in His Word, that “therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
He knows…by experience our pain, deeply. He understands, yet, as in how own case, did not and does not always alleviate it, as His was not alleviated. Sometimes what we endure, teaches us valuable lessons of endurance, compassion, mercy, grace and understanding. When times like these come upon us….we can go to Him who Himself experienced emotional pain, the pain of rejection on the deepest level, pain from bodily injury, but as He cried out to His Father, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me where I can hear and feel in his words the anguish in His cry….and in some small way we can identify with it…rejection is one of the most painful emotions that we as human being can experience. The loneliness of it at times crushing as it was to Him.
In using the words He expressed at that moment, literally quoting Scripture from the Old Testament in Psalm 22…a deep expression of the anguish he felt when He took the sins of the world upon Himself….which in doing so for that moment, caused a separation or rift from His Father….and then in Luke 24:46 Jesus then shouts out, the separation about to be healed with these words, “Father….Abba….I entrust my Spirit into Your hands.” And with these words he breathed His last…and in that moment, He was immediately back into the Presence of His Father.
When we are enduring pain, from the lightest to the deepest, it should give us a bit of comfort in knowing what we feel, He felt. At times such as these I have to attempt at least, to do what I spoke briefly of and of which we sang two weeks ago….I put my hands in the rough by tender hands of the man who stilled the water, calmed the sea…who raised the dead….who set and sets today, the captives free. Those bound by extremely difficult situations…. of so many different kinds.
Job, St. Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and others have contributed to the ongoing dialogue swirling around not only us, but the proverbial questions of those who doubt the existence of God. “Why do bad things happen to good people, let alone the so-called bad ones.’ For some, stories of personal suffering, persecution and martyrdom provide encouragement and a reminder of the pain He endured. Others suggest suffering is a character-building opportunity. This is all true…but it goes deeper, for pain is one of the most powerful tools for learning…both how to avoid it and if we cannot, endure it and learn what we can from it.
The upside of pain is this…. practically speaking, and on the lighter side of the subject. It tells us simply that something is wrong. If we did not feel pain, we would not know we were either sick or injured and would not seek and answer to find healing. This next thing I am saying to men mostly. They, we too often make the mistake of not addressing the pain in a timely manner, thinking erroneously a times that just to ignore it…until we cannot….and then in some cases it is too late to heal….and the consequences are never good. God made us smarter than that, and we need to address our fears instead of burying them….by sanely seeking help in all four arenas we experience pain in…those being physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Jesus walked boldly and with pre-ordained purpose into His pain, embracing it, for the benefits that lay ahead for Him and us. Why God required His self-sacrifice through the death of His Son is because, He is a God of justice…. justice based on moral principles, whereas I said earlier there had to be by design and then planning, an atonement for sin. A sacrifice…. the greatest one that could be made. Otherwise, sin, error, evil would one day win out and God forbid, that just could not be allowed to happen.
Sin…is not a word we hear much about these days for the world has moved into a very gray area of right and wrong, often excusing behavior that needs to be defined as sin and is not….and this makes people uncomfortable and above all else human beings love to be comfortable.
You have the knowledge by observation alone, that we live daily in a world of opposites and sometimes deeply opposing forces. Duality is the nature of our world. Light and dark, earth and water, rain and drought, desert and jungle, mountains and plains, rich and poor, strength and weakness, health and illness, good and evil, war and peace, pain and comfort…and many more. Duality…. such as these
few mentioned co-exist, but in coexisting create both beauty and chaos.
Into this chaos came the God/Man, Jesus Christ, to reconcile the world through justice into wholeness. That day is yet physically to come, though spiritually it has been accomplished through His atonement.
There is much we can learn in and from pain that otherwise we would not learn, not only for ourselves but for others…. we can learn compassion, tenderness, gratefulness, kindness, mercy, even justice….and in doing so, we can also learn to appreciate our differences, join together in exhibiting and practicing these learned values. To appreciate this day, the day we currently have….and are gifted with. Looking through the big picture window of life in the Spirit, and not through the dirty window of emotion, where we do not clearly see things as they really are, we will at times allow ourselves due to our circumstances, choose the wrong attitude, even feeling justified in becoming, petty, vindictive, mean, angry, hateful, spiteful, and thereby even causing more pain, self-inflicted pain that can wash out and over on to others.
We all know by experience, that pain manifests itself in many different areas of our lives, to where we are affected, as I said earlier, emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Who can say with complete understanding which of these four areas are or can be, the most painful, or the most damaging, for all can be long term or temporary? Once having experienced it and then it is gone, we are grateful, incredibly grateful but what did we learn?
It is part of creation….and without its presence we would quickly destroy ourselves. Dr. Paul Brand, a deeply committed medical missionary works with lepers, and sees firsthand the suffering they endure. One of the problems with leprosy is that these people cannot feel pain in the affected part of their bodies. Dr. Brand speaks about what a tragedy it is for them that they cannot. He said, “If I had the power to eliminate pian, I would not exercise that right.’ Pain’s value is too great.
There is the necessary protective value of pain. He goes on to say, that when a healthy person has an injured leg as an example, he or she feel the pain and therefore does not put their weight on that injured leg. A leper not feeling the injury, wherever it is, will continue to use that injured limb to where it is destroyed, having never felt a thing.
We learn from our encounters or battles with it, in all the four areas I spoke of for it is a gift in our design from God. Pain unifies the body. Dr. Brand says, “I can tell the health of a human body by its reaction to pain. I f the body does not react, I know something is dreadfully wrong.”
Suffering….is a real and important element of our Faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I choose to lose all else. Philippians 3:8
I am now going to read to you one of the most painful, yet beautiful true stories I have ever read, of a young woman’s long and difficult triumph over pain.
READ
Kechi…like Jesus, was horribly disfigured…. both endured, both triumphed, each in their own way. Yet…it was He who having endured His pain, as she said…” enables her to walk with the confidence of one who knows that He sees her as beautiful, and instead of feeling resentment, she confesses “that all things work together for the good of those who love God.” Romans 8:28
God bless Kechi and all who endure great pain of any kind….and God bless you…each and all of you, with His great Grace and Mercy, but most of all His deep and everlasting love.
Amen (so be it)
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
Macks Inn, Idaho 83433 Febraury 7, 2021
” DO YOU HEAR ME? “
(AN ADDENDUM TO “COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS”
The Art and Discipline of Listening and Why it is Important
Silence
This morning….part of the reason you came was to hear, of all people, me, speak to you….to listen….perhaps expecting and hoping to carry away some encouragement, guidance, maybe even a little wisdom, as to how to live your lives. That, I have to tell you is my hope and expectation. Romans 10:17 says “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God.”
If we truly are hearing….it is because we are really listening…and really listening sometimes takes focus and discipline, for, “listening” most often must be sought after and then calls for focused development. I hope I have not lost you already.
Here is a short secular, rather off-beat illustration, as to whether this person listening really listened, and the consequences of not.
A couple of hunters, good friends, are out in the forest, when one of them simply falls to the ground. Checking on him, his friend notices He does not seem to be breathing, and his eyes are rolled back in his head.
His friend frantically calls 911 on his cell phone, blurting out to the operator, “My friend Jackson appears to be dead! What can I do?
The operator, trying to calm him down says, “Take it easy…. I can help, just listen to me, and follow my instructions sir, first, make sure he is dead.”
There is a short pause, and then the operator is puzzled when she hears a loud gunshot. The hunter comes back on the line and says breathlessly, “ok, now what?”
Sometimes…it is easy to hear the words being spoken to us, without hearing the real message being spoken.
We think that we know what is being said, but do not clarify it (because we are thinking as to how what is being said, does not fit our understanding) we stopped listening to the person speaking, missing perhaps much of what the person is saying to prove their position. Listening means listening, clear to the end of that person’s narrative before we hear the whole thing. This, when done this way can cause us to what is the term jump to conclusions” that are untrue, and sometime unwarranted.
Listen to this…..and this is true. We have been designed with two ears, one mouth for a reason. Two ears so we can hear better, and one mouth so we can speak less that what we hear. Let our goal be to strive to become better listeners, especially if we are going to repeat what we are hearing to others, and especially if we disagree….we will repeat with our own interpretation.
Another example many of us have taken part is a circle game called “the circle whisper.” All sitting in a circle one person turns to the next on the right and whispers something in their ear. That person then allegedly whispers the exact words they just heard to the person on their right, until the circle of passing the information on comes back to the original person.
So, what is usually the outcome? It barely resembles the original words, with perhaps just a small element of the original….and sometimes not at all.
James 3:6 reads, “How great a forest can be set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a potential for good or evil and can stain the whole body by setting on fire a cycle of burning…….at times by hell itself. “
Then there is Matthew 13:12-13, “to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But, for those who are NOT listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away. Jesus goes on to say, “that is why I use these parables, for
the people look but they do not really see. They hear, but they are not really listening, therefore they are not able to comprehend or understand.”
This now is important to hear, so please listen closely. Who we are is reflected in both what we say, and what we do, if concerned at all about our personal reputation, and as Christians, our reputation either holds up or diminishes the very reputation of Christ Himself.
The words we speak puts accountability in our own laps, and no one else’s. Human ears hear many sounds but there is a deeper kind of listening that results in spiritual understanding. When speaking parables, Jesus was not cloaking or hiding truth from sincere seekers, but those who were receptive to spiritual truths and therefore understood His illustrations. To others they were just stories with little applicable meaning. We hear…. really hear, only when we really listen.
I know…I am being repetitive here…. but it is only because it is such a vital discipline in our lives…. that can change the course of our ever days lives, everyday….by the choices we make in listening and correctly and fully understanding.
Steven Covey….an educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker says, “seek first to understand, then….to be understood.” Only by listening can this happen.”
He also said this, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to respond.” X2
Now here comes the chalkboard………………WITH FIVE TIPS FOR BECOMING A MORE EFFECTIVE LISTENER”
1. Be aware of your body language. The effective use of body language is often discussed when teaching how to deliver a message, but not so much when receiving one. This means…. try not to fall asleep when the speaker is speaking. I once had a young woman (a teacher) in my congregation in Kentucky who for some reason was really ticked at me. So, she sat one Sunday in the back pew correcting her student’s papers, rustling them…. while I was preaching. That was a bit amusing in looking back, though not so at the time. I will say it was one of the most.
audacious ways of publicly telling me and everyone else her feelings toward me at that time.
2. Do not be afraid of silence. Sometimes we are so used to noise that we start to feel uncomfortable when there are pauses during a conversation. One of the important lessons to learn is to allow for moments of silence while listening to others.
3. Restrain yourself. Many times, we fall into the trap of thinking we have a funnier anecdote, more fascinating statistics, or sadder story than the person speaking. (and it may be true) but we need to hold our tongue.
4. A good way to start a conversation is to ask questions. Asking follow-up questions can be an excellent way of showing that you were listening. It might even be a point where you may disagree….and that is ok depending on your approach of course.
5. Get rid of distractions. Put your phone on silent when talking or listening to someone. Honor the person by giving them your undivided attention.
Here are a few Scriptures about the discipline of listening.
Proverbs 10:8 “The wise of heart will receive what is spoken, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Mark 4:24, and He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; and with the measure you apply what you receive, it will be measured back to you and still more will be added to that.”
Proverbs 20:12, “the hearing ear and the seeing eyes, the Lord has made them both. (Use them well)
Proverbs 18:5, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise…seeks knowledge.”
The last one. Proverbs 2:21-22 My son or daughter, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments, making your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then (and only then) …. will you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God?
Did you get that?
We are now down to the last illustration….
But before that…. did you know that we think four times faster than we can talk, and I know some fast talkers! Their minds must be like a blur.
Ok…here is the illustration.
Franklin Roosevelt…. often endured long receiving lines as do all presidents at the White House with political and social events. He complained to his wife and staff, that no one really paid any attention to what was said by him in these lines. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. (loved it) To, every person whom he greeted while shaking their hand murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “marvelous!” Keep up the good work,” we are proud of you Mr. President.” God bless you sir,” and so on.
It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia that his words were heard. Non-pulsed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”
Remember…. who we are is reflected in what we say….and what we do, and they better be the same! Our reputation and our Lords are at stake.
Lord…give us the wisdom to help us, to both speak when we should and keep our mouths shut when we should. That is real wisdom! Amen
Macks Inn, Idaho 83433 Febraury 7, 2021
” DO YOU HEAR ME? “
(AN ADDENDUM TO “COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS”
The Art and Discipline of Listening and Why it is Important
Silence
This morning….part of the reason you came was to hear, of all people, me, speak to you….to listen….perhaps expecting and hoping to carry away some encouragement, guidance, maybe even a little wisdom, as to how to live your lives. That, I have to tell you is my hope and expectation. Romans 10:17 says “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God.”
If we truly are hearing….it is because we are really listening…and really listening sometimes takes focus and discipline, for, “listening” most often must be sought after and then calls for focused development. I hope I have not lost you already.
Here is a short secular, rather off-beat illustration, as to whether this person listening really listened, and the consequences of not.
A couple of hunters, good friends, are out in the forest, when one of them simply falls to the ground. Checking on him, his friend notices He does not seem to be breathing, and his eyes are rolled back in his head.
His friend frantically calls 911 on his cell phone, blurting out to the operator, “My friend Jackson appears to be dead! What can I do?
The operator, trying to calm him down says, “Take it easy…. I can help, just listen to me, and follow my instructions sir, first, make sure he is dead.”
There is a short pause, and then the operator is puzzled when she hears a loud gunshot. The hunter comes back on the line and says breathlessly, “ok, now what?”
Sometimes…it is easy to hear the words being spoken to us, without hearing the real message being spoken.
We think that we know what is being said, but do not clarify it (because we are thinking as to how what is being said, does not fit our understanding) we stopped listening to the person speaking, missing perhaps much of what the person is saying to prove their position. Listening means listening, clear to the end of that person’s narrative before we hear the whole thing. This, when done this way can cause us to what is the term jump to conclusions” that are untrue, and sometime unwarranted.
Listen to this…..and this is true. We have been designed with two ears, one mouth for a reason. Two ears so we can hear better, and one mouth so we can speak less that what we hear. Let our goal be to strive to become better listeners, especially if we are going to repeat what we are hearing to others, and especially if we disagree….we will repeat with our own interpretation.
Another example many of us have taken part is a circle game called “the circle whisper.” All sitting in a circle one person turns to the next on the right and whispers something in their ear. That person then allegedly whispers the exact words they just heard to the person on their right, until the circle of passing the information on comes back to the original person.
So, what is usually the outcome? It barely resembles the original words, with perhaps just a small element of the original….and sometimes not at all.
James 3:6 reads, “How great a forest can be set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a potential for good or evil and can stain the whole body by setting on fire a cycle of burning…….at times by hell itself. “
Then there is Matthew 13:12-13, “to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But, for those who are NOT listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away. Jesus goes on to say, “that is why I use these parables, for
the people look but they do not really see. They hear, but they are not really listening, therefore they are not able to comprehend or understand.”
This now is important to hear, so please listen closely. Who we are is reflected in both what we say, and what we do, if concerned at all about our personal reputation, and as Christians, our reputation either holds up or diminishes the very reputation of Christ Himself.
The words we speak puts accountability in our own laps, and no one else’s. Human ears hear many sounds but there is a deeper kind of listening that results in spiritual understanding. When speaking parables, Jesus was not cloaking or hiding truth from sincere seekers, but those who were receptive to spiritual truths and therefore understood His illustrations. To others they were just stories with little applicable meaning. We hear…. really hear, only when we really listen.
I know…I am being repetitive here…. but it is only because it is such a vital discipline in our lives…. that can change the course of our ever days lives, everyday….by the choices we make in listening and correctly and fully understanding.
Steven Covey….an educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker says, “seek first to understand, then….to be understood.” Only by listening can this happen.”
He also said this, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to respond.” X2
Now here comes the chalkboard………………WITH FIVE TIPS FOR BECOMING A MORE EFFECTIVE LISTENER”
1. Be aware of your body language. The effective use of body language is often discussed when teaching how to deliver a message, but not so much when receiving one. This means…. try not to fall asleep when the speaker is speaking. I once had a young woman (a teacher) in my congregation in Kentucky who for some reason was really ticked at me. So, she sat one Sunday in the back pew correcting her student’s papers, rustling them…. while I was preaching. That was a bit amusing in looking back, though not so at the time. I will say it was one of the most.
audacious ways of publicly telling me and everyone else her feelings toward me at that time.
2. Do not be afraid of silence. Sometimes we are so used to noise that we start to feel uncomfortable when there are pauses during a conversation. One of the important lessons to learn is to allow for moments of silence while listening to others.
3. Restrain yourself. Many times, we fall into the trap of thinking we have a funnier anecdote, more fascinating statistics, or sadder story than the person speaking. (and it may be true) but we need to hold our tongue.
4. A good way to start a conversation is to ask questions. Asking follow-up questions can be an excellent way of showing that you were listening. It might even be a point where you may disagree….and that is ok depending on your approach of course.
5. Get rid of distractions. Put your phone on silent when talking or listening to someone. Honor the person by giving them your undivided attention.
Here are a few Scriptures about the discipline of listening.
Proverbs 10:8 “The wise of heart will receive what is spoken, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Mark 4:24, and He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; and with the measure you apply what you receive, it will be measured back to you and still more will be added to that.”
Proverbs 20:12, “the hearing ear and the seeing eyes, the Lord has made them both. (Use them well)
Proverbs 18:5, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise…seeks knowledge.”
The last one. Proverbs 2:21-22 My son or daughter, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments, making your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then (and only then) …. will you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God?
Did you get that?
We are now down to the last illustration….
But before that…. did you know that we think four times faster than we can talk, and I know some fast talkers! Their minds must be like a blur.
Ok…here is the illustration.
Franklin Roosevelt…. often endured long receiving lines as do all presidents at the White House with political and social events. He complained to his wife and staff, that no one really paid any attention to what was said by him in these lines. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. (loved it) To, every person whom he greeted while shaking their hand murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “marvelous!” Keep up the good work,” we are proud of you Mr. President.” God bless you sir,” and so on.
It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia that his words were heard. Non-pulsed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”
Remember…. who we are is reflected in what we say….and what we do, and they better be the same! Our reputation and our Lords are at stake.
Lord…give us the wisdom to help us, to both speak when we should and keep our mouths shut when we should. That is real wisdom! Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
January 31, 2021
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
COURAGE….is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
PHYSICAL COURAGE is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, even death or the threat of death.
MORAL COURAGE is the right to act rightly in the face for what may be popular opposition, shame scandal, discouragement, or personal loss.
The classical virtue of fortitude can also be translated “courage” but includes the aspects of perseverance and patience.
Patience being the topic on which I spoke last week.
…. Courage, in both small matters and large matters takes a measure of fortitude. Fortitude means “strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with COURAGE.”
EXAMPLE
1. “They showed fortitude in the face of a hostile encounter.”
2. We pray we have the fortitude to carry on fighting for what is right!
This calls for being brave in the face of difficulty, be it physical, mental, emotional, even verbal….in thought word or deed. It is the ability to act rightly in the face of opposition when we KNOW what we are saying is backed up let us say, by Scripture, even Jesus own words. Those in themselves are substantive enough to give us courage.
We are at times when right facing unpopular opposition which can be manifested in politics, religion or in any other realm or topic. It could also involve an aspect of patience and perseverance, in the ability to stay calm while in a crowd that is not, and even involved in a conversation where there are sometimes great differences in opinions and outlook in any of the above-mentioned topics. STAY CALM…is a great virtue to develop in any situation that has the potential to evolve quickly into a mob situation.
How about in being a part of a conversation where you or I disagree greatly with what is being spoken? Have we the ability to maintain a kind of reverse courage by listening all the way through the conversation until it is our time to speak, without interrupting the person speaking. It is what you would want when you speak so why not give the others person(s) the same respect and patience? One of the most courageous things you can do…. which will draw attention to you is to stand perfectly still…. eyes closed perhaps…and pray. I guarantee you will be noticed.
In the world of our Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Kierkregard as a few examples.
In the realm of Western Christianity…. we have such notables as Billy Graham, Philip Yancey (controversial) Max Lucado, Pope Francis, Joel Osteen, J.I. Packer, Joyce Meyer, Aimee Semple McPherson to name just a few. Few have had the impact that Billy Graham has had…being a simple man with a simple and clear message, and having lived a simple, honest, and upright life.
Yet each, in their own way and in their own words have been influential to a greater or lesser degree. Each also, having displayed courage at times by differing and speaking those differences in both words and the written word, that at times veered off from what then was the current mainstream of Christian thought, especially of course the women. Simply preaching publicly was enough to put them on the blacklist of many denominations. Heretics and tools of the devil.
Jesus said you will know them by their fruit….and each and all of these, produced good fruit that is utilized and cherished to this day, and will be tomorrow and beyond. That is often the problem, that we look at people through our prejudices and bias’s, seeing neither the person, or the truths they speak and live…. judging them instead on those prejudices and bias’s alone.
Gathered here today….in the Name and Person of Jesus Christ, we come from a broad collection of different doctrinal backgrounds, but the same faith.
The ancient APOSTLES CREED written by the forefathers of our faith, who labored over what would come to the cement or glue of that faith. With all our great variety of structures and methodology in expressing our faith…. these words bind all of together. Let’s read them….
I want to say and will, that there is a simple hymn in our hymnals that for me is the bottom line and essence of, Who, and what we believe in that binds us together….in love, which we shortly will sing acapella. “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love”
Please think about what I am going to share next…. for it is very important, and for which I am and will be held accountable for.
IT IS NOT OUR DOCTRINE THAT SAVE US……IT IS A BINDER, BUT NOT A BOX FROM WHICH WE LIVE, FOR NO ONE CAN BREATHE AND LIVE IN A CLOSED, AIRLESS BOX.
If…I could get that across to people of faith, that though doctrine (important as it is) may give us comfort….it is the Lord Jesus Christ HIMSELF who saves us. We too often worship our doctrine above He, Himself. It is HIM whom we must find our security in. Doctrine is important…. please understand that…. but with our Lord, it was when in discourse with individuals or a crowd…. He saw the people, the pain, the heartache, the brokenness, and responded to those things. He always saw the person, even above the sin…. of what and who they could become, simply believing in and following Him.
In Luke 9:49-50, is a brief conversation between John and Jesus, (49) “Master, he says, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop, because he isn’t in our group.”
(50) But, Jesus said, do not stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.”
By using these words, He is saying, we are to embrace an open-arms attitude toward Christians outside our own group. Back then, there was not yet a bona-fide church of internal and external structure, and not the over 35,000 different Christian denominations that exist today. Yet…we are to rejoice with one another when we see the evidence of good fruit, being produced by any Christian gathering or denomination…. or for that matter, any individual. For we will know them by two things……their love of Christ and good that is produced by them in the name of Jesus Christ.
I do not know if you are aware of this, but several times, people of different denominations and even faiths in Idaho Falls, gather to discuss their commonalities and differences. It has brought together, many people who desire to be healers, finding understanding and therefore being not dividers. Some hundreds have attended, and it has been a blessing as it builds bridges, and not walls. It is about having courageous conversations in a godly and peace-filled setting and manner, in order to learn about each other, love and accept each other in an atmosphere of grace and kindness.
Now, somewhat briefly, (I think) I am going to turn this conversation to a place that is practical, personal, and potentially courageous, for the finger is now going to point to you…and me, of course, in our personal, interactive everyday relationships with one another and, in regard to family, friends, neighbors and even political adversaries.
WE ARE TOLD….”to love our neighbor as we love ourselves”, (who is our neighbor?) Mark 12:31…this is not a narcissistic love, self-ego love, prideful self-love…but a humble love in understanding that we are first loved by Him, and if indeed we are, and He loves us, having proven it by His great sacrifice…. knowing we are loved, enables us to love the self/person that we sometime do not love. He died for us which proves we are loved and lovable…. just as we are, seen by Him in His eyes. He made us worthy of His great love, otherwise why would He have done what He did for us?
We are also TOLD (dang) to love our enemies….and yet He goes further than that, by saying (as His finger points to us) do good to those who would harm us, and spitefully use us.
Well, we know, that just does not sit well with us, but, as He, (from the human point of view, did the impossible, by forgiving those who crucified Him…while hanging from that cross they put Him on…. He is telling us through this graphic example….TO DO THE SAME, no matter how much it costs us (our egos and sometimes pride)
That…is the sort of action that can change an adversary’s life as well as our own.
He asks us to do at times what seems the impossible…. but,
remember these words…if we are willing, “WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO WILL GIVE US THE ABILITY AND STRENGTH TO DO SO)” if, we are but willing.
So…I am now going to make a recommendation here. At home, set aside some time. Get out a pen and paper and sit at your table or desk. Ask the Lord by His Spirit to assist you…… (not in guilt or punishment) but out of need, show you those things and people in your life, that you need to make amends to, change your mind about, stop judging, whatever! Write on paper or on your computer or phone, this list. Then ask the Spirit now, as to how you can make right that which is not right but wrong, and, that He will give you the wisdom as to how to do so. Remember…. we are weak, but He is strong. In being willing…. much like admitting (if an alcoholic, or addict of any kind) being willing to admit our condition, is the first step toward healing and wholeness.
I can guarantee…. He WILL assist you in this endeavor. The reason is that He wants you whole, and He wants you healed of events such as estrangements, hurts, abuse either given or received. Give to Him those events, people, and pain, willingly and watch what He can and will do…. the key? WILLING
If you are in trouble in your marriage and communication is not exceptionally good…. sit down together and have a courageous conversation.
Your children…your neighbor, co-worker, etc., etc.
God…continually will give us the opportunity to be healthy, happy, whole people, whom He loves without prejudice or judgement….NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE that has caused sin, sorrow, pain or rejection. ALL can be forgiven and healed. ALL.
If…your request for forgiveness from someone is rejected, it lay on them and no longer on you, for you will have done that which God in Christ expects you to do.
In having some of these courageous conversations, they will not at times go as we hope and pray, they will. That comes with being courageous…. but, we will have done what we were willing and courageous enough to do. I can tell you, God will honor our efforts, as we attempt to make things right. That is who He is….and He desires we be like Him as His dear Son exemplifies.
Well…that about wraps it up for today…. hopefully, I have given you some food for thought, with the intention of good and not evil. A way to please God and ease some of the burdens you just may be carrying around. They do not get any lighter.
As we now, as part of our service head to the Table of the Lord, there is something I am going to read to you that a childhood friend sent me yesterday.
It is about God…through the eyes of an 8 year old child….I think this will bless you…as it did and does me. (READ)
I have had a couple of interesting months…and through it all have found myself more emotional than usual….this really touched me in a beautiful way….and so I hope it does you as well.
God loves you….as do I, and God bless you…….
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
January 31, 2021
Pastor Tom A. Shanor
COURAGE….is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
PHYSICAL COURAGE is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, even death or the threat of death.
MORAL COURAGE is the right to act rightly in the face for what may be popular opposition, shame scandal, discouragement, or personal loss.
The classical virtue of fortitude can also be translated “courage” but includes the aspects of perseverance and patience.
Patience being the topic on which I spoke last week.
…. Courage, in both small matters and large matters takes a measure of fortitude. Fortitude means “strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with COURAGE.”
EXAMPLE
1. “They showed fortitude in the face of a hostile encounter.”
2. We pray we have the fortitude to carry on fighting for what is right!
This calls for being brave in the face of difficulty, be it physical, mental, emotional, even verbal….in thought word or deed. It is the ability to act rightly in the face of opposition when we KNOW what we are saying is backed up let us say, by Scripture, even Jesus own words. Those in themselves are substantive enough to give us courage.
We are at times when right facing unpopular opposition which can be manifested in politics, religion or in any other realm or topic. It could also involve an aspect of patience and perseverance, in the ability to stay calm while in a crowd that is not, and even involved in a conversation where there are sometimes great differences in opinions and outlook in any of the above-mentioned topics. STAY CALM…is a great virtue to develop in any situation that has the potential to evolve quickly into a mob situation.
How about in being a part of a conversation where you or I disagree greatly with what is being spoken? Have we the ability to maintain a kind of reverse courage by listening all the way through the conversation until it is our time to speak, without interrupting the person speaking. It is what you would want when you speak so why not give the others person(s) the same respect and patience? One of the most courageous things you can do…. which will draw attention to you is to stand perfectly still…. eyes closed perhaps…and pray. I guarantee you will be noticed.
In the world of our Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Kierkregard as a few examples.
In the realm of Western Christianity…. we have such notables as Billy Graham, Philip Yancey (controversial) Max Lucado, Pope Francis, Joel Osteen, J.I. Packer, Joyce Meyer, Aimee Semple McPherson to name just a few. Few have had the impact that Billy Graham has had…being a simple man with a simple and clear message, and having lived a simple, honest, and upright life.
Yet each, in their own way and in their own words have been influential to a greater or lesser degree. Each also, having displayed courage at times by differing and speaking those differences in both words and the written word, that at times veered off from what then was the current mainstream of Christian thought, especially of course the women. Simply preaching publicly was enough to put them on the blacklist of many denominations. Heretics and tools of the devil.
Jesus said you will know them by their fruit….and each and all of these, produced good fruit that is utilized and cherished to this day, and will be tomorrow and beyond. That is often the problem, that we look at people through our prejudices and bias’s, seeing neither the person, or the truths they speak and live…. judging them instead on those prejudices and bias’s alone.
Gathered here today….in the Name and Person of Jesus Christ, we come from a broad collection of different doctrinal backgrounds, but the same faith.
The ancient APOSTLES CREED written by the forefathers of our faith, who labored over what would come to the cement or glue of that faith. With all our great variety of structures and methodology in expressing our faith…. these words bind all of together. Let’s read them….
I want to say and will, that there is a simple hymn in our hymnals that for me is the bottom line and essence of, Who, and what we believe in that binds us together….in love, which we shortly will sing acapella. “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love”
Please think about what I am going to share next…. for it is very important, and for which I am and will be held accountable for.
IT IS NOT OUR DOCTRINE THAT SAVE US……IT IS A BINDER, BUT NOT A BOX FROM WHICH WE LIVE, FOR NO ONE CAN BREATHE AND LIVE IN A CLOSED, AIRLESS BOX.
If…I could get that across to people of faith, that though doctrine (important as it is) may give us comfort….it is the Lord Jesus Christ HIMSELF who saves us. We too often worship our doctrine above He, Himself. It is HIM whom we must find our security in. Doctrine is important…. please understand that…. but with our Lord, it was when in discourse with individuals or a crowd…. He saw the people, the pain, the heartache, the brokenness, and responded to those things. He always saw the person, even above the sin…. of what and who they could become, simply believing in and following Him.
In Luke 9:49-50, is a brief conversation between John and Jesus, (49) “Master, he says, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop, because he isn’t in our group.”
(50) But, Jesus said, do not stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.”
By using these words, He is saying, we are to embrace an open-arms attitude toward Christians outside our own group. Back then, there was not yet a bona-fide church of internal and external structure, and not the over 35,000 different Christian denominations that exist today. Yet…we are to rejoice with one another when we see the evidence of good fruit, being produced by any Christian gathering or denomination…. or for that matter, any individual. For we will know them by two things……their love of Christ and good that is produced by them in the name of Jesus Christ.
I do not know if you are aware of this, but several times, people of different denominations and even faiths in Idaho Falls, gather to discuss their commonalities and differences. It has brought together, many people who desire to be healers, finding understanding and therefore being not dividers. Some hundreds have attended, and it has been a blessing as it builds bridges, and not walls. It is about having courageous conversations in a godly and peace-filled setting and manner, in order to learn about each other, love and accept each other in an atmosphere of grace and kindness.
Now, somewhat briefly, (I think) I am going to turn this conversation to a place that is practical, personal, and potentially courageous, for the finger is now going to point to you…and me, of course, in our personal, interactive everyday relationships with one another and, in regard to family, friends, neighbors and even political adversaries.
WE ARE TOLD….”to love our neighbor as we love ourselves”, (who is our neighbor?) Mark 12:31…this is not a narcissistic love, self-ego love, prideful self-love…but a humble love in understanding that we are first loved by Him, and if indeed we are, and He loves us, having proven it by His great sacrifice…. knowing we are loved, enables us to love the self/person that we sometime do not love. He died for us which proves we are loved and lovable…. just as we are, seen by Him in His eyes. He made us worthy of His great love, otherwise why would He have done what He did for us?
We are also TOLD (dang) to love our enemies….and yet He goes further than that, by saying (as His finger points to us) do good to those who would harm us, and spitefully use us.
Well, we know, that just does not sit well with us, but, as He, (from the human point of view, did the impossible, by forgiving those who crucified Him…while hanging from that cross they put Him on…. He is telling us through this graphic example….TO DO THE SAME, no matter how much it costs us (our egos and sometimes pride)
That…is the sort of action that can change an adversary’s life as well as our own.
He asks us to do at times what seems the impossible…. but,
remember these words…if we are willing, “WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO WILL GIVE US THE ABILITY AND STRENGTH TO DO SO)” if, we are but willing.
So…I am now going to make a recommendation here. At home, set aside some time. Get out a pen and paper and sit at your table or desk. Ask the Lord by His Spirit to assist you…… (not in guilt or punishment) but out of need, show you those things and people in your life, that you need to make amends to, change your mind about, stop judging, whatever! Write on paper or on your computer or phone, this list. Then ask the Spirit now, as to how you can make right that which is not right but wrong, and, that He will give you the wisdom as to how to do so. Remember…. we are weak, but He is strong. In being willing…. much like admitting (if an alcoholic, or addict of any kind) being willing to admit our condition, is the first step toward healing and wholeness.
I can guarantee…. He WILL assist you in this endeavor. The reason is that He wants you whole, and He wants you healed of events such as estrangements, hurts, abuse either given or received. Give to Him those events, people, and pain, willingly and watch what He can and will do…. the key? WILLING
If you are in trouble in your marriage and communication is not exceptionally good…. sit down together and have a courageous conversation.
Your children…your neighbor, co-worker, etc., etc.
God…continually will give us the opportunity to be healthy, happy, whole people, whom He loves without prejudice or judgement….NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE that has caused sin, sorrow, pain or rejection. ALL can be forgiven and healed. ALL.
If…your request for forgiveness from someone is rejected, it lay on them and no longer on you, for you will have done that which God in Christ expects you to do.
In having some of these courageous conversations, they will not at times go as we hope and pray, they will. That comes with being courageous…. but, we will have done what we were willing and courageous enough to do. I can tell you, God will honor our efforts, as we attempt to make things right. That is who He is….and He desires we be like Him as His dear Son exemplifies.
Well…that about wraps it up for today…. hopefully, I have given you some food for thought, with the intention of good and not evil. A way to please God and ease some of the burdens you just may be carrying around. They do not get any lighter.
As we now, as part of our service head to the Table of the Lord, there is something I am going to read to you that a childhood friend sent me yesterday.
It is about God…through the eyes of an 8 year old child….I think this will bless you…as it did and does me. (READ)
I have had a couple of interesting months…and through it all have found myself more emotional than usual….this really touched me in a beautiful way….and so I hope it does you as well.
God loves you….as do I, and God bless you…….
courage.pdf | |
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The Little Church in the Pines,
January 17, 2021
Prayer
…. in its most basic form is simply communication.
…. communication is life!
…. communication is expressed in a multitude of means and is self-aware and self-realized. Without it we are dead, whether we are alive physically or physically dead.
~Prayer is an invocation (invocation being the act of invoking or seeking someone of higher authority and power) God as an example, for the purpose of activating a rapport or connection so to speak, through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious “practice” and may be either individual or communal, taking place in private or in a public setting. It may involve the use of words understood, or in feelings. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, a psalm, incantation, formal doctrinal or creedal statement, such as in the case of, as Christians, the Nicene or Apostle’s Creed, or it can be totally spontaneous.
~Scriptural references of prayer……………. include these four words.
PRAYER (I believe) is literally our most neglected tool in the tool box of a Christian, and I believe it to be so, because #1, we are too busy and #2, we fail to fully grasp its vital importance. As I said above, it is all about communication, and without communication, good communication, real and honest communication, explicit and pointed communication, with a person or with our Lord and God…. we really do not KNOW him (in the intimate biblical sense) but mostly know only about him.
2nd Chronicle 4:14 so beautifully lays the foundation of the importance and necessity for prayer.
“Then…. if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face…and turn from their ways of sin. I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land and life. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made.”
…………a key, is coming to the Lord with a heart that is open and honest, and believing that he does hear us……as it is said, “my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to your every prayer.”
~ WE cannot expect a return on our prayers if we do not believe that they are being heard, so faith is indeed an important factor. I say this because it is true, that unless you or I take the time to get to know God personally through His Son Jesus Christ…. we will not and cannot have the faith necessary to effectively pray. So…discipline, time out for this purpose of knowing him, is essential to not only prayer, but to deep, basic relational friendship with God. Once we draw closer to him…. our faith will grow, and our prayers will be not only more effective, but deeper and self-realized.
~ Like Brother Lawrence…. we will “feel” his Presence. Prayer is simply talking to God. As Brother Lawrence, a worker in the kitchen (his ministry) in a Carmelite Monastery in Paris, is remembered for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God, as recorded in a book compiled from his journals after his death; the book being “The Practice of the Presence of God.” This little book is a classic example of being in the presence of God all day and every day…and the joys experienced by being so. His whole monastic life was a living prayer of praise and intercession.
~ We are given permission to ‘pray for anything,’ but there is a prerequisite which is found in mark 11:24-25. “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also.”
~My actual desire in talking on Prayer today is that we see it as a real and practical reality in our every day lives. Is it spiritual in essence, yes, but it is also practical in outcome, and vital to our lives and the lives of those whom we pray for…. including ourselves.
~ My real hope is that I can with the help of the Spirit, and Scripture accomplish this.
~ So…. how many of you have a cell phone?
~ When you desire to communicate with a friend, a family member, a business, etc., etc. It is one of the best means of immediate communication (unless of course the line is busy or disconnected) for whatever it is you wish to communicate. But…until you pick the phone up, making sure it is charged and powered up….it is just a dormant communication device lying there, wherever, doing nothing. But pick it up, turn it on and punch in the number…you are in touch…you are ready to communicate…ready to get down to business!
~ And, so it is the same with God. He’s there, just waiting for you to pick up the phone, power it up and talk to him. That is prayer…. talking to him. Now whatever you wish to talk about, implore, intercede, ask, cry out…. take a deep breath, knowing you are talking to a friend, (so you can be completely honest) and talk. You can laugh, you can cry, you can yell, you can ask questions, make your request known….so, just be yourself. No contrived religious talk, full of platitudes and sometimes high-sounding religious stuff….no contrived King James language…. quite simple, straight-forward communication is best.
~ You see…God is on the line all the time, fully charged and, looking forward to spending some time with you. Cool, huh!
~ He is like a fully powered atomic generator…. ready to light up the world, our world…. but until we turn the on switch on….it just sits there and quietly hums…. he saying to himself, somebody plug in, come on, somebody hit the on switch!
~ When we come together on Sundays, one of our group participatory actions is to both share our blessings….and the other to pray for those whom we know or don’t know, and who we do know, needs support through prayer. So…you speak, I pray, out loud, (and I’ve never been eloquent at it) but pray none-the-less, praying also that God will see my motivation and desire more than my lack of eloquence. Remember, I said he simply wants us to be honest and real. So…then, as I pray, you join with me in spirit, which makes it then a conference call/prayer…. for we are all on the line together. It’s kind of amazing and a good thing.
~ We have seen positive results, and some not so…. we are glad when we hear of progress and then in turn, thank God for intervening through our prayers, but disappointed when it doesn’t happen, as we had hoped and prayed, but the thing is, not to grow weary and stop when things do not turn out as we had hoped. We…. are not God, but are his people, and because we are, just as in the case of our parents when things did not go as we had hoped, though we may not understand, we accept and go on. Papa God.
~ Do I like it that some prayers are not answered? No, but, then what I need to do is some self-examination, referring to my earlier paragraph…. that obstacles of un-forgiveness, anger, hatred, etc. and sin, stand at times in the way, but it does not change my mind about prayer and the power to bring about change….and speaking of change…can I change God’s mind or pre-disposed actions. Yes…. God is not a puppet attached to our strings and we control him…. nor are we puppets, where he does this movement with his hand and we move this way or that way. No…. he gives us freedom and the ability to make choices, and that is in regards to prayer as well. But…we can move him by prayer.
~ an example can be found in the story of Lot and his family in Sodom. There is verse after verse of Abraham interceding on behalf of the righteous who were living among them…that God would not destroy everyone including Lot and his family. Abraham started with 50 righteous people…then continued to coax God by intercession, getting the number down to 10, and ultimately four.
~ Abraham’s prayer for Lot and his family…is a revelation of the faith of one man in the face of great odds. Abraham is an example to us that as he stood alone before God, he wielded a significant spiritual/practical influence over God’s actions. Lot and his family were saved. FYI, Sarah was a close blood relative of Lot, hence because of being family, Abraham interceded on their behalf.
~ There is one more element that is a bit more difficult (for me) to grasp, regarding unanswered prayer. That being that God desires to at times (test our faith) and as an extreme example, and, to understand this example, we must read the progressive story of Job. Job was caught in between basically a bet between God and Satan. The crux of the illustration being that most ALL of Job’s blessings were to be taken away, including all his children, his riches, his health and more…. his unkind and unsupportive friends. If, Job stood strong in his faith, and endured to the end of the test…. not only would Job win, but God would win too! This bet! And God won…. his faith in Job was verified.
So…hopefully, we are out of Job’s league, and the time of testing for our faith does not encompass those extremes.
A few verses on prayer and I will be close to finishing up, for today! Close!
To earnestly pray takes discipline, and an effort of the will, but once involved it will flow from you to God…because like the phone illustration, you will be connected.
Conversational prayer can happen throughout your day, everyday and like it was with Brother Lawrence, simply become a part of your relationship with God in Christ.
Intercessory Prayer….is a step deeper than earnest prayer…and an illustration is praying in the Holy Spirit…meaning you sometimes may move out of your understanding into a place in the Spirit, where you sense you are one with God, and perhaps even praying in utterances that you do not understand.
PRAYER NEED NOT BE A MYSTERY…. BUT A FACT, AN ACTION OFTEN BEARING VISIBLE RESULTS.
Life is not without uncertainties, whether they come in the form of a major life transition, family issues, health scares and or financial trouble. What we should continue to learn is that God cares, about even the smaller issues in our lives, he asks us, and even invites us to let go of our fears on all levels, by giving them to him. When we do truly let go……he, who knows all things, promises that his peace, “which is transcends all understanding, will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
To that, I say Amen
January 17, 2021
Prayer
…. in its most basic form is simply communication.
…. communication is life!
…. communication is expressed in a multitude of means and is self-aware and self-realized. Without it we are dead, whether we are alive physically or physically dead.
~Prayer is an invocation (invocation being the act of invoking or seeking someone of higher authority and power) God as an example, for the purpose of activating a rapport or connection so to speak, through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious “practice” and may be either individual or communal, taking place in private or in a public setting. It may involve the use of words understood, or in feelings. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, a psalm, incantation, formal doctrinal or creedal statement, such as in the case of, as Christians, the Nicene or Apostle’s Creed, or it can be totally spontaneous.
~Scriptural references of prayer……………. include these four words.
- Pray
- Prayed
- Prayers
- Praying
PRAYER (I believe) is literally our most neglected tool in the tool box of a Christian, and I believe it to be so, because #1, we are too busy and #2, we fail to fully grasp its vital importance. As I said above, it is all about communication, and without communication, good communication, real and honest communication, explicit and pointed communication, with a person or with our Lord and God…. we really do not KNOW him (in the intimate biblical sense) but mostly know only about him.
2nd Chronicle 4:14 so beautifully lays the foundation of the importance and necessity for prayer.
“Then…. if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face…and turn from their ways of sin. I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land and life. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made.”
…………a key, is coming to the Lord with a heart that is open and honest, and believing that he does hear us……as it is said, “my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to your every prayer.”
~ WE cannot expect a return on our prayers if we do not believe that they are being heard, so faith is indeed an important factor. I say this because it is true, that unless you or I take the time to get to know God personally through His Son Jesus Christ…. we will not and cannot have the faith necessary to effectively pray. So…discipline, time out for this purpose of knowing him, is essential to not only prayer, but to deep, basic relational friendship with God. Once we draw closer to him…. our faith will grow, and our prayers will be not only more effective, but deeper and self-realized.
~ Like Brother Lawrence…. we will “feel” his Presence. Prayer is simply talking to God. As Brother Lawrence, a worker in the kitchen (his ministry) in a Carmelite Monastery in Paris, is remembered for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God, as recorded in a book compiled from his journals after his death; the book being “The Practice of the Presence of God.” This little book is a classic example of being in the presence of God all day and every day…and the joys experienced by being so. His whole monastic life was a living prayer of praise and intercession.
~ We are given permission to ‘pray for anything,’ but there is a prerequisite which is found in mark 11:24-25. “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also.”
- So, an obstacle of effective prayers lies in un-forgiveness, resentment, anger, hatred and oh so many other negative behaviors that we humans can come up with, and all of these are in truth designated as sin.
- Doing what we do prior to taking part in Communion, is exactly what this is all about…. cleansing our minds, hearts, and spirits before God and each other…. praying along with David when he says to God…. “create in me a clean heart O God, take not your Holy Sprit from me, cast me not away from thy Presence O Lord, renew a right spirit, mind, heart and attitude within me.” Psalm 51:10-12
~My actual desire in talking on Prayer today is that we see it as a real and practical reality in our every day lives. Is it spiritual in essence, yes, but it is also practical in outcome, and vital to our lives and the lives of those whom we pray for…. including ourselves.
~ My real hope is that I can with the help of the Spirit, and Scripture accomplish this.
~ So…. how many of you have a cell phone?
~ When you desire to communicate with a friend, a family member, a business, etc., etc. It is one of the best means of immediate communication (unless of course the line is busy or disconnected) for whatever it is you wish to communicate. But…until you pick the phone up, making sure it is charged and powered up….it is just a dormant communication device lying there, wherever, doing nothing. But pick it up, turn it on and punch in the number…you are in touch…you are ready to communicate…ready to get down to business!
~ And, so it is the same with God. He’s there, just waiting for you to pick up the phone, power it up and talk to him. That is prayer…. talking to him. Now whatever you wish to talk about, implore, intercede, ask, cry out…. take a deep breath, knowing you are talking to a friend, (so you can be completely honest) and talk. You can laugh, you can cry, you can yell, you can ask questions, make your request known….so, just be yourself. No contrived religious talk, full of platitudes and sometimes high-sounding religious stuff….no contrived King James language…. quite simple, straight-forward communication is best.
~ You see…God is on the line all the time, fully charged and, looking forward to spending some time with you. Cool, huh!
~ He is like a fully powered atomic generator…. ready to light up the world, our world…. but until we turn the on switch on….it just sits there and quietly hums…. he saying to himself, somebody plug in, come on, somebody hit the on switch!
~ When we come together on Sundays, one of our group participatory actions is to both share our blessings….and the other to pray for those whom we know or don’t know, and who we do know, needs support through prayer. So…you speak, I pray, out loud, (and I’ve never been eloquent at it) but pray none-the-less, praying also that God will see my motivation and desire more than my lack of eloquence. Remember, I said he simply wants us to be honest and real. So…then, as I pray, you join with me in spirit, which makes it then a conference call/prayer…. for we are all on the line together. It’s kind of amazing and a good thing.
~ We have seen positive results, and some not so…. we are glad when we hear of progress and then in turn, thank God for intervening through our prayers, but disappointed when it doesn’t happen, as we had hoped and prayed, but the thing is, not to grow weary and stop when things do not turn out as we had hoped. We…. are not God, but are his people, and because we are, just as in the case of our parents when things did not go as we had hoped, though we may not understand, we accept and go on. Papa God.
~ Do I like it that some prayers are not answered? No, but, then what I need to do is some self-examination, referring to my earlier paragraph…. that obstacles of un-forgiveness, anger, hatred, etc. and sin, stand at times in the way, but it does not change my mind about prayer and the power to bring about change….and speaking of change…can I change God’s mind or pre-disposed actions. Yes…. God is not a puppet attached to our strings and we control him…. nor are we puppets, where he does this movement with his hand and we move this way or that way. No…. he gives us freedom and the ability to make choices, and that is in regards to prayer as well. But…we can move him by prayer.
~ an example can be found in the story of Lot and his family in Sodom. There is verse after verse of Abraham interceding on behalf of the righteous who were living among them…that God would not destroy everyone including Lot and his family. Abraham started with 50 righteous people…then continued to coax God by intercession, getting the number down to 10, and ultimately four.
~ Abraham’s prayer for Lot and his family…is a revelation of the faith of one man in the face of great odds. Abraham is an example to us that as he stood alone before God, he wielded a significant spiritual/practical influence over God’s actions. Lot and his family were saved. FYI, Sarah was a close blood relative of Lot, hence because of being family, Abraham interceded on their behalf.
~ There is one more element that is a bit more difficult (for me) to grasp, regarding unanswered prayer. That being that God desires to at times (test our faith) and as an extreme example, and, to understand this example, we must read the progressive story of Job. Job was caught in between basically a bet between God and Satan. The crux of the illustration being that most ALL of Job’s blessings were to be taken away, including all his children, his riches, his health and more…. his unkind and unsupportive friends. If, Job stood strong in his faith, and endured to the end of the test…. not only would Job win, but God would win too! This bet! And God won…. his faith in Job was verified.
So…hopefully, we are out of Job’s league, and the time of testing for our faith does not encompass those extremes.
A few verses on prayer and I will be close to finishing up, for today! Close!
- Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
- 1st Timothy 2:1, “I urge you, first-of-all to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them.”
- James 5:13-16, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
- 17b, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
To earnestly pray takes discipline, and an effort of the will, but once involved it will flow from you to God…because like the phone illustration, you will be connected.
Conversational prayer can happen throughout your day, everyday and like it was with Brother Lawrence, simply become a part of your relationship with God in Christ.
Intercessory Prayer….is a step deeper than earnest prayer…and an illustration is praying in the Holy Spirit…meaning you sometimes may move out of your understanding into a place in the Spirit, where you sense you are one with God, and perhaps even praying in utterances that you do not understand.
PRAYER NEED NOT BE A MYSTERY…. BUT A FACT, AN ACTION OFTEN BEARING VISIBLE RESULTS.
Life is not without uncertainties, whether they come in the form of a major life transition, family issues, health scares and or financial trouble. What we should continue to learn is that God cares, about even the smaller issues in our lives, he asks us, and even invites us to let go of our fears on all levels, by giving them to him. When we do truly let go……he, who knows all things, promises that his peace, “which is transcends all understanding, will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
To that, I say Amen
January 10, 2021
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
“DO I WANT TO?”
(Why wouldn’t I want to?)
Then Jesus told him, “Follow Me.” John 21:19b
“Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go? 1st Cor. 4:17b
But…even as He spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “this is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him.”
Matthew 17:5
I have saved the last part of this verse to emphasize it….so think about it as you hear it, including the fact that all the disciples heard the voice, and their reaction to hearing it. “The disciples were terrified…and fell face down on the ground.”
Take a moment and with your active imagination, imagine the surprise, even shock of this voice coming out of the sky. Then, imagine the timbre, tone, and resonance of that voice…. the voice of God Himself.
What do you think your reaction would have been? I know what mine would have been, I would be right down there with the disciples…. face flat on the ground and quaking in my sandals.
There are some key words in these verses I am going to point out before giving you a composite illustration of those words. They are as follow, Son, Great Joy and Terrified.
Four words…so vastly different in meaning, yet bound together in intent…simply say, PAY ATTENTION!
Pay attention to who is speaking and what I am about to say.
~ <>~
A question?
How many of your have planted a Sunflower seed and watched it grow over the course of its growing season?
GOOD…a few, but we all know they are hardy flowers with strong stems and deeply rooted.
There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them unique and stand out, for when in bloom, it is usually a large bloom that literally stands as a symbol for the sun and its beauty, form and colors.
This sentence brings us back to the title of today’s Message….”DO I WANT TO follow Him?” (but why wouldn’t I want to?) There are some self-centered reasons that I might not want to, or you might not want to, taking into account something or someone we desire that we know would go contrary to following Him, His teaching and His examples. If so, we then must go back to THE VOICE from heaven that said…. “Listen to and follow Him.” Most of the trouble in my life stems back to where I did not heed the words of that voice, and instead chose, oh so stupidly sometimes to follow my desires, over what I KNEW I should have chosen to do, therefore reaping the consequences, some of which I still endue to this day.
Remember Jesus’ own two words in John 21... “Follow Me.”
We just came through weeks of preparation, then celebrations of the birth of Jesus, this Son of God in whom He is well pleased…. who throughout human history the past 2000 years has brought the world, both GREAT JOY amidst GREAT TERROR.
This past year has seemed at times on the brink of being apocalyptic socially and governmentally. It still has that feeling to a certain extent, even with the vaccine now being administered for COVID-19, for there is confusion and fear in that area, some conspiratorial and others seeming factual. Sorting it all out if (I’m sorry) is almost impossible, which brings us back to individual choice.
There has been great terror and great joy for those who have pulled through….and joy in my heart for those serving at their own risk, people just like me who ended up several times in the ER and overnight, in the midst of it all, and in the center of those dear people, both men and women ministering to me.
As a result, I and we go through a myriad of emotions…. from the mundane to extraordinary, much like being on one of those new high-tech rollercoasters with loops and turns that scare the (blank our of me) having ventured once onto one….and NEVER AGAIN.
BUT…IN THE CENTER OF ALL OF THIS. WE CAN BE…like that follower of the sun, the Sunflower. When we awake in the morning, as I do, facing the sun and before getting out of bed, say a prayer of thanksgiving with gratefulness in my heart and mind….as my soul and spirit reach out to Jesus.
We live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, wet and dry, cold and heat, wind and perfect stillness, good and evil, and the list goes on.
YET…...in the center…the center of all that we know…..like that sunflower we are positionally able (by choice) to follow the Son, through all the changes and opposites…to follow the Son.
We are but days into another so called “NEW YEAR,” not knowing as we did not know last year at this time. what would unfold.
Today…is an ideal time for serious introspection, laced with HOPE for a better year.
Solomon said it so well as he wrote, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a a time to gather. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE…A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE……….
A new year, a new month, a new day, a new hour, a new minute, a new second, the same life, but ever changing as time advances, yet all we have is what we have at this very moment…in time. Where both joy and sorrow came hand in hand…where laughter and tears co-mingled, flowing from the same eyes…where pain and peace seemed just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
Have you ended the year knowing what you now know that the choices you made were the right ones? A year where you kept the Lord at the center of your daily life, putting your hand daily in the hand of the man who stilled the water, put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea. Take a look at yourself, and you will look at others differently, put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.
SING………. ALL OF US.
My closing question to each of us this morning is…in following this Son of God…Son of Man….DO YOU REALLY WANT TO? Are you willing to do what is necessary….no matter what it takes? You see, there is a difference between following a religion than in following the Savior. The first can be ceremonial and ritual, comforting and predictable. The second sometimes takes blood, sweat and tears along with the laugher, joys and celebration... Christianity in as true and deep followers of Jesus is not for wimps, for in the process you will build character, stamina, patience, grace, justice, goodness, mercy and kindness, of which these are but a few of the benefits of this journey, fraught though it also may be with trials, temptations and pain.
My question now becomes another question. Why wouldn’t you want to? You see…the benefits (in the long term) far outweigh the immediate pleasures that we might have otherwise.
As the years wind down, and we all get closer and closer to that day…. that day of accountability, what should be our highest and deepest priority? In the daily devotional we are now reading, studying, and discussing on Friday mornings…. titled, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. Should that not be our motto, for often we leave the highest and best our lowest priority….
This now is a challenge and not a question. Take your personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus to the highest level of priorities and I guarantee you…. your life will change for the better in so many, many ways.
No matter our physical, emotional state of being we find ourselves in, our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more content, IF, we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by you_ to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading even Our Daily Bread, or some other devotional, but taking that quiet time, one on one with Him. Read, talk to Him as you would talk to your best Friend, and in the spirit also, listen, for He will speak to you. It could be through your devotional, through Scripture or that “still, quiet, small voice deep in your heart.
Be grateful and speak your gratefulness in prayer and in quiet worship.
A merry heart (Proverbs 17:22) does good like a medicine, like a medicine in a merry heart, but a broken spirit, drieth up the bones….a merry heart…is the Joy of the Lord.
Selah (pause and think about it)
Amen (so be it)
Here is a little song…that many years ago came from the musical called God Spell.
Oh, dear Lord…three things I pray………….
To see Thee more clearly….
Love Thee more dearly….
Follow Thee more nearly…..
Day by day, by day.
Again, I say…. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
“DO I WANT TO?”
(Why wouldn’t I want to?)
Then Jesus told him, “Follow Me.” John 21:19b
“Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go? 1st Cor. 4:17b
But…even as He spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “this is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him.”
Matthew 17:5
I have saved the last part of this verse to emphasize it….so think about it as you hear it, including the fact that all the disciples heard the voice, and their reaction to hearing it. “The disciples were terrified…and fell face down on the ground.”
Take a moment and with your active imagination, imagine the surprise, even shock of this voice coming out of the sky. Then, imagine the timbre, tone, and resonance of that voice…. the voice of God Himself.
What do you think your reaction would have been? I know what mine would have been, I would be right down there with the disciples…. face flat on the ground and quaking in my sandals.
There are some key words in these verses I am going to point out before giving you a composite illustration of those words. They are as follow, Son, Great Joy and Terrified.
Four words…so vastly different in meaning, yet bound together in intent…simply say, PAY ATTENTION!
Pay attention to who is speaking and what I am about to say.
~ <>~
A question?
How many of your have planted a Sunflower seed and watched it grow over the course of its growing season?
GOOD…a few, but we all know they are hardy flowers with strong stems and deeply rooted.
There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them unique and stand out, for when in bloom, it is usually a large bloom that literally stands as a symbol for the sun and its beauty, form and colors.
- It has a strong stem that can sufficiently carry the weight of the large, heavy flower itself.
- It also follows the path of the sun it…all day long. It greets the morning sun, and as the sun traverses across the sky, it faces up ever so slightly…. then more and more as the bloom follows the traversing sun, facing it at the end of the day as it did in the morning. East to west.
- That means in the early morning, as it senses the rising of the sun, it turns back around to once again greet the day.
This sentence brings us back to the title of today’s Message….”DO I WANT TO follow Him?” (but why wouldn’t I want to?) There are some self-centered reasons that I might not want to, or you might not want to, taking into account something or someone we desire that we know would go contrary to following Him, His teaching and His examples. If so, we then must go back to THE VOICE from heaven that said…. “Listen to and follow Him.” Most of the trouble in my life stems back to where I did not heed the words of that voice, and instead chose, oh so stupidly sometimes to follow my desires, over what I KNEW I should have chosen to do, therefore reaping the consequences, some of which I still endue to this day.
Remember Jesus’ own two words in John 21... “Follow Me.”
We just came through weeks of preparation, then celebrations of the birth of Jesus, this Son of God in whom He is well pleased…. who throughout human history the past 2000 years has brought the world, both GREAT JOY amidst GREAT TERROR.
This past year has seemed at times on the brink of being apocalyptic socially and governmentally. It still has that feeling to a certain extent, even with the vaccine now being administered for COVID-19, for there is confusion and fear in that area, some conspiratorial and others seeming factual. Sorting it all out if (I’m sorry) is almost impossible, which brings us back to individual choice.
There has been great terror and great joy for those who have pulled through….and joy in my heart for those serving at their own risk, people just like me who ended up several times in the ER and overnight, in the midst of it all, and in the center of those dear people, both men and women ministering to me.
As a result, I and we go through a myriad of emotions…. from the mundane to extraordinary, much like being on one of those new high-tech rollercoasters with loops and turns that scare the (blank our of me) having ventured once onto one….and NEVER AGAIN.
BUT…IN THE CENTER OF ALL OF THIS. WE CAN BE…like that follower of the sun, the Sunflower. When we awake in the morning, as I do, facing the sun and before getting out of bed, say a prayer of thanksgiving with gratefulness in my heart and mind….as my soul and spirit reach out to Jesus.
We live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, wet and dry, cold and heat, wind and perfect stillness, good and evil, and the list goes on.
YET…...in the center…the center of all that we know…..like that sunflower we are positionally able (by choice) to follow the Son, through all the changes and opposites…to follow the Son.
We are but days into another so called “NEW YEAR,” not knowing as we did not know last year at this time. what would unfold.
Today…is an ideal time for serious introspection, laced with HOPE for a better year.
Solomon said it so well as he wrote, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a a time to gather. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE…A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE……….
A new year, a new month, a new day, a new hour, a new minute, a new second, the same life, but ever changing as time advances, yet all we have is what we have at this very moment…in time. Where both joy and sorrow came hand in hand…where laughter and tears co-mingled, flowing from the same eyes…where pain and peace seemed just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
Have you ended the year knowing what you now know that the choices you made were the right ones? A year where you kept the Lord at the center of your daily life, putting your hand daily in the hand of the man who stilled the water, put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea. Take a look at yourself, and you will look at others differently, put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.
SING………. ALL OF US.
My closing question to each of us this morning is…in following this Son of God…Son of Man….DO YOU REALLY WANT TO? Are you willing to do what is necessary….no matter what it takes? You see, there is a difference between following a religion than in following the Savior. The first can be ceremonial and ritual, comforting and predictable. The second sometimes takes blood, sweat and tears along with the laugher, joys and celebration... Christianity in as true and deep followers of Jesus is not for wimps, for in the process you will build character, stamina, patience, grace, justice, goodness, mercy and kindness, of which these are but a few of the benefits of this journey, fraught though it also may be with trials, temptations and pain.
My question now becomes another question. Why wouldn’t you want to? You see…the benefits (in the long term) far outweigh the immediate pleasures that we might have otherwise.
As the years wind down, and we all get closer and closer to that day…. that day of accountability, what should be our highest and deepest priority? In the daily devotional we are now reading, studying, and discussing on Friday mornings…. titled, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. Should that not be our motto, for often we leave the highest and best our lowest priority….
This now is a challenge and not a question. Take your personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus to the highest level of priorities and I guarantee you…. your life will change for the better in so many, many ways.
No matter our physical, emotional state of being we find ourselves in, our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more content, IF, we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by you_ to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading even Our Daily Bread, or some other devotional, but taking that quiet time, one on one with Him. Read, talk to Him as you would talk to your best Friend, and in the spirit also, listen, for He will speak to you. It could be through your devotional, through Scripture or that “still, quiet, small voice deep in your heart.
Be grateful and speak your gratefulness in prayer and in quiet worship.
A merry heart (Proverbs 17:22) does good like a medicine, like a medicine in a merry heart, but a broken spirit, drieth up the bones….a merry heart…is the Joy of the Lord.
Selah (pause and think about it)
Amen (so be it)
Here is a little song…that many years ago came from the musical called God Spell.
Oh, dear Lord…three things I pray………….
To see Thee more clearly….
Love Thee more dearly….
Follow Thee more nearly…..
Day by day, by day.
Again, I say…. Amen
Little Church in the Pines
~ Advent ~
Sermon by; Pastor Tom
Luke 15:6-7
“I once was lost but now am found”
In John 9:5, during the miracle of healing the blind at birth, saying “When I am in the world, I am the LIGHT of the world”. This episode leads into John 9:39 where Jesus metaphorically explains that He came into this world, so that the blind may see. Isaiah 9:2
“The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who swell in a land of deep darkness…to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
A Marvelous Light!
The arrival of a notable person, thing or event
Christian Theology
The coming (in the case of Christmas) of the Light of the world, the Messiah, The Christ Child….as spoken by the prophets of God…. the only Begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a young virgin girl…Mary
Anticipation
Looking forward to
With each passing minute, hour day, weeks…
This season is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christ-mass, or Christmas.
All this condensed down to one word and that word is “coming”.
Not only are these weeks a time of anticipation, buy in those week, days, hours, and minutes we feel His light within us and in the getting brighter and brighter.
His birth, life, death, and resurrection all build to an even greater anticipation. That anticipation one day will be fulfilled in His Second Coming, when indeed the whole world will be awash with His light, bathed in glorious brightness, cleansed from all darkness, made new in the Glory of His Presence.
All things…all things will be new!
A new heaven, a new earth…. all of Creation will sing a song of praise, harmony will reign and finally there will be PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD WILL TOWARD ALL OF MANKIND…FOREVER
“The celebration and full understanding of Advent is possible only for those of us who are troubled in soul, those who consider themselves sinners apart from Him and who know themselves to be needy and even imperfect, and who look forward to someone and something greater to come.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“God of hope, we look to you with an open heart and yearning spirit. During this Advent season, we will keep alert and awake, listening for Your Word, looking for Your Presence even in the unlovely, the harsh, the mean, the unkind, for they, like us are of the same need. YOU!
Our hope is in You, Lord
Our life is in You, Lord,
In you, It’s in You~
Today is no different from yesterday, nor tomorrow as our hope rises this time of year in anticipation of those who like us, will open their hearts and minds to receive Him as the Savior of every individual man, woman and child who live and breathe.
How will they hear of him, how will they come to know Him, but through those of us who are living images of Him….and who are unafraid to speak of what He has done and continues to do in our hearts and lives.
For those of us who celebrate the coming of the Christ Child…the Light of the World…. this ‘season’ last for four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day, starting on Sunday, November 29th, and ends on Thursday, December 24.
As we celebrate Advent, as in past years we will light each week one candle, representing HOPE, then LOVE, then JOY AND then PEACE…. the fourth candle also representing purity of heart, mind soul and body…. then a fifth candle will be set to light and it becomes the brightest flame of all, the LIGHT of Christ…a flame that we are to light our own candle (life) with as we are individually and collectively as the Body of Christ shine into the darkness of the world.
There is much darkness today, so very much, but there is also Light, and that light is THE LIGHT of God in Christ that shines through us…. from Him. A GREAT and MARVELOUS LIGHT that comes from the very center of the Universe He created and given to us freely…. freely, for freely we have received, and freely we are to give.
All His gifts come from the greatest gift of all, the GIFT OF LOVE, for of these three: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE.
These past several weeks I have been the recipient of His love, your love, strangers love, and my life has been changed because of it. This Advent Season, my hope is that we all “love one another. John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
AMEN
Let us share in a blessed and beautiful Advent Season together!
TO GOD BE THE GLORY…………………
Pastor Tom
~ Advent ~
Sermon by; Pastor Tom
Luke 15:6-7
“I once was lost but now am found”
In John 9:5, during the miracle of healing the blind at birth, saying “When I am in the world, I am the LIGHT of the world”. This episode leads into John 9:39 where Jesus metaphorically explains that He came into this world, so that the blind may see. Isaiah 9:2
“The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who swell in a land of deep darkness…to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
A Marvelous Light!
The arrival of a notable person, thing or event
Christian Theology
The coming (in the case of Christmas) of the Light of the world, the Messiah, The Christ Child….as spoken by the prophets of God…. the only Begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a young virgin girl…Mary
Anticipation
Looking forward to
With each passing minute, hour day, weeks…
This season is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christ-mass, or Christmas.
All this condensed down to one word and that word is “coming”.
Not only are these weeks a time of anticipation, buy in those week, days, hours, and minutes we feel His light within us and in the getting brighter and brighter.
His birth, life, death, and resurrection all build to an even greater anticipation. That anticipation one day will be fulfilled in His Second Coming, when indeed the whole world will be awash with His light, bathed in glorious brightness, cleansed from all darkness, made new in the Glory of His Presence.
All things…all things will be new!
A new heaven, a new earth…. all of Creation will sing a song of praise, harmony will reign and finally there will be PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD WILL TOWARD ALL OF MANKIND…FOREVER
“The celebration and full understanding of Advent is possible only for those of us who are troubled in soul, those who consider themselves sinners apart from Him and who know themselves to be needy and even imperfect, and who look forward to someone and something greater to come.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“God of hope, we look to you with an open heart and yearning spirit. During this Advent season, we will keep alert and awake, listening for Your Word, looking for Your Presence even in the unlovely, the harsh, the mean, the unkind, for they, like us are of the same need. YOU!
Our hope is in You, Lord
Our life is in You, Lord,
In you, It’s in You~
Today is no different from yesterday, nor tomorrow as our hope rises this time of year in anticipation of those who like us, will open their hearts and minds to receive Him as the Savior of every individual man, woman and child who live and breathe.
How will they hear of him, how will they come to know Him, but through those of us who are living images of Him….and who are unafraid to speak of what He has done and continues to do in our hearts and lives.
For those of us who celebrate the coming of the Christ Child…the Light of the World…. this ‘season’ last for four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day, starting on Sunday, November 29th, and ends on Thursday, December 24.
As we celebrate Advent, as in past years we will light each week one candle, representing HOPE, then LOVE, then JOY AND then PEACE…. the fourth candle also representing purity of heart, mind soul and body…. then a fifth candle will be set to light and it becomes the brightest flame of all, the LIGHT of Christ…a flame that we are to light our own candle (life) with as we are individually and collectively as the Body of Christ shine into the darkness of the world.
There is much darkness today, so very much, but there is also Light, and that light is THE LIGHT of God in Christ that shines through us…. from Him. A GREAT and MARVELOUS LIGHT that comes from the very center of the Universe He created and given to us freely…. freely, for freely we have received, and freely we are to give.
All His gifts come from the greatest gift of all, the GIFT OF LOVE, for of these three: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE.
These past several weeks I have been the recipient of His love, your love, strangers love, and my life has been changed because of it. This Advent Season, my hope is that we all “love one another. John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
AMEN
Let us share in a blessed and beautiful Advent Season together!
TO GOD BE THE GLORY…………………
Pastor Tom
Shekinah * Shekinah Glory
Homily by; Connie Funkhouser
November 29, 2020
Last Sunday Pastor Tom mentioned the term “Shekinah” followed with a brief explanation and a story of a friend experiencing, “Shekinah Glory.” I was immediately captivated, for I felt I had witnessed something similar. I have not been able to get the word Shekinah (shuh•kai•nuh) off my mind, nor do I want too. My inquiring mind began researching my textbooks and various resources.
What is Shekinah Glory? Shekinah Glory is a visible manifestation of God on earth, whose presence is portrayed through a natural occurrence. The word shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling, one who dwells, to reside, or permanently stay.” Shekinah Glory means “He caused to dwell” referring to the divine presence of God.
If you read my “I Have a Secret” homily dated October 22, or attended church a couple of Sundays ago when I subbed for Pastor Tom, you know that the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, His Spirit dwelling within us, and Living in the Presence of God are two of my favorite topics. Now add the words, Shekinah Glory, and I am now on a natural high.
The word Shekinah, and Shekinah Glory is not in the Bible, but the description is. The divine presence of God on earth is portrayed through the following:
As a cloud (Exodus 24:16-18; Exodus 33:9; 1 Kings 8:10-13).
As a pillar of smoke and fire (Exodus 13:21-22).
As a fire and burning bush (Zechariah 2:5; Exodus 3:2).
Not only is the holy manifestation of God depicted through Shekinah Glory, but it also entails the practice of honoring and praising God by exemplifying His glory. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV). Jesus’ ministry is the ultimate encounter of Shekinah Glory that God has ever had with man on earth.
Some describe as like gold dust suspended in the air – filled with shimmering light. Visualizing gold dust suspended in the air, think to the moments when you have been outside on a bright sunny, clear, cold winter day, and there are glimmering snow crystals falling around you. I find it to be magically, makes me lift my arms up to raise a Hallelujah to Heaven. My limited mind did not know how this could be, but I chose to marvel in the glimmering light that surrounded me. Could this be something like Shekinah Glory, or is it Shekinah Glory? We are the church, we are God’s Temple that houses His Holy Spirit, with keeping our hearts and thoughts toward God, we are able to feel the Presence of God, and on occasion see a Shekinah light, the Shekinah Glory.
Regardless of what type of day is before us, and as we prepare for Advent season, let the divine presence of God dwell, settle in your very soul. We are God’s vessels, as broken as we may be, remain focused on God’s One and Only Son, the Light of the World who shines through us as we Live in the Presence of God.
Continue to Bless those that are fortunate to be in your presence. Upon doing so, others will notice there is something illuminating from within. It is up to us to let God’s Spirit shine. Shekinah Glory Be Yours!
Amen
Connie Funkhouser
Little Church in the Pines
Steering Committee Chair
Homily by; Connie Funkhouser
November 29, 2020
Last Sunday Pastor Tom mentioned the term “Shekinah” followed with a brief explanation and a story of a friend experiencing, “Shekinah Glory.” I was immediately captivated, for I felt I had witnessed something similar. I have not been able to get the word Shekinah (shuh•kai•nuh) off my mind, nor do I want too. My inquiring mind began researching my textbooks and various resources.
What is Shekinah Glory? Shekinah Glory is a visible manifestation of God on earth, whose presence is portrayed through a natural occurrence. The word shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling, one who dwells, to reside, or permanently stay.” Shekinah Glory means “He caused to dwell” referring to the divine presence of God.
If you read my “I Have a Secret” homily dated October 22, or attended church a couple of Sundays ago when I subbed for Pastor Tom, you know that the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, His Spirit dwelling within us, and Living in the Presence of God are two of my favorite topics. Now add the words, Shekinah Glory, and I am now on a natural high.
The word Shekinah, and Shekinah Glory is not in the Bible, but the description is. The divine presence of God on earth is portrayed through the following:
As a cloud (Exodus 24:16-18; Exodus 33:9; 1 Kings 8:10-13).
As a pillar of smoke and fire (Exodus 13:21-22).
As a fire and burning bush (Zechariah 2:5; Exodus 3:2).
Not only is the holy manifestation of God depicted through Shekinah Glory, but it also entails the practice of honoring and praising God by exemplifying His glory. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV). Jesus’ ministry is the ultimate encounter of Shekinah Glory that God has ever had with man on earth.
Some describe as like gold dust suspended in the air – filled with shimmering light. Visualizing gold dust suspended in the air, think to the moments when you have been outside on a bright sunny, clear, cold winter day, and there are glimmering snow crystals falling around you. I find it to be magically, makes me lift my arms up to raise a Hallelujah to Heaven. My limited mind did not know how this could be, but I chose to marvel in the glimmering light that surrounded me. Could this be something like Shekinah Glory, or is it Shekinah Glory? We are the church, we are God’s Temple that houses His Holy Spirit, with keeping our hearts and thoughts toward God, we are able to feel the Presence of God, and on occasion see a Shekinah light, the Shekinah Glory.
Regardless of what type of day is before us, and as we prepare for Advent season, let the divine presence of God dwell, settle in your very soul. We are God’s vessels, as broken as we may be, remain focused on God’s One and Only Son, the Light of the World who shines through us as we Live in the Presence of God.
Continue to Bless those that are fortunate to be in your presence. Upon doing so, others will notice there is something illuminating from within. It is up to us to let God’s Spirit shine. Shekinah Glory Be Yours!
Amen
Connie Funkhouser
Little Church in the Pines
Steering Committee Chair
Little Church in the Pines
November 22, 2020
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
**This was Pastor Tom's first Sunday back after suffering a mild stroke. Understandably so, he was a bit weak, but was a pillar of strength. For those that were not in attendance, his message was from his heart, raw, passionate, filled with emotion, and beautiful. Sunday was a witness of Pastor Tom doing what he wants to do serving our community and Church Family in the place that he wants to be.
Your Prayers are sincerely appreciated Please continue to Pray ~ Thank You!
I am happy and thrilled to simply be here today – to see each and all of you! Been a rather unusual, sometimes scary, and even over the top in fright at moments. Moments lasting an exceptionally long time due to panic attacks, but more on that later – but not too much later.
Before leaving for Oregon, there were two topics I spoke on, two separate Sundays. One; The Church – as a community, purpose, and function. Then two; as a Sanctuary – described as a holy place, set apart for worshiping God and as a place or location that is a refuge from danger.
The main Scripture verses for today is; 1 Chronicles 29:16-18 (Read). Lord our God, all our abundance that we have provided, for the building of your temple to worship your holy name, comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to You.
I know my God, that you test the heart, and are pleased with integrity. All these things have willingly been given back to You. Lord God, the Father of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel may we hold these desires and thoughts in the heart of we, your people today, forever.
All of what is spoken towards a temple, the Sanctuary to house and worship God whose Presence would fill His holy tabernacle - in doing so – in keeping their hearts and thoughts toward Him – thereby often literally able to feel the Presence of God, and on rare occasion see a shekinah light or also called “Glory.” Some describe as like gold dust suspended in the air – filled with shimmering light.
There is in our Book a rather amazing collection of words spoken to us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 in reference to another temple – a deeper illustration and understanding of God’s greatest and most amazing temple – where the desires above all other places to live – for the temple or sanctuary is a living and breathing one.
You must understand – I must understand that our bodies, mind, spirit, and soul have been redeemed or purchased at an extremely high cost. That being Jesus Christ, His only begotten son, by His death, the ultimate sacrifice.
Knowing, grasping this singular truth should compel us to treat it accordingly. We do not own this body, for it is a temporary dwelling place, and we are told someday we will receive a new and eternal one. (Thank goodness 😊)
How do we take care of this one? By treating it as a sanctuary, meeting place, a place of worship and with great gratitude.
I have failed often, all too often to do so, and in a very real sense have suffered the consequences by my own choices, the ramifications of poor actions and even thoughts.
We must pay attention to not only how we use this body, but what we put into it. We must feed our minds with healthy intellectual food. Our spirits with God’s word and clean books, articles that are proven to be healthy and beneficial to our minds and spirits.
This body is made up of more than flesh and blood, water, and dust, but of mind, spirit, heart, and soul. In taking care of it properly, we make right choices as how to nourish it.
We are to do more than just gather on Sundays for our services but count every day as a gift from God.
This does not mean that we cannot enjoy or forego pleasure, it just means we must choose appropriate and right pleasure. Fun, family, even foods, friends, the great beauty we have been given to flourish in and with. The good things bestowed on us to enrich our lives with which bright health, happiness, joy, and ultimately true and rich worship of God for all He is and all He does, for we, His ultimate creation.
Joy is a word that I love – the hymn sings out through us. The joy of the Lord is my strength sustained by the Joy of my salvation.
This coming week is Thanksgiving – giving thanks to our God, even with this pandemic. Even with the state of our government and nation, even with personal differences and all the things and people that could and do separate us.
Our mouths, minds, soul and spirits should shout unto God – the joy of our salvation – for Scripture says;
Romans 8:35-39 (Read)
Remember these words and thank God for all the people, things, and places He has given you.
I thank Him for what has happened to me, for it was what I prayed for. When I asked Him about a month or so ago to change my heart, to help me become the person He made me to be, to use David’s prayer, I prayed, because I was sick and tired of who I had become. Psalm 51:1-2 (Read).
God loves you and me ~ Prayers for All!
November 22, 2020
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Sermon by; Pastor Tom Shanor
**This was Pastor Tom's first Sunday back after suffering a mild stroke. Understandably so, he was a bit weak, but was a pillar of strength. For those that were not in attendance, his message was from his heart, raw, passionate, filled with emotion, and beautiful. Sunday was a witness of Pastor Tom doing what he wants to do serving our community and Church Family in the place that he wants to be.
Your Prayers are sincerely appreciated Please continue to Pray ~ Thank You!
I am happy and thrilled to simply be here today – to see each and all of you! Been a rather unusual, sometimes scary, and even over the top in fright at moments. Moments lasting an exceptionally long time due to panic attacks, but more on that later – but not too much later.
Before leaving for Oregon, there were two topics I spoke on, two separate Sundays. One; The Church – as a community, purpose, and function. Then two; as a Sanctuary – described as a holy place, set apart for worshiping God and as a place or location that is a refuge from danger.
The main Scripture verses for today is; 1 Chronicles 29:16-18 (Read). Lord our God, all our abundance that we have provided, for the building of your temple to worship your holy name, comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to You.
I know my God, that you test the heart, and are pleased with integrity. All these things have willingly been given back to You. Lord God, the Father of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel may we hold these desires and thoughts in the heart of we, your people today, forever.
All of what is spoken towards a temple, the Sanctuary to house and worship God whose Presence would fill His holy tabernacle - in doing so – in keeping their hearts and thoughts toward Him – thereby often literally able to feel the Presence of God, and on rare occasion see a shekinah light or also called “Glory.” Some describe as like gold dust suspended in the air – filled with shimmering light.
There is in our Book a rather amazing collection of words spoken to us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 in reference to another temple – a deeper illustration and understanding of God’s greatest and most amazing temple – where the desires above all other places to live – for the temple or sanctuary is a living and breathing one.
You must understand – I must understand that our bodies, mind, spirit, and soul have been redeemed or purchased at an extremely high cost. That being Jesus Christ, His only begotten son, by His death, the ultimate sacrifice.
Knowing, grasping this singular truth should compel us to treat it accordingly. We do not own this body, for it is a temporary dwelling place, and we are told someday we will receive a new and eternal one. (Thank goodness 😊)
How do we take care of this one? By treating it as a sanctuary, meeting place, a place of worship and with great gratitude.
I have failed often, all too often to do so, and in a very real sense have suffered the consequences by my own choices, the ramifications of poor actions and even thoughts.
We must pay attention to not only how we use this body, but what we put into it. We must feed our minds with healthy intellectual food. Our spirits with God’s word and clean books, articles that are proven to be healthy and beneficial to our minds and spirits.
This body is made up of more than flesh and blood, water, and dust, but of mind, spirit, heart, and soul. In taking care of it properly, we make right choices as how to nourish it.
We are to do more than just gather on Sundays for our services but count every day as a gift from God.
This does not mean that we cannot enjoy or forego pleasure, it just means we must choose appropriate and right pleasure. Fun, family, even foods, friends, the great beauty we have been given to flourish in and with. The good things bestowed on us to enrich our lives with which bright health, happiness, joy, and ultimately true and rich worship of God for all He is and all He does, for we, His ultimate creation.
Joy is a word that I love – the hymn sings out through us. The joy of the Lord is my strength sustained by the Joy of my salvation.
This coming week is Thanksgiving – giving thanks to our God, even with this pandemic. Even with the state of our government and nation, even with personal differences and all the things and people that could and do separate us.
Our mouths, minds, soul and spirits should shout unto God – the joy of our salvation – for Scripture says;
Romans 8:35-39 (Read)
Remember these words and thank God for all the people, things, and places He has given you.
I thank Him for what has happened to me, for it was what I prayed for. When I asked Him about a month or so ago to change my heart, to help me become the person He made me to be, to use David’s prayer, I prayed, because I was sick and tired of who I had become. Psalm 51:1-2 (Read).
God loves you and me ~ Prayers for All!
Little Church in the Pines
“I HAVE A SECRET”
The Holy Spirit
November 15, 2020
Connie Funkhouser; subbing for Pastor Tom Shanor
I am about to share a secret of mine; I have a favorite. My favorite of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Odd, you may think, how can anyone have a favorite within the Trinity: One God, right? God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Divine persons within one. I do not know when my heart decided on a favorite, not even sure if it is okay to have a favorite, but I cannot deny that I do. Quite sure God is okay with this because I know in my very soul that the Holy Spirit, is God’s Spirit, and dwells within me. Not when I choose to tap into the Holy Spirit, but He is always there. It is up to me to let God’s Spirit shine.
When I sub for Pastor Tom, I like to have a theme; July 4th, change of seasons, Veteran’s Day, you get the idea. This time when he asked me, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit. Being in the restaurant industry I talk with “a lot” of people, whether they are customers, employees, food and beverage reps, and delivery personal. A few years ago, I decided that I was not going to be bashful about my Faith and personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior. Which for me meant, Living in the Presence of God is foremost in my mind, thoughts, and actions. I guess this would qualify me as wearing my Faith on my sleeve, okay, sure, whatever, call it what you want. My desire is to share what I have, and I have been blessed with the resources to share what is in my heart and soul.
This summer having heartfelt discussions with many folks I have noticed something is missing . . . a missing link between life (and I am talking all aspects of life) and faith. Me being me, typically responds with, “if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit living within, I have no idea what my life would be like or I would never have survived Summer 2020 like I did.” Mentioning God’s Gift of His Holy Spirit brings a blank look from some. Even comments such as I do not know much about the Holy Spirit, let alone how to attain His presence. Or even, the Holy Spirit is the one part of the Trinity that is most confusing. Ok, so I know who God and Jesus are, but I do not get the Holy Spirit.
Please take comfort in knowing that the Trinity, the Triune God is incomprehensible. We cannot fully understand its mystery. When someday we see God, we shall see Him as He is, and understand Him better than we do now.
As the saying goes, “Try to explain it, and you will lose your mind; but try to deny it, you’ll lose your soul.
My prayer with the following homily is to bring awareness of a gift that is available to all and shed a little light on the fact that the Holy Spirit does not need to be foreign. Accepting God’s Gift is life changing. On a few occasions I have offered to give “all” my faith and trust in God away so that others will have what I have, and I will start from scratch. Yes, I trust and believe that I would regain all that was within my soul. Just maybe the following will serve as a gift to you. 😊 😊 😊
Because the Holy Spirit is not systematically described in Scripture, the doctrine of the Third Person of the Trinity may seem elusive and even controversial. The Holy Spirit is important since He provides contact between the believer and God, He is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer. This has led to difficulties in understanding Him and His work. From the biblical evidence, God’s Word, Jesus’ teachings, we can discover His deity and personality.
You may ask, “What are the qualities and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”
One God eternally exists in three divine persons; Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.
The study of the Holy Spirit is especially important now is that we live in the period in which the Holy Spirit’s work is more prominent than that of the other members of the Trinity.
Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, His Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of humans to convince us by fair and sufficient arguments that we are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.
Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot see Him because it is not looking for Him and does not recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:16-17 NLT).
“He will give us another Advocate.” Oh, how I love this. An advocate. An encourager, campaigner, supporter, someone that will even pray for us when we no longer have the strength or words. Full-disclosure, often I ask the Holy Spirit to go to bat for me; to advocate for me as my soul rests in His peace. (Adlib – Have you ever prayed and prayed to God for something, became so exhausted and had no more words, and decided to stop praying? Please let me encourage you to simply reach out to Our Holy Spirit and request that He prays for you. Let Him advocate for your requests. No words needed, except Holy Spirit I need you, I am tired and have no more words. I am giving you this to take to God for me.” That is, it . . .)
Some Bible translations uses the word Counselor, meaning “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages. The Holy Spirit comes alongside the believer, to do what Jesus did when He was here physically, but now mainly from the inside of us. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us. I love this, Jesus gave us the Spirit as a compensation for His absence. Thank You Lord Jesus!
The revealer of truth. The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples that “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NKJV). He reveals to our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living. He is the ultimate guide, going before, and leading the way. He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things. Without such a guide in our lives, the believer’s life, my life, are thoughts that I do not care to entertain.
The Holy Spirit is also a gift-giver. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the spiritual gifts given to the believer in order that we may function as the Body of Christ on earth.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 or have someone else read 😊
All these gifts both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors, showing His grace and glorifying Him.
The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through whom the entire Triune Godhead currently works in us. Through the Holy Spirit’s work that we feel God’s presence within, and the Christian life is given a special tangibility. He is someone to whom we can and should pray. The Holy Spirit, being fully divine, is to be accorded the same honor and respect that we give to the Father and the Son. It is appropriate to worship Him as we do them. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. His work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activities.
God is not far off. The Holy Spirit performs certain works that are commonly ascribed to God. He was and continues to be involved with the creation, in both originating it and providentially keeping and directing it.
In the Holy Spirit, the Triune God comes close, so close as to enter into each believer. He is even more intimately involved with us now than in the incarnation. Through the operation of the Spirit he has truly become Immanuel, “God with us.” The knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives, that He performs all these miraculous functions, that He dwells with us forever, and that He will never leave or forsake us brings confidence, security, and is cause for great joy and comfort.
“Thank God for Your precious gift of the Holy Spirit
and His work in our lives!”
In closing, I hope that I have shared a little insight to the attainability of God’s Gift to us and maybe why I secretly have a favorite. It is free, does not need to be paid back, a gift that we can share with so many others just by Living in the Presence of God. A gift that is embedded in our very being that enables us to remain confident, and at peace through these challenging times.
With every breath, we will share your goodness Lord. Let everything that has breath praise you, faithful God. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22, NLT).
Breathe in me Holy Spirit so I may share Your gift of life and all of eternity spent with You.
Blessings Be Yours ~ Amen!
“I HAVE A SECRET”
The Holy Spirit
November 15, 2020
Connie Funkhouser; subbing for Pastor Tom Shanor
I am about to share a secret of mine; I have a favorite. My favorite of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Odd, you may think, how can anyone have a favorite within the Trinity: One God, right? God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Divine persons within one. I do not know when my heart decided on a favorite, not even sure if it is okay to have a favorite, but I cannot deny that I do. Quite sure God is okay with this because I know in my very soul that the Holy Spirit, is God’s Spirit, and dwells within me. Not when I choose to tap into the Holy Spirit, but He is always there. It is up to me to let God’s Spirit shine.
When I sub for Pastor Tom, I like to have a theme; July 4th, change of seasons, Veteran’s Day, you get the idea. This time when he asked me, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit. Being in the restaurant industry I talk with “a lot” of people, whether they are customers, employees, food and beverage reps, and delivery personal. A few years ago, I decided that I was not going to be bashful about my Faith and personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior. Which for me meant, Living in the Presence of God is foremost in my mind, thoughts, and actions. I guess this would qualify me as wearing my Faith on my sleeve, okay, sure, whatever, call it what you want. My desire is to share what I have, and I have been blessed with the resources to share what is in my heart and soul.
This summer having heartfelt discussions with many folks I have noticed something is missing . . . a missing link between life (and I am talking all aspects of life) and faith. Me being me, typically responds with, “if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit living within, I have no idea what my life would be like or I would never have survived Summer 2020 like I did.” Mentioning God’s Gift of His Holy Spirit brings a blank look from some. Even comments such as I do not know much about the Holy Spirit, let alone how to attain His presence. Or even, the Holy Spirit is the one part of the Trinity that is most confusing. Ok, so I know who God and Jesus are, but I do not get the Holy Spirit.
Please take comfort in knowing that the Trinity, the Triune God is incomprehensible. We cannot fully understand its mystery. When someday we see God, we shall see Him as He is, and understand Him better than we do now.
As the saying goes, “Try to explain it, and you will lose your mind; but try to deny it, you’ll lose your soul.
My prayer with the following homily is to bring awareness of a gift that is available to all and shed a little light on the fact that the Holy Spirit does not need to be foreign. Accepting God’s Gift is life changing. On a few occasions I have offered to give “all” my faith and trust in God away so that others will have what I have, and I will start from scratch. Yes, I trust and believe that I would regain all that was within my soul. Just maybe the following will serve as a gift to you. 😊 😊 😊
Because the Holy Spirit is not systematically described in Scripture, the doctrine of the Third Person of the Trinity may seem elusive and even controversial. The Holy Spirit is important since He provides contact between the believer and God, He is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer. This has led to difficulties in understanding Him and His work. From the biblical evidence, God’s Word, Jesus’ teachings, we can discover His deity and personality.
You may ask, “What are the qualities and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”
One God eternally exists in three divine persons; Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.
The study of the Holy Spirit is especially important now is that we live in the period in which the Holy Spirit’s work is more prominent than that of the other members of the Trinity.
Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, His Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of humans to convince us by fair and sufficient arguments that we are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.
Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot see Him because it is not looking for Him and does not recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:16-17 NLT).
“He will give us another Advocate.” Oh, how I love this. An advocate. An encourager, campaigner, supporter, someone that will even pray for us when we no longer have the strength or words. Full-disclosure, often I ask the Holy Spirit to go to bat for me; to advocate for me as my soul rests in His peace. (Adlib – Have you ever prayed and prayed to God for something, became so exhausted and had no more words, and decided to stop praying? Please let me encourage you to simply reach out to Our Holy Spirit and request that He prays for you. Let Him advocate for your requests. No words needed, except Holy Spirit I need you, I am tired and have no more words. I am giving you this to take to God for me.” That is, it . . .)
Some Bible translations uses the word Counselor, meaning “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages. The Holy Spirit comes alongside the believer, to do what Jesus did when He was here physically, but now mainly from the inside of us. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us. I love this, Jesus gave us the Spirit as a compensation for His absence. Thank You Lord Jesus!
The revealer of truth. The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples that “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NKJV). He reveals to our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living. He is the ultimate guide, going before, and leading the way. He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things. Without such a guide in our lives, the believer’s life, my life, are thoughts that I do not care to entertain.
The Holy Spirit is also a gift-giver. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the spiritual gifts given to the believer in order that we may function as the Body of Christ on earth.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 or have someone else read 😊
All these gifts both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors, showing His grace and glorifying Him.
The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through whom the entire Triune Godhead currently works in us. Through the Holy Spirit’s work that we feel God’s presence within, and the Christian life is given a special tangibility. He is someone to whom we can and should pray. The Holy Spirit, being fully divine, is to be accorded the same honor and respect that we give to the Father and the Son. It is appropriate to worship Him as we do them. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. His work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activities.
God is not far off. The Holy Spirit performs certain works that are commonly ascribed to God. He was and continues to be involved with the creation, in both originating it and providentially keeping and directing it.
In the Holy Spirit, the Triune God comes close, so close as to enter into each believer. He is even more intimately involved with us now than in the incarnation. Through the operation of the Spirit he has truly become Immanuel, “God with us.” The knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives, that He performs all these miraculous functions, that He dwells with us forever, and that He will never leave or forsake us brings confidence, security, and is cause for great joy and comfort.
“Thank God for Your precious gift of the Holy Spirit
and His work in our lives!”
In closing, I hope that I have shared a little insight to the attainability of God’s Gift to us and maybe why I secretly have a favorite. It is free, does not need to be paid back, a gift that we can share with so many others just by Living in the Presence of God. A gift that is embedded in our very being that enables us to remain confident, and at peace through these challenging times.
With every breath, we will share your goodness Lord. Let everything that has breath praise you, faithful God. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22, NLT).
Breathe in me Holy Spirit so I may share Your gift of life and all of eternity spent with You.
Blessings Be Yours ~ Amen!
Little Church in the Pines
2 Veterans ~ Military and Spiritual
November 08, 2020
Connie Funkhouser ~ subbing for Pastor Tom
This Patriotic Message highlights four key words from 2 Timothy: 3-4
Enlist • Endure • Engage • Entangle
These 4 words describe what it takes to be a good soldier, whether for Christ or County.
In many churches, just like ours, there stand two flags—the American Flag and the Christian Flag. These two flags represent two types of freedom. One is a freedom that allows us to go where we want to go, say what we want to say, to live where we want to live, to dream big dreams and pursue them.
The Christian Flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary. The blue represents the waters of baptism as well as the faithfulness of Jesus. The white represents Jesus' purity. Each Flag also has its own Pledge. Naturally, we all know the Pledge of Allegiance, for those that are unaware of the Pledge to the Christian Flag it is as follows.
I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands; one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.
Someone once wrote:
It is the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the Veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
Veterans over the centuries have sacrificed so much to obtain and preserve this precious freedom—which also includes the God-given right to worship our Creator anytime anywhere. That leads us to the other type of freedom, represented by the Christian Flag—a greater freedom that can only be found in Christ, who died as a ransom to set us free. This is a freedom from a life of futility, freedom from the tyranny of sin, regret, hate, and bitterness. It is the freedom to love God and love our neighbor.
To serve either of these flags (and the freedoms they represent) faithfully and effectively, we must meet certain requirements. Before one can become a Veteran, they must first be a good soldier. So, my question for us today is—what does it take to become a Veteran? Not just a military Veteran, but a spiritual Veteran?
The Apostle Paul knew a little something about that.
Having enlisted in the Lord’s army after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus and enduring countless dangers, toils, and snares as a result, Paul was a Veteran Christian if there ever was one. Toward the end of his life—while facing execution for his commitment to Christ—Paul sat in a cold Roman prison, cut off from the world, with just a quill and some parchment. Paul knew that he would soon be executed and so he wrote his final thoughts to a young pastor named Timothy, passing to him the torch of leadership, reminding him of what was truly important and encouraging him to keep the faith. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul makes this brief statement:
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV).
In these two short verses Paul uses four e-words—enlist, endure, engage, and entangle—each representing a different aspect of what it takes to become a Veteran soldier of Christ. I want to start with the last e-word, which is—enlist.
• The first step to becoming a spiritual Veteran is Enlisting.
You cannot become a Veteran if you do not enlist. As Paul says in another translation, “A soldier wants to please his enlisting officer” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NCV - New Century Version is a revision of the International Children’s Bible. The International Children’s Bible is a translation of the Bible that is aimed @ young readers and those w/low reading skills/limited vocabulary. It is written @ a 3rd grade level & is both conservative & evangelical in tone).
Our country no longer uses a forced draft. Recruitment officers are sent out to encourage people to volunteer, but men and women have the freedom to choose whether they serve in the American military today. Naturally, people make that choice for different reasons.
Young people I’ve talked to, and in my own opinion, enlist so that they can go collage, others out of a sense of patriotic duty, some were raised in military families, and still others because they’re looking for some sense of direction or purpose for their lives. No matter what the reasons are, it is a tough decision—life changing, to simply leave everything behind.
God does not force anyone to serve in the service of His Kingdom, either. He does send out recruitment officers, like you and me, to encourage people to serve in His Army, but it is our choice. People make the decision for different reasons. Maybe you were brought up with the faith of your parents, maybe you sensed God is leading in your life, or maybe you came to Christ looking for a sense of purpose and direction. No matter the reason, it is a life changing decision and not one to be taken lightly. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters—or even life—more than me, he cannot be my follower. Whoever is not willing to carry his cross and follow me cannot be my follower” (Luke 14:26-27 NCV). Following Jesus is a life-altering commitment that requires full devotion. It is a personal pledge that you are going to let Christ become the leader of your life. And I am certain there are many here today who testify that it was the best decision they ever made; I know it was/is for me ♥
The next step is enduring.
• ENDURE
American soldiers in ever branch of the military have a lot to endure, not the least of which is the grueling physical punishment experienced during basic training. . .. My husband Jim was in the Marine Corp back in the 60’s. I asked him what he remembers of his introduction into basic training. He said the toughest part was the first 2-3 days. Basically, a lot of marching, being constantly yelled at, lack of sleep, pushups, up and down, more marching, being yelled out, on and on. My 2nd cousin was in the U.S. Army, she said her toughest part was learning to call her Drill Sergeants – Sir and coming with terms with they did not mess up the oatmeal that it was actually grits. I also posed the question to Barry Phillips; he said traveling on the bus and everyone was so nice, then arriving @ Boot Camp, finding the # that you were to stand on, having all your civilian life taken away, hair, clothes, etc., and then the nice guys on the bus became Drill Instructors with attitudes.
Of course, there are fewer physical hardships that soldiers must endure as well. One of the most difficult things is just being away from their families. And then there is the rigidity of military life—often personified in ranking officers.
I read about an Air Force Major that was promoted to Colonel and got a new office. The first morning he was in his new office, an airman knocked on the door and asked to speak to him. The Colonel, feeling the urge to impress the young airman, picked up his phone and began talking. “Yes, General, thank you. Yes, I will pass that information along to the President this afternoon. Yes, goodbye, sir.” Then, turning to the airman, he barked, “And what do you want?” The airman said, “Nothing important, sir. I just came to hook up your telephone.”
If you want to be a Veteran, you must have endurance.
As Paul told Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV). Thank God that we are living in a country where Christians do not experience the kind of hardships they do in other parts of the world—hardships like the ones Paul experienced. During his missionary journeys Paul was flogged, stoned, shipwrecked and much more. But even in America, life is full of hardships. Bad things happen. Our faith is tested.
James reminds us, “when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3 NLT). As soldiers of Christ, we must endure. We must keep the faith. And we must praise God, even during our struggles.
So, we enlist, we endure. And next we engage.
• ENGAGE
General Sherman once said, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I have been through two wars and I know. I have seen cities and homes in ashes. I have seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you; war is hell!”
While I have never experienced the horrible aspects of war, I have great respect for those who have been engaged in war. Even those service men and women who were blessed to serve during peacetime, however, must still be prepared to engage the enemy. Through training exercises and combat practice they stay sharp and vigilant, always prepared for battle.
As Christians we need to do the same. As Paul explains, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV).
In other words, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must be prepared to engage in spiritual warfare. We battle temptation. We stand opposed to false religions and worldviews that are hostile toward Christianity. We are called to defend our faith with reason and precision. We cannot be afraid to stand up for Jesus either in the public square or in our personal relationships. God is counting on us to “take captives,” which means surrendering our own thought and beliefs to Christ, but also leading other to do the same—with gentleness and respect. See in the Lord’s Army, we do not kill our enemies; rather, we make them our allies.
And in the Lord’s Army, we are not fighting alone. Just as soldiers in a squad, platoon, or company, depend on each other, Christians rely on our church family to support us and stand beside us. Even more, we have God on our side.
David Dykes, a Baptist minister from Texas, once shared an amazing story. He writes, “During WWII, soldiers were often given Bibles to take into battle. I recall one veteran showing me his. A German bullet punctured it and traveled halfway through until it stopped in Psalm 91.” The bullet seemed as if it was pointing directly at Psalm 91:11, which says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Isn’t that amazing? As Christians, we should not ever be afraid to engage our friends, co-workers, or culture. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?
To be a Veteran, we must enlist, endure, engage, and finally, do not get entangled.
• ENTANGLED
The last e-word that Paul uses in these two verses is entangled: “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life” (2 Timothy 2:4 HCSB).
I heard about a new recruit, shortly after joining the Navy, who asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding. The officer gave him the pass but informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday. “You don’t understand, sir,” said the recruit. “I’m in the wedding, actually I am the Groom.”
“No, you don’t understand,” the officer shot back. “You’re in the Navy!”
When you serve this (American) flag, you are expected to be completely committed to your country and to allow nothing to prevent you from performing your duties and serving faithfully.
When you serve this (Christian) flag, you are also expected to be completely committed to Christ and His Kingdom. You are expected to serve Him faithfully, not allowing anything to keep you from doing His will.
Unfortunately, countless Christians, after coming to Christ in faith, do get entangled in the affairs of this world. They let other things become more important to them than Jesus. In fact, Jesus told a story about that very thing. He talked about a farmer who scattered seed everywhere he went. Then Jesus said, “The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so, they never grow into maturity” (Luke 8:14 NLT).
We need to be careful about the things we let distract us from Jesus. As Paul has said elsewhere, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT).
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, there are two types of freedom—embodied in two flags. We want to say many thanks to the Veterans who have served to preserve our political freedoms, which allow us to freely worship our Creator who gives us that greater freedom we all so desperately need.
Invitation
Maybe you’re entangled in the cares and worries of this life, maybe you’re afraid to engage people in spiritual conversation, maybe you’re enduring some hardship and need someone to stand with you and help you to fight the good fight, or maybe you haven’t yet enlisted in God’s Army but you’re thinking about it and you need someone to talk to. I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God, but if there is anything Pastor Tom, myself, or even our Bible Study Group can do to help you become a Spiritual Veteran, you have now received an open invitation.
Amen
2 Veterans ~ Military and Spiritual
November 08, 2020
Connie Funkhouser ~ subbing for Pastor Tom
This Patriotic Message highlights four key words from 2 Timothy: 3-4
Enlist • Endure • Engage • Entangle
These 4 words describe what it takes to be a good soldier, whether for Christ or County.
In many churches, just like ours, there stand two flags—the American Flag and the Christian Flag. These two flags represent two types of freedom. One is a freedom that allows us to go where we want to go, say what we want to say, to live where we want to live, to dream big dreams and pursue them.
The Christian Flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary. The blue represents the waters of baptism as well as the faithfulness of Jesus. The white represents Jesus' purity. Each Flag also has its own Pledge. Naturally, we all know the Pledge of Allegiance, for those that are unaware of the Pledge to the Christian Flag it is as follows.
I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands; one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.
Someone once wrote:
It is the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the Veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
Veterans over the centuries have sacrificed so much to obtain and preserve this precious freedom—which also includes the God-given right to worship our Creator anytime anywhere. That leads us to the other type of freedom, represented by the Christian Flag—a greater freedom that can only be found in Christ, who died as a ransom to set us free. This is a freedom from a life of futility, freedom from the tyranny of sin, regret, hate, and bitterness. It is the freedom to love God and love our neighbor.
To serve either of these flags (and the freedoms they represent) faithfully and effectively, we must meet certain requirements. Before one can become a Veteran, they must first be a good soldier. So, my question for us today is—what does it take to become a Veteran? Not just a military Veteran, but a spiritual Veteran?
The Apostle Paul knew a little something about that.
Having enlisted in the Lord’s army after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus and enduring countless dangers, toils, and snares as a result, Paul was a Veteran Christian if there ever was one. Toward the end of his life—while facing execution for his commitment to Christ—Paul sat in a cold Roman prison, cut off from the world, with just a quill and some parchment. Paul knew that he would soon be executed and so he wrote his final thoughts to a young pastor named Timothy, passing to him the torch of leadership, reminding him of what was truly important and encouraging him to keep the faith. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul makes this brief statement:
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV).
In these two short verses Paul uses four e-words—enlist, endure, engage, and entangle—each representing a different aspect of what it takes to become a Veteran soldier of Christ. I want to start with the last e-word, which is—enlist.
• The first step to becoming a spiritual Veteran is Enlisting.
You cannot become a Veteran if you do not enlist. As Paul says in another translation, “A soldier wants to please his enlisting officer” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NCV - New Century Version is a revision of the International Children’s Bible. The International Children’s Bible is a translation of the Bible that is aimed @ young readers and those w/low reading skills/limited vocabulary. It is written @ a 3rd grade level & is both conservative & evangelical in tone).
Our country no longer uses a forced draft. Recruitment officers are sent out to encourage people to volunteer, but men and women have the freedom to choose whether they serve in the American military today. Naturally, people make that choice for different reasons.
Young people I’ve talked to, and in my own opinion, enlist so that they can go collage, others out of a sense of patriotic duty, some were raised in military families, and still others because they’re looking for some sense of direction or purpose for their lives. No matter what the reasons are, it is a tough decision—life changing, to simply leave everything behind.
God does not force anyone to serve in the service of His Kingdom, either. He does send out recruitment officers, like you and me, to encourage people to serve in His Army, but it is our choice. People make the decision for different reasons. Maybe you were brought up with the faith of your parents, maybe you sensed God is leading in your life, or maybe you came to Christ looking for a sense of purpose and direction. No matter the reason, it is a life changing decision and not one to be taken lightly. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters—or even life—more than me, he cannot be my follower. Whoever is not willing to carry his cross and follow me cannot be my follower” (Luke 14:26-27 NCV). Following Jesus is a life-altering commitment that requires full devotion. It is a personal pledge that you are going to let Christ become the leader of your life. And I am certain there are many here today who testify that it was the best decision they ever made; I know it was/is for me ♥
The next step is enduring.
• ENDURE
American soldiers in ever branch of the military have a lot to endure, not the least of which is the grueling physical punishment experienced during basic training. . .. My husband Jim was in the Marine Corp back in the 60’s. I asked him what he remembers of his introduction into basic training. He said the toughest part was the first 2-3 days. Basically, a lot of marching, being constantly yelled at, lack of sleep, pushups, up and down, more marching, being yelled out, on and on. My 2nd cousin was in the U.S. Army, she said her toughest part was learning to call her Drill Sergeants – Sir and coming with terms with they did not mess up the oatmeal that it was actually grits. I also posed the question to Barry Phillips; he said traveling on the bus and everyone was so nice, then arriving @ Boot Camp, finding the # that you were to stand on, having all your civilian life taken away, hair, clothes, etc., and then the nice guys on the bus became Drill Instructors with attitudes.
Of course, there are fewer physical hardships that soldiers must endure as well. One of the most difficult things is just being away from their families. And then there is the rigidity of military life—often personified in ranking officers.
I read about an Air Force Major that was promoted to Colonel and got a new office. The first morning he was in his new office, an airman knocked on the door and asked to speak to him. The Colonel, feeling the urge to impress the young airman, picked up his phone and began talking. “Yes, General, thank you. Yes, I will pass that information along to the President this afternoon. Yes, goodbye, sir.” Then, turning to the airman, he barked, “And what do you want?” The airman said, “Nothing important, sir. I just came to hook up your telephone.”
If you want to be a Veteran, you must have endurance.
As Paul told Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV). Thank God that we are living in a country where Christians do not experience the kind of hardships they do in other parts of the world—hardships like the ones Paul experienced. During his missionary journeys Paul was flogged, stoned, shipwrecked and much more. But even in America, life is full of hardships. Bad things happen. Our faith is tested.
James reminds us, “when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3 NLT). As soldiers of Christ, we must endure. We must keep the faith. And we must praise God, even during our struggles.
So, we enlist, we endure. And next we engage.
• ENGAGE
General Sherman once said, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I have been through two wars and I know. I have seen cities and homes in ashes. I have seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you; war is hell!”
While I have never experienced the horrible aspects of war, I have great respect for those who have been engaged in war. Even those service men and women who were blessed to serve during peacetime, however, must still be prepared to engage the enemy. Through training exercises and combat practice they stay sharp and vigilant, always prepared for battle.
As Christians we need to do the same. As Paul explains, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV).
In other words, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must be prepared to engage in spiritual warfare. We battle temptation. We stand opposed to false religions and worldviews that are hostile toward Christianity. We are called to defend our faith with reason and precision. We cannot be afraid to stand up for Jesus either in the public square or in our personal relationships. God is counting on us to “take captives,” which means surrendering our own thought and beliefs to Christ, but also leading other to do the same—with gentleness and respect. See in the Lord’s Army, we do not kill our enemies; rather, we make them our allies.
And in the Lord’s Army, we are not fighting alone. Just as soldiers in a squad, platoon, or company, depend on each other, Christians rely on our church family to support us and stand beside us. Even more, we have God on our side.
David Dykes, a Baptist minister from Texas, once shared an amazing story. He writes, “During WWII, soldiers were often given Bibles to take into battle. I recall one veteran showing me his. A German bullet punctured it and traveled halfway through until it stopped in Psalm 91.” The bullet seemed as if it was pointing directly at Psalm 91:11, which says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Isn’t that amazing? As Christians, we should not ever be afraid to engage our friends, co-workers, or culture. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?
To be a Veteran, we must enlist, endure, engage, and finally, do not get entangled.
• ENTANGLED
The last e-word that Paul uses in these two verses is entangled: “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life” (2 Timothy 2:4 HCSB).
I heard about a new recruit, shortly after joining the Navy, who asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding. The officer gave him the pass but informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday. “You don’t understand, sir,” said the recruit. “I’m in the wedding, actually I am the Groom.”
“No, you don’t understand,” the officer shot back. “You’re in the Navy!”
When you serve this (American) flag, you are expected to be completely committed to your country and to allow nothing to prevent you from performing your duties and serving faithfully.
When you serve this (Christian) flag, you are also expected to be completely committed to Christ and His Kingdom. You are expected to serve Him faithfully, not allowing anything to keep you from doing His will.
Unfortunately, countless Christians, after coming to Christ in faith, do get entangled in the affairs of this world. They let other things become more important to them than Jesus. In fact, Jesus told a story about that very thing. He talked about a farmer who scattered seed everywhere he went. Then Jesus said, “The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so, they never grow into maturity” (Luke 8:14 NLT).
We need to be careful about the things we let distract us from Jesus. As Paul has said elsewhere, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT).
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, there are two types of freedom—embodied in two flags. We want to say many thanks to the Veterans who have served to preserve our political freedoms, which allow us to freely worship our Creator who gives us that greater freedom we all so desperately need.
Invitation
Maybe you’re entangled in the cares and worries of this life, maybe you’re afraid to engage people in spiritual conversation, maybe you’re enduring some hardship and need someone to stand with you and help you to fight the good fight, or maybe you haven’t yet enlisted in God’s Army but you’re thinking about it and you need someone to talk to. I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God, but if there is anything Pastor Tom, myself, or even our Bible Study Group can do to help you become a Spiritual Veteran, you have now received an open invitation.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
November 1, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"The Church * The Body of Christ”
Matthew 16:18 “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock) and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell* will NOT conquer it”!
by Pastor Tom Shanor
~+~
Good morning church…the living, breathing representative of the Person and Body of Jesus Christ on planet earth, specifically here in Island Park, Idaho.
How are you this morning?
You did not “come to church’ you came to a building, this building that houses the church…. for you are the church!
Instead of saying it is time to go to church, we should be saying, it is the time set aside to come together for our worship service and be the church. That is just being correct as far as the actual meaning of the word church. Wikipedia has it wrong in part, where they define it as a “building for Christian religious activities;” but in the second part have it correct by calling church “a local congregation” of a Christian (denomination) but, also instead of denomination, should simply say gathering.
I am not attempting to make a big to-do about this, but I always think it is important to use words correctly and to apply them in the proper way as well. Also, on the upside, it is important also to fully understand just how valuable the church is…yes, the Christian church, in all its variety of manifestations, denominations, and gatherings. It is spiritually healthy to know what is correct or legitimate in the eyes of the Lord, for as stated above in Matthew 16, He said “He would build His church” by bringing together as a unit, ‘people’ from all races specified in Mark:16:15, (“go ye into all the world and preach the Good News to EVERYONE!” Paul further reiterates the importance of coming together in Hebrews 10:25, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. (The day approaching meaning the second coming of the Lord.)
Perhaps you may have figured out….that today you are mostly in a classroom, at least in the beginning of this message, because I think it is important to know as much as we can about our history, defined also as the history of “the church”.
Coming back to the rock Jesus spoke of twice in the same sentence, saying, “Now I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
The rock on which Jesus would build His church has been identified as (1.) Jesus Himself (Peters statement proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah) “You are the Messiah,* the Son of the Living God” (2) Peter (the first great leader chosen by Jesus to lead the church or at that time the gathering of the people in Jerusalem, who following His resurrection, became His followers, and of course this included the leadership of all the disciples. (3) by the confession of faith as I stated above, and that all subsequent Believers down to today would profess Him as the Messiah, therefore Savior.
It seems most likely that the first rock Jesus spoke of did point to Peter as the upcoming leader of the church, and today that spiritual office and the person who fills that office is known as the Pope, and each successive Pope having been established as such, from the earliest days of the newly forming church, because of his role as the apostolic successor to Sant Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Himself, giving him (Peter) the Keys of Heaven and the powers of “binding and loosing”, naming him as the “rock”.
As a point of interest, the earliest recorded use of the title “pope” in English dates to the mid-10th century, when it was used in reference to the 7th century Roman POPE Vitalian, which is an Old English translation of Bede’s History of the early church. So, the title has been around for a very long time, and maybe I should have said this in the first place, but Pope means Father. Peter was the first and literal Father of the church.
Later, Peter reminds the fledgling church that they are the church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone. (1 Peter 2:4-6) All Believers are joined into the church by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; the same faith that Peter expressed as Jesus praised Peter for his confession of faith. It is faith like Peter’s that is the foundation of Christ’s Kingdom.
Jesus was prophesying in regards to the future, for the church He prophesied of was born on the Day of Pentecost…based on the New Testament happenings of the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and all the others present that day as they prayed together as one, fulfilling Jesus words where he said, (Luke 24:49) “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” On that day, The Church was born as stated, empowered and soon to become the Body of Christ known as the Church, which following this baptism became the most powerful spiritual force in the world, changing everything.
1 Corinthians 12:27 reads, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
The diversity in this gathering is broad, but needing each other in all our gifts and personalities, to be a healthy representation of Him to our local community, therefore it is our individual and collective responsibility, and should be our goal to be One in the Spirit and One in the Lord, with no division or strife, so as to be a true witness of the Person and Unity that can be found in Him, thereby drawing others to Him through us.
In verse 12:13-15 we read, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…whether Jew or Greek, slave or free…and have all been made to drink of ‘one’ Spirit, for in fact the body is not one member, but many parts. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body….is it therefore not a part of the body….of course it is?
These verses also point to this simple statement. “We should all get along”! But when divisions and strife come, and they do arise, we are to think first of what those divisions do to our witness, and upon realizing the importance of that, should honestly and in grace work through those disagreements as Christians. We are to be different in a good way.
Pastor Eugene Peterson, author of The Shack and The Message wrote, “I would like to talk about the foolishness of the ‘congregation.’ Gods choice of venue. Of all the ways in which to carry out the enterprise of the church, this has to be the most absurd. A haphazard collection of people who somehow get assembled into pews or chairs on Sunday morning, sing a few songs and tune in and out of a sermon according to the state of their digestion, or sleep they had the night before, or not, and the preachers tonal voice and words, the decibels he or she uses, and sometimes awkward and in-cohesive in their structure”.
But…those of you sitting in these pews at times, are people who suffer deeply and hopefully find God walking with you in your suffering. We make love commitments, and work to be faithful to them through trials and temptations that come our way. When failing to do so, are most often forgiven and given another chance…we also bear the fruit of making right choices, Spirit-related choices that then bless those around us, both great and small.
As an example of what was big to me was small to my engineer friend Larry Johnson, so yesterday I took to Larry a timer for my new fireplace insert. Just looking at it fried my brain, let alone figuring out how to use and adjust it. Being an engineer (what kind I don’t know) but that did not matter, for within a few minutes after asking me a couple of questions, I heard the most soothing and comforting words, as he said, just plug it in. Halleluiah! Thank you Larry!
The reality of living a Christian life together as the Body of Christ on this planet, and in this geographical location we live in, we can help and encourage one another and those strangers who come to worship with us, who in our spiritual reality are brothers and sisters, born of the same Father. That is part of our calling and ministry. We, always realizing we are fallible but redeemable, making mistakes at times, even sinning, we are forgiven both by God in Christ and by each other. Perhaps we even get grumpy, but get over it quicker than most, (or should) for we find a measure of happiness and sometimes JOY in just being together, for we are one in Christ and one in our desire to meet together for all the right reasons, and therefore we are blessed!
We are not a perfect church….and no attempt to make it as such will never work, for all of us who are imperfect should be reasonable, rational, tolerant, understanding and in love forgiving.
A man reportedly came to the British Pastor Charles Spurgeon, looking for the perfect church. The famous preacher told him he had many saintly people in his congregation, but a Judas could also be among them. After all, he said, even Jesus had a traitor among His own chosen disciples. He went on to say, that some in his congregation were most likely, even deliberately walking in sin, as had been the case among the believers at Rome, Corinth, Galatia, and Sardis. His final words to the man were, “my church is not the one you are looking for,” “but if you should happen to find just such a congregation, I beg you not to becomes a member, for you would spoil the whole thing.”
Our call as followers/disciples of Christ is this, be gracious or grace motivated, and filled with love for one another as Christ loves us, He says. Since we represent Him as the Body of Christ on this little blue spinning ball in space and time, we are to exhibit to both believers and unbelievers, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Add to those grace and mercy and justice. (What does the Lord require of you?) “To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8,
As a side note, think about applying this verse in our current social and governmental situations. In those two interactive environments, we are most exposed as to whether we are followers of Christ or ourselves and own opinions. These three Christian traits we must internally fight for when opportunities come up that require them.
Act justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly
“with your God”
This now, is a Key to the Kingdom of God within us. Our individual relationship with Jesus will always be vital, and we must always see ourselves not as loner Christians, but as living members of Christ’s Body, the church. We though individuals, need to continue to gather-together as we do, able to be and accomplish what the Lord Himself has asked and exampled. He…is the head of the Church, and as we continue to build up each other through our words, actions and participation, we are to remember this……we exemplify HIM!
The parable of the Tree is a good one that tells us the true source of good, in producing good things (or what is called the fruit of the Spirit) both individually and collectively.
Luke 6:43-45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It is who you are not what you say and do that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. The Message
Amen
Now…we come to the Table of the Lord…. let’s sing,
“Let Us Break Bread Together” # 564
November 1, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"The Church * The Body of Christ”
Matthew 16:18 “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock) and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell* will NOT conquer it”!
by Pastor Tom Shanor
~+~
Good morning church…the living, breathing representative of the Person and Body of Jesus Christ on planet earth, specifically here in Island Park, Idaho.
How are you this morning?
You did not “come to church’ you came to a building, this building that houses the church…. for you are the church!
Instead of saying it is time to go to church, we should be saying, it is the time set aside to come together for our worship service and be the church. That is just being correct as far as the actual meaning of the word church. Wikipedia has it wrong in part, where they define it as a “building for Christian religious activities;” but in the second part have it correct by calling church “a local congregation” of a Christian (denomination) but, also instead of denomination, should simply say gathering.
I am not attempting to make a big to-do about this, but I always think it is important to use words correctly and to apply them in the proper way as well. Also, on the upside, it is important also to fully understand just how valuable the church is…yes, the Christian church, in all its variety of manifestations, denominations, and gatherings. It is spiritually healthy to know what is correct or legitimate in the eyes of the Lord, for as stated above in Matthew 16, He said “He would build His church” by bringing together as a unit, ‘people’ from all races specified in Mark:16:15, (“go ye into all the world and preach the Good News to EVERYONE!” Paul further reiterates the importance of coming together in Hebrews 10:25, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. (The day approaching meaning the second coming of the Lord.)
Perhaps you may have figured out….that today you are mostly in a classroom, at least in the beginning of this message, because I think it is important to know as much as we can about our history, defined also as the history of “the church”.
Coming back to the rock Jesus spoke of twice in the same sentence, saying, “Now I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
The rock on which Jesus would build His church has been identified as (1.) Jesus Himself (Peters statement proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah) “You are the Messiah,* the Son of the Living God” (2) Peter (the first great leader chosen by Jesus to lead the church or at that time the gathering of the people in Jerusalem, who following His resurrection, became His followers, and of course this included the leadership of all the disciples. (3) by the confession of faith as I stated above, and that all subsequent Believers down to today would profess Him as the Messiah, therefore Savior.
It seems most likely that the first rock Jesus spoke of did point to Peter as the upcoming leader of the church, and today that spiritual office and the person who fills that office is known as the Pope, and each successive Pope having been established as such, from the earliest days of the newly forming church, because of his role as the apostolic successor to Sant Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Himself, giving him (Peter) the Keys of Heaven and the powers of “binding and loosing”, naming him as the “rock”.
As a point of interest, the earliest recorded use of the title “pope” in English dates to the mid-10th century, when it was used in reference to the 7th century Roman POPE Vitalian, which is an Old English translation of Bede’s History of the early church. So, the title has been around for a very long time, and maybe I should have said this in the first place, but Pope means Father. Peter was the first and literal Father of the church.
Later, Peter reminds the fledgling church that they are the church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone. (1 Peter 2:4-6) All Believers are joined into the church by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; the same faith that Peter expressed as Jesus praised Peter for his confession of faith. It is faith like Peter’s that is the foundation of Christ’s Kingdom.
Jesus was prophesying in regards to the future, for the church He prophesied of was born on the Day of Pentecost…based on the New Testament happenings of the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and all the others present that day as they prayed together as one, fulfilling Jesus words where he said, (Luke 24:49) “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” On that day, The Church was born as stated, empowered and soon to become the Body of Christ known as the Church, which following this baptism became the most powerful spiritual force in the world, changing everything.
1 Corinthians 12:27 reads, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
The diversity in this gathering is broad, but needing each other in all our gifts and personalities, to be a healthy representation of Him to our local community, therefore it is our individual and collective responsibility, and should be our goal to be One in the Spirit and One in the Lord, with no division or strife, so as to be a true witness of the Person and Unity that can be found in Him, thereby drawing others to Him through us.
In verse 12:13-15 we read, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…whether Jew or Greek, slave or free…and have all been made to drink of ‘one’ Spirit, for in fact the body is not one member, but many parts. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body….is it therefore not a part of the body….of course it is?
These verses also point to this simple statement. “We should all get along”! But when divisions and strife come, and they do arise, we are to think first of what those divisions do to our witness, and upon realizing the importance of that, should honestly and in grace work through those disagreements as Christians. We are to be different in a good way.
Pastor Eugene Peterson, author of The Shack and The Message wrote, “I would like to talk about the foolishness of the ‘congregation.’ Gods choice of venue. Of all the ways in which to carry out the enterprise of the church, this has to be the most absurd. A haphazard collection of people who somehow get assembled into pews or chairs on Sunday morning, sing a few songs and tune in and out of a sermon according to the state of their digestion, or sleep they had the night before, or not, and the preachers tonal voice and words, the decibels he or she uses, and sometimes awkward and in-cohesive in their structure”.
But…those of you sitting in these pews at times, are people who suffer deeply and hopefully find God walking with you in your suffering. We make love commitments, and work to be faithful to them through trials and temptations that come our way. When failing to do so, are most often forgiven and given another chance…we also bear the fruit of making right choices, Spirit-related choices that then bless those around us, both great and small.
As an example of what was big to me was small to my engineer friend Larry Johnson, so yesterday I took to Larry a timer for my new fireplace insert. Just looking at it fried my brain, let alone figuring out how to use and adjust it. Being an engineer (what kind I don’t know) but that did not matter, for within a few minutes after asking me a couple of questions, I heard the most soothing and comforting words, as he said, just plug it in. Halleluiah! Thank you Larry!
The reality of living a Christian life together as the Body of Christ on this planet, and in this geographical location we live in, we can help and encourage one another and those strangers who come to worship with us, who in our spiritual reality are brothers and sisters, born of the same Father. That is part of our calling and ministry. We, always realizing we are fallible but redeemable, making mistakes at times, even sinning, we are forgiven both by God in Christ and by each other. Perhaps we even get grumpy, but get over it quicker than most, (or should) for we find a measure of happiness and sometimes JOY in just being together, for we are one in Christ and one in our desire to meet together for all the right reasons, and therefore we are blessed!
We are not a perfect church….and no attempt to make it as such will never work, for all of us who are imperfect should be reasonable, rational, tolerant, understanding and in love forgiving.
A man reportedly came to the British Pastor Charles Spurgeon, looking for the perfect church. The famous preacher told him he had many saintly people in his congregation, but a Judas could also be among them. After all, he said, even Jesus had a traitor among His own chosen disciples. He went on to say, that some in his congregation were most likely, even deliberately walking in sin, as had been the case among the believers at Rome, Corinth, Galatia, and Sardis. His final words to the man were, “my church is not the one you are looking for,” “but if you should happen to find just such a congregation, I beg you not to becomes a member, for you would spoil the whole thing.”
Our call as followers/disciples of Christ is this, be gracious or grace motivated, and filled with love for one another as Christ loves us, He says. Since we represent Him as the Body of Christ on this little blue spinning ball in space and time, we are to exhibit to both believers and unbelievers, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Add to those grace and mercy and justice. (What does the Lord require of you?) “To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8,
As a side note, think about applying this verse in our current social and governmental situations. In those two interactive environments, we are most exposed as to whether we are followers of Christ or ourselves and own opinions. These three Christian traits we must internally fight for when opportunities come up that require them.
Act justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly
“with your God”
This now, is a Key to the Kingdom of God within us. Our individual relationship with Jesus will always be vital, and we must always see ourselves not as loner Christians, but as living members of Christ’s Body, the church. We though individuals, need to continue to gather-together as we do, able to be and accomplish what the Lord Himself has asked and exampled. He…is the head of the Church, and as we continue to build up each other through our words, actions and participation, we are to remember this……we exemplify HIM!
The parable of the Tree is a good one that tells us the true source of good, in producing good things (or what is called the fruit of the Spirit) both individually and collectively.
Luke 6:43-45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It is who you are not what you say and do that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. The Message
Amen
Now…we come to the Table of the Lord…. let’s sing,
“Let Us Break Bread Together” # 564
The Little Church in the Pines
October 25, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
” WORSHIP”
Revelation 1:8 “…Which is, and which was, and which is to come, The Almighty
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
~+~
In beginning today’s message, we are going to start it by expressing what the sermon topic is about and sing a song of worship!
His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord;
He is the Mighty King, Master of everything, His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord.
He’s the Great Shepherd, the Rock of all ages, Almighty God is He;
Bow down before Him, Love and adore Him, His name is Wonderful,
Jesus my Lord….
Amen
A visiting woman decided to attend a liturgical service, attending a church in her hometown she had never visited before. As the pastor preached, she became so caught up in his message that she exclaimed out loud, Praise the Lord!” A fellow worshiper leaned over and whispered, saying, “Excuse me, but we don’t praise the Lord in the Episcopal Church.” A man on the other side of her corrected him: “Yes we do, and it is on page 19.”
The word worship is derived from the Old English word ‘weorbscipe’ Nice eh? Anyway, it means “to honor outwardly” which over time has evolved to “worthiness” or “worth-ship” and now worship and in its simplest context, value to something or someone. So, in worshiping God we are acknowledging His value or worth from us, expressed outwardly to Him.
We also call our gatherings on Sunday morning, Saturday night or whenever we meet collectively as Believers in our services…. our worship service.
Wikipedia describes it as thus. Worship is an ‘act’ or religious devotion, usually directed towards a deity. An ‘act’ of worship may be expressed individually, in an informal gathering, or through a designated ‘worship leader’ in an organized or formal gathering or service.
ACT…comes from the word ‘action’ which puts it in a category of expression, which is an “outward expression of an internal devotion.” Devotion, meaning a deep and internal connection. That action can manifest itself in countless ways of expression. Not all forms of action in worship are accepted by everyone. Shortly I will delve into some of those expressions, and we need to be careful not to judge those who express themselves in worship differently than we do….for true worship comes from the heart, and when coming from the heart can take on at times spontaneity of expression. Example, (standing on the pew.)
Culture, race, denominations, history, experiences by both an individual and collectively can determine that expression.
A friend of mine years ago asked, he being an atheist, why God would want to be worshiped? It was a good question and one I had not given a lot of thought to. Why? It seems to me that it is DNA’ed into the heart and mind of humankind, tracing our history back eons, that we have within us a place that has to be filled, and that place is a belief in a deity beyond ourselves that is wise, rooted in power and even majesty. Somehow this belief is an anchor when something is so wonderful or so bad, that beyond us is someone who we can thank/worship for the good and beautiful, and we can ask help from when we once again need wisdom and sometimes just a hand to hold.
As we acknowledge God as existing and as our Creator, again a supernatural deity responsible for and giver of life and love, worship then comes spontaneously from within us in an outward expression of praise and worship.
In some cultures, there are many gods. In others a female god, in yet others they or it is benevolent or demonic. Great and beautiful or great and malevolent. In some religions man can become gods themselves if indeed they are deemed worthy.
Most acknowledge that they believe a god, or gods’ or goddesses’ are in themselves responsible for all of Creation, and that He, she or it simply can do what He, she, or it wants with, and to all that exists. We Christians along with the Jews and Muslims, and those unaffiliated with the above, yet believe in the Biblical God, totaling 4.3 billion of the world’s 7.8 billion people. Christianity being the largest of those totaling 2.3 billion and therefore the largest religion in the world today.
Coming back to Creation, God, power and eventual spontaneous worship, and the evidence of a deity being responsible. I once quoted Albert Einstein in his personal belief in a Creator. He said,
#1. “The theory produces a good deal but hardly bring us closer to the secret of the ‘Old One,’” “I am at all events convinced that He does not play dice.”
#2. Tesla, another brilliant scientist is quoted as saying once, as he gazed out into the recesses of space, “I believe there’s some explanation for this universe, which you might call God.”
#3. Benedict Spinoza, whom Einstein is quoted as saying “I believe in the God of Spinoza, Spinoza saying when asked, “All things, I say, are in God, and everything which takes place takes place by the laws alone of the infinite nature of God and follows from the necessity of His essence.”
Therefore, even the most brilliant minds that have been produced among mankind, they have through their own wonder of the Universe, have had to come to terms with the existence of a Being beyond their understanding who set forth eternal laws that cannot be understood or broken, as to their source, thereby provoking awe and wonder. A feeling that even for the most brilliant, is religious in nature.
Taking a bit of a curve here in talking about God’s rights with and in Creation, I have attempted to make an analogy that helps me understand God’s rights with not only all of Creation, but specifically with human beings. It’s very simple.
When I create something, say a painting….it is my creation, as I spent the time, provided the materials, having come up with the subject applying paint to brush and brush to canvas. Now, depending on how it turns out and whether I am pleased with it, I can choose to do with that painting anything I want when finished. I own it, and I can hang it on my wall, put it in a closet, sell it, give it away or even destroy it….whatever I want to do I can do….because I created it.
I can say the same in regards to God…again, if indeed I believe in Him and have come to KNOW HIM, I am still His Creation, knowing that He made me, gave me the breath of life upon my birth and has every right to do with me that which He desires.
I too…because along with the breath of life given to me, and the wonders of what I believe are His Creation, and giving me free will as He most certainly gave all of us, I can choose to acknowledge Him….and come to KNOW Him, and by choosing this I then am then given the opportunity to experience His majesty, love and power, and all of this thorough His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. Choice is something we have every day. Choosing to believe is one of the greatest if not the greatest actions we can take in this brief life.
In this belief and acceptance, this deliberate ACT of recognizing God, connecting to God, giving to Him, turning over to Him…those things that are too hard for me (in my not so brilliant thinking abilities) I then feel compelled from the depth of my heart and mind, to not only acknowledge Him…but to worship Him.
Remember, in the beginning of this message I described worship as showing outward manifestations as indeed a part of worship. These outward manifestations as I also stated, can take on a great variety of expressions. Also, through worship I find myself being draw closer to Him, Him being the totality of who He is, described as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity.
In this relationship, with these acts of worship….I FEEL His PRESENCE more closely.
I believe God created along with our physical bodies our soul, and our soul is designed to contain His very real Presence 24/7. Every man, woman and child has a soul….and by design, our soul is spirit….but can be spiritual even apart from the Presence of God, but never fully, and never One with Him until we embrace Him, by accepting and believing that He is indeed the Creator of the Universe and all therein.
I will now read a Psalm which is an invitation to worship.
PSALM 95:1-7 READ
There were five actions spoken of in this Psalm,
Also, Scripture say Clap Your Hands all Ye people, shout unto God with a voice of Triumph, clap your hands all ye people, SHOUT unto God with a voice of praise.
There are a multitude of ways in which to express to God our PRAISE AND WORSHIP…and are acceptable and pleasing to Him. If individuals are expressing themselves in an insincere way, using any of these I have spoken of to draw attention to themselves….it is no longer worship but a show, and unacceptable to both God and us.
The manner of expression of worship is secondary to the condition of our motives and condition of our heart in doing so.
David prays in Psalm 51:10-12,
Let us finish with this:
Come let us worship and bow down
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
Come let us worship and bow down
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
For He is our God
And we are the people of His pasture
For He is our God
And we are the sheep of His hand
Come let us worship and bow down.
Amen
October 25, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
” WORSHIP”
Revelation 1:8 “…Which is, and which was, and which is to come, The Almighty
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
~+~
In beginning today’s message, we are going to start it by expressing what the sermon topic is about and sing a song of worship!
His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord;
He is the Mighty King, Master of everything, His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord.
He’s the Great Shepherd, the Rock of all ages, Almighty God is He;
Bow down before Him, Love and adore Him, His name is Wonderful,
Jesus my Lord….
Amen
A visiting woman decided to attend a liturgical service, attending a church in her hometown she had never visited before. As the pastor preached, she became so caught up in his message that she exclaimed out loud, Praise the Lord!” A fellow worshiper leaned over and whispered, saying, “Excuse me, but we don’t praise the Lord in the Episcopal Church.” A man on the other side of her corrected him: “Yes we do, and it is on page 19.”
The word worship is derived from the Old English word ‘weorbscipe’ Nice eh? Anyway, it means “to honor outwardly” which over time has evolved to “worthiness” or “worth-ship” and now worship and in its simplest context, value to something or someone. So, in worshiping God we are acknowledging His value or worth from us, expressed outwardly to Him.
We also call our gatherings on Sunday morning, Saturday night or whenever we meet collectively as Believers in our services…. our worship service.
Wikipedia describes it as thus. Worship is an ‘act’ or religious devotion, usually directed towards a deity. An ‘act’ of worship may be expressed individually, in an informal gathering, or through a designated ‘worship leader’ in an organized or formal gathering or service.
ACT…comes from the word ‘action’ which puts it in a category of expression, which is an “outward expression of an internal devotion.” Devotion, meaning a deep and internal connection. That action can manifest itself in countless ways of expression. Not all forms of action in worship are accepted by everyone. Shortly I will delve into some of those expressions, and we need to be careful not to judge those who express themselves in worship differently than we do….for true worship comes from the heart, and when coming from the heart can take on at times spontaneity of expression. Example, (standing on the pew.)
Culture, race, denominations, history, experiences by both an individual and collectively can determine that expression.
A friend of mine years ago asked, he being an atheist, why God would want to be worshiped? It was a good question and one I had not given a lot of thought to. Why? It seems to me that it is DNA’ed into the heart and mind of humankind, tracing our history back eons, that we have within us a place that has to be filled, and that place is a belief in a deity beyond ourselves that is wise, rooted in power and even majesty. Somehow this belief is an anchor when something is so wonderful or so bad, that beyond us is someone who we can thank/worship for the good and beautiful, and we can ask help from when we once again need wisdom and sometimes just a hand to hold.
As we acknowledge God as existing and as our Creator, again a supernatural deity responsible for and giver of life and love, worship then comes spontaneously from within us in an outward expression of praise and worship.
In some cultures, there are many gods. In others a female god, in yet others they or it is benevolent or demonic. Great and beautiful or great and malevolent. In some religions man can become gods themselves if indeed they are deemed worthy.
Most acknowledge that they believe a god, or gods’ or goddesses’ are in themselves responsible for all of Creation, and that He, she or it simply can do what He, she, or it wants with, and to all that exists. We Christians along with the Jews and Muslims, and those unaffiliated with the above, yet believe in the Biblical God, totaling 4.3 billion of the world’s 7.8 billion people. Christianity being the largest of those totaling 2.3 billion and therefore the largest religion in the world today.
Coming back to Creation, God, power and eventual spontaneous worship, and the evidence of a deity being responsible. I once quoted Albert Einstein in his personal belief in a Creator. He said,
#1. “The theory produces a good deal but hardly bring us closer to the secret of the ‘Old One,’” “I am at all events convinced that He does not play dice.”
#2. Tesla, another brilliant scientist is quoted as saying once, as he gazed out into the recesses of space, “I believe there’s some explanation for this universe, which you might call God.”
#3. Benedict Spinoza, whom Einstein is quoted as saying “I believe in the God of Spinoza, Spinoza saying when asked, “All things, I say, are in God, and everything which takes place takes place by the laws alone of the infinite nature of God and follows from the necessity of His essence.”
Therefore, even the most brilliant minds that have been produced among mankind, they have through their own wonder of the Universe, have had to come to terms with the existence of a Being beyond their understanding who set forth eternal laws that cannot be understood or broken, as to their source, thereby provoking awe and wonder. A feeling that even for the most brilliant, is religious in nature.
Taking a bit of a curve here in talking about God’s rights with and in Creation, I have attempted to make an analogy that helps me understand God’s rights with not only all of Creation, but specifically with human beings. It’s very simple.
When I create something, say a painting….it is my creation, as I spent the time, provided the materials, having come up with the subject applying paint to brush and brush to canvas. Now, depending on how it turns out and whether I am pleased with it, I can choose to do with that painting anything I want when finished. I own it, and I can hang it on my wall, put it in a closet, sell it, give it away or even destroy it….whatever I want to do I can do….because I created it.
I can say the same in regards to God…again, if indeed I believe in Him and have come to KNOW HIM, I am still His Creation, knowing that He made me, gave me the breath of life upon my birth and has every right to do with me that which He desires.
I too…because along with the breath of life given to me, and the wonders of what I believe are His Creation, and giving me free will as He most certainly gave all of us, I can choose to acknowledge Him….and come to KNOW Him, and by choosing this I then am then given the opportunity to experience His majesty, love and power, and all of this thorough His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. Choice is something we have every day. Choosing to believe is one of the greatest if not the greatest actions we can take in this brief life.
In this belief and acceptance, this deliberate ACT of recognizing God, connecting to God, giving to Him, turning over to Him…those things that are too hard for me (in my not so brilliant thinking abilities) I then feel compelled from the depth of my heart and mind, to not only acknowledge Him…but to worship Him.
Remember, in the beginning of this message I described worship as showing outward manifestations as indeed a part of worship. These outward manifestations as I also stated, can take on a great variety of expressions. Also, through worship I find myself being draw closer to Him, Him being the totality of who He is, described as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity.
In this relationship, with these acts of worship….I FEEL His PRESENCE more closely.
I believe God created along with our physical bodies our soul, and our soul is designed to contain His very real Presence 24/7. Every man, woman and child has a soul….and by design, our soul is spirit….but can be spiritual even apart from the Presence of God, but never fully, and never One with Him until we embrace Him, by accepting and believing that He is indeed the Creator of the Universe and all therein.
I will now read a Psalm which is an invitation to worship.
PSALM 95:1-7 READ
There were five actions spoken of in this Psalm,
- Come, let us SING (no problem there for most of us)
- Let us SHOUT JOYFULLY to the Rock of our Salvation. Ah oh!
- Let us come before Him with THANKSGIVING (we can all do that)
- Let us worship and BOW DOWN (most of us are good with that)
- Let us KNEEL before the Lord out God our Maker (ok with that too_
Also, Scripture say Clap Your Hands all Ye people, shout unto God with a voice of Triumph, clap your hands all ye people, SHOUT unto God with a voice of praise.
There are a multitude of ways in which to express to God our PRAISE AND WORSHIP…and are acceptable and pleasing to Him. If individuals are expressing themselves in an insincere way, using any of these I have spoken of to draw attention to themselves….it is no longer worship but a show, and unacceptable to both God and us.
The manner of expression of worship is secondary to the condition of our motives and condition of our heart in doing so.
David prays in Psalm 51:10-12,
- Create in me a clean heart O God
- And renew a right spirit within me
- Cast me not away from thy Presence of Lord.
- And renew a right spirit within me
Let us finish with this:
Come let us worship and bow down
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
Come let us worship and bow down
Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker
For He is our God
And we are the people of His pasture
For He is our God
And we are the sheep of His hand
Come let us worship and bow down.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
October 18, 2020
“An Attitude of Gratitude”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
1 Thessalonians 5:18,
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you.”
This pandemic 2020, soon to move into 2021 has filled our lives to the extent we will only know as time goes forward. Up to this time fear has often crowded out what we remember was our ordinary-everyday-lives, making them into only a semblance of what we once called normal. Since January it has filled the news, fueled rumors, brough rifts between friends, family, and our nation, often bringing strife, divisions, anger, suspicion and definitely the ugly in people. Paranoia continues to reign.
AND YET…. these words of Paul resonate through it all. He says to us in all sincerity, “always be joyful, never stop praying. Be thankful and full of gratitude in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Our Joy, our prayers, and thankfulness should not fluctuate with our circumstances. I have heard and experienced many examples of ordinary people who through their belief/faith came through some horrendous and even extraordinary circumstances with an attitude of gratitude, managing to be and do, all three of these. JOFUL-THANKFUL-GRATEFUL
Doing so certainly goes contrary to our natural inclinations and definitely in our flesh the ability to do so when we make a conscious decision to do so. That which God in Christ tells us in Scripture is always for our benefit, and often the benefit of others. In being obedient, however, we will then begin to see not only our circumstances differently, but people also in those circumstances with a new perspective. A spiritual and godly perspective. Not that we are enjoying the suffering of others and our own suffering…. but joyful in that God knows our pain, our fears, our hopes, and dreams. God will never leave us or forsake us. Though we often cannot avoid these things that we are going through today, we can adjust our attitude, and often our attitude will heavily influence the outcome.
A well-known stress researcher claims that two attitudes more an any other, influence the quality of everyday life, saying that on these two emotions “depends our peace of mind” through all that we endure. Those being gratitude and revenge.
I shared this illustration once before but am going to do so again.
In the devotional “Springs in the Valley” the author tells of those who found a location where Satan kept his destructive seeds, ready to be sown in the human heart. Through experimentation, Satan found that these seeds could be made to grow in almost everyone, but when he was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one, just one place, in which he could never get them to root and thrive and that one place he replied in anger was, “in the heart of a grateful person!”
In everything give thanks,
In everything give thanks,
For this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus
Concerning you……
Please note that this verse does not say for everything, but in.
To give Him thanks in the midst of this very real situation we are living every day, shows that we are reaching out and up, simply saying and asking, God, we need you now perhaps more or equal too and (though different) many situations that we have been through. We may not understand, but that is because our understanding is limited and finite and God’s, is being able to see the beginning to the end, remembering that all things are ultimately for the benefit of we, your people.
We all know, because we have been around this ole place long enough, that this life seems at times awfully unfair, and with that it comes with both short and long-term risks, some great and some small. In all of these we have choices to make…. Lord, give us we pray, the wisdom to choose the right thing and the right attitude.
In reference to our attitudes about difficult things, be they illness, wars, relationships, disagreements, division, accidents, etc., the unexpected will continue to come about, and as a result, often painful, distressful… these possibly even to the point of death. Though hard to understand, this is simply the way life is since the pristine order and beauty of Creation was corrupted. That is the reality we live with daily. Remember also in this reality: God loves and cares for each and all of us, wanting the very-best for us. Remember also…. He gave us free will and therefore, we CAN CHOOSE how we are going to respond to both the good and the evil. Attitude is almost EVERYTHING.
It is both my understanding and my opinion: God does NOT point his finger at any of us and says, “I am going to give you cancer, or I am going to strike you down with COVID or cause you to be in a deadly accident. Along with free-will, He permits the long-term effects of sin its’ resulting corruption to run its’ course. As Scripture says, and is seen as a sign of God’s mercy, we read in Matthew 4:45 where it is written: “That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. All will happen within the natural course of the rules and laws set in place by the Almighty.
Yet…in all of these things, as difficult and even awful they may be, He desires that we call on Him in those times, He, being invited by us, will walk with us through it all. Then His strength can be our strength and His wisdom our wisdom. His patience our patience, His touch upon us, forever.
We together, are called to encourage and comfort one another for where and when two or three of us are gathered-together, He is there with us in the Person of His Holy Spirit. If we start our day with the Lord in an attitude of gratitude, for all that He has given us, we will more easily sense His Presence, comforting us, encouraging us, lifting us up. We can pray together, talk together, walk together and enjoy the presence of Godly fellowship.
It is proven even scientifically through the study of psychology and actual physical testing that, there are deep benefits that come with an attitude of gratitude. Every morning when we wake up, whatever that time is, the first thing that we should do to prepare ourselves for the day ahead and whatever comes our way, is to go over in our head a list of those things that we find to be grateful for. Or, you can get up, have a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and literally write down a handwritten list or perhaps do so on your computer. I can guarantee it, that in doing so, going into our day with gratitude, all will be a much better and brighter day.
No matter the state or quality of our lives, whatever outcomes we have produced, goals we have reached (or even failed to reach), what decision we have made have yet to make, and where we ended up or will end up, has almost everything to do with our focus. While some thing may be out of our control, much of what happens is based on our thoughts, prayers, emotions, and resulting behaviors, are largely a conditional response of our attitude and therefore focus. Understand? There is always, always, something to be grateful for that can bring us a measure of peace and perhaps even joy.
Though I do not know intimately the circumstances of your lives, I do know some things that, for some of you have been and are very difficult and knowing these things at times breaks my heart but also enables me to with more focus pray for you and at times to in my own way offer comfort.
Instead of us worrying 24/7, let us agree to look to our God and Lord, praying with knowledge and with understanding, that He indeed knows who we are and what we are enduring. Also, that He (our Father) knows what is best for us. It helps me when troubled, to sing a hymn or read an encouraging account, or to call someone and ask for prayer or simply just to listen. No one has to go through or, should go through difficulties alone. We are one in the Spirit and we are One in the Lord and the body of Christ.
As a minister and having listened to many accounts of pain and loss in people’s lives, I understand, sometimes more than I even want too, how difficult life has been and continues to be for far too many, both believers and non-believers. Sometimes, therefore, attitude, especially a genuine and positive one is difficult to create, but in Christ it can be accomplished. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 “All things, not just some things.”
I am going to read to you a true account of a man who had a horrendous upbringing….and how through unexpected love and acceptance, and because of this love being unconditional love, his attitude became a sound motivation, when coupled with His faith turned pain into health and joy, which today results in being able to share that with countless others, including me, and I hope you as I read his brief story.
READ, December 31st.
Please…as we now ready ourselves to participate in Communion, let us do so with a grateful heart, and with an attitude of gratitude, along with thanksgiving. Ok?
Sing with me…. this song based on a grateful heart.
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks, because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now, Let the weak say I am strong Let the poor say I am rich,
Because of what the Lord has done for us,
Give thanks, Give thanks!
The Little Church in the Pines
October 11, 2020
The Church and Government ~ History and to Come
Multiple Verses as the Foundation for this sermon
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
The place of the Church in Government has dramatically changed since the Revolutionary War.
Because the writers of the Constitution having been under British rule and under the influence of the Church of England, the framers of the Constitution favored a neutral posture toward religion, though with the exception of one man, all were religious in their personal lives. These men who were members of the Constitutional Convention, the group charged with authoring the Constitution believed that the government should have NO power to influence its citizen toward or away from a religion. The principles of separating church from state was integral to the framers’ understanding of religious freedom.
In two instances, the first in Article VI, is a proscription of any religious tests as a requisite qualification for public service. The second instance is in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment contains two clauses that prescribe the government’s relationship with religion. In the first instance, the Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This assures us that the federal government will not adopt any stance in favor of or against any religion.
The second clause is called the Free Exercise Clause. The Free exercise clause protects an individual’s right not only to believe what he or she would like but also to practice it. “Congress shall make no law respecting or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”
Since the establishment of our Government based on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Amendments, there have been many attempts to change, add and or delete. Some of these have happened through the Supreme Court, as cases come before them in which religion is involved, though I am not at this time going to go into them. Right now, we still have the right to gather (though that is being modified today in regard to COVID. There are some in government who are attempting, and who have been successful to use COVID to manipulate and prevent the free exercise thereof.
My personal opinion is, that within reason, those that are reasonable are necessary, such as of course, what we here are following, but the call for ceasing meeting at all is contrary to the established laws. There have been and continue to be churches and minister who have refused reasonable caution and have reaped the results of doing so. Common sense must be taken into account in protecting ourselves and one each other.
Moving on. Let us visit some of the verses in God’s word, scriptures that speak of government.
Roman’s 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
This one is a bit hard to swallow when an established government is corrupt, and it is when a government is corrupt that there are exceptions to this line of obedience.
Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles replied (to the governing authorities speaking to them) the apostles answering, “We must obey God rather than men.” This was when the governing authorities commanded them to stop preaching Jesus
Anytime when we are being subject to the government and are being told to obey the laws that transgress the laws of God, we are permitted by God to take a stand contrary to those laws and must disobey.
The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond. Romans 13, above, is an example. The great theologian Augustine said the government is a necessary evil, that it is necessary because of evil. Today we hear those demanding we defund the police, and because of the evil in their hearts, these people want no consequences for doing evil. This is not God’s way.
The true function of government is to restrain evil and to maintain, uphold, and protect the sanctity of life and property. Given this function, the Christian understands that government is ordained of God, and so, Christians, first of all, are called to respect that which God institutes and ordains. The true function of government.
There are occasions on which Christians not only may but must disobey the civil magistrates, but our basic posture toward government, according to the New Testament is to be submissive and obedient citizens of the state.
We are also given the duty of praying for earthly governments that they may fulfill the tasks God has given to them, which we do here every Sunday.
We have another responsibility, and this is the one that sometimes brings us into controversial areas. I personally believe in a separation of spheres of authority between the church and state. I think it is a marvelous structure in the United States of America, which does not allow for the state to rule the church or the church the state. (this was one of the major things that forced America to rise up against the British Empire). The Church of England was in bed with the country of England causing great hardships on the citizens of America in the free exercise of their faith. The church is to have its job, and the government its job.
Unfortunately, in today’s culture, separation of church and state means separation of state and God, as if the state and the government were answerable to no one but themselves – as if the government did not have to respond to God. But God monitors governments; God raised them up and brings them down. Every human government is accountable to God and is accountable to maintain its affairs with justice and with righteousness. When the government is no longer acting justly and no longer protecting all its people, as illustrated in sanctioning of abortion, then it is the task of the church to be the prophetic voice, to call the state to task and tell the state to repent and do what God commands.
There is, in this disobedience, a way to do this and a way not to. We do NOT resort to violence of any kind in our objections. We are to diligently work smart and hard, praying for wisdom, using the tools we have the freedom to use to make changes. If the government turns against us violently, then according to the Constitution which is based on the principles of God, we do have the right to defend ourselves by necessary means, but never as the aggressors. We do not stand against evil by becoming evil. We are to be the conscience of America.
As we do this most important thing…. we make ourselves targets just as John the Baptist did by confronting Herod over the taking of his brother’s wife. It cost him time in prison and then his life.
Do you recall the term “the writing on the wall”? Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel, as he tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple…..Belshazzar had blasphemed God, and so God sent this hand…….”a hand appears and writes on the wall.” The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they are unable to read the writing. Under the queen’s request he send for Daniel who reads the words “he Belshazzar has been weighed by God and found wanting,” and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. That very night Belshazzar was killed. Daniel 5:30-31
Please…when I say what I am going to next, this is my opinion based on my own observations, and coming to my own conclusions. You may heartily disagree and that is your choice. I believe that there is now, writing on the wall of our nation that is very faint and incomplete, unable to be read at this time because God is patient and God wants the best for us as a nation. But, if we continue down the road we are now on, hell bent for deep and dramatic change, letter after letter will appear, and at some point be completed and able to be read, and an interpreter will arise and read the then completed judgments that we will have brought on ourselves.
Our needs are to speak against evil, do no evil, speak loudly and clearly, using God’s Words and not our own, as each situation arises in our lives that gives us the opportunity to do so. Not attacking but to emulate Jesus, in the manner in which in all His words to the leaders of His day, were never backed with violence, but always, when necessary, confrontive and factual, emotions held in check so that what was being said had the words and power of God Himself backing Him, not feelings.
We….citizens of this country, within the Constitution, have been accorded the right to stand against a government, ours, when it no longer has the betterment and safety of its citizens foremost in its intent, stating the words as I spoke of last week from the Constitution itself.
Now…for a bit of history in regards to the Church, Ministers and Congregations prior to the Revolutionary War. I am going to attempt to do this in as few words as possible but would ask you to take it upon yourselves to do your own research.
Volumes have been written on the American Revolution, sadly, however, an important aspect of this heroic epic has been omitted: the Protestant Christian pulpits which constituted the media of the day, from which were preached dynamic sermons addressing the evil of tyranny and the blessings of God-ordained liberty.
Independence was boldly preached from Scripture throughout the 13 original States during the American Revolution. These sermons brought about enthusiasm; prayers, brought about courage, and parting blessings brought encouragement and ultimately resolutions.
Pastor Peter von Muhlenberg, known as the “the fighting parson of the American Revolution” received a circular letter from General George Washington, requesting that regiments be raised for the Revolutionary Army.
The following Sunday, Muhlenberg’s sermon was taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, ending with an appeal to his own congregation: “There is a time for war, and a time for peace; there is a time to pray and a time to fight!” Upon which he then dramatically pulled open his clerical robes, revealing the uniform of a colonel in the Continental Army. His parishioners readily enrolled in the then fledgling army – Muhlenberg’s regiment being complete. This great man of God served eight years’ military service for his newly forming nation.
During earlier years, prior to the Revolution there were chaplains in the colonial wars, such as the French and Indian War. At the conclusion of these wars, these chaplains became pastors of Protestant churches, preaching fervently to their congregations “the divine right of Resistance” “as opposed to the divine right of kings,” which of course the colonies were under at that time.
Reverend Phillips Payson, A.M., Pastor of a Chelsea church in part preached: “Recollecting our pious ancestors, the first settlers of the country, - nor shall we look for ancestry beyond that period. - and we may say, in the most literal sense, “we are children, not of the bond woman, but of the free.” It may hence well be expected that the exertions and effect of American liberty should be more vigorous and complete. It has the most to fear from ignorance and avarice; of their liberty in the eager pursuit of wealth, as the states of Holland have done, and it will always be as easy to rob an ignorant people of their liberty as to the pick the pockets of a blind man.”
Here is a list of the notable of ministers, priests and more, who effectively preached against the tyranny of England and the must for the Independence of American.
Of these…. are the denominations and churches listed for history? READ
There is so much more available to read and study, but I will end with this.
This was the hope, the dream the collective thinking and prayerful summation of HOPE for America by these men….as long as these self-evident truths were practiced and adhered to.
We may, then, consider –
We are not perfect but denying portions of our history have made us vulnerable to corruption from within and without.
Still, as a great nation, we have time to turn from the direction we are heading toward, repent and reaffirm our dependence on a Being greater than ourselves. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
PRAYER……………….based on Ephesians 6:10-18 READ
We…and our nation are involved deeply at this time in a deep spiritual warfare, and what I just read is who we must be and what we must do.
Amen
October 11, 2020
The Church and Government ~ History and to Come
Multiple Verses as the Foundation for this sermon
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
The place of the Church in Government has dramatically changed since the Revolutionary War.
Because the writers of the Constitution having been under British rule and under the influence of the Church of England, the framers of the Constitution favored a neutral posture toward religion, though with the exception of one man, all were religious in their personal lives. These men who were members of the Constitutional Convention, the group charged with authoring the Constitution believed that the government should have NO power to influence its citizen toward or away from a religion. The principles of separating church from state was integral to the framers’ understanding of religious freedom.
In two instances, the first in Article VI, is a proscription of any religious tests as a requisite qualification for public service. The second instance is in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment contains two clauses that prescribe the government’s relationship with religion. In the first instance, the Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This assures us that the federal government will not adopt any stance in favor of or against any religion.
The second clause is called the Free Exercise Clause. The Free exercise clause protects an individual’s right not only to believe what he or she would like but also to practice it. “Congress shall make no law respecting or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”
Since the establishment of our Government based on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Amendments, there have been many attempts to change, add and or delete. Some of these have happened through the Supreme Court, as cases come before them in which religion is involved, though I am not at this time going to go into them. Right now, we still have the right to gather (though that is being modified today in regard to COVID. There are some in government who are attempting, and who have been successful to use COVID to manipulate and prevent the free exercise thereof.
My personal opinion is, that within reason, those that are reasonable are necessary, such as of course, what we here are following, but the call for ceasing meeting at all is contrary to the established laws. There have been and continue to be churches and minister who have refused reasonable caution and have reaped the results of doing so. Common sense must be taken into account in protecting ourselves and one each other.
Moving on. Let us visit some of the verses in God’s word, scriptures that speak of government.
Roman’s 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
This one is a bit hard to swallow when an established government is corrupt, and it is when a government is corrupt that there are exceptions to this line of obedience.
Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles replied (to the governing authorities speaking to them) the apostles answering, “We must obey God rather than men.” This was when the governing authorities commanded them to stop preaching Jesus
Anytime when we are being subject to the government and are being told to obey the laws that transgress the laws of God, we are permitted by God to take a stand contrary to those laws and must disobey.
The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond. Romans 13, above, is an example. The great theologian Augustine said the government is a necessary evil, that it is necessary because of evil. Today we hear those demanding we defund the police, and because of the evil in their hearts, these people want no consequences for doing evil. This is not God’s way.
The true function of government is to restrain evil and to maintain, uphold, and protect the sanctity of life and property. Given this function, the Christian understands that government is ordained of God, and so, Christians, first of all, are called to respect that which God institutes and ordains. The true function of government.
There are occasions on which Christians not only may but must disobey the civil magistrates, but our basic posture toward government, according to the New Testament is to be submissive and obedient citizens of the state.
We are also given the duty of praying for earthly governments that they may fulfill the tasks God has given to them, which we do here every Sunday.
We have another responsibility, and this is the one that sometimes brings us into controversial areas. I personally believe in a separation of spheres of authority between the church and state. I think it is a marvelous structure in the United States of America, which does not allow for the state to rule the church or the church the state. (this was one of the major things that forced America to rise up against the British Empire). The Church of England was in bed with the country of England causing great hardships on the citizens of America in the free exercise of their faith. The church is to have its job, and the government its job.
Unfortunately, in today’s culture, separation of church and state means separation of state and God, as if the state and the government were answerable to no one but themselves – as if the government did not have to respond to God. But God monitors governments; God raised them up and brings them down. Every human government is accountable to God and is accountable to maintain its affairs with justice and with righteousness. When the government is no longer acting justly and no longer protecting all its people, as illustrated in sanctioning of abortion, then it is the task of the church to be the prophetic voice, to call the state to task and tell the state to repent and do what God commands.
There is, in this disobedience, a way to do this and a way not to. We do NOT resort to violence of any kind in our objections. We are to diligently work smart and hard, praying for wisdom, using the tools we have the freedom to use to make changes. If the government turns against us violently, then according to the Constitution which is based on the principles of God, we do have the right to defend ourselves by necessary means, but never as the aggressors. We do not stand against evil by becoming evil. We are to be the conscience of America.
As we do this most important thing…. we make ourselves targets just as John the Baptist did by confronting Herod over the taking of his brother’s wife. It cost him time in prison and then his life.
Do you recall the term “the writing on the wall”? Belshazzar’s feast in Daniel, as he tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple…..Belshazzar had blasphemed God, and so God sent this hand…….”a hand appears and writes on the wall.” The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they are unable to read the writing. Under the queen’s request he send for Daniel who reads the words “he Belshazzar has been weighed by God and found wanting,” and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. That very night Belshazzar was killed. Daniel 5:30-31
Please…when I say what I am going to next, this is my opinion based on my own observations, and coming to my own conclusions. You may heartily disagree and that is your choice. I believe that there is now, writing on the wall of our nation that is very faint and incomplete, unable to be read at this time because God is patient and God wants the best for us as a nation. But, if we continue down the road we are now on, hell bent for deep and dramatic change, letter after letter will appear, and at some point be completed and able to be read, and an interpreter will arise and read the then completed judgments that we will have brought on ourselves.
Our needs are to speak against evil, do no evil, speak loudly and clearly, using God’s Words and not our own, as each situation arises in our lives that gives us the opportunity to do so. Not attacking but to emulate Jesus, in the manner in which in all His words to the leaders of His day, were never backed with violence, but always, when necessary, confrontive and factual, emotions held in check so that what was being said had the words and power of God Himself backing Him, not feelings.
We….citizens of this country, within the Constitution, have been accorded the right to stand against a government, ours, when it no longer has the betterment and safety of its citizens foremost in its intent, stating the words as I spoke of last week from the Constitution itself.
Now…for a bit of history in regards to the Church, Ministers and Congregations prior to the Revolutionary War. I am going to attempt to do this in as few words as possible but would ask you to take it upon yourselves to do your own research.
Volumes have been written on the American Revolution, sadly, however, an important aspect of this heroic epic has been omitted: the Protestant Christian pulpits which constituted the media of the day, from which were preached dynamic sermons addressing the evil of tyranny and the blessings of God-ordained liberty.
Independence was boldly preached from Scripture throughout the 13 original States during the American Revolution. These sermons brought about enthusiasm; prayers, brought about courage, and parting blessings brought encouragement and ultimately resolutions.
Pastor Peter von Muhlenberg, known as the “the fighting parson of the American Revolution” received a circular letter from General George Washington, requesting that regiments be raised for the Revolutionary Army.
The following Sunday, Muhlenberg’s sermon was taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, ending with an appeal to his own congregation: “There is a time for war, and a time for peace; there is a time to pray and a time to fight!” Upon which he then dramatically pulled open his clerical robes, revealing the uniform of a colonel in the Continental Army. His parishioners readily enrolled in the then fledgling army – Muhlenberg’s regiment being complete. This great man of God served eight years’ military service for his newly forming nation.
During earlier years, prior to the Revolution there were chaplains in the colonial wars, such as the French and Indian War. At the conclusion of these wars, these chaplains became pastors of Protestant churches, preaching fervently to their congregations “the divine right of Resistance” “as opposed to the divine right of kings,” which of course the colonies were under at that time.
Reverend Phillips Payson, A.M., Pastor of a Chelsea church in part preached: “Recollecting our pious ancestors, the first settlers of the country, - nor shall we look for ancestry beyond that period. - and we may say, in the most literal sense, “we are children, not of the bond woman, but of the free.” It may hence well be expected that the exertions and effect of American liberty should be more vigorous and complete. It has the most to fear from ignorance and avarice; of their liberty in the eager pursuit of wealth, as the states of Holland have done, and it will always be as easy to rob an ignorant people of their liberty as to the pick the pockets of a blind man.”
Here is a list of the notable of ministers, priests and more, who effectively preached against the tyranny of England and the must for the Independence of American.
Of these…. are the denominations and churches listed for history? READ
There is so much more available to read and study, but I will end with this.
This was the hope, the dream the collective thinking and prayerful summation of HOPE for America by these men….as long as these self-evident truths were practiced and adhered to.
We may, then, consider –
- What reason have we to expect that, by the blessing of God, These United States may prosper and flourish into a great American Republic and ascend into high and distinguished honor among the nations of the earth. “To make Thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name and in honor.”
- That our system of dominion and civil polity would be imperfect without the true religion; or that from the diffusion of virtue among the people of any community would arise their greatest secular happiness: which will terminate in this conclusion, “that holiness ought to be the end of all civil government and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God.”
We are not perfect but denying portions of our history have made us vulnerable to corruption from within and without.
Still, as a great nation, we have time to turn from the direction we are heading toward, repent and reaffirm our dependence on a Being greater than ourselves. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
PRAYER……………….based on Ephesians 6:10-18 READ
We…and our nation are involved deeply at this time in a deep spiritual warfare, and what I just read is who we must be and what we must do.
Amen
BE STRONG AND BE COURAGEOUS
October 4, 2020
“Have I not commanded you? “Be STRONG and of GOOD COURAGE;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD YOUR God is with you wherever you go.”
JOSHUA 1:9
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
There are times in our lives we have had to be courageous and there will be times coming down the road when, we will once again have to be courageous. To understand the word’s full meaning let’s take a look at it. Courage seems to come easier and deeper to some, than others, and there are times when we would rather have not desired to be courageous, but gladly let someone else step to the front, and do what needed to be done.
COURAGE (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
When looking at those five words, any sane person would want to avoid them totally, again, they being AGONY, PAIN, DANGER, UNCERTAINTY and INTIMIDATION.
The most courageous person I have ever met, and yes, I have met Him in multiple ways is Jesus Christ. With God by His side, with His mission firmly in place, he faced agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, and deliberate intimidation at almost every turn of His three-year ministry. In paintings from the renaissance, we see Him often depicted as this thin, pale, blue-eyed rather insipid looking victim, when the opposite is true. Being the stepson of a carpenter, his hands, forearms, biceps, shoulders, neck, legs, and feet belonged to a man who worked hard to help his family make living. His hands were calloused, splinter-filled from working with wood and stone. His skin was dark, made so by the middle eastern sun, and the dry arid climate. It is safe to say His hair was dark, his eyes either brown or even black. He was strong not only physically, but in the strength and power of God.
As His mission unfolded, beginning publicly (we are told) with turning water into wine for a wedding He and His family were attending, and then doing so only because He was obedient to His mother who rather insisted He do something because the family had run out of wine, so as not to embarrass the parents of the bride. It is evident that He is rather annoyed at Mary for asking Him to intervene, and in such a public way, but He had learned obedience during the course of His upbringing, and ultimately, He obeyed her. I also find it rather interesting that she KNEW that He was fully capable of doing this thing, and, put Him on the spot to do so. So…this was His first public miracle, one that certainly did not take courage, but instead simple obedience to mom. There is a lesson in here for all of us, and that lesson is always “obey your mother.”
From that time forward, courage walked with Him, for next in the series of events His next act was to cleanse the Temple where to the horror and fury of the priests and money changers, etc., He yelled at them saying “take these things away! Do not make My Father’s hour a house of merchandise, fulfilling Scripture by speaking these words, His “Zeal for Your house has eater Me up.” He then made a whip of cords, driving them all out of the temple, along with the sheep and oxen, pouring out the money-changers money and overturning the tables! The tone is set. He in His ministry will be in continual combative mode with the religious leaders, yet finding compassion, grace, forgiveness, and mercy for the everyday people that He was raised with. Yet, in time, even some of those would turn against Him. His focus and courage in each confrontation to come would only strengthen His resolve to fulfill His calling as the Messiah and Savior of the world, not just the Jews.
With each miracle each teaching He revealed more and more of who He was and the Father God He spoke for. He opened the eyes and hearts of anyone who could and would accept His message and His place as the Son of God. Courage gave Him strength and vision to take each new step in His journey, each new day and each new encounter or event.
Speaking of courage, let us now look at today and our contemporary life, using as examples those who serve us.
Where would we be without our men and women in the military, our men and women in law enforcement, our men and women as firefighters, those everyday people who are unafraid to speak out, in calling sin and wrong actions for what they are, no matter the ramifications. Also, for organizations such as doctors and nurses who volunteer skills in places where it seems no man or woman should be, often being attacked and killed in their willingness to serve. Strength and courage!
I speak these next words with caution but feel that I will be proven to be correct. As I said in my REFLECTIONS article, “the times they are a changing” and the acceleration of those changes are going to increase and deepen. I believe the days are coming when we, as ordinary everyday people, are going to have to stand up for our faith, for our country and for each other. We are going to have to be strong in the power of our God and in the strength of His might. We will be called upon to be courageous and to bear the standard of the truths we know to be self-evident. Spiritual truths for which the truth spoken of in our Constitution are shaped around. Both Spiritual and governmental truths we cherish and have relied upon for centuries are under attack and the enemy grows stronger, but God says as I started out in Joshua with this message. “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the LORD YOUR GOD is with you wherever you go.”
Do you know our history well enough to know that it was ministers, standing in their pulpits preaching truths that played a very powerful in the Revolutionary War in our quest for freedom, and through them preaching those truths deeply affected the construction of the Constitution of this country? Did you know that?
Out of times like this that are upon us, and that grow exponentially as truths are deserted, the enemy of God and man is stepping up the attacks. I am not speaking lightly here but am speaking what I see on the horizon unless, those who are advancing their unjust causes, turn from their wicked ways and repent. I am comparing and mixing these two, faith and government, because our government is based primarily on the self-evident truths of God’s word.
Listen to this…..”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (all people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
I am now going to read to you a true account that epitomizes and combines everything I have just shared with you. Listen close and hold this account close to your hearts and in your minds, for it will give you courage when courage and strength is needed. It comes from the book, “Book of Amazing Stories, authored by Robert Petterson, and published by Tyndale, Momentum.
It is titled, THE FOUR CHAPLAINS
In an era of increasing polarization, it might do us all some good to remember an amazing act of heroism many decades ago. It took place during an era of nation against nation, race against race, and religion against religion, an era that began with ethnic cleansing and ended in the Holocaust.
On February 3, 1943, an army transport ship, the Dorchester, was ferrying nine hundred combat soldiers across the North Atlantic to join in the fight against Nazi Germany. It was not an easy passage. The winter crossing was stormy, making those aboard feel like they were riding a rodeo bull. Young boys in uniform were both homesick and seasick in hot airtight compartments below deck. But their queasy claustrophobia would soon be forgotten when torpedoes from a German sub slammed into the Dorchester. The captain knew that his vessel was going down, and he sounded the order to abandon ship with all haste.
The pandemonium was heightened by the utter blackness of the stormy night. Young men were desperately searching for life jackets and trying to find lifeboats on a ship sinking in icy seas a hundred fifty miles from Greenland. In the midst of this chaos, four military chaplains became immortal heroes: Father John Washington, a New Jersey Roman Catholic; Reverend Clark Poling, a Reformed Church of America chaplain from Ohio; Reverend George Fox, a Pennsylvania Methodist; and Rabbi Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi from Brooklyn. Together, they did what chaplains are supposed to do as they guided soldiers to evacuation points, whispered courage in their ears, and helped them into lifeboats or over the side of the sinking ship. When life jackets ran out, the four chaplains peeled their off and gave them away.
Nearly seven hundred men died in the frigid waters that night, yet more than two hundred survived – some wearing life jackets handed to them by the Chaplains. One soldier said that he was going back to retrieve his gloves, but Rabbi Goode insisted that he take his. Witnesses remembered seeing those four Chaplains for the last time, linking arms together and praying as the ship disappeared from sight – a Catholic priest, a Reformed pastor, a Methodist preacher, and a Jewish rabbi. They may have come from different regions of America, voted for different political candidates, believed disparate theologies, and worshiped with dissimilar liturgies, but they believed in the same God, fought under the same flag, and were willing to die for young men whose views and lifestyles they may not have embraced. Its’ no wonder that they were posthumously awarded one of the highest honors this nation can give to its military heroes.
Today, in a time of intolerance, when almost anyone who doesn’t agree with us is dismissed as an enemy to be ridiculed, we would do well to dust off the amazing story of these four Chaplains who linked arms together in unity to pay the ultimate sacrifice for others. If it causes any of us to become less divisive, the retelling of this story will be well worth it. We might even benefit from something Malcom Forbes said;
“Diversity is the art of thinking independently ‘together.’”
Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God:
Malachi 2:10
Amen
October 4, 2020
“Have I not commanded you? “Be STRONG and of GOOD COURAGE;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD YOUR God is with you wherever you go.”
JOSHUA 1:9
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
There are times in our lives we have had to be courageous and there will be times coming down the road when, we will once again have to be courageous. To understand the word’s full meaning let’s take a look at it. Courage seems to come easier and deeper to some, than others, and there are times when we would rather have not desired to be courageous, but gladly let someone else step to the front, and do what needed to be done.
COURAGE (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
When looking at those five words, any sane person would want to avoid them totally, again, they being AGONY, PAIN, DANGER, UNCERTAINTY and INTIMIDATION.
The most courageous person I have ever met, and yes, I have met Him in multiple ways is Jesus Christ. With God by His side, with His mission firmly in place, he faced agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, and deliberate intimidation at almost every turn of His three-year ministry. In paintings from the renaissance, we see Him often depicted as this thin, pale, blue-eyed rather insipid looking victim, when the opposite is true. Being the stepson of a carpenter, his hands, forearms, biceps, shoulders, neck, legs, and feet belonged to a man who worked hard to help his family make living. His hands were calloused, splinter-filled from working with wood and stone. His skin was dark, made so by the middle eastern sun, and the dry arid climate. It is safe to say His hair was dark, his eyes either brown or even black. He was strong not only physically, but in the strength and power of God.
As His mission unfolded, beginning publicly (we are told) with turning water into wine for a wedding He and His family were attending, and then doing so only because He was obedient to His mother who rather insisted He do something because the family had run out of wine, so as not to embarrass the parents of the bride. It is evident that He is rather annoyed at Mary for asking Him to intervene, and in such a public way, but He had learned obedience during the course of His upbringing, and ultimately, He obeyed her. I also find it rather interesting that she KNEW that He was fully capable of doing this thing, and, put Him on the spot to do so. So…this was His first public miracle, one that certainly did not take courage, but instead simple obedience to mom. There is a lesson in here for all of us, and that lesson is always “obey your mother.”
From that time forward, courage walked with Him, for next in the series of events His next act was to cleanse the Temple where to the horror and fury of the priests and money changers, etc., He yelled at them saying “take these things away! Do not make My Father’s hour a house of merchandise, fulfilling Scripture by speaking these words, His “Zeal for Your house has eater Me up.” He then made a whip of cords, driving them all out of the temple, along with the sheep and oxen, pouring out the money-changers money and overturning the tables! The tone is set. He in His ministry will be in continual combative mode with the religious leaders, yet finding compassion, grace, forgiveness, and mercy for the everyday people that He was raised with. Yet, in time, even some of those would turn against Him. His focus and courage in each confrontation to come would only strengthen His resolve to fulfill His calling as the Messiah and Savior of the world, not just the Jews.
With each miracle each teaching He revealed more and more of who He was and the Father God He spoke for. He opened the eyes and hearts of anyone who could and would accept His message and His place as the Son of God. Courage gave Him strength and vision to take each new step in His journey, each new day and each new encounter or event.
Speaking of courage, let us now look at today and our contemporary life, using as examples those who serve us.
Where would we be without our men and women in the military, our men and women in law enforcement, our men and women as firefighters, those everyday people who are unafraid to speak out, in calling sin and wrong actions for what they are, no matter the ramifications. Also, for organizations such as doctors and nurses who volunteer skills in places where it seems no man or woman should be, often being attacked and killed in their willingness to serve. Strength and courage!
I speak these next words with caution but feel that I will be proven to be correct. As I said in my REFLECTIONS article, “the times they are a changing” and the acceleration of those changes are going to increase and deepen. I believe the days are coming when we, as ordinary everyday people, are going to have to stand up for our faith, for our country and for each other. We are going to have to be strong in the power of our God and in the strength of His might. We will be called upon to be courageous and to bear the standard of the truths we know to be self-evident. Spiritual truths for which the truth spoken of in our Constitution are shaped around. Both Spiritual and governmental truths we cherish and have relied upon for centuries are under attack and the enemy grows stronger, but God says as I started out in Joshua with this message. “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the LORD YOUR GOD is with you wherever you go.”
Do you know our history well enough to know that it was ministers, standing in their pulpits preaching truths that played a very powerful in the Revolutionary War in our quest for freedom, and through them preaching those truths deeply affected the construction of the Constitution of this country? Did you know that?
Out of times like this that are upon us, and that grow exponentially as truths are deserted, the enemy of God and man is stepping up the attacks. I am not speaking lightly here but am speaking what I see on the horizon unless, those who are advancing their unjust causes, turn from their wicked ways and repent. I am comparing and mixing these two, faith and government, because our government is based primarily on the self-evident truths of God’s word.
Listen to this…..”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (all people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.
I am now going to read to you a true account that epitomizes and combines everything I have just shared with you. Listen close and hold this account close to your hearts and in your minds, for it will give you courage when courage and strength is needed. It comes from the book, “Book of Amazing Stories, authored by Robert Petterson, and published by Tyndale, Momentum.
It is titled, THE FOUR CHAPLAINS
In an era of increasing polarization, it might do us all some good to remember an amazing act of heroism many decades ago. It took place during an era of nation against nation, race against race, and religion against religion, an era that began with ethnic cleansing and ended in the Holocaust.
On February 3, 1943, an army transport ship, the Dorchester, was ferrying nine hundred combat soldiers across the North Atlantic to join in the fight against Nazi Germany. It was not an easy passage. The winter crossing was stormy, making those aboard feel like they were riding a rodeo bull. Young boys in uniform were both homesick and seasick in hot airtight compartments below deck. But their queasy claustrophobia would soon be forgotten when torpedoes from a German sub slammed into the Dorchester. The captain knew that his vessel was going down, and he sounded the order to abandon ship with all haste.
The pandemonium was heightened by the utter blackness of the stormy night. Young men were desperately searching for life jackets and trying to find lifeboats on a ship sinking in icy seas a hundred fifty miles from Greenland. In the midst of this chaos, four military chaplains became immortal heroes: Father John Washington, a New Jersey Roman Catholic; Reverend Clark Poling, a Reformed Church of America chaplain from Ohio; Reverend George Fox, a Pennsylvania Methodist; and Rabbi Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi from Brooklyn. Together, they did what chaplains are supposed to do as they guided soldiers to evacuation points, whispered courage in their ears, and helped them into lifeboats or over the side of the sinking ship. When life jackets ran out, the four chaplains peeled their off and gave them away.
Nearly seven hundred men died in the frigid waters that night, yet more than two hundred survived – some wearing life jackets handed to them by the Chaplains. One soldier said that he was going back to retrieve his gloves, but Rabbi Goode insisted that he take his. Witnesses remembered seeing those four Chaplains for the last time, linking arms together and praying as the ship disappeared from sight – a Catholic priest, a Reformed pastor, a Methodist preacher, and a Jewish rabbi. They may have come from different regions of America, voted for different political candidates, believed disparate theologies, and worshiped with dissimilar liturgies, but they believed in the same God, fought under the same flag, and were willing to die for young men whose views and lifestyles they may not have embraced. Its’ no wonder that they were posthumously awarded one of the highest honors this nation can give to its military heroes.
Today, in a time of intolerance, when almost anyone who doesn’t agree with us is dismissed as an enemy to be ridiculed, we would do well to dust off the amazing story of these four Chaplains who linked arms together in unity to pay the ultimate sacrifice for others. If it causes any of us to become less divisive, the retelling of this story will be well worth it. We might even benefit from something Malcom Forbes said;
“Diversity is the art of thinking independently ‘together.’”
Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God:
Malachi 2:10
Amen
The Theology of Kneeology
Praise and Prayer
Sunday Message by: Connie Funkhouser
September 27, 2020
Theology in a Christian context is a discipline of study that seeks to understand the God revealed in the Bible and to provide a Christian understanding of reality. It seeks to understand God’s creation, particularly human beings and their condition, and God’s redemptive work in relation to humankind. Theology has practical value in providing guidance for the Christian life and ministry.
It is important for us to have good theology. It is good for us to know what we think and why we think the way we do. It is good to check what you believe and make sure it aligns with the work of God. However, no matter how much formal religious education we get. No matter how intelligent we become when it comes to scripture and God’s work. All of it means nothing unless we have a living relationship with Jesus. None of it matters unless we know how to communicate with God. None of it matters near as much as being on our knees speaking to the all-knowing, all powerful, all loving God Our Creator.
Jeremiah 29:12
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (NKJV).
Psalms 91:15
“He will call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him” (NIV).
There are 58 verses in the Bible that commands us to “call” unto the Lord. We are commanded and demanded to pray. I find it intriguing that God must command us to pray. I think I know who is reading my Sunday homily this week, so I feel as I am preaching to the choir. At the Little Church in the Pines, we have a well-established Prayer Circle. I know for a fact, that I have a close circle of friends whom I affectionally refer to as Prayer Warriors, which write down petitions of prayers from others and will take them to Our Lord throughout the day. When our Daisy’s Angels’ Ministry Team was involved @ the JCC, we had a list of students that we kept with us so that we may pray specific prayers for the students. Personally, I feel that I am in a constant state of prayer. My own private never-ending dialogue with God.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon said, “Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might.”
Speaking for myself, I can honestly admit that I boldly pull on the rope.
“I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. He has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him – my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:1-2 NLT).
Moses and the Israelites praised the Lord for His deliverance from Pharaoh. The Egyptians, who were chasing them, were no more. God had hurled each horse and rider into the sea. The Lord was their strength and had given them absolute victory. Their God was also the amazing God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They praised Him for their miracle. They exalted Him for His promise.
Here we are now, amid our own Red Sea. Our God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses. But He is more than that. His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus has defeated sin and disease on the Cross. He has opened the windows to heaven. God is no longer just our father’s God. Because of Jesus’ grace, He is also our Father. We can go to Him with anything. No longer the judge of His children, He is the lover of our souls. We pray in faith, believing, and we praise Him for His faithfulness. The Red Sea that appears before us shall be no more.
Praise is synonymous with strength and is born of trust in our Father, whom we believe takes care of every aspect of life. We face our Red Seas, believing that He has already met our needs. Even now when we do not see His provision taking place, we believe because we trust our Savior, who has opened the door to all the resources of our heavenly Father. We praise our Father that we can speak to this mountain, and He who loves us so much will move it.
When we pray, we are immediately ushered into the very presence of God. There are no restrictions to praying. God did not say, “Call unto me if it is important, or if it is serious.” We are not only to talk to God anytime, at any place, we are to talk to God about anything. Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.”
What compelled me to talk about prayer is a personal experience that I had in February. I knew that I was going to die, and I was able to watch my life on earth end in slow-motion. It is true when people say that they see their life flash before them. I saw a quick reel of my parents, my brothers when we were younger, my husband, and then my pets. I even had the fleeting thought, well I guess they’ll just need to figure everything out at the business for themselves 😊 Then I prayed, I prayed out loud and I boldly said, “God thank you for this life that you have entrusted me with. It has been great and my honor to serve you. Please watch over my husband. Thank you.” I was at perfect peace. I did not fight what was about to happen, it was all good. I even remembered feeling happy. I was not afraid. Granted, sounds like there was a lot of time between the fast-moving snow grader coming right for me, but this all happened within seconds. The impact, glass shattering, my driver side door being crushed into me . . . and then I opened my eyes, and much to my surprise I was still on earth. Crazy, I thought did God change His mind? Seems I covered all the requirements in Philippians 4:6, but does God change His mind because we pray? More on this later.
The only thing that God wants us to pray about is everything. The only thing you do not need to pray about is nothing. The only prayer that God does not answer is the prayer never prayed.
That is where kneeology comes in. We spend time praying with God to be a witness for Him, praying to let our words be used to touch others, praying to be anointed by God so that we may be used in His service. We are to share the good news of Jesus with others. It does not matter how deep our theology runs, how much we know about the word of God, or what limitations we think we might have. If we are willing to be used and are willing to put some prayer and effort into being who God wants us to be then we can make a difference. Do not believe prayer and praise are important? Then just study the life of Jesus. He continually went away to be alone and spend time in prayer with His Father. He prayed asking for direction, for assurance, for strength. He prayed to be used in the way he was meant to be used.
Remember something about God. God always answers prayer on schedule, but it is always His schedule, not ours. Our problem is, we are concerned with time, but God is concerned with timing. Remember that God’s delays are not God’s denials.
The greatest knowledge a person can ever have is the will of God. We will never know that apart from prayer. The greatest person we can ever know is the Lord Jesus Christ. You will never know Him intimately apart from prayer. The greatest book we will ever read is the Word of God and we will never understand it apart from prayer.
Does prayer change things? Yes. Does God use prayer as a secondary means to bring His work to pass? Yes. Does God not only invite us to pray but command us to? Yes. Does the effective prayer of righteous man accomplish much? Yes. But do these things change God’s mind? No. Why? Because God has never had to change His mind from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11).
Kneeology; Communicating with God on a regular basis is way more important than most theology we are taught. Yes, of course theology is important, but prayer is what makes it come alive . . . it is what helps us to use what we know to become who we are supposed to be.
If you do not have a degree in kneeology, learn, teach others to pray, to communicate, to listen for the Will of God. You will not be disappointed you did.
Prayer changes us ~ Praise moves the heart ♥ of God.
Praise and Prayer
Sunday Message by: Connie Funkhouser
September 27, 2020
Theology in a Christian context is a discipline of study that seeks to understand the God revealed in the Bible and to provide a Christian understanding of reality. It seeks to understand God’s creation, particularly human beings and their condition, and God’s redemptive work in relation to humankind. Theology has practical value in providing guidance for the Christian life and ministry.
It is important for us to have good theology. It is good for us to know what we think and why we think the way we do. It is good to check what you believe and make sure it aligns with the work of God. However, no matter how much formal religious education we get. No matter how intelligent we become when it comes to scripture and God’s work. All of it means nothing unless we have a living relationship with Jesus. None of it matters unless we know how to communicate with God. None of it matters near as much as being on our knees speaking to the all-knowing, all powerful, all loving God Our Creator.
Jeremiah 29:12
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (NKJV).
Psalms 91:15
“He will call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him” (NIV).
There are 58 verses in the Bible that commands us to “call” unto the Lord. We are commanded and demanded to pray. I find it intriguing that God must command us to pray. I think I know who is reading my Sunday homily this week, so I feel as I am preaching to the choir. At the Little Church in the Pines, we have a well-established Prayer Circle. I know for a fact, that I have a close circle of friends whom I affectionally refer to as Prayer Warriors, which write down petitions of prayers from others and will take them to Our Lord throughout the day. When our Daisy’s Angels’ Ministry Team was involved @ the JCC, we had a list of students that we kept with us so that we may pray specific prayers for the students. Personally, I feel that I am in a constant state of prayer. My own private never-ending dialogue with God.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon said, “Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might.”
Speaking for myself, I can honestly admit that I boldly pull on the rope.
“I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. He has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him – my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:1-2 NLT).
Moses and the Israelites praised the Lord for His deliverance from Pharaoh. The Egyptians, who were chasing them, were no more. God had hurled each horse and rider into the sea. The Lord was their strength and had given them absolute victory. Their God was also the amazing God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They praised Him for their miracle. They exalted Him for His promise.
Here we are now, amid our own Red Sea. Our God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses. But He is more than that. His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus has defeated sin and disease on the Cross. He has opened the windows to heaven. God is no longer just our father’s God. Because of Jesus’ grace, He is also our Father. We can go to Him with anything. No longer the judge of His children, He is the lover of our souls. We pray in faith, believing, and we praise Him for His faithfulness. The Red Sea that appears before us shall be no more.
Praise is synonymous with strength and is born of trust in our Father, whom we believe takes care of every aspect of life. We face our Red Seas, believing that He has already met our needs. Even now when we do not see His provision taking place, we believe because we trust our Savior, who has opened the door to all the resources of our heavenly Father. We praise our Father that we can speak to this mountain, and He who loves us so much will move it.
When we pray, we are immediately ushered into the very presence of God. There are no restrictions to praying. God did not say, “Call unto me if it is important, or if it is serious.” We are not only to talk to God anytime, at any place, we are to talk to God about anything. Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.”
What compelled me to talk about prayer is a personal experience that I had in February. I knew that I was going to die, and I was able to watch my life on earth end in slow-motion. It is true when people say that they see their life flash before them. I saw a quick reel of my parents, my brothers when we were younger, my husband, and then my pets. I even had the fleeting thought, well I guess they’ll just need to figure everything out at the business for themselves 😊 Then I prayed, I prayed out loud and I boldly said, “God thank you for this life that you have entrusted me with. It has been great and my honor to serve you. Please watch over my husband. Thank you.” I was at perfect peace. I did not fight what was about to happen, it was all good. I even remembered feeling happy. I was not afraid. Granted, sounds like there was a lot of time between the fast-moving snow grader coming right for me, but this all happened within seconds. The impact, glass shattering, my driver side door being crushed into me . . . and then I opened my eyes, and much to my surprise I was still on earth. Crazy, I thought did God change His mind? Seems I covered all the requirements in Philippians 4:6, but does God change His mind because we pray? More on this later.
The only thing that God wants us to pray about is everything. The only thing you do not need to pray about is nothing. The only prayer that God does not answer is the prayer never prayed.
That is where kneeology comes in. We spend time praying with God to be a witness for Him, praying to let our words be used to touch others, praying to be anointed by God so that we may be used in His service. We are to share the good news of Jesus with others. It does not matter how deep our theology runs, how much we know about the word of God, or what limitations we think we might have. If we are willing to be used and are willing to put some prayer and effort into being who God wants us to be then we can make a difference. Do not believe prayer and praise are important? Then just study the life of Jesus. He continually went away to be alone and spend time in prayer with His Father. He prayed asking for direction, for assurance, for strength. He prayed to be used in the way he was meant to be used.
Remember something about God. God always answers prayer on schedule, but it is always His schedule, not ours. Our problem is, we are concerned with time, but God is concerned with timing. Remember that God’s delays are not God’s denials.
The greatest knowledge a person can ever have is the will of God. We will never know that apart from prayer. The greatest person we can ever know is the Lord Jesus Christ. You will never know Him intimately apart from prayer. The greatest book we will ever read is the Word of God and we will never understand it apart from prayer.
Does prayer change things? Yes. Does God use prayer as a secondary means to bring His work to pass? Yes. Does God not only invite us to pray but command us to? Yes. Does the effective prayer of righteous man accomplish much? Yes. But do these things change God’s mind? No. Why? Because God has never had to change His mind from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11).
Kneeology; Communicating with God on a regular basis is way more important than most theology we are taught. Yes, of course theology is important, but prayer is what makes it come alive . . . it is what helps us to use what we know to become who we are supposed to be.
If you do not have a degree in kneeology, learn, teach others to pray, to communicate, to listen for the Will of God. You will not be disappointed you did.
Prayer changes us ~ Praise moves the heart ♥ of God.
Luke 17:11-19
Sermon by: Pastor Connie Day
September 20, 2020
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
This is the second time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus heals someone with leprosy.
In Luke chapter five, a man who had leprosy fell on his face when he saw Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I am willing.” He reached out and touched the man and healed him.
In this story (Luke 17), Jesus again encountered some lepers.
They stood at a distance from him. The law required that they do so.
Leviticus 13:45-46
Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease, they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
Leprosy was a disease that not only affected the body. Those who had it were forced to stay socially distant from others. As long as a person had this disease, he would be excluded from the community.
This was considered to be more than just a physical disease. It was considered a disease of body and soul: a judgement from God, a punishment for sin.
People feared lepers, much in the same way that people in our time sometimes view those with diseases: not only was there fear that coming into contact with such a person could put you at risk, but there was also a sense that somehow these people must have done something to deserve this illness.
The average person went out of their way to avoid people with leprosy, and laws kept these people at a distance, isolated from the community. But Jesus didn’t turn away when the men with leprosy called out to him. As in the earlier story, where Jesus reached out a touched the man who was considered “unclean,” Jesus had compassion for people whom others would turn away.
Maybe that’s why they called out to him in the first place. Maybe they had heard of his love for sinners and outcasts. Maybe they had heard that he healed others with this dreadful disease.
So they called out to him, “Jesus, have mercy on us!”
And Jesus told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
You see, that was the only way that they could be re-admitted to society. It was the only way that they could return to their families: to a “normal” life. A priest had to certify that they were, indeed, healed. Until a priest examined them, they were still outcasts: excluded from the community.
All ten of these men acted on faith. Jesus doesn’t heal them and then send them to see the priest. They have had to act on faith—to trust in Jesus. They go, as Jesus tells them to, as as they go they are healed. Before there is any evidence that the healing would take place, they believed and obeyed the words of Jesus. And maybe there’s a lesson in that for us: to trust in God even when we can’t see the ways that God is working in our lives. To believe, and to step out in faith, even when we don’t have any proof that things will turn out all right.
These men trusted in Jesus, without any evidence that they would be healed. They literally “stepped out in faith”—they turned and started walking. And “as they went, they were cleansed.”
But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back. He praised God, shouting out praise for what had been done. He found Jesus and said, “Thank you.” And Jesus asked some questions. “Weren’t there ten who were healed?”
“Where are the other nine?”
Where are the other nine?
Where did they go?
What were they doing?
What were they thinking?
Let’s imagine for a moment that we could get inside the minds of the other nine: that we could hear their thoughts and understand “where they were.”
I can imagine some of them thinking, “What a coincidence!” “Right about the time that Jesus came by, suddenly I started feeling better. It’s kind of odd that it happened that way. A real coincidence!” They don’t feel a need to go back and thank Jesus because they don’t see the connection of their cry for mercy and the healing that has taken place.
And don’t we do that sometimes too?
We pray. We cry out to God for help. And when the answer to our prayers comes, we forget that we ever prayed, or we think that things probably would have happened the same way even if we had not prayed. It was just a coincidence. And we don’t think to say, “Thank you.”
Maybe that’s what some of the nine men were thinking that day.
I can imagine some others who are so excited—so amazed that they were healed. They need to go see the priest to be examined. They need to be “certified.” Then they would go and clean up and shave, and put on some decent clothes…and then, there would be joyful reunions with their friends and families. There would be so much to do. There was so much ahead of them. There wasn’t time to look back, or to go back. A quick prayer of thanks on the run was all they had time for. Surely God would understand.
And how many of our prayers are said “on the run?” How often are we willing to stop? To take time to praise God and to thank Jesus for the ways we have been helped and healed?
I can imagine some among those nine men who did not return because they were busy getting on with their lives.
I can imagine others who didn’t return because they were angry.
They got to thinking, as they walked toward town, “Why did I have to go through this in the first place?” “Why did God allow me to suffer?” “Why did God allow me to be sick?” “Why did God allow me to be alienated from my family for so long?”
“It’s not fair! Look how much I have lost! That is time that I can never get back!”
They dwell on the illness, the suffering, and they don’t feel very thankful. The best they can say is, “It’s about time!” And they are unable to see or appreciate the gift they have been given.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a hard time being thankful because you can’t see beyond the hurt, disappointment, or anger? Or because you compare yourself and your circumstances with others, and you seem to have gotten the “short end of the stick?”
Sometimes we are blinded by the difficulties of our lives, and instead of being thankful for all the blessings we have received, we can’t even see them. We hold onto the hurt and the anger, and we miss the blessing entirely.
I don’t know all of the reasons why those nine men didn’t come back to thank Jesus. I don’t know all of the reasons why we fail to give thanks.
When we read this story about the ten who were healed and the one who returned, we like to think that we are most like the one. We like to think of ourselves as the one who came back. But the fact is, we are all of them.
About 90% of the time, we take our blessings for granted, and about 10% of the time, we remember to give thanks. About 10% of the time, we recognize how very fortunate we are and how much we have been given. And we stop. And we give praise to God. And we seek out Jesus to say, “Thank you.”
Maybe with some practice, we can increase that percentage a bit.
Let’s remind ourselves, and remind each other, of how God has blessed us. Let’s remember today the ways that God has healed us and helped us, and how God is working in our lives. Open your eyes and see what God has done. And just say, “Thank you.”
When you do, you will be blessed again—just as the one who turned back to thank Jesus was—you will be blessed with the very presence of Christ.
Take some time today to think about it: how has God blessed you? What has God done for you this week? What is God doing in your life right now? If you look, you will see your blessings. And when you acknowledge the source of your blessings, your life will be filled with greater joy. Give thanks.
Sermon by: Pastor Connie Day
September 20, 2020
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
This is the second time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus heals someone with leprosy.
In Luke chapter five, a man who had leprosy fell on his face when he saw Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I am willing.” He reached out and touched the man and healed him.
In this story (Luke 17), Jesus again encountered some lepers.
They stood at a distance from him. The law required that they do so.
Leviticus 13:45-46
Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease, they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
Leprosy was a disease that not only affected the body. Those who had it were forced to stay socially distant from others. As long as a person had this disease, he would be excluded from the community.
This was considered to be more than just a physical disease. It was considered a disease of body and soul: a judgement from God, a punishment for sin.
People feared lepers, much in the same way that people in our time sometimes view those with diseases: not only was there fear that coming into contact with such a person could put you at risk, but there was also a sense that somehow these people must have done something to deserve this illness.
The average person went out of their way to avoid people with leprosy, and laws kept these people at a distance, isolated from the community. But Jesus didn’t turn away when the men with leprosy called out to him. As in the earlier story, where Jesus reached out a touched the man who was considered “unclean,” Jesus had compassion for people whom others would turn away.
Maybe that’s why they called out to him in the first place. Maybe they had heard of his love for sinners and outcasts. Maybe they had heard that he healed others with this dreadful disease.
So they called out to him, “Jesus, have mercy on us!”
And Jesus told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
You see, that was the only way that they could be re-admitted to society. It was the only way that they could return to their families: to a “normal” life. A priest had to certify that they were, indeed, healed. Until a priest examined them, they were still outcasts: excluded from the community.
All ten of these men acted on faith. Jesus doesn’t heal them and then send them to see the priest. They have had to act on faith—to trust in Jesus. They go, as Jesus tells them to, as as they go they are healed. Before there is any evidence that the healing would take place, they believed and obeyed the words of Jesus. And maybe there’s a lesson in that for us: to trust in God even when we can’t see the ways that God is working in our lives. To believe, and to step out in faith, even when we don’t have any proof that things will turn out all right.
These men trusted in Jesus, without any evidence that they would be healed. They literally “stepped out in faith”—they turned and started walking. And “as they went, they were cleansed.”
But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back. He praised God, shouting out praise for what had been done. He found Jesus and said, “Thank you.” And Jesus asked some questions. “Weren’t there ten who were healed?”
“Where are the other nine?”
Where are the other nine?
Where did they go?
What were they doing?
What were they thinking?
Let’s imagine for a moment that we could get inside the minds of the other nine: that we could hear their thoughts and understand “where they were.”
I can imagine some of them thinking, “What a coincidence!” “Right about the time that Jesus came by, suddenly I started feeling better. It’s kind of odd that it happened that way. A real coincidence!” They don’t feel a need to go back and thank Jesus because they don’t see the connection of their cry for mercy and the healing that has taken place.
And don’t we do that sometimes too?
We pray. We cry out to God for help. And when the answer to our prayers comes, we forget that we ever prayed, or we think that things probably would have happened the same way even if we had not prayed. It was just a coincidence. And we don’t think to say, “Thank you.”
Maybe that’s what some of the nine men were thinking that day.
I can imagine some others who are so excited—so amazed that they were healed. They need to go see the priest to be examined. They need to be “certified.” Then they would go and clean up and shave, and put on some decent clothes…and then, there would be joyful reunions with their friends and families. There would be so much to do. There was so much ahead of them. There wasn’t time to look back, or to go back. A quick prayer of thanks on the run was all they had time for. Surely God would understand.
And how many of our prayers are said “on the run?” How often are we willing to stop? To take time to praise God and to thank Jesus for the ways we have been helped and healed?
I can imagine some among those nine men who did not return because they were busy getting on with their lives.
I can imagine others who didn’t return because they were angry.
They got to thinking, as they walked toward town, “Why did I have to go through this in the first place?” “Why did God allow me to suffer?” “Why did God allow me to be sick?” “Why did God allow me to be alienated from my family for so long?”
“It’s not fair! Look how much I have lost! That is time that I can never get back!”
They dwell on the illness, the suffering, and they don’t feel very thankful. The best they can say is, “It’s about time!” And they are unable to see or appreciate the gift they have been given.
Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a hard time being thankful because you can’t see beyond the hurt, disappointment, or anger? Or because you compare yourself and your circumstances with others, and you seem to have gotten the “short end of the stick?”
Sometimes we are blinded by the difficulties of our lives, and instead of being thankful for all the blessings we have received, we can’t even see them. We hold onto the hurt and the anger, and we miss the blessing entirely.
I don’t know all of the reasons why those nine men didn’t come back to thank Jesus. I don’t know all of the reasons why we fail to give thanks.
When we read this story about the ten who were healed and the one who returned, we like to think that we are most like the one. We like to think of ourselves as the one who came back. But the fact is, we are all of them.
About 90% of the time, we take our blessings for granted, and about 10% of the time, we remember to give thanks. About 10% of the time, we recognize how very fortunate we are and how much we have been given. And we stop. And we give praise to God. And we seek out Jesus to say, “Thank you.”
Maybe with some practice, we can increase that percentage a bit.
Let’s remind ourselves, and remind each other, of how God has blessed us. Let’s remember today the ways that God has healed us and helped us, and how God is working in our lives. Open your eyes and see what God has done. And just say, “Thank you.”
When you do, you will be blessed again—just as the one who turned back to thank Jesus was—you will be blessed with the very presence of Christ.
Take some time today to think about it: how has God blessed you? What has God done for you this week? What is God doing in your life right now? If you look, you will see your blessings. And when you acknowledge the source of your blessings, your life will be filled with greater joy. Give thanks.
The Holy Spirit
September 13, 2020
Connie Funkhouser subbing for Pastor Tom
I am about to share a secret of mine; I have a favorite. My favorite of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Odd, you may think, how can anyone have a favorite within the Trinity: One God, right? God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Divine persons within one. I do not know when my heart decided on a favorite, not even sure if it is okay to have a favorite, but I cannot deny that I do. Quite sure God is okay with this because I know in my very soul that the Holy Spirit, is God’s Spirit, and dwells within me. Not when I choose to tap into the Holy Spirit, but He is always there. It is up to me to let God’s Spirit shine.
When I sub for Pastor Tom, I like to have a theme; July 4th, change of seasons, Veteran’s Day, you get the idea. This time when he asked me, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit. Being in the restaurant industry I talk with “a lot” of people, whether they are customers, employees, food and beverage reps, and delivery personal. A few years ago, I decided that I was not going to be bashful about my Faith and personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior. Which for me meant, Living in the Presence of God is foremost in my mind, thoughts, and actions. I guess this would qualify me as wearing my Faith on my sleeve, okay, sure, whatever, call it what you want. My desire is to share what I have, and I have been blessed with the resources to share what is in my heart and soul.
This summer having heartfelt discussions with many folks I have noticed something is missing . . . a missing link between life (and I am talking all aspects of life) and faith. Me being me, typically responds with, “if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit living within I have no idea what my life would be like.” Mentioning God’s Gift of His Holy Spirit brings a blank look from some. Even comments such as I do not know much about the Holy Spirit, let alone how to attain His presence. Or even, the Holy Spirit is the one part of the Trinity that is most confusing. Ok, so I know who God and Jesus are, but I do not get the Holy Spirit. One of my favorites, well if God’s Spirit is out there, there is too many people for Him to be a constant in my life and why would He want to be?
My prayer with the following homily is to bring awareness of a gift that is available to all and shed a little light on the fact that the Holy Spirit does not need to be foreign. Accepting God’s Gift is life changing. On a few occasions I have offered to give “all” my faith and trust in God away so that others will have what I have, and I will start from scratch. Yes, I trust and believe that I would regain all that was within my soul. Just maybe the following will serve as a gift to you.
Because the Holy Spirit is not systematically described in Scripture, the doctrine of the Third Person of the Trinity may seem elusive and even controversial. The Holy Spirit is important since He provides contact between the believer and God, He is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer. This has led to difficulties in understanding Him and His work. From the biblical evidence, God’s Word, Jesus’ teachings, we can discover His deity and personality.
You may ask, “What are the qualities and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”
One God eternally exists in three divine persons; Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.
Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, His Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of humans to convince us by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.
Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot see Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:16-17 NLT).
“He will give us another Advocate.” Oh, how I love this. An advocate. An encourager, campaigner, supporter, someone that will even pray for us when we no longer have the strength or words. Full-disclosure, often I ask the Holy Spirit to go to bat for me; to advocate for me as my soul rests in His peace. Some Bible translations uses the word Counselor, meaning “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages. The Holy Spirit comes alongside the believer, to do what Jesus did when He was here physically, but now mainly from the inside of us. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us. I love this, Jesus gave us the Spirit as a compensation for His absence. Thank You Lord Jesus!
The revealer of truth. The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples that “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NKJV). He reveals to our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living. He is the ultimate guide, going before, and leading the way. He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things. Without such a guide in our lives, the believer’s life, my life, are thoughts that I do not care to entertain.
The Holy Spirit is also a gift-giver. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the spiritual gifts given to the believer in order that we may function as the Body of Christ on earth. All these gifts (read vs. 4-27), both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors, showing His grace and glorifying Him.
The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through whom the entire Triune Godhead currently works in us. Through the Holy Spirit’s work that we feel God’s presence within, and the Christian life is given a special tangibility. He is someone to whom we can and should pray. The Holy Spirit, being fully divine, is to be accorded the same honor and respect that we give to the Father and the Son. It is appropriate to worship Him as we do them. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. His work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activities.
God is not far off. In the Holy Spirit, the Triune God comes close, so close as to enter into each believer. He is even more intimately involved with us now than in the incarnation. Through the operation of the Spirit he has truly become Immanuel, “God with us.” The knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives, that He performs all these miraculous functions, that He dwells with us forever, and that He will never leave or forsake us brings confidence, security, and is cause for great joy and comfort.
“Thank God for Your precious gift the Holy Spirit
and His work in our lives!”
In closing with my homily 😉 I hope that I have shared a little insight to the attainability of God’s Gift to us and maybe why I secretly have a favorite. It is free, does not need to be paid back, a gift that we can share with so many others just by Living in the Presence of God. A gift that is embedded in our very being that enables us to remain confident, and at peace through these challenging times.
I thank you for your time. Pastor Constance Rae (I love her name) will be subbing for Pastor Tom next week, I the following, then P.Tom will be back from vacation the first Sunday in October.
With every breath, we will share your goodness Lord. Let everything that has breath praise you, faithful God. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22, NLT).
Breathe in me Holy Spirit so I may share your gift of life and all of eternity spent with you.
Blessings ~ Connie Funkhouser
September 13, 2020
Connie Funkhouser subbing for Pastor Tom
I am about to share a secret of mine; I have a favorite. My favorite of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Odd, you may think, how can anyone have a favorite within the Trinity: One God, right? God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Divine persons within one. I do not know when my heart decided on a favorite, not even sure if it is okay to have a favorite, but I cannot deny that I do. Quite sure God is okay with this because I know in my very soul that the Holy Spirit, is God’s Spirit, and dwells within me. Not when I choose to tap into the Holy Spirit, but He is always there. It is up to me to let God’s Spirit shine.
When I sub for Pastor Tom, I like to have a theme; July 4th, change of seasons, Veteran’s Day, you get the idea. This time when he asked me, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit. Being in the restaurant industry I talk with “a lot” of people, whether they are customers, employees, food and beverage reps, and delivery personal. A few years ago, I decided that I was not going to be bashful about my Faith and personal relationship with Our Lord and Savior. Which for me meant, Living in the Presence of God is foremost in my mind, thoughts, and actions. I guess this would qualify me as wearing my Faith on my sleeve, okay, sure, whatever, call it what you want. My desire is to share what I have, and I have been blessed with the resources to share what is in my heart and soul.
This summer having heartfelt discussions with many folks I have noticed something is missing . . . a missing link between life (and I am talking all aspects of life) and faith. Me being me, typically responds with, “if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit living within I have no idea what my life would be like.” Mentioning God’s Gift of His Holy Spirit brings a blank look from some. Even comments such as I do not know much about the Holy Spirit, let alone how to attain His presence. Or even, the Holy Spirit is the one part of the Trinity that is most confusing. Ok, so I know who God and Jesus are, but I do not get the Holy Spirit. One of my favorites, well if God’s Spirit is out there, there is too many people for Him to be a constant in my life and why would He want to be?
My prayer with the following homily is to bring awareness of a gift that is available to all and shed a little light on the fact that the Holy Spirit does not need to be foreign. Accepting God’s Gift is life changing. On a few occasions I have offered to give “all” my faith and trust in God away so that others will have what I have, and I will start from scratch. Yes, I trust and believe that I would regain all that was within my soul. Just maybe the following will serve as a gift to you.
Because the Holy Spirit is not systematically described in Scripture, the doctrine of the Third Person of the Trinity may seem elusive and even controversial. The Holy Spirit is important since He provides contact between the believer and God, He is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer. This has led to difficulties in understanding Him and His work. From the biblical evidence, God’s Word, Jesus’ teachings, we can discover His deity and personality.
You may ask, “What are the qualities and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”
One God eternally exists in three divine persons; Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14.
Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, His Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of humans to convince us by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.
Once we are saved and belong to God, the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts forever, sealing us with the confirming, certifying, and assuring pledge of our eternal state as His children. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot see Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:16-17 NLT).
“He will give us another Advocate.” Oh, how I love this. An advocate. An encourager, campaigner, supporter, someone that will even pray for us when we no longer have the strength or words. Full-disclosure, often I ask the Holy Spirit to go to bat for me; to advocate for me as my soul rests in His peace. Some Bible translations uses the word Counselor, meaning “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages. The Holy Spirit comes alongside the believer, to do what Jesus did when He was here physically, but now mainly from the inside of us. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 12:13). Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us. I love this, Jesus gave us the Spirit as a compensation for His absence. Thank You Lord Jesus!
The revealer of truth. The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word. Jesus told His disciples that “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 NKJV). He reveals to our minds the whole counsel of God as it relates to worship, doctrine, and Christian living. He is the ultimate guide, going before, and leading the way. He leads in the way we should go in all spiritual things. Without such a guide in our lives, the believer’s life, my life, are thoughts that I do not care to entertain.
The Holy Spirit is also a gift-giver. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the spiritual gifts given to the believer in order that we may function as the Body of Christ on earth. All these gifts (read vs. 4-27), both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors, showing His grace and glorifying Him.
The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity through whom the entire Triune Godhead currently works in us. Through the Holy Spirit’s work that we feel God’s presence within, and the Christian life is given a special tangibility. He is someone to whom we can and should pray. The Holy Spirit, being fully divine, is to be accorded the same honor and respect that we give to the Father and the Son. It is appropriate to worship Him as we do them. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. His work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activities.
God is not far off. In the Holy Spirit, the Triune God comes close, so close as to enter into each believer. He is even more intimately involved with us now than in the incarnation. Through the operation of the Spirit he has truly become Immanuel, “God with us.” The knowledge that the Holy Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives, that He performs all these miraculous functions, that He dwells with us forever, and that He will never leave or forsake us brings confidence, security, and is cause for great joy and comfort.
“Thank God for Your precious gift the Holy Spirit
and His work in our lives!”
In closing with my homily 😉 I hope that I have shared a little insight to the attainability of God’s Gift to us and maybe why I secretly have a favorite. It is free, does not need to be paid back, a gift that we can share with so many others just by Living in the Presence of God. A gift that is embedded in our very being that enables us to remain confident, and at peace through these challenging times.
I thank you for your time. Pastor Constance Rae (I love her name) will be subbing for Pastor Tom next week, I the following, then P.Tom will be back from vacation the first Sunday in October.
With every breath, we will share your goodness Lord. Let everything that has breath praise you, faithful God. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22, NLT).
Breathe in me Holy Spirit so I may share your gift of life and all of eternity spent with you.
Blessings ~ Connie Funkhouser
The Little Church in the Pines
It’s not fair, it just isn’t !
Ephesians 1:7 & 8
September 5, 2020
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
How many times have you said these words to God, “it’s not fair, it just isn’t!” So then, what is? Here is what is fair…. brought about by what wasn’t fair to the one that made life if lived in Christ, ultimately fair, though along the pathway it at times sure doesn’t seem so.
In Christ…we (all) have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of “God’s grace that He lavished on us!” Lavished on us! GRACE…. OH, SO AMAZING…THAT GRACE! This speaks of ‘fairness in the extreme, when it is so undeserved, regardless of age, status, occupation, race, nationality or gender…. for, the only thing you have to be is ‘human.’
When we think of how unfair life seems to be and sometimes is…. let us think or of how it would be, without Grace.
This sermon is not about Grace in that Grace is not the central word, but it continuously exists, laying beneath the surface….especially as I read to you the true story of a boy born as an outcast, for we know (God has a special place in His heart for the outcast) as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, who did more for the outcasts of His day, than any other group of people and with the long-term result trickling down to today.
Here’s the story……………….a biblical one at that, that rises (in God) above human prejudice and hatred. The innocent are often the recipient of unfairness, sometimes to the extreme.
STORY……………………………………………………………………………………….
There are thousands of such stories in real life, and perhaps one of you has your own story of overcoming when life seemed to beat you down, and everything and everyone seemed unfair.
Jesus told a parable about fairness in Matthew 20:1-16 (read) If you or I were one of those who first agreed to work, for what in those days was a fair wage, and experiencing what these workers did, would you too not expect more and voice your disappointment, or even be angry. Of course, for…it is a natural reaction, but God calls us to a supernatural reaction. The allegory is specifically targeted to we Believers, that instead of grumbling, we should rejoice for each and every person, who by their acceptance of Jesus, even if it is with their dying breath, are saved by the same grace, we experience (those of us who have been His followers for years) thereby all entering into the same heaven.
You see…. we Gentiles are in the Kingdom of God, late comers. The Jews were following Jehovah God for thousands of years….and here we are, the tag-along late comers, adopted as such into the family tree. It is by grace we are saved and not by anything we have accomplished, and we, according to the Jews are (the unclean).
We are all the 5:00 o’clock workers.
Here is a secret about Grace…ten words that explain all you and I need to know: “If God is for us, who can be successful (in the long run) by being against us. His goal is for our ULTIMATE salvation, regardless of how unfair life on this planet treats us.
Let us look at four of the words in this verse, that deserve our attention. Say with me please, “God is for us” Maybe one more time would be good, “God is for us.”
You see…here is the bottom line…. GOD is for US!
You may have had in your childhood a not so good parent, a sibling who picked on you all the time. You may have been bullied. You may have (tragically) been sexually abused as a child, as a friend of mine was numerous times. You may have during your adulthood been overlooked for a promotion that in your eyes should have been yours. You may have experienced any number of negative, painful, even debilitating, unkind mental, emotion, physical, spiritual happenings, that impacted your life deeply.
But…. you, today, sitting here now, have been spoken to, recognized and called by God. You are a son or a daughter of your Father who art in Heaven, and He has called you by name to be a part of His family.
God is for you and NOT against you. NOT maybe, NOT has been, NOT was, NOT will be, but IS! In UNDERSTANDING this, does this mean you had or will have a care-free life, without pain, sorrow or disappointments? NO…for life on this planet, with the long-term influence of sin and all its ramifications, over the eons of time, affect us all…. just simply because we are alive. No one gets a pass on its influence.
Life in and of itself is “not fair, it’s just NOT fair.
One of the differences for we Believers in Jesus the Christ, is that HE will walk with us and even carry us at times when we need to be carried. Most of us have either read or heard spoken, the poem ‘Footprints in the Sand, and I have found it is sometimes a good thing to revisit something that spoke to us when we first read or head it. Here it is.
Lord, You promised me, you’d hold my hand.
Tell me why in the sorrow of my troubled time,
I looked back and would find only one set of footprints in the sand?
Mine….
One set of footprints in the sand?
Oh, yes, at last I understand
Through every storm YOU carried me,
For now, I praise the Lord each time I see
One set of footprints in the sand!
These words speak so beautifully as a description of the heart of God and the heart of Jesus. These words are not ‘religion speaking’ they are God speaking to a hurting people. Come to me all you who are heavily burdened and “I, I will give you rest.”
This is a truth that we can hold on to when the storms come, and in time they will come to everyone. To know that we are not alone….brings comfort to our lives that is like no other, by KNOWING Him.
He…the Triune God, manifested in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are as close to you now, (if you will embrace Him) as He ever will or can be, but are You close enough to Him to sense and KNOW His Presence? Are you? That my fellow Believer is OUR choice, not His. You can only KNOW Him as much as you seek to KNOW Him.
In Isaiah 49:5, God asks Isaiah, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and not have compassion on the little one she has borne? What a bizarre question. Can you imagine, a mother, feeding her infant child and when finished, asking later, what was the baby’s name? Of course not, and what God was telling Isaiah was this….” even if she could forget….I, God, will not forget, you.”
Going back…. knowing what I just shared from Isaiah, whomever comes against you can do no eternal harm. Can death take you away, yes. Can disease come into your life, Yes. Can pain greater than you think you can handle, reach out and absorb you? yes. Can your inherent value in God’s eyes be taken away, NO. Though hell itself may set itself against you, you cannot be defeated if you believe, that single set of footprints in the sand. We are protected for eternity for God is for us……and that is the meaning of grace, especially when life is so deeply unfair.
Can you grasp this? Can you?
For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it IS the GIFT of God…not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.
We will find as we discover the Presence of God, His love for us, our focus where it needs to be…that we are able then to walk on the waters of life no matter how troubled they may be, for our failures are forgivable, and not only forgivable, but for times of learning, and once learned, to apply that lesson to our every day life.
Life isn’t fair…. but God is and is there always…to help us.
2nd Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God,
Who always…leads us in triumphal procession,
In Christ!
And through us…
Spread everywhere,
The fragrance of the knowledge of Him……
Amen
It’s not fair, it just isn’t !
Ephesians 1:7 & 8
September 5, 2020
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
How many times have you said these words to God, “it’s not fair, it just isn’t!” So then, what is? Here is what is fair…. brought about by what wasn’t fair to the one that made life if lived in Christ, ultimately fair, though along the pathway it at times sure doesn’t seem so.
In Christ…we (all) have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of “God’s grace that He lavished on us!” Lavished on us! GRACE…. OH, SO AMAZING…THAT GRACE! This speaks of ‘fairness in the extreme, when it is so undeserved, regardless of age, status, occupation, race, nationality or gender…. for, the only thing you have to be is ‘human.’
When we think of how unfair life seems to be and sometimes is…. let us think or of how it would be, without Grace.
This sermon is not about Grace in that Grace is not the central word, but it continuously exists, laying beneath the surface….especially as I read to you the true story of a boy born as an outcast, for we know (God has a special place in His heart for the outcast) as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, who did more for the outcasts of His day, than any other group of people and with the long-term result trickling down to today.
Here’s the story……………….a biblical one at that, that rises (in God) above human prejudice and hatred. The innocent are often the recipient of unfairness, sometimes to the extreme.
STORY……………………………………………………………………………………….
There are thousands of such stories in real life, and perhaps one of you has your own story of overcoming when life seemed to beat you down, and everything and everyone seemed unfair.
Jesus told a parable about fairness in Matthew 20:1-16 (read) If you or I were one of those who first agreed to work, for what in those days was a fair wage, and experiencing what these workers did, would you too not expect more and voice your disappointment, or even be angry. Of course, for…it is a natural reaction, but God calls us to a supernatural reaction. The allegory is specifically targeted to we Believers, that instead of grumbling, we should rejoice for each and every person, who by their acceptance of Jesus, even if it is with their dying breath, are saved by the same grace, we experience (those of us who have been His followers for years) thereby all entering into the same heaven.
You see…. we Gentiles are in the Kingdom of God, late comers. The Jews were following Jehovah God for thousands of years….and here we are, the tag-along late comers, adopted as such into the family tree. It is by grace we are saved and not by anything we have accomplished, and we, according to the Jews are (the unclean).
We are all the 5:00 o’clock workers.
Here is a secret about Grace…ten words that explain all you and I need to know: “If God is for us, who can be successful (in the long run) by being against us. His goal is for our ULTIMATE salvation, regardless of how unfair life on this planet treats us.
Let us look at four of the words in this verse, that deserve our attention. Say with me please, “God is for us” Maybe one more time would be good, “God is for us.”
You see…here is the bottom line…. GOD is for US!
You may have had in your childhood a not so good parent, a sibling who picked on you all the time. You may have been bullied. You may have (tragically) been sexually abused as a child, as a friend of mine was numerous times. You may have during your adulthood been overlooked for a promotion that in your eyes should have been yours. You may have experienced any number of negative, painful, even debilitating, unkind mental, emotion, physical, spiritual happenings, that impacted your life deeply.
But…. you, today, sitting here now, have been spoken to, recognized and called by God. You are a son or a daughter of your Father who art in Heaven, and He has called you by name to be a part of His family.
God is for you and NOT against you. NOT maybe, NOT has been, NOT was, NOT will be, but IS! In UNDERSTANDING this, does this mean you had or will have a care-free life, without pain, sorrow or disappointments? NO…for life on this planet, with the long-term influence of sin and all its ramifications, over the eons of time, affect us all…. just simply because we are alive. No one gets a pass on its influence.
Life in and of itself is “not fair, it’s just NOT fair.
One of the differences for we Believers in Jesus the Christ, is that HE will walk with us and even carry us at times when we need to be carried. Most of us have either read or heard spoken, the poem ‘Footprints in the Sand, and I have found it is sometimes a good thing to revisit something that spoke to us when we first read or head it. Here it is.
Lord, You promised me, you’d hold my hand.
Tell me why in the sorrow of my troubled time,
I looked back and would find only one set of footprints in the sand?
Mine….
One set of footprints in the sand?
Oh, yes, at last I understand
Through every storm YOU carried me,
For now, I praise the Lord each time I see
One set of footprints in the sand!
These words speak so beautifully as a description of the heart of God and the heart of Jesus. These words are not ‘religion speaking’ they are God speaking to a hurting people. Come to me all you who are heavily burdened and “I, I will give you rest.”
This is a truth that we can hold on to when the storms come, and in time they will come to everyone. To know that we are not alone….brings comfort to our lives that is like no other, by KNOWING Him.
He…the Triune God, manifested in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are as close to you now, (if you will embrace Him) as He ever will or can be, but are You close enough to Him to sense and KNOW His Presence? Are you? That my fellow Believer is OUR choice, not His. You can only KNOW Him as much as you seek to KNOW Him.
In Isaiah 49:5, God asks Isaiah, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and not have compassion on the little one she has borne? What a bizarre question. Can you imagine, a mother, feeding her infant child and when finished, asking later, what was the baby’s name? Of course not, and what God was telling Isaiah was this….” even if she could forget….I, God, will not forget, you.”
Going back…. knowing what I just shared from Isaiah, whomever comes against you can do no eternal harm. Can death take you away, yes. Can disease come into your life, Yes. Can pain greater than you think you can handle, reach out and absorb you? yes. Can your inherent value in God’s eyes be taken away, NO. Though hell itself may set itself against you, you cannot be defeated if you believe, that single set of footprints in the sand. We are protected for eternity for God is for us……and that is the meaning of grace, especially when life is so deeply unfair.
Can you grasp this? Can you?
For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it IS the GIFT of God…not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.
We will find as we discover the Presence of God, His love for us, our focus where it needs to be…that we are able then to walk on the waters of life no matter how troubled they may be, for our failures are forgivable, and not only forgivable, but for times of learning, and once learned, to apply that lesson to our every day life.
Life isn’t fair…. but God is and is there always…to help us.
2nd Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God,
Who always…leads us in triumphal procession,
In Christ!
And through us…
Spread everywhere,
The fragrance of the knowledge of Him……
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
August 30, 2020
“BLESSED AND BELOVED”
SOLOMON 6:3 ~ “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine “
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
I am my Beloved’s and he is mine (chorus of a song)
His banner over me is love
I am my Beloved’s and he is mine
His banner over me is love
This chorus became important to me in the 70’s when I rededicated my life to Christ, and to this day I on occasion sing it just to remind myself of (our) relationship.
After all that, and in the simplest of terms, Beloved is to ‘be-loved.’
Now save that and let us move on to the next word in the verse and sermon BLESSED.
BLESSED, BLESSING, BLESS AND BLESSES all are derived from the Latin word ‘benedicere.’ The word benediction that is used in many churches means: speaking (diction) well) bene) or saying ‘good things’ about, to and over someone. That should speak to all of us, especially when we are going through difficult time, for we all and I mean all, need to hear good things said of us.
We should be in the practice of affirming each other when we see and hear things that need to be affirmed. Also, something as simple as sincere compliment goes a long way in affirmation. In doing so we are passing on to them a blessing. Doing so is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone’s talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to affirm, to say yes to a man, woman’s or child’s be-lovedness,
To receive this these in our lives can bring with them a potential healing within us. Kind words can go an exceptionally long way in lifting a person out of the dark places we sometimes by choice and sometime by the words of actions of others put us.
In our Bible study on Friday, we were discussing these past six months, and how the overall attitude of the general public and perhaps even ourselves has changed. Early in the summer folks were hopeful and even a little upbeat that in a short amount of time (it seemed) all would return to the ‘old normal.’ As we have discovered, that is simply not the case. All the external events occurring has brought up an element of fear, tension, strife, and anger. Now, normal has been overturned and it is now the uncertainties that we live with every day that are at time overwhelming us, and we, live far away from where most of what is happening.
The time is now when we need to look for the good, and pass the good around, and bless each other by deliberately choosing to do so. I do not mean by this ignoring what we and our beloved nation are going through, but we must offset some of the negativity with sincere positivity. We are still loved by our Lord who will be with us through all that even now, not knowing what lies ahead. Where we can, we must work to be thoughtful listeners and a part of the solution, not the problem. Set aside our prejudices and listen as we have never listened before, think before we speak and when we speak, speak in a manner that is sincere and thoughtful.
Blessings, even small ones can turn a life around. Being loved and knowing we are loved, well, it does not get much better than that, does it?
Read this real-life story and be encouraged as I was.
A young man was to be welcomed into adulthood during his Bar-Mitzvah, in this synagogue. At 13, he was declared as an adult by his congregation. For the first time he was asked to participate in a leadership role in the service. He read from the Book of Genesis and gave a short sermon about the importance of caring for our environment. He was affirmed by his Rabbi and his friends, then blessed by his parents. His father saying to him: “son, whatever will happen to you in our life, whether you will have success or not, become important or not, will be healthy or not, always remember…….how much your mother and I love you.”
Those words to that young man brought tears to my eyes, and a yearning deep in my soul for something I had never received from my natural father during my own childhood; and that was loving affirmation, neither verbally or through his actions. I believe I longed for that, if even not knowing exactly what it meant. Mom, well, what can I say except that she was the best, often making up for what I did not get from dad. My own story does have a happy resolution and that being that at the age of 21, dad (in a rather intense encounter with me) did hug me and tell me he loved me. It means as much to me now as it did the moment, I heard those words, and I was and am blessed.
As a minister I have realized over the years how much we human beings are fearful, anxious insecure and decidedly human. . . and how much all of us are in need of a blessing, at least now and then.
There are over 80 times the word “blessed” is spoken in the New Testament, and that is not counting the words blessing or bless.
There is an excellent illustration of our Father blessing His Son, and it reads as such. Jesus was affirmed by His Father as He was being baptized by John in the Jordan River, when a voice was heard by all (some thinking it was thunder) spoke so they all could hear and then be recorded for us. This voice came from the sky saying: “You…are my ‘Be-loved Son’ and on You rests My favor.” This was a blessing that sustained Jesus through all the praise and attacks, admiration and condemnation that followed Him up to and through His being crucified. Jesus never lost the intimacy of that blessing, knowing that His Father affirmed Him as the ‘blessed One.
In our lives….one day we feel great, the next we feel miserable. One day we are full of new ideas, things to do and the next everything looks bleak and dull. One day we think we can take on the whole world, but the next, even a little request seems too much for us. These mood swings show that we are not hearing or seeing the blessings that surround us.
When we are thrown up and down by the little or big waves on the surface of our existence, we become easy victims of our manipulative world, but, when we choose to remember and hear the deep gentle voice that blesses us by spending time in prayer, meditation and reading God’s affirming Word, we can walk through life with a stable sense of well-being and true belonging.
2nd Corinthians 10:4-5 read, “For the weapons of our warfare are NOT physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction or strongholds (which exist often in our minds and in our spirit) in as much as we must come against arguments and theories or ways of thinking that are in error, of every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God…..and……we are to take captive every thought (that is wrong) through obedience to Christ, the anointed One.
Please do not compare yourself to others, but look at what good things we, you, have been given and be blessed. Please, for there is no neutral territory between the land of the blessed and the land of the cursed. You must CHOOSE WHERE IT IS THAT YOU WANT TO LIVE, AND THAT CHOICE is the one that at times you will make from moment to moment.
One of our calls is to allow ourselves to be blessed and to give blessings at every opportunity and in every way we can. We are daily given small and large ways to bless, that are life-giving and sustaining. There is so much fear, so much pain, and so much rejection, but Jesus in you and in me wants to show the world around us, just what it means to be a son or daughter of God through being blessed and by blessing.
Galatians 6
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not lose heart.
August 30, 2020
“BLESSED AND BELOVED”
SOLOMON 6:3 ~ “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine “
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
- The verse which is the foundation of this sermon as noted above, Solomon 6:3 says, “I am my beloved’s and he is mine, his banner over me is love.”
- His banner, or placard, sign, poster or notice that tells the world who I am to him….is Love.
I am my Beloved’s and he is mine (chorus of a song)
His banner over me is love
I am my Beloved’s and he is mine
His banner over me is love
This chorus became important to me in the 70’s when I rededicated my life to Christ, and to this day I on occasion sing it just to remind myself of (our) relationship.
After all that, and in the simplest of terms, Beloved is to ‘be-loved.’
Now save that and let us move on to the next word in the verse and sermon BLESSED.
BLESSED, BLESSING, BLESS AND BLESSES all are derived from the Latin word ‘benedicere.’ The word benediction that is used in many churches means: speaking (diction) well) bene) or saying ‘good things’ about, to and over someone. That should speak to all of us, especially when we are going through difficult time, for we all and I mean all, need to hear good things said of us.
We should be in the practice of affirming each other when we see and hear things that need to be affirmed. Also, something as simple as sincere compliment goes a long way in affirmation. In doing so we are passing on to them a blessing. Doing so is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone’s talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to affirm, to say yes to a man, woman’s or child’s be-lovedness,
To receive this these in our lives can bring with them a potential healing within us. Kind words can go an exceptionally long way in lifting a person out of the dark places we sometimes by choice and sometime by the words of actions of others put us.
In our Bible study on Friday, we were discussing these past six months, and how the overall attitude of the general public and perhaps even ourselves has changed. Early in the summer folks were hopeful and even a little upbeat that in a short amount of time (it seemed) all would return to the ‘old normal.’ As we have discovered, that is simply not the case. All the external events occurring has brought up an element of fear, tension, strife, and anger. Now, normal has been overturned and it is now the uncertainties that we live with every day that are at time overwhelming us, and we, live far away from where most of what is happening.
The time is now when we need to look for the good, and pass the good around, and bless each other by deliberately choosing to do so. I do not mean by this ignoring what we and our beloved nation are going through, but we must offset some of the negativity with sincere positivity. We are still loved by our Lord who will be with us through all that even now, not knowing what lies ahead. Where we can, we must work to be thoughtful listeners and a part of the solution, not the problem. Set aside our prejudices and listen as we have never listened before, think before we speak and when we speak, speak in a manner that is sincere and thoughtful.
Blessings, even small ones can turn a life around. Being loved and knowing we are loved, well, it does not get much better than that, does it?
Read this real-life story and be encouraged as I was.
A young man was to be welcomed into adulthood during his Bar-Mitzvah, in this synagogue. At 13, he was declared as an adult by his congregation. For the first time he was asked to participate in a leadership role in the service. He read from the Book of Genesis and gave a short sermon about the importance of caring for our environment. He was affirmed by his Rabbi and his friends, then blessed by his parents. His father saying to him: “son, whatever will happen to you in our life, whether you will have success or not, become important or not, will be healthy or not, always remember…….how much your mother and I love you.”
Those words to that young man brought tears to my eyes, and a yearning deep in my soul for something I had never received from my natural father during my own childhood; and that was loving affirmation, neither verbally or through his actions. I believe I longed for that, if even not knowing exactly what it meant. Mom, well, what can I say except that she was the best, often making up for what I did not get from dad. My own story does have a happy resolution and that being that at the age of 21, dad (in a rather intense encounter with me) did hug me and tell me he loved me. It means as much to me now as it did the moment, I heard those words, and I was and am blessed.
As a minister I have realized over the years how much we human beings are fearful, anxious insecure and decidedly human. . . and how much all of us are in need of a blessing, at least now and then.
There are over 80 times the word “blessed” is spoken in the New Testament, and that is not counting the words blessing or bless.
There is an excellent illustration of our Father blessing His Son, and it reads as such. Jesus was affirmed by His Father as He was being baptized by John in the Jordan River, when a voice was heard by all (some thinking it was thunder) spoke so they all could hear and then be recorded for us. This voice came from the sky saying: “You…are my ‘Be-loved Son’ and on You rests My favor.” This was a blessing that sustained Jesus through all the praise and attacks, admiration and condemnation that followed Him up to and through His being crucified. Jesus never lost the intimacy of that blessing, knowing that His Father affirmed Him as the ‘blessed One.
In our lives….one day we feel great, the next we feel miserable. One day we are full of new ideas, things to do and the next everything looks bleak and dull. One day we think we can take on the whole world, but the next, even a little request seems too much for us. These mood swings show that we are not hearing or seeing the blessings that surround us.
When we are thrown up and down by the little or big waves on the surface of our existence, we become easy victims of our manipulative world, but, when we choose to remember and hear the deep gentle voice that blesses us by spending time in prayer, meditation and reading God’s affirming Word, we can walk through life with a stable sense of well-being and true belonging.
2nd Corinthians 10:4-5 read, “For the weapons of our warfare are NOT physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction or strongholds (which exist often in our minds and in our spirit) in as much as we must come against arguments and theories or ways of thinking that are in error, of every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God…..and……we are to take captive every thought (that is wrong) through obedience to Christ, the anointed One.
Please do not compare yourself to others, but look at what good things we, you, have been given and be blessed. Please, for there is no neutral territory between the land of the blessed and the land of the cursed. You must CHOOSE WHERE IT IS THAT YOU WANT TO LIVE, AND THAT CHOICE is the one that at times you will make from moment to moment.
One of our calls is to allow ourselves to be blessed and to give blessings at every opportunity and in every way we can. We are daily given small and large ways to bless, that are life-giving and sustaining. There is so much fear, so much pain, and so much rejection, but Jesus in you and in me wants to show the world around us, just what it means to be a son or daughter of God through being blessed and by blessing.
Galatians 6
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not lose heart.
The Little Church in the Pines
August 22, 2020
SHAME ON SHAME
by PASTOR TOM SHANOR
1 Corinthians 1:27 And now, dear Children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when He returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back form Him in shame.
Shame…. I HATE IT! Unwarranted, undeserved, I put it in the same category as BULLYING! Jesus never once used the word, ever. He never attempted to shame anyone into believing in Him, never. Even when speaking harshly, directly and pointedly to the religious leaders who continuously attempting to debase Him, trick and control Him. Never. Does it have its place? Yes, when in association with a need for someone to understand and feel appropriate guilt about something they did, that definitely crossed into the wrong, usually associated with a pattern of behavior, that in some way was destructive, or broke the accepted norm of social order, but even there is at times shameful to shame person.
SHAME IS A DISCRETE, BASIC EMOTION, DESCRIBED AS A MORAL OR SOCIAL EMOTION THAT DRIVES PEOPLE TO HIDE OR DENY “ACTUAL” WRONG-DOING. The focus of shame is on the self or the individual; it is the only emotion that is dysfunctional for the individual and functional at a group level to achieve its collective goal. Shame can also be described as an unpleasant self-conscious emotion that involves the negative evaluation of self. This can be self-destructive. Shame can be a painful emotion that is seen as a “comparison of the self’s action with the self’s own standards” but may equally stem from comparison of the self’s state of being, with the ideal social standards, and where the individual is found to lacking. Some scales measure shame to assess emotional states of being, whereas other scales are used to assess emotional traits or dispositions. “TO SHAME” generally means to actively assign or communicate a disposition of shame to another person!
Behaviors, rules and standards are often designed to “uncover” or “expose” others for the purpose of placing shame on the other person, therefore, to deflect inadequacies that could be assigned by the accuser. Whereas, having shame means to maintain a sense of restraint against offending others (as in modesty, humility and deference). In contrast to having shame, is to have no shame which is behavior exhibited without restraint in order to purposely offend others, similar to other emotions exhibited in pride. This is when shame is used to bully. Some people who claim they have the gift of discernment, (one of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit), often are nothing more than mean-spirited individuals who like pointing out what they perceive as the faults of others, often shaming them in the presence of others as well.
As a pastor/minister, I encounter all kinds of people on a regular basis. Many of these folks, often who love God and are followers of Jesus, have been the recipient of harmful narratives about themselves and about Jesus Himself. Because of the misguided perception by some that He, our Lord is the shame giver have harmed many individuals from small children to aged adults. Jesus does not shame…. Jesus points out our areas that need work, be they sin or simply misguided in our decision-making progress and behaviors. If sin….it is the Holy Spirit who will convict us, which will bring a measure of perhaps guilt, or simply recognition. At that point it is our choice as to whether to set that right, which is wrong, and in doing so the guilt is done away with and shame is avoided. It is prolonged and habitual sinning where shame can be used by both the Spirit and a person to bring recognition to the offending person, who needs confronted. Even here…it must be done in the right way, always with love and restoration in mind.
Whether we like it or not, our world, our church, our culture, organizations and with whom and how we were raised, all influenced how we imagine God, and often giving us false perceptions of Him.
One of the greatest “idols” of American Christianity, especially hyper- religious Christianity, has created and maintained the harmful tool of shame as a large part of its own narrative. For many who grew up in the church, the reason shame is often so thick is that they grew up with LISTS of so called spiritual ‘musts’ that defined an individual's worthiness or unworthiness, and if found to be unworthy under the weight of these ‘musts’ were often and are to this day, shamed into compliance. This is the very same thing that Jesus attempted time and time again to point out to the religious leaders of His day.
2 Corinthians 4-6
THE SPIRIT NOT THE LETTER
(4.) And we have such trust through Christ toward God. (5.) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, (6.) who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life!
The Spirit is eye opening and uplifting, not destructive!
Many Christians spend their time feeling shameful about the so-called- ‘spiritual things’, they have failed to accomplish. This mentality produces an on-going shame causing them to feel unworthy. Just one more failure to carry around in the burdens that Jesus said He wanted to take from us.
For a religion that is to be the free giver of GRACE, (UNDESERVED FAVOR) we are all too often very lousy at doing so. Philip Yancy in his book on Amazing Grace states that is THE GREATEST GIFT we Christians are to give to all people, but we are so lousy in doing so. Remember that salvation, comes from Christ, not us, but grace is ours to give and to give abundantly!
Sometimes, I have to inject here, the shameful narrative is one passed down from one generation of congregations to the next, and so deeply rooted is it that no one gives it a second thought because that is the way is has been. Many of these folks speak of grace, but understand so little of what it actually means, and therefore do not know (because the leaders themselves don’t know or understand) how to give this amazing and beautiful love-filled gift given to us by our Lord, Savior and Friend Jesus.
Sadly, shame can be a powerful force that destroys goodness in the world sometimes propelled by people who believe they are proclaiming Hope and Healing. The New Testament claims through grace, over-and-over again, that Christ came to conquer fear and shame! This needs to be re-announced in the CHURCH as though it were a brand-new gift!
Our culture influences our picture of Jesus. Many Christians I know are shamed to be called “Christians.” Why? How about Social-Media. What do I mean? Social-Media continues to be a greater and greater source of multiple narratives in what is becoming a globalized world. However, the pace of stories and the struggle for humanizing discourse can leave us overwhelmed. We make judgments based on ‘clipped’ information, edited to often come across in ways that are untrue. Many of these stories have conjured up shame and exclusion as they bring light to parts of our Christian discourse, leaving a at time foul taste in our mind. Evangelical now means right-wing extremist as an example. But…. if we want to discover the real Jesus behind wrongful, clipped stories, we need to research, examine and discover if what we are being told is true or not. Behind doing so we, must care enough to want to know the truth!
We need to de-clutter our mind and spirit of what is true about Jesus and what is not. We need again, to care enough to spend time studying, praying and sorting. We need to care enough about people, that we stop shaming them, but instead love them, loving them into the Kingdom of our God and Savior. Remember that He is the judge, not us. We need to stop being so gullible and question all that we see and hear. There are many who desire and are attempting to influence our faith in ways that are in gross error. We need to constantly be on guard against the nay-sayers, looking to our Lord to guide us in the path of right-living or righteousness for His name’s sake. How we counter incorrect narratives is through the Spirit of Truth, in gentleness and in goodness, not in bad-mouthing and unrighteous anger. Most of all, we are to be examples or even mirror images of Jesus, and this can only be accomplished through knowledge and understanding of who He is and again, how we are to be like Him.
2 Timothy 2:15 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Study and be eager, and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman (person) who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully researching) the Word of Truth.
In the days, weeks, months and years that lie before us, let us strive to please our dear Friend and Lord/Savior, by being a people full of grace, mercy, justice and goodness, no matter who or what comes against us. We can only do this if we truly respect and love Him who gave us the world in Him, by Him and through Him. Smile and simply say Thank you Lord, to You be all glory, honor and praise. Let us build people up, and not tear them down. Let us exhibit grace instead of shame, offering this same to ourselves when we fail, and fail we often will.
Please have a wonderful rest of the day, being thankful.
O what a wonderful, wonderful day – a day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met, .
O what a tender compassionate friend –
He met the need of my heart; Shadows dispelling,
With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart!
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Savior made me whole;
My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Amen
P.S. there is a place for shame, but by God, under His instruction, know whom, where, when, why, and how it is providently and in love to be applied.
August 22, 2020
SHAME ON SHAME
by PASTOR TOM SHANOR
1 Corinthians 1:27 And now, dear Children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when He returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back form Him in shame.
Shame…. I HATE IT! Unwarranted, undeserved, I put it in the same category as BULLYING! Jesus never once used the word, ever. He never attempted to shame anyone into believing in Him, never. Even when speaking harshly, directly and pointedly to the religious leaders who continuously attempting to debase Him, trick and control Him. Never. Does it have its place? Yes, when in association with a need for someone to understand and feel appropriate guilt about something they did, that definitely crossed into the wrong, usually associated with a pattern of behavior, that in some way was destructive, or broke the accepted norm of social order, but even there is at times shameful to shame person.
SHAME IS A DISCRETE, BASIC EMOTION, DESCRIBED AS A MORAL OR SOCIAL EMOTION THAT DRIVES PEOPLE TO HIDE OR DENY “ACTUAL” WRONG-DOING. The focus of shame is on the self or the individual; it is the only emotion that is dysfunctional for the individual and functional at a group level to achieve its collective goal. Shame can also be described as an unpleasant self-conscious emotion that involves the negative evaluation of self. This can be self-destructive. Shame can be a painful emotion that is seen as a “comparison of the self’s action with the self’s own standards” but may equally stem from comparison of the self’s state of being, with the ideal social standards, and where the individual is found to lacking. Some scales measure shame to assess emotional states of being, whereas other scales are used to assess emotional traits or dispositions. “TO SHAME” generally means to actively assign or communicate a disposition of shame to another person!
Behaviors, rules and standards are often designed to “uncover” or “expose” others for the purpose of placing shame on the other person, therefore, to deflect inadequacies that could be assigned by the accuser. Whereas, having shame means to maintain a sense of restraint against offending others (as in modesty, humility and deference). In contrast to having shame, is to have no shame which is behavior exhibited without restraint in order to purposely offend others, similar to other emotions exhibited in pride. This is when shame is used to bully. Some people who claim they have the gift of discernment, (one of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit), often are nothing more than mean-spirited individuals who like pointing out what they perceive as the faults of others, often shaming them in the presence of others as well.
As a pastor/minister, I encounter all kinds of people on a regular basis. Many of these folks, often who love God and are followers of Jesus, have been the recipient of harmful narratives about themselves and about Jesus Himself. Because of the misguided perception by some that He, our Lord is the shame giver have harmed many individuals from small children to aged adults. Jesus does not shame…. Jesus points out our areas that need work, be they sin or simply misguided in our decision-making progress and behaviors. If sin….it is the Holy Spirit who will convict us, which will bring a measure of perhaps guilt, or simply recognition. At that point it is our choice as to whether to set that right, which is wrong, and in doing so the guilt is done away with and shame is avoided. It is prolonged and habitual sinning where shame can be used by both the Spirit and a person to bring recognition to the offending person, who needs confronted. Even here…it must be done in the right way, always with love and restoration in mind.
Whether we like it or not, our world, our church, our culture, organizations and with whom and how we were raised, all influenced how we imagine God, and often giving us false perceptions of Him.
One of the greatest “idols” of American Christianity, especially hyper- religious Christianity, has created and maintained the harmful tool of shame as a large part of its own narrative. For many who grew up in the church, the reason shame is often so thick is that they grew up with LISTS of so called spiritual ‘musts’ that defined an individual's worthiness or unworthiness, and if found to be unworthy under the weight of these ‘musts’ were often and are to this day, shamed into compliance. This is the very same thing that Jesus attempted time and time again to point out to the religious leaders of His day.
2 Corinthians 4-6
THE SPIRIT NOT THE LETTER
(4.) And we have such trust through Christ toward God. (5.) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, (6.) who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life!
The Spirit is eye opening and uplifting, not destructive!
Many Christians spend their time feeling shameful about the so-called- ‘spiritual things’, they have failed to accomplish. This mentality produces an on-going shame causing them to feel unworthy. Just one more failure to carry around in the burdens that Jesus said He wanted to take from us.
For a religion that is to be the free giver of GRACE, (UNDESERVED FAVOR) we are all too often very lousy at doing so. Philip Yancy in his book on Amazing Grace states that is THE GREATEST GIFT we Christians are to give to all people, but we are so lousy in doing so. Remember that salvation, comes from Christ, not us, but grace is ours to give and to give abundantly!
Sometimes, I have to inject here, the shameful narrative is one passed down from one generation of congregations to the next, and so deeply rooted is it that no one gives it a second thought because that is the way is has been. Many of these folks speak of grace, but understand so little of what it actually means, and therefore do not know (because the leaders themselves don’t know or understand) how to give this amazing and beautiful love-filled gift given to us by our Lord, Savior and Friend Jesus.
Sadly, shame can be a powerful force that destroys goodness in the world sometimes propelled by people who believe they are proclaiming Hope and Healing. The New Testament claims through grace, over-and-over again, that Christ came to conquer fear and shame! This needs to be re-announced in the CHURCH as though it were a brand-new gift!
Our culture influences our picture of Jesus. Many Christians I know are shamed to be called “Christians.” Why? How about Social-Media. What do I mean? Social-Media continues to be a greater and greater source of multiple narratives in what is becoming a globalized world. However, the pace of stories and the struggle for humanizing discourse can leave us overwhelmed. We make judgments based on ‘clipped’ information, edited to often come across in ways that are untrue. Many of these stories have conjured up shame and exclusion as they bring light to parts of our Christian discourse, leaving a at time foul taste in our mind. Evangelical now means right-wing extremist as an example. But…. if we want to discover the real Jesus behind wrongful, clipped stories, we need to research, examine and discover if what we are being told is true or not. Behind doing so we, must care enough to want to know the truth!
We need to de-clutter our mind and spirit of what is true about Jesus and what is not. We need again, to care enough to spend time studying, praying and sorting. We need to care enough about people, that we stop shaming them, but instead love them, loving them into the Kingdom of our God and Savior. Remember that He is the judge, not us. We need to stop being so gullible and question all that we see and hear. There are many who desire and are attempting to influence our faith in ways that are in gross error. We need to constantly be on guard against the nay-sayers, looking to our Lord to guide us in the path of right-living or righteousness for His name’s sake. How we counter incorrect narratives is through the Spirit of Truth, in gentleness and in goodness, not in bad-mouthing and unrighteous anger. Most of all, we are to be examples or even mirror images of Jesus, and this can only be accomplished through knowledge and understanding of who He is and again, how we are to be like Him.
2 Timothy 2:15 AMPLIFIED BIBLE
Study and be eager, and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman (person) who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully researching) the Word of Truth.
In the days, weeks, months and years that lie before us, let us strive to please our dear Friend and Lord/Savior, by being a people full of grace, mercy, justice and goodness, no matter who or what comes against us. We can only do this if we truly respect and love Him who gave us the world in Him, by Him and through Him. Smile and simply say Thank you Lord, to You be all glory, honor and praise. Let us build people up, and not tear them down. Let us exhibit grace instead of shame, offering this same to ourselves when we fail, and fail we often will.
Please have a wonderful rest of the day, being thankful.
O what a wonderful, wonderful day – a day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met, .
O what a tender compassionate friend –
He met the need of my heart; Shadows dispelling,
With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart!
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Savior made me whole;
My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Amen
P.S. there is a place for shame, but by God, under His instruction, know whom, where, when, why, and how it is providently and in love to be applied.
The Little Church in the Pines
August 16. 2020
Requirements and Expectations
Micah 6:8
Pastor Tom Shanor
As we know by experience, life is full of requirements and expectations, it just is if, we are going to live together in community and harmony. There are realistic and applicable expectations, fundamental ones as well as unrealistic and absurd ones. When they come from God Himself though, we had better listen for our own good. His are never unrealistic, absurd, or irrelevant. They are always life-applicable and necessary for the well-being of we as individuals, and for humanity-as-a-whole.
MICAH 6:8 – “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is, to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God.”
This verse encapsulates the heart of God, and with that my goal and our eventual destination in today’s message. Let us go over these again.
We will become more intimate with this verse and these words as we go along in today’s sermon, for they are foundational to our Christian journey in making us more like Jesus.
I am now going to do a bit of what I call, ‘a weaving’ of these words into a tapestry of a good life.
A requirement is in its essence a commandment.
Here are the meanings of each in their simplest definition.
“Commandments are important rules given by God, instructing us as to how to live our lives, and these rules or commandments tell us what is or what is not expected in our daily living, requiring of us the needed musts that He instructs us in His expectations of what will be the outcome or likely to happen. As we are faithful in keeping our promise, by doing what we are supposed to do, showing Him our love and true consistent loyalty for In doing so, the results will be beneficial and both helpful and good.
In Jesus’ teaching, there have been determined to be thirty-eight actual commandments. These commandments in their totality offer to us ‘the way of life’ that if followed, will bless and enrich us that no other way offered to us can give.
My question at this point is, is this easy, and my answer is no, but it is also not impossible. This friend is the crux on which all of these and their success or failure depends. Do we want to please God or ourselves? Do we want to have full and rich lives or not? What must come about first is the desire to love and worship Him, or ourselves. When the desire of focus is settled, that is the first step toward pleasing God. These can be woven into the very fabric of our lives if we but desire them to be there, for God will enable us to become master weavers of our own lives.
Jesus said, “IF…you indeed love Me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
These teaching will clearly tell us if we follow a form of religion or are indeed true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
We can be like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or like all the rest of the geysers., for it is not the largest in the Park, but certainly the most predictable or reliable.
As Christians, if we adhere to the commandments of Jesus, desiring to follow them, we too can be relied upon to be faithful and true because of the requirement and expectation that are being fulfilled. These flowing from Him through us, as we interact with one another, with strangers and family members changes for the better not only our lives and world, but all those whom we touch every day. Faithful is a key.
As we learn by studying His Commandments, or requirements, it will also become very clear to us that God, being the God of expectations is also the God of grace, justice, mercy and humility, as exampled in Jesus, when He washed the feet of His disciples.
Of the acknowledged thirty-eight commandments, there is one that in the past several decades become quite unpopular to speak of, and we find that one in John 3:7 – “You must be born again” (one of those requirements.) The benefits we are told is when doing so, we receive eternal life, but not only eternal life but eternal life with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit in a place called heaven. This is as opposed to the alternative, for it seems everyone born has an eternal life…..the difference being, where one spends it.
Do you remember the man’s reaching to Jesus when He stated this to him? John 3:4, Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be re-born. Well, that was rational question.
In John 3:5, Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water (baptism) and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Lets. put it all together here….and this is called the “Message of the Kingdom.”
Upon repentance, (asking for the forgiveness of a person’s sins) then accepting what the Bible says about who Jesus the Christ is…(the begotten Son of God) and then turning to God in a new faith or belief in Him, for salvation. Acts 3:19. Turning from sin is NOT the definition of repentance, but it is one of the results of genuine faith-based belief.
I will try to sum it up as best I can. “Upon repentance, a new order of life opens up to the now believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus used the term “new birth” to dramatically indicate three things.
From that moment on, it is also a time to recognize that indeed God will require of you, me, and all of us that call upon God, that we begin to live out Micah 6:8, and that our new attitude and outlook, is focused on becoming like Jesus, who lived out and continues to live out humility, justice and mercy.
We are also told this beautiful revelation in Romans 8:1, “There is NOW no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!” Nada, never, no way! God now sees us solely through the eyes of His Son. Justified and whole.
Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care!
For, He set you there.
Is our place a large place?
Guard it with care!
For He set you there.
Whatever your place,
It is not alone,
But His
Who set you there.
Tend it with care…………
Wherever we are now, is where we are supposed to be. It is here and now that God called us to be His followers, doing His will, learning His ways so that His Son is given the freedom by us, to work through us in assisting and loving others into the Kingdom of God.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ…help us to learn from You, opening up our minds and spirit to your Holy Spirit…who teaches us in all things….also helping us to remember Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly…..with your God.
Amen
August 16. 2020
Requirements and Expectations
Micah 6:8
Pastor Tom Shanor
As we know by experience, life is full of requirements and expectations, it just is if, we are going to live together in community and harmony. There are realistic and applicable expectations, fundamental ones as well as unrealistic and absurd ones. When they come from God Himself though, we had better listen for our own good. His are never unrealistic, absurd, or irrelevant. They are always life-applicable and necessary for the well-being of we as individuals, and for humanity-as-a-whole.
MICAH 6:8 – “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is, to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly….with your God.”
This verse encapsulates the heart of God, and with that my goal and our eventual destination in today’s message. Let us go over these again.
- We have been told!
- What is good in the sight of God
- What our requirements are that need to be fulfilled in being accepted by Him
- Justice
- Mercy
- Humility
We will become more intimate with this verse and these words as we go along in today’s sermon, for they are foundational to our Christian journey in making us more like Jesus.
I am now going to do a bit of what I call, ‘a weaving’ of these words into a tapestry of a good life.
A requirement is in its essence a commandment.
Here are the meanings of each in their simplest definition.
- Commandment, an important ‘rule’ given by God that tells us how to behave.
- Rule, a statement that tell us what is or is not permitted in-a-given situation as Believers.
- Requirement, something that is must be done.
- Expectation, a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen if stated clearly what is expected.
- Faithful; keeping our promises and doing what we are supposed to do, showing true and constant loyalty to God.
- Benefits, a good or helpful result or effect.
“Commandments are important rules given by God, instructing us as to how to live our lives, and these rules or commandments tell us what is or what is not expected in our daily living, requiring of us the needed musts that He instructs us in His expectations of what will be the outcome or likely to happen. As we are faithful in keeping our promise, by doing what we are supposed to do, showing Him our love and true consistent loyalty for In doing so, the results will be beneficial and both helpful and good.
In Jesus’ teaching, there have been determined to be thirty-eight actual commandments. These commandments in their totality offer to us ‘the way of life’ that if followed, will bless and enrich us that no other way offered to us can give.
My question at this point is, is this easy, and my answer is no, but it is also not impossible. This friend is the crux on which all of these and their success or failure depends. Do we want to please God or ourselves? Do we want to have full and rich lives or not? What must come about first is the desire to love and worship Him, or ourselves. When the desire of focus is settled, that is the first step toward pleasing God. These can be woven into the very fabric of our lives if we but desire them to be there, for God will enable us to become master weavers of our own lives.
Jesus said, “IF…you indeed love Me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
These teaching will clearly tell us if we follow a form of religion or are indeed true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
We can be like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or like all the rest of the geysers., for it is not the largest in the Park, but certainly the most predictable or reliable.
As Christians, if we adhere to the commandments of Jesus, desiring to follow them, we too can be relied upon to be faithful and true because of the requirement and expectation that are being fulfilled. These flowing from Him through us, as we interact with one another, with strangers and family members changes for the better not only our lives and world, but all those whom we touch every day. Faithful is a key.
As we learn by studying His Commandments, or requirements, it will also become very clear to us that God, being the God of expectations is also the God of grace, justice, mercy and humility, as exampled in Jesus, when He washed the feet of His disciples.
Of the acknowledged thirty-eight commandments, there is one that in the past several decades become quite unpopular to speak of, and we find that one in John 3:7 – “You must be born again” (one of those requirements.) The benefits we are told is when doing so, we receive eternal life, but not only eternal life but eternal life with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit in a place called heaven. This is as opposed to the alternative, for it seems everyone born has an eternal life…..the difference being, where one spends it.
Do you remember the man’s reaching to Jesus when He stated this to him? John 3:4, Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter back into his mother’s womb and be re-born. Well, that was rational question.
In John 3:5, Jesus replies, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water (baptism) and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Lets. put it all together here….and this is called the “Message of the Kingdom.”
Upon repentance, (asking for the forgiveness of a person’s sins) then accepting what the Bible says about who Jesus the Christ is…(the begotten Son of God) and then turning to God in a new faith or belief in Him, for salvation. Acts 3:19. Turning from sin is NOT the definition of repentance, but it is one of the results of genuine faith-based belief.
I will try to sum it up as best I can. “Upon repentance, a new order of life opens up to the now believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus used the term “new birth” to dramatically indicate three things.
- Without a new birth there is no life and no relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
- In a New Birth, a new perspective is born, as we now begin to see with new eyes and hear with new ears the Kingdom of God. God’s Word becomes alive and clear, as the Holy Spirit brings us fresh revelations of truths.
- Through this new birth we are introduced literally by entering into a new realm of growing faith, where God’s place is being realized (2nd Corinthians 5:17) It is now a re-qualifying experience, opening up the possibilities of our being, to a new supernatural dimension of life, and outfitting us for our new and vital spiritual journey.
From that moment on, it is also a time to recognize that indeed God will require of you, me, and all of us that call upon God, that we begin to live out Micah 6:8, and that our new attitude and outlook, is focused on becoming like Jesus, who lived out and continues to live out humility, justice and mercy.
We are also told this beautiful revelation in Romans 8:1, “There is NOW no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!” Nada, never, no way! God now sees us solely through the eyes of His Son. Justified and whole.
Is your place a small place?
Tend it with care!
For, He set you there.
Is our place a large place?
Guard it with care!
For He set you there.
Whatever your place,
It is not alone,
But His
Who set you there.
Tend it with care…………
Wherever we are now, is where we are supposed to be. It is here and now that God called us to be His followers, doing His will, learning His ways so that His Son is given the freedom by us, to work through us in assisting and loving others into the Kingdom of God.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ…help us to learn from You, opening up our minds and spirit to your Holy Spirit…who teaches us in all things….also helping us to remember Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O mankind, what is good and what the Lord ‘requires’ of you, and that is to act with justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly…..with your God.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
July 26, 2020
“KNOWLEDGE~ WISDOM~APPLICATION
“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
Proverbs 18:15
Pastor Tom Shanor
Are you curious? Do you love learning new things, new facts? Does learning something new give you a rush of satisfaction? Do words, ordinary words sometimes kind of explode in your head with a sense of their meaning? Does your curiosity then drive you to know more fully what the word completely mean, clear to its root?
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 2:6 “Tor the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come both knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 18:15a “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let them as God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to them.”
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
I do not really know why the word popped into my mind this last week, but I could not shake it. I thought about it in relation to the Universe, in relation to God, in relation to my everyday life and how its impact on myself and all of us, exists without us being even aware of it for the most part.
The word is ABSOLUTES.
a. in Philosophy it is understood as a principle which is regarded universally factual or true.
b. it is also something that exists (tangible or unseen) without being dependent on anything else. It exists…period!
c. the ultimate reality & example is; God
Moral absolutism has sound biblical elements in it as given by God, but it is also through what has been given, been narrowed down by we humans, which never really work including compromise, which is brought about by us to attempt to state as right that which in Moral Absolutism, wrong.
You have heard… “the moral of the story” is, meaning there is or was some lesson core to the story to be understood. All else in the story, people, animals, events, etc., all revolve around a singular moral. In the Word of God, the moral is God…manifested in multiple ways, people, event, etc.….and when I say God, I am referring to the full Godhead. Father Son, and Holy Spirit, or the Triune God. Everything that exists, everything circles God. An example is the Sun in our own Solar System. All the planets revolved around the Sun.
Morality is a derivative of moral, and the word morally. At the center of this absolute there are principles concerning the distinguishing between right and wrong, or good and evil behaviorally, reactions and or consequences. Good behavior results in order, structure, and good benefits. Evil or bad behavior results in chaos, destruction, and pain. There is universal morality…absolutes that exist, given by God for the full benefit humankind, and this principle is an eternal absolute, forever unchanged and which without humankind is doomed.
There are determined by scientists, philosophers, religious leaders, seven Universal Laws or Principles by which everything in the Universe is governed. The Universe exists in perfect harmony, even though by observation may seem chaotic and random by virtue of these Laws. Ancient, mystical, esoteric, biblical and even secret teachings, dating back over 5,000 years, from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Greece and even to the Vedic tradition.... all have as their common threads, these seven Spiritual Laws of the Universe.
There are the Immutable and the Mutable: Of the seven Universal Laws, the first three are immutable, which means “unchanging over time or even unable to be changed.” (THEY are ABSOLUTES) as they have always existed and will always exist, including the MORAL Laws of God.
The Mutable Laws mean they can be transcended or improved upon to create an ideal or personal reality. (Free Will) The aim in these four is to make improvements. Something God is always attempting to do with us! Grin! It is His full-time job!
I HOPE THIS IS INTERESTING....
The three IMMUTABLE LAWS, or ABSOLUTES are these.
1. The Law of Mentalism....all began in the mind of God, and because of that we ALL collectively exist in the mind of God. We are One in the Spirit and we are One in the Lord. Everything we experience and see in our physical world has its origin in the invisible, mental/spiritual realm of God.
2. The Law of COMMUNICATION which says, “As it is above, so below, as below, so above.” This means that there is HARMONY, AGREEMENT AND COMMUNICATION” between the physical, mental and spiritual realms. There is no real separation, since everything in the Universe, including you, originated form the ONE Source. The same pattern exists throughout the Universe from the smallest electron to the largest star. All is ONE in different manifestations.
ARE YOU WITH ME.......?
3. The third immutable law is called the Law of Vibration: This law is perpetual motion, nothing rests, everything moves, everything (even when dead) is changing. It is either evolving or devolving. Science has confirmed that everything in the Universe including us is pure energy. I like that! And that we are all VIBRATING...IS AWESOME! I think it would be great if we all vibrated in unity and Harmony!
This Law is in harmony with the other two Laws....including the mental realm, where even our thoughts are vibrations. All our emotions are vibrations including “hate” which is the densest and most base, where “love” is the highest and most desirable, especially in the Law of COMMUNICATION. God through Christ proved to us the depth of His LOVE, and if we as Christians would fully believe in, adhere to, and manifest in our lives this VIBRATION OF LOVE, we could change the world....forever.
The other four laws which I will not be delving into are the Laws of:
4. The Law of Polarity
5. The Law of Rhythm
6. The Law of Cause and Effect
7. The Law of Gender
Lets look at our feelings which fall under the Law of Vibration and how much we express ourselves through our feelings. Remember the lowest and most base feeling is HATE, where the highest and most elevating feeling or vibration is LOVE.
We desire and seek harmony and unity, because brings peace, and peace brings us health, brings us happiness, brings us unity. We sleep better, we speak better, we live better, in peace. This is the ABSOLUTE PEACE that God who vibrates with love speaks of through Jesus, as Paul as His spokesman says in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds at peace through Jesus Christ.” All day, every day.
Math in both its simplicity and complexity is diffused with, or within itself contains all three of the immutable Laws of THE ABSOLUTE. Mentalism, Communication and Vibration. It is a science invented by man, given by God out of necessity.
Within the realm of math there are those who use it to help understand the Absolutes of the Universe. Numbers are almost magical in their ability to bring understanding and recognition to the existence of life, and in this case, the case of one Kurt Godel (1906-1978) Mr. Godel looked for the ‘ontological’ or the study of existence, within the realm of the Universe. It was his study in using math to determine for himself, the existence or non-existence of God.
Now remember that these men and women are well into the genius range of intellect who take on these things. The argument follows that “God, by definition, is that for which no greater being can be conceived. God exists in the understanding, mental, ABSOLUTE LAWS. If God exists, Godel said in the understanding, we could imagine Him to be greater by existing-in-reality. Therefore, God exists he says because we perceive Him.
As most brilliant people are a bit on the “different side” both behaviorally and inwardly, Godel proved to be no exception, but his research and desire to prove or disprove God’s existence, was sincere for both personal and non-personal reasons. He never became part of a congregation, but after his death his wife Adele said, that though he did not go to church he was religious and read the Bible in bed every Sunday morning. In an un-mailed answer to a questionnaire, Godel described his religion as “baptized Lutheran (but not a member of any religious congregation). My belief he said, is theistic, not pantheistic.” One God, Supreme.
In his extended and deep study, again, using math, he concluded that by a percentage of 67% out of 100%, God exists. To Him that was enough mathematical proof that he sought for and needed in his own personal life.
Einstein, though not a Believer in Jehovah God, the Biblical God, believed that behind Creation there had to be what is called “intelligent design”. An architect, because of the perfection in execution, and harmony because of the ABSOLUTES that exists in the Universe.
My desire in all of this today is for us, all of us to see, hear and understand at least to some small degree, the mystery and majesty of life....and of the Universe which God has bequeathed us to live in, take care of and then acknowledge Him, in turn give Him the worship due His name. All too often our vision is self-limited by our lack of knowledge, or even desire to acquire knowledge, taking for granted that which we have been given by God. We should repent of our lackadaisical attitude and laziness. There is so much to know and understand.
PROVERBS 5:14 “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly”.
PROVERBS 1:29 “They hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.”
PROVERBS 18:15 “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”
Other scientists and mathematicians have worked on coming up with the percentage of the existence of the planet we live on. A new study estimates there are 700-Quintillion planets in the Universe and that we may be a 1-in-700-Quintillion kind of place. A 7 followed by 20 zeros – with the aid of a computer model that simulated the Universe’s Evolution following the Big Bang. Current estimates hold that there are some 100 billion galaxies containing about a billion trillion stars. That, my friends, is rather humbling and mint-boggling, and it should help us wear a blanket of humility and thankfulness.
A quintillion is a million-trillion or a billion billion. Just a little trivia here. There are estimated to be about 10 quintillion insects on earth! An unsettling thought to say the least
Further, one of the scientists, Zackrisson’s research indicates that, from a purely statistical standpoint, Earth should not even exist. How about that! But it does! We do!
To me, this knowledge, as little as it is, helps me more clearly see my place on earth, perhaps seeming like nothing but a mite in stature, but a mite placed here by God Himself. That makes my existence and yours of vital importance in the Grand Design. God wanted me here, wanted you here, and here am I and so are you. Together we are called by God to be His people, and being His people, we are to be examples to other people representing who He is. And who is He?
. ELOHIM. My Creator
. JEHOVAH. My Lord God
. EL SHADDAI. My Supplier
. ADONAI. MY Master
. JEHOVAH JIREH. My Provider
. JEHOVAH ROPHE. My Healer
. JEHOVAH NISSI. My Banner
. JEHOVAH MAKADESH. My Sanctifier
. ANCIENT OF DAYS. Eternal
. My favorite....FATHER “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, or Israel acknowledge us; You, Lord are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name” Isaiah 63:16
THE ABSOLUTENSS OF GOD IS OUR EXISTENCE, AS ALL 7 ABSOLUTE LAWS COME FROM GOD WHO ESTABLISHED THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, AND THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND ALL THAT IT CONTAINS.
Great is the Lord and Greatly to be praised
In City of our God
In the mountain of His holiness
Beautiful for situations, the joy of the whole earth,
In Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
The city of the Great King
AMEN AND SELAH....SO BE IT~
July 26, 2020
“KNOWLEDGE~ WISDOM~APPLICATION
“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
Proverbs 18:15
Pastor Tom Shanor
Are you curious? Do you love learning new things, new facts? Does learning something new give you a rush of satisfaction? Do words, ordinary words sometimes kind of explode in your head with a sense of their meaning? Does your curiosity then drive you to know more fully what the word completely mean, clear to its root?
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 2:6 “Tor the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come both knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 18:15a “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let them as God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to them.”
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
I do not really know why the word popped into my mind this last week, but I could not shake it. I thought about it in relation to the Universe, in relation to God, in relation to my everyday life and how its impact on myself and all of us, exists without us being even aware of it for the most part.
The word is ABSOLUTES.
a. in Philosophy it is understood as a principle which is regarded universally factual or true.
b. it is also something that exists (tangible or unseen) without being dependent on anything else. It exists…period!
c. the ultimate reality & example is; God
Moral absolutism has sound biblical elements in it as given by God, but it is also through what has been given, been narrowed down by we humans, which never really work including compromise, which is brought about by us to attempt to state as right that which in Moral Absolutism, wrong.
You have heard… “the moral of the story” is, meaning there is or was some lesson core to the story to be understood. All else in the story, people, animals, events, etc., all revolve around a singular moral. In the Word of God, the moral is God…manifested in multiple ways, people, event, etc.….and when I say God, I am referring to the full Godhead. Father Son, and Holy Spirit, or the Triune God. Everything that exists, everything circles God. An example is the Sun in our own Solar System. All the planets revolved around the Sun.
Morality is a derivative of moral, and the word morally. At the center of this absolute there are principles concerning the distinguishing between right and wrong, or good and evil behaviorally, reactions and or consequences. Good behavior results in order, structure, and good benefits. Evil or bad behavior results in chaos, destruction, and pain. There is universal morality…absolutes that exist, given by God for the full benefit humankind, and this principle is an eternal absolute, forever unchanged and which without humankind is doomed.
There are determined by scientists, philosophers, religious leaders, seven Universal Laws or Principles by which everything in the Universe is governed. The Universe exists in perfect harmony, even though by observation may seem chaotic and random by virtue of these Laws. Ancient, mystical, esoteric, biblical and even secret teachings, dating back over 5,000 years, from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Greece and even to the Vedic tradition.... all have as their common threads, these seven Spiritual Laws of the Universe.
There are the Immutable and the Mutable: Of the seven Universal Laws, the first three are immutable, which means “unchanging over time or even unable to be changed.” (THEY are ABSOLUTES) as they have always existed and will always exist, including the MORAL Laws of God.
The Mutable Laws mean they can be transcended or improved upon to create an ideal or personal reality. (Free Will) The aim in these four is to make improvements. Something God is always attempting to do with us! Grin! It is His full-time job!
I HOPE THIS IS INTERESTING....
The three IMMUTABLE LAWS, or ABSOLUTES are these.
1. The Law of Mentalism....all began in the mind of God, and because of that we ALL collectively exist in the mind of God. We are One in the Spirit and we are One in the Lord. Everything we experience and see in our physical world has its origin in the invisible, mental/spiritual realm of God.
2. The Law of COMMUNICATION which says, “As it is above, so below, as below, so above.” This means that there is HARMONY, AGREEMENT AND COMMUNICATION” between the physical, mental and spiritual realms. There is no real separation, since everything in the Universe, including you, originated form the ONE Source. The same pattern exists throughout the Universe from the smallest electron to the largest star. All is ONE in different manifestations.
ARE YOU WITH ME.......?
3. The third immutable law is called the Law of Vibration: This law is perpetual motion, nothing rests, everything moves, everything (even when dead) is changing. It is either evolving or devolving. Science has confirmed that everything in the Universe including us is pure energy. I like that! And that we are all VIBRATING...IS AWESOME! I think it would be great if we all vibrated in unity and Harmony!
This Law is in harmony with the other two Laws....including the mental realm, where even our thoughts are vibrations. All our emotions are vibrations including “hate” which is the densest and most base, where “love” is the highest and most desirable, especially in the Law of COMMUNICATION. God through Christ proved to us the depth of His LOVE, and if we as Christians would fully believe in, adhere to, and manifest in our lives this VIBRATION OF LOVE, we could change the world....forever.
The other four laws which I will not be delving into are the Laws of:
4. The Law of Polarity
5. The Law of Rhythm
6. The Law of Cause and Effect
7. The Law of Gender
Lets look at our feelings which fall under the Law of Vibration and how much we express ourselves through our feelings. Remember the lowest and most base feeling is HATE, where the highest and most elevating feeling or vibration is LOVE.
We desire and seek harmony and unity, because brings peace, and peace brings us health, brings us happiness, brings us unity. We sleep better, we speak better, we live better, in peace. This is the ABSOLUTE PEACE that God who vibrates with love speaks of through Jesus, as Paul as His spokesman says in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds at peace through Jesus Christ.” All day, every day.
Math in both its simplicity and complexity is diffused with, or within itself contains all three of the immutable Laws of THE ABSOLUTE. Mentalism, Communication and Vibration. It is a science invented by man, given by God out of necessity.
Within the realm of math there are those who use it to help understand the Absolutes of the Universe. Numbers are almost magical in their ability to bring understanding and recognition to the existence of life, and in this case, the case of one Kurt Godel (1906-1978) Mr. Godel looked for the ‘ontological’ or the study of existence, within the realm of the Universe. It was his study in using math to determine for himself, the existence or non-existence of God.
Now remember that these men and women are well into the genius range of intellect who take on these things. The argument follows that “God, by definition, is that for which no greater being can be conceived. God exists in the understanding, mental, ABSOLUTE LAWS. If God exists, Godel said in the understanding, we could imagine Him to be greater by existing-in-reality. Therefore, God exists he says because we perceive Him.
As most brilliant people are a bit on the “different side” both behaviorally and inwardly, Godel proved to be no exception, but his research and desire to prove or disprove God’s existence, was sincere for both personal and non-personal reasons. He never became part of a congregation, but after his death his wife Adele said, that though he did not go to church he was religious and read the Bible in bed every Sunday morning. In an un-mailed answer to a questionnaire, Godel described his religion as “baptized Lutheran (but not a member of any religious congregation). My belief he said, is theistic, not pantheistic.” One God, Supreme.
In his extended and deep study, again, using math, he concluded that by a percentage of 67% out of 100%, God exists. To Him that was enough mathematical proof that he sought for and needed in his own personal life.
Einstein, though not a Believer in Jehovah God, the Biblical God, believed that behind Creation there had to be what is called “intelligent design”. An architect, because of the perfection in execution, and harmony because of the ABSOLUTES that exists in the Universe.
My desire in all of this today is for us, all of us to see, hear and understand at least to some small degree, the mystery and majesty of life....and of the Universe which God has bequeathed us to live in, take care of and then acknowledge Him, in turn give Him the worship due His name. All too often our vision is self-limited by our lack of knowledge, or even desire to acquire knowledge, taking for granted that which we have been given by God. We should repent of our lackadaisical attitude and laziness. There is so much to know and understand.
PROVERBS 5:14 “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly”.
PROVERBS 1:29 “They hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.”
PROVERBS 18:15 “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”
Other scientists and mathematicians have worked on coming up with the percentage of the existence of the planet we live on. A new study estimates there are 700-Quintillion planets in the Universe and that we may be a 1-in-700-Quintillion kind of place. A 7 followed by 20 zeros – with the aid of a computer model that simulated the Universe’s Evolution following the Big Bang. Current estimates hold that there are some 100 billion galaxies containing about a billion trillion stars. That, my friends, is rather humbling and mint-boggling, and it should help us wear a blanket of humility and thankfulness.
A quintillion is a million-trillion or a billion billion. Just a little trivia here. There are estimated to be about 10 quintillion insects on earth! An unsettling thought to say the least
Further, one of the scientists, Zackrisson’s research indicates that, from a purely statistical standpoint, Earth should not even exist. How about that! But it does! We do!
To me, this knowledge, as little as it is, helps me more clearly see my place on earth, perhaps seeming like nothing but a mite in stature, but a mite placed here by God Himself. That makes my existence and yours of vital importance in the Grand Design. God wanted me here, wanted you here, and here am I and so are you. Together we are called by God to be His people, and being His people, we are to be examples to other people representing who He is. And who is He?
. ELOHIM. My Creator
. JEHOVAH. My Lord God
. EL SHADDAI. My Supplier
. ADONAI. MY Master
. JEHOVAH JIREH. My Provider
. JEHOVAH ROPHE. My Healer
. JEHOVAH NISSI. My Banner
. JEHOVAH MAKADESH. My Sanctifier
. ANCIENT OF DAYS. Eternal
. My favorite....FATHER “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, or Israel acknowledge us; You, Lord are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name” Isaiah 63:16
THE ABSOLUTENSS OF GOD IS OUR EXISTENCE, AS ALL 7 ABSOLUTE LAWS COME FROM GOD WHO ESTABLISHED THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, AND THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND ALL THAT IT CONTAINS.
Great is the Lord and Greatly to be praised
In City of our God
In the mountain of His holiness
Beautiful for situations, the joy of the whole earth,
In Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
The city of the Great King
AMEN AND SELAH....SO BE IT~
The Little Church in the Pines
July 19, 2020
“Whatsoever THINGS ARE !
Philippians 4:8 NSFLB
Pastor Tom Shanor
In the first seven verses of this chapter, Paul is praising the Philippian Church, while at the same time telling them to keep their focus as he states in verse 8, starting out with; “Finally, brethren, whatever things are TRUE, whatever things are NOBLE, whatever things are JUST, whatever things are PURE, whatever things are LOVELY, whatever things are of GOOD REPORT, if there is any VIRTUE and if there is anything PRAISEWORTHY….meditate on these things.”
You see, character and conduct begin in the mind. Our actions are affected by the things we dwell on in our thoughts. Paul cautions the Philippians and therefore also us to concentrate on things that will result in right thinking, hence right living, therefore obtaining in the process stability in thought, heart and emotion, no matter the circumstances that surround us…..a full measure of PEACE. The PEACE that passes all understanding. In the hurricane of events that we all currently live in, if we do this we can live in the eye of the storm, where sunshine, peace and calm exist, while the storm rages around us.
The first thing is believing this is possible, but there too we are to remember that “I can do all things through Christ who enables me.” The first step to that is also belief. Faith is under-girded by believing. Do YOU believe this, or does the circumstances we find ourselves in rule our heart, mind, spirit and emotions? Where are you in these areas of your life?
Also, in Philippians 4:6 we read this, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. In other words,. also pray, leading into prayer for your request with thanks for what you already have, and what you have is HIM. How strong is YOUR faith? I am not asking you to let reason and caution behind therefore testing God but combine what you know you need to do with the faith you have in Christ through God. By using your brain and your faith together, you truly can do all things in Christ who both strengthens and enables you. Sometimes we need an enabler!
In the Old Testament we find in Proverbs 3 these words that God encourages us with in our quest of living life as He instructs us, by saying,
My children never forget the things I have taught you.
Store my command in your heart.
If…you do this, you will live a long life,
And your life will be satisfying.
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you.
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep in your heart.
Then…you will find favor with God and with people,
And you will earn a good reputation.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
Do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His will in all you do,
And He will show you which direction to go in.
My children do not lose sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul.
They are like jewels on a necklace.
They will keep you safe on your journey of life, and your feet will not stumble.
Do not withhold “good” from those who deserve it,
When it is in your power to help them.
These words tie in beautifully with what Paul was instructing both the Philippians and us. What I just read is not a complete reading of Proverbs 3, so I would recommend that you take some time to read Philippians and these verses…. or as Paul says here to meditate on them.
To meditate is a practice where an individual uses a technique…such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable conclusion….which then can be applied to your life.
Summing it all up, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your heart and minds with the deep and wonderful life applications of thought, reason, diligence and behavior that Jesus, Paul and all the teachers that God Himself has given us in learning how to live our lives, our brief lives well.
…..Jesus courageously and faithfully both represented and taught us a deeper and fuller revelation of God, which is also of course an aspect of Himself that we come across from time to time when reading the Old Testament, because He is deeply in the Old Testament.
…..We find in the Old there is much violence representing the culture of tribalism in the time the words were written, but even then, there we those seeking and hungering for peace. The players are good and evil, just as in today, with little difference in thought and attitude, sometimes even within the ranks of Believers and followers of Christ. God often takes the rejected and turns them into heroes, and He takes the proud and turns them into the rejected. Through this circuitous route int eh history of His people, He tells them time and time again, I love you, I want the best for you, desiring simply that you love Me in return by following my commands and teachings through my Son.
…..Attitude is foundational and critical to being a follower of Jesus. Attitude is a relational state of mind critical to how we observe and react to whatever life throws at us. Our attitude can change, simply by choosing to change our focus from the negative to the positive by what we read, and what we choose to do. Our intellect, our emotions, our relationships all reflect our faith and its depth or shallowness. Where is yours?
…..Jesus in the New Testament shows us a NEW WAY, THE WAY of choices that we are to make, as He made. “THE WAY” THAT REPRESENTS THE NONVIOLENT AND LOVING HEART OF God. A radical way then….and an equally radical way today, especially as we see the result of VIOLENCE in our own culture, and what it has not and will not achieve for good. Protesting is a constitutional right given by our Founders…. but violence is to be abhorred and stopped. Protesting with ideas for needed change should be welcome when recognized that indeed changes are needed…and they are.
…..In Christ whom we are to emulate, we see and image of God who is not armed with lightning bolts but with a basin and towel. (think about that) the Son of God being the Servant of God…actually on His knees washing the dirty feel to His disciples as an example of who they, we are to be also.
…..He, who spews not threats but THE GOOD NEWS for all. He who rode not on a war horse but on a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who would choose not to accept His message of love, but instead violence, ultimately being crucified, the bearer of reconciliation, grace, forgiveness and ultimate love. He did not demote (as some thought) God to a lower, weaker status, but to a status of supremacy. A revelation of God as pure light; with no shadow of violence, conquest, exclusion, hostility or hate. The early Christians understood this and lived it, exampling to us, who we too are to be. It is not an easy path, in fact it is the most difficult path to follow for we too, if we succeed in doing so can also bring on ourselves the wrath of others who will not get it, just as those who did not in Jesus day.
…..ATTITUDE AND FOCUS again….on….”WHATSOVER THINGS ARE”….as I stated earlier was then, and still is today, THE RADICAL WAY OF LIVING, and to choose this way to live is the greatest and most profound and difficult way to show the Lord Jesus Christ that indeed we love Him.
Lord, I want to be more like You, like You.
I want to be a vessel You work through,
I, I,.. . . want to be more like you.
Not so simple is it, but if we want something deep enough, we can achieve it.
Do we?
Pope Francis said, “this moment in time calls for spiritual and social poets;: sincere and creative people who will rise on the wings of their faith to catch the Wind of the Spirit , the wind of JUSTICE, JOY and PEACE. The season is changing, and it is time for US to rise.”
…. All of us should desire to hear these words spoken to us by Jesus, “Well done good and faithful servants, well done.”
WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE GOOD…. FOCUS ON THEM! Amen
July 19, 2020
“Whatsoever THINGS ARE !
Philippians 4:8 NSFLB
Pastor Tom Shanor
In the first seven verses of this chapter, Paul is praising the Philippian Church, while at the same time telling them to keep their focus as he states in verse 8, starting out with; “Finally, brethren, whatever things are TRUE, whatever things are NOBLE, whatever things are JUST, whatever things are PURE, whatever things are LOVELY, whatever things are of GOOD REPORT, if there is any VIRTUE and if there is anything PRAISEWORTHY….meditate on these things.”
You see, character and conduct begin in the mind. Our actions are affected by the things we dwell on in our thoughts. Paul cautions the Philippians and therefore also us to concentrate on things that will result in right thinking, hence right living, therefore obtaining in the process stability in thought, heart and emotion, no matter the circumstances that surround us…..a full measure of PEACE. The PEACE that passes all understanding. In the hurricane of events that we all currently live in, if we do this we can live in the eye of the storm, where sunshine, peace and calm exist, while the storm rages around us.
The first thing is believing this is possible, but there too we are to remember that “I can do all things through Christ who enables me.” The first step to that is also belief. Faith is under-girded by believing. Do YOU believe this, or does the circumstances we find ourselves in rule our heart, mind, spirit and emotions? Where are you in these areas of your life?
Also, in Philippians 4:6 we read this, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. In other words,. also pray, leading into prayer for your request with thanks for what you already have, and what you have is HIM. How strong is YOUR faith? I am not asking you to let reason and caution behind therefore testing God but combine what you know you need to do with the faith you have in Christ through God. By using your brain and your faith together, you truly can do all things in Christ who both strengthens and enables you. Sometimes we need an enabler!
In the Old Testament we find in Proverbs 3 these words that God encourages us with in our quest of living life as He instructs us, by saying,
My children never forget the things I have taught you.
Store my command in your heart.
If…you do this, you will live a long life,
And your life will be satisfying.
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you.
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep in your heart.
Then…you will find favor with God and with people,
And you will earn a good reputation.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
Do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His will in all you do,
And He will show you which direction to go in.
My children do not lose sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul.
They are like jewels on a necklace.
They will keep you safe on your journey of life, and your feet will not stumble.
Do not withhold “good” from those who deserve it,
When it is in your power to help them.
These words tie in beautifully with what Paul was instructing both the Philippians and us. What I just read is not a complete reading of Proverbs 3, so I would recommend that you take some time to read Philippians and these verses…. or as Paul says here to meditate on them.
To meditate is a practice where an individual uses a technique…such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable conclusion….which then can be applied to your life.
Summing it all up, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your heart and minds with the deep and wonderful life applications of thought, reason, diligence and behavior that Jesus, Paul and all the teachers that God Himself has given us in learning how to live our lives, our brief lives well.
…..Jesus courageously and faithfully both represented and taught us a deeper and fuller revelation of God, which is also of course an aspect of Himself that we come across from time to time when reading the Old Testament, because He is deeply in the Old Testament.
…..We find in the Old there is much violence representing the culture of tribalism in the time the words were written, but even then, there we those seeking and hungering for peace. The players are good and evil, just as in today, with little difference in thought and attitude, sometimes even within the ranks of Believers and followers of Christ. God often takes the rejected and turns them into heroes, and He takes the proud and turns them into the rejected. Through this circuitous route int eh history of His people, He tells them time and time again, I love you, I want the best for you, desiring simply that you love Me in return by following my commands and teachings through my Son.
…..Attitude is foundational and critical to being a follower of Jesus. Attitude is a relational state of mind critical to how we observe and react to whatever life throws at us. Our attitude can change, simply by choosing to change our focus from the negative to the positive by what we read, and what we choose to do. Our intellect, our emotions, our relationships all reflect our faith and its depth or shallowness. Where is yours?
…..Jesus in the New Testament shows us a NEW WAY, THE WAY of choices that we are to make, as He made. “THE WAY” THAT REPRESENTS THE NONVIOLENT AND LOVING HEART OF God. A radical way then….and an equally radical way today, especially as we see the result of VIOLENCE in our own culture, and what it has not and will not achieve for good. Protesting is a constitutional right given by our Founders…. but violence is to be abhorred and stopped. Protesting with ideas for needed change should be welcome when recognized that indeed changes are needed…and they are.
…..In Christ whom we are to emulate, we see and image of God who is not armed with lightning bolts but with a basin and towel. (think about that) the Son of God being the Servant of God…actually on His knees washing the dirty feel to His disciples as an example of who they, we are to be also.
…..He, who spews not threats but THE GOOD NEWS for all. He who rode not on a war horse but on a donkey, weeping in compassion for people who would choose not to accept His message of love, but instead violence, ultimately being crucified, the bearer of reconciliation, grace, forgiveness and ultimate love. He did not demote (as some thought) God to a lower, weaker status, but to a status of supremacy. A revelation of God as pure light; with no shadow of violence, conquest, exclusion, hostility or hate. The early Christians understood this and lived it, exampling to us, who we too are to be. It is not an easy path, in fact it is the most difficult path to follow for we too, if we succeed in doing so can also bring on ourselves the wrath of others who will not get it, just as those who did not in Jesus day.
…..ATTITUDE AND FOCUS again….on….”WHATSOVER THINGS ARE”….as I stated earlier was then, and still is today, THE RADICAL WAY OF LIVING, and to choose this way to live is the greatest and most profound and difficult way to show the Lord Jesus Christ that indeed we love Him.
Lord, I want to be more like You, like You.
I want to be a vessel You work through,
I, I,.. . . want to be more like you.
Not so simple is it, but if we want something deep enough, we can achieve it.
Do we?
Pope Francis said, “this moment in time calls for spiritual and social poets;: sincere and creative people who will rise on the wings of their faith to catch the Wind of the Spirit , the wind of JUSTICE, JOY and PEACE. The season is changing, and it is time for US to rise.”
…. All of us should desire to hear these words spoken to us by Jesus, “Well done good and faithful servants, well done.”
WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE GOOD…. FOCUS ON THEM! Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
July 5, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
”The Breath and life of the spirit”
Genesis 2:7 “He breathed the breath of life”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
After Marilee and I were married, the topic of the Holy Spirit came up as to the role of the Spirit in our everyday lives. She shared with me that growing up in an Evangelical denomination, and that until meeting me and attending church services with me, she had never heard any teachings on the Holy Spirit. So, her desire was to know who exactly the Spirit was and what was He all about?
“The Spirit” AND “Holy Spirit” are the most commonly used names of the Spirit of God. People sometimes use the word “it” in reference to the Spirit; but those who do so neuter and depersonalize Him. Yes, I said Him...now exactly what Him means in His case, I really do not know, but let us go on. The Spirit is not simply an influence or force. As a ‘person’ of the Godhead, the Spirit has personality, thought, presence. As such, He can be resisted, offended, or pleased and more. Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, and so do you! Sounds like the Jews are in trouble again.
About 9 years prior I had been baptized in the Spirit with the gift or evidence of speaking in other tongues. Gifts such as this one and evidence gifts as they are called, are said by more than several denominations to have died out with the Disciples, and no longer are desired or needed, since we have what is called the perfect gift, that being the Bible. Well, regarding that the Bible as we know it came about quite a while after the death of the disciples, and the evidence is that these gifts continued on and still are being dispensed. In fact, it is projected that by 2050 there will be over one billion Charismatics or Pent
I am not speaking on the Spirit to begin a debate on this issue or any other, but instead am going to talk about the Person and evidence of who this Spirit of God is. Included in this I will of course use Scripture to back it up.
Let us start with my opening verse found in Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” The breath of life is the breath of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit!
As we proceed, I may be extending for some of you your own boundaries, and to me this is a good thing. One of my desires is to cause you to THINK as you challenge yourself into Scriptural examination. I will back up with Scripture what I tell you.
Our Christian faith, we could say was born on a weekend between what is now known as Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Those three days were the birthplace of our faith, and later, one day following those three days, a day yet to come for the then believers, on what is known as the Day of Pentecost, the church as we have come to know it was born. The Holy Spirit played the major role in the birth of the church, bringing with Him miracle, wonders and signs, touching lives, changing lives dramatically and deeply. The Holy Spirit brought power and might unlike anything that had ever been experienced prior to that day, fulfilling the very words of Jesus when He said to His disciples, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued or filled with *power from on high.”
In these words of Jesus there was no hint given about what would happen, but clearly the evidence shows that Jesus knew what would occur and would make it abundantly clear to them, the Promise of My Father” as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. (3:16) It is this supernatural power that Jesus used and uses to fulfill His mission to the world through His church.
Luke `11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who *ask Him.” Ask Him? In this passage He tells us that we have a choice, for the Lord wants us to have all that He has for us, but in some things He asks us to ask Him, for He is good and ever available to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. The Lord desires to pour out the Holy Spirit on those desirous of receiving.
Does this mean that when we become Christians, we do not have the Holy Spirit? No. As soon as we make a profession of faith in the Son of God as to who and what He is, this can only be done in, by, and through the Holy Spirit who draws us to His Son. We are sealed unto God by the Spirit through Jesus the Christ. This asking is for those who want more of what God has to give.
The Spirit’s major role is to open the eyes and heart of men and women to the truth of who Jesus Christ is, and He does so in a great variety of ways, including using of all things, us. Today, our faith, for many of us and the church as a whole, specifically, needs a fresh move of God’s Spirit who gives life to experience a faith that is bigger, deeper and richer to all who seek.
Young people are not buying into our faith as it exists for us, for what we offer them is a boxed in religion that has little usable air left in our box…for we, are content…and they are not interested in contentment. Our world has become to most of them spiritually irrelevant in an age of dynamic change.
It is a world that most of us have trouble understanding, let alone keep up with. We could be like the Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites, withdrawing from the modern world content with our hymns, static celebrations and “this is the way it’s always been done and it’s good enough for me. That is often the problem…it all about me.
Jesus brought dramatic change to both the religious world and human culture, never getting credit for equalizing men and women, for tearing down the veil between the alter and the Living God, opening the doorway for us to approach Him without the need of an intercessory except for Jesus Christ Himself.
What have we done with the law of Spirit, grace, mercy, forgiveness? We have imprisoned it so that in many ways it looks and acts and sounds like the Old Law that He came to set us free from. In doing so, He brought into the world a new law; the law of love, with the promise of new life and new potential for a whole new world within and without, working its way out as He hoped, to fill the world with Himself through us.
The Spirit call us to unity. The Spirit calls us to mercy. The Spirit calls us to empower us. The Spirit calls us to Grace, the most misunderstand and underused gift of all. The Spirit calls us to Peace. The Spirit call us to justice.
Jesus also said the Holly Spirit is also our Advocate or Helper (John 14:16, 16:26 and 16:7_ Jesus called the Holy Spirit alongside us to help us resist sin. We are also told the Spirit is another Helper, other than Jesus Himself.
He is also called:
The Spirit of Life) Romans 8:2)
The Spirit of Grace Hebrews 10:29
The Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10)
The Spirit of truth (John 14:17)
The Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4)
The Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17)
The Spirit of justice and judgment (Isaiah 28:6)
The Spirit of glory (1 Peter 4:14)
Earlier I spoke of the three days of Good Friday through Easter Sunday, the second day represents a silence, a contemplative pause following Friday’s great loss (or so it seems). His disciples and many others in confusion and in shock, and in mourning. Wondering what comes next if anything?
If Friday represented a letting go, Saturday represents sinking to the depth of a descent into despair, only to gain perhaps a deeper vantage point if one can rise to it. The recognition of a new reality in that death is real and what comes following the death of death before there can be new life. Change….oh how we often hate change!
In coming back to our youth, today’s youth culture is demanding change, with methods that alarm us. We know that it is a small percentage doing so with violence, but there is a large percentage that are leaving us far behind. We can, and if we can, will we listen to them, or will we simply moan and groan, bemoaning without listening to what they are attempting to tell us.
Today is a dynamic time to allow the Spirit of God to come along side of us to give us wisdom and grace, instruction and power, love and mercy. Young adults are calling us out for our lack of living up to what and who we have been saying we are, by focusing our latter years in being content to live in comfort and self-centeredness. Open our eyes Lord and open our ears, that we might see, and we might hear.
We are being called out in ways that seem ugly and harsh, demanding the acceptance of all people, of all races and all cultures. The minimalized, the outcast, the very ones that Jesus Himself said He came for. It is sobering and in some ways frightening. This is a day in time we need the wisdom I just spoke of. We need the Spirit to talk to us and to hear Him we need to open our hearts.
Just because I am a minister does not mean I understand all that needs to be done and how, but I am becoming or trying to become more tuned in to His inner voice, and allowing the Scriptures to speak to me more deeply, applying new lessons and new thoughts and new directions.
I also feel a deep compulsion to push a bit here. I have told my congregation that if I can, I want to push you all to think deeper, to reason, question, discuss and shift if shifting is needed…to think and think and think and pray, and pray and pray.
We all, the Church needs a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, the Living Spirit, the very life-giving Spirit of God Himself, and in doing so, may He give us what we need to make a difference. We need, and I mean need to unleash Christianity’s potential for healing and transforming the world, by first transforming ourselves by the Power of God, His Spirit. Amen
July 5, 2020
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
”The Breath and life of the spirit”
Genesis 2:7 “He breathed the breath of life”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
After Marilee and I were married, the topic of the Holy Spirit came up as to the role of the Spirit in our everyday lives. She shared with me that growing up in an Evangelical denomination, and that until meeting me and attending church services with me, she had never heard any teachings on the Holy Spirit. So, her desire was to know who exactly the Spirit was and what was He all about?
“The Spirit” AND “Holy Spirit” are the most commonly used names of the Spirit of God. People sometimes use the word “it” in reference to the Spirit; but those who do so neuter and depersonalize Him. Yes, I said Him...now exactly what Him means in His case, I really do not know, but let us go on. The Spirit is not simply an influence or force. As a ‘person’ of the Godhead, the Spirit has personality, thought, presence. As such, He can be resisted, offended, or pleased and more. Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, and so do you! Sounds like the Jews are in trouble again.
About 9 years prior I had been baptized in the Spirit with the gift or evidence of speaking in other tongues. Gifts such as this one and evidence gifts as they are called, are said by more than several denominations to have died out with the Disciples, and no longer are desired or needed, since we have what is called the perfect gift, that being the Bible. Well, regarding that the Bible as we know it came about quite a while after the death of the disciples, and the evidence is that these gifts continued on and still are being dispensed. In fact, it is projected that by 2050 there will be over one billion Charismatics or Pent
I am not speaking on the Spirit to begin a debate on this issue or any other, but instead am going to talk about the Person and evidence of who this Spirit of God is. Included in this I will of course use Scripture to back it up.
Let us start with my opening verse found in Genesis 2:7. “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” The breath of life is the breath of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit!
As we proceed, I may be extending for some of you your own boundaries, and to me this is a good thing. One of my desires is to cause you to THINK as you challenge yourself into Scriptural examination. I will back up with Scripture what I tell you.
Our Christian faith, we could say was born on a weekend between what is now known as Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Those three days were the birthplace of our faith, and later, one day following those three days, a day yet to come for the then believers, on what is known as the Day of Pentecost, the church as we have come to know it was born. The Holy Spirit played the major role in the birth of the church, bringing with Him miracle, wonders and signs, touching lives, changing lives dramatically and deeply. The Holy Spirit brought power and might unlike anything that had ever been experienced prior to that day, fulfilling the very words of Jesus when He said to His disciples, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued or filled with *power from on high.”
In these words of Jesus there was no hint given about what would happen, but clearly the evidence shows that Jesus knew what would occur and would make it abundantly clear to them, the Promise of My Father” as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. (3:16) It is this supernatural power that Jesus used and uses to fulfill His mission to the world through His church.
Luke `11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who *ask Him.” Ask Him? In this passage He tells us that we have a choice, for the Lord wants us to have all that He has for us, but in some things He asks us to ask Him, for He is good and ever available to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. The Lord desires to pour out the Holy Spirit on those desirous of receiving.
Does this mean that when we become Christians, we do not have the Holy Spirit? No. As soon as we make a profession of faith in the Son of God as to who and what He is, this can only be done in, by, and through the Holy Spirit who draws us to His Son. We are sealed unto God by the Spirit through Jesus the Christ. This asking is for those who want more of what God has to give.
The Spirit’s major role is to open the eyes and heart of men and women to the truth of who Jesus Christ is, and He does so in a great variety of ways, including using of all things, us. Today, our faith, for many of us and the church as a whole, specifically, needs a fresh move of God’s Spirit who gives life to experience a faith that is bigger, deeper and richer to all who seek.
Young people are not buying into our faith as it exists for us, for what we offer them is a boxed in religion that has little usable air left in our box…for we, are content…and they are not interested in contentment. Our world has become to most of them spiritually irrelevant in an age of dynamic change.
It is a world that most of us have trouble understanding, let alone keep up with. We could be like the Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites, withdrawing from the modern world content with our hymns, static celebrations and “this is the way it’s always been done and it’s good enough for me. That is often the problem…it all about me.
Jesus brought dramatic change to both the religious world and human culture, never getting credit for equalizing men and women, for tearing down the veil between the alter and the Living God, opening the doorway for us to approach Him without the need of an intercessory except for Jesus Christ Himself.
What have we done with the law of Spirit, grace, mercy, forgiveness? We have imprisoned it so that in many ways it looks and acts and sounds like the Old Law that He came to set us free from. In doing so, He brought into the world a new law; the law of love, with the promise of new life and new potential for a whole new world within and without, working its way out as He hoped, to fill the world with Himself through us.
The Spirit call us to unity. The Spirit calls us to mercy. The Spirit calls us to empower us. The Spirit calls us to Grace, the most misunderstand and underused gift of all. The Spirit calls us to Peace. The Spirit call us to justice.
- He is the Good Spirit…. through whom we receive good gifts as found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. If we exhibited these in our everyday lives and encounters, we would change the world. Nehemiah says the “good Spirit” was given to instruct God’s people, and we by faith in Him are God’s people.
- He is the “Eternal Spirit” for in Hebrews 9:14 says, “He hovered over the face of the waters during creation (Genesis 1:1-2
- He is “the Lord.” We Christians call Jesus “Lord” and worship the “Lord God,” but the Holy Spirit is also called “Lord” in 2 Corinthians 3:17. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are aptly called “Lord” for there is no competition in the Godhead. To say the Holy Spirit is “Lord” is to affirm His personhood and divinity in the Trinity. He is worthy of worship as is the Father and Son.
- He is also named the “Paraclete” The Greek word translated as “helper” in reference to the Spirit is parakletos. There are two main ways believers experience the parakletos. The Spirit is our advocate. An advocate pleads a case before a righteous judge. Scripture teaches Jesus is our advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1) Because His sacrifice on the cross enables us to plead our case. He understands us and what we go through because having been tempted Himself, yet without sin, he represents us experientially.
Jesus also said the Holly Spirit is also our Advocate or Helper (John 14:16, 16:26 and 16:7_ Jesus called the Holy Spirit alongside us to help us resist sin. We are also told the Spirit is another Helper, other than Jesus Himself.
He is also called:
The Spirit of Life) Romans 8:2)
The Spirit of Grace Hebrews 10:29
The Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10)
The Spirit of truth (John 14:17)
The Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4)
The Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17)
The Spirit of justice and judgment (Isaiah 28:6)
The Spirit of glory (1 Peter 4:14)
Earlier I spoke of the three days of Good Friday through Easter Sunday, the second day represents a silence, a contemplative pause following Friday’s great loss (or so it seems). His disciples and many others in confusion and in shock, and in mourning. Wondering what comes next if anything?
If Friday represented a letting go, Saturday represents sinking to the depth of a descent into despair, only to gain perhaps a deeper vantage point if one can rise to it. The recognition of a new reality in that death is real and what comes following the death of death before there can be new life. Change….oh how we often hate change!
In coming back to our youth, today’s youth culture is demanding change, with methods that alarm us. We know that it is a small percentage doing so with violence, but there is a large percentage that are leaving us far behind. We can, and if we can, will we listen to them, or will we simply moan and groan, bemoaning without listening to what they are attempting to tell us.
Today is a dynamic time to allow the Spirit of God to come along side of us to give us wisdom and grace, instruction and power, love and mercy. Young adults are calling us out for our lack of living up to what and who we have been saying we are, by focusing our latter years in being content to live in comfort and self-centeredness. Open our eyes Lord and open our ears, that we might see, and we might hear.
We are being called out in ways that seem ugly and harsh, demanding the acceptance of all people, of all races and all cultures. The minimalized, the outcast, the very ones that Jesus Himself said He came for. It is sobering and in some ways frightening. This is a day in time we need the wisdom I just spoke of. We need the Spirit to talk to us and to hear Him we need to open our hearts.
Just because I am a minister does not mean I understand all that needs to be done and how, but I am becoming or trying to become more tuned in to His inner voice, and allowing the Scriptures to speak to me more deeply, applying new lessons and new thoughts and new directions.
I also feel a deep compulsion to push a bit here. I have told my congregation that if I can, I want to push you all to think deeper, to reason, question, discuss and shift if shifting is needed…to think and think and think and pray, and pray and pray.
We all, the Church needs a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, the Living Spirit, the very life-giving Spirit of God Himself, and in doing so, may He give us what we need to make a difference. We need, and I mean need to unleash Christianity’s potential for healing and transforming the world, by first transforming ourselves by the Power of God, His Spirit. Amen
The LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES
MACKS INN ~ ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
June 28, 2020
Pastor Tom Shanor
“The Man Who Feared Everything - but the Right Thing – GOD
PROVERBS 9:10 says to us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Basically, this verse teaches those who care, that the fear of God is foundational to true wisdom in the spiritual realm, and all other types of learning would be greatly enhanced if the person who recognizes this truth has that true wisdom on which to build.
He considered himself bigger than God. After his classmates made fun of him, Howie threw away his hearing aids. He lived the rest of his life with an incessant ringing in his ears. It nearly drove him insane. When his prayers for relief went unanswered, he set his credo for life: if you can’t depend on God, you have to be your own God.
Fearing the bacteria (the entrance of fear) the bacteria that bred in the dampness of Houston, Howie’s hypochondriac mother sent him to live in dry Southern California. There, he discovered the two real loves of his life; Hollywood and aviation. Lost in the magic of a movie, he forgot the ringing in his ears. Soaring high in an airplane, it stopped altogether.
Then his parents died, making him the world’s wealthiest orphan. Howie boasted. “I’m richer than God!” He became king of Hollywood, producing a string of films. Along the way, he engaged in sexual affairs that led him to contract incurable syphilis. But that didn’t stop him from becoming king of the skies or from building history’s largest airplane, called what? “Spruce Goose”
The world was stunned when he flew to Paris in half the time it took Charles Limberg....and then flew around the world in three days. He made a fortune in World War II as the biggest supplier of airplane part. After he purchased shares in Trans World Airlines, he became the first multi-billionaire in history. Howard Hughes now bragged that he was more powerful than God. A-O...bad things usually happen when people say this!
So, on we go. Yet his bravado masked his spreading syphilis. His old fear of germs returned with a vengeance. He moved to Las Vegas for the clean air, purchased a hotel and casino, and lived like a hermit in a sanitary bubble on the top floor. His agents then bought up for him the surrounding casinos to extend his so called safe-zone. He spent millions bribing the president of the United States to stop nuclear testing in Nevada lest he be exposed to radiation.
He funneled a fortune to the CIA stop Russian from unleashing biological warfare. Howard Hughes had become the ultimate control freak, and freak he was becoming more and more every day.
Towards the end, he was downing hundreds of pills every day. He would eat little besides green peas, and he had each one measured so he wouldn’t choke to death. He kept a team of doctors on full-time alert, wore surgical gowns only, used Kleenex boxes for shoes, and would not allow anything to touch his exposed skin. If a flu or cold epidemic hit Las Vegas, a private jet would quickly whisk him away.
In spite of all his precautions, he fell into a coma when he was seventy and died in transit to the hospital on April 5, 1976. He was the richest man in the world, but his six-foot four frame had been starved down to ninety pounds, his body covered by filth and his arms riddled with hole. X-rays showed broken needles lodged under his skin. The autopsy revealed a brain eaten by syphilis. He was so unrecognizable that the FBI took fingerprints to conform his identity. The story of a man who thought he was bigger and richer than God screams a warning to all of us who try to control our world. We might relax more if we remember this:
“Fear and worries don’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.”
Today...many of us live-in constant fear of that which we cannot control. Yes, we can take precautions using good sense, using what tools are available to us, but to not be able to take a step without fear is letting that fear control us and stifling our lives directly. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge God....and He will take care of you.”
Cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22
85% of the world’s population professes a belief in God. At one time along with that profession, there was with that belief, both a love and fear of God. Today, we hear most often of God’s all-embracing love, but seldom fear of God. This fear that has been left behind helped keep sin in check, and helped us as a society sustain a modicum of behavior, that gave us a better balance of law and order.
Many other Scriptures speak on the fear of God: Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 14:27; 15:33 just to name a few. Before we can understand how the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, we need to define what the Bible means by “fear” in this context.
In our Bibles, the word translated “fear” can mean several things. It can refer to the terror one feels in a frightening situation (Deuteronomy 2:25) “Today, I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.” Now that’s cool if you are a Jew at that time, but if an enemy of the Jews, very frightening. God has been known to cause some rather intense repercussions to those who upset Him.
It can mean “respect” in the way a servant fears his master and serves him faithfully. Things have turned around in this next situation as Joshua is speaking to a rebellious Jewish people. “you are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.” O,k, ...I would not want to be a Jew at this time.
Now we come to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5, where he is sensing deeply his own smallness in the presence of God, as he is being asked directly to do something for God. He has a good sense of his place. “Woe is me for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. In the real presence of God, he finally sees who he is and is humbled.
~ THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THESE ~
Without the fear of God....the God who loves us and gave us life, whether it’s terror, respect or humility....we are in trouble. There today is a whole generation unaware of the love, power and fear of God. That is, if they even believe in God, which most no longer do. It is not a matter of who is at fault for this, but all of us wear some of the responsibility, and some of us a lot of the responsibility. We are right in preaching, talking and educating about the LOVE of God, but forgetting that He is can be jealous, angry at unrighteousness and misrepresentation of who He is in His fullness or completeness! He is a “HOLY” God.
This generation in the broad stroke, not believing in or fearing God, believe self-righteously that there is no accountability for their actions, for they are right and can do no wrong in their own eyes....hence the confusion, anger and rebellion that exists across our land and the world. I am trying not to broad-brush a whole generation, but a significant portion of it that has little real-life experience; yet telling us what is permissible and acceptable to get what they want, not caring about or understanding the consequences of their actions fully.
Without that reverential fear no holds are barred.
Fear of the Lord can be defined as “the continual awareness that our loving heavenly Father is watching and evaluating everything we think, say and do.
Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word...and work.
Revelation 1-2. “I know what you do, for nothing escapes My attention.”
In order to develop the fear of the Lord, we must recognize God for who He is, not looking just at the aspects of Him that we want to acknowledge and think that is His totality. We must glimpse with our spirits the POWER, MIGHT, BEAUTY, AND BRILLIANCE of the Lord God, the ALMIGHTY! Those who fear God have a continual awareness of Him, a deep reverence for Him, and a sincere commitment to OBEY Him....as the Lord Himself through His life and teachings has shown and taught us how to do.
Romans 1:21-22 speaks of those who “neither glorified Him as God no gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” This is a description of people who try to obtain wisdom while ignoring God....in all His manifestation and requirements of us.
The link between the FEAR of God and WISDOM means we cannot possess wisdom if we attempt to RECREATE God in our own image or imagination. It cannot be done for the simple reason that God is God and cannot be changed by us in any way. I AM THAT I AM....for both He and Jesus used that phrase describing who they are....beyond question or imagination.
Too many people want to “tame” God into a non-threatening nobody, neutered and kumbaya, If we redefine the Lord as a god that makes us feel comfortable, a permissive “buddy” who exists simply to bless us and give us what we want, we will not fear Him in the way He deserves to be feared. The Lord God ALMIGHTY, who is the SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER.
Until our hearts are in a right relationship with God, in harmony with who He is and who we are in relationship to Him, we are worshiping a different god. One of our own making. This is basically idol worship.
Without the fear of the Lord, our decisions are made on faulty human understanding. When we incorporate the healthy fear of the Lord into every moment of our lives, we make decisions based upon His approval and live with the knowledge that the CREATOR of the Universe is intimately involved in our every thought and action. He sees, knows, and evaluate all our choices, for we will one day answer to Him.
Our then respect for God in all His Majesty, causes us to honor Him with our words, actions and thoughts.....every day, all day. Our gratitude for His mercy causes us to serve Him well. Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” Therefore, the understanding that our God of love is also a God of accountability should inspire in us enough healthy fear, to walk in truth and righteousness....or right living.
This.....is Wisdom. Howard Hughes and others like him stand at the pinnacle of both human achievement and failure.
“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and HE will lift you up.
Amen
MACKS INN ~ ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
June 28, 2020
Pastor Tom Shanor
“The Man Who Feared Everything - but the Right Thing – GOD
PROVERBS 9:10 says to us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Basically, this verse teaches those who care, that the fear of God is foundational to true wisdom in the spiritual realm, and all other types of learning would be greatly enhanced if the person who recognizes this truth has that true wisdom on which to build.
He considered himself bigger than God. After his classmates made fun of him, Howie threw away his hearing aids. He lived the rest of his life with an incessant ringing in his ears. It nearly drove him insane. When his prayers for relief went unanswered, he set his credo for life: if you can’t depend on God, you have to be your own God.
Fearing the bacteria (the entrance of fear) the bacteria that bred in the dampness of Houston, Howie’s hypochondriac mother sent him to live in dry Southern California. There, he discovered the two real loves of his life; Hollywood and aviation. Lost in the magic of a movie, he forgot the ringing in his ears. Soaring high in an airplane, it stopped altogether.
Then his parents died, making him the world’s wealthiest orphan. Howie boasted. “I’m richer than God!” He became king of Hollywood, producing a string of films. Along the way, he engaged in sexual affairs that led him to contract incurable syphilis. But that didn’t stop him from becoming king of the skies or from building history’s largest airplane, called what? “Spruce Goose”
The world was stunned when he flew to Paris in half the time it took Charles Limberg....and then flew around the world in three days. He made a fortune in World War II as the biggest supplier of airplane part. After he purchased shares in Trans World Airlines, he became the first multi-billionaire in history. Howard Hughes now bragged that he was more powerful than God. A-O...bad things usually happen when people say this!
So, on we go. Yet his bravado masked his spreading syphilis. His old fear of germs returned with a vengeance. He moved to Las Vegas for the clean air, purchased a hotel and casino, and lived like a hermit in a sanitary bubble on the top floor. His agents then bought up for him the surrounding casinos to extend his so called safe-zone. He spent millions bribing the president of the United States to stop nuclear testing in Nevada lest he be exposed to radiation.
He funneled a fortune to the CIA stop Russian from unleashing biological warfare. Howard Hughes had become the ultimate control freak, and freak he was becoming more and more every day.
Towards the end, he was downing hundreds of pills every day. He would eat little besides green peas, and he had each one measured so he wouldn’t choke to death. He kept a team of doctors on full-time alert, wore surgical gowns only, used Kleenex boxes for shoes, and would not allow anything to touch his exposed skin. If a flu or cold epidemic hit Las Vegas, a private jet would quickly whisk him away.
In spite of all his precautions, he fell into a coma when he was seventy and died in transit to the hospital on April 5, 1976. He was the richest man in the world, but his six-foot four frame had been starved down to ninety pounds, his body covered by filth and his arms riddled with hole. X-rays showed broken needles lodged under his skin. The autopsy revealed a brain eaten by syphilis. He was so unrecognizable that the FBI took fingerprints to conform his identity. The story of a man who thought he was bigger and richer than God screams a warning to all of us who try to control our world. We might relax more if we remember this:
“Fear and worries don’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.”
Today...many of us live-in constant fear of that which we cannot control. Yes, we can take precautions using good sense, using what tools are available to us, but to not be able to take a step without fear is letting that fear control us and stifling our lives directly. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge God....and He will take care of you.”
Cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22
85% of the world’s population professes a belief in God. At one time along with that profession, there was with that belief, both a love and fear of God. Today, we hear most often of God’s all-embracing love, but seldom fear of God. This fear that has been left behind helped keep sin in check, and helped us as a society sustain a modicum of behavior, that gave us a better balance of law and order.
Many other Scriptures speak on the fear of God: Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 14:27; 15:33 just to name a few. Before we can understand how the fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, we need to define what the Bible means by “fear” in this context.
In our Bibles, the word translated “fear” can mean several things. It can refer to the terror one feels in a frightening situation (Deuteronomy 2:25) “Today, I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.” Now that’s cool if you are a Jew at that time, but if an enemy of the Jews, very frightening. God has been known to cause some rather intense repercussions to those who upset Him.
It can mean “respect” in the way a servant fears his master and serves him faithfully. Things have turned around in this next situation as Joshua is speaking to a rebellious Jewish people. “you are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.” O,k, ...I would not want to be a Jew at this time.
Now we come to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5, where he is sensing deeply his own smallness in the presence of God, as he is being asked directly to do something for God. He has a good sense of his place. “Woe is me for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. In the real presence of God, he finally sees who he is and is humbled.
~ THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THESE ~
Without the fear of God....the God who loves us and gave us life, whether it’s terror, respect or humility....we are in trouble. There today is a whole generation unaware of the love, power and fear of God. That is, if they even believe in God, which most no longer do. It is not a matter of who is at fault for this, but all of us wear some of the responsibility, and some of us a lot of the responsibility. We are right in preaching, talking and educating about the LOVE of God, but forgetting that He is can be jealous, angry at unrighteousness and misrepresentation of who He is in His fullness or completeness! He is a “HOLY” God.
This generation in the broad stroke, not believing in or fearing God, believe self-righteously that there is no accountability for their actions, for they are right and can do no wrong in their own eyes....hence the confusion, anger and rebellion that exists across our land and the world. I am trying not to broad-brush a whole generation, but a significant portion of it that has little real-life experience; yet telling us what is permissible and acceptable to get what they want, not caring about or understanding the consequences of their actions fully.
Without that reverential fear no holds are barred.
Fear of the Lord can be defined as “the continual awareness that our loving heavenly Father is watching and evaluating everything we think, say and do.
Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word...and work.
Revelation 1-2. “I know what you do, for nothing escapes My attention.”
In order to develop the fear of the Lord, we must recognize God for who He is, not looking just at the aspects of Him that we want to acknowledge and think that is His totality. We must glimpse with our spirits the POWER, MIGHT, BEAUTY, AND BRILLIANCE of the Lord God, the ALMIGHTY! Those who fear God have a continual awareness of Him, a deep reverence for Him, and a sincere commitment to OBEY Him....as the Lord Himself through His life and teachings has shown and taught us how to do.
Romans 1:21-22 speaks of those who “neither glorified Him as God no gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” This is a description of people who try to obtain wisdom while ignoring God....in all His manifestation and requirements of us.
The link between the FEAR of God and WISDOM means we cannot possess wisdom if we attempt to RECREATE God in our own image or imagination. It cannot be done for the simple reason that God is God and cannot be changed by us in any way. I AM THAT I AM....for both He and Jesus used that phrase describing who they are....beyond question or imagination.
Too many people want to “tame” God into a non-threatening nobody, neutered and kumbaya, If we redefine the Lord as a god that makes us feel comfortable, a permissive “buddy” who exists simply to bless us and give us what we want, we will not fear Him in the way He deserves to be feared. The Lord God ALMIGHTY, who is the SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER.
Until our hearts are in a right relationship with God, in harmony with who He is and who we are in relationship to Him, we are worshiping a different god. One of our own making. This is basically idol worship.
Without the fear of the Lord, our decisions are made on faulty human understanding. When we incorporate the healthy fear of the Lord into every moment of our lives, we make decisions based upon His approval and live with the knowledge that the CREATOR of the Universe is intimately involved in our every thought and action. He sees, knows, and evaluate all our choices, for we will one day answer to Him.
Our then respect for God in all His Majesty, causes us to honor Him with our words, actions and thoughts.....every day, all day. Our gratitude for His mercy causes us to serve Him well. Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” Therefore, the understanding that our God of love is also a God of accountability should inspire in us enough healthy fear, to walk in truth and righteousness....or right living.
This.....is Wisdom. Howard Hughes and others like him stand at the pinnacle of both human achievement and failure.
“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and HE will lift you up.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
Compassion, both receiving and giving!
Pastor Tom Shanor
June 21, 2020
Compassion....sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Example: “the victims should be treated with compassion”
Our Lord was steeped in compassion, and as an example I will read from Luke 7:11-7 READ Matthew 14:13-21 READ
These are just two examples of the many times Jesus showed compassion. Usually to the poorer, least educated and needy people He worked with and encountered every day of His ministry.
On a bit of a lighter nonetheless a deep need, in the life of a child, a needy child, here is a real-life example of compassion.
One morning before coming to my office, I happened to catch a video clip on NBC of the need of a little girl who had difficulty identifying with other children of her age, and therefore also had difficulty in forming any friendships.
Andrea was 8, it was Christmas Day and she was opening the few presents that lay under the Christmas tree just for her. The box, a rather large one was the last one she was opening....in the box was by brand name an ‘American Girl Doll’, that looked a lot like Andrea. That alone surprised her a great deal, and (American Dolls are not inexpensive) but as she continued to unwrap the doll, she suddenly started crying then sobbing. My own thoughts were, “how sweet” but as she exposed the rest of the doll to the camera, I could see it was fitted with a prosthesis on its leg.....just like hers, which I had not seen. She cried and cried...holding on tightly to the doll which was somewhat of a replica of herself, loving with all she had within her this amazing gift.
Through her tears, she said to her mother, “you have no idea how much this means to me.” (though of course her mother did). Her bond with that doll changed her life. Being able to hold, identify with and love the doll as she did, opened her heart to feelings other than rejection and loneliness.
The American Doll Company which is large, volunteered to fill that loving mother’s unique request at no cost to the family, going out of their way to show compassion to one little broken hearted and lonely eight-year-old who needed some deep identification and acceptance that was able to identify with her own condition.
Some of the synonyms associated with the word ‘compassion’ are mercy, tenderness, heart and clemency. This is what Jesus felt towards the crowd, which is mentioned as 5000 whom He fed miraculously by multiplication, with the little boy’s fish and bread.
In Biblical times (as a side note) only men were counted when counting took place, and women and children were not. My reason for bringing this up is that the true count would have been closer to 20,000 people, which ties into verse 14, for in the middle of all of these events, Jesus also received word that John the Baptist had been beheaded, and all Jesus wanted to do was get away to think, mourn and pray. Yet, He put aside His own desires and as Scripture says, “when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude, and he was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Part of compassion as illustrated here, is putting one’s own desires ahead of our own, and doing just as He did no matter how He personally felt. A beautiful thing!
Question…..how would you rate yourself in this arena, let’s say 1 out of 10? I too had to ask myself the same question. In reading the story that I read on Friday, and will read to you at some point, again on compassion where immediately I felt the rush of tears….tears of compassion, but also with those came a quickening of my spirit, that I need to be more open to doing, instead of congratulating myself on my ability to feel compassion. It is good to know that I do feel, thereby proving to myself I am at least not a sociopath or psychopath, but Lord I asked, show me what I can do, so called sacrificing some of my time to do unto others as you have them do unto me.
We are to be a giving people, just as Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brother and sisters of mine, you did for Me!” So, compassion given as a Christian to anyone has a double blessing. The blessing coming to us from giving and a blessing to the Lord, for whatever we do in deeds such as this, also bless Him.
Most of us know that it was Christianity brought about the conquest of the Roman Empire, but it did not come through the power of the sword, but the power of the Gospel…. joined with Christian acts of compassion.
Here is the story.
In the middle of the 3rd century AD, there was a terrible plague in the Roman empire, bringing with its overwhelming death. Citizens and physicians (as such) left the cities in droves, getting as far away as possible from the dreaded disease. However,…. many Christians stayed behind to help those who were ill and dying, many of them dying themselves. Eusebius, a church historian, states that because of the compassion of the Christians in the midst of the pandemic, the Christians, and this is a direct historical quote) “the Christians deeds were on everyone’s lips, and they glorified the God the Christians, for such acts of compassion, convinced the pagans that these Christians were devoutly religious and truly reverent to God.” End of quote.
So…after all that being said, we now understand the deep compassion in the heart of our Lord, that when suddenly, instead of a quiet time alone with the Father, He finds Himself thrust compassionately into being the “Servant” He was…..and is, setting an example for us as how to be more like Him.
There is a simple praise song that speaks to this, and it goes as such:
Lord, I want to be more like You
Lord I want to be more like You
I want to be a vessel You work through
I want to be more like You……………….
There is a key word in this chorus that is critical to the outworking of the deed, and that word is “want.” He will never, never, never force us to do anything, but His desire is for us to want to do for Him by being like Him.
Time for that story I was talking about……
The story is called “From Libya with Love”
Mohammed Bzeek is one of the many immigrants who make America better. This bearded gentle giant who hails from Libya is one amazing story. His wife to be, Dawn, was already taking in foster children when he met her, and they continued to care for foster children after they married. But lots of folks open their homes to foster kids. (though not enough) Mohammed and Dawn were different. In the mid-1990’s, they began taking in kids who were not only desperate for a home, but desperately terminally ill children who could not see, hear or talk. This couple had a simple vision that they could fill the short lives of these dying children with as much love as it was possible to give. Since taking in these children, they have buried ten. But his heart never broke more than when he watched the love of his life, his wife Dawn die from blood clots in her lungs in 2015.
Bzeek was determined to continue her vision to care for the most vulnerable. Nothing demonstrates that commitment more than watching him care for his then most severely disabled foster child, Renea, a six-year-old tiny girl who was born with microcephaly. She is unable to see, hear or talk. She lies helpless for twenty-four house a day, hooked to breathing tubes and wires. When no one else was willing to care for her, this man from Libra took her in. He recently told a People Magazine reporter, “The only way I can communicate with Renea is by touch. So I hold her. “ I want her to know that someone is here for her. Somebody loves her. She is not alone.” Because Mohammed sleeps on a sofa next to her at night, she is never alone.
A lesser man might have said, “It was Dawn’s vision” and walk away.” When folks ask him why he still does it, Mohammed replies. “Even if these children cannot communicate, see, or hear, they still have a soul. They need somebody to love them. I tell them, ‘It’s okay, I’m her for you. We’ll go through this together.”
Mr. Bzeek would surely agree with something Mother Teresa said: “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.’
1 THESSALONIANS 5:14 says to us, “Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.” Everyone? Everyone.
What Mohammed Bzeek recognized, was that the greatest miracle of all to him, and to all of us alive, is life itself. The fact that we can walk, touch, feel, think, love, see, smell, interact, have food to eat, air to breathe, sky to experience, beauty to grasp and hold in wonder…..the sound of waves washing ashore. Holding a newborn baby, a love, a dad, a mom, brother, sister, friend….and so much more. That our every-day experiences are tangible, real and touchable ‘miracles.’ Life is a miracle and how we choose, and we do choose to give and live this great and astounding gift….is mostly up to us.
Choose this day….this day, not only whom we will serve, but how we will live out our lives. Self-centered or giving? Showing compassion or judgment? Reaching out as Jesus did, as American Doll did, as Mohammed Bzeek did….or as you have the opportunity to choose.
Our Lord, Savior and Friend, Jesus the Christ….one man born of God and woman…a lone figure crying the wilderness…. changed the course of history in a multitude of ways for the entire world, if only, if only. His miracle message of love, hope, compassion, forgiveness, grace, faith and so much more…. reaches out beyond our world into the universe with a universal message unlike any other…and we are blessed. May we remember daily…. WE ARE BLESSED. X2
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
Compassion, both receiving and giving!
Pastor Tom Shanor
June 21, 2020
Compassion....sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Example: “the victims should be treated with compassion”
Our Lord was steeped in compassion, and as an example I will read from Luke 7:11-7 READ Matthew 14:13-21 READ
These are just two examples of the many times Jesus showed compassion. Usually to the poorer, least educated and needy people He worked with and encountered every day of His ministry.
On a bit of a lighter nonetheless a deep need, in the life of a child, a needy child, here is a real-life example of compassion.
One morning before coming to my office, I happened to catch a video clip on NBC of the need of a little girl who had difficulty identifying with other children of her age, and therefore also had difficulty in forming any friendships.
Andrea was 8, it was Christmas Day and she was opening the few presents that lay under the Christmas tree just for her. The box, a rather large one was the last one she was opening....in the box was by brand name an ‘American Girl Doll’, that looked a lot like Andrea. That alone surprised her a great deal, and (American Dolls are not inexpensive) but as she continued to unwrap the doll, she suddenly started crying then sobbing. My own thoughts were, “how sweet” but as she exposed the rest of the doll to the camera, I could see it was fitted with a prosthesis on its leg.....just like hers, which I had not seen. She cried and cried...holding on tightly to the doll which was somewhat of a replica of herself, loving with all she had within her this amazing gift.
Through her tears, she said to her mother, “you have no idea how much this means to me.” (though of course her mother did). Her bond with that doll changed her life. Being able to hold, identify with and love the doll as she did, opened her heart to feelings other than rejection and loneliness.
The American Doll Company which is large, volunteered to fill that loving mother’s unique request at no cost to the family, going out of their way to show compassion to one little broken hearted and lonely eight-year-old who needed some deep identification and acceptance that was able to identify with her own condition.
Some of the synonyms associated with the word ‘compassion’ are mercy, tenderness, heart and clemency. This is what Jesus felt towards the crowd, which is mentioned as 5000 whom He fed miraculously by multiplication, with the little boy’s fish and bread.
In Biblical times (as a side note) only men were counted when counting took place, and women and children were not. My reason for bringing this up is that the true count would have been closer to 20,000 people, which ties into verse 14, for in the middle of all of these events, Jesus also received word that John the Baptist had been beheaded, and all Jesus wanted to do was get away to think, mourn and pray. Yet, He put aside His own desires and as Scripture says, “when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude, and he was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Part of compassion as illustrated here, is putting one’s own desires ahead of our own, and doing just as He did no matter how He personally felt. A beautiful thing!
Question…..how would you rate yourself in this arena, let’s say 1 out of 10? I too had to ask myself the same question. In reading the story that I read on Friday, and will read to you at some point, again on compassion where immediately I felt the rush of tears….tears of compassion, but also with those came a quickening of my spirit, that I need to be more open to doing, instead of congratulating myself on my ability to feel compassion. It is good to know that I do feel, thereby proving to myself I am at least not a sociopath or psychopath, but Lord I asked, show me what I can do, so called sacrificing some of my time to do unto others as you have them do unto me.
We are to be a giving people, just as Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brother and sisters of mine, you did for Me!” So, compassion given as a Christian to anyone has a double blessing. The blessing coming to us from giving and a blessing to the Lord, for whatever we do in deeds such as this, also bless Him.
Most of us know that it was Christianity brought about the conquest of the Roman Empire, but it did not come through the power of the sword, but the power of the Gospel…. joined with Christian acts of compassion.
Here is the story.
In the middle of the 3rd century AD, there was a terrible plague in the Roman empire, bringing with its overwhelming death. Citizens and physicians (as such) left the cities in droves, getting as far away as possible from the dreaded disease. However,…. many Christians stayed behind to help those who were ill and dying, many of them dying themselves. Eusebius, a church historian, states that because of the compassion of the Christians in the midst of the pandemic, the Christians, and this is a direct historical quote) “the Christians deeds were on everyone’s lips, and they glorified the God the Christians, for such acts of compassion, convinced the pagans that these Christians were devoutly religious and truly reverent to God.” End of quote.
So…after all that being said, we now understand the deep compassion in the heart of our Lord, that when suddenly, instead of a quiet time alone with the Father, He finds Himself thrust compassionately into being the “Servant” He was…..and is, setting an example for us as how to be more like Him.
There is a simple praise song that speaks to this, and it goes as such:
Lord, I want to be more like You
Lord I want to be more like You
I want to be a vessel You work through
I want to be more like You……………….
There is a key word in this chorus that is critical to the outworking of the deed, and that word is “want.” He will never, never, never force us to do anything, but His desire is for us to want to do for Him by being like Him.
Time for that story I was talking about……
The story is called “From Libya with Love”
Mohammed Bzeek is one of the many immigrants who make America better. This bearded gentle giant who hails from Libya is one amazing story. His wife to be, Dawn, was already taking in foster children when he met her, and they continued to care for foster children after they married. But lots of folks open their homes to foster kids. (though not enough) Mohammed and Dawn were different. In the mid-1990’s, they began taking in kids who were not only desperate for a home, but desperately terminally ill children who could not see, hear or talk. This couple had a simple vision that they could fill the short lives of these dying children with as much love as it was possible to give. Since taking in these children, they have buried ten. But his heart never broke more than when he watched the love of his life, his wife Dawn die from blood clots in her lungs in 2015.
Bzeek was determined to continue her vision to care for the most vulnerable. Nothing demonstrates that commitment more than watching him care for his then most severely disabled foster child, Renea, a six-year-old tiny girl who was born with microcephaly. She is unable to see, hear or talk. She lies helpless for twenty-four house a day, hooked to breathing tubes and wires. When no one else was willing to care for her, this man from Libra took her in. He recently told a People Magazine reporter, “The only way I can communicate with Renea is by touch. So I hold her. “ I want her to know that someone is here for her. Somebody loves her. She is not alone.” Because Mohammed sleeps on a sofa next to her at night, she is never alone.
A lesser man might have said, “It was Dawn’s vision” and walk away.” When folks ask him why he still does it, Mohammed replies. “Even if these children cannot communicate, see, or hear, they still have a soul. They need somebody to love them. I tell them, ‘It’s okay, I’m her for you. We’ll go through this together.”
Mr. Bzeek would surely agree with something Mother Teresa said: “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.’
1 THESSALONIANS 5:14 says to us, “Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.” Everyone? Everyone.
What Mohammed Bzeek recognized, was that the greatest miracle of all to him, and to all of us alive, is life itself. The fact that we can walk, touch, feel, think, love, see, smell, interact, have food to eat, air to breathe, sky to experience, beauty to grasp and hold in wonder…..the sound of waves washing ashore. Holding a newborn baby, a love, a dad, a mom, brother, sister, friend….and so much more. That our every-day experiences are tangible, real and touchable ‘miracles.’ Life is a miracle and how we choose, and we do choose to give and live this great and astounding gift….is mostly up to us.
Choose this day….this day, not only whom we will serve, but how we will live out our lives. Self-centered or giving? Showing compassion or judgment? Reaching out as Jesus did, as American Doll did, as Mohammed Bzeek did….or as you have the opportunity to choose.
Our Lord, Savior and Friend, Jesus the Christ….one man born of God and woman…a lone figure crying the wilderness…. changed the course of history in a multitude of ways for the entire world, if only, if only. His miracle message of love, hope, compassion, forgiveness, grace, faith and so much more…. reaches out beyond our world into the universe with a universal message unlike any other…and we are blessed. May we remember daily…. WE ARE BLESSED. X2
Amen
** Adapting, Change, Transitions, Patience, Stewardship, Peace **
Message by; Connie Funkhouser
subbing for Pastor Tom
posted per requests
June 07, 2020
Most of us are not good at juggling tennis balls or bowling pins. Now imagine trying to juggle while jumping backwards … and wearing high heels.
This perhaps illustrates what it is like trying to live a “new normal,” where life is drastically different than what we have been accustomed to and will not change for some time or may never will change. Our heart and mind are still in the life we just left, yet our present beckons. This new normal could be life after a loved one had major surgery & never fully recovers, the passing of a spouse, bad news about our health, or prolonged unemployment. It could be re-locating to a new city or learning new skills @ an advanced age. Some of these circumstances are planned and others come without notice, but all result in a forced change/or an unexpected transition.
Sometimes “new” can be desired and exciting, but other times it is not. James 1:vs2 & 3 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience.” Most of us want to live out James 1:2 & 3 and persevere through trials, but day-to-day living can instead be a roller coaster of pining for the past, trying to live in an unfamiliar present, doing our best to establishing new comfort zones, praying for patience, all while trying to maintain our peaceful spirits.
Why is adapting to change so hard? How do we walk through these canyons of life?
A new normal pose various challenges:
Ultimately, adapting, change, and transitions dramatically alters foundations of our life. So, what can we do?
Amidst all the questions, emotions, and feeling out of sorts, there is something that can provide us with the space needed to process our questions and emotions yet provide wisdom for practicalities. It lies in approaching our new normal as a matter of stewardship—not in just a financial sense, but stewardship on a broader level. When all is said and done God will ask, “What did you do with the people, talents, places, resources, and yes, hardships, I placed before you? How have you reflected my character and loved others through all this?” (Matt. 25:14-30; 2 Cor. 1:3-5).
Approaching a difficult transition as a matter of stewardship helps us to be deliberate, careful, and realistic. More specifically, by viewing our transition as a matter of stewardship, we can enlist into our trial:
At what point does all this processing become unhelpful to us and others? Time will give us more clarity on that question and answers will vary with each person. But for now, some potential ways we can steward our thoughts, emotions, and actions in a world of unforeseen circumstances are to:
How foreign, how uncomfortable, and how disorienting it must have been for the Son of God to become man, to bear the weight of our sin, and subsequently face His father’s rejection on our behalf (Is. 53:1-12; Phil. 2:5-8)!
Yet, Jesus Christ willingly experienced a new normal for over 30 years.
And therein lies the rationale, example, and hope for walking through a difficult new life. The story of the Gospel is the story of a new normal—a relationship with God through the work of Christ. A relationship that came at a heavy price.
And so, can be with our new transition/altered existence. Out of the ashes can arise beauty. Out of the groaning comes the payoff of being a display of God’s splendor (Isa. 61:3). Out of the longing for the comforts of the past comes the chance to testify to a watching world that Jesus is our Lord and that His love is better than life (Rom. 12:1; Ps. 63:3). Not just through our words, but through our mourning, our hoping, our service, and yes, even our new normal.
Read Romans 12:1-2 . . . . .
Paul is calling believers to consider their whole life as a sacrifice dedicated to God and His purposes, a “living” sacrifice, both holy and single-minded.
How has God worked through hard life transitions in the past? How might that encourage us right now?
We cannot walk this road alone. If we do not have deep relationships with people at church, at our workplace, within community, and most importantly with our immediate families. What can we do to cultivate such relationships? Or how can we help facilitate relationships for those who do not have them?
Living wisely with the love of Jesus, impacting each relationship we have. The Grace of Jesus is what reaches those who do not believe. We can make the most of every opportunity to share His love without hesitation. Live the change Christ has made in our life’s and speak His promise of new life. Ppl are hungry for acceptance, stability, love, not constant reminders of how unworthy they are. Hearing that Jesus forgives them and accepts them right where they are is life changing.
In the 6 yrs. @ the JCC I cannot remember how many times that was the foundation of our Sunday messages - elaborate. . . .
When the world is trying to regain an economic footing, the only peace is in Christ. When evil smears disease throughout the world, He is the only peace. To experience His peace continually, we remain in Him. Waking each morning with the determination that living in the Presence of God is our priority. We pray. We digest His word. We train our thoughts not to listen to the enemy, but to believe as Jesus has spoken, as He has promised.
I read about this dear old lady who for years had boasted about her trust and faith in God’s promises and assurance of Heaven.
When she was close to her final hours, she had been talking about how sweet it was to trust the Lord, how wonderful His promises were.
An unbelieving neighbor came by to see her and said, “I want to ask you a question. Suppose after you die, you find that the promises of God are not true, that you are not really saved after all, that you have lost your soul?”
The dear lady said, “Well, I may lose my soul, but God would lose much more.”
He said, “Oh really. . .what would God lose.”
She said, “God would lose His Honor.”
When God makes a promise, He puts His very character and reputation on the line. Far too many ppl are sitting on the premises when they ought to be standing on His promises.
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can
be trusted to keep his promise” (Hebrews 10:23, NLT).
There are going to be times when we find ourselves in the midst of life’s dark storms, of change, transitions, adapting, testing our patience, and certainly disrupting our peace. God is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He provides sustenance in our desert place. A revelation in His Word to give us hope – a friend to encourage us. The Lord gives us just what we need to inspire us that He is doing something new. Life can cloud our ability to recognize His provision. We must open our spiritual eyes, and fortunately ask to see His promise of something new.
Fortunately, as believers we can rally back to the peace from within. To the residence of the Holy Spirit in our very soul. When we tap into His peace we are not @ the mercy of the world around us, but can continue to navigate through change, transitions, with a confident heart that trusts. When we are in control, we have no definite answers. When God is @ the helm, we are not responsible for the outcome. He is.
As faithful Stewards we are His disciples. We do not carry the problems of the world. He does. Continuously living in His presence, is peace. Peace believes in His promises. We have no time for what we can accomplish anymore. May we yearn for what He can accomplish through us. Our confidence in our Lord can be our motivation.
Friends believe Him and yield to the Holy Spirit’s peace. We are over-comers in Christ. We are His beloved. Remain in Him. Be His instrument, His apprentice. By doing so you will bring joy to Our Father, Our Creator, and a sincere peace to those who you cherish most.
Amen
Message by; Connie Funkhouser
subbing for Pastor Tom
posted per requests
June 07, 2020
Most of us are not good at juggling tennis balls or bowling pins. Now imagine trying to juggle while jumping backwards … and wearing high heels.
This perhaps illustrates what it is like trying to live a “new normal,” where life is drastically different than what we have been accustomed to and will not change for some time or may never will change. Our heart and mind are still in the life we just left, yet our present beckons. This new normal could be life after a loved one had major surgery & never fully recovers, the passing of a spouse, bad news about our health, or prolonged unemployment. It could be re-locating to a new city or learning new skills @ an advanced age. Some of these circumstances are planned and others come without notice, but all result in a forced change/or an unexpected transition.
Sometimes “new” can be desired and exciting, but other times it is not. James 1:vs2 & 3 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience.” Most of us want to live out James 1:2 & 3 and persevere through trials, but day-to-day living can instead be a roller coaster of pining for the past, trying to live in an unfamiliar present, doing our best to establishing new comfort zones, praying for patience, all while trying to maintain our peaceful spirits.
Why is adapting to change so hard? How do we walk through these canyons of life?
A new normal pose various challenges:
- Theological questions – Questions can abound when trying to reconcile what we believe with our experience. If God is good, why did my spouse or child die? Am I not a good Christian if I do not rejoice always? Am I being punished for something I did?
- Emotional strain – We are made to know and be known. When close relationships end and new ones are not as deep, it hurts. Work and functional independence give us some sense of value, dignity, and self-respect, and when those are taken away, we might feel worthless or question our purpose. Whether what we have lost is regarding relationships, work, familiar routines, or health, we simply do not feel like ourselves let alone complete.
- Practicalities – New is scary, and if we are not careful, we make unfair comparisons between the known past and the unfamiliar present. So how do we move forward while honoring what we have lost? Who can we talk to, especially when what we lost is so much a part of how we think and live?
Ultimately, adapting, change, and transitions dramatically alters foundations of our life. So, what can we do?
Amidst all the questions, emotions, and feeling out of sorts, there is something that can provide us with the space needed to process our questions and emotions yet provide wisdom for practicalities. It lies in approaching our new normal as a matter of stewardship—not in just a financial sense, but stewardship on a broader level. When all is said and done God will ask, “What did you do with the people, talents, places, resources, and yes, hardships, I placed before you? How have you reflected my character and loved others through all this?” (Matt. 25:14-30; 2 Cor. 1:3-5).
Approaching a difficult transition as a matter of stewardship helps us to be deliberate, careful, and realistic. More specifically, by viewing our transition as a matter of stewardship, we can enlist into our trial:
- Direction, structure, and guard rails – Our mind goes places while adapting/changing and we do need space to process and mourn. But we do not get to think, feel, or do whatever we want. All of life is lived before God (Ps. 139).
At what point does all this processing become unhelpful to us and others? Time will give us more clarity on that question and answers will vary with each person. But for now, some potential ways we can steward our thoughts, emotions, and actions in a world of unforeseen circumstances are to:
- Think biblically and accurately about the past and the present.
- Cultivate gratitude for past and present good gifts, rather than demand them or harbor resentment for the new.
- Think and speak about what is helpful for building others up in the faith—there can be a way to talk about loss which offers a portrait of godly grief mixed with hope and faith (no matter how small).
- Grace, nuance, and patience – Viewing a new normal as a matter of stewardship pushes us towards spiritual aspirations of growth in godliness while also being realistic about what life will be like. Whether for ourselves or as we help others, stewardship offers a lens to work through the nuance and gradual nature of trying to live out black and white truth . . . because:
- Transitions take time. We will slip up and idolize the past. We will make unfair comparisons and place our identity and security in something that was never meant to bear that weight (Ps. 103:15-18). That does not mean we are not trying to pursue godliness.
- Sanctification is a matter of degrees. Where we derive our worth and security is rarely an all-or-nothing proposition. Yes, it needs to be foundationally based on the person and work of Christ, but we still find value and comfort in our relationships, work, and routines. It is about gradually holding more and more tightly to identity in Christ.
How foreign, how uncomfortable, and how disorienting it must have been for the Son of God to become man, to bear the weight of our sin, and subsequently face His father’s rejection on our behalf (Is. 53:1-12; Phil. 2:5-8)!
Yet, Jesus Christ willingly experienced a new normal for over 30 years.
And therein lies the rationale, example, and hope for walking through a difficult new life. The story of the Gospel is the story of a new normal—a relationship with God through the work of Christ. A relationship that came at a heavy price.
And so, can be with our new transition/altered existence. Out of the ashes can arise beauty. Out of the groaning comes the payoff of being a display of God’s splendor (Isa. 61:3). Out of the longing for the comforts of the past comes the chance to testify to a watching world that Jesus is our Lord and that His love is better than life (Rom. 12:1; Ps. 63:3). Not just through our words, but through our mourning, our hoping, our service, and yes, even our new normal.
Read Romans 12:1-2 . . . . .
Paul is calling believers to consider their whole life as a sacrifice dedicated to God and His purposes, a “living” sacrifice, both holy and single-minded.
How has God worked through hard life transitions in the past? How might that encourage us right now?
We cannot walk this road alone. If we do not have deep relationships with people at church, at our workplace, within community, and most importantly with our immediate families. What can we do to cultivate such relationships? Or how can we help facilitate relationships for those who do not have them?
Living wisely with the love of Jesus, impacting each relationship we have. The Grace of Jesus is what reaches those who do not believe. We can make the most of every opportunity to share His love without hesitation. Live the change Christ has made in our life’s and speak His promise of new life. Ppl are hungry for acceptance, stability, love, not constant reminders of how unworthy they are. Hearing that Jesus forgives them and accepts them right where they are is life changing.
In the 6 yrs. @ the JCC I cannot remember how many times that was the foundation of our Sunday messages - elaborate. . . .
When the world is trying to regain an economic footing, the only peace is in Christ. When evil smears disease throughout the world, He is the only peace. To experience His peace continually, we remain in Him. Waking each morning with the determination that living in the Presence of God is our priority. We pray. We digest His word. We train our thoughts not to listen to the enemy, but to believe as Jesus has spoken, as He has promised.
I read about this dear old lady who for years had boasted about her trust and faith in God’s promises and assurance of Heaven.
When she was close to her final hours, she had been talking about how sweet it was to trust the Lord, how wonderful His promises were.
An unbelieving neighbor came by to see her and said, “I want to ask you a question. Suppose after you die, you find that the promises of God are not true, that you are not really saved after all, that you have lost your soul?”
The dear lady said, “Well, I may lose my soul, but God would lose much more.”
He said, “Oh really. . .what would God lose.”
She said, “God would lose His Honor.”
When God makes a promise, He puts His very character and reputation on the line. Far too many ppl are sitting on the premises when they ought to be standing on His promises.
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can
be trusted to keep his promise” (Hebrews 10:23, NLT).
There are going to be times when we find ourselves in the midst of life’s dark storms, of change, transitions, adapting, testing our patience, and certainly disrupting our peace. God is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He provides sustenance in our desert place. A revelation in His Word to give us hope – a friend to encourage us. The Lord gives us just what we need to inspire us that He is doing something new. Life can cloud our ability to recognize His provision. We must open our spiritual eyes, and fortunately ask to see His promise of something new.
Fortunately, as believers we can rally back to the peace from within. To the residence of the Holy Spirit in our very soul. When we tap into His peace we are not @ the mercy of the world around us, but can continue to navigate through change, transitions, with a confident heart that trusts. When we are in control, we have no definite answers. When God is @ the helm, we are not responsible for the outcome. He is.
As faithful Stewards we are His disciples. We do not carry the problems of the world. He does. Continuously living in His presence, is peace. Peace believes in His promises. We have no time for what we can accomplish anymore. May we yearn for what He can accomplish through us. Our confidence in our Lord can be our motivation.
Friends believe Him and yield to the Holy Spirit’s peace. We are over-comers in Christ. We are His beloved. Remain in Him. Be His instrument, His apprentice. By doing so you will bring joy to Our Father, Our Creator, and a sincere peace to those who you cherish most.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
May 31, 2020
SERMON ~ Are you CONTAGIOUS?
Pastor Tom Shanor
EPHESIANS 1:17-18
I ask….the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do…………..
Mark 1:17 tells us ONE of these things He is calling us to do………………….
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said,
and I will send you out to fish for people.”
~ Fish for people! Lets’ put it this way……if you are going to fish, really fish, your intent is to catch. Some you catch, and some you lose. If you are new to fishing, you have a lot to learn. You need to be intelligent about it, perhaps having the right equipment will help, but most of all, along with a good instructor, comes experience….and an intuitive sense grows by grasping what is important and what is not. Along with this (once caught up, your-self that is, in the magic of fishing) grows the desire to fish more, which then can become an obsession and even contagious, as you want good friends to feel what you feel, although some may never feel what you feel.
~ The same can be said in “fishing for people,” in bringing them to the knowledge of the Lord. Even in doing this there are right ways and wrong ways. This ability could also be intuitive (as the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ) and we have the privilege of reeling them in. The emotion that comes from having so called, reeled one in can be rather addictive, but not for the sole purpose of a long string of people (so to speak), but for the purpose, unlike with fish once caught ,in our catching them, we are actually setting them up to set them free from, as Scripture says, “sin and death,” and into a deep and personal relationship with Him.
~Of course, I am speaking about evangelism, (that is what it is called) and in the case of most of us who are not ministers or evangelists by calling, all of us are called to share our faith in an everyday manner. This is called ‘lifestyle evangelism’. Now the Apostle Paul was called to at least six, what are called the church then and today, offices, or official positions in The Faith. Those six Paul was called to, are Apostle, Evangelist, Missionary, Teacher, Prophet and Pastor. Being called means that He literally was chosen by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill these and more roles.
~ You, for the most part being extra-ordinary, everyday people, fulfilling our variety of roles on this planet, for someone(s) has to take care of we who are called to ministry, (someone has to pay the bills so to speak) in other words support those who are called, to go into all the world preaching the Gospel. You though are also called to lifestyle evangelism. Lifestyle evangelism simply means just that. You talk, walk and act like Him, thereby, by what non-believers observe in us, are drawn to Jesus through us. We are to be examples in our lives of who He is.
~ When our lifestyles are different (and in the eyes of some, better) than perhaps our neighbors, (not our intention) two responses might happen. One is they should be drawn to who, and what we are and have. The second option they have is they become upset, do not like us because, subliminally we come across as better than they, and that makes them angry. It is not our intention, but it can be an outflow of who we are in Christ. Therefore, sometimes we become a focus of derision and even a backlash.
~ We must therefore keep our eyes and ears open to see if, and when either of these responses occur, because both responses are an opportunity to witness about the Lord to them. I see them as set-ups by God Himself, and how we respond or do not respond is important.
~ Where does the word “evangelism” comes from? ‘ev’ means Good, and the ‘angel’ means messenger. So together, the word means ‘good-message-ing,’ and what we are sharing in evangelizing is The Gospel. The word ‘Gospel’ comes down to us from the Anglo-Saxon word, ‘God-spell’, which itself signifies “Gods-spell,’ or ‘God’s story.’
~ In the 70’s there was a musical named “God-spell,” and within in it was a short little chorus I remember to this day.
O dear Lord
Three things I pray,
To see Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly,
Day by day, by day………………….
~ That little chorus says it so clearly and simply.
~ In evangelizing we are witnesses to and adherents of the Gospel. The word ‘witness’ is a translation for the Greek word ‘martus’, from which we get our English word ‘martyr,’ or ‘one who witnesses with his or her life…circling around again to the term, ‘Lifestyle Evangelism.’
~ There is a legend that has been around for quite a while, about when Jesus returned to Heaven following His death and resurrection. Upon His arrival the angels gathered around Him in amazement. They gazed at the wounds in his hands and feet, shuddering as they recalled his suffering and death.
~ After a lengthy time, Gabriel finally and tentatively spoke: “Master, you suffered terribly, beyond belief by the hands of your oppressors on earth. Do those who did this to you, now understand the extent and meaning of Your great sacrifice for them?
~ “No,” said Jesus, “not yet. Right now, only a handful of my closest followers know and understand, yet even they not fully, but the time will soon come when they do. Then, what will they do to help others everywhere fully understand?
“Peter, James, John and the others will spread the word. They will tell others, who will tell others, until My message spreads to the end of the earth.”
But Gabriel, knowing well the nature of we human beings, asked, Lord, “what is plan B?”
~ “I have no plan B.” replied Jesus, there is not alternative strategy. I am counting on them and them alone! and those who follow them.”
Twenty centuries later…. this is still His plan, plan A. Yes, there are evangelists, missionaries, pastors, but most of all,\ He still is counting on you, by what you say and how you live to draw the majority of people to Him, and that’s the truth, plain and simple.
~ Will others come to Him because of both yours and my lifestyle of living by helping others, reaching out to the hurting, the hungry (both physically and spiritually) because we fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable. Putting into our minds that which is excellent and worthy. Whatever we put into ourselves church family, is what others will see flowing from us. In doing so we become contagious in the good sense of the word’s meaning.
CAN AND WILL OTHERS CATCH WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE? WILL THEY? DO YOU WANT THEM TO? IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU? LIKE A VIRUS, MOST CONTAGIONS ARE CAUGHT BY BEING AIRBORNE….AS ARE OUR WORDS.
It does us good on occasion to hear an actual account of what the emphasis in this sermon is speaking of.
~ There was Alice, crotchety, and angry ‘old’ Alice. Quite a piece of work, and mean it seemed to the core. She was a terror to the entire neighborhood, especially the children who dared step on her property, or God forbid, a ball or etc. would end up in her yard, not that it was much of a yard, though she thought it was.
~ Her face was sour and surly, and she would wave her garden trowel and hedge-clippers like weapons in the face of anyone, who for whatever reason might by chance or choice try to stop by.
~ When James and Jean Mader moved next door, they mustered their courage (hearing of her reputation) to speak to Alice one day about the Lord, but she cut them off. “I’ve been a member of my church all my life,” she snorted, and I do not need anyone quoting the Bible to me!
~ The Mader’s prayed and looked for ways of befriending Alice, and slowly the relationship thawed just a little. Still, Alice wanted nothing to do with hearing what they wanted to share with her.
~ During a community evangelistic campaign put on by their church, they became involved in a ministry called “Operation Andrew,” (ever heard of it?) based on John 1:42 about Andrew the Disciple, introducing his brother Simon to Christ. The Maders listed ten people (practical planning) to pray for, and then to invite them to meetings held in their home. Of course, Alice’s name was at the top of their list, but she continually spurned their every attempt to have her attend.
~ One summer evening, returning from their vacation, the Maders found Alice’s house empty. She was in a nursing home, having suffered a stroke. They visited her regularly, bringing flowers and sharing news from the neighborhood. Alice was unable to speak, but one day when Jim asked if he could read the 23rd Psalm to her, she nodded her agreement.
~ Visiting her regularly, always reading Scripture to her, Jim and his wife Jean noticed that Alice began fixing her gaze on him as he read, instead of staring straight ahead as she had previously done. One day Jim asked her straight out, but gently, “do you want to ask the Lord for forgiveness of your sins and “give you peace with God, and thereby peace within your heart, mind and spirit? Alice indicated by nodding slightly that she did want to, and bowing her head as much as she could, prayed silently as Jim led her.
~ When she raised her head, her eyes were wet with tears. Alice, for the first time in her entire life…. was bathed in peace, as it appeared in her eyes which shone with joy. It had taken perseverance, acceptance, love, and prayer…. then forgiveness through the faithful and loving care from Jim and Jean…. twelve years of simply being there with and for Alice. Twelve years of never giving up.
~ There are many Alice’s, both men and women all around us who NEED their bottled-up pain of multiple kinds released, freed from, and the resultant anger will go. I know, because at one time I was one of them.
~ We should believe this is so….and if we do not, we need to reevaluate our faith. Are we a follower, a disciple of Christ, or are we simply religious, finding a measure of comfort in our religion through ceremony and ritual?
~ Either He is real and personal to you as revealed in the New Testament, or He is just an iconic religious figure that gives you in some ways a measure of, as I stated above, comfort.
` My own faith at times is up and down…….I have high moments and low ones, sometimes very low, where I question my personal depth, but I keep coming back to the One to whom I cannot seem to get far away from, even when I try, and I have at times tried. Having been an agnostic, also a disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for several years, then turning to astrology and numerology, coming this close to accepting some others that I am not going to mention, as I said above, I kept coming back to the One who walked on water….and the One who would just not let me have peace, except in Him, where I found and find unconditional grace, acceptance, love and forgiveness, compassion and understanding….arms always open, GRACE UPON GRACE.
~ There is a gift that the Lord gives us while we live out our lives in this world, and whether we accept it or not is in our hands. That gift is found in John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift, “Jesus says, “peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give you. So, don’t be afraid.”
~Whether it is a pandemic, an illness, a car accident and a myriad of all the things that can happen to us and those we love….Jesus says, we can (after the initial encounter) walk with peace in our minds and hearts. When a gift is given, we have the choice to accept or reject it. Accept it and pay it forward because bringing peace can be contagious. Amen
May 31, 2020
SERMON ~ Are you CONTAGIOUS?
Pastor Tom Shanor
EPHESIANS 1:17-18
I ask….the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do…………..
Mark 1:17 tells us ONE of these things He is calling us to do………………….
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said,
and I will send you out to fish for people.”
~ Fish for people! Lets’ put it this way……if you are going to fish, really fish, your intent is to catch. Some you catch, and some you lose. If you are new to fishing, you have a lot to learn. You need to be intelligent about it, perhaps having the right equipment will help, but most of all, along with a good instructor, comes experience….and an intuitive sense grows by grasping what is important and what is not. Along with this (once caught up, your-self that is, in the magic of fishing) grows the desire to fish more, which then can become an obsession and even contagious, as you want good friends to feel what you feel, although some may never feel what you feel.
~ The same can be said in “fishing for people,” in bringing them to the knowledge of the Lord. Even in doing this there are right ways and wrong ways. This ability could also be intuitive (as the Holy Spirit draws people to Christ) and we have the privilege of reeling them in. The emotion that comes from having so called, reeled one in can be rather addictive, but not for the sole purpose of a long string of people (so to speak), but for the purpose, unlike with fish once caught ,in our catching them, we are actually setting them up to set them free from, as Scripture says, “sin and death,” and into a deep and personal relationship with Him.
~Of course, I am speaking about evangelism, (that is what it is called) and in the case of most of us who are not ministers or evangelists by calling, all of us are called to share our faith in an everyday manner. This is called ‘lifestyle evangelism’. Now the Apostle Paul was called to at least six, what are called the church then and today, offices, or official positions in The Faith. Those six Paul was called to, are Apostle, Evangelist, Missionary, Teacher, Prophet and Pastor. Being called means that He literally was chosen by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill these and more roles.
~ You, for the most part being extra-ordinary, everyday people, fulfilling our variety of roles on this planet, for someone(s) has to take care of we who are called to ministry, (someone has to pay the bills so to speak) in other words support those who are called, to go into all the world preaching the Gospel. You though are also called to lifestyle evangelism. Lifestyle evangelism simply means just that. You talk, walk and act like Him, thereby, by what non-believers observe in us, are drawn to Jesus through us. We are to be examples in our lives of who He is.
~ When our lifestyles are different (and in the eyes of some, better) than perhaps our neighbors, (not our intention) two responses might happen. One is they should be drawn to who, and what we are and have. The second option they have is they become upset, do not like us because, subliminally we come across as better than they, and that makes them angry. It is not our intention, but it can be an outflow of who we are in Christ. Therefore, sometimes we become a focus of derision and even a backlash.
~ We must therefore keep our eyes and ears open to see if, and when either of these responses occur, because both responses are an opportunity to witness about the Lord to them. I see them as set-ups by God Himself, and how we respond or do not respond is important.
~ Where does the word “evangelism” comes from? ‘ev’ means Good, and the ‘angel’ means messenger. So together, the word means ‘good-message-ing,’ and what we are sharing in evangelizing is The Gospel. The word ‘Gospel’ comes down to us from the Anglo-Saxon word, ‘God-spell’, which itself signifies “Gods-spell,’ or ‘God’s story.’
~ In the 70’s there was a musical named “God-spell,” and within in it was a short little chorus I remember to this day.
O dear Lord
Three things I pray,
To see Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly,
Day by day, by day………………….
~ That little chorus says it so clearly and simply.
~ In evangelizing we are witnesses to and adherents of the Gospel. The word ‘witness’ is a translation for the Greek word ‘martus’, from which we get our English word ‘martyr,’ or ‘one who witnesses with his or her life…circling around again to the term, ‘Lifestyle Evangelism.’
~ There is a legend that has been around for quite a while, about when Jesus returned to Heaven following His death and resurrection. Upon His arrival the angels gathered around Him in amazement. They gazed at the wounds in his hands and feet, shuddering as they recalled his suffering and death.
~ After a lengthy time, Gabriel finally and tentatively spoke: “Master, you suffered terribly, beyond belief by the hands of your oppressors on earth. Do those who did this to you, now understand the extent and meaning of Your great sacrifice for them?
~ “No,” said Jesus, “not yet. Right now, only a handful of my closest followers know and understand, yet even they not fully, but the time will soon come when they do. Then, what will they do to help others everywhere fully understand?
“Peter, James, John and the others will spread the word. They will tell others, who will tell others, until My message spreads to the end of the earth.”
But Gabriel, knowing well the nature of we human beings, asked, Lord, “what is plan B?”
~ “I have no plan B.” replied Jesus, there is not alternative strategy. I am counting on them and them alone! and those who follow them.”
Twenty centuries later…. this is still His plan, plan A. Yes, there are evangelists, missionaries, pastors, but most of all,\ He still is counting on you, by what you say and how you live to draw the majority of people to Him, and that’s the truth, plain and simple.
~ Will others come to Him because of both yours and my lifestyle of living by helping others, reaching out to the hurting, the hungry (both physically and spiritually) because we fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable. Putting into our minds that which is excellent and worthy. Whatever we put into ourselves church family, is what others will see flowing from us. In doing so we become contagious in the good sense of the word’s meaning.
CAN AND WILL OTHERS CATCH WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE? WILL THEY? DO YOU WANT THEM TO? IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU? LIKE A VIRUS, MOST CONTAGIONS ARE CAUGHT BY BEING AIRBORNE….AS ARE OUR WORDS.
It does us good on occasion to hear an actual account of what the emphasis in this sermon is speaking of.
~ There was Alice, crotchety, and angry ‘old’ Alice. Quite a piece of work, and mean it seemed to the core. She was a terror to the entire neighborhood, especially the children who dared step on her property, or God forbid, a ball or etc. would end up in her yard, not that it was much of a yard, though she thought it was.
~ Her face was sour and surly, and she would wave her garden trowel and hedge-clippers like weapons in the face of anyone, who for whatever reason might by chance or choice try to stop by.
~ When James and Jean Mader moved next door, they mustered their courage (hearing of her reputation) to speak to Alice one day about the Lord, but she cut them off. “I’ve been a member of my church all my life,” she snorted, and I do not need anyone quoting the Bible to me!
~ The Mader’s prayed and looked for ways of befriending Alice, and slowly the relationship thawed just a little. Still, Alice wanted nothing to do with hearing what they wanted to share with her.
~ During a community evangelistic campaign put on by their church, they became involved in a ministry called “Operation Andrew,” (ever heard of it?) based on John 1:42 about Andrew the Disciple, introducing his brother Simon to Christ. The Maders listed ten people (practical planning) to pray for, and then to invite them to meetings held in their home. Of course, Alice’s name was at the top of their list, but she continually spurned their every attempt to have her attend.
~ One summer evening, returning from their vacation, the Maders found Alice’s house empty. She was in a nursing home, having suffered a stroke. They visited her regularly, bringing flowers and sharing news from the neighborhood. Alice was unable to speak, but one day when Jim asked if he could read the 23rd Psalm to her, she nodded her agreement.
~ Visiting her regularly, always reading Scripture to her, Jim and his wife Jean noticed that Alice began fixing her gaze on him as he read, instead of staring straight ahead as she had previously done. One day Jim asked her straight out, but gently, “do you want to ask the Lord for forgiveness of your sins and “give you peace with God, and thereby peace within your heart, mind and spirit? Alice indicated by nodding slightly that she did want to, and bowing her head as much as she could, prayed silently as Jim led her.
~ When she raised her head, her eyes were wet with tears. Alice, for the first time in her entire life…. was bathed in peace, as it appeared in her eyes which shone with joy. It had taken perseverance, acceptance, love, and prayer…. then forgiveness through the faithful and loving care from Jim and Jean…. twelve years of simply being there with and for Alice. Twelve years of never giving up.
~ There are many Alice’s, both men and women all around us who NEED their bottled-up pain of multiple kinds released, freed from, and the resultant anger will go. I know, because at one time I was one of them.
~ We should believe this is so….and if we do not, we need to reevaluate our faith. Are we a follower, a disciple of Christ, or are we simply religious, finding a measure of comfort in our religion through ceremony and ritual?
~ Either He is real and personal to you as revealed in the New Testament, or He is just an iconic religious figure that gives you in some ways a measure of, as I stated above, comfort.
` My own faith at times is up and down…….I have high moments and low ones, sometimes very low, where I question my personal depth, but I keep coming back to the One to whom I cannot seem to get far away from, even when I try, and I have at times tried. Having been an agnostic, also a disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for several years, then turning to astrology and numerology, coming this close to accepting some others that I am not going to mention, as I said above, I kept coming back to the One who walked on water….and the One who would just not let me have peace, except in Him, where I found and find unconditional grace, acceptance, love and forgiveness, compassion and understanding….arms always open, GRACE UPON GRACE.
~ There is a gift that the Lord gives us while we live out our lives in this world, and whether we accept it or not is in our hands. That gift is found in John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift, “Jesus says, “peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give you. So, don’t be afraid.”
~Whether it is a pandemic, an illness, a car accident and a myriad of all the things that can happen to us and those we love….Jesus says, we can (after the initial encounter) walk with peace in our minds and hearts. When a gift is given, we have the choice to accept or reject it. Accept it and pay it forward because bringing peace can be contagious. Amen
The LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
MAY 24, 2020
“SHAME ON SHAME” (used as manipulation)
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
ROMANS 8:1
“There is now….no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Confess whatever is making you feel shame, guilt and regret.
How many of us sitting here this morning have ever been shamed, felt shamed or made someone else feel shamed? And, how does it feel? Is shame ever justified?
How many of us have been shamed by someone in the church because that by their standards, we had failed to live up to their expectations of behavior, thereby in their eyes sinning?
What was their intent in attempting to shame you or even someone you knew and cared for?
Was it to restore you, make you a better person, or just to show you that they were the last word on the way the truth and the life, and in following their standards or expectations, shaming you was a way to bring you around to what they considered was right, and also for the pleasure of seeing you and perhaps others seeing you in your potential embarrassment.
Shame can be a terribly debilitating and controlling emotion, and in the skilled hands of the so-called superior being, damming. Strong people who have a sense of value of themselves as sons and daughters of God, along with knowledge of Scripture, cannot and will not succumb to such manipulations. They are aware of the scheme of lies and desire for control that a person who is a “shamer,” is attempting to do, knowing that wrongful shaming is not of God and that being sons and daughters of God, “there is therefore now (at that moment) no condemnation for those who truly are in Christ Jesus!”
Can shame be legitimately used? Yes, but never with the intention of negative shaming, but perhaps of correctional, and helping someone turn around from going in the wrong direction after having done something they should not have done….and there is a difference.
I will later give you an example of how to get someone turned around from damaging or damming behavior without shaming. This and others were done by Jesus in several examples in the New Testament.
Shame, having experienced it myself on too many occasions, is an unpleasant to say the least, with self-exposure, typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self by someone else, or even ourselves; withdrawal; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness and even worthlessness, are just a few of the descriptive words used here. (BODY POSTURE OF SHAME)
Shame naturally, especially in whatever way it is delivered has a negative bearing on us, but if we (even when wrongly put on us) the experience can help to define for us boundaries of positive pursuits in some cases.
Whether we like it or not, our world, our culture, organizations, families and churches of course, all influence how we perceive God, often giving us false images of who God is.
One of the greatest and deepest idols of certain large numbers of American Christianity, is the abiding and maintenance of shame/guilt inducing narratives. CONTROL BY GUILT! For many of us who grew up in a church culture, the reason shame is so pervasive is that we grew up with lists of spiritual behaviors and musts that defined us by our following or rejection thereof of who and what is right or wrong. If ruled wrong (for there is no deviation permitted) out you go, and not gently, being called backslid-den or second-rate but REJECTS! That is something that once stamped on an individual’s forehead, it is like in our forefather’s pilgrim days, we are deemed anathema! Excommunicated!
So, a great number of Christians spend their time feeling shameful about who they are, even after years following their initial rejection, coloring their lives forever. This is a terrible and wrong approach to faith by control and subjection.
Christianity professes to be the religion that preaches, and supposedly lives and gives grace, unlike any other religion on the planet. The tragedy is that so many of us live more in shame than in grace, never understanding what grace is, (though we hear the word being used often)
“for it is by grace you (all) have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves for it is the gift of God, not by works of good, so that no one can boast.”
Here are six tips the next time (however it comes) you find shame in your lives.
Bring shame into the light, thereby examining it through the gift of grace.
Untangle what you are feeling and ask Jesus to come through for you.
Unhitch what you do from who you are.
Recognize your triggers.
Make trusting helpful connections with at least one other person you can talk to honestly and openly.
Lastly but in hope, believing, pray.
The example I spoke of in the beginning can be found in the narration of Jesus talking to the woman at the well, a cursed Samaritan to boot. John 4:4-26
This story is a perfect one to remember, both when someone attempts to shame you or you feel tempted to shame someone else.
READ…… John 4:4-26 (those of you reading this on our website or at home)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What I am about to narrate takes place before the return of Jesus to Galilee. Some Jews regarded the Samaritans as foreigners and their attitude was often hostile, although they shared most beliefs, but some did call them Samaritan Israelites. These two though at one time were one people group, they had drifted apart noting their differences instead of their likeness.
As I read this, keep in mind where the possibility of shaming could have, but did not come in. It is not the way Jesus worked and works to this day, though unfortunately many Christians and their leaders (having been taught to) do.
On His way back to Jerusalem Jesus had to go through Samaria. He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by His journey, was sitting by the well but had no bucket that could reach the water below. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.” The Samaritan women said to Him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews share nothing with the Samaritans, nothing.
Keep in mind first, that this is a woman and therefore the Jews deemed her as little more than property, and in her case an intensely disliked Samaritan. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is asking you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
Jesus said to her, “Everyone wo drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. (this at this time, was beyond her understanding) but she would come to believe.
This continued discourse suddenly becomes very personal, and I have tried to imagine what and how many Christians today would have approached her with shame and guilt if they knew her lifestyle, but not the Lord who knew all about her already.
Jesus says to her, gently confronting her with her sin, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered Him, (truthfully) “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for the man you are living with is not your husband. What you say is true!” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but You say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (but in your life and heart)
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. BUT (daughter) the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in sprit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him, for God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (acknowledging her truthfulness with Him by her confession.) Later we can read where the disciples themselves arriving back were astounded that He was talking one on one with this Samaritan woman, and not only that, revealing to her the keys to the Kingdom of God.
The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called the Christ). “When He comes, He will proclaim all things to us.”
Jesus said to her, “I am He, the One who is speaking to you.
Here…He has approached this woman as an equal, speaking to her as He would both as to a man and to a Jew. This, I’m sure, was astounding to her in itself…that He continued to dialogue with her, telling her without condemnation where she was in life, also astounding her. Then He proceeds to open-up to her, not only knowledge of the Kingdom, but who He Himself was by telling her quite clearly who He was.
The end-result, (hoping He finally got His drink of water) was that not only she, but the entire town who upon hearing her, came out to meet this man, asking Him to stay, and the whole town became believers.
No condemnation…but love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Her culture influenced her picture of the Messiah, as our church culture influences both for right and wrong, our picture of who Jesus is. Do we always do it right? That depends on how well we know the Scriptures, to know when we aren’t and when we are.
Many Christians today are ashamed to be called Christians. Why? Often because both the professional and social medias take the worst examples of who some of are by manifesting intolerance in a mean and hateful manner, and they put them forth as the norm. Sometimes they get it right (sadly so) but most often get us wrong. For many of them, it is because we colored their lives with a bigoted Jesus, an angry and vengeful God, some from their own childhood. I hear it from Christians I know, who hold and proclaim biases and prejudices that Jesus does not have and never will.
We live now in a globalized world whether we like it or not, and what we think we say and do in the dark, can go around the world in a moment, showing aspects of who we are that we all too often have no legitimate right (according to the Gospel) to proclaim. This does not mean we capitulate to cultures, our own include, in areas and things we should not, but HOW we respond in word and in deed is indeed so especially important. Hate, shame, condemnation, but the greatest of biases should be the bias of love, acceptance and forgiveness, love, yes love….just as Jesus responded. Yes…just like Him.
So, when we have an opportunity to shame or lead by the examples Jesus set for us. Which will we choose? Please….when too often, we lead by our biases and prejudices and religion, it is heartbreaking that many will walk away still in their pain and personal rejection and where there was a chance to find wholeness, love and acceptance, we failed them. I’m not shaming you here, I am desperately trying to get you to see all people as Jesus sees them, as He look through the heart of the cross.
We should think about this as we encounter the world and its people, His people, every day just as Jesus did.
Selah, pause and think about it….
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
MAY 24, 2020
“SHAME ON SHAME” (used as manipulation)
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
ROMANS 8:1
“There is now….no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Confess whatever is making you feel shame, guilt and regret.
How many of us sitting here this morning have ever been shamed, felt shamed or made someone else feel shamed? And, how does it feel? Is shame ever justified?
How many of us have been shamed by someone in the church because that by their standards, we had failed to live up to their expectations of behavior, thereby in their eyes sinning?
What was their intent in attempting to shame you or even someone you knew and cared for?
Was it to restore you, make you a better person, or just to show you that they were the last word on the way the truth and the life, and in following their standards or expectations, shaming you was a way to bring you around to what they considered was right, and also for the pleasure of seeing you and perhaps others seeing you in your potential embarrassment.
Shame can be a terribly debilitating and controlling emotion, and in the skilled hands of the so-called superior being, damming. Strong people who have a sense of value of themselves as sons and daughters of God, along with knowledge of Scripture, cannot and will not succumb to such manipulations. They are aware of the scheme of lies and desire for control that a person who is a “shamer,” is attempting to do, knowing that wrongful shaming is not of God and that being sons and daughters of God, “there is therefore now (at that moment) no condemnation for those who truly are in Christ Jesus!”
Can shame be legitimately used? Yes, but never with the intention of negative shaming, but perhaps of correctional, and helping someone turn around from going in the wrong direction after having done something they should not have done….and there is a difference.
I will later give you an example of how to get someone turned around from damaging or damming behavior without shaming. This and others were done by Jesus in several examples in the New Testament.
Shame, having experienced it myself on too many occasions, is an unpleasant to say the least, with self-exposure, typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self by someone else, or even ourselves; withdrawal; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness and even worthlessness, are just a few of the descriptive words used here. (BODY POSTURE OF SHAME)
Shame naturally, especially in whatever way it is delivered has a negative bearing on us, but if we (even when wrongly put on us) the experience can help to define for us boundaries of positive pursuits in some cases.
- The definition of shame is, it is a basic emotion, described as a moral or social emotion that because of potential social or even family and or church relational consequences, can drive us to hide or deny real wrongdoings and even perceived wrongdoing…sometimes called sin.
- The focus of shame is on the self or the individual; it is the only emotion that is dysfunctional for the individual, but functional by necessity within a group if well hidden.
- In different cultures and even in different churches, where behaviors that are shamed by some may be acceptable in others. Within cultures and countries over periods of time, social progress (as it is called) will change its definition and standards of what is acceptable and what is not, though often there is an overlap period full of discourse and struggle, sometimes reaching a pinnacle of great conflict, but, CHANGE WILL COME.
Whether we like it or not, our world, our culture, organizations, families and churches of course, all influence how we perceive God, often giving us false images of who God is.
One of the greatest and deepest idols of certain large numbers of American Christianity, is the abiding and maintenance of shame/guilt inducing narratives. CONTROL BY GUILT! For many of us who grew up in a church culture, the reason shame is so pervasive is that we grew up with lists of spiritual behaviors and musts that defined us by our following or rejection thereof of who and what is right or wrong. If ruled wrong (for there is no deviation permitted) out you go, and not gently, being called backslid-den or second-rate but REJECTS! That is something that once stamped on an individual’s forehead, it is like in our forefather’s pilgrim days, we are deemed anathema! Excommunicated!
So, a great number of Christians spend their time feeling shameful about who they are, even after years following their initial rejection, coloring their lives forever. This is a terrible and wrong approach to faith by control and subjection.
Christianity professes to be the religion that preaches, and supposedly lives and gives grace, unlike any other religion on the planet. The tragedy is that so many of us live more in shame than in grace, never understanding what grace is, (though we hear the word being used often)
“for it is by grace you (all) have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves for it is the gift of God, not by works of good, so that no one can boast.”
Here are six tips the next time (however it comes) you find shame in your lives.
Bring shame into the light, thereby examining it through the gift of grace.
Untangle what you are feeling and ask Jesus to come through for you.
Unhitch what you do from who you are.
Recognize your triggers.
Make trusting helpful connections with at least one other person you can talk to honestly and openly.
Lastly but in hope, believing, pray.
The example I spoke of in the beginning can be found in the narration of Jesus talking to the woman at the well, a cursed Samaritan to boot. John 4:4-26
This story is a perfect one to remember, both when someone attempts to shame you or you feel tempted to shame someone else.
READ…… John 4:4-26 (those of you reading this on our website or at home)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What I am about to narrate takes place before the return of Jesus to Galilee. Some Jews regarded the Samaritans as foreigners and their attitude was often hostile, although they shared most beliefs, but some did call them Samaritan Israelites. These two though at one time were one people group, they had drifted apart noting their differences instead of their likeness.
As I read this, keep in mind where the possibility of shaming could have, but did not come in. It is not the way Jesus worked and works to this day, though unfortunately many Christians and their leaders (having been taught to) do.
On His way back to Jerusalem Jesus had to go through Samaria. He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by His journey, was sitting by the well but had no bucket that could reach the water below. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.” The Samaritan women said to Him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews share nothing with the Samaritans, nothing.
Keep in mind first, that this is a woman and therefore the Jews deemed her as little more than property, and in her case an intensely disliked Samaritan. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is asking you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
Jesus said to her, “Everyone wo drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. (this at this time, was beyond her understanding) but she would come to believe.
This continued discourse suddenly becomes very personal, and I have tried to imagine what and how many Christians today would have approached her with shame and guilt if they knew her lifestyle, but not the Lord who knew all about her already.
Jesus says to her, gently confronting her with her sin, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered Him, (truthfully) “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for the man you are living with is not your husband. What you say is true!” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but You say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (but in your life and heart)
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. BUT (daughter) the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in sprit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him, for God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (acknowledging her truthfulness with Him by her confession.) Later we can read where the disciples themselves arriving back were astounded that He was talking one on one with this Samaritan woman, and not only that, revealing to her the keys to the Kingdom of God.
The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called the Christ). “When He comes, He will proclaim all things to us.”
Jesus said to her, “I am He, the One who is speaking to you.
Here…He has approached this woman as an equal, speaking to her as He would both as to a man and to a Jew. This, I’m sure, was astounding to her in itself…that He continued to dialogue with her, telling her without condemnation where she was in life, also astounding her. Then He proceeds to open-up to her, not only knowledge of the Kingdom, but who He Himself was by telling her quite clearly who He was.
The end-result, (hoping He finally got His drink of water) was that not only she, but the entire town who upon hearing her, came out to meet this man, asking Him to stay, and the whole town became believers.
No condemnation…but love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Her culture influenced her picture of the Messiah, as our church culture influences both for right and wrong, our picture of who Jesus is. Do we always do it right? That depends on how well we know the Scriptures, to know when we aren’t and when we are.
Many Christians today are ashamed to be called Christians. Why? Often because both the professional and social medias take the worst examples of who some of are by manifesting intolerance in a mean and hateful manner, and they put them forth as the norm. Sometimes they get it right (sadly so) but most often get us wrong. For many of them, it is because we colored their lives with a bigoted Jesus, an angry and vengeful God, some from their own childhood. I hear it from Christians I know, who hold and proclaim biases and prejudices that Jesus does not have and never will.
We live now in a globalized world whether we like it or not, and what we think we say and do in the dark, can go around the world in a moment, showing aspects of who we are that we all too often have no legitimate right (according to the Gospel) to proclaim. This does not mean we capitulate to cultures, our own include, in areas and things we should not, but HOW we respond in word and in deed is indeed so especially important. Hate, shame, condemnation, but the greatest of biases should be the bias of love, acceptance and forgiveness, love, yes love….just as Jesus responded. Yes…just like Him.
So, when we have an opportunity to shame or lead by the examples Jesus set for us. Which will we choose? Please….when too often, we lead by our biases and prejudices and religion, it is heartbreaking that many will walk away still in their pain and personal rejection and where there was a chance to find wholeness, love and acceptance, we failed them. I’m not shaming you here, I am desperately trying to get you to see all people as Jesus sees them, as He look through the heart of the cross.
We should think about this as we encounter the world and its people, His people, every day just as Jesus did.
Selah, pause and think about it….
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
“END TIMES”
May 17, 2020
Good Morning again all of you awesome friends. Well, I do not know how to exactly say this, but you are in for it today. I have taken it upon myself to sort through some difficult Scriptures today and am not quite sure I will have accomplished what I have set out to do.
For the first time in over 20 years of preaching/teaching, I am attempting to give to you a reasonable, thoughtful and sensible understanding of Matthew 24, where Jesus is speaking on then current and end-time events, that directly pertain to two events in the life of both the church (you and I) and the world as a whole.
Every time there is a major earth event such as a larger than normal hurricane as an example, an earthquake where there hasn’t been one before, or such an event as we are currently and sadly going through, there are those “Christian” spokespersons who rise up out of nowhere or even somewhere and some we know, that manage to attempt to scare the hell out of those who will listen to them, as they claim, and therefore blame God because of His deep displeasure of people and cultural/moral, or any number of things that they themselves conjure up. Not always, that God is perhaps not pleased with some of these things, people, and events, but to, as in the case of earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanos exploding, tsunamis and much more. But…to say that all of these things are the result of sin, and therefore the hand of God will wipe out the innocent along with the sinners, and claim every time that these are the sign of the end of the world has ticked me off.
Some of these things are spoken of in Matthew 24, and I am going to attempt, and I say, attempt to sort through just a small portion of this on-going assault on our understanding of Scripture in context and even spirit.
Our world is experiencing a rash of what could be called biblically birth pangs these days. It is not up to me to declare the day the Lord will return. Scripture tells me that quite clearly, but over the millenniums many have tried, and all they spoke of happening failed to bring about the second coming of the Lord. We do know this much: it is the beginning of the end and the beginning of new beginnings with the beginnings having begun on the day of Christ’s resurrection and then ascension. Jesus tells us that Calamities and catastrophes must occur before the birth of the new world, yet calamities and catastrophes have been with us since the beginning of both the world and with humanity.
The idea that natural disasters are THE “signs” of the end times is nothing new; for you will find many claiming (false prophets) this that we are going through even today is one of those signs, and after each natural disaster or even local disaster, no matter when or where they occur around the globe is the beginning of The End.
When we combine the frequency of these end-times claims, with the general biblical illiteracy of the church in America, especially the evangelical and Pentecostal, it is understandable…yet horribly tragic - that so many
Christians blindly believe it…no matter who or what pastor or so-called prophet says so.
History is replete with pastors and self-proclaimed prophets who both blame and claim whatever bad things happen to us and the world, are directly from God, because of our state of personal and social sin. God gets blamed often and deeply for most bad things that happen. I do not know how He feels about that.
My question today for these so-called prophets is; if God is good, why do so very many of the innocent suffer alongside the sinners who allegedly are responsible for all these things that are occurring in the world today?
The truth? Natural disasters are not the signs that we are in the “end-times.” as they are called, yet there is partial truth in these words that I will get into.
In fairness, the belief that natural disasters and other events will proceed the “end” is not something pulled out of thin air, but it is an idea that comes from a very specific passages in Scripture: the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. In this passage Jesus is quoted in part, as saying the following: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. For nations will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of birth pains.” There we are again, in the birth-pangs and the beginning of something God is up to.
For those of us who were raised within an end-times framework, it’s easy to read into the Olivet Discourse, especially quoting isolated parts such as what I just quoted above, and to ignore the context entirely, in order to make it fit with what we who again were brought up biblically in this mind-set, were taught about the future of the world ending. It is also easy to read into these words things that are not there, while ignoring some important things that are there.
Like a horoscope that is written so general, it can apply to anyone when we isolate statements such as “there will be wars and rumors of wars” it’s quite natural to say, “aha! I can see that now” but, those two things have always been with us.
So…here are the critical things you need to know about Matthew 24, and here’s why modern natural disasters are NOT, THE “signs” of the end of the world.
I will say that in this discourse….as on other occasions, Jesus mixes two or more event into one in his dialogue. In this time and place He is doing so, and it takes some study and understanding to separate them. Not being a Rhoads Scholar or a member of Mensa, I had to take some real time to make sense of the sequence.
The first question applied to the destruction of the Temple, while the second applied to the second coming of Christ, and the end of the world as we know it.
When Jesus answers he moves from the first to the second, and back to the first on more than several occasions.
Everything Jesus says in this passage is a direct answer to these disciples who with their specific questions want to know.
The prediction of war, famine and earthquakes would be pointless predictions if talking about the far-away future, because there would be no way to know which famines or earthquakes would be “the” ones, for there has always been famine, always been earthquakes and always been wars and rumors of wars. Furthermore, the people Jesus was talking to were not concerned with the end of the world so much as the more imminent destruction of the Temple, which at that time directly affected their lives.
Jesus did tell them to “stay alert’ to these signs – but there would be no point in telling them to stay alert to events that were not scheduled to occur for thousands of years. However, thee signs become both helpful and relevant if (and he was) speaking about the immediate or near future. In verse 16, Jesus, tells them why they should be alert, for when they were to witness some specific signs, they were to run to the mountains and wilderness in order to survive what was about to happen.
The question(s) for us today is, when will the end come, and will there be a host of wars and natural disasters before the “end of the world”? Well, we know that everything is finite, and if we believe everything Jesus says, everything, we therefore believe it will, and are given some indications and signs as to when and how. It is likely that two things will be present, for humanity in some areas having made great progress, while in others its’ quest for power and domination only seems to increase, as our population dramatically expands.
Having said that, I believe that only by the Second Arrival of Jesus, will we survive as a people, so intent are we by our fallen nature bent it seems, for self-destruction. Humanity has proven over and over, and over again, that on our own, we cannot achieve peace on earth and good-will toward man, with literally millions, many millions, and those mostly innocent have been killed and slaughtered.
Look at the 20th Century alone….
We entered the 20th Century with the Second Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902
World War 1, the war to end all wars - 1914-1918
World War 2, 1939 – 1945
Korean War – 1950-1953
Vietnam War – 1960-1975
Bay of Pigs invasion = 1961
Grenada – 1983
US Invasion of Panama – 1989
Persian Gulf War – 1990 – 1991
Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina = 1995-1996
Invasion of Afghanistan – 2001 to Present
Invasion of Iraq – 2003-2011
War in Northwest Pakistan – 2004 – present
Somalia and Northeastern Kenya intervention – 2007 – present
Operation Ocean Shield – 2009 – 2016
Libra – Syria – Iraq - Yemeni and those are just wars and rumors of wars that we as a nation have been involved in, not mentioning all the other nations and their wars and skirmishes. Peace like a river…. I wish!
Wars and rumors of wars…. always. Natural disasters…. always. Earthquakes…. always! In various and unexpected places…always.
So…what are we to look for as THE signs as to the coming of the end of the world?
The real key is this, after all that…we are to be ready for His arrival at any given moment, meaning that we are to live today as our Lord would have us live. Good and right-living lives. Honest, moral, doing good, not holding grudges, forgiving others, not seeking vengeance, giving God in Christ his due…and his due is simply our lives lived for him and for each other, and that my friends is TRUE WORSHIP.
Matthew 24-36-44
Jesus finishes with these words……………
“Whenever you hear of all these things do not worry, “for concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be at work, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be also working; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Therefore, you MUST be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
We hear ministers and so-called prophets today, yesterday and tomorrow, blaming this and blaming that for this and that. We hear that all these things and events are pointing to these days as the end of the world. There are false so-called prophets, usually after the fact, stating that this happened because that happened…etc., etc., etc. Most of these, mostly men, are simply looking for recognition and power having not heard from the Lord but using their own status to be seen and heard as prophetic. This has been going on for over 2000 years and will perhaps go on for 2000 or more years to come or will end tomorrow.
Here is what Jesus said we are to be aware of and on guard about, also found in Matthew 24, which I believe He found painful to speak of. Starting in verse 10, “And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end (as I spoke of above) will be saved. And the Good News about the kingdom will have been preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, the end will come.”
There are those today and have been for centuries who have focused so deeply on the end-times that they have lost the gift of living in today. Obsessed with signs, wonders and events that have caused unhealthy and erroneous thinking and actions. It is almost like a form of possession, causing peril to their souls,
and even peril to the souls of those who listen to and believe them.
We are to seek balance in our lives with healthy thinking, reasonable living, loving and caring for one another, even the strangers in our lives. God desires we be people of mercy and justice and grace. Forgiving and restoring and therefore following the footsteps of our Lord and Savior. Being like Him. If we do that simple thing…we will have accomplished all that we are here on earth for.
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
“END TIMES”
May 17, 2020
Good Morning again all of you awesome friends. Well, I do not know how to exactly say this, but you are in for it today. I have taken it upon myself to sort through some difficult Scriptures today and am not quite sure I will have accomplished what I have set out to do.
For the first time in over 20 years of preaching/teaching, I am attempting to give to you a reasonable, thoughtful and sensible understanding of Matthew 24, where Jesus is speaking on then current and end-time events, that directly pertain to two events in the life of both the church (you and I) and the world as a whole.
Every time there is a major earth event such as a larger than normal hurricane as an example, an earthquake where there hasn’t been one before, or such an event as we are currently and sadly going through, there are those “Christian” spokespersons who rise up out of nowhere or even somewhere and some we know, that manage to attempt to scare the hell out of those who will listen to them, as they claim, and therefore blame God because of His deep displeasure of people and cultural/moral, or any number of things that they themselves conjure up. Not always, that God is perhaps not pleased with some of these things, people, and events, but to, as in the case of earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanos exploding, tsunamis and much more. But…to say that all of these things are the result of sin, and therefore the hand of God will wipe out the innocent along with the sinners, and claim every time that these are the sign of the end of the world has ticked me off.
Some of these things are spoken of in Matthew 24, and I am going to attempt, and I say, attempt to sort through just a small portion of this on-going assault on our understanding of Scripture in context and even spirit.
Our world is experiencing a rash of what could be called biblically birth pangs these days. It is not up to me to declare the day the Lord will return. Scripture tells me that quite clearly, but over the millenniums many have tried, and all they spoke of happening failed to bring about the second coming of the Lord. We do know this much: it is the beginning of the end and the beginning of new beginnings with the beginnings having begun on the day of Christ’s resurrection and then ascension. Jesus tells us that Calamities and catastrophes must occur before the birth of the new world, yet calamities and catastrophes have been with us since the beginning of both the world and with humanity.
The idea that natural disasters are THE “signs” of the end times is nothing new; for you will find many claiming (false prophets) this that we are going through even today is one of those signs, and after each natural disaster or even local disaster, no matter when or where they occur around the globe is the beginning of The End.
When we combine the frequency of these end-times claims, with the general biblical illiteracy of the church in America, especially the evangelical and Pentecostal, it is understandable…yet horribly tragic - that so many
Christians blindly believe it…no matter who or what pastor or so-called prophet says so.
History is replete with pastors and self-proclaimed prophets who both blame and claim whatever bad things happen to us and the world, are directly from God, because of our state of personal and social sin. God gets blamed often and deeply for most bad things that happen. I do not know how He feels about that.
My question today for these so-called prophets is; if God is good, why do so very many of the innocent suffer alongside the sinners who allegedly are responsible for all these things that are occurring in the world today?
The truth? Natural disasters are not the signs that we are in the “end-times.” as they are called, yet there is partial truth in these words that I will get into.
In fairness, the belief that natural disasters and other events will proceed the “end” is not something pulled out of thin air, but it is an idea that comes from a very specific passages in Scripture: the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. In this passage Jesus is quoted in part, as saying the following: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. For nations will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of birth pains.” There we are again, in the birth-pangs and the beginning of something God is up to.
For those of us who were raised within an end-times framework, it’s easy to read into the Olivet Discourse, especially quoting isolated parts such as what I just quoted above, and to ignore the context entirely, in order to make it fit with what we who again were brought up biblically in this mind-set, were taught about the future of the world ending. It is also easy to read into these words things that are not there, while ignoring some important things that are there.
Like a horoscope that is written so general, it can apply to anyone when we isolate statements such as “there will be wars and rumors of wars” it’s quite natural to say, “aha! I can see that now” but, those two things have always been with us.
So…here are the critical things you need to know about Matthew 24, and here’s why modern natural disasters are NOT, THE “signs” of the end of the world.
I will say that in this discourse….as on other occasions, Jesus mixes two or more event into one in his dialogue. In this time and place He is doing so, and it takes some study and understanding to separate them. Not being a Rhoads Scholar or a member of Mensa, I had to take some real time to make sense of the sequence.
- Jesus is not predicting the end of the world, as he responds to the first question the Disciples put forth to him in the very first verse. As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished with not one stone left atop another!”
The first question applied to the destruction of the Temple, while the second applied to the second coming of Christ, and the end of the world as we know it.
When Jesus answers he moves from the first to the second, and back to the first on more than several occasions.
Everything Jesus says in this passage is a direct answer to these disciples who with their specific questions want to know.
The prediction of war, famine and earthquakes would be pointless predictions if talking about the far-away future, because there would be no way to know which famines or earthquakes would be “the” ones, for there has always been famine, always been earthquakes and always been wars and rumors of wars. Furthermore, the people Jesus was talking to were not concerned with the end of the world so much as the more imminent destruction of the Temple, which at that time directly affected their lives.
Jesus did tell them to “stay alert’ to these signs – but there would be no point in telling them to stay alert to events that were not scheduled to occur for thousands of years. However, thee signs become both helpful and relevant if (and he was) speaking about the immediate or near future. In verse 16, Jesus, tells them why they should be alert, for when they were to witness some specific signs, they were to run to the mountains and wilderness in order to survive what was about to happen.
- He claimed these events specifically were related to the destruction of the Temple and NOT the end of the world, saying in verse 34, “This generation will not pass away or die (a generation is 40 years) until all these things take place.”
The question(s) for us today is, when will the end come, and will there be a host of wars and natural disasters before the “end of the world”? Well, we know that everything is finite, and if we believe everything Jesus says, everything, we therefore believe it will, and are given some indications and signs as to when and how. It is likely that two things will be present, for humanity in some areas having made great progress, while in others its’ quest for power and domination only seems to increase, as our population dramatically expands.
Having said that, I believe that only by the Second Arrival of Jesus, will we survive as a people, so intent are we by our fallen nature bent it seems, for self-destruction. Humanity has proven over and over, and over again, that on our own, we cannot achieve peace on earth and good-will toward man, with literally millions, many millions, and those mostly innocent have been killed and slaughtered.
Look at the 20th Century alone….
We entered the 20th Century with the Second Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902
World War 1, the war to end all wars - 1914-1918
World War 2, 1939 – 1945
Korean War – 1950-1953
Vietnam War – 1960-1975
Bay of Pigs invasion = 1961
Grenada – 1983
US Invasion of Panama – 1989
Persian Gulf War – 1990 – 1991
Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina = 1995-1996
Invasion of Afghanistan – 2001 to Present
Invasion of Iraq – 2003-2011
War in Northwest Pakistan – 2004 – present
Somalia and Northeastern Kenya intervention – 2007 – present
Operation Ocean Shield – 2009 – 2016
Libra – Syria – Iraq - Yemeni and those are just wars and rumors of wars that we as a nation have been involved in, not mentioning all the other nations and their wars and skirmishes. Peace like a river…. I wish!
Wars and rumors of wars…. always. Natural disasters…. always. Earthquakes…. always! In various and unexpected places…always.
So…what are we to look for as THE signs as to the coming of the end of the world?
The real key is this, after all that…we are to be ready for His arrival at any given moment, meaning that we are to live today as our Lord would have us live. Good and right-living lives. Honest, moral, doing good, not holding grudges, forgiving others, not seeking vengeance, giving God in Christ his due…and his due is simply our lives lived for him and for each other, and that my friends is TRUE WORSHIP.
Matthew 24-36-44
Jesus finishes with these words……………
“Whenever you hear of all these things do not worry, “for concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be at work, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be also working; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Therefore, you MUST be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
We hear ministers and so-called prophets today, yesterday and tomorrow, blaming this and blaming that for this and that. We hear that all these things and events are pointing to these days as the end of the world. There are false so-called prophets, usually after the fact, stating that this happened because that happened…etc., etc., etc. Most of these, mostly men, are simply looking for recognition and power having not heard from the Lord but using their own status to be seen and heard as prophetic. This has been going on for over 2000 years and will perhaps go on for 2000 or more years to come or will end tomorrow.
Here is what Jesus said we are to be aware of and on guard about, also found in Matthew 24, which I believe He found painful to speak of. Starting in verse 10, “And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end (as I spoke of above) will be saved. And the Good News about the kingdom will have been preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, the end will come.”
There are those today and have been for centuries who have focused so deeply on the end-times that they have lost the gift of living in today. Obsessed with signs, wonders and events that have caused unhealthy and erroneous thinking and actions. It is almost like a form of possession, causing peril to their souls,
and even peril to the souls of those who listen to and believe them.
We are to seek balance in our lives with healthy thinking, reasonable living, loving and caring for one another, even the strangers in our lives. God desires we be people of mercy and justice and grace. Forgiving and restoring and therefore following the footsteps of our Lord and Savior. Being like Him. If we do that simple thing…we will have accomplished all that we are here on earth for.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
May 10, 2020
Sermon ~ In “everything” give thanks!
Tom Shanor, Pastor
Pandemic 2020 has filled and changed our lives, to the extent we will know only as time goes forward. As for now it fills the news, fuels rumors, causes divisions and strife, bringing out both the good and ugly in people. Paranoia reigns amidst all of this and more.
AND YET…these words of Paul’s resonate through it all. “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Our joy, our prayers, and thankfulness should not fluctuate with our circumstances. I have heard and experienced many examples of ordinary people who through their belief/faith came through some horrendous and even extraordinary circumstances, managing to be and do all three of these. Doing so often goes against or very natural inclinations. When we make a conscious decision to do what God in Christ tells us to, is always for our benefit and often the benefit of others. In being obedient, however, we will begin to see not only our circumstances, but people in those circumstances with a new perspective. A spiritual and godly perspective. Not that we are joyful in the suffering of others and our own….but joyful in that God knows our pain, our fears, our hopes and even dreams, but avoid circumstances such as we are in now, we can’t, and our attitude through it all will often influence and even determine our outcome.
A well-known stress researcher named Hans Seyle claims though his research results, that two attitudes more than any other, influence the quality of everyday life, and on those two emotions “depend our peace of mind. Our feelings of security or insecurity. Of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the way we make our way through life.
The most destructive emotion is revenge but in contrast, deep contrast, among ALL emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence of stress in human relations; and that is the choice accompanied by feelings of gratitude.
Speaking of a different person here, Victor Frankl, a researcher who studies the history of the Nazi death-camps, discovered writings of many of the Jewish prisoners to be uplifting, where they spoke of taking the time to be thankful…. and to count their blessings. He wrote that these prisoners dreamed at night about a certain set of things more than other things, and those things were from the everyday common things in their lives prior to their imprisonment. Bread, cakes, warm baths, beds, feelings of comfort and relationships, etc.
Frankl said that the prisoners appreciated beauty in the ordinary as never before. In one especially poignant paragraph he wrote: “if someone had seen our faces on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp, as we beheld the mountains of Salzburg,” no one would have believed our faces were those of men and women who had given up all hope of life and liberty. Despite this, or maybe because of it, we were carried away by the natural beauty we were beholding which we had missed for such an exceedingly long time.”
~ In the devotional “Springs in the Valley” the author tells of men who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He found that the seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. “And where is that? Asked the man. Satan replied in anger, “In the heart of a grateful person”
In everything give thanks,
In everything give thanks,
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus,
Concerning you….
1st Thessalonians 5:18 (again)
~ Please note that this verse does not say for everything but in everything.
~ To give Him thanks, in the midst of this very real situation we are living every day, shows that we are reaching out and up, simply saying and asking….God, I need you now, perhaps more or equal to (though different) any situation I have ever been through. I may not understand, but that is because my understanding is limited and finite, and Yours is seeing the beginning to the finish. Infinite!
~ Living this life that we have been given, comes with risks, daily risks both great and small. Since the fall of mankind, sin and its consequences have pervaded, yet not overwhelmed the earth and all that is on it. In my opinion, it has broken down the walls of purity that once had been established in the beginning, and the results were and are Illness, disease, disagreements, wars, pollution and as you know, so much more. The unexpected can and will continue to happen and as a result, often painful and distressful….sometimes to the point of death events occur. That is the reality we live in and with.
~ In my understanding and opinion, God does not point His finger at you and say, “I am giving you cancer, or I am going to cause you to be in a deadly accident. Or, I am going to bring about this hurricane, killing both the innocent and guilty together because of Gay marriage, or any number of social changes. That is not the God I have come to know these past 74 years. That is life in its sometimes-stark reality. Bad things happen to “so-called good people,” and good things happen to “so-called bad people.” But what He does do….is allow (for now) the earth and all who inhabit it to live in and under the consequences of how the natural world functions.
~ Yet…in those, and the circumstances of today, as difficult and even awful as they may be….He desires that we call on Him in those, so that He being invited by us to walk with us through these things and we, then know that we do not walk alone. That His strength can be our strength, His wisdom our wisdom, His patience our patience and so much more.
~ We can join in prayer, giving thanks for what we do have, and where we have been that brought us to where we are today. Together, when we suffer sorrow, together we can find comfort and even a measure of Joy. The literal touch of His hand…through one another’s hands.
~ If we start our day with the Lord in an attitude of giving thanks our day will be so much better, in every way……like giving thanks for a warm bed, food in the cupboards, heat, clothing, bathrooms, showers, friends and family to interact with, perhaps a job (especially today) or retirement that allows us to live without stress….how about the magnitude of medical facilities and physicians, nurses, etc. A place where mountains, forests, lakes and wildlife all come together in one area in which we can find joy during anytime of the year.
~ We…are blessed!
~ A woman named Gerta Weissman was among the prisoners in Auschwitz. She recalled an episode one spring morning when she and her fellow inmates stood at rollcall for hours on end, nearly collapsing with hunger and fatigue. One woman noticed in the corner of that bleak, horrid, gray place, that the concrete had broken, and a single flower had poked its head through. One by one those thousands of women took great pains to avoid stepping on it, as it was the only spot of beauty in their ugly and heinous world. They drank it in, and it nourished their souls.
~ Though I do not know the circumstances of your lives, I do know some things that for some of you are very difficult and your heart aches. Please, instead of continual worry, offer up words of thanksgiving and words of prayer, trusting that all things will work together for the good for you.
~ We all know that life itself unexpectedly can change in a moment. A month ago, our economy was full steam ahead, vibrant, expanding, people were traveling, planning vacations, buying things, enjoying for the most part a very real prosperity. In one month look at our world today. It has been shaken to the core. During this time, we (I hope) once again realize what we had and now have. Fear could be what we move and live and have our being in…. but instead, using of course caution and common sense, we can move in thankfulness, joy and prayer. Loving, supporting and encouraging one another in the Lord every day and during this time of uncertainty.
~ Please….as you leave today, leave with a grateful heart.
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now,
Let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
Amen
May 10, 2020
Sermon ~ In “everything” give thanks!
Tom Shanor, Pastor
Pandemic 2020 has filled and changed our lives, to the extent we will know only as time goes forward. As for now it fills the news, fuels rumors, causes divisions and strife, bringing out both the good and ugly in people. Paranoia reigns amidst all of this and more.
AND YET…these words of Paul’s resonate through it all. “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Our joy, our prayers, and thankfulness should not fluctuate with our circumstances. I have heard and experienced many examples of ordinary people who through their belief/faith came through some horrendous and even extraordinary circumstances, managing to be and do all three of these. Doing so often goes against or very natural inclinations. When we make a conscious decision to do what God in Christ tells us to, is always for our benefit and often the benefit of others. In being obedient, however, we will begin to see not only our circumstances, but people in those circumstances with a new perspective. A spiritual and godly perspective. Not that we are joyful in the suffering of others and our own….but joyful in that God knows our pain, our fears, our hopes and even dreams, but avoid circumstances such as we are in now, we can’t, and our attitude through it all will often influence and even determine our outcome.
A well-known stress researcher named Hans Seyle claims though his research results, that two attitudes more than any other, influence the quality of everyday life, and on those two emotions “depend our peace of mind. Our feelings of security or insecurity. Of fulfillment or frustration, in short, the way we make our way through life.
The most destructive emotion is revenge but in contrast, deep contrast, among ALL emotions, there is one which more than any other, accounts for the absence of stress in human relations; and that is the choice accompanied by feelings of gratitude.
Speaking of a different person here, Victor Frankl, a researcher who studies the history of the Nazi death-camps, discovered writings of many of the Jewish prisoners to be uplifting, where they spoke of taking the time to be thankful…. and to count their blessings. He wrote that these prisoners dreamed at night about a certain set of things more than other things, and those things were from the everyday common things in their lives prior to their imprisonment. Bread, cakes, warm baths, beds, feelings of comfort and relationships, etc.
Frankl said that the prisoners appreciated beauty in the ordinary as never before. In one especially poignant paragraph he wrote: “if someone had seen our faces on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp, as we beheld the mountains of Salzburg,” no one would have believed our faces were those of men and women who had given up all hope of life and liberty. Despite this, or maybe because of it, we were carried away by the natural beauty we were beholding which we had missed for such an exceedingly long time.”
~ In the devotional “Springs in the Valley” the author tells of men who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He found that the seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. “And where is that? Asked the man. Satan replied in anger, “In the heart of a grateful person”
In everything give thanks,
In everything give thanks,
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus,
Concerning you….
1st Thessalonians 5:18 (again)
~ Please note that this verse does not say for everything but in everything.
~ To give Him thanks, in the midst of this very real situation we are living every day, shows that we are reaching out and up, simply saying and asking….God, I need you now, perhaps more or equal to (though different) any situation I have ever been through. I may not understand, but that is because my understanding is limited and finite, and Yours is seeing the beginning to the finish. Infinite!
~ Living this life that we have been given, comes with risks, daily risks both great and small. Since the fall of mankind, sin and its consequences have pervaded, yet not overwhelmed the earth and all that is on it. In my opinion, it has broken down the walls of purity that once had been established in the beginning, and the results were and are Illness, disease, disagreements, wars, pollution and as you know, so much more. The unexpected can and will continue to happen and as a result, often painful and distressful….sometimes to the point of death events occur. That is the reality we live in and with.
~ In my understanding and opinion, God does not point His finger at you and say, “I am giving you cancer, or I am going to cause you to be in a deadly accident. Or, I am going to bring about this hurricane, killing both the innocent and guilty together because of Gay marriage, or any number of social changes. That is not the God I have come to know these past 74 years. That is life in its sometimes-stark reality. Bad things happen to “so-called good people,” and good things happen to “so-called bad people.” But what He does do….is allow (for now) the earth and all who inhabit it to live in and under the consequences of how the natural world functions.
~ Yet…in those, and the circumstances of today, as difficult and even awful as they may be….He desires that we call on Him in those, so that He being invited by us to walk with us through these things and we, then know that we do not walk alone. That His strength can be our strength, His wisdom our wisdom, His patience our patience and so much more.
~ We can join in prayer, giving thanks for what we do have, and where we have been that brought us to where we are today. Together, when we suffer sorrow, together we can find comfort and even a measure of Joy. The literal touch of His hand…through one another’s hands.
~ If we start our day with the Lord in an attitude of giving thanks our day will be so much better, in every way……like giving thanks for a warm bed, food in the cupboards, heat, clothing, bathrooms, showers, friends and family to interact with, perhaps a job (especially today) or retirement that allows us to live without stress….how about the magnitude of medical facilities and physicians, nurses, etc. A place where mountains, forests, lakes and wildlife all come together in one area in which we can find joy during anytime of the year.
~ We…are blessed!
~ A woman named Gerta Weissman was among the prisoners in Auschwitz. She recalled an episode one spring morning when she and her fellow inmates stood at rollcall for hours on end, nearly collapsing with hunger and fatigue. One woman noticed in the corner of that bleak, horrid, gray place, that the concrete had broken, and a single flower had poked its head through. One by one those thousands of women took great pains to avoid stepping on it, as it was the only spot of beauty in their ugly and heinous world. They drank it in, and it nourished their souls.
~ Though I do not know the circumstances of your lives, I do know some things that for some of you are very difficult and your heart aches. Please, instead of continual worry, offer up words of thanksgiving and words of prayer, trusting that all things will work together for the good for you.
~ We all know that life itself unexpectedly can change in a moment. A month ago, our economy was full steam ahead, vibrant, expanding, people were traveling, planning vacations, buying things, enjoying for the most part a very real prosperity. In one month look at our world today. It has been shaken to the core. During this time, we (I hope) once again realize what we had and now have. Fear could be what we move and live and have our being in…. but instead, using of course caution and common sense, we can move in thankfulness, joy and prayer. Loving, supporting and encouraging one another in the Lord every day and during this time of uncertainty.
~ Please….as you leave today, leave with a grateful heart.
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now,
Let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK’S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
May 3, 2020
SERMON – “HOPE”
“a vital part of our lives”
Pastor Tom Shanor
Romans 15:13
“I pray that God, the source of HOPE, will fill you completely with joy and peace, because you trust in Him. Then…. you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
In time of uncertainty…..and this is certainly one of those times, HOPE, depending on our given state of mind and faith, can be difficult to grasp because we are so deeply invested in the circumstances that surround us, but….since, as Romans 15:13 says, God is the source of HOPE, our first directive is to go to God for what we need, asking Him through our Lord Jesus to give and extend to us this gift of HOPE. How?…..by and through the power of the Holy Spirit!
What we must do is pray, quietly, introspectively seeking. Take some time apart when our emotions are not running rampant…. but in quiet thoughtful sincerity ask Him specifically what you (we) are to HOPE for specifically, and He will tell you. HOPE carries with it optimism, that God will give you what you are seeking. It is based on an expectation of a positive outcome, with respect to the events and circumstances in our lives….be they deeply personal or as big as the world.
There is a brief song written by Hillsong that has these lyrics.
My life is in you Lord,
My strength is in you Lord,
My hope is in you Lord,
In you, it’s in you.
I will praise you with all of my life
I praise you with all of my strength,
With all of my life,
With all of my strength,
All of my life is in you, it’s in you!
~.~
That church….is the answer to all our questions and needs!
A life totally submerged in Him.
This morning perhaps you came with a measure of HOPE that God would watch over and protect us all, given the circumstances that we are by choice making just to be here. Along with that hope comes the responsibility of doing what we have been told to do, and for good reason. HOPE is not blind HOPE, it is thoughtful HOPE. That is why I said what I did above, that we are to seek the Lord Himself in seeking HOPE.
You see, we humans have been given by God the ability to reason, think and weigh the benefits or the consequences of our choices. We are unique in that way of all living beings on this planet. The fact that we can even entertain HOPE is distinctly human.
In the New International Bible, the word HOPE is used 180 times. In its everyday usage, its depth is measured by the emotions that lie beneath it.
There are many kinds of HOPE…such as:
1. Desired HOPE
2. Christian HOPE
3. False HOPE
4. Fulfilled HOPE
5. Many others
HOPE is not an excuse for making bad choices, but sometimes in our lives, our desires or needs are a vital part of our faith in making choices that we would otherwise not pursue. Again, that is why we need to seek the Lord in those choices. It is true, that let us say two people seeking an answer for the same question may come up with two totally different responses. Is God behind both? I have found the answer to that at times is yes. The whys I cannot say, but I have seen it happen and have also seen that in both instances, each has been blessed.
Today, we HOPE and PRAY for a cure not only for this Covid-19 virus, but for so many others, diseases that can decimate us. In some ways the world is more at peace now than it has been for years. Why? Because we are united in fighting a common enemy. We are ALL HOPING, and HOPEFULLY all praying for science to (by hard research) find a cure. What would help (in my opinion) is that we would ALL pray, not just a little throw it up to heaven prayer, but a united, authentic, deep intercessory prayer. If we desire and HOPE deep enough, I believe we will have positive results, and that goes for many other of our HOPES as well.
On the downside in any given moment----I may have had HOPES that have not been fulfilled, some because of my own doing, and others due to the doings of others. Those unfulfilled hopes have often been difficult to deal with, but not having the ability to see down the road, my HOPE has been that it was in the long run for the best. That is where my faith fills the gap, and for that I am incredibly grateful.
There are also HOPES that have been a part of my life for many years, which are unfulfilled to this day, and (by God) I am not giving up HOPE on those, they are that important to me. Through the fulfilled HOPES and the unfulfilled HOPES I have never blamed God, but have instead held onto HIM as my continual source of solace and grace, and goodness and mercy, and kindness and most of all HIS LOVE…..that through it all He ENDURES FOREVER. Amen
I have HOPE, Hope for us here in LCIP….that God will watch over and protect us….and will accomplish here in us, and in this chapel….a deepening of our walk with Him, brighten our light in this community…..and in each of us individually….transforming us into a special people of God…by humbly taking on the role of servants to one another and beyond, in this place where we live and move and have our being….and in doing so will bring Joy to Him and honor to His name.
Can you say amen?
C.S. Lewis, who wrote so m any wonderful book, including the Narnia Chronicles, Screwtape Letters and so many more said about HOPE: “HOPE, is a continual looking forward to the eternal world to come.” X2
Dale Carnegie said: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying, while there seemed to be no HOPE.”
Cicero wrote: “While there is life, there is HOPE.”
G.F. Watt has a famous painting entitled “HOPE.” It pictures a woman going through deep and difficult times. Her eyes are bandaged so that she cannot see ahead. In her hands lay a harp, and all the strings are broken but one. Those broken strings represent to her, her shattered HOPES, her bitter disappointments. She named the last unbroken string, her last HOPE. She strokes the string and instead of a singular sound, comes a glorious melody that floats out over her life, filling her dark skies with stars, taking away the darkness and filling her heart and life with JOY. Her outward circumstances had not yet changed…. but her heart now sang instead of despair…. now, with newborn HOPE.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disillusioned within me? HOPE IN GOD, (FOR IN THE MIDST OF MY DESPAIR) I shall yet PRAISE HIM…the help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 31:24, “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all of you who HOPE in the Lord.”
We all…at times need New Beginnings under-girded with HOPE. To do so, we need to keep our faith alive, real and growing. That my friends, takes at times an act of our wills, based on our love and HOPE in God. An act of our wills in that we actively pursue our relationship with God in Christ.
THE ATTITUDE AND HOPE OF A LITTLE BOY……………………………………
A man was out for a walk one afternoon and seeing a baseball game going on stopped to watch the young boys play. He asked one of the boys in the dugout what the score was? The boy responded enthusiastically, “eighteen to nothing and we’re behind.’
The man said to the little guy, “I’ll bet you are very discouraged, aren’t you?”
The boy responded, “why would I be discouraged?” We haven’t even been up to bat yet!”
So…let’s pick up our bat and join in with the attitude of that little guy…though right now things look very bad…..In HOPE and PRAYER and FAITH and TRUST and anticipation….look forward to what the Lord will do.
That is my HOPE, backed with prayer….”this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it….not forgetting or pretending the situation is not as bad as it seems….but let HOPE and all those other descriptive attitudes become paramount in our HOPE for good things to come.
Hallelujah…Amen!
MACK’S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
May 3, 2020
SERMON – “HOPE”
“a vital part of our lives”
Pastor Tom Shanor
Romans 15:13
“I pray that God, the source of HOPE, will fill you completely with joy and peace, because you trust in Him. Then…. you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
In time of uncertainty…..and this is certainly one of those times, HOPE, depending on our given state of mind and faith, can be difficult to grasp because we are so deeply invested in the circumstances that surround us, but….since, as Romans 15:13 says, God is the source of HOPE, our first directive is to go to God for what we need, asking Him through our Lord Jesus to give and extend to us this gift of HOPE. How?…..by and through the power of the Holy Spirit!
What we must do is pray, quietly, introspectively seeking. Take some time apart when our emotions are not running rampant…. but in quiet thoughtful sincerity ask Him specifically what you (we) are to HOPE for specifically, and He will tell you. HOPE carries with it optimism, that God will give you what you are seeking. It is based on an expectation of a positive outcome, with respect to the events and circumstances in our lives….be they deeply personal or as big as the world.
There is a brief song written by Hillsong that has these lyrics.
My life is in you Lord,
My strength is in you Lord,
My hope is in you Lord,
In you, it’s in you.
I will praise you with all of my life
I praise you with all of my strength,
With all of my life,
With all of my strength,
All of my life is in you, it’s in you!
~.~
That church….is the answer to all our questions and needs!
A life totally submerged in Him.
This morning perhaps you came with a measure of HOPE that God would watch over and protect us all, given the circumstances that we are by choice making just to be here. Along with that hope comes the responsibility of doing what we have been told to do, and for good reason. HOPE is not blind HOPE, it is thoughtful HOPE. That is why I said what I did above, that we are to seek the Lord Himself in seeking HOPE.
You see, we humans have been given by God the ability to reason, think and weigh the benefits or the consequences of our choices. We are unique in that way of all living beings on this planet. The fact that we can even entertain HOPE is distinctly human.
In the New International Bible, the word HOPE is used 180 times. In its everyday usage, its depth is measured by the emotions that lie beneath it.
There are many kinds of HOPE…such as:
1. Desired HOPE
2. Christian HOPE
3. False HOPE
4. Fulfilled HOPE
5. Many others
HOPE is not an excuse for making bad choices, but sometimes in our lives, our desires or needs are a vital part of our faith in making choices that we would otherwise not pursue. Again, that is why we need to seek the Lord in those choices. It is true, that let us say two people seeking an answer for the same question may come up with two totally different responses. Is God behind both? I have found the answer to that at times is yes. The whys I cannot say, but I have seen it happen and have also seen that in both instances, each has been blessed.
Today, we HOPE and PRAY for a cure not only for this Covid-19 virus, but for so many others, diseases that can decimate us. In some ways the world is more at peace now than it has been for years. Why? Because we are united in fighting a common enemy. We are ALL HOPING, and HOPEFULLY all praying for science to (by hard research) find a cure. What would help (in my opinion) is that we would ALL pray, not just a little throw it up to heaven prayer, but a united, authentic, deep intercessory prayer. If we desire and HOPE deep enough, I believe we will have positive results, and that goes for many other of our HOPES as well.
On the downside in any given moment----I may have had HOPES that have not been fulfilled, some because of my own doing, and others due to the doings of others. Those unfulfilled hopes have often been difficult to deal with, but not having the ability to see down the road, my HOPE has been that it was in the long run for the best. That is where my faith fills the gap, and for that I am incredibly grateful.
There are also HOPES that have been a part of my life for many years, which are unfulfilled to this day, and (by God) I am not giving up HOPE on those, they are that important to me. Through the fulfilled HOPES and the unfulfilled HOPES I have never blamed God, but have instead held onto HIM as my continual source of solace and grace, and goodness and mercy, and kindness and most of all HIS LOVE…..that through it all He ENDURES FOREVER. Amen
I have HOPE, Hope for us here in LCIP….that God will watch over and protect us….and will accomplish here in us, and in this chapel….a deepening of our walk with Him, brighten our light in this community…..and in each of us individually….transforming us into a special people of God…by humbly taking on the role of servants to one another and beyond, in this place where we live and move and have our being….and in doing so will bring Joy to Him and honor to His name.
Can you say amen?
C.S. Lewis, who wrote so m any wonderful book, including the Narnia Chronicles, Screwtape Letters and so many more said about HOPE: “HOPE, is a continual looking forward to the eternal world to come.” X2
Dale Carnegie said: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying, while there seemed to be no HOPE.”
Cicero wrote: “While there is life, there is HOPE.”
G.F. Watt has a famous painting entitled “HOPE.” It pictures a woman going through deep and difficult times. Her eyes are bandaged so that she cannot see ahead. In her hands lay a harp, and all the strings are broken but one. Those broken strings represent to her, her shattered HOPES, her bitter disappointments. She named the last unbroken string, her last HOPE. She strokes the string and instead of a singular sound, comes a glorious melody that floats out over her life, filling her dark skies with stars, taking away the darkness and filling her heart and life with JOY. Her outward circumstances had not yet changed…. but her heart now sang instead of despair…. now, with newborn HOPE.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disillusioned within me? HOPE IN GOD, (FOR IN THE MIDST OF MY DESPAIR) I shall yet PRAISE HIM…the help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 31:24, “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all of you who HOPE in the Lord.”
We all…at times need New Beginnings under-girded with HOPE. To do so, we need to keep our faith alive, real and growing. That my friends, takes at times an act of our wills, based on our love and HOPE in God. An act of our wills in that we actively pursue our relationship with God in Christ.
THE ATTITUDE AND HOPE OF A LITTLE BOY……………………………………
A man was out for a walk one afternoon and seeing a baseball game going on stopped to watch the young boys play. He asked one of the boys in the dugout what the score was? The boy responded enthusiastically, “eighteen to nothing and we’re behind.’
The man said to the little guy, “I’ll bet you are very discouraged, aren’t you?”
The boy responded, “why would I be discouraged?” We haven’t even been up to bat yet!”
So…let’s pick up our bat and join in with the attitude of that little guy…though right now things look very bad…..In HOPE and PRAYER and FAITH and TRUST and anticipation….look forward to what the Lord will do.
That is my HOPE, backed with prayer….”this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it….not forgetting or pretending the situation is not as bad as it seems….but let HOPE and all those other descriptive attitudes become paramount in our HOPE for good things to come.
Hallelujah…Amen!
Little Church in the Pines
From the Office of Pastor Tom
Macks Inn, Idaho 83433
April 26, 2020
"The Birth and the Life of the Church (part II)"
Good morning and welcome to the continuation of “The Birth and Life of The Church.” You are in for a bit of an unusual ride, not that you have not heard or read the Scripture stating the events that unfolded that power-packed day. Being obedient to Christ they were in gathering-together, to wait for the Power from on high, not knowing what Jesus meant. Still, they did not passively sit in a circle talking and visiting, but instead were earnestly praying, being of one accord in their desires to seek what Jesus told them.
The Lord recently, well, here is what we are told happened. Having given his last directions to them…He led them to Bethany, and lifting His hands to heaven, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them….and was taken up to heaven. They then returned (you can imagine the excited conversations that they were having on the way) to Jerusalem as He said. With great JOY they spent most of their time in the Temple, praying and not knowing what was about to happen to them.
Ok…so, what we are about to hear is way beyond what most of us have experienced…way beyond. So much so that it seems myth-like and possibly (as some scholars have stated) they were so hyped up, that they saw things and heard things that really did not happen. Me, I believe they did, and why do I believe they did? Because I have experienced two of the same manifestations of the Spirit myself. It is hard to argue against something that has been experienced by someone at least with that person. Such as me.
Those two are tongues (speaking a language with observable (syntax) which is the arrangements of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. The other is prophecy. I have not personally prophesied but have been the recipient of prophecy spoken to me, that came to be borne out as true as time passed. A pretty-cool thing, really!
Let us take a break for a moment…………………………… a moment.
Now, if you have the time and desire, please read the narration from Acts 2:1-21, and then later through verse 41.
Another sign of this infilling of the Power of the Holy Spirit takes visible place in the personage of Peter, a man proven impetuous, speaking out of turn, often letting his bravado be his downfall, even denying that he knows this Jesus, just a short time before. Now, a new bold and powerful speaker, his confidence again, coming from the Spirit, who made him in that moment and beyond, a dynamic speaker, concise, factual, and focused. So much so that at his first public speaking Scripture reads as such; “those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to The CHURCH that day…about 3000 in all. Now that is some power-filled preaching!!
If you care to read it…. because it is rather remarkable, you will find it his message in Acts 1:14-41.
Before Peter spoke, many drawn to the noise and excitement of what was happening thought these men and women were drunk. Seems logical, except Scripture says that these disciples were speaking human languages that they themselves did not know. The reason for this was that this was the Festival of Pentecost, that had drawn men and women from all over who spoke Greek, Egyptian and other regional known languages, and they were hearing in their own language about this Jesus and about God.
Is a baptism such as this with all these manifestations a necessity for salvation or as a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit? NO, although there are some denominations that say yes, it is. I say, no it is not but, if the Holy Spirit chooses to manifest His power in the same manner as this on an individual or group it is totally up to Him. I believe that He at times, and to this day, still chooses to do so, and there is always a legitimate reason for doing so.
Now this is my opinion; that the surest way to determine that a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit is manifest first and foremost by his or her love of Christ in God, and his or her love shown to the world. Love is the ‘modus operandi’ of your or my life. Another sign for me as to the validity of a Spirit filled life we find in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the Holy Spirit (in you) produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Yeppers…that is my opinion!
I have seen and heard false prophecies, false tongues and other manifestations that were totally from the flesh because the lives of those claiming to be of God….were not manifested in the actions and words of their lives when not on stage. In religion…. there is always the genuine and the false. People often get trapped in the false because of the charisma of the person and because of the seeming power being manifested.
1st. Corinthians 12:11 reads, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts” He alone decides which gift or gifts each person should have, if any.
Many cults, sects and possibly some denominations and independent churches, have singled out Scriptures to use them to isolate themselves and make themselves out to be the ‘one true church’ through false leaders. This has happened from the very beginning of The Church. I have said before though, that churches, denominations and even sects, as well as independent churches that have adopted and believe in the Apostle’s Creed, can be called true Christians, and therefore across denominations and sects we can call one another brothers and sisters in Christ.
The manifestations as recorded were a real kick-start to the birth and life of The Church of Jesus the Christ……. amazing, wonderful and just the right thing for just the right time.
Here is a brief breakdown of the history of The Church as manifested in the past up to today….
There are currently 2.24 Billion Believers in the world today, which are legitimate, (according to doctrinal beliefs) Christians.
From the early church to the Council of Ephesus……………. year 431
From the council of Ephesus to the Council of Chalcedon…. year 451
Then came the Great Schism……………………………………11th century
From Council of Ephesus to the “Great Schism”, there was formed the
1. Restorationism
2. Anabaptism
3. Protestantism
4. Anglicanism
5. Catholic Church (still organized) since the 11th Century
6. Eastern Orthodoxy (still organized)
7. Oriental Orthodoxy (still organized)
8. Assyrian Church (still organized)
I truly hope you are interested in this, as it gives us a quick overview of The Church today….and where each of us individually stand.
Good old Martin Luther would never have believed or understood what would happen when he nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg. These theses written in Latin, were points that Luther wanted to debate. His goal was not to leave the Catholic Church or to create a new religion; he wanted to reform the Catholic Church…well, we know what happened.
From Protestantism……today, including all our mainline churches, Catholic, Orthodox etc., there are known to be 41,000 denominations in the world today. 41,000!!!!
THE CHURCH….as ‘I’ think about it, in all its manifestations, doctrines, similarities and differences, has grown and has powerfully affected the world both for the good and all too often, the bad. Yet, overall, individual lives are what count. Christ came for the good, the bad and all in between. Us.
I do not look at all the differences for the purposes of division which causes more division, but instead I look at the similarities and I desire to build unity with those among us (even with some of our differences). The birth of The Church was and still is, a goal of the Lord, as He said He came to build it. I will let Him discern and decide that which is legitimate and illegitimate, because I believe He looks at the hearts of all the individuals who make IT what it is.
The Little Church in the Pines, being an inter-denominational Christian Church, I am thrilled by the cross-section of Christians and perhaps non-Christians that come through our doors to worship our Lord, and to fellowship with us. We are The Church in Island Park, or at least a part of The Church of Jesus Christ in the world today. The one He descended from heaven, who was born, lived, died, resurrected, and ascended again, to be with the Father and who will one day come again to rule and reign forever. Amen
From the Office of Pastor Tom
Macks Inn, Idaho 83433
April 26, 2020
"The Birth and the Life of the Church (part II)"
Good morning and welcome to the continuation of “The Birth and Life of The Church.” You are in for a bit of an unusual ride, not that you have not heard or read the Scripture stating the events that unfolded that power-packed day. Being obedient to Christ they were in gathering-together, to wait for the Power from on high, not knowing what Jesus meant. Still, they did not passively sit in a circle talking and visiting, but instead were earnestly praying, being of one accord in their desires to seek what Jesus told them.
The Lord recently, well, here is what we are told happened. Having given his last directions to them…He led them to Bethany, and lifting His hands to heaven, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them….and was taken up to heaven. They then returned (you can imagine the excited conversations that they were having on the way) to Jerusalem as He said. With great JOY they spent most of their time in the Temple, praying and not knowing what was about to happen to them.
Ok…so, what we are about to hear is way beyond what most of us have experienced…way beyond. So much so that it seems myth-like and possibly (as some scholars have stated) they were so hyped up, that they saw things and heard things that really did not happen. Me, I believe they did, and why do I believe they did? Because I have experienced two of the same manifestations of the Spirit myself. It is hard to argue against something that has been experienced by someone at least with that person. Such as me.
Those two are tongues (speaking a language with observable (syntax) which is the arrangements of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. The other is prophecy. I have not personally prophesied but have been the recipient of prophecy spoken to me, that came to be borne out as true as time passed. A pretty-cool thing, really!
Let us take a break for a moment…………………………… a moment.
Now, if you have the time and desire, please read the narration from Acts 2:1-21, and then later through verse 41.
Another sign of this infilling of the Power of the Holy Spirit takes visible place in the personage of Peter, a man proven impetuous, speaking out of turn, often letting his bravado be his downfall, even denying that he knows this Jesus, just a short time before. Now, a new bold and powerful speaker, his confidence again, coming from the Spirit, who made him in that moment and beyond, a dynamic speaker, concise, factual, and focused. So much so that at his first public speaking Scripture reads as such; “those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to The CHURCH that day…about 3000 in all. Now that is some power-filled preaching!!
If you care to read it…. because it is rather remarkable, you will find it his message in Acts 1:14-41.
Before Peter spoke, many drawn to the noise and excitement of what was happening thought these men and women were drunk. Seems logical, except Scripture says that these disciples were speaking human languages that they themselves did not know. The reason for this was that this was the Festival of Pentecost, that had drawn men and women from all over who spoke Greek, Egyptian and other regional known languages, and they were hearing in their own language about this Jesus and about God.
- So…we have not only tongues of flames, prophecy, tongues of different languages and the sound surrounding them like the roaring of a mighty wind, and it filled the house (the sound that is) as there was not actual wind,” but that sound must have made everyone deeply unsettled and frightened, even without being physically impacted.
- Then this one, very visual. “Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared, and actually settled on them,” apparently not burning them. And everyone present was filled or as described in baptism, immersed in the Holy Spirit…and then,
- Again, they began to speak in other tongues or languages.
Is a baptism such as this with all these manifestations a necessity for salvation or as a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit? NO, although there are some denominations that say yes, it is. I say, no it is not but, if the Holy Spirit chooses to manifest His power in the same manner as this on an individual or group it is totally up to Him. I believe that He at times, and to this day, still chooses to do so, and there is always a legitimate reason for doing so.
Now this is my opinion; that the surest way to determine that a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit is manifest first and foremost by his or her love of Christ in God, and his or her love shown to the world. Love is the ‘modus operandi’ of your or my life. Another sign for me as to the validity of a Spirit filled life we find in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the Holy Spirit (in you) produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Yeppers…that is my opinion!
I have seen and heard false prophecies, false tongues and other manifestations that were totally from the flesh because the lives of those claiming to be of God….were not manifested in the actions and words of their lives when not on stage. In religion…. there is always the genuine and the false. People often get trapped in the false because of the charisma of the person and because of the seeming power being manifested.
1st. Corinthians 12:11 reads, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts” He alone decides which gift or gifts each person should have, if any.
Many cults, sects and possibly some denominations and independent churches, have singled out Scriptures to use them to isolate themselves and make themselves out to be the ‘one true church’ through false leaders. This has happened from the very beginning of The Church. I have said before though, that churches, denominations and even sects, as well as independent churches that have adopted and believe in the Apostle’s Creed, can be called true Christians, and therefore across denominations and sects we can call one another brothers and sisters in Christ.
The manifestations as recorded were a real kick-start to the birth and life of The Church of Jesus the Christ……. amazing, wonderful and just the right thing for just the right time.
Here is a brief breakdown of the history of The Church as manifested in the past up to today….
There are currently 2.24 Billion Believers in the world today, which are legitimate, (according to doctrinal beliefs) Christians.
From the early church to the Council of Ephesus……………. year 431
From the council of Ephesus to the Council of Chalcedon…. year 451
Then came the Great Schism……………………………………11th century
From Council of Ephesus to the “Great Schism”, there was formed the
- Catholic Church, both the Western Rites and Eastern Rites
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Oriental Orthodoxy
- Assyrian Church
1. Restorationism
2. Anabaptism
3. Protestantism
4. Anglicanism
5. Catholic Church (still organized) since the 11th Century
6. Eastern Orthodoxy (still organized)
7. Oriental Orthodoxy (still organized)
8. Assyrian Church (still organized)
I truly hope you are interested in this, as it gives us a quick overview of The Church today….and where each of us individually stand.
Good old Martin Luther would never have believed or understood what would happen when he nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg. These theses written in Latin, were points that Luther wanted to debate. His goal was not to leave the Catholic Church or to create a new religion; he wanted to reform the Catholic Church…well, we know what happened.
From Protestantism……today, including all our mainline churches, Catholic, Orthodox etc., there are known to be 41,000 denominations in the world today. 41,000!!!!
THE CHURCH….as ‘I’ think about it, in all its manifestations, doctrines, similarities and differences, has grown and has powerfully affected the world both for the good and all too often, the bad. Yet, overall, individual lives are what count. Christ came for the good, the bad and all in between. Us.
I do not look at all the differences for the purposes of division which causes more division, but instead I look at the similarities and I desire to build unity with those among us (even with some of our differences). The birth of The Church was and still is, a goal of the Lord, as He said He came to build it. I will let Him discern and decide that which is legitimate and illegitimate, because I believe He looks at the hearts of all the individuals who make IT what it is.
The Little Church in the Pines, being an inter-denominational Christian Church, I am thrilled by the cross-section of Christians and perhaps non-Christians that come through our doors to worship our Lord, and to fellowship with us. We are The Church in Island Park, or at least a part of The Church of Jesus Christ in the world today. The one He descended from heaven, who was born, lived, died, resurrected, and ascended again, to be with the Father and who will one day come again to rule and reign forever. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
FROM DEATH TO LIFE TO BIRTH – The Church
April 19, 2020
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
In Jesus’ discourse with Peter found in Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus asks Peter and the others, whom do you say that I AM? Peter says in response, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus then answered him, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock, and upon this rock I will BUILD MY CHUCH, and the gates of hell will not conquer it! (in the next phrase Christ used petra (upon this rock) not a person. Christ used a play on words. He does not say “upon you, Peter” or “upon your successors,” but “upon this rock” ……upon this divine revelation, and profession of faith in Christ will He build His Church!
With the flick of a match, friction occurs, and a spark leaps up from which to start a fire. Starting with that first spark, tinder is used to grow larger and hotter, moving on to burn wood, and depending on the fuel added, again to grow larger and larger. Such was and is the Church of Christ.
Nearly 2000 years ago, a match was struck in Palestine. At first, just a few in that corner of the world were touched and warmed, but the fire soon spread beyond Jerusalem and Judea to the entire world, encapsulating all races, all people. The Book of Acts tells of that dramatic beginning, the likes of which have not been seen or experienced again with that kind of impact.
The disciples were gathered together, praying, seeking the Lord just as He had told them to do in Luke 24:49 (NLT) “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as My Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
That day is known as Pentecost…. which in all its manifestations of power took place 7 weeks, or 50 days following the resurrection. The term Pentecost comes from the Greek, meaning “fiftieth”. It refers to the Jewish festival celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, also know as the “Feast of Weeks”. This is the day known as the birth of the Christian Church. This Feast of Weeks celebrates the revelation of the Five Books of the Torah by God to Moses and to the Israelites at biblical Mount Sinai, 7 weeks for 50 days after their Exodus from Egypt. A perfect time for the New Revelation to be brought to the New Church.
Some Biblical Scholars are of the opinion that the events on that day are merely a narrative, overblown and hyped up by the writers of the events that happened at 9 o’clock in the morning on that remarkable day. Not so. The events are clearly recorded in Acts 2. (you just might want to read the whole event) as it is clearly written. Intellectualism will always try and explain away events and occurrences that are difficult to prove and explain, but other than in their minds cannot prove that they did not happen. More on that later.
We can take a brief journey back into the Old Testament, where we read that this event was a long-standing promise of God, that would one day be fulfilled as it is written. During the time of Joel, God’s Spirit seemed to be available only to kings, prophets, and judges, but Joel saw a time to come when the Spirit would be available to every believer. This chapter in Joel revolves around the theme of “The Lord’s Promise of Restoration, followed by the Lord’s Promise of His Spirit given to All People.”
Joel 2:28-29 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visons. In those day I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike.”
If…. we are going to call ourselves Christians, Believers, Disciples, etc., it behooves us to know the fulness of our history, which includes the history of the early church and the church down through the ages. We can choose to embrace or discard portions that bother us, but even if you do individually, we cannot negate their place and importance in the birth of the Church. Things are what they are, because of what they were.
The Church in its original meaning comes from the word ek-klay-see-ah, spelled today, ‘ekklesia,’ which means a gathering of Believers…. not a building but a living breathing Spirit led people in on accord. Through our unified belief in Jesus Christ, we are the representation of His body here on earth. Because we do believe in Him, we are also brothers and sisters in Christ, part of the Universal Body of Christ on earth.
Now back to Pentecost…..the narrative of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in all four Gospels, starting in Matthew 3:11, as John speaks to those coming to be baptized by him in the Jordan River, for the repentance of their sins. He says, “I baptize with water those who repent of their sin and turn to God, but someone is coming soon (Jesus Christ) who is greater than I am. So much so that I am not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He… will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (again, in recognition of Pentecost)
Before Pentecost, following the death and resurrection of Jesus, (though at this point His resurrection is not known widely) two of His disciples are on the road to Emmaus and are encountered by Jesus, though they do not know it is Him. Their conversation is solely about all the events surrounding Jesus and the happenings in Jerusalem. Jesus upbraids them for their lack of faith and then leaves them without revealing Himself. He next then appears in the midst of the disciples where they are hiding for fear of the Jews. He says to them, “peace be with you,” scaring them out of their wits, showing them the holes in His hands and feet. Startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost, He then sits down with them and eats some of the fish they were cooking. They could not move, but stood there almost frozen in place, unbelief in their amazement, but filled with joy and wonder.
Then He said, “when I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets, and in the Psalms must be fulfilled. He then opened their minds to understand His fulfillment of those Scriptures concerning Him. He talked further with them, leaving them with these words. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit just as My Father promised.” Now comes His directive to them, “but stay in the city until the Holy Spirit comes….and fills you…. with power from heaven.”
Next week we will pick it up from here, where we will learn of the events as they dramatically unfolded that day and 9 o’clock in the morning, and with it the birth of the Church, as well as the major players involved.
Have a wonderful week…. filled with the grace and love of our Lord who gave and gives us more and above than we can ever ask for.
His Mercy Endures Forever……Amen
P. Tom
p.s. to be continued next week…………..
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
FROM DEATH TO LIFE TO BIRTH – The Church
April 19, 2020
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
In Jesus’ discourse with Peter found in Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus asks Peter and the others, whom do you say that I AM? Peter says in response, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus then answered him, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock, and upon this rock I will BUILD MY CHUCH, and the gates of hell will not conquer it! (in the next phrase Christ used petra (upon this rock) not a person. Christ used a play on words. He does not say “upon you, Peter” or “upon your successors,” but “upon this rock” ……upon this divine revelation, and profession of faith in Christ will He build His Church!
With the flick of a match, friction occurs, and a spark leaps up from which to start a fire. Starting with that first spark, tinder is used to grow larger and hotter, moving on to burn wood, and depending on the fuel added, again to grow larger and larger. Such was and is the Church of Christ.
Nearly 2000 years ago, a match was struck in Palestine. At first, just a few in that corner of the world were touched and warmed, but the fire soon spread beyond Jerusalem and Judea to the entire world, encapsulating all races, all people. The Book of Acts tells of that dramatic beginning, the likes of which have not been seen or experienced again with that kind of impact.
The disciples were gathered together, praying, seeking the Lord just as He had told them to do in Luke 24:49 (NLT) “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as My Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
That day is known as Pentecost…. which in all its manifestations of power took place 7 weeks, or 50 days following the resurrection. The term Pentecost comes from the Greek, meaning “fiftieth”. It refers to the Jewish festival celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, also know as the “Feast of Weeks”. This is the day known as the birth of the Christian Church. This Feast of Weeks celebrates the revelation of the Five Books of the Torah by God to Moses and to the Israelites at biblical Mount Sinai, 7 weeks for 50 days after their Exodus from Egypt. A perfect time for the New Revelation to be brought to the New Church.
Some Biblical Scholars are of the opinion that the events on that day are merely a narrative, overblown and hyped up by the writers of the events that happened at 9 o’clock in the morning on that remarkable day. Not so. The events are clearly recorded in Acts 2. (you just might want to read the whole event) as it is clearly written. Intellectualism will always try and explain away events and occurrences that are difficult to prove and explain, but other than in their minds cannot prove that they did not happen. More on that later.
We can take a brief journey back into the Old Testament, where we read that this event was a long-standing promise of God, that would one day be fulfilled as it is written. During the time of Joel, God’s Spirit seemed to be available only to kings, prophets, and judges, but Joel saw a time to come when the Spirit would be available to every believer. This chapter in Joel revolves around the theme of “The Lord’s Promise of Restoration, followed by the Lord’s Promise of His Spirit given to All People.”
Joel 2:28-29 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visons. In those day I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike.”
If…. we are going to call ourselves Christians, Believers, Disciples, etc., it behooves us to know the fulness of our history, which includes the history of the early church and the church down through the ages. We can choose to embrace or discard portions that bother us, but even if you do individually, we cannot negate their place and importance in the birth of the Church. Things are what they are, because of what they were.
The Church in its original meaning comes from the word ek-klay-see-ah, spelled today, ‘ekklesia,’ which means a gathering of Believers…. not a building but a living breathing Spirit led people in on accord. Through our unified belief in Jesus Christ, we are the representation of His body here on earth. Because we do believe in Him, we are also brothers and sisters in Christ, part of the Universal Body of Christ on earth.
Now back to Pentecost…..the narrative of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in all four Gospels, starting in Matthew 3:11, as John speaks to those coming to be baptized by him in the Jordan River, for the repentance of their sins. He says, “I baptize with water those who repent of their sin and turn to God, but someone is coming soon (Jesus Christ) who is greater than I am. So much so that I am not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He… will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (again, in recognition of Pentecost)
Before Pentecost, following the death and resurrection of Jesus, (though at this point His resurrection is not known widely) two of His disciples are on the road to Emmaus and are encountered by Jesus, though they do not know it is Him. Their conversation is solely about all the events surrounding Jesus and the happenings in Jerusalem. Jesus upbraids them for their lack of faith and then leaves them without revealing Himself. He next then appears in the midst of the disciples where they are hiding for fear of the Jews. He says to them, “peace be with you,” scaring them out of their wits, showing them the holes in His hands and feet. Startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost, He then sits down with them and eats some of the fish they were cooking. They could not move, but stood there almost frozen in place, unbelief in their amazement, but filled with joy and wonder.
Then He said, “when I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets, and in the Psalms must be fulfilled. He then opened their minds to understand His fulfillment of those Scriptures concerning Him. He talked further with them, leaving them with these words. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit just as My Father promised.” Now comes His directive to them, “but stay in the city until the Holy Spirit comes….and fills you…. with power from heaven.”
Next week we will pick it up from here, where we will learn of the events as they dramatically unfolded that day and 9 o’clock in the morning, and with it the birth of the Church, as well as the major players involved.
Have a wonderful week…. filled with the grace and love of our Lord who gave and gives us more and above than we can ever ask for.
His Mercy Endures Forever……Amen
P. Tom
p.s. to be continued next week…………..
Easter Sunday
April 12, 2020
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
John 11:25 “I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never die.” Do you believe this Martha?
My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in co-ersion. You see, we, you and I, have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences, paragraphs, perhaps even whole books, because we have become so familiar with them. They often just go phhhhhhhhhhhhht, without giving them the scrutiny and thought they deserve. We all too often miss the subtle, which at times is the most important.
I will be breaking this up a bit by speaking intellectually, as well as spiritually and experimentally……hopefully with both practical and spiritual application.
Let’s start out with the first two words of the declaration made in John 11:25, “I AM!” The first place we hear those words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking His Name. God’s answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and in intent. They are two of the most sacred and well-known words in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. They are past, present and future tense. Putting the two together, His answer reads clearly, “I AM who I AM.” In the King James Bible, it reads, “I In the King James Bible it reads, “I AM that I AM, and therefore nothing more needs to be said. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Amharic Bible, it is written as (I AM that exists and will exist.)
There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction in regard to Himself, not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I AM. I am sure we remember John 14:9, “he who has seen Me has seen the Father, and why then do you ask, show us the Father.” They are the Great I Am. This Divine Name is mysterious, just as God is mysterious. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time He is (infinitely more than everything that we can understand or say.) He is the ‘hidden’ God, who NOT SO SUBTLY reveals Himself more fully through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.
This is a revelation of God that the Hebrews had not seen before Jesus; at least to this degree, and they do not like what they see and hear, and this, is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God! They wanted a warrior God on a majestic horse, riding over their conquers, the Romans, and He who would then ride over the known world, subjugating it to Himself and them.
So…He Jesus, in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God!
Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, He says, The Resurrection and the Life. This establishes before His crucifixion as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up! Coming back to life is one of the central core beliefs of our faith, for without it, He is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if He was just a man, but HE WASN’T an ordinary man…. for He was and is the GREAT I AM!
Was He the first to be raised from the dead? No. In fact, He Himself had brought two, perhaps three others back from the dead. Lazarus had been dead several days and his body had begun to deteriorate. Smelled. We who subscribe to the Nicene Creed, firmly and with JOY believe in and adhere to the truth of His Resurrection!
Paul said, “if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people, but if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, we are blessed and REJOICE in the Lord of our salvation.’’
During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, He commissioned His twelve apostles to, among other things, raise the dead. There are accounts of this happening, but without specific names, places, etc. I have read over the years, viable accounts of this work of miracles still happens to this day. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so why not?
If you do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider today these words you are reading. For once you ask, and then believe in the lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are from that moment on a member of the household of God, His family.
I have offered up to you His own words, and the testimony of those who gave and still give their lives for Him. Literally, and, also figuratively. Look at His ministry, and how His teachings over the last two thousand years has influenced our cultures, our judicial systems, our governments, (when functioning as they should) also, the arts, and so much more, but mostly the lives of individuals who follow Him ever so closely and dearly.
There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very poor to the very rich whose lives have been dramatically changed. The degree to which any one of us changes when we ask the Lord to be Lord of our lives, will be equal to the degree that we choose to get to know just who this “I AM” is, and how much we allow Him to have His way with and in us. It is just that simple.
I now will finish this simple message with His words. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV)
Do you believe this?
For we all will die, but like Him and in Him, we…. have life after this life!
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELEBRATE TODAY!!!!!
Amen…
April 12, 2020
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
John 11:25 “I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never die.” Do you believe this Martha?
My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in co-ersion. You see, we, you and I, have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences, paragraphs, perhaps even whole books, because we have become so familiar with them. They often just go phhhhhhhhhhhhht, without giving them the scrutiny and thought they deserve. We all too often miss the subtle, which at times is the most important.
I will be breaking this up a bit by speaking intellectually, as well as spiritually and experimentally……hopefully with both practical and spiritual application.
Let’s start out with the first two words of the declaration made in John 11:25, “I AM!” The first place we hear those words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking His Name. God’s answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and in intent. They are two of the most sacred and well-known words in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. They are past, present and future tense. Putting the two together, His answer reads clearly, “I AM who I AM.” In the King James Bible, it reads, “I In the King James Bible it reads, “I AM that I AM, and therefore nothing more needs to be said. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Amharic Bible, it is written as (I AM that exists and will exist.)
There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction in regard to Himself, not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I AM. I am sure we remember John 14:9, “he who has seen Me has seen the Father, and why then do you ask, show us the Father.” They are the Great I Am. This Divine Name is mysterious, just as God is mysterious. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time He is (infinitely more than everything that we can understand or say.) He is the ‘hidden’ God, who NOT SO SUBTLY reveals Himself more fully through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.
This is a revelation of God that the Hebrews had not seen before Jesus; at least to this degree, and they do not like what they see and hear, and this, is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God! They wanted a warrior God on a majestic horse, riding over their conquers, the Romans, and He who would then ride over the known world, subjugating it to Himself and them.
So…He Jesus, in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God!
Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, He says, The Resurrection and the Life. This establishes before His crucifixion as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up! Coming back to life is one of the central core beliefs of our faith, for without it, He is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if He was just a man, but HE WASN’T an ordinary man…. for He was and is the GREAT I AM!
Was He the first to be raised from the dead? No. In fact, He Himself had brought two, perhaps three others back from the dead. Lazarus had been dead several days and his body had begun to deteriorate. Smelled. We who subscribe to the Nicene Creed, firmly and with JOY believe in and adhere to the truth of His Resurrection!
Paul said, “if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people, but if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, we are blessed and REJOICE in the Lord of our salvation.’’
During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, He commissioned His twelve apostles to, among other things, raise the dead. There are accounts of this happening, but without specific names, places, etc. I have read over the years, viable accounts of this work of miracles still happens to this day. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so why not?
If you do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider today these words you are reading. For once you ask, and then believe in the lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are from that moment on a member of the household of God, His family.
I have offered up to you His own words, and the testimony of those who gave and still give their lives for Him. Literally, and, also figuratively. Look at His ministry, and how His teachings over the last two thousand years has influenced our cultures, our judicial systems, our governments, (when functioning as they should) also, the arts, and so much more, but mostly the lives of individuals who follow Him ever so closely and dearly.
There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very poor to the very rich whose lives have been dramatically changed. The degree to which any one of us changes when we ask the Lord to be Lord of our lives, will be equal to the degree that we choose to get to know just who this “I AM” is, and how much we allow Him to have His way with and in us. It is just that simple.
I now will finish this simple message with His words. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV)
Do you believe this?
For we all will die, but like Him and in Him, we…. have life after this life!
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELEBRATE TODAY!!!!!
Amen…
Good? Friday
Pre-Good Friday Greetings................
That terrible Friday, which is called "Good Friday "is named as such because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and his VICTORY over sin and death......leading us to Easter, the very pinnacle of our Christian celebrations.
There is no joy in that day, which begins with the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it will lead us in time to where we can say JOY comes in the morning! That great and wonderful morning, on the third day following His death, we find the early morning sun shining on an empty tomb. Birds are singing, insects humming, as the sunlight touches and warms the earth, and all that is upon it.
As in the hymn "Morning Has Broken"....like the first morning, now with a new and fresh approach.....the Way has been paved through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that way is paved with love, forgiveness, grace and mercy!
Sweet the rain's new fall
Sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall
On the first grass
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness
Where His feet pass.................Amen
Starting with Good Friday morning (if you choose to) throughout the day, we will be reading at specific times, specific Scriptures starting with the Last Supper the timeline leading up to His death. To gain a fuller understanding of what Jesus endured, we will be reading the same events from the perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
6 AM.....Jesus Stands Trial Before Pilate (Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:1-5 and John 18:28-37)
Jesus Sent to Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
7 AM.....Jesus Returned to Pilate (Luke 23:11)
Jesus Sentenced to Death (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:23-24; John 19:16)
+ JESUS IS SCOURGED
Jesus scourged on the face, after being tied to a pillar and whipped.
8 AM.....Jesus is Led Away to Calvary (Matthew 27:32-34: Mark 15:21-24; Luke 23:26-31; John 19:16-17)
THE CRUCIFIXION
Soldiers drove stake-like nails through Jesus' wrists and ankles, fixing Him to the Cross, after His long and horrible walk, after carrying His Cross...then it being carried by an onlooker, at the insistence of the soldiers. During all this time being jeered at, spat at and more. Some in this crowd, being the same who during His triumphal entry were shouting Hosannas and waving palm branches.
At one-point Jesus poke to Mary and John after an unnatural darkness covered the land, asking John to take care of His Beloved Mother.
9 AM.....The Third Hour and Jesus is Crucified - Mark 15:25 - The third hour would have been 9 am, Jewish time.
(Luke 23:34; Mark 15:24)
10 AM....Jesus is Insulted and Mocked (Matthew 27:39-40; Mark 15:31; Luke 23:36-37; Luke 23:39)
11 AM.....Jesus and the Criminal (Luke 23:40-43 John 19:26-27)
NOON - THE 6TH HOUR
(Mark 15:33)
1 PM.....Jesus Cries Out to the Father (Matthew 27:46; John 19:28-29)
At any time during reading these...discuss any thoughts you might have
2 PM.....It is Finished - (John 19:30a; Luke 23:46)
+Jesus is taken down from the Cross
3 PM.....The Ninth Hour & THE EVENTS AFTER JESUS DEATH
The Centurion (Matthew 27:54; Mark15:38; Luke 23:47)
The Soldiers (John 19:31-34)
Jesus (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
As we have read.....there was a large earthquake and the Temple Veil is torn in two....the symbolism of this veil being torn in half, meaning that through Jesus we can now approach God directly, as the Father and the Son are ONE! There is no longer anyone or anything that can separate us from the Love of God! Halleluiah!
I hope you found yourselves enriched as you followed throughout the day.... these singular and incredible events in the life of Jesus?
I will be sending to you either tomorrow or Saturday, our Sunday Easter Service....and hope you can join us. God bless you and keep you safe and well!
P.Tom
P.S. Please keep praying and trusting....and staying in touch by reaching out to each
Pre-Good Friday Greetings................
That terrible Friday, which is called "Good Friday "is named as such because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and his VICTORY over sin and death......leading us to Easter, the very pinnacle of our Christian celebrations.
There is no joy in that day, which begins with the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it will lead us in time to where we can say JOY comes in the morning! That great and wonderful morning, on the third day following His death, we find the early morning sun shining on an empty tomb. Birds are singing, insects humming, as the sunlight touches and warms the earth, and all that is upon it.
As in the hymn "Morning Has Broken"....like the first morning, now with a new and fresh approach.....the Way has been paved through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that way is paved with love, forgiveness, grace and mercy!
Sweet the rain's new fall
Sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall
On the first grass
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness
Where His feet pass.................Amen
Starting with Good Friday morning (if you choose to) throughout the day, we will be reading at specific times, specific Scriptures starting with the Last Supper the timeline leading up to His death. To gain a fuller understanding of what Jesus endured, we will be reading the same events from the perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
6 AM.....Jesus Stands Trial Before Pilate (Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:1-5 and John 18:28-37)
Jesus Sent to Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
7 AM.....Jesus Returned to Pilate (Luke 23:11)
Jesus Sentenced to Death (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:23-24; John 19:16)
+ JESUS IS SCOURGED
Jesus scourged on the face, after being tied to a pillar and whipped.
8 AM.....Jesus is Led Away to Calvary (Matthew 27:32-34: Mark 15:21-24; Luke 23:26-31; John 19:16-17)
THE CRUCIFIXION
Soldiers drove stake-like nails through Jesus' wrists and ankles, fixing Him to the Cross, after His long and horrible walk, after carrying His Cross...then it being carried by an onlooker, at the insistence of the soldiers. During all this time being jeered at, spat at and more. Some in this crowd, being the same who during His triumphal entry were shouting Hosannas and waving palm branches.
At one-point Jesus poke to Mary and John after an unnatural darkness covered the land, asking John to take care of His Beloved Mother.
9 AM.....The Third Hour and Jesus is Crucified - Mark 15:25 - The third hour would have been 9 am, Jewish time.
(Luke 23:34; Mark 15:24)
10 AM....Jesus is Insulted and Mocked (Matthew 27:39-40; Mark 15:31; Luke 23:36-37; Luke 23:39)
11 AM.....Jesus and the Criminal (Luke 23:40-43 John 19:26-27)
NOON - THE 6TH HOUR
(Mark 15:33)
1 PM.....Jesus Cries Out to the Father (Matthew 27:46; John 19:28-29)
At any time during reading these...discuss any thoughts you might have
2 PM.....It is Finished - (John 19:30a; Luke 23:46)
+Jesus is taken down from the Cross
3 PM.....The Ninth Hour & THE EVENTS AFTER JESUS DEATH
The Centurion (Matthew 27:54; Mark15:38; Luke 23:47)
The Soldiers (John 19:31-34)
Jesus (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
As we have read.....there was a large earthquake and the Temple Veil is torn in two....the symbolism of this veil being torn in half, meaning that through Jesus we can now approach God directly, as the Father and the Son are ONE! There is no longer anyone or anything that can separate us from the Love of God! Halleluiah!
I hope you found yourselves enriched as you followed throughout the day.... these singular and incredible events in the life of Jesus?
I will be sending to you either tomorrow or Saturday, our Sunday Easter Service....and hope you can join us. God bless you and keep you safe and well!
P.Tom
P.S. Please keep praying and trusting....and staying in touch by reaching out to each
~ Palm Sunday ~
April 5th, 2020
The Little Church in the Pines
"From Joy to Despair"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ This Palm Sunday I am going to closely follow tradition in relating the story and events of that day……………………
But first….we are going to have a history lesson of Palm Sunday’s secondary origin…. “The Church having endured almost 400 years of persecution of many kinds and from many sources, but mostly from Rome, obtained her freedom in the fourth century when Constantine became Emperor and embraced Christianity. Shortly after this event….the faithful in Jerusalem re-enacted the solemn entry of Christ into their city on the Sunday before Easter, holding a procession in which they carried and waved Palm branches, singing Hosanna, Hosanna, which literally means “to save now” and was more than a cry of acclamation, as it was a plea from an oppressed people to their Savior for deliverance….and because it is Messianic in origin…the people that day were publicly acknowledging Jesus as ‘The Messiah.’
The earliest mention of this ceremony is found in the Sacramentary of the Abbey of Bobbio in Northern Italy, in the eighth century. The rite was soon accepted in Rome and incorporated into the liturgy, changed and celebrated in many ways and times, in various cultures with cultural adaptations. Ours today is fairly ‘cultured’ or even ‘tame’ in comparison to the early church celebrations.
~ Something about Jesus we need to remember through the so called, "Triumphal Entry" is that He, from the beginning knew His destiny, and knew events what would bring Him to the point of no return…to the Cross. This singular event, though in a cloak of celebration and joy was the beginning of the end of both His ministry, and His life.....on earth. He also knew the New Beginning.....that would follow all the pain and horror that was coming His way in a very short amount of time.
~ Just prior to this event He had been teaching the disciples and those who would listen exactly who He was and what was to come…but they did not understand. In some of those teachings he declared He was the True Shepherd, the Good Shepherd....the One who would take care of them in the troubled times ahead. He spoke of what it meant to live an Abundant Life. In the midst of these teachings, the Jewish leaders, despising Him, began to seriously put together a plot to kill Him.
~ During this time Mary showed her deep love and respect of Him, by anointing His feet at a gathering with very costly oil...which then got both she and Jesus in deeper trouble. Lazarus, as we know, had previously died and was a few days later raised from the dead...and because of, also getting the newly resurrected Lazarus and again Jesus in even deeper trouble. Now the leaders were plotting to kill both of them.....and at this time He states clearly what is shortly to happen...which we find in John 12:7 where Jesus said in Mary's defense, "let her alone, she has kept this oil for the day of My burial. "For the poor you have with you always, but Me, you do not have always." He said this because, the priests were finding fault with her generosity, as they said the oil could have been sold and the money distributed to the poor. Such big-hearted guys……….!
~ The enemy is stamping mad and afoot behind the scenes, working in the minds and hearts of those who hate Jesus.
~ John 12:9-11..."The next day, Friday, a great multitude had some to the feast of The Passover from all over the known world, and when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (his notoriety had grown to enormous proportions) they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out: "Hosanna! Hosanna!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'
‘The King of Israel!’"
~ Their usage of the word “Name…..of the Lord”....signified a person of rank and authority.....which the population over time had come to see Jesus as such due to his teachings, which often contradicted the Sadducees and Pharisees…..and of course His astonishing miracles.
~ Remember that Jesus knew full well what was ahead of Him, and to fulfill Scripture, Jesus told the disciples ahead of time where they would find a young donkey for Him to ride upon…A donkey signified in tradition, especially riding on one…...(humility) in contrast to that of a conquering military leader, fulfilling once again Scripture found in Zechariah 9:9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold…Your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
~ Like a cannon ball being shot out of a cannon...the story of His having raised Lazarus from the dead went throughout Jerusalem.....therefore this crowd was both loud and huge, and also filled with expectation of more to come....and Oh, those Pharisees...the conniving, jealous, self-righteous guys they were, we read in verse 19, said to one another...."you see that we are accomplishing nothing! LOOK....the world has gone after Him!
~ Because of the great noise, the adulation He was publicly receiving...quoting here. "and because the people were throwing their clothing on the colt.....and spreading their clothes on the road in front of where the colt would tread...and they continued to rejoice"....as He was now nearing the descent of the Mount of Olives....again, the people crying out,
"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
~ Then some of the Pharisees called out to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would immediately cry out." The clock is ticking…. these leaders now are really, really ticked.
~ As He descended the slope into Jerusalem....His heart was both full and breaking....three long arduous years of ministry, healing, restoring, teaching, miracle after miracle....touching hearts, lives and spirits....seeing the city spread before him....He Wept....feeling the full impact of all those days and nights, all the people...still so many to reach....so many obstacles and so much hatred, to the One who spoke mostly of love and goodness, and mercy, and justice.
~ He says quietly to Himself and those close enough to hear Him...."If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now....they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you, one stone upon another, because YOU DID NOT KNOW THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION! (This was a prophecy that would in time be fulfilled...and Jerusalem would fall, and never be the same, until He, Jesus Christ the Messiah, Scripture tells us, would triumphantly return.....coming as “KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.”
~ Next, is what He says about that future event....."And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's and women’s hearts failing them from fear, and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heaven's will be shaken.....THEN they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
Interesting events that we are living in today, in many ways parallel the emotions and thoughts we are having in relation to these words.
Now...when these things being to happen, He says.... look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Now, let’s take a moment....to reflect and think about what we just heard Him say......It all sounds so surreal in our pragmatic, every-day lives....yet, Scripture is Scripture, and His words are the most true and valuable words ever spoken.
Selah....which means (to pause and think)
~ As Jesus continues to teach and infuriate the priests and leaders, they continue to plot His arrest and death, now planning with Judas, His disciple and betrayer....exactly how to bring this about in the most non-public way, because they (the Priests and leaders feared the public's reaction) knowing that angry crowds take on a life of their own once aroused, and especially here, where Jesus is so revered and loved....but, later we will see, when many of those who praised and revered Him....turn on Him, shouting for His death as they once had shouted His praise.
~ He knew it was time to take that next and final step, and once again He quotes Old Testament Scripture, saying in Luke 22:37, "For I say to you ,that his which is written must still be accomplished in Me:" And He was numbered with the transgressors,' For the things concerning Me have an end."
~ And Coming out of where they were gathered together, "He went to the Mount of Olives, the "Garden of Gethsemane' as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him, and when they had come to the place, He said to them, "stop here and stay awake." He then withdrew from them about a stone's throw and became deeply distressed and troubled. Horror and dismay came over Him, and he said to them. "My heart is ready to break with grief. He then prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me, nevertheless,' and here in this next statement is the ultimate and great depth of His obedience and willingness to give Himself for you and me.' "Not My will, but Yours be done."
~ Does this look like in these words, the picture of a peaceful Jesus at total rest in the palm of Gods hand? Hardly, for the writer of this account used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see and hear a "Man of Sorrows." We see a 'man' struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments and yearning, praying for another way to accomplish what must be done.
~ We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.
~ The writer of Hebrews would later pen. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death" (Hebrews 5:7) but did not.
~ What a portrait! Jesus in pain and Jesus on the stage of fear. Jesus, cloaked, not in majesty, but in humanity!
~ The next time you find yourself in a difficult fog producing situation, which is beyond your ability to endure, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder 'if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this planet, listen to Him pleading there among the twisted, gnarled trees in the garden.
~ Seeing God like this can-do wonders for our own suffering. God was never more human that at this hour. God was never nearer to us than when He was in pain beyond His own natural ability to endure…as a man/God in the flesh. The Incarnation was never so fulfilled as in that garden at that time.
~ As a result, time spent in the sometimes fog of our own pain, could be God's greatest gift, an opportunity to find ourselves becoming closer to Him. It could be the hour that we finally see OUR Maker for who He is and what He offers us. If it is true that in suffering, God is most like mankind, just maybe in our suffering God we can and will see God like never before.
~ Watch closely....it could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog....is a pierced one.
Selah....(pause and think about it)
And remember JOY comes in the morning, there is that Promise!
Song…Morning Has Broken…
God bless each of you….may he make His face to shine upon you and give you peace in these troubled day. You are loved!!!!
Pastor Tom
April 5th, 2020
The Little Church in the Pines
"From Joy to Despair"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ This Palm Sunday I am going to closely follow tradition in relating the story and events of that day……………………
But first….we are going to have a history lesson of Palm Sunday’s secondary origin…. “The Church having endured almost 400 years of persecution of many kinds and from many sources, but mostly from Rome, obtained her freedom in the fourth century when Constantine became Emperor and embraced Christianity. Shortly after this event….the faithful in Jerusalem re-enacted the solemn entry of Christ into their city on the Sunday before Easter, holding a procession in which they carried and waved Palm branches, singing Hosanna, Hosanna, which literally means “to save now” and was more than a cry of acclamation, as it was a plea from an oppressed people to their Savior for deliverance….and because it is Messianic in origin…the people that day were publicly acknowledging Jesus as ‘The Messiah.’
The earliest mention of this ceremony is found in the Sacramentary of the Abbey of Bobbio in Northern Italy, in the eighth century. The rite was soon accepted in Rome and incorporated into the liturgy, changed and celebrated in many ways and times, in various cultures with cultural adaptations. Ours today is fairly ‘cultured’ or even ‘tame’ in comparison to the early church celebrations.
~ Something about Jesus we need to remember through the so called, "Triumphal Entry" is that He, from the beginning knew His destiny, and knew events what would bring Him to the point of no return…to the Cross. This singular event, though in a cloak of celebration and joy was the beginning of the end of both His ministry, and His life.....on earth. He also knew the New Beginning.....that would follow all the pain and horror that was coming His way in a very short amount of time.
~ Just prior to this event He had been teaching the disciples and those who would listen exactly who He was and what was to come…but they did not understand. In some of those teachings he declared He was the True Shepherd, the Good Shepherd....the One who would take care of them in the troubled times ahead. He spoke of what it meant to live an Abundant Life. In the midst of these teachings, the Jewish leaders, despising Him, began to seriously put together a plot to kill Him.
~ During this time Mary showed her deep love and respect of Him, by anointing His feet at a gathering with very costly oil...which then got both she and Jesus in deeper trouble. Lazarus, as we know, had previously died and was a few days later raised from the dead...and because of, also getting the newly resurrected Lazarus and again Jesus in even deeper trouble. Now the leaders were plotting to kill both of them.....and at this time He states clearly what is shortly to happen...which we find in John 12:7 where Jesus said in Mary's defense, "let her alone, she has kept this oil for the day of My burial. "For the poor you have with you always, but Me, you do not have always." He said this because, the priests were finding fault with her generosity, as they said the oil could have been sold and the money distributed to the poor. Such big-hearted guys……….!
~ The enemy is stamping mad and afoot behind the scenes, working in the minds and hearts of those who hate Jesus.
~ John 12:9-11..."The next day, Friday, a great multitude had some to the feast of The Passover from all over the known world, and when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (his notoriety had grown to enormous proportions) they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out: "Hosanna! Hosanna!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'
‘The King of Israel!’"
~ Their usage of the word “Name…..of the Lord”....signified a person of rank and authority.....which the population over time had come to see Jesus as such due to his teachings, which often contradicted the Sadducees and Pharisees…..and of course His astonishing miracles.
~ Remember that Jesus knew full well what was ahead of Him, and to fulfill Scripture, Jesus told the disciples ahead of time where they would find a young donkey for Him to ride upon…A donkey signified in tradition, especially riding on one…...(humility) in contrast to that of a conquering military leader, fulfilling once again Scripture found in Zechariah 9:9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold…Your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
~ Like a cannon ball being shot out of a cannon...the story of His having raised Lazarus from the dead went throughout Jerusalem.....therefore this crowd was both loud and huge, and also filled with expectation of more to come....and Oh, those Pharisees...the conniving, jealous, self-righteous guys they were, we read in verse 19, said to one another...."you see that we are accomplishing nothing! LOOK....the world has gone after Him!
~ Because of the great noise, the adulation He was publicly receiving...quoting here. "and because the people were throwing their clothing on the colt.....and spreading their clothes on the road in front of where the colt would tread...and they continued to rejoice"....as He was now nearing the descent of the Mount of Olives....again, the people crying out,
"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
~ Then some of the Pharisees called out to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would immediately cry out." The clock is ticking…. these leaders now are really, really ticked.
~ As He descended the slope into Jerusalem....His heart was both full and breaking....three long arduous years of ministry, healing, restoring, teaching, miracle after miracle....touching hearts, lives and spirits....seeing the city spread before him....He Wept....feeling the full impact of all those days and nights, all the people...still so many to reach....so many obstacles and so much hatred, to the One who spoke mostly of love and goodness, and mercy, and justice.
~ He says quietly to Himself and those close enough to hear Him...."If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now....they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you, one stone upon another, because YOU DID NOT KNOW THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION! (This was a prophecy that would in time be fulfilled...and Jerusalem would fall, and never be the same, until He, Jesus Christ the Messiah, Scripture tells us, would triumphantly return.....coming as “KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.”
~ Next, is what He says about that future event....."And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's and women’s hearts failing them from fear, and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heaven's will be shaken.....THEN they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
Interesting events that we are living in today, in many ways parallel the emotions and thoughts we are having in relation to these words.
Now...when these things being to happen, He says.... look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Now, let’s take a moment....to reflect and think about what we just heard Him say......It all sounds so surreal in our pragmatic, every-day lives....yet, Scripture is Scripture, and His words are the most true and valuable words ever spoken.
Selah....which means (to pause and think)
~ As Jesus continues to teach and infuriate the priests and leaders, they continue to plot His arrest and death, now planning with Judas, His disciple and betrayer....exactly how to bring this about in the most non-public way, because they (the Priests and leaders feared the public's reaction) knowing that angry crowds take on a life of their own once aroused, and especially here, where Jesus is so revered and loved....but, later we will see, when many of those who praised and revered Him....turn on Him, shouting for His death as they once had shouted His praise.
~ He knew it was time to take that next and final step, and once again He quotes Old Testament Scripture, saying in Luke 22:37, "For I say to you ,that his which is written must still be accomplished in Me:" And He was numbered with the transgressors,' For the things concerning Me have an end."
~ And Coming out of where they were gathered together, "He went to the Mount of Olives, the "Garden of Gethsemane' as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him, and when they had come to the place, He said to them, "stop here and stay awake." He then withdrew from them about a stone's throw and became deeply distressed and troubled. Horror and dismay came over Him, and he said to them. "My heart is ready to break with grief. He then prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me, nevertheless,' and here in this next statement is the ultimate and great depth of His obedience and willingness to give Himself for you and me.' "Not My will, but Yours be done."
~ Does this look like in these words, the picture of a peaceful Jesus at total rest in the palm of Gods hand? Hardly, for the writer of this account used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see and hear a "Man of Sorrows." We see a 'man' struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments and yearning, praying for another way to accomplish what must be done.
~ We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.
~ The writer of Hebrews would later pen. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death" (Hebrews 5:7) but did not.
~ What a portrait! Jesus in pain and Jesus on the stage of fear. Jesus, cloaked, not in majesty, but in humanity!
~ The next time you find yourself in a difficult fog producing situation, which is beyond your ability to endure, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder 'if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this planet, listen to Him pleading there among the twisted, gnarled trees in the garden.
~ Seeing God like this can-do wonders for our own suffering. God was never more human that at this hour. God was never nearer to us than when He was in pain beyond His own natural ability to endure…as a man/God in the flesh. The Incarnation was never so fulfilled as in that garden at that time.
~ As a result, time spent in the sometimes fog of our own pain, could be God's greatest gift, an opportunity to find ourselves becoming closer to Him. It could be the hour that we finally see OUR Maker for who He is and what He offers us. If it is true that in suffering, God is most like mankind, just maybe in our suffering God we can and will see God like never before.
~ Watch closely....it could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog....is a pierced one.
Selah....(pause and think about it)
And remember JOY comes in the morning, there is that Promise!
Song…Morning Has Broken…
God bless each of you….may he make His face to shine upon you and give you peace in these troubled day. You are loved!!!!
Pastor Tom
The Little Church in the Pines
mack's inn, island park, idaho
March 15, 2020
"Assurance of our Faith as a Journey.”
(Hebrews 11:1-13) Read
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
The only fully human-being I can recall being born with faith (being filled with the Spirit from inception) was John the Baptist…destined to walk out his faith in God, where we find in Luke, an angel of the Lord speaking to Zacharias, saying, Chapter 1 vs.(14) And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. (15) For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” For, all of we other human-beings, Faith is a journey with a beginning. A lifetime journey of faith can be represented symbolically by mountains, valleys, green pastures, swamps, thistles and briars, poison ivy, calm waters and so many more descriptive words that brings to our mind, pictures of places, events and people who represent firsthand our journey of faith, be they times of difficulty, weakness or strength.
When “I” find it difficult to live by my faith, I all too often have asked myself why? Life is of full of whys, and I often don’t find the answers to my whys, at least quick enough from my way of thinking and other times not at all! I wish otherwise…that there were no times of deep dark valleys, no briars or thistles, poison ivy or violent storms, but instead that all were lush green valleys, attainable high beautiful mountain tops, gentle warm rains and soft summer breezes. I wish! It is in all those other difficult places and times that causes me to cry out to the Lord in faith, believing (because I do) that He indeed will walk with, and even carry me when He deems it lovingly necessary.
We heard read to us at the opening of the service, from the Book of Exodus where the Jews are in the “Wilderness of Sin.” Some say there were three million, others 5,000, and yet one scholar, having studied existing written records, counting the number of people recorded at that time in each of the 12 tribes, then coming up with 603,000 men, excluding all women and children under 20. Hence….it is one huge number of people to be wandering around in the desert for 40 years.
These people had left behind all they had ever known for 400 years of their history of generations tying their roots to Egypt. It was home. By all accounts though slaves, they still had communities, families, enough to eat, etc., etc. Here they were, following this man who once was a member of the court of Pharaoh, now a man crying in the wilderness, saying He was chosen by God to lead them to a land of plenty, wandering through new territory and a desert at that. Moses, though a charismatic leader, chosen God, (whom they saw evidence of in signs, wonders and miracles) attempting to form them into a spiritual cohesiveness, one nation under God. Many of them held different beliefs, having adopted the Egyptian gods as their own. They were both confused and frightened, being led by a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day? How unsettling and crazy could things get? Well, there is more was to follow….
This was a time of high stress, little assurance and fear, and truly a lack of cohesive faith. In time through events, the death of a whole generation of these wanderers, and the establishment of guidelines, more miracles, spiritual and moral laws; their journey of faith had begun.
In Exodus 17:1-7, Scriptures speaks of an incident while camping at a place called Rephidim, for there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “give us water to drink!” By the way, I’d be pretty upset myself, if journeying in the desert, exhausted, thirsty and now a dry-camp where I had nothing with which to quench my thirst, to replace all the moisture in my body sweated out of me through exertion and heat. Let alone the crying and weeping of the children.
Moses, not very sympathetically says, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted for water; and they complained against Moses (since he was the spokesman for God) and said, “why did you bring us out of Egypt, only to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses, being a compassionate man of sorts, cried out to the Lord. “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
God heard both Moses and the people, all this time having a plan that would give them once again, assurance in Moses as God’s leader for them, and as their spokesman for God. This most assuredly would also build their faith through a very observable and powerful event.
The Lord said to Moses, “go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go, for I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”
Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He calls the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Let's more fully understand (though we peripherally know what assurance is) that in its spiritual meaning, carries with it a deeper understanding that is good for us to know and put into practice.
Our faith begins when we accept and believe that Christ is indeed who He says He is. Then and there we pick up our staff and move forward.
It truly is a term exceptionally rich when it comes to our faith and spiritual application. It signifies the unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith, as applied in trust by our adherence to it in our daily lives.
The original words have to do with the heart of a vital religion. One, which supports, carries us through and lifts us up when we have seemingly every reason to doubt. Jesus repeatedly used the word "amen" to express the trust-worthiness and truthfulness of His sayings and His teachings, in full assurance that they were truths to live by and trust in, and in doing so, we are assured once again, that we are on the right pathway in life, both temporal and eternal.
Amen, by the way, that Jesus used so often means “so be it.” It is what it is and cannot be changed.
Selah, which I use on occasion means, “pause and think about it, by meditating, pondering and thinking deeply.
Back to assurance……..Genuine assurance by its nature, leads those who believe fully in His truths and teachings, to an internal place of understanding, peace, joy, love, thankfulness and much more, no matter the circumstances as difficult as they may be, or become. We are told to "count it all joy when we are going through difficult times," for it is in those times that we not only learn who we are, but who we can become, by making the right choices and adhering to the Lord through them.
Our assurance may in various ways be shaken, diminished and even sometimes fail us, because we are human, but the principle or foundation on which faith being built up in our journey by us, our beliefs therefore cannot be taken away.
Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the 'assurance' of what we 'hope' for, the conviction of things we cannot see." That
Getting ready in the morning to come here to the church, with assurance and without thinking, I assume my car will start and I will arrive without a problem, but we all know….as an example, one of the squirrels living above my car in the carport roof just may decide to chew on a few wires and it won’t start. Or a packrat will construct a nest in the engine, which actually did happen to me. My assurance, an assumption will have been misplaced. In Christ my assurance is never misplaced, though circumstances may attempt to tell me it is. My now long experience in life of having faith…. I believe it is not and will not be misplaced…..I say that with assurance. I have seen faith at work in myself and others far too often and deeply, to shake my foundation.
Assurance hope and conviction, three words here in tandem that we hold and adhere to, that make our faith work for us. Where would we be in our faith without conviction and hope? They are deeply a part of our assurance, that Christ is the Son of God, and that Christ, God and the Holy Spirit work together in making our lives both a blessing to ourselves and to others, whom we encounter every day, be they family, friends or strangers.
Taking a strong hold of our faith, and living it out as we are given instructions as how to do so is vital, why choose to be a peripheral Christian when we can be a manifest destiny Christian? Why live a ho-hum spiritual life, when we can live a full and rich one where our life that has purpose, meaning, vibrancy and much more. Even here in Island Park, Idaho...in this ancient caldera that in itself speaks of the vibrant roots of creation......every place we look, and smell and touch speaks of power and might.
I found myself fully awake early this morning, thinking about today's sermon and the word "insurance" came to me and I thought "insurance" (what?) Then I asked myself; are there similarities not only in sound, but in meaning? And by George there are. Assurance is like having insurance, for insurance is a vehicle and document that protects a person from incurring future losses from damage, theft, illness or even death. It is a contract that transfers the risk of a specified loss benefits to self or another party, in exchange for the payment of a premium to the insurer.
Jesus Christ is our insurance policy, that when damage, theft, illness or even death come, we are assured by Him because we have belief in Him, that "all things work together for good, to those who love Him and are called through Him to a new and better life. He paid the premium and we reap the benefits of our policy, written in His name as the beneficiaries. Pretty cool.... though it cost Him a lot! Well, only His life.........................................
Knowing and believing in God's written word, Holy Scripture is vital to establish the inner workings of this policy. Along with Scripture comes prayer...for the most praying people are the most assured people, because prayer is direct communication with God. It is through communication in any relationship, be it natural or spiritual, that we come to know one another intimately. That intimacy comes through discipline and work. For anything to have value it came about through knowing something deeply and through work, sometimes hard work.
We can only speak for ourselves though....as to how our journey develops and how our assurance is deepened. Not only can we not read the minds of others, we cannot read the Bible and understand and adhere to its truths for others, but only to and for ourselves, and by doing so take God at His word.
Suppose someone says to you, "there was a person in our church who died last week and left five million dollars to his housekeeper. "Well," I say in return, "I have heard of such a thing happening before, and she was exceptional," and then I forget about it because it had nothing to do with me. But...suppose he says instead, to me, "he left the money to you." Then I will definitely pay close attention; I say, "to me?" Yes, he left it to you!" I certainly now want to know everything. So, it is in regards to salvation. Scripture also says Jesus died for everyone, but no one in particular. But...the truth is He did die for everyone, including you and me in particular. In knowing and believing that, suddenly He becomes very personal and very real to us. That....is just a part of the Good News.
HYMN....Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine......we almost all know and love that hymn. Let's sing it Acapella!
In the midst of a world more and more it seems, losing its foundation of assurance, as it is filled today with uneasiness, insecurity, its moral compass changing and more....assurance of a man or woman's security in God can be the strength that keep us from losing hope, faith, and even direction. We can and should lead authentic Christian lives, based not only on human resources, abilities (though these are good things) including ingenuity, but for us, included in those who are Believers, confidence in the caring power of God.
Divine direction sought in the lives of we as individuals, or our community of faith is not to be likened to some superficial good luck anecdote, or magical talisman, that supposedly protects a person or place against the traumas and tragedies of human existence. "Instead, assurance in God provides our anchor of confidence and hope". (Hebrews 6:18) "Especially In the midst of pain and sometimes sorrow, because we believers have learned the secret of casting all worries and cares on God who in genuinely concerned for us. (1 Peter 5:7).
St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of assured faith is to see what you believe." Yes, assured faith is a journey with a beginning….and all that we can learn, and practice assures us we are on the right path, following the right leader to the end, which is assuredly the real beginning.
SELAH…. which means?
mack's inn, island park, idaho
March 15, 2020
"Assurance of our Faith as a Journey.”
(Hebrews 11:1-13) Read
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
The only fully human-being I can recall being born with faith (being filled with the Spirit from inception) was John the Baptist…destined to walk out his faith in God, where we find in Luke, an angel of the Lord speaking to Zacharias, saying, Chapter 1 vs.(14) And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. (15) For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” For, all of we other human-beings, Faith is a journey with a beginning. A lifetime journey of faith can be represented symbolically by mountains, valleys, green pastures, swamps, thistles and briars, poison ivy, calm waters and so many more descriptive words that brings to our mind, pictures of places, events and people who represent firsthand our journey of faith, be they times of difficulty, weakness or strength.
When “I” find it difficult to live by my faith, I all too often have asked myself why? Life is of full of whys, and I often don’t find the answers to my whys, at least quick enough from my way of thinking and other times not at all! I wish otherwise…that there were no times of deep dark valleys, no briars or thistles, poison ivy or violent storms, but instead that all were lush green valleys, attainable high beautiful mountain tops, gentle warm rains and soft summer breezes. I wish! It is in all those other difficult places and times that causes me to cry out to the Lord in faith, believing (because I do) that He indeed will walk with, and even carry me when He deems it lovingly necessary.
We heard read to us at the opening of the service, from the Book of Exodus where the Jews are in the “Wilderness of Sin.” Some say there were three million, others 5,000, and yet one scholar, having studied existing written records, counting the number of people recorded at that time in each of the 12 tribes, then coming up with 603,000 men, excluding all women and children under 20. Hence….it is one huge number of people to be wandering around in the desert for 40 years.
These people had left behind all they had ever known for 400 years of their history of generations tying their roots to Egypt. It was home. By all accounts though slaves, they still had communities, families, enough to eat, etc., etc. Here they were, following this man who once was a member of the court of Pharaoh, now a man crying in the wilderness, saying He was chosen by God to lead them to a land of plenty, wandering through new territory and a desert at that. Moses, though a charismatic leader, chosen God, (whom they saw evidence of in signs, wonders and miracles) attempting to form them into a spiritual cohesiveness, one nation under God. Many of them held different beliefs, having adopted the Egyptian gods as their own. They were both confused and frightened, being led by a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day? How unsettling and crazy could things get? Well, there is more was to follow….
This was a time of high stress, little assurance and fear, and truly a lack of cohesive faith. In time through events, the death of a whole generation of these wanderers, and the establishment of guidelines, more miracles, spiritual and moral laws; their journey of faith had begun.
In Exodus 17:1-7, Scriptures speaks of an incident while camping at a place called Rephidim, for there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “give us water to drink!” By the way, I’d be pretty upset myself, if journeying in the desert, exhausted, thirsty and now a dry-camp where I had nothing with which to quench my thirst, to replace all the moisture in my body sweated out of me through exertion and heat. Let alone the crying and weeping of the children.
Moses, not very sympathetically says, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted for water; and they complained against Moses (since he was the spokesman for God) and said, “why did you bring us out of Egypt, only to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses, being a compassionate man of sorts, cried out to the Lord. “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
God heard both Moses and the people, all this time having a plan that would give them once again, assurance in Moses as God’s leader for them, and as their spokesman for God. This most assuredly would also build their faith through a very observable and powerful event.
The Lord said to Moses, “go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go, for I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”
Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He calls the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Let's more fully understand (though we peripherally know what assurance is) that in its spiritual meaning, carries with it a deeper understanding that is good for us to know and put into practice.
Our faith begins when we accept and believe that Christ is indeed who He says He is. Then and there we pick up our staff and move forward.
It truly is a term exceptionally rich when it comes to our faith and spiritual application. It signifies the unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith, as applied in trust by our adherence to it in our daily lives.
The original words have to do with the heart of a vital religion. One, which supports, carries us through and lifts us up when we have seemingly every reason to doubt. Jesus repeatedly used the word "amen" to express the trust-worthiness and truthfulness of His sayings and His teachings, in full assurance that they were truths to live by and trust in, and in doing so, we are assured once again, that we are on the right pathway in life, both temporal and eternal.
Amen, by the way, that Jesus used so often means “so be it.” It is what it is and cannot be changed.
Selah, which I use on occasion means, “pause and think about it, by meditating, pondering and thinking deeply.
Back to assurance……..Genuine assurance by its nature, leads those who believe fully in His truths and teachings, to an internal place of understanding, peace, joy, love, thankfulness and much more, no matter the circumstances as difficult as they may be, or become. We are told to "count it all joy when we are going through difficult times," for it is in those times that we not only learn who we are, but who we can become, by making the right choices and adhering to the Lord through them.
Our assurance may in various ways be shaken, diminished and even sometimes fail us, because we are human, but the principle or foundation on which faith being built up in our journey by us, our beliefs therefore cannot be taken away.
Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the 'assurance' of what we 'hope' for, the conviction of things we cannot see." That
Getting ready in the morning to come here to the church, with assurance and without thinking, I assume my car will start and I will arrive without a problem, but we all know….as an example, one of the squirrels living above my car in the carport roof just may decide to chew on a few wires and it won’t start. Or a packrat will construct a nest in the engine, which actually did happen to me. My assurance, an assumption will have been misplaced. In Christ my assurance is never misplaced, though circumstances may attempt to tell me it is. My now long experience in life of having faith…. I believe it is not and will not be misplaced…..I say that with assurance. I have seen faith at work in myself and others far too often and deeply, to shake my foundation.
Assurance hope and conviction, three words here in tandem that we hold and adhere to, that make our faith work for us. Where would we be in our faith without conviction and hope? They are deeply a part of our assurance, that Christ is the Son of God, and that Christ, God and the Holy Spirit work together in making our lives both a blessing to ourselves and to others, whom we encounter every day, be they family, friends or strangers.
Taking a strong hold of our faith, and living it out as we are given instructions as how to do so is vital, why choose to be a peripheral Christian when we can be a manifest destiny Christian? Why live a ho-hum spiritual life, when we can live a full and rich one where our life that has purpose, meaning, vibrancy and much more. Even here in Island Park, Idaho...in this ancient caldera that in itself speaks of the vibrant roots of creation......every place we look, and smell and touch speaks of power and might.
I found myself fully awake early this morning, thinking about today's sermon and the word "insurance" came to me and I thought "insurance" (what?) Then I asked myself; are there similarities not only in sound, but in meaning? And by George there are. Assurance is like having insurance, for insurance is a vehicle and document that protects a person from incurring future losses from damage, theft, illness or even death. It is a contract that transfers the risk of a specified loss benefits to self or another party, in exchange for the payment of a premium to the insurer.
Jesus Christ is our insurance policy, that when damage, theft, illness or even death come, we are assured by Him because we have belief in Him, that "all things work together for good, to those who love Him and are called through Him to a new and better life. He paid the premium and we reap the benefits of our policy, written in His name as the beneficiaries. Pretty cool.... though it cost Him a lot! Well, only His life.........................................
Knowing and believing in God's written word, Holy Scripture is vital to establish the inner workings of this policy. Along with Scripture comes prayer...for the most praying people are the most assured people, because prayer is direct communication with God. It is through communication in any relationship, be it natural or spiritual, that we come to know one another intimately. That intimacy comes through discipline and work. For anything to have value it came about through knowing something deeply and through work, sometimes hard work.
We can only speak for ourselves though....as to how our journey develops and how our assurance is deepened. Not only can we not read the minds of others, we cannot read the Bible and understand and adhere to its truths for others, but only to and for ourselves, and by doing so take God at His word.
Suppose someone says to you, "there was a person in our church who died last week and left five million dollars to his housekeeper. "Well," I say in return, "I have heard of such a thing happening before, and she was exceptional," and then I forget about it because it had nothing to do with me. But...suppose he says instead, to me, "he left the money to you." Then I will definitely pay close attention; I say, "to me?" Yes, he left it to you!" I certainly now want to know everything. So, it is in regards to salvation. Scripture also says Jesus died for everyone, but no one in particular. But...the truth is He did die for everyone, including you and me in particular. In knowing and believing that, suddenly He becomes very personal and very real to us. That....is just a part of the Good News.
HYMN....Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine......we almost all know and love that hymn. Let's sing it Acapella!
In the midst of a world more and more it seems, losing its foundation of assurance, as it is filled today with uneasiness, insecurity, its moral compass changing and more....assurance of a man or woman's security in God can be the strength that keep us from losing hope, faith, and even direction. We can and should lead authentic Christian lives, based not only on human resources, abilities (though these are good things) including ingenuity, but for us, included in those who are Believers, confidence in the caring power of God.
Divine direction sought in the lives of we as individuals, or our community of faith is not to be likened to some superficial good luck anecdote, or magical talisman, that supposedly protects a person or place against the traumas and tragedies of human existence. "Instead, assurance in God provides our anchor of confidence and hope". (Hebrews 6:18) "Especially In the midst of pain and sometimes sorrow, because we believers have learned the secret of casting all worries and cares on God who in genuinely concerned for us. (1 Peter 5:7).
St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of assured faith is to see what you believe." Yes, assured faith is a journey with a beginning….and all that we can learn, and practice assures us we are on the right path, following the right leader to the end, which is assuredly the real beginning.
SELAH…. which means?
The LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES
MACKS INN, IDAHO
March 8, 2020
"Majesty in the Ordinary"
1 Chronicles 1:29:11 (read)
Pastor Tom Shanor
"Blessed are you, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the MAJESTY; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all."
I was sitting at the high-table I always sit at in the Trout Hunter (my favorite breakfast restaurant) and eating my favorite breakfast, (the Zeeker,) looking at one of my favorite views in the Caldera, of my very favorite river, the Snake. Watching the Swans, Geese, Ducks and Coots, all busy working away at talking to each other in bird language of course, and finding what treasures they could, beneath the surface of the water to munch on.
From there my eyes moved up to that huge expansive meadow, across it to the tree covered mountains, and then of course upward to the majestic clouds. I stared at them for a while, my eyes following their trajectory across what is always (when showing) also, our caldera majestic blue sky, that ascends from pale blue at the distant horizon, to a gorgeous lively cerulean blue. Then I found myself coming back in particular to those ducks. There happened to be a larger than usual covey of them and watching their antics with one another was so much fun. They were as busy as beaver, but not accomplishing near as much, with wings flapping, dipping and bobbing in and around each other, making those mostly hilarious and sometimes even annoying quacks.
They were, as we once were, totally ignorant of the majesty in the world surrounding them and of course the Universe that they live in. Things that exist, such as massive black holes swallowing whole galaxies, and where suns are dying and where suns are being born. Where planets are colliding and the Universe expanding....get this; at 3.3 million light years per second, except where it is contracting, and stars are continually exploding, casting debris across the galaxies……and oh so much more.
And yet.... here those ducks were, acting out their simple lives in the ordinary, carrying on as if they were going to live forever, delightfully so, and sometimes hilariously so.
Myself, still watching and gazing, marveling at the wonder of it all while thinking that how in our daily lives up here in the Caldera, in all its beauty can for some people become ordinary. We often lose that drawing which brought us to this place. In its ordinary presentation, everything we see really is extraordinary and even majestic. I relish in the ordinary extraordinary in God, in nature, in people, In you and in me.
Oh very young, what will you leave us this time.
You're only dancin’ on this earth for a short while.
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now,
They will vanish away like your dad's best jeans.
Denim blue, faded up to the sky,
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will, you know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still.
I've always loved Cat Steven's songs.... because he sees the ordinary as extraordinary. He also sees wonder and majesty in the ordinary, because of the memories that he expressed from an old faded pair of jeans.
Just the fact that indeed we are here.....(if only for a short while) we should never take for granted the ordinarily majesty that is around us every day, if choose to see and feel it at all.
.....On the spiritual side of life…..and in reflecting as beings who are 'Believers' in God, if indeed we all are, do we have a problem picturing God, in any way, but especially in his Majesty. We use the pronoun ‘Him’, assigning gender to a majestic and powerful force….by using the word Him we can attach personality and some sort of vague human like qualities. This makes God more fearful, lovable, approachable and in awe of. There is Majesty in the ordinary and then there is Majesty in the extraordinary......the extraordinary being God, as a being that can be seen and heard through His Son. Not as in a photograph, but in who He says He is, as God's word describes Him, and in the way He lived His brief life, in His teachings and as we see Him through Peter's eyes during what is called the "transfiguration" and also as we read of in the book of Revelation.
We also see in the Majesty of the so called ordinary, that what we see and hear and feel is not ordinary at all, but truly extraordinary, for His Creation is but a reflection of Himself. As Christ was clothed in the ordinary as a baby, child and man, His life and ministry as well as His ultimate death, only to be followed by His resurrection and ascension.
In coming as He did, He changed for us, for the world, the image of God that exists in the Old Testament and changed for us (radically changed) our image of Him in the New Testament. We read in Mark 9:2-3, "And he was transfigured before them," Mark says quite simply, going on to add somewhat awkwardly, as if stammering before what he is seeing: "and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as on Earth should bleach them.
Revelation to the three of His supernatural being…also revealed His majesty. Majesty meaning…. impressive stateliness, dignity, beauty, divinity and royal power.
Then Matthew speaking of the same event known at the Transfiguration, has chosen rather more elevated words at his command: "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." (Matthew 17:2)
John's vision of the Son of Man is described in Scripture, in the Book of Revelation 1:9-20. John sees a vison of the risen, ascended and glorified Jesus Christ, whom he describes as one "like the Son of man"( verse 13) Jesus is portrayed in this vision as wearing a robe with a golden sash, white hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze and a voice like rushing waters. He holds seven stats in his right hand, and has a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Each of those are powerful in symbolism, fully telling of His Majesty, Divinity and Royal Power.
As a minister I sometimes see the royal spark of divinity in we human beings, when we are ministering, praying, worshiping and being endowed with the capability we have, to see, feel and comprehend the Majesty that is all around us.
If indeed we are living sparks of Creation…..we should fan those sparks into flames of spiritual fire, working to become the best of who and what God through Creation, using the gifts He has given each of us through His Spirit and Son, push inward and upward to become the best of what has been bestowed on us.
In this world we have the capacity to comprehend, to ponder, but to also have JOY, laughter, sorrow and sadness, each one a gift from God to express all that we are and all that we feel, and to live good and decent lives in the shadow of His Majesty, and in the shadow of His Son.
Majesty, worship His Majesty Song by Jack Hayford
Unto Jesus be all glory power and praise
Majesty, kingdom authority flow from his throne
Unto His own, his anthem raise
So exalt, lift up the name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify, Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship his Majesty
Jesus who died, now glorified
King of all Kings
Remember…that towering Sequoia, the external and internal make up of a mite…the ocean in its power, beauty and depth,…the cry of a newborn child, the hilarity of the form of a Moose…the jaws of a Crocodile and the love and devotion of our chosen companions/pets….our children, grandchildren, spouses and friends…all reflections of the beauty, power, creativity, might and Majesty of our God…..our Lord, Savior and Friend, Jesus the Christ.
Majesty clothed in the ordinary……………. for all who will hear and believe!
Amen
MACKS INN, IDAHO
March 8, 2020
"Majesty in the Ordinary"
1 Chronicles 1:29:11 (read)
Pastor Tom Shanor
"Blessed are you, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the MAJESTY; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all."
I was sitting at the high-table I always sit at in the Trout Hunter (my favorite breakfast restaurant) and eating my favorite breakfast, (the Zeeker,) looking at one of my favorite views in the Caldera, of my very favorite river, the Snake. Watching the Swans, Geese, Ducks and Coots, all busy working away at talking to each other in bird language of course, and finding what treasures they could, beneath the surface of the water to munch on.
From there my eyes moved up to that huge expansive meadow, across it to the tree covered mountains, and then of course upward to the majestic clouds. I stared at them for a while, my eyes following their trajectory across what is always (when showing) also, our caldera majestic blue sky, that ascends from pale blue at the distant horizon, to a gorgeous lively cerulean blue. Then I found myself coming back in particular to those ducks. There happened to be a larger than usual covey of them and watching their antics with one another was so much fun. They were as busy as beaver, but not accomplishing near as much, with wings flapping, dipping and bobbing in and around each other, making those mostly hilarious and sometimes even annoying quacks.
They were, as we once were, totally ignorant of the majesty in the world surrounding them and of course the Universe that they live in. Things that exist, such as massive black holes swallowing whole galaxies, and where suns are dying and where suns are being born. Where planets are colliding and the Universe expanding....get this; at 3.3 million light years per second, except where it is contracting, and stars are continually exploding, casting debris across the galaxies……and oh so much more.
And yet.... here those ducks were, acting out their simple lives in the ordinary, carrying on as if they were going to live forever, delightfully so, and sometimes hilariously so.
Myself, still watching and gazing, marveling at the wonder of it all while thinking that how in our daily lives up here in the Caldera, in all its beauty can for some people become ordinary. We often lose that drawing which brought us to this place. In its ordinary presentation, everything we see really is extraordinary and even majestic. I relish in the ordinary extraordinary in God, in nature, in people, In you and in me.
Oh very young, what will you leave us this time.
You're only dancin’ on this earth for a short while.
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now,
They will vanish away like your dad's best jeans.
Denim blue, faded up to the sky,
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will, you know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still.
I've always loved Cat Steven's songs.... because he sees the ordinary as extraordinary. He also sees wonder and majesty in the ordinary, because of the memories that he expressed from an old faded pair of jeans.
Just the fact that indeed we are here.....(if only for a short while) we should never take for granted the ordinarily majesty that is around us every day, if choose to see and feel it at all.
.....On the spiritual side of life…..and in reflecting as beings who are 'Believers' in God, if indeed we all are, do we have a problem picturing God, in any way, but especially in his Majesty. We use the pronoun ‘Him’, assigning gender to a majestic and powerful force….by using the word Him we can attach personality and some sort of vague human like qualities. This makes God more fearful, lovable, approachable and in awe of. There is Majesty in the ordinary and then there is Majesty in the extraordinary......the extraordinary being God, as a being that can be seen and heard through His Son. Not as in a photograph, but in who He says He is, as God's word describes Him, and in the way He lived His brief life, in His teachings and as we see Him through Peter's eyes during what is called the "transfiguration" and also as we read of in the book of Revelation.
We also see in the Majesty of the so called ordinary, that what we see and hear and feel is not ordinary at all, but truly extraordinary, for His Creation is but a reflection of Himself. As Christ was clothed in the ordinary as a baby, child and man, His life and ministry as well as His ultimate death, only to be followed by His resurrection and ascension.
In coming as He did, He changed for us, for the world, the image of God that exists in the Old Testament and changed for us (radically changed) our image of Him in the New Testament. We read in Mark 9:2-3, "And he was transfigured before them," Mark says quite simply, going on to add somewhat awkwardly, as if stammering before what he is seeing: "and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as on Earth should bleach them.
Revelation to the three of His supernatural being…also revealed His majesty. Majesty meaning…. impressive stateliness, dignity, beauty, divinity and royal power.
Then Matthew speaking of the same event known at the Transfiguration, has chosen rather more elevated words at his command: "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." (Matthew 17:2)
John's vision of the Son of Man is described in Scripture, in the Book of Revelation 1:9-20. John sees a vison of the risen, ascended and glorified Jesus Christ, whom he describes as one "like the Son of man"( verse 13) Jesus is portrayed in this vision as wearing a robe with a golden sash, white hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze and a voice like rushing waters. He holds seven stats in his right hand, and has a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Each of those are powerful in symbolism, fully telling of His Majesty, Divinity and Royal Power.
As a minister I sometimes see the royal spark of divinity in we human beings, when we are ministering, praying, worshiping and being endowed with the capability we have, to see, feel and comprehend the Majesty that is all around us.
If indeed we are living sparks of Creation…..we should fan those sparks into flames of spiritual fire, working to become the best of who and what God through Creation, using the gifts He has given each of us through His Spirit and Son, push inward and upward to become the best of what has been bestowed on us.
In this world we have the capacity to comprehend, to ponder, but to also have JOY, laughter, sorrow and sadness, each one a gift from God to express all that we are and all that we feel, and to live good and decent lives in the shadow of His Majesty, and in the shadow of His Son.
Majesty, worship His Majesty Song by Jack Hayford
Unto Jesus be all glory power and praise
Majesty, kingdom authority flow from his throne
Unto His own, his anthem raise
So exalt, lift up the name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify, Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship his Majesty
Jesus who died, now glorified
King of all Kings
Remember…that towering Sequoia, the external and internal make up of a mite…the ocean in its power, beauty and depth,…the cry of a newborn child, the hilarity of the form of a Moose…the jaws of a Crocodile and the love and devotion of our chosen companions/pets….our children, grandchildren, spouses and friends…all reflections of the beauty, power, creativity, might and Majesty of our God…..our Lord, Savior and Friend, Jesus the Christ.
Majesty clothed in the ordinary……………. for all who will hear and believe!
Amen
The little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Joy comes in the Morning"
Pastor Tom Shanor
March 1, 2020
Sing "JOYFUL - JOYFUL"!
Ok....that is probably a little more than either you expected or would ask for, but I wanted to get across to you the importance and effects of JOY in our lives, both in our every-day lives and in our spiritual lives. Music is for me one of the vehicles we can ride to experience JOY, and though I may disagree vehemently with Whoopie Goldberg on most everything she says and stands for, she did a bang-up job in Sisters Act with the young choir singing JOYFUL, JOYFUL. Hers and theirs is my absolute favorite rendition of that Hymn.
Wiktionary has this to say about the meaning of JOY. "JOY is a FEELING of GREAT HAPPINESS and PLEASURE. An example in a sentence is "The Lord will be the source of strength and JOY in your life," for JOY is something that CAUSES an outward expression of JOY. An example: "seeing and holding your newborn child is perhaps the greatest JOY a parent can experience in the natural."
Associated with the word JOY is REJOICE, which is a verb, for IF you REJOICE, you express your feelings by acting in a way that shows that you are very, very happy about something, and you therefore have a reason to REJOICE and CELEBRATE!"
I now am going to quote myself from the article I wrote for the Island Park News almost a year ago, under REFLECTIONS, on the spiritual side of life.
Religion....is serious business! There has been a saying out there that has been around for years, and with it an element of truth. "He (or she) is too religious to be of any earthly good." On the positive side of that, there are those I believe, who are called by God to a deep walk, and who spend their lives in prayer and solitude for that very purpose, praying for the state of the world, the church and us, and that brings them JOY.
Then there are those who are 'religious' in the negative sense of the word. These are those who need to feel superior to others, and have little, authentic self-esteem, or true understanding of faith and its true value. These folks live in a black and white world of rules and requirements, focusing most often on the negative, being critical and not knowing the value and meaning of grace and or JOY.
You see....there is in faith a place for humor, merriment, joy, happiness and yes, laughter. As you know having been here long enough, like this morning prior to our tithes and offerings, I offer up, or at least try to, a little humor. The potential for humor doesn't stop just because the bell is rung or Pam plays the piano, and we all take a seat, putting on our stern religious hats that impress no one, especially the Lord Himself. Well…that is in some churches, as I have seldom seen a stern look…unless I had done something that I was given a look for!
I have mentioned this before, but a couple of summers ago, I had someone in the congregation text me, telling me that I was NOT, definitely NOT a stand-up comic, and basically needed to stop my little jokes and stories. I texted back that I was not going to stop, and that it took me too many years to allow myself to both know and live out who I am and was going to simply continue to be my-self. It didn't go over very well, but then I already knew it wouldn't. Also, deciding years ago to not get upset by words and even actions that tried to put me in their place, not mine, but theirs. Well, that too has been somewhat true, because some folks have the ability to get to that place (but not for long) which by words and looks can affect me and upset me.
Last Wednesday began our Lenten Season, culminating as we know in the death and resurrection of our Lord, with all its sorrow, tragedy and darkness, we now are to embrace the radiant life of the Lord through His resurrection from the dead. With these observations we know that the time for Hallelujah! JOY comes in the morning will arrive. That morning reminds me of the Morning of Creation in Genesis 1:3, "Then God said, "let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed....and morning came, marking the first day.
I find JOY every morning as the darkness turns to light with all its revelation of the heretofore unseen. At times it feels like I am seeing all His Creation for the first time. In the hymn Morning Has Broken (one of my favorites) always brings me hope and reminds me of that first morning, and the morning of Jesus' resurrection. This song mirrors to me that morning. Hymn, page 5/ sing
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird,
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
God's re-creation.......of the new day!
Sweet the rain's new fall, Sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dew-fall, on the first grass,
Praise for the sweetness, of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness.....Where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,
Born of the one light, Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, Praise every morning,
God's re-creation......of the New Day!
As a Christian, I am aware that JOY is supposed to be one of the nine components of what is called the Fruit of the Spirit. In other words, all believers are to exhibit JOY, the more we walk with the Lord.
I started out with this message, not realizing how often the Spirit would bring to my mind songs and Hymns that express the JOY I am attempting to explain to you. So... here is another, this one expressing walking with Him.
When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word,
What glory He sheds on our way! while we do His good will,
He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey,
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His SMILE quickly drives it away; not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear can remain....when we trust and obey.
His anger when He has reason for anger, is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last through the night, but JOY comes with the morning.
Also, as Christians, we have heard countless times that JOY is not to be contingent on our present circumstances, whatever they are, but a certain knowledge that everything will work out for good in the end. Though I do believe this.....I also know that I am fully human, and that there will be times when overwhelmed by either circumstances, events and people, pets passing that are dear to us, that sorrow and tears will be a part of my life. In those times I can have a certain deep JOY in knowing the truth of those words in those songs and in other verses, that all things work out for good in the end, but I also know God gave me the ability to feel other emotions, and it is right to express those also. Tears can be healing....a sense of loss can in time be filled by new people, new events, etc., but I also know there will always in this lifetime, a special place in my heart, mind, spirit and soul, for the memory of my loss, and those I cherish and cherished, and that ability to do so, that is a gift, straight from God through His Son….empowered and given by His Spirit.
We can pick up even more on JOY by reading, knowing that in the International version of the Bible, JOY is used 245 times. RE-JOICE is used 154 times, telling us over and over that therefore, JOY is a vital component of one of the themes in God's Word.
In the Old Testament, worship expressing JOY, REJOICING, HAPPINESS & CELEBRATION was a vital part of the way the people showed God their love and respect for Him. David danced before the Lord without shame or fear of what others thought of him.
The words I am now going to share with you comes in part from a sermon by Vance Havner.
The Church suffers today from a saddening lack of simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian JOY. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke.
Although the New Testament centers on the Cross....its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant JOY. It begins with an angelic celebrating in song the birth of the Christ Child and ends with rejoicing around the throne of God.
The same church members who yell with great enthusiasm in a sports arena or in their own home.... often sit like a stone statue in an outdoor garden, in the service on Sunday.
Charles Spurgeon said...."There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY. Most medicines are distasteful; but his, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
I was talking to a Presbyterian the other day, who described himself and most (now this was him saying this, not me) as the Frozen Chosen. All I could do was chuckle....
Listen please.... I am not up here telling you to be any way in particular. I am telling you, that in this congregation and any other, never make a spectacle of yourself, I can’t imagine that anyway, but you should feel free, if in your genuineness you want to raise your hands, or express in another way that again which is genuine....your JOY in the Lord as your strength and happiness.
This summer, we will have people from all over, perhaps the world, each coming from a spiritual background both different, and some the same as ours. In our times of worship, they should feel welcome and comfortable, being themselves, and expressing in worship what they bring with them from their own worship practices. There have been on occasion, (in other churches I have pastored) where I have had to stop people from their particular expression, and a few I even had to have removed from the service. Why? Because in the Spirit, I could discern what they were doing was not of God, but of drawing attention to them-selves.
Here are a few verses I want to close with.
Ecclesiastes 9:7, "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a Joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do."
Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
1 Peter 1:8-9, "Though you have not seen Him, but you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands all you people; shout unto God with cries of JOY!
I will close with this, titled "This is the day"
James Guthrie of Scotland went to the scaffold because of his faith in Christ. In telling his story, Jock Purves, writes, "James Guthrie, through his full and busy life, kept his own personal relationship with Christ in the fresh bloom of when he turned his life over to Christ.
Waking about 4 a.m. on the day he was to be executed, Guthrie spent time in personal worship and prayer, and was asked by his friend James Cowie how he felt. "Very well," replied Guthrie. "This is the day that the Lord has made; I will REJOICE and be glad in it!'"
AMEN
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Joy comes in the Morning"
Pastor Tom Shanor
March 1, 2020
Sing "JOYFUL - JOYFUL"!
Ok....that is probably a little more than either you expected or would ask for, but I wanted to get across to you the importance and effects of JOY in our lives, both in our every-day lives and in our spiritual lives. Music is for me one of the vehicles we can ride to experience JOY, and though I may disagree vehemently with Whoopie Goldberg on most everything she says and stands for, she did a bang-up job in Sisters Act with the young choir singing JOYFUL, JOYFUL. Hers and theirs is my absolute favorite rendition of that Hymn.
Wiktionary has this to say about the meaning of JOY. "JOY is a FEELING of GREAT HAPPINESS and PLEASURE. An example in a sentence is "The Lord will be the source of strength and JOY in your life," for JOY is something that CAUSES an outward expression of JOY. An example: "seeing and holding your newborn child is perhaps the greatest JOY a parent can experience in the natural."
Associated with the word JOY is REJOICE, which is a verb, for IF you REJOICE, you express your feelings by acting in a way that shows that you are very, very happy about something, and you therefore have a reason to REJOICE and CELEBRATE!"
I now am going to quote myself from the article I wrote for the Island Park News almost a year ago, under REFLECTIONS, on the spiritual side of life.
Religion....is serious business! There has been a saying out there that has been around for years, and with it an element of truth. "He (or she) is too religious to be of any earthly good." On the positive side of that, there are those I believe, who are called by God to a deep walk, and who spend their lives in prayer and solitude for that very purpose, praying for the state of the world, the church and us, and that brings them JOY.
Then there are those who are 'religious' in the negative sense of the word. These are those who need to feel superior to others, and have little, authentic self-esteem, or true understanding of faith and its true value. These folks live in a black and white world of rules and requirements, focusing most often on the negative, being critical and not knowing the value and meaning of grace and or JOY.
You see....there is in faith a place for humor, merriment, joy, happiness and yes, laughter. As you know having been here long enough, like this morning prior to our tithes and offerings, I offer up, or at least try to, a little humor. The potential for humor doesn't stop just because the bell is rung or Pam plays the piano, and we all take a seat, putting on our stern religious hats that impress no one, especially the Lord Himself. Well…that is in some churches, as I have seldom seen a stern look…unless I had done something that I was given a look for!
I have mentioned this before, but a couple of summers ago, I had someone in the congregation text me, telling me that I was NOT, definitely NOT a stand-up comic, and basically needed to stop my little jokes and stories. I texted back that I was not going to stop, and that it took me too many years to allow myself to both know and live out who I am and was going to simply continue to be my-self. It didn't go over very well, but then I already knew it wouldn't. Also, deciding years ago to not get upset by words and even actions that tried to put me in their place, not mine, but theirs. Well, that too has been somewhat true, because some folks have the ability to get to that place (but not for long) which by words and looks can affect me and upset me.
Last Wednesday began our Lenten Season, culminating as we know in the death and resurrection of our Lord, with all its sorrow, tragedy and darkness, we now are to embrace the radiant life of the Lord through His resurrection from the dead. With these observations we know that the time for Hallelujah! JOY comes in the morning will arrive. That morning reminds me of the Morning of Creation in Genesis 1:3, "Then God said, "let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed....and morning came, marking the first day.
I find JOY every morning as the darkness turns to light with all its revelation of the heretofore unseen. At times it feels like I am seeing all His Creation for the first time. In the hymn Morning Has Broken (one of my favorites) always brings me hope and reminds me of that first morning, and the morning of Jesus' resurrection. This song mirrors to me that morning. Hymn, page 5/ sing
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird,
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
God's re-creation.......of the new day!
Sweet the rain's new fall, Sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dew-fall, on the first grass,
Praise for the sweetness, of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness.....Where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,
Born of the one light, Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, Praise every morning,
God's re-creation......of the New Day!
As a Christian, I am aware that JOY is supposed to be one of the nine components of what is called the Fruit of the Spirit. In other words, all believers are to exhibit JOY, the more we walk with the Lord.
I started out with this message, not realizing how often the Spirit would bring to my mind songs and Hymns that express the JOY I am attempting to explain to you. So... here is another, this one expressing walking with Him.
When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word,
What glory He sheds on our way! while we do His good will,
He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey,
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His SMILE quickly drives it away; not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear can remain....when we trust and obey.
His anger when He has reason for anger, is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last through the night, but JOY comes with the morning.
Also, as Christians, we have heard countless times that JOY is not to be contingent on our present circumstances, whatever they are, but a certain knowledge that everything will work out for good in the end. Though I do believe this.....I also know that I am fully human, and that there will be times when overwhelmed by either circumstances, events and people, pets passing that are dear to us, that sorrow and tears will be a part of my life. In those times I can have a certain deep JOY in knowing the truth of those words in those songs and in other verses, that all things work out for good in the end, but I also know God gave me the ability to feel other emotions, and it is right to express those also. Tears can be healing....a sense of loss can in time be filled by new people, new events, etc., but I also know there will always in this lifetime, a special place in my heart, mind, spirit and soul, for the memory of my loss, and those I cherish and cherished, and that ability to do so, that is a gift, straight from God through His Son….empowered and given by His Spirit.
We can pick up even more on JOY by reading, knowing that in the International version of the Bible, JOY is used 245 times. RE-JOICE is used 154 times, telling us over and over that therefore, JOY is a vital component of one of the themes in God's Word.
In the Old Testament, worship expressing JOY, REJOICING, HAPPINESS & CELEBRATION was a vital part of the way the people showed God their love and respect for Him. David danced before the Lord without shame or fear of what others thought of him.
The words I am now going to share with you comes in part from a sermon by Vance Havner.
The Church suffers today from a saddening lack of simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian JOY. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke.
Although the New Testament centers on the Cross....its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant JOY. It begins with an angelic celebrating in song the birth of the Christ Child and ends with rejoicing around the throne of God.
The same church members who yell with great enthusiasm in a sports arena or in their own home.... often sit like a stone statue in an outdoor garden, in the service on Sunday.
Charles Spurgeon said...."There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY. Most medicines are distasteful; but his, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
I was talking to a Presbyterian the other day, who described himself and most (now this was him saying this, not me) as the Frozen Chosen. All I could do was chuckle....
Listen please.... I am not up here telling you to be any way in particular. I am telling you, that in this congregation and any other, never make a spectacle of yourself, I can’t imagine that anyway, but you should feel free, if in your genuineness you want to raise your hands, or express in another way that again which is genuine....your JOY in the Lord as your strength and happiness.
This summer, we will have people from all over, perhaps the world, each coming from a spiritual background both different, and some the same as ours. In our times of worship, they should feel welcome and comfortable, being themselves, and expressing in worship what they bring with them from their own worship practices. There have been on occasion, (in other churches I have pastored) where I have had to stop people from their particular expression, and a few I even had to have removed from the service. Why? Because in the Spirit, I could discern what they were doing was not of God, but of drawing attention to them-selves.
Here are a few verses I want to close with.
Ecclesiastes 9:7, "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a Joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do."
Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
1 Peter 1:8-9, "Though you have not seen Him, but you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands all you people; shout unto God with cries of JOY!
I will close with this, titled "This is the day"
James Guthrie of Scotland went to the scaffold because of his faith in Christ. In telling his story, Jock Purves, writes, "James Guthrie, through his full and busy life, kept his own personal relationship with Christ in the fresh bloom of when he turned his life over to Christ.
Waking about 4 a.m. on the day he was to be executed, Guthrie spent time in personal worship and prayer, and was asked by his friend James Cowie how he felt. "Very well," replied Guthrie. "This is the day that the Lord has made; I will REJOICE and be glad in it!'"
AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
February 23, 2020
"Is This That or is That This"
"Scripture"
II Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is God-inspired and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
Pastor Tom Shanor
.....My topic this morning, Scripture....is this that or is that this, started out as I was reading I Corinthians 14. Laying the groundwork, Paul is speaking in this chapter of keeping order in The Church Services, especially when the Gifts of the Spirit were in full operation, such as speaking prophetically, (foretelling the future) also in the use of tongues, exhortations, etc., up to verse 33, writing these words, "for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."
.....As sometimes men have done, and do, especially in the Jewish Synagogues where men and women are together (well, sort of) in a service. The women of course are sitting behind a screen or scrim, separate from the men. In other words, relegated to the back of the room, he, Paul, beings in verse 34 with, "Let 'your women' keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law says.
….Paul, dear Paul is, because of his Jewish background patterning the new and growing churches after the traditions of the Jews, (also using the Law to validate what he is saying, when, in fact, Jesus came to set us free of such laws as these….(the Jewish Laws of decorum) and these next words I am about to quote, words coming by, again, Paul seems contradictory, as he writes to the Galatians in Chapter 3:28, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, "male nor female, "for you are all one in Christ Jesus." So why make the differentiation here? Equality seems to be spoken not as generic, but specifically that all barriers of separation of the Law are broken down in Christ Jesus. A succinct commentary in my Bible says this", "In Christ, distinctions of race rank and sex, neither hinder fellowship, nor grant special privileges to male or female, Jew or Greek, etc., etc. We are all One in Christ. If….we are seen as equal and accepted as equal, why would Paul continue to raise up such a barrier, instead of tearing them down….this one included? TRADITION, such as __________sings in fiddler on the roof. Yet, I was talking with Pastor Connie about these very Scriptures and she said: Pastor Connie?
.....Continuing on in 1 Corinthians 14: 35, "And if they (the women want to learn something? (as if they can’t on their own) let them ask their own husbands, at home; for it is shameful, shameful for women to speak in church." Think about that!
…..We have in Christianity and had…….. women, who became famous through their teachings (in the Church) as Evangelists, Ministers and Missionaries.
…..One example here….my own prior denomination that I was with for almost 20 years, not without controversy, a woman who started out as the wife of a missionary, moved to China back in the 20’s. Her name, Amie-Semple- McPherson. Her husband died in China of influenza, so she and her young son moved back to Canada, expecting to lead a quiet widow’s life. God had other plans for her, who being asked to speak on she and her husband’s time in China, was so captivating and charismatic, that her status grew into that as a woman evangelist, forbidden and unheard of in those days, receiving a call from God to become an Evangelist, where whole cities such as Denver, Oakland, California and many others shut down their entire city government, so that all their employees could go to listen to this young widow preach in public places and in churches. Thousands turned out to hear her, where during those city-wide services, people would be healed and thousands come to Christ. Eventually, Amie through the inspiration of the Spirit started a denomination that would grow and thrive….led again by this woman, that today it is the fastest growing Protestant denomination in the world, with over 40,000 churches, and more coming into being to this day.
…..Here are the names of other women from the past, and currently, whose lives have been spent preaching and teaching the Gospel, bringing both men and women into a deeper walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved of God…servants, and cherished examples of Himself.
…..Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 (READ)
…..I have had several men come to me and say to me during the summer months, I can attend here now, because the church no-longer has a woman (Pastor Connie) (Rheba) (Others) Pastor. One man, whom I actually like, every time he comes gives me this brother to brother knowing look, of thankfulness and acceptance.
….Submissive, not permitted and shameful…..I think not. Too many of our own man pastors continue to shame the name of Jesus by affairs, accumulated wealth and arrogance….thinking more highly of themselves than they should. That is shameful.
.....Interestingly enough, through the Old Testament and into and including The New Church, there were and are women prophetesses. Ann being, well, let me read to you from LUKE 2:36-38. IN THE TEMPLE! We also find Paul (this same Paul) the Apostle Paul, stating in Ephesians 4:11 there are apostles. Apostles were and are, people sent initially by Jesus (Mark 6:7; Gal. 1:1, and later by the Church (Acts 13:1-3) to pioneer a new work, in other words a new church, which facilitated the spread of the gospel. Several people, apart from the Twelve, are mentioned as being Apostles. One of those, Paul himself, and, one of these is a woman named Junia, and Junia was a member of the church in Rome, she and her husband having possibly started the church. If women were not to speak in and to the church, who were they as deaconesses, apostles and prophetesses to speak to?
....I found myself quite upset with Paul, then remembered his long and wothy history as a teacher, then Apostle and Evangelist, which along the way caused him to become softer and more loving a accepting, himself being ministered to by yes, women who he came to respect and cherish.
…..with my understanding of what Scripture actually is, means, and is understood, and also how to apply it, and to see if there were other times that both religious culture and secular culture influenced and therefore became part of Scripture, canonized Scripture, and then to try and understand the how and why, but still hold Scripture as Holy. God inspired!!! These specific words of Paul’s have been a source of strife and division for a very long time, and so this sermon is the partial result of where I am today in talking with you….for, is this that or is that this, and does it make a difference?
NEXT WEEK AND MAYBE SEVERAL FOLLOWING I WILL ATTEMPT TO IN SOME WAY VINDICATE PAUL…..and make an attempt to delve deeper into what Scripture really is, how to read it and how to live it.
I will talk about the history, inspiration, validation, accuracy and application of Scripture. History also of those involved in writing and such gatherings of men who’s desire was to accurately preserve what we have today.
Have verses been deleted in some cases from the King James Bible through new translations? Have verses been added. Is there other Scripture accepted as Scripture but not canonized. What does canonized mean?
My hope is that you will find this interesting enough to look at more closely the beliefs we have and how we got them, especially with fallible man involved, and those who specifically set out to change and add to.
Well…think about that, will you?
….This is the specific Scripture that has me treading very carefully in regards to this message and specifically my conclusions. It comes from 2nd Timothy 16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
…..So…I looked up (though I knew) the word inspiration in its application to Scripture, and here is what I found.
…..Inspiration…is
Where do I want to go with this, already having brought up Paul’s take on women in the church, for which I highly disagree. My reason for disagreeing is the fruit (you will know them by their fruit) that has been harvested in particular this last century.
…..Before I moved on to Scripture being canonized, I want again, but in a different way that women’s role in the church was my inspiration, but not my only reason for researching and speaking.
…..When words (Scripture) have been canonized, as in the Bible as we know it today, it means this.
…..The cannon of the New Testament is ‘the’ set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible. For most, it is an agreed-upon list of twenty-seven books that includes the Canonical Gospels, Acts, letter of the Apostles and Revelation. The books of the canon of the New Testament were written before 120 AD.
…..For the Orthodox, the recognition of these writings as authoritative was formalized in the Second Council of Trullan of 692. The Catholic Church provided a conciliar definition of its Biblical Cannon in 382 at the Council of Rome, as well as the Council of Trent of 1545, reaffirming the Canons of Florence of 1442, and North African Councils of 393-419. For the Church of England, it was made dogmatic in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563, for Calvinism, on the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647.
…..The reason I put you through all of that is to show you the process of its importance and necessity of keeping Scripture accurate and inspired at the same time.
…..Inspiration and accuracy….are critical to our so called being on the same page when it comes to reading, following, understanding, and living what we so deeply and thoroughly have been given.
Take a breath and thank you for your staying with me (at least I think you have) thus far.
At this time let’s turn to the back of our bulletins, stand and read as one the Apostles’ Creed, which binds our beliefs and faith together, which the majority of Christians adhere to today. (please stand) (read)
…..Though canonized and accepted, is there even a remote possibility that man can change, rewrite while still inspired, or slip purposefully or inadvertently in some of his or her personal biases and opinions? Yes…but yet, in a way that opens the proverbial can of worms as to the inspiration of Scripture. So, much thought and prayer. My own opinion is that in using the personality of the inspired person, he or she and their personal biases can inadvertently slip in, and that God, as He uses us (me) permits me to in my sermons a measure of freedom.
…..Also, personal opinion, I believe that will all my being, that the teachings of Jesus have come to us exactly as they should…..protected and preserved.
February 23, 2020
"Is This That or is That This"
"Scripture"
II Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is God-inspired and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
Pastor Tom Shanor
.....My topic this morning, Scripture....is this that or is that this, started out as I was reading I Corinthians 14. Laying the groundwork, Paul is speaking in this chapter of keeping order in The Church Services, especially when the Gifts of the Spirit were in full operation, such as speaking prophetically, (foretelling the future) also in the use of tongues, exhortations, etc., up to verse 33, writing these words, "for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."
.....As sometimes men have done, and do, especially in the Jewish Synagogues where men and women are together (well, sort of) in a service. The women of course are sitting behind a screen or scrim, separate from the men. In other words, relegated to the back of the room, he, Paul, beings in verse 34 with, "Let 'your women' keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law says.
….Paul, dear Paul is, because of his Jewish background patterning the new and growing churches after the traditions of the Jews, (also using the Law to validate what he is saying, when, in fact, Jesus came to set us free of such laws as these….(the Jewish Laws of decorum) and these next words I am about to quote, words coming by, again, Paul seems contradictory, as he writes to the Galatians in Chapter 3:28, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, "male nor female, "for you are all one in Christ Jesus." So why make the differentiation here? Equality seems to be spoken not as generic, but specifically that all barriers of separation of the Law are broken down in Christ Jesus. A succinct commentary in my Bible says this", "In Christ, distinctions of race rank and sex, neither hinder fellowship, nor grant special privileges to male or female, Jew or Greek, etc., etc. We are all One in Christ. If….we are seen as equal and accepted as equal, why would Paul continue to raise up such a barrier, instead of tearing them down….this one included? TRADITION, such as __________sings in fiddler on the roof. Yet, I was talking with Pastor Connie about these very Scriptures and she said: Pastor Connie?
.....Continuing on in 1 Corinthians 14: 35, "And if they (the women want to learn something? (as if they can’t on their own) let them ask their own husbands, at home; for it is shameful, shameful for women to speak in church." Think about that!
…..We have in Christianity and had…….. women, who became famous through their teachings (in the Church) as Evangelists, Ministers and Missionaries.
…..One example here….my own prior denomination that I was with for almost 20 years, not without controversy, a woman who started out as the wife of a missionary, moved to China back in the 20’s. Her name, Amie-Semple- McPherson. Her husband died in China of influenza, so she and her young son moved back to Canada, expecting to lead a quiet widow’s life. God had other plans for her, who being asked to speak on she and her husband’s time in China, was so captivating and charismatic, that her status grew into that as a woman evangelist, forbidden and unheard of in those days, receiving a call from God to become an Evangelist, where whole cities such as Denver, Oakland, California and many others shut down their entire city government, so that all their employees could go to listen to this young widow preach in public places and in churches. Thousands turned out to hear her, where during those city-wide services, people would be healed and thousands come to Christ. Eventually, Amie through the inspiration of the Spirit started a denomination that would grow and thrive….led again by this woman, that today it is the fastest growing Protestant denomination in the world, with over 40,000 churches, and more coming into being to this day.
…..Here are the names of other women from the past, and currently, whose lives have been spent preaching and teaching the Gospel, bringing both men and women into a deeper walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Paula White….(read brief bio)
- Joyce Meyer….(read brief bio)
- Ida B. Robinson (read brie bio)
- Brenda Sein (friend)
Beloved of God…servants, and cherished examples of Himself.
…..Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 (READ)
…..I have had several men come to me and say to me during the summer months, I can attend here now, because the church no-longer has a woman (Pastor Connie) (Rheba) (Others) Pastor. One man, whom I actually like, every time he comes gives me this brother to brother knowing look, of thankfulness and acceptance.
….Submissive, not permitted and shameful…..I think not. Too many of our own man pastors continue to shame the name of Jesus by affairs, accumulated wealth and arrogance….thinking more highly of themselves than they should. That is shameful.
.....Interestingly enough, through the Old Testament and into and including The New Church, there were and are women prophetesses. Ann being, well, let me read to you from LUKE 2:36-38. IN THE TEMPLE! We also find Paul (this same Paul) the Apostle Paul, stating in Ephesians 4:11 there are apostles. Apostles were and are, people sent initially by Jesus (Mark 6:7; Gal. 1:1, and later by the Church (Acts 13:1-3) to pioneer a new work, in other words a new church, which facilitated the spread of the gospel. Several people, apart from the Twelve, are mentioned as being Apostles. One of those, Paul himself, and, one of these is a woman named Junia, and Junia was a member of the church in Rome, she and her husband having possibly started the church. If women were not to speak in and to the church, who were they as deaconesses, apostles and prophetesses to speak to?
....I found myself quite upset with Paul, then remembered his long and wothy history as a teacher, then Apostle and Evangelist, which along the way caused him to become softer and more loving a accepting, himself being ministered to by yes, women who he came to respect and cherish.
…..with my understanding of what Scripture actually is, means, and is understood, and also how to apply it, and to see if there were other times that both religious culture and secular culture influenced and therefore became part of Scripture, canonized Scripture, and then to try and understand the how and why, but still hold Scripture as Holy. God inspired!!! These specific words of Paul’s have been a source of strife and division for a very long time, and so this sermon is the partial result of where I am today in talking with you….for, is this that or is that this, and does it make a difference?
NEXT WEEK AND MAYBE SEVERAL FOLLOWING I WILL ATTEMPT TO IN SOME WAY VINDICATE PAUL…..and make an attempt to delve deeper into what Scripture really is, how to read it and how to live it.
I will talk about the history, inspiration, validation, accuracy and application of Scripture. History also of those involved in writing and such gatherings of men who’s desire was to accurately preserve what we have today.
Have verses been deleted in some cases from the King James Bible through new translations? Have verses been added. Is there other Scripture accepted as Scripture but not canonized. What does canonized mean?
My hope is that you will find this interesting enough to look at more closely the beliefs we have and how we got them, especially with fallible man involved, and those who specifically set out to change and add to.
Well…think about that, will you?
….This is the specific Scripture that has me treading very carefully in regards to this message and specifically my conclusions. It comes from 2nd Timothy 16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
…..So…I looked up (though I knew) the word inspiration in its application to Scripture, and here is what I found.
…..Inspiration…is
- The doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the Divine origin of Scripture given to man, or men at one time or throughout a long period time and involving many persons who receive inspiration. And what is Scripture? A Scripture is a subset of religious texts considered to be “especially authoritative”, revered as “holy writ”, sacred, canonical, or of “supreme authority” to a religious community.
- Inspiration can be short lived or last a life time. It is a feeling of being led, but not puppet like. A person’s own personality is called upon to write (if writing is this inspiration) so that what comes-forth are not specific words, but inspired words.
- This sets it apart from (prophecy) where a prophet or prophetess speaks word for word directly from the Divine and the words spoken or written in this manner, will take place again, word for word.
- As I said it was Paul’s writings on women in the church that inspired me to go down this path this morning. I have spent a lot of time attempting to ask my own questions that have come up because of it. I am not here to denigrate Scripture but to have a deeper understanding of our own faith.
- As a note….I have recognized often that Paul’s writing’s also often reflect the religious culture of his time. Does this make them any less inspired or any less valid, but, and I use this but carefully, how much of what he shares in this area specifically is culturally inspired, verses divinely inspired.
- To get myself off the hook so to speak, I will leave the conclusions up to you.
- What exactly is Scripture, which I have just explained, hopefully to where you better understand.
- What does ‘canonized’ Scripture mean?
- What, when, why and where did the Nicene Council meet to decide what was and, is to be considered legitimate Scripture?
- From the Nicene council’s decisions, has Scripture been changed, left out, by the hands of man?
- Are there accepted teachings other than canonized Scripture that are considered equal to, for exhorting, teaching and as a guide to how to live our lives?
- Are there Bibles that exist that man has changed, added to or deleted from, Scripture accepted by the Nicene Council?
- How can even all canonized Scripture be used to divide rather than unite, bringing about thousands of so-called sects, denominations and even cults. What is a sect and what is a cult?
- What does it means when Scripture itself says, “all Scripture is God breathed and inspired, yet we at times pick and choose what we want to follow, and what we choose to ignore?
- As in Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians 14, should we consider some to be the result of a religious culture over God breathed?
- In our own culture today, are we adding, deleting and changing Scripture, making some of it more palatable to living our daily
Where do I want to go with this, already having brought up Paul’s take on women in the church, for which I highly disagree. My reason for disagreeing is the fruit (you will know them by their fruit) that has been harvested in particular this last century.
…..Before I moved on to Scripture being canonized, I want again, but in a different way that women’s role in the church was my inspiration, but not my only reason for researching and speaking.
…..When words (Scripture) have been canonized, as in the Bible as we know it today, it means this.
…..The cannon of the New Testament is ‘the’ set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible. For most, it is an agreed-upon list of twenty-seven books that includes the Canonical Gospels, Acts, letter of the Apostles and Revelation. The books of the canon of the New Testament were written before 120 AD.
…..For the Orthodox, the recognition of these writings as authoritative was formalized in the Second Council of Trullan of 692. The Catholic Church provided a conciliar definition of its Biblical Cannon in 382 at the Council of Rome, as well as the Council of Trent of 1545, reaffirming the Canons of Florence of 1442, and North African Councils of 393-419. For the Church of England, it was made dogmatic in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563, for Calvinism, on the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647.
…..The reason I put you through all of that is to show you the process of its importance and necessity of keeping Scripture accurate and inspired at the same time.
…..Inspiration and accuracy….are critical to our so called being on the same page when it comes to reading, following, understanding, and living what we so deeply and thoroughly have been given.
Take a breath and thank you for your staying with me (at least I think you have) thus far.
At this time let’s turn to the back of our bulletins, stand and read as one the Apostles’ Creed, which binds our beliefs and faith together, which the majority of Christians adhere to today. (please stand) (read)
…..Though canonized and accepted, is there even a remote possibility that man can change, rewrite while still inspired, or slip purposefully or inadvertently in some of his or her personal biases and opinions? Yes…but yet, in a way that opens the proverbial can of worms as to the inspiration of Scripture. So, much thought and prayer. My own opinion is that in using the personality of the inspired person, he or she and their personal biases can inadvertently slip in, and that God, as He uses us (me) permits me to in my sermons a measure of freedom.
…..Also, personal opinion, I believe that will all my being, that the teachings of Jesus have come to us exactly as they should…..protected and preserved.
The Little Church in the Pines
February 16, 2020
From the Book of Solomon
“What it is to be Blessed and Beloved”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..Since we just celebrated a secular holiday….VALENTINES DAY, I am going to speak of love….both human and spiritual, as found in the Song of Solomon, a holiday, sadly, that not everyone is able to celebrate…not having a Valentine myself….I celebrate those of you who do.
(Framed Page from an original leaf of the First Edition of the 1611 King James Bible…. printed before 1650 AD.)
…..The Song of Solomon is a fairly graphic and intimate love song, and is noted by historians to be in actuality, a parallel illustration of the intimacy to be developed between Christ and His Church, and Christ and you, and I individually.
…..It is also used as an illustration of the love between a man and a woman, and the love between God and His people. “Love” is the key word in the Song. The Song itself is considered to be the best of all songs, a literary work of art and a theological masterpiece. Unlike any other Biblical books, its merits make it a special consideration as a biblical archetype, which presents anew…the basic realities of a man and a woman’s relationship, both in the natural and in the spiritual. The Song employs symbolic language to express ‘timeless truths.’
…..The verse, Solomon 6:3 reads, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine, He feeds his flock among the Lilies. (We belong to each other equally)
Sing……….I am my Beloved’s and He is mine,
His banner of me is love, His banner of me is love.
…..This is a short chorus that I can remember singing when I first rededicated my life to Christ….in the 70’s, which is based on this verse….
…..After all that…and in the simplest of terms, Beloved is to ‘Be-Loved.’
Now save that, and let’s move on to the next descriptive word in the verse and sermon title. “Blessed”
…..”Blessed, Blessing, Bless, Blesses, all derive from the Latin word ‘benedicere. or(Be-Sincere’ The word benediction that is used in many churches means literally: speaking (dictio) well (bene) or saying “good things” about, to and over someone. That speaks to all of us, for we all need to hear good things said of us.
2.
…..We often hear “We have to affirm each other.” Without affirmation, it is hard to live well. To give someone a ‘blessing’ is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone’s talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a ‘blessing’ is to affirm, to say “yes” to a man, woman or child’s ‘Beloved-ness.’ Telling them…they are Be-loved.
…..To have this kind of blessedness in our lives is also ‘healing’ to us. This blessed business is the only real counterpoint to, often times negative words, hurt and news, that affects us every day.
…..You Kelley, are blessed and you often bless, our friend Larry is a blessing and are blessed, you Connie, Drew, Pam, Chuck, Greg, are also blessed and a blessing…as are each and every one of you sitting here today.
…..Here is an illustration of what it means to be blessed. This is from a book I am reading during my early morning devotional at home.
A young man was to be welcomed into adulthood during his bar mitzvah, in his Synagogue. At 13, he was declared adult by his congregation. For the first time, he was given leadership in the service. He read from the Book of Genesis and gave a short sermon about the importance of caring for our environment. He was affirmed by his rabbi and his friends and ‘blessed’ by his parents. His father saying to him: “Son, whatever will happen to you in your life, whether you will have success or not, become important or not, will be healthy or not, always remember….how much your mother and I love you.”
…..This brought tears to my eyes, and a yearning deep in my soul for something I felt I had never received from my father…but had I, I KNOW it would have made a major difference in my life had I known I was loved by him. …..To have also been affirmed….just such as this truly would have been monumental had I know, but found out only after dad had died as I accidentally come across a large envelope that dad had put things about me in over my growing up years. Pictures, articles, achievement, etc.…finding that envelope contained a healing to my mind, soul and spirit.
…..I can remember tucking my little boy David in at bedtime, and telling him that I loved him….and that he was the best boy in the world. The event of the last week that happened to him brought back both old and fresh love and thoughts. Today, my police officer/SWAT son, tells me often he loves me, and the continual blessings of him saying that stands as a bridge in our relationship, as I hear him doing the same with his own children is wonderful. My girls too were affirmed in the same way, and the result is the same as in return today, that always tells me that I am loved. Even being divorced…. Marilee and I stand as good and accepting friend, where once in a while, saying goodbye, slips out “love you.! With all the difficulties we had during their childhoods…..they knew, we knew and know to this day…they were “be-loved.”
…..As a minister I have realized over the years, how much we human beings are fearful, anxious, insecure and decidedly human….and how much all of us are in need of a blessing, but when we think of it…how much we too are blessed. Children need to be blessed by their parents and parents by their children. We, the Body of Christ….also need each other’s blessings and affirmations…..even though we may deny that we do, our lives are so much better, richer when we KNOW we mean something to others….and others to us.
…..To give a blessing….is to affirm, to say “yes” to the person’s Be-loved-ness.
…..To give a blessing is characterized by happiness or good fortune. It means we are favored and have worth, are fortunate, glad, merry, heartened, joyous and fulfilled.
…..There are over 80 times the word “Blessed” is spoken in the New-Testament and that is not counting the words ‘blessing or bless.’
…..I AM GOING TO READ JUST A HANDFUL OF SOME OF THE VERSES WHERE THE WORD IS USED……………………………………………………………
….Jesus himself was affirmed by His Father, as he was being baptized by John in the Jordan River….when a ‘voice,’ one that everyone around heard, though some recounted it as thunder. The voice of Jesus’ Father’s voice, came down from heaven saying: “You…are my “Be-loved” Son, on you my favor rests.” This…was a blessing that sustained Jesus through all the praise and verbal attacks, admiration and condemnation that followed him, up to and through His being crucified. Jesus never lost the intimacy of that blessing, KNOWING that His Father affirmed Him as the ‘blessed one.”
…..In our lives….one day we feel great, the next we feel miserable. One day we are full of new ideas, things to do, and the next EVERYTHING looks bleak and dull. One day we think we can take on the whole world, but the next even a little request seems too much for us. These mood swings show that we are not hearing the blessings….we have forgotten them in the midst of our sometimes, mundane and sometimes difficult ordinary lives…..
…..When we are thrown up and down by the little or big waves on the surface of our existence, we become easy victims of our manipulative world, but, when we choose to remember and hear the deep gentle voice that blesses us….spending time in prayer, meditation and reading God’s affirming Word, we can walk through life with a stable sense of well-being and true belonging.
…..Praying for others…is also a good way to recognize our blessings…and by praying for them…we not only bless them, but ourselves and feel better for having done so. Often you may feel that nothing happens in your prayer time. You may say: “I am just sitting here and getting distracted.” But…if you ‘develop’ the ‘discipline’ of spending a certain amount of time praying and also listening to God…you will gradually discover that something IS happening of which heretofore you were not aware of. After a while, you will miss these times if you don’t do them.
…..This…my brothers and sisters in Christ, depends on our choices that we are faced with early in the morning and throughout the day. Take some time in the morning, early, set-apart, just a few minutes to recount the ways in which you are blessed….for at times there is actual warfare going on in our minds. A battle for our minds and hearts/
…..2nd Corinthians 10: 4-5 reads. “For the weapons of our warfare are NOT physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds (which by the way do exist in our minds) In as much, as we refute arguments and theories, and ways of thinking, and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God; and we are to take ‘every thought captive’ into the obedience of Christ, the Anointed One.
…..Well, we know how difficult it is taking captive our thoughts, but by taking that time in the morning before we enter fully into our day…can and will make ALL the difference in how we react to that day.
…..The greatest thing about recognizing and affirming being blessed is, “that from that position, you are then able to bless others.” Instead of being snarky, or a curmudgeon, or at some of our age, a “cranky old man or woman,” we are instead known as a ‘nice old man or woman.” Maybe even getting a pat on the head once in a while! LOL
…..Also, don’t think someone is more blessed than you are….we are all blessed, but often in different ways. We know we have too many flaws to be perfect, but we are too blessed to be ungrateful…or should recognize this.
…..Here is one more thing….not the last, but one more. Often people say good things to us, about us, and we brush them aside with remarks such as, “Oh, don’t mention it, forget about it, it’s nothing….” and so on. These remarks may seem to be expressions of humility, but they are, in fact signs that we have a hard time receiving a blessing. The very best thing you can do is, say “Thank you….I appreciate that” because when you don’t accept the affirmation from them…you are rejecting them and their blessing. They say it because they mean it….and you should accept it because they mean it, and you choose not to feed your ego….but fuel your spirit and well-being. Then in turn…you will choose to bless someone else….because you have been lifted up and Be-loved.
…..There is little or no neutral territory between the land of the ‘blessed’ and the land of the cursed. You have to CHOOSE where it is that you want to live, and that CHOICE is one that at times you make from one moment to the next.
…..Accepting your own blessedness always leads to the deep desire to bless others. The ‘characteristic’ of “the Blessed” and “Be-loved” is that, wherever we go, we always speak words of blessing. It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to speak of their good and godly qualities. Another good thing…..is that people then will want you around.
…..No one…is affirmed or given a boost of life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. All these verbal actions do is bring darkness, destruction and death. As the “blessed and Be-loved” of God in Christ, we CAN walk through this world and offer the best that is in us, for it will naturally flow from our hearts….our Christ.
…..There definitely is darkness, and we know where it comes from. God’s enemy. We see it (not so much here) but in larger communities and cities, such as homelessness, loneliness, addiction, prostitution and violence. Know this…that each and every one of these lonely people….are deeply desiring a blessing, to be affirmed and to be ‘be-loved.’ Every one of them….and some NEVER receive it. It is a tragedy……
…..Our job is to allow ourselves to be blessed. and to give blessings in every opportunity and way we can….when we have the opportunity to do so, right where we live and move, and have our being. In small or large ways…in ways that are life-giving and sustaining….so much fear, so much pain….so much rejection….and Jesus in you and in me….wants to show the world around us what it means to be a son or daughter of God, by being blessed and by blessing.
…..You….each of you has blessed me, in many ways, and affirmed me in many ways…and I want to thank you for doing so. I have been enriched….and I hope in turn, I have blessed you as well…..and I desire that we stay on this pathway…..to do and to be. GOD BLESS YOU ALL….Be-Loved! amen!
February 16, 2020
From the Book of Solomon
“What it is to be Blessed and Beloved”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..Since we just celebrated a secular holiday….VALENTINES DAY, I am going to speak of love….both human and spiritual, as found in the Song of Solomon, a holiday, sadly, that not everyone is able to celebrate…not having a Valentine myself….I celebrate those of you who do.
(Framed Page from an original leaf of the First Edition of the 1611 King James Bible…. printed before 1650 AD.)
…..The Song of Solomon is a fairly graphic and intimate love song, and is noted by historians to be in actuality, a parallel illustration of the intimacy to be developed between Christ and His Church, and Christ and you, and I individually.
…..It is also used as an illustration of the love between a man and a woman, and the love between God and His people. “Love” is the key word in the Song. The Song itself is considered to be the best of all songs, a literary work of art and a theological masterpiece. Unlike any other Biblical books, its merits make it a special consideration as a biblical archetype, which presents anew…the basic realities of a man and a woman’s relationship, both in the natural and in the spiritual. The Song employs symbolic language to express ‘timeless truths.’
…..The verse, Solomon 6:3 reads, “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine, He feeds his flock among the Lilies. (We belong to each other equally)
Sing……….I am my Beloved’s and He is mine,
His banner of me is love, His banner of me is love.
…..This is a short chorus that I can remember singing when I first rededicated my life to Christ….in the 70’s, which is based on this verse….
…..After all that…and in the simplest of terms, Beloved is to ‘Be-Loved.’
Now save that, and let’s move on to the next descriptive word in the verse and sermon title. “Blessed”
…..”Blessed, Blessing, Bless, Blesses, all derive from the Latin word ‘benedicere. or(Be-Sincere’ The word benediction that is used in many churches means literally: speaking (dictio) well (bene) or saying “good things” about, to and over someone. That speaks to all of us, for we all need to hear good things said of us.
2.
…..We often hear “We have to affirm each other.” Without affirmation, it is hard to live well. To give someone a ‘blessing’ is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone’s talents or good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a ‘blessing’ is to affirm, to say “yes” to a man, woman or child’s ‘Beloved-ness.’ Telling them…they are Be-loved.
…..To have this kind of blessedness in our lives is also ‘healing’ to us. This blessed business is the only real counterpoint to, often times negative words, hurt and news, that affects us every day.
…..You Kelley, are blessed and you often bless, our friend Larry is a blessing and are blessed, you Connie, Drew, Pam, Chuck, Greg, are also blessed and a blessing…as are each and every one of you sitting here today.
…..Here is an illustration of what it means to be blessed. This is from a book I am reading during my early morning devotional at home.
A young man was to be welcomed into adulthood during his bar mitzvah, in his Synagogue. At 13, he was declared adult by his congregation. For the first time, he was given leadership in the service. He read from the Book of Genesis and gave a short sermon about the importance of caring for our environment. He was affirmed by his rabbi and his friends and ‘blessed’ by his parents. His father saying to him: “Son, whatever will happen to you in your life, whether you will have success or not, become important or not, will be healthy or not, always remember….how much your mother and I love you.”
…..This brought tears to my eyes, and a yearning deep in my soul for something I felt I had never received from my father…but had I, I KNOW it would have made a major difference in my life had I known I was loved by him. …..To have also been affirmed….just such as this truly would have been monumental had I know, but found out only after dad had died as I accidentally come across a large envelope that dad had put things about me in over my growing up years. Pictures, articles, achievement, etc.…finding that envelope contained a healing to my mind, soul and spirit.
…..I can remember tucking my little boy David in at bedtime, and telling him that I loved him….and that he was the best boy in the world. The event of the last week that happened to him brought back both old and fresh love and thoughts. Today, my police officer/SWAT son, tells me often he loves me, and the continual blessings of him saying that stands as a bridge in our relationship, as I hear him doing the same with his own children is wonderful. My girls too were affirmed in the same way, and the result is the same as in return today, that always tells me that I am loved. Even being divorced…. Marilee and I stand as good and accepting friend, where once in a while, saying goodbye, slips out “love you.! With all the difficulties we had during their childhoods…..they knew, we knew and know to this day…they were “be-loved.”
…..As a minister I have realized over the years, how much we human beings are fearful, anxious, insecure and decidedly human….and how much all of us are in need of a blessing, but when we think of it…how much we too are blessed. Children need to be blessed by their parents and parents by their children. We, the Body of Christ….also need each other’s blessings and affirmations…..even though we may deny that we do, our lives are so much better, richer when we KNOW we mean something to others….and others to us.
…..To give a blessing….is to affirm, to say “yes” to the person’s Be-loved-ness.
…..To give a blessing is characterized by happiness or good fortune. It means we are favored and have worth, are fortunate, glad, merry, heartened, joyous and fulfilled.
…..There are over 80 times the word “Blessed” is spoken in the New-Testament and that is not counting the words ‘blessing or bless.’
…..I AM GOING TO READ JUST A HANDFUL OF SOME OF THE VERSES WHERE THE WORD IS USED……………………………………………………………
….Jesus himself was affirmed by His Father, as he was being baptized by John in the Jordan River….when a ‘voice,’ one that everyone around heard, though some recounted it as thunder. The voice of Jesus’ Father’s voice, came down from heaven saying: “You…are my “Be-loved” Son, on you my favor rests.” This…was a blessing that sustained Jesus through all the praise and verbal attacks, admiration and condemnation that followed him, up to and through His being crucified. Jesus never lost the intimacy of that blessing, KNOWING that His Father affirmed Him as the ‘blessed one.”
…..In our lives….one day we feel great, the next we feel miserable. One day we are full of new ideas, things to do, and the next EVERYTHING looks bleak and dull. One day we think we can take on the whole world, but the next even a little request seems too much for us. These mood swings show that we are not hearing the blessings….we have forgotten them in the midst of our sometimes, mundane and sometimes difficult ordinary lives…..
…..When we are thrown up and down by the little or big waves on the surface of our existence, we become easy victims of our manipulative world, but, when we choose to remember and hear the deep gentle voice that blesses us….spending time in prayer, meditation and reading God’s affirming Word, we can walk through life with a stable sense of well-being and true belonging.
…..Praying for others…is also a good way to recognize our blessings…and by praying for them…we not only bless them, but ourselves and feel better for having done so. Often you may feel that nothing happens in your prayer time. You may say: “I am just sitting here and getting distracted.” But…if you ‘develop’ the ‘discipline’ of spending a certain amount of time praying and also listening to God…you will gradually discover that something IS happening of which heretofore you were not aware of. After a while, you will miss these times if you don’t do them.
…..This…my brothers and sisters in Christ, depends on our choices that we are faced with early in the morning and throughout the day. Take some time in the morning, early, set-apart, just a few minutes to recount the ways in which you are blessed….for at times there is actual warfare going on in our minds. A battle for our minds and hearts/
…..2nd Corinthians 10: 4-5 reads. “For the weapons of our warfare are NOT physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds (which by the way do exist in our minds) In as much, as we refute arguments and theories, and ways of thinking, and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God; and we are to take ‘every thought captive’ into the obedience of Christ, the Anointed One.
…..Well, we know how difficult it is taking captive our thoughts, but by taking that time in the morning before we enter fully into our day…can and will make ALL the difference in how we react to that day.
…..The greatest thing about recognizing and affirming being blessed is, “that from that position, you are then able to bless others.” Instead of being snarky, or a curmudgeon, or at some of our age, a “cranky old man or woman,” we are instead known as a ‘nice old man or woman.” Maybe even getting a pat on the head once in a while! LOL
…..Also, don’t think someone is more blessed than you are….we are all blessed, but often in different ways. We know we have too many flaws to be perfect, but we are too blessed to be ungrateful…or should recognize this.
…..Here is one more thing….not the last, but one more. Often people say good things to us, about us, and we brush them aside with remarks such as, “Oh, don’t mention it, forget about it, it’s nothing….” and so on. These remarks may seem to be expressions of humility, but they are, in fact signs that we have a hard time receiving a blessing. The very best thing you can do is, say “Thank you….I appreciate that” because when you don’t accept the affirmation from them…you are rejecting them and their blessing. They say it because they mean it….and you should accept it because they mean it, and you choose not to feed your ego….but fuel your spirit and well-being. Then in turn…you will choose to bless someone else….because you have been lifted up and Be-loved.
…..There is little or no neutral territory between the land of the ‘blessed’ and the land of the cursed. You have to CHOOSE where it is that you want to live, and that CHOICE is one that at times you make from one moment to the next.
…..Accepting your own blessedness always leads to the deep desire to bless others. The ‘characteristic’ of “the Blessed” and “Be-loved” is that, wherever we go, we always speak words of blessing. It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to speak of their good and godly qualities. Another good thing…..is that people then will want you around.
…..No one…is affirmed or given a boost of life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. All these verbal actions do is bring darkness, destruction and death. As the “blessed and Be-loved” of God in Christ, we CAN walk through this world and offer the best that is in us, for it will naturally flow from our hearts….our Christ.
…..There definitely is darkness, and we know where it comes from. God’s enemy. We see it (not so much here) but in larger communities and cities, such as homelessness, loneliness, addiction, prostitution and violence. Know this…that each and every one of these lonely people….are deeply desiring a blessing, to be affirmed and to be ‘be-loved.’ Every one of them….and some NEVER receive it. It is a tragedy……
…..Our job is to allow ourselves to be blessed. and to give blessings in every opportunity and way we can….when we have the opportunity to do so, right where we live and move, and have our being. In small or large ways…in ways that are life-giving and sustaining….so much fear, so much pain….so much rejection….and Jesus in you and in me….wants to show the world around us what it means to be a son or daughter of God, by being blessed and by blessing.
…..You….each of you has blessed me, in many ways, and affirmed me in many ways…and I want to thank you for doing so. I have been enriched….and I hope in turn, I have blessed you as well…..and I desire that we stay on this pathway…..to do and to be. GOD BLESS YOU ALL….Be-Loved! amen!
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, ID
FEBRUARY 2, 2020
".the cost of pride and the benefits of humility"
Proverbs 16:~32
Pastor Tom Shanor
Do you know there are both a negative and positive expression of PRIDE? On the negative side of pride, I will read to you an Allegory from Milton's Paradise Lost, called Fallen Faith. On the positive side you will come to learn that healthy pride and humility can and do exist together.
To start with I will first read from the Book of Proverbs from Chapter 16:18-32. READ
Later, on the positive side of healthy pride and humility, I will read you a story of a woman named Susanna.
Again, verse 18 & 19, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoils with the proud."
PRIDE ~ with a negative connotation, refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymous with hubris, hubris meaning "excessive pride or self-confidence enveloped by narcissism, meaning Excessive self-centered love. In Greek-tragedy, it means excessive pride toward or defiance of God.
A haughty spirit comes before a fall, and a fall will come.
The Allegory begins in Paradise Lost, where Satan falls from the heavenly spheres, plunging through nightmarish limbo for nine days, and landing in the depths of Hell. Yet, prior to his descent into Hell, Satan belonged in Heaven, an Archangel named Lucifer, a rational and perfect being created by God. John Milton depicts him as a powerful Angelic being; as Archangel Raphael tells Adam, Lucier is "of the first, /if not the first Arch-Angel, great in Power, /in favor and preeminence".
Lucifer dwells in Heavenly Paradise, where angels dance and sing, drink "Rubied Nectar" and eat "Angels' Food” and live on verdant lands covered with flowers and "delicious Vines, the growth of Heav'n". So why would this favored Angel choose to deny his Creator?
In Raphael's elucidation to Adam about Satan's fall, we learn that God favors His mighty Archangel Lucifer but not as much as His begotten Son, whom God anoints as Messiah. God decrees that all Heavenly beings must bow before His Son "and shall confess Him Lord"
Milton continuing in this allegory renders Lucifer as envious, with a hardened heart, one who refuses to bow before the Son, and by extension, God himself, his Creator. By denying God, Lucifer seals his doom and is cast from Heaven, "Ordained without redemption, and with an end". While it may appear that the Satan of Paradise Lost is destined to be banished from Heaven...to be used by God as a tool, if you will, to bring about the salvation of the world in Christ...another conception of Satan's role exists, thus making Satan an allegory for those who once had faith and lost it due to their oversized and self-importance. Ego & Pride.
The allegory states that God's favor was upon Satan, where with this knowledge, instead of rejoicing in this fact, humbly being grateful, having been given the choice of freewill, (as mankind also has) chose to think more highly of himself than he should have. An ego is a tricky thing to own and own one, all of us do. What we do and how we express it, whether in thanksgiving or narcissism, depending on our spirituality, whether deep or shallow, self-focused or humbly thankful depends on us, and on us alone.
There is a simple chorus that goes like this.
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord....X2
And He will lift you up, higher and higher,
And He will lift you up.
We need be sure to give God thanks for all our accomplishments, for without him they will in the end be as trash, burned up, turned to ashes if we take full credit for them.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ His Son
And now, let the weak say I am strong,
Let the poor say I am rich,
For what the Lord has done in me!
HUMILITY....1st Peter 5:6-7 "Humble yourselves, then under God's mighty hand, so the He will lift you up in His own Good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you."
We know from God's Word that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. How can we know that we are living in humility and ready to receive God's blessings? Humility is the ability to be without negative, self-focused pride. where we build ourselves up to be better than others by our accomplishments. Humility should be seen by others who know and even don't know that we are followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the best example, who humble followed God's plan for His life.
Proverbs and other verses are filled with the ramifications of those who refuse to humble them-selves., and the New Testament is full of blessings for those who put others before themselves. You may have a good life as you see and live it, but you will miss out on the abundant life that God wants for you if you refuse to let go of negative pride and follow Him every day of your life in thankfulness.
READ FROM THE NEXT THREE PAGES....................................................
COLOSSIANS 3:12
EPHESIANS 4:2
JAMES 4:6
JAMES 4:10
1 PETER 5:10
LUKE 14:11
2 CHRONICLES 7:14
MICAH 6:8
These are just a few of the promises of God in living the life, the every-day life that He has given us.
There was woman, a young woman who at one time had high hopes of what her life was to be. More educated than most other girls of her age and time....fueled by her father encouragement and surroundings, she had hoped....well, let me read you her story, for to me she reminds me of Mary the mother of Jesus, who said these words to the Angel when told of her role in the unfolding drama of her life....one of humble acceptance and faith. "Behold the maid servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your *word." This woman too had to bury her hopes and desires while fully accepting a role she never anticipated in her young life.
READ, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle......................................
A healthy ego is one that knows the source of all that is good, and all that is represented by a number of virtues, some of those being simply steadfastness, a good and loving parent, friend, by creativity in the arts, creativity in the ability to work through difficult equations, in being a parent, in being simply a good and decent human being, helping others, giving of one's self. A pauper or a billionaire......
Giving God the thanks and the glory for all He has done and will do in you, and through you. Acknowledging His role and place in those accomplishments, first and foremost. Thankful pride....is healthy pride. It's just that simple.....................................................................................
Amen
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, ID
FEBRUARY 2, 2020
".the cost of pride and the benefits of humility"
Proverbs 16:~32
Pastor Tom Shanor
Do you know there are both a negative and positive expression of PRIDE? On the negative side of pride, I will read to you an Allegory from Milton's Paradise Lost, called Fallen Faith. On the positive side you will come to learn that healthy pride and humility can and do exist together.
To start with I will first read from the Book of Proverbs from Chapter 16:18-32. READ
Later, on the positive side of healthy pride and humility, I will read you a story of a woman named Susanna.
Again, verse 18 & 19, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoils with the proud."
PRIDE ~ with a negative connotation, refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymous with hubris, hubris meaning "excessive pride or self-confidence enveloped by narcissism, meaning Excessive self-centered love. In Greek-tragedy, it means excessive pride toward or defiance of God.
A haughty spirit comes before a fall, and a fall will come.
The Allegory begins in Paradise Lost, where Satan falls from the heavenly spheres, plunging through nightmarish limbo for nine days, and landing in the depths of Hell. Yet, prior to his descent into Hell, Satan belonged in Heaven, an Archangel named Lucifer, a rational and perfect being created by God. John Milton depicts him as a powerful Angelic being; as Archangel Raphael tells Adam, Lucier is "of the first, /if not the first Arch-Angel, great in Power, /in favor and preeminence".
Lucifer dwells in Heavenly Paradise, where angels dance and sing, drink "Rubied Nectar" and eat "Angels' Food” and live on verdant lands covered with flowers and "delicious Vines, the growth of Heav'n". So why would this favored Angel choose to deny his Creator?
In Raphael's elucidation to Adam about Satan's fall, we learn that God favors His mighty Archangel Lucifer but not as much as His begotten Son, whom God anoints as Messiah. God decrees that all Heavenly beings must bow before His Son "and shall confess Him Lord"
Milton continuing in this allegory renders Lucifer as envious, with a hardened heart, one who refuses to bow before the Son, and by extension, God himself, his Creator. By denying God, Lucifer seals his doom and is cast from Heaven, "Ordained without redemption, and with an end". While it may appear that the Satan of Paradise Lost is destined to be banished from Heaven...to be used by God as a tool, if you will, to bring about the salvation of the world in Christ...another conception of Satan's role exists, thus making Satan an allegory for those who once had faith and lost it due to their oversized and self-importance. Ego & Pride.
The allegory states that God's favor was upon Satan, where with this knowledge, instead of rejoicing in this fact, humbly being grateful, having been given the choice of freewill, (as mankind also has) chose to think more highly of himself than he should have. An ego is a tricky thing to own and own one, all of us do. What we do and how we express it, whether in thanksgiving or narcissism, depending on our spirituality, whether deep or shallow, self-focused or humbly thankful depends on us, and on us alone.
There is a simple chorus that goes like this.
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord....X2
And He will lift you up, higher and higher,
And He will lift you up.
We need be sure to give God thanks for all our accomplishments, for without him they will in the end be as trash, burned up, turned to ashes if we take full credit for them.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ His Son
And now, let the weak say I am strong,
Let the poor say I am rich,
For what the Lord has done in me!
HUMILITY....1st Peter 5:6-7 "Humble yourselves, then under God's mighty hand, so the He will lift you up in His own Good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you."
We know from God's Word that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. How can we know that we are living in humility and ready to receive God's blessings? Humility is the ability to be without negative, self-focused pride. where we build ourselves up to be better than others by our accomplishments. Humility should be seen by others who know and even don't know that we are followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the best example, who humble followed God's plan for His life.
Proverbs and other verses are filled with the ramifications of those who refuse to humble them-selves., and the New Testament is full of blessings for those who put others before themselves. You may have a good life as you see and live it, but you will miss out on the abundant life that God wants for you if you refuse to let go of negative pride and follow Him every day of your life in thankfulness.
READ FROM THE NEXT THREE PAGES....................................................
COLOSSIANS 3:12
EPHESIANS 4:2
JAMES 4:6
JAMES 4:10
1 PETER 5:10
LUKE 14:11
2 CHRONICLES 7:14
MICAH 6:8
These are just a few of the promises of God in living the life, the every-day life that He has given us.
There was woman, a young woman who at one time had high hopes of what her life was to be. More educated than most other girls of her age and time....fueled by her father encouragement and surroundings, she had hoped....well, let me read you her story, for to me she reminds me of Mary the mother of Jesus, who said these words to the Angel when told of her role in the unfolding drama of her life....one of humble acceptance and faith. "Behold the maid servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your *word." This woman too had to bury her hopes and desires while fully accepting a role she never anticipated in her young life.
READ, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle......................................
A healthy ego is one that knows the source of all that is good, and all that is represented by a number of virtues, some of those being simply steadfastness, a good and loving parent, friend, by creativity in the arts, creativity in the ability to work through difficult equations, in being a parent, in being simply a good and decent human being, helping others, giving of one's self. A pauper or a billionaire......
Giving God the thanks and the glory for all He has done and will do in you, and through you. Acknowledging His role and place in those accomplishments, first and foremost. Thankful pride....is healthy pride. It's just that simple.....................................................................................
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
January 18, 2020
"Is it well.... with your soul?"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 12:27 Jesus speaking; "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour."
3rd John 2
"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health,
just as your 'soul' prospers"
> Jesus, speaking of His soul prior to His torture and death....was, as He stated. Troubled...deeply, so deeply He feared what lay ahead.
> In 3rd John 2...we hear of the soul prospering.... hence the condition of the soul speaks deeply of the place and condition of our lives. So, let us delve into an understanding of what the soul is and what the spirit is.....for we certainly know what the body is.
The Triune Spirit, Soul and Body
> In the triune Godhead.....we have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit....God, ever present in the fullness of the three, and we have Jesus of course, known as the Son God who came to us in a human body to bring us not only life but salvation, giving us also by believing in Him the Person of the Godhead, known as the Holy Spirit. This is of course basic, foundational Christian theology.
> In reflecting a part of God's creation, us. We too are a trilogy.... made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26. “On the last day of Creation, God said, "Let us (the fullness of God or Trinity) make man in our image, in our likeness." Thus, He finished His work with a "personal touch." Accordingly, humanity is unique among all God's Creation, having both a material body, and an immaterial soul/spirit. Image literally means – a visual representation or reflection of something or someone. “Body-mind-spirit”
> Genesis 2:7, “And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground" This refers to the human body, giving us tangible, touchable, visual substance. "And breathed into his lungs the breath of life." This describes how God gave spiritual life and physical life to both woman and man; the first recorded humans, Adam and Eve." The spirit, the soul and body now established preserved in our completeness." (1 Thess. 5:23). The spirit is God-given, the soul is a living and eternal creation; and the body temporarily made to house the sou.
> According to common Christian understanding by most, the soul houses our personality. How we think, act, respond, etc. and what others see us as. When the spirit and the body were joined, man became a 'living soul."
> The characteristics of angels are also spirit and body, but bodies of different substances than we are familiar with. There is nowhere in the Bible that it is stated that any other creation is like us, made up of spirit, soul and body.
> So..moving on....it is our soul/spirit that is eternal....and yet, we are told we get new bodies that are the image of this one, though different because they are eternal. I personally can verify that by the waking vision I had of both my parents looking young and glowingly healthy in Heaven with the Lord.
> A little later.... we will be singing the Hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul" and that is what started today's sermon, when I for the first time heard the background of Horation Spadfford in writing this hymn. Let me tell you the story. Which I I may have told you this before.
> The hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford's life, and that of his wife and family. The first was the death of their son at the age of 2, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 which ruined him financially, (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the Great Fire." His business interests were then further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to England with his family but sent them on ahead while delayed on business.
> While crossing the Atlantic, (if you remember) the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another sea vessel, the Loch Earn....and all four of their daughters drowned. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved but alone...". Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled on another ship to meet his grieving wife in England, the captain told him when they were passing over the spot where their four daughters drowned and perished. In the midst of grieving.... he was inspired to write these words, which later music was put to, creating a deeply moving hymn that we sing today.
> The state of Horatio's soul was sound, that in the deepest grief one could experience, he (though we don't know what battles internally he fought to arrive there) he did arrive at a place where he believed, and trusted completely, in His Lord/God. To experience such depth of pain and loss and survive, not only survive...but to handle the tragedy in such a beautiful way....to me, shows me what is possible. To think what it would be like to go through such a measure of pain without the Lord....how terrible it would be.
> As I look and listen to the news, (not nearly as often as I used to) and see the pain and the agony of those in war ravaged countries, holding their dead children, spouses, mothers and fathers and I grieve for them. Where do they go for comfort and solace for the loved ones of those who served in the military, on a police force, those ordinary citizens who too lose their lives to crime, or even mistakenly….with God, where do they go inside themselves?
I ask you this question...."Is it well with.... your soul?'
> The responsibility for and the condition of "your soul" is totally dependent on you....and no one else, no matter what someone or someone(s) have done to or said about you.
> What you feed your soul with will reflect who you are.
1. No one can tell you how to feed your soul.....better than your own soul. Listen to it.
2. Your soul is the power and core of who you are....feed it well, choose what you feed it with.
3. Know the difference between those who feed your ego, and those who feed your soul. Choose your teachers, and your company.
4. Feed your soul....by feeding the souls of others, with acceptance, love, kindness and compassion...and in turn...your soul will be fed.
This verse parallels this last statement and is found in Luke 6:31. "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Make this your mantra...memorize it, speak it, live it, and not only will your life be changed...but also those whom you encounter in your ever -day life.
5. You can't dig yourself out of the pit of despair...you have to feed your soul and grow yourself out of it.
6. Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers....plant your own garden and watch the beauty of that garden grow, and others will come to gaze on it...enjoy it...and ask you how you did it.
There is a term, mostly in the south that refers to "soul food"...which actually did not become common until the 60's. With the rise of the civil rights movement, many African-Americans sought to re-claim their part of the African-American cultural legacy. As terms like "soul-brother, "soul-sister" and "soul music" were taking hold, it was only natural that the term soul-food would be used to describe the recipes that African-Americans had been cooking with little for generations. Here is the bottom line of meaning. Soul-food is cooking with what they had available to them...and making it as delicious as possible with that little....and then sharing it with family and friends....and even strangers. It was about 'bonding' 'belonging' with the next bottom line.... being about Love.
> Now...let's transfer this last paragraph to "spiritual soul food" the ingredients that go into what we have on hand, and we have a lot to feed and nourish our souls.
#1 ingredient....the triune God....the Father, the Son and the Spirit
That's kind of like an everything bagel to start with!
#2. ingredient....we have Holy Scripture and in those Scriptures, we have the teachings and examples of our Lord....who broke the barriers of hatred, prejudice, culture, race, age, male and female...for us if we but follow Him.
#3. ingredient.....each other. We should be able to share the difficulties, the joys, prayers, laughter....and even help in meeting emotional and physical needs when appropriate.
#4. ingredient.....and this is a great and wonderful ingredient that we have been given....and that is to also give. That is the ingredient of GRACE. As we have been given it freely and without cost, just by believing in our Lord. With that GRACE comes forgiveness, mercy, justice, compassion and so much more.....and with receiving, we are under obligation, no matter the consequences or circumstances to give the same to others, even those who in our minds don't deserve it.....for neither did we, and yet, it was given to us.
#5. I saved the last for the best.....and that ingredient we find of in 1 Corinthians 13:13...."And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But...the greatest of these is LOVE.
> What's on your daily menu.....what 'soul' food are you feeding on?
> Is Sunday...the only day you eat spiritual soul food?......Taking a bit of time in the morning, or whatever time works for you....to sit, take some time apart to feed your soul and spirit. Perhaps something as simple as reading the daily reading from a booklet like "Our Daily Bread"
> Desire is the key.....discipline is the road.
> One day....and perhaps you have already experienced, "When sea billows roll, whatever your lot....he has taught you to know...."it is well, it is well, with your soul."
Only you know...."is it well....with "your' soul?"
Amen.................................
Island Park, Idaho
January 18, 2020
"Is it well.... with your soul?"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 12:27 Jesus speaking; "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour."
3rd John 2
"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health,
just as your 'soul' prospers"
> Jesus, speaking of His soul prior to His torture and death....was, as He stated. Troubled...deeply, so deeply He feared what lay ahead.
> In 3rd John 2...we hear of the soul prospering.... hence the condition of the soul speaks deeply of the place and condition of our lives. So, let us delve into an understanding of what the soul is and what the spirit is.....for we certainly know what the body is.
The Triune Spirit, Soul and Body
> In the triune Godhead.....we have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit....God, ever present in the fullness of the three, and we have Jesus of course, known as the Son God who came to us in a human body to bring us not only life but salvation, giving us also by believing in Him the Person of the Godhead, known as the Holy Spirit. This is of course basic, foundational Christian theology.
> In reflecting a part of God's creation, us. We too are a trilogy.... made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26. “On the last day of Creation, God said, "Let us (the fullness of God or Trinity) make man in our image, in our likeness." Thus, He finished His work with a "personal touch." Accordingly, humanity is unique among all God's Creation, having both a material body, and an immaterial soul/spirit. Image literally means – a visual representation or reflection of something or someone. “Body-mind-spirit”
> Genesis 2:7, “And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground" This refers to the human body, giving us tangible, touchable, visual substance. "And breathed into his lungs the breath of life." This describes how God gave spiritual life and physical life to both woman and man; the first recorded humans, Adam and Eve." The spirit, the soul and body now established preserved in our completeness." (1 Thess. 5:23). The spirit is God-given, the soul is a living and eternal creation; and the body temporarily made to house the sou.
> According to common Christian understanding by most, the soul houses our personality. How we think, act, respond, etc. and what others see us as. When the spirit and the body were joined, man became a 'living soul."
> The characteristics of angels are also spirit and body, but bodies of different substances than we are familiar with. There is nowhere in the Bible that it is stated that any other creation is like us, made up of spirit, soul and body.
> So..moving on....it is our soul/spirit that is eternal....and yet, we are told we get new bodies that are the image of this one, though different because they are eternal. I personally can verify that by the waking vision I had of both my parents looking young and glowingly healthy in Heaven with the Lord.
> A little later.... we will be singing the Hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul" and that is what started today's sermon, when I for the first time heard the background of Horation Spadfford in writing this hymn. Let me tell you the story. Which I I may have told you this before.
> The hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford's life, and that of his wife and family. The first was the death of their son at the age of 2, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 which ruined him financially, (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the Great Fire." His business interests were then further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to England with his family but sent them on ahead while delayed on business.
> While crossing the Atlantic, (if you remember) the ship sank rapidly after a collision with another sea vessel, the Loch Earn....and all four of their daughters drowned. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved but alone...". Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled on another ship to meet his grieving wife in England, the captain told him when they were passing over the spot where their four daughters drowned and perished. In the midst of grieving.... he was inspired to write these words, which later music was put to, creating a deeply moving hymn that we sing today.
> The state of Horatio's soul was sound, that in the deepest grief one could experience, he (though we don't know what battles internally he fought to arrive there) he did arrive at a place where he believed, and trusted completely, in His Lord/God. To experience such depth of pain and loss and survive, not only survive...but to handle the tragedy in such a beautiful way....to me, shows me what is possible. To think what it would be like to go through such a measure of pain without the Lord....how terrible it would be.
> As I look and listen to the news, (not nearly as often as I used to) and see the pain and the agony of those in war ravaged countries, holding their dead children, spouses, mothers and fathers and I grieve for them. Where do they go for comfort and solace for the loved ones of those who served in the military, on a police force, those ordinary citizens who too lose their lives to crime, or even mistakenly….with God, where do they go inside themselves?
I ask you this question...."Is it well with.... your soul?'
> The responsibility for and the condition of "your soul" is totally dependent on you....and no one else, no matter what someone or someone(s) have done to or said about you.
> What you feed your soul with will reflect who you are.
1. No one can tell you how to feed your soul.....better than your own soul. Listen to it.
2. Your soul is the power and core of who you are....feed it well, choose what you feed it with.
3. Know the difference between those who feed your ego, and those who feed your soul. Choose your teachers, and your company.
4. Feed your soul....by feeding the souls of others, with acceptance, love, kindness and compassion...and in turn...your soul will be fed.
This verse parallels this last statement and is found in Luke 6:31. "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Make this your mantra...memorize it, speak it, live it, and not only will your life be changed...but also those whom you encounter in your ever -day life.
5. You can't dig yourself out of the pit of despair...you have to feed your soul and grow yourself out of it.
6. Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers....plant your own garden and watch the beauty of that garden grow, and others will come to gaze on it...enjoy it...and ask you how you did it.
There is a term, mostly in the south that refers to "soul food"...which actually did not become common until the 60's. With the rise of the civil rights movement, many African-Americans sought to re-claim their part of the African-American cultural legacy. As terms like "soul-brother, "soul-sister" and "soul music" were taking hold, it was only natural that the term soul-food would be used to describe the recipes that African-Americans had been cooking with little for generations. Here is the bottom line of meaning. Soul-food is cooking with what they had available to them...and making it as delicious as possible with that little....and then sharing it with family and friends....and even strangers. It was about 'bonding' 'belonging' with the next bottom line.... being about Love.
> Now...let's transfer this last paragraph to "spiritual soul food" the ingredients that go into what we have on hand, and we have a lot to feed and nourish our souls.
#1 ingredient....the triune God....the Father, the Son and the Spirit
That's kind of like an everything bagel to start with!
#2. ingredient....we have Holy Scripture and in those Scriptures, we have the teachings and examples of our Lord....who broke the barriers of hatred, prejudice, culture, race, age, male and female...for us if we but follow Him.
#3. ingredient.....each other. We should be able to share the difficulties, the joys, prayers, laughter....and even help in meeting emotional and physical needs when appropriate.
#4. ingredient.....and this is a great and wonderful ingredient that we have been given....and that is to also give. That is the ingredient of GRACE. As we have been given it freely and without cost, just by believing in our Lord. With that GRACE comes forgiveness, mercy, justice, compassion and so much more.....and with receiving, we are under obligation, no matter the consequences or circumstances to give the same to others, even those who in our minds don't deserve it.....for neither did we, and yet, it was given to us.
#5. I saved the last for the best.....and that ingredient we find of in 1 Corinthians 13:13...."And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But...the greatest of these is LOVE.
> What's on your daily menu.....what 'soul' food are you feeding on?
> Is Sunday...the only day you eat spiritual soul food?......Taking a bit of time in the morning, or whatever time works for you....to sit, take some time apart to feed your soul and spirit. Perhaps something as simple as reading the daily reading from a booklet like "Our Daily Bread"
> Desire is the key.....discipline is the road.
> One day....and perhaps you have already experienced, "When sea billows roll, whatever your lot....he has taught you to know...."it is well, it is well, with your soul."
Only you know...."is it well....with "your' soul?"
Amen.................................
Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Idaho
January 11, 2020
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME
Tom Shanor, Pastor
We are Human…..we are a part of Humanity, with all our various skin colors, languages, walking upright as our main means of moving from here to there, being self-aware, thinking as we do by way of observation, reason, meditation (though seldom) reflection, able to remember, think about the future, express emotion and sometimes using logic, based on all the above we can make choices also based on our accumulation of data. We, unlike other thinking animals have the ability to measure time. Time is our measuring stick for living as noted in a song called Time Passages, and a song by The Association called “Time for Living”.
…..We live by using the word “Time,” time and time again. Thousands of times!
…..When our human ancestors became aware of time passages we don’t know, because there is no record, written or otherwise but there are some discoveries recently that give us a little more insight into time. British archaeology experts have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest ‘calendar’, created by hunter-gatherer societies and dating back to around 8,000 BC, predating the next known calendar by 5000 years, found in the middle east.
……The Mesolithic monument discovered was originally excavated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by the National Trust for Scotland in 20034 AD. It is a luni, or lunar-solar devices built into a hillside following the movements of both the sun and the moon using excavation and an arch to build the world’s oldest known calendar.
……The capacity to measure time was 'created' by humankind and is critical in understanding how society has developed.
.....The Bible says without using the word time, that there was a beginning and is an ending. Eternity as we understand, though barely comprehend is measured by this "beginning" and "ending." Genesis 1, verse 1. "In the beginning (of the measurement of time) God created the heavens and the earth."
.....Numbers of course which are crucial to time measurement, developed along with language, were essential in the development of our calendars as to another way we measure time.
……How many of you are wearing a watch, or today carry your I-phone which often today takes place of a watch. You awoke knowing that our service started at ten, and so between the time of getting up to arriving here you were watching your time to try and get here on time. Time as it is measured by us also includes numbers. Some of you had two hours to get here, and others maybe a half hour.
.....The mystery and almost magical quality of numbers and their place in human history, science, theory, religion and etc. is simply amazing, amazing. Counting began out of necessity when let’s say there was a realization that two animals to kill to eat was far better than just one. Whether this was done strictly in their head or using pebbles, or notches on a bone or stick it was recognized that there must be a way to create equalization.
…..There was a lot of thinking, meditating, reasoning, etc., in the development of both time and numbers, ever growing more and more important as society developed.
.....Most of us here in this building, have arrived at what is called sunset years. We can look back... when at one time the years we are now at looked a long-time away. And yet, here we are, wondering where time went so very quickly it seems, though its pace never changed as the passage of time goes at the same pace for everyone.
.....Al Stewart wrote and sang a song called Time Passages which most of you can remember. It goes like this.
It was late in December, the sky turned to snow
all round the day was going slow
Night like a river beginning to flow
I felt the beat of my mind go
Drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
Time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight
Well I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and days too fast
The things you lean on are the things that don't last
Well it's just now and then my line gets cast into these
Time passages...................
The choices we make within our limited time too often are based on the "things that don't last."
I am not in the process of this recognition, going to condemn myself or anyone for what choices we have, do and will make in the limited time we have here, but I believe it is vital to our spiritual, physical and mental/emotional well-being that we set 'time' aside to REFLECT and MEDITATE. Reflect on the past, as it has been the foundation, we have built our present. Then meditate on the present while there is yet time to work towards the future, we might have for we don’t know how much time we have left. Being time aware can cause us to make better choices.
....If we are unhappy, happy, bored, busy, angry, kind, and even compassionate, it is not due to anyone else, no matter what they have done, but how we have taken what we have experienced in life....and built our life as we know ourselves and are known by others to be. Our opinions and other opinions may be quite divergent.
.....I was raised by a man who was liked by many, but feared and sometime hated in his own home by both his wife and his children. Some of us have the ability to be, as was a popular saying several years ago, a poser. What you see...may not be who and what you really are. Sometimes I actually 'feel' that is me, and that is when something has happened that shows me how much I need the Lord in my life, because my personal failure or failures disappointed me so deeply, and at times, others. In the memories of the minds of the people I will someday leave behind, what will their thoughts be of me. And then, once they are no longer here, no one will think of me, unless they come across a photograph on the wall of a Cracker Barrel Restaurant while traveling.
.....Psalm 19:12. "How can I handle all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin."
.... Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you......O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."
.... We need to establish honestly by deeply knowingly within ourselves who we really are. Jesus said, in order to love God and others, we must first love ourselves, and we can only do so by knowing ourselves.
Mark 12:31..."The second is equally important: "Love your neighbor; 'as yourself'' no other commandment is greater than these."
.... Loving oneself.
.... Time passages.... brings us to today, just past the first week of a new year. Most people I believe do not make resolutions, and those of us who do, most often do not follow through in keeping them. I admire those who do and laud those who at least attempt to bring changes into their lives they deem important.
....I do think it is important to reflect, and this time of year when we have more time, because of fewer activities, is a good time. The origin of the word ‘reflect’ in English is from Old French reflecter "(to bend back, turn back"), from Latin reflecto "I reflect"), from re ("again") ("I bend, I curve").
.....I like the ‘I curve’ illustration, and I am reminded of many of my train travels. On some of the sharper curves looking back through the widow, being able to see both the engine, and the very last car of the train at the same time. We can do that in or lives and the older we are, the longer the train.
.....It would be good for you and I do, and is something I am going to try to do more and more ....to even write down categories of my life this past year and even back further, to see how I have changed, how my circumstances have changed, how my mind and heart have changed. What my main focus has been (me) (or others) and where I could have made better decisions. Not being too critical, because what is past in time is past.
.....Once I do this...then I am going to meditate on the results....and upon meditation, pray...and ask the Lord about the coming year as to what my focus should be, my goals and how to change my desires if I need to.
So... what is ‘meditation’? It is a practice when an individual use perhaps a technique, focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity, to gain deeper awareness, and perhaps achieve a mental clarity and even a better emotional understanding. With these together perhaps gain new direction that until that time had been causing a state of confusion or unrest.
.....Anxiety steals one's ability to make sound decisions and conclusions. Time set apart, prayer, along with reflection and meditation, stilling those emotions can bring us the understanding and insight we need.
Have you spent any time recently.....reflecting and meditating? I again, suggest that you do and see what good things the Lord has done and will do."
Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person....by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Regarding judging or thinking of others if that is something you need to do. Matthew 7:4 speaks directly to this in your reflections. "Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eyes.' and look...a plank is in your own.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 READ!
There are so many wonderful Scriptures to also meditate on, from which we can make decisions, adjustments and find help in our ordinary everyday lives.
As long as we have time.... let us use it in a way that benefits ourselves and others. Prayer, doing good, thinking and meditating deeply, showing kindness, sowing love, learning to be humble.
Luke 14:28 bring us a practical aspect of meditation too. "But don't begin until you count the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it." This speaks not only of projects and money...but of almost all that we are attempting to accomplish.
Something bothering you.... something you need to come to some conclusion about? Listen, pray and wait, listening for what you choose today will affect your tomorrow.
......................That's all folks, now the rest is up to you!
Amen
Macks Inn, Idaho
January 11, 2020
THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME
Tom Shanor, Pastor
We are Human…..we are a part of Humanity, with all our various skin colors, languages, walking upright as our main means of moving from here to there, being self-aware, thinking as we do by way of observation, reason, meditation (though seldom) reflection, able to remember, think about the future, express emotion and sometimes using logic, based on all the above we can make choices also based on our accumulation of data. We, unlike other thinking animals have the ability to measure time. Time is our measuring stick for living as noted in a song called Time Passages, and a song by The Association called “Time for Living”.
…..We live by using the word “Time,” time and time again. Thousands of times!
…..When our human ancestors became aware of time passages we don’t know, because there is no record, written or otherwise but there are some discoveries recently that give us a little more insight into time. British archaeology experts have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest ‘calendar’, created by hunter-gatherer societies and dating back to around 8,000 BC, predating the next known calendar by 5000 years, found in the middle east.
……The Mesolithic monument discovered was originally excavated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by the National Trust for Scotland in 20034 AD. It is a luni, or lunar-solar devices built into a hillside following the movements of both the sun and the moon using excavation and an arch to build the world’s oldest known calendar.
……The capacity to measure time was 'created' by humankind and is critical in understanding how society has developed.
.....The Bible says without using the word time, that there was a beginning and is an ending. Eternity as we understand, though barely comprehend is measured by this "beginning" and "ending." Genesis 1, verse 1. "In the beginning (of the measurement of time) God created the heavens and the earth."
.....Numbers of course which are crucial to time measurement, developed along with language, were essential in the development of our calendars as to another way we measure time.
……How many of you are wearing a watch, or today carry your I-phone which often today takes place of a watch. You awoke knowing that our service started at ten, and so between the time of getting up to arriving here you were watching your time to try and get here on time. Time as it is measured by us also includes numbers. Some of you had two hours to get here, and others maybe a half hour.
.....The mystery and almost magical quality of numbers and their place in human history, science, theory, religion and etc. is simply amazing, amazing. Counting began out of necessity when let’s say there was a realization that two animals to kill to eat was far better than just one. Whether this was done strictly in their head or using pebbles, or notches on a bone or stick it was recognized that there must be a way to create equalization.
…..There was a lot of thinking, meditating, reasoning, etc., in the development of both time and numbers, ever growing more and more important as society developed.
.....Most of us here in this building, have arrived at what is called sunset years. We can look back... when at one time the years we are now at looked a long-time away. And yet, here we are, wondering where time went so very quickly it seems, though its pace never changed as the passage of time goes at the same pace for everyone.
.....Al Stewart wrote and sang a song called Time Passages which most of you can remember. It goes like this.
It was late in December, the sky turned to snow
all round the day was going slow
Night like a river beginning to flow
I felt the beat of my mind go
Drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
Time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight
Well I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and days too fast
The things you lean on are the things that don't last
Well it's just now and then my line gets cast into these
Time passages...................
The choices we make within our limited time too often are based on the "things that don't last."
I am not in the process of this recognition, going to condemn myself or anyone for what choices we have, do and will make in the limited time we have here, but I believe it is vital to our spiritual, physical and mental/emotional well-being that we set 'time' aside to REFLECT and MEDITATE. Reflect on the past, as it has been the foundation, we have built our present. Then meditate on the present while there is yet time to work towards the future, we might have for we don’t know how much time we have left. Being time aware can cause us to make better choices.
....If we are unhappy, happy, bored, busy, angry, kind, and even compassionate, it is not due to anyone else, no matter what they have done, but how we have taken what we have experienced in life....and built our life as we know ourselves and are known by others to be. Our opinions and other opinions may be quite divergent.
.....I was raised by a man who was liked by many, but feared and sometime hated in his own home by both his wife and his children. Some of us have the ability to be, as was a popular saying several years ago, a poser. What you see...may not be who and what you really are. Sometimes I actually 'feel' that is me, and that is when something has happened that shows me how much I need the Lord in my life, because my personal failure or failures disappointed me so deeply, and at times, others. In the memories of the minds of the people I will someday leave behind, what will their thoughts be of me. And then, once they are no longer here, no one will think of me, unless they come across a photograph on the wall of a Cracker Barrel Restaurant while traveling.
.....Psalm 19:12. "How can I handle all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin."
.... Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you......O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."
.... We need to establish honestly by deeply knowingly within ourselves who we really are. Jesus said, in order to love God and others, we must first love ourselves, and we can only do so by knowing ourselves.
Mark 12:31..."The second is equally important: "Love your neighbor; 'as yourself'' no other commandment is greater than these."
.... Loving oneself.
.... Time passages.... brings us to today, just past the first week of a new year. Most people I believe do not make resolutions, and those of us who do, most often do not follow through in keeping them. I admire those who do and laud those who at least attempt to bring changes into their lives they deem important.
....I do think it is important to reflect, and this time of year when we have more time, because of fewer activities, is a good time. The origin of the word ‘reflect’ in English is from Old French reflecter "(to bend back, turn back"), from Latin reflecto "I reflect"), from re ("again") ("I bend, I curve").
.....I like the ‘I curve’ illustration, and I am reminded of many of my train travels. On some of the sharper curves looking back through the widow, being able to see both the engine, and the very last car of the train at the same time. We can do that in or lives and the older we are, the longer the train.
.....It would be good for you and I do, and is something I am going to try to do more and more ....to even write down categories of my life this past year and even back further, to see how I have changed, how my circumstances have changed, how my mind and heart have changed. What my main focus has been (me) (or others) and where I could have made better decisions. Not being too critical, because what is past in time is past.
.....Once I do this...then I am going to meditate on the results....and upon meditation, pray...and ask the Lord about the coming year as to what my focus should be, my goals and how to change my desires if I need to.
So... what is ‘meditation’? It is a practice when an individual use perhaps a technique, focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity, to gain deeper awareness, and perhaps achieve a mental clarity and even a better emotional understanding. With these together perhaps gain new direction that until that time had been causing a state of confusion or unrest.
.....Anxiety steals one's ability to make sound decisions and conclusions. Time set apart, prayer, along with reflection and meditation, stilling those emotions can bring us the understanding and insight we need.
Have you spent any time recently.....reflecting and meditating? I again, suggest that you do and see what good things the Lord has done and will do."
Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person....by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Regarding judging or thinking of others if that is something you need to do. Matthew 7:4 speaks directly to this in your reflections. "Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eyes.' and look...a plank is in your own.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 READ!
There are so many wonderful Scriptures to also meditate on, from which we can make decisions, adjustments and find help in our ordinary everyday lives.
As long as we have time.... let us use it in a way that benefits ourselves and others. Prayer, doing good, thinking and meditating deeply, showing kindness, sowing love, learning to be humble.
Luke 14:28 bring us a practical aspect of meditation too. "But don't begin until you count the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it." This speaks not only of projects and money...but of almost all that we are attempting to accomplish.
Something bothering you.... something you need to come to some conclusion about? Listen, pray and wait, listening for what you choose today will affect your tomorrow.
......................That's all folks, now the rest is up to you!
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
PART II of Advent
December 15, 2019
by Pastor Tom Shanor
The second part of the narrative of the Advent story continues today, where we left off last Sunday with the mysterious and somewhat confusing at times called, the Wise Men or Magi or Scholars, etc.. From here we will move on to several other of the more interesting people involved. To do so I will have to go back and forth a bit, though again, last week I moved chronologically from the start to the birth of Jesus.
Since you are here (those of you who were here last week) I asked you to stay tuned to this channel for the answers to the 'rest of the story', that of course being the most wonderful story ever told.
Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophets: 'And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the Wise Men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out and there, ahead of them, when the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream 'not' to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another way.
Who exactly were these so-called Wise men, where did they come from and since they were not Jews, why were they chosen by God to be involved in this narrative? Did they follow a different religion, and if so, what was it? Is is even important? My opinion is; that indeed it is important to know as much as humanly possible about every aspect available to us. Knowing more both advances our knowledge and more fully rounds out truths we come to cherish and believe in.
The phrase "from the East," more literally "from the rising of the sun", is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. The Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, occupied virtually all of the land east of Judea and Syria (except for the deserts of Arabia to the southeast). Though the empire was tolerant of other religions, its dominant religion was Zoroastrianism, with its priestly so called 'magos class,' which would be similar to the Priestly Class of the Jews in their standing in Judaism.
In seeing 'The Star' rise in the east, a star that had never been seen before, they were of the knowledge of a prophecy from their Prophet Zoroaster; that its arrival meant that a King, the Messiah had arrived and their role was to pay him homage by taking gifts and bowing down before him. It mattered not that he was born of humble parents in an average household. What mattered was acknowledging both the new KING and the fulfillment of their-own Prophets prophecy.
Too, it was known by the Jewish priests from those who converted to Judaism from Zoroasterism, of this prophecy, developed around the Magi of the Gospels prior.
1. The Wise Men then were from Persia
2. They were Persian 'Scholars' of a highly respected class of people
3. They were of another religion, yet respectful of Judaism
4. They were also both astronomers and astrologers, astrology itself being a respected science, and very real part of many religions of those days.
Although the Magi are commonly called "King," there is nothing in the account from the Gospel of Matthew that implies that they were rulers of any kind, let alone kings.
Now, how about this religion Zoroasterism? I hope you are somewhat curious because I am going to tell you a bit about it.
It is one of the most ancient religions in the world, and at one time it was the dominant religion of Iran and all adjoining regions. Therefore, it was also at one time the largest formal religion in the world, far exceeding Judaism in number, competing with Christianity on an equal par as well at one point in time. The Arabs growing in strength and numbers by sheer force and battle conquered Persia....again, with forced conversions nearly wiped it out, where today they still exist, but only approximately 200,000 still remaining. mostly in India and in the United States.
Being curious about their personal beliefs, these Wise Men from the East I learned this. 1. Belief in the Supreme and Universal God
2. Belief in the duality of existence. That the world is a battle ground between good and evil forces, and that in time good will ultimately triumph and evil will be destroyed.
3. Belief in the divinity of Creation, in that God created both the visible and invisible. His Creation is therefore sacred and divine. it is everyone's responsibility to keep it pure and maintain the order He established.
4. Belief in the spiritual nature of the world and human beings as part of His Creation, all of mankind having come from the first man and woman.
5. Belief in polytheism or the existence of a number of divinities who represent His good qualities and who assist Him in containing the evil in the material world.
6. Belief in the basic goodness of humanity, and we are essentially divine in nature and share the spiritual nature of God, so we are not born as sinners nor is there within us a compulsion to sin. Humans are born pure and have a choice either to follow the teachings of God and remain righteous or follow the ways of evil and therefore be damned.
That is the background of the scholars, or wise men who play such a prominent role in the narrative or story leading up the physical birth of Jesus.
To my way of thinking, these men chosen by God, to be included in this great story in a very real way, represent you and I. All those who stood outside the family of God, who also are from that day forward, including us today, invited to become a member of the family of God. Scripture speaks to we latter-day Gentiles being adopted into His spiritual family, by being offered Salvation, and through Salvation, eternal life in Jesus. Praise to the Lord our God.............................
As a side note, in a way, in looking again at Matthew as he relates to us the events, there are a couple of other, in a sense minor thing I want to point out.
1. "When they had heard the king, they set out and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother."
Therefore, this tells us that there was a two-year period from when they first saw the star and when it stopped over the "house" of the family. These wise men did not see The Child following his birth in a manger, but the family was firmly established in a house, where Jesus very easily could have been two years old by then.
Another event that backs this up, is found in Matthew 2:16. "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the Wise Men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time when he had determined from the wise men."
This event was certainly not minor, but too is the fulfillment of one of the many prophecies found is Jeremiah 31:15, that three weeks ago I spoke of, relating to the birth of Jesus.
There has been much debate, speculation and study in astronomy in regard to the Star of Bethlehem in the narrative, especially in regards to the visit of the Wise Men. The latest proposal put forth by astronomer Frank Tipler in 2005, is the hypothesis that the Star was a supernova, occurring in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. (near-by being relative of course) with the Andromeda Galaxy being 78,216,967,127,952,760,000,000 feet, or 780 kiloparsecs from earth, which is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way!
Whether a supernova, a comet, a quasar or whatever it was....it was.
Another interesting fact in Jesus being gifted with Frankincense and Myrrh by the Wise Men, is that these two very expensive and rare oils were used extensively in burial rituals as an embalming material, an offering to the departed and a means to cover the odor of a dead body. It is said that they were symbolic of the coming death and burial of the Lord. The Gold of course, being attributed as a valuable metal of Kingship, and this also, is attributed to prophecy.
I hope......that you enjoyed and learned some new facts, and perhaps have experienced a deeper appreciation of the events, and some of the other people in the narrative around the Advent Season I spoke of last week. I had hoped to cover Anna the prophetess, and Zachariah the priest and father of John the Baptist, but once I got started on the Wise Men, Magi, Scholars and Astronomers/Astrologers, there was just too much information to go beyond them.
This week may you take some time to really read the story, ponder and reflect on the miracle of that event, along with the richness and JOY that some many of us experience every year at this time. It's become as we know, a festive time of family gatherings (if you have one) or a time with friends (if you have any) with gifts, trees, lights, music and so much more. Please, in however you celebrate the season, (or not) keep your thoughts on the main thing and the main purpose. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God and the son of a young Jewish girl, who so willingly accepted her major role in God coming to earth for us, for you.
REJOICE AND BE GLAD................................................AMEN
PART II of Advent
December 15, 2019
by Pastor Tom Shanor
The second part of the narrative of the Advent story continues today, where we left off last Sunday with the mysterious and somewhat confusing at times called, the Wise Men or Magi or Scholars, etc.. From here we will move on to several other of the more interesting people involved. To do so I will have to go back and forth a bit, though again, last week I moved chronologically from the start to the birth of Jesus.
Since you are here (those of you who were here last week) I asked you to stay tuned to this channel for the answers to the 'rest of the story', that of course being the most wonderful story ever told.
Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophets: 'And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the Wise Men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out and there, ahead of them, when the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream 'not' to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another way.
Who exactly were these so-called Wise men, where did they come from and since they were not Jews, why were they chosen by God to be involved in this narrative? Did they follow a different religion, and if so, what was it? Is is even important? My opinion is; that indeed it is important to know as much as humanly possible about every aspect available to us. Knowing more both advances our knowledge and more fully rounds out truths we come to cherish and believe in.
The phrase "from the East," more literally "from the rising of the sun", is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. The Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, occupied virtually all of the land east of Judea and Syria (except for the deserts of Arabia to the southeast). Though the empire was tolerant of other religions, its dominant religion was Zoroastrianism, with its priestly so called 'magos class,' which would be similar to the Priestly Class of the Jews in their standing in Judaism.
In seeing 'The Star' rise in the east, a star that had never been seen before, they were of the knowledge of a prophecy from their Prophet Zoroaster; that its arrival meant that a King, the Messiah had arrived and their role was to pay him homage by taking gifts and bowing down before him. It mattered not that he was born of humble parents in an average household. What mattered was acknowledging both the new KING and the fulfillment of their-own Prophets prophecy.
Too, it was known by the Jewish priests from those who converted to Judaism from Zoroasterism, of this prophecy, developed around the Magi of the Gospels prior.
1. The Wise Men then were from Persia
2. They were Persian 'Scholars' of a highly respected class of people
3. They were of another religion, yet respectful of Judaism
4. They were also both astronomers and astrologers, astrology itself being a respected science, and very real part of many religions of those days.
Although the Magi are commonly called "King," there is nothing in the account from the Gospel of Matthew that implies that they were rulers of any kind, let alone kings.
Now, how about this religion Zoroasterism? I hope you are somewhat curious because I am going to tell you a bit about it.
It is one of the most ancient religions in the world, and at one time it was the dominant religion of Iran and all adjoining regions. Therefore, it was also at one time the largest formal religion in the world, far exceeding Judaism in number, competing with Christianity on an equal par as well at one point in time. The Arabs growing in strength and numbers by sheer force and battle conquered Persia....again, with forced conversions nearly wiped it out, where today they still exist, but only approximately 200,000 still remaining. mostly in India and in the United States.
Being curious about their personal beliefs, these Wise Men from the East I learned this. 1. Belief in the Supreme and Universal God
2. Belief in the duality of existence. That the world is a battle ground between good and evil forces, and that in time good will ultimately triumph and evil will be destroyed.
3. Belief in the divinity of Creation, in that God created both the visible and invisible. His Creation is therefore sacred and divine. it is everyone's responsibility to keep it pure and maintain the order He established.
4. Belief in the spiritual nature of the world and human beings as part of His Creation, all of mankind having come from the first man and woman.
5. Belief in polytheism or the existence of a number of divinities who represent His good qualities and who assist Him in containing the evil in the material world.
6. Belief in the basic goodness of humanity, and we are essentially divine in nature and share the spiritual nature of God, so we are not born as sinners nor is there within us a compulsion to sin. Humans are born pure and have a choice either to follow the teachings of God and remain righteous or follow the ways of evil and therefore be damned.
That is the background of the scholars, or wise men who play such a prominent role in the narrative or story leading up the physical birth of Jesus.
To my way of thinking, these men chosen by God, to be included in this great story in a very real way, represent you and I. All those who stood outside the family of God, who also are from that day forward, including us today, invited to become a member of the family of God. Scripture speaks to we latter-day Gentiles being adopted into His spiritual family, by being offered Salvation, and through Salvation, eternal life in Jesus. Praise to the Lord our God.............................
As a side note, in a way, in looking again at Matthew as he relates to us the events, there are a couple of other, in a sense minor thing I want to point out.
1. "When they had heard the king, they set out and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother."
Therefore, this tells us that there was a two-year period from when they first saw the star and when it stopped over the "house" of the family. These wise men did not see The Child following his birth in a manger, but the family was firmly established in a house, where Jesus very easily could have been two years old by then.
Another event that backs this up, is found in Matthew 2:16. "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the Wise Men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time when he had determined from the wise men."
This event was certainly not minor, but too is the fulfillment of one of the many prophecies found is Jeremiah 31:15, that three weeks ago I spoke of, relating to the birth of Jesus.
There has been much debate, speculation and study in astronomy in regard to the Star of Bethlehem in the narrative, especially in regards to the visit of the Wise Men. The latest proposal put forth by astronomer Frank Tipler in 2005, is the hypothesis that the Star was a supernova, occurring in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. (near-by being relative of course) with the Andromeda Galaxy being 78,216,967,127,952,760,000,000 feet, or 780 kiloparsecs from earth, which is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way!
Whether a supernova, a comet, a quasar or whatever it was....it was.
Another interesting fact in Jesus being gifted with Frankincense and Myrrh by the Wise Men, is that these two very expensive and rare oils were used extensively in burial rituals as an embalming material, an offering to the departed and a means to cover the odor of a dead body. It is said that they were symbolic of the coming death and burial of the Lord. The Gold of course, being attributed as a valuable metal of Kingship, and this also, is attributed to prophecy.
I hope......that you enjoyed and learned some new facts, and perhaps have experienced a deeper appreciation of the events, and some of the other people in the narrative around the Advent Season I spoke of last week. I had hoped to cover Anna the prophetess, and Zachariah the priest and father of John the Baptist, but once I got started on the Wise Men, Magi, Scholars and Astronomers/Astrologers, there was just too much information to go beyond them.
This week may you take some time to really read the story, ponder and reflect on the miracle of that event, along with the richness and JOY that some many of us experience every year at this time. It's become as we know, a festive time of family gatherings (if you have one) or a time with friends (if you have any) with gifts, trees, lights, music and so much more. Please, in however you celebrate the season, (or not) keep your thoughts on the main thing and the main purpose. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God and the son of a young Jewish girl, who so willingly accepted her major role in God coming to earth for us, for you.
REJOICE AND BE GLAD................................................AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
The History of Advent
December 8, 2019
by Pastor Tom Shanor
Advent as most of us are aware, is the season observed by many (but not all) Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation, for both the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but perhaps you didn't know this, also the return of Jesus at His Second Coming. The term Advent in its singular meaning is simply "coming".
Advent is also the beginning of what is known as the Western Christian Liturgical Year, which involves the beginning of using what is established yearly Scripture in liturgy, and public worship services along with celebratory days and events, again, using long-established Scriptures relating to those observations. The season of Advent again in the Western Church, begins on the fourth Sunday before the actual day Christmas falls on, and Celebrated specifically by the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican, Lutheran, Moravian, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist calendars/churches. It is not usually celebrated by Evangelicals overall.
The date on which Advent was celebrated first, or who started these weeks as a time of recognition and celebration, cannot be determined. The nearest time that it can be traced to about 480 ad., and in its fullness is celebrated by recognizing all of the three comings of Christ: in the flesh in Bethlehem, in our hearts daily, and in Glory at the beginning of His earthly reign, before the end of time as we know it.
The practices we express this celebration with include, keeping an Advent calendar, lighting of the four candles on the Advent wreath. First the Prophets' candle, symbolizing HOPE; the Bethlehem Candle, symbolizing PEACE; the Shepard’s' Candle symbolizing JOY; the Angel's Candle, symbolizing LOVE, and lastly the Christ Candle symbolizing THE SUMMATION OF HOPE-PEACE-JOY-LOVE, IN AND EXAMPLED by the Lighting of the Christ Candle. Along with these, praying a daily devotional, erecting a Christmas tree or A Crimson tree, which is a bold tree in its’ foliage, with its dark dense shades, and deeply lobed leaves with maroon-purple foliage representing the blood of Christ. Also the lighting of a Christingle, which is from the German heritage, represented by a white candle used as a symbol of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World.”
As I have thought about Advent, having come into its symbolism and ceremony only since my arrival at the Little Church, I have wondered why Evangelicals (as I once was) and other sects and denominations do not celebrate this observance is up for discussion? One of the reasons I came up with is; that it smacks of what is thought of as unneeded ritualism; a reminder of pageantry associated with the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, and the authority of priests and religious hierarchy, instead of the simplifying services, dating in the west back to the Pilgrims and their separation from the so called High Churches they were escaping from.
Having come from an Evangelical background, and celebrating Advent as we do here in the Little Church, I have discovered how meaningful and rich, this and other celebrations are, in that instead of detracting from the so called simplicity of the Gospel, they actually enhance both the Gospel and the lives of those for whom they carry depth and meaning.
Also, having explained that which I have, and for which I hope that perhaps you too have learned something new and meaningful, I am now going to switch gears, and move into both the minor and major characters leading up to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ that we recognize during these four weeks. They indeed are an interesting mix of secular and religious, good and bad. From low stations in life to kings and the mystery religion represented, and more.
I am now going to tell you all of their names and stations, but dwell on a few of the most unusual a bit deeper into who and what they were. God in all His mysterious ways had and still has a plan that involves a sampling of humanity in its complexity and simplicity.
The story begins in Luke, as he writes to a friend and perhaps mentor, as he says in Luke I. "INASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers, of the word delivered from them to us, it seemed good to me (continue Luke) also having had perfect understanding of all the things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you (and beyond to us) the certainty of those things in which you were instructed."
1, We find this Advent Narrative with a prologue in verses, chapter
1:1-4
II. THE INFANCY NARRATIVE 1:5 - 2-52
A. Announcement of Joh the Baptist's birth - Ch.1: 5-25
B. Announcement of Jesus birth - 1:26-38
C. Visit of the two mothers - 1:39-56
D. John the Baptist's birth - 1:57-80
E. Jesus' birth - 2:1-40
And so it begins.........and these are the main players in this wonderful story.
1st we have Luke… Greek in nationality: a physician well-educated according to the standards of the day. He was obviously a disciple of Jesus, a friend and often companion/scribe to Paul on his missionary journeys, and the author of the book of Acts.
2nd. We read of Theophilus, of whom we know very little but obviously well- educated and curious about this Jesus he has heard so much about.
3rd. Enter stage left…Herod, who is Herod the Great and who at a later date will play an even larger role in the continuation into adulthood of Jesus.
4th. Things start to get really interesting when the Priest Zacharias enters the scene, not only being a priest but the husband of Elizabeth, cousin to Mary.
5th. Yes, Elizabeth, barren beyond her child-bearing years, wife of Zacharias who will become miraculously pregnant, bringing forth around the same time period as Jesus is born. Much can be read about John.
6th. The supernatural is about to enter the scene in an unexpected time and manner, to Zacharias, as it is his time as a priest to serve in the Temple. This appearance being the angel Gabriel telling him of Elizabeth’s coming pregnancy, and birth of their son, going so far as to give him the name he is to be called by, but because of Zacharias not believing, looking at the natural instead of the One who stood before him, he Zacharias would be mute during the entire time of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
7th. Mary…..the central person in the narrative is suddenly visited also by Gabriel, as he tells her of her upcoming role in being chosen to be the Mother of the Messiah, further explaining her role and some of those events and happenings coming her way. Mary….a humble hand-maid as she calls herself take a different attitude than that of Zacharias with these words, “Behold the maid-servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
8th. John, coming in his adult years to be known as John the Baptist is born. It is the time of his presentation and circumcision. Leadership prepared to name their son Zacharias is told by Elizabeth his name is to be John. They are astonished…looking to Zacharias. He asked for tablet on which to write the name John…when suddenly he could speak, and so he did, praising God, and speaking forth a prophecy that to the word would be fulfilled.
9th. Caesar Augustus, a tool in the hands of God proclaimed that all the resident of Israel needed to go to their own cities to be registered in a census for the purpose of taxation. Joseph, Mary journeyed to Bethlehem because Joseph was a descendant of King David.
10th. Verse 7 of Luke 2 tells us of the momentous event. “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in ‘Swaddling cloths’, and laid Him in a manger because there was not room for them in the inn.”
(Swaddling cloths are long strips of cloth with the sole purpose of wrapping infants in those days.)
Centuries have passed, the Prophets had spoken, and the people had wondered if indeed the Prince, the future King would ever arrive. Because of them being ruled by the Romans, they hope, prayed and pleaded for God to send the King Messiah as promised, but little did they know in what manner He would come.
11th. A clear, cold and starlight night. The light murmur of sheep moving and breathing was comforting the Shepherds during the long night, little knowing what was about to burst into their lives as an Angel appeared to them, Vs. 11-12, most likely Gabriel himself saying, “Do not be afraid, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!
12th. Angels, lots and lots of Angels, in fact a multitude of them praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, good will toward mankind.”
13th. We now move to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter II, verses 1-2, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the day of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
The narrative goes on from here, but have you ever wondered about these three wise men? Who they really were, what they really were, and where in the East did, they come from? Well…. stay tuned to this channel and next week you will find out the answer to these questions and more, plus more of the narrative of the most wonderful story ever told.
amen
The History of Advent
December 8, 2019
by Pastor Tom Shanor
Advent as most of us are aware, is the season observed by many (but not all) Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation, for both the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but perhaps you didn't know this, also the return of Jesus at His Second Coming. The term Advent in its singular meaning is simply "coming".
Advent is also the beginning of what is known as the Western Christian Liturgical Year, which involves the beginning of using what is established yearly Scripture in liturgy, and public worship services along with celebratory days and events, again, using long-established Scriptures relating to those observations. The season of Advent again in the Western Church, begins on the fourth Sunday before the actual day Christmas falls on, and Celebrated specifically by the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican, Lutheran, Moravian, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist calendars/churches. It is not usually celebrated by Evangelicals overall.
The date on which Advent was celebrated first, or who started these weeks as a time of recognition and celebration, cannot be determined. The nearest time that it can be traced to about 480 ad., and in its fullness is celebrated by recognizing all of the three comings of Christ: in the flesh in Bethlehem, in our hearts daily, and in Glory at the beginning of His earthly reign, before the end of time as we know it.
The practices we express this celebration with include, keeping an Advent calendar, lighting of the four candles on the Advent wreath. First the Prophets' candle, symbolizing HOPE; the Bethlehem Candle, symbolizing PEACE; the Shepard’s' Candle symbolizing JOY; the Angel's Candle, symbolizing LOVE, and lastly the Christ Candle symbolizing THE SUMMATION OF HOPE-PEACE-JOY-LOVE, IN AND EXAMPLED by the Lighting of the Christ Candle. Along with these, praying a daily devotional, erecting a Christmas tree or A Crimson tree, which is a bold tree in its’ foliage, with its dark dense shades, and deeply lobed leaves with maroon-purple foliage representing the blood of Christ. Also the lighting of a Christingle, which is from the German heritage, represented by a white candle used as a symbol of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World.”
As I have thought about Advent, having come into its symbolism and ceremony only since my arrival at the Little Church, I have wondered why Evangelicals (as I once was) and other sects and denominations do not celebrate this observance is up for discussion? One of the reasons I came up with is; that it smacks of what is thought of as unneeded ritualism; a reminder of pageantry associated with the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, and the authority of priests and religious hierarchy, instead of the simplifying services, dating in the west back to the Pilgrims and their separation from the so called High Churches they were escaping from.
Having come from an Evangelical background, and celebrating Advent as we do here in the Little Church, I have discovered how meaningful and rich, this and other celebrations are, in that instead of detracting from the so called simplicity of the Gospel, they actually enhance both the Gospel and the lives of those for whom they carry depth and meaning.
Also, having explained that which I have, and for which I hope that perhaps you too have learned something new and meaningful, I am now going to switch gears, and move into both the minor and major characters leading up to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ that we recognize during these four weeks. They indeed are an interesting mix of secular and religious, good and bad. From low stations in life to kings and the mystery religion represented, and more.
I am now going to tell you all of their names and stations, but dwell on a few of the most unusual a bit deeper into who and what they were. God in all His mysterious ways had and still has a plan that involves a sampling of humanity in its complexity and simplicity.
The story begins in Luke, as he writes to a friend and perhaps mentor, as he says in Luke I. "INASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers, of the word delivered from them to us, it seemed good to me (continue Luke) also having had perfect understanding of all the things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you (and beyond to us) the certainty of those things in which you were instructed."
1, We find this Advent Narrative with a prologue in verses, chapter
1:1-4
II. THE INFANCY NARRATIVE 1:5 - 2-52
A. Announcement of Joh the Baptist's birth - Ch.1: 5-25
B. Announcement of Jesus birth - 1:26-38
C. Visit of the two mothers - 1:39-56
D. John the Baptist's birth - 1:57-80
E. Jesus' birth - 2:1-40
And so it begins.........and these are the main players in this wonderful story.
1st we have Luke… Greek in nationality: a physician well-educated according to the standards of the day. He was obviously a disciple of Jesus, a friend and often companion/scribe to Paul on his missionary journeys, and the author of the book of Acts.
2nd. We read of Theophilus, of whom we know very little but obviously well- educated and curious about this Jesus he has heard so much about.
3rd. Enter stage left…Herod, who is Herod the Great and who at a later date will play an even larger role in the continuation into adulthood of Jesus.
4th. Things start to get really interesting when the Priest Zacharias enters the scene, not only being a priest but the husband of Elizabeth, cousin to Mary.
5th. Yes, Elizabeth, barren beyond her child-bearing years, wife of Zacharias who will become miraculously pregnant, bringing forth around the same time period as Jesus is born. Much can be read about John.
6th. The supernatural is about to enter the scene in an unexpected time and manner, to Zacharias, as it is his time as a priest to serve in the Temple. This appearance being the angel Gabriel telling him of Elizabeth’s coming pregnancy, and birth of their son, going so far as to give him the name he is to be called by, but because of Zacharias not believing, looking at the natural instead of the One who stood before him, he Zacharias would be mute during the entire time of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
7th. Mary…..the central person in the narrative is suddenly visited also by Gabriel, as he tells her of her upcoming role in being chosen to be the Mother of the Messiah, further explaining her role and some of those events and happenings coming her way. Mary….a humble hand-maid as she calls herself take a different attitude than that of Zacharias with these words, “Behold the maid-servant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
8th. John, coming in his adult years to be known as John the Baptist is born. It is the time of his presentation and circumcision. Leadership prepared to name their son Zacharias is told by Elizabeth his name is to be John. They are astonished…looking to Zacharias. He asked for tablet on which to write the name John…when suddenly he could speak, and so he did, praising God, and speaking forth a prophecy that to the word would be fulfilled.
9th. Caesar Augustus, a tool in the hands of God proclaimed that all the resident of Israel needed to go to their own cities to be registered in a census for the purpose of taxation. Joseph, Mary journeyed to Bethlehem because Joseph was a descendant of King David.
10th. Verse 7 of Luke 2 tells us of the momentous event. “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in ‘Swaddling cloths’, and laid Him in a manger because there was not room for them in the inn.”
(Swaddling cloths are long strips of cloth with the sole purpose of wrapping infants in those days.)
Centuries have passed, the Prophets had spoken, and the people had wondered if indeed the Prince, the future King would ever arrive. Because of them being ruled by the Romans, they hope, prayed and pleaded for God to send the King Messiah as promised, but little did they know in what manner He would come.
11th. A clear, cold and starlight night. The light murmur of sheep moving and breathing was comforting the Shepherds during the long night, little knowing what was about to burst into their lives as an Angel appeared to them, Vs. 11-12, most likely Gabriel himself saying, “Do not be afraid, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be all people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!
12th. Angels, lots and lots of Angels, in fact a multitude of them praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, good will toward mankind.”
13th. We now move to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter II, verses 1-2, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the day of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
The narrative goes on from here, but have you ever wondered about these three wise men? Who they really were, what they really were, and where in the East did, they come from? Well…. stay tuned to this channel and next week you will find out the answer to these questions and more, plus more of the narrative of the most wonderful story ever told.
amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 17, 2019
"Substance" STORY (Seeing with Ears)
Hebrews 11:1 "Now 'faith' is the 'substance' of things 'hoped' for, the 'conviction' of things NOT seen."
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
There are four words that I am concentrating on this morning in this passage.
1. 'faith'
2. 'substance'
3. 'hope'
4. 'conviction'
.....Starting with the word substance. Substance may refer to 'matter', therefore anything that has mass and takes up space. Also, in reference to an issue, even a subject it means something of importance or depth. As a chemical, substance is defined as a material, with a definite chemical composition.
.....My podium has substance, looking out at all of you, you all have substance. Water even in its natural fluid state or as ice, has substance, but is not considered a pure substance, because it is made of more than one element, but it still is tangible, definable, can be seen, touched and handled. So...a pure substance is more definitively defined as being made up of only one type of atom or chemical.
.....Substance can not only be seen and felt as its mass can also be detected by hearing. A rock falling off a cliff, a tree falling in the forest, the sound of a man sound of a man (or woman) tripping on a step followed usually some words or words of exclamation and some not so nice. Here is a story of a young blind boy who learned how to judge distance by hearing and how he excelled in his acquired skill. It is called “Seeing with Ears.”
Read: "Book of Amazing Stories - Seeing with Ears" August 25 by; Robert Petterson
.....In religious terms and the Greek word as it is translated, substance is defined as such, literally meaning "a standing under" and was used in the technical sense of a "title deed." Judge Judy, whether you like her or not, she knows the law, and sticks to letter of the law, such as in a contract. Once signed….the signee is the owner, inheritor and etc. All the arguments and protestations by the one who signed the contract, whether duped or coerced into signing, doesn’t matter.
…..The root idea is that of standing under the claim of property to support its validity. Therefore, faith is THE SUBSTANCE or TITLE DEED of all our hopes in the Person of Jesus Christ, and ALL HE IS, TAUGHT AND STANDS FOR.
.....Over two-thousand years now, with all the religious power plays, of corruption and schism, religious wars and rumors of wars, division and strife, the rise and fall of nations, the advancement of technology, from horse drawn carts to walking on the moon, forays into deep space, from wind and oar powered boats to exploring the depths of the oceans, Jesus Christ, the man/God of substance still stands, still speaks, is quoted more than any other personage on the face of the earth and who proves time and time again that his substance is from everlasting to everlasting. His words through His teachings of substance have singularly changed the world, giving it hope and direction.
...Substance in our daily lives is all too easily crowded out today by our drive for entertainment, technology, massive amounts of information. So, few know what it means to reflect, to ponder, to think about something to a conclusion. In fact, we often deliberately avoid doing so. Taking time apart for quiet thought and reflection, as well as taking time apart to spend time in prayer, thereby helping us to realize our hopes and desires beyond the material, is it too much to ask of us. Wisdom therefore evades us by not doing so.
.....In our religious culture today, little time is taken by many churches during their services, to fully reflect and understand the importance of coming to the Table of the Lord. Communion is based on communication, or communing in thanksgiving and true worship, of the One in whose name and life we are coming together under His covering.
...In saying what I am about to say, I ask that you take it with the spirit with which I am delivering it, which is in the spirit of kindness, challenge and love. Emotion....and seeking to feel good has often replaced depth, a sense of holiness and a connection with the very Spirit of God. Music in much of today's religious culture has replaced ceremony, ritual and depth all too often, and the people are starving for substance and don't even know it. There is a top 10 chart for Christian music, based on which song is selling the most recordings. It's not always the depth and insight of the song that is selling, but how it catches on and becomes temporarily popular.
.....I listen to K-Love sometimes, and at times 'feel emotion' in what I am hearing, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's good to feel, but it is not good to use those 'feelings' as a measuring rod of our spiritual depth and maturity. God help us if we do that, because those emotions can be misleading and even harmful if unchecked. Some of the songs I have heard are at times scriptural incorrect just to make the song work. We must examine everything by the light of the Word of God
.....So do I think that our services need to be somber and 'religious’? I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT! Do I think that we have to only sing old time-proven hymns, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Although I do think that for every hymn written a story of substance can be told. Do I think we can't have humor, laughter and even fun in our services? You certainly know the answer to that one, and you know that from my approach is varied. Scripture says, Make A Joyful Noise unto the Lord, and sing to the Lord a New Song. I am saying though....that it is my hope and desire that we, together, are during our services and beyond, building a faith of substance and of eternal duration.
FAITH..........
.....Our Christian 'faith' should be the substance on which we build up from its foundation the rest of our lives....not as an attachment to, fitting our gathering together as the sole purpose for coming here, but to grow our individual and collective faith in depth, as stated above. Our Christian faith means believing God's promises in Christ, trusting in His 'faithfulness' in both the good times and the sometimes very hard times. It also means relying on God's character and His own faithfulness, to do as in Christ He says He will, even when it seems He isn't.
….."The substance or assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, as in the Ben’s life. It includes a belief in the existence of God, in the reality of a transcendent domain from which God administers His Kingdom, and in the benevolence of the will of God and His plan for all of humankind.
.....In our 'faith' we differ from other Abrahamic religions, in that our focus is on the teachings of Jesus, and His place as was prophesied, the Christ /Messiah....his life, death and resurrection.
....I don't know if you are aware of a meeting among various denominations and sects that took place in 1999, for the purpose of unifying Christians even with our diversity in denominations and sects. It is called the "Doctrine of Justification." Despite the differences among the gathered group, came this vital declaration. That "'faith' in the written historical Jesus, and who He was and is, lies at the core of all our traditions, and that such faith is required in order to be a Christian."
.....In our gathering here this morning, I would venture to say, that there are more than a half dozen historical denominational and non-denominational backgrounds in our midst. Does it matter...it does not, for our focus is simply on what I just said, unity in Christ, who He is, and our worship services are a blend of several of these backgrounds. As long as in 'faith' we have unity in Him, even our liturgical or non-liturgical backgrounds come together, as we worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and His self-sacrificing love shown to us, for us.
CONVICTION.....
Hebrews 11:1 "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things NOT seen.
.....Conviction means "the act or process of convincing." This can come about by a convinced person who convinces us, or just by our own reading, praying, pondering and thinking, which when convinced, becomes 'a fixed or strong belief." Thus, by biblical conviction, we mean convictions or beliefs derived from and based on commitment to Scripture, the Bible, as God's Holy Word. For Christians, as we revere the Old Testament, most of our spiritual and moral authority comes from the New Testament, in particular the teachings and examples of Jesus. There are three primary things that characterize the ideal Christian, be they leader or simply a person of maturity.
1. A commitment to our understanding of Scripture as our authority.
2. The construction of specific beliefs and convictions based on that authority.
3. The courage to live and act on those convictions in 'faith.'
HOPE
Things hoped for.
What is it we hoped and hope for? How about a long healthy life with enough money to put food on the table, or a new car, or simply a car that really meets our needs? How about kids and grand-kids, and even great grand-kids? How about a deep vibrant walk with the Lord or the baptism of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues or more? Perhaps we should hope for a deeper understanding of Grace, forgiveness and even freedom from fear.
What is it you hoped and hope for today?
What is hope....this elusive but ever present desire, as hope is another word for desire cloaked in religious terms.
Hope hoped and hoping are spoken 75 times in the New International Bible. Therefore, it is a very important part of our 'faith.'
Here are some quotes written by people whom we will recognize.
HOPE - C.S. Lewis..."A continual looking forward to the eternal world."
Dale Carnegie..."Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seem to be no hope at all.
John Bunyon who wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress said; "Hope is never ill when faith is well."
Emily Dickinson..."Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tune without words/And never stops...at all."
Cicero...."While there is life, there's hope."
What I HOPE to do every Sunday, is offer hope with a challenge, through my messages, through our services, and through our unity in the Spirit, raise our hopes that in Christ, and in tandem with each other....we can grow spiritually in understanding....and in love, and in turn both show and give a measure of hope to those outside these walls both to the community in which we live, and to the visitors that will coming in here from all over the world.
I hope that we, by faith, in the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.....walk as He walked, in strength, humility, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control,. Against all of these there is no law.
We can do all things.... through Christ who gives us the strength and ability to accomplish these.
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 17, 2019
"Substance" STORY (Seeing with Ears)
Hebrews 11:1 "Now 'faith' is the 'substance' of things 'hoped' for, the 'conviction' of things NOT seen."
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
There are four words that I am concentrating on this morning in this passage.
1. 'faith'
2. 'substance'
3. 'hope'
4. 'conviction'
.....Starting with the word substance. Substance may refer to 'matter', therefore anything that has mass and takes up space. Also, in reference to an issue, even a subject it means something of importance or depth. As a chemical, substance is defined as a material, with a definite chemical composition.
.....My podium has substance, looking out at all of you, you all have substance. Water even in its natural fluid state or as ice, has substance, but is not considered a pure substance, because it is made of more than one element, but it still is tangible, definable, can be seen, touched and handled. So...a pure substance is more definitively defined as being made up of only one type of atom or chemical.
.....Substance can not only be seen and felt as its mass can also be detected by hearing. A rock falling off a cliff, a tree falling in the forest, the sound of a man sound of a man (or woman) tripping on a step followed usually some words or words of exclamation and some not so nice. Here is a story of a young blind boy who learned how to judge distance by hearing and how he excelled in his acquired skill. It is called “Seeing with Ears.”
Read: "Book of Amazing Stories - Seeing with Ears" August 25 by; Robert Petterson
.....In religious terms and the Greek word as it is translated, substance is defined as such, literally meaning "a standing under" and was used in the technical sense of a "title deed." Judge Judy, whether you like her or not, she knows the law, and sticks to letter of the law, such as in a contract. Once signed….the signee is the owner, inheritor and etc. All the arguments and protestations by the one who signed the contract, whether duped or coerced into signing, doesn’t matter.
…..The root idea is that of standing under the claim of property to support its validity. Therefore, faith is THE SUBSTANCE or TITLE DEED of all our hopes in the Person of Jesus Christ, and ALL HE IS, TAUGHT AND STANDS FOR.
.....Over two-thousand years now, with all the religious power plays, of corruption and schism, religious wars and rumors of wars, division and strife, the rise and fall of nations, the advancement of technology, from horse drawn carts to walking on the moon, forays into deep space, from wind and oar powered boats to exploring the depths of the oceans, Jesus Christ, the man/God of substance still stands, still speaks, is quoted more than any other personage on the face of the earth and who proves time and time again that his substance is from everlasting to everlasting. His words through His teachings of substance have singularly changed the world, giving it hope and direction.
...Substance in our daily lives is all too easily crowded out today by our drive for entertainment, technology, massive amounts of information. So, few know what it means to reflect, to ponder, to think about something to a conclusion. In fact, we often deliberately avoid doing so. Taking time apart for quiet thought and reflection, as well as taking time apart to spend time in prayer, thereby helping us to realize our hopes and desires beyond the material, is it too much to ask of us. Wisdom therefore evades us by not doing so.
.....In our religious culture today, little time is taken by many churches during their services, to fully reflect and understand the importance of coming to the Table of the Lord. Communion is based on communication, or communing in thanksgiving and true worship, of the One in whose name and life we are coming together under His covering.
...In saying what I am about to say, I ask that you take it with the spirit with which I am delivering it, which is in the spirit of kindness, challenge and love. Emotion....and seeking to feel good has often replaced depth, a sense of holiness and a connection with the very Spirit of God. Music in much of today's religious culture has replaced ceremony, ritual and depth all too often, and the people are starving for substance and don't even know it. There is a top 10 chart for Christian music, based on which song is selling the most recordings. It's not always the depth and insight of the song that is selling, but how it catches on and becomes temporarily popular.
.....I listen to K-Love sometimes, and at times 'feel emotion' in what I am hearing, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's good to feel, but it is not good to use those 'feelings' as a measuring rod of our spiritual depth and maturity. God help us if we do that, because those emotions can be misleading and even harmful if unchecked. Some of the songs I have heard are at times scriptural incorrect just to make the song work. We must examine everything by the light of the Word of God
.....So do I think that our services need to be somber and 'religious’? I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT! Do I think that we have to only sing old time-proven hymns, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Although I do think that for every hymn written a story of substance can be told. Do I think we can't have humor, laughter and even fun in our services? You certainly know the answer to that one, and you know that from my approach is varied. Scripture says, Make A Joyful Noise unto the Lord, and sing to the Lord a New Song. I am saying though....that it is my hope and desire that we, together, are during our services and beyond, building a faith of substance and of eternal duration.
FAITH..........
.....Our Christian 'faith' should be the substance on which we build up from its foundation the rest of our lives....not as an attachment to, fitting our gathering together as the sole purpose for coming here, but to grow our individual and collective faith in depth, as stated above. Our Christian faith means believing God's promises in Christ, trusting in His 'faithfulness' in both the good times and the sometimes very hard times. It also means relying on God's character and His own faithfulness, to do as in Christ He says He will, even when it seems He isn't.
….."The substance or assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, as in the Ben’s life. It includes a belief in the existence of God, in the reality of a transcendent domain from which God administers His Kingdom, and in the benevolence of the will of God and His plan for all of humankind.
.....In our 'faith' we differ from other Abrahamic religions, in that our focus is on the teachings of Jesus, and His place as was prophesied, the Christ /Messiah....his life, death and resurrection.
....I don't know if you are aware of a meeting among various denominations and sects that took place in 1999, for the purpose of unifying Christians even with our diversity in denominations and sects. It is called the "Doctrine of Justification." Despite the differences among the gathered group, came this vital declaration. That "'faith' in the written historical Jesus, and who He was and is, lies at the core of all our traditions, and that such faith is required in order to be a Christian."
.....In our gathering here this morning, I would venture to say, that there are more than a half dozen historical denominational and non-denominational backgrounds in our midst. Does it matter...it does not, for our focus is simply on what I just said, unity in Christ, who He is, and our worship services are a blend of several of these backgrounds. As long as in 'faith' we have unity in Him, even our liturgical or non-liturgical backgrounds come together, as we worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and His self-sacrificing love shown to us, for us.
CONVICTION.....
Hebrews 11:1 "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things NOT seen.
.....Conviction means "the act or process of convincing." This can come about by a convinced person who convinces us, or just by our own reading, praying, pondering and thinking, which when convinced, becomes 'a fixed or strong belief." Thus, by biblical conviction, we mean convictions or beliefs derived from and based on commitment to Scripture, the Bible, as God's Holy Word. For Christians, as we revere the Old Testament, most of our spiritual and moral authority comes from the New Testament, in particular the teachings and examples of Jesus. There are three primary things that characterize the ideal Christian, be they leader or simply a person of maturity.
1. A commitment to our understanding of Scripture as our authority.
2. The construction of specific beliefs and convictions based on that authority.
3. The courage to live and act on those convictions in 'faith.'
HOPE
Things hoped for.
What is it we hoped and hope for? How about a long healthy life with enough money to put food on the table, or a new car, or simply a car that really meets our needs? How about kids and grand-kids, and even great grand-kids? How about a deep vibrant walk with the Lord or the baptism of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues or more? Perhaps we should hope for a deeper understanding of Grace, forgiveness and even freedom from fear.
What is it you hoped and hope for today?
What is hope....this elusive but ever present desire, as hope is another word for desire cloaked in religious terms.
Hope hoped and hoping are spoken 75 times in the New International Bible. Therefore, it is a very important part of our 'faith.'
Here are some quotes written by people whom we will recognize.
HOPE - C.S. Lewis..."A continual looking forward to the eternal world."
Dale Carnegie..."Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seem to be no hope at all.
John Bunyon who wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress said; "Hope is never ill when faith is well."
Emily Dickinson..."Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tune without words/And never stops...at all."
Cicero...."While there is life, there's hope."
What I HOPE to do every Sunday, is offer hope with a challenge, through my messages, through our services, and through our unity in the Spirit, raise our hopes that in Christ, and in tandem with each other....we can grow spiritually in understanding....and in love, and in turn both show and give a measure of hope to those outside these walls both to the community in which we live, and to the visitors that will coming in here from all over the world.
I hope that we, by faith, in the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.....walk as He walked, in strength, humility, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control,. Against all of these there is no law.
We can do all things.... through Christ who gives us the strength and ability to accomplish these.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
November 10, 2019
" Conflicting Gods - or not "
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Matthew 5:17...."Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose."
The role of the Prophets was two-fold as they spoke for God in communicating with the people.
1. To keep the people on the right path in how to live for Him.
2. To keep fresh in their hearts and minds, the reality of the coming
of the Messiah.
With Jesus, righteousness no longer consists by observance of an external legal code. He sees us, you and I as apprentices to Himself as Master Teacher, with inspiration and understanding, as the Holy Spirit reveals the truths Jesus teaches and empowers us to accomplish. Jesus Himself has fulfilled the Law and He has become our true righteousness. Please know that as God sees us, he sees us through His Son. Because of our high calling into His one on one discipleship with us, it is our role and position to be faithful to Him by being obedient to His commands.
The greatest of these teachings and commandments He tells us is to; "Love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and our neighbor as our-self." "On these two commandments stand all the Law and the Prophets." Again…………the big three!
1. God 2. Neighbor 3. Self
That doesn’t sound too difficult now, does it?
John 10:30....the Father and I are ONE. Since the Father and the Son are One...in understanding that statement, we are to also understand that they are in unity in every way. Every word spoken, every deed done....in unity. This is in regards to both the Old Covenant and the New. The journey they have taken us through, starting with Abraham to today, is exactly as it is supposed to be and has been.
With the fulfillment of Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection, both the Old and New Covenants are now one. What we should also understand is that in many cases in regards to us, GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW.
The TEN COMMANDMENTS are the ROCK on which the moral and spiritual codes rest as The foundation for righteousness in Christ. Many other laws that the religious leaders added to the LAW have become superfluous, as again" they were fulfilled in Christ alone. The major question is which is what and what is which…..and as GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW, SO DOES LOVE TRUMP THEM ALL.
Over 20 years ago in Lander I had several in my then congregation come to me and ask when I was going to stop preaching on LOVE so often. My answer was when you and I really understand and get it. They had become survivalists who equated all their guns and stores, as co-equal with being a Christian. Their convictions were founded primarily in the Old Covenant principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”, along with God helps those who help themselves," which of course the latter is not found in the Bible anywhere.
The Old Testament/Covenant has been and is for them, with its eye for eye and tooth for tooth, the sole source of their version of Christianity, not understanding that in the cultural progression of humanity, God all along, had and has a progressive or on going plan. That plan is a plan for peace, and a plan LOVE to one day reign above all else on this earth as it does in Heaven.
For two thousand years many Christians have been trying to marry the Old Testament and the New as equal, so that they when in conflict over a person or an issue, have two options at times which are available, choosing one over another did not or does not present a moral problem. This then allows personal choice(s) that could and can be backed up either way. In regards as to how to live today, and because of their justifying choices(s), there have been wars, strife, confusion, chaos, religious powerhouses, annihilation of people groups, enslavement, etc. We....you are I are called to live like Christ Jesus, and He alone…..and again, what is the bottom line? LOVE and wisdom handled by us, and treat ourselves and others as the Lord Himself instructs us. This doesn’t mean we can’t protect ourselves and our families. The early Christians as we know, were put in the arena to the gladiators and lions to be ripped apart and killed, BECAUSE of their faith, not because of any other reason. When it comes to protection, whether because of nation or of self and family, and or neighbors, for any reason other than for our faith we can stand together as one. I know that is a controversial statement, and that is my opinion though it may not be yours.
The Old Testament is awesome in its historical richness, and as spiritual arrows pointing to what was to come, we (men) often take what we want from the Old to negate the New, and it should be the reverse. One foot in the Old and one foot in the New should not be left to personal desires or prejudices. Unless indeed we are very in the wisdom of God, we can cause great confusion and harm. Slavery and the repercussions, haunts us as a nation to this day. Slavery was preached from the pulpits of churches that it was Biblically acceptable to subject human beings to a life of servitude, abuse and ownership.
Jesus said in Mark 2:21-22, "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse." "And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; or else the new wine burst the wine skins, the wine is spilled, and the wine skins are ruined. But new wine MUST be put into new wine skins."
Man...Christian men and women, especially those in power, have used the Old to justify taking over countries, existing governments and even neighbors. Columbus of whom we just celebrated a day set aside to remember this great explorer, wrote in his journal, describing the darker skinned races they encountered as sub-human, and worthy only of being made slaves, going so far as to give girls as young as nine to his officers, and to whomever he wanted, as sex slaves, and that was only one of the many things done by this so called Christian man.
You can see we seemingly have CONFLICTING GOD’S, one it seems as being the God of wrath and anger, or the God of Love and peace. With Scripture we can often justify by examples in the Bible almost anything we desire. Our culture, as it so called evolves and changes from generation to generation, chooses it seems, to find some new thing also to focus on for prejudice or for hatred. The Old Testament Law enforcement….desires an enemy, and there are legitimate enemies, but all too often we focus on those that are not, and make them as such because of our own self-righteousness.
Matthew 5:44….Jesus own words here so listen closely. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ‘that’ you may be sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven. He…causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good alike, and sends rain to the righteous and unrighteousness.” The way this was written in Greek, it means mankind which in turn, permits the inclusion of daughters.
How do we do this? Is Jesus asking the impossible, as for many of us it just doesn’t make sense in self-protective logic? I have to say that I have not fully resolved it myself, but I do want to do and be, what my Lord calls me to be, and that is to be LIKE HIM!
I believe He calls you and I to a higher calling, and that higher calling is to simply, (though it is not simple), LIKE HIM!
Within Christianity there are sects such as the original Quakers, the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Anabaptists and others who do and have done just this, and have suffered unjustly and deeply because of it.
CONFLICTING GODS….one of the Old Covenant, and one of the New Covenant. In Christ alone…..we find the unity of both. I believe with all my heart if I live like Jesus, learning and applying every word that came out of His mouth, and by every reaction to all the situations He found Himself in, and how He handled each as an example to you, as to how to live the Christian life.
I pose to you, each of you this morning to think about what I have shared with you. It is my hope and desire for you to question who and what you do believe about Jesus Christ, and do you skim over the ones you don’t like or agree fully with.
Is an “eye for an eye” as an example, one of your core beliefs, or “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven?”
I ask again, is Jesus asking the impossible or was He just carried away in asking us to live like Him? Is His a Higher Calling to us, or are the teachings such as this one truly meant to be followed, and how?
In most ways it is easier to follow the letter of law, than it is to live by faith in grace and love. It is easier to follow the doctrine of your preference taught to you, than it is to questions and research on your own, to settle on what you truly believe and why. Why are we not taught, to question and research?
The unique and high graces Jesus taught us, include behaviors such as gratitude, admitting weaknesses and even failures, self-controlling our emotions, expressing hurt and disappointments, confronting and forgiving, asking for help, differing graciously, negotiating with wisdom, competing desires, taking the first step to resolve conflicts, upholding wise boundaries, saying simple yes and no, winning and losing graciously, creating win-win outcomes, speaking truth in love, speaking truth founded in God’s word with-out personal prejudices, asking good questions, requesting feedback, expressing affection appropriately, opening one’s heart, giving gifts and seeking wise counsel when needed.
Without these basic human and specifically Christian qualities, it takes discipline and desire to if necessary, change. We are all sons and daughters of the God of Grace, Mercy, Hope and Love, leaving the retribution to Him.
To have this attitude, leads to allowing a shift when recognized, to go where God leads us by the Word and by the Spirit.
I find myself evolving as I take to heart His Love for me by His Love, teachings and examples of how to respond and live. I am not always successful, but that’s ok too……for I am just human and He well knows that! That’s the big challenge…just being human in the way we are called to be fully human.
Amen
P.S. My goal at times in my messages, is not to give you the answer, but to challenge you to study, research and hopefully, you will find the answer God would have you come to with His help.
November 10, 2019
" Conflicting Gods - or not "
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Matthew 5:17...."Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose."
The role of the Prophets was two-fold as they spoke for God in communicating with the people.
1. To keep the people on the right path in how to live for Him.
2. To keep fresh in their hearts and minds, the reality of the coming
of the Messiah.
With Jesus, righteousness no longer consists by observance of an external legal code. He sees us, you and I as apprentices to Himself as Master Teacher, with inspiration and understanding, as the Holy Spirit reveals the truths Jesus teaches and empowers us to accomplish. Jesus Himself has fulfilled the Law and He has become our true righteousness. Please know that as God sees us, he sees us through His Son. Because of our high calling into His one on one discipleship with us, it is our role and position to be faithful to Him by being obedient to His commands.
The greatest of these teachings and commandments He tells us is to; "Love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and our neighbor as our-self." "On these two commandments stand all the Law and the Prophets." Again…………the big three!
1. God 2. Neighbor 3. Self
That doesn’t sound too difficult now, does it?
John 10:30....the Father and I are ONE. Since the Father and the Son are One...in understanding that statement, we are to also understand that they are in unity in every way. Every word spoken, every deed done....in unity. This is in regards to both the Old Covenant and the New. The journey they have taken us through, starting with Abraham to today, is exactly as it is supposed to be and has been.
With the fulfillment of Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection, both the Old and New Covenants are now one. What we should also understand is that in many cases in regards to us, GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW.
The TEN COMMANDMENTS are the ROCK on which the moral and spiritual codes rest as The foundation for righteousness in Christ. Many other laws that the religious leaders added to the LAW have become superfluous, as again" they were fulfilled in Christ alone. The major question is which is what and what is which…..and as GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW, SO DOES LOVE TRUMP THEM ALL.
Over 20 years ago in Lander I had several in my then congregation come to me and ask when I was going to stop preaching on LOVE so often. My answer was when you and I really understand and get it. They had become survivalists who equated all their guns and stores, as co-equal with being a Christian. Their convictions were founded primarily in the Old Covenant principle of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”, along with God helps those who help themselves," which of course the latter is not found in the Bible anywhere.
The Old Testament/Covenant has been and is for them, with its eye for eye and tooth for tooth, the sole source of their version of Christianity, not understanding that in the cultural progression of humanity, God all along, had and has a progressive or on going plan. That plan is a plan for peace, and a plan LOVE to one day reign above all else on this earth as it does in Heaven.
For two thousand years many Christians have been trying to marry the Old Testament and the New as equal, so that they when in conflict over a person or an issue, have two options at times which are available, choosing one over another did not or does not present a moral problem. This then allows personal choice(s) that could and can be backed up either way. In regards as to how to live today, and because of their justifying choices(s), there have been wars, strife, confusion, chaos, religious powerhouses, annihilation of people groups, enslavement, etc. We....you are I are called to live like Christ Jesus, and He alone…..and again, what is the bottom line? LOVE and wisdom handled by us, and treat ourselves and others as the Lord Himself instructs us. This doesn’t mean we can’t protect ourselves and our families. The early Christians as we know, were put in the arena to the gladiators and lions to be ripped apart and killed, BECAUSE of their faith, not because of any other reason. When it comes to protection, whether because of nation or of self and family, and or neighbors, for any reason other than for our faith we can stand together as one. I know that is a controversial statement, and that is my opinion though it may not be yours.
The Old Testament is awesome in its historical richness, and as spiritual arrows pointing to what was to come, we (men) often take what we want from the Old to negate the New, and it should be the reverse. One foot in the Old and one foot in the New should not be left to personal desires or prejudices. Unless indeed we are very in the wisdom of God, we can cause great confusion and harm. Slavery and the repercussions, haunts us as a nation to this day. Slavery was preached from the pulpits of churches that it was Biblically acceptable to subject human beings to a life of servitude, abuse and ownership.
Jesus said in Mark 2:21-22, "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse." "And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; or else the new wine burst the wine skins, the wine is spilled, and the wine skins are ruined. But new wine MUST be put into new wine skins."
Man...Christian men and women, especially those in power, have used the Old to justify taking over countries, existing governments and even neighbors. Columbus of whom we just celebrated a day set aside to remember this great explorer, wrote in his journal, describing the darker skinned races they encountered as sub-human, and worthy only of being made slaves, going so far as to give girls as young as nine to his officers, and to whomever he wanted, as sex slaves, and that was only one of the many things done by this so called Christian man.
You can see we seemingly have CONFLICTING GOD’S, one it seems as being the God of wrath and anger, or the God of Love and peace. With Scripture we can often justify by examples in the Bible almost anything we desire. Our culture, as it so called evolves and changes from generation to generation, chooses it seems, to find some new thing also to focus on for prejudice or for hatred. The Old Testament Law enforcement….desires an enemy, and there are legitimate enemies, but all too often we focus on those that are not, and make them as such because of our own self-righteousness.
Matthew 5:44….Jesus own words here so listen closely. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ‘that’ you may be sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven. He…causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good alike, and sends rain to the righteous and unrighteousness.” The way this was written in Greek, it means mankind which in turn, permits the inclusion of daughters.
How do we do this? Is Jesus asking the impossible, as for many of us it just doesn’t make sense in self-protective logic? I have to say that I have not fully resolved it myself, but I do want to do and be, what my Lord calls me to be, and that is to be LIKE HIM!
I believe He calls you and I to a higher calling, and that higher calling is to simply, (though it is not simple), LIKE HIM!
Within Christianity there are sects such as the original Quakers, the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Anabaptists and others who do and have done just this, and have suffered unjustly and deeply because of it.
CONFLICTING GODS….one of the Old Covenant, and one of the New Covenant. In Christ alone…..we find the unity of both. I believe with all my heart if I live like Jesus, learning and applying every word that came out of His mouth, and by every reaction to all the situations He found Himself in, and how He handled each as an example to you, as to how to live the Christian life.
I pose to you, each of you this morning to think about what I have shared with you. It is my hope and desire for you to question who and what you do believe about Jesus Christ, and do you skim over the ones you don’t like or agree fully with.
Is an “eye for an eye” as an example, one of your core beliefs, or “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in Heaven?”
I ask again, is Jesus asking the impossible or was He just carried away in asking us to live like Him? Is His a Higher Calling to us, or are the teachings such as this one truly meant to be followed, and how?
In most ways it is easier to follow the letter of law, than it is to live by faith in grace and love. It is easier to follow the doctrine of your preference taught to you, than it is to questions and research on your own, to settle on what you truly believe and why. Why are we not taught, to question and research?
The unique and high graces Jesus taught us, include behaviors such as gratitude, admitting weaknesses and even failures, self-controlling our emotions, expressing hurt and disappointments, confronting and forgiving, asking for help, differing graciously, negotiating with wisdom, competing desires, taking the first step to resolve conflicts, upholding wise boundaries, saying simple yes and no, winning and losing graciously, creating win-win outcomes, speaking truth in love, speaking truth founded in God’s word with-out personal prejudices, asking good questions, requesting feedback, expressing affection appropriately, opening one’s heart, giving gifts and seeking wise counsel when needed.
Without these basic human and specifically Christian qualities, it takes discipline and desire to if necessary, change. We are all sons and daughters of the God of Grace, Mercy, Hope and Love, leaving the retribution to Him.
To have this attitude, leads to allowing a shift when recognized, to go where God leads us by the Word and by the Spirit.
I find myself evolving as I take to heart His Love for me by His Love, teachings and examples of how to respond and live. I am not always successful, but that’s ok too……for I am just human and He well knows that! That’s the big challenge…just being human in the way we are called to be fully human.
Amen
P.S. My goal at times in my messages, is not to give you the answer, but to challenge you to study, research and hopefully, you will find the answer God would have you come to with His help.
The Little Church in the Pines
"Stability . . . .in times of change"
PSALM 18:2 - 1 SAMUEL 2:2 - JOHN 10:10 - DEUTERONOMY 33:27
November 3rd, 2019
Pastor, Tom Shanor
I am 8 years old sledding down the snow-covered road on my Flexible Flyer, at an all too fast speed. Part way down I hear the fire department's siren wailing consistently in short but deep blasts. The first thing I think of that it is an air-raid, and I stop as quickly as I can, so that I can run home. On the way I imagine an Atomic Bomb is on its way and that we will all be killed. I am frightened as any little kid or adult would be if indeed it were an A-Bomb. Death even then was very real.
I was born on June 6, 1945, exactly a year after the Invasion of Normandy, hence not a baby boomer, but a war baby. It would be two months before the war began to end that fatal day on August 9th, when two Atomic bombs are dropped, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki.
The Cold War was already happening, having started in 1947, lasting through 1991. During those years came the acceleration of the mass production of Atomic, then Hydrogen bomb, missiles, silos, threats back and forth between Russia and the United States. Shortly following the start of the Cold War, comes the Korean War, beginning in 1950 and ending in 1953.
In the early years of the Cold War comes the Korean War, where more of our young men are sent to fight on foreign soil, 33, 652 of them being killed and many more injured for life. Yet we relieve in our minds the simplicity and unity of the 50's, but with an ever-present fear on our minds and shoulders
1962 arrives, me now a Junior in High School, Khrushchev tries to sneak Atomic bombs and missiles into Cuba under the nose of JFK and the country. War seems imminent......the 13-day crisis has us all deeply worried and fearful. We don't back down; missiles are removed and the crisis is over.
Yet...becomes known as the Vietnam War actually begun in 1955 is escalating, being a war that last 20 years, 57,939 soldiers killed or missing on our side and approximately 250,000 on their side. No one was a real winner in that one....but then comes 190 and the Gulf War and in 2003, the Iraq War, the Middle East becoming a hot bed of death and destruction, continuing to this day. 911 stands as a monument to an outflow of the beginning of that war, though it too had been seething underneath far before that, Guerilla warfare, terrorists, divisions and strife, refugees, turmoil in South America, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Africa and here.
Sorry, but no light sermon here today, for Matthew 24:5-13, reads, "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places." "All these are the beginnings of sorrows." "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and for will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." And many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another."
We talk about how we hate change, fear change, but change is what the evolving of our world, galaxy and universe is. There is nothing static, nothing. Revolving, evolving, expanding, aging, just like us!
As people of faith, as Christ Believers, knowing that change is inevitable, why do we resist it as much as we do. Christianity itself has changed, evolved with each new cultural advance and decline. I am preparing a sermon on the evolution of the church, having started out as One Faith, beginning before the Reformation and even before Constantine, then beyond the Reformation to today. Many of today's branches bear little resemblance to the early church, focusing on sometimes obscure thought and beliefs as their foundation.
The Scriptures I read as the foundation of today's message, are anchors that can help us when both desired and unwanted change comes our way. If we hold onto the foundational beliefs that our Lord, the Holy Spirit and forefathers died to give us, we can stay stead in our faith and in our minds and hearts no matter what comes our way. Be they physical, cultural, mental, emotional and spiritual.
The changes that we are told of in Matthew 24, are not to be ignored or rejected. These are realities of which some are happening at this very time. In my opinion these are sobering and unsettling days, although they always have been, there is such an unhealthy atmosphere of OFFENSE, where we are unwilling to listen and reason together, for the good of our nation and we individually, that no good can come from the mind-set that we are immersed in today. Where has reason and communication, real communication gone?
STABILITY IN TIMES OF CHANGE.....if we don't have it individually, we won't have it collectively. That does not mean we all have to think the same, but we have to be able to talk, again, reason and yes, compromise in areas that are for the benefit of all.
There several words from the Scriptures that were read that I am going to cover. These words in and of themselves and in conjunction with what is being said will help us as we wonder, worry and stress.
Psalm 18:2, "The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
1st, He is God and from and through Him we can embrace these words and let Him through them embrace us at our time of need, no matter what that need is or needs are.
Our Rock.....as He stabilizes us.
Our Fortress....as he protects us, from the assaults of the enemy.
Our Deliverer....who takes us from this life to the next through whatever we must encounter here in this life.
Our Strength....when we say we cannot take it, cannot go one more step, He is there to hold us up, help us to walk and carry us when needed...
Our Shield.....who protects us from the fiery arrows of sin in their many varieties of wrong doing, thinking and believing.
Our Horn of Salvation.....assured that through Jesus we are eligible for heaven no matter what happens to us on this planet.
Our Stronghold and Rock are the same.....holding on, taking shelter behind, and building our foundation on.
In able for us to understand and embrace these helps, we must have an understanding of Christ, who He is, what He asks of us....and mostly, that is to by choice, and effort, in getting to KNOW Him, for He knows you.
1st Samuel 2:2, "No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none beside You, Nor is there any rock like our God."
Holy....little is understood today in the meaning of Holy. "HOLY means exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness. Some Sunday I will bring a message on a deeper understanding of Holy, of God and being Holy in God as a lifestyle. Here also again is mentioned that God is like a ROCK to us, stabilizing and an anchor in difficult times.
John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that 'they' us, may have life, and that they, (we) may have it more abundantly."
To have an abundant life in Christ is to be like Him, and to be like Him we must know Him and love Him, and in doing so, we will then truly know what it is to have an abundant life!
Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms He will thrust out before you."
In the Hymn we will be singing as our service finishes, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" comes from this verse, in fact the whole chapter is it's foundations. So, when we sing it this morning really listen to the words and let them speak to your life and heart.
The chorus goes as such.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms,
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
These are just some of the things that bring stability in times of change. Finding shelter from the storms in the One God, no matter what the storms bring. Defending one's life by being watchful from the ramparts of the Fortress, holding the words of God and His Son to shield us from the fiery arrows of sin and those who would malign our faith, and last, heeding the time, when it comes to rest in the out-thrust arms of God Himself. He is the door.....but you have the keys to the kingdom. Yes, you do! God be with you now and forever!
Amen
"Stability . . . .in times of change"
PSALM 18:2 - 1 SAMUEL 2:2 - JOHN 10:10 - DEUTERONOMY 33:27
November 3rd, 2019
Pastor, Tom Shanor
I am 8 years old sledding down the snow-covered road on my Flexible Flyer, at an all too fast speed. Part way down I hear the fire department's siren wailing consistently in short but deep blasts. The first thing I think of that it is an air-raid, and I stop as quickly as I can, so that I can run home. On the way I imagine an Atomic Bomb is on its way and that we will all be killed. I am frightened as any little kid or adult would be if indeed it were an A-Bomb. Death even then was very real.
I was born on June 6, 1945, exactly a year after the Invasion of Normandy, hence not a baby boomer, but a war baby. It would be two months before the war began to end that fatal day on August 9th, when two Atomic bombs are dropped, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki.
The Cold War was already happening, having started in 1947, lasting through 1991. During those years came the acceleration of the mass production of Atomic, then Hydrogen bomb, missiles, silos, threats back and forth between Russia and the United States. Shortly following the start of the Cold War, comes the Korean War, beginning in 1950 and ending in 1953.
In the early years of the Cold War comes the Korean War, where more of our young men are sent to fight on foreign soil, 33, 652 of them being killed and many more injured for life. Yet we relieve in our minds the simplicity and unity of the 50's, but with an ever-present fear on our minds and shoulders
1962 arrives, me now a Junior in High School, Khrushchev tries to sneak Atomic bombs and missiles into Cuba under the nose of JFK and the country. War seems imminent......the 13-day crisis has us all deeply worried and fearful. We don't back down; missiles are removed and the crisis is over.
Yet...becomes known as the Vietnam War actually begun in 1955 is escalating, being a war that last 20 years, 57,939 soldiers killed or missing on our side and approximately 250,000 on their side. No one was a real winner in that one....but then comes 190 and the Gulf War and in 2003, the Iraq War, the Middle East becoming a hot bed of death and destruction, continuing to this day. 911 stands as a monument to an outflow of the beginning of that war, though it too had been seething underneath far before that, Guerilla warfare, terrorists, divisions and strife, refugees, turmoil in South America, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Africa and here.
Sorry, but no light sermon here today, for Matthew 24:5-13, reads, "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places." "All these are the beginnings of sorrows." "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and for will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." And many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another."
We talk about how we hate change, fear change, but change is what the evolving of our world, galaxy and universe is. There is nothing static, nothing. Revolving, evolving, expanding, aging, just like us!
As people of faith, as Christ Believers, knowing that change is inevitable, why do we resist it as much as we do. Christianity itself has changed, evolved with each new cultural advance and decline. I am preparing a sermon on the evolution of the church, having started out as One Faith, beginning before the Reformation and even before Constantine, then beyond the Reformation to today. Many of today's branches bear little resemblance to the early church, focusing on sometimes obscure thought and beliefs as their foundation.
The Scriptures I read as the foundation of today's message, are anchors that can help us when both desired and unwanted change comes our way. If we hold onto the foundational beliefs that our Lord, the Holy Spirit and forefathers died to give us, we can stay stead in our faith and in our minds and hearts no matter what comes our way. Be they physical, cultural, mental, emotional and spiritual.
The changes that we are told of in Matthew 24, are not to be ignored or rejected. These are realities of which some are happening at this very time. In my opinion these are sobering and unsettling days, although they always have been, there is such an unhealthy atmosphere of OFFENSE, where we are unwilling to listen and reason together, for the good of our nation and we individually, that no good can come from the mind-set that we are immersed in today. Where has reason and communication, real communication gone?
STABILITY IN TIMES OF CHANGE.....if we don't have it individually, we won't have it collectively. That does not mean we all have to think the same, but we have to be able to talk, again, reason and yes, compromise in areas that are for the benefit of all.
There several words from the Scriptures that were read that I am going to cover. These words in and of themselves and in conjunction with what is being said will help us as we wonder, worry and stress.
Psalm 18:2, "The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
1st, He is God and from and through Him we can embrace these words and let Him through them embrace us at our time of need, no matter what that need is or needs are.
Our Rock.....as He stabilizes us.
Our Fortress....as he protects us, from the assaults of the enemy.
Our Deliverer....who takes us from this life to the next through whatever we must encounter here in this life.
Our Strength....when we say we cannot take it, cannot go one more step, He is there to hold us up, help us to walk and carry us when needed...
Our Shield.....who protects us from the fiery arrows of sin in their many varieties of wrong doing, thinking and believing.
Our Horn of Salvation.....assured that through Jesus we are eligible for heaven no matter what happens to us on this planet.
Our Stronghold and Rock are the same.....holding on, taking shelter behind, and building our foundation on.
In able for us to understand and embrace these helps, we must have an understanding of Christ, who He is, what He asks of us....and mostly, that is to by choice, and effort, in getting to KNOW Him, for He knows you.
1st Samuel 2:2, "No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none beside You, Nor is there any rock like our God."
Holy....little is understood today in the meaning of Holy. "HOLY means exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness. Some Sunday I will bring a message on a deeper understanding of Holy, of God and being Holy in God as a lifestyle. Here also again is mentioned that God is like a ROCK to us, stabilizing and an anchor in difficult times.
John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that 'they' us, may have life, and that they, (we) may have it more abundantly."
To have an abundant life in Christ is to be like Him, and to be like Him we must know Him and love Him, and in doing so, we will then truly know what it is to have an abundant life!
Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms He will thrust out before you."
In the Hymn we will be singing as our service finishes, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" comes from this verse, in fact the whole chapter is it's foundations. So, when we sing it this morning really listen to the words and let them speak to your life and heart.
The chorus goes as such.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms,
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
These are just some of the things that bring stability in times of change. Finding shelter from the storms in the One God, no matter what the storms bring. Defending one's life by being watchful from the ramparts of the Fortress, holding the words of God and His Son to shield us from the fiery arrows of sin and those who would malign our faith, and last, heeding the time, when it comes to rest in the out-thrust arms of God Himself. He is the door.....but you have the keys to the kingdom. Yes, you do! God be with you now and forever!
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
October 20, 2019
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"DO I WANT TO?" “Do I HAVE TO?”
John 21:19b
1 Cor. 4:17b
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
~ "Then Jesus told him, "Follow Me." John 21:19b
~ "Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go" 1st Cor. 4:17b
~ "But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him" Matthew 17:5....and I save the last part of that Scripture for thought, so think about it...all of it, including that of the disciples who heard the voice, and we read of their reaction. The disciples were terrified...and fell face down on the ground.
~ There are some key words here I want to point out before giving you my composite illustration of those words. They are; follow, Son, great joy and terrified.
Three words so very different in their meaning yet bound together in intent.
How many of you have ever planted a Sunflower, or several sunflowers? There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them stand out.
1. When in bloom, it is usually a large bloom, that literally stands as a symbol for the sun in its beauty, and form and color.
2. It has a strong stem that can withhold most wind, and the heavy weight of the bloom itself.
3. It also follows the path of the sun.... all day long. It greets the morning sun, and as the sun traverse across the sky, it looks up ever so slightly....and the bloom follows that traversing, ending up at the end of the day still facing the sun.
~ In conjunction with the sun and the flower, it should be our spiritual goal to emulate this flower in relation to THE Son....of God, Jesus the Christ....Savior of all mankind.
~ This brings us back to the title of today's message; "DO I WANT TO”? "DO I HAVE TO”? To follow the Son of God?
In six weeks will be the start of Advent, the four weeks of observations and preparation, to celebrate the birth of this Jesus, this Son of God....who, throughout human history these past 2000 years....has brought both GREAT JOY to millions....and at the hands of corrupt men in leadership, TERROR.
~ The freedom to choose to follow Jesus is ours every day that we have on this planet.
~ With this, freedom in following, at times brings with it all manner of thoughts and emotions.... from the mundane or ordinary, to deep connection and exquisite creativity, from sin and death, to goodness and vibrancy of life. We live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, cold and heat, wind and calm, good and evil....and the list goes on and on.
~ Yet in the center of all this, like the sunflower following the sun, are we, who are to do the same......through all manner of changes and opposites and opposition....to follow the Son.
~ Following Advent we will once again enter into another "new year," sometimes full of resolutions and thoughts of change.... a time of introspection and hope, and fear, and joy and laughter, and tears and sorrow, of gain and of loss.
Solomon said it so well, as he wrote...."For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time quite searching.
A time to keep and time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and at time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE....A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE......
A new day even without acknowledging a new year, begins the same life, changed as time advanced....one minute at a time! One minute at a time we make choices that could influence and often do our today, tomorrow and our eventual end of life as we know it.
Daily there is potential for both joy and sorrow, and they often come hand in hand, where laughter and tears flow from the same eyes.... where pain and peace seem just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
In all this...as in years past and in years to come.... there can be One constant in our lives....and that constant is the presence in us and around us, of the one we follow....the Son of God.
My question to each of you and myself this morning is.....in following this Son of God, "Do I WANT TO, NOT, DO I HAVE TO!
Do I want to what....in following Him? Do I want to know Him better, deeper...because as the years wind down and we all come closer and closer to that day.... that day of reckoning, what should be our highest and deepest priority? Entertainment, more trips, more material goods, a bigger garage, a bigger house.... more grand-kids, more kids, more money. None of these are bad.....all are good.....and yet, we leave the highest and best too often as our lowest priority.
Walking hand in hand with the one who gave us the life we live. If at times this walk of faith seems shallow and mythical...and not quite real...it is never because He has walked away from us....it is because we have left him behind in our pursuit of other things, events and people.
My challenge to each of today....is to take our personal one on one relationship and knowledge of Him to a new and deeper level. It is not my desire this morning to motivate by guilt.... or by coercion, but by love....love for Him and love for one another, and love of ourselves.
To be deeply contented in our heart and spirit at no matter what age....or what physical condition, or even mental emotional state of being....so our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more contented, and IF...we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by us) to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading Our Daily Bread, or taking time in that quiet time to think about and pray simply, not long dragged out seemingly eloquent prayers....but prayers from our heart for our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the world and ourselves.
We also allow God through His Scriptures....perhaps reading just 10 verses at a time every day......then pondering on them, to speak to us through them. This is only if indeed we take time apart to read Scripture.
And this also....to spend some of that brief time, simply being grateful and saying so, to Him...for what we do have in all the areas I spoke of.
A grateful heart is like good medicine....like putting lotion on dry skin, or putting on our glasses so we can see better and clearer, because a broken and neglected spirit makes our lives dry, brittle and even breakable.
Here's how the little song goes. (sing)
A merry heart, does good like a medicine, like a medicine is a merry heart, but broken spirit drieth up the bones.....a merry heart, is the Joy of the Lord.
Some of us fail a lot in this life....but we fail because we try. If we did not try we would not fail. Failure can do two things....it can beat us up and at the same time tear us down.....OR.....we can learn from our failures, and try again and again until we get it. Attitude in failure is everything, everything....and in success....for having the self-aggrandizing ego that laps up success...will if gone unchecked lead us back to failure, for we can lose our balanced, and even our spiritual perspective.
In our spiritual lives....as in our everyday get through our daily lives....we can become complacent, listless and bored. Attitude is everything..........and a healthy person realizes, that by the grace and love, and help of the Lord....gets up and goes on.... sometimes failing sometimes succeeding. Give thanks to God, not for failure but in the failure, and ask him to take you by the hand....help you up and then to walk forward...and I tell you, He will.
The famous missionary C.T. Studd once traveled to China on a ship whose captain was an embittered opponent of Christianity and who often studied the Bible for the reason of arguing with the missionaries who frequently sailed on his ship. When he learned that Studd was aboard his ship, the captain lit into him. But instead of arguing with him, Studd put his arm around the captain and said, "But, my friend, I have a peace that passes all understanding and a joy that nothing can take away"
The captain replied, "You’re a lucky dog," and walked away, but before the end of that voyage, and the delightful response of Studd....the captain became a rejoicing believer in the Son of God.
DO I WANT TO.....KNOW HIM MORE DEEPLY?.........AND IF SO, WE TOO WILL SEE WITHIN OURSELVES....OUR VERY ATTITUDE CHANGING TO THE BETTER.
In the play God-spell.....is a song that includes these verses...............
O, dear Lord three things I pray...................................................
1. See thee more clearly
2. Love thee more dearly
3. Follow thee more nearly...day by day, by day, by day, by day
As we come to the Table of the Lord this morning.....ask yourself to do these same three things.... by asking Him how best YOU and I do this....for your way will not be my way, or my way your way. He will tailor it just to fit you.....that's who He is.
You are precious in His sight....and in His heart......You are valuable, and you are uniquely and wonderfully made....in His image.
Be a sunflower in God's garden.....and follow Him all day and every day.
Amen
October 20, 2019
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"DO I WANT TO?" “Do I HAVE TO?”
John 21:19b
1 Cor. 4:17b
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
~ "Then Jesus told him, "Follow Me." John 21:19b
~ "Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go" 1st Cor. 4:17b
~ "But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him" Matthew 17:5....and I save the last part of that Scripture for thought, so think about it...all of it, including that of the disciples who heard the voice, and we read of their reaction. The disciples were terrified...and fell face down on the ground.
~ There are some key words here I want to point out before giving you my composite illustration of those words. They are; follow, Son, great joy and terrified.
Three words so very different in their meaning yet bound together in intent.
How many of you have ever planted a Sunflower, or several sunflowers? There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them stand out.
1. When in bloom, it is usually a large bloom, that literally stands as a symbol for the sun in its beauty, and form and color.
2. It has a strong stem that can withhold most wind, and the heavy weight of the bloom itself.
3. It also follows the path of the sun.... all day long. It greets the morning sun, and as the sun traverse across the sky, it looks up ever so slightly....and the bloom follows that traversing, ending up at the end of the day still facing the sun.
~ In conjunction with the sun and the flower, it should be our spiritual goal to emulate this flower in relation to THE Son....of God, Jesus the Christ....Savior of all mankind.
~ This brings us back to the title of today's message; "DO I WANT TO”? "DO I HAVE TO”? To follow the Son of God?
In six weeks will be the start of Advent, the four weeks of observations and preparation, to celebrate the birth of this Jesus, this Son of God....who, throughout human history these past 2000 years....has brought both GREAT JOY to millions....and at the hands of corrupt men in leadership, TERROR.
~ The freedom to choose to follow Jesus is ours every day that we have on this planet.
~ With this, freedom in following, at times brings with it all manner of thoughts and emotions.... from the mundane or ordinary, to deep connection and exquisite creativity, from sin and death, to goodness and vibrancy of life. We live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, cold and heat, wind and calm, good and evil....and the list goes on and on.
~ Yet in the center of all this, like the sunflower following the sun, are we, who are to do the same......through all manner of changes and opposites and opposition....to follow the Son.
~ Following Advent we will once again enter into another "new year," sometimes full of resolutions and thoughts of change.... a time of introspection and hope, and fear, and joy and laughter, and tears and sorrow, of gain and of loss.
Solomon said it so well, as he wrote...."For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time quite searching.
A time to keep and time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and at time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE....A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE......
A new day even without acknowledging a new year, begins the same life, changed as time advanced....one minute at a time! One minute at a time we make choices that could influence and often do our today, tomorrow and our eventual end of life as we know it.
Daily there is potential for both joy and sorrow, and they often come hand in hand, where laughter and tears flow from the same eyes.... where pain and peace seem just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
In all this...as in years past and in years to come.... there can be One constant in our lives....and that constant is the presence in us and around us, of the one we follow....the Son of God.
My question to each of you and myself this morning is.....in following this Son of God, "Do I WANT TO, NOT, DO I HAVE TO!
Do I want to what....in following Him? Do I want to know Him better, deeper...because as the years wind down and we all come closer and closer to that day.... that day of reckoning, what should be our highest and deepest priority? Entertainment, more trips, more material goods, a bigger garage, a bigger house.... more grand-kids, more kids, more money. None of these are bad.....all are good.....and yet, we leave the highest and best too often as our lowest priority.
Walking hand in hand with the one who gave us the life we live. If at times this walk of faith seems shallow and mythical...and not quite real...it is never because He has walked away from us....it is because we have left him behind in our pursuit of other things, events and people.
My challenge to each of today....is to take our personal one on one relationship and knowledge of Him to a new and deeper level. It is not my desire this morning to motivate by guilt.... or by coercion, but by love....love for Him and love for one another, and love of ourselves.
To be deeply contented in our heart and spirit at no matter what age....or what physical condition, or even mental emotional state of being....so our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more contented, and IF...we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by us) to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading Our Daily Bread, or taking time in that quiet time to think about and pray simply, not long dragged out seemingly eloquent prayers....but prayers from our heart for our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the world and ourselves.
We also allow God through His Scriptures....perhaps reading just 10 verses at a time every day......then pondering on them, to speak to us through them. This is only if indeed we take time apart to read Scripture.
And this also....to spend some of that brief time, simply being grateful and saying so, to Him...for what we do have in all the areas I spoke of.
A grateful heart is like good medicine....like putting lotion on dry skin, or putting on our glasses so we can see better and clearer, because a broken and neglected spirit makes our lives dry, brittle and even breakable.
Here's how the little song goes. (sing)
A merry heart, does good like a medicine, like a medicine is a merry heart, but broken spirit drieth up the bones.....a merry heart, is the Joy of the Lord.
Some of us fail a lot in this life....but we fail because we try. If we did not try we would not fail. Failure can do two things....it can beat us up and at the same time tear us down.....OR.....we can learn from our failures, and try again and again until we get it. Attitude in failure is everything, everything....and in success....for having the self-aggrandizing ego that laps up success...will if gone unchecked lead us back to failure, for we can lose our balanced, and even our spiritual perspective.
In our spiritual lives....as in our everyday get through our daily lives....we can become complacent, listless and bored. Attitude is everything..........and a healthy person realizes, that by the grace and love, and help of the Lord....gets up and goes on.... sometimes failing sometimes succeeding. Give thanks to God, not for failure but in the failure, and ask him to take you by the hand....help you up and then to walk forward...and I tell you, He will.
The famous missionary C.T. Studd once traveled to China on a ship whose captain was an embittered opponent of Christianity and who often studied the Bible for the reason of arguing with the missionaries who frequently sailed on his ship. When he learned that Studd was aboard his ship, the captain lit into him. But instead of arguing with him, Studd put his arm around the captain and said, "But, my friend, I have a peace that passes all understanding and a joy that nothing can take away"
The captain replied, "You’re a lucky dog," and walked away, but before the end of that voyage, and the delightful response of Studd....the captain became a rejoicing believer in the Son of God.
DO I WANT TO.....KNOW HIM MORE DEEPLY?.........AND IF SO, WE TOO WILL SEE WITHIN OURSELVES....OUR VERY ATTITUDE CHANGING TO THE BETTER.
In the play God-spell.....is a song that includes these verses...............
O, dear Lord three things I pray...................................................
1. See thee more clearly
2. Love thee more dearly
3. Follow thee more nearly...day by day, by day, by day, by day
As we come to the Table of the Lord this morning.....ask yourself to do these same three things.... by asking Him how best YOU and I do this....for your way will not be my way, or my way your way. He will tailor it just to fit you.....that's who He is.
You are precious in His sight....and in His heart......You are valuable, and you are uniquely and wonderfully made....in His image.
Be a sunflower in God's garden.....and follow Him all day and every day.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
BEAUTIFUL FEET ~ Really?
Romans 10:: 14-15
October 13, 2019
Pastor Tom Shanor
~ The message this morning is not particularly a deep one, but a serious one none the less. It involves a lifestyle application in regards to Lifestyle Evangelism. This life-style evangelism and application should always be hovering just beneath the surface of living our everyday lives, ready when that still small voice spoken in our minds by the Holy Spirit suddenly is heard. One sign it is the Spirit is that it does not quickly go away and.....when that happens we should respond.....as you will hear.
~ I assume this morning that you are here because you desire to be here. Hopefully no one had to drag you, and you came of your own free will. Well, perhaps some husband had to be coerced just a little.
~ Did you come to hear a great sermon, not likely, for like Paul, I say, it's not about my eloquence in speaking, if I had great eloquence, or my great depth of knowledge, again, if I had it, in preparation of what I am about to share....but, because you do want to hear about Jesus and His Gospel, and that is one of the reasons you hired me....and it's what I have been called by Him to do, in my own style.
~ That I know of, you have a relationship with Him and that by gathering together to worship Him.....you gain more of His presence, and perhaps learn a little more about Him and yourself. Also, gathering as a 'community of Believers,’ in and of itself is good. We need to know as a church congregation as much as we legitimately can about one another….especially when among us needs arise.
~ Today's message is, as you have read is ~ “Beautiful Feet, really?”
~ It is about the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, and its importance in the world...............and how we communicate that Gospel.
This Scripture come from a letter from Paul to the Roman Church, and speaks of Salvation for everyone....everyone.
~ Romans 10:14-15 ~ READ
~ To share is to communicate, and to communicate well, is well, sometimes not easy. There are so many more ways to communicate than by words alone. Body language, a gesture, the raising of an eyebrow, the down or up-turn of our lips as these sometimes say much more than the content of our words. The volume of our words, a whisper, yelling, even-toned, slow, fast or no sound at all.
~ There are masters of communication, and then there are those who have difficulty simply stating who they are, and we are they....this mix, of whom all of us are called to share the Gospel, in a great variety of ways. Whatever way our personalities have been formed....we communicate, even when we think we aren’t.
~Our goals as the Church (us being the church) are multiple.
~ To teach about Him, and bring those who don't know Him into the knowledge OF him.
~ To be culturally relevant, while holding onto the vital and core teaching which He taught and teaches us through His word and people called by HIM, like me and some of you.
~ To be a Sanctuary from the world, not an exact replica of it. "Be in the world, but not of it! There’s a sermon in that one!
~ To be a place of honest and Christ like fellowship, a place to be real, not religious....with all our imperfections, but ever perfecting, forgiving and loving, extending grace and mercy.
~ To be a light of Christ individually, and then collectively, bringing to each other and to the world....HOPE. Being a light means that where there is darkness, we illuminate, reveal and even heal.
~NOW...back those "Beautiful Feet"~
~ Think about it.....are feet especially beautiful? Some perhaps, but not very many that I have seen, not that I pay particular attention to feet, but, I have noticed as the years advance...mine once looked better than they do now.
~ No..it's not the feet, it's we, owners of those feet.....those that walk out the message of good will and peace towards all man-kind, woman-kind, child-kind, animal-kind...and earth kind.
~ And how and where are we who have this message, are sharing it, or are we? We know that communication is more than words, for at times action is required, sometimes without words at all.
(an illustrative story)
~ A family visiting Disney World sometime back, sought out a place to rest in Cinderella's castle after hours of walking. Unfortunately, so did many others. The palace main room was packed with kids and parents. Suddenly all the children rushed to one side. Had it been a boat, the castle would have tipped over...because Cinderella had entered the building.
~ Oh...Cinderella, Cinderella....the perfect Princess. A beautiful young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin, and a lovely and radiant smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of kids, each wanting to touch and be touched. Almost reverent................
~ The other side of this room in the Castle was now vacant except for a boy and his brother, he, maybe seven or eight years old. His age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his little body. Dwarfed in height, face deformed...he stood watching...quietly and wistfully, holding tightly onto the hand of his older brother.
~ You know what he wanted......he wanted to be with the other children. He longed to be in the middle of the kids, reaching for Cinderella, calling her name. But looking as he did, he feared another rejection. Fear of being taunted, looked at with derision and shock, e fearing this, as he simply stood on his dwarfed legs, rooted to his spot.
~ As my friends watched him, then her, they wondered if she would spot him, and choose to stay with all the other kids....and ignore him. She did notice the little, dwarfed, disfigured boy....and she slowly, but immediately began walking in his direction. Serenely but firmly, inching through the crowd of children, she finally broke through.
~ All others in the room turned to see where she was going, and wondered why she was leaving. She walked (on her beautiful feet) across the floor....knelt down at eye level with that little boy...took his hands, looked him in the eyes and kissed him on his disfigured face.
~ Can you imagine how fast his heart-beat, and how suddenly it became full....he was not only accepted by this beautiful girl, but embraced with a kiss, in that moment given in love by this story-book but now very real, somewhat magical young woman.
~ That, is what it is like being embraced by our Lord....it was and is for me the same. We all in some ways are, have at once time been like that little boy, sometimes, perhaps often, feeling unworthy of just such an acceptance and embrace. You see….it’s what our Lord specializes in. Loving , embracing and accepting those we call unlovely., the outcasts, as we too many times have pointed our finger at those we don’t know, exposing their sin we say, loving them (sure) but hating we also say, their sin…..instead of pointing that finger back at ourselves. The only pain and rejection we fully know is our own, or those we are close to and love. We have no way to measure the depth and scope of someone elses’ pain whom we don’t know. We sin when we accuse and condemn merely on what we see and hear or think we do.
God help us…for we are not the judge, only One is, and He is God.
(I want to tell you how I came to Christ)
~ I...was a skinny kid, had had my share of being picked on, like many skinny, and also overweight or whatever kids. I too was a kid looking for acceptance and love.
~ Those feet took me to church camp shortly after my 12th birthday. Being tender, open.....and looking for what I knew not, I went to a meeting for Jr. High kids, (I was now a Junior High kid) where Janie Bradford (a very old (probably my age now) missionary was talking to us kids. She had just come from Africa.....telling us about her journey, the native peoples, her experiences, and her Jesus.
~ I found myself listening closely....and then she asked if there was anyone who wanted to know this Jesus to come up to the alter and pray. It was as though I felt a magnet pulling me off the bench...of an open air tabernacle with sawdust on the floor....lifting me up and I felt I was floating down that narrow aisle....and my heart pounding in my chest....ready to burst, which soon....became filled with His Presence. Since that day....and I thank now, that long gone lovely (old) lady....I came to have an encounter with Jesus that has never ceased, but grown and deepened. I came to know who He is and His faithfulness to me, through the beautiful feet of her, who came that long distance from Africa....just for me.
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
~ There is a multitude of people who are looking for some good news in their life...and we, you and I are given the opportunity....ourselves having The Good News to give to them, because we have been given that same good news.
~ How we do this is in accordance with our own spiritual giftings, and our own intimate and personal walk with Christ.
~ VS. 15, and how will anyone go, and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news." and VS. 20, reads, "I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me."
~ Go where....?"Wherever we go!" that is where we are sent! That could be next door....or across the earth, wherever we find ourselves, open to what or who is in front of us, to communicate the love of Christ in word or in action…and also by our good deeds.
~ There are basically two types of people who engage in conversation. 'Those who truly desire to communicate.... and then, those who (just like talking) and want to be heard, so they can voice their opinions. Changing one's self (once recognized) from wanting to be heard......to wanting to truly communicate.....can be an uphill battle, but one that can be won, if again recognized, and then with a desired to change.
~ In religion....we have developed our own jargon, words like "salvation", "sanctification", "holiness" and "reconciliation." and many more. These are words that mean something to us, but do not communicate well with non-Christians. We need to speak everyday language.
~ One of the paradoxes of communication is that a word must be understandable to both parties, before it is acceptable and understandable for 'communication.'
~ E.F. Hutton tells a neat story about Albert Einstein.
~ While at Princeton, Einstein would occasionally attend lectures by scientists who often were somewhat obscure and technical in their expression, and presentation to the students, often missing the ability to 'communicate' to the students.
~ Einstein at times, would rise after the lecture, and ask the professor whether he might pose a question. He would then go to the blackboard and begin to explain in 'simple terms' what the lecturer had been attempting to explain. "I wasn't sure I understood you correctly" he would say with great gentleness, and then would make clear what the lecturer had been unable to convey.
~ Jesus was a master at never assuming that something was communicated just because it was spoken. He employed endless creativity, illustrations, parables, questions, quizzes, case studies, and so on. He used all means to be understood by all people.
~ Aquinas said long ago, "The poor teacher stands where he or she is and beckons the pupil to come to him or her, but the Good teacher goes to where the pupil is...and takes him or her, leading them to where they ought to go."
~ Back to Cinderella....she had a message to convey, and she did so in the most beautiful way....implanting on that young boy's mind and heart, a day and time of acceptance and recognition, that he would NEVER forget, and always cherish. Jesus is like that....in that when He reaches out and takes us in, leading us where we ought to go by teaching and example.....a bond is formed, a lifelong relationship begun.
~ It is our job...duty....in this and every Christ-centered congregation, to open our doors and hearts to the dwarfed human beings, the Cinderella’s, the hurt, the lonely, the poor, the rich, the good, the bad and the ugly....so to speak. The very same people He reached out to and took in. All nations, all colors, the World and all it contains, even to the point of discomfort and being used.
~ Each society has its' own outcasts.....but Christ wants us, the church body to embrace, and to reconcile all of us to Himself, because he has done it already in the Spirit and in the flesh. If it disturbs our comfort....think of what it cost him. The church is to be a 'sanctuary' not a comfortable replica of home. A Sanctuary is a safe place....for all. Will we get used, yes. Will we be abused, yes..... scorned, yes, so be it. As it was done to Him, so it will be done to us.
Rejoice and be glad, He said...for I have overcome the world.
How beautiful are the feet of them, who bring the good news!
BEAUTIFUL FEET ~ Really?
Romans 10:: 14-15
October 13, 2019
Pastor Tom Shanor
~ The message this morning is not particularly a deep one, but a serious one none the less. It involves a lifestyle application in regards to Lifestyle Evangelism. This life-style evangelism and application should always be hovering just beneath the surface of living our everyday lives, ready when that still small voice spoken in our minds by the Holy Spirit suddenly is heard. One sign it is the Spirit is that it does not quickly go away and.....when that happens we should respond.....as you will hear.
~ I assume this morning that you are here because you desire to be here. Hopefully no one had to drag you, and you came of your own free will. Well, perhaps some husband had to be coerced just a little.
~ Did you come to hear a great sermon, not likely, for like Paul, I say, it's not about my eloquence in speaking, if I had great eloquence, or my great depth of knowledge, again, if I had it, in preparation of what I am about to share....but, because you do want to hear about Jesus and His Gospel, and that is one of the reasons you hired me....and it's what I have been called by Him to do, in my own style.
~ That I know of, you have a relationship with Him and that by gathering together to worship Him.....you gain more of His presence, and perhaps learn a little more about Him and yourself. Also, gathering as a 'community of Believers,’ in and of itself is good. We need to know as a church congregation as much as we legitimately can about one another….especially when among us needs arise.
~ Today's message is, as you have read is ~ “Beautiful Feet, really?”
~ It is about the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, and its importance in the world...............and how we communicate that Gospel.
This Scripture come from a letter from Paul to the Roman Church, and speaks of Salvation for everyone....everyone.
~ Romans 10:14-15 ~ READ
~ To share is to communicate, and to communicate well, is well, sometimes not easy. There are so many more ways to communicate than by words alone. Body language, a gesture, the raising of an eyebrow, the down or up-turn of our lips as these sometimes say much more than the content of our words. The volume of our words, a whisper, yelling, even-toned, slow, fast or no sound at all.
~ There are masters of communication, and then there are those who have difficulty simply stating who they are, and we are they....this mix, of whom all of us are called to share the Gospel, in a great variety of ways. Whatever way our personalities have been formed....we communicate, even when we think we aren’t.
~Our goals as the Church (us being the church) are multiple.
~ To teach about Him, and bring those who don't know Him into the knowledge OF him.
~ To be culturally relevant, while holding onto the vital and core teaching which He taught and teaches us through His word and people called by HIM, like me and some of you.
~ To be a Sanctuary from the world, not an exact replica of it. "Be in the world, but not of it! There’s a sermon in that one!
~ To be a place of honest and Christ like fellowship, a place to be real, not religious....with all our imperfections, but ever perfecting, forgiving and loving, extending grace and mercy.
~ To be a light of Christ individually, and then collectively, bringing to each other and to the world....HOPE. Being a light means that where there is darkness, we illuminate, reveal and even heal.
~NOW...back those "Beautiful Feet"~
~ Think about it.....are feet especially beautiful? Some perhaps, but not very many that I have seen, not that I pay particular attention to feet, but, I have noticed as the years advance...mine once looked better than they do now.
~ No..it's not the feet, it's we, owners of those feet.....those that walk out the message of good will and peace towards all man-kind, woman-kind, child-kind, animal-kind...and earth kind.
~ And how and where are we who have this message, are sharing it, or are we? We know that communication is more than words, for at times action is required, sometimes without words at all.
(an illustrative story)
~ A family visiting Disney World sometime back, sought out a place to rest in Cinderella's castle after hours of walking. Unfortunately, so did many others. The palace main room was packed with kids and parents. Suddenly all the children rushed to one side. Had it been a boat, the castle would have tipped over...because Cinderella had entered the building.
~ Oh...Cinderella, Cinderella....the perfect Princess. A beautiful young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin, and a lovely and radiant smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of kids, each wanting to touch and be touched. Almost reverent................
~ The other side of this room in the Castle was now vacant except for a boy and his brother, he, maybe seven or eight years old. His age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his little body. Dwarfed in height, face deformed...he stood watching...quietly and wistfully, holding tightly onto the hand of his older brother.
~ You know what he wanted......he wanted to be with the other children. He longed to be in the middle of the kids, reaching for Cinderella, calling her name. But looking as he did, he feared another rejection. Fear of being taunted, looked at with derision and shock, e fearing this, as he simply stood on his dwarfed legs, rooted to his spot.
~ As my friends watched him, then her, they wondered if she would spot him, and choose to stay with all the other kids....and ignore him. She did notice the little, dwarfed, disfigured boy....and she slowly, but immediately began walking in his direction. Serenely but firmly, inching through the crowd of children, she finally broke through.
~ All others in the room turned to see where she was going, and wondered why she was leaving. She walked (on her beautiful feet) across the floor....knelt down at eye level with that little boy...took his hands, looked him in the eyes and kissed him on his disfigured face.
~ Can you imagine how fast his heart-beat, and how suddenly it became full....he was not only accepted by this beautiful girl, but embraced with a kiss, in that moment given in love by this story-book but now very real, somewhat magical young woman.
~ That, is what it is like being embraced by our Lord....it was and is for me the same. We all in some ways are, have at once time been like that little boy, sometimes, perhaps often, feeling unworthy of just such an acceptance and embrace. You see….it’s what our Lord specializes in. Loving , embracing and accepting those we call unlovely., the outcasts, as we too many times have pointed our finger at those we don’t know, exposing their sin we say, loving them (sure) but hating we also say, their sin…..instead of pointing that finger back at ourselves. The only pain and rejection we fully know is our own, or those we are close to and love. We have no way to measure the depth and scope of someone elses’ pain whom we don’t know. We sin when we accuse and condemn merely on what we see and hear or think we do.
God help us…for we are not the judge, only One is, and He is God.
(I want to tell you how I came to Christ)
~ I...was a skinny kid, had had my share of being picked on, like many skinny, and also overweight or whatever kids. I too was a kid looking for acceptance and love.
~ Those feet took me to church camp shortly after my 12th birthday. Being tender, open.....and looking for what I knew not, I went to a meeting for Jr. High kids, (I was now a Junior High kid) where Janie Bradford (a very old (probably my age now) missionary was talking to us kids. She had just come from Africa.....telling us about her journey, the native peoples, her experiences, and her Jesus.
~ I found myself listening closely....and then she asked if there was anyone who wanted to know this Jesus to come up to the alter and pray. It was as though I felt a magnet pulling me off the bench...of an open air tabernacle with sawdust on the floor....lifting me up and I felt I was floating down that narrow aisle....and my heart pounding in my chest....ready to burst, which soon....became filled with His Presence. Since that day....and I thank now, that long gone lovely (old) lady....I came to have an encounter with Jesus that has never ceased, but grown and deepened. I came to know who He is and His faithfulness to me, through the beautiful feet of her, who came that long distance from Africa....just for me.
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
~ There is a multitude of people who are looking for some good news in their life...and we, you and I are given the opportunity....ourselves having The Good News to give to them, because we have been given that same good news.
~ How we do this is in accordance with our own spiritual giftings, and our own intimate and personal walk with Christ.
~ VS. 15, and how will anyone go, and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news." and VS. 20, reads, "I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me."
~ Go where....?"Wherever we go!" that is where we are sent! That could be next door....or across the earth, wherever we find ourselves, open to what or who is in front of us, to communicate the love of Christ in word or in action…and also by our good deeds.
~ There are basically two types of people who engage in conversation. 'Those who truly desire to communicate.... and then, those who (just like talking) and want to be heard, so they can voice their opinions. Changing one's self (once recognized) from wanting to be heard......to wanting to truly communicate.....can be an uphill battle, but one that can be won, if again recognized, and then with a desired to change.
~ In religion....we have developed our own jargon, words like "salvation", "sanctification", "holiness" and "reconciliation." and many more. These are words that mean something to us, but do not communicate well with non-Christians. We need to speak everyday language.
~ One of the paradoxes of communication is that a word must be understandable to both parties, before it is acceptable and understandable for 'communication.'
~ E.F. Hutton tells a neat story about Albert Einstein.
~ While at Princeton, Einstein would occasionally attend lectures by scientists who often were somewhat obscure and technical in their expression, and presentation to the students, often missing the ability to 'communicate' to the students.
~ Einstein at times, would rise after the lecture, and ask the professor whether he might pose a question. He would then go to the blackboard and begin to explain in 'simple terms' what the lecturer had been attempting to explain. "I wasn't sure I understood you correctly" he would say with great gentleness, and then would make clear what the lecturer had been unable to convey.
~ Jesus was a master at never assuming that something was communicated just because it was spoken. He employed endless creativity, illustrations, parables, questions, quizzes, case studies, and so on. He used all means to be understood by all people.
~ Aquinas said long ago, "The poor teacher stands where he or she is and beckons the pupil to come to him or her, but the Good teacher goes to where the pupil is...and takes him or her, leading them to where they ought to go."
~ Back to Cinderella....she had a message to convey, and she did so in the most beautiful way....implanting on that young boy's mind and heart, a day and time of acceptance and recognition, that he would NEVER forget, and always cherish. Jesus is like that....in that when He reaches out and takes us in, leading us where we ought to go by teaching and example.....a bond is formed, a lifelong relationship begun.
~ It is our job...duty....in this and every Christ-centered congregation, to open our doors and hearts to the dwarfed human beings, the Cinderella’s, the hurt, the lonely, the poor, the rich, the good, the bad and the ugly....so to speak. The very same people He reached out to and took in. All nations, all colors, the World and all it contains, even to the point of discomfort and being used.
~ Each society has its' own outcasts.....but Christ wants us, the church body to embrace, and to reconcile all of us to Himself, because he has done it already in the Spirit and in the flesh. If it disturbs our comfort....think of what it cost him. The church is to be a 'sanctuary' not a comfortable replica of home. A Sanctuary is a safe place....for all. Will we get used, yes. Will we be abused, yes..... scorned, yes, so be it. As it was done to Him, so it will be done to us.
Rejoice and be glad, He said...for I have overcome the world.
How beautiful are the feet of them, who bring the good news!
Little Church in the Pines
October 6, 2019
by; Connie Funkhouser - subbing for Pastor Tom
(posting per Pastor Tom's request)
**Discipline . . . . Spiritual Discipline**
I heard about a High School Graduate that went off to attend one of the prestigious universities. The monthly bills were coming into his parents and they were struggling to keep their head above water. One day his mother received a letter from their son; it read:
Dear Mom,
I’m writing to inform you that I have flunked all my courses. I had an accident and totally wrecked my car. I owe the clothing store in town over $2000, and I have been suspended for the remainder of the school year because of misconduct. I am coming home, prepare Dad.
His mother wrote a short letter back;
Dear Son,
Dad is prepared . . . prepare yourself.
Safe Travels, Love Mom
* * * * * * *
Discipline – Controlled and obedient behavior; training and punishment producing this. A branch of learning; trained to be orderly.
God is prepared to deal with His children when they sin. God has a woodshed, and if you are one of His children, before you get through this life you will make more than one journey to it.
Even after we are saved, the first time we sin God could just go ahead and send us to Hell. But God really cannot do that, for the Bible says in Rom. 8:1 “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” God’s justification “Not Guilty”, once pronounced, is final. Christ’s death blots out the sins of His people, and when His work is applied to the believer, there is no room for condemnation, for God’s justice has removed all grounds for it forever. This does not mean the believer does not still deal with overcoming sin on a regular basis, but through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can be free from the tyranny of sin, and for the love of Christ, live in a way that pleases our Savior.
God could condone us. God could just look away and overlook our sin. But God cannot, and will not, because He is a Holy and a Righteous and a Just God that lets no sin go unpunished.
A 3rd way that God could deal with us, and the way He does deal with us is, He can correct us.
You see, if God condemned us after we sinned, that would be pure legalism; that is, if we sin, we get the one-way ticket to Hell.
If God condoned our sin, that would be humanistic; where God would simply say that sin is no big deal and let it go.
But the 3rd way, God’s way, is Love. The Lord Himself said in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke (reprimand) and chasten (subdue, humble, put someone in their place). Therefore, be zealous and repent.”
With the average age of our congregation, there is no doubt that either we have given or received discipline for misbehavior.
Approx. 2 yrs. ago I took a Leap of Faith & began online courses studying Christian Theology. One of my 1st classes was on Spiritual Discipline and the making of a Christian Mind. I was instantly hooked. Crazy that I waited until my late 50’s early 60’s to go back to school, let alone discovering that I thoroughly enjoy the entire process of studying. I was so uncertain about this that I didn’t even tell my husband until my last paper and needed help with the citation. By the Grace of God and extreme self-discipline to the extent of being boring to some and reclusive, I continue to receive the highest of grades.
Growing up in a strict (and I say this with respect and “now” appreciation) and a sports minded family, I learned the “art” of discipline early. I learned about practice, and more practice, dedication, commitment, to become the best that you could be @ the various sports that I played and the example of my older brother. Sure, some are more naturally inclined than others whether it is sports, singing, dance, care-giving, numbers, art, poetry, imagination, but I am sure most will agree to succeed @ anything takes a mind that is focused and disciplined.
But how about “Spiritual Discipline?”
Spiritual Discipline is the practical guide to human flourishing - - - a life transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit, conformed to the image of God’s Son, to the Glory of God the Father.
A discipline for spiritual life is, an activity undertaken to bring us into more effective co-operation with Christ and His Kingdom. When we understand that Grace is a gift, we then see that to grow in grace is to grow in what is given to us of God and by God. The disciplines are then, in the clearest sense, a means to that grace and to those gifts. Spiritual disciplines, “exercises unto godliness,” are only the activities undertaken to make us capable of receiving more of His life and power w/o harm to ourselves or others.
Though we may not be aware of it, we experience disciplines every day. In these daily or natural disciplines, we perform acts that result in a direct command of further abilities that we would not otherwise have. If I trained really hard @ swimming, bike riding & running, I could conquer a triathlon; otherwise not, or practicing remembering names, if I repeat someone’s name out loud the chances of me remembering that persons name is greater than not.
The same thing happens with disciplines for our spiritual life. When through spiritual disciplines, we become able to bless those who curse us, pray w/o ceasing, to be @ peace when not given credit for good deeds we have done, or to master the evil that comes our way, it is because our disciplinary activities have inwardly posed us for more and more interaction with the powers of the living God and His Kingdom. Such is the potential we tap into when we live in the Presence of God.
The Spirit of the Disciplines confidently says that there is a way of spiritual transformation that is accessible to all people and it really does work in our contemporary world. The spirit of the disciplines is the way of Jesus, our divine but human teacher, who has walked and now walks that path before us and invites us to simply follow him as that path leads us through our lives into eternity.
The path starts where we are and as we are - - - no matter what precisely that means, or how despairing our situation may seem from the human perspective. We gain insight into how and why His path works and receive a power far beyond ourselves as we take the simple steps of His trusting apprentice living. (Hand-out bookmarks w/explanation)
When we look closely and continually @ Jesus, we do not lose sight of this one fundamental, crucial point – the activities constituting the disciplines have no value in themselves. The aim and substance of spiritual life is not fasting, prayer, hymn singing, cautious living, and so forth. Rather it is the effective and full enjoyment of active love of God and humankind in all the daily rounds of normal existence where we are placed. The spiritually advanced person is not the one who engages in lots and lots of disciplines, any more than the good child is the one who receives lots and lots of instruction and punishment recourse.
The new person and the new world for which humanity constantly seeks is the overriding theme of the biblical writings, culminating in the person and Kingdom of Jesus. To experience the newness of life in Jesus’ Kingdom, we need only to put into practice what confidence we have in Him, observe the outcome, and learn how to do better what we believe He would have us do. His way is self-validating to anyone who will openly and persistently put it into practice.
“To those who overcome,” Jesus says, “I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”
(Revelation 2:7)
By practicing our Faith, by applying our Faith, by being disciplined in our Faith in all aspects of our daily lives, we are clarifying and exemplifying realistic methods of human transformation. We are children of God and are called to show how ordinary individuals who make up humanity today can become, through the Grace of Christ, a love-filled, effective, and powerful community.
We are to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest our time and our energies of mind and body as He did. We must learn how to follow His preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enable Him to receive His Father’s constant and effective support while doing His will. We need to discover how to enter into His disciplines from where we stand today - - - and no doubt, how to extend and amplify those disciplines.
The challenge of forming habits based on the Grace of God is a very vital one. The Grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, the Redemption is praised, but our practical everyday life evades working it out. If we refuse to practice, it is not God’s Grace that fails when crisis comes, but our own nature. The practicing is ours, not God’s. God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all His divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to His will.
David will you please read John 15:7-8
BTW and I’m sure most know this; what is the word above discipline in the dictionary? Disciple . . . . a coincidence? . . . I believe not.
The word abide carries the implication of complete attachment. It is related to ideas such as dwelling, staying, and settling in. It means sinking deep and growing roots, Jesus was not describing a surface faith. He was talking about a solid commitment – a relationship where we depend completely on Him to accomplish His work through us.
Spiritual Discipline is necessary for Christian growth. By practicing, with trusting, putting all our confidence in God’s Word, we can become like Christ in character and realize our highest ideals of well-being and well-doing.
This is the Heart ♥ of the New Testament’s Message.
I heard about a little boy who was floating his boat on a pond, when the boat floated away. A man came by and saw the boat out on the pond and began throwing stones on the far side of the boat. The boy said, “Mister, what are you doing?”
Without a word, the man kept throwing stones. Then something very interesting started to happen. As the stones hit the water beyond the boat, they created ripples which pushed the boat back toward the boy. Even though the stones disturbed the smooth water, they achieved the desired result.
That is exactly the way God’s discipline operates. When we drift away from Him on the sea of sin or the pond of unrighteousness, He throws out the disturbing stones of His loving discipline, sending out ripples of love, pushing us back to where we ought to be.
I can only speak for myself . . . but in my 62 short years I have found that being discipline, practicing and practicing again, remaining focused, committed to whatever it maybe; brings clarity to my passion(s) and purpose in life.
Amen
October 6, 2019
by; Connie Funkhouser - subbing for Pastor Tom
(posting per Pastor Tom's request)
**Discipline . . . . Spiritual Discipline**
I heard about a High School Graduate that went off to attend one of the prestigious universities. The monthly bills were coming into his parents and they were struggling to keep their head above water. One day his mother received a letter from their son; it read:
Dear Mom,
I’m writing to inform you that I have flunked all my courses. I had an accident and totally wrecked my car. I owe the clothing store in town over $2000, and I have been suspended for the remainder of the school year because of misconduct. I am coming home, prepare Dad.
His mother wrote a short letter back;
Dear Son,
Dad is prepared . . . prepare yourself.
Safe Travels, Love Mom
* * * * * * *
Discipline – Controlled and obedient behavior; training and punishment producing this. A branch of learning; trained to be orderly.
God is prepared to deal with His children when they sin. God has a woodshed, and if you are one of His children, before you get through this life you will make more than one journey to it.
Even after we are saved, the first time we sin God could just go ahead and send us to Hell. But God really cannot do that, for the Bible says in Rom. 8:1 “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” God’s justification “Not Guilty”, once pronounced, is final. Christ’s death blots out the sins of His people, and when His work is applied to the believer, there is no room for condemnation, for God’s justice has removed all grounds for it forever. This does not mean the believer does not still deal with overcoming sin on a regular basis, but through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can be free from the tyranny of sin, and for the love of Christ, live in a way that pleases our Savior.
God could condone us. God could just look away and overlook our sin. But God cannot, and will not, because He is a Holy and a Righteous and a Just God that lets no sin go unpunished.
A 3rd way that God could deal with us, and the way He does deal with us is, He can correct us.
You see, if God condemned us after we sinned, that would be pure legalism; that is, if we sin, we get the one-way ticket to Hell.
If God condoned our sin, that would be humanistic; where God would simply say that sin is no big deal and let it go.
But the 3rd way, God’s way, is Love. The Lord Himself said in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke (reprimand) and chasten (subdue, humble, put someone in their place). Therefore, be zealous and repent.”
With the average age of our congregation, there is no doubt that either we have given or received discipline for misbehavior.
Approx. 2 yrs. ago I took a Leap of Faith & began online courses studying Christian Theology. One of my 1st classes was on Spiritual Discipline and the making of a Christian Mind. I was instantly hooked. Crazy that I waited until my late 50’s early 60’s to go back to school, let alone discovering that I thoroughly enjoy the entire process of studying. I was so uncertain about this that I didn’t even tell my husband until my last paper and needed help with the citation. By the Grace of God and extreme self-discipline to the extent of being boring to some and reclusive, I continue to receive the highest of grades.
Growing up in a strict (and I say this with respect and “now” appreciation) and a sports minded family, I learned the “art” of discipline early. I learned about practice, and more practice, dedication, commitment, to become the best that you could be @ the various sports that I played and the example of my older brother. Sure, some are more naturally inclined than others whether it is sports, singing, dance, care-giving, numbers, art, poetry, imagination, but I am sure most will agree to succeed @ anything takes a mind that is focused and disciplined.
But how about “Spiritual Discipline?”
Spiritual Discipline is the practical guide to human flourishing - - - a life transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit, conformed to the image of God’s Son, to the Glory of God the Father.
A discipline for spiritual life is, an activity undertaken to bring us into more effective co-operation with Christ and His Kingdom. When we understand that Grace is a gift, we then see that to grow in grace is to grow in what is given to us of God and by God. The disciplines are then, in the clearest sense, a means to that grace and to those gifts. Spiritual disciplines, “exercises unto godliness,” are only the activities undertaken to make us capable of receiving more of His life and power w/o harm to ourselves or others.
Though we may not be aware of it, we experience disciplines every day. In these daily or natural disciplines, we perform acts that result in a direct command of further abilities that we would not otherwise have. If I trained really hard @ swimming, bike riding & running, I could conquer a triathlon; otherwise not, or practicing remembering names, if I repeat someone’s name out loud the chances of me remembering that persons name is greater than not.
The same thing happens with disciplines for our spiritual life. When through spiritual disciplines, we become able to bless those who curse us, pray w/o ceasing, to be @ peace when not given credit for good deeds we have done, or to master the evil that comes our way, it is because our disciplinary activities have inwardly posed us for more and more interaction with the powers of the living God and His Kingdom. Such is the potential we tap into when we live in the Presence of God.
The Spirit of the Disciplines confidently says that there is a way of spiritual transformation that is accessible to all people and it really does work in our contemporary world. The spirit of the disciplines is the way of Jesus, our divine but human teacher, who has walked and now walks that path before us and invites us to simply follow him as that path leads us through our lives into eternity.
The path starts where we are and as we are - - - no matter what precisely that means, or how despairing our situation may seem from the human perspective. We gain insight into how and why His path works and receive a power far beyond ourselves as we take the simple steps of His trusting apprentice living. (Hand-out bookmarks w/explanation)
When we look closely and continually @ Jesus, we do not lose sight of this one fundamental, crucial point – the activities constituting the disciplines have no value in themselves. The aim and substance of spiritual life is not fasting, prayer, hymn singing, cautious living, and so forth. Rather it is the effective and full enjoyment of active love of God and humankind in all the daily rounds of normal existence where we are placed. The spiritually advanced person is not the one who engages in lots and lots of disciplines, any more than the good child is the one who receives lots and lots of instruction and punishment recourse.
The new person and the new world for which humanity constantly seeks is the overriding theme of the biblical writings, culminating in the person and Kingdom of Jesus. To experience the newness of life in Jesus’ Kingdom, we need only to put into practice what confidence we have in Him, observe the outcome, and learn how to do better what we believe He would have us do. His way is self-validating to anyone who will openly and persistently put it into practice.
“To those who overcome,” Jesus says, “I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”
(Revelation 2:7)
By practicing our Faith, by applying our Faith, by being disciplined in our Faith in all aspects of our daily lives, we are clarifying and exemplifying realistic methods of human transformation. We are children of God and are called to show how ordinary individuals who make up humanity today can become, through the Grace of Christ, a love-filled, effective, and powerful community.
We are to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest our time and our energies of mind and body as He did. We must learn how to follow His preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enable Him to receive His Father’s constant and effective support while doing His will. We need to discover how to enter into His disciplines from where we stand today - - - and no doubt, how to extend and amplify those disciplines.
The challenge of forming habits based on the Grace of God is a very vital one. The Grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, the Redemption is praised, but our practical everyday life evades working it out. If we refuse to practice, it is not God’s Grace that fails when crisis comes, but our own nature. The practicing is ours, not God’s. God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all His divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to His will.
David will you please read John 15:7-8
BTW and I’m sure most know this; what is the word above discipline in the dictionary? Disciple . . . . a coincidence? . . . I believe not.
The word abide carries the implication of complete attachment. It is related to ideas such as dwelling, staying, and settling in. It means sinking deep and growing roots, Jesus was not describing a surface faith. He was talking about a solid commitment – a relationship where we depend completely on Him to accomplish His work through us.
Spiritual Discipline is necessary for Christian growth. By practicing, with trusting, putting all our confidence in God’s Word, we can become like Christ in character and realize our highest ideals of well-being and well-doing.
This is the Heart ♥ of the New Testament’s Message.
I heard about a little boy who was floating his boat on a pond, when the boat floated away. A man came by and saw the boat out on the pond and began throwing stones on the far side of the boat. The boy said, “Mister, what are you doing?”
Without a word, the man kept throwing stones. Then something very interesting started to happen. As the stones hit the water beyond the boat, they created ripples which pushed the boat back toward the boy. Even though the stones disturbed the smooth water, they achieved the desired result.
That is exactly the way God’s discipline operates. When we drift away from Him on the sea of sin or the pond of unrighteousness, He throws out the disturbing stones of His loving discipline, sending out ripples of love, pushing us back to where we ought to be.
I can only speak for myself . . . but in my 62 short years I have found that being discipline, practicing and practicing again, remaining focused, committed to whatever it maybe; brings clarity to my passion(s) and purpose in life.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK
September 29, 2017
"Accepted in the BelovED"
Ephesians 1:6
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
"To the praise of His glorious grace...in that He has made us accepted in the Beloved."
> What does it feel like to be on the outside looking in and to be the last chosen reluctantly in playing a game? What does it feel like to walk down a hall and have a group of people whispering, smiling maliciously and you know you are being talked about? It could be for any number of reasons that are unfair. >
> I remember Wanda and Wilbur from Junior High on through high school. Wanda was tall and gangly, hair in braids, long dresses and skirts, oversized glasses, never looking at anyone, locked in her own world or rejection. And then there was her twin Wilbur. Shorter than Wanda, so afraid in 7th grade to ask to go to the bathroom, that he preferred to sit where he was and urinate in his chair, and I’m sure you can imagine the laughing and overall reaction of the other students. Wanda and Wilbur came from an ultra-conservative, religious family. The blinds in their rundown house were never opened and in a poor section of town. I at times recall them these many years later, wondering what kind of lives they led as adults? I would speak to them once in a while, but never would they full engage in conversation. To me they were the epitome of rejection.
> Grace along with understanding and compassion was what they required. Where, with whom as parents they were born was not their choice. You could call them, victims of their circumstances. I could see the tightly wrapped pain of their existence. It emanated from their bodies like the dust that surrounds the character “Pig Pen” in Charlie Brown.
> Now, let's look at 'accepted.' The desire of 99.9% of the whole human race desires to be accepted. And what does accepted mean? Everything!
> Literally......a human being desires to be recognized and valued by at least one other person...and some by many other persons. To simply be accepted.
> The opposite is 'rejection.' Rejection means being outside the circle, alone, a form of bullying....unfortunately today as in the past....many, too many 'feel' to the core of their being...not included, unwanted, undesired, unlovable....and this is but one of the major causes of both individual and mass shootings, by individuals who are outside of acceptance.
> Acceptance....Rejection. Jesus knew the full impact of both of these words, as He was 'John 6:41-71where it reads, “Jesus was rejected by His own.” If....you feel outside the circle.... you always have Him to turn to, always, for He knows what it is like.
> Now to the word Beloved. It's a beautiful word even in its sound when spoken. Beloved - Be-loved. All desire to be-loved. It is an adjective as it describes a feeling....a good feeling, a great feeling. Some of the synonyms that accompany 'beloved' are darling, dear, dearest, precious, adored, cherished. Can't go wrong with any of those....as to the ones described as such.... find within themselves joy, acceptance, value, love. The greatest of these is love. When someone 'feels' loved....he or she can endure sometimes great pain if ill, secure if attacked verbally by others....are just a few examples.....knowing someone loves them.
> You see.... we live often and deeply by our 'feelings.' We use the terms such as I don't feel good about this, or I feel great about this. We sometimes correctly and sometimes erroneously, are guided by our 'feelings,' instead of common sense. Our feelings often override, dictating what we choose to do. So, there an upside and a downside to 'feelings.' Feelings are safe when subjected to reason, thought and sound decision making, but to be ruled by them can bring disaster!!!
We will get back to 'the verse' Ephesians 1:6 in a bit.... but first I want to lay a foundation to speak of the full meaning of this remarkable verse.> God’s love.....Christ’s love....is greater and deeper than we can possibly imagine....and if rejection comes, even from one we love....there is a way to overcome....and that is to recognized that no matter what man or woman does, or says to us...."to the praise of the glory of His grace...he has (by His love...shown in His death and resurrection) we ARE accepted us as His Beloved."
> A woman whose name I don't know.....wrote articles and words of encouragement to those who were physically suffering due to illness, as she herself had chronic, painful issues. An acquaintance of hers said to her, that he found no value in her writings. She 'felt' deeply discouraged, and almost quit, doubting the significance of what she considered her love offerings to God in helping others in her own special way. Through the strength of her family's love for her.....God's love for her, and other Scripture....that the one opinion, negative as it was from one person, and it could have been ten persons.....could not stop her from expressing her heart, her condition, and her own love for those in a situation like herself from giving the only gift she felt she could give. That...being herself.
> No one can take from us....what is inside us...unless we let them. No one..............
> If we are not strong on the inside to withstand, we will not be strong enough on the outside. All our strength, including the external is rooted to the inside.... who we are there determines who and what we are here.
> When you think about it....so, now think about it! Yes, now.
> Whether we came to believe in Christ at an alter in a revival, or a church, or on a hike alone.... sitting in a bar nursing a beer, jumping out of an airplane with a parachute on.......it matters not. Whether we prayed the classic Evangelical prayer....saying all the so called 'right words' , or simply have one of those rare times of understanding I call an epiphany, a moment of deep revelation....we came to believe that Jesus is the Savior and the Son of God.....at that moment, this verse comes into reality!
"To the praise of the glory of His grace....He made us, now, accepted in the Beloved....a part of He and His Kingdom.....forever....and ever. Amen
> These are wonderful, comforting, encouraging, enlightening, captivating, galvanizing, life-changing words. All praise to the glory of His Grace.
> They are almost like a poem...in their poetic harmony and beauty. There is music in them.... accepted....beloved....grace...glory....praise.....................
Amazing Grace....how sweet the sound.
The message is simple.... God accepts all who accept His Son by grace, through faith.....a covenant which is solemn and binding, between you and Christ....an unbreakable union....a perfect oneness..
In our hymnal on page 417....Just As I Am, Without One Plea......I am going to read the last verse.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown,
Hath broken every barrier down,
Now...to be Thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come....
You.....You.....are important and of value as a child of God.....Just as you are, He says, come.
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK
September 29, 2017
"Accepted in the BelovED"
Ephesians 1:6
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
"To the praise of His glorious grace...in that He has made us accepted in the Beloved."
> What does it feel like to be on the outside looking in and to be the last chosen reluctantly in playing a game? What does it feel like to walk down a hall and have a group of people whispering, smiling maliciously and you know you are being talked about? It could be for any number of reasons that are unfair. >
> I remember Wanda and Wilbur from Junior High on through high school. Wanda was tall and gangly, hair in braids, long dresses and skirts, oversized glasses, never looking at anyone, locked in her own world or rejection. And then there was her twin Wilbur. Shorter than Wanda, so afraid in 7th grade to ask to go to the bathroom, that he preferred to sit where he was and urinate in his chair, and I’m sure you can imagine the laughing and overall reaction of the other students. Wanda and Wilbur came from an ultra-conservative, religious family. The blinds in their rundown house were never opened and in a poor section of town. I at times recall them these many years later, wondering what kind of lives they led as adults? I would speak to them once in a while, but never would they full engage in conversation. To me they were the epitome of rejection.
> Grace along with understanding and compassion was what they required. Where, with whom as parents they were born was not their choice. You could call them, victims of their circumstances. I could see the tightly wrapped pain of their existence. It emanated from their bodies like the dust that surrounds the character “Pig Pen” in Charlie Brown.
- Where could Wanda and Wilbur and thousands like them find acceptance, love, mercy and kindness? In the Grace of God……..and in the community of Believers. I hope.
- Last week I had the difficult task of telling someone in the congregation that they were no longer welcome here. When I left during the time the choir sang, of which I heard it was very good by the way, I asked someone in the service to go with me to address this person. He carried around with him his own version of Pig Pen’s aura. Being brain damaged in an accident years ago, he has never been right mentally since.
- I was hoping, really hoping and praying, and told him so when I asked him not to come back, that he would have found a place of acceptance here, a place that he felt he could belong. What happened was that along with his lifestyle, uncleanliness and clothing, as well as peculiar behavior, he could at least feel the presence of the Lord through us. Without going into a deep tell-all of his behaviors, the thing that I had to talk with him about, were several sexual advances he made to some women in the church and even community. This was completely unacceptable….as I explained to him. It was both sad and disturbing to myself and to him.
- Here was one person, on the fringe that I truly had hoped and prayed we could accept in the beloved, but being the minister of this church, it is my responsibility to make sure (as much as I can) that this is also a safe place, a place of refuge from that which happens in the world. The world close around us and the world at large.
- The foundational 'word' here that I and we attempted to show Greg was GRACE, for without it the rest of Scripture and all pertaining Scriptures are without value...have no foundation apart from Grace. It is a monumental word....a word so powerful in content and context that few can even approach it in value. Salvation is another one....for there is no grace apart from Salvation, and no Salvation apart from Grace. The two are in tandem....connected forever. GRACE when offered is not always accepted, not understood and sometimes abused.
> Now, let's look at 'accepted.' The desire of 99.9% of the whole human race desires to be accepted. And what does accepted mean? Everything!
> Literally......a human being desires to be recognized and valued by at least one other person...and some by many other persons. To simply be accepted.
> The opposite is 'rejection.' Rejection means being outside the circle, alone, a form of bullying....unfortunately today as in the past....many, too many 'feel' to the core of their being...not included, unwanted, undesired, unlovable....and this is but one of the major causes of both individual and mass shootings, by individuals who are outside of acceptance.
> Acceptance....Rejection. Jesus knew the full impact of both of these words, as He was 'John 6:41-71where it reads, “Jesus was rejected by His own.” If....you feel outside the circle.... you always have Him to turn to, always, for He knows what it is like.
> Now to the word Beloved. It's a beautiful word even in its sound when spoken. Beloved - Be-loved. All desire to be-loved. It is an adjective as it describes a feeling....a good feeling, a great feeling. Some of the synonyms that accompany 'beloved' are darling, dear, dearest, precious, adored, cherished. Can't go wrong with any of those....as to the ones described as such.... find within themselves joy, acceptance, value, love. The greatest of these is love. When someone 'feels' loved....he or she can endure sometimes great pain if ill, secure if attacked verbally by others....are just a few examples.....knowing someone loves them.
> You see.... we live often and deeply by our 'feelings.' We use the terms such as I don't feel good about this, or I feel great about this. We sometimes correctly and sometimes erroneously, are guided by our 'feelings,' instead of common sense. Our feelings often override, dictating what we choose to do. So, there an upside and a downside to 'feelings.' Feelings are safe when subjected to reason, thought and sound decision making, but to be ruled by them can bring disaster!!!
We will get back to 'the verse' Ephesians 1:6 in a bit.... but first I want to lay a foundation to speak of the full meaning of this remarkable verse.> God’s love.....Christ’s love....is greater and deeper than we can possibly imagine....and if rejection comes, even from one we love....there is a way to overcome....and that is to recognized that no matter what man or woman does, or says to us...."to the praise of the glory of His grace...he has (by His love...shown in His death and resurrection) we ARE accepted us as His Beloved."
> A woman whose name I don't know.....wrote articles and words of encouragement to those who were physically suffering due to illness, as she herself had chronic, painful issues. An acquaintance of hers said to her, that he found no value in her writings. She 'felt' deeply discouraged, and almost quit, doubting the significance of what she considered her love offerings to God in helping others in her own special way. Through the strength of her family's love for her.....God's love for her, and other Scripture....that the one opinion, negative as it was from one person, and it could have been ten persons.....could not stop her from expressing her heart, her condition, and her own love for those in a situation like herself from giving the only gift she felt she could give. That...being herself.
> No one can take from us....what is inside us...unless we let them. No one..............
> If we are not strong on the inside to withstand, we will not be strong enough on the outside. All our strength, including the external is rooted to the inside.... who we are there determines who and what we are here.
> When you think about it....so, now think about it! Yes, now.
> Whether we came to believe in Christ at an alter in a revival, or a church, or on a hike alone.... sitting in a bar nursing a beer, jumping out of an airplane with a parachute on.......it matters not. Whether we prayed the classic Evangelical prayer....saying all the so called 'right words' , or simply have one of those rare times of understanding I call an epiphany, a moment of deep revelation....we came to believe that Jesus is the Savior and the Son of God.....at that moment, this verse comes into reality!
"To the praise of the glory of His grace....He made us, now, accepted in the Beloved....a part of He and His Kingdom.....forever....and ever. Amen
> These are wonderful, comforting, encouraging, enlightening, captivating, galvanizing, life-changing words. All praise to the glory of His Grace.
> They are almost like a poem...in their poetic harmony and beauty. There is music in them.... accepted....beloved....grace...glory....praise.....................
Amazing Grace....how sweet the sound.
The message is simple.... God accepts all who accept His Son by grace, through faith.....a covenant which is solemn and binding, between you and Christ....an unbreakable union....a perfect oneness..
In our hymnal on page 417....Just As I Am, Without One Plea......I am going to read the last verse.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown,
Hath broken every barrier down,
Now...to be Thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come....
You.....You.....are important and of value as a child of God.....Just as you are, He says, come.
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
October 22, 2019
"LORD, Don’t You Care”
Mark 4::38, Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
~Today’s message ties in with last weeks, so you may hear a bit of the same theme throughout. I have had more than several comments, positive ones which gave me the inspiration for continuing with Life Isn’t Fair, But God Is! Pain is a part of life that we cannot escape, though I did see a brief special on TV of a woman in England that has never experienced pain, and of course she is being studied as to possibly find out the source or lack thereof that has made this possible. Pain, like life seems often very unfair and can be debilitating.
~ While I was sitting at my computer typing this, a rather intense manifestation of pain appeared out of nowhere in my right hand, that jolted me into the reality of pain and pain’s place in our lives. The pain in my hand gave me just one more thing I really need to see a physician for, because it has continued and it’s telling me something needs to be attended to. I don't like it though....pain that is, but that really doesn't matter, does it. Yet…in my most difficult times of pain, as when I had pancreatitis, the pain was definitely physical, but it also caused mental and emotional pain, and within those, fear. I asked the Lord why does pain have to run so deep and intense, that it extends to the deepest part of my being, making me ask, sometimes beg for relief, and I asked?
~ “Lord, don’t you care?” “Do you know the pain I am experiencing?”
~I remember so well, kneeling on the floor next to my bed, unable to simply lie there, gripping my hands together so as to cause different pain, to help relieve by distraction what was going on inside me.
~ How many of us right now, are in some kind of pain, physical, emotional or even mental…….how about spiritual?
~ I have made you aware before, albeit briefly, that there is at this time, division and strife, causing pain in my own family. The first time in over 40 years, and indeed much pain is involved, but years ago I learned to trust the Lord at a time of deep emotional pain, that (in time) HE told me, all will be resolved and set right, giving me a verse when I needed it, and even now need in faith to believe it, that ~ “All things work together for good, to those that love the Lord and are called according to and for His purpose.” Romans 8:21I believe this with all my heart. I have to.
~An interesting addendum occurred Friday, again while also working on this message, I got a call….
~My belief means trust, and takes the burden off of me alone to resolve it, because the Lord also asks us to give the pain to Him, and together we will share them. At times He will carry them for us and even carry us when we are unable to bear it. This is one of those times. Yes, again I am in pain, but not nearly as much as I would be without the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom He said would be with us (me) in times such as these. It’s never about who is to blame, or who did what, or did not do what to whom. It is about (those of us having God in our lives, having a forgiving and loving and trusting spirit. We must be ready at any moment, if such a time arrives…to be willing for and always desiring reconciliation.
~ Listen to these words written in pain by people in pain. A very honest, gut wrenching cry….a doggedly painful cry coming from our innermost being as I and we have asked on occasion in similar situations, “Lord don’t you care?” It has been asked, screamed and quietly said countless times, “Lord don’t you care” as a mother weeps over a stillborn child. A husband is torn from his wife by a tragic accident. The tears of a young child fall on his daddy’s casket, as the question wails internally if not externally!
~ We cry out, why me, why my child, why my job, why my house….why, why, why?
~ It is a timeless question. The question asked not once but many times over, by literally every person that has walked this planet we call home. There has never been a leader, an average person, man or woman, a mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, etc., who hasn’t asked it. There has never been a soul who hasn’t wrestled with this aching question. “Does God really care?” Even Jesus asked this question while on the cross as He was dying where in Mark 15:34 we read, “and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”
~In being forsaken, alone, as God turned His own eyes away from His Son, because He too could not stand to see and feel the pain, we conclude that Jesus is asking, where are you Father, don’t you care?
~ We find in this next illustration, the disciples and Jesus once again in a storm where Jesus, instead of walking on the water, is sound asleep, as the wind howled and the sea raged, the impatient and frightened disciples screamed out their fear at the soundly sleeping Jesus. “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to drown? Being seasoned fishermen, it must have been a very bad storm for them to be so frightened. As He awoke, at this time He could have pointed out their lack of solid belief in Him…their own immaturity, and told them to be quiet and let Him sleep. He could have in anger stood up and angrily dismissed the storm.
~Instead, with all the patience and presence that only One who cares can have, He answered the question by causing the storm to abate, standing up amidst the tumultuous waves and wind, commanding it without anger to stop, so the shivering, frightened disciples would not miss His response. He was with them and He did care….as even in a rebuke He preserved their lives.
~ Where is God when you hurt, when I hurt, when we are afraid, when a family hurts, a town, city, a nation? Fear runs amok today across the land, but He will speak to we who know Him and love Him, to give us assurance that indeed He does care. What and how He chooses to speak is up to Him and Him alone. It may not always be what we want to hear, or what we want to see accomplished….but speak, He will in the events themselves, or by the still quiet voice of the Spirit, words spoken by Him through Holy Scripture, or even perhaps through someone we would least expect to hear Him speak through. He will speak and bring a measure of comfort, saying, “fear not, for I am with you says the Lord.” Internal and external voices….and this church, is simply a matter of by our wills “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” and trusting Him….completely.
~ There was equal hurt/pain in Jesus day, just as there is equal hurt today. We all then, as now, are both receivers of and deliverers of hurt, from and to one another in many forms. Some of us are better at giving than receiving....such capability of our human race to create such amazing beauty and harmony....and at the same time, such hurt and chaos, pain and fear, make it so very hard to understand the dichotomy of the human race.
~ As a minister, what I have discovered over my many years of ministry is that pain and hurt, comes with brokenness of some kind and again, in the realms of physically, relationally, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
~ What is the purpose of hurt and pain? In its simplest explanation we are being told that something is wrong, somewhere. Something is broken, not working as it should. Something in our lives or somethings in our lives need attention. All too often we ignore the early signs in these areas of our lives, and do so at our own peril.
~ Again, as a minister I have yet to meet anyone who has not endured hurt and pain. I have ministered to those who have suffered greatly, yet have endured and over time by an attitude of forgiveness and letting God have that hurt, risen above it to become stronger, and often more compassionate and understanding, more tolerant and giving, more kind and patient.
~ I have also discovered that people in physical pain seem to be able to adapt and endure easier, than those with mental, emotional and spiritual hurt and pain.
~ If…we hold onto un-forgiveness, resentment, anger, bitterness, we are basically cursing ourselves with an attitude that is not Christ centered. These attitudes will affect our bodies, minds and spirits though we may not recognize it as such, so caught up are we in the negative emotion we are feeling.
~ I have taught on this subject several times and will continue to do so. Our nation and we as individuals, are so caught up in the negative aspects of our differences…that we cannot see the damage such attitudes are causing us. We are in the center of a maelstrom, surrounded by the fog of emotion that we fail to see and feel our common humanity, our common pain and hurt, our common confusion, and sense of lost-ness. As Christians we should be leading by both our words and our examples of what it means to walk and live in Christ. To be like Him in as many ways as we possibly can. We are to be people of peace…bringer of peace. Showing others there is a better way to handle pain, hurt, disappointment and life itself.
~ WE CAN have PEACE in our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus if we choose to do so! We can and we should. Peace, trust in faith, belief when it is difficult to believe. PEACE like a river…………flowing, carrying us along with it’s current. Washing away anxiety, fear and confusion.
~ Matthew 5:9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
~ Mark 9:49-50, For everyone will be tested by life. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.
~ Luke 1:79, “God’s tender mercy is to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide us to the path of peace.
~ John 16:33, “I have told you all that I have told you so that you may have pace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
~ Ephesians 2:14, “For Christ himself has brought peace to us.”
~ 1 Peter 3:11, “Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace….and work to maintain it.”
~ I have on occasion said to myself at times, I have every right to be hurt, I have every right to be bitter, I have every right to be angry, I have every right to spread the tale of having been wronged, I have every right to cause pain to those who have caused me pain, and I have every right for retaliation…..when as a Christian, a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ….I lost that right to all those things, as have you!
~ It is right….to give our natural responses to Him, to work out in peace on the path right living….to forgive….to grant grace…..to be a man or woman of Peace. That is the right we have all been given. Let us walk in those life giving virtues, not in self-righteousness.
~ If we say we are Christians….it is our goal to live like one, and the only right we have is the right of Christ, who forgave those who stood at the foot his weapon of death….and mocked him, that is what we are to do also.
~ Peace…in the midst of hurt and pain….peace in the midst of chaos, peace in pain and peace in the midst of our personal storms. Peace can come like a river in our soul.
~ I honestly believe that Peace, the Peace of God brings with it health, in all areas of our lives. All the ways I have spoken of and especially, in the arena of pain and hurt. You first have to want it….need it and put into planting it in yourself as a priority in your life.
~ Jesus feels your pain and hurt, your confusion and fear, for He Himself experienced all of those himself. He desires that you walk with him and talk with him along life’s narrow way. In partnering with him, you will find yourself feeling better, feeling lighter, feeling more grateful, because you are not walking alone….you will be arm in arm with the one who said that no matter what you are going through….he would never leave or forsake you and will give you strength to overcome when you come to him and say, “It Hurts Lord.”
I will finish with this……Revelation 21:3c., “He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself with be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.
Amen
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
October 22, 2019
"LORD, Don’t You Care”
Mark 4::38, Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
~Today’s message ties in with last weeks, so you may hear a bit of the same theme throughout. I have had more than several comments, positive ones which gave me the inspiration for continuing with Life Isn’t Fair, But God Is! Pain is a part of life that we cannot escape, though I did see a brief special on TV of a woman in England that has never experienced pain, and of course she is being studied as to possibly find out the source or lack thereof that has made this possible. Pain, like life seems often very unfair and can be debilitating.
~ While I was sitting at my computer typing this, a rather intense manifestation of pain appeared out of nowhere in my right hand, that jolted me into the reality of pain and pain’s place in our lives. The pain in my hand gave me just one more thing I really need to see a physician for, because it has continued and it’s telling me something needs to be attended to. I don't like it though....pain that is, but that really doesn't matter, does it. Yet…in my most difficult times of pain, as when I had pancreatitis, the pain was definitely physical, but it also caused mental and emotional pain, and within those, fear. I asked the Lord why does pain have to run so deep and intense, that it extends to the deepest part of my being, making me ask, sometimes beg for relief, and I asked?
~ “Lord, don’t you care?” “Do you know the pain I am experiencing?”
~I remember so well, kneeling on the floor next to my bed, unable to simply lie there, gripping my hands together so as to cause different pain, to help relieve by distraction what was going on inside me.
~ How many of us right now, are in some kind of pain, physical, emotional or even mental…….how about spiritual?
~ I have made you aware before, albeit briefly, that there is at this time, division and strife, causing pain in my own family. The first time in over 40 years, and indeed much pain is involved, but years ago I learned to trust the Lord at a time of deep emotional pain, that (in time) HE told me, all will be resolved and set right, giving me a verse when I needed it, and even now need in faith to believe it, that ~ “All things work together for good, to those that love the Lord and are called according to and for His purpose.” Romans 8:21I believe this with all my heart. I have to.
~An interesting addendum occurred Friday, again while also working on this message, I got a call….
~My belief means trust, and takes the burden off of me alone to resolve it, because the Lord also asks us to give the pain to Him, and together we will share them. At times He will carry them for us and even carry us when we are unable to bear it. This is one of those times. Yes, again I am in pain, but not nearly as much as I would be without the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom He said would be with us (me) in times such as these. It’s never about who is to blame, or who did what, or did not do what to whom. It is about (those of us having God in our lives, having a forgiving and loving and trusting spirit. We must be ready at any moment, if such a time arrives…to be willing for and always desiring reconciliation.
~ Listen to these words written in pain by people in pain. A very honest, gut wrenching cry….a doggedly painful cry coming from our innermost being as I and we have asked on occasion in similar situations, “Lord don’t you care?” It has been asked, screamed and quietly said countless times, “Lord don’t you care” as a mother weeps over a stillborn child. A husband is torn from his wife by a tragic accident. The tears of a young child fall on his daddy’s casket, as the question wails internally if not externally!
~ We cry out, why me, why my child, why my job, why my house….why, why, why?
~ It is a timeless question. The question asked not once but many times over, by literally every person that has walked this planet we call home. There has never been a leader, an average person, man or woman, a mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, etc., who hasn’t asked it. There has never been a soul who hasn’t wrestled with this aching question. “Does God really care?” Even Jesus asked this question while on the cross as He was dying where in Mark 15:34 we read, “and at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”
~In being forsaken, alone, as God turned His own eyes away from His Son, because He too could not stand to see and feel the pain, we conclude that Jesus is asking, where are you Father, don’t you care?
~ We find in this next illustration, the disciples and Jesus once again in a storm where Jesus, instead of walking on the water, is sound asleep, as the wind howled and the sea raged, the impatient and frightened disciples screamed out their fear at the soundly sleeping Jesus. “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to drown? Being seasoned fishermen, it must have been a very bad storm for them to be so frightened. As He awoke, at this time He could have pointed out their lack of solid belief in Him…their own immaturity, and told them to be quiet and let Him sleep. He could have in anger stood up and angrily dismissed the storm.
~Instead, with all the patience and presence that only One who cares can have, He answered the question by causing the storm to abate, standing up amidst the tumultuous waves and wind, commanding it without anger to stop, so the shivering, frightened disciples would not miss His response. He was with them and He did care….as even in a rebuke He preserved their lives.
~ Where is God when you hurt, when I hurt, when we are afraid, when a family hurts, a town, city, a nation? Fear runs amok today across the land, but He will speak to we who know Him and love Him, to give us assurance that indeed He does care. What and how He chooses to speak is up to Him and Him alone. It may not always be what we want to hear, or what we want to see accomplished….but speak, He will in the events themselves, or by the still quiet voice of the Spirit, words spoken by Him through Holy Scripture, or even perhaps through someone we would least expect to hear Him speak through. He will speak and bring a measure of comfort, saying, “fear not, for I am with you says the Lord.” Internal and external voices….and this church, is simply a matter of by our wills “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” and trusting Him….completely.
~ There was equal hurt/pain in Jesus day, just as there is equal hurt today. We all then, as now, are both receivers of and deliverers of hurt, from and to one another in many forms. Some of us are better at giving than receiving....such capability of our human race to create such amazing beauty and harmony....and at the same time, such hurt and chaos, pain and fear, make it so very hard to understand the dichotomy of the human race.
~ As a minister, what I have discovered over my many years of ministry is that pain and hurt, comes with brokenness of some kind and again, in the realms of physically, relationally, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
~ What is the purpose of hurt and pain? In its simplest explanation we are being told that something is wrong, somewhere. Something is broken, not working as it should. Something in our lives or somethings in our lives need attention. All too often we ignore the early signs in these areas of our lives, and do so at our own peril.
~ Again, as a minister I have yet to meet anyone who has not endured hurt and pain. I have ministered to those who have suffered greatly, yet have endured and over time by an attitude of forgiveness and letting God have that hurt, risen above it to become stronger, and often more compassionate and understanding, more tolerant and giving, more kind and patient.
~ I have also discovered that people in physical pain seem to be able to adapt and endure easier, than those with mental, emotional and spiritual hurt and pain.
~ If…we hold onto un-forgiveness, resentment, anger, bitterness, we are basically cursing ourselves with an attitude that is not Christ centered. These attitudes will affect our bodies, minds and spirits though we may not recognize it as such, so caught up are we in the negative emotion we are feeling.
~ I have taught on this subject several times and will continue to do so. Our nation and we as individuals, are so caught up in the negative aspects of our differences…that we cannot see the damage such attitudes are causing us. We are in the center of a maelstrom, surrounded by the fog of emotion that we fail to see and feel our common humanity, our common pain and hurt, our common confusion, and sense of lost-ness. As Christians we should be leading by both our words and our examples of what it means to walk and live in Christ. To be like Him in as many ways as we possibly can. We are to be people of peace…bringer of peace. Showing others there is a better way to handle pain, hurt, disappointment and life itself.
~ WE CAN have PEACE in our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus if we choose to do so! We can and we should. Peace, trust in faith, belief when it is difficult to believe. PEACE like a river…………flowing, carrying us along with it’s current. Washing away anxiety, fear and confusion.
~ Matthew 5:9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
~ Mark 9:49-50, For everyone will be tested by life. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.
~ Luke 1:79, “God’s tender mercy is to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide us to the path of peace.
~ John 16:33, “I have told you all that I have told you so that you may have pace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
~ Ephesians 2:14, “For Christ himself has brought peace to us.”
~ 1 Peter 3:11, “Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace….and work to maintain it.”
~ I have on occasion said to myself at times, I have every right to be hurt, I have every right to be bitter, I have every right to be angry, I have every right to spread the tale of having been wronged, I have every right to cause pain to those who have caused me pain, and I have every right for retaliation…..when as a Christian, a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ….I lost that right to all those things, as have you!
~ It is right….to give our natural responses to Him, to work out in peace on the path right living….to forgive….to grant grace…..to be a man or woman of Peace. That is the right we have all been given. Let us walk in those life giving virtues, not in self-righteousness.
~ If we say we are Christians….it is our goal to live like one, and the only right we have is the right of Christ, who forgave those who stood at the foot his weapon of death….and mocked him, that is what we are to do also.
~ Peace…in the midst of hurt and pain….peace in the midst of chaos, peace in pain and peace in the midst of our personal storms. Peace can come like a river in our soul.
~ I honestly believe that Peace, the Peace of God brings with it health, in all areas of our lives. All the ways I have spoken of and especially, in the arena of pain and hurt. You first have to want it….need it and put into planting it in yourself as a priority in your life.
~ Jesus feels your pain and hurt, your confusion and fear, for He Himself experienced all of those himself. He desires that you walk with him and talk with him along life’s narrow way. In partnering with him, you will find yourself feeling better, feeling lighter, feeling more grateful, because you are not walking alone….you will be arm in arm with the one who said that no matter what you are going through….he would never leave or forsake you and will give you strength to overcome when you come to him and say, “It Hurts Lord.”
I will finish with this……Revelation 21:3c., “He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself with be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.
Amen
IT'S NOT FAIR!
I tell you….it’s just not fair!
How many times have you said or heard those very words?
How many times have you said those words to God, or were afraid to.....but thought them anyway.
September 15, 2019
In Christ...we (all) have redemption through his blood, with the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of "God's Grace that he 'lavished' on us. -Ephesians 1:7-8
.....This speaks of 'fairness' to the extreme, not unfairness, ir-regardless of age, status, occupation, race, nationality, gender....the only thing you have to be is 'human.'
.....This that I am about to share, is on the lighter side of fair verses unfair. As a human among other humans, single until I was 30, now a father of three, grandfather of ten, I have heard that phrase more than a few times, and spoken it when on occasion (as an example) we as a family were all together.....so chaotic was the din....when all I wanted during the din and chaos, was a little, just a little peace and quiet. The unfairness was that I had no place to be alone as my usual meditative self) and that had nothing to do with simply being a grumpy (at times) old man, During some of those moments, saving my family from the bad behavior of a ‘grumpy old man’ Grace rose to the surface and I succumbed to chaotic joy of family life. I was determined to be fair (behaviorally) in the midst of family being family, and kids simply being kids. It would have been unfair to them had I chosen to be what I felt like being.
.....Jesus told a parable about fairness in Matthew 20:1-16 (read)....now when I look at that parable through the eyes of the 12 hour workers....I could get all worked up, for sure. In the eyes of any average worker...it is not fair in the accepted working field, and yet the Lord's words go straight to the heart of matter. This is what you agreed to receive for what you agreed to do. It was fair. They loved it in the morning but hated it in the evening at the time of receiving their pay. In the natural realm we can understand their frustration and even anger.
.....We gentiles, accordingly late comers, were given grace....in becoming then and now, a part of the family of God....after thousands of years of Jews being called the children of God, the one true God....here we were by grace invited in to become a part of the family of God through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. The Jews of His day were pretty ticked off about Jesus, then His disciples, and us being included as recipients of the title of family. We were by all accounts a pretty, or rather not so pretty hedonistic and idol worshiping group, even the sophisticated (for that day) Romans and Greeks.
.....You see, we Gentiles are all seen as the 5:00 o’clock workers. We've been chosen....and chosen to live our everyday lives for none other than God Himself. The God! The Great and Mighty God, Yahweh, Jehovah God, the Creator of heaven and earth...you and I working in and for God's kingdom, and not only that, but to share in the riches of God's grace and mercy.....and NOT because we 'deserve' it, but because in actuality we 'don't. That is not fair....that is GRACE.
.....Here's a secret about grace...ten little words that explain all you and I need to know: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31) And while it sounds simple, there's a profound message contained within those ten words.
.....Let's take a look at four words in this verse that deserve our attention. Speak slowly the phrase with me. "God is for us." (pause)
.....Let's say it again...only this time, say God is for ME!
.....You see....here is the bottom line. God is for YOU and Me!
.....You may have had a not so good parent, or perhaps a sibling(s) who picked on you all the time! You may have been bullied. You may have been looked over for a promotion. You may have gone through any number of negative, hurtful, painful, debilitating, unkind, mental, emotional, physical.....issues, problems....difficulties, etc., etc., and some of those from awful to horrific.
......But you....sitting here...are called, you ARE not only called, but are a son or daughter of God himself....who has called and calls you by your name.
....God is for you. Not "may be," not "has been," not "was," not "would be," but God is! He IS for you. Does this mean you had or will have a care-free life, without pain, sorrow, disappointments....no, life is life and we are Believers are dealt many of the same issues and sorrows that non-believers deal with.
.....One of the differences is....He will walk 'with you,' and may even carry you...you, no matter whether you are alone, you will never really be ALONE as long as let Him walk with you.
.....This is not pie in the sky, (whatever that means) religious talk....this is literal truth, and should be comforting.....in this life, and in the one to come.
.....He is as close to you now, as He will ever be (though some day you will literally see Him)....but are YOU (by faith) close enough to Him to sense and know His presence whether you feel it or not? Are you? That is your choice, not His. You can only know Him as much as You want to know Him.
.....Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have not compassion on the child she has borne? God asks Isaiah 49:15) this rather bizarre question. He says, “Can you even imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, What was my baby's name?” Of course not, but God says in Isaiah 49:15. but "even if she could forget...I will not forget you," God pledges."
.....God is FOR YOU. Knowing that.....whoever is against you, can do no eternal harm. Can death harm you now? Can disease take your life? Can purpose be taken, or your value diminished in human terms? Yes. Though hell may set itself against you, it can’t defeat you if you are truly in Christ. You are protected for eternity...God is for YOU.....and that is what grace means!
.....Peter (always testing things) says to the Lord in Matthew 14:22-32 READ
.....Peter is pleading with Jesus, and stepping out of a boat onto a stormy sea is not a move of logic....it is move of desperation. Desperation to test Jesus and further verify Peter’s growing belief in Jesus as the Messiah. Peter grabs the edge of the boat. Throws out a leg...then follows with the other. Several steps are taken and it's as if an invisible ridge of rocks runs beneath his feet. As long as he keeps his eyes locked on Jesus face...he walks. It is when he takes them away, looking at the roiling water beneath his feet....that he begins to sink.
.....We all too often do the same, don’t we? We come to Christ in a time of deep need. We abandon the boat of security and success. We realize, even like Moses finally did, that human strength can't save us. So...we look to the Lord in desperation. We realize, like Paul, that all the accomplishments, even the good deeds we have done are so little when we come before the 'Perfect One.' We also realize, like Peter, that spanning the gap between us and Jesus is a feat too great for us alone, and no matter our successes and security we will need Him there too.
.....So...When we need to beg for help, and hear his voice, we then step out in both faith and fear, hoping that our “faith” will be enough. Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God's goodness. Faith is NOT an award given to the most learned. It's not a prize given to the most disciplined. It's not a title bequeathed to the most religious.
....Faith IS at times, a desperate dive out of the roiling boat of 'human effort, and a prayer that God will be there to pull us out of the water if we sink. The apostle Paul wrote about this kind of faith:
.....For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith....and this not from yourselves, it IS the gift of God...not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9)
.....The SUPREME force in salvation is God's grace. Not our works, not our talents, not our feelings....and most certainly not our strength...unless it is the Lord’s strength coming through us because we permit Him to use us.
.....Grace is God's calming presence during the stormy seas of our lives......we hear His voice; we take the step, that first step out of the boat, keeping our eyes focused on His....walking by faith.
......We like Peter, are aware of two facts: We are going down if we do not stay in His presence....but also, like Peter...if we flounder and begin to sink...He will reach out and pull us up and out....to keep us from drowning.
.....We will find...as we discover the Presence of God, His love for us, our focus where it needs to be......that we are able to walk on the water of life.....failures are forgivable. Life has real purpose, and God, well, He is not only within sight....He is within reach!
LIFE ISN'T FAIR........BUT GOD IS!
2 Corinthians 2:14
But...thanks be to God,
Who always....leads us in triumphal procession
in Christ and through us... spreads everywhere, the fragrance of the knowledge of Him
I tell you….it’s just not fair!
How many times have you said or heard those very words?
How many times have you said those words to God, or were afraid to.....but thought them anyway.
September 15, 2019
In Christ...we (all) have redemption through his blood, with the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of "God's Grace that he 'lavished' on us. -Ephesians 1:7-8
.....This speaks of 'fairness' to the extreme, not unfairness, ir-regardless of age, status, occupation, race, nationality, gender....the only thing you have to be is 'human.'
.....This that I am about to share, is on the lighter side of fair verses unfair. As a human among other humans, single until I was 30, now a father of three, grandfather of ten, I have heard that phrase more than a few times, and spoken it when on occasion (as an example) we as a family were all together.....so chaotic was the din....when all I wanted during the din and chaos, was a little, just a little peace and quiet. The unfairness was that I had no place to be alone as my usual meditative self) and that had nothing to do with simply being a grumpy (at times) old man, During some of those moments, saving my family from the bad behavior of a ‘grumpy old man’ Grace rose to the surface and I succumbed to chaotic joy of family life. I was determined to be fair (behaviorally) in the midst of family being family, and kids simply being kids. It would have been unfair to them had I chosen to be what I felt like being.
.....Jesus told a parable about fairness in Matthew 20:1-16 (read)....now when I look at that parable through the eyes of the 12 hour workers....I could get all worked up, for sure. In the eyes of any average worker...it is not fair in the accepted working field, and yet the Lord's words go straight to the heart of matter. This is what you agreed to receive for what you agreed to do. It was fair. They loved it in the morning but hated it in the evening at the time of receiving their pay. In the natural realm we can understand their frustration and even anger.
.....We gentiles, accordingly late comers, were given grace....in becoming then and now, a part of the family of God....after thousands of years of Jews being called the children of God, the one true God....here we were by grace invited in to become a part of the family of God through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. The Jews of His day were pretty ticked off about Jesus, then His disciples, and us being included as recipients of the title of family. We were by all accounts a pretty, or rather not so pretty hedonistic and idol worshiping group, even the sophisticated (for that day) Romans and Greeks.
.....You see, we Gentiles are all seen as the 5:00 o’clock workers. We've been chosen....and chosen to live our everyday lives for none other than God Himself. The God! The Great and Mighty God, Yahweh, Jehovah God, the Creator of heaven and earth...you and I working in and for God's kingdom, and not only that, but to share in the riches of God's grace and mercy.....and NOT because we 'deserve' it, but because in actuality we 'don't. That is not fair....that is GRACE.
.....Here's a secret about grace...ten little words that explain all you and I need to know: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31) And while it sounds simple, there's a profound message contained within those ten words.
.....Let's take a look at four words in this verse that deserve our attention. Speak slowly the phrase with me. "God is for us." (pause)
.....Let's say it again...only this time, say God is for ME!
.....You see....here is the bottom line. God is for YOU and Me!
.....You may have had a not so good parent, or perhaps a sibling(s) who picked on you all the time! You may have been bullied. You may have been looked over for a promotion. You may have gone through any number of negative, hurtful, painful, debilitating, unkind, mental, emotional, physical.....issues, problems....difficulties, etc., etc., and some of those from awful to horrific.
......But you....sitting here...are called, you ARE not only called, but are a son or daughter of God himself....who has called and calls you by your name.
....God is for you. Not "may be," not "has been," not "was," not "would be," but God is! He IS for you. Does this mean you had or will have a care-free life, without pain, sorrow, disappointments....no, life is life and we are Believers are dealt many of the same issues and sorrows that non-believers deal with.
.....One of the differences is....He will walk 'with you,' and may even carry you...you, no matter whether you are alone, you will never really be ALONE as long as let Him walk with you.
.....This is not pie in the sky, (whatever that means) religious talk....this is literal truth, and should be comforting.....in this life, and in the one to come.
.....He is as close to you now, as He will ever be (though some day you will literally see Him)....but are YOU (by faith) close enough to Him to sense and know His presence whether you feel it or not? Are you? That is your choice, not His. You can only know Him as much as You want to know Him.
.....Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have not compassion on the child she has borne? God asks Isaiah 49:15) this rather bizarre question. He says, “Can you even imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, What was my baby's name?” Of course not, but God says in Isaiah 49:15. but "even if she could forget...I will not forget you," God pledges."
.....God is FOR YOU. Knowing that.....whoever is against you, can do no eternal harm. Can death harm you now? Can disease take your life? Can purpose be taken, or your value diminished in human terms? Yes. Though hell may set itself against you, it can’t defeat you if you are truly in Christ. You are protected for eternity...God is for YOU.....and that is what grace means!
.....Peter (always testing things) says to the Lord in Matthew 14:22-32 READ
.....Peter is pleading with Jesus, and stepping out of a boat onto a stormy sea is not a move of logic....it is move of desperation. Desperation to test Jesus and further verify Peter’s growing belief in Jesus as the Messiah. Peter grabs the edge of the boat. Throws out a leg...then follows with the other. Several steps are taken and it's as if an invisible ridge of rocks runs beneath his feet. As long as he keeps his eyes locked on Jesus face...he walks. It is when he takes them away, looking at the roiling water beneath his feet....that he begins to sink.
.....We all too often do the same, don’t we? We come to Christ in a time of deep need. We abandon the boat of security and success. We realize, even like Moses finally did, that human strength can't save us. So...we look to the Lord in desperation. We realize, like Paul, that all the accomplishments, even the good deeds we have done are so little when we come before the 'Perfect One.' We also realize, like Peter, that spanning the gap between us and Jesus is a feat too great for us alone, and no matter our successes and security we will need Him there too.
.....So...When we need to beg for help, and hear his voice, we then step out in both faith and fear, hoping that our “faith” will be enough. Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God's goodness. Faith is NOT an award given to the most learned. It's not a prize given to the most disciplined. It's not a title bequeathed to the most religious.
....Faith IS at times, a desperate dive out of the roiling boat of 'human effort, and a prayer that God will be there to pull us out of the water if we sink. The apostle Paul wrote about this kind of faith:
.....For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith....and this not from yourselves, it IS the gift of God...not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9)
.....The SUPREME force in salvation is God's grace. Not our works, not our talents, not our feelings....and most certainly not our strength...unless it is the Lord’s strength coming through us because we permit Him to use us.
.....Grace is God's calming presence during the stormy seas of our lives......we hear His voice; we take the step, that first step out of the boat, keeping our eyes focused on His....walking by faith.
......We like Peter, are aware of two facts: We are going down if we do not stay in His presence....but also, like Peter...if we flounder and begin to sink...He will reach out and pull us up and out....to keep us from drowning.
.....We will find...as we discover the Presence of God, His love for us, our focus where it needs to be......that we are able to walk on the water of life.....failures are forgivable. Life has real purpose, and God, well, He is not only within sight....He is within reach!
LIFE ISN'T FAIR........BUT GOD IS!
2 Corinthians 2:14
But...thanks be to God,
Who always....leads us in triumphal procession
in Christ and through us... spreads everywhere, the fragrance of the knowledge of Him
The Little Church in the Pines
September 8, 2019
"Anchors in Times of Change"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
CHANGE.....the "process leading to the "end result" of something or someone 'becoming' different." There is biological change....which is ongoing and sometimes relentless....and other times in change we look forward to the results...such as when we are kids, undergoing the change of becoming adults. We are eager for the changes.
....Then...in that biological race to the end.....we, even in our thirties, begin to notice (as in my case) a loss of precious hair. Then at some point we begin to accept the fact of change and we move on, only to notice more 'changes.' Then comes the sixties.....OMG....they seem to be piling up....unnerved, we attempt then to make the mental, emotional & new physical limitations and adjustments, to where we are at that point in time, and where we are headed....having never been through it before....we simply keep going, adjusting (or trying to) as the changes come.... It is not am altogether joyless, though sometimes a fearful journey, once we accept the inevitable....but it can be one of adventure...if indeed we are adventurers. The hardest adjustments to the changes I believe are those we have to make in the loss of friends...family...loved ones.
.....Then there is social change....and social change in this, our day, is enormous...due to the increase of communication, available information and knowledge...this too, especially for we 'older' folk can be overwhelming and even unnerving. Younger people seem to walk into it with eagerness and an expectancy that in itself has the ability to adapt.
.....You see....old, middle age or young....all of us are in need of ANCHORS...."the word comes from the Greek word "ancura".....an anchor being a device, an object, a person, or even a God. An anchor is connected by some means, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually, or all of these....to a person or object, keeping it or they, (being you and I) from drifting away into whatever current is pulling it or us into. An anchor can be either temporary or permanent. An anchor means simply....stability.
....Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:13 "Anchor yourself to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me...a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us...carefully guard the precious truth that has been given to you to be treasured."
.....The essence of that truth spoken singularly is this....where Jesus says, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life...and in John 11:26, "And whoever continues to live in, and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) ME shall never actually die, even though he or she dies physically.
....The lord Jesus Christ has given us many, and all the anchors we need to make it through this life...in him, IF....we adhere to Him and His truths....for in Him, we move and live and have our being.
....There is a hymn we sang, that examples and exemplifies what I am speak of.....page 92 in our Hymnal...THE SOLID ROCK....as we take refuge in and on the Rock that is Christ, even during changes, storms of them, we can find shelter and a refuge.
....Galatians 1:8 is also an anchor....Paul telling us very clearly what we need to hear and know. "But even if we...or an angel from heaven should preach to you...a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you...let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal life.)
....There is another warning given by Jesus Himself, that goes right along with these words of Paul, found in Mark 13:6, "Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many."
....And then we find in Second Corinthians 11:4, "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, (when we prayed for you) or a different gospel from the original one you accepted, you believe it way too easily." We have been warned........and the anchor in our lives is Christ Himself...the Christ of both the Old and New Testaments.
...In Numbers 10:21 we read of the Jews....always on the move in their flight from Egypt, and ahead of the main party, the Kohathite division of the Levites, p(priests) carrying the sacred objects from the Tabernacle arrived at the next camp. The Tabernacle would already be set up at the new location. Meaning....Those who recognize and embrace compelling and necessary changes, sometimes forced, can move and face new challenges, knowing what it is like to be uprooted and forced into change.
….Although we can read where many of Jews wanted to turn back to Egypt, as some preferred even slavery to have to change. What occurred…..was this, the older generation had to die out, almost completely before those who did not remember the past….could enter into the Promised Land and embrace the change.
.... For us, stability does not mean lack of change....but because God in Christ, by His Spirit who lives within us...Acts 17:28, no matter the change, we can have stability. "For in him we live and move and have our being."
....Today...in our congregations, especially in the smaller churches, we have almost completely lost our young people, both teens and young families. Many of the teens who do come, compelled by their parents, thinking often to themselves, (having spoken to some) that they cannot wait until they are adults, free of having to attend. Old stories, taught with old methods not relevant to their lives today simply bore them. They often seem like fairy tales without substance. They entertain the youngest children, but with life so complex today, along with science and current contemporary information available to them, those as early as eight and above struggle to believe. Larger churches are using new methods and new information to capture the heart and minds of the kids, attempting to us the teachings of Jesus to meet their needs.
....The young families, (if they are still attending services) prefer the larger churches with contemporary worship, youth focused classes, audio and visual presentations, I-phone updates, texting....etc. WE, here in our worship gatherings....also lack young people. We don’t have many in Island Park to start with.
We speak the truth...but often not in the language of those younger. We are in a wave of cultural change....one that I personally believe will continue to grow and eventually become a Tsunami....sweeping away in time many of those ways, rituals, ceremonies, etc., things we have held dear and are comfortable because of their repetition and content.
Why are we so afraid……what in us rails against a new way or wave of doing things…especially in the church?
....For what is happening is not always a bad thing, if we realize the necessity of relevancy and application, and make way for timely and necessary changes. In order to be an anchor...the church itself must adapt… without compromising the gospel or the Lord....but present and embrace new opportunities through media and technology....the truths that keep us anchored to Him, the anchors are the same, and are proven truths. Look at the difference between the culture of the Lord in his days on earth, and ours…they are as dissimilar as they can possibly be.
….There is a need to take this call seriously, and to do research and even visit some of the larger churches to see how this dilemma is being handled.
….Jesus, as a singular and historic figure, brought more changes to the planet than any other person who has lived. He brought dramatic changes to the religion of the Jews, the religions of the world. His changes encompass justice, culture, art, music, science, the calendar, and oh so much more.
….Yes, we find comfort in stability….yet change cannot be stopped, it can be delayed, it can be studies and led, it can come slowly or quickly, subtle or dramatically, but change is inevitable no matter the resistance.
….My question for us is…..are we a ‘resistor,” “participator” or a “helpful guide” and overseer in necessary change….change that promotes and brings life even more abundantly. Change which goes beyond the comfort of self….looking forward to the next generation and the generations beyond even those……Christ in us, the HOPE of glory.
….quoting a favorite author of mine, Brain D. McLaren, he writes; “over the last ten years, something has changed for me. I haven’t simply moved to a new spiritual location where I am now settling down…from, say, static Fundamentalism to static Evangelicalism to static Liberalism. Instead, I’ve come to see that what matters most is not our status or denomination, but our trajectory, not where we are but where we are going, not where we stand but where we’re headed. Christian faith for me is no longer a static location but a great spiritual journey. And that changes everything!”
…It’s all about attitude…..a good attitude, though resistance at times can be good, at times it can also be devastating….and spirit killing.
….In the late 1700s, “Sabbath (Sunday) Sunday School Societies” were started here and there throughout the United States. But at first, many members of the clergy were opposed to them, maintaining that it was a desecration of the Lord’s Day to hold school on Sunday. A pastor in Connecticut said of a class help in his church on Sunday, “You imps of Satan, doing the devil’s work. I’ll have you set in the street!”
SOMEONE ONCE SAID…….
. One generation cannot do with the others…..The older generation is our link with the past, the younger generation is our link with the future, and we need both. John Maxwell
. If our horse is dead, for goodness sake….dismount it! Eddy Ketchursid
….My prayer is…we maintain our congregational health….grow In our love of the Lord…and each other….always expressing in both worship and everyday living…the Love of the One who loves us….and gives us love more abundantly, but still look for some contemporary ways via electronics, etc., that can help us bridge the gap between generations. Change comes with an attitude change. It begins in our minds and moves to our hearts that are settled in him, but open to new avenues of communicating the Gospel….and flows out from there….are you willing?
Sometimes God forces us to change….by changing our circumstances, at times far beyond and far faster than what we can or want imagine…..and in turn “we” change our attitude, embracing the change it brings, but why wait until we are forced……..
By circumstances….our lives can change in an instant….why wait. Begin now, to allow change, change us, into the image Jesus Christ our Lord and Friend.
…..Our anchors are the moral and spiritual truths’ that Jesus brought us, teaches us and asks us to live out our lives on. These can be taught to the youngest through the full birth to death journey of life. Our main anchor is Christ and His life as He exampled. He also gives us the Spirit of Life as our guide, source of wisdom and comfort when we are in need, as I taught last week.
…..We, today as in early church…..need to reorient our focus for all ages on the New Testament, the New Covenant that Christ emphasizes again and again as to gain the wisdom, power and strength needed to live. This is where our focus needs to be.
…..On Christ the Solid Rock I stand….all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. Amen
September 8, 2019
"Anchors in Times of Change"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
CHANGE.....the "process leading to the "end result" of something or someone 'becoming' different." There is biological change....which is ongoing and sometimes relentless....and other times in change we look forward to the results...such as when we are kids, undergoing the change of becoming adults. We are eager for the changes.
....Then...in that biological race to the end.....we, even in our thirties, begin to notice (as in my case) a loss of precious hair. Then at some point we begin to accept the fact of change and we move on, only to notice more 'changes.' Then comes the sixties.....OMG....they seem to be piling up....unnerved, we attempt then to make the mental, emotional & new physical limitations and adjustments, to where we are at that point in time, and where we are headed....having never been through it before....we simply keep going, adjusting (or trying to) as the changes come.... It is not am altogether joyless, though sometimes a fearful journey, once we accept the inevitable....but it can be one of adventure...if indeed we are adventurers. The hardest adjustments to the changes I believe are those we have to make in the loss of friends...family...loved ones.
.....Then there is social change....and social change in this, our day, is enormous...due to the increase of communication, available information and knowledge...this too, especially for we 'older' folk can be overwhelming and even unnerving. Younger people seem to walk into it with eagerness and an expectancy that in itself has the ability to adapt.
.....You see....old, middle age or young....all of us are in need of ANCHORS...."the word comes from the Greek word "ancura".....an anchor being a device, an object, a person, or even a God. An anchor is connected by some means, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually, or all of these....to a person or object, keeping it or they, (being you and I) from drifting away into whatever current is pulling it or us into. An anchor can be either temporary or permanent. An anchor means simply....stability.
....Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:13 "Anchor yourself to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me...a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us...carefully guard the precious truth that has been given to you to be treasured."
.....The essence of that truth spoken singularly is this....where Jesus says, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life...and in John 11:26, "And whoever continues to live in, and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) ME shall never actually die, even though he or she dies physically.
....The lord Jesus Christ has given us many, and all the anchors we need to make it through this life...in him, IF....we adhere to Him and His truths....for in Him, we move and live and have our being.
....There is a hymn we sang, that examples and exemplifies what I am speak of.....page 92 in our Hymnal...THE SOLID ROCK....as we take refuge in and on the Rock that is Christ, even during changes, storms of them, we can find shelter and a refuge.
....Galatians 1:8 is also an anchor....Paul telling us very clearly what we need to hear and know. "But even if we...or an angel from heaven should preach to you...a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you...let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal life.)
....There is another warning given by Jesus Himself, that goes right along with these words of Paul, found in Mark 13:6, "Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many."
....And then we find in Second Corinthians 11:4, "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, (when we prayed for you) or a different gospel from the original one you accepted, you believe it way too easily." We have been warned........and the anchor in our lives is Christ Himself...the Christ of both the Old and New Testaments.
...In Numbers 10:21 we read of the Jews....always on the move in their flight from Egypt, and ahead of the main party, the Kohathite division of the Levites, p(priests) carrying the sacred objects from the Tabernacle arrived at the next camp. The Tabernacle would already be set up at the new location. Meaning....Those who recognize and embrace compelling and necessary changes, sometimes forced, can move and face new challenges, knowing what it is like to be uprooted and forced into change.
….Although we can read where many of Jews wanted to turn back to Egypt, as some preferred even slavery to have to change. What occurred…..was this, the older generation had to die out, almost completely before those who did not remember the past….could enter into the Promised Land and embrace the change.
.... For us, stability does not mean lack of change....but because God in Christ, by His Spirit who lives within us...Acts 17:28, no matter the change, we can have stability. "For in him we live and move and have our being."
....Today...in our congregations, especially in the smaller churches, we have almost completely lost our young people, both teens and young families. Many of the teens who do come, compelled by their parents, thinking often to themselves, (having spoken to some) that they cannot wait until they are adults, free of having to attend. Old stories, taught with old methods not relevant to their lives today simply bore them. They often seem like fairy tales without substance. They entertain the youngest children, but with life so complex today, along with science and current contemporary information available to them, those as early as eight and above struggle to believe. Larger churches are using new methods and new information to capture the heart and minds of the kids, attempting to us the teachings of Jesus to meet their needs.
....The young families, (if they are still attending services) prefer the larger churches with contemporary worship, youth focused classes, audio and visual presentations, I-phone updates, texting....etc. WE, here in our worship gatherings....also lack young people. We don’t have many in Island Park to start with.
We speak the truth...but often not in the language of those younger. We are in a wave of cultural change....one that I personally believe will continue to grow and eventually become a Tsunami....sweeping away in time many of those ways, rituals, ceremonies, etc., things we have held dear and are comfortable because of their repetition and content.
Why are we so afraid……what in us rails against a new way or wave of doing things…especially in the church?
....For what is happening is not always a bad thing, if we realize the necessity of relevancy and application, and make way for timely and necessary changes. In order to be an anchor...the church itself must adapt… without compromising the gospel or the Lord....but present and embrace new opportunities through media and technology....the truths that keep us anchored to Him, the anchors are the same, and are proven truths. Look at the difference between the culture of the Lord in his days on earth, and ours…they are as dissimilar as they can possibly be.
….There is a need to take this call seriously, and to do research and even visit some of the larger churches to see how this dilemma is being handled.
….Jesus, as a singular and historic figure, brought more changes to the planet than any other person who has lived. He brought dramatic changes to the religion of the Jews, the religions of the world. His changes encompass justice, culture, art, music, science, the calendar, and oh so much more.
….Yes, we find comfort in stability….yet change cannot be stopped, it can be delayed, it can be studies and led, it can come slowly or quickly, subtle or dramatically, but change is inevitable no matter the resistance.
….My question for us is…..are we a ‘resistor,” “participator” or a “helpful guide” and overseer in necessary change….change that promotes and brings life even more abundantly. Change which goes beyond the comfort of self….looking forward to the next generation and the generations beyond even those……Christ in us, the HOPE of glory.
….quoting a favorite author of mine, Brain D. McLaren, he writes; “over the last ten years, something has changed for me. I haven’t simply moved to a new spiritual location where I am now settling down…from, say, static Fundamentalism to static Evangelicalism to static Liberalism. Instead, I’ve come to see that what matters most is not our status or denomination, but our trajectory, not where we are but where we are going, not where we stand but where we’re headed. Christian faith for me is no longer a static location but a great spiritual journey. And that changes everything!”
…It’s all about attitude…..a good attitude, though resistance at times can be good, at times it can also be devastating….and spirit killing.
….In the late 1700s, “Sabbath (Sunday) Sunday School Societies” were started here and there throughout the United States. But at first, many members of the clergy were opposed to them, maintaining that it was a desecration of the Lord’s Day to hold school on Sunday. A pastor in Connecticut said of a class help in his church on Sunday, “You imps of Satan, doing the devil’s work. I’ll have you set in the street!”
SOMEONE ONCE SAID…….
. One generation cannot do with the others…..The older generation is our link with the past, the younger generation is our link with the future, and we need both. John Maxwell
. If our horse is dead, for goodness sake….dismount it! Eddy Ketchursid
….My prayer is…we maintain our congregational health….grow In our love of the Lord…and each other….always expressing in both worship and everyday living…the Love of the One who loves us….and gives us love more abundantly, but still look for some contemporary ways via electronics, etc., that can help us bridge the gap between generations. Change comes with an attitude change. It begins in our minds and moves to our hearts that are settled in him, but open to new avenues of communicating the Gospel….and flows out from there….are you willing?
Sometimes God forces us to change….by changing our circumstances, at times far beyond and far faster than what we can or want imagine…..and in turn “we” change our attitude, embracing the change it brings, but why wait until we are forced……..
By circumstances….our lives can change in an instant….why wait. Begin now, to allow change, change us, into the image Jesus Christ our Lord and Friend.
…..Our anchors are the moral and spiritual truths’ that Jesus brought us, teaches us and asks us to live out our lives on. These can be taught to the youngest through the full birth to death journey of life. Our main anchor is Christ and His life as He exampled. He also gives us the Spirit of Life as our guide, source of wisdom and comfort when we are in need, as I taught last week.
…..We, today as in early church…..need to reorient our focus for all ages on the New Testament, the New Covenant that Christ emphasizes again and again as to gain the wisdom, power and strength needed to live. This is where our focus needs to be.
…..On Christ the Solid Rock I stand….all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
September 1, 2019
The Holy Spirit in Christianity & In You!
by Pastor Tom Shanor
…..During our Sunday hour of Worship, and also during our Bible study on Fridays, and finally in our daily lives…..we always affirm and recognize God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son…..and on a other times, the Holy Spirit. This morning I am going to spend some time in talking about, and affirming the place of the Holy Spirit in Worship, as a source of Power, Teacher, as a Person, and as an indwelling Presence in our lives so that we might call upon His Presence and Power, in times of need and in times of Worship.
……Every Sunday as the offering is brought to the Table, we sing the Doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him, all creatures here below, Praise Him above, ye Heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”, another interpretative word for Spirit. Because according to Scripture, unlike the Son, the Spirit does not inhabit a body. Being in many places at one time (according to Scripture) the Spirit is a living, ethereal being, and very real source of power, comfort and wisdom.
I LOVE singing the Doxology every Sunday, a hymn that unifies all of us at that moment, which I believe comes from a deep connection we feel with the Three-in-One God that we Worship.
…..This mysterious and what we call supernatural Creator, is in fact moving in the natural realm for God that is beyond our five senses, realistically speaking there is no supernatural.
……In countless languages the Doxology is treasured and is most likely the most sung hymn across the world on any given Sunday.
…..Another of our worship hymns is this one.
Holy Spirit with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Cast the shades of darkness away,
Turn my darkness into day……………
…..Humanity manifested individually as a person, whether male or female is simply a human being, being human. God as a person…..has human attributes such as a personality, emotions, cognitive thinking, reflecting, (in His image) much of who we are as a person. But….God can take any form He chooses. Jesus once born a human baby, then as a man, obviously had a form, and by all accounts in Scripture, kept the same form during His life here on earth with the exception He revealed to the Disciples in the garden, and then, as revealed in His resurrection. Three times I had the privilege of seeing Him, once in a fully awake vision, and twice in a dream. Another picture of Jesus is described in the book of Revelation, where He takes on the form of the celestial King of Kings in all His magnificence and glory.
…..There is only one mention of the Holy Spirit taking on a visible form, and that was during the baptism of Jesus by John, when the Spirit in Luke 3:22 descends on him in ‘bodily’ form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, who I love; with you I am well pleased.”
…..Later….after the Ascension of Jesus….they were told to stay in Jerusalem in Luke 24 as He tells them. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with ‘power from heaven.’ When they were obedient to do as He said, they were on the day of Pentecost filled with the Holy Spirit…with evidence of speaking in languages they did not know, for the purpose exhibiting great power, as a way of evangelizing the huge crowd that had gathered because of these manifestations . The Holy Spirit also at that time manifested His power, appearing over the heads of the disciples in tongues of flames.
….READ 1 Corinthians 12:4-11….some of these are what we call the supernatural gifts, though to the Spirit they are everyday manifestations.
…..Today, some, perhaps many of us actually, when hearing of this event, akin it to mythology…..perhaps the exaggerations of hyped up men and women, with overwhelming emotions, having lost their Lord…..were emotionally over-wrought. Yet many of us also believe that the Spirit, when He chooses can come in the same manner, and some of us (myself included, have experienced a similar event in my own life, when I wasn’t hyped up on emotions.
….. It was not spooky or weird, but for me a very present reality….of the Person and Presence of the Holy Spirit. Tongues is simply a tool….for me in prayer. My gift of tongues is not to be spoken out loud, (some are) but for personal times of prayer in privacy…as the Spirit gives utterance. You couldn’t talk me out of believing it was from God….but you could say from your perspective that I was crazy I guess…..but you see, it’s hard to convince a person who has had a personal experience of this or any kind, that what they experienced was not true. Of course you could say the same of a mentally ill person, who experiences (in his or her own head) similar or even more dramatic occurrences, but I consider myself a sane man, not prone to exaggeration, visions or strange events, even though I have had perhaps a half dozen such events over my 74 years, that I KNOW came from God.
…. The Spirit Being…. having reason, direction and cognitive thinking has personality, presence and power. We don’t see much of that power today overtly in our own mainstream churches, but I do believe we can ask for and receive more than what we have, and of course there are Pentecostal Churches that commonly move in the power and manifestations of the Spirit. Some are legitimate and some are not.
…..All we need to do is simply and sincerely pray and ask. My hope is, that this sermon might cause you to be curious….and do some research and praying on your own, to come to know and understand on a deeper level the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit of God.
……It takes the Power of God to truly live this Christian life. I mentioned early on He too is called The Teacher. If in studying Scripture you desire to know more, and go deeper, pray that the Spirit will take you there. This is found in John 14:26 as His role. “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative…that is, the Holy Spirit…He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
……Following the letter of the Law and working out our own salvation is not the way to go. Yes…we are to do what Jesus taught us, but not for the purpose of earning our way into His grace or heaven itself. I have said on numerous occasions…that we are not to worship our religion, but to follow and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. If…. we desire this, we need to take the time to get to know Him better…. Him being the Triune God…. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and do so out of our love and honor of Him, not to earn our degree.
…..Some Christian theologians identify the Holy Spirit with what is called the Holy Breath in Jewish tradition. Another is ‘Elohim’ or Spirit of God…and yet another is YHWH, (Spirit of Yahweh) In the New Testament where the Spirit is identified among others, with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete, which means Advocate or Counselor, just one of the multiple names given to Him.
…..The New Testament also details a close relationship between the Holy Spirit and Jesus during His early life and ministry. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”, and during the Last Supper Jesus ‘promised’ to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his departure….and as we already covered, He did.
…..The theology of the Holy Spirit is called pneumatology. The Holy Spirit here is referred to as “the Lord, the Giver of Life.” In the Nicene Creed summarizes several key beliefs held by most Christian denominations.
…..The participation of the Holy Spirit, at the time of a person’s conversion to Christ is apparent in Jesus final post-Resurrection instructions to His disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew (28:19) “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the HOLY SPIRIT” in prayer, absolution and benediction.
…..The term Holy Spirit appears 90 times in the New Testament, so He cannot be ignored. The Sacredness of the Holy Spirit is affirmed in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 12:30-32) Mark 3:28-30) and Luke 12:8-10.) which proclaims that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is ‘the’ unforgivable sin. How is blasphemy of the Spirit described? Jesus said it is when we ascribe spiritual events and teachings to the spirit of Satan, the gifts and teachings of the Spirit of God, therefore denying the Spirit…that is blasphemy.
…..Our dependence on the Holy Spirit during times of telling others about Christ is spoken of in Mark 13:11, specifically refers to the power of the Holy Spirit to act and speak through the disciples of Jesus in time of need: “do not be anxious beforehand what you will say: but whatsoever you are given in that hour…that is what you are to speak, for it is not you that is speaking, but the Holy Spirit through you.”
…..That simply means….our relationship with Jesus and the Spirit is so good….that if listen for that still small voice….within us, we don’t need to stress….we just need to say what, as we in our inner person or spirit…can hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us..
…..I am reminded of Connie and all those who go down to the JCC. I have heard Connie say” I didn’t know what to say, but it just came to me”…the result….now over 90 troubled young people have acknowledged Jesus as their Savior and Lord….and are excited. That is similar to the Day of Pentecost…when the Gospel was being preached after the disciples were filled with the Spirit. 69! That is a revival is what that is…..it’s awesome.
…..Spirit of the Living God…fall afresh on me X 2
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me,
Spirit of the Living God….fall afresh on me…………..
…..Listen….God is the same…the Triune God….yesterday, today and forever….He chooses at different times to manifest Himself in a variety of ways….we should ever be ready to pay attention to both the subtleties of His words and actions…and not shy away from His overt manifestations as well, should they happen. We should seek to be filled daily with his Holy Spirit…..We are the church….the body of Christ shown to the world, through us, our behavior towards one another…and to the strangers life itself brings to us.
…..To me…this old guy as a pastor, has seen and experienced a lot of great teaching, some poor teaching and some really bad teaching, but the evidence, real evidence in my opinion, of a Spirit-filled Christian can be found in Galatians 5:22-23.”The Fruit of the Spirit is a Biblical term, that describes an individual Christian and a Community of Believers, exhibiting the nine character virtues of a true follower of Christ, and it reads, “”But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!!!!”
…..We are….a blessed people!!!! AMEN
September 1, 2019
The Holy Spirit in Christianity & In You!
by Pastor Tom Shanor
…..During our Sunday hour of Worship, and also during our Bible study on Fridays, and finally in our daily lives…..we always affirm and recognize God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son…..and on a other times, the Holy Spirit. This morning I am going to spend some time in talking about, and affirming the place of the Holy Spirit in Worship, as a source of Power, Teacher, as a Person, and as an indwelling Presence in our lives so that we might call upon His Presence and Power, in times of need and in times of Worship.
……Every Sunday as the offering is brought to the Table, we sing the Doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him, all creatures here below, Praise Him above, ye Heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”, another interpretative word for Spirit. Because according to Scripture, unlike the Son, the Spirit does not inhabit a body. Being in many places at one time (according to Scripture) the Spirit is a living, ethereal being, and very real source of power, comfort and wisdom.
I LOVE singing the Doxology every Sunday, a hymn that unifies all of us at that moment, which I believe comes from a deep connection we feel with the Three-in-One God that we Worship.
…..This mysterious and what we call supernatural Creator, is in fact moving in the natural realm for God that is beyond our five senses, realistically speaking there is no supernatural.
……In countless languages the Doxology is treasured and is most likely the most sung hymn across the world on any given Sunday.
…..Another of our worship hymns is this one.
Holy Spirit with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Cast the shades of darkness away,
Turn my darkness into day……………
…..Humanity manifested individually as a person, whether male or female is simply a human being, being human. God as a person…..has human attributes such as a personality, emotions, cognitive thinking, reflecting, (in His image) much of who we are as a person. But….God can take any form He chooses. Jesus once born a human baby, then as a man, obviously had a form, and by all accounts in Scripture, kept the same form during His life here on earth with the exception He revealed to the Disciples in the garden, and then, as revealed in His resurrection. Three times I had the privilege of seeing Him, once in a fully awake vision, and twice in a dream. Another picture of Jesus is described in the book of Revelation, where He takes on the form of the celestial King of Kings in all His magnificence and glory.
…..There is only one mention of the Holy Spirit taking on a visible form, and that was during the baptism of Jesus by John, when the Spirit in Luke 3:22 descends on him in ‘bodily’ form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, who I love; with you I am well pleased.”
…..Later….after the Ascension of Jesus….they were told to stay in Jerusalem in Luke 24 as He tells them. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with ‘power from heaven.’ When they were obedient to do as He said, they were on the day of Pentecost filled with the Holy Spirit…with evidence of speaking in languages they did not know, for the purpose exhibiting great power, as a way of evangelizing the huge crowd that had gathered because of these manifestations . The Holy Spirit also at that time manifested His power, appearing over the heads of the disciples in tongues of flames.
….READ 1 Corinthians 12:4-11….some of these are what we call the supernatural gifts, though to the Spirit they are everyday manifestations.
…..Today, some, perhaps many of us actually, when hearing of this event, akin it to mythology…..perhaps the exaggerations of hyped up men and women, with overwhelming emotions, having lost their Lord…..were emotionally over-wrought. Yet many of us also believe that the Spirit, when He chooses can come in the same manner, and some of us (myself included, have experienced a similar event in my own life, when I wasn’t hyped up on emotions.
….. It was not spooky or weird, but for me a very present reality….of the Person and Presence of the Holy Spirit. Tongues is simply a tool….for me in prayer. My gift of tongues is not to be spoken out loud, (some are) but for personal times of prayer in privacy…as the Spirit gives utterance. You couldn’t talk me out of believing it was from God….but you could say from your perspective that I was crazy I guess…..but you see, it’s hard to convince a person who has had a personal experience of this or any kind, that what they experienced was not true. Of course you could say the same of a mentally ill person, who experiences (in his or her own head) similar or even more dramatic occurrences, but I consider myself a sane man, not prone to exaggeration, visions or strange events, even though I have had perhaps a half dozen such events over my 74 years, that I KNOW came from God.
…. The Spirit Being…. having reason, direction and cognitive thinking has personality, presence and power. We don’t see much of that power today overtly in our own mainstream churches, but I do believe we can ask for and receive more than what we have, and of course there are Pentecostal Churches that commonly move in the power and manifestations of the Spirit. Some are legitimate and some are not.
…..All we need to do is simply and sincerely pray and ask. My hope is, that this sermon might cause you to be curious….and do some research and praying on your own, to come to know and understand on a deeper level the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit of God.
……It takes the Power of God to truly live this Christian life. I mentioned early on He too is called The Teacher. If in studying Scripture you desire to know more, and go deeper, pray that the Spirit will take you there. This is found in John 14:26 as His role. “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative…that is, the Holy Spirit…He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
……Following the letter of the Law and working out our own salvation is not the way to go. Yes…we are to do what Jesus taught us, but not for the purpose of earning our way into His grace or heaven itself. I have said on numerous occasions…that we are not to worship our religion, but to follow and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. If…. we desire this, we need to take the time to get to know Him better…. Him being the Triune God…. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and do so out of our love and honor of Him, not to earn our degree.
…..Some Christian theologians identify the Holy Spirit with what is called the Holy Breath in Jewish tradition. Another is ‘Elohim’ or Spirit of God…and yet another is YHWH, (Spirit of Yahweh) In the New Testament where the Spirit is identified among others, with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete, which means Advocate or Counselor, just one of the multiple names given to Him.
…..The New Testament also details a close relationship between the Holy Spirit and Jesus during His early life and ministry. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”, and during the Last Supper Jesus ‘promised’ to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his departure….and as we already covered, He did.
…..The theology of the Holy Spirit is called pneumatology. The Holy Spirit here is referred to as “the Lord, the Giver of Life.” In the Nicene Creed summarizes several key beliefs held by most Christian denominations.
…..The participation of the Holy Spirit, at the time of a person’s conversion to Christ is apparent in Jesus final post-Resurrection instructions to His disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew (28:19) “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the HOLY SPIRIT” in prayer, absolution and benediction.
…..The term Holy Spirit appears 90 times in the New Testament, so He cannot be ignored. The Sacredness of the Holy Spirit is affirmed in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 12:30-32) Mark 3:28-30) and Luke 12:8-10.) which proclaims that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is ‘the’ unforgivable sin. How is blasphemy of the Spirit described? Jesus said it is when we ascribe spiritual events and teachings to the spirit of Satan, the gifts and teachings of the Spirit of God, therefore denying the Spirit…that is blasphemy.
…..Our dependence on the Holy Spirit during times of telling others about Christ is spoken of in Mark 13:11, specifically refers to the power of the Holy Spirit to act and speak through the disciples of Jesus in time of need: “do not be anxious beforehand what you will say: but whatsoever you are given in that hour…that is what you are to speak, for it is not you that is speaking, but the Holy Spirit through you.”
…..That simply means….our relationship with Jesus and the Spirit is so good….that if listen for that still small voice….within us, we don’t need to stress….we just need to say what, as we in our inner person or spirit…can hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us..
…..I am reminded of Connie and all those who go down to the JCC. I have heard Connie say” I didn’t know what to say, but it just came to me”…the result….now over 90 troubled young people have acknowledged Jesus as their Savior and Lord….and are excited. That is similar to the Day of Pentecost…when the Gospel was being preached after the disciples were filled with the Spirit. 69! That is a revival is what that is…..it’s awesome.
…..Spirit of the Living God…fall afresh on me X 2
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me,
Spirit of the Living God….fall afresh on me…………..
…..Listen….God is the same…the Triune God….yesterday, today and forever….He chooses at different times to manifest Himself in a variety of ways….we should ever be ready to pay attention to both the subtleties of His words and actions…and not shy away from His overt manifestations as well, should they happen. We should seek to be filled daily with his Holy Spirit…..We are the church….the body of Christ shown to the world, through us, our behavior towards one another…and to the strangers life itself brings to us.
…..To me…this old guy as a pastor, has seen and experienced a lot of great teaching, some poor teaching and some really bad teaching, but the evidence, real evidence in my opinion, of a Spirit-filled Christian can be found in Galatians 5:22-23.”The Fruit of the Spirit is a Biblical term, that describes an individual Christian and a Community of Believers, exhibiting the nine character virtues of a true follower of Christ, and it reads, “”But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!!!!”
…..We are….a blessed people!!!! AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
August 18, 2019
"pride and prejudice"
PROVERBS 16:18-19/21
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.
Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
Those who trust in the Lord, will be joyful!
The wise....
are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive.
This is not about Jane Austin's novel by this name, (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) but.....her story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of making hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential.
WOULD THAT WE ALL DO THE SAME!
A protagonist (if you do not know) is the main character among all the leading characters in a play, drama, movie, etc....in your life, you...are the protagonist, and what you and I, as a protagonist, learn along the way, not only learn, but apply to our lives can affect not only us, but all the other protagonists in their lives....so in some ways, by our words and by our actions, we literally affect the entire human population....much like a pebble being thrown into the center of a calm pond....”our” ripples move forth from that center larger in our immediate area...but gradually washing up on shore. Smaller, perhaps almost insignificant and unseen, but having reached the shore, nonetheless.
~ We all know, or think we know the full meaning of the word “PRIDE,” but let’s assume we do not.
~ Pride is an inwardly directed ‘emotion’ that carries two ‘antithetical’ meanings. Antithetical means (they are not compatible), they do not belong together and never will. With the negative connotation pride refers to a “foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one’s personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris, or excessive pride or excessive self-confidence.
Maybe today I should have a chalkboard up here! : )
~ Now, with a positive (yes there is a positive pride) connotation, pride refers to a humble and content sense of attachment towards one’s own, or another’s choices and actions, even towards a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and fulfilled feelings of accomplishment, but never (emotion here) “feeling” above or better than someone else. Thereby never become prideful…or egotistical. Narcissistic…a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
~ In a book titled “Similairan…. we find Satan as the protagonist. He…created by God, the most beautiful of the Angels…and with a voice like no other, would lead the Angelic Choir….but, because of his beauty, as he was called “Morning Star” and his voice, he began to think of himself as equal to God. He then began in his mind a rebellion…. thinking he could outsmart God. He quietly began to convince other angels that indeed he was equal and perhaps even greater than…. but of course, God knew what was happening because…He was God, but he let it happen. Up until this time, there was never a discordant note in the singing of the choir of angels. Then…suddenly and without warning, because of his pride and prejudice, a discordant note was heard in the heavenly choir. God…stopped the singing…saying, what is this I hear, and who is this, that destroys the harmony and beauty of My choir of Angels. Upon revelation and then confrontation…the once beautiful Morning Star, and all who followed him were cast out of heaven, and once so beautiful, now Morning Star became hideous and evil, and those who followed him suffered the same consequences…. becoming Satan and his demons.
…. This is an allegory, or a story of happenings that have symbolic meaning, deep and profound. Though not a word for word story of Satan’s fall, it is full of symbolic meaning for those who have negative pride….and always with negative, and even sometimes deadly results. Our Scripture verse parallels this story very well. Pride comes before destruction……………………………………
~ Prideful people….are insecure, needing to inflate the egos< and as a result need to have themselves built up by others….and if not by others, through power and force (if in the position to wield that power) through fear and manipulation of reprisal of many kinds, and who demand, control and obedience
~ Paul, once proud in his position of a righteous Jew among Jews…. used that pride to manipulate Jewish leaders in to giving him judgmental power to maim and kill Believers…UNTIL…he encountered a greater power than himself on the road to Damascus. Jesus…. Paul overnight became a humble follower of the Savior…. though it did not make him weak…. but strong in a new way, under the directions and power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Oswald Chambers says, “Pride” “is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious. There are he also says, three tests by means of which it can soon be discovered.
- The test of precedence. How do we react when another is selected for the assignment or position, we had worked towards and perhaps even expected? When another is promoted, and we are overlooked? When another outshines us in gifts and accomplishments. How DO we react?
- The test of sincerity. In our moments of honest self-criticism, needing to talk to someone, we will talk of our private struggles and things about ourselves, and really mean them to trusted friends. But how do we feel that someone tells others, especially our rivals, and they in turn, repeat these same things about us to others, that we had shared in honesty and privately with them.
~ Two ducks and a rather egotistical frog developed a friendship in their small pond. When their pond dried up due to a drought, the ducks knew they could easily fly to another location, but what of their friend the frog? Finally, they decided to fly with a stick between their two bills, and with the frog hanging onto the stick by his mouth. All went well until a man looked up and saw them pass close to him overhead. “What a clever idea,” said the man. “I wonder who thought of that.”
The frog (being rather egotistical) opened his mouth, to say, “I did.” and splattered onto the sidewalk.
~ There is nothing wrong in healthy pride…pride that has a humble foundation of gratefulness undergirding it. I take pride and pleasure in finishing a painting that I end up being pleased with, and that others enjoy while looking at it. Underlying that pride is gratefulness and pleasure…. that I was born with the ability to do what I do, grateful to God for giving it to me.
~ If…I happen to be able to put together a sermon or talk that comes across well, and people comment on it, saying so. I simply say “thank you.” and am glad, and I also in my mind and heart give the Lord the thanks and praise….and after a while doing so just becomes part of us.
Please understand, I am not saying I am the perfect example of a man without pride…. but through life in Christ, I have at least learned to temper somewhat that of which I am capable of being. Praise God!
~ There is pride in our hearts and gratefulness when our kids and grandkids do well. Even then we should tell them so…but also remember to tell them, that they should give thanks to the Lord for their achievement. To do so…keeps them focusing on being thankful and grateful, and to not judge others for not doing as well as they, because we are all different in our levels of gifting and abilities.
~ We can become prejudicial against all sorts of people, places and things which in turn make us into judgmental, unkind, mean-spirited people. Religion against religion…racial differences that cause division…. white pride, black pride, yellow pride, red pride, one above another, all pride of this kind is simply and deeply divisive.
Christ came to set, not an example, but THE EXAMPLE of what it means to walk in and through life with the right heart and the right attitudes. Here are some examples.
I will end with this…. look around this room, this church building and what do you see? You see fellow believers. Friends, maybe strangers, but we are all part of the same creation, made by the same God…..we are all equal in His sight and heart, and though we all come from different backgrounds, educations, financial histories…but, our similarities are greater than our differences…..because the source of our beings are one and the same. We are all under Grace…and we are all saved by that same grace…no matter of the above things I spoke of. We are ONE in Christ, and therefore there is no room for negative pride or prejudice in the life of a Christian, or even a church.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
August 11, 2019
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Teach me, Lord; teach me, Lord, to wait.
Waiting…..oh, waiting! Waiting, like patience & waiting, are two of the most difficult virtues in life to learn…and learning is what it takes!!!! It can be one of the most stress-filled things we can encounter, and again, learn to do.
I would like you to repeat with me these words. “Hearing doesn’t mean we are listening.” We can shut off at will our listening, even though we may be seeming attentive and focused. How many of us are capable of this? All of us, but sometimes with good reasons.
Waiting and patience….waiting and patience. I have a situation that is I permitted it, would try my patience to the hilt….but I have managed thus far to keep it under control.
This next Friday I am to finish closing the sale of my little house in I.F. Everything seems to be in place….but until all the documents and signed and delivered…..if I let it, it would drive me nuts, so high could be my anxiety.
~Ordinary, everyday things (up here for many)would be, waiting for a fish to bite, for all of us, “standing in line at the grocery store”, airport, waiting for results from lab work, MRI, waiting for the beginning of our vacation, the birth of a child, grandchild......and any other literally millions of things, events and people that are to take place in the future, often cause us to be impatient, anxious, restless, even angry.
~another ordinary example in my life…just the other day, waiting to pick up my paint at Lowe’s. One man handling seven people, and spending all his time on the phone…you know how it goes. Everyone one is looking at everyone else. Him still on the phone…saying nothing to us. WELL…what do I do after five minutes…I of the seven, push the help button at the counter. No one comes, then, I go looking for a manager of some kind….finally finding one, tell him our dilemma. He sends one poor confused woman clerk, who gingerly makes her way into the crowd (behind the counter where it is safe) and then the guy on the phone shows up. He under the pressure of stares and murmuring had drifted away, (for safety I think) You see I had been the first one there, and knew my paint was but a few feet away in the shaker….all that time. I-…was not the epitome of patience, though not unkind, I was a force to reckoned with. The manger patted me on the back to soothe my wrinkled brow!
~ In living this way (as I did then)…. be it 10 minutes, or 10 years with an attitude, we lose the time we have at hand (with a bad attitude). Time to live in the now on the up side, instead of down side for our lives go by without having fully lived in the present by living anxiously while waiting. To learn to live in the present is vital to a good life, for an unexpected turn of someone's car into our own, a man sitting on his porch relaxing this last year in Hawaii, when the volcano was so expressive, and suddenly a volcanic lava bomb crashes through his porch roof, shattering his right leg. Why does this moment, or why should this moment, even right now, sitting here in this little church mean more than we think it does. Simply because we are right here, right now.
~ Some of you may be thinking about where you are going on your four-wheeler after the service, or your old friend, your fishing pole is sitting in the corner just waiting for you to pick it up, or your outdoor chaise lounge on your porch is calling your name, as I know it often does mine. I must say at that moment, I will be fully living in the present….listening to the wind in the pines, the scent of how fragrant they can be, birds singing, four-wheelers whizzing by. (smile)
~ So much in life is about waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, sigh long and loud, fretting inwardly in frustration. When is he ever going to be finished up there? (that’s me)
~ God might be saying...listen, and hear what is being spoken, so that you need to listen….to what is being spoken, even by me.
~ Waiting is one of life's best teachers, for in life only can we learn the virtue of.....well, waiting, waiting patiently while God unseen and seen works in us and for us. It is His desire and for our good, that we develop patience and endurance...and along with those, the ability to trust, even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for.
~Sometimes this trial of waiting...and learning patience I'm afraid for most (as I said earlier, is a tough one to learn. On the spiritual side of our lives, not so hard, because we do not often take that side of our lives as seriously as we take the physical, emotional, and mental side of our lives. We often relegate our spiritual lives to simply coming together on Sunday morning in attending our worship service. It's kind of ironic how long an hour might seem Sunday morning, especially when Dave looks at me, then his watch. Worshiping, (my hope and prayer is), that is not the case here? And how short that hour seems when we spend it fishing, playing golf, bridge...or spending that time in our chaise lounge on the porch.
~ Here is an excellent illustration of patience, besides spending 20-25 minutes listen to me.
~ We all know that there are Chinese bamboo trees of which the Pandas live primarily off of, consuming 20-30 pounds a day.
~ Well, the Chinese plant a bamboo seed; they water and fertilize it, and the first year nothing happens. The second, third and fourth year, watering and fertilizing....nothing happens, not even a shoot. Then the fifth year, once again watering and fertilizing, it begins to grow, and in a period of six weeks, that fifth year, it grows roughly ninety feet. The question is, did it grown ninety feet in six weeks, or did it grown ninety feet in five years. The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years, because for the first four it was growing a root system that would support ninety feet of growth, in six short weeks as it plunges to the sky.
~ The obvious fact is....what really counts in our lives is both what and how we grow inside our minds, hearts and spirits by the work we do in all of these areas, by what we feed ourselves with. When difficulty comes, and come it will, because that is just the way life is, will we be able to stand when they happen...or fall because we have not taken the time or energy to build a root system or foundation under us that goes deep, able to support us when the winds and earthquakes of life assail us?
~ I used this illustration one other time, so you may remember it, but it is worthy of repeating. (It is never too late to begin).....the right time is always right now...and now IS the time. One of John F. Kennedy's favorite stories concerned French General Louis Lyataa. After World War I, the general asks his gardener to plant an oak tree in a particular area of his estate. The gardener noted to the general, that the tree that he had chosen was slow-growing and would not reach maturity for nearly a century, and did the general really want such a slow growing Oak, for there were some that would grow much faster. The General's response was, "In that case, there is no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon."
~ In regards to our spiritual lives.....there is not a better time to start, than today. For today is what we know we have.
~ Now back to my foundational Scripture in Isaiah 40:31. "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall rise up with wings of eagles, they will walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint, teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait."
~ It is proven time and time and time again, that those who spend time cultivating their life in God through Christ, are those who when difficulties assail them....come through the storms not untouched, but with an inward strength and the ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength they have, through their knowledge and relationship with Him. Being a Believer is no protection from the hard times in life....it is simply that we have the Creator at our side through it all. Through it all....and we also have each other, of the same faith and relationship...as we are family.
~ We shall rise up with wings as eagles....have you ever watched an eagle rise, and how little they move their wings...for they simply catch an up draft effortlessly...and go from one to the next when it comes along, eventually rising to sometimes over 10,000 feet, soaring elegantly, effortlessly and beautifully. This is how we too....with God as our wings, staying in his updrafts....takes us to great heights, even when through events and illness and circumstances, that seem to weigh us down, He desires to carry us up, if we will let him....by getting to first walk with him, and talk with him, along life's narrow way.
Three things I want to finish with………
1. Let God be your hope. (2 Chronicles 20:12) "Our eyes are set upon you." "My eyes are ever on the Lord."
2. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) Wait quietly on the Lord, patiently getting to know him.
3. Give ourselves to him. Submitting our wills to His, for He works through and in all things for our own good.
~As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, he will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us because he wants to renew our strength at the end of whatever it is we go through. In these times if we allow him, he builds us into men and women after his own image.
~I am almost finishing with number 3 above, Romans 8:28 from the Message, "We can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God, are worked into something good."
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience....in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, he wrote, "nothing is more noticeable than the quiet, even poise of His life. Never flustered whatever happened, never taken off His guard, however assailed by men or demons, in the midst of fickle people, hostile rulers, and faithless disciples….always calm always collected. Christ the hard worker indeed....but doing no more, and no less, than God has appointed Him to do, with no restlessness, no hurry, no worry. Was ever such a peaceful life lived, under conditions so un-settling.
"He who waits on God loses no time, but gain love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation. To God be the glory…………………
Amen
August 11, 2019
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Teach me, Lord; teach me, Lord, to wait.
Waiting…..oh, waiting! Waiting, like patience & waiting, are two of the most difficult virtues in life to learn…and learning is what it takes!!!! It can be one of the most stress-filled things we can encounter, and again, learn to do.
I would like you to repeat with me these words. “Hearing doesn’t mean we are listening.” We can shut off at will our listening, even though we may be seeming attentive and focused. How many of us are capable of this? All of us, but sometimes with good reasons.
Waiting and patience….waiting and patience. I have a situation that is I permitted it, would try my patience to the hilt….but I have managed thus far to keep it under control.
This next Friday I am to finish closing the sale of my little house in I.F. Everything seems to be in place….but until all the documents and signed and delivered…..if I let it, it would drive me nuts, so high could be my anxiety.
~Ordinary, everyday things (up here for many)would be, waiting for a fish to bite, for all of us, “standing in line at the grocery store”, airport, waiting for results from lab work, MRI, waiting for the beginning of our vacation, the birth of a child, grandchild......and any other literally millions of things, events and people that are to take place in the future, often cause us to be impatient, anxious, restless, even angry.
~another ordinary example in my life…just the other day, waiting to pick up my paint at Lowe’s. One man handling seven people, and spending all his time on the phone…you know how it goes. Everyone one is looking at everyone else. Him still on the phone…saying nothing to us. WELL…what do I do after five minutes…I of the seven, push the help button at the counter. No one comes, then, I go looking for a manager of some kind….finally finding one, tell him our dilemma. He sends one poor confused woman clerk, who gingerly makes her way into the crowd (behind the counter where it is safe) and then the guy on the phone shows up. He under the pressure of stares and murmuring had drifted away, (for safety I think) You see I had been the first one there, and knew my paint was but a few feet away in the shaker….all that time. I-…was not the epitome of patience, though not unkind, I was a force to reckoned with. The manger patted me on the back to soothe my wrinkled brow!
~ In living this way (as I did then)…. be it 10 minutes, or 10 years with an attitude, we lose the time we have at hand (with a bad attitude). Time to live in the now on the up side, instead of down side for our lives go by without having fully lived in the present by living anxiously while waiting. To learn to live in the present is vital to a good life, for an unexpected turn of someone's car into our own, a man sitting on his porch relaxing this last year in Hawaii, when the volcano was so expressive, and suddenly a volcanic lava bomb crashes through his porch roof, shattering his right leg. Why does this moment, or why should this moment, even right now, sitting here in this little church mean more than we think it does. Simply because we are right here, right now.
~ Some of you may be thinking about where you are going on your four-wheeler after the service, or your old friend, your fishing pole is sitting in the corner just waiting for you to pick it up, or your outdoor chaise lounge on your porch is calling your name, as I know it often does mine. I must say at that moment, I will be fully living in the present….listening to the wind in the pines, the scent of how fragrant they can be, birds singing, four-wheelers whizzing by. (smile)
~ So much in life is about waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, sigh long and loud, fretting inwardly in frustration. When is he ever going to be finished up there? (that’s me)
~ God might be saying...listen, and hear what is being spoken, so that you need to listen….to what is being spoken, even by me.
~ Waiting is one of life's best teachers, for in life only can we learn the virtue of.....well, waiting, waiting patiently while God unseen and seen works in us and for us. It is His desire and for our good, that we develop patience and endurance...and along with those, the ability to trust, even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for.
~Sometimes this trial of waiting...and learning patience I'm afraid for most (as I said earlier, is a tough one to learn. On the spiritual side of our lives, not so hard, because we do not often take that side of our lives as seriously as we take the physical, emotional, and mental side of our lives. We often relegate our spiritual lives to simply coming together on Sunday morning in attending our worship service. It's kind of ironic how long an hour might seem Sunday morning, especially when Dave looks at me, then his watch. Worshiping, (my hope and prayer is), that is not the case here? And how short that hour seems when we spend it fishing, playing golf, bridge...or spending that time in our chaise lounge on the porch.
~ Here is an excellent illustration of patience, besides spending 20-25 minutes listen to me.
~ We all know that there are Chinese bamboo trees of which the Pandas live primarily off of, consuming 20-30 pounds a day.
~ Well, the Chinese plant a bamboo seed; they water and fertilize it, and the first year nothing happens. The second, third and fourth year, watering and fertilizing....nothing happens, not even a shoot. Then the fifth year, once again watering and fertilizing, it begins to grow, and in a period of six weeks, that fifth year, it grows roughly ninety feet. The question is, did it grown ninety feet in six weeks, or did it grown ninety feet in five years. The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years, because for the first four it was growing a root system that would support ninety feet of growth, in six short weeks as it plunges to the sky.
~ The obvious fact is....what really counts in our lives is both what and how we grow inside our minds, hearts and spirits by the work we do in all of these areas, by what we feed ourselves with. When difficulty comes, and come it will, because that is just the way life is, will we be able to stand when they happen...or fall because we have not taken the time or energy to build a root system or foundation under us that goes deep, able to support us when the winds and earthquakes of life assail us?
~ I used this illustration one other time, so you may remember it, but it is worthy of repeating. (It is never too late to begin).....the right time is always right now...and now IS the time. One of John F. Kennedy's favorite stories concerned French General Louis Lyataa. After World War I, the general asks his gardener to plant an oak tree in a particular area of his estate. The gardener noted to the general, that the tree that he had chosen was slow-growing and would not reach maturity for nearly a century, and did the general really want such a slow growing Oak, for there were some that would grow much faster. The General's response was, "In that case, there is no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon."
~ In regards to our spiritual lives.....there is not a better time to start, than today. For today is what we know we have.
~ Now back to my foundational Scripture in Isaiah 40:31. "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall rise up with wings of eagles, they will walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint, teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait."
~ It is proven time and time and time again, that those who spend time cultivating their life in God through Christ, are those who when difficulties assail them....come through the storms not untouched, but with an inward strength and the ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength they have, through their knowledge and relationship with Him. Being a Believer is no protection from the hard times in life....it is simply that we have the Creator at our side through it all. Through it all....and we also have each other, of the same faith and relationship...as we are family.
~ We shall rise up with wings as eagles....have you ever watched an eagle rise, and how little they move their wings...for they simply catch an up draft effortlessly...and go from one to the next when it comes along, eventually rising to sometimes over 10,000 feet, soaring elegantly, effortlessly and beautifully. This is how we too....with God as our wings, staying in his updrafts....takes us to great heights, even when through events and illness and circumstances, that seem to weigh us down, He desires to carry us up, if we will let him....by getting to first walk with him, and talk with him, along life's narrow way.
Three things I want to finish with………
1. Let God be your hope. (2 Chronicles 20:12) "Our eyes are set upon you." "My eyes are ever on the Lord."
2. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) Wait quietly on the Lord, patiently getting to know him.
3. Give ourselves to him. Submitting our wills to His, for He works through and in all things for our own good.
~As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, he will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us because he wants to renew our strength at the end of whatever it is we go through. In these times if we allow him, he builds us into men and women after his own image.
~I am almost finishing with number 3 above, Romans 8:28 from the Message, "We can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God, are worked into something good."
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience....in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, he wrote, "nothing is more noticeable than the quiet, even poise of His life. Never flustered whatever happened, never taken off His guard, however assailed by men or demons, in the midst of fickle people, hostile rulers, and faithless disciples….always calm always collected. Christ the hard worker indeed....but doing no more, and no less, than God has appointed Him to do, with no restlessness, no hurry, no worry. Was ever such a peaceful life lived, under conditions so un-settling.
"He who waits on God loses no time, but gain love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation. To God be the glory…………………
Amen
LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES
August 4, 2019
"Learning to Cast"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 55:1-7, 16-17, 22
1 Peter 5:7
…..David, not yet a king but now in limbo, being sought by the mad King Saul, for fear of David’s popularity with the citizenry, and knowing in his periodic madness, that David will one day replace him. So King Saul is having him hunted down to be killed. Saul has already thrown spears at David in the royal court and David is on the run, both hiding in caves and at the same time seeking the Presence of God.
.....David cries out, saying “listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help! Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles. My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats. They bring trouble on me and angrily hunt me down. My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling over whelm me, and...I can not stop shaking!
…..Caves are not the ideal place for morale building. There is a certain sameness to them all, no matter how many you have been in. Dark, wet, cold and stale. A cave becomes even worse when you are the sole inhabitant…and in the distance you can hear the dogs baying.
…..But just sometimes, when the dogs and hunters were not near, the hunted sang. He would start low, then lift his voice and sing a song the sheep had inspired him to sing. The cavern walls echoes each note just as the mountains had once done. The music rolled down into deep cavern darkness that soon became an echoing choir singing back to him.
…..During this time everything was being crushed out of him including hope for his life and future…but he continued to seek God and to sing, and in fact he sang a great deal, as he matched each note with a tear.
…..How strange, is it not, what suffering alone produces?
…..There in those caves, drowning in the sorrow of his song and the song of his sorrow, David became the greatest of hymn writers and the greatest comforter of broken hearts this world shall ever know!
.....He cried out to God, Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away....to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape.
.....Cast your burdens on the Lord, David says, and he will take care of you, ultimately bringing you home.
.....Peter backs up verse 22 of David's Psalm in 1st Peter 5:7, stating simply; "cast all your worries and cares on God, for he cares about you."
I could subtitle this sermon; "Learning....to turn over to God worry that creates stress and distress.”
.....A personal note here, and by now most if not all of you have heard me say something similar before. When I prepare a sermon, no matter the inspiration, I find that I am talking to myself while also talking to you. This “learning process” is the journey of our lives, and at times when we think we have arrived, some new event, person or thing comes over the horizon, and not on any white horse, but at times a dark one, to remind us how much we need God in our lives and how much we rely on him to get us through.
.....Learning...based on each individuals capacity to learn, sometimes caused by stubbornness, or pride, or just plain hard of hearing can be difficult, Right? So... why make it difficult and why not save us some grief and CAST our cares, worries and stress out into the waters of the promises of the Lord?
.....Another of the reasons is we think, without even thinking about it, that we can control most, if not all that comes our way. Uh-Uh...come on, we here have all lived long enough and experienced enough to know the futility of that error of thinking.
.....David in Psalm 55 is in the situation where two men he trusted, two friends, Absalom and Ahithophel, who now were also out to kill him. Little hurts more than a wound from a friend.
.....I had this happen in one of the church's I started, where I had confided to one of my elders, a very deep and personal problem, for the purpose of needed someone to talk to, and for prayer and support. He in turn, turned and told a Christian brother/friend also in the church, who, then...well you know how that goes. The whole thing became a huge mess and the consequences though deep and hurtful at the time.... God turned around in time, not immediately though, and eventually, so very many good things came out of it.
.....I had to cast the whole situation upon the Lord...and He did prove to me over and over in the outflow, that indeed He did care for me...and for my family, though during the process when I could not see much further than in front of me, He was there making a way, where there seemed to be no way, for he works in ways we cannot see...and he did make a way for me. (SONG)
.....Did I handle the ensuing situation stress-free, absolutely not, and I still am learning, yet I do know...I know, he is with me whatever I am going through and is with you, whatever you are going through...EVEN right now, if you are?
....I am going to use an illustration here. I would surmise, that when all you fishermen and fisherwomen heard the sermon title, you thought it was going to be a spiritual sermon on fishing, right? Wrong....but the visual of casting that fishing line out upon the water....to that much studied spot you have been looking at, is exactly the same when it comes to casting your cares and worries upon the Lord. You have invested money, time and effort into "learning" the process of fishing, growing in knowledge and skill, and when you get a hit, the thill that comes up your arm into your shoulder, and the automatic response of your whole body and mind is suddenly deeply engaged in that connection. For you that is what it is all about.
.....In regards to what I am talking about here is the same, you have invested your life, your mind, heart and spirit into your faith in Jesus Christ.....and in doing so, hopefully, you have learned to trust Him and have learned that the very best thing you can do is, when you can't stand up under the stress and worry, CAST it out as if you were casting your line in the very best spot you can....watch it go with the current...and know that the very line you just CAST is connected to your faith....as you are therefore connected to Christ. That same connection I spoke of in fishing is how it is to “feel” when you are connected to Him. The assurance and thrill that “all things will work together for good” to those who are in the deepest and greatest relationship of all.
....The results of stress and worry....break us down. They are the unseen source of our headaches, backaches, heartaches, and belly aches. They produce everything from obesity to obscenity, from constipation to diarrhea, and from impatience to impotence. They give us knotted stomachs, sleepless nights, high blood pressure, low morale. They make our tempers short and our days long. They cause indigestion, irritation, chest pain, and muscle strain.
...."You do not get stomach ulcers from what you eat," said one doctor. "You get ulcers from what is eating you."
...."Those who are extremely anxious," said John Calvin, himself prone to anxiety, "wear themselves out and become their own executioners."
....Epictetus, the great Stoic philosopher, warned that we ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind, than about removing "tumors and abscesses from the body."
...."Cast your cares upon the Lord....for he cares for you!"
As a side note here....by now you know coming to listen to my messages on Sunday morning.... you hear what I hope is "practical Christianity under-girded by Scriptural truth." The reason is....and don't get me wrong, I enjoy learning about who all our spiritual for-bearers are and what they had gone through....and we need those foundational things that came out of those lessons in their lives, but we to by our own experiences..... need to know how to apply on a daily basis as to how to live our Christian lives, with victory in Jesus, overcoming the things, events, people and circumstances that would pull down and even out. It is my goal to do this in a way that brings you and myself, life application to a place of practical and spiritual health.
"I have a mountain of credit card debt," one man told another. "I've lost my job, my car is being repossessed, and our house is in foreclosure, but I'm not worried about it."
"Not worried about it!" exclaimed his friend.
"No! I've hired a professional worrier. He does all my worrying for me and that way, I don't have to even think about it."
"That's fantastic. How much does your professional worrier charge for his services?"
"Fifty thousand dollars a year," replied the first man.
Fifty thousand dollars a year? Where are you going to get that kind of money?"
"I don't know," came the reply. "That's his worry."
.... In a sense, the Lord's people do have a professional worrier to do all our worrying for us...only He doesn't worry, he does!
As Peter says again in 5/7..."you can cast the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are His personal concern."
I love this that I am going to share with you now.....it comes from the writing of Martin Luther...........................................
He wrote, "I have one preacher I love better than any other; it is my little tame Robin who preaches to me daily. I put crumbs upon my widow-sill in the evening. He hops onto the sill when he wants his food and takes as much as he desires to satisfy his need. From thence he always hops to a little tree close by, lifts up his voice to God and sings his carol of praise and gratitude., He then tucks his little head under his wings, and goes fast to sleep, to leave tomorrow to look after itself." He is my example of trusting in my Lord.
.... Again, Cast...All your cares, anxieties, worries, stress upon the Lord, for he cares for you...............................................................
.... How many of you today, sitting here are stressed, worried, anxious, needy?
.....I am going to read to us the 23rd Psalm, and remember who wrote this and all that David, who became king, lived in dark caves, alone (except for the presence of God)....and wrote out of his loneliness and fear….these Spirit filled…beautiful words.
READ.........................................................
.....Along with casting our cares upon the Lord....there is also a secondary, hand in hand solution, that God would have us do...and that is...in our time of stress and anxiety...reach out to someone else to talk and pray, and to also do someone good. Help them, or simply pray with them and for them...and the cloud will begin to lift. I guarantee it! Selah
August 4, 2019
"Learning to Cast"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Psalm 55:1-7, 16-17, 22
1 Peter 5:7
…..David, not yet a king but now in limbo, being sought by the mad King Saul, for fear of David’s popularity with the citizenry, and knowing in his periodic madness, that David will one day replace him. So King Saul is having him hunted down to be killed. Saul has already thrown spears at David in the royal court and David is on the run, both hiding in caves and at the same time seeking the Presence of God.
.....David cries out, saying “listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help! Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles. My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats. They bring trouble on me and angrily hunt me down. My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling over whelm me, and...I can not stop shaking!
…..Caves are not the ideal place for morale building. There is a certain sameness to them all, no matter how many you have been in. Dark, wet, cold and stale. A cave becomes even worse when you are the sole inhabitant…and in the distance you can hear the dogs baying.
…..But just sometimes, when the dogs and hunters were not near, the hunted sang. He would start low, then lift his voice and sing a song the sheep had inspired him to sing. The cavern walls echoes each note just as the mountains had once done. The music rolled down into deep cavern darkness that soon became an echoing choir singing back to him.
…..During this time everything was being crushed out of him including hope for his life and future…but he continued to seek God and to sing, and in fact he sang a great deal, as he matched each note with a tear.
…..How strange, is it not, what suffering alone produces?
…..There in those caves, drowning in the sorrow of his song and the song of his sorrow, David became the greatest of hymn writers and the greatest comforter of broken hearts this world shall ever know!
.....He cried out to God, Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away....to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape.
.....Cast your burdens on the Lord, David says, and he will take care of you, ultimately bringing you home.
.....Peter backs up verse 22 of David's Psalm in 1st Peter 5:7, stating simply; "cast all your worries and cares on God, for he cares about you."
I could subtitle this sermon; "Learning....to turn over to God worry that creates stress and distress.”
.....A personal note here, and by now most if not all of you have heard me say something similar before. When I prepare a sermon, no matter the inspiration, I find that I am talking to myself while also talking to you. This “learning process” is the journey of our lives, and at times when we think we have arrived, some new event, person or thing comes over the horizon, and not on any white horse, but at times a dark one, to remind us how much we need God in our lives and how much we rely on him to get us through.
.....Learning...based on each individuals capacity to learn, sometimes caused by stubbornness, or pride, or just plain hard of hearing can be difficult, Right? So... why make it difficult and why not save us some grief and CAST our cares, worries and stress out into the waters of the promises of the Lord?
.....Another of the reasons is we think, without even thinking about it, that we can control most, if not all that comes our way. Uh-Uh...come on, we here have all lived long enough and experienced enough to know the futility of that error of thinking.
.....David in Psalm 55 is in the situation where two men he trusted, two friends, Absalom and Ahithophel, who now were also out to kill him. Little hurts more than a wound from a friend.
.....I had this happen in one of the church's I started, where I had confided to one of my elders, a very deep and personal problem, for the purpose of needed someone to talk to, and for prayer and support. He in turn, turned and told a Christian brother/friend also in the church, who, then...well you know how that goes. The whole thing became a huge mess and the consequences though deep and hurtful at the time.... God turned around in time, not immediately though, and eventually, so very many good things came out of it.
.....I had to cast the whole situation upon the Lord...and He did prove to me over and over in the outflow, that indeed He did care for me...and for my family, though during the process when I could not see much further than in front of me, He was there making a way, where there seemed to be no way, for he works in ways we cannot see...and he did make a way for me. (SONG)
.....Did I handle the ensuing situation stress-free, absolutely not, and I still am learning, yet I do know...I know, he is with me whatever I am going through and is with you, whatever you are going through...EVEN right now, if you are?
....I am going to use an illustration here. I would surmise, that when all you fishermen and fisherwomen heard the sermon title, you thought it was going to be a spiritual sermon on fishing, right? Wrong....but the visual of casting that fishing line out upon the water....to that much studied spot you have been looking at, is exactly the same when it comes to casting your cares and worries upon the Lord. You have invested money, time and effort into "learning" the process of fishing, growing in knowledge and skill, and when you get a hit, the thill that comes up your arm into your shoulder, and the automatic response of your whole body and mind is suddenly deeply engaged in that connection. For you that is what it is all about.
.....In regards to what I am talking about here is the same, you have invested your life, your mind, heart and spirit into your faith in Jesus Christ.....and in doing so, hopefully, you have learned to trust Him and have learned that the very best thing you can do is, when you can't stand up under the stress and worry, CAST it out as if you were casting your line in the very best spot you can....watch it go with the current...and know that the very line you just CAST is connected to your faith....as you are therefore connected to Christ. That same connection I spoke of in fishing is how it is to “feel” when you are connected to Him. The assurance and thrill that “all things will work together for good” to those who are in the deepest and greatest relationship of all.
....The results of stress and worry....break us down. They are the unseen source of our headaches, backaches, heartaches, and belly aches. They produce everything from obesity to obscenity, from constipation to diarrhea, and from impatience to impotence. They give us knotted stomachs, sleepless nights, high blood pressure, low morale. They make our tempers short and our days long. They cause indigestion, irritation, chest pain, and muscle strain.
...."You do not get stomach ulcers from what you eat," said one doctor. "You get ulcers from what is eating you."
...."Those who are extremely anxious," said John Calvin, himself prone to anxiety, "wear themselves out and become their own executioners."
....Epictetus, the great Stoic philosopher, warned that we ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind, than about removing "tumors and abscesses from the body."
...."Cast your cares upon the Lord....for he cares for you!"
As a side note here....by now you know coming to listen to my messages on Sunday morning.... you hear what I hope is "practical Christianity under-girded by Scriptural truth." The reason is....and don't get me wrong, I enjoy learning about who all our spiritual for-bearers are and what they had gone through....and we need those foundational things that came out of those lessons in their lives, but we to by our own experiences..... need to know how to apply on a daily basis as to how to live our Christian lives, with victory in Jesus, overcoming the things, events, people and circumstances that would pull down and even out. It is my goal to do this in a way that brings you and myself, life application to a place of practical and spiritual health.
"I have a mountain of credit card debt," one man told another. "I've lost my job, my car is being repossessed, and our house is in foreclosure, but I'm not worried about it."
"Not worried about it!" exclaimed his friend.
"No! I've hired a professional worrier. He does all my worrying for me and that way, I don't have to even think about it."
"That's fantastic. How much does your professional worrier charge for his services?"
"Fifty thousand dollars a year," replied the first man.
Fifty thousand dollars a year? Where are you going to get that kind of money?"
"I don't know," came the reply. "That's his worry."
.... In a sense, the Lord's people do have a professional worrier to do all our worrying for us...only He doesn't worry, he does!
As Peter says again in 5/7..."you can cast the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are His personal concern."
I love this that I am going to share with you now.....it comes from the writing of Martin Luther...........................................
He wrote, "I have one preacher I love better than any other; it is my little tame Robin who preaches to me daily. I put crumbs upon my widow-sill in the evening. He hops onto the sill when he wants his food and takes as much as he desires to satisfy his need. From thence he always hops to a little tree close by, lifts up his voice to God and sings his carol of praise and gratitude., He then tucks his little head under his wings, and goes fast to sleep, to leave tomorrow to look after itself." He is my example of trusting in my Lord.
.... Again, Cast...All your cares, anxieties, worries, stress upon the Lord, for he cares for you...............................................................
.... How many of you today, sitting here are stressed, worried, anxious, needy?
.....I am going to read to us the 23rd Psalm, and remember who wrote this and all that David, who became king, lived in dark caves, alone (except for the presence of God)....and wrote out of his loneliness and fear….these Spirit filled…beautiful words.
READ.........................................................
.....Along with casting our cares upon the Lord....there is also a secondary, hand in hand solution, that God would have us do...and that is...in our time of stress and anxiety...reach out to someone else to talk and pray, and to also do someone good. Help them, or simply pray with them and for them...and the cloud will begin to lift. I guarantee it! Selah
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Idaho
July 28, 2019
“In Unity Dwell”
Psalm 133
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..This week I am again, as I did last week, revisiting a topic that was relevant two years ago and is even more relevant today. The sad part of needing to write this, is that in a sense, a very real one, the state of the nation, and by that I mean both politically and personally/relationally amongst we citizens, though then was not good…..today we are even in a more difficult place. Dis-unity is ratcheting up more every day. My position is not to point fingers at, or rail against any one person, or any one political faction, for this dis-unity is pervasive across all political parties, all spectrums of society and individuals. We are in a very difficult “state-of-the-nation”…and “state-of-society,” and even “state-of-the-individual.”
…..Is this the time spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-14 & 30-31 (READ)
…..This I do not know….for I am not a prophet, nor a valid interpreter of the times we live in….but, it is sobering to read. My responsibility….and your responsibility is to every day, live as Jesus would have us live. In unity with both the brothers and sisters, first and foremost….and to not be double minded about our stand, calling and place in this world.
…..Also, we are to be united within our-selves…found in James 1:8 “their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do and also, in Mark 3:23-25 when Jesus called them over to Himself, using this illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan” He asked them, for kingdom divided by civil war will collapse.” Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart.” We…are to be the “stable ones.
…..This encapsulates both the natural family and the church family. Unity is what we individually and collectively….as Christians/Believers…. are to have, and be known for. In times of turmoil most people are looking for a mooring to hold on to…a place to be, where a certain measure of peace…in the midst of this turmoil can be found. And that place is to be Christ as manifested by you and I….in you and I, and the church as a whole.
…..You and I have the manual, and it is time to really follow it. Like most men, not totally excluding women…we men often resort to reading the manual as a last resort, even though it is within reaching distance all the time. The manual of course being God’s written word….especially since the coming of Christ…The New Testament also called the New Covenant.
…..The ‘manual’ is the “ultimate” paradigm of genuinely Christian instruction, as based on the teachings and behavior of Jesus Christ himself, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as coming forth from Jesus, Paul, Peter, Luke, Matthew, John, James, Jude and Mark, and these coming mostly from letters of correspondence between them and new churches being formed. Both Paul and Luke….veritable companions on most all of Paul’s mission journeys, these letters were written in their narration and correspondence.
…..The simplicity of the message is clear….but the outworking is (because we are human) not so easy to achieve. In most of us, the journey, as I spoke of last week and the previous seven weeks, (as we journey with Jesus) will involve both unlearning old habits and ways of thinking, and learning new ways of creating new habits, and new ways of perceiving, thinking and reacting. Attitude is almost everything in how we learn and how we unlearn…..This….as in the case of most of us, is an ongoing journey, and may take our entire lives. During this life-time journey with Jesus, along with our-selves…will have to exhibit and give a great deal of patience, and most of all GRACE, not only within and to ourselves, but with and to others…especially those we have deep differences with.
……I know I am repeating….often in my teaching times, some of the very same emphasis in my messages….but I believe with all my heart, that even more difficult days lie ahead….and we, you and I really need to know the manual well….and apply it to our every-day lives individually and collectively….if indeed we are to live our lives without fear…and without anger, retaliation, vengeance, or worse. Being one in the Spirit, and one in heart and action.
Psalm 133
Oh, how good and pleasant it is,
when brethren live together in “unity!”
It is like fine oil upon the head
that runs down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron,
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
It is like the dew of Hermon
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
For there the Lord has ordained the blessing:
Life for evermore……
…..Though this is a short Psalm…it is well known and often quoted. Behold meaning….pay attention….read carefully and speak with meaning, and truthfully. By this Psalm many have been stirred as a clarion call to those who desire deeply to live in unity and harmony…..this Psalm is a summons by the Holy Spirit….to be sounded throughout all the earth, that they who have been divided, are to be gathered together…..”They shall see him who were not told of him…they shall understand who had not heard of him….This is of course in reference to the One who came in Peace, and is the Prince of Peace…our Lord.
…..David in this Psalm…states that harmony is pleasant and precious. Living in harmony also does not mean we will always agree in everything….for in this life that is impossible…for we have many opinions just as there are many notes in a musical chord as again as I spoke of last week. We are to be in one accord, and in that we must agree on our collective purpose in this life….and that being, we work ‘together’ for our Christ and God. For our outward expression of harmony…will reflect our inward harmony of purpose.
…..as another note about the oil already spoken of, especially in Old Testament times, was a precious commodity….expensive and never to be wasted. If you remember in Matthew 26, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive oil, perfume mixture and poured it over His, Jesus head. The disciples and religious leaders present were indignant…..What a waste!” they said. It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” Jesus said….”She had poured this on me to prepare my body for burial.”
…..in the situation noted in Psalm 133….expensive oil was used by Moses to anoint Aaron as the first high priest of Israel…and to dedicate all the priests to God’s service…spiritual unity, like the anointing oil, shows that we in doing this dedicated to serving God….wholeheartedly.
….now let’s briefly touch on this ‘brotherly’ topic. As you perhaps know, in Old Testament times….women were, well, more of a commodity in the culture of the day, although sometimes very prominent in some places of importance, in the both the Old and New Testaments. As examples, there was Mary, Mother of Jesus, Ruth the Moabite, Queen Esther, Pricilla, all Woman of God, Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Rahab the Brave, and many more.
…..You see, and this is my opinion, it’s better for the brothers, when the sisters are in unity….and better all the way around, when the brothers and the and the sisters, and the sisters and the brothers, and the sisters and the sisters, and all the brothers….are ALL IN UNITY ‘TOGETHER.’ That’s just my opinion.
…..Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when the brothers and the sisters live together in unity.
John 17:23…..Jesus prayed…. “I am in them and you are in me….may they experience such ‘perfect unity’ that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. X2
Ephesians 4:1-10 READ………………………………………………………………………
In the center of a whirlpool, while the waters rush around,
There is a space of perfect stillness, though with turmoil it is bound;
All is calm, and all is quiet, scarcely even a sense of sound.
So with us….despite the conflict…when in Christ in unity…His peace can be found.
…..In one of Aesops fables, (Aesop was a slave and storyteller, living in Ancient Greece between 5620-564 BC. He describes a father who had several sons, who were always falling out with one another. He had often, but to no purpose exhorted them to live together in unity. One day he called them together, and he gathered s bundle of sticks, tied them together and asked each one of them to try to break the bundle. Each one tried as hard as he could, but none of them could do it. Then the father cut the cord that he had tired them together with and told his sons to break them separately. This was done with the greatest of ease. “See, my sons,” the father said, “the power of unity!” Bound together by love…you may defy almost every mortal danger, but divided, you will all fall prey to your enemies. “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Eccl.4:12
…..Our love of one another….our coming together in getting to know one another, holds us together in unity. Coming together also allows us the opportunity to see and experience both our strengths and our weaknesses. Where we are weak, others are strong and where we are strong….we then can support those who are weak. Collectively….together, we are much stronger, than we are going our own way alone. We can ONLY do this by standing by one another, and instead of looking at our weaknesses and finding in them reasons for thinking less of them, we stand with them, and them with us, to help shore us up….whether physically, mentally, emotionally, even sometimes financially and in prayer…..also sometimes just an encouraging word will mean the world to someone. Like me.
…..None of us is perfect….no, not one.
…..Please….open our eyes Lord to see, and our ears to hear….and our minds to receive….that we might see, hear and respond to one another in Christ….being of one heart and mind….letting differences bind us together, instead of separating us….
Around the table gathered, we
are one in sweet community,
For Christ has ransomed one and all
who answered to his loving call
We worship God in many ways;
We celebrate on different days;
But Jesus is the guiding star
For Christians near, and Christians far.
God’s plan for us is seldom clear;
We may a different drummer hear;
Yet, if we study and we pray,
The kingdom will be ours…someday.
So let us vow to never fight
About who’s wrong and who is right
Concerning truths we cannot fully know
That can turn our Christian friends to foe.
And let our worship fit our needs;
Let us unite in Christian deeds;
May we God’s love and mercy show
To those who don’t, the Savior know.
Now…is our time to come together in unity…to worship the Lord at His table….as one……………………………………………………………………….
Amen
Macks Inn, Idaho
July 28, 2019
“In Unity Dwell”
Psalm 133
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..This week I am again, as I did last week, revisiting a topic that was relevant two years ago and is even more relevant today. The sad part of needing to write this, is that in a sense, a very real one, the state of the nation, and by that I mean both politically and personally/relationally amongst we citizens, though then was not good…..today we are even in a more difficult place. Dis-unity is ratcheting up more every day. My position is not to point fingers at, or rail against any one person, or any one political faction, for this dis-unity is pervasive across all political parties, all spectrums of society and individuals. We are in a very difficult “state-of-the-nation”…and “state-of-society,” and even “state-of-the-individual.”
…..Is this the time spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-14 & 30-31 (READ)
…..This I do not know….for I am not a prophet, nor a valid interpreter of the times we live in….but, it is sobering to read. My responsibility….and your responsibility is to every day, live as Jesus would have us live. In unity with both the brothers and sisters, first and foremost….and to not be double minded about our stand, calling and place in this world.
…..Also, we are to be united within our-selves…found in James 1:8 “their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do and also, in Mark 3:23-25 when Jesus called them over to Himself, using this illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan” He asked them, for kingdom divided by civil war will collapse.” Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart.” We…are to be the “stable ones.
…..This encapsulates both the natural family and the church family. Unity is what we individually and collectively….as Christians/Believers…. are to have, and be known for. In times of turmoil most people are looking for a mooring to hold on to…a place to be, where a certain measure of peace…in the midst of this turmoil can be found. And that place is to be Christ as manifested by you and I….in you and I, and the church as a whole.
…..You and I have the manual, and it is time to really follow it. Like most men, not totally excluding women…we men often resort to reading the manual as a last resort, even though it is within reaching distance all the time. The manual of course being God’s written word….especially since the coming of Christ…The New Testament also called the New Covenant.
…..The ‘manual’ is the “ultimate” paradigm of genuinely Christian instruction, as based on the teachings and behavior of Jesus Christ himself, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as coming forth from Jesus, Paul, Peter, Luke, Matthew, John, James, Jude and Mark, and these coming mostly from letters of correspondence between them and new churches being formed. Both Paul and Luke….veritable companions on most all of Paul’s mission journeys, these letters were written in their narration and correspondence.
…..The simplicity of the message is clear….but the outworking is (because we are human) not so easy to achieve. In most of us, the journey, as I spoke of last week and the previous seven weeks, (as we journey with Jesus) will involve both unlearning old habits and ways of thinking, and learning new ways of creating new habits, and new ways of perceiving, thinking and reacting. Attitude is almost everything in how we learn and how we unlearn…..This….as in the case of most of us, is an ongoing journey, and may take our entire lives. During this life-time journey with Jesus, along with our-selves…will have to exhibit and give a great deal of patience, and most of all GRACE, not only within and to ourselves, but with and to others…especially those we have deep differences with.
……I know I am repeating….often in my teaching times, some of the very same emphasis in my messages….but I believe with all my heart, that even more difficult days lie ahead….and we, you and I really need to know the manual well….and apply it to our every-day lives individually and collectively….if indeed we are to live our lives without fear…and without anger, retaliation, vengeance, or worse. Being one in the Spirit, and one in heart and action.
Psalm 133
Oh, how good and pleasant it is,
when brethren live together in “unity!”
It is like fine oil upon the head
that runs down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron,
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
It is like the dew of Hermon
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
For there the Lord has ordained the blessing:
Life for evermore……
…..Though this is a short Psalm…it is well known and often quoted. Behold meaning….pay attention….read carefully and speak with meaning, and truthfully. By this Psalm many have been stirred as a clarion call to those who desire deeply to live in unity and harmony…..this Psalm is a summons by the Holy Spirit….to be sounded throughout all the earth, that they who have been divided, are to be gathered together…..”They shall see him who were not told of him…they shall understand who had not heard of him….This is of course in reference to the One who came in Peace, and is the Prince of Peace…our Lord.
…..David in this Psalm…states that harmony is pleasant and precious. Living in harmony also does not mean we will always agree in everything….for in this life that is impossible…for we have many opinions just as there are many notes in a musical chord as again as I spoke of last week. We are to be in one accord, and in that we must agree on our collective purpose in this life….and that being, we work ‘together’ for our Christ and God. For our outward expression of harmony…will reflect our inward harmony of purpose.
…..as another note about the oil already spoken of, especially in Old Testament times, was a precious commodity….expensive and never to be wasted. If you remember in Matthew 26, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive oil, perfume mixture and poured it over His, Jesus head. The disciples and religious leaders present were indignant…..What a waste!” they said. It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” Jesus said….”She had poured this on me to prepare my body for burial.”
…..in the situation noted in Psalm 133….expensive oil was used by Moses to anoint Aaron as the first high priest of Israel…and to dedicate all the priests to God’s service…spiritual unity, like the anointing oil, shows that we in doing this dedicated to serving God….wholeheartedly.
….now let’s briefly touch on this ‘brotherly’ topic. As you perhaps know, in Old Testament times….women were, well, more of a commodity in the culture of the day, although sometimes very prominent in some places of importance, in the both the Old and New Testaments. As examples, there was Mary, Mother of Jesus, Ruth the Moabite, Queen Esther, Pricilla, all Woman of God, Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Rahab the Brave, and many more.
…..You see, and this is my opinion, it’s better for the brothers, when the sisters are in unity….and better all the way around, when the brothers and the and the sisters, and the sisters and the brothers, and the sisters and the sisters, and all the brothers….are ALL IN UNITY ‘TOGETHER.’ That’s just my opinion.
…..Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when the brothers and the sisters live together in unity.
John 17:23…..Jesus prayed…. “I am in them and you are in me….may they experience such ‘perfect unity’ that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. X2
Ephesians 4:1-10 READ………………………………………………………………………
In the center of a whirlpool, while the waters rush around,
There is a space of perfect stillness, though with turmoil it is bound;
All is calm, and all is quiet, scarcely even a sense of sound.
So with us….despite the conflict…when in Christ in unity…His peace can be found.
…..In one of Aesops fables, (Aesop was a slave and storyteller, living in Ancient Greece between 5620-564 BC. He describes a father who had several sons, who were always falling out with one another. He had often, but to no purpose exhorted them to live together in unity. One day he called them together, and he gathered s bundle of sticks, tied them together and asked each one of them to try to break the bundle. Each one tried as hard as he could, but none of them could do it. Then the father cut the cord that he had tired them together with and told his sons to break them separately. This was done with the greatest of ease. “See, my sons,” the father said, “the power of unity!” Bound together by love…you may defy almost every mortal danger, but divided, you will all fall prey to your enemies. “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Eccl.4:12
…..Our love of one another….our coming together in getting to know one another, holds us together in unity. Coming together also allows us the opportunity to see and experience both our strengths and our weaknesses. Where we are weak, others are strong and where we are strong….we then can support those who are weak. Collectively….together, we are much stronger, than we are going our own way alone. We can ONLY do this by standing by one another, and instead of looking at our weaknesses and finding in them reasons for thinking less of them, we stand with them, and them with us, to help shore us up….whether physically, mentally, emotionally, even sometimes financially and in prayer…..also sometimes just an encouraging word will mean the world to someone. Like me.
…..None of us is perfect….no, not one.
…..Please….open our eyes Lord to see, and our ears to hear….and our minds to receive….that we might see, hear and respond to one another in Christ….being of one heart and mind….letting differences bind us together, instead of separating us….
Around the table gathered, we
are one in sweet community,
For Christ has ransomed one and all
who answered to his loving call
We worship God in many ways;
We celebrate on different days;
But Jesus is the guiding star
For Christians near, and Christians far.
God’s plan for us is seldom clear;
We may a different drummer hear;
Yet, if we study and we pray,
The kingdom will be ours…someday.
So let us vow to never fight
About who’s wrong and who is right
Concerning truths we cannot fully know
That can turn our Christian friends to foe.
And let our worship fit our needs;
Let us unite in Christian deeds;
May we God’s love and mercy show
To those who don’t, the Savior know.
Now…is our time to come together in unity…to worship the Lord at His table….as one……………………………………………………………………….
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
A Reason to Sing.....a song to the Lord
June 22, 2019
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
.....Good Morning again, and God bless each of you today, and what a day to be alive in Island Park, also known by the locals as The Caldera.
.....For those of you who have been concerned for me, because I have let you know just enough to pray....and I thank you for those, and because of those prayers God by His Spirit keeps reminding me that He works "all things together for good, for those who love Him and are called by Him."
.....So...this morning I am hopefully bringing US a message of hope. A message based on the verse I am about to read, and with all my heart hope speaks to you as it did to me. This topic I have spoken of before, a few years ago, and simply felt again, a need to bring and deepen it.
.....So this is for all of us in and for all things.
.....Sing to the Lord a "new song," for He has done marvelous things! Psalm 98:1.
What exactly is a song? In broad terms, it is a single (and often stand-alone) work of music, that is also most often intended to be 'sung' by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and pattern using both sound and silence, along at times with a variety of forms, words and again at times, instruments. The words are meant to convey a theme, but most often of romance and love, and also in hymns and spiritual songs, and even there they are mostly love songs to or about Jesus and the Father. One seldom hears a song written by a composer because he or she 'likes' or 'hates'. At times songs are simple and clear....others times complex and intricate, but always with a message.
They can vary if about love, to love lost, to love seeking, to love found and with that variety comes joy, sorrow, sometimes mournful and happiness.
But....the bottom line is to express in words and notes in music, what lies within the mind and heart of the composer, whose intention is in most cases also to touch us. Music speaks to us like no other medium, bringing with it often a powerful range of emotions.
Coming back to Psalm 98:1
SING TO THE LORD....A 'NEW SONG,' FOR HE HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS!
SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD! Which I often do, mostly in private and often in my office, where I can go on U-Tube and pick out spiritual songs and hymns that moves me every time, one of which I will share with you later.
You see....the Lord has brought me through many trials and difficulties, most of which I brought on myself by flawed choices. I thought of how as a young man, He told me through His Word and His Spirit that "He would never leave me or forsake me." Ever, and He has not.
For this I am both presently and eternally grateful, even though still to this day make flawed choices.
In writing this I know by experience that not everyone is given the ability to sing well. I learned this the hard way, as in my first church as a staff member, I was given (amongst other positions) the responsibility of the Worship Leader. In that I could neither read music or compose a song of any kind, you could imagine my dilemma. I found out I did have a fairly good ear, and therefore could tell when a voice was off, and when all was good, but during the leading of songs with the congregation, the senior pastor was about six to ten feet away from my always singing his heart out and with a loud voice....always and I mean always off key. That...often caused me to also sing off key at times....much to my embarrassment and chagrin.
I spoke to him about it once....and his response to me was "I just have to sing to the Lord, because of all the wonderful things He has done for me." He did....love the Lord with all his heart, mind and spirit, and because of that answer I learned to deeply appreciate him, but he did move further away from me!
I called him at Christmas, my own Hark the Herald Angel that couldn’t sing!
.....In singing to the Lord......it is not about the quality of a voice, though we all of course deeply appreciate quality, but to the Lord, it is about the state of our heart when we sing. The other day I was watching and listening to a large choir that was perfect in pitch, never wavering on a note, standing perfectly still, all singing with choir lips and never moving their positions. It was perfection personified.....but without spirit. Beautiful, yes, but with little to no passion.
.....Then a men's choir sang....although in suits and ties, all sizes and shapes, beards and no beards they began to sing, and sing they did! No choir mouths....no standing perfectly still, but with JOY in their hearts and passion in their love of the Lord....sang and moved as though they meant every word....and they did! It gave me chills.....for He has done marvelous things!
This brought to mind 2nd Corinthians 3:6 (read)
....The Lord in His Church is not looking for perfection, but He is looking for Love and Passion....for we speak of the Passion of Christ. In that Passion there is strumming a song of love. His life-song! With His life-song comes the understanding and realization of what it cost Him to sing us that song, and in pondering marvelous things, I recall how through His three years of ministry, his resolute willingness to walk steadily toward the Cross, the instrument of His death for us, and toward all that would lead up to that final event.
.....The second marvelous thing I recall, and I do this often are His words as He hung there, having been tortured, spat upon, jeered at, angry words thrown at Him (if you are the Son of God, come down from that cross!) and so many more....wearing a flesh-piercing crown of thorns, He raised His head slowly, eyes filled with tears, blood running down His face, looking out over the crowd whose eyes were mostly full of hate, anger and disgust. Also present were those who had both followed and some who had now abandoned Him. He then proclaimed these words, that to me totally encapsulated the absolute essence and heart of who He was and is.....as He declared, "Father...forgive them, for they do not know what they have done."
"Father, forgive them" should resonate in our hearts and mind like a song, enabling you and I to be able to do the same. Telling us that as He proclaimed those words, we are to do the very same, when people turn on us, and how can we NOT do so, no matter what is done to us.
The next marvelous thing is, that when I do forgive, I am forgiven for the time, or times I have held onto unforgiveness, and suddenly I realize I am no longer a captive to unforgiveness, but instead I am suddenly able to bask in freedom from all that holding me captive, some of those things being bitterness, resentment, anger....any and all of those poisonous things that can destroy our lives.
To see this you must truly understand and believe, that, "when Christ sets us free, we are free indeed." and that choice is up to us. Our goal therefore, should be to live out the truths as a song, the words that He teaches us through His words, and the notes, resonance and harmony that is ours by design.....life giving words and music.
The Song....that each of us is capable of singing to the Lord, that I am talking about is much deeper than any song we can sing, because it is the song of our hearts.....that in itself is a living song....our lives....as it creates and moves deeply within us, in our personal and daily relationship to Jesus. This song does not need notes.......or even words. Though what I am going to read to you...is a song in itself.....but it goes much deeper within....and touches upon who we are to be in our life's song.
THE HEART OF WORSHIP....................
These are the lyrics...
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
and It's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Than the way things appear
You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the things I've made it
For it's all about You, It's all about You Jesus
....My message this morning in essence and summation, is all about The Song that does or does not resonate in your or my heart and life, but our desire and our goal in believing and loving Him, is that "we" resonate together as One, with Him and in Him....our Lord.
.....The message is simple and pure, and each of us was born with us, our song waiting to be sung, the place where God in Christ, desire to song our song of belonging, our song of deliverance, our song of blessing, our song of contentment, joy and Love, as we make our way in our own journey, our continuous Journey with Jesus....to that final place of unity and harmony...with Him.
....To end this message this morning I am going to read all of Psalm 98, including the first verse from which of course the foundation of today's sermon is built on. it is a song of Joy and Victory. Because is victorious over all things that are not of Him, all those of us who follow Him are therefore victorious in and with Him.
Psalm 98 (read)
This choice to sing is our choice....no matter our age, health, social status or lack thereof, race, sex, etc., etc.....for He has done marvelous things.
Amen
A Reason to Sing.....a song to the Lord
June 22, 2019
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
.....Good Morning again, and God bless each of you today, and what a day to be alive in Island Park, also known by the locals as The Caldera.
.....For those of you who have been concerned for me, because I have let you know just enough to pray....and I thank you for those, and because of those prayers God by His Spirit keeps reminding me that He works "all things together for good, for those who love Him and are called by Him."
.....So...this morning I am hopefully bringing US a message of hope. A message based on the verse I am about to read, and with all my heart hope speaks to you as it did to me. This topic I have spoken of before, a few years ago, and simply felt again, a need to bring and deepen it.
.....So this is for all of us in and for all things.
.....Sing to the Lord a "new song," for He has done marvelous things! Psalm 98:1.
What exactly is a song? In broad terms, it is a single (and often stand-alone) work of music, that is also most often intended to be 'sung' by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and pattern using both sound and silence, along at times with a variety of forms, words and again at times, instruments. The words are meant to convey a theme, but most often of romance and love, and also in hymns and spiritual songs, and even there they are mostly love songs to or about Jesus and the Father. One seldom hears a song written by a composer because he or she 'likes' or 'hates'. At times songs are simple and clear....others times complex and intricate, but always with a message.
They can vary if about love, to love lost, to love seeking, to love found and with that variety comes joy, sorrow, sometimes mournful and happiness.
But....the bottom line is to express in words and notes in music, what lies within the mind and heart of the composer, whose intention is in most cases also to touch us. Music speaks to us like no other medium, bringing with it often a powerful range of emotions.
Coming back to Psalm 98:1
SING TO THE LORD....A 'NEW SONG,' FOR HE HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS!
SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD! Which I often do, mostly in private and often in my office, where I can go on U-Tube and pick out spiritual songs and hymns that moves me every time, one of which I will share with you later.
You see....the Lord has brought me through many trials and difficulties, most of which I brought on myself by flawed choices. I thought of how as a young man, He told me through His Word and His Spirit that "He would never leave me or forsake me." Ever, and He has not.
For this I am both presently and eternally grateful, even though still to this day make flawed choices.
In writing this I know by experience that not everyone is given the ability to sing well. I learned this the hard way, as in my first church as a staff member, I was given (amongst other positions) the responsibility of the Worship Leader. In that I could neither read music or compose a song of any kind, you could imagine my dilemma. I found out I did have a fairly good ear, and therefore could tell when a voice was off, and when all was good, but during the leading of songs with the congregation, the senior pastor was about six to ten feet away from my always singing his heart out and with a loud voice....always and I mean always off key. That...often caused me to also sing off key at times....much to my embarrassment and chagrin.
I spoke to him about it once....and his response to me was "I just have to sing to the Lord, because of all the wonderful things He has done for me." He did....love the Lord with all his heart, mind and spirit, and because of that answer I learned to deeply appreciate him, but he did move further away from me!
I called him at Christmas, my own Hark the Herald Angel that couldn’t sing!
.....In singing to the Lord......it is not about the quality of a voice, though we all of course deeply appreciate quality, but to the Lord, it is about the state of our heart when we sing. The other day I was watching and listening to a large choir that was perfect in pitch, never wavering on a note, standing perfectly still, all singing with choir lips and never moving their positions. It was perfection personified.....but without spirit. Beautiful, yes, but with little to no passion.
.....Then a men's choir sang....although in suits and ties, all sizes and shapes, beards and no beards they began to sing, and sing they did! No choir mouths....no standing perfectly still, but with JOY in their hearts and passion in their love of the Lord....sang and moved as though they meant every word....and they did! It gave me chills.....for He has done marvelous things!
This brought to mind 2nd Corinthians 3:6 (read)
....The Lord in His Church is not looking for perfection, but He is looking for Love and Passion....for we speak of the Passion of Christ. In that Passion there is strumming a song of love. His life-song! With His life-song comes the understanding and realization of what it cost Him to sing us that song, and in pondering marvelous things, I recall how through His three years of ministry, his resolute willingness to walk steadily toward the Cross, the instrument of His death for us, and toward all that would lead up to that final event.
.....The second marvelous thing I recall, and I do this often are His words as He hung there, having been tortured, spat upon, jeered at, angry words thrown at Him (if you are the Son of God, come down from that cross!) and so many more....wearing a flesh-piercing crown of thorns, He raised His head slowly, eyes filled with tears, blood running down His face, looking out over the crowd whose eyes were mostly full of hate, anger and disgust. Also present were those who had both followed and some who had now abandoned Him. He then proclaimed these words, that to me totally encapsulated the absolute essence and heart of who He was and is.....as He declared, "Father...forgive them, for they do not know what they have done."
"Father, forgive them" should resonate in our hearts and mind like a song, enabling you and I to be able to do the same. Telling us that as He proclaimed those words, we are to do the very same, when people turn on us, and how can we NOT do so, no matter what is done to us.
The next marvelous thing is, that when I do forgive, I am forgiven for the time, or times I have held onto unforgiveness, and suddenly I realize I am no longer a captive to unforgiveness, but instead I am suddenly able to bask in freedom from all that holding me captive, some of those things being bitterness, resentment, anger....any and all of those poisonous things that can destroy our lives.
To see this you must truly understand and believe, that, "when Christ sets us free, we are free indeed." and that choice is up to us. Our goal therefore, should be to live out the truths as a song, the words that He teaches us through His words, and the notes, resonance and harmony that is ours by design.....life giving words and music.
The Song....that each of us is capable of singing to the Lord, that I am talking about is much deeper than any song we can sing, because it is the song of our hearts.....that in itself is a living song....our lives....as it creates and moves deeply within us, in our personal and daily relationship to Jesus. This song does not need notes.......or even words. Though what I am going to read to you...is a song in itself.....but it goes much deeper within....and touches upon who we are to be in our life's song.
THE HEART OF WORSHIP....................
These are the lyrics...
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
and It's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Than the way things appear
You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You, it's all about You Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the things I've made it
For it's all about You, It's all about You Jesus
....My message this morning in essence and summation, is all about The Song that does or does not resonate in your or my heart and life, but our desire and our goal in believing and loving Him, is that "we" resonate together as One, with Him and in Him....our Lord.
.....The message is simple and pure, and each of us was born with us, our song waiting to be sung, the place where God in Christ, desire to song our song of belonging, our song of deliverance, our song of blessing, our song of contentment, joy and Love, as we make our way in our own journey, our continuous Journey with Jesus....to that final place of unity and harmony...with Him.
....To end this message this morning I am going to read all of Psalm 98, including the first verse from which of course the foundation of today's sermon is built on. it is a song of Joy and Victory. Because is victorious over all things that are not of Him, all those of us who follow Him are therefore victorious in and with Him.
Psalm 98 (read)
This choice to sing is our choice....no matter our age, health, social status or lack thereof, race, sex, etc., etc.....for He has done marvelous things.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
July 13, 2019
"RECONCILIATION"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
2nd Corinthians 5:18-19
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us (all believers) the message of reconciliation."
The root language for the word reconciliation comes from the Latin language, “reconciliation” which simply means to (re-instate, re-establish, restore, renew, and reconcile. In other words, to (put back together).
Of course, this includes the fact that at one time, whatever is being reconciled was together, either physically, intellectually, spiritually or even emotionally. At one time before their separation they were in unity, sharing the same core beliefs, etc.
.... The idea of reconciliation acknowledges the fact that, there is a separation between two or more parties, organizations, and or persons for any number of reasons, but in this case (2nd. Corinthians 5:18-19) as stated, it was the fact, that 'sin' (a word we don't hear very often anymore) had separated us from God, initially spoken of first, in God's relationship between himself and Adam and Eve. So....this reconciliation (because of what Christ did for us in His life, and on the cross) had to happen, to dissolve that separation between Himself and us, re-establishing our collective relationship as well as individual relationship on a whole new and clean level.
....because of this reconciliation, Jesus said to each of us..."I no longer call you servants, but now I call you friends." John 15:15. A new and powerful revelation.
....."Friends" Think about that.....what is a friend, a true friend? Two people, who find comfort and trust in their relationship, who also help each other in times of need, laughing with each other in times of fun and joy, and crying together when tragedy and difficulties come, sharing all that life beings their/our way.
.....In these two verses, God says, now that we are reconciled, and back in His good graces....forgiven, re-established into an actual 'relational friendship'....we, you and I have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and in being given that ministry by the Lord.....our entrusted message to each other and the world is, the 'message of taking what we have been given, and give it to others.....and as we all know, the world has and is in great need of mutual reconciliation, and in need of the same gift of forgiveness and friendship with Christ that we have been freely given.
…..This is where it begins to get uncomfortable if, we indeed believe it and put this action of reconciling, into every day action through our everyday lives. For then….it becomes rather personal.
.....We all know of people, including ourselves (who because of our differences politically, religiously, relationally, racially, financially, physically, sexually, denominationally, doctrinally, geographically, ministerially, educationally.....and many other (llys)....have long established wedges that often divide us, some lightly and some deeply to the point to resentment, anger, and even sometimes vengeance.
.....We have the 'right of refusal' to comply to what the Lord has given us in our friendship, but why would we as we are to be like Him....but much to our detriment, not only in friendship but other relational opportunities we say no.
Number one....if we fail to obey Him in this area, we are telling Jesus that what he gave us freely we are refusing to pass on....which really, is a 'sin, and an ongoing 'sin,' pure and simple. …..We have these deep feelings, prejudicial and otherwise, that we just either refuse, or can't seem to break through...but, (I hate those buts sometimes) but, if we love the Lord enough, and humanity enough, given that we have such a short time on this planet....we need, and I mean need to break those barriers down.....and pass the Great Reconciler and His truth onto everyone.....especially our enemies.
We are called to (Break Dividing Walls) (song) and once broken down to no longer build walls, but instead to make pathways from those once obstructing walls.
....The underlying message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of reconciliation....where in and through Christ, God has reconciled us back to Him. Hallelujah............Christ is Risen.
....Now things get a little rough...Colossians 1:19-22 "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to live, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, (not just people) whether on earth or in heaven, making peace 'by the blood of his cross. And you.... who once were alienated and even hostile in mind, living in sin, He has now reconciled (that word just keeps popping up) in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach to God.
(the gift just keeps on being expanded and revealed)
.....In the Old Testament's sacrificial system, animal sacrifices were used to show the seriousness of sin, and even though these could only cover sins, they could not take them away. It, (according to both Old and New Testament Scripture, took the (blood) (because blood is life) of one pure, spotless being, without the taint of sin.....and was the highest offering given to God that was possible, and the only one that could bring both the final and ultimate sacrifice....to end all other sacrifices. In Christ all that God had created and desired was accomplished.
.....Matthew 18:15 "If your brother or sister (or anyone close to you, or even your neighbor) sins against you, go and tell him or her their fault between you and they alone. If he or she listens to you.....you have gained them back."
.....Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This one can be really a tough one. Really! Most of us would much rather just hold on to the grudge or offense, and both covertly and overtly dislike them...ignore them, or just let it ride. This is contrary to Scripture and the 'message of reconciliation, that we have been given and are 'required' to give back.
…..emotion that emanates from being wrong or wronging someone is the main barrier that prevents us from reconciling. Decisions based on just emotions will keep us bound (as in a personal prison) for our entire lives if we allow it.
.....I am going to turn this Scripture around a bit, by saying, that if YOU or I sin against others by offending through gossiping or worse.....we are to do the same thing, and that is to go to them....confess, ask for forgiveness and reconciliation. That does not mean we will achieve the reconciliation, but we will have tried and therefore it is no longer ours to bear.
.... One New Year's Eve at London's Garrick Club, British dramatist Frederick Lonsdale was asked by Seymour Hicks to reconcile with a fellow member. The two had quarreled in the past and never restored their friendship. "You must," Hicks said to Lonsdale. "It is very unkind to be so overtly unfriendly at such a time. Now…...go over and wish him a Happy New Year."
So... Lonsdale crossed the room and spoke to his enemy. "I wish you a Happy New Year" he said......"but only one."
.... This is a response forced...,, not from the heart, not of the soul and not of the Lord....though amusing initially, it tells a tale of bitterness and true un-forgiveness.
.... These Scriptures, this sermon....is not to necessarily cause guilt, but is to challenge and enlighten us, as to the base line teaching here.....that if indeed we call ourselves Christians....then we have to take to heart teachings such as this. The reason for this is 'freedom' from bitterness, a probable cause of ill health physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.....often has root in non-reconciliation....in holding to sin such as this. Not that guilt cannot be a good and even a necessary motivator, because it can, but is used too often in a mean and detrimental way.
.... She was an embittered woman. Charlotte Elliott of Brighton England, her health was broken, and her disability had hardened her. "If God loved me," she muttered, "he would not have treated me this way."
Hoping to help her, a Swiss minister named Dr. Cesar Malan visited the Elliott. Over dinner, Charlotte lost her temper and railed against God and family in a violent outburst. Her embarrassed family left the room, and doctor Malan, left alone with her, stared at her across the table. You are tired of yourself, aren't you he said at length? "You are holding onto your hate and anger, because you have nothing else in the world to cling to. Consequently, you have become a sour, bitter and resentful woman.
"What is your cure she asked sharply?
"The faith you are trying to despise." he answered.
.....As they talked Charlotte softened. "If I wanted to become a Christian and to share the peace and joy you seem to possess," she finally asked, "what would I do"? "You would just give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fighting and fears, hates and loves, pride and shame." "I would come to God just as I am? Is that right?:"
.....Charlotte did come just as she was. Her heart was changed that day. As time passed she found and claimed John 6:37 as a special verse for her "that the one who comes to me I will by no means throw away."
.....Several years later, her brother, Rev. Henry Elliott, was raising funds for a school for children of poor clergymen. Charlotte wrote a poem, and it was printed across England. The leaflet said: They that Cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. Underneath was Charlotte's poem, which has become the most famous invitation hymn in history.
"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou biddst me come to Thee,
O, Lamb of God, I come, I come!"
.....While reading this story and the hymn, I thought of over 90 young people in the youth detention facility.....that the Daisy’s Angels who call this church home, and mission outreach group from this church...having been instrumental in the Lord's hands, to introduce Jesus to....and the result of so many of them turning their lives over to Him....they, who so young, some of them never experiencing love before…..and acceptance on the scale they have....and forgiveness, along with reconciliation, and the beginning of restoration....I am overwhelmed with gratefulness. Jesus has become the way, the truth and the beginning of a new life for them.....................beautiful.
Prayer of Thankfulness..................
There is one more true story I am going to read to you in closing…….
READ (soldiers)
.....Before coming to the Table of the Lord this morning.....I am asking you to look at your own heart....your life....and if it and you are not free from unresolved pain, broken relationships, bitterness, anger, lacking the Joy in your life that you so desperately need. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs revealed.
.....If you are not free of any of these, ask the Lord to help you in the ability and knowledge of how you can begin to make things right.
.....This is an opportunity that the Lord is providing for anyone in pain today...from non-re-conciliation. Be reconciled first to him...and then to those who have harmed you or you them.
PRAYER...
July 13, 2019
"RECONCILIATION"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
2nd Corinthians 5:18-19
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us (all believers) the message of reconciliation."
The root language for the word reconciliation comes from the Latin language, “reconciliation” which simply means to (re-instate, re-establish, restore, renew, and reconcile. In other words, to (put back together).
Of course, this includes the fact that at one time, whatever is being reconciled was together, either physically, intellectually, spiritually or even emotionally. At one time before their separation they were in unity, sharing the same core beliefs, etc.
.... The idea of reconciliation acknowledges the fact that, there is a separation between two or more parties, organizations, and or persons for any number of reasons, but in this case (2nd. Corinthians 5:18-19) as stated, it was the fact, that 'sin' (a word we don't hear very often anymore) had separated us from God, initially spoken of first, in God's relationship between himself and Adam and Eve. So....this reconciliation (because of what Christ did for us in His life, and on the cross) had to happen, to dissolve that separation between Himself and us, re-establishing our collective relationship as well as individual relationship on a whole new and clean level.
....because of this reconciliation, Jesus said to each of us..."I no longer call you servants, but now I call you friends." John 15:15. A new and powerful revelation.
....."Friends" Think about that.....what is a friend, a true friend? Two people, who find comfort and trust in their relationship, who also help each other in times of need, laughing with each other in times of fun and joy, and crying together when tragedy and difficulties come, sharing all that life beings their/our way.
.....In these two verses, God says, now that we are reconciled, and back in His good graces....forgiven, re-established into an actual 'relational friendship'....we, you and I have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and in being given that ministry by the Lord.....our entrusted message to each other and the world is, the 'message of taking what we have been given, and give it to others.....and as we all know, the world has and is in great need of mutual reconciliation, and in need of the same gift of forgiveness and friendship with Christ that we have been freely given.
…..This is where it begins to get uncomfortable if, we indeed believe it and put this action of reconciling, into every day action through our everyday lives. For then….it becomes rather personal.
.....We all know of people, including ourselves (who because of our differences politically, religiously, relationally, racially, financially, physically, sexually, denominationally, doctrinally, geographically, ministerially, educationally.....and many other (llys)....have long established wedges that often divide us, some lightly and some deeply to the point to resentment, anger, and even sometimes vengeance.
.....We have the 'right of refusal' to comply to what the Lord has given us in our friendship, but why would we as we are to be like Him....but much to our detriment, not only in friendship but other relational opportunities we say no.
Number one....if we fail to obey Him in this area, we are telling Jesus that what he gave us freely we are refusing to pass on....which really, is a 'sin, and an ongoing 'sin,' pure and simple. …..We have these deep feelings, prejudicial and otherwise, that we just either refuse, or can't seem to break through...but, (I hate those buts sometimes) but, if we love the Lord enough, and humanity enough, given that we have such a short time on this planet....we need, and I mean need to break those barriers down.....and pass the Great Reconciler and His truth onto everyone.....especially our enemies.
We are called to (Break Dividing Walls) (song) and once broken down to no longer build walls, but instead to make pathways from those once obstructing walls.
....The underlying message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of reconciliation....where in and through Christ, God has reconciled us back to Him. Hallelujah............Christ is Risen.
....Now things get a little rough...Colossians 1:19-22 "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to live, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, (not just people) whether on earth or in heaven, making peace 'by the blood of his cross. And you.... who once were alienated and even hostile in mind, living in sin, He has now reconciled (that word just keeps popping up) in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach to God.
(the gift just keeps on being expanded and revealed)
.....In the Old Testament's sacrificial system, animal sacrifices were used to show the seriousness of sin, and even though these could only cover sins, they could not take them away. It, (according to both Old and New Testament Scripture, took the (blood) (because blood is life) of one pure, spotless being, without the taint of sin.....and was the highest offering given to God that was possible, and the only one that could bring both the final and ultimate sacrifice....to end all other sacrifices. In Christ all that God had created and desired was accomplished.
.....Matthew 18:15 "If your brother or sister (or anyone close to you, or even your neighbor) sins against you, go and tell him or her their fault between you and they alone. If he or she listens to you.....you have gained them back."
.....Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This one can be really a tough one. Really! Most of us would much rather just hold on to the grudge or offense, and both covertly and overtly dislike them...ignore them, or just let it ride. This is contrary to Scripture and the 'message of reconciliation, that we have been given and are 'required' to give back.
…..emotion that emanates from being wrong or wronging someone is the main barrier that prevents us from reconciling. Decisions based on just emotions will keep us bound (as in a personal prison) for our entire lives if we allow it.
.....I am going to turn this Scripture around a bit, by saying, that if YOU or I sin against others by offending through gossiping or worse.....we are to do the same thing, and that is to go to them....confess, ask for forgiveness and reconciliation. That does not mean we will achieve the reconciliation, but we will have tried and therefore it is no longer ours to bear.
.... One New Year's Eve at London's Garrick Club, British dramatist Frederick Lonsdale was asked by Seymour Hicks to reconcile with a fellow member. The two had quarreled in the past and never restored their friendship. "You must," Hicks said to Lonsdale. "It is very unkind to be so overtly unfriendly at such a time. Now…...go over and wish him a Happy New Year."
So... Lonsdale crossed the room and spoke to his enemy. "I wish you a Happy New Year" he said......"but only one."
.... This is a response forced...,, not from the heart, not of the soul and not of the Lord....though amusing initially, it tells a tale of bitterness and true un-forgiveness.
.... These Scriptures, this sermon....is not to necessarily cause guilt, but is to challenge and enlighten us, as to the base line teaching here.....that if indeed we call ourselves Christians....then we have to take to heart teachings such as this. The reason for this is 'freedom' from bitterness, a probable cause of ill health physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.....often has root in non-reconciliation....in holding to sin such as this. Not that guilt cannot be a good and even a necessary motivator, because it can, but is used too often in a mean and detrimental way.
.... She was an embittered woman. Charlotte Elliott of Brighton England, her health was broken, and her disability had hardened her. "If God loved me," she muttered, "he would not have treated me this way."
Hoping to help her, a Swiss minister named Dr. Cesar Malan visited the Elliott. Over dinner, Charlotte lost her temper and railed against God and family in a violent outburst. Her embarrassed family left the room, and doctor Malan, left alone with her, stared at her across the table. You are tired of yourself, aren't you he said at length? "You are holding onto your hate and anger, because you have nothing else in the world to cling to. Consequently, you have become a sour, bitter and resentful woman.
"What is your cure she asked sharply?
"The faith you are trying to despise." he answered.
.....As they talked Charlotte softened. "If I wanted to become a Christian and to share the peace and joy you seem to possess," she finally asked, "what would I do"? "You would just give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fighting and fears, hates and loves, pride and shame." "I would come to God just as I am? Is that right?:"
.....Charlotte did come just as she was. Her heart was changed that day. As time passed she found and claimed John 6:37 as a special verse for her "that the one who comes to me I will by no means throw away."
.....Several years later, her brother, Rev. Henry Elliott, was raising funds for a school for children of poor clergymen. Charlotte wrote a poem, and it was printed across England. The leaflet said: They that Cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. Underneath was Charlotte's poem, which has become the most famous invitation hymn in history.
"Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou biddst me come to Thee,
O, Lamb of God, I come, I come!"
.....While reading this story and the hymn, I thought of over 90 young people in the youth detention facility.....that the Daisy’s Angels who call this church home, and mission outreach group from this church...having been instrumental in the Lord's hands, to introduce Jesus to....and the result of so many of them turning their lives over to Him....they, who so young, some of them never experiencing love before…..and acceptance on the scale they have....and forgiveness, along with reconciliation, and the beginning of restoration....I am overwhelmed with gratefulness. Jesus has become the way, the truth and the beginning of a new life for them.....................beautiful.
Prayer of Thankfulness..................
There is one more true story I am going to read to you in closing…….
READ (soldiers)
.....Before coming to the Table of the Lord this morning.....I am asking you to look at your own heart....your life....and if it and you are not free from unresolved pain, broken relationships, bitterness, anger, lacking the Joy in your life that you so desperately need. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs revealed.
.....If you are not free of any of these, ask the Lord to help you in the ability and knowledge of how you can begin to make things right.
.....This is an opportunity that the Lord is providing for anyone in pain today...from non-re-conciliation. Be reconciled first to him...and then to those who have harmed you or you them.
PRAYER...
The Little Church in the Pines....
July 7, 2019
"Religion and Faith”
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, its good enough for me..........................................
Hmmmm, well, how do I interpret this? To me, that depends on when in time, given the expression of religion at that time, and the methodology used to maintain that "old time religion" in that time....for "religion" can be wonderful or it can be ugly and devastating. That hymn or song is not in our hymnal, for which I am ok about. The intent in it is I suppose, ok, but again, as to how in particular, any religion is expressed is critical.
What exactly is "religion?" By definition religion is a set of beliefs that is passionately held by a group of people that, is expressed in a world view and in expected beliefs and actions…..often which become rituals, ceremonies, etc. Religion, even if it is atheism, it can be described as a religion, adhering to its non-beliefs, for those beliefs affect those people and their everyday actions. And by the way the word "religion" is mentioned only 5 times in the New Testament and -0- times in the Old Testament. Religion...
Religions may or may not contain elements ranging from divinity, sacred things, or even faith...or even a supernatural entity or entities, and may or may not be transcendent, and may include meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service which, all together can give a deeper meaning to life...which all humanity desires to have, and even needs, for life not to have meaning beyond the basic human needs, is just existence.
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide. 84% of the world's population is affiliated with one of the five major religions, namely Christianity the largest, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and then forms of local 'folk religions, and for the most part, each of these believe they are the one true religion, which is often why there is strife, division and even wars, for religion for most of humanity is vital in our lives. Religion offers various explanations for the origin of humanity, thereby giving those of us who are religious, once again, deeper meaning to our lives that we would otherwise have. Belief or faith in life after death gives us comfort, believing that death does not mean we cease to exist. Even there different beliefs each hold to their own system of what is beyond death.
Jehovah Witness for example believe that only 144, 000 (anointed ones) will actually make it to heaven….while the rest of the faithful will continue to live on earth, while the 144,000 will co-rule with Christ.
This is just one small example of the myriad of beliefs within the realm of Christianity that exist. There are also the Flat-Earthers, and Hollow-Earthers who claim a measure Christian theology. Beyond both Judaism and Christianity the spectrum of religion and beliefs held by these folks is mind-altering.
As I said above, "religion" can be wonderful, fulfilling, give meaning and comfort, but also can be horrendous, devastating, frightening and as we know, bring death, depending on who is doing what in the name of their religion for the sake of being the one true religion.
You may have heard it said that religion (usually said by atheists) is the main cause of wars and human destruction, but that is not so, (though there are wars and death caused by religion) it is not the most prolific or main cause. In the course of human history, there have been 1,763 actual wars, of which 123 or 7% were principally religiously motivated. Is that still too many? Yes. One is to many in my way of thinking.
The Huffington Post (believe it or not) published this. They wrote "objectively, (love that word, especially today) an objective look at history, reveals that those killed in the name of religion have in fact, been but a tiny fraction in the bloody history of human wars."
Unfortunately, the cause for the majority of Christian, deaths have come from within Christianity itself, including in the Crusades. A very dark time in the history of the Church that lasted several hundred years.
Apart from the Crusades, each of these wars, pogroms, inquisitions I am about to speak of, were brought about by the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation, with a combination of Church Power and politics. Kings and Queens, fostering laws backed by the Church, to persecute protestants, and, to prevent Protestantism from spreading which threatened the power and authority of The Church, which was enormous.
Just like American broke away from England to gain independence, so it was with Protestants to gain freedom from what then was the corruption of power. All in all it was a tragic, very tragic time in the history of Christianity. As I speak of these…it is not for the purpose of bad-mouthing the Catholic Church, for I am simply and accurately describing historical facts.
As most of you know, the Catholic Service in Island Park is held here in this sanctuary every Saturday afternoon, and as I sit in my office, overhearing the Priest and service….it is a wonderful time spent in lifting up the name of Jesus and in worship of God. I am blessed by the change in the relationship between the Protestant Church and the Catholic Church.
1. The Eighty Years War in which the King of Spain implemented different religious rules that the entire Spanish dynasty, to prevent once again the spread of Protestantism.
2. The Thirty Years War that was fought between 1618 and 1648 which left more than 8,000,000 deaths including soldiers and civilians This was between the Holy Roman Church, again, against the spread of Protestantism.
3. The French Wars of Religion between 1562 and 1598. These wars were fought between the French Catholics and again the Protestants, which also overflowed into England and beyond with deaths not only by wars by assassinations, quartering, burning people alive and torture. There is no count of the number of death during this time, but it was many thousands.
4. There was also the German Peasant's War which for the same reasons as the others in which 200,000 poor farmers, civilians and untrained soldiers, and of course the Crusades, which were called the Holy Wars in which over half a million were killed from 1095-1303.
5. Also in our lifetime was the war between the Irish Catholics and Protestants, that went on for years, thousands losing their lives, and still to this day simmers beneath the surface.
Why am I speaking of these. One is because we should all know our church history as a reality check. Specifically from history, we can clearly see that the marriage of political power and religion only brings with it destruction, because of the corruption of corrupt men rising to power, and self-righteousness in that there is only one religion through whom salvation is assured....and by God, men who believe as such can go to any means and through any measure assure it.
Our Founding Fathers in giving us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, knew what "religion" was capable of, when married to politics, thereby calling for the separation of religion from government. But, including in the Bill of Right, the right to freely express and embrace our religion. It is a fine line and one that I can embrace by remembering in our Religion as Christians.....we are saved by Grace and by Faith.
“Religion” does give us doctrine, truths to live by, parameters of behavior, and a system of beliefs that also give us comfort and assurance, plus many more virtues. But again....it is not our doctrine that saves us, it is our Savior and Lord, whose name is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of The One True God. With so many Christian denominations since the Reformation....you tell me of the 34,000 that exist today, which one has the one true doctrine? I...will cast my vote and life at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving Grace, before any one doctrine, relying on that singular belief in faith that I will be in His Presence on the day I pass on. That, my church family and friends is enough to make me secure, and enough to make me smile in assurance of His unfathomable love.
With the combination of Religion lived right, and Faith understood as the means to salvation, and an assurance we can all stand and rejoice in the joy of our Salvation.
FAITH is confidence or trust in a particular Person, and all that He taught us as to how to live, and that Person is our Lord. Hebrews 11:1 say clearly that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
A few examples...........................................................................................
1. One of two mentions of the word faith in the O.T. Isaiah 7:9 "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm."
2. Matthew 17:20 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, if you had the faith of even a small mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
3. Luke 7:50, "woman, your faith has saved you, go in peace."
4. Romans 3:27-28, "Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."
5. Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you, if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
Passing the test of faith, is by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that there is no other as the begotten Son of God, and that He is among us. It is that simple....and beautiful.
Someone once said...."Faith is like a muscle which grows stronger with use, rather than like rubber, which weakens over time with us as it is stretched."
My singular purpose in this topic today, was not to point out the past failures of The Church....but to show that history has proven time and again that a religion, any religion that joins itself together with politics, creates over time a very potentially dangerous environment often with a deadly outcome. Power as we know can corrupt, even the best of people with the best of intentions over time. Power brings with it the desire for more power and with that power are perks that entice and corrupt.
We can and should take our faith with us everywhere we go, even in politics, but as a foundation on which to live our own lives as an example of the Lord, and as an example of what it means to be a man or woman of integrity in that walk. In-corruptible.
Religion and faith is a beautiful combination.....and an asset to any government, when as individuals we live our faith to the fullest, while extending to men and women of other faiths, the right to the free exercise of their own faith, which means as much to them as much as ours to us. By doing so, they may see and hear from us, the beauty and strength of our faith, and desire to know why we are who we are. We are to be a light to the world....not a ranting, finger pointing, self-righteous, arrogant, sin finding people...but as Scripture says, "they will know we are Christians by our Love." by our Love.
That Church and friends, is who we are called to be, God Bless you all!
Amen
July 7, 2019
"Religion and Faith”
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, its good enough for me..........................................
Hmmmm, well, how do I interpret this? To me, that depends on when in time, given the expression of religion at that time, and the methodology used to maintain that "old time religion" in that time....for "religion" can be wonderful or it can be ugly and devastating. That hymn or song is not in our hymnal, for which I am ok about. The intent in it is I suppose, ok, but again, as to how in particular, any religion is expressed is critical.
What exactly is "religion?" By definition religion is a set of beliefs that is passionately held by a group of people that, is expressed in a world view and in expected beliefs and actions…..often which become rituals, ceremonies, etc. Religion, even if it is atheism, it can be described as a religion, adhering to its non-beliefs, for those beliefs affect those people and their everyday actions. And by the way the word "religion" is mentioned only 5 times in the New Testament and -0- times in the Old Testament. Religion...
Religions may or may not contain elements ranging from divinity, sacred things, or even faith...or even a supernatural entity or entities, and may or may not be transcendent, and may include meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service which, all together can give a deeper meaning to life...which all humanity desires to have, and even needs, for life not to have meaning beyond the basic human needs, is just existence.
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide. 84% of the world's population is affiliated with one of the five major religions, namely Christianity the largest, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and then forms of local 'folk religions, and for the most part, each of these believe they are the one true religion, which is often why there is strife, division and even wars, for religion for most of humanity is vital in our lives. Religion offers various explanations for the origin of humanity, thereby giving those of us who are religious, once again, deeper meaning to our lives that we would otherwise have. Belief or faith in life after death gives us comfort, believing that death does not mean we cease to exist. Even there different beliefs each hold to their own system of what is beyond death.
Jehovah Witness for example believe that only 144, 000 (anointed ones) will actually make it to heaven….while the rest of the faithful will continue to live on earth, while the 144,000 will co-rule with Christ.
This is just one small example of the myriad of beliefs within the realm of Christianity that exist. There are also the Flat-Earthers, and Hollow-Earthers who claim a measure Christian theology. Beyond both Judaism and Christianity the spectrum of religion and beliefs held by these folks is mind-altering.
As I said above, "religion" can be wonderful, fulfilling, give meaning and comfort, but also can be horrendous, devastating, frightening and as we know, bring death, depending on who is doing what in the name of their religion for the sake of being the one true religion.
You may have heard it said that religion (usually said by atheists) is the main cause of wars and human destruction, but that is not so, (though there are wars and death caused by religion) it is not the most prolific or main cause. In the course of human history, there have been 1,763 actual wars, of which 123 or 7% were principally religiously motivated. Is that still too many? Yes. One is to many in my way of thinking.
The Huffington Post (believe it or not) published this. They wrote "objectively, (love that word, especially today) an objective look at history, reveals that those killed in the name of religion have in fact, been but a tiny fraction in the bloody history of human wars."
Unfortunately, the cause for the majority of Christian, deaths have come from within Christianity itself, including in the Crusades. A very dark time in the history of the Church that lasted several hundred years.
Apart from the Crusades, each of these wars, pogroms, inquisitions I am about to speak of, were brought about by the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation, with a combination of Church Power and politics. Kings and Queens, fostering laws backed by the Church, to persecute protestants, and, to prevent Protestantism from spreading which threatened the power and authority of The Church, which was enormous.
Just like American broke away from England to gain independence, so it was with Protestants to gain freedom from what then was the corruption of power. All in all it was a tragic, very tragic time in the history of Christianity. As I speak of these…it is not for the purpose of bad-mouthing the Catholic Church, for I am simply and accurately describing historical facts.
As most of you know, the Catholic Service in Island Park is held here in this sanctuary every Saturday afternoon, and as I sit in my office, overhearing the Priest and service….it is a wonderful time spent in lifting up the name of Jesus and in worship of God. I am blessed by the change in the relationship between the Protestant Church and the Catholic Church.
1. The Eighty Years War in which the King of Spain implemented different religious rules that the entire Spanish dynasty, to prevent once again the spread of Protestantism.
2. The Thirty Years War that was fought between 1618 and 1648 which left more than 8,000,000 deaths including soldiers and civilians This was between the Holy Roman Church, again, against the spread of Protestantism.
3. The French Wars of Religion between 1562 and 1598. These wars were fought between the French Catholics and again the Protestants, which also overflowed into England and beyond with deaths not only by wars by assassinations, quartering, burning people alive and torture. There is no count of the number of death during this time, but it was many thousands.
4. There was also the German Peasant's War which for the same reasons as the others in which 200,000 poor farmers, civilians and untrained soldiers, and of course the Crusades, which were called the Holy Wars in which over half a million were killed from 1095-1303.
5. Also in our lifetime was the war between the Irish Catholics and Protestants, that went on for years, thousands losing their lives, and still to this day simmers beneath the surface.
Why am I speaking of these. One is because we should all know our church history as a reality check. Specifically from history, we can clearly see that the marriage of political power and religion only brings with it destruction, because of the corruption of corrupt men rising to power, and self-righteousness in that there is only one religion through whom salvation is assured....and by God, men who believe as such can go to any means and through any measure assure it.
Our Founding Fathers in giving us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, knew what "religion" was capable of, when married to politics, thereby calling for the separation of religion from government. But, including in the Bill of Right, the right to freely express and embrace our religion. It is a fine line and one that I can embrace by remembering in our Religion as Christians.....we are saved by Grace and by Faith.
“Religion” does give us doctrine, truths to live by, parameters of behavior, and a system of beliefs that also give us comfort and assurance, plus many more virtues. But again....it is not our doctrine that saves us, it is our Savior and Lord, whose name is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of The One True God. With so many Christian denominations since the Reformation....you tell me of the 34,000 that exist today, which one has the one true doctrine? I...will cast my vote and life at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving Grace, before any one doctrine, relying on that singular belief in faith that I will be in His Presence on the day I pass on. That, my church family and friends is enough to make me secure, and enough to make me smile in assurance of His unfathomable love.
With the combination of Religion lived right, and Faith understood as the means to salvation, and an assurance we can all stand and rejoice in the joy of our Salvation.
FAITH is confidence or trust in a particular Person, and all that He taught us as to how to live, and that Person is our Lord. Hebrews 11:1 say clearly that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
A few examples...........................................................................................
1. One of two mentions of the word faith in the O.T. Isaiah 7:9 "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm."
2. Matthew 17:20 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, if you had the faith of even a small mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
3. Luke 7:50, "woman, your faith has saved you, go in peace."
4. Romans 3:27-28, "Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."
5. Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you, if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
Passing the test of faith, is by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that there is no other as the begotten Son of God, and that He is among us. It is that simple....and beautiful.
Someone once said...."Faith is like a muscle which grows stronger with use, rather than like rubber, which weakens over time with us as it is stretched."
My singular purpose in this topic today, was not to point out the past failures of The Church....but to show that history has proven time and again that a religion, any religion that joins itself together with politics, creates over time a very potentially dangerous environment often with a deadly outcome. Power as we know can corrupt, even the best of people with the best of intentions over time. Power brings with it the desire for more power and with that power are perks that entice and corrupt.
We can and should take our faith with us everywhere we go, even in politics, but as a foundation on which to live our own lives as an example of the Lord, and as an example of what it means to be a man or woman of integrity in that walk. In-corruptible.
Religion and faith is a beautiful combination.....and an asset to any government, when as individuals we live our faith to the fullest, while extending to men and women of other faiths, the right to the free exercise of their own faith, which means as much to them as much as ours to us. By doing so, they may see and hear from us, the beauty and strength of our faith, and desire to know why we are who we are. We are to be a light to the world....not a ranting, finger pointing, self-righteous, arrogant, sin finding people...but as Scripture says, "they will know we are Christians by our Love." by our Love.
That Church and friends, is who we are called to be, God Bless you all!
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
TRUTH?
June 30, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
What is truth? Is there transitional truth, universal truth, temporary truth, proven spiritual truth, accepted truth, new truth yet to be discovered, lies passed off as truth...again, what is truth?
Let's see what those who debate truth can tell us about it.
Quote: "Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original standard. Truth is also sometimes defined in modern contexts as 'an idea' of "truth to self", or authenticity".
Truth is usually held to be opposite to falsehood, which correspondingly, can also suggest a logical, factual, or ethical meaning. He goes on to say, most human activities depend upon the concept, where its nature as a concept is assumed by the majority rather than being a subject for discussion or debate. These subjects include most of the sciences, law, journalism, religion and everyday life.
Some philosophers view the concept of truth as basic, and unable to be literally be explained in any concise terms. Some truths are the building block of much of what we can understand, comprehend and build on.
The final version of the Declaration of Independence declares: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
In these United States, these three are under fire, and I believe in time are in danger (for the greater good of all) so to speak, will be and are being moderated as I speak this. Life...Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Beautiful words, beautiful freedoms. Thank God for those who were led by Him to write such a magnificent Magna Carta for the United State of America. Let us pray..................
For we Christians, the teachings of Jesus are our spiritual constitution. It is in depth, for the most part explainable and understandable. His words alone began to change the world when first spoken over 2000 years ago. They continue to do the same, and through today the same effect. In the book of John, Jesus uses the word truth 10 times, and in Luke once. He did not use the word in Matthew or Mark one time.
Let's see what ways He used it.
John 4:23..."The time is coming (indeed it is here now) when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.
TRUTH..."God is Spirit" means he is not a physical being, limited to one place. He is present everywhere, and he can and desires to be worshiped anywhere, at any time. It is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship. Is therefore our worship genuine and TRUE? Sincerity, not simply following form. From the heart and mind combined, not just the mind.
John 8:32..."Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free."
TRUTH...Jesus himself is the Truth that sets us free (8:36) "So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed." He is the source of TRUTH, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from continued slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by the enemy. He shows us clearly the way to eternal life with God. Thus, Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to choose to follow God. He calls us to be all that God means for us to be.
John 14:6...Jesus told him, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one can come to the Father except through Me."
TRUTH..this is one of the most important basic messages in Scripture. How can we know the WAY to God? Only through Jesus. Jesus is the WAY because he is both God and man. By uniting our lives with His, we are united with God. Trust Jesus to take you to the Father, and all the benefits of being God's son or daughter will be yours.
John 14:15-17..."If you love Me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate. who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all TRUTH."
TRUTH...The word translated "Advocate" combines the ideas of comfort and also counsel. The word could also be translated Comforter, Encourager, or Counselor. The Holy Spirit is a powerful personage of God who is for us and not against us, working for and with us. Amen!
In John 18:33... Jesus is standing before Pilate having a discourse with Him, answering questions in His own way. Pilate asks Him, "are you a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the TRUTH. All who love the TRUTH recognize what I SAY IS TRUE!"
In faith we claim TRUTH spoken by Jesus is TRUE! His teachings are real and applicable to our everyday lives, which is where they are proven. His teachings and His life give us life. He is not a magician that answers our every so-called need or wants or even every question, but I believe in our every question there is an answer in His teachings if we will just take the time to search, pray and even wait. He said He gave us an ADVOCATE...the Holy Spirit....how many of us ever seek the Holy Spirit when it comes to finding answers to our thoughts and questions. How many of us take the time to search for answers in His written word? How many of apply the lessons and commandments we have been given to make both our lives and lives of others better. Giving comfort, bestowing kindness, loving our neighbor and honoring our Lord by doing so? Everyday?
Life can and does kick us around very hard sometimes, and sometimes those times come in swarms it seems. I truly believe we can ALL hold onto the lifeboat of the Lord in those times, and come out a better person, trusting Him more each day, and in and from those times we can learn to give to others from the experiences we go through with Him at our side.
There are accepted TRUTHS that change with additional research in the sciences, in law and in society. Truths once held onto even when proven wrong, holding onto those so tightly, that even when proof is in in their faces.... they deny it and retaliate.
As an example, the Church at one time believed and taught that the earth was the center of the solar system. In the Galileo affair as it is called, was a sequence of events, beginning around 1610, culminating with the trial and condemnation of Galileo by the Roman Catholic Church. At that time Galileo published his Starry Messenger as it was called, describing the surprising observations that he had made with a newly developed telescope. With these new observations he promoted the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, which had been published in 1543. Galileo's initial discoveries were met with opposition and in the 1616 Inquisition by the Church, declared heliocentrism to be formally heretical, when proven that earth and the other planets rotated around the sun and not the earth. Galileo’s teachings were condemned, his writings destroyed and he was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.
In society with slavery it was taught in our churches, primarily in the south, that Negroes were sub-human and therefore their only value was to be found in serving the white race. The ramifications of that untruth we are still suffering the ramifications of.
The list goes on and on. Women spoken of as not being intelligent enough to vote, to hold public office, to be doctors, lawyers, etc., and today still not being worthy enough to be ministers in many sects and denominations. All because they are not men!
Another in science, concerning the age of the earth has proven that it is not seven thousand years old, but a couple of billion. The age of Radio Carbon testing, soil layers telling the story of creatures, so outrageous as to be Science Fiction. Proof that, the continents at one time were joined as one…and that list goes on. The proof of this not accepted by some millions of people in the face of facts, because TRUTHS are sometimes to be feared because of the changes and challenges they bring with them.
Here are a few quotes about TRUTH that are worthy of repeating from some well-known and not so well-known people.
Fear hinders TRUTH, so we should all be seekers of TRUTH, willing to accept proven truths, even if down the road due to further research they have to be updated and changed. “Fear not…. for I am with you says the Lord.” And this leads into a story.
To wrap this up this morning…. I am going to read you a true story of a seeker of truth and justice. Her name originally was Isabella, and she had no last name. READ………….
In all the TRUTHS that there are…. the greatest truth is the TRUTHS that came for our Lord Jesus Christ….and the power available to us to overcome lies, sin and deceit. Power to overcome obstacles seemingly so overwhelming, as to be impossible to surmount. Isabella challenged that lie…. Jesus challenged all lies, and we too, along with many who already have overcome, can join together in TRUTH to assist one another, by the power of God to do the same.
Amen
"The truth of Jesus the Christ will set you free!"
TRUTH?
June 30, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
What is truth? Is there transitional truth, universal truth, temporary truth, proven spiritual truth, accepted truth, new truth yet to be discovered, lies passed off as truth...again, what is truth?
Let's see what those who debate truth can tell us about it.
Quote: "Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original standard. Truth is also sometimes defined in modern contexts as 'an idea' of "truth to self", or authenticity".
Truth is usually held to be opposite to falsehood, which correspondingly, can also suggest a logical, factual, or ethical meaning. He goes on to say, most human activities depend upon the concept, where its nature as a concept is assumed by the majority rather than being a subject for discussion or debate. These subjects include most of the sciences, law, journalism, religion and everyday life.
Some philosophers view the concept of truth as basic, and unable to be literally be explained in any concise terms. Some truths are the building block of much of what we can understand, comprehend and build on.
The final version of the Declaration of Independence declares: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
In these United States, these three are under fire, and I believe in time are in danger (for the greater good of all) so to speak, will be and are being moderated as I speak this. Life...Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Beautiful words, beautiful freedoms. Thank God for those who were led by Him to write such a magnificent Magna Carta for the United State of America. Let us pray..................
For we Christians, the teachings of Jesus are our spiritual constitution. It is in depth, for the most part explainable and understandable. His words alone began to change the world when first spoken over 2000 years ago. They continue to do the same, and through today the same effect. In the book of John, Jesus uses the word truth 10 times, and in Luke once. He did not use the word in Matthew or Mark one time.
Let's see what ways He used it.
John 4:23..."The time is coming (indeed it is here now) when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.
TRUTH..."God is Spirit" means he is not a physical being, limited to one place. He is present everywhere, and he can and desires to be worshiped anywhere, at any time. It is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship. Is therefore our worship genuine and TRUE? Sincerity, not simply following form. From the heart and mind combined, not just the mind.
John 8:32..."Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free."
TRUTH...Jesus himself is the Truth that sets us free (8:36) "So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed." He is the source of TRUTH, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from continued slavery to sin, from self-deception, and from deception by the enemy. He shows us clearly the way to eternal life with God. Thus, Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to choose to follow God. He calls us to be all that God means for us to be.
John 14:6...Jesus told him, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one can come to the Father except through Me."
TRUTH..this is one of the most important basic messages in Scripture. How can we know the WAY to God? Only through Jesus. Jesus is the WAY because he is both God and man. By uniting our lives with His, we are united with God. Trust Jesus to take you to the Father, and all the benefits of being God's son or daughter will be yours.
John 14:15-17..."If you love Me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate. who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all TRUTH."
TRUTH...The word translated "Advocate" combines the ideas of comfort and also counsel. The word could also be translated Comforter, Encourager, or Counselor. The Holy Spirit is a powerful personage of God who is for us and not against us, working for and with us. Amen!
In John 18:33... Jesus is standing before Pilate having a discourse with Him, answering questions in His own way. Pilate asks Him, "are you a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the TRUTH. All who love the TRUTH recognize what I SAY IS TRUE!"
In faith we claim TRUTH spoken by Jesus is TRUE! His teachings are real and applicable to our everyday lives, which is where they are proven. His teachings and His life give us life. He is not a magician that answers our every so-called need or wants or even every question, but I believe in our every question there is an answer in His teachings if we will just take the time to search, pray and even wait. He said He gave us an ADVOCATE...the Holy Spirit....how many of us ever seek the Holy Spirit when it comes to finding answers to our thoughts and questions. How many of us take the time to search for answers in His written word? How many of apply the lessons and commandments we have been given to make both our lives and lives of others better. Giving comfort, bestowing kindness, loving our neighbor and honoring our Lord by doing so? Everyday?
Life can and does kick us around very hard sometimes, and sometimes those times come in swarms it seems. I truly believe we can ALL hold onto the lifeboat of the Lord in those times, and come out a better person, trusting Him more each day, and in and from those times we can learn to give to others from the experiences we go through with Him at our side.
There are accepted TRUTHS that change with additional research in the sciences, in law and in society. Truths once held onto even when proven wrong, holding onto those so tightly, that even when proof is in in their faces.... they deny it and retaliate.
As an example, the Church at one time believed and taught that the earth was the center of the solar system. In the Galileo affair as it is called, was a sequence of events, beginning around 1610, culminating with the trial and condemnation of Galileo by the Roman Catholic Church. At that time Galileo published his Starry Messenger as it was called, describing the surprising observations that he had made with a newly developed telescope. With these new observations he promoted the heliocentric theory of Copernicus, which had been published in 1543. Galileo's initial discoveries were met with opposition and in the 1616 Inquisition by the Church, declared heliocentrism to be formally heretical, when proven that earth and the other planets rotated around the sun and not the earth. Galileo’s teachings were condemned, his writings destroyed and he was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.
In society with slavery it was taught in our churches, primarily in the south, that Negroes were sub-human and therefore their only value was to be found in serving the white race. The ramifications of that untruth we are still suffering the ramifications of.
The list goes on and on. Women spoken of as not being intelligent enough to vote, to hold public office, to be doctors, lawyers, etc., and today still not being worthy enough to be ministers in many sects and denominations. All because they are not men!
Another in science, concerning the age of the earth has proven that it is not seven thousand years old, but a couple of billion. The age of Radio Carbon testing, soil layers telling the story of creatures, so outrageous as to be Science Fiction. Proof that, the continents at one time were joined as one…and that list goes on. The proof of this not accepted by some millions of people in the face of facts, because TRUTHS are sometimes to be feared because of the changes and challenges they bring with them.
Here are a few quotes about TRUTH that are worthy of repeating from some well-known and not so well-known people.
Fear hinders TRUTH, so we should all be seekers of TRUTH, willing to accept proven truths, even if down the road due to further research they have to be updated and changed. “Fear not…. for I am with you says the Lord.” And this leads into a story.
To wrap this up this morning…. I am going to read you a true story of a seeker of truth and justice. Her name originally was Isabella, and she had no last name. READ………….
In all the TRUTHS that there are…. the greatest truth is the TRUTHS that came for our Lord Jesus Christ….and the power available to us to overcome lies, sin and deceit. Power to overcome obstacles seemingly so overwhelming, as to be impossible to surmount. Isabella challenged that lie…. Jesus challenged all lies, and we too, along with many who already have overcome, can join together in TRUTH to assist one another, by the power of God to do the same.
Amen
"The truth of Jesus the Christ will set you free!"
"Continuing the Journey with Jesus III"
June 23, 2019
Scripture References, Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
This lesson or teaching I have never taken on before having preached over a thousand sermons. As I prepared, I had to look deep within myself during the whole research aspect, asking truthfully if I myself am capable of both understanding and living out these truths, which as I read them are seemingly impossible. But, then I remember the Scripture that in Philippians 4:13, says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength to accomplish that which He asks me to do." (TS Version) Everyday language.................
Starting with the Scripture references for today's messages!
Matthew 5:43-48 ~ READ
Luke 6:27-36 ~ READ
"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor'* and hate your enemy. But 'I' say love your enemies! * Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He, give his sunlight to both the evil and the good and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, * how are you different form anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount, also called the Be-Attitudes, as spoken here are the attitudes we too are to have in regards to being like Him...once again, as He journeys with us on this spiritual road to perfection. (of which I will speak of later)
Scripture...."But...to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks...(I have gotten myself in trouble sometimes on that one by giving to known takers) Now moving on...and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back." Well...how are you doing so far? Anyone sputtering or mumbling yet?)
Onward Christian disciples...let us allow ourselves in for more. "Do to others as you would have them do to you!" Now that one I like, yet still, if we are talking about our enemies, this means no retaliation, no vengeance, no outward reaction or display of anger, no conniving or scheming to get back at them. Romans 12:19 says, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." This tells us He even remembers the wrongs done to us, oh, and let me add here, the wrongs we do to others.
You see.... there are times, even when fellow Christians become in a sense our enemies. What do we do then, when we are wronged? We follow implicitly exactly what the Lord is saying to all of us. Even when wronged, always choose to do right.
Now...on to the rest of these verses for these ties directly into Matthew 5. "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit. Even sinner do that much! Again...."love your enemies! Do good to them. Oh, Oh, this is different here. Lend (what) lend to them without expecting to be repaid (what?)
There is not much to be said in doing research on this. (not much available) in fact I couldn't locate anything. I can honestly say that I don't know what situation(s) the Lord had in mind here. There are times I have given money without expecting it to be returned, but that was my intention. I have lent money though, expecting it to be returned, though without interest. That has not always happened, and I have had to let it go. But the world system today does not work this way. So....we, like all others in the system, move within it with the expectation(s)) (unless so stated) of being paid back. I can't find fault with our system though of course there are exceptions. What I believe we all need to do is to be fair. To treat others even in lending money or borrowing money, as we ourselves want to be treated. Yes, things go wrong or awry, and when that happens, our number one response is to try to understand and if necessary be compassionate. If the loss was deliberate or due to handling the loan badly, then there are certain established criteria (all spelled out in the document) as to how to handle just such a situation.
This....is simply my take and opinion.
So, we are still not done yet with the Scripture, and I hope I am holding your attention. As I said...this is a difficult topic to cover.
These verses end with, "You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate." I like that!
At this point there is something I want you to remember. This teaching and these verses I did not write, so remember that I am just the messenger. These are Biblical teachings and sayings. Now...perhaps my interpretation can be questioned, but I do try and I mean try to stay true to what I believe I understand in them.
Now...I am going to read a true illustration in regards to this topic, "Loving our enemies." Called Teach Me to Love, by Corrie Ten Boom.
It wasn't easy for Corrie Ten Boom to forgive the Nazi captors who had tormented her at Ravensbruck. They had caused her to suffer horribly. Even worse, they had caused the death of her sister, Betsy.
Ten years after her release, Corrie ran into a woman who would not look her in the eyes. Asking about her, Corrie was told the woman had been a nurse at a concentration camp. Suddenly the memories flooded back. Corrie recalled taking her sister Betsy to the infirmary to see this woman. Betsy's feet were paralyzed, and she was dying. The nurse had been cruel and sharp-tongued.
Corrie's hatred now returned with vengeance. Her rage so boiled that she know of but one thing to do. "Forgive me," she cried out to the Lord, "Forgive me for my hatred, O Lord. Teach me to love my enemy."
The Spirit given by Jesus Christ seemed to suddenly cool her embittered heart, and Corrie felt the rage being replaced with a divine love she could not explain. She began praying for the woman, and one day shortly afterward she called the hospital where the nurse worked and invited her to a meeting at which she was speaking.
"What!" replied the nurse, "You want me to come?"
"Yes, replied Corrie that is why I am calling you."
"Then I will she replied."
That evening the nurse listened carefully to Corrie's talk, and afterward Corrie sat down with her, opened her Bible, and explained 1 John 4:9: "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, His enemies. And that night, a former captive let her former captor to a "decision to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. God...had taken Corrie's subconscious feeling of hatred of her enemy, and transformed them using them a window of pain and hatred, through which His light could shine into a dark and angry heart, setting this woman free from the guilt, shame and pain of her past.
Here are some of the things that we are called to do by Jesus, on our life-long journey with Him and with each other. These are broken down into short not suggestions, but commandments, the Lord Himself is giving us.
1. Love your enemies
2. Pray for those who persecute you
3. Do not love only those who love you, but those who hate you
4. Do good to those who hate you, and spitefully use you
5. Bless those who curse you
6. Pray for those who would harm or hurt you
7. Give beyond what is expected of you
8. Do not plan or carry out vengeance or retaliation
Here is another illustration. Just as Jesus spoke in His parables in the Sermon on the Mount, and in his teachings as he traveled, stories tell the heart of what is in those teachings and yet sometimes having to listen closely to grasp the depth of what He is telling us.
Roy Anthony Borges was a prison inmate who, becoming a Christian had some hard lessons to unlearn. All his life he had been taught to hate, hate his enemies and those whom he envied and who had more than he had, even behind prison walls. One of his most vexing enemies was Rodney, who stole his radio and headphones one day while Roy was playing volleyball in the prison yard. It was an expensive radio, a gift from his mother. The earphones had been a Christmas present from his sister. Roy was angry and wanted revenge, but as he prayed about it, it seemed to him that God was testing him.
Day after day, Roy wanted to respond violently, to knock the wisecrack grin off Rodney's face, but Romans 12:20-21 kept coming to mind where Paul's instruction to avoid vengeance, and leaving it to God to settle the score. Roy began to look at Rodney through God's eyes and have compassion on him. He began praying for him. He began to trusting God to accomplish something in Rodney's life.
By and by, Roy's hatred for Rodney began fading, and he found himself helping his enemy and telling him about Jesus. Then one day, Roy later wrote, "I saw Rodney kneeling down next to his bunk reading his Bible, and I knew that good had overcome evil."'
I would say most all of us have people and reasons in our own mind that we feel we have the right to hate, but that is not to be the way of a Believer, a disciple of Christ. I will also say that in hating, we have the most to lose, for we can't have the peace of God that passes all understanding in hating, we can't have a full and rich spiritual life in hating, we, also can't have a good and fruitful life in our everyday lives by hating. Nothing good can come out of doing so.... nothing.
The meaning of the word love is more restricted in Greek than in English. Barclay notes that Greek has four different words that are translated as love.
1. The Greek words for love for a family member is stergein.
2. Sexual love is eros.
3. Deep affection is philia
None of these words are used in this verse, but rather the author of Matthew used "agapan" which Barclay translates as continued benevolence. This term is used seven more times in Mathew, and 140 times in the New Testament.
We have to remember that as Christians we are called to live out the teachings of our Lord as written in the New Covenant. Where in the Old Testament they were called to hate their enemies...we instead are called to Love our enemies and our neighbors as ourselves.
This love of our enemies is not tied into or requires affectionate love, but a deliberate choice to stand down from hating, and by doing good to our enemies.... turning them by our love, from their hate-filled ways to and through the love of Christ...by our words and our actions. It is just that simple, but in all things where change is involved, it begins with asking God to help us to change our and perspective, and then asking Him for the power through prayer and by the Holy Spirit to make the changes that we are told by Him to change.
"If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink." These are fundamental ways to turn from hatred to expressing the love of God in Christ.
Enemies, is a broad term that applies to all manner of foes and adversaries. At the time Matthew was writing, the Christian community had recently faced considerable persecution under Nero. The entire Jewish community at both Jesus and Matthew's time was subject to persecution by the Romans. Today....much of the Christian world, in especially the Middle East and Asia also suffer deep persecution. At the time of this letter the then Greek Stoics....philosophers also discouraged their followers from retaliation, using the Christians as an example.
As Christians we are also and always called upon (though we at times unfortunately fail) to be the examples of peace, not hating or retaliating, but being as I say toward the end of these messages. Our highest goal should be to be like Jesus....as we journey together on this spiritual pilgrimage.
This, that I am going to finish with is a bit like a parable. I will leave you to figure it out.... go a little deeper than the surface as you think about it because it is a metaphor.
There is an old story of a holy man, who while meditating in the countryside, noticed a scorpion struggling to get out of the swirling water of a rapid brook. Its efforts to climb onto a rock were futile, for the current was too strong. The holy man, taking pity on the creature and its efforts, tried to help it, but the scorpion kept striking back at him, even in the water.
A friend of the holy man, passing by, said, "don't you realize that it is the nature of a scorpion to attack and sting, my friend?"
"Yes," said the holy man, "but it is my nature to save and rescue. Why should I change my nature just because the scorpion doesn't change his?"
That's all folks.......for today, as next week we continue this journey.... together.
God Bless each and all of you!
June 23, 2019
Scripture References, Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
This lesson or teaching I have never taken on before having preached over a thousand sermons. As I prepared, I had to look deep within myself during the whole research aspect, asking truthfully if I myself am capable of both understanding and living out these truths, which as I read them are seemingly impossible. But, then I remember the Scripture that in Philippians 4:13, says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength to accomplish that which He asks me to do." (TS Version) Everyday language.................
Starting with the Scripture references for today's messages!
Matthew 5:43-48 ~ READ
Luke 6:27-36 ~ READ
"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor'* and hate your enemy. But 'I' say love your enemies! * Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He, give his sunlight to both the evil and the good and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, * how are you different form anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount, also called the Be-Attitudes, as spoken here are the attitudes we too are to have in regards to being like Him...once again, as He journeys with us on this spiritual road to perfection. (of which I will speak of later)
Scripture...."But...to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks...(I have gotten myself in trouble sometimes on that one by giving to known takers) Now moving on...and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back." Well...how are you doing so far? Anyone sputtering or mumbling yet?)
Onward Christian disciples...let us allow ourselves in for more. "Do to others as you would have them do to you!" Now that one I like, yet still, if we are talking about our enemies, this means no retaliation, no vengeance, no outward reaction or display of anger, no conniving or scheming to get back at them. Romans 12:19 says, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." This tells us He even remembers the wrongs done to us, oh, and let me add here, the wrongs we do to others.
You see.... there are times, even when fellow Christians become in a sense our enemies. What do we do then, when we are wronged? We follow implicitly exactly what the Lord is saying to all of us. Even when wronged, always choose to do right.
Now...on to the rest of these verses for these ties directly into Matthew 5. "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit. Even sinner do that much! Again...."love your enemies! Do good to them. Oh, Oh, this is different here. Lend (what) lend to them without expecting to be repaid (what?)
There is not much to be said in doing research on this. (not much available) in fact I couldn't locate anything. I can honestly say that I don't know what situation(s) the Lord had in mind here. There are times I have given money without expecting it to be returned, but that was my intention. I have lent money though, expecting it to be returned, though without interest. That has not always happened, and I have had to let it go. But the world system today does not work this way. So....we, like all others in the system, move within it with the expectation(s)) (unless so stated) of being paid back. I can't find fault with our system though of course there are exceptions. What I believe we all need to do is to be fair. To treat others even in lending money or borrowing money, as we ourselves want to be treated. Yes, things go wrong or awry, and when that happens, our number one response is to try to understand and if necessary be compassionate. If the loss was deliberate or due to handling the loan badly, then there are certain established criteria (all spelled out in the document) as to how to handle just such a situation.
This....is simply my take and opinion.
So, we are still not done yet with the Scripture, and I hope I am holding your attention. As I said...this is a difficult topic to cover.
These verses end with, "You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate." I like that!
At this point there is something I want you to remember. This teaching and these verses I did not write, so remember that I am just the messenger. These are Biblical teachings and sayings. Now...perhaps my interpretation can be questioned, but I do try and I mean try to stay true to what I believe I understand in them.
Now...I am going to read a true illustration in regards to this topic, "Loving our enemies." Called Teach Me to Love, by Corrie Ten Boom.
It wasn't easy for Corrie Ten Boom to forgive the Nazi captors who had tormented her at Ravensbruck. They had caused her to suffer horribly. Even worse, they had caused the death of her sister, Betsy.
Ten years after her release, Corrie ran into a woman who would not look her in the eyes. Asking about her, Corrie was told the woman had been a nurse at a concentration camp. Suddenly the memories flooded back. Corrie recalled taking her sister Betsy to the infirmary to see this woman. Betsy's feet were paralyzed, and she was dying. The nurse had been cruel and sharp-tongued.
Corrie's hatred now returned with vengeance. Her rage so boiled that she know of but one thing to do. "Forgive me," she cried out to the Lord, "Forgive me for my hatred, O Lord. Teach me to love my enemy."
The Spirit given by Jesus Christ seemed to suddenly cool her embittered heart, and Corrie felt the rage being replaced with a divine love she could not explain. She began praying for the woman, and one day shortly afterward she called the hospital where the nurse worked and invited her to a meeting at which she was speaking.
"What!" replied the nurse, "You want me to come?"
"Yes, replied Corrie that is why I am calling you."
"Then I will she replied."
That evening the nurse listened carefully to Corrie's talk, and afterward Corrie sat down with her, opened her Bible, and explained 1 John 4:9: "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, His enemies. And that night, a former captive let her former captor to a "decision to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. God...had taken Corrie's subconscious feeling of hatred of her enemy, and transformed them using them a window of pain and hatred, through which His light could shine into a dark and angry heart, setting this woman free from the guilt, shame and pain of her past.
Here are some of the things that we are called to do by Jesus, on our life-long journey with Him and with each other. These are broken down into short not suggestions, but commandments, the Lord Himself is giving us.
1. Love your enemies
2. Pray for those who persecute you
3. Do not love only those who love you, but those who hate you
4. Do good to those who hate you, and spitefully use you
5. Bless those who curse you
6. Pray for those who would harm or hurt you
7. Give beyond what is expected of you
8. Do not plan or carry out vengeance or retaliation
Here is another illustration. Just as Jesus spoke in His parables in the Sermon on the Mount, and in his teachings as he traveled, stories tell the heart of what is in those teachings and yet sometimes having to listen closely to grasp the depth of what He is telling us.
Roy Anthony Borges was a prison inmate who, becoming a Christian had some hard lessons to unlearn. All his life he had been taught to hate, hate his enemies and those whom he envied and who had more than he had, even behind prison walls. One of his most vexing enemies was Rodney, who stole his radio and headphones one day while Roy was playing volleyball in the prison yard. It was an expensive radio, a gift from his mother. The earphones had been a Christmas present from his sister. Roy was angry and wanted revenge, but as he prayed about it, it seemed to him that God was testing him.
Day after day, Roy wanted to respond violently, to knock the wisecrack grin off Rodney's face, but Romans 12:20-21 kept coming to mind where Paul's instruction to avoid vengeance, and leaving it to God to settle the score. Roy began to look at Rodney through God's eyes and have compassion on him. He began praying for him. He began to trusting God to accomplish something in Rodney's life.
By and by, Roy's hatred for Rodney began fading, and he found himself helping his enemy and telling him about Jesus. Then one day, Roy later wrote, "I saw Rodney kneeling down next to his bunk reading his Bible, and I knew that good had overcome evil."'
I would say most all of us have people and reasons in our own mind that we feel we have the right to hate, but that is not to be the way of a Believer, a disciple of Christ. I will also say that in hating, we have the most to lose, for we can't have the peace of God that passes all understanding in hating, we can't have a full and rich spiritual life in hating, we, also can't have a good and fruitful life in our everyday lives by hating. Nothing good can come out of doing so.... nothing.
The meaning of the word love is more restricted in Greek than in English. Barclay notes that Greek has four different words that are translated as love.
1. The Greek words for love for a family member is stergein.
2. Sexual love is eros.
3. Deep affection is philia
None of these words are used in this verse, but rather the author of Matthew used "agapan" which Barclay translates as continued benevolence. This term is used seven more times in Mathew, and 140 times in the New Testament.
We have to remember that as Christians we are called to live out the teachings of our Lord as written in the New Covenant. Where in the Old Testament they were called to hate their enemies...we instead are called to Love our enemies and our neighbors as ourselves.
This love of our enemies is not tied into or requires affectionate love, but a deliberate choice to stand down from hating, and by doing good to our enemies.... turning them by our love, from their hate-filled ways to and through the love of Christ...by our words and our actions. It is just that simple, but in all things where change is involved, it begins with asking God to help us to change our and perspective, and then asking Him for the power through prayer and by the Holy Spirit to make the changes that we are told by Him to change.
"If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink." These are fundamental ways to turn from hatred to expressing the love of God in Christ.
Enemies, is a broad term that applies to all manner of foes and adversaries. At the time Matthew was writing, the Christian community had recently faced considerable persecution under Nero. The entire Jewish community at both Jesus and Matthew's time was subject to persecution by the Romans. Today....much of the Christian world, in especially the Middle East and Asia also suffer deep persecution. At the time of this letter the then Greek Stoics....philosophers also discouraged their followers from retaliation, using the Christians as an example.
As Christians we are also and always called upon (though we at times unfortunately fail) to be the examples of peace, not hating or retaliating, but being as I say toward the end of these messages. Our highest goal should be to be like Jesus....as we journey together on this spiritual pilgrimage.
This, that I am going to finish with is a bit like a parable. I will leave you to figure it out.... go a little deeper than the surface as you think about it because it is a metaphor.
There is an old story of a holy man, who while meditating in the countryside, noticed a scorpion struggling to get out of the swirling water of a rapid brook. Its efforts to climb onto a rock were futile, for the current was too strong. The holy man, taking pity on the creature and its efforts, tried to help it, but the scorpion kept striking back at him, even in the water.
A friend of the holy man, passing by, said, "don't you realize that it is the nature of a scorpion to attack and sting, my friend?"
"Yes," said the holy man, "but it is my nature to save and rescue. Why should I change my nature just because the scorpion doesn't change his?"
That's all folks.......for today, as next week we continue this journey.... together.
God Bless each and all of you!
"A MERRY HEART"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
June 16, 2019
Proverbs 17:22, KJV "A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth up the bones." "A merry heart is the JOY of the Lord."
Living out our everyday lives, at times brings with it sorrow, anger, hurt, offense, pain, fear and even horror, but it also brings with it happiness, joyful anticipation, love, worship of God, laughter, deep appreciation of beauty, peace, family, friends, etc.
Often, the difficult part in all this besides the actual out-working of these things I spoke of, is that they can unexpectedly come upon us with little to no notice. Where we are in our personal and abiding relationship with God through His Son is critical. Not only in the unexpected, but in the ordinary routine of our day to day lives. God with us, God in us, God around us, and God through us, is how we should have Him in ourselves.
At his moment (today, that would be Wednesday at 12:38, sitting at my desk and computer, in preparing this message) I looked out my windows. I saw our American flag gently moving in the breeze, the tall Lodge Pole Pines also gently moving, shadows playing across the grass, wild flowers, huge white/gray cumulus clouds revealing cerulean blue sky. Also, the sound of human activity, with some folks walking and some driving past, all doing whatever they felt like doing or felt they needed to do, and I sighed. I continued to think of the individuals I saw, what they carried within them, a lifetime of memories, events, people....knowing that any moment everything could potentially change for either the good or the bad.
I thought how temporal we are, how vulnerable. No matter how secure we try and make our lives, seeking out stability, often fighting change. To what end.
Our attitude is critical to life and all that it holds, to values, people, God and eternity. Why in God's name would be want to be critical, nay-sayers, making harsh judgments, being hard on people instead of loving and lifting them up? Why? When our attitude, the way we approach the problems and trials of life, can bring about healing.
Choose this day, not only whom you will serve, but how you will serve Him. Your life....your ordinary-every-day-life, and the lives of others depend on making the right choice.
PROVERBS 17:22....."A merry heart doeth good like a medicine"
The Hebrew language has a number of tenses in it. One of the tenses is called the causative tense. You put a verb in the causative tense when you want to say that one thing causes another to happen. That's what you have in the Hebrew in Proverbs 17:22. A literal translation would be, "A cheerful heart causes good healing." What the Bible is telling us here is that your and my attitudes are critical in all the days of our lives, and in every arena of our lives....every single one.
Perhaps you have heard the story I am about to share with you, but I know for me, it was good to reread it and now you will hear it, and I ask you to listen closely.
Dr. Norman Cousins, was for a number of years on the medical staff at the UCLA School of Medicine. Some years ago, Dr. Cousins was diagnosed with having a strange, rare kind of disease that destroys the connective tissue of the body. The doctors he worked with gave him the full battery of known tests and reported back to him and said, "Sorry, but there is really nothing we can do. It is a degenerative disease as you know, and you are going to die."
Dr. Cousins said, "Well, I didn't want to just give up." (ATTITUDE) So, he set himself on a regime of exercise, high doses of Vitamin C, and then he added an unusual exercise. A mental one. He rented a projector and rented Marx Brothers and Three Stooges movies, and the entire cartoon he could find. For hours each day, he would take his vitamin C and watch and laugh, and laugh and laugh. What he discovered was that ten minutes of hearty laughter gave him a whole hour free from pain. So he would watch those movies over and over. He discovered, as he did this, that he began to feel better. The day came when he went back to his fellow physicians for more tests, and after running them they relayed to him with joy, "we don't know what has happened, because this disease has no cure; but as far as your tests reveal, you are completely healed.
He lived another 20 years free of the disease, and wrote a book called "Anatomy of an Illness, in which he made the point that ATTITUDE, the cheerfulness, a merry heart, or lack thereof, has a great deal to do with whether you get sick, how bad you get sick, whether you get well, and how quickly you get well.
All this to show each of us, that what Dr. Cousins discovered is nothing more than what Solomon told us 3000 years ago, which is that once again, "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine."
A merry heart is a trusting heart. We think of merry expressed in laughter, fun, dancing, full of joy, and so it often is all of these expressions, but it goes much deeper than these. It is an inward state of being. We can tie this verse into Romans 8:28, "for we know that in ALL THINGS, God....works for the good of those who love Him."
It is a difficult world we live in. A world filled to overflowing with sin, sickness, heartache and despair. We should thank our God daily that sin with all its connective behavior, is not the final word in this world, and therefore in us individually. There is a "word" though, that stands above all words....and that single, powerful, loving and honorable, worshipful word is Jesus.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can happen to a child of God, that is outside the "all things." Whatever it is that may assail us, our God in Christ will walk with us side by side, and eventually if necessary carry us, until we reach that final destination of being with Him.
Proverbs 14:30a, "A heart at peace gives life to the body." These verses and what can be concluded by Dr. Cousin's story, tells us that there is a very real connection between the condition of the spiritual and the physical. A connection between the heart and the body, between what goes on in the inside and the manifestations that occur on the outside. Our goal....to have a heart set in peace. Peace in Christ, and peace within ourselves and peace with one another.
Love, love and more love. Peace, peace and more peace.
Proverbs 18:1 says, "A man or woman's spirit sustains them in sickness, but if a spirit is crushed, who can stand up. We all know or have been people who struggle with sickness and weakness, yet when visit them thinking we are going to cheer us up, they instead cheer us up. There are those who having great difficulty in the midst of suffering, tapping into that place within them, and who are genuinely glad to see us.
Our dear departed friend and member of our little church, Nancy Phillips. While dying slowly of brain cancer, even in the final stages, when she was still able, able only to raise a finger or hand, and sometimes a faint smile....glad to have us there. She knew she was loved and she showed us love, as best as she could. Though within us was sorrow, she also showed us and taught us what it was to maintain the presence and love of God thorough all stages of her passing. We were blessed!!!
Here are some keys..................................................to a merry heart and the Kingdom of God.
1. Cultivate your relationship with God as foremost in your life.
2. Cultivate a forgiving spirit....at whatever cost.
3. Keep the long view of life...and with that, eternity in your heart.
4. Associate with cheerful people, and stay up even in the face of
criticism and unkind words.
5. Be a load lifter, not a burden maker.
6. Something as simple as listening to good music that speaks to
your heart, mind and spirit.
7. Live a life of Active love....of giving!
8. Come to know and practice the teachings of Jesus
9. Put on a merry heart and the JOY of the Lord as your strength.
Thank God for Jesus. Thank God He is alive. He said, "Lo, I am with you always, and I will NEVER leave you." Never!
Here is a true life story of a heart in the right place, against all reason and human understanding as reported in the Chicago Tribune.
The headline read, "Pastor Forms a Bond with Son's Killer."
This was a pastor in Connecticut whose son was murdered. He became friends with the man who killed his son, as the Lord led him to forgive the man. The Reverend Walter Everett not only got to know and forgive him, but he also helped get him out of prison early, and he recently officiated at the man's wedding. Here is a quote from the pastor. "I had known people whose loved ones had been murdered, and years afterward they were still consumed by their anger and hatred. I could not let that happen to me."
Perhaps there are people in your lives that you cannot let go of the wrong done, and not forgive. Not only do you not have a merry heart, but you have a broken spirit. A spirit, a person cannot be whole if there is un-forgiveness inside of them. That choice is one that God will never make you do, for free will is ours to live out as we choose.
Choose today, whom or what you will serve. Will your worship your pain or worship your God. Christ gave us the ultimate teaching in His final words on the cross. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."
A measure of pain will always be with us in this life if great wrongs have been done, but....freedom, the ability to feel happiness, to laugh out loud, to take JOY in both the great and small....the ability to love, the desire to dance.....is all wrapped up in the Attitude we choose to live by.
For a happy heart does good like a medicine.....a broken spirit drieth up the bones....THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.......AND JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!
Here are words direct from David, who took great JOY in the Lord having put an end to a great plague He had used to discipline David. David is known for both His disobedience and expressions of JOY when forgiven.
Psalm 30:10-12 “Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.”
You have turned my mourning into dancing joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with JOY, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.”
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
June 16, 2019
Proverbs 17:22, KJV "A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth up the bones." "A merry heart is the JOY of the Lord."
Living out our everyday lives, at times brings with it sorrow, anger, hurt, offense, pain, fear and even horror, but it also brings with it happiness, joyful anticipation, love, worship of God, laughter, deep appreciation of beauty, peace, family, friends, etc.
Often, the difficult part in all this besides the actual out-working of these things I spoke of, is that they can unexpectedly come upon us with little to no notice. Where we are in our personal and abiding relationship with God through His Son is critical. Not only in the unexpected, but in the ordinary routine of our day to day lives. God with us, God in us, God around us, and God through us, is how we should have Him in ourselves.
At his moment (today, that would be Wednesday at 12:38, sitting at my desk and computer, in preparing this message) I looked out my windows. I saw our American flag gently moving in the breeze, the tall Lodge Pole Pines also gently moving, shadows playing across the grass, wild flowers, huge white/gray cumulus clouds revealing cerulean blue sky. Also, the sound of human activity, with some folks walking and some driving past, all doing whatever they felt like doing or felt they needed to do, and I sighed. I continued to think of the individuals I saw, what they carried within them, a lifetime of memories, events, people....knowing that any moment everything could potentially change for either the good or the bad.
I thought how temporal we are, how vulnerable. No matter how secure we try and make our lives, seeking out stability, often fighting change. To what end.
Our attitude is critical to life and all that it holds, to values, people, God and eternity. Why in God's name would be want to be critical, nay-sayers, making harsh judgments, being hard on people instead of loving and lifting them up? Why? When our attitude, the way we approach the problems and trials of life, can bring about healing.
Choose this day, not only whom you will serve, but how you will serve Him. Your life....your ordinary-every-day-life, and the lives of others depend on making the right choice.
PROVERBS 17:22....."A merry heart doeth good like a medicine"
The Hebrew language has a number of tenses in it. One of the tenses is called the causative tense. You put a verb in the causative tense when you want to say that one thing causes another to happen. That's what you have in the Hebrew in Proverbs 17:22. A literal translation would be, "A cheerful heart causes good healing." What the Bible is telling us here is that your and my attitudes are critical in all the days of our lives, and in every arena of our lives....every single one.
Perhaps you have heard the story I am about to share with you, but I know for me, it was good to reread it and now you will hear it, and I ask you to listen closely.
Dr. Norman Cousins, was for a number of years on the medical staff at the UCLA School of Medicine. Some years ago, Dr. Cousins was diagnosed with having a strange, rare kind of disease that destroys the connective tissue of the body. The doctors he worked with gave him the full battery of known tests and reported back to him and said, "Sorry, but there is really nothing we can do. It is a degenerative disease as you know, and you are going to die."
Dr. Cousins said, "Well, I didn't want to just give up." (ATTITUDE) So, he set himself on a regime of exercise, high doses of Vitamin C, and then he added an unusual exercise. A mental one. He rented a projector and rented Marx Brothers and Three Stooges movies, and the entire cartoon he could find. For hours each day, he would take his vitamin C and watch and laugh, and laugh and laugh. What he discovered was that ten minutes of hearty laughter gave him a whole hour free from pain. So he would watch those movies over and over. He discovered, as he did this, that he began to feel better. The day came when he went back to his fellow physicians for more tests, and after running them they relayed to him with joy, "we don't know what has happened, because this disease has no cure; but as far as your tests reveal, you are completely healed.
He lived another 20 years free of the disease, and wrote a book called "Anatomy of an Illness, in which he made the point that ATTITUDE, the cheerfulness, a merry heart, or lack thereof, has a great deal to do with whether you get sick, how bad you get sick, whether you get well, and how quickly you get well.
All this to show each of us, that what Dr. Cousins discovered is nothing more than what Solomon told us 3000 years ago, which is that once again, "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine."
A merry heart is a trusting heart. We think of merry expressed in laughter, fun, dancing, full of joy, and so it often is all of these expressions, but it goes much deeper than these. It is an inward state of being. We can tie this verse into Romans 8:28, "for we know that in ALL THINGS, God....works for the good of those who love Him."
It is a difficult world we live in. A world filled to overflowing with sin, sickness, heartache and despair. We should thank our God daily that sin with all its connective behavior, is not the final word in this world, and therefore in us individually. There is a "word" though, that stands above all words....and that single, powerful, loving and honorable, worshipful word is Jesus.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can happen to a child of God, that is outside the "all things." Whatever it is that may assail us, our God in Christ will walk with us side by side, and eventually if necessary carry us, until we reach that final destination of being with Him.
Proverbs 14:30a, "A heart at peace gives life to the body." These verses and what can be concluded by Dr. Cousin's story, tells us that there is a very real connection between the condition of the spiritual and the physical. A connection between the heart and the body, between what goes on in the inside and the manifestations that occur on the outside. Our goal....to have a heart set in peace. Peace in Christ, and peace within ourselves and peace with one another.
Love, love and more love. Peace, peace and more peace.
Proverbs 18:1 says, "A man or woman's spirit sustains them in sickness, but if a spirit is crushed, who can stand up. We all know or have been people who struggle with sickness and weakness, yet when visit them thinking we are going to cheer us up, they instead cheer us up. There are those who having great difficulty in the midst of suffering, tapping into that place within them, and who are genuinely glad to see us.
Our dear departed friend and member of our little church, Nancy Phillips. While dying slowly of brain cancer, even in the final stages, when she was still able, able only to raise a finger or hand, and sometimes a faint smile....glad to have us there. She knew she was loved and she showed us love, as best as she could. Though within us was sorrow, she also showed us and taught us what it was to maintain the presence and love of God thorough all stages of her passing. We were blessed!!!
Here are some keys..................................................to a merry heart and the Kingdom of God.
1. Cultivate your relationship with God as foremost in your life.
2. Cultivate a forgiving spirit....at whatever cost.
3. Keep the long view of life...and with that, eternity in your heart.
4. Associate with cheerful people, and stay up even in the face of
criticism and unkind words.
5. Be a load lifter, not a burden maker.
6. Something as simple as listening to good music that speaks to
your heart, mind and spirit.
7. Live a life of Active love....of giving!
8. Come to know and practice the teachings of Jesus
9. Put on a merry heart and the JOY of the Lord as your strength.
Thank God for Jesus. Thank God He is alive. He said, "Lo, I am with you always, and I will NEVER leave you." Never!
Here is a true life story of a heart in the right place, against all reason and human understanding as reported in the Chicago Tribune.
The headline read, "Pastor Forms a Bond with Son's Killer."
This was a pastor in Connecticut whose son was murdered. He became friends with the man who killed his son, as the Lord led him to forgive the man. The Reverend Walter Everett not only got to know and forgive him, but he also helped get him out of prison early, and he recently officiated at the man's wedding. Here is a quote from the pastor. "I had known people whose loved ones had been murdered, and years afterward they were still consumed by their anger and hatred. I could not let that happen to me."
Perhaps there are people in your lives that you cannot let go of the wrong done, and not forgive. Not only do you not have a merry heart, but you have a broken spirit. A spirit, a person cannot be whole if there is un-forgiveness inside of them. That choice is one that God will never make you do, for free will is ours to live out as we choose.
Choose today, whom or what you will serve. Will your worship your pain or worship your God. Christ gave us the ultimate teaching in His final words on the cross. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."
A measure of pain will always be with us in this life if great wrongs have been done, but....freedom, the ability to feel happiness, to laugh out loud, to take JOY in both the great and small....the ability to love, the desire to dance.....is all wrapped up in the Attitude we choose to live by.
For a happy heart does good like a medicine.....a broken spirit drieth up the bones....THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.......AND JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!
Here are words direct from David, who took great JOY in the Lord having put an end to a great plague He had used to discipline David. David is known for both His disobedience and expressions of JOY when forgiven.
Psalm 30:10-12 “Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.”
You have turned my mourning into dancing joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with JOY, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.”
"To Stay Offended is Offensive"
June 9, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
There’s a relatively contemporary Christian song that’s been around awhile that is a good introduction or preface to today’s sermon. It has a simple chorus that goes like this. Lord,
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you,
I want to be a vessel you work through,
I want to be more like you!
As a Christian, it seems that this should be the bottom line of our faith. I am not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I am posing this question again to you this morning, as I did last week, since this is a Part II of a potential series of sermons. Do you, do I….want to be more like Him? To be like Him, will mean changes in our acceptance of our self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, be they family, co-workers, friends and those who are in our faith family, our Little Church in the Pines.
To change or even want to change first comes with recognition that change is indeed necessary, and that once we recognize the need, then are we willing to do the work necessary to bring change(s) about. That goes for every aspect of our lives, and the one that will bring the most personal and healthy results, is the one in becoming more like Him.
For those of you who have struggled or have close friends or family with alcohol or drug addiction, you know intimately what I am saying, and the truth of these words. I will say it again, recognition of the NEED for change comes first, and that friends, is the first and most difficult step on any journey.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have started and pastored. It is never aimed at any one person or any one situation, but to my way of thinking, it is both a very serious topic, and one that all of us who desire if we truly want be like our Lord, need to deeply think about and take to heart, and see what Jesus & Paul and a few disciples have to say about it. It is one of those behaviors that causes along with pain, the potential for deep division and strife in the Church, the body of Christ, in a work place, among friends and in families.
James 3:6 “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
This topic on offense, offending, offended, offensive and offend, starts with the three letter word ‘off’ something is off, something is wrong. Off-ended. The multiple words here all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. Resentful, hurtful, affront, insult, annoyed, offended or even outraged, typically as a result of a perceived insult that can be deliberate or accidental. It often is personal and aimed at someone or a group of someone(s). It is also called a crime and even a sin.
I have another question before continuing. Do….you desire to be healthy, holistically so, which means (the health of the whole person, taking into account the mental, social, emotional, spiritual and environmental factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease. Our health in each of these areas is determined by what goes on in our mind. It is proven that emotional feelings affect both, our mind, body and soul, our soul being that which others know us by. Our personalities and how others see us.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing, when the choice is there for us to make.
How do we show Him how much we love Him? He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love me will do what I say.”
Perceived, deliberate or unintended offenses are to be handled in this way, in humility, not in outrage. Matthew 23: 12 “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves….will be exalted.”
This is one of my favorite verses, and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44, and can only be achieved when we are most like him. “You have heard it said to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you. In that way you will be acting as true children of your father who is in heaven.” Lord, I want to be more like you, like you! X2
Listen please……SONG, God will make a way, where there seems to be no way, He works in ways we cannot see….He….will make a way for me. He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side, with love and strength for each new day, He will make a way for me.
…..God has already given us the way to let go of all offenses done to us. That way is His Son….and doing as Jesus said, Jesus said this, “But, if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven, forgive you, or your sins.” Mark 11:26. Offenses and forgiveness are tied together by the blood of Christ.
This next one is the essence of it all and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like the Lord. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you, for this is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
The essence of something is its substance…..it is what it is and you cannot change it. Truth. The words of the Lord!
At best, being offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To be “offended” is an expression which should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians no “right” to take offense, but being imperfect humans, we do…but, we definitely have no “right” to hold on to it. None whatsoever!
The lord himself was never personally offended, even though abuse was hurled at him incessantly. He was never offended for Himself, though He was once offended for God, and only once where His outrage was expressed…and that was in the temple courtyard where we find in Luke 19:46, “Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declares, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer; but you, you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
In Matthew 12:34, we see where Jesus, though not taking it personal, was angry at the religious leaders for their hard-heartedness and let them know how He felt. “You brood of vipers, how are you able to speak good things, being evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
There has been some progress in the Church, and humanity (at least a segment) is trying to understand all men and women are due respect, and need to at least be listened to, no matter their differences…..….we need to stop indulging in our petty knee-jerk and whiney, sometimes vicious reactions. We can do it, and should!
To Take Offense Towards a Person Means There is No Grace
When we act offended to a person, we are creating a boundary of separation without any space for reconciliation or understanding. It is a grace-less position. It is also not acting like but being a bully. To be, and hold on to an offense with someone, means they have no recourse but to stay away from you, or grovel in the some kind of submissive plea for mercy. That is NOT Christ-like. It shows you want power over them, and will do whatever it takes to do have it. It’s mean.
Only those who want control and power (because they think they are right, and only they) exert that type of
offended-ness. Another reason for being offended or disgusted is to revel in self-righteous indignation.
Being offended can be addictive. It is like the expression, “everyone loves to hate a villain.” We Love righteous indignation, it is one of our favorite feelings; to be completely justified in hating or showing anger to another human being. However, righteousness-indignation is much like offense… are both absolutely useless in achieving anything good. What kind of fruit does being offended bear….rotten fruit! Certainly not the fruit of the Spirit.
We Christians are to be agents of reconciliation, peacemaking, understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness and finally restoration. These are anathema to indignation and offense.
God…how we would change the world if we just quite being self-righteousness, speaking of all the wrongs instead of simply being the right.
If…we are to truly be useful to Christ, we must learn to be “shock proof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meet OUR expectations and criteria. It is bad out there, you all know that. Even when confronting true lawlessness and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early Christians were, ready to be an example of our Lord who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son who is a policeman and swat team member in Idaho Falls, as is Tom and Nancy’s son in Montana….they see often, the darkest faces of humanity. David said he attempts to treat these people in the same way as he would anyone, first….….and that is with dignity and understanding…..at first. Then if they don’t respond, he has to move on into a defensive stance….and do what needs to be done, but he never fails to see their humanity….no matter what they are doing or have done. To keep his soul healthy, he never gives into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are at that moment.
If there is conflict, make sure we are not the one who accelerate it, but are instrumental as much as is possible to bring it to a peaceful resolution and restoration.
Offense and Indignation Leaves us, Open to Being Exploited
Please…I beg you and myself to listen to these words. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any, and a humble person has no buttons. When we are potentially offend-able, then other people can and will control our behavior. They can “rile us up” by getting a knee-jerk, emotional reaction…and many will. Only by ridding ourselves of reactionary habits can we be in control of our words and our actions to others.
Do you know that news outlets and PR agencies rely on Christians to generate press? We are so predictably indignant and reactionary that they feel they can use us to sell not only their stories but their own agendas. That’s sobering.
So…does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting in a godly way instead of a purely emotional self-righteous knee-jerk way. Our goal in any situation…be it at home, at work, at play, in our Church, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation.
To bring peace, healing and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, let us be certain, we are not the accelerant, but the fire-extinguisher as James wrote…..quoted earlier, “but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire,” or destroy an individual, a Church or a world. Is our ego that important to us…our stance, our being right, our perspective…is it. If so, we will trouble wherever we go and in whatever we do.
Our goal should be…to be like Jesus, who knew no offense because he knew what was in mankind.
We should as I spoke of weeks ago, strive to be in harmony…first with our selves, showing GRACE, for when intentional offense comes, or unintended, we are to do just that, forgive. Always imagine Jesus, who when He hung on that cross, dying, He looked out over all those gathered there, for the most part, agreeing with His death, and relishing in it, asking His Father to forgive them, for they really did not know what they were doing. If He, in that deadly and dire situation could do what He did….can we not do the same, under far less dire situations?
1 Peter 3:11 says to us,” Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.” Think on these things, when you come to the table….symbolically to share in the wine and bread.
It is a sin, to hold onto un-forgiveness and offense. You want to be free of all the ramifications of being offended….you know what to do. Now.
If you say, I just can’t….remember this. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who give me the strength to do so.”
First comes the recognition, then the desire, then the will, then giving it to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Selah…. (pause and think about it). Amen
June 9, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
There’s a relatively contemporary Christian song that’s been around awhile that is a good introduction or preface to today’s sermon. It has a simple chorus that goes like this. Lord,
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you,
I want to be a vessel you work through,
I want to be more like you!
As a Christian, it seems that this should be the bottom line of our faith. I am not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I am posing this question again to you this morning, as I did last week, since this is a Part II of a potential series of sermons. Do you, do I….want to be more like Him? To be like Him, will mean changes in our acceptance of our self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, be they family, co-workers, friends and those who are in our faith family, our Little Church in the Pines.
To change or even want to change first comes with recognition that change is indeed necessary, and that once we recognize the need, then are we willing to do the work necessary to bring change(s) about. That goes for every aspect of our lives, and the one that will bring the most personal and healthy results, is the one in becoming more like Him.
For those of you who have struggled or have close friends or family with alcohol or drug addiction, you know intimately what I am saying, and the truth of these words. I will say it again, recognition of the NEED for change comes first, and that friends, is the first and most difficult step on any journey.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have started and pastored. It is never aimed at any one person or any one situation, but to my way of thinking, it is both a very serious topic, and one that all of us who desire if we truly want be like our Lord, need to deeply think about and take to heart, and see what Jesus & Paul and a few disciples have to say about it. It is one of those behaviors that causes along with pain, the potential for deep division and strife in the Church, the body of Christ, in a work place, among friends and in families.
James 3:6 “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
This topic on offense, offending, offended, offensive and offend, starts with the three letter word ‘off’ something is off, something is wrong. Off-ended. The multiple words here all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. Resentful, hurtful, affront, insult, annoyed, offended or even outraged, typically as a result of a perceived insult that can be deliberate or accidental. It often is personal and aimed at someone or a group of someone(s). It is also called a crime and even a sin.
I have another question before continuing. Do….you desire to be healthy, holistically so, which means (the health of the whole person, taking into account the mental, social, emotional, spiritual and environmental factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease. Our health in each of these areas is determined by what goes on in our mind. It is proven that emotional feelings affect both, our mind, body and soul, our soul being that which others know us by. Our personalities and how others see us.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing, when the choice is there for us to make.
How do we show Him how much we love Him? He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love me will do what I say.”
Perceived, deliberate or unintended offenses are to be handled in this way, in humility, not in outrage. Matthew 23: 12 “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves….will be exalted.”
This is one of my favorite verses, and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44, and can only be achieved when we are most like him. “You have heard it said to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you. In that way you will be acting as true children of your father who is in heaven.” Lord, I want to be more like you, like you! X2
Listen please……SONG, God will make a way, where there seems to be no way, He works in ways we cannot see….He….will make a way for me. He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side, with love and strength for each new day, He will make a way for me.
…..God has already given us the way to let go of all offenses done to us. That way is His Son….and doing as Jesus said, Jesus said this, “But, if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven, forgive you, or your sins.” Mark 11:26. Offenses and forgiveness are tied together by the blood of Christ.
This next one is the essence of it all and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like the Lord. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you, for this is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
The essence of something is its substance…..it is what it is and you cannot change it. Truth. The words of the Lord!
At best, being offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To be “offended” is an expression which should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians no “right” to take offense, but being imperfect humans, we do…but, we definitely have no “right” to hold on to it. None whatsoever!
The lord himself was never personally offended, even though abuse was hurled at him incessantly. He was never offended for Himself, though He was once offended for God, and only once where His outrage was expressed…and that was in the temple courtyard where we find in Luke 19:46, “Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declares, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer; but you, you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
In Matthew 12:34, we see where Jesus, though not taking it personal, was angry at the religious leaders for their hard-heartedness and let them know how He felt. “You brood of vipers, how are you able to speak good things, being evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
There has been some progress in the Church, and humanity (at least a segment) is trying to understand all men and women are due respect, and need to at least be listened to, no matter their differences…..….we need to stop indulging in our petty knee-jerk and whiney, sometimes vicious reactions. We can do it, and should!
To Take Offense Towards a Person Means There is No Grace
When we act offended to a person, we are creating a boundary of separation without any space for reconciliation or understanding. It is a grace-less position. It is also not acting like but being a bully. To be, and hold on to an offense with someone, means they have no recourse but to stay away from you, or grovel in the some kind of submissive plea for mercy. That is NOT Christ-like. It shows you want power over them, and will do whatever it takes to do have it. It’s mean.
Only those who want control and power (because they think they are right, and only they) exert that type of
offended-ness. Another reason for being offended or disgusted is to revel in self-righteous indignation.
Being offended can be addictive. It is like the expression, “everyone loves to hate a villain.” We Love righteous indignation, it is one of our favorite feelings; to be completely justified in hating or showing anger to another human being. However, righteousness-indignation is much like offense… are both absolutely useless in achieving anything good. What kind of fruit does being offended bear….rotten fruit! Certainly not the fruit of the Spirit.
We Christians are to be agents of reconciliation, peacemaking, understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness and finally restoration. These are anathema to indignation and offense.
God…how we would change the world if we just quite being self-righteousness, speaking of all the wrongs instead of simply being the right.
If…we are to truly be useful to Christ, we must learn to be “shock proof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meet OUR expectations and criteria. It is bad out there, you all know that. Even when confronting true lawlessness and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early Christians were, ready to be an example of our Lord who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son who is a policeman and swat team member in Idaho Falls, as is Tom and Nancy’s son in Montana….they see often, the darkest faces of humanity. David said he attempts to treat these people in the same way as he would anyone, first….….and that is with dignity and understanding…..at first. Then if they don’t respond, he has to move on into a defensive stance….and do what needs to be done, but he never fails to see their humanity….no matter what they are doing or have done. To keep his soul healthy, he never gives into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are at that moment.
If there is conflict, make sure we are not the one who accelerate it, but are instrumental as much as is possible to bring it to a peaceful resolution and restoration.
Offense and Indignation Leaves us, Open to Being Exploited
Please…I beg you and myself to listen to these words. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any, and a humble person has no buttons. When we are potentially offend-able, then other people can and will control our behavior. They can “rile us up” by getting a knee-jerk, emotional reaction…and many will. Only by ridding ourselves of reactionary habits can we be in control of our words and our actions to others.
Do you know that news outlets and PR agencies rely on Christians to generate press? We are so predictably indignant and reactionary that they feel they can use us to sell not only their stories but their own agendas. That’s sobering.
So…does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting in a godly way instead of a purely emotional self-righteous knee-jerk way. Our goal in any situation…be it at home, at work, at play, in our Church, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation.
To bring peace, healing and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, let us be certain, we are not the accelerant, but the fire-extinguisher as James wrote…..quoted earlier, “but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire,” or destroy an individual, a Church or a world. Is our ego that important to us…our stance, our being right, our perspective…is it. If so, we will trouble wherever we go and in whatever we do.
Our goal should be…to be like Jesus, who knew no offense because he knew what was in mankind.
We should as I spoke of weeks ago, strive to be in harmony…first with our selves, showing GRACE, for when intentional offense comes, or unintended, we are to do just that, forgive. Always imagine Jesus, who when He hung on that cross, dying, He looked out over all those gathered there, for the most part, agreeing with His death, and relishing in it, asking His Father to forgive them, for they really did not know what they were doing. If He, in that deadly and dire situation could do what He did….can we not do the same, under far less dire situations?
1 Peter 3:11 says to us,” Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.” Think on these things, when you come to the table….symbolically to share in the wine and bread.
It is a sin, to hold onto un-forgiveness and offense. You want to be free of all the ramifications of being offended….you know what to do. Now.
If you say, I just can’t….remember this. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who give me the strength to do so.”
First comes the recognition, then the desire, then the will, then giving it to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Selah…. (pause and think about it). Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Island Park, Idaho
June 2, 2019
"Our Spiritual Journey"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
How many of you enjoy going on a journey? .....The word "journey" in its foundational meaning is simple, yet encompasses a wide variety of means and experiences. It could be a 'road trip', a day's jaunt, a long and dangerous adventure....exploration....and oh so much more or less. Basically, it means someone or even something, is "on the move." It is a noun, until one is moving....then it becomes a verb, and at certain times an adjective, ie., as an example, a "journeyman."
My intent this morning is that it will be used mostly as a verb....specifically in regards to our spiritual journeys, your spiritual journey, of all the journeys we take is the most serious and often the longest of all the journeys we will ever take....it is most often also one of forward movement, unless we choose for it become otherwise.... usually by the personal choices, of an individual, who for some reason(s) find it too difficult, frustrating or unfulfilling, depending on one's goals, hopes, desires and event(s) that cause may cause disappointment in God, because our personal expectations of God, are sometimes tied to how he does or does not respond to our desires and needs, or a person is trying to copy the expectations and results of either someone else, or something, but usually our unbelief is born out of unrealistic expectations. God did not measure up to our wants or desires of Him!
.....Each person's 'journey' is their own...though their goals may be similar to others on the same spiritual journey....they may have to experience a whole different means of arriving there. God....has us (Believers) on the same destination to His Son...but our paths are often very different.
.....There is another bottom line in this journey....are we serious and are we willing.....and we will get out of this journey, equal to what we put into it, and that my friends has a lot to do with the depth of our faith.
.....Let' start with Jesus.....The New Testament tells the story of Jesus with a somewhat ordinary and natural birth, He seems then to disappear from view until the age of 12, where we find him suddenly back, appearing in the Temple courtyard, speaking to the religious leaders of the day, amazing them with His wisdom and knowledge. Again, He disappear from view until suddenly He is back on the scene, picking up His journey (though it has been happening quietly and effectively) by picking His disciples….then not only He, but with His newly chosen team as a man and men on the move. He spends much of His time and ministry traveling from place to place....ministering both to individuals and people groups, moving frequently from Galilee, in the north of Israel....traveling 65 miles to the south in Judea, then Jerusalem, back up to Galilee, and back to Jerusalem, all by foot. In this phase of His journey, He continues to manifest in ministry, healings, parables, teaching, miracle after miracle, changing lives forever and ushering in a gentler and more personal side of God “The Father” than heretofore mankind has known.
…..The key events in the New Testament, unfold in content and context during these numerous journeys across four very different landscapes.
.....Where...Jesus stayed within the boundaries of Israel on His many journeys, the New Testament also tells us of the journey of Paul....whose travels took him...far outside the boundaries of Israel, as far east as Rome (where eventually he was imprisoned) and as far north as Philippi, east to Greece and Melita...including much of modern day Turkey....he was definitely a "man on the move," fulfilling, during his journey's the edicts Jesus gave to him...through Ananias, where Jesus told Ananias, "he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel....for I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." WOW....Paul was in for it.....the whole way, no going back....he was definitely going to reach His destination....so moved and changed, and nothing, absolutely nothing but death itself was going to stop him.
.....Paul's journey began with different intentions and goals, than what ended up occurring....Paul, first known as Saul....was uttering threats with almost every breath and in his so called righteous indignation, and was eager to 'kill' the Lord's followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of "The Way" as it was known then. He wanted to bring them...both men and women....back to Jerusalem in chains which leads us in Paul’s journey to……..
..... the road to Damascus....Acts 9. Full of anger and self-righteousness, he met the Lord himself....as we know, in a very powerful and frightening way....as a (light from heaven) suddenly shown down around him. He fell to the ground....and heard a voice say to him, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" Think about this....Paul was not persecuting the Lord physically himself....but Jesus so identifies with His people, that he feels every bit of persecution of any kind that they, and today, we His disciples, go through.
....Saul, soon to become Paul replies...frightened out of his wits...he asks, "Who are you, lord?
.....And the voice replied, "I...am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
......Paul's journey....was no longer Paul's journey....but that of the Lord himself....and Paul, a dramatically changed man....on this new journey, would under the guidance of the Lord and His Spirit....upset the entire known world.....eventually we are told, because of doing so, and not ever backing down, counted it all joy....'suffering' was to him, part of the price he had to pay....in staying loyal to His Lord...as he loved him dearly to his death, for on his fifth missionary journey, he was beheaded by Nero's decree in May or June of 68 A.D., and where interestingly, Nero himself died by suicide on June 9th, just days following Paul's execution.
.....This 'spiritual journey' that we are on....has cost the lives of several millions of people.....who individually made the choice to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. With some exceptions, Christians in the west have suffered by comparison to others parts of the world, little deep and ongoing persecution.... we often get upset, just because someone may throw a slur our way.....saying some demeaning thing....and our response, should be to throw a 'blessing' back at them, which might even make them angrier, or more resentful.
..... Yes, there are church buildings that have been burned....and tragically on occasion, sometimes a pastor or congregation is attacked. (Salmon Idaho, Pastor Greg Middlebrook) In no way do I diminish any of these...and yet, by and far, we Believers in the west know little of what our forebears, and our fellow Believers in nations hostile to Christians, have endured for the sake of the Gospel and believing in Jesus.
.....WE are blessed to have the freedom we have thus far, to meet, gather together in His name...to worship, to grow spiritually, and to become vibrant individuals of faith....but.....we too often fail to take our faith as serious as we should. Our freedoms have allowed some in our faith to become weak spiritually. In becoming like Christ, we have to spend time with Christ.
…..Also, when we come to the table of the Lord it need be reverently, expectantly, thankfully and joyfully, to feast in the abundance that we have, and prayerfully, for our extended spiritual family who struggle and take risks to simply meet, and many whose basic nutritional and housing needs are desperate.
.....Together all of us on the same journey, walking hand in hand into a deeper and richer place in our faith. At this time in both our religious culture, and our culture in general, we see women are taking a more prominent role, and I applaud this. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male for female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
…..I had a dear friend Reney who has passed away and now with the Lord. Reney served the Lord over 40 years in Nigeria as a missionary. She….did absolutely everything a pastor does, preach, teach, lead prayers, nurture, communion, serving, serving, serving….and yet was not permitted to be called a minister or pastor. 2nd. Corinthians 3:5-6 says this, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves….but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
......This morning I want to challenge you to ask yourself these questions, and I am also asking them of myself.
......How much does your faith really mean to you?
......How much does the Lord Jesus Christ mean to you?
......How much does coming together in one place to learn and to worship...to grow spiritually....to grow closer in unity and in the bond of peace and love, and the Spirit, mean to you?
......Is your desire for the Lord....as strong as your desire for the things and pleasures of the world?
.....Are you and I truly a follower/disciple....a believer?
.....Would those who are not believers sense something different about all of us....not just by our words, but by our everyday actions? Would they know we are a Christian by our love? If that sounds soft to you, just look at what it cost Christ! It took strength and power and choice to do and say all that He did. He was in my estimation, the most manly of men that ever existed.
.....How important is it for me/you to read, understand and apply the teachings of Jesus in our lives?
.....Who am I/you.....what am I/you.....and in our lives, those of us in our 50’s (I wish) 60's, 70's and beyond....it would be good for us to consider these questions more deeply. God...would appreciate it.
.....You see....we have an "every day journey," of everyday choices as to how to live. The ordinary things of life if we look closely at them, are as profound in their longevity and meaning....as the exceptional things and events, for its those ordinary choices we make and live....that truly make up the foundation of our spiritual lives.
.....Also...in this life....along with what I have spoken of, we ARE to have happiness and joy, pleasure and fun. It's like good ole Solomon says as I also read last week in Ecclesiastes 3...."To everything there is a season.....and a time for every purpose under heaven." For we followers of Jesus Christ....He is with us in every one of those seasons....and it would be good for us to remember that...and honor him...in every season...by following him during and in them all.
.....Oh dear Lord...three things I pray..................................................
.....To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly....day by day, by day, by day! A song from Godspell....................
.....It is to be a journey with our best friend....as He said we were and are.
.....Edwin Arlington Robinson wrote, "The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where bewildered infants are trying to spell God, often with the wrong letters."
.....Two men were traveling together on a plane. While one napped, the other remained engaged, working a crossword puzzle. He nudged his friend in the ribs and asked, "What is a word of three letters, with the letter "O" in the middle, meaning man's best friend?"
........His friend mumbled, "Dog."
........But dog didn't fit the puzzle. The man kept working, and working at it and finally said, "The last letter is "D.", but they never did come up with the right answer, that the first letter was "G."
........For in the puzzles of the journey of this life...many people never realize that their very best friend is God.... in Christ.
What is the main goal in this spiritual journey?
TO BE LIKE JESUS.. ARE YOU? AM I?
Amen
Island Park, Idaho
June 2, 2019
"Our Spiritual Journey"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
How many of you enjoy going on a journey? .....The word "journey" in its foundational meaning is simple, yet encompasses a wide variety of means and experiences. It could be a 'road trip', a day's jaunt, a long and dangerous adventure....exploration....and oh so much more or less. Basically, it means someone or even something, is "on the move." It is a noun, until one is moving....then it becomes a verb, and at certain times an adjective, ie., as an example, a "journeyman."
My intent this morning is that it will be used mostly as a verb....specifically in regards to our spiritual journeys, your spiritual journey, of all the journeys we take is the most serious and often the longest of all the journeys we will ever take....it is most often also one of forward movement, unless we choose for it become otherwise.... usually by the personal choices, of an individual, who for some reason(s) find it too difficult, frustrating or unfulfilling, depending on one's goals, hopes, desires and event(s) that cause may cause disappointment in God, because our personal expectations of God, are sometimes tied to how he does or does not respond to our desires and needs, or a person is trying to copy the expectations and results of either someone else, or something, but usually our unbelief is born out of unrealistic expectations. God did not measure up to our wants or desires of Him!
.....Each person's 'journey' is their own...though their goals may be similar to others on the same spiritual journey....they may have to experience a whole different means of arriving there. God....has us (Believers) on the same destination to His Son...but our paths are often very different.
.....There is another bottom line in this journey....are we serious and are we willing.....and we will get out of this journey, equal to what we put into it, and that my friends has a lot to do with the depth of our faith.
.....Let' start with Jesus.....The New Testament tells the story of Jesus with a somewhat ordinary and natural birth, He seems then to disappear from view until the age of 12, where we find him suddenly back, appearing in the Temple courtyard, speaking to the religious leaders of the day, amazing them with His wisdom and knowledge. Again, He disappear from view until suddenly He is back on the scene, picking up His journey (though it has been happening quietly and effectively) by picking His disciples….then not only He, but with His newly chosen team as a man and men on the move. He spends much of His time and ministry traveling from place to place....ministering both to individuals and people groups, moving frequently from Galilee, in the north of Israel....traveling 65 miles to the south in Judea, then Jerusalem, back up to Galilee, and back to Jerusalem, all by foot. In this phase of His journey, He continues to manifest in ministry, healings, parables, teaching, miracle after miracle, changing lives forever and ushering in a gentler and more personal side of God “The Father” than heretofore mankind has known.
…..The key events in the New Testament, unfold in content and context during these numerous journeys across four very different landscapes.
.....Where...Jesus stayed within the boundaries of Israel on His many journeys, the New Testament also tells us of the journey of Paul....whose travels took him...far outside the boundaries of Israel, as far east as Rome (where eventually he was imprisoned) and as far north as Philippi, east to Greece and Melita...including much of modern day Turkey....he was definitely a "man on the move," fulfilling, during his journey's the edicts Jesus gave to him...through Ananias, where Jesus told Ananias, "he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel....for I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." WOW....Paul was in for it.....the whole way, no going back....he was definitely going to reach His destination....so moved and changed, and nothing, absolutely nothing but death itself was going to stop him.
.....Paul's journey began with different intentions and goals, than what ended up occurring....Paul, first known as Saul....was uttering threats with almost every breath and in his so called righteous indignation, and was eager to 'kill' the Lord's followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of "The Way" as it was known then. He wanted to bring them...both men and women....back to Jerusalem in chains which leads us in Paul’s journey to……..
..... the road to Damascus....Acts 9. Full of anger and self-righteousness, he met the Lord himself....as we know, in a very powerful and frightening way....as a (light from heaven) suddenly shown down around him. He fell to the ground....and heard a voice say to him, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" Think about this....Paul was not persecuting the Lord physically himself....but Jesus so identifies with His people, that he feels every bit of persecution of any kind that they, and today, we His disciples, go through.
....Saul, soon to become Paul replies...frightened out of his wits...he asks, "Who are you, lord?
.....And the voice replied, "I...am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
......Paul's journey....was no longer Paul's journey....but that of the Lord himself....and Paul, a dramatically changed man....on this new journey, would under the guidance of the Lord and His Spirit....upset the entire known world.....eventually we are told, because of doing so, and not ever backing down, counted it all joy....'suffering' was to him, part of the price he had to pay....in staying loyal to His Lord...as he loved him dearly to his death, for on his fifth missionary journey, he was beheaded by Nero's decree in May or June of 68 A.D., and where interestingly, Nero himself died by suicide on June 9th, just days following Paul's execution.
.....This 'spiritual journey' that we are on....has cost the lives of several millions of people.....who individually made the choice to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. With some exceptions, Christians in the west have suffered by comparison to others parts of the world, little deep and ongoing persecution.... we often get upset, just because someone may throw a slur our way.....saying some demeaning thing....and our response, should be to throw a 'blessing' back at them, which might even make them angrier, or more resentful.
..... Yes, there are church buildings that have been burned....and tragically on occasion, sometimes a pastor or congregation is attacked. (Salmon Idaho, Pastor Greg Middlebrook) In no way do I diminish any of these...and yet, by and far, we Believers in the west know little of what our forebears, and our fellow Believers in nations hostile to Christians, have endured for the sake of the Gospel and believing in Jesus.
.....WE are blessed to have the freedom we have thus far, to meet, gather together in His name...to worship, to grow spiritually, and to become vibrant individuals of faith....but.....we too often fail to take our faith as serious as we should. Our freedoms have allowed some in our faith to become weak spiritually. In becoming like Christ, we have to spend time with Christ.
…..Also, when we come to the table of the Lord it need be reverently, expectantly, thankfully and joyfully, to feast in the abundance that we have, and prayerfully, for our extended spiritual family who struggle and take risks to simply meet, and many whose basic nutritional and housing needs are desperate.
.....Together all of us on the same journey, walking hand in hand into a deeper and richer place in our faith. At this time in both our religious culture, and our culture in general, we see women are taking a more prominent role, and I applaud this. Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male for female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
…..I had a dear friend Reney who has passed away and now with the Lord. Reney served the Lord over 40 years in Nigeria as a missionary. She….did absolutely everything a pastor does, preach, teach, lead prayers, nurture, communion, serving, serving, serving….and yet was not permitted to be called a minister or pastor. 2nd. Corinthians 3:5-6 says this, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves….but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
......This morning I want to challenge you to ask yourself these questions, and I am also asking them of myself.
......How much does your faith really mean to you?
......How much does the Lord Jesus Christ mean to you?
......How much does coming together in one place to learn and to worship...to grow spiritually....to grow closer in unity and in the bond of peace and love, and the Spirit, mean to you?
......Is your desire for the Lord....as strong as your desire for the things and pleasures of the world?
.....Are you and I truly a follower/disciple....a believer?
.....Would those who are not believers sense something different about all of us....not just by our words, but by our everyday actions? Would they know we are a Christian by our love? If that sounds soft to you, just look at what it cost Christ! It took strength and power and choice to do and say all that He did. He was in my estimation, the most manly of men that ever existed.
.....How important is it for me/you to read, understand and apply the teachings of Jesus in our lives?
.....Who am I/you.....what am I/you.....and in our lives, those of us in our 50’s (I wish) 60's, 70's and beyond....it would be good for us to consider these questions more deeply. God...would appreciate it.
.....You see....we have an "every day journey," of everyday choices as to how to live. The ordinary things of life if we look closely at them, are as profound in their longevity and meaning....as the exceptional things and events, for its those ordinary choices we make and live....that truly make up the foundation of our spiritual lives.
.....Also...in this life....along with what I have spoken of, we ARE to have happiness and joy, pleasure and fun. It's like good ole Solomon says as I also read last week in Ecclesiastes 3...."To everything there is a season.....and a time for every purpose under heaven." For we followers of Jesus Christ....He is with us in every one of those seasons....and it would be good for us to remember that...and honor him...in every season...by following him during and in them all.
.....Oh dear Lord...three things I pray..................................................
.....To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly....day by day, by day, by day! A song from Godspell....................
.....It is to be a journey with our best friend....as He said we were and are.
.....Edwin Arlington Robinson wrote, "The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where bewildered infants are trying to spell God, often with the wrong letters."
.....Two men were traveling together on a plane. While one napped, the other remained engaged, working a crossword puzzle. He nudged his friend in the ribs and asked, "What is a word of three letters, with the letter "O" in the middle, meaning man's best friend?"
........His friend mumbled, "Dog."
........But dog didn't fit the puzzle. The man kept working, and working at it and finally said, "The last letter is "D.", but they never did come up with the right answer, that the first letter was "G."
........For in the puzzles of the journey of this life...many people never realize that their very best friend is God.... in Christ.
What is the main goal in this spiritual journey?
TO BE LIKE JESUS.. ARE YOU? AM I?
Amen
"MY GOD…WILL THERE EVER BE PEACE OR HARMONY?”
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor/Teacher
May 25, 2019
Today, I am going to start out on somewhat of a low note, hoping to end on the upbeat of a high note. As I sat at my computer yesterday, typing this, my thoughts were literally reeling, hoping and praying out of this reeling would come a cognizant, complete, understandable message for all of us. What triggered it is that tomorrow is Memorial Day. A day we remember those who fought in our wars, and the loss they experienced and those who loved them. I also will be speaking on peace, but first am going to look at our history of wars since the Revolutionary War, the number of soldiers, both, men and today women, combat, nurses, doctors, medics, cooks, office, and many others serving in all the capacities it takes to operate during a WAR.
I am going to start with some statistics of casualties.
The categories are Total U.S. deaths in Combat and Other. Since the Revolutionary war in Combat, we have lost,
Combat 666,441+
Other 673,929+
Wounded 1,498,240+
Total U.S. Casualties 2,852,901+
Numbers are easy to quote…..but, what we have to remember is that each casualty, represents a man or woman who just like us, had dreams, hopes, goals and a family in most cases that loved them, desired a long life for each of them, and mourned their loss…deeply and those still alive, were it seems born for it.
There are some men it seems that are built for war, and then there are those out of love for their country, while counting the potential costs, volunteer to fight, also so that those they love continue to have the freedoms that we this day to celebrate. As we see, many, counted in the millions believed these freedoms were valuable enough to lay down their lives for, to suffer imprisonment, torture…giving the ultimate. For this and for them we should be continually grateful.
It seems humankind has not progressed enough to believe that we can settle our differences, be they race, ego, politics, even religions, other than by war. Though many have tried and some succeeded in being peace-makers, but, they too have lost their lives and those they love, living out their convictions and truths.
It is a spiritual issue, because when we live in and by the flesh and all the covetousness that we are capable of, be it land, minerals, oil, greed, ego, self-righteousness, money, power, war will always be the end result of those who have to have something or things, or even people that otherwise they could not obtain. It’s a sin thing….a moral thing. Scripture says, “if we live by the flesh, we will die by the flesh.”
Much of what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3, in the lives of humankind fits as well today as it did several thousand years ago. Listen to his words.
READ
War it seems is the predominant lifestyle of some nations, some as the aggressor, and some the target, for even in our own nation out of 239 years since 1776, American has been at for 93% of the time. This means we have been at peace less than 20 years of those 239 years of our existence. And we, at one time, and for most of the time have been predominantly a Christian people.
How long will war go on? Jesus knowing humankind, gives us a clue in Matthew 24:4-9
Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.” They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pangs, with more to come.
If….and not all Christians do, if you believe in Christ, and all that he is and said would come about, then you would know what these birth pangs are that he speaks of. They are signs….that as he said, when they reached their maximum, and before mankind would annihilate each other to total destruction, he would once again return to earth to bring peace on earth. That is when, according to him that wars will cease and peace on earth will come and last for 1000 years. As the angels heralded his birth with “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, so also in that day of his return, once again….we will hear the words peace, peace, peace.
Knowing this does not by any means mean that we Christians and all of humankind, should not work towards peace on earth and goodwill toward man. This I am about to say, and this has been a theme of mine, most recently for several months, in my Reflections Column in the paper, and in my sermons. I find the words in Second Timothy 3 to be extremely sobering. Listen as I read, please.
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing t God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have not self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
Before this in 2nd Timothy 2, Paul state in this letter, “Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them. Work hard to present yourself to God and receive his approval.
As I was putting this together, at one moment I felt the Spirit say to me that I am doing what I am supposed to do, and not to worry about how it is accepted, rejected or misunderstood.
Then my own thoughts said this is a holiday in a sense and this is not what people want to hear on a holiday. To me, this day is more serious than what we call a holiday, as it is a day again, of remembrance. Sure we can have picnics, go boating, rafting, etc. It is not that I want to antagonize anyone…but as always in my messages, I desire to challenge you, especially those of you who are Believers, to think, to take seriously your beliefs and their outworking in your everyday lives.
Sometimes when I am putting together a sermon, some of you will just pop into my mind, and seriously, I wonder, how will so and so take this. Will they see it as antiquated, out of step with the times, the culture. Will they see it as absurd, the words of an outdated minister, even ridiculous? I don’t know, but I do know that while permitted, I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing……by no means flawlessly, but by all means in obedience and with good intentions. I hope to foster conversations and questions enough for you to seek answers on your own, and even challenge me (nicely) if you feel you need to.
I wrote in my weekly column this week about civility, and how to discuss our differences, which has mostly it seems become a lost gift. Our democracy, even our churches are often split because we can’t just talk (with) each other anymore. It is part of what I read in 2nd Timothy. Our democracy exists because we have been able to talk about our differences, and realize that there has to be at times compromise on all sides to achieve the good for the majority. It is why we still stand as a nation that allows us the freedoms we have.
Colossians 3:12-15….I LOVE the words in these verses. “Since God chose you to be holy people he loves, you ‘must’ clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Make allowances for each other’s faults, and forgive ‘anyone’ who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And….let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful!
He goes on to say in addition, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do….or say…..do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.’
Hey…those are some pretty good words to live by. Amen?
In these words, you heard of our individual responsibility to change if indeed we are not living this way….not only for harmony within ourselves first….but also within the body of Christ and in our community we live in.
We, you and I are to be the examples to the world around us, of what it means to be a people of PEACE…even a sanctuary from the world. In it, but not like it.
WAR AND PEACE! Peace within ourselves must come first, before we can ever be effective peacemakers outside of ourselves. In all seriousness…..is that something you want to be known for. If it is…..you will ask the Lord to show you in every situation how you can fulfill these words in Romans 12:18. “If possible, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all.”
I am going to wrap this up with the little story…….
A ship was wrecked in a furious storm and the only survivor was a little boy who was swept by the waves onto a rock. He stayed there all night through the storm, cold and soaked until, the next morning he was spotted and rescued.
“Did you tremble while you were on that rock during the night?” Someone later asked him.
“Yes,” said the boy. “I trembled all night…..but, the rock didn’t.
There are seventeen verses in both the Old and New Testaments that refer to Christ as the Rock. The Rock that brings stability to us as our foundation on which to build our spiritual lives and who we go to in times of trouble. Any and all trouble.
In times of war and in times of peace….He is our Rock.
The Lord is my Rock and my salvation, whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life…of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm27:1
I would suggest memorizing those words….so that in times of trouble, they are good ones to turn into a prayer.
God bless you all…..and thank you.
* PRAYER *
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor/Teacher
May 25, 2019
Today, I am going to start out on somewhat of a low note, hoping to end on the upbeat of a high note. As I sat at my computer yesterday, typing this, my thoughts were literally reeling, hoping and praying out of this reeling would come a cognizant, complete, understandable message for all of us. What triggered it is that tomorrow is Memorial Day. A day we remember those who fought in our wars, and the loss they experienced and those who loved them. I also will be speaking on peace, but first am going to look at our history of wars since the Revolutionary War, the number of soldiers, both, men and today women, combat, nurses, doctors, medics, cooks, office, and many others serving in all the capacities it takes to operate during a WAR.
I am going to start with some statistics of casualties.
The categories are Total U.S. deaths in Combat and Other. Since the Revolutionary war in Combat, we have lost,
Combat 666,441+
Other 673,929+
Wounded 1,498,240+
Total U.S. Casualties 2,852,901+
Numbers are easy to quote…..but, what we have to remember is that each casualty, represents a man or woman who just like us, had dreams, hopes, goals and a family in most cases that loved them, desired a long life for each of them, and mourned their loss…deeply and those still alive, were it seems born for it.
There are some men it seems that are built for war, and then there are those out of love for their country, while counting the potential costs, volunteer to fight, also so that those they love continue to have the freedoms that we this day to celebrate. As we see, many, counted in the millions believed these freedoms were valuable enough to lay down their lives for, to suffer imprisonment, torture…giving the ultimate. For this and for them we should be continually grateful.
It seems humankind has not progressed enough to believe that we can settle our differences, be they race, ego, politics, even religions, other than by war. Though many have tried and some succeeded in being peace-makers, but, they too have lost their lives and those they love, living out their convictions and truths.
It is a spiritual issue, because when we live in and by the flesh and all the covetousness that we are capable of, be it land, minerals, oil, greed, ego, self-righteousness, money, power, war will always be the end result of those who have to have something or things, or even people that otherwise they could not obtain. It’s a sin thing….a moral thing. Scripture says, “if we live by the flesh, we will die by the flesh.”
Much of what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3, in the lives of humankind fits as well today as it did several thousand years ago. Listen to his words.
READ
War it seems is the predominant lifestyle of some nations, some as the aggressor, and some the target, for even in our own nation out of 239 years since 1776, American has been at for 93% of the time. This means we have been at peace less than 20 years of those 239 years of our existence. And we, at one time, and for most of the time have been predominantly a Christian people.
How long will war go on? Jesus knowing humankind, gives us a clue in Matthew 24:4-9
Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.” They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pangs, with more to come.
If….and not all Christians do, if you believe in Christ, and all that he is and said would come about, then you would know what these birth pangs are that he speaks of. They are signs….that as he said, when they reached their maximum, and before mankind would annihilate each other to total destruction, he would once again return to earth to bring peace on earth. That is when, according to him that wars will cease and peace on earth will come and last for 1000 years. As the angels heralded his birth with “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, so also in that day of his return, once again….we will hear the words peace, peace, peace.
Knowing this does not by any means mean that we Christians and all of humankind, should not work towards peace on earth and goodwill toward man. This I am about to say, and this has been a theme of mine, most recently for several months, in my Reflections Column in the paper, and in my sermons. I find the words in Second Timothy 3 to be extremely sobering. Listen as I read, please.
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing t God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have not self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
Before this in 2nd Timothy 2, Paul state in this letter, “Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them. Work hard to present yourself to God and receive his approval.
As I was putting this together, at one moment I felt the Spirit say to me that I am doing what I am supposed to do, and not to worry about how it is accepted, rejected or misunderstood.
Then my own thoughts said this is a holiday in a sense and this is not what people want to hear on a holiday. To me, this day is more serious than what we call a holiday, as it is a day again, of remembrance. Sure we can have picnics, go boating, rafting, etc. It is not that I want to antagonize anyone…but as always in my messages, I desire to challenge you, especially those of you who are Believers, to think, to take seriously your beliefs and their outworking in your everyday lives.
Sometimes when I am putting together a sermon, some of you will just pop into my mind, and seriously, I wonder, how will so and so take this. Will they see it as antiquated, out of step with the times, the culture. Will they see it as absurd, the words of an outdated minister, even ridiculous? I don’t know, but I do know that while permitted, I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing……by no means flawlessly, but by all means in obedience and with good intentions. I hope to foster conversations and questions enough for you to seek answers on your own, and even challenge me (nicely) if you feel you need to.
I wrote in my weekly column this week about civility, and how to discuss our differences, which has mostly it seems become a lost gift. Our democracy, even our churches are often split because we can’t just talk (with) each other anymore. It is part of what I read in 2nd Timothy. Our democracy exists because we have been able to talk about our differences, and realize that there has to be at times compromise on all sides to achieve the good for the majority. It is why we still stand as a nation that allows us the freedoms we have.
Colossians 3:12-15….I LOVE the words in these verses. “Since God chose you to be holy people he loves, you ‘must’ clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Make allowances for each other’s faults, and forgive ‘anyone’ who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And….let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful!
He goes on to say in addition, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do….or say…..do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.’
Hey…those are some pretty good words to live by. Amen?
In these words, you heard of our individual responsibility to change if indeed we are not living this way….not only for harmony within ourselves first….but also within the body of Christ and in our community we live in.
We, you and I are to be the examples to the world around us, of what it means to be a people of PEACE…even a sanctuary from the world. In it, but not like it.
WAR AND PEACE! Peace within ourselves must come first, before we can ever be effective peacemakers outside of ourselves. In all seriousness…..is that something you want to be known for. If it is…..you will ask the Lord to show you in every situation how you can fulfill these words in Romans 12:18. “If possible, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all.”
I am going to wrap this up with the little story…….
A ship was wrecked in a furious storm and the only survivor was a little boy who was swept by the waves onto a rock. He stayed there all night through the storm, cold and soaked until, the next morning he was spotted and rescued.
“Did you tremble while you were on that rock during the night?” Someone later asked him.
“Yes,” said the boy. “I trembled all night…..but, the rock didn’t.
There are seventeen verses in both the Old and New Testaments that refer to Christ as the Rock. The Rock that brings stability to us as our foundation on which to build our spiritual lives and who we go to in times of trouble. Any and all trouble.
In times of war and in times of peace….He is our Rock.
The Lord is my Rock and my salvation, whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life…of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm27:1
I would suggest memorizing those words….so that in times of trouble, they are good ones to turn into a prayer.
God bless you all…..and thank you.
* PRAYER *
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 19, 2019
Pastor Tom Shanor
Preface to Sermon:
At this time there are an estimated 4,200 religions in the world. What this tells us (in my opinion) is that belief in God, in a spiritual belief system, that one can look too beyond one's self in times of need, and in times of blessing, is deeply embedded in the human spirit and psyche. This need speaks of a deep desire to worship, and a deep desire to make sense of simply being alive. Being finite beings, death frightens us because we are cognizant of it's impending end to life as we understand it. So, I believe God placed within us that need to reach out and up.
Of course up is different when one is closer to the South Pole or the North Pole!
Christianity has had the greatest impact on the world overall in every area of human lives. For the good....and when in the hands of leaders who use it for their own desires, greed, ego and power, bad to horrific.
The six largest religions in the world are:
1. Protestant Christianity
2. Catholicism
3. Islam, which is actually an offshoot of Judaism, mixed with both Gnosticism and pagan beliefs.
4. Hinduism, with multiple gods or spirits/demons
5. Judaism
6. Buddhism
Within Christianity there are over 30,000 sects and denominations, all different in some of their beliefs, but with most adhering to the main tenants of the faith. There are also religious off-shoots which are not adhering to the main tenants of Christianity and some of those are:
1. Gnosticism
2. Arianism
3. Jehovah Witness
4. Christadelphianism
5. Mormonism....to mention a few.
The belief systems that exist that differ just in these few is mind-boggling, having added to and subtracted from layers and layers of differing beliefs.
As I stated early on...….belief is deeply personal, as is unbelief. So much depends first of all on where we are raised and the religions and influences that are immediately around us. Whether they were positive or negative. Whether those adherents professed their faith publicly, but lived a different life privately.
Belief can be complex or simple.
Galatians 5:14 tell us the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this. "for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 19, 2019
Pastor Tom Shanor
Preface to Sermon:
At this time there are an estimated 4,200 religions in the world. What this tells us (in my opinion) is that belief in God, in a spiritual belief system, that one can look too beyond one's self in times of need, and in times of blessing, is deeply embedded in the human spirit and psyche. This need speaks of a deep desire to worship, and a deep desire to make sense of simply being alive. Being finite beings, death frightens us because we are cognizant of it's impending end to life as we understand it. So, I believe God placed within us that need to reach out and up.
Of course up is different when one is closer to the South Pole or the North Pole!
Christianity has had the greatest impact on the world overall in every area of human lives. For the good....and when in the hands of leaders who use it for their own desires, greed, ego and power, bad to horrific.
The six largest religions in the world are:
1. Protestant Christianity
2. Catholicism
3. Islam, which is actually an offshoot of Judaism, mixed with both Gnosticism and pagan beliefs.
4. Hinduism, with multiple gods or spirits/demons
5. Judaism
6. Buddhism
Within Christianity there are over 30,000 sects and denominations, all different in some of their beliefs, but with most adhering to the main tenants of the faith. There are also religious off-shoots which are not adhering to the main tenants of Christianity and some of those are:
1. Gnosticism
2. Arianism
3. Jehovah Witness
4. Christadelphianism
5. Mormonism....to mention a few.
The belief systems that exist that differ just in these few is mind-boggling, having added to and subtracted from layers and layers of differing beliefs.
As I stated early on...….belief is deeply personal, as is unbelief. So much depends first of all on where we are raised and the religions and influences that are immediately around us. Whether they were positive or negative. Whether those adherents professed their faith publicly, but lived a different life privately.
Belief can be complex or simple.
Galatians 5:14 tell us the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this. "for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Sermon: BELIEF, BELIEVER, BELIEVED
John 20:29, International Version reads, Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me ('Doubting Thomas'/after the resurrection) you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Here is a man not unlike many other men, and women, who because they have not with their own eyes seen Jesus, or put their finger in his wounds, cannot they themselves believe.
Belief is a fickle thing. Two people can be presented with identical information, and one believes and one doesn't, whatever that information is.
Since the first century AD, there have been 2,435,500,000 men and women who have believed in, and adhered to Jesus Christ, and his claims as to him being the Son of God. Of those 2,435,500,000, 70,000,000 it is estimated, to have been killed for their beliefs, and that average today according to Massimo Introvigne, a human rights representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has told an OSCE meeting in Bodollo, Hungary, that 105,000 people are killed every year because of their belief in the Christian faith.
According to Wikipedia, belief is the attitude we have whenever we take something or someone to be factual, and regard it as truth.
In epistemology, philosophers use the term “belief” to refer to personal attitudes associated with both true or false ideas and concepts. However, “belief” does not require in depth introspection, research or circumspection. For example, we never ponder whether or not the sun will show up, or when because of clouds and dense atmospheric conditions, we cannot see it hidden behind those conditions, for we know it is there. According to Eric Schwitzgebel in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy asks: “how can a physical organism (US) have beliefs?
According to philosophers belief has two aspects, just as we see a scale that weigh’s something to see how heavy it is to something equal perhaps in size, not weight. On one side of the justice scale is a word from ancient Greek thought, the word is pistis and the other doxa.
In pista, are trust and confidence.
In doxa, are opinion and acceptance.
The English word for doxa is “orthodoxy”
Belief in someone or something(s) is a deeply personal decision. Belief in my humble opinion brings along with it siblings, therefore they might be called sisters. First comes belief, however a person arrives at believing, second comes faith that what we believe is true (acceptance) and the third is hope.
We believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and then as what we believe about him grows, and we grow deeper in our faith, and everyday life gives us a dose of hard reality, where we may begin to waver, our hope in Him acts as the binding agent that sustains us and our beliefs, perhaps even strengthening them even more.
Belief, faith and hope are often vital in the everyday life of a human being. Some people do not seem to need religious beliefs, but instead seem content to believe that once life is over it’s over. Others may have nominal beliefs that add just enough comfort during their day, to keep them from falling into despair. Hence, we have atheists, agnostics and all in between.
When we look at religious beliefs, they often involve an open attitude toward supernatural or spiritual aspects of religion. Religious belief is sometimes distinct from religious practice and from religious behaviors, with some in the same religion, overwhelming (in the Christian religion) practicing and being somewhat obsessed with spiritual gifts in validating the depth of their faith, and others content to practice more orthodox methods of worship. To me this is one of the aspects of our belief and faith, that contrary to thinking it causes division, these differences should enrich and enhance our faith.
Religion or faith (Christian and others) involve characteristics and worship of a deity, and in some situations (Hindu as an example) deities, which include the deity or deities intervening in not only our individual lives, but in the Universe as a whole. Some of us need a more experiential worship than others, and gravitate towards those who think and act out their methodology similar or identical to that which we desire to experience.
I personally have been on a lifetime journey, experiencing many different worship practices both within and without my Christian faith, having come to believe completely in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and all that he has said about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Some of my journey has been my two year involvement in Transcendental Meditation, a follower of Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, some years spent in a Charismatic Church structure which I, for the most part thoroughly loved as both a parishioner and pastor, also involved in the Methodist Church both as a parishioner and pastor, for years involved in a non-denominational church structure, and in my very young subjective years, in such things a numerology and the New Age movement, oh, and I almost forgot I came one day away from becoming a member of the LDS church.
And….here I am today, grateful and solid in my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who never let me out of His sight, and to use a term from an English writer and Christian, the Hound of Heaven just would not leave me alone. I have had many subjective experiences which I have objectively looked at and thought deeply about. I have studied the Word of God, preach on it every Sunday and in-between, and with my numerous experiences believe with all my heart, mind and spirit…..that only the love of God through Jesus Christ is the only reason I am alive today, and firmly sitting in His court.
I believe…I believe.
What do you believe?
How deeply do you believe?
If it came down to denying your faith to simply stay alive, what would your choice be?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister during the time of the Nazi reign of horror in Germany chose to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. There is a book published on his life and experiences in prison during those years. He spoke of an instance when his captors gave priests and ministers the choice of denying their faith and living. All they had to do was defecate on a cross that was placed on the floor of the prison. Many did, and a Dietrich wrote, some cried and wept, but still did as instructed.
I was listening I believe, to Shawn Hannity the other day while driving to Idaho Falls, and he was talking about a book recently published by David Horowitz. David is a Jew and was for 25 years a devotee of the far left liberal wing of the progressive political movement. He is an avid writer and speaker now, on the dangers being presented to us by the progressive political movement. Let me say now, that I read a lot and have read some religious progressive writings, and there as is their core beliefs, some things we could and should learn from what is being written. Listening as I said recently, is something we often do with ingrained bias, throwing out the baby with the bath water. I also read from Catholic writings, Baptist writings and others Christian writings, so as to know what changes are happening that I simply need to understand.
Anyway….David Horowitz has written a book called “Dark Agenda”. David is an intellectual, and does some diverse and deep research. Still a Jew, he has written this book on the far left’s plan to destroy Christian America. Sometimes prophets come from out of nowhere to bring warnings. That has been part of the history of the church. It is rare that I read something of this nature, but my interest was piqued because of the research and I am going to order the book to see if indeed there is something that I need to pay attention to. You might consider doing the same.
Times, they are a changing, and I desire to not be caught off-guard, thinking that if I just keep my head low and my words neutral all we be ok. Life just does not work that way, as much as we would like that, and I, I do not want to be unaware.
Anyway…..belief as I have already stated, is personal and always a choice. There are some choices that are great, some good, some neutral, some bad and some very bad. I believe, I believe…..that with 2000 years now of the mixed history of the actions of some believers, and the church overall, and irregardless of the sometimes horrible deeds done in the name of Christ, and the church, there is no better choice or way to live than that of a deep and true believer. To be simply a disciple of Jesus Christ!
Our beliefs and our faith….and the hope that encircles these, because of the love of Jesus Christ for us, and for all humanity is the very best place to live out our brief lives on planet earth.
Thank you for listening and for being here today…..Amen
John 20:29, International Version reads, Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me ('Doubting Thomas'/after the resurrection) you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Here is a man not unlike many other men, and women, who because they have not with their own eyes seen Jesus, or put their finger in his wounds, cannot they themselves believe.
Belief is a fickle thing. Two people can be presented with identical information, and one believes and one doesn't, whatever that information is.
Since the first century AD, there have been 2,435,500,000 men and women who have believed in, and adhered to Jesus Christ, and his claims as to him being the Son of God. Of those 2,435,500,000, 70,000,000 it is estimated, to have been killed for their beliefs, and that average today according to Massimo Introvigne, a human rights representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has told an OSCE meeting in Bodollo, Hungary, that 105,000 people are killed every year because of their belief in the Christian faith.
According to Wikipedia, belief is the attitude we have whenever we take something or someone to be factual, and regard it as truth.
In epistemology, philosophers use the term “belief” to refer to personal attitudes associated with both true or false ideas and concepts. However, “belief” does not require in depth introspection, research or circumspection. For example, we never ponder whether or not the sun will show up, or when because of clouds and dense atmospheric conditions, we cannot see it hidden behind those conditions, for we know it is there. According to Eric Schwitzgebel in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy asks: “how can a physical organism (US) have beliefs?
According to philosophers belief has two aspects, just as we see a scale that weigh’s something to see how heavy it is to something equal perhaps in size, not weight. On one side of the justice scale is a word from ancient Greek thought, the word is pistis and the other doxa.
In pista, are trust and confidence.
In doxa, are opinion and acceptance.
The English word for doxa is “orthodoxy”
Belief in someone or something(s) is a deeply personal decision. Belief in my humble opinion brings along with it siblings, therefore they might be called sisters. First comes belief, however a person arrives at believing, second comes faith that what we believe is true (acceptance) and the third is hope.
We believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and then as what we believe about him grows, and we grow deeper in our faith, and everyday life gives us a dose of hard reality, where we may begin to waver, our hope in Him acts as the binding agent that sustains us and our beliefs, perhaps even strengthening them even more.
Belief, faith and hope are often vital in the everyday life of a human being. Some people do not seem to need religious beliefs, but instead seem content to believe that once life is over it’s over. Others may have nominal beliefs that add just enough comfort during their day, to keep them from falling into despair. Hence, we have atheists, agnostics and all in between.
When we look at religious beliefs, they often involve an open attitude toward supernatural or spiritual aspects of religion. Religious belief is sometimes distinct from religious practice and from religious behaviors, with some in the same religion, overwhelming (in the Christian religion) practicing and being somewhat obsessed with spiritual gifts in validating the depth of their faith, and others content to practice more orthodox methods of worship. To me this is one of the aspects of our belief and faith, that contrary to thinking it causes division, these differences should enrich and enhance our faith.
Religion or faith (Christian and others) involve characteristics and worship of a deity, and in some situations (Hindu as an example) deities, which include the deity or deities intervening in not only our individual lives, but in the Universe as a whole. Some of us need a more experiential worship than others, and gravitate towards those who think and act out their methodology similar or identical to that which we desire to experience.
I personally have been on a lifetime journey, experiencing many different worship practices both within and without my Christian faith, having come to believe completely in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and all that he has said about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Some of my journey has been my two year involvement in Transcendental Meditation, a follower of Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, some years spent in a Charismatic Church structure which I, for the most part thoroughly loved as both a parishioner and pastor, also involved in the Methodist Church both as a parishioner and pastor, for years involved in a non-denominational church structure, and in my very young subjective years, in such things a numerology and the New Age movement, oh, and I almost forgot I came one day away from becoming a member of the LDS church.
And….here I am today, grateful and solid in my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who never let me out of His sight, and to use a term from an English writer and Christian, the Hound of Heaven just would not leave me alone. I have had many subjective experiences which I have objectively looked at and thought deeply about. I have studied the Word of God, preach on it every Sunday and in-between, and with my numerous experiences believe with all my heart, mind and spirit…..that only the love of God through Jesus Christ is the only reason I am alive today, and firmly sitting in His court.
I believe…I believe.
What do you believe?
How deeply do you believe?
If it came down to denying your faith to simply stay alive, what would your choice be?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister during the time of the Nazi reign of horror in Germany chose to die for his faith in Jesus Christ. There is a book published on his life and experiences in prison during those years. He spoke of an instance when his captors gave priests and ministers the choice of denying their faith and living. All they had to do was defecate on a cross that was placed on the floor of the prison. Many did, and a Dietrich wrote, some cried and wept, but still did as instructed.
I was listening I believe, to Shawn Hannity the other day while driving to Idaho Falls, and he was talking about a book recently published by David Horowitz. David is a Jew and was for 25 years a devotee of the far left liberal wing of the progressive political movement. He is an avid writer and speaker now, on the dangers being presented to us by the progressive political movement. Let me say now, that I read a lot and have read some religious progressive writings, and there as is their core beliefs, some things we could and should learn from what is being written. Listening as I said recently, is something we often do with ingrained bias, throwing out the baby with the bath water. I also read from Catholic writings, Baptist writings and others Christian writings, so as to know what changes are happening that I simply need to understand.
Anyway….David Horowitz has written a book called “Dark Agenda”. David is an intellectual, and does some diverse and deep research. Still a Jew, he has written this book on the far left’s plan to destroy Christian America. Sometimes prophets come from out of nowhere to bring warnings. That has been part of the history of the church. It is rare that I read something of this nature, but my interest was piqued because of the research and I am going to order the book to see if indeed there is something that I need to pay attention to. You might consider doing the same.
Times, they are a changing, and I desire to not be caught off-guard, thinking that if I just keep my head low and my words neutral all we be ok. Life just does not work that way, as much as we would like that, and I, I do not want to be unaware.
Anyway…..belief as I have already stated, is personal and always a choice. There are some choices that are great, some good, some neutral, some bad and some very bad. I believe, I believe…..that with 2000 years now of the mixed history of the actions of some believers, and the church overall, and irregardless of the sometimes horrible deeds done in the name of Christ, and the church, there is no better choice or way to live than that of a deep and true believer. To be simply a disciple of Jesus Christ!
Our beliefs and our faith….and the hope that encircles these, because of the love of Jesus Christ for us, and for all humanity is the very best place to live out our brief lives on planet earth.
Thank you for listening and for being here today…..Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE ~ WISDOM” NOT CRITICISM”
Proverbs 15, Excerpt’s
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
For the first part of today’s message, I am going to speak on 'gossip,' as it is usually founded in either justified or unjustified criticism. Beneath gossip is often found jealousy of some kind brought about by disliking someone or some event, or some anything, or the way something is done or not done, etc., etc.
To be wise, or to have wisdom, one need to recognize what is criticism? What it is to be a critic. When it is appropriate, to "talk" about a person or event, in a way that is truthful, factual and godly. Motivation is important in "talking." We have to stop and think....pray and ponder, examine why if at all, we "have to" talk. Motivation can only be discerned by seeking wisdom. If indeed, upon self-examination we find our motives are just, then it may be appropriate to "talk." Even then, we would behoove us to give it another round of self-examination to check our motivation.
My topic today is "The Right Way to Live” ~ “Wisdom." Vs’s Criticism
But for now, back to gossip. A church bulletin listed the sermon topic as "Gossip." Immediately following the sermon, was the hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story." While that hymn concerns telling the story of the Gospel, all too often some of God's people love to tell the story also, of someone else's story, and usually the gossipers’ version of their story. Along with pride, tied into ego, gossip is the most widely tolerated and most destructing and hard to either prevent or stop...in the church.
We often tolerate gossip because for one, we've all been guilty of it irregardless, of what our motivation was. Another reason, unless spoken about openly and directly from the pulpit, it takes on a life of its own. READ James 3:2-12.
We've heard and perhaps said the excuses, "I just wanted you to know so that you could pray, " which often then is what that person says to someone else, and someone else, and then somewhere along the line the content changes and finally resembles little of the original telling.
One of the tricky aspects of this subject is defining the term. Sometimes we fall into the sin of gossip because we are fuzzy about what it is. Sometimes it involves a judgment call and we can cross the line inadvertently. But if we would just deal with what we're clear about, it would go a long way toward healing brokenness, relationships, and preventing further damage in the church. ALL gossip is damaging and damming.
Webster defines it as either "a person who habitually reveals personal, demeaning facts," or as "a rumor or report of a sometimes-intimate nature. Another word definition is "busybody." for there are those, for whatever reason, love being the source and center of attention, whether in doing so called "good" or "bad." Their egos demand it, so weak is their own self-esteem.
I am going to boil all these nuances down by defining gossip as, "sharing information which damages another person's reputation with those who have no need to know." It may be completely factual, but more often, teh one sharing it has not even bothered to check out the facts and perhaps the other side of the so-called facts. To gossip is to slander, and 'slander' means to give an evil report about someone. The Greek word means to speak against someone. James says that if we do that, "we make ourselves the judge of both our brother/sister and God's law, usurping God's rightful place."
Quoting, James 4:11-12. "Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But YOUR job is to obey the law. It is serious business to overtly criticize and a sin to gossip. Period!
It is important to KNOW the word of God, and if one is able, to memorized the Word, because it can be used to bring life in a difficult place, time and event.... or as we know, the Word can and is used...to condemn and judge. Memorization is not as important as understanding and applying and using Scripture, to lift up someone, not tear them down.
A story of Charles Spurgeon and how to take criticism in stride. He applied a bit of humor eventually in his response, as had gained wisdom through all the criticism of him over many years.... not anger, reproach or isolation, but seeing things for what they were...stating facts without flaunting an ego. Many of us take ourselves and our opinions to seriously. Let our lives speak for who we are.... even through our own imperfections.... God loves us, every one....and we are called to love, not tear down each other.
I am going to now read to you some verses from Proverbs 15.
* A gentle answer deflects anger, but unkind words make tempers flare!
* Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
* The lips of the wise give good advice; the heart of a fool has none to give.
* A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
* A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on gossip.
* For a despondent, every day brings trouble, for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
* Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, then to have great treasure and inner turmoil.
* A hot-tempered person starts an argument; a cool-tempered person stops them.
* Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path.
* Everyone enjoy a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.
* The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking, the mouth of the wicked overflows with words.
* A cheerful look bring joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.
* If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise.
THESE ARE WORDS OF WISDOM....AND HOW TO LIVE OUR LIVES TO PLEASE THE LORD...................................................................................
Criticism....constructive not destructive criticism has always been good for my own personal growth. By this I don't mean I have to embrace every criticism that comes my way. If like in proverbs where we just heard, the criticism comes from the heart of a godly person whom I know speaks carefully...and with the right motivation and heart, I will gladly listen. If the criticism comes from someone who I have recognized has a critical spirit...not a discerning one as they may think they have, I will still listen, and examine what they say....but....I can almost guarantee their motivation has not been to help me...but to make them feel they know what I need and have all or most of the answers. It's tragic that often they cannot grasp their own motivation and the fact that they may possibly bring down on their own heads condemnation
As I was writing this, I said, self, you just may be criticized today for not have a nice, sweet Mother's Day sermon. All I can say is, this is what I believe the Lord God brought to my mind and heart to share with you, all of you...and myself.
Here is some Wisdom and just plain good advice on criticism. A minister names Bob Cook once came to Harry Ironside, asking the famous Bible teacher how he should respond to criticisms leveled against him. Ironsides advice: "Bob, if the criticism about you is true, mend your ways. If it isn't, forget about it.
The same point was put this way by another man: "Never fear criticism when you're right; never ignore criticism when you're wrong."
Put one more way: "Don't mind criticism. If it's untrue, disregard it; if it's unfair, keep from being irritated and don't respond; if it's ignorant, smile, if it's justified, learn from it.
THE WISDOM HERE, IS KNOWING THE DIFFERENCES!
Now...here is one of Aesop's fables on both criticism, judgement and a variety of people's opinions on all seeing the same thing.... coming up with a variety of responses...none of them good.
This allegory is the man, his son and their donkey....................READ
Here is something to remember.... actually, that it would be good to remember. "When you throw mud at someone, you're the one who is losing ground."
ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE....MOTIVATION, MOTIVATION, MOTIVATION.......
Why not come from a point of a half-glass full of water, life giving water, instead of a glass half-empty. I spoke of JOY last week.... we, you and I have so very much to be grateful for. So much....
Count our blessings name them one by one.... count our many blessings and see what God has done. We can change.... we can change our attitude to one of being a yea-sayer, instead of a nay-sayer. Our attitude can affect everyone around us....and we should be more cognizant of both attitude and motivation....IN THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE....using the Wisdom God gives us through His Word and His example through Jesus Christ.
What say you?
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE ~ WISDOM” NOT CRITICISM”
Proverbs 15, Excerpt’s
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
For the first part of today’s message, I am going to speak on 'gossip,' as it is usually founded in either justified or unjustified criticism. Beneath gossip is often found jealousy of some kind brought about by disliking someone or some event, or some anything, or the way something is done or not done, etc., etc.
To be wise, or to have wisdom, one need to recognize what is criticism? What it is to be a critic. When it is appropriate, to "talk" about a person or event, in a way that is truthful, factual and godly. Motivation is important in "talking." We have to stop and think....pray and ponder, examine why if at all, we "have to" talk. Motivation can only be discerned by seeking wisdom. If indeed, upon self-examination we find our motives are just, then it may be appropriate to "talk." Even then, we would behoove us to give it another round of self-examination to check our motivation.
My topic today is "The Right Way to Live” ~ “Wisdom." Vs’s Criticism
But for now, back to gossip. A church bulletin listed the sermon topic as "Gossip." Immediately following the sermon, was the hymn, "I Love to Tell the Story." While that hymn concerns telling the story of the Gospel, all too often some of God's people love to tell the story also, of someone else's story, and usually the gossipers’ version of their story. Along with pride, tied into ego, gossip is the most widely tolerated and most destructing and hard to either prevent or stop...in the church.
We often tolerate gossip because for one, we've all been guilty of it irregardless, of what our motivation was. Another reason, unless spoken about openly and directly from the pulpit, it takes on a life of its own. READ James 3:2-12.
We've heard and perhaps said the excuses, "I just wanted you to know so that you could pray, " which often then is what that person says to someone else, and someone else, and then somewhere along the line the content changes and finally resembles little of the original telling.
One of the tricky aspects of this subject is defining the term. Sometimes we fall into the sin of gossip because we are fuzzy about what it is. Sometimes it involves a judgment call and we can cross the line inadvertently. But if we would just deal with what we're clear about, it would go a long way toward healing brokenness, relationships, and preventing further damage in the church. ALL gossip is damaging and damming.
Webster defines it as either "a person who habitually reveals personal, demeaning facts," or as "a rumor or report of a sometimes-intimate nature. Another word definition is "busybody." for there are those, for whatever reason, love being the source and center of attention, whether in doing so called "good" or "bad." Their egos demand it, so weak is their own self-esteem.
I am going to boil all these nuances down by defining gossip as, "sharing information which damages another person's reputation with those who have no need to know." It may be completely factual, but more often, teh one sharing it has not even bothered to check out the facts and perhaps the other side of the so-called facts. To gossip is to slander, and 'slander' means to give an evil report about someone. The Greek word means to speak against someone. James says that if we do that, "we make ourselves the judge of both our brother/sister and God's law, usurping God's rightful place."
Quoting, James 4:11-12. "Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But YOUR job is to obey the law. It is serious business to overtly criticize and a sin to gossip. Period!
It is important to KNOW the word of God, and if one is able, to memorized the Word, because it can be used to bring life in a difficult place, time and event.... or as we know, the Word can and is used...to condemn and judge. Memorization is not as important as understanding and applying and using Scripture, to lift up someone, not tear them down.
A story of Charles Spurgeon and how to take criticism in stride. He applied a bit of humor eventually in his response, as had gained wisdom through all the criticism of him over many years.... not anger, reproach or isolation, but seeing things for what they were...stating facts without flaunting an ego. Many of us take ourselves and our opinions to seriously. Let our lives speak for who we are.... even through our own imperfections.... God loves us, every one....and we are called to love, not tear down each other.
I am going to now read to you some verses from Proverbs 15.
* A gentle answer deflects anger, but unkind words make tempers flare!
* Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
* The lips of the wise give good advice; the heart of a fool has none to give.
* A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
* A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on gossip.
* For a despondent, every day brings trouble, for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
* Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, then to have great treasure and inner turmoil.
* A hot-tempered person starts an argument; a cool-tempered person stops them.
* Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path.
* Everyone enjoy a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.
* The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking, the mouth of the wicked overflows with words.
* A cheerful look bring joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.
* If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise.
THESE ARE WORDS OF WISDOM....AND HOW TO LIVE OUR LIVES TO PLEASE THE LORD...................................................................................
Criticism....constructive not destructive criticism has always been good for my own personal growth. By this I don't mean I have to embrace every criticism that comes my way. If like in proverbs where we just heard, the criticism comes from the heart of a godly person whom I know speaks carefully...and with the right motivation and heart, I will gladly listen. If the criticism comes from someone who I have recognized has a critical spirit...not a discerning one as they may think they have, I will still listen, and examine what they say....but....I can almost guarantee their motivation has not been to help me...but to make them feel they know what I need and have all or most of the answers. It's tragic that often they cannot grasp their own motivation and the fact that they may possibly bring down on their own heads condemnation
As I was writing this, I said, self, you just may be criticized today for not have a nice, sweet Mother's Day sermon. All I can say is, this is what I believe the Lord God brought to my mind and heart to share with you, all of you...and myself.
Here is some Wisdom and just plain good advice on criticism. A minister names Bob Cook once came to Harry Ironside, asking the famous Bible teacher how he should respond to criticisms leveled against him. Ironsides advice: "Bob, if the criticism about you is true, mend your ways. If it isn't, forget about it.
The same point was put this way by another man: "Never fear criticism when you're right; never ignore criticism when you're wrong."
Put one more way: "Don't mind criticism. If it's untrue, disregard it; if it's unfair, keep from being irritated and don't respond; if it's ignorant, smile, if it's justified, learn from it.
THE WISDOM HERE, IS KNOWING THE DIFFERENCES!
Now...here is one of Aesop's fables on both criticism, judgement and a variety of people's opinions on all seeing the same thing.... coming up with a variety of responses...none of them good.
This allegory is the man, his son and their donkey....................READ
Here is something to remember.... actually, that it would be good to remember. "When you throw mud at someone, you're the one who is losing ground."
ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE....MOTIVATION, MOTIVATION, MOTIVATION.......
Why not come from a point of a half-glass full of water, life giving water, instead of a glass half-empty. I spoke of JOY last week.... we, you and I have so very much to be grateful for. So much....
Count our blessings name them one by one.... count our many blessings and see what God has done. We can change.... we can change our attitude to one of being a yea-sayer, instead of a nay-sayer. Our attitude can affect everyone around us....and we should be more cognizant of both attitude and motivation....IN THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE....using the Wisdom God gives us through His Word and His example through Jesus Christ.
What say you?
The little Church in the pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Joy comes in the morning"
Pastor Tom Shanor
May 5, 2019
Sing "JOYFUL - JOYFUL"!
Ok....that is probably a little more than either you expected or would ask for, but I wanted to get across to you the importance and effects of JOY in our lives, both in our every-day lives and in our spiritual lives. Music is for me one of the vehicles we can ride to experience JOY, and though I may disagree vehemently with Whoopie Goldberg on most everything she says and stands for, she did a bang-up job in Sisters Act with the young choir singing JOYFUL, JOYFUL. Hers and theirs is my absolute favorite rendition of that Hymn.
Wiktionary has this to say about the meaning of JOY. "JOY is a FEELING of GREAT HAPPINESS and PLEASURE. An example in a sentence is "The Lord will be the source of strength and JOY in your life," for JOY is something that CAUSES an outward expression of JOY. An example; "seeing and holding your newborn child is perhaps the greatest JOY a parent can experience in the natural."
Associated with the word JOY is REJOICE, which is a verb, for IF you REJOICE, you express your feelings by acting in a way that shows that you are very, very happy about something, and you therefore have a reason to REJOICE and CELEBRATE!"
I now am going to quote myself from the article I wrote for the Island Park News this last week, under REFLECTIONS, on the spiritual side of life.
Religion....is serious business! There has been a saying out there that has been around for years, and with it an element of truth. "He (or she) is too religious to be of any earthly good." On the positive side of that, there are those I believe, who are called by God to a deep walk, and who spend their lives in prayer and solitude for that very purpose, praying for the state of the world, the church and us.
Then there are those who are 'religious' in the negative sense of the word. These are those who need to feel superior to others, and have little, authentic self-esteem, or true understanding of faith and its true value. These dear folks live in a black and white world of rules and requirements, focusing most often on the negative, being critical and not knowing the value and meaning of grace.
You see.....there is in faith a place for humor, merriment, joy, happiness and yes, laughter. As you know having been here long enough, like this morning prior to our tithes and offerings, I offer up, or at least try to, a little humor. The potential for humor doesn't stop just because the bell rings and we all take a seat, putting on our stern religious hats that impress no one, especially the Lord Himself.
Last summer I had someone text me, telling me that I was not a stand-up comic and basically needed to stop my little jokes and stories. I texted back that I was not going to stop, and that it took me too many years to allow myself to both know and live out who I am, and was going to simply continue to be my-self. It didn't go over very well, but then I already knew it wouldn't. Also, deciding years ago to not get upset by words and even actions that tried to put me in their place, not mine, but theirs.
Having just come out of Lenten Season, and culminating in the death and resurrection of our Lord, with all its sorrow, tragedy and darkness, we now are to embrace the radiant life of the Lord through His resurrection from the dead. The Lord is Risen! Hallelujah! JOY comes in the morning, having both risen and shown Himself alive. That morning reminds me of the Morning of Creation in Genesis 1:3, "Then God said, "let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed....and morning came, marking the first day.
I find JOY every morning as the darkness turns to light with all its revelation of the heretofore unseen. At times it feels like I am seeing all His Creation for the first time. In the hymn Morning Has Broken always brings me hope and reminds me of that first morning, and the morning of Jesus' resurrection. This song mirrors that morning.
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird,
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
God's re-creation.......of the new day!
Sweet the rain's new fall, Sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dew-fall, on the first grass,
Praise for the sweetness, of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness.....Where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,
Born of the one light, Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, Praise every morning,
God's re-creation......of the New Day!
As a Christian, I am aware that JOY is supposed to be one of the nine components of what is called the Fruit of the Spirit. In other words, all believers are to exhibit JOY the more we walk with the Lord.
I started out with this message, not realizing how often the Spirit would bring to my mind songs and Hymns that express the JOY I am attempting to explain to you. So...here is another, this one expressing walking with Him.
When we walk with the Lord, In the light of His Word,
What glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will,
He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey,
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His SMILE quickly drives it away; not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear can remain....when we trust and obey.
His anger when He has reason for anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but JOY comes with the morning.
Also, as Christians, we have heard countless times that JOY is not to be contingent on our present circumstances, whatever they are, but a certain knowledge that everything will work out for good in the end. Though I do believe this.....I also know that I am fully human, and that there will be times when overwhelmed by either circumstances, events and people, pets dear to us, that sorrow and tears will be a part of my life. In those times I can have a certain deep JOY in knowing the truth of those words, which all things work out for good in the end, but I also know God gave me the ability to feel other emotions, and it is right to express those also. Tears can be healing....a sense of loss can in time be filled by new people, new events, etc., but I also know there will always in this lifetime be, a special place in my heart, mind, spirit and soul, for the memory of my loss, and I cherish that ability, that gift.
We can pick up even more on JOY by reading, knowing that in the International version of the Bible, JOY is used 245 times. RE-JOYCE is used 154 times, telling us over and over, and therefore, it is a vital component of one of the themes in God's Word.
In the Old Testament, worship expressing JOY, REJOICING, HAPPINESS & CELEBRATION was a vital part of the way the people showed God their love and respect for Him. David danced before the Lord without shame or fear of what others thought of him.
I can remember once....and some of you, had you been there might have been embarrassed for or because of me, but I did what I felt I was supposed to do and was blessed because of it. We had recently started the Lander Valley Foursquare Church in Wyoming. (why do I tell you these things?) Anyway.....we were meeting in a Funeral Home Chapel. It was during the worship....and it was so powerful, that I too danced before the Lord...and the people in the congregation. Alone. I couldn't not do it, so strong was the impression by the Spirit to do so. Because of my 'obedience' there was no negative feedback....only positive, because the congregation felt it was of the Lord. I was blessed and as I head back, so were they. Ok...
The words I am now going to share with you comes in part from a sermon by Vance Havner.
The Church suffers today from a saddening lack of simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian JOY. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke.
Although the New Testament centers on the Cross....its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant JOY. It begins with an angel chorus and ends with rejoicing around the throne.
The same church members who yell with great enthusiasm in a sports arena or in their own home....often sit like a stone statue in an outdoor garden in the service on Sunday.
Charles Spurgeon said...."There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY. Most medicines are distasteful; but his, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
I was talking to a Presbyterian the other day who described himself and most (now this was him saying this, not me) as the Frozen Chosen. All I could do was chuckle....
Listen please....I am not up here telling you to be any way in particular. I am telling you, that in this congregation and any other, never make a spectacle of yourself, but you should feel free, if in your genuineness you want to raise your hands, or express in another way that again is genuine....your JOY in the Lord as your strength and happiness.
This summer, we will have people from all over, perhaps the world, each coming from a spiritual background both different, and some the same as ours. In our times of worship, they should feel welcome and comfortable, being themselves, and expressing in worship what they bring with them from their own worship practices. There have been on occasion, (in other churches I have pastored) where I have had to stop people from their particular expression, and a few I even had to have removed from the service. Why? Because in the Spirit, I could discern what they were doing was not of God, but of drawing attention to them-selves.
Here are a few verses I want to close with.
Ecclesiastes 9:7, "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a Joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do."
Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
1 Peter 1:8-9, "Though you have not seen Him, but you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands all you people; shout unto God with cries of JOY!
I will close with this, titled "This is the day"
James Guthrie of Scotland went to the scaffold because of his faith in Christ. In telling his story, Jock Purves, writes, "James Guthrie, through his full and busy life, kept his own personal relationship with Christ in the fresh bloom of when he turned his life over to Christ.
Waking about 4 a.m. on the day he was to be executed, Guthrie spent time in personal worship and prayer, and was asked by his friend James Cowie how he felt. "Very well," replied Guthrie. "This is the day that the Lord has made; I will REJOICE and be glad in it!'"
AMEN
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Joy comes in the morning"
Pastor Tom Shanor
May 5, 2019
Sing "JOYFUL - JOYFUL"!
Ok....that is probably a little more than either you expected or would ask for, but I wanted to get across to you the importance and effects of JOY in our lives, both in our every-day lives and in our spiritual lives. Music is for me one of the vehicles we can ride to experience JOY, and though I may disagree vehemently with Whoopie Goldberg on most everything she says and stands for, she did a bang-up job in Sisters Act with the young choir singing JOYFUL, JOYFUL. Hers and theirs is my absolute favorite rendition of that Hymn.
Wiktionary has this to say about the meaning of JOY. "JOY is a FEELING of GREAT HAPPINESS and PLEASURE. An example in a sentence is "The Lord will be the source of strength and JOY in your life," for JOY is something that CAUSES an outward expression of JOY. An example; "seeing and holding your newborn child is perhaps the greatest JOY a parent can experience in the natural."
Associated with the word JOY is REJOICE, which is a verb, for IF you REJOICE, you express your feelings by acting in a way that shows that you are very, very happy about something, and you therefore have a reason to REJOICE and CELEBRATE!"
I now am going to quote myself from the article I wrote for the Island Park News this last week, under REFLECTIONS, on the spiritual side of life.
Religion....is serious business! There has been a saying out there that has been around for years, and with it an element of truth. "He (or she) is too religious to be of any earthly good." On the positive side of that, there are those I believe, who are called by God to a deep walk, and who spend their lives in prayer and solitude for that very purpose, praying for the state of the world, the church and us.
Then there are those who are 'religious' in the negative sense of the word. These are those who need to feel superior to others, and have little, authentic self-esteem, or true understanding of faith and its true value. These dear folks live in a black and white world of rules and requirements, focusing most often on the negative, being critical and not knowing the value and meaning of grace.
You see.....there is in faith a place for humor, merriment, joy, happiness and yes, laughter. As you know having been here long enough, like this morning prior to our tithes and offerings, I offer up, or at least try to, a little humor. The potential for humor doesn't stop just because the bell rings and we all take a seat, putting on our stern religious hats that impress no one, especially the Lord Himself.
Last summer I had someone text me, telling me that I was not a stand-up comic and basically needed to stop my little jokes and stories. I texted back that I was not going to stop, and that it took me too many years to allow myself to both know and live out who I am, and was going to simply continue to be my-self. It didn't go over very well, but then I already knew it wouldn't. Also, deciding years ago to not get upset by words and even actions that tried to put me in their place, not mine, but theirs.
Having just come out of Lenten Season, and culminating in the death and resurrection of our Lord, with all its sorrow, tragedy and darkness, we now are to embrace the radiant life of the Lord through His resurrection from the dead. The Lord is Risen! Hallelujah! JOY comes in the morning, having both risen and shown Himself alive. That morning reminds me of the Morning of Creation in Genesis 1:3, "Then God said, "let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed....and morning came, marking the first day.
I find JOY every morning as the darkness turns to light with all its revelation of the heretofore unseen. At times it feels like I am seeing all His Creation for the first time. In the hymn Morning Has Broken always brings me hope and reminds me of that first morning, and the morning of Jesus' resurrection. This song mirrors that morning.
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird,
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
God's re-creation.......of the new day!
Sweet the rain's new fall, Sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dew-fall, on the first grass,
Praise for the sweetness, of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness.....Where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,
Born of the one light, Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, Praise every morning,
God's re-creation......of the New Day!
As a Christian, I am aware that JOY is supposed to be one of the nine components of what is called the Fruit of the Spirit. In other words, all believers are to exhibit JOY the more we walk with the Lord.
I started out with this message, not realizing how often the Spirit would bring to my mind songs and Hymns that express the JOY I am attempting to explain to you. So...here is another, this one expressing walking with Him.
When we walk with the Lord, In the light of His Word,
What glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will,
He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey,
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His SMILE quickly drives it away; not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear can remain....when we trust and obey.
His anger when He has reason for anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but JOY comes with the morning.
Also, as Christians, we have heard countless times that JOY is not to be contingent on our present circumstances, whatever they are, but a certain knowledge that everything will work out for good in the end. Though I do believe this.....I also know that I am fully human, and that there will be times when overwhelmed by either circumstances, events and people, pets dear to us, that sorrow and tears will be a part of my life. In those times I can have a certain deep JOY in knowing the truth of those words, which all things work out for good in the end, but I also know God gave me the ability to feel other emotions, and it is right to express those also. Tears can be healing....a sense of loss can in time be filled by new people, new events, etc., but I also know there will always in this lifetime be, a special place in my heart, mind, spirit and soul, for the memory of my loss, and I cherish that ability, that gift.
We can pick up even more on JOY by reading, knowing that in the International version of the Bible, JOY is used 245 times. RE-JOYCE is used 154 times, telling us over and over, and therefore, it is a vital component of one of the themes in God's Word.
In the Old Testament, worship expressing JOY, REJOICING, HAPPINESS & CELEBRATION was a vital part of the way the people showed God their love and respect for Him. David danced before the Lord without shame or fear of what others thought of him.
I can remember once....and some of you, had you been there might have been embarrassed for or because of me, but I did what I felt I was supposed to do and was blessed because of it. We had recently started the Lander Valley Foursquare Church in Wyoming. (why do I tell you these things?) Anyway.....we were meeting in a Funeral Home Chapel. It was during the worship....and it was so powerful, that I too danced before the Lord...and the people in the congregation. Alone. I couldn't not do it, so strong was the impression by the Spirit to do so. Because of my 'obedience' there was no negative feedback....only positive, because the congregation felt it was of the Lord. I was blessed and as I head back, so were they. Ok...
The words I am now going to share with you comes in part from a sermon by Vance Havner.
The Church suffers today from a saddening lack of simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian JOY. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke.
Although the New Testament centers on the Cross....its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant JOY. It begins with an angel chorus and ends with rejoicing around the throne.
The same church members who yell with great enthusiasm in a sports arena or in their own home....often sit like a stone statue in an outdoor garden in the service on Sunday.
Charles Spurgeon said...."There is a marvelous medicinal power in JOY. Most medicines are distasteful; but his, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart.
I was talking to a Presbyterian the other day who described himself and most (now this was him saying this, not me) as the Frozen Chosen. All I could do was chuckle....
Listen please....I am not up here telling you to be any way in particular. I am telling you, that in this congregation and any other, never make a spectacle of yourself, but you should feel free, if in your genuineness you want to raise your hands, or express in another way that again is genuine....your JOY in the Lord as your strength and happiness.
This summer, we will have people from all over, perhaps the world, each coming from a spiritual background both different, and some the same as ours. In our times of worship, they should feel welcome and comfortable, being themselves, and expressing in worship what they bring with them from their own worship practices. There have been on occasion, (in other churches I have pastored) where I have had to stop people from their particular expression, and a few I even had to have removed from the service. Why? Because in the Spirit, I could discern what they were doing was not of God, but of drawing attention to them-selves.
Here are a few verses I want to close with.
Ecclesiastes 9:7, "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a Joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do."
Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
1 Peter 1:8-9, "Though you have not seen Him, but you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands all you people; shout unto God with cries of JOY!
I will close with this, titled "This is the day"
James Guthrie of Scotland went to the scaffold because of his faith in Christ. In telling his story, Jock Purves, writes, "James Guthrie, through his full and busy life, kept his own personal relationship with Christ in the fresh bloom of when he turned his life over to Christ.
Waking about 4 a.m. on the day he was to be executed, Guthrie spent time in personal worship and prayer, and was asked by his friend James Cowie how he felt. "Very well," replied Guthrie. "This is the day that the Lord has made; I will REJOICE and be glad in it!'"
AMEN
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
" The Covenant of Christ & our Role"
April 28, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
When you hear the word 'teacher' what is your first reaction? Some of that depends on the type of student you were, and maybe still are, or aren't. How many of you were or are teachers? If so, what would you students say about you? Most of us have teachers we remember well for multiple reasons. Some good, some not so good depending on the quality and methodology of the teacher. Some made us want to learn, and some made us want the class over before it even began. Some made the subject we were learning very interesting, and some were so boring we consistently lost interest and had to work to learn mostly on our own.
Mr. Colella made business math very interesting and I seemed to pick it up easily, but when it came to higher math, Algebra, etc., my mind could not calculate and keep track of how to. Mrs. Ramsden made English awesome. Patient, interesting and without her, I could not be putting together sermons and articles such as I do today.
So...today I am taking on the role of a teacher, and to the degree that you find my teaching interesting and done in such a way as to assist you in learning.....I will succeed or fail on both my merits and your interest.
So...again, today you are my students. The first thing a teacher did in small rural schools was ring the bell. All the kids were to stop immediately what they were doing and come into the schoolhouse quietly, and ready to learn. RING THE BELL.
The word teacher does not appear once in the entire Old Testament, and only seven times in the New. But what it says is vitally important and is listed as one of the offices of the New Covenant Church.
The Apostle Paul introduces five distinct offices as Christ's gifts by quoting from Ephesians 4, "When He ascended on high, He led captives in His wake and gave gifts. The gifts given are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, (Ephesians 4:11). James 3:1, in the Amplified Bible reads, "Not many (of you) should become teachers (serving) in an official teaching capacity), my brothers and sisters, for you know that we (who are teachers) will be judged by a higher standard (because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly).
Those are sobering words especially to myself and I think of them as I prepare my message for Sunday's and my study on Friday's. I know I am not perfect by any means, but I do attempt to do as I am instructed as best as is possible.
Today, we are also going to learn the meaning and depth of covenants. In the history of the Jewish people there are a total of five covenants God made with this people group, and they are called the "Five Great Bible Covenants" So, today you are both to be students of history, and coming away with a deeper understanding of the importance of covenants, and the real life-application of taking upon yourself covenants of any kind, but more importantly spiritually, the fifth covenant which we will come to after the fourth.
In form, a covenant is an agreement between two or more people, and involves specific guidelines that are to be kept on the part of each person(s) to the other. The concept of a covenant between God and His people is one of the central themes of the Bible. In the Biblical sense, a covenant implies much more than a contract or a simple agreement.
The word for "covenant" in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into its meaning. It comes from a Hebrew root word that means "to cut" referring to the ancient custom of animals sacrificed to seal the covenant. A very serious matter.....keeping this in mind as in time, we come to the fifth covenant.
A ceremony of some kind always accompanied a spiritual covenant, sometimes those entering into a covenant in those days, shared something as simple as a meal, usually from the slain animal.
I remember as a kid a friend and I each cut our thumbs, holding them together as a seal or covenant (though we did not use that word) that we were and always would be the best of friends.
1. The first actual covenant God made with man was with Noah, and it is called the Noahic Covenant. This covenant between God and Noah came with it the assurance that God would never again bring a flood of such magnitude upon the earth. The Lord singled out Noah from among all his contemporaries and chose him (because he was "the only one who walked with God") as was true of his great-grandfather Enoch. Further saying, "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations" Gen. 6:9
Another part of the covenant involved "the sanctity of life", i.e., that "whoever sheds another person blood, by mankind their blood shall be shed, meaning capital punishment was to be a law to be followed, if indeed the loss of life was deliberate and with malice.
2. The Second Covenant was with Abraham. In making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless his descendants and make them His own special people.....and in return, Abraham was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which in time, God's blessings would flow to the rest of the world. (Genesis 12:1-3) Though Abraham's response is put up as the model of faith, Abraham failed in his original covenant by following the advice of Sara his wife and having a son through Hagar their maid, named Ishmael. And because of his disobedience the descendants of Ishmael, was born the Arab nations, who to this day prove to be a thorn in the side of the Jews. God kept His promise, and through Isaac the Jewish nation was born.
3. The Third Covenant came through Moses, known as the Mosaic Covenant. The story begins with the favorite son of Jacob, also known as Israel. Jealousy of the other eleven sons, they conspired to sell Joseph into slavery. Because of this and over time the resultant Jewish people were captive for over 400 years, made slaves of and cried out to God to save them. He did by many miracles and under the leadership of Moses.
Three months after Pharaoh let the people go, God met with Moses in the burning bush that would not be consumed, on Mount Sinai in the desert. There a covenant was made with Moses, who represented all the Jewish people, giving them the Ten Commandments, which are the foundation of the covenant, but they are not the entirety of it.
Moses then wrote the conditions of the covenant down, offered sacrifices to God, and then sprinkled both the book and the people with blood to seal the covenant. Exo. 24:8 this covenant between God and the people of Israel was temporary.....for God promised a day would come when He would make a New Covenant, not only with Israel but also with all mankind. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant, not only with Israel but also with all mankind, for I will put My law in the their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jer.31:31-34) This promise became the Fifth Covenant.
4, The Fourth Covenant was the “Davidic Covenant”.
This one was with of course King David, in which David and his descendants were established as the royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel. (2 Sam. 7:12-13). This covenant agreement reached its fulfillment when Jesus, a descendant of the line of David, was born in Bethlehem. The Gospel of Matthew starts off by reading “Christ was “the Son of David” (Matthew 1:1) and because of this He had the right to rule not only God’s people, but those who would be adopted into God’s family….the entire populations and peoples of the world.
5. Now we come to the fifth and final covenant, the Covenant of Christ.
The New Covenant or Testament as it is called today makes a clear distinction between the covenant of the Mosaic Law and the Covenant of the Promise. The Apostle Paul spoke of the “two covenants,” one originating from “Mount Sinai”, the other from as he called it, “The Jerusalem above” (Gal.4:24-26) Paul also stated that the covenant established at Mount Sinai was a “ministry of death” and condemnation.” (2nd Corinthians 3:7 & 9) Its purpose was to show that following laws and laws alone, as myriad as they were, it would be impossible based on people’s ability to do so. In not being able to, therefore condemnation for not doing so brought judgement. In Christ….instead of Laws that potentially bring redemption, it is Grace and Grace alone whereby we are accepted into the Kingdome of God.
The New Covenant accomplished what the old could not, i.e., the removal of sin and cleansing of our conscience (Hebrews 10:2, 22) Therefore, the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross thus makes the Old Covenant “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13 and fulfills the promise of the prophet Jeremiah.
In having (those of us who believe) in Jesus Christ, all and who He says He is….are included in that covenant. Unlike the Mosaic Covenant, this New Covenant is intended for all who by personal choice….regardless of race, color of skin, position of power, intellect or wealth, for we are all members of the human race…all.
In the Great Commission Jesus sent His apostles into the far reaches of the earth, to tell the story of redemption through the power of Grace. Our role as is spoken of in the second part of my sermon title, is the call to discipleship. The word “disciple” occurs 269 times in the New Testament. “Christian” is found three times, and was first introduced to refer precisely to the disciples.
The word discipline makes up, except for replacing ‘ine’ with an ‘e’ the word disciple. With every disciple as in the case of Jesus with the twelve is a teacher or a mentor. That is also the role of a pastor in the larger sense, while in a more narrow degree, sometimes one on one. Behind Augustine, there was Monica, his mother. Augustine later called Monica his mother both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Behind Martin Luther was Johann Von Staupitz, professor of Bible at the university in Wittenberg.
Behind John Calvin was William Farel.
Behind me, in my own spiritual walk, the initial beginning and for years, was my Grandmother Stella., but in saying this I certainly do not count myself on the same level as any of these. I am a simple man, called to start four churches, and now pastor here…..to me, that the Lord choose me to do these things are miracles. I have said before, we simply choose to be willing, not perfect….otherwise we would all be eliminated.
I personally, as a minister have received letters and notes from former students/disciples who now are pastors themselves, and some, missionaries in various parts of the world. I am blessed…and count these blessings as gifts from the Lord. We don’t always know the influence we have on others, and hopefully….in and by our everyday walk as disciples, we are pleasing our Lord and God.
Not many are called as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, but all are called as disciples. All are called to learn from the greatest teacher the world has ever known, Jesus Christ. All are called in our lives, to live out those teachings, and be examples of what it is to know, love and serve Him.
All….that…..out of that position as every-day disciples, we are called.
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
" The Covenant of Christ & our Role"
April 28, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
When you hear the word 'teacher' what is your first reaction? Some of that depends on the type of student you were, and maybe still are, or aren't. How many of you were or are teachers? If so, what would you students say about you? Most of us have teachers we remember well for multiple reasons. Some good, some not so good depending on the quality and methodology of the teacher. Some made us want to learn, and some made us want the class over before it even began. Some made the subject we were learning very interesting, and some were so boring we consistently lost interest and had to work to learn mostly on our own.
Mr. Colella made business math very interesting and I seemed to pick it up easily, but when it came to higher math, Algebra, etc., my mind could not calculate and keep track of how to. Mrs. Ramsden made English awesome. Patient, interesting and without her, I could not be putting together sermons and articles such as I do today.
So...today I am taking on the role of a teacher, and to the degree that you find my teaching interesting and done in such a way as to assist you in learning.....I will succeed or fail on both my merits and your interest.
So...again, today you are my students. The first thing a teacher did in small rural schools was ring the bell. All the kids were to stop immediately what they were doing and come into the schoolhouse quietly, and ready to learn. RING THE BELL.
The word teacher does not appear once in the entire Old Testament, and only seven times in the New. But what it says is vitally important and is listed as one of the offices of the New Covenant Church.
The Apostle Paul introduces five distinct offices as Christ's gifts by quoting from Ephesians 4, "When He ascended on high, He led captives in His wake and gave gifts. The gifts given are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, (Ephesians 4:11). James 3:1, in the Amplified Bible reads, "Not many (of you) should become teachers (serving) in an official teaching capacity), my brothers and sisters, for you know that we (who are teachers) will be judged by a higher standard (because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly).
Those are sobering words especially to myself and I think of them as I prepare my message for Sunday's and my study on Friday's. I know I am not perfect by any means, but I do attempt to do as I am instructed as best as is possible.
Today, we are also going to learn the meaning and depth of covenants. In the history of the Jewish people there are a total of five covenants God made with this people group, and they are called the "Five Great Bible Covenants" So, today you are both to be students of history, and coming away with a deeper understanding of the importance of covenants, and the real life-application of taking upon yourself covenants of any kind, but more importantly spiritually, the fifth covenant which we will come to after the fourth.
In form, a covenant is an agreement between two or more people, and involves specific guidelines that are to be kept on the part of each person(s) to the other. The concept of a covenant between God and His people is one of the central themes of the Bible. In the Biblical sense, a covenant implies much more than a contract or a simple agreement.
The word for "covenant" in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into its meaning. It comes from a Hebrew root word that means "to cut" referring to the ancient custom of animals sacrificed to seal the covenant. A very serious matter.....keeping this in mind as in time, we come to the fifth covenant.
A ceremony of some kind always accompanied a spiritual covenant, sometimes those entering into a covenant in those days, shared something as simple as a meal, usually from the slain animal.
I remember as a kid a friend and I each cut our thumbs, holding them together as a seal or covenant (though we did not use that word) that we were and always would be the best of friends.
1. The first actual covenant God made with man was with Noah, and it is called the Noahic Covenant. This covenant between God and Noah came with it the assurance that God would never again bring a flood of such magnitude upon the earth. The Lord singled out Noah from among all his contemporaries and chose him (because he was "the only one who walked with God") as was true of his great-grandfather Enoch. Further saying, "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations" Gen. 6:9
Another part of the covenant involved "the sanctity of life", i.e., that "whoever sheds another person blood, by mankind their blood shall be shed, meaning capital punishment was to be a law to be followed, if indeed the loss of life was deliberate and with malice.
2. The Second Covenant was with Abraham. In making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless his descendants and make them His own special people.....and in return, Abraham was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which in time, God's blessings would flow to the rest of the world. (Genesis 12:1-3) Though Abraham's response is put up as the model of faith, Abraham failed in his original covenant by following the advice of Sara his wife and having a son through Hagar their maid, named Ishmael. And because of his disobedience the descendants of Ishmael, was born the Arab nations, who to this day prove to be a thorn in the side of the Jews. God kept His promise, and through Isaac the Jewish nation was born.
3. The Third Covenant came through Moses, known as the Mosaic Covenant. The story begins with the favorite son of Jacob, also known as Israel. Jealousy of the other eleven sons, they conspired to sell Joseph into slavery. Because of this and over time the resultant Jewish people were captive for over 400 years, made slaves of and cried out to God to save them. He did by many miracles and under the leadership of Moses.
Three months after Pharaoh let the people go, God met with Moses in the burning bush that would not be consumed, on Mount Sinai in the desert. There a covenant was made with Moses, who represented all the Jewish people, giving them the Ten Commandments, which are the foundation of the covenant, but they are not the entirety of it.
Moses then wrote the conditions of the covenant down, offered sacrifices to God, and then sprinkled both the book and the people with blood to seal the covenant. Exo. 24:8 this covenant between God and the people of Israel was temporary.....for God promised a day would come when He would make a New Covenant, not only with Israel but also with all mankind. "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant, not only with Israel but also with all mankind, for I will put My law in the their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jer.31:31-34) This promise became the Fifth Covenant.
4, The Fourth Covenant was the “Davidic Covenant”.
This one was with of course King David, in which David and his descendants were established as the royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel. (2 Sam. 7:12-13). This covenant agreement reached its fulfillment when Jesus, a descendant of the line of David, was born in Bethlehem. The Gospel of Matthew starts off by reading “Christ was “the Son of David” (Matthew 1:1) and because of this He had the right to rule not only God’s people, but those who would be adopted into God’s family….the entire populations and peoples of the world.
5. Now we come to the fifth and final covenant, the Covenant of Christ.
The New Covenant or Testament as it is called today makes a clear distinction between the covenant of the Mosaic Law and the Covenant of the Promise. The Apostle Paul spoke of the “two covenants,” one originating from “Mount Sinai”, the other from as he called it, “The Jerusalem above” (Gal.4:24-26) Paul also stated that the covenant established at Mount Sinai was a “ministry of death” and condemnation.” (2nd Corinthians 3:7 & 9) Its purpose was to show that following laws and laws alone, as myriad as they were, it would be impossible based on people’s ability to do so. In not being able to, therefore condemnation for not doing so brought judgement. In Christ….instead of Laws that potentially bring redemption, it is Grace and Grace alone whereby we are accepted into the Kingdome of God.
The New Covenant accomplished what the old could not, i.e., the removal of sin and cleansing of our conscience (Hebrews 10:2, 22) Therefore, the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross thus makes the Old Covenant “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13 and fulfills the promise of the prophet Jeremiah.
In having (those of us who believe) in Jesus Christ, all and who He says He is….are included in that covenant. Unlike the Mosaic Covenant, this New Covenant is intended for all who by personal choice….regardless of race, color of skin, position of power, intellect or wealth, for we are all members of the human race…all.
In the Great Commission Jesus sent His apostles into the far reaches of the earth, to tell the story of redemption through the power of Grace. Our role as is spoken of in the second part of my sermon title, is the call to discipleship. The word “disciple” occurs 269 times in the New Testament. “Christian” is found three times, and was first introduced to refer precisely to the disciples.
The word discipline makes up, except for replacing ‘ine’ with an ‘e’ the word disciple. With every disciple as in the case of Jesus with the twelve is a teacher or a mentor. That is also the role of a pastor in the larger sense, while in a more narrow degree, sometimes one on one. Behind Augustine, there was Monica, his mother. Augustine later called Monica his mother both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Behind Martin Luther was Johann Von Staupitz, professor of Bible at the university in Wittenberg.
Behind John Calvin was William Farel.
Behind me, in my own spiritual walk, the initial beginning and for years, was my Grandmother Stella., but in saying this I certainly do not count myself on the same level as any of these. I am a simple man, called to start four churches, and now pastor here…..to me, that the Lord choose me to do these things are miracles. I have said before, we simply choose to be willing, not perfect….otherwise we would all be eliminated.
I personally, as a minister have received letters and notes from former students/disciples who now are pastors themselves, and some, missionaries in various parts of the world. I am blessed…and count these blessings as gifts from the Lord. We don’t always know the influence we have on others, and hopefully….in and by our everyday walk as disciples, we are pleasing our Lord and God.
Not many are called as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, but all are called as disciples. All are called to learn from the greatest teacher the world has ever known, Jesus Christ. All are called in our lives, to live out those teachings, and be examples of what it is to know, love and serve Him.
All….that…..out of that position as every-day disciples, we are called.
The Little Church in the Pines
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Easter Sunday
April 21, 2019
"I AM The RESURRECTION and The life"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 11:25 "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." Do you believe this, Martha he asks her? I will tell you how she replies later.
_____My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in coercion. You see, we, you and I have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences and paragraphs, perhaps even whole books because we have become familiar with them. They just go phhht, without giving them serious thought, let alone contemplation. We say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve heard that before, many times.” “I got it!” Well….you may have some of it, but there is always, and I mean always something to learn in rereading and hearing more than once, twice or more. Fresh revelations are like that…they come be hearing, really hearing.
_____I will be breaking this sermon up a bit by speaking so called intellectually, not that I am an intellectual) but with knowledge and reasoning. I will also be speaking spiritually and experiential.....and with some practical application.
_____So, let's start out with the first two words of this declaration. They are “I AM!” Now, the first place we hear these two words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking Him His name. God’s answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and intent. It is one of the most famous verses in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. It is both literally present tense, and future tense. Concerning today and tomorrow. Putting the two together God’s answer reads clearly, "I Am Who I Am" and in the King James Bible, "I Am that I Am!" and therefore, there is nothing more (according to God) that needs to be said as to who He is. He is!
_____In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, it is written, “I AM that exists, and will exist.”
_____There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction of Himself, in regards as to not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I AM. He said, “When you see me, you are seeing the Father.” THEY are the Great I AM. This divine name is mysterious just as God in all His greatness is a mystery. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time, something like the refusal of stating His name, and hence it expresses God as what he is....(infinitely above everything that we can understand or say): he is in some sense, the "hidden God, who, now, not so subtlety reveals Himself in Jesus!
_____This is a revelation of God, that the Hebrews have not seen before Jesus, at least to this degree, and this is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God. This God was too human, and therefore could not be God at all. They wanted a conquering political warrior who would come in majesty and might!
So...He, Jesus, in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God! No doubt about it! No, not at all!
_____Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, (in the second part of this verse, he says, “The Resurrection and the Life.” This He establishes before His crucifixion, as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up! Coming back to life, and this is the central core of Christianity, for without the Resurrection, he is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if he was just a man, but HE WASN'T an ordinary man, He was and is the Great I Am.
_____Was Jesus the first man to be resurrected? No! In fact He had brought back from the dead the young man at whose funeral he had intervened in, and of course Lazarus, who had been dead four days and being in desert country we are told he stunk, so long was he dead! We...who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which the majority of Christianity does) firmly and with JOY believes in and adheres to as fact….His Resurrection.
_____Paul said, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, and called the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, we are blessed and rejoice in the Lord of our Salvation, who is also our brother and our friend. I like that!
_____During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, commissioned his Twelve Apostles to, among other things, raise the dead. Whether they did or not, we do not know for sure, but they did come back rejoicing the power of what the Holy Spirit had done through them. In doing this, he most certainly equipped them to do so, as I said, by the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
_____If you....do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider these words today. Believing is faith, then comes proof by what the Lord trough His Spirit does in us, by changing us from the inside out. For once you ask, or simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are immediately a member of the family of God. Simply said....a "Believer."
_____Do I offer you proof? All I can offer you are His own words, and the testimony of millions, and now in the billions of those who believed and believe by experiencing a change, through His life, His teachings, His miracles, His ministry, His crucifixion, His death.....and His resurrection, and the testimony of my own words as to the reality of my faith, trust and love for Him, as he continues to walk with me, talk with me, along this pathway of life. The rest, your belief and your faith are your choice and yours alone.
_____And now....we move on to the third part of, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.” "The Life." What exactly is “The Life” of which He is speaking? There is a movie a couple of years old now, named "Rotten Tomatoes." In this movie a son who has a monster for a father, (his words) who comes to accept Christ as His Savior and Redeemer. I think it is Dennis Quaid that plays the father. The movie is about the redemption and dramatic change in his father.....and because of this, and the changes God made in this man, based on a true story, many who see it are deeply moved and come to believe in Jesus, because of the testimony of the father and the son. The son writes a song that is the theme for this movie called "I Can Only Imagine'.
READ (SING)
_____There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very rich and extremely poor, whose lives have been changed, some drastically, some subtly, but never not at all. The degree to which one changes is equal to the degree that you choose to get to know just who this "I Am, the Resurrection and The Life" is. To what depth you want to know Him is the depth to which you will know Him. If you put as much time into taking the time apart, to read, meditate, pray, be in fellowship with others who know Him, as we do, in let's say, watching TV, or any other myriad of activities, we will come to know Him, well…..quite intimately.
_____I finish this simple message with His words that complete today's Scriptural foundation for this teaching. "Anyone, anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying, where there is no second death. Everyone, who lives in Me, and believes in Me, will never die that second death. Do you believe this Martha?" He asks? She replied, “”Yes, Lord, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Do you believe? That….is my question to you.
_____For we all die, but like Him, and in Him, we will....have life after this life.
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELEBRATE TODAY!!
Amen
What does the resurrection mean to and for you?
You need more in your life than you have now….you need direction and help, well….He said, “I am the way the truth, and the life! So ask Him? It’s just that simple.
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Easter Sunday
April 21, 2019
"I AM The RESURRECTION and The life"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 11:25 "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." Do you believe this, Martha he asks her? I will tell you how she replies later.
_____My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in coercion. You see, we, you and I have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences and paragraphs, perhaps even whole books because we have become familiar with them. They just go phhht, without giving them serious thought, let alone contemplation. We say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve heard that before, many times.” “I got it!” Well….you may have some of it, but there is always, and I mean always something to learn in rereading and hearing more than once, twice or more. Fresh revelations are like that…they come be hearing, really hearing.
_____I will be breaking this sermon up a bit by speaking so called intellectually, not that I am an intellectual) but with knowledge and reasoning. I will also be speaking spiritually and experiential.....and with some practical application.
_____So, let's start out with the first two words of this declaration. They are “I AM!” Now, the first place we hear these two words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking Him His name. God’s answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and intent. It is one of the most famous verses in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. It is both literally present tense, and future tense. Concerning today and tomorrow. Putting the two together God’s answer reads clearly, "I Am Who I Am" and in the King James Bible, "I Am that I Am!" and therefore, there is nothing more (according to God) that needs to be said as to who He is. He is!
_____In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, it is written, “I AM that exists, and will exist.”
_____There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction of Himself, in regards as to not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I AM. He said, “When you see me, you are seeing the Father.” THEY are the Great I AM. This divine name is mysterious just as God in all His greatness is a mystery. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time, something like the refusal of stating His name, and hence it expresses God as what he is....(infinitely above everything that we can understand or say): he is in some sense, the "hidden God, who, now, not so subtlety reveals Himself in Jesus!
_____This is a revelation of God, that the Hebrews have not seen before Jesus, at least to this degree, and this is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God. This God was too human, and therefore could not be God at all. They wanted a conquering political warrior who would come in majesty and might!
So...He, Jesus, in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God! No doubt about it! No, not at all!
_____Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, (in the second part of this verse, he says, “The Resurrection and the Life.” This He establishes before His crucifixion, as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up! Coming back to life, and this is the central core of Christianity, for without the Resurrection, he is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if he was just a man, but HE WASN'T an ordinary man, He was and is the Great I Am.
_____Was Jesus the first man to be resurrected? No! In fact He had brought back from the dead the young man at whose funeral he had intervened in, and of course Lazarus, who had been dead four days and being in desert country we are told he stunk, so long was he dead! We...who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which the majority of Christianity does) firmly and with JOY believes in and adheres to as fact….His Resurrection.
_____Paul said, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, and called the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, we are blessed and rejoice in the Lord of our Salvation, who is also our brother and our friend. I like that!
_____During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, commissioned his Twelve Apostles to, among other things, raise the dead. Whether they did or not, we do not know for sure, but they did come back rejoicing the power of what the Holy Spirit had done through them. In doing this, he most certainly equipped them to do so, as I said, by the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
_____If you....do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider these words today. Believing is faith, then comes proof by what the Lord trough His Spirit does in us, by changing us from the inside out. For once you ask, or simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are immediately a member of the family of God. Simply said....a "Believer."
_____Do I offer you proof? All I can offer you are His own words, and the testimony of millions, and now in the billions of those who believed and believe by experiencing a change, through His life, His teachings, His miracles, His ministry, His crucifixion, His death.....and His resurrection, and the testimony of my own words as to the reality of my faith, trust and love for Him, as he continues to walk with me, talk with me, along this pathway of life. The rest, your belief and your faith are your choice and yours alone.
_____And now....we move on to the third part of, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.” "The Life." What exactly is “The Life” of which He is speaking? There is a movie a couple of years old now, named "Rotten Tomatoes." In this movie a son who has a monster for a father, (his words) who comes to accept Christ as His Savior and Redeemer. I think it is Dennis Quaid that plays the father. The movie is about the redemption and dramatic change in his father.....and because of this, and the changes God made in this man, based on a true story, many who see it are deeply moved and come to believe in Jesus, because of the testimony of the father and the son. The son writes a song that is the theme for this movie called "I Can Only Imagine'.
READ (SING)
_____There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very rich and extremely poor, whose lives have been changed, some drastically, some subtly, but never not at all. The degree to which one changes is equal to the degree that you choose to get to know just who this "I Am, the Resurrection and The Life" is. To what depth you want to know Him is the depth to which you will know Him. If you put as much time into taking the time apart, to read, meditate, pray, be in fellowship with others who know Him, as we do, in let's say, watching TV, or any other myriad of activities, we will come to know Him, well…..quite intimately.
_____I finish this simple message with His words that complete today's Scriptural foundation for this teaching. "Anyone, anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying, where there is no second death. Everyone, who lives in Me, and believes in Me, will never die that second death. Do you believe this Martha?" He asks? She replied, “”Yes, Lord, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Do you believe? That….is my question to you.
_____For we all die, but like Him, and in Him, we will....have life after this life.
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELEBRATE TODAY!!
Amen
What does the resurrection mean to and for you?
You need more in your life than you have now….you need direction and help, well….He said, “I am the way the truth, and the life! So ask Him? It’s just that simple.
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Palm Sunday ~ the 'Prelude' to Easter"
April 14, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
What you just heard was a prelude to my message this Palm Sunday morning. The technical meaning for the word prelude, is "an action, be it a musical arrangement, an event or a person, serving as an introduction to something more important to come. Whether person, event or musical arrangement, or all three, usually is an indication of what yet is to occur. “Palm Sunday” is the event and Jesus Christ the person that occurred on what has become known by, the so-called Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that fateful day. The main event was yet to come, which would follow a week later in Jesus' death on the cross....culminating on the third day in His resurrection from the dead.
We first hear of this singular event 400 years before its occurrence in Zechariah 9:9, in one long verse titled, The Coming King. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."
A donkey.....what supposed king would ride through a crowd of people on donkey? You would think instead of having His disciples choose a donkey, the colt or foal of a donkey, He would have had them find a muscular, prancing, proud horse, but no, not this king. Instead He sent His disciples into Bethpage, about a mile from where they were staying. Bethpage was a mile from Jerusalem, sitting at the foot of the Mount of Olives. This particular colt we are told was unbroken, never ridden by a person.
This is Jesus as we have come to know Him. Humble, not ever seeking deliberately the limelight. His miracles and good works always focused on a need, a human need, a touch from His hand, from His heart. Ever working to teach, open the eyes and ears of those He encountered every day, everywhere He went, with a new, both personal and powerful revelation of God His Father, and theirs. We find in just a short amount of time, that even though He did many remarkable events, and taught as no man had every taught before Him, that many of those very people, men, women and children, who shouted Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, the following week would be condemning Him, spitting at Him, throwing dust instead of Palm branches in the air. Instead of throwing their clothing across His pathway, would rent them, shout and screaming condemnation. Such is the behavior of those whose expectations are not met, especially when caught up in the high-running emotions of a crowd.
These fickle people really did not want a new revelation of God, as they did not desire to be changed in their hearts, but as their religious leaders had taught for centuries, they wanted and craved a conquering Messiah, not a humble, caring and loving Messiah. The freedom they sought was not freedom from sin, but freedom from the heel of the Roman Empire. Many of them were undoubtedly touched by His teachings, miracles and persona, but with their expectations came disappointment when not fulfilled. Disappointment because frustration, and frustration brought with it anger, and their anger brought with it rage, and rage brings with it ramifications that often brings harm and even death.
You may wonder why the crowd was so large that day and so seemingly receptive, super charged and overt in their praise. A large part of it was due to shortly before this event; Jesus had raised a dead man to life after 4 days of being in the tomb. This event, because there were witnesses, reliable ones, swept like wildfire through Jerusalem. Therefore they came not only because of Him, but because they might also see Lazarus.
The chief priest and religious leaders were furious, and from that point on planned to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus, not believing but seeing it as a ruse. Had it not been for the spectacular raising of Lazarus, Jesus might have received a very different reaction that day.
Messianic hopes were almost at a fever pitch, the news continuing to spread, especially as this was the time to celebrate the Passover, which was the event during their captivity in Egypt that was a prelude to gaining their freedom from slavery. At this time there were approximately 30,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem, but during Passover the population multiplied significantly, estimating that approximately 180,000 Jews and non-Jews were filling the city. Four to six times the population, and with that you can imagine how quickly the voices carried the miracle of a man coming back from the dead, and that the teacher Jesus was responsible.
I think this event of that Friday during Passover, because of its brevity, and eventually seen as what it was, which was more of an Un-Triumphal event, for it turned very quickly. The Lord Himself knew what was coming, knowing it was short-lived, and was preparing Himself in His heart and mind, and eventually His disciples for what was to comes, in as much as they could grasp. These were Jesus' words just a little further on found in Matthew's account of this event. Matthew 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing."
These words of Jesus should strike at our own hearts, when we, like those who killed the prophets, and Jesus Himself being one of those prophets, at times turn on those individuals who do not meet our expectations. All the Jews had to do was read their own prophets, who spoke of this humble Messiah, as well as the conquering Messiah, who being the same person, would one day return again, and fulfill each and every one of the conquering Messianic prophecies as He did the Suffering Messiah. Every single one!
This lesson can mean a changed life, application, and one all of us should pay close attention to. We are unable to read the past of people's lives that made them and us, into who they and we are today. There are some things I could share with you about myself and how I grew up, and events that happened to me that I am sure would make you more sympathetic to my weaknesses and sometimes failures. We, like Jesus should be more understanding and sympathetic than what we often are. Then, there are those of us, who because they and we, were successful in overcoming their and own difficult backgrounds, judge others far too harshly when it seems those who seem unable to do so, don't.
We Christians....are to be the most understanding, and loving and accepting people on the face of this planet. Jesus touched the outcast, the untouchables, the rejected, the everyday person and even the rich. He, yes, He knew everything there was to know about each individual, and why they were who they were, and because of that, there was not one person who was persona-non-grata. No...not one. We do not need to know everything about someone; we just simply need to be people of faith and therefore people of grace.
If someone disappoints us, we should then think of the times we disappointed someone else, not giving and sharing grace, but instead unkind and ungodly thoughts and sometimes words, hurting the recipient of our un-grace even more than they already are. If, we claim to be His followers, we are called to be and do no less than He Himself would say and do. Doing so.....we then can expect a triumphal walk in the Kingdom of Heaven, pleasing our Lord all along the way. They will know we are Christians, yes, by our love, by our love, yes, they know we are Christians by our love.
Jesus is remembered by His wisdom, His teachings and His reaching out to all peoples, and to all nations and to all who accept and know who He is. How do people remember us, when they do? What things do they say about us? I am not talking about after we are gone, but today, while yet alive? Does it matter to you? What kind of person do you think you are thought of as?
Are we triumphant in overcoming those things in us that need to be overcome? It may take a lifetime, and our success is not determined by it being gone, but by and through the help of the Lord being able to not succumb.
That Palm Sunday...as people were waving Palm branches and shouting Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!!! and though it was short-lived, my hope and prayer is that in the midst of those many who were there, there were some who fell so in love with the Savior, that their lives were changed forever. That on that Good Friday to follow, when their hearts were broken, and tears flowed as they watched this godly, God/man literally being broken for them, they, from that day forward followed Him, attempting to be like Him, loving Him as they never loved anyone before, bringing JOY to Him because of their devotion.
Today.....this day, we can look back and more fully understand the importance in fulfilling prophecy, and the importance of the event itself being a prelude to what was to come next. Retrospection is a gift in being able to grasp historic events and people and their significance. This is one that we celebrate every year to keep it significant, alive and vibrant. By this and what is yet to come, our spiritual lives, which include faith, hope and love can undergird and strengthen our personal and collective daily lives both in the Spirit and in the natural. If....we will let it. If we will let Him! The question is, will we?
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"Palm Sunday ~ the 'Prelude' to Easter"
April 14, 2019
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
What you just heard was a prelude to my message this Palm Sunday morning. The technical meaning for the word prelude, is "an action, be it a musical arrangement, an event or a person, serving as an introduction to something more important to come. Whether person, event or musical arrangement, or all three, usually is an indication of what yet is to occur. “Palm Sunday” is the event and Jesus Christ the person that occurred on what has become known by, the so-called Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that fateful day. The main event was yet to come, which would follow a week later in Jesus' death on the cross....culminating on the third day in His resurrection from the dead.
We first hear of this singular event 400 years before its occurrence in Zechariah 9:9, in one long verse titled, The Coming King. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."
A donkey.....what supposed king would ride through a crowd of people on donkey? You would think instead of having His disciples choose a donkey, the colt or foal of a donkey, He would have had them find a muscular, prancing, proud horse, but no, not this king. Instead He sent His disciples into Bethpage, about a mile from where they were staying. Bethpage was a mile from Jerusalem, sitting at the foot of the Mount of Olives. This particular colt we are told was unbroken, never ridden by a person.
This is Jesus as we have come to know Him. Humble, not ever seeking deliberately the limelight. His miracles and good works always focused on a need, a human need, a touch from His hand, from His heart. Ever working to teach, open the eyes and ears of those He encountered every day, everywhere He went, with a new, both personal and powerful revelation of God His Father, and theirs. We find in just a short amount of time, that even though He did many remarkable events, and taught as no man had every taught before Him, that many of those very people, men, women and children, who shouted Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, the following week would be condemning Him, spitting at Him, throwing dust instead of Palm branches in the air. Instead of throwing their clothing across His pathway, would rent them, shout and screaming condemnation. Such is the behavior of those whose expectations are not met, especially when caught up in the high-running emotions of a crowd.
These fickle people really did not want a new revelation of God, as they did not desire to be changed in their hearts, but as their religious leaders had taught for centuries, they wanted and craved a conquering Messiah, not a humble, caring and loving Messiah. The freedom they sought was not freedom from sin, but freedom from the heel of the Roman Empire. Many of them were undoubtedly touched by His teachings, miracles and persona, but with their expectations came disappointment when not fulfilled. Disappointment because frustration, and frustration brought with it anger, and their anger brought with it rage, and rage brings with it ramifications that often brings harm and even death.
You may wonder why the crowd was so large that day and so seemingly receptive, super charged and overt in their praise. A large part of it was due to shortly before this event; Jesus had raised a dead man to life after 4 days of being in the tomb. This event, because there were witnesses, reliable ones, swept like wildfire through Jerusalem. Therefore they came not only because of Him, but because they might also see Lazarus.
The chief priest and religious leaders were furious, and from that point on planned to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus, not believing but seeing it as a ruse. Had it not been for the spectacular raising of Lazarus, Jesus might have received a very different reaction that day.
Messianic hopes were almost at a fever pitch, the news continuing to spread, especially as this was the time to celebrate the Passover, which was the event during their captivity in Egypt that was a prelude to gaining their freedom from slavery. At this time there were approximately 30,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem, but during Passover the population multiplied significantly, estimating that approximately 180,000 Jews and non-Jews were filling the city. Four to six times the population, and with that you can imagine how quickly the voices carried the miracle of a man coming back from the dead, and that the teacher Jesus was responsible.
I think this event of that Friday during Passover, because of its brevity, and eventually seen as what it was, which was more of an Un-Triumphal event, for it turned very quickly. The Lord Himself knew what was coming, knowing it was short-lived, and was preparing Himself in His heart and mind, and eventually His disciples for what was to comes, in as much as they could grasp. These were Jesus' words just a little further on found in Matthew's account of this event. Matthew 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing."
These words of Jesus should strike at our own hearts, when we, like those who killed the prophets, and Jesus Himself being one of those prophets, at times turn on those individuals who do not meet our expectations. All the Jews had to do was read their own prophets, who spoke of this humble Messiah, as well as the conquering Messiah, who being the same person, would one day return again, and fulfill each and every one of the conquering Messianic prophecies as He did the Suffering Messiah. Every single one!
This lesson can mean a changed life, application, and one all of us should pay close attention to. We are unable to read the past of people's lives that made them and us, into who they and we are today. There are some things I could share with you about myself and how I grew up, and events that happened to me that I am sure would make you more sympathetic to my weaknesses and sometimes failures. We, like Jesus should be more understanding and sympathetic than what we often are. Then, there are those of us, who because they and we, were successful in overcoming their and own difficult backgrounds, judge others far too harshly when it seems those who seem unable to do so, don't.
We Christians....are to be the most understanding, and loving and accepting people on the face of this planet. Jesus touched the outcast, the untouchables, the rejected, the everyday person and even the rich. He, yes, He knew everything there was to know about each individual, and why they were who they were, and because of that, there was not one person who was persona-non-grata. No...not one. We do not need to know everything about someone; we just simply need to be people of faith and therefore people of grace.
If someone disappoints us, we should then think of the times we disappointed someone else, not giving and sharing grace, but instead unkind and ungodly thoughts and sometimes words, hurting the recipient of our un-grace even more than they already are. If, we claim to be His followers, we are called to be and do no less than He Himself would say and do. Doing so.....we then can expect a triumphal walk in the Kingdom of Heaven, pleasing our Lord all along the way. They will know we are Christians, yes, by our love, by our love, yes, they know we are Christians by our love.
Jesus is remembered by His wisdom, His teachings and His reaching out to all peoples, and to all nations and to all who accept and know who He is. How do people remember us, when they do? What things do they say about us? I am not talking about after we are gone, but today, while yet alive? Does it matter to you? What kind of person do you think you are thought of as?
Are we triumphant in overcoming those things in us that need to be overcome? It may take a lifetime, and our success is not determined by it being gone, but by and through the help of the Lord being able to not succumb.
That Palm Sunday...as people were waving Palm branches and shouting Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!!! and though it was short-lived, my hope and prayer is that in the midst of those many who were there, there were some who fell so in love with the Savior, that their lives were changed forever. That on that Good Friday to follow, when their hearts were broken, and tears flowed as they watched this godly, God/man literally being broken for them, they, from that day forward followed Him, attempting to be like Him, loving Him as they never loved anyone before, bringing JOY to Him because of their devotion.
Today.....this day, we can look back and more fully understand the importance in fulfilling prophecy, and the importance of the event itself being a prelude to what was to come next. Retrospection is a gift in being able to grasp historic events and people and their significance. This is one that we celebrate every year to keep it significant, alive and vibrant. By this and what is yet to come, our spiritual lives, which include faith, hope and love can undergird and strengthen our personal and collective daily lives both in the Spirit and in the natural. If....we will let it. If we will let Him! The question is, will we?
The Little "log" Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
April 14, 2019
SERMON: SUBMISSION ~ OBEDIENCE ~ RESISTANCE
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
Submission, a word full of meaning, and deeply intentional in that meaning. It is also a word that rankles many without realizing in spiritual matter, in secular and in particular government, it is vital to both a healthy spiritual life and an orderly and healthy society. If mankind is given free reign, to express his or her feelings and ways of handling issues that affect us all, we are doomed. History tells us this if we would take the time to study it. Today....boundaries are being torn down, laws are not being followed, even by those who are in the position to dispense and critically enforce them.
The church is reeling and societies all over the world are reeling, trying to administer order, when at the same time doing away with the very boundaries that prevented chaos. It seems we humans are hell-bent on ignoring history and repeating it. Absolutes are no longer recognized as such, and therefore societies and individuals are confused, and do not want anyone to control their actions/behavior, given free reign as they say their rights are being trampled on.
So, what does it mean in the spiritual realm to submit to God? The biblical concept of submission is to place oneself under the authority of another. When we submit to God, we give our lives (every aspect) to His authority and control, using the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ to be our absolutes and guide.
The very first way to submit to God is through believing in Jesus as God's Son, who lived, died and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. Romans 10:9 states, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
The second way to submit to God is through another word that we often find difficult to fulfill. Anyone guess what that word is? Ok, I will tell you. Obedience, which then what follows is the second step having believed in the Christ, comes baptism. It is the outward act that speaks to the world around us of the inward acceptance of our choice to follow him. Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all thngs that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with always, even to the end of the age." Amen
In addition to baptism, the Bible clearly teaches other ways to obey God. Just as a child seeks to obey his or her parent to show love and respect, we are called to submit to God through loving obedience to His commands.
The third way to submit to God is to learn more about Him. Psalm 1:1-6 offers the example of a godly person whose life is submitted to God. READ.
Those who love God submit to Him through a life that seeks to better know Him each day...each and every day.
A fourth way to submit to God is how we treat one another. For example, Ephesians 5:21 speaks of "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Not because we will to, but because we are told to do so. Our goal should be "to treat others as we desire to be treated." To show His love, grace and mercy at all times. Not to spread gossip and division. Romans 16:17 states clearly, "My friends, I beg you to watch out for those who cause trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them!
Matthew 18:15-17. "If your brother (or sister) sins against you go and tell him or their fault, between you and them alone. If you are listened to, you have gained he or she, or both back. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of witnesses. If refused, tell it to the church. And if again refusing to even listen to the church let him or her be to you as a Gentile or tax collector.
This tells us very clearly that harmony and unity are vitally important in the Church of Jesus Christ.
A fifth way to submit to God is how we share Him with others. For example, when the woman at the well was changed by her encounter with Jesus, she immediately left her water jar, ran to the village, and told others. "Come; see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" Her submission to the Lord included sharing Him and what he did with others. It does not have to be some momentous event, but it can be the taking away of resentment, anger, bitterness, leaving you a changed man or woman on the inside...becoming manifested in your outlook and behavior.
ALL areas of our lives are to be submitted to the Lord and placed under his authority, manifested by the new man or woman we are becoming every day. Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
1st Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you."
Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with JOY and not with GROANING, for that would be of no advantage to you."
OBEDIENCE...................in obedience is safety. In obedience is love. In obedience is understanding. In obedience is devotion. With submission comes obedience, for, Obedience is, the very best thing.
“The Obedience of Samson” This is a rather long illustration but one that speaks to the core of the true meaning of obedience.
THE PROBLEM WITH SAMSON. read....
The real test of our Christianity isn't seen in our work or activity, or even in our theological purity. It's found in this: when we have an opportunity to wander away, to disobey, to leave his presence, do we choose instead to stay inside the safety of our spiritual dwelling or open the door to what beckons us outside?
The fifth commandment instructs us to honor our earthly father and mother Exodus 20:12, and that command is repeated in Ephesians 6:1, with the added instruction to "obey." God is our Heavenly Father, and we should honor and obey Him, as we should as children our earthly father. Obedience to God proves our relationship with Him is as it should be, and we demonstrate our love and faithfulness though obedience, also.
John 15:10, Jesus said, "if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Obedience is a command, and it is linked securely to love and joy.
If....our faith in God is genuine, we will live a lifestyle characterized by holiness, modeling the example set for us by Jesus Christ Himself. Think of the myriad of ways that he did so!
1. How was his behavior towards those who ridiculed him, spoke evil of him, tried to entrap him, beat him, spat on him, eventually killing him? * He never raised his voice, was angry overtly only once, and that was not because of what was being done to him, but how the house or temple of God was being abused, and secularized.
2. He gave and gave and gave of Himself often to the point of exhaustion.
3. He had no resentment toward anyone, except for those religious leaders who held themselves, to be better than those they were supposed to serve and shepherd.
4. He never professed to be emotionally hurt, His feelings never taking authority over his thoughts and truths he professed. Being hurt is a superficial reaction that can (if held on to) can cause resentment, bitterness and even hatred. These emotions when nurtured and fed are NOT of God.
If our faith in God is genuine....we will be models in both word and deed of the examples he set for us.
RESIST.....ok, I go to the gym, a rather nice one, though being nice does not make going and working out any easier. I am not one of those who LOVE working out. In fact at times I can barely get through my specific workout on the treadmill, then on about a dozen machines that seem to exist to resist my every forward action. And resist they do, very well. I also have to admit to some days (because I can) lessen the degree of their resistance. Those days are not quite so painful.
The mayor of South Bend Indiana last week spoke on resisting. Saying that his goal is to do away with resistance, for all it does is stop progress and cause pain. How in the world he ever arrived at as that as one of his goals, stupefied me. It is in resistance that we grow. It is in resistance that we develop muscle, maintain flexibility. It is in resistance that we push through and learn not only what we should not do, but a better way to push on. Resistance is sometimes equal to failure. Instead of giving up, and giving in, we push forward to maintain and create.
Think of (and this always amazes me) when I am walking down a blacktop road. I see little bumps, knowing that under that thick asphalt is a tiny little plant sending a shoot, pushing its way through that hard surface until it finally breaks forth with a tiny stem and leaf into the sun.
Think also of a butterfly, who only but pushing against the resistance of its cocoon can it develop the wings that will one day lift it into the sky, able in the strength it will develop enable it fly hundreds of miles, perhaps thousands against wind, rain and all other resistance that tries to stop it
In regards to our everyday lives, and our spiritual well-being we go back to where we started in James 4:7, "Submit your selves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We are as Christians, members of the 'resistance' against evil and wrong doing. It began in the beginning and will continue unto the end of the age of man, and the beginning of the true reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What we cannot do on our own in the resistance, we can do all things in Christ who gives us strength to overcome the call of evil. Over and over, the Bible tells us that God blesses and rewards obedience through resistance.
James 1:22-25 says it perfectly: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror for he looks at himself and goes way and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, will be blessed in their doing."
Obedience by resistance enables us to live a life of joy, without shame, rooted deeply in the Lord and confident in our eternal hope. "
There is the Good News and with this, the Good, Good News, in that God is gracious or grace dispensing as it says in Hebrews 10:16-17, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,' then He adds, 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'"
Submission, then Obedience through resistance.........God is good, all the time. Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
April 14, 2019
SERMON: SUBMISSION ~ OBEDIENCE ~ RESISTANCE
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
Submission, a word full of meaning, and deeply intentional in that meaning. It is also a word that rankles many without realizing in spiritual matter, in secular and in particular government, it is vital to both a healthy spiritual life and an orderly and healthy society. If mankind is given free reign, to express his or her feelings and ways of handling issues that affect us all, we are doomed. History tells us this if we would take the time to study it. Today....boundaries are being torn down, laws are not being followed, even by those who are in the position to dispense and critically enforce them.
The church is reeling and societies all over the world are reeling, trying to administer order, when at the same time doing away with the very boundaries that prevented chaos. It seems we humans are hell-bent on ignoring history and repeating it. Absolutes are no longer recognized as such, and therefore societies and individuals are confused, and do not want anyone to control their actions/behavior, given free reign as they say their rights are being trampled on.
So, what does it mean in the spiritual realm to submit to God? The biblical concept of submission is to place oneself under the authority of another. When we submit to God, we give our lives (every aspect) to His authority and control, using the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ to be our absolutes and guide.
The very first way to submit to God is through believing in Jesus as God's Son, who lived, died and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. Romans 10:9 states, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
The second way to submit to God is through another word that we often find difficult to fulfill. Anyone guess what that word is? Ok, I will tell you. Obedience, which then what follows is the second step having believed in the Christ, comes baptism. It is the outward act that speaks to the world around us of the inward acceptance of our choice to follow him. Matthew 28:19-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all thngs that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with always, even to the end of the age." Amen
In addition to baptism, the Bible clearly teaches other ways to obey God. Just as a child seeks to obey his or her parent to show love and respect, we are called to submit to God through loving obedience to His commands.
The third way to submit to God is to learn more about Him. Psalm 1:1-6 offers the example of a godly person whose life is submitted to God. READ.
Those who love God submit to Him through a life that seeks to better know Him each day...each and every day.
A fourth way to submit to God is how we treat one another. For example, Ephesians 5:21 speaks of "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Not because we will to, but because we are told to do so. Our goal should be "to treat others as we desire to be treated." To show His love, grace and mercy at all times. Not to spread gossip and division. Romans 16:17 states clearly, "My friends, I beg you to watch out for those who cause trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them!
Matthew 18:15-17. "If your brother (or sister) sins against you go and tell him or their fault, between you and them alone. If you are listened to, you have gained he or she, or both back. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of witnesses. If refused, tell it to the church. And if again refusing to even listen to the church let him or her be to you as a Gentile or tax collector.
This tells us very clearly that harmony and unity are vitally important in the Church of Jesus Christ.
A fifth way to submit to God is how we share Him with others. For example, when the woman at the well was changed by her encounter with Jesus, she immediately left her water jar, ran to the village, and told others. "Come; see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" Her submission to the Lord included sharing Him and what he did with others. It does not have to be some momentous event, but it can be the taking away of resentment, anger, bitterness, leaving you a changed man or woman on the inside...becoming manifested in your outlook and behavior.
ALL areas of our lives are to be submitted to the Lord and placed under his authority, manifested by the new man or woman we are becoming every day. Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
1st Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you."
Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with JOY and not with GROANING, for that would be of no advantage to you."
OBEDIENCE...................in obedience is safety. In obedience is love. In obedience is understanding. In obedience is devotion. With submission comes obedience, for, Obedience is, the very best thing.
“The Obedience of Samson” This is a rather long illustration but one that speaks to the core of the true meaning of obedience.
THE PROBLEM WITH SAMSON. read....
The real test of our Christianity isn't seen in our work or activity, or even in our theological purity. It's found in this: when we have an opportunity to wander away, to disobey, to leave his presence, do we choose instead to stay inside the safety of our spiritual dwelling or open the door to what beckons us outside?
The fifth commandment instructs us to honor our earthly father and mother Exodus 20:12, and that command is repeated in Ephesians 6:1, with the added instruction to "obey." God is our Heavenly Father, and we should honor and obey Him, as we should as children our earthly father. Obedience to God proves our relationship with Him is as it should be, and we demonstrate our love and faithfulness though obedience, also.
John 15:10, Jesus said, "if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Obedience is a command, and it is linked securely to love and joy.
If....our faith in God is genuine, we will live a lifestyle characterized by holiness, modeling the example set for us by Jesus Christ Himself. Think of the myriad of ways that he did so!
1. How was his behavior towards those who ridiculed him, spoke evil of him, tried to entrap him, beat him, spat on him, eventually killing him? * He never raised his voice, was angry overtly only once, and that was not because of what was being done to him, but how the house or temple of God was being abused, and secularized.
2. He gave and gave and gave of Himself often to the point of exhaustion.
3. He had no resentment toward anyone, except for those religious leaders who held themselves, to be better than those they were supposed to serve and shepherd.
4. He never professed to be emotionally hurt, His feelings never taking authority over his thoughts and truths he professed. Being hurt is a superficial reaction that can (if held on to) can cause resentment, bitterness and even hatred. These emotions when nurtured and fed are NOT of God.
If our faith in God is genuine....we will be models in both word and deed of the examples he set for us.
RESIST.....ok, I go to the gym, a rather nice one, though being nice does not make going and working out any easier. I am not one of those who LOVE working out. In fact at times I can barely get through my specific workout on the treadmill, then on about a dozen machines that seem to exist to resist my every forward action. And resist they do, very well. I also have to admit to some days (because I can) lessen the degree of their resistance. Those days are not quite so painful.
The mayor of South Bend Indiana last week spoke on resisting. Saying that his goal is to do away with resistance, for all it does is stop progress and cause pain. How in the world he ever arrived at as that as one of his goals, stupefied me. It is in resistance that we grow. It is in resistance that we develop muscle, maintain flexibility. It is in resistance that we push through and learn not only what we should not do, but a better way to push on. Resistance is sometimes equal to failure. Instead of giving up, and giving in, we push forward to maintain and create.
Think of (and this always amazes me) when I am walking down a blacktop road. I see little bumps, knowing that under that thick asphalt is a tiny little plant sending a shoot, pushing its way through that hard surface until it finally breaks forth with a tiny stem and leaf into the sun.
Think also of a butterfly, who only but pushing against the resistance of its cocoon can it develop the wings that will one day lift it into the sky, able in the strength it will develop enable it fly hundreds of miles, perhaps thousands against wind, rain and all other resistance that tries to stop it
In regards to our everyday lives, and our spiritual well-being we go back to where we started in James 4:7, "Submit your selves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We are as Christians, members of the 'resistance' against evil and wrong doing. It began in the beginning and will continue unto the end of the age of man, and the beginning of the true reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What we cannot do on our own in the resistance, we can do all things in Christ who gives us strength to overcome the call of evil. Over and over, the Bible tells us that God blesses and rewards obedience through resistance.
James 1:22-25 says it perfectly: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror for he looks at himself and goes way and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, will be blessed in their doing."
Obedience by resistance enables us to live a life of joy, without shame, rooted deeply in the Lord and confident in our eternal hope. "
There is the Good News and with this, the Good, Good News, in that God is gracious or grace dispensing as it says in Hebrews 10:16-17, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,' then He adds, 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'"
Submission, then Obedience through resistance.........God is good, all the time. Amen
The Little 'log' Church in the Pines
"GOD'S GENEROUS HEART"
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Romans 10:8-13
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
March 17, 2019
...In Luke 10, verses 30-37 Jesus narrates the story of a man who is stripped, wounded and robbed. In this story it speaks of the self-righteous religious leader and a high-minded Levite who walk by the poor man paying him no attention. Then comes along a Samaritan, a member of a much hated people group by the Jews. This man stops, binds and soothes the man’s wounds as best he can. He then, our of his kind generosity and compassion sets the man on his own animal, takes him to an Inn and takes care of him. Not only did he take care of him, he paid the Innkeeper, because he had to leave, saying you take care of him and on my next trip through, if I did not give you enough money I will pay you that as well.
...This Jesus said to those listening to him, "go and do likewise."
...He spoke these words to all of us, from the poorest to those who are rich, if we are indeed followers of His. He tells us this because that is what He would do and did. He has a heart for the wounded, the outcast, the deprived, the good, the bad and the ugly. And He in doing this, and compelling us to do the same, He is simply reflecting the heart of God, for He says in John 14:10 while questioning Philip's motivation, these words, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who lives in Me does the works." Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me." They are One in their love of mankind and One in their generosity.
...Our God in Christ is a generous God, and His greatest act of generosity, was in sending His Son our Lord, to sacrifice His life for us. He is a generous God, and a patient God, and a God of Mercy and Forgiveness. These are but four of the virtues that we as Christians, are also to exhibit, and live out. There are three theological virtues that best under-gird us as Believers, and those are the virtues, of faith hope and love.
...A virtue is "a habitual and firm disposition to do the good."
...Moral virtues are attitudes, dispositions, and good habits that govern one's actions, passions, and conduct, according to reason, and are acquired by several means. One straight from God as a gift, and or acquired by the desired effort of our choices, both moral and spiritual.
...Generosity (also called largess) is the 'virtue' of being unattached to material possessions, often symbolized by the giving of material good, time and goodwill, and which is often celebrated in cultural and religious ceremonies.
...Our coming to the Table of the Lord in Communion celebrates the greatest gift our Lord gave us ”the gift of eternal life” in Him and through Him.
...Science as science does, attempts to find the answers of life has taken on the study of virtues, investigating generosity by examining the effect of a number of scenarios and games on individuals' generosity, and potential links with neuro-chemicals such as oxytocin, and relationships with similar feelings, such as that of empathy. Have they arrived at a conclusion? No, not yet!
...Generosity....why are some generous and others the complete opposite. Stingy and Scrooge-like? To be generous, one has to be thankful, thankful for what one does have and thankful and being given or looking for an opportunity to share out of one's blessed bounty.
...I am just finishing a book titled the Tattooist of Auschwitz. It is about a Slovakian Jew, a young man who was assigned to tattoo all the prisoners shipped to the camp. It is an absolutely revealing and amazing story. He conceived of a way to procure food from workers hired to build the crematorium ovens....and by having those who went through the clothing and meagre luggage of those brought into the camp. They would take jewelry, give it to him and through these construction workers receive food to help as many as he could, to stave off their starvation diets of a watery gruel and bits of bread. His generosity eventually got him into a dire situation of being beaten almost to death, only against all odds to once again, sent back to Auschwitz as the tattooist, and to once again help save the lives of many. His compassion and outlook, demeanor and attitude in-the-midst-of-death, was truly remarkable.
...Scripture speaks of the generosity of God when His people cried out to Him during their captivity and enslavement under the Egyptians, in Deuteronomy 26. 'The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.'
...Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked upon our affliction and our labor and our oppression. 'so the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to a land flowing milk and honey." These saw and felt the generosity of their God, and were grateful, thankful and full of faith.
...When I read this, it reminded me of the start of our own nation. There was afflictions, persecution and oppression on our early ancestors. They too cried out to the Lord, strongly feeling led to cross the Atlantic, to a land flowing with milk and honey, and so they came, not without loss and hardship, but they came and God blessed them. Were they perfect, no! Did they make mistakes, yes, but they believed they were led forth to start a new movement of God, to prosper and do what was right in their eyes with His leading.
...There is an 'old’ contemporary song that reads: our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom power and love our God is an awesome God. And so He is.....and In His generosity He is a patient God as exhibited in the narration of the Prodigal Son. And because it seems He is slow to act at times and we question Him, as to His timing forgetting 'Father Knows Best'.
...We ask questions like, "How could God allow this to happen?' Why doesn't God intervene in this situation? Why would God allow them to die, they were such a good person? Why, Why, Why?
...Incredulous questions by a world limited in understanding, questioning the nature of God. Applying human limits of patience to God, they find it impossible to reconcile God's justice with His patience. The patience of God should not be confused with..........
a. Ignorance. God is fully aware of every injustice and difficulty in our lives.
b. Weakness. In reality, God's power is reflected in the restraint He shows towards mankind. The prophet Nahum captures this best when he writes, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."
c. Apathy. It would be easy to conclude that God simply does not care about evil. In fact, God's justice and wrath is simply being delayed and stored until the final judgement...until all who can be saved are saved.
d. Absence. God is not a distant observed when His people are mistreated, when all people are mistreated. He is present. When He confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, he said, "Why do you persecute Me."
...The word patience is derived from the Greek word 'makrothumia' and is often translated literally as long-suffering. When Adam sinned, God did not charge into the garden with a drawn sword. Rather, he walked in and called out for Adam. Similarly, God's patience enables Him to come after us. Jesus said, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." That's us.......
...His desire is that we be fast learners, but He will be patient to bring us back to the same point time and time again. And He never tires of doing so, until finally and hopefully we get it. His purpose is to produce the finished product. US!
...Psalm 145:8 "The Lord is gracious and compassion, slow to anger and rich in love."
...Romans 2:4 - "Do not despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.
...Colossians 3:12 choose patience, as it says in this verse. "Therefore, God's chosen ones hold and loved, put on...patience.
To summarize all this into one word, I choose the word Mercy, but I can't use the word Mercy without trying to it the word Grace.
Our God, Jehovah God is known to bet the God of mercy and grace. Understanding Mercy is often difficult for people as the word we live in tends to be a world of "I'll get him or her for that" and "I hope they get what they deserve."
God keep us from getting what we deserve at times...YIKES!
He is generous of heart!
He is merciful to even the vilest of sinners and law-breakers. This means that even though He knows all of our guilt, He does not always issue the punishment we may deserve. Romans 3:23-24 says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
The generous hearted God of Mercy call for the following in us found in Micah 6:8."He has shown you, O mankind, what is good. And what does the Lord require of YOU? To act justly and to love Mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Love it.....love it.....love it!
Without His Grace, Mercy, Patience, Kindness, Forgiveness, Goodness, Rich in Love......and His overall generous heart, where would we be?
As He is patient...let us also be patient, not only with others but also with ourselves. If so....we can become all that He has given us the ability and desire to be.
...Before James Garfield became President of the United States, he was principal of Hiram College in Ohio. A father once asked him if a particular course of study couldn't be simplified so that his son could go through it in a shorter time and by a shorter route.
..."Certainly," replied Garfield. "But it all depends upon what you want to make out of your boy. When God wants to make an Oak Tree, he takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash, He requires only two summers."
I finish with this question. What do you want Him to make of you? The choice is yours..................
"GOD'S GENEROUS HEART"
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Romans 10:8-13
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
March 17, 2019
...In Luke 10, verses 30-37 Jesus narrates the story of a man who is stripped, wounded and robbed. In this story it speaks of the self-righteous religious leader and a high-minded Levite who walk by the poor man paying him no attention. Then comes along a Samaritan, a member of a much hated people group by the Jews. This man stops, binds and soothes the man’s wounds as best he can. He then, our of his kind generosity and compassion sets the man on his own animal, takes him to an Inn and takes care of him. Not only did he take care of him, he paid the Innkeeper, because he had to leave, saying you take care of him and on my next trip through, if I did not give you enough money I will pay you that as well.
...This Jesus said to those listening to him, "go and do likewise."
...He spoke these words to all of us, from the poorest to those who are rich, if we are indeed followers of His. He tells us this because that is what He would do and did. He has a heart for the wounded, the outcast, the deprived, the good, the bad and the ugly. And He in doing this, and compelling us to do the same, He is simply reflecting the heart of God, for He says in John 14:10 while questioning Philip's motivation, these words, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who lives in Me does the works." Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me." They are One in their love of mankind and One in their generosity.
...Our God in Christ is a generous God, and His greatest act of generosity, was in sending His Son our Lord, to sacrifice His life for us. He is a generous God, and a patient God, and a God of Mercy and Forgiveness. These are but four of the virtues that we as Christians, are also to exhibit, and live out. There are three theological virtues that best under-gird us as Believers, and those are the virtues, of faith hope and love.
...A virtue is "a habitual and firm disposition to do the good."
...Moral virtues are attitudes, dispositions, and good habits that govern one's actions, passions, and conduct, according to reason, and are acquired by several means. One straight from God as a gift, and or acquired by the desired effort of our choices, both moral and spiritual.
...Generosity (also called largess) is the 'virtue' of being unattached to material possessions, often symbolized by the giving of material good, time and goodwill, and which is often celebrated in cultural and religious ceremonies.
...Our coming to the Table of the Lord in Communion celebrates the greatest gift our Lord gave us ”the gift of eternal life” in Him and through Him.
...Science as science does, attempts to find the answers of life has taken on the study of virtues, investigating generosity by examining the effect of a number of scenarios and games on individuals' generosity, and potential links with neuro-chemicals such as oxytocin, and relationships with similar feelings, such as that of empathy. Have they arrived at a conclusion? No, not yet!
...Generosity....why are some generous and others the complete opposite. Stingy and Scrooge-like? To be generous, one has to be thankful, thankful for what one does have and thankful and being given or looking for an opportunity to share out of one's blessed bounty.
...I am just finishing a book titled the Tattooist of Auschwitz. It is about a Slovakian Jew, a young man who was assigned to tattoo all the prisoners shipped to the camp. It is an absolutely revealing and amazing story. He conceived of a way to procure food from workers hired to build the crematorium ovens....and by having those who went through the clothing and meagre luggage of those brought into the camp. They would take jewelry, give it to him and through these construction workers receive food to help as many as he could, to stave off their starvation diets of a watery gruel and bits of bread. His generosity eventually got him into a dire situation of being beaten almost to death, only against all odds to once again, sent back to Auschwitz as the tattooist, and to once again help save the lives of many. His compassion and outlook, demeanor and attitude in-the-midst-of-death, was truly remarkable.
...Scripture speaks of the generosity of God when His people cried out to Him during their captivity and enslavement under the Egyptians, in Deuteronomy 26. 'The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.'
...Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked upon our affliction and our labor and our oppression. 'so the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to a land flowing milk and honey." These saw and felt the generosity of their God, and were grateful, thankful and full of faith.
...When I read this, it reminded me of the start of our own nation. There was afflictions, persecution and oppression on our early ancestors. They too cried out to the Lord, strongly feeling led to cross the Atlantic, to a land flowing with milk and honey, and so they came, not without loss and hardship, but they came and God blessed them. Were they perfect, no! Did they make mistakes, yes, but they believed they were led forth to start a new movement of God, to prosper and do what was right in their eyes with His leading.
...There is an 'old’ contemporary song that reads: our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom power and love our God is an awesome God. And so He is.....and In His generosity He is a patient God as exhibited in the narration of the Prodigal Son. And because it seems He is slow to act at times and we question Him, as to His timing forgetting 'Father Knows Best'.
...We ask questions like, "How could God allow this to happen?' Why doesn't God intervene in this situation? Why would God allow them to die, they were such a good person? Why, Why, Why?
...Incredulous questions by a world limited in understanding, questioning the nature of God. Applying human limits of patience to God, they find it impossible to reconcile God's justice with His patience. The patience of God should not be confused with..........
a. Ignorance. God is fully aware of every injustice and difficulty in our lives.
b. Weakness. In reality, God's power is reflected in the restraint He shows towards mankind. The prophet Nahum captures this best when he writes, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."
c. Apathy. It would be easy to conclude that God simply does not care about evil. In fact, God's justice and wrath is simply being delayed and stored until the final judgement...until all who can be saved are saved.
d. Absence. God is not a distant observed when His people are mistreated, when all people are mistreated. He is present. When He confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, he said, "Why do you persecute Me."
...The word patience is derived from the Greek word 'makrothumia' and is often translated literally as long-suffering. When Adam sinned, God did not charge into the garden with a drawn sword. Rather, he walked in and called out for Adam. Similarly, God's patience enables Him to come after us. Jesus said, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." That's us.......
...His desire is that we be fast learners, but He will be patient to bring us back to the same point time and time again. And He never tires of doing so, until finally and hopefully we get it. His purpose is to produce the finished product. US!
...Psalm 145:8 "The Lord is gracious and compassion, slow to anger and rich in love."
...Romans 2:4 - "Do not despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.
...Colossians 3:12 choose patience, as it says in this verse. "Therefore, God's chosen ones hold and loved, put on...patience.
To summarize all this into one word, I choose the word Mercy, but I can't use the word Mercy without trying to it the word Grace.
Our God, Jehovah God is known to bet the God of mercy and grace. Understanding Mercy is often difficult for people as the word we live in tends to be a world of "I'll get him or her for that" and "I hope they get what they deserve."
God keep us from getting what we deserve at times...YIKES!
He is generous of heart!
He is merciful to even the vilest of sinners and law-breakers. This means that even though He knows all of our guilt, He does not always issue the punishment we may deserve. Romans 3:23-24 says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
The generous hearted God of Mercy call for the following in us found in Micah 6:8."He has shown you, O mankind, what is good. And what does the Lord require of YOU? To act justly and to love Mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Love it.....love it.....love it!
Without His Grace, Mercy, Patience, Kindness, Forgiveness, Goodness, Rich in Love......and His overall generous heart, where would we be?
As He is patient...let us also be patient, not only with others but also with ourselves. If so....we can become all that He has given us the ability and desire to be.
...Before James Garfield became President of the United States, he was principal of Hiram College in Ohio. A father once asked him if a particular course of study couldn't be simplified so that his son could go through it in a shorter time and by a shorter route.
..."Certainly," replied Garfield. "But it all depends upon what you want to make out of your boy. When God wants to make an Oak Tree, he takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash, He requires only two summers."
I finish with this question. What do you want Him to make of you? The choice is yours..................
The little church in the pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THE LENTEN JOURNEY CONTINUES"
Pastor Tom Shanor
March 10, 2019
~ The Lenten Journey began last Sunday with a message on the Transfiguration of Christ, Scripture being read in both Luke, then the Book of Revelation. Scripture brought to us Jesus, revealing Him on a supernatural plane unlike anything any of us have seen or experienced, as especially revealed in Revelation. The picture that was word painted, was replete with symbolism and distinctly referred back to words Jesus had spoken, and also in part, the vision of Him as seen by Peter, James and John, when visited by Moses and Elijah on what is now called 'the Mount of Transfiguration.'
~ Next came Shrove Tuesday with an evening of indulgence by those of us who were able to make it here, eating pancakes with a variety of non-fattening topics, (sure) sausage and eggs.
~ Wednesday, the official beginning of the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday, was ASH Wednesday. Again, for those of you who were able to make it here to the church, each was called to affirm your belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a call to repentance and ending with a cross, made with ashes marked on your foreheads. Signifying the place of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in your lives.
~ Today, we continue this journey to the cross, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, signifying its' solemnity, holiness and necessity in being reconciled through Christ to God the Father, ultimately revealing to us the very heart of God towards those who love Him and are called according to His desire and purpose. He looked down through eternity before this journey ever began and saw who would see, and who would believe, and who would desire to live a life embracing His ways, His Son and His Spirit.
~ We hear of this call to all in Joel, as I am about to read. (READ)
~ Blow a trumpet!!.....I wish I had one, for I would stand on the porch outside and blow it loud and long, as a clarion call to all within its hearing...come, come to the house of the Lord, to His Son Jesus Christ, and come.....into the family of God where no one is rejected, no one cast out, no one overlooked, no one despised, accepted in the Beloved.
~ The people of God as celebrated every year at this time, once again cross a threshold on Ash Wednesday, and if not on Wednesday, today. As a preacher, I am to help His people mark this as another New Beginning. We walk in to this day and time, speaking to those that are broken, perhaps torn by events, people and things that have ripped at your hearts, minds and spirits this last year. Things like the loss of loved ones, opportunities to become bitter, angry, spiteful, overly critical, unkind, vindictive, a victim of gossip, hurtful words, broken or torn, etc.....for in times such as this, we can and often do, widen the gap between Jesus and us, mostly individually, but also can be collectively. Once that gap opens it does not matter whether it is a sliver or a mile across, the result is the same. Separation, when though the next 40 days, as we walk deeper into Him, we find ourselves becoming once again vulnerable, so that reconciliation, healing and restoration can become a new and deeper part of our journey.
~ If we embrace this Lenten season, we slow our pace during these forty days as we walk through the landscape, through the wilderness of our own hearts and souls.
We must because we can...walk carefully.
We must because we can...think deeply.
We must, because it is good for us, to open our hearts to love & truth, to lay bare all that we have worked so hard to bury, to hide and repress. For if we do this....giving all of it over to the One who said he wants to carry our burdens, share our griefs, sorrows and even joys, to lift us out of the miry clay onto a solid and steady place on which to stand, we will once again be able to breathe deeply, take joy in our everyday lives and give to others by the way we live and speak....hope.
~ This is a journey we can take only by choice, as it is not imposed on us in anyway. It may seem to be scary, unnerving and unsettling, but the very opposite is true.
~ It begins with ashes and ends in a garden teeming with new life, color and imagination.
~ Joel and 2 Corinthians texts testify to the reorganization of the world as we know it in the flesh to what it would be under the guidance of God if only we would give in to Him.
~ As it says in Genesis...a sober reminder to all of us, "remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." This ceremony is perhaps the most sobering of all that we take part in as believers, as it serves as a reminder that we are mortal and each and every moment we possess is precious, and if precious, our time should be spent in gratefulness, not fault-finding, not looking for the negative, not focusing on the thorn instead of the rose. Our words as it says in the bulletin today, speak loud and clear. "Our words are the windows to our heart" Matthew 12:34b. "For out of the abundance of the mouth, the heart speaks."
~ If we but take serious this journey we are embarking on this Lenten Season, I guarantee that by the end of it, on Easter Sunday, you and I will experience a new revelation, a new way of thinking and acting, a happiness and a joy in being once again, given an opportunity to experience new life....life in the Spirit of truth....joy. Laying down differences, prejudices, division and strife....and oh so much more, if indeed this is what you desire. To be like Him. In many ways by choice, you are maser of your own fate, your own ship, your own way of thinking and perceiving, and by saying yes to the Lord on the journey each step of the way, you will slowly be renewed inside and out. Changed.
~ Look at the titles of all our hymns today sung by us,
* Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
* Children of the Heavenly Father
* Take Time to Be Holy
* Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
~ These each speak of our relationship with God through His Son. In each we are given an opportunity to look up instead of down, to be positive instead of negative, to be in partnership with each other and with the very God of Creation. Our outlooks can be permanently changed, no, transformed!
~ Being, fully human as we all know, is at times unspeakably difficult. Is it any wonder then, that we guard our hearts and minds by avoidance and non-participation, looking for ways of entertainment and escapes from the everyday hardships that confront us, I have news for all....no matter where we go, what we do to avoid reality....it has a way of catching up no matter what we do. That is life on planet earth.
~ I have two questions for you. What is it you want from God, or have you considered instead, what it is God wants from you? Considering the second question first, just might be a better place to begin. You see, God created us for a relationship with Him, for both our benefits. A partnership, a give and receive journey. He gives, we receive, we give, He receives....there is no tug of war. There is just a circle of interaction. Think about that.....really. It might answer some of your deepest questions. It just might.
~A relationship, that is illustrated in the story of the Prodigal Son....God love us, each and everyone one of us, and if we go our own way, He does not stop us, but instead waits, and waits and waits for us to return home. We also have to remember, that if we do not do as the younger son, but walk with Him always, He loves us not less, but equal to the one who journeyed off on his own.
~ The Prophet Joel calls out across the millennia, "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. "Rend your hearts! Break them open" those walls that you have built around your hearts to keep them safe and comfortable shut Him out! Those walls block everything that makes YOU so delightfully and uniquely human! Remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made!
~ The Byrds, a band many of us know of, put to words and music one of my favorite Scriptures found in Ecclesiastes singing of seasons...this Lenten Season can be a time of turning...to God.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven.
This friends, as you have been told time after time, today is the season for turning.....to God.
Next week, I will be speaking on God’s Generous Heart…..and remember that next week as part of the service, young Wilder Lee Taylor DeTinne will be baptized.
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
"THE LENTEN JOURNEY CONTINUES"
Pastor Tom Shanor
March 10, 2019
~ The Lenten Journey began last Sunday with a message on the Transfiguration of Christ, Scripture being read in both Luke, then the Book of Revelation. Scripture brought to us Jesus, revealing Him on a supernatural plane unlike anything any of us have seen or experienced, as especially revealed in Revelation. The picture that was word painted, was replete with symbolism and distinctly referred back to words Jesus had spoken, and also in part, the vision of Him as seen by Peter, James and John, when visited by Moses and Elijah on what is now called 'the Mount of Transfiguration.'
~ Next came Shrove Tuesday with an evening of indulgence by those of us who were able to make it here, eating pancakes with a variety of non-fattening topics, (sure) sausage and eggs.
~ Wednesday, the official beginning of the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday, was ASH Wednesday. Again, for those of you who were able to make it here to the church, each was called to affirm your belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a call to repentance and ending with a cross, made with ashes marked on your foreheads. Signifying the place of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in your lives.
~ Today, we continue this journey to the cross, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, signifying its' solemnity, holiness and necessity in being reconciled through Christ to God the Father, ultimately revealing to us the very heart of God towards those who love Him and are called according to His desire and purpose. He looked down through eternity before this journey ever began and saw who would see, and who would believe, and who would desire to live a life embracing His ways, His Son and His Spirit.
~ We hear of this call to all in Joel, as I am about to read. (READ)
~ Blow a trumpet!!.....I wish I had one, for I would stand on the porch outside and blow it loud and long, as a clarion call to all within its hearing...come, come to the house of the Lord, to His Son Jesus Christ, and come.....into the family of God where no one is rejected, no one cast out, no one overlooked, no one despised, accepted in the Beloved.
~ The people of God as celebrated every year at this time, once again cross a threshold on Ash Wednesday, and if not on Wednesday, today. As a preacher, I am to help His people mark this as another New Beginning. We walk in to this day and time, speaking to those that are broken, perhaps torn by events, people and things that have ripped at your hearts, minds and spirits this last year. Things like the loss of loved ones, opportunities to become bitter, angry, spiteful, overly critical, unkind, vindictive, a victim of gossip, hurtful words, broken or torn, etc.....for in times such as this, we can and often do, widen the gap between Jesus and us, mostly individually, but also can be collectively. Once that gap opens it does not matter whether it is a sliver or a mile across, the result is the same. Separation, when though the next 40 days, as we walk deeper into Him, we find ourselves becoming once again vulnerable, so that reconciliation, healing and restoration can become a new and deeper part of our journey.
~ If we embrace this Lenten season, we slow our pace during these forty days as we walk through the landscape, through the wilderness of our own hearts and souls.
We must because we can...walk carefully.
We must because we can...think deeply.
We must, because it is good for us, to open our hearts to love & truth, to lay bare all that we have worked so hard to bury, to hide and repress. For if we do this....giving all of it over to the One who said he wants to carry our burdens, share our griefs, sorrows and even joys, to lift us out of the miry clay onto a solid and steady place on which to stand, we will once again be able to breathe deeply, take joy in our everyday lives and give to others by the way we live and speak....hope.
~ This is a journey we can take only by choice, as it is not imposed on us in anyway. It may seem to be scary, unnerving and unsettling, but the very opposite is true.
~ It begins with ashes and ends in a garden teeming with new life, color and imagination.
~ Joel and 2 Corinthians texts testify to the reorganization of the world as we know it in the flesh to what it would be under the guidance of God if only we would give in to Him.
~ As it says in Genesis...a sober reminder to all of us, "remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." This ceremony is perhaps the most sobering of all that we take part in as believers, as it serves as a reminder that we are mortal and each and every moment we possess is precious, and if precious, our time should be spent in gratefulness, not fault-finding, not looking for the negative, not focusing on the thorn instead of the rose. Our words as it says in the bulletin today, speak loud and clear. "Our words are the windows to our heart" Matthew 12:34b. "For out of the abundance of the mouth, the heart speaks."
~ If we but take serious this journey we are embarking on this Lenten Season, I guarantee that by the end of it, on Easter Sunday, you and I will experience a new revelation, a new way of thinking and acting, a happiness and a joy in being once again, given an opportunity to experience new life....life in the Spirit of truth....joy. Laying down differences, prejudices, division and strife....and oh so much more, if indeed this is what you desire. To be like Him. In many ways by choice, you are maser of your own fate, your own ship, your own way of thinking and perceiving, and by saying yes to the Lord on the journey each step of the way, you will slowly be renewed inside and out. Changed.
~ Look at the titles of all our hymns today sung by us,
* Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
* Children of the Heavenly Father
* Take Time to Be Holy
* Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
~ These each speak of our relationship with God through His Son. In each we are given an opportunity to look up instead of down, to be positive instead of negative, to be in partnership with each other and with the very God of Creation. Our outlooks can be permanently changed, no, transformed!
~ Being, fully human as we all know, is at times unspeakably difficult. Is it any wonder then, that we guard our hearts and minds by avoidance and non-participation, looking for ways of entertainment and escapes from the everyday hardships that confront us, I have news for all....no matter where we go, what we do to avoid reality....it has a way of catching up no matter what we do. That is life on planet earth.
~ I have two questions for you. What is it you want from God, or have you considered instead, what it is God wants from you? Considering the second question first, just might be a better place to begin. You see, God created us for a relationship with Him, for both our benefits. A partnership, a give and receive journey. He gives, we receive, we give, He receives....there is no tug of war. There is just a circle of interaction. Think about that.....really. It might answer some of your deepest questions. It just might.
~A relationship, that is illustrated in the story of the Prodigal Son....God love us, each and everyone one of us, and if we go our own way, He does not stop us, but instead waits, and waits and waits for us to return home. We also have to remember, that if we do not do as the younger son, but walk with Him always, He loves us not less, but equal to the one who journeyed off on his own.
~ The Prophet Joel calls out across the millennia, "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. "Rend your hearts! Break them open" those walls that you have built around your hearts to keep them safe and comfortable shut Him out! Those walls block everything that makes YOU so delightfully and uniquely human! Remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made!
~ The Byrds, a band many of us know of, put to words and music one of my favorite Scriptures found in Ecclesiastes singing of seasons...this Lenten Season can be a time of turning...to God.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven.
This friends, as you have been told time after time, today is the season for turning.....to God.
Next week, I will be speaking on God’s Generous Heart…..and remember that next week as part of the service, young Wilder Lee Taylor DeTinne will be baptized.
The Little Church in the Pines
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, ID
March 3, 2019
"His and OurTransfiguration"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
...To understand a word and its meaning more fully, one needs to look at the word deeper. The word today of course stated in our bulletin is "transfiguration."
...Let's begin with the meaning. "A complete change (which is an action) of form or appearance. A beautiful example would be that of a larvae to a butterfly. A worm bound to the usually leaf of a tree or etc., that then through an astounding metamorphosis over time, no longer bound (as in the cocoon stage) but breaking out of that which confines it, into its new existence, now often colorful, even resplendent. Not only vibrant in color, but wings that take it from the earth to the sky.......a marvel of God's Creation.
...Perhaps, as you have come to understand, I love words (hopefully knowing when to stop speaking them) but I find language fascinating with all its inter-connectedness. Prefixes, conjunctions, etc., etc. So, having said that let's look at........
...Trans...Figured. Look at some of the other words with 'trans; such as transit, transcend, transportation, transverse, transfix and many more. Trans is known as a prefix, and prefix means across....underneath and is secondary but essential to complete the full meaning or intention to understand what is being conveyed in a particular word. Trans bring the action...change.
...So...Jesus has just spent some extended and real time teaching the crowds, and having a measure of some success, he, now exhausted, sensing a need for some time apart, yet knowing he is hearing the Spirit calling him to a special encounter he calls to the three, well, let’s read from Mark 9:2-8. READ
..."as the three watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed, and his clothing became 'dazzling white,' far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them, and it also says in Luke 9:29, as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed." Now...let's take a brief foray into the book of Revelation 1, to get a more vivid transformation or transfiguration that definitely ties into this transfiguration. Verses' 12-17. This is the disciple John speaking. "When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lamp stands. And standing in the middle of the lamp stands was someone like the son of God." (In other words, John recognized Jesus having been with him three long years, but it was him and then it wasn't the Jesus he knew well....he was the same yet different, for in verse 17 he states; "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead."
...He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like might ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance."
...Bound as we are to this earth and living our everyday lives in perishable flesh and blood, these transfigurations come across in description sounding more like someone's vivid imagination or someone hallucinating on some sort of drug. So little do we comprehend by our limited 5 senses, unless....we too, as have I, experienced on several occasions, not on drugs somewhat similar visions.
...Peter though, like James and John knew what he saw, wrote it down and was able to use his own experience later to back up who Jesus was and states so in 2nd Peter 1:16-21. READ
One cannot convincingly argue with a person who has personally experienced such an encounter to change his or her mind. God...so little do we know and understand our God. With all the prophets had seen and spoke, and with all the disciples saw and experienced, how dare we, 2000 years later tell them they were nuts or on drugs or simply had hallucinations. To the person, with the exception of John, each gave up their lives to the point of martyrdom, for him who they believed in and whom they loved, and these did not die easy deaths, nor did they die with him when he was crucified, but some sooner and some later, long after he left them.
...This transfiguration speaks to us the mystery, the majesty and yet, the availability of a personal transfiguration for each of us. The Apostle Peter in writing what he did to all then current and future believers saying, if he Peter could so be transformed from the bumbling, mistake ridden, Jesus denying man that he was, into the impressive sounding man in this letter, where he is filled with authority and confidence, anyone can be transformed.
...He is the one who was called by Jesus "a man of little faith" and whom Jesus once commanded. "Get behind me Satan for you are a stumbling block to me."
...As Scripture also described him as being terrified and baffled on the Mount, and whose life was not changed that day, and is the man who screwed-up his life, misunderstood Jesus, denied his faith and who ran away as a coward, a failure, a spiritual wimp, now the man who speaks so boldly and witnesses so courageously as to the reality of his Lord? The answer, of course is Yes. This is the one and the same man, and through his own transformation become a new man.
...Julia Ward Howe's great hymn "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" has a line in it that enlightens what is going on. Referring to Christ, the third line goes: "With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me," meaning to transform us into someone we could never be on our own. Something beautiful...something good.
...This Sunday is knows as Transfiguration Sunday and it is the Sunday that we hold up and highlight this transfiguration of our Lord and Savior, the beginning of what is known as Lent, where we can walk a deeper walk, a time of spiritual growth and knowledge in the coming weeks. A truly holy time.
...This topic has been a hard one to preach on as how to make it relevant and applicable to our everyday lives. It seems so far beyond our lives, except in this area of each of us being both desirous and able to change, transform at least a portion of ourselves into the men and women God has created us to be.
...This man Peter is an example to us, who once hid in the shadows of night had the morning star rise in his heart, filling his mind and soul, experiencing the dawn of a new day, a new life.
...The great Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote: "That is a great miracle that God is able to create something out of nothing, but there is a greater miracle, and that is that God fashions saints out of sinners."
...Saint Peter is the patron saint of everyone who recognizes and is in need of change.
...He is also, the patron saint of those of us who need another, and then another chance.
...Peter is the patron said of all who have failed in life, perhaps often, but through Christ can get up again, and again to start over, each time wiser and stronger.
Christ's Transfiguration is an example of God's act of Grace toward us. But it is not enough to simply be changed. What we then must do is work out what he has already done in us, by living out that change.
...Our change will take on the effects of acts of goodness, kindness, generosity, self-control, courage, love and compassion. Our words should witness to the One who made us into what we could not make ourselves into. Our relationship with Jesus can be revived and deepened through intimate prayer, reading, participating and living as we should.
...On this Transfiguration Sunday, as we come to the Table of the Lord, let us each individually, ask Him to come into our lives in a new and fresh way to invigorate, transform and lift us out of the pit of neutrality, perhaps despair or depression, or anger, or bitterness, or fear. Whatever it is that has worked its way into your life.
…Many are also transformed by major events in a person’s life, be they awesomely wonderful or terrible. Why wait for such an event when it can happen just by saying yes, Lord…transform me by the love, grace and power of your life in me.
...Let is go...simply let it go and be ye transformed into the image of Christ. Amen
MACKS INN, ISLAND PARK, ID
March 3, 2019
"His and OurTransfiguration"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
...To understand a word and its meaning more fully, one needs to look at the word deeper. The word today of course stated in our bulletin is "transfiguration."
...Let's begin with the meaning. "A complete change (which is an action) of form or appearance. A beautiful example would be that of a larvae to a butterfly. A worm bound to the usually leaf of a tree or etc., that then through an astounding metamorphosis over time, no longer bound (as in the cocoon stage) but breaking out of that which confines it, into its new existence, now often colorful, even resplendent. Not only vibrant in color, but wings that take it from the earth to the sky.......a marvel of God's Creation.
...Perhaps, as you have come to understand, I love words (hopefully knowing when to stop speaking them) but I find language fascinating with all its inter-connectedness. Prefixes, conjunctions, etc., etc. So, having said that let's look at........
...Trans...Figured. Look at some of the other words with 'trans; such as transit, transcend, transportation, transverse, transfix and many more. Trans is known as a prefix, and prefix means across....underneath and is secondary but essential to complete the full meaning or intention to understand what is being conveyed in a particular word. Trans bring the action...change.
...So...Jesus has just spent some extended and real time teaching the crowds, and having a measure of some success, he, now exhausted, sensing a need for some time apart, yet knowing he is hearing the Spirit calling him to a special encounter he calls to the three, well, let’s read from Mark 9:2-8. READ
..."as the three watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed, and his clothing became 'dazzling white,' far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them, and it also says in Luke 9:29, as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed." Now...let's take a brief foray into the book of Revelation 1, to get a more vivid transformation or transfiguration that definitely ties into this transfiguration. Verses' 12-17. This is the disciple John speaking. "When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lamp stands. And standing in the middle of the lamp stands was someone like the son of God." (In other words, John recognized Jesus having been with him three long years, but it was him and then it wasn't the Jesus he knew well....he was the same yet different, for in verse 17 he states; "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead."
...He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like might ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance."
...Bound as we are to this earth and living our everyday lives in perishable flesh and blood, these transfigurations come across in description sounding more like someone's vivid imagination or someone hallucinating on some sort of drug. So little do we comprehend by our limited 5 senses, unless....we too, as have I, experienced on several occasions, not on drugs somewhat similar visions.
...Peter though, like James and John knew what he saw, wrote it down and was able to use his own experience later to back up who Jesus was and states so in 2nd Peter 1:16-21. READ
One cannot convincingly argue with a person who has personally experienced such an encounter to change his or her mind. God...so little do we know and understand our God. With all the prophets had seen and spoke, and with all the disciples saw and experienced, how dare we, 2000 years later tell them they were nuts or on drugs or simply had hallucinations. To the person, with the exception of John, each gave up their lives to the point of martyrdom, for him who they believed in and whom they loved, and these did not die easy deaths, nor did they die with him when he was crucified, but some sooner and some later, long after he left them.
...This transfiguration speaks to us the mystery, the majesty and yet, the availability of a personal transfiguration for each of us. The Apostle Peter in writing what he did to all then current and future believers saying, if he Peter could so be transformed from the bumbling, mistake ridden, Jesus denying man that he was, into the impressive sounding man in this letter, where he is filled with authority and confidence, anyone can be transformed.
...He is the one who was called by Jesus "a man of little faith" and whom Jesus once commanded. "Get behind me Satan for you are a stumbling block to me."
...As Scripture also described him as being terrified and baffled on the Mount, and whose life was not changed that day, and is the man who screwed-up his life, misunderstood Jesus, denied his faith and who ran away as a coward, a failure, a spiritual wimp, now the man who speaks so boldly and witnesses so courageously as to the reality of his Lord? The answer, of course is Yes. This is the one and the same man, and through his own transformation become a new man.
...Julia Ward Howe's great hymn "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" has a line in it that enlightens what is going on. Referring to Christ, the third line goes: "With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me," meaning to transform us into someone we could never be on our own. Something beautiful...something good.
...This Sunday is knows as Transfiguration Sunday and it is the Sunday that we hold up and highlight this transfiguration of our Lord and Savior, the beginning of what is known as Lent, where we can walk a deeper walk, a time of spiritual growth and knowledge in the coming weeks. A truly holy time.
...This topic has been a hard one to preach on as how to make it relevant and applicable to our everyday lives. It seems so far beyond our lives, except in this area of each of us being both desirous and able to change, transform at least a portion of ourselves into the men and women God has created us to be.
...This man Peter is an example to us, who once hid in the shadows of night had the morning star rise in his heart, filling his mind and soul, experiencing the dawn of a new day, a new life.
...The great Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote: "That is a great miracle that God is able to create something out of nothing, but there is a greater miracle, and that is that God fashions saints out of sinners."
...Saint Peter is the patron saint of everyone who recognizes and is in need of change.
...He is also, the patron saint of those of us who need another, and then another chance.
...Peter is the patron said of all who have failed in life, perhaps often, but through Christ can get up again, and again to start over, each time wiser and stronger.
Christ's Transfiguration is an example of God's act of Grace toward us. But it is not enough to simply be changed. What we then must do is work out what he has already done in us, by living out that change.
...Our change will take on the effects of acts of goodness, kindness, generosity, self-control, courage, love and compassion. Our words should witness to the One who made us into what we could not make ourselves into. Our relationship with Jesus can be revived and deepened through intimate prayer, reading, participating and living as we should.
...On this Transfiguration Sunday, as we come to the Table of the Lord, let us each individually, ask Him to come into our lives in a new and fresh way to invigorate, transform and lift us out of the pit of neutrality, perhaps despair or depression, or anger, or bitterness, or fear. Whatever it is that has worked its way into your life.
…Many are also transformed by major events in a person’s life, be they awesomely wonderful or terrible. Why wait for such an event when it can happen just by saying yes, Lord…transform me by the love, grace and power of your life in me.
...Let is go...simply let it go and be ye transformed into the image of Christ. Amen
little church in the pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
February 24, 2019
"BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT" A HISTORY LESSON
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
2 Timothy 3:16 " All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong and right in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." Meaning in simpler terms….it cuts into our conscience, pointing out sometimes painfully our failures or sins.
There is a word I want to introduce you to if you have not heard it before, and is applicable to the word(s) of God. It is 'Rhema'....."the literal utterances of God spoken out loud for people to hear." It also means God's words are revealed.
A Scripture to back this up is found in Romans 10:17-18, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the spoken word of God. Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."
God's words are spoken in both the Old and New Testaments for the purpose of us becoming a moral and upright people, who in our position as Believers, will honor and worship God and His Son Jesus Christ willingly and lovingly.
What is the New Testament and how did it come to be?
As I was sitting at my desk, having finished my research and ready to start putting it on paper, it came to me that some people really don't like and are not interested in history, and so if you are one of those, I thought how can I make it interesting enough to keep your attention.
Well, I didn't get an answer that I thought would work, so I am just going to say what I think and hope you might be interested in.
Also, this (today) is a preface to the upcoming Lenten Season, leading up to Easter. This year, my third one here at the Little Church, I am going to follow what is called the Christian calendar through the lectionary.
I have typed up a schedule of what I will be following and in some cases what my topic for sermons will be. It will be posted on the back-bulletin board, but first I am going to read it to you now. (READ)
Now…comes the answer to the two questions I posed in the beginning……
The New Testament....is a volume of early Christian writings that tells the story of the New Covenant, which is simply the fulfillment of the original covenant that God made with the Jewish people, fulfilled in Christ, when through Him we (Gentiles) were adopted into the people of God....the Church. Matthew 16:13-18. (READ)
These verses clarify that the church was to be built on Peter's statement, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." not on the man Peter, though vibrantly used, but in the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.
The church did, and for the most part most still does, center on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and his sacrificial death, then resurrection. For Christians, Jesus fulfilled the expectations expressed in Jewish Scriptures that the 'Messiah' (meaning 'the anointed One') would come to deliver on his promises. This was fulfilled when in John 19:30, as he uttered these words, "it is finished." Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
The New Testament as we know it, begins with the 'Gospel' (meaning 'good news') of Jesus' ministry, execution and rising from the dead. This Gospel has four versions attributed to the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Scholars believe that each Gospel was based on events and traditions associated with the Churches in several of cities where the Churches grew. Perhaps, they say, Matthew with Antioch, Mark with Rome, Luke with Caesarea and John with Ephesus.
I do want to say, that the Gospels are not biographies written by the authors, but are much more like a written sermon or a call to faith. One thing in common, is that each say little about the upbringing or young life of Jesus. Nowhere is there a physical description of the boy, or man Jesus. Nowhere. What each does have in common is a full account of the Passion of Jesus.
After the Gospel account comes the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus has resurrected and left earth, and the Gospel is now in the hands of the disciples. The Book of Acts tells of the early Church and how it spread beyond the Jews to the Gentiles, largely through Paul's missionary journeys and his letters to the churches. Paul of course of converted on the road to Damascus...in a rather dramatic way, though the Acts too were filled with drama of a kind never seen before and were instrumental in the rapid growth of Christianity.
There then follows 21 letters. Thirteen traditionally attributed to Paul, seven to the names of other well-known figures, James, Timothy, etc. Not all scholars believe that all these letters were penned or dictated by Paul, Peter or the others. Few, though, do not doubt that a solid block of letters written by Paul himself did survive.
Lastly, there is the strange visionary book known as Revelation or Apocalypse, which starts with a sometimes-scathing account of several of the Seven Churches in Asia and goes on to a series of visions full of strange creatures, allegories and even some metaphors. Many visions full of conflicts of different kinds, including battles. A vision of a different and somewhat frightening Christ is described as well. If you care to enter a world full of imagery and puzzlement.... read Revelation. There are many who have different versions of the meaning and intent of Revelation, but for me.... I either am not intellectual enough or spiritual enough to make good sense of it all, so I stick to the teachings of Jesus and the letters, to find my way through this life to Christ in the New Testament.
There is a debate that goes on to today, that many feels all the New Testament was written by AD 70, others disagree. There were other Christian writings not in the New Testament, many actually. (did you know that?) Some have been lost and some determined not to be in conjunction with the theme of those we have come to know. Paul most certainly is perceived to have written other letters, that are still in the archives and library of the Vatican or lost, or both. There were written other Gospels as well, but they conflicted in some ways with the accepted and officially recognized Gospels, and therefore were not included. By the end of the second century, the main canon or (authorative and accepted books) was fixed, but even then, there were still disagreements among those putting the New Testament together.
I don’t know if this will interest you, but it did me in that Jesus spoke Aramaic, because he lived in the area known as Galilee’, also he would have also known some Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek and translated into Latin in the second century. As a side note, anytime anything is translated into a different language, some of the nuances and even specific detailed information is lost in the translation.
The original documents would have been written on what is known as papyrus, which is thin and fragile, much like pastry paper today. It was written on this type of paper because its thinness was lighter to carry, and took up less space, but did not last long, so was treated very carefully.
Because of this, there are just a few papyrus documents that have survived from the second century, though none of them contain complete passages.
Not until the fourth century were, they written on vellum, which is a durable sheepskin surface.
From then on, especially in the Middle-Ages, literally thousands of manuscripts survive, some exquisitely illustrated, but some also showing carelessness in copying.
The very first printed New Testament in Greek was published in 1516.
There also are what are known as the Lost Gospels…..and each has a name.
There are the Jewish-Christian Gospels
There are the Gnostic Gospels…and others, some predating some of the known and accepted four Gospels……
There is also a book called the Apocrypha, which is recognized not only by the Catholic Church…but Lutherans, some Methodists, Moravians, Anglican and others, even making it into their lectionaries.
How many of you have heard of it?
These books are considered equal by some to the four Gospels, of which there are seven. They were included in Martin Luther’s Bible…. which are a collection of ancient books, usually located in between the Old and New Testaments. They are perceived as being written by godly men and are to be read for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of history and for the instruction of godly behavior. So, out of curiosity and since they are determined not be to be in contradiction to the four Gospels, you might want to read them?
What we do have, those who put the New Testament together as we know it, was put together by much debate, much comparing over 20,000 documents as to their cohesiveness, and stringent study to avoid contradictions. The New Testament and the Bible itself are the most read, most studied and most published books ever written in the world.
The New Testament and the written and spoken Word has changed more lives, affected more countries, touched more people, than any other words written. The only times (in my opinion) that people and countries were adversely affected (and many have been) was and is when men and women twist it, don’t understand it’s truths, but use it to accomplish their own evil desires for personal, political, and spiritual control and gains.
They have lost the conscience that God has placed in all people.
We sometimes use the phrase, “the still, small voice in referring to it.
Rolf Zetterseten wrote, “A good friend in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice warning system…. At first Ewin was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt was not fastened….He affectionately call this voice the ‘little woman.’
He soon discovered his ‘little woman’ was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. ‘Your fuel level is low,’ she said one time in her sweet, sultry voice. Edwin nodded his head and thanked her, but he figured he still had enough gas to go another 50 miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning. And so, it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time.
“Finally, he stopped his car and looked under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the ‘little woman.’
He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his care began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas! Somewhere inside the dashboard, Edwin was sure he could hear the ‘little woman laughing.”
People like Edwin learn before long that the little voice inside us, although often ignored or even yanked out, has been and is telling us what we need to know.
That…is what in reading the spoken word…the New Testament will do for us. Heighten to a very audible level, the still small voice in us, telling us when we are about to do something we should not do.
Here is a short quote. “If it is doubtful, it’s dirty.” The advice of a wife to her husband who was trying to determine whether his shirt could be worn one more time before laundering.; ) You can carry that over into anything questionable.
John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” They are thieves who steal the Lord’s words, to use for their own enrichment and control.
Please…read God’s word(s), for with much effort, care and prayer over centuries, we have been given a great gift through diligent preservation, with the loss of lives in having done so. …. The New Testament!
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
February 24, 2019
"BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT" A HISTORY LESSON
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
2 Timothy 3:16 " All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong and right in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." Meaning in simpler terms….it cuts into our conscience, pointing out sometimes painfully our failures or sins.
There is a word I want to introduce you to if you have not heard it before, and is applicable to the word(s) of God. It is 'Rhema'....."the literal utterances of God spoken out loud for people to hear." It also means God's words are revealed.
A Scripture to back this up is found in Romans 10:17-18, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the spoken word of God. Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."
God's words are spoken in both the Old and New Testaments for the purpose of us becoming a moral and upright people, who in our position as Believers, will honor and worship God and His Son Jesus Christ willingly and lovingly.
What is the New Testament and how did it come to be?
As I was sitting at my desk, having finished my research and ready to start putting it on paper, it came to me that some people really don't like and are not interested in history, and so if you are one of those, I thought how can I make it interesting enough to keep your attention.
Well, I didn't get an answer that I thought would work, so I am just going to say what I think and hope you might be interested in.
Also, this (today) is a preface to the upcoming Lenten Season, leading up to Easter. This year, my third one here at the Little Church, I am going to follow what is called the Christian calendar through the lectionary.
I have typed up a schedule of what I will be following and in some cases what my topic for sermons will be. It will be posted on the back-bulletin board, but first I am going to read it to you now. (READ)
Now…comes the answer to the two questions I posed in the beginning……
The New Testament....is a volume of early Christian writings that tells the story of the New Covenant, which is simply the fulfillment of the original covenant that God made with the Jewish people, fulfilled in Christ, when through Him we (Gentiles) were adopted into the people of God....the Church. Matthew 16:13-18. (READ)
These verses clarify that the church was to be built on Peter's statement, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." not on the man Peter, though vibrantly used, but in the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.
The church did, and for the most part most still does, center on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and his sacrificial death, then resurrection. For Christians, Jesus fulfilled the expectations expressed in Jewish Scriptures that the 'Messiah' (meaning 'the anointed One') would come to deliver on his promises. This was fulfilled when in John 19:30, as he uttered these words, "it is finished." Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
The New Testament as we know it, begins with the 'Gospel' (meaning 'good news') of Jesus' ministry, execution and rising from the dead. This Gospel has four versions attributed to the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Scholars believe that each Gospel was based on events and traditions associated with the Churches in several of cities where the Churches grew. Perhaps, they say, Matthew with Antioch, Mark with Rome, Luke with Caesarea and John with Ephesus.
I do want to say, that the Gospels are not biographies written by the authors, but are much more like a written sermon or a call to faith. One thing in common, is that each say little about the upbringing or young life of Jesus. Nowhere is there a physical description of the boy, or man Jesus. Nowhere. What each does have in common is a full account of the Passion of Jesus.
After the Gospel account comes the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus has resurrected and left earth, and the Gospel is now in the hands of the disciples. The Book of Acts tells of the early Church and how it spread beyond the Jews to the Gentiles, largely through Paul's missionary journeys and his letters to the churches. Paul of course of converted on the road to Damascus...in a rather dramatic way, though the Acts too were filled with drama of a kind never seen before and were instrumental in the rapid growth of Christianity.
There then follows 21 letters. Thirteen traditionally attributed to Paul, seven to the names of other well-known figures, James, Timothy, etc. Not all scholars believe that all these letters were penned or dictated by Paul, Peter or the others. Few, though, do not doubt that a solid block of letters written by Paul himself did survive.
Lastly, there is the strange visionary book known as Revelation or Apocalypse, which starts with a sometimes-scathing account of several of the Seven Churches in Asia and goes on to a series of visions full of strange creatures, allegories and even some metaphors. Many visions full of conflicts of different kinds, including battles. A vision of a different and somewhat frightening Christ is described as well. If you care to enter a world full of imagery and puzzlement.... read Revelation. There are many who have different versions of the meaning and intent of Revelation, but for me.... I either am not intellectual enough or spiritual enough to make good sense of it all, so I stick to the teachings of Jesus and the letters, to find my way through this life to Christ in the New Testament.
There is a debate that goes on to today, that many feels all the New Testament was written by AD 70, others disagree. There were other Christian writings not in the New Testament, many actually. (did you know that?) Some have been lost and some determined not to be in conjunction with the theme of those we have come to know. Paul most certainly is perceived to have written other letters, that are still in the archives and library of the Vatican or lost, or both. There were written other Gospels as well, but they conflicted in some ways with the accepted and officially recognized Gospels, and therefore were not included. By the end of the second century, the main canon or (authorative and accepted books) was fixed, but even then, there were still disagreements among those putting the New Testament together.
I don’t know if this will interest you, but it did me in that Jesus spoke Aramaic, because he lived in the area known as Galilee’, also he would have also known some Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek and translated into Latin in the second century. As a side note, anytime anything is translated into a different language, some of the nuances and even specific detailed information is lost in the translation.
The original documents would have been written on what is known as papyrus, which is thin and fragile, much like pastry paper today. It was written on this type of paper because its thinness was lighter to carry, and took up less space, but did not last long, so was treated very carefully.
Because of this, there are just a few papyrus documents that have survived from the second century, though none of them contain complete passages.
Not until the fourth century were, they written on vellum, which is a durable sheepskin surface.
From then on, especially in the Middle-Ages, literally thousands of manuscripts survive, some exquisitely illustrated, but some also showing carelessness in copying.
The very first printed New Testament in Greek was published in 1516.
There also are what are known as the Lost Gospels…..and each has a name.
There are the Jewish-Christian Gospels
There are the Gnostic Gospels…and others, some predating some of the known and accepted four Gospels……
There is also a book called the Apocrypha, which is recognized not only by the Catholic Church…but Lutherans, some Methodists, Moravians, Anglican and others, even making it into their lectionaries.
How many of you have heard of it?
These books are considered equal by some to the four Gospels, of which there are seven. They were included in Martin Luther’s Bible…. which are a collection of ancient books, usually located in between the Old and New Testaments. They are perceived as being written by godly men and are to be read for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of history and for the instruction of godly behavior. So, out of curiosity and since they are determined not be to be in contradiction to the four Gospels, you might want to read them?
What we do have, those who put the New Testament together as we know it, was put together by much debate, much comparing over 20,000 documents as to their cohesiveness, and stringent study to avoid contradictions. The New Testament and the Bible itself are the most read, most studied and most published books ever written in the world.
The New Testament and the written and spoken Word has changed more lives, affected more countries, touched more people, than any other words written. The only times (in my opinion) that people and countries were adversely affected (and many have been) was and is when men and women twist it, don’t understand it’s truths, but use it to accomplish their own evil desires for personal, political, and spiritual control and gains.
They have lost the conscience that God has placed in all people.
We sometimes use the phrase, “the still, small voice in referring to it.
Rolf Zetterseten wrote, “A good friend in North Carolina bought a new car with a voice warning system…. At first Ewin was amused to hear the soft female voice gently remind him that his seat belt was not fastened….He affectionately call this voice the ‘little woman.’
He soon discovered his ‘little woman’ was programmed to warn him about his gasoline. ‘Your fuel level is low,’ she said one time in her sweet, sultry voice. Edwin nodded his head and thanked her, but he figured he still had enough gas to go another 50 miles, so he kept on driving. But a few minutes later, her voice interrupted again with the same warning. And so, it went over and over. Although he knew it was the same recording, Edwin thought her voice sounded harsher each time.
“Finally, he stopped his car and looked under the dashboard. After a quick search, he found the appropriate wires and gave them a good yank. So much for the ‘little woman.’
He was still smiling to himself a few miles later when his care began sputtering and coughing. He ran out of gas! Somewhere inside the dashboard, Edwin was sure he could hear the ‘little woman laughing.”
People like Edwin learn before long that the little voice inside us, although often ignored or even yanked out, has been and is telling us what we need to know.
That…is what in reading the spoken word…the New Testament will do for us. Heighten to a very audible level, the still small voice in us, telling us when we are about to do something we should not do.
Here is a short quote. “If it is doubtful, it’s dirty.” The advice of a wife to her husband who was trying to determine whether his shirt could be worn one more time before laundering.; ) You can carry that over into anything questionable.
John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” They are thieves who steal the Lord’s words, to use for their own enrichment and control.
Please…read God’s word(s), for with much effort, care and prayer over centuries, we have been given a great gift through diligent preservation, with the loss of lives in having done so. …. The New Testament!
Amen
THE LITTLE CHURCH IN THE PINES
MACKS' INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ LISTENING
JAMES 1:19 "Everyone should be quick to listen; slow to speak."
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Listening....is one of the greatest disciplines that a person can learn and also is one of the most difficult to accomplish, because most of us have so much we want to say......on most any and everything.
I have a short secular story to relate to you in the Art and Discipline of Listening.
A couple of redneck hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground.
He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are rolled back in his head.
The other redneck starts to panic, then whips out his cell phone, calling 911.
He frantically blurts out to the operator, "My friend Jackson is dead! What can I do?"
The operator, trying to calm him down says, "Take it easy. I can help. Just listen to me and follow my instructions sir, make sure he is dead."
There is a short pause, and then the operator is puzzled when she hears a loud gunshot!
The redneck comes back on the line and says, "OK, now what?"
Sometimes, it's easy to hear the words without hearing the real message.
We think that we know what is being said, but we don't clarify the situation (such as listening to the end of what is being said) before jumping to unnecessary, unhelpful and sometimes dangerous conclusions.
We have been given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Two ears so we can hear better and one mouth, so we speak less than we hear. Let our goal be to strive to become better listeners, especially if we are going to repeat what we are hearing to others....and most often, repeat we will.
Another example many of us have taken part is a game called the circle whisper. Gathered in a circle the first-person whisper to the next person perhaps a short but colorful story, and the next and the next. By the time the story gets around to the last person.... what is the result? It barely resembles the original one.
James 3:5-6 reads, "How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell."
Then there is Matthew 13:12-13, "to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But...for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have, will be taken away. Jesus goes on to say, "That is why I use these parables, for they look but they don't really see. They hear, but they are not really listening, therefore they not able to understand."
This is important to hear, so please listen closely. "Who we are is reflected in both, what we say and what we do, if concerned at all about our personal reputation.” That being in part, title of today's sermon. We can also add to that, "by our words we in time will reap what we sow." Why are we not more careful in regard to this truth?
The words we speak puts accountability in our own laps, and no one else’s. Human ears hear many sounds, but there is a deeper kind of listening, that results in spiritual understanding. When speaking parables, Jesus was not cloaking or hiding truth from sincere seekers, but those who were receptive to spiritual truths, understood his illustrations. To others they were just stories with little meaning. We hear.... really hear, only when we really listen.
Therefore....it is our responsibility and attitude at that moment, to pay attention to what is being spoken by the speaker to be able discern truth or untruths, unless of course they are a boring speaker and have really nothing to say that is relevant. The best thing would be to get up and leave….and, I hope none of you leave now.
You come here on Sunday mornings to hear truth being spoken, hopefully, and if indeed truth is being spoken, to learn and grow spiritually in a way that you can apply to your everyday life. It is not about entertainment, though at times that may be part of the deliverance methodology. ;)
Now onto one of my favorite books, the book of James which may well be the earliest of the New Testament letters, written in the year A.D.48, 1971 years ago. This letter was written by the half-brother of Jesus, who became one of the leaders of the Jerusalem Church. James addressed this letter to Believers everywhere. He wrote it to teach the followers of Jesus how to live out their everyday lives. He emphasizes that if we have genuine faith, we will show it by speaking and acting as instructed by the Lord, and to follow, other such as Paul, James himself, the Gospel writers those to follow. James gave us practical advice on things like anger and quarreling, showing favoritism, controlling the tongue, boasting, patience and prayer.... and...listening! All practical directives that if followed…there would be unity and peace in the body of Christ.
Steven Covey says, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Only by listening can this come about.
He also said this, "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."
HERE ARE 5 TIPS FOR BECOMING A MORE EFFECTIVE LISTENER........
1. Be aware of your body language. The effective use of body language is often discussed when teaching how to deliver a message, but not so much when receiving one. This means...don't fall asleep when the speaker is speaking, I once had a woman, a teacher in my congregation in Kentucky, (who was angry with me) bring in her students’ papers and correct them during my preaching. That was a bit amusing in looking back, though not at the time. I will say it was the most audacious way of publicly telling me and everyone else her displeasure with me.
2. Do not be afraid of silence. Sometimes, we are so used to noise that we start to feel uncomfortable when there are pauses during a conversation. One of the important lessons to learn is to allow for moments of silence while listening to others. By giving the speaker some thinking time, you may enable them the chance to articulate their thoughts more effectively.
3. Restrain yourself. Many times, we can fall into the trap of thinking we have a funnier anecdote, more fascinating statistics or sadder story that the person speaking just has to hear, and we don't even listen to the end of their story. Others will think more highly of us if we help them to feel better about themselves by listening.
Remember this please. There are also times when not speaking, but touching someone’s shoulder, or not rushing in with a comment, and just looking with the appropriate look will speak more than our words.
4. A good way to start a conversation is ask questions. Asking follow-up questions can be an excellent way of showing that you were listening and want to know more if appropriate.
5. Get rid of distractions. Put your phone on silent when talking with someone. If a serious conversation, physically go to a quieter area if the topic being discussed is one not to be overheard by anyone else. Give them your undivided attention if possible.
Here are a few Scriptures about the discipline of listening.
Proverbs 10:8 "The wise of heart will receive what is spoken, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Mark 4:24, And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; and with the measure you apply what you receive, it will be measured back to you and still more will be added to that.
Proverbs 20:12, The hearing ear and the seeing eyes, the Lord has made them both. (Use them well)
Proverbs 18:5, An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise...seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 2:21-22, the last one. My son or daughter, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments, making your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
As a side note……Did you know that we think four times faster than we can talk.
One last illustration on listening.
Franklin Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House at political and social events. He complained to his wife and staff, that no one really paid any attention to what was said by him in the line. One day, during a reception, he decided to try and experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous!" "Keep up the good work," "We are proud of you Mr. President." God bless you, sir." It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Non-pulsed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered. "I'm sure she had it coming."
Remember...."Who we are is reflected in what we say and do"
Our reputations are established by both....................................................
Lord...give us wisdom and help us to both speak when we should and keep our mouths shut when we should.
Amen
MACKS' INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ LISTENING
JAMES 1:19 "Everyone should be quick to listen; slow to speak."
by; Pastor Tom A. Shanor
Listening....is one of the greatest disciplines that a person can learn and also is one of the most difficult to accomplish, because most of us have so much we want to say......on most any and everything.
I have a short secular story to relate to you in the Art and Discipline of Listening.
A couple of redneck hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground.
He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are rolled back in his head.
The other redneck starts to panic, then whips out his cell phone, calling 911.
He frantically blurts out to the operator, "My friend Jackson is dead! What can I do?"
The operator, trying to calm him down says, "Take it easy. I can help. Just listen to me and follow my instructions sir, make sure he is dead."
There is a short pause, and then the operator is puzzled when she hears a loud gunshot!
The redneck comes back on the line and says, "OK, now what?"
Sometimes, it's easy to hear the words without hearing the real message.
We think that we know what is being said, but we don't clarify the situation (such as listening to the end of what is being said) before jumping to unnecessary, unhelpful and sometimes dangerous conclusions.
We have been given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Two ears so we can hear better and one mouth, so we speak less than we hear. Let our goal be to strive to become better listeners, especially if we are going to repeat what we are hearing to others....and most often, repeat we will.
Another example many of us have taken part is a game called the circle whisper. Gathered in a circle the first-person whisper to the next person perhaps a short but colorful story, and the next and the next. By the time the story gets around to the last person.... what is the result? It barely resembles the original one.
James 3:5-6 reads, "How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell."
Then there is Matthew 13:12-13, "to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But...for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have, will be taken away. Jesus goes on to say, "That is why I use these parables, for they look but they don't really see. They hear, but they are not really listening, therefore they not able to understand."
This is important to hear, so please listen closely. "Who we are is reflected in both, what we say and what we do, if concerned at all about our personal reputation.” That being in part, title of today's sermon. We can also add to that, "by our words we in time will reap what we sow." Why are we not more careful in regard to this truth?
The words we speak puts accountability in our own laps, and no one else’s. Human ears hear many sounds, but there is a deeper kind of listening, that results in spiritual understanding. When speaking parables, Jesus was not cloaking or hiding truth from sincere seekers, but those who were receptive to spiritual truths, understood his illustrations. To others they were just stories with little meaning. We hear.... really hear, only when we really listen.
Therefore....it is our responsibility and attitude at that moment, to pay attention to what is being spoken by the speaker to be able discern truth or untruths, unless of course they are a boring speaker and have really nothing to say that is relevant. The best thing would be to get up and leave….and, I hope none of you leave now.
You come here on Sunday mornings to hear truth being spoken, hopefully, and if indeed truth is being spoken, to learn and grow spiritually in a way that you can apply to your everyday life. It is not about entertainment, though at times that may be part of the deliverance methodology. ;)
Now onto one of my favorite books, the book of James which may well be the earliest of the New Testament letters, written in the year A.D.48, 1971 years ago. This letter was written by the half-brother of Jesus, who became one of the leaders of the Jerusalem Church. James addressed this letter to Believers everywhere. He wrote it to teach the followers of Jesus how to live out their everyday lives. He emphasizes that if we have genuine faith, we will show it by speaking and acting as instructed by the Lord, and to follow, other such as Paul, James himself, the Gospel writers those to follow. James gave us practical advice on things like anger and quarreling, showing favoritism, controlling the tongue, boasting, patience and prayer.... and...listening! All practical directives that if followed…there would be unity and peace in the body of Christ.
Steven Covey says, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Only by listening can this come about.
He also said this, "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."
HERE ARE 5 TIPS FOR BECOMING A MORE EFFECTIVE LISTENER........
1. Be aware of your body language. The effective use of body language is often discussed when teaching how to deliver a message, but not so much when receiving one. This means...don't fall asleep when the speaker is speaking, I once had a woman, a teacher in my congregation in Kentucky, (who was angry with me) bring in her students’ papers and correct them during my preaching. That was a bit amusing in looking back, though not at the time. I will say it was the most audacious way of publicly telling me and everyone else her displeasure with me.
2. Do not be afraid of silence. Sometimes, we are so used to noise that we start to feel uncomfortable when there are pauses during a conversation. One of the important lessons to learn is to allow for moments of silence while listening to others. By giving the speaker some thinking time, you may enable them the chance to articulate their thoughts more effectively.
3. Restrain yourself. Many times, we can fall into the trap of thinking we have a funnier anecdote, more fascinating statistics or sadder story that the person speaking just has to hear, and we don't even listen to the end of their story. Others will think more highly of us if we help them to feel better about themselves by listening.
Remember this please. There are also times when not speaking, but touching someone’s shoulder, or not rushing in with a comment, and just looking with the appropriate look will speak more than our words.
4. A good way to start a conversation is ask questions. Asking follow-up questions can be an excellent way of showing that you were listening and want to know more if appropriate.
5. Get rid of distractions. Put your phone on silent when talking with someone. If a serious conversation, physically go to a quieter area if the topic being discussed is one not to be overheard by anyone else. Give them your undivided attention if possible.
Here are a few Scriptures about the discipline of listening.
Proverbs 10:8 "The wise of heart will receive what is spoken, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Mark 4:24, And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; and with the measure you apply what you receive, it will be measured back to you and still more will be added to that.
Proverbs 20:12, The hearing ear and the seeing eyes, the Lord has made them both. (Use them well)
Proverbs 18:5, An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise...seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 2:21-22, the last one. My son or daughter, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments, making your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
As a side note……Did you know that we think four times faster than we can talk.
One last illustration on listening.
Franklin Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House at political and social events. He complained to his wife and staff, that no one really paid any attention to what was said by him in the line. One day, during a reception, he decided to try and experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous!" "Keep up the good work," "We are proud of you Mr. President." God bless you, sir." It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Non-pulsed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered. "I'm sure she had it coming."
Remember...."Who we are is reflected in what we say and do"
Our reputations are established by both....................................................
Lord...give us wisdom and help us to both speak when we should and keep our mouths shut when we should.
Amen
Little Church in the Pines......
macks inn, island park, Idaho
February 9, 2019
SERMON: AMAZING GRACE
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Amazing Grace....how sweet the sound ~ that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Twas "grace" that taught my heart to fear, and "grace" my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear.... the hour I first believed!
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures:
He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come;
His grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise...than when we'd first begun.
Yes...I have spoken pointedly on GRACE before, but it has been almost three years ago....and because I am in need of grace myself at this time, and weighs so deeply in my mind and heart, I feel compelled by the Spirit to speak on it again....but not just because of my own need but for the benefit of all of us.
Look at the first stanza...."twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and it was that grace.... that took away those fears.....
I believe what he is saying here is that without grace, without the grace given freely to all people through Jesus Christ and specifically here in reference to himself....that the weight of his own acknowledge sins....the weight of not having that grace...would cause him to be swallowed up by the sin that weighed him down, and that the result without this free grace ultimately...is death without Christ. John Newton came deeply into the understanding of just what grace meant to him, which was freedom from fear, darkness and death.
He goes on to say...how precious, how valuable, how light-filled is grace when both received and then given to others.
John Newton following a difficult upbringing, following choices he made that almost killed him as a young adult, choices that led eventually to his deep conversion.... caused him to recognize the immediate and eternal value of Grace.
Freely, freely you have received.... freely, freely give. Go in my name and because you believe...others will know that I live.
Philip Yancy in his book, What's So Amazing About Grace, writes this in his introduction. "Little did I know what I was getting into when I began writing a book on the word grace. He goes on to say, I chose the topic out of my concern that some of us in the U.S. church have lost our way and that we stand in danger of losing our most important contribution to the world, (along with the message of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.) because we fail...we fail...to understand and live the grace given to us freely."
Philip also says, "I came to see that grace underlies the Gospel. Far from being abstract, the theological doctrine, grace affects us in a very practical as well as spiritual way, in resolving differences of any and every kind. Specifically,.because we are Christians.
I truly believe, he said, "that the future of the church depends on how we master the 'gift' of giving grace.
What makes Christianity different from all the other religions in the world? Years ago, that very question was being discussed at a Christian leadership conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity's unique teaching God became man was what set it apart. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection, one asked? No, it was argued, other faiths also believe that the dead raise again.
The discussion grew heated.
C.S.Lewis who was attending the conference, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down and asked, "what is the ruckus about?" When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
How right he was! The very heart of the Gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions whatsoever when we accept his Son through repentance, receiving forgiveness, trusting in Him for our very lives and soul. "It is by His infinite 'grace' that we are saved, not by moral character, works of doing right things, commandment keeping or church-attendance. When we do nothing else but accept God's total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life, under His hand and care. (Ephesians 2:8-9.)
The literal meaning of grace is, "the free and undeserved favor of God...'given' to us through the willing and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
What we have freely been given.... we are to freely give! That church is what it's all about. If we do not believe and adhere to and given this grace.... we are not in the will of God. Still saved...still a child of God, but not living life as he has called and commanded us to live it.
Is there accountability even under grace that we have with one another, of course...but when it comes to reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration, GRACE is the first best word that should come to our mind.
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
Standing before the judge, he was asked, "guilty or not guilty?" When Graham pled guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars...a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. The fine must be paid, but I am going to pay it for you." He took out a ten-dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
That...is an example of grace!
Why do we find it sometimes so hard to extend to others that grace who have offended us? Why?
A sense of self-importance
A sense of an offense or hurt that seems unforgivable?
Illustrate with a little stuffed animal…feed & grow.
A sense that the offender doesn't deserve it, so wrong, are they?
These among many others.... became chains around our mind, heart and spirit that can blind and bind us to the need to let go. No longer walking in grace, it become almost impossible to live without our self-righteousness indignation, hurt, anger and reconciliation is not even in our vocabulary anymore. Grace becomes nothing more than a word, a word without intent or meaning.
THEY...THE WORLD WILL KNOW, WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE!
OH, WHAT NONSENSE......OUR LOVE, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
LOVE?
It is NOT our business to go around pointing fingers at others as a way of life...we've all done it, haven't we? It is so easy to start doing and keep on doing. NO TRAINING NECESSARY. Experience comes quickly and feeds the ravaging beast.... because once on a roll, we find so much to point our fingers and wag our tongues at! Call it what you will...blaming, accusing, gossiping, condemning...puts us in control, and the center of attention.
I went through my Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes, called the Ultimate Resource for Speakers by Robert J. Morgan, and I could NOT find one illustration on grace. I was floored, my mouth agape as I sat in my office alone preparing this for today. NOT ONE!
But I have one anyway...........................................................................
One April 4th, 1968, American Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we know was assassinated, leaving millions angry and disillusioned. In Indianapolis, a largely African-American crowd had gathered to hear Robert F. Kennedy speak. Many there had not yet heard of Dr. Kings death, so Kennedy chose to share the tragic news. He appealed for calm by acknowledging not only the loss, but their pain, and the abiding grief he carried within him over the murder of his brother, President Kennedy.
Kennedy then quoted a variation of an ancient poem.
Even in our sleep,
Pain which we cannot forget,
Falls...drop by drop upon our heart,
Until, in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom.... through the awful grace of God.
"Wisdom through the 'awful grace of God' is a remarkable statement. It means this.... that God's grace should fill us with awe, and gives us the opportunity to grow in wisdom and grace itself, during life's most difficult times, will when receiving and giving, change our lives, and us, into men and women of gratitude and grace, not judgement.
God help us.... each and every one of us....to live such lives that in turn will bring us health, peace and joy, where no matter what assails us, we can say and sing....it is well, it is well, with my soul. Amen
macks inn, island park, Idaho
February 9, 2019
SERMON: AMAZING GRACE
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Amazing Grace....how sweet the sound ~ that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Twas "grace" that taught my heart to fear, and "grace" my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear.... the hour I first believed!
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures:
He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come;
His grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise...than when we'd first begun.
Yes...I have spoken pointedly on GRACE before, but it has been almost three years ago....and because I am in need of grace myself at this time, and weighs so deeply in my mind and heart, I feel compelled by the Spirit to speak on it again....but not just because of my own need but for the benefit of all of us.
Look at the first stanza...."twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and it was that grace.... that took away those fears.....
I believe what he is saying here is that without grace, without the grace given freely to all people through Jesus Christ and specifically here in reference to himself....that the weight of his own acknowledge sins....the weight of not having that grace...would cause him to be swallowed up by the sin that weighed him down, and that the result without this free grace ultimately...is death without Christ. John Newton came deeply into the understanding of just what grace meant to him, which was freedom from fear, darkness and death.
He goes on to say...how precious, how valuable, how light-filled is grace when both received and then given to others.
John Newton following a difficult upbringing, following choices he made that almost killed him as a young adult, choices that led eventually to his deep conversion.... caused him to recognize the immediate and eternal value of Grace.
Freely, freely you have received.... freely, freely give. Go in my name and because you believe...others will know that I live.
Philip Yancy in his book, What's So Amazing About Grace, writes this in his introduction. "Little did I know what I was getting into when I began writing a book on the word grace. He goes on to say, I chose the topic out of my concern that some of us in the U.S. church have lost our way and that we stand in danger of losing our most important contribution to the world, (along with the message of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.) because we fail...we fail...to understand and live the grace given to us freely."
Philip also says, "I came to see that grace underlies the Gospel. Far from being abstract, the theological doctrine, grace affects us in a very practical as well as spiritual way, in resolving differences of any and every kind. Specifically,.because we are Christians.
I truly believe, he said, "that the future of the church depends on how we master the 'gift' of giving grace.
What makes Christianity different from all the other religions in the world? Years ago, that very question was being discussed at a Christian leadership conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity's unique teaching God became man was what set it apart. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection, one asked? No, it was argued, other faiths also believe that the dead raise again.
The discussion grew heated.
C.S.Lewis who was attending the conference, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down and asked, "what is the ruckus about?" When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
How right he was! The very heart of the Gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions whatsoever when we accept his Son through repentance, receiving forgiveness, trusting in Him for our very lives and soul. "It is by His infinite 'grace' that we are saved, not by moral character, works of doing right things, commandment keeping or church-attendance. When we do nothing else but accept God's total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life, under His hand and care. (Ephesians 2:8-9.)
The literal meaning of grace is, "the free and undeserved favor of God...'given' to us through the willing and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
What we have freely been given.... we are to freely give! That church is what it's all about. If we do not believe and adhere to and given this grace.... we are not in the will of God. Still saved...still a child of God, but not living life as he has called and commanded us to live it.
Is there accountability even under grace that we have with one another, of course...but when it comes to reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration, GRACE is the first best word that should come to our mind.
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
Standing before the judge, he was asked, "guilty or not guilty?" When Graham pled guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars...a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. The fine must be paid, but I am going to pay it for you." He took out a ten-dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
That...is an example of grace!
Why do we find it sometimes so hard to extend to others that grace who have offended us? Why?
A sense of self-importance
A sense of an offense or hurt that seems unforgivable?
Illustrate with a little stuffed animal…feed & grow.
A sense that the offender doesn't deserve it, so wrong, are they?
These among many others.... became chains around our mind, heart and spirit that can blind and bind us to the need to let go. No longer walking in grace, it become almost impossible to live without our self-righteousness indignation, hurt, anger and reconciliation is not even in our vocabulary anymore. Grace becomes nothing more than a word, a word without intent or meaning.
THEY...THE WORLD WILL KNOW, WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE!
OH, WHAT NONSENSE......OUR LOVE, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
LOVE?
It is NOT our business to go around pointing fingers at others as a way of life...we've all done it, haven't we? It is so easy to start doing and keep on doing. NO TRAINING NECESSARY. Experience comes quickly and feeds the ravaging beast.... because once on a roll, we find so much to point our fingers and wag our tongues at! Call it what you will...blaming, accusing, gossiping, condemning...puts us in control, and the center of attention.
I went through my Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes, called the Ultimate Resource for Speakers by Robert J. Morgan, and I could NOT find one illustration on grace. I was floored, my mouth agape as I sat in my office alone preparing this for today. NOT ONE!
But I have one anyway...........................................................................
One April 4th, 1968, American Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we know was assassinated, leaving millions angry and disillusioned. In Indianapolis, a largely African-American crowd had gathered to hear Robert F. Kennedy speak. Many there had not yet heard of Dr. Kings death, so Kennedy chose to share the tragic news. He appealed for calm by acknowledging not only the loss, but their pain, and the abiding grief he carried within him over the murder of his brother, President Kennedy.
Kennedy then quoted a variation of an ancient poem.
Even in our sleep,
Pain which we cannot forget,
Falls...drop by drop upon our heart,
Until, in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom.... through the awful grace of God.
"Wisdom through the 'awful grace of God' is a remarkable statement. It means this.... that God's grace should fill us with awe, and gives us the opportunity to grow in wisdom and grace itself, during life's most difficult times, will when receiving and giving, change our lives, and us, into men and women of gratitude and grace, not judgement.
God help us.... each and every one of us....to live such lives that in turn will bring us health, peace and joy, where no matter what assails us, we can say and sing....it is well, it is well, with my soul. Amen
the Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK IDAHO
January 27, 2019
SERMON ~ G-U-I-L-T “Y”
Matthew 23:32
Matthew 23:31-33 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets". 32. "Fill-up, then, the measure of your fathers’' guilt". 33, "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell"?
Two things here. One, this is the only verse in the entire New Testament where the word "guilt" is spoken. Two, Jesus is using this word against the religious leaders, who are posing as righteous men, lifting themselves up as better than others in their own minds. High above the rabble (so to speak) that Jesus is ministering words of grace to, and helping them (the ordinary people) become men and women of God, forgiven and not forsaken. Accepted in the Beloved!
In modern translations and in the King James Bible in the Old Testament, the word guilt is found only twice, and the word guilty is also only found twice. In the New Testament guilty is found two times, and guilt once.
In passing this information on I am by no way diminishing their necessity, power and impact. But what I hope to do is come to a better understanding of both their value and their ability to harm and even destroy needlessly when used as a method of control.
So... let’s come to a fuller knowledge of what guilt and guilty are, starting with guilt.
Guilt...is defined as an emotion which is cognitive, and an experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes - accurately or not - that they have compromised their own standards of conduct, or have violated a universal accepted moral standard, and bear the significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is also closely related to the concept of remorse when felt.
Yesterday, I had just finished the previous paragraph, when I received a text from Connie that Adam Jacobson, whom I had spent some time talking with and getting to know fairly well, and who had been coming to church several times here was found dead. Since that moment I began feeling dread, remorse and guilt. You see, Adam reached out to me recently about getting together sometime in the future, and, my thinking by the way he wrote, was that he was still in Minnesota, when in fact he was here. I did not respond because I thought he would touch base with me when he got back. I am broken hearted and asking myself over and over, why did I not just send him a note affirming we would meet, instead of waiting to hear from him again? I, with God's help have to be able to rely on God’s grace and mercy in coming to terms with this.
Adam and his former wife Nikki have three beautiful children who now have no father. Adams’ dad is a minister in Minnesota and by all accounts from Adam, they had a wonderful relationship. My prayers, our prayers, which are now all I and we can give, go towards the children, their mother and Adams family.
This is one of those events that often changes, even those of us not directly involved, because he and they are a part of our community.
There will be speculation because of some of Adams choices and lifestyle, but I hope and pray that whatever caused this to happen with him, that we who are praying for the family will not enter into petty gossip, speculation and judgement. Please...let us....do what is right and simply pray and help in whatever way God may give us to do.
Guilt, especially those of us who have or have had inward struggles that have beset us most of our lives, and guilt caused by sometimes wrong choices we have made. We can carry around in us feelings, that feel like the chains draping Bob Cratchets' spirit in the first movie of Dickens Scrooge. These are not ours to legitimately carry.
Adam…. because he knew Jesus, and my hope and prayer is that he is free of all that beset him, and is now dancing in the presence of the Lord
Many people, including some of us, suffer all their lives from the oppressive feeling of guilt....and I am not alluding to Adam in this case at all, please note that, but I have had my own chains that throughout my life I have carried. For me, I often have to think & pray these words of the Lords. "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. When I do, turning over to him, even what I spoke of above, the Lord does what he says he will do, and I then begin to 'feel', yes, feel lighter, happier and even blessed. Many people in feeling this oppressive guilt, having in some cases felt they have not lived up to other’s expectations of them, especially their parents, which had its roots in early childhood, and sometimes all through their childhood until leaving home. This type of oppression is not easily discarded and has led some to the point of suicide.
What is produced by guilt, especially unwarranted guilt is anxiety, sometimes to the extent it can cause both mental and even physical manifestations that can become quite serious, also leading to death.
There is also what Les Parrott has called "the disease of false guilt." for at the root of false guilt is the idea that what you feel, having been put on you by someone else deliberately or even inadvertently, or by your own self must be true.
Churches especially, have often been guilty, often very guilty of controlling by guilt. Establishing black and white rules that if transgressed (and which often are) are meant to cause guilt.
This is true also in the case in cults and certain sects who "rule by guilt." They do not want people set free from sin through repentance and forgiveness, really free, but conditioning them to expect to fail, and fail and fail again, by constantly causing people to believe they are sinners and will never be anything but. But we know, When Christ sets us free…. we are free indeed x2.
Jesus says these words to us, "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-9
A personal example, I was 25, experimenting in life, living without much restraint, including taking LSD, (Timothy Leary) era, Smoking Marijuana, Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, Transcendental Meditation, Astrology, Numerology, reading Freud, Carlos Castaneda, Carl Jung, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, etc., etc. but all I found was confusion adding to my already mind numbing feelings of guilt. I remember so clearly being so deeply disturbed in myself and afraid of what I might do next, that I ran out of the house I was staying in at the time.... down into an overgrown field, continuing to run....crying, screaming at God to please take my life before I made even worse and deeper mistakes. During all those days, months and several years I still always carried a New Testament in my back pocket or back pack. I knew down deep inside that through the prayers of my grandmother, that the Lord would never leave me or forsake me, but I also feared his anger....so before failing again, would he please take me home to be with him.
The benefit of appropriate guilt that is tied to real, and not imagined sin....is you can call it that, appropriate, is that He, Jesus Christ is always ready, when we are ready to give it up, and turn to him, to open His arms, just like the father of the prodigal son, waiting on the porch for any sign of his return....open his arms, feeling them close around us...and says to us. Welcome home son, welcome home daughter. I knew you would one day come and so, I waited for that day, and here it is.
As He is the Lord of Grace....we too are to be His people of Grace.
W.H. Auden said, "I know nothing, except what everyone knows, if there when Grace dances, I should too dance."
PEOPLE OF GRACE....doesn't that sound beautiful! Musical, lyrical and liveable.
The many uses of the word Grace in English should convince us, that grace is in fact...AMAZING....truly our last best word. It contains the essence of the Gospel as a drop of water can contain the image of the sun. The world thirsts for grace in ways it does not even recognize; little wonder the hymn "Amazing Grace" is universally accepted and sung by all races and peoples...even those who do not believe in God. For societies that seem adrift, without moorings, there is no better place to drop our anchor of faith...than in Grace.
Philip Yancey who wrote (What’s So Amazing About Grace) and many other books, says this. "Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people....We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that is all too often not the way we really live. The Good News of the Gospel of grace has not deeply enough penetrated the level of our mind, heart and emotions that it need to."
Guilt, healthy guilt, God given guilt recognized by the work of the Holy Spirit in us is healthy and always with a good outcome, IF we listen to either the still small voice of the Spirit or the every growing loud voice of our own conscious.
The answer is this for us: When a believer sins, something happens that has to be dealt with. Our relationship with God cannot be broken, because we are His Children by our new birth in Him, but our fellowship with Him is damaged. Have you noticed that when you feel guilty because you’ve knowingly or unknowingly done something you know is wrong, you may avoid praying or reading your Bible. You don’t feel like going to the Sunday church service, and you may not even enjoy being with your fellow Christians/congregation. These are just some of the feelings that are evidence that your fellowship with God is broken.
The enemy of God and us, whose main goal and purpose is to keep us from worshiping and serving the Lord. In Scripture he is called the accuser of the believers. If you continue to feel guilty for already forgiven sins, you are hearing the voice of the enemy, not the Holy Spirit. He is a liar. Reject by the power of God and the truth spoken in His Word these accusations….and settle into the arms of the Lord, KNOWING you have been genuinely forgiven, and within yourself or even literally, “dance the dance of Grace” because the music will be playing for just you at that moment in time.
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK IDAHO
January 27, 2019
SERMON ~ G-U-I-L-T “Y”
Matthew 23:32
Matthew 23:31-33 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets". 32. "Fill-up, then, the measure of your fathers’' guilt". 33, "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell"?
Two things here. One, this is the only verse in the entire New Testament where the word "guilt" is spoken. Two, Jesus is using this word against the religious leaders, who are posing as righteous men, lifting themselves up as better than others in their own minds. High above the rabble (so to speak) that Jesus is ministering words of grace to, and helping them (the ordinary people) become men and women of God, forgiven and not forsaken. Accepted in the Beloved!
In modern translations and in the King James Bible in the Old Testament, the word guilt is found only twice, and the word guilty is also only found twice. In the New Testament guilty is found two times, and guilt once.
In passing this information on I am by no way diminishing their necessity, power and impact. But what I hope to do is come to a better understanding of both their value and their ability to harm and even destroy needlessly when used as a method of control.
So... let’s come to a fuller knowledge of what guilt and guilty are, starting with guilt.
Guilt...is defined as an emotion which is cognitive, and an experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes - accurately or not - that they have compromised their own standards of conduct, or have violated a universal accepted moral standard, and bear the significant responsibility for that violation. Guilt is also closely related to the concept of remorse when felt.
Yesterday, I had just finished the previous paragraph, when I received a text from Connie that Adam Jacobson, whom I had spent some time talking with and getting to know fairly well, and who had been coming to church several times here was found dead. Since that moment I began feeling dread, remorse and guilt. You see, Adam reached out to me recently about getting together sometime in the future, and, my thinking by the way he wrote, was that he was still in Minnesota, when in fact he was here. I did not respond because I thought he would touch base with me when he got back. I am broken hearted and asking myself over and over, why did I not just send him a note affirming we would meet, instead of waiting to hear from him again? I, with God's help have to be able to rely on God’s grace and mercy in coming to terms with this.
Adam and his former wife Nikki have three beautiful children who now have no father. Adams’ dad is a minister in Minnesota and by all accounts from Adam, they had a wonderful relationship. My prayers, our prayers, which are now all I and we can give, go towards the children, their mother and Adams family.
This is one of those events that often changes, even those of us not directly involved, because he and they are a part of our community.
There will be speculation because of some of Adams choices and lifestyle, but I hope and pray that whatever caused this to happen with him, that we who are praying for the family will not enter into petty gossip, speculation and judgement. Please...let us....do what is right and simply pray and help in whatever way God may give us to do.
Guilt, especially those of us who have or have had inward struggles that have beset us most of our lives, and guilt caused by sometimes wrong choices we have made. We can carry around in us feelings, that feel like the chains draping Bob Cratchets' spirit in the first movie of Dickens Scrooge. These are not ours to legitimately carry.
Adam…. because he knew Jesus, and my hope and prayer is that he is free of all that beset him, and is now dancing in the presence of the Lord
Many people, including some of us, suffer all their lives from the oppressive feeling of guilt....and I am not alluding to Adam in this case at all, please note that, but I have had my own chains that throughout my life I have carried. For me, I often have to think & pray these words of the Lords. "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. When I do, turning over to him, even what I spoke of above, the Lord does what he says he will do, and I then begin to 'feel', yes, feel lighter, happier and even blessed. Many people in feeling this oppressive guilt, having in some cases felt they have not lived up to other’s expectations of them, especially their parents, which had its roots in early childhood, and sometimes all through their childhood until leaving home. This type of oppression is not easily discarded and has led some to the point of suicide.
What is produced by guilt, especially unwarranted guilt is anxiety, sometimes to the extent it can cause both mental and even physical manifestations that can become quite serious, also leading to death.
There is also what Les Parrott has called "the disease of false guilt." for at the root of false guilt is the idea that what you feel, having been put on you by someone else deliberately or even inadvertently, or by your own self must be true.
Churches especially, have often been guilty, often very guilty of controlling by guilt. Establishing black and white rules that if transgressed (and which often are) are meant to cause guilt.
This is true also in the case in cults and certain sects who "rule by guilt." They do not want people set free from sin through repentance and forgiveness, really free, but conditioning them to expect to fail, and fail and fail again, by constantly causing people to believe they are sinners and will never be anything but. But we know, When Christ sets us free…. we are free indeed x2.
Jesus says these words to us, "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-9
A personal example, I was 25, experimenting in life, living without much restraint, including taking LSD, (Timothy Leary) era, Smoking Marijuana, Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, Transcendental Meditation, Astrology, Numerology, reading Freud, Carlos Castaneda, Carl Jung, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, etc., etc. but all I found was confusion adding to my already mind numbing feelings of guilt. I remember so clearly being so deeply disturbed in myself and afraid of what I might do next, that I ran out of the house I was staying in at the time.... down into an overgrown field, continuing to run....crying, screaming at God to please take my life before I made even worse and deeper mistakes. During all those days, months and several years I still always carried a New Testament in my back pocket or back pack. I knew down deep inside that through the prayers of my grandmother, that the Lord would never leave me or forsake me, but I also feared his anger....so before failing again, would he please take me home to be with him.
The benefit of appropriate guilt that is tied to real, and not imagined sin....is you can call it that, appropriate, is that He, Jesus Christ is always ready, when we are ready to give it up, and turn to him, to open His arms, just like the father of the prodigal son, waiting on the porch for any sign of his return....open his arms, feeling them close around us...and says to us. Welcome home son, welcome home daughter. I knew you would one day come and so, I waited for that day, and here it is.
As He is the Lord of Grace....we too are to be His people of Grace.
W.H. Auden said, "I know nothing, except what everyone knows, if there when Grace dances, I should too dance."
PEOPLE OF GRACE....doesn't that sound beautiful! Musical, lyrical and liveable.
The many uses of the word Grace in English should convince us, that grace is in fact...AMAZING....truly our last best word. It contains the essence of the Gospel as a drop of water can contain the image of the sun. The world thirsts for grace in ways it does not even recognize; little wonder the hymn "Amazing Grace" is universally accepted and sung by all races and peoples...even those who do not believe in God. For societies that seem adrift, without moorings, there is no better place to drop our anchor of faith...than in Grace.
Philip Yancey who wrote (What’s So Amazing About Grace) and many other books, says this. "Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people....We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that is all too often not the way we really live. The Good News of the Gospel of grace has not deeply enough penetrated the level of our mind, heart and emotions that it need to."
Guilt, healthy guilt, God given guilt recognized by the work of the Holy Spirit in us is healthy and always with a good outcome, IF we listen to either the still small voice of the Spirit or the every growing loud voice of our own conscious.
The answer is this for us: When a believer sins, something happens that has to be dealt with. Our relationship with God cannot be broken, because we are His Children by our new birth in Him, but our fellowship with Him is damaged. Have you noticed that when you feel guilty because you’ve knowingly or unknowingly done something you know is wrong, you may avoid praying or reading your Bible. You don’t feel like going to the Sunday church service, and you may not even enjoy being with your fellow Christians/congregation. These are just some of the feelings that are evidence that your fellowship with God is broken.
The enemy of God and us, whose main goal and purpose is to keep us from worshiping and serving the Lord. In Scripture he is called the accuser of the believers. If you continue to feel guilty for already forgiven sins, you are hearing the voice of the enemy, not the Holy Spirit. He is a liar. Reject by the power of God and the truth spoken in His Word these accusations….and settle into the arms of the Lord, KNOWING you have been genuinely forgiven, and within yourself or even literally, “dance the dance of Grace” because the music will be playing for just you at that moment in time.
The Little Church in the Pines
January 19, 2019,
"I can do all things in Christ!
“Philippians 4:13"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
.... About a year and a half ago I spoke of "Anchors in Times of Change", and in that message, I said that one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult part of change is the loss of someone we love, be they family or friends. Those with whom we have had an emotional and spiritual relationship. This applies not only to death but also to a difficult and sometimes hurtful development in a relationship, that appears on the surface to be not mendable.
.... There are many stages in change of this magnitude...and how we (any of us) get through it depends on several things. As Christians, our number 1, and the most relevant, is (our own personal relationship with Christ). The better and deeper that relationship is, the more assurance and comfort and direction we are able to acquire, knowing that in His time, and if death occurs, we have the promise of once again be able to be with them....see them as they will see us, in a whole new and incredible way. If in a relationship, there is or should be always, the hope of reconciliation with the result of restoration, and we should be willing to at least work towards that goal
.... I also said that "change comes easier with attitude adjustments made by our choice, which begins with the ascent in our minds....and flows out from there. I asked then and ask now.... are we willing." I also stated...."our lives can change in an instant, yes, in an instant!" and therefore our attitude in relationship with Christ needs to be in a good place...before that unexpected or even expected instant arrives. If so....the adjustments needed will come, oh so much easier and quicker. Most likely not without stress, sorrow, tears or regret, for in time peace will come but without the loss of hope......
Psalm 30 reads....”I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my circumstances rejoice and or have power over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have restored me. O Lord, you have brought me out of the pit of despair....and restored my joy.” For Joy comes in the morning!
.....it also says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him (Jesus Christ) who strengthens and empowers me (to fulfill His purposes) for( I am self-sufficient in Christ's efficiency) I am ready for anything and equal to anything, because it is He who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace." and hope.
.....Faith...hope....love....these are the gifts that He gives to us that override and swallow up any and all pain....if...we are in relationship with Him, even when our heart is overwhelmed...He leads us to the Rock, that his higher than we....a rock of strength and refuge in the time of trouble....in a time of mourning, for He is our ever-present Lord.
.....We are made to mourn, as a release and healing process that is necessary, as it was created in us by God in Creation, giving us the Spirit of Life. That is why we have tears....as they freely flow....they help in that process of healing a broken heart and even a broken spirit. God is with us....as we are with and in Christ, our hope and our healer. Ecc.3..."There is a time for everything under heaven, a time to live, a time to die, a time to mourn and a time for joy."
.....We often can’t choose the times....they come to us, mostly unannounced, and it is up to us whether we will be ready or not. The Scripture verse which is the main one for today....I am going to reread in a fuller way from Philippians 4:13...READ
.....I, or "YOU" can accomplish "anything that life brings us" and these next words are critical in understanding the context of this statement, (which he has called us to do) in other words, what Christ Himself is asking and leading us to do. For it is He who then give us the 'strength' or 'empowerment' to fulfill His purpose for having us do the right thing(s). we are being called or asked to do.
…..This verse talks about assignments in our daily, ordinary lives which come straight from Him. What might those be...is between us and He. You and I will be empowered by Him through the power of His spoken and written words...and power in our inner person through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.....a part of that empowerment in the presence of the Spirit... which can be peace....if we will release the circumstances to Him....and so focused will we be in doing so, and so full of trust and faith, that though whatever it is may be difficult, or seemingly impossible...we will get where we need to go...for "all" things are possible in Christ.
...."I can do all things.... through Him who strengthens me, and empowers me”...for I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him."
To me...the central truth of the words in this verse are this. The main "anything" we are called to do and be...is to “be like Christ!!” That should be our most coveted goal in our Christian walk. Our assignment, straight from the Lord God who made us and gave us breath and life.
....I have failed far too many times to count, but when I fail...Jesus who by His Spirit has been walking with me....at those times...says first one word to get my attention. "Tom"
.... It’s ok. You can do this. You can even correct this. Here... let me help you up. Look at Me...in my eyes...and what do you see? What I see, is love, acceptance and forgiveness and a chance to perhaps is possible, do over.
.... I sigh...and say, I'm sorry Lord...and I ask Him. Why do you put up with all my failures...my sin...my rebellion...and He says, "for those tears I died." and because I told you, "I would never leave you or forsake you!" didn't I. I sigh....and begin to smile and simply say...Thank you, thank you Lord.
.... I do desire with all my heart to be like Him...and sometimes I succeed and, in those times,it just feels right and good. I do not live under condemnation, though I feel perhaps I should for some kind of twisted penance, but I live in and under GRACE. Therefore, my attitude is critical to my walk with Christ, even in my failures.
.....It has everything to do with my attitude of choice....my outlook, my faith, my optimism and even my resilience. All four of these can be found in a true story of one Mr. Thomas Edison, titled "Thank God We Can Start Anew"
.....In December 1914, a great, sweeping fire destroyed Thomas Edison's laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, wiping out two million dollars, worth of equipment, and the record of much of his life's work.
Edison's son Charles ran about frantically trying to find his father. Finally, he came upon him, standing near the fire, his face ruddy in the glow, his white hair blown by the winter winds. "my heart ached for him," Charles Edison said. "he was no longer young, and everything (there is that word again) everything was being destroyed. He spotted me. 'Where is your mother? he shouted. 'Find her. Bring her here. She'll never see anything like this again as long as she lives!! WOW
The next morning, walking about the charred embers of so many of his hopes and dreams, the sixty-seven-year-old Edison said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. THANK GOD WE CAN START ANEW!"
Lord, I say...help me remember this illustration..................
......We can say with Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:22-24. "The LORD'S lovingkindness indeed never ceases. For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; GREAT is your faithfulness." The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I have hope in Him."
......Proverbs 15:30 says: A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives life to the bones."
….I have but one more true account, a severe and dark one in a dark and deadly place, but one that even in that darkness….far darker than any that most likely will ever experience…..the Light of Christ shone…and that these women, could say, “I can (by God’s Grace and strength) do ALL things through Christ who enables me not only to endure….but radiate His love…with their hope as an example.
…. Corrie Ten Boom, the daughter of a watchmaker in Holland, was in the Nazi death camp as a prisoner, Ravens-brook, where roll call came at 4:30 every morning. Corrie and her sister Betsy were in Ravens-brook, because they had hidden Jewish people in their attic in Holland in World War l1, and were caught, and then sent to the death camp.
…. Most mornings she said were cold, very cold, and sometimes the women would be forced to stand without moving for hours in the bone-chilling-pre-dawn darkness. Nearby were the punishment barracks where all day and far into the night would come the sounds of cruelty: blows landing in regular rhythm and screams keeping pace.
…. But Corrie and her sister Betsie, (who in time, died in the camp) had a Bible, and at every opportunity they would gather the women together like orphans around a blazing fire, although there was no fire, and read Romans 8: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword?......for in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.”
…. Corrie would later say: I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors….it was NOT a wish. IT WAS A FACT. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute in every widening circle of hope. Life at Ravensbruk took place on two separate levels. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God…grew daily deeper and better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
……we could do all things…. even this horrible situation, Christ strengthened us.
….I tell these stories because they are true and living parables of those who have gone before us….telling us the depth of their lives in Christ….and how if both real and deep…..we too can, if we choose, be overcomers….in Him.
…. I leave you with these questions….hypothetically….if in similar situations, sitting in darkness and pain…and hunger….would your faith sustain you?
In your now everyday life…. with hardships, and losses, confusion sometimes and in pain….is your faith in Christ sustaining you? Is it real….is it true….is it deep? Is it religion, formality and ritual…. or is it personal and vital? You first have to assent with your mind, the truth of what I am saying, and then absorb into your spirit and heart….and live it, depending completely on the one who gave you and I the very breath of life. Intellectual ascent is vital, but the spiritual realization and its depth is critical.
Only you…. can answer that question truthfully……………………………………
I\WE CAN DO ALL THINGS…. THROUGH CHRIST…. WHO STRENGTHENS AND ENABLES us….that is THE answer to the sermon title of today’s message.
January 19, 2019,
"I can do all things in Christ!
“Philippians 4:13"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
.... About a year and a half ago I spoke of "Anchors in Times of Change", and in that message, I said that one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult part of change is the loss of someone we love, be they family or friends. Those with whom we have had an emotional and spiritual relationship. This applies not only to death but also to a difficult and sometimes hurtful development in a relationship, that appears on the surface to be not mendable.
.... There are many stages in change of this magnitude...and how we (any of us) get through it depends on several things. As Christians, our number 1, and the most relevant, is (our own personal relationship with Christ). The better and deeper that relationship is, the more assurance and comfort and direction we are able to acquire, knowing that in His time, and if death occurs, we have the promise of once again be able to be with them....see them as they will see us, in a whole new and incredible way. If in a relationship, there is or should be always, the hope of reconciliation with the result of restoration, and we should be willing to at least work towards that goal
.... I also said that "change comes easier with attitude adjustments made by our choice, which begins with the ascent in our minds....and flows out from there. I asked then and ask now.... are we willing." I also stated...."our lives can change in an instant, yes, in an instant!" and therefore our attitude in relationship with Christ needs to be in a good place...before that unexpected or even expected instant arrives. If so....the adjustments needed will come, oh so much easier and quicker. Most likely not without stress, sorrow, tears or regret, for in time peace will come but without the loss of hope......
Psalm 30 reads....”I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my circumstances rejoice and or have power over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have restored me. O Lord, you have brought me out of the pit of despair....and restored my joy.” For Joy comes in the morning!
.....it also says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him (Jesus Christ) who strengthens and empowers me (to fulfill His purposes) for( I am self-sufficient in Christ's efficiency) I am ready for anything and equal to anything, because it is He who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace." and hope.
.....Faith...hope....love....these are the gifts that He gives to us that override and swallow up any and all pain....if...we are in relationship with Him, even when our heart is overwhelmed...He leads us to the Rock, that his higher than we....a rock of strength and refuge in the time of trouble....in a time of mourning, for He is our ever-present Lord.
.....We are made to mourn, as a release and healing process that is necessary, as it was created in us by God in Creation, giving us the Spirit of Life. That is why we have tears....as they freely flow....they help in that process of healing a broken heart and even a broken spirit. God is with us....as we are with and in Christ, our hope and our healer. Ecc.3..."There is a time for everything under heaven, a time to live, a time to die, a time to mourn and a time for joy."
.....We often can’t choose the times....they come to us, mostly unannounced, and it is up to us whether we will be ready or not. The Scripture verse which is the main one for today....I am going to reread in a fuller way from Philippians 4:13...READ
.....I, or "YOU" can accomplish "anything that life brings us" and these next words are critical in understanding the context of this statement, (which he has called us to do) in other words, what Christ Himself is asking and leading us to do. For it is He who then give us the 'strength' or 'empowerment' to fulfill His purpose for having us do the right thing(s). we are being called or asked to do.
…..This verse talks about assignments in our daily, ordinary lives which come straight from Him. What might those be...is between us and He. You and I will be empowered by Him through the power of His spoken and written words...and power in our inner person through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.....a part of that empowerment in the presence of the Spirit... which can be peace....if we will release the circumstances to Him....and so focused will we be in doing so, and so full of trust and faith, that though whatever it is may be difficult, or seemingly impossible...we will get where we need to go...for "all" things are possible in Christ.
...."I can do all things.... through Him who strengthens me, and empowers me”...for I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him."
To me...the central truth of the words in this verse are this. The main "anything" we are called to do and be...is to “be like Christ!!” That should be our most coveted goal in our Christian walk. Our assignment, straight from the Lord God who made us and gave us breath and life.
....I have failed far too many times to count, but when I fail...Jesus who by His Spirit has been walking with me....at those times...says first one word to get my attention. "Tom"
.... It’s ok. You can do this. You can even correct this. Here... let me help you up. Look at Me...in my eyes...and what do you see? What I see, is love, acceptance and forgiveness and a chance to perhaps is possible, do over.
.... I sigh...and say, I'm sorry Lord...and I ask Him. Why do you put up with all my failures...my sin...my rebellion...and He says, "for those tears I died." and because I told you, "I would never leave you or forsake you!" didn't I. I sigh....and begin to smile and simply say...Thank you, thank you Lord.
.... I do desire with all my heart to be like Him...and sometimes I succeed and, in those times,it just feels right and good. I do not live under condemnation, though I feel perhaps I should for some kind of twisted penance, but I live in and under GRACE. Therefore, my attitude is critical to my walk with Christ, even in my failures.
.....It has everything to do with my attitude of choice....my outlook, my faith, my optimism and even my resilience. All four of these can be found in a true story of one Mr. Thomas Edison, titled "Thank God We Can Start Anew"
.....In December 1914, a great, sweeping fire destroyed Thomas Edison's laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, wiping out two million dollars, worth of equipment, and the record of much of his life's work.
Edison's son Charles ran about frantically trying to find his father. Finally, he came upon him, standing near the fire, his face ruddy in the glow, his white hair blown by the winter winds. "my heart ached for him," Charles Edison said. "he was no longer young, and everything (there is that word again) everything was being destroyed. He spotted me. 'Where is your mother? he shouted. 'Find her. Bring her here. She'll never see anything like this again as long as she lives!! WOW
The next morning, walking about the charred embers of so many of his hopes and dreams, the sixty-seven-year-old Edison said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. THANK GOD WE CAN START ANEW!"
Lord, I say...help me remember this illustration..................
......We can say with Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:22-24. "The LORD'S lovingkindness indeed never ceases. For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; GREAT is your faithfulness." The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I have hope in Him."
......Proverbs 15:30 says: A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives life to the bones."
….I have but one more true account, a severe and dark one in a dark and deadly place, but one that even in that darkness….far darker than any that most likely will ever experience…..the Light of Christ shone…and that these women, could say, “I can (by God’s Grace and strength) do ALL things through Christ who enables me not only to endure….but radiate His love…with their hope as an example.
…. Corrie Ten Boom, the daughter of a watchmaker in Holland, was in the Nazi death camp as a prisoner, Ravens-brook, where roll call came at 4:30 every morning. Corrie and her sister Betsy were in Ravens-brook, because they had hidden Jewish people in their attic in Holland in World War l1, and were caught, and then sent to the death camp.
…. Most mornings she said were cold, very cold, and sometimes the women would be forced to stand without moving for hours in the bone-chilling-pre-dawn darkness. Nearby were the punishment barracks where all day and far into the night would come the sounds of cruelty: blows landing in regular rhythm and screams keeping pace.
…. But Corrie and her sister Betsie, (who in time, died in the camp) had a Bible, and at every opportunity they would gather the women together like orphans around a blazing fire, although there was no fire, and read Romans 8: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword?......for in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.”
…. Corrie would later say: I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors….it was NOT a wish. IT WAS A FACT. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute in every widening circle of hope. Life at Ravensbruk took place on two separate levels. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God…grew daily deeper and better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
……we could do all things…. even this horrible situation, Christ strengthened us.
….I tell these stories because they are true and living parables of those who have gone before us….telling us the depth of their lives in Christ….and how if both real and deep…..we too can, if we choose, be overcomers….in Him.
…. I leave you with these questions….hypothetically….if in similar situations, sitting in darkness and pain…and hunger….would your faith sustain you?
In your now everyday life…. with hardships, and losses, confusion sometimes and in pain….is your faith in Christ sustaining you? Is it real….is it true….is it deep? Is it religion, formality and ritual…. or is it personal and vital? You first have to assent with your mind, the truth of what I am saying, and then absorb into your spirit and heart….and live it, depending completely on the one who gave you and I the very breath of life. Intellectual ascent is vital, but the spiritual realization and its depth is critical.
Only you…. can answer that question truthfully……………………………………
I\WE CAN DO ALL THINGS…. THROUGH CHRIST…. WHO STRENGTHENS AND ENABLES us….that is THE answer to the sermon title of today’s message.
The Little Church in the Pines
January 12, 2019
SERMON ~ JUSTLY - KINDNESS - HUMILITY
(Micah 6:8)
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
MICAH 6:8 ~ "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you,
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God.
READ 6-8.................................
These verses are Israel's reply to God's lawsuit in a sense He has confronted them with in the ways they have walked away from Him,little by little, which Israel claims ignorance of, posing questions to the Lord about what is really acceptable to Him. The implied answer is that nothing is acceptable unless one is in a proper relationship with both God and his neighbor. (v.8)
Give that some thought. When we come to the Lord, what is the condition of our heart, mind and spirit? Have we been pursuing God in our relationship with Him all along, or do we come to Him at chosen times, such as when we are in difficulty of some kind?
Nothing is acceptable...unless we are in (at least at that moment) a proper relationship with Him....and with our neighbor? Not only Him, but our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Everyone. This is quite a high goal to aim for and maintain. It simply means what it implies. We are to be at peace and in fellowship with God and with those around us, even those with whom we find difficulty to be with. Without anger, resentment or judgement. This is impossible we say, at least on the 'everyone around us part.' Practically speaking it takes mercy and humility, which I will get to in awhile. It also takes will and conscious, deliberate choices.
Easy to do....by no means, but possible (at least in as far as we are able) we can do all things through Christ. who gives us the strength and wisdom to to do so. Our motivation is critical, which is behind every choice or decision we make, we are make through and out of our relationship with Him.
There are people we just do not like sometimes, and people we don't even want to like. They simply annoy us....get on our nerves so to speak. They may have a barking dog, kids on four wheelers all around us, when all we want is quiet. Snowmobiler's crossing our property without permission. Etc. Etc...and the list goes on. This doesn't mean we can't confront, but how we confront, being men and women of God. It doesn't mean we can't get upset, but it means asking God to give us the right attitude and temperament when we do confront. It does not also mean, in some situations where we are ignored, that we can't go to the law or even court. It does mean we do it all in the right way, to achieve justice justly.
What exactly does justly means, which comes from the word just and of course with these two, justice.
It's really quite simple and concise. "To do what is right to those around us with mercy, kindness and fairness. We can do those only if within this time and situation, we are humble....as we walk 'humbly' with our God, acknowledging our complete dependence on Him. How do we do this? By spending time getting to know Him better a priority.
Almost every Biblical truth is life-applicable. That is one of the many things the Bible is and represents. A guide to a full life with God through Christ, for we Christians can read the guide and apply what we learn to the journey God chooses to walk with us through to the end, with its myriad of ups, downs and round-abouts.
Justly as an adjective has these six inclusive meanings.
1. Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions: a just ruler
2. Consistent with what is morally right, righteous: a just cause
3. Properly due or merited: just deserts
4. Law valid within the law, lawful: just claims, not all law is just
5. Suitable or proper in nature; fitting: a just touch of solemnity
6. Based on fact or sound reason; well-founded: a just appraisal
Something the Jews had and have, at least those that are orthodox today, is one of the reason why I believe God chose them, and that is that they had and have a passion for acknowledging and getting to know God. The early Christian church (mostly being Jews) carried that same passion into their worship, and getting to know God through Christ. For them it was not a matter of the black and white of the law, but of how Jesus changed their lives and brought them intellectually and emotionally through their faith into a closer relationship with the Him through His Son. It is when living faith becomes religion, that often the passion is lost in tradition and sometimes rigid doctrine. Not that I am saying religion is bad, but that within established religion, without passion, it can become dogma, ritual and even lifeless.
As an example, the creation of the United States of America represented a unique event in world history. Unlike other countries where democracy evolved over a period of hundreds of years, the United States was the first country to be created from its inception as a democracy. And the Bible...and Jewish values...played a major role in this process.
Many of the earliest "pilgrims" who settled the "New England" were passionate in their desire to worship and know God, which was their sole reason for leaving everything they knew behind, as they were escaping the religion of Christianity that was persecuting them, even to death.
Over the next century, American continued to be not only the land of opportunity for many people seeking a better life, but also the land of religious freedom and tolerance. By the middle of the 1700's, the east coast of American was settled by a virtual "Who's Who" of Christian splinter sects from all over Europe. Among them were:
> the Puritans of course.
> the Quakers, an extremist Puritan sect who did not believe in ministers and for whom a "Society of Friends" meeting together was good enough to bring down the Holy Spirit.
> Calvinists, who early on had challenged the Catholic Church belief that the bread and wine became the literal body and blood of Christ, in the celebration of mass.
> the Huguenots, of whom my direct ancestor Matthias Shanor was one, came over in 1772, settling in Western Pennsylvania. They were German Protestants
> the Moravians, of whom I also had a relative, was The Iroquois Keeper of the Peace, for the 7 nation Delaware Confederacy, of whom, his father, a great, great, great, great, great grandfather of mine, was named by the English, King Newcomer, and his sister, Netawates, also known as Princess Newcomer, converted to Christianity through the Moravians, and the son, Killbuck became a missionary to Alaska.
> the Mennonites, a Swiss sect of Anabaptists who rejected the doctrine of infant baptism
> the Amish, the most stringent of the Mennonites
These were just some of the numerous groups passionate about their faith, to the extent of coming here to this land of freedom, to be able to worship God and Christ free of persecution and harassment.
They came seeking justice...and to live justly by faith in God through their love of and in Jesus.
Now to finish this section of my three-part message. Passion, when subject to thought, reason, facts and discipline, is a powerful tool.... but when passion alone leads, what often ensues is self-righteousness, self-importance in one way, that says we and we alone have the true way, which then leads to disputes, arguments, separation, and even physical violence which can escalate into persecution and even war.
As I have stressed the importance of the Hebrew Bible to these early settlers seeking freedom, is important to note that the New Testament was revered as well. However, the Hebrew Bible and not the New Testament was seen as the original source by them, of Christian values, and also as a legalistic guide, something which the New Testament was not.
What eventually happened was that the Massachusetts Puritans attempted to have the Jewish laws of the Old Testament, established to take the place of civil law. Recently even here in the United States, some Muslims (in their own communities) have attempted to establish their "Sharia Law" over and above the civil law of both that town or city, and the United States itself.
The very thing that the Puritans left England to escape, they in time attempted by laws of their own making, in alignment with the Old Testament to persecute those who did not go along with the Puritan way of believing and thinking. Fortunately, it did not happen, but was rejected by the majority.
The Act of Kindness…. seems like such a simple thing, but I believe with all my being that it is one of the highest, personal, interactive virtues that we can give to other. In kindness is ‘grace’ and in kindness is ‘humility’ because we are giving of ourselves in being kind.
The smallest thing such as a smile, a wave, a glass of water given to a thirsty person in His name is a delight to him. Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Please remember the beginning of Micah 6:8b. “And what does the lord require of you. Strong’s Concordance describes it this way. “kindness” is goodness in action, sweetness of disposition, gentleness in dealing with others, benevolence, affability.” The word describes the ability to act for the welfare of those taxing your patience (as an example). If allowed to have His way within you, the Holy Spirit can remove abrasive qualities from both us and them.
It once again…comes down to motivation and personal choice.
Selah…. “pause, and think about it”
Meditate on it……………….
HUMILITY is the direct opposite of an inflated self-ego. I was told recently to “please get off my pedestal.” I did give that directive some serious thought…at least for a while. Unless I am fooling myself, I try not to think of myself higher or better than anyone else. If any of you can tell me how I have put myself on one…. please, seriously let me know if I have, I need to know how, and where. Because of this I am examining both my attitude and words, and pray if so, where?
Anyway….1 Peter 5:5b, says, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” V.6., Therefore be humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
So…what is the meaning of humility? It is a total absence of arrogance, conceit, and haughtiness. It is unselfish concern for the welfare of others. The word is a combination of tapeinos, “humble,” and “phren, “mind.” The word was unknown in classical non-biblical Greek. Only by abstaining from self-aggrandizement, can members the Christian community maintain unity and harmony among ourselves.
Here is a short illustration of humility.
There is a story of Venerable Bede, the “Father of Church History”, in which Augustine, a missionary to England under Pope Gregory I, was trying to convert the English to Christianity. Despite much success, Augustine had trouble converting the Celtics to Christ. The Celtic leaders asked a wise man whether they should submit to Augustine’s teachings.
“Yes, the old man said, “if he is a man of God.”
“How can we tell?
“If he is gentle and humble of heart.”
“How can we discern that about him?”
“Arrange it so that Augustine and his men arrive first at your meeting house,” replied the wise man. “if he stands up when you arrive. It will prove that he is a servant of Christ. In that case, do as he bids you.”
Unfortunately, Augustine failed to rise as he greeted the Celts, and they therefore refused his message.
Humility is healthy when understood and practiced. It does not mean we are to become doormats and allow everyone to do or say anything unkind or harmful to ourselves or anyone, at any time. Quite the opposite because we can refute, we can deny, we can even stand up for ourselves, but…. not full of self-importance or self-righteousness, but in the strength of Christ, quiet, strong and forthright, honestly and without anger.
2nd Timothy 2:23-25 says, “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord (of which we all are) must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth.”
Justly ~ kindly and in humility…. I hope that each of us will examine our motives, our actions, our words, and even our thoughts in regard to these three godly virtues. If we desire to grow in both our faith and in the quality of our personal every-day lives, these are very important. Very…….
Selah….” pause and think about it” Amen
January 12, 2019
SERMON ~ JUSTLY - KINDNESS - HUMILITY
(Micah 6:8)
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
MICAH 6:8 ~ "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you,
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God.
READ 6-8.................................
These verses are Israel's reply to God's lawsuit in a sense He has confronted them with in the ways they have walked away from Him,little by little, which Israel claims ignorance of, posing questions to the Lord about what is really acceptable to Him. The implied answer is that nothing is acceptable unless one is in a proper relationship with both God and his neighbor. (v.8)
Give that some thought. When we come to the Lord, what is the condition of our heart, mind and spirit? Have we been pursuing God in our relationship with Him all along, or do we come to Him at chosen times, such as when we are in difficulty of some kind?
Nothing is acceptable...unless we are in (at least at that moment) a proper relationship with Him....and with our neighbor? Not only Him, but our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Everyone. This is quite a high goal to aim for and maintain. It simply means what it implies. We are to be at peace and in fellowship with God and with those around us, even those with whom we find difficulty to be with. Without anger, resentment or judgement. This is impossible we say, at least on the 'everyone around us part.' Practically speaking it takes mercy and humility, which I will get to in awhile. It also takes will and conscious, deliberate choices.
Easy to do....by no means, but possible (at least in as far as we are able) we can do all things through Christ. who gives us the strength and wisdom to to do so. Our motivation is critical, which is behind every choice or decision we make, we are make through and out of our relationship with Him.
There are people we just do not like sometimes, and people we don't even want to like. They simply annoy us....get on our nerves so to speak. They may have a barking dog, kids on four wheelers all around us, when all we want is quiet. Snowmobiler's crossing our property without permission. Etc. Etc...and the list goes on. This doesn't mean we can't confront, but how we confront, being men and women of God. It doesn't mean we can't get upset, but it means asking God to give us the right attitude and temperament when we do confront. It does not also mean, in some situations where we are ignored, that we can't go to the law or even court. It does mean we do it all in the right way, to achieve justice justly.
What exactly does justly means, which comes from the word just and of course with these two, justice.
It's really quite simple and concise. "To do what is right to those around us with mercy, kindness and fairness. We can do those only if within this time and situation, we are humble....as we walk 'humbly' with our God, acknowledging our complete dependence on Him. How do we do this? By spending time getting to know Him better a priority.
Almost every Biblical truth is life-applicable. That is one of the many things the Bible is and represents. A guide to a full life with God through Christ, for we Christians can read the guide and apply what we learn to the journey God chooses to walk with us through to the end, with its myriad of ups, downs and round-abouts.
Justly as an adjective has these six inclusive meanings.
1. Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions: a just ruler
2. Consistent with what is morally right, righteous: a just cause
3. Properly due or merited: just deserts
4. Law valid within the law, lawful: just claims, not all law is just
5. Suitable or proper in nature; fitting: a just touch of solemnity
6. Based on fact or sound reason; well-founded: a just appraisal
Something the Jews had and have, at least those that are orthodox today, is one of the reason why I believe God chose them, and that is that they had and have a passion for acknowledging and getting to know God. The early Christian church (mostly being Jews) carried that same passion into their worship, and getting to know God through Christ. For them it was not a matter of the black and white of the law, but of how Jesus changed their lives and brought them intellectually and emotionally through their faith into a closer relationship with the Him through His Son. It is when living faith becomes religion, that often the passion is lost in tradition and sometimes rigid doctrine. Not that I am saying religion is bad, but that within established religion, without passion, it can become dogma, ritual and even lifeless.
As an example, the creation of the United States of America represented a unique event in world history. Unlike other countries where democracy evolved over a period of hundreds of years, the United States was the first country to be created from its inception as a democracy. And the Bible...and Jewish values...played a major role in this process.
Many of the earliest "pilgrims" who settled the "New England" were passionate in their desire to worship and know God, which was their sole reason for leaving everything they knew behind, as they were escaping the religion of Christianity that was persecuting them, even to death.
Over the next century, American continued to be not only the land of opportunity for many people seeking a better life, but also the land of religious freedom and tolerance. By the middle of the 1700's, the east coast of American was settled by a virtual "Who's Who" of Christian splinter sects from all over Europe. Among them were:
> the Puritans of course.
> the Quakers, an extremist Puritan sect who did not believe in ministers and for whom a "Society of Friends" meeting together was good enough to bring down the Holy Spirit.
> Calvinists, who early on had challenged the Catholic Church belief that the bread and wine became the literal body and blood of Christ, in the celebration of mass.
> the Huguenots, of whom my direct ancestor Matthias Shanor was one, came over in 1772, settling in Western Pennsylvania. They were German Protestants
> the Moravians, of whom I also had a relative, was The Iroquois Keeper of the Peace, for the 7 nation Delaware Confederacy, of whom, his father, a great, great, great, great, great grandfather of mine, was named by the English, King Newcomer, and his sister, Netawates, also known as Princess Newcomer, converted to Christianity through the Moravians, and the son, Killbuck became a missionary to Alaska.
> the Mennonites, a Swiss sect of Anabaptists who rejected the doctrine of infant baptism
> the Amish, the most stringent of the Mennonites
These were just some of the numerous groups passionate about their faith, to the extent of coming here to this land of freedom, to be able to worship God and Christ free of persecution and harassment.
They came seeking justice...and to live justly by faith in God through their love of and in Jesus.
Now to finish this section of my three-part message. Passion, when subject to thought, reason, facts and discipline, is a powerful tool.... but when passion alone leads, what often ensues is self-righteousness, self-importance in one way, that says we and we alone have the true way, which then leads to disputes, arguments, separation, and even physical violence which can escalate into persecution and even war.
As I have stressed the importance of the Hebrew Bible to these early settlers seeking freedom, is important to note that the New Testament was revered as well. However, the Hebrew Bible and not the New Testament was seen as the original source by them, of Christian values, and also as a legalistic guide, something which the New Testament was not.
What eventually happened was that the Massachusetts Puritans attempted to have the Jewish laws of the Old Testament, established to take the place of civil law. Recently even here in the United States, some Muslims (in their own communities) have attempted to establish their "Sharia Law" over and above the civil law of both that town or city, and the United States itself.
The very thing that the Puritans left England to escape, they in time attempted by laws of their own making, in alignment with the Old Testament to persecute those who did not go along with the Puritan way of believing and thinking. Fortunately, it did not happen, but was rejected by the majority.
The Act of Kindness…. seems like such a simple thing, but I believe with all my being that it is one of the highest, personal, interactive virtues that we can give to other. In kindness is ‘grace’ and in kindness is ‘humility’ because we are giving of ourselves in being kind.
The smallest thing such as a smile, a wave, a glass of water given to a thirsty person in His name is a delight to him. Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Please remember the beginning of Micah 6:8b. “And what does the lord require of you. Strong’s Concordance describes it this way. “kindness” is goodness in action, sweetness of disposition, gentleness in dealing with others, benevolence, affability.” The word describes the ability to act for the welfare of those taxing your patience (as an example). If allowed to have His way within you, the Holy Spirit can remove abrasive qualities from both us and them.
It once again…comes down to motivation and personal choice.
Selah…. “pause, and think about it”
Meditate on it……………….
HUMILITY is the direct opposite of an inflated self-ego. I was told recently to “please get off my pedestal.” I did give that directive some serious thought…at least for a while. Unless I am fooling myself, I try not to think of myself higher or better than anyone else. If any of you can tell me how I have put myself on one…. please, seriously let me know if I have, I need to know how, and where. Because of this I am examining both my attitude and words, and pray if so, where?
Anyway….1 Peter 5:5b, says, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” V.6., Therefore be humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
So…what is the meaning of humility? It is a total absence of arrogance, conceit, and haughtiness. It is unselfish concern for the welfare of others. The word is a combination of tapeinos, “humble,” and “phren, “mind.” The word was unknown in classical non-biblical Greek. Only by abstaining from self-aggrandizement, can members the Christian community maintain unity and harmony among ourselves.
Here is a short illustration of humility.
There is a story of Venerable Bede, the “Father of Church History”, in which Augustine, a missionary to England under Pope Gregory I, was trying to convert the English to Christianity. Despite much success, Augustine had trouble converting the Celtics to Christ. The Celtic leaders asked a wise man whether they should submit to Augustine’s teachings.
“Yes, the old man said, “if he is a man of God.”
“How can we tell?
“If he is gentle and humble of heart.”
“How can we discern that about him?”
“Arrange it so that Augustine and his men arrive first at your meeting house,” replied the wise man. “if he stands up when you arrive. It will prove that he is a servant of Christ. In that case, do as he bids you.”
Unfortunately, Augustine failed to rise as he greeted the Celts, and they therefore refused his message.
Humility is healthy when understood and practiced. It does not mean we are to become doormats and allow everyone to do or say anything unkind or harmful to ourselves or anyone, at any time. Quite the opposite because we can refute, we can deny, we can even stand up for ourselves, but…. not full of self-importance or self-righteousness, but in the strength of Christ, quiet, strong and forthright, honestly and without anger.
2nd Timothy 2:23-25 says, “Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord (of which we all are) must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth.”
Justly ~ kindly and in humility…. I hope that each of us will examine our motives, our actions, our words, and even our thoughts in regard to these three godly virtues. If we desire to grow in both our faith and in the quality of our personal every-day lives, these are very important. Very…….
Selah….” pause and think about it” Amen
Little Church in the Pines
mack's inn. idaho
December 30, 2018
TAKE TIME TO REFLECT AND MEDITATE (Psalm 19:14)
Tom Shanor, Pastor
.....Humanity, because of being self-aware, thinks about things. Sometimes using logic, reason and deduction, and often emotion. One of the things we really like to do, is measure and one of the things that we measure is time.
.....A mesolithic arrangement of twelve pits and an arc found in Warren Fire, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, date to roughly 10,000 years ago, and has been described by archeologists as the world's oldest known calendar." The capacity to measure time is among the most important of human achievements and the issue to measure time was 'created' by humankind and is critical in understanding how society has developed.
.....The Bible says without using the word time, that there was a beginning and ending. Eternity as we understand it is measured by this "beginning" and "ending." Genesis 1, verse 1. "In the beginning (of the measurement of time) God created the heavens and the earth."
.....Numbers of course which are crucial to time measurement, developed along with language were essential in the development of our calendars as to another way we measure time. As a bit of trivia in this part of the sermon. I would like each of you, without looking at each other's addition do a little exercise for me. Take a piece of paper unless you can do so in your head and add two sets of numbers. Add together how old you and the year you were born. When you are done doing so, I will ask you a question. Remember, don't look at anyone else's conclusion.
Then call on random people....
.....The mystery and almost magical quality of numbers and their place in human history, science, theory and etc. is simply amazing, amazing.
.....This phenomena, happens as I have read, once every thousand years. The math needed to just figure that one out is, well, again amazing.
.....Most of us here in this building, have arrived in those sunset years. We can look back...and when at one time the years we are now at looked a long-time away. And yet, here we are, wondering where time went so very quickly it seems.
.....Al Stewert wrote and sang a song called Time Passages which most of you can remember. It goes like this.
It was late in December, the sky turned to snow
all round the day was going slow
Night like a river beginning to flow
I felt the beat of my mind go
Drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
Time passages
Buy me a ticked on the last train home tonight
Well I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and days too fast
The things you lean on are the things that don't last
Well it's just now and then my line gets cast into these
Time passages...................
The choices we make too often are based on the "things that don't last."
I am not in the process of this going to condemn myself or anyone for what choices we do make in the limited time we have here, but I believe it is vital to our spiritual, physical and mental/emotional well-being that we set 'time' aside to REFLECT and MEDITATE. Reflect on the past as it has been the foundation we have built our present on. Then meditate on the present and the future we might have.
.... If we are unhappy, bored, angry, happy, kind, compassionate, it is not due to anyone else, no matter what they have done, but how we have taken what we have experienced in life....and built our life as we know ourselves and are known by others. Our opinions and others opinions may be quite divergent.
....I was raised by a man who was liked by many, but feared and sometime hated in his own home by both his wife and his children. Some of us have the ability to be, as was a popular saying several years ago, a poser. What you see...may not be who and what we really are. Sometimes I actually 'feel' that is me, and that is when something has happened that shows me how much I need the Lord in my life, because my personal failure or failures disappointed me so deeply.
.... Psalm 19:12. "How can I handle all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin."
.... Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you......O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
.... We need to establish honestly and deeply knowingly within ourselves who we really are. Jesus said, in order to love God and others, we must first love ourselves.
Mark 12:31..."The second is equally important: "Love your neighbor; 'as yourself'' no other commandment is greater than these."
....: Loving oneself.
.... Time passages.... brings us to today, the next to the last day of the year 2018. Most people I believe, do not make resolutions and most who do, do not follow through in keeping them. I admire those who do and laud those who at least attempt to bring changes into their lives they deem important.
....I do think it is important to reflect, and this time of year when we have more time, because of less activities is a good time. The origin of the word reflect in English is from Old French reflecter "(to bend back, turn back"), from Latin reflecto "I reflect"), from re ("again") ("I bend, I curve").
.... I like the ‘I curve’ illustration.... and I am reminded of many of my train travels. On some of the sharper curves, looking back through the widow being able to see both the front and back of the train.
.... It would be good and is something I am going to do....to write down categories of my life this past year and even back further, to see how I have changed, how my circumstances have change, how my mind and heart have changed. What my main focus has been and where I could have made better decisions. Not being too critical because what is past in time is past.
....Once I do this...then I am going to meditate on the results....and upon meditation, pray...and ask the Lord about the coming year as to what my focus should be, my goals and how to change my desires if I need to.
There are some Christians who think that meditation is sitting in a lotus position, hands resting on their knees, repeating Ommmmmm, and by doing so are letting themselves be open to demonic influence. It's true. Meditation is many minds is associated with Easter Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and others, where as I read just a short time ago, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you."
So... what is meditation? It is a practice when an individual uses perhaps a technique of focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally understanding and perhaps direction that until that time had been causing a state of confusion or unrest.
.... Anxiety steals one's ability to make sound decisions and conclusions. I am reading a book given to me by Lem Miller, called 2 chairs. In it is a technique that the author's mother passed down to him, and according to both she and himself, it has worked always.
....In the morning before starting his day outside his home, he has two chairs set in place where he sits down, and then expects the Lord to sit in the other. He may have a cup of coffee during this time or not. But he sits, tells the Lord what is on his mind and then listens. He says also that the Lord has never failed to show up. They actually have a two-way mental/spiritual and practical conversation. His mother, when telling him about this said, "if there was only 1% of a chance that the Lord would show up, would he do this." She then said, "there is not one percent, but 99% that he would." This time set apart is a form of mediation and a form of reflection combined.
Have you spent any time yet....reflecting and meditating? I again, suggest that you do and see what good things the Lord has done and will do."
Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person....by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
In regard to judging or thinking of others if that is something you need to do. Matthew 7:4 speaks directly to this in your reflections. "Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eyes.' and look...a plank is in your own.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 READ!
There are so many wonderful Scriptures to also meditate on, from which we can make decisions, adjustments and find help in our ordinary everyday lives.
As long as we have time.... let us use it in a way that benefits ourselves and others. Prayer, doing good, thinking and meditating deeply, showing kindness, sowing love, learning to be humble.
Luke 14:28 bring us a practical aspect of meditation too. "But don't begin until you count the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it." This speaks not only of projects and money...but of almost all that we are attempting to accomplish.
Something bothering you.... something you need to come to some conclusion about? Listen to this story on Mull, Mill and Meal.
......................That's all folks, now the rest is up to you!
Amen
mack's inn. idaho
December 30, 2018
TAKE TIME TO REFLECT AND MEDITATE (Psalm 19:14)
Tom Shanor, Pastor
.....Humanity, because of being self-aware, thinks about things. Sometimes using logic, reason and deduction, and often emotion. One of the things we really like to do, is measure and one of the things that we measure is time.
.....A mesolithic arrangement of twelve pits and an arc found in Warren Fire, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, date to roughly 10,000 years ago, and has been described by archeologists as the world's oldest known calendar." The capacity to measure time is among the most important of human achievements and the issue to measure time was 'created' by humankind and is critical in understanding how society has developed.
.....The Bible says without using the word time, that there was a beginning and ending. Eternity as we understand it is measured by this "beginning" and "ending." Genesis 1, verse 1. "In the beginning (of the measurement of time) God created the heavens and the earth."
.....Numbers of course which are crucial to time measurement, developed along with language were essential in the development of our calendars as to another way we measure time. As a bit of trivia in this part of the sermon. I would like each of you, without looking at each other's addition do a little exercise for me. Take a piece of paper unless you can do so in your head and add two sets of numbers. Add together how old you and the year you were born. When you are done doing so, I will ask you a question. Remember, don't look at anyone else's conclusion.
Then call on random people....
.....The mystery and almost magical quality of numbers and their place in human history, science, theory and etc. is simply amazing, amazing.
.....This phenomena, happens as I have read, once every thousand years. The math needed to just figure that one out is, well, again amazing.
.....Most of us here in this building, have arrived in those sunset years. We can look back...and when at one time the years we are now at looked a long-time away. And yet, here we are, wondering where time went so very quickly it seems.
.....Al Stewert wrote and sang a song called Time Passages which most of you can remember. It goes like this.
It was late in December, the sky turned to snow
all round the day was going slow
Night like a river beginning to flow
I felt the beat of my mind go
Drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
Time passages
Buy me a ticked on the last train home tonight
Well I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and days too fast
The things you lean on are the things that don't last
Well it's just now and then my line gets cast into these
Time passages...................
The choices we make too often are based on the "things that don't last."
I am not in the process of this going to condemn myself or anyone for what choices we do make in the limited time we have here, but I believe it is vital to our spiritual, physical and mental/emotional well-being that we set 'time' aside to REFLECT and MEDITATE. Reflect on the past as it has been the foundation we have built our present on. Then meditate on the present and the future we might have.
.... If we are unhappy, bored, angry, happy, kind, compassionate, it is not due to anyone else, no matter what they have done, but how we have taken what we have experienced in life....and built our life as we know ourselves and are known by others. Our opinions and others opinions may be quite divergent.
....I was raised by a man who was liked by many, but feared and sometime hated in his own home by both his wife and his children. Some of us have the ability to be, as was a popular saying several years ago, a poser. What you see...may not be who and what we really are. Sometimes I actually 'feel' that is me, and that is when something has happened that shows me how much I need the Lord in my life, because my personal failure or failures disappointed me so deeply.
.... Psalm 19:12. "How can I handle all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin."
.... Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you......O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
.... We need to establish honestly and deeply knowingly within ourselves who we really are. Jesus said, in order to love God and others, we must first love ourselves.
Mark 12:31..."The second is equally important: "Love your neighbor; 'as yourself'' no other commandment is greater than these."
....: Loving oneself.
.... Time passages.... brings us to today, the next to the last day of the year 2018. Most people I believe, do not make resolutions and most who do, do not follow through in keeping them. I admire those who do and laud those who at least attempt to bring changes into their lives they deem important.
....I do think it is important to reflect, and this time of year when we have more time, because of less activities is a good time. The origin of the word reflect in English is from Old French reflecter "(to bend back, turn back"), from Latin reflecto "I reflect"), from re ("again") ("I bend, I curve").
.... I like the ‘I curve’ illustration.... and I am reminded of many of my train travels. On some of the sharper curves, looking back through the widow being able to see both the front and back of the train.
.... It would be good and is something I am going to do....to write down categories of my life this past year and even back further, to see how I have changed, how my circumstances have change, how my mind and heart have changed. What my main focus has been and where I could have made better decisions. Not being too critical because what is past in time is past.
....Once I do this...then I am going to meditate on the results....and upon meditation, pray...and ask the Lord about the coming year as to what my focus should be, my goals and how to change my desires if I need to.
There are some Christians who think that meditation is sitting in a lotus position, hands resting on their knees, repeating Ommmmmm, and by doing so are letting themselves be open to demonic influence. It's true. Meditation is many minds is associated with Easter Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and others, where as I read just a short time ago, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you."
So... what is meditation? It is a practice when an individual uses perhaps a technique of focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally understanding and perhaps direction that until that time had been causing a state of confusion or unrest.
.... Anxiety steals one's ability to make sound decisions and conclusions. I am reading a book given to me by Lem Miller, called 2 chairs. In it is a technique that the author's mother passed down to him, and according to both she and himself, it has worked always.
....In the morning before starting his day outside his home, he has two chairs set in place where he sits down, and then expects the Lord to sit in the other. He may have a cup of coffee during this time or not. But he sits, tells the Lord what is on his mind and then listens. He says also that the Lord has never failed to show up. They actually have a two-way mental/spiritual and practical conversation. His mother, when telling him about this said, "if there was only 1% of a chance that the Lord would show up, would he do this." She then said, "there is not one percent, but 99% that he would." This time set apart is a form of mediation and a form of reflection combined.
Have you spent any time yet....reflecting and meditating? I again, suggest that you do and see what good things the Lord has done and will do."
Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person....by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
In regard to judging or thinking of others if that is something you need to do. Matthew 7:4 speaks directly to this in your reflections. "Or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eyes.' and look...a plank is in your own.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 READ!
There are so many wonderful Scriptures to also meditate on, from which we can make decisions, adjustments and find help in our ordinary everyday lives.
As long as we have time.... let us use it in a way that benefits ourselves and others. Prayer, doing good, thinking and meditating deeply, showing kindness, sowing love, learning to be humble.
Luke 14:28 bring us a practical aspect of meditation too. "But don't begin until you count the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it." This speaks not only of projects and money...but of almost all that we are attempting to accomplish.
Something bothering you.... something you need to come to some conclusion about? Listen to this story on Mull, Mill and Meal.
......................That's all folks, now the rest is up to you!
Amen
Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
December 16, 2018
"CHOOSING AND EXPRESSING JOY!"
Pastor Tom Shanor
Jack and Julie (read)
Joy...1st, the definition, then an example. The word JOY, means a feeling of great pleasure and happiness, most often expressed outwardly, in some by only an expression on their face (a deep smile perhaps due to their personality type, or someone who is shy. Also, a person who is self-consciousness would never allow themselves to be seen in an overt expression of most any kind. Then there are those who can't contain themselves, overflowing in JOY. Another example would be David, as he danced in JOY before both the Lord and all those who accompanied him on their journey to bring back the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple.
.....Psalm 100 speaks clearly and beautifully on the expression of JOY!
Shout with JOY to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him, singing with JOY
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are His.*
We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving;
Go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
His faithfulness continues to each generation.
......When we hear or think of the word JOY, it is often perceived, (especially if you are a man) as more feminine in expression than masculine, at least in the mind of men in regards to religious expression. and yet give them a football game, a basketball game, a soccer game, a baseball game, or a competitive game of any kind of which they are a part, or a fan of, and you will see many of them jumping and shouting for JOY when they or their team have won.
.....It is cultural thing, ever changing with new and slowly accepted expression in religion of JOY, as expressed in both the Old and New Testament was taught and expected as a good thing, for in the understanding of both men and women, God desired and desires JOY and its expression to be a part of worship. In the Old Testament JOY is spoken of 55 times and in the New, 41 times.
.....Somehow over the years, mostly due to those who are what I call The Letterists, (like the Pharisees Jesus spoke against so often) where sin became the most preached about and discussed topic of Christianity, because the harsh letter of the law brought with it black and white living in everyday life. JOY and any expressing thereof was shunned and actually abhorred by many. Christianity became rigid and spirit killing (in my opinion) allowing little expression of heart-felt worship during any service and even in their homes.
.....The outward observations in regards to strictness in the letter of the Law became more important than that which lay within us. Clap our hands...you've got to be kidding. Where is holiness in that expression, shouting for JOY, dancing before the Lord, lifting our hands up to Him as an act of worship, a congregation of smilers, spontaneous laughter, like last week when Kari pointed out so timely and accurately that I was responsible for the prolonged sharing and talking.
.....Holiness is here, in our hearts and minds and yes, in our actions most definitely, but that does not exclude JOY. In fact, the feelings of JOY and happiness should be expected during our times together.
.....C.S. Lewis saw clear distinction between JOY pleasure and happiness. He said, "I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for JOY, and call it JOY, which here he says, is a technical term and must be sharply distinguished from both Happiness and Please. JOY, he says, as I have come to understand it, has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with Happiness and Pleasure." "The fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again.....I doubt," he says, "whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power to exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then, JOY as I speak of is seldom within ‘our’ power to create, though Pleasure often is."
....In my interpretation of the last part of what Lewis said, I believe means, that internal JOY and expressed JOY come from a feeling or emotional relationship in fullness, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We most definitely should have both. An intellectual and an emotional relationship, hence, one with feelings associated with it, just as we have emotions, both internal and expressed with those we love.
.....I am not saying we HAVE to clap our hands, or raise our arms toward heaven, or even SHOUT for JOY, but if we do....it will be a genuine heart felt relational connection with God, expressed as the Holy Spirit tells us too, and we will know the difference. Some are outwardly expressive simply to gain attention to them as being (spiritual) when in fact it is nothing more than a show, but when it is genuine we best not condemn it. There is a gift called discernment that is also given by the Spirit that tells us when expressions are real and when they are not.
.....The causes of JOY have been ascribed to various sources. "When the mind is pure, JOY follows like a shadow that never leaves. (Buddha)
.....Find a place inside where there is JOY, and the JOY will burn out the pain." Joseph Campbell
.....Happiness is an emotion, and JOY is an attitude. Emotions come and go, but attitudes come and grow. Anonymous
.....If you have no JOY in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere." Billy Holiday (there is earthly JOY and spiritual JOY, and sometimes they come together as one.
….. Composer Franz Joseph Haydn, recalling his struggles while working on a certain sacred work, wrote, “I prayed to God…not like a miserable sinner in despair…but calmly, slowly. In this I felt, that an infinite God would surely have mercy on His finite creature, me, pardoning dust for being dust. These thoughts cheered me up. I experienced a sure JOY so confident that as I wished to express the words of my prayer, I could not but express my JOY, but gave vent to my happy spirit and wrote the Miserere, ‘Allegro.”
…..His music was so ebullient in temperament that it was criticized by the sterner members of the church. His reply: “Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully.”
…..When Haydn pondered the reality of a God who really cared for him, he said his heart “leapt for JOY.” He could not prevent his music from expressing the same exuberance…even when the music was conveying Christianity’s more somber themes.
……Haydn CHOSE to listen and live the relationship of JOY he shared with God, instead of giving into the sterner members of his church community.
……I spoke a couple of weeks ago in regards to being a Scrooge in attitude toward Christmas as an option some choose, for any myriad of reasons. Today, as we approach the celebration of the birth of the Savior, we remember these words in Luke and in Matthew.
…..The shepherds said to each other, “Let us go to Bethlehem! Let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about through His angels.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a manger. After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel told them about this Child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Following this, the Wise Men or Magi following the star they had seen in the East, guiding them as it went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was born. When they saw the star they were filled with JOY!
…..This season may each of us individually and together share in the astonishment of those who heard the story from the shepherds, and also with them, glorify and praise God as they did.
…..May we also be filled with the same JOY as the Wise Men….opening our heart anew to the WONDER of it all.
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
December 16, 2018
"CHOOSING AND EXPRESSING JOY!"
Pastor Tom Shanor
Jack and Julie (read)
Joy...1st, the definition, then an example. The word JOY, means a feeling of great pleasure and happiness, most often expressed outwardly, in some by only an expression on their face (a deep smile perhaps due to their personality type, or someone who is shy. Also, a person who is self-consciousness would never allow themselves to be seen in an overt expression of most any kind. Then there are those who can't contain themselves, overflowing in JOY. Another example would be David, as he danced in JOY before both the Lord and all those who accompanied him on their journey to bring back the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple.
.....Psalm 100 speaks clearly and beautifully on the expression of JOY!
Shout with JOY to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him, singing with JOY
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are His.*
We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving;
Go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
His faithfulness continues to each generation.
......When we hear or think of the word JOY, it is often perceived, (especially if you are a man) as more feminine in expression than masculine, at least in the mind of men in regards to religious expression. and yet give them a football game, a basketball game, a soccer game, a baseball game, or a competitive game of any kind of which they are a part, or a fan of, and you will see many of them jumping and shouting for JOY when they or their team have won.
.....It is cultural thing, ever changing with new and slowly accepted expression in religion of JOY, as expressed in both the Old and New Testament was taught and expected as a good thing, for in the understanding of both men and women, God desired and desires JOY and its expression to be a part of worship. In the Old Testament JOY is spoken of 55 times and in the New, 41 times.
.....Somehow over the years, mostly due to those who are what I call The Letterists, (like the Pharisees Jesus spoke against so often) where sin became the most preached about and discussed topic of Christianity, because the harsh letter of the law brought with it black and white living in everyday life. JOY and any expressing thereof was shunned and actually abhorred by many. Christianity became rigid and spirit killing (in my opinion) allowing little expression of heart-felt worship during any service and even in their homes.
.....The outward observations in regards to strictness in the letter of the Law became more important than that which lay within us. Clap our hands...you've got to be kidding. Where is holiness in that expression, shouting for JOY, dancing before the Lord, lifting our hands up to Him as an act of worship, a congregation of smilers, spontaneous laughter, like last week when Kari pointed out so timely and accurately that I was responsible for the prolonged sharing and talking.
.....Holiness is here, in our hearts and minds and yes, in our actions most definitely, but that does not exclude JOY. In fact, the feelings of JOY and happiness should be expected during our times together.
.....C.S. Lewis saw clear distinction between JOY pleasure and happiness. He said, "I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for JOY, and call it JOY, which here he says, is a technical term and must be sharply distinguished from both Happiness and Please. JOY, he says, as I have come to understand it, has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with Happiness and Pleasure." "The fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again.....I doubt," he says, "whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power to exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then, JOY as I speak of is seldom within ‘our’ power to create, though Pleasure often is."
....In my interpretation of the last part of what Lewis said, I believe means, that internal JOY and expressed JOY come from a feeling or emotional relationship in fullness, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We most definitely should have both. An intellectual and an emotional relationship, hence, one with feelings associated with it, just as we have emotions, both internal and expressed with those we love.
.....I am not saying we HAVE to clap our hands, or raise our arms toward heaven, or even SHOUT for JOY, but if we do....it will be a genuine heart felt relational connection with God, expressed as the Holy Spirit tells us too, and we will know the difference. Some are outwardly expressive simply to gain attention to them as being (spiritual) when in fact it is nothing more than a show, but when it is genuine we best not condemn it. There is a gift called discernment that is also given by the Spirit that tells us when expressions are real and when they are not.
.....The causes of JOY have been ascribed to various sources. "When the mind is pure, JOY follows like a shadow that never leaves. (Buddha)
.....Find a place inside where there is JOY, and the JOY will burn out the pain." Joseph Campbell
.....Happiness is an emotion, and JOY is an attitude. Emotions come and go, but attitudes come and grow. Anonymous
.....If you have no JOY in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere." Billy Holiday (there is earthly JOY and spiritual JOY, and sometimes they come together as one.
….. Composer Franz Joseph Haydn, recalling his struggles while working on a certain sacred work, wrote, “I prayed to God…not like a miserable sinner in despair…but calmly, slowly. In this I felt, that an infinite God would surely have mercy on His finite creature, me, pardoning dust for being dust. These thoughts cheered me up. I experienced a sure JOY so confident that as I wished to express the words of my prayer, I could not but express my JOY, but gave vent to my happy spirit and wrote the Miserere, ‘Allegro.”
…..His music was so ebullient in temperament that it was criticized by the sterner members of the church. His reply: “Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully.”
…..When Haydn pondered the reality of a God who really cared for him, he said his heart “leapt for JOY.” He could not prevent his music from expressing the same exuberance…even when the music was conveying Christianity’s more somber themes.
……Haydn CHOSE to listen and live the relationship of JOY he shared with God, instead of giving into the sterner members of his church community.
……I spoke a couple of weeks ago in regards to being a Scrooge in attitude toward Christmas as an option some choose, for any myriad of reasons. Today, as we approach the celebration of the birth of the Savior, we remember these words in Luke and in Matthew.
…..The shepherds said to each other, “Let us go to Bethlehem! Let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about through His angels.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a manger. After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel told them about this Child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Following this, the Wise Men or Magi following the star they had seen in the East, guiding them as it went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was born. When they saw the star they were filled with JOY!
…..This season may each of us individually and together share in the astonishment of those who heard the story from the shepherds, and also with them, glorify and praise God as they did.
…..May we also be filled with the same JOY as the Wise Men….opening our heart anew to the WONDER of it all.
Little Church in the Pines
Advent Season
"Choosing Peace"
December 9, 2018
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ Peace in the natural world we live in means different things to different people. We will shortly come to the root Greek word for peace and the Biblical meaning as is found in particular in the New Testament. But first lets’ see what peace means through a very simple and real illustration, with a stay at home mother with three children ages 5, 3 and 1. The five year old is in Kindergarten but the other two, both boys are home and of course are energetic, smart and mmmmmmm, noisy, plus rambunctious and curious. It's been one of those days, almost over, the final cleanup is done. Dinner is over, and dad clears the table and puts everything in the dishwasher, even cleaning the pots and pans. Both of them, having worked all day, then spent time reading with the kids who are now quietly (really) trucked in bed and asleep, guaranteed. Mom and dad look at each other, collapse on the couch, and say "PEACE, QUIET PEACE"
~ Peace is often something as simple as quiet.
~ Another example, living in a city, on occasion getting away to a spa, a cabin in the woods, a high-end hotel with a masseuse available, or just sitting in their car, windows up and relaxing music coming out of the Bose speaker system, again, simple peace. Fishing in the Henry's Fork River, no one around you. Peace! Sitting on your deck with the scent of pine coming on the gentle breeze. Peace.
~ We all seek peace and we all need peace. Christ illustrated that by going off by himself on occasion, time alone, spent quietly talking with His Father. Peace.
~ To have peace in the midst of our home, our work, our recreation, our church service, our life. Possible? mmmmmmmm, Yes. Possible.
~ In the New Testament, the word "peace" has a different meaning from the way we typically use it in our everyday language. When we use the word "peace" we are usually referring to the "absence" of something. The absence of struggle, strife, conflict and noise. In the New Testament the word "peace" (ereine) in the Greek) refers primarily to the presence of something. "Peace" is the presence of a right relationship not only with God, but with people in our lives. In the second chapter of Ephesians Paul explains. "But now you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace: for in His flesh (by His birth, death and resurrection) He has made both groups, (Jew and Gentile) into one, and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. (2:14)
~ It is not hard to imagine such division, as it exists to this day! Not only the Jew and Gentile, but the Christian and the Muslim. Between a husband and wife as they struggle to overcome dividing issues in their relationship. A natural brother and sister, or a brother and sister in Christ. A parent and their children. The chasms we choose to divide us are most often emotionally based, for even behind our differences, including religious differences, and whatever divisions there are, lies emotions which are fuel to the fire of hate, ill health and even death.
~ Since Christ is our "peace" if we indeed believe and adhere to this truth, there is in that reality, no division that should stand, as He broke down (we are told) the dividing walls of strife and hatred, enabling us "if we so choose" to tear down those walls. We are not to wait until "we feel like it" but choose to do so out of obedience to the commandment of Jesus. If we wait until we feel like it, we will be held captive to our emotions and wear the chains of bondage, not only we, but those with whom we do not forgive, if indeed that is a factor.
~ John 14:27, Jesus says, "I am leaving you with a gift...peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."
~ This peace, different from a natural peace is supernatural. It is the confident assurance in any circumstance, division or strife, or pain and sorrow, that with this gift of peace through the power of the Spirit of God, that He will be with us and in us, and in the situation to its completion. Jesus says we can choose to have this peace, or reject it. That choice is our to make and ours alone.
~ Psalm 61………….O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer
From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help.
When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the Rock that is higher, that is higher than I.
For You are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies
cannot reach me.
Let me live forever in Your Presence,
Safe.....beneath the shelter of Your wings. IN PEACE
~ In this room and at this time, I want each of us to think about what Jesus says to us. Peace....like a river, running pure and fresh is ours by choice. We do not have to take any gift that he gives to us. We can ardently stamp our emotional, unforgiving foot and say NO. I can't, which actually means, NO, I won't!
~ In this room and at this time, you may think you have the right to hold onto dis-peace because of some actual or imagined wrong done to you. You have no right....your right to do so was on the shoulders and heart of Christ as He died for you. You have no right....because as He said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not have any idea what they are doing." He is also speaking directly to us as well, We are to do as he did in any situation that arises in our lives.
~ Sometimes I look out over all of you from up here and know some of the things you have endured...some that have caused you pain, real pain. I know that not one of us is perfect, and to expect one another with greater expectations than we ourselves can come up to, i is wrong.
~ In the natural we have a great deal of diversity in our midst, here in our church community. We have political differences, different stances on social issues, different upbringings, great differences in education and finances. We are less diverse in our ages here and we come from all over the country, and even our theological views can vary to a great degree. Some of you like the preacher (me or whoever he or she is) and perhaps some of you don't. betrayed.
~ But...in this mix and in all the churches I have started and pastored, I found and find great joy in seeing what I see this one day a week, the diversity that I am blessed to be a part of. Only because of our Lord Jesus, are we gathered here. It is truly mind boggling as to us gathering together every week in all our diversity of who we are, with hopefully the same desire in our hearts and minds, and that is to honor our Lord and God by being one in the Spirit of Peace…and one in the Lord, laying aside at least for this one hour those natural and acquired differences, becoming one in heart and mind in Christ, and in particular when we come to the Table of the Lord.
~ Paul shares with, along with Isaiah and other authors in the New Testament, these words...................
KAY AND CHIP....please come up. ( time to read & light the Advent candle.
~ The choice we each have of choosing peace, and all that it means, is totally up to you. We can choose to harbor ill will, unkind words, anger, self-righteousness, or any negative thought and feeling you choose....but if you do so, it is only yourself you are harming the most. Peace, Peace, Peace...like a river, is for all of us, not just some. The choice is ours, and ours alone.
~ Will we choose PEACE at any cost? Will you…and will I? We are known by both our words and our choices of action……what this day, will each of us choose?
Amazing Peace…..a Christmas Poem……………..
Advent Season
"Choosing Peace"
December 9, 2018
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ Peace in the natural world we live in means different things to different people. We will shortly come to the root Greek word for peace and the Biblical meaning as is found in particular in the New Testament. But first lets’ see what peace means through a very simple and real illustration, with a stay at home mother with three children ages 5, 3 and 1. The five year old is in Kindergarten but the other two, both boys are home and of course are energetic, smart and mmmmmmm, noisy, plus rambunctious and curious. It's been one of those days, almost over, the final cleanup is done. Dinner is over, and dad clears the table and puts everything in the dishwasher, even cleaning the pots and pans. Both of them, having worked all day, then spent time reading with the kids who are now quietly (really) trucked in bed and asleep, guaranteed. Mom and dad look at each other, collapse on the couch, and say "PEACE, QUIET PEACE"
~ Peace is often something as simple as quiet.
~ Another example, living in a city, on occasion getting away to a spa, a cabin in the woods, a high-end hotel with a masseuse available, or just sitting in their car, windows up and relaxing music coming out of the Bose speaker system, again, simple peace. Fishing in the Henry's Fork River, no one around you. Peace! Sitting on your deck with the scent of pine coming on the gentle breeze. Peace.
~ We all seek peace and we all need peace. Christ illustrated that by going off by himself on occasion, time alone, spent quietly talking with His Father. Peace.
~ To have peace in the midst of our home, our work, our recreation, our church service, our life. Possible? mmmmmmmm, Yes. Possible.
~ In the New Testament, the word "peace" has a different meaning from the way we typically use it in our everyday language. When we use the word "peace" we are usually referring to the "absence" of something. The absence of struggle, strife, conflict and noise. In the New Testament the word "peace" (ereine) in the Greek) refers primarily to the presence of something. "Peace" is the presence of a right relationship not only with God, but with people in our lives. In the second chapter of Ephesians Paul explains. "But now you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace: for in His flesh (by His birth, death and resurrection) He has made both groups, (Jew and Gentile) into one, and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. (2:14)
~ It is not hard to imagine such division, as it exists to this day! Not only the Jew and Gentile, but the Christian and the Muslim. Between a husband and wife as they struggle to overcome dividing issues in their relationship. A natural brother and sister, or a brother and sister in Christ. A parent and their children. The chasms we choose to divide us are most often emotionally based, for even behind our differences, including religious differences, and whatever divisions there are, lies emotions which are fuel to the fire of hate, ill health and even death.
~ Since Christ is our "peace" if we indeed believe and adhere to this truth, there is in that reality, no division that should stand, as He broke down (we are told) the dividing walls of strife and hatred, enabling us "if we so choose" to tear down those walls. We are not to wait until "we feel like it" but choose to do so out of obedience to the commandment of Jesus. If we wait until we feel like it, we will be held captive to our emotions and wear the chains of bondage, not only we, but those with whom we do not forgive, if indeed that is a factor.
~ John 14:27, Jesus says, "I am leaving you with a gift...peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."
~ This peace, different from a natural peace is supernatural. It is the confident assurance in any circumstance, division or strife, or pain and sorrow, that with this gift of peace through the power of the Spirit of God, that He will be with us and in us, and in the situation to its completion. Jesus says we can choose to have this peace, or reject it. That choice is our to make and ours alone.
~ Psalm 61………….O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer
From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help.
When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the Rock that is higher, that is higher than I.
For You are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies
cannot reach me.
Let me live forever in Your Presence,
Safe.....beneath the shelter of Your wings. IN PEACE
~ In this room and at this time, I want each of us to think about what Jesus says to us. Peace....like a river, running pure and fresh is ours by choice. We do not have to take any gift that he gives to us. We can ardently stamp our emotional, unforgiving foot and say NO. I can't, which actually means, NO, I won't!
~ In this room and at this time, you may think you have the right to hold onto dis-peace because of some actual or imagined wrong done to you. You have no right....your right to do so was on the shoulders and heart of Christ as He died for you. You have no right....because as He said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not have any idea what they are doing." He is also speaking directly to us as well, We are to do as he did in any situation that arises in our lives.
~ Sometimes I look out over all of you from up here and know some of the things you have endured...some that have caused you pain, real pain. I know that not one of us is perfect, and to expect one another with greater expectations than we ourselves can come up to, i is wrong.
~ In the natural we have a great deal of diversity in our midst, here in our church community. We have political differences, different stances on social issues, different upbringings, great differences in education and finances. We are less diverse in our ages here and we come from all over the country, and even our theological views can vary to a great degree. Some of you like the preacher (me or whoever he or she is) and perhaps some of you don't. betrayed.
~ But...in this mix and in all the churches I have started and pastored, I found and find great joy in seeing what I see this one day a week, the diversity that I am blessed to be a part of. Only because of our Lord Jesus, are we gathered here. It is truly mind boggling as to us gathering together every week in all our diversity of who we are, with hopefully the same desire in our hearts and minds, and that is to honor our Lord and God by being one in the Spirit of Peace…and one in the Lord, laying aside at least for this one hour those natural and acquired differences, becoming one in heart and mind in Christ, and in particular when we come to the Table of the Lord.
~ Paul shares with, along with Isaiah and other authors in the New Testament, these words...................
KAY AND CHIP....please come up. ( time to read & light the Advent candle.
~ The choice we each have of choosing peace, and all that it means, is totally up to you. We can choose to harbor ill will, unkind words, anger, self-righteousness, or any negative thought and feeling you choose....but if you do so, it is only yourself you are harming the most. Peace, Peace, Peace...like a river, is for all of us, not just some. The choice is ours, and ours alone.
~ Will we choose PEACE at any cost? Will you…and will I? We are known by both our words and our choices of action……what this day, will each of us choose?
Amazing Peace…..a Christmas Poem……………..
Little Church in the Pines
December 02, 2018
ADVENT REFLECTIONS & HOPE
by ; Tom Shanor, Pastor
....I believe you have heard me say often, that discovering our spiritual roots, what we believe and why we believe that which we do is important for building, sustaining and living the life we are called to live. Now, some of this journey takes more belief, and more faith, and more study.
....I would say the root system which holds a tree, a building (being pillars and foundations) is signified by some very basic, but very important truths. Those as I spoke of last week, pertaining to and involving prophecy. As an example the birth of Christ, and its importance to all that follows during his lifetime and beyond. Some of these essentials are part of the root system of our faith, and are the foundation on which we have built our churches.
1. That He was with the Father before His earthly birth and is part of what we call the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. That He was born through a natural birth just like you and I, only He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and given birth by a very young virgin girl.
3. That He lived and died as a natural man, but instead of staying in the grave, He was resurrected to life again.
4. He came as our Savior and Lord, saving us from the eternal death.
5. That as Scripture says, He will return some day.
...That is what I would call a thumbnail version, as you well know.
...Over the years since His leaving earth, there have been many 'traditions' arise because mankind seems to find comfort, solace and even stimulation in traditions, and Advent being one of those. So, in that we, along with many other Christians follow many of the same traditions, it would be good to understand when, where and under what circumstances some of those originated.
…Last evening I talked to a friend who is a Christian, but knew little about what Advent, its meaning and purpose. I found this to be true with many Evangelical Christians, myself being an Evangelical pastor for 20 years, never understood or celebrated it as I should have. Some traditions are rich and an opportunity for teaching, as this message will show.
...I'm going to title this and the next five Sundays, the Journey to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is the place where we are introduced to Emmanuel, Jesus, which means "God is with us, or in our midst."
...This journey will involve spirit, body, and mind as individuals and as a community of faith. It is the season where God invites us to "choose" hope, peace, joy, and love. All of these, which I have spoken to you often the past three years and also included, will be the gifts we experience through our walk with Jesus.....especially this time of year, as the world clamors for our attention and even devotion.
...How can we prepare ourselves to experience the real reason for this season as we are pulled in so many different directions, gatherings, activities, most of which we thoroughly enjoy. How can we keep Him at the center of it all. There is one simple way....and that way is to simply have Him the very center of our everyday lives, and doing that will keep Jesus our Gyroscope, in assisting us to keep our balance.
...A Gyroscope for those of you who do not know, is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. I personally find them fascinating and beautiful in how they work. It balances itself at the center of gravity. There is a spin axis, an output axis and an input axis, finding by design, the point of perfect balance.
...I say to the Lord....be my Gyroscope please, not only during the Holiday season, but in all my life. Amen
...Now on to Advent. The Catholic Church originally called Advent, the Feast of the Birth of Jesus. The name for this season is taken from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming", and in the early Church the word was used mainly for Christmas itself. Christmas....coming of course from the celebration of a MASS said in honor of Christs’ birth. The Christ-Mass.
...This mass grew in proportion, in depth and in length because as I said earlier, mankind loves celebrations and rituals. In the Middle Ages this meaning was extended, and His coming was seen in three different ways:
1. His birth in Bethlehem in the past.
2. His second and future coming at the end of time as we know it.
3. His present coming through grace into the hearts and souls of individuals.
...And so, in Advent we prepare to celebrate the past; we prepare to receive Christ into our lives in our present; and we prepare in our minds and spirits, as if His Second Coming might happen during our lifetime, His reappearance.
...I don't know about you, but I am a curious person, actually more so today than I have ever been. If I am capable (depending on the subject or object) I like to know why and how thing came into being and even work. I am not as curious as I have recently discovered as my new (to me) cat Churchill is. Every cupboard opened, many things that I do...there he is, talking to me and asking questions. Then looking at me and still deciding if he wants to stay with me. He is a fairly independent cat, but sure lets me know when he is hungry.
...My curiosity led me to research the Advent wreath. The traditional symbolism of the Advent wreath reminds us of Old Testament times when humanity was "sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death" Luke 1:79; when the prophets, illumined by God, foretold a Redeemer; and when the hearts of men and women yearned for a Messiah who would reestablish Israel and would also be the Savior of the world.
...The wreath and candles which are the center of the ongoing celebration as we see is round, a circle and is a symbol of the eternity of God, who like a circle, has not beginning nor an end. The candles symbolize the most important aspect...and that is that Christ is the Light of the World. The progressive lighting of candles symbolizes the coming of the one true Spiritual light.
...Each candle on the wreath stands for a Sunday (and its following week) of the season. Candles 1, 2 and 4 are purple. Candle 3 is rose. In the ancient world purple dye was very expensive and could only be afforded by kings or very wealthy people. The purple candles also tell us that the one whose birth we are preparing for is our one true King. The rose candle, the 3rd one, tells us that Advent is half over and Christmas is coming closer and closer.
...Facts of the makeup of the wreath in addition to being a circle, being made of evergreens of a variety, which green as a color is symbolic of life itself and, since they last through the winter, point to Gods’ gift of life.
...These are those which traditionally if done correctly are made of.
*Holly....with its prickly leaves are symbolic of the use of the Crown of Thorns, and its red berries symbolic of the Blood Christ.
*Ivy...has into the far past been frequently used as decoration, has been a symbol of joy and festivity.
*Laurel... (Bay) which was used to crown those who won in athletic games, signifies victory.
*Cedar...because it is long lasting and aromatic, is symbolic of strength and healing.
*Juniper, holly and rosemary. By legend these plants provided shelter and help for the Holy Family when they fled from Bethlehem to Egypt. The fragrance of rosemary, it has been said, began when the Virgin Mary laid out the Infant Jesus' swaddling clothes to dry on this plant.
…The four candles as most of us know represent Hope, Peace, Joy and last Love, in that order as we go through the four weeks prior.
…Now…would Paul and Carolyn please come up and tell us a little about HOPE, and light the candle representing HOPE.
…At this point I want to talk with you about’ choosing’ these four virtues, so that not only do we perhaps understand them more, but out of desire and sincerity, make them a part of our everyday lives.
…We are born with many gifts from God, and one of those is self-awareness. With self-awareness comes the ability to, with forethought and rational thinking, and free will, make choices. Choosing is a big responsibility to carry. Not only do our choices affect us directly, they also affect those immediately around us, and also many who we will never know.
…A simple thing such as saying hello with a smile to a stranger, can affect their mood, bringing it up, perhaps having so far been experiencing a bad day. Their spirit was touched…and they walk a bit lighter, therefore having been lifted up, they in turn lift up someone else by doing the same thing….ad-infinitum. Perhaps our smile and its affect went around the world.
…We in that small way instilled a small measure of hope in them, that perhaps things were going to get better. They smiled again.
…an encouraging word.
…a kind word
…a loving word
…a helping hand
…Matthew 25:40…whatever you do to the least of these, my brothers and sister, you have done to me.
…Luke 6:31…treat others as you would have them treat you.”
…This Christmas Season you can be like Scrooge, bah-humbugging everything about Christmas, because it has become (and has for a very long time) so commercial and non-spiritual. By carrying around that attitude, you are the one with the attitude.
…the wrong one.
…WE…you and I, are to be people of hope, people of peace, people of joy and people of love. It’s better if we are silent….if we can’t overcome our negativity, than to carry it around like a shroud.
…CHOOSING HOPE…the idiom “the proof is in the pudding,” means that the end result of our choices is the mark of success or failure of our efforts, and sometimes it simply takes effort. Getting over one’s self!
…With the candle of hope now burning….and with great expectation of the coming Messiah. The day of salvation is here and now. The world that we live in can be unkind and unloving. Sometimes life seems to go all wrong. Today, let us not allow the world to bring us down, but rather “choose hope” a hope in the Savior who has and will continue to bring light and life to a broken world…..surprisingly, through US! That is His choice, to be seen and speak through us this life and this world. He chose us, as we choose hope, today.
Amen
December 02, 2018
ADVENT REFLECTIONS & HOPE
by ; Tom Shanor, Pastor
....I believe you have heard me say often, that discovering our spiritual roots, what we believe and why we believe that which we do is important for building, sustaining and living the life we are called to live. Now, some of this journey takes more belief, and more faith, and more study.
....I would say the root system which holds a tree, a building (being pillars and foundations) is signified by some very basic, but very important truths. Those as I spoke of last week, pertaining to and involving prophecy. As an example the birth of Christ, and its importance to all that follows during his lifetime and beyond. Some of these essentials are part of the root system of our faith, and are the foundation on which we have built our churches.
1. That He was with the Father before His earthly birth and is part of what we call the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. That He was born through a natural birth just like you and I, only He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and given birth by a very young virgin girl.
3. That He lived and died as a natural man, but instead of staying in the grave, He was resurrected to life again.
4. He came as our Savior and Lord, saving us from the eternal death.
5. That as Scripture says, He will return some day.
...That is what I would call a thumbnail version, as you well know.
...Over the years since His leaving earth, there have been many 'traditions' arise because mankind seems to find comfort, solace and even stimulation in traditions, and Advent being one of those. So, in that we, along with many other Christians follow many of the same traditions, it would be good to understand when, where and under what circumstances some of those originated.
…Last evening I talked to a friend who is a Christian, but knew little about what Advent, its meaning and purpose. I found this to be true with many Evangelical Christians, myself being an Evangelical pastor for 20 years, never understood or celebrated it as I should have. Some traditions are rich and an opportunity for teaching, as this message will show.
...I'm going to title this and the next five Sundays, the Journey to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is the place where we are introduced to Emmanuel, Jesus, which means "God is with us, or in our midst."
...This journey will involve spirit, body, and mind as individuals and as a community of faith. It is the season where God invites us to "choose" hope, peace, joy, and love. All of these, which I have spoken to you often the past three years and also included, will be the gifts we experience through our walk with Jesus.....especially this time of year, as the world clamors for our attention and even devotion.
...How can we prepare ourselves to experience the real reason for this season as we are pulled in so many different directions, gatherings, activities, most of which we thoroughly enjoy. How can we keep Him at the center of it all. There is one simple way....and that way is to simply have Him the very center of our everyday lives, and doing that will keep Jesus our Gyroscope, in assisting us to keep our balance.
...A Gyroscope for those of you who do not know, is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. I personally find them fascinating and beautiful in how they work. It balances itself at the center of gravity. There is a spin axis, an output axis and an input axis, finding by design, the point of perfect balance.
...I say to the Lord....be my Gyroscope please, not only during the Holiday season, but in all my life. Amen
...Now on to Advent. The Catholic Church originally called Advent, the Feast of the Birth of Jesus. The name for this season is taken from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming", and in the early Church the word was used mainly for Christmas itself. Christmas....coming of course from the celebration of a MASS said in honor of Christs’ birth. The Christ-Mass.
...This mass grew in proportion, in depth and in length because as I said earlier, mankind loves celebrations and rituals. In the Middle Ages this meaning was extended, and His coming was seen in three different ways:
1. His birth in Bethlehem in the past.
2. His second and future coming at the end of time as we know it.
3. His present coming through grace into the hearts and souls of individuals.
...And so, in Advent we prepare to celebrate the past; we prepare to receive Christ into our lives in our present; and we prepare in our minds and spirits, as if His Second Coming might happen during our lifetime, His reappearance.
...I don't know about you, but I am a curious person, actually more so today than I have ever been. If I am capable (depending on the subject or object) I like to know why and how thing came into being and even work. I am not as curious as I have recently discovered as my new (to me) cat Churchill is. Every cupboard opened, many things that I do...there he is, talking to me and asking questions. Then looking at me and still deciding if he wants to stay with me. He is a fairly independent cat, but sure lets me know when he is hungry.
...My curiosity led me to research the Advent wreath. The traditional symbolism of the Advent wreath reminds us of Old Testament times when humanity was "sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death" Luke 1:79; when the prophets, illumined by God, foretold a Redeemer; and when the hearts of men and women yearned for a Messiah who would reestablish Israel and would also be the Savior of the world.
...The wreath and candles which are the center of the ongoing celebration as we see is round, a circle and is a symbol of the eternity of God, who like a circle, has not beginning nor an end. The candles symbolize the most important aspect...and that is that Christ is the Light of the World. The progressive lighting of candles symbolizes the coming of the one true Spiritual light.
...Each candle on the wreath stands for a Sunday (and its following week) of the season. Candles 1, 2 and 4 are purple. Candle 3 is rose. In the ancient world purple dye was very expensive and could only be afforded by kings or very wealthy people. The purple candles also tell us that the one whose birth we are preparing for is our one true King. The rose candle, the 3rd one, tells us that Advent is half over and Christmas is coming closer and closer.
...Facts of the makeup of the wreath in addition to being a circle, being made of evergreens of a variety, which green as a color is symbolic of life itself and, since they last through the winter, point to Gods’ gift of life.
...These are those which traditionally if done correctly are made of.
*Holly....with its prickly leaves are symbolic of the use of the Crown of Thorns, and its red berries symbolic of the Blood Christ.
*Ivy...has into the far past been frequently used as decoration, has been a symbol of joy and festivity.
*Laurel... (Bay) which was used to crown those who won in athletic games, signifies victory.
*Cedar...because it is long lasting and aromatic, is symbolic of strength and healing.
*Juniper, holly and rosemary. By legend these plants provided shelter and help for the Holy Family when they fled from Bethlehem to Egypt. The fragrance of rosemary, it has been said, began when the Virgin Mary laid out the Infant Jesus' swaddling clothes to dry on this plant.
…The four candles as most of us know represent Hope, Peace, Joy and last Love, in that order as we go through the four weeks prior.
…Now…would Paul and Carolyn please come up and tell us a little about HOPE, and light the candle representing HOPE.
…At this point I want to talk with you about’ choosing’ these four virtues, so that not only do we perhaps understand them more, but out of desire and sincerity, make them a part of our everyday lives.
…We are born with many gifts from God, and one of those is self-awareness. With self-awareness comes the ability to, with forethought and rational thinking, and free will, make choices. Choosing is a big responsibility to carry. Not only do our choices affect us directly, they also affect those immediately around us, and also many who we will never know.
…A simple thing such as saying hello with a smile to a stranger, can affect their mood, bringing it up, perhaps having so far been experiencing a bad day. Their spirit was touched…and they walk a bit lighter, therefore having been lifted up, they in turn lift up someone else by doing the same thing….ad-infinitum. Perhaps our smile and its affect went around the world.
…We in that small way instilled a small measure of hope in them, that perhaps things were going to get better. They smiled again.
…an encouraging word.
…a kind word
…a loving word
…a helping hand
…Matthew 25:40…whatever you do to the least of these, my brothers and sister, you have done to me.
…Luke 6:31…treat others as you would have them treat you.”
…This Christmas Season you can be like Scrooge, bah-humbugging everything about Christmas, because it has become (and has for a very long time) so commercial and non-spiritual. By carrying around that attitude, you are the one with the attitude.
…the wrong one.
…WE…you and I, are to be people of hope, people of peace, people of joy and people of love. It’s better if we are silent….if we can’t overcome our negativity, than to carry it around like a shroud.
…CHOOSING HOPE…the idiom “the proof is in the pudding,” means that the end result of our choices is the mark of success or failure of our efforts, and sometimes it simply takes effort. Getting over one’s self!
…With the candle of hope now burning….and with great expectation of the coming Messiah. The day of salvation is here and now. The world that we live in can be unkind and unloving. Sometimes life seems to go all wrong. Today, let us not allow the world to bring us down, but rather “choose hope” a hope in the Savior who has and will continue to bring light and life to a broken world…..surprisingly, through US! That is His choice, to be seen and speak through us this life and this world. He chose us, as we choose hope, today.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
PROPHECIES OF THE Christ Child
November 25th, 2018 by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Prophecy.....the Bible is full of prophecy. Without prophecy it would be only a history book, a thread of prophecy runs through it from beginning to end. Prophecy lies at the root of all that is said and recorded. Before I illustrate what prophecy encompasses and more fully what a prophet is, there is one item we have to understand, and for some, that one thing is often very difficult to grasp. Prophets, Prophetesses and prophecy all move in the supernatural realm.
~ Being a Christian in the accepted and classical sense, one has to believe in the supernatural. Preceding the birth, Then the birth, the life, death and resurrection, plus prophecies pertaining to Christ's reentry into the lives of humanity, in what is termed His second coming, prophecy is certainly at the heart of it all.
~ I personally have experienced in my ordinary everyday life, the action of the supernatural from God, thank God, but this is not the place or time to expound on that. I say this only because I can personally verify by my own experiences several supernatural occurrences, and therefore its reality.
~ Today’s emphasis, as the title of the sermon says, is Prophecies pertaining to the birth of the Christ Child. Next week we begin the Season of Advent, the weeks leading up to our celebration of the birth of Jesus, known as Christmas, and celebrated in a multitude of way by a multitude of people, both Believers and non-believers.
~ To both fully appreciate and understand this event in order to celebrate it, one has to be on board with understanding it correctly. It in itself is a beautiful love story ending in what it seems is tragedy, only to have it turn into ultimate Triumph.
~ A prophet is” “one who utters divinely inspired revelations; one regarded by a group of followers or religions as the final authoritative revelation of Gods will; one gifted with more than ordinary spiritual and moral insight; one who foretells future events, and expounds correctly the interpretation of Holy Scripture. In Deuteronomy 18:18 (NIV) we find the first reference to a prophet, though himself was not the first prophet. “I will raise up for them a prophet….I will put MY words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” Therefore, the relationship between God and the chosen man or woman who speaks for Him is deeply intimate. There are times in Scripture that a prophet really did not want to speak the words that God gave Him for fear of reaction from the people, for not all prophecies are of the nature of the one’s our focus is on today. In fact, quite the opposite.
~ The main reasons for prophecy in the Bible was ‘to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the very character of God himself, and which lie at the foundation of His government.” In the simplest of terms, you could say a prophet is a truth teller.
~ Do they still exist? In Acts 2:17-18 we read, “In the last days, God said, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Since we are living in the time of Christ, which even today is called the ‘last days’ this gift is anything but gone. It will become as stated overtly manifested, when the days and times arrives for it to be so. There are today and will be false prophets who “will arise and lead man astray.” 1 John 4, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.
~ These are just a few of the signs or tests of a true prophet or prophetess.
Today, I wanted only to lay a foundation of what and who prophets were and are, on which to build this part of my message. I believe that in order to ‘believe’ we must know what those beliefs are built on and what they encompass, and where they come from.
So....with all that being said, let’s move on.
~ Leading into the first use of the fulfillment of Luke 2:20, in regards to the birth of Jesus Christ. “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying God and Praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Is found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.” The number of years between Isaiah’s prophecy and the birth of Jesus is between 640 to 760 years, as Isaiah lived 80 years.
~ Matthew 1:23 speaks of where the fulfillment of this prophecy is written, upon which the shepherds spoke of on their way back to their flocks. “Behold the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, “which is translated, “God is with us.”
~ Another can be found pertaining to the arrival of the Magi or Wise men, arriving in Jerusalem following the birth. They had stopped by Herod’s residence on the way. Herod, being a weak leader felt threatened by the reason of their arrival, giving much credence to what they told him. He asked them to stop by on their way back, to tell him where specifically the child was born, so as he said, “he could worship the child.” They in turn were instructed by God not to go back to Herod.
~ Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.”
~ Herod, being furious at the Magi, and knowing the general area in which the Christ would be born, then fulfilled this prophecy. “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15, fulfilled in Matthew 2:18. These mothers whose boy children 2 years old and under were slaughtered by Herod’s troops….as Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin lamented for her children, who in her day were going into exile, expressing as a prototype, her grief over the slaughter of innocent children. Ramah was a town close to Jerusalem where the slaughter took place.
~ The second fulfilled prophecy resulting from Herod’s paranoiac rage took place after Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, after Joseph was visited by an angel and told to flee with them to Egypt for the child’s safety, where upon their return, God’s words to Hosea (also a prophet) were fulfilled in Hosea 11:1, “out of Egypt I called my Son.”
~ This prophecy was originally made as a statement of history_ God had called (and brought) Israel out of Egypt. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Matthew used these words to refer to the Messiah.
~ The final prophecy discussed by Matthew pertaining to events in the early years of Jesus had to do with his boyhood home. God warned Joseph in a dream not to go back to Judea, so instead he took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth in Galilee, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’” (Matthew 2:23)
~ Nazareth, as we know was looked upon with scorn by the Jews, where even Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” relating to Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Daniel 9 and Zechariah 12, where each spoke of the Messiah “being despised and rejected.”
I have here, 9 pages, 365 prophecies and facts pertaining to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, all of which have been fulfilled pertaining to His first coming, his life and his death and resurrection. The only ones yet to be fulfilled are those that pertain to His Second Coming and have yet to be fulfilled.
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling just the major prophecies concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes, representing some 600 college students.
The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstance which might indicate that the students conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally a unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical.
However….then Professor Stoner took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists t make their own estimate to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a Committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented.
One example was this. Concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that the chance of this one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000.
After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of this one man fulfilling all eight prophecies one in in a number containing 17 zeros.
Bear with me here. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded person to draw one, their chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten.
Then suppose we take that number with the 17 zeros, represented by silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of those silver dollars and stir the whole mass of them across the state. Blindfold the same person and tell them that they can travel as far as they wish, but must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would they have of getting the right one? Just the same that the prophets would have had of writing just these eight prophecies, and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.
~ My summation. The magnitude of all the prophecies being fulfilled pertaining to the Christ….being fulfilled is literally beyond measure, let alone just the eight spoken of here.
Many of the other prophecies listed here as I said have been already fulfilled, which extends the zeros almost infinitely. These listed were not lucky guesses made by fraudulent prognosticators; they were precise predictions made by the all-knowing God of the bible who repeatedly demonstrates He has perfect knowledge of all past, present, and future events.
CONCLUSION
About 2000 years ago, Jesus the then Christ Child came to earth in this humble manner. The Savior of the world, and God of all creation put on humanity to die for us, and conquer death, giving the hope of salvation to all who turn from their sin and believe in Him.
That day began one still, quiet night, in a small rough-hewn building, filled with straw and animals nearby softly breathing, soft oil lights glowing, a young mother in natural labor as every other mother who gives birth, an anxious step-father chosen by God, to take care of not only the young mother, but the Son to come. As God brought them all this far, to this place and time, He would watch over and take care of them from this momentous night forward. Shepherds, angels, Magi, kings and all of humanity, unbeknownst to them at that moment, would reap the benefits and rewards of this birth and this baby.
Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and goodwill toward all of mankind.
Amen
Macks Inn, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
PROPHECIES OF THE Christ Child
November 25th, 2018 by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Prophecy.....the Bible is full of prophecy. Without prophecy it would be only a history book, a thread of prophecy runs through it from beginning to end. Prophecy lies at the root of all that is said and recorded. Before I illustrate what prophecy encompasses and more fully what a prophet is, there is one item we have to understand, and for some, that one thing is often very difficult to grasp. Prophets, Prophetesses and prophecy all move in the supernatural realm.
~ Being a Christian in the accepted and classical sense, one has to believe in the supernatural. Preceding the birth, Then the birth, the life, death and resurrection, plus prophecies pertaining to Christ's reentry into the lives of humanity, in what is termed His second coming, prophecy is certainly at the heart of it all.
~ I personally have experienced in my ordinary everyday life, the action of the supernatural from God, thank God, but this is not the place or time to expound on that. I say this only because I can personally verify by my own experiences several supernatural occurrences, and therefore its reality.
~ Today’s emphasis, as the title of the sermon says, is Prophecies pertaining to the birth of the Christ Child. Next week we begin the Season of Advent, the weeks leading up to our celebration of the birth of Jesus, known as Christmas, and celebrated in a multitude of way by a multitude of people, both Believers and non-believers.
~ To both fully appreciate and understand this event in order to celebrate it, one has to be on board with understanding it correctly. It in itself is a beautiful love story ending in what it seems is tragedy, only to have it turn into ultimate Triumph.
~ A prophet is” “one who utters divinely inspired revelations; one regarded by a group of followers or religions as the final authoritative revelation of Gods will; one gifted with more than ordinary spiritual and moral insight; one who foretells future events, and expounds correctly the interpretation of Holy Scripture. In Deuteronomy 18:18 (NIV) we find the first reference to a prophet, though himself was not the first prophet. “I will raise up for them a prophet….I will put MY words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” Therefore, the relationship between God and the chosen man or woman who speaks for Him is deeply intimate. There are times in Scripture that a prophet really did not want to speak the words that God gave Him for fear of reaction from the people, for not all prophecies are of the nature of the one’s our focus is on today. In fact, quite the opposite.
~ The main reasons for prophecy in the Bible was ‘to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the very character of God himself, and which lie at the foundation of His government.” In the simplest of terms, you could say a prophet is a truth teller.
~ Do they still exist? In Acts 2:17-18 we read, “In the last days, God said, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Since we are living in the time of Christ, which even today is called the ‘last days’ this gift is anything but gone. It will become as stated overtly manifested, when the days and times arrives for it to be so. There are today and will be false prophets who “will arise and lead man astray.” 1 John 4, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.
~ These are just a few of the signs or tests of a true prophet or prophetess.
- 1 Corinthians 12:28-29 & Ephesians 4:11. Both say this office comes from the Holy Spirit.
- What they speak will never contradict Scripture or what the Lord has already spoken. One such incident is where Paul says in Galatians 1:8, “if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
- If what they speak is truly from the Lord, it will come true 100% to the letter. Jeremiah 28:9, reads “Only when his predictions come true can it be known that he is really from the Lord.”
- Their lives will be lived in godliness.
- They will speak truth in the spirit of humility. Many of the prophets spoke with boldness, but under that was the foundation of their relationship in humility, having been chosen by God to speak for Him.
Today, I wanted only to lay a foundation of what and who prophets were and are, on which to build this part of my message. I believe that in order to ‘believe’ we must know what those beliefs are built on and what they encompass, and where they come from.
So....with all that being said, let’s move on.
~ Leading into the first use of the fulfillment of Luke 2:20, in regards to the birth of Jesus Christ. “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying God and Praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Is found in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel.” The number of years between Isaiah’s prophecy and the birth of Jesus is between 640 to 760 years, as Isaiah lived 80 years.
~ Matthew 1:23 speaks of where the fulfillment of this prophecy is written, upon which the shepherds spoke of on their way back to their flocks. “Behold the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, “which is translated, “God is with us.”
~ Another can be found pertaining to the arrival of the Magi or Wise men, arriving in Jerusalem following the birth. They had stopped by Herod’s residence on the way. Herod, being a weak leader felt threatened by the reason of their arrival, giving much credence to what they told him. He asked them to stop by on their way back, to tell him where specifically the child was born, so as he said, “he could worship the child.” They in turn were instructed by God not to go back to Herod.
~ Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.”
~ Herod, being furious at the Magi, and knowing the general area in which the Christ would be born, then fulfilled this prophecy. “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15, fulfilled in Matthew 2:18. These mothers whose boy children 2 years old and under were slaughtered by Herod’s troops….as Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin lamented for her children, who in her day were going into exile, expressing as a prototype, her grief over the slaughter of innocent children. Ramah was a town close to Jerusalem where the slaughter took place.
~ The second fulfilled prophecy resulting from Herod’s paranoiac rage took place after Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, after Joseph was visited by an angel and told to flee with them to Egypt for the child’s safety, where upon their return, God’s words to Hosea (also a prophet) were fulfilled in Hosea 11:1, “out of Egypt I called my Son.”
~ This prophecy was originally made as a statement of history_ God had called (and brought) Israel out of Egypt. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Matthew used these words to refer to the Messiah.
~ The final prophecy discussed by Matthew pertaining to events in the early years of Jesus had to do with his boyhood home. God warned Joseph in a dream not to go back to Judea, so instead he took Mary and Jesus to Nazareth in Galilee, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’” (Matthew 2:23)
~ Nazareth, as we know was looked upon with scorn by the Jews, where even Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” relating to Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Daniel 9 and Zechariah 12, where each spoke of the Messiah “being despised and rejected.”
I have here, 9 pages, 365 prophecies and facts pertaining to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, all of which have been fulfilled pertaining to His first coming, his life and his death and resurrection. The only ones yet to be fulfilled are those that pertain to His Second Coming and have yet to be fulfilled.
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling just the major prophecies concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes, representing some 600 college students.
The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstance which might indicate that the students conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally a unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical.
However….then Professor Stoner took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists t make their own estimate to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a Committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented.
One example was this. Concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that the chance of this one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000.
After examining only eight different prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of this one man fulfilling all eight prophecies one in in a number containing 17 zeros.
Bear with me here. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded person to draw one, their chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten.
Then suppose we take that number with the 17 zeros, represented by silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of those silver dollars and stir the whole mass of them across the state. Blindfold the same person and tell them that they can travel as far as they wish, but must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would they have of getting the right one? Just the same that the prophets would have had of writing just these eight prophecies, and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time.
~ My summation. The magnitude of all the prophecies being fulfilled pertaining to the Christ….being fulfilled is literally beyond measure, let alone just the eight spoken of here.
Many of the other prophecies listed here as I said have been already fulfilled, which extends the zeros almost infinitely. These listed were not lucky guesses made by fraudulent prognosticators; they were precise predictions made by the all-knowing God of the bible who repeatedly demonstrates He has perfect knowledge of all past, present, and future events.
CONCLUSION
About 2000 years ago, Jesus the then Christ Child came to earth in this humble manner. The Savior of the world, and God of all creation put on humanity to die for us, and conquer death, giving the hope of salvation to all who turn from their sin and believe in Him.
That day began one still, quiet night, in a small rough-hewn building, filled with straw and animals nearby softly breathing, soft oil lights glowing, a young mother in natural labor as every other mother who gives birth, an anxious step-father chosen by God, to take care of not only the young mother, but the Son to come. As God brought them all this far, to this place and time, He would watch over and take care of them from this momentous night forward. Shepherds, angels, Magi, kings and all of humanity, unbeknownst to them at that moment, would reap the benefits and rewards of this birth and this baby.
Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and goodwill toward all of mankind.
Amen
the little church in the pines
Mack's Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 25th, 2018
"Remember, We are Blessed"
~Thanksgiving ~
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
...I am going to make an assumption this morning, in that most, if not all of us are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, and most likely for multiple reasons. For some it is strictly a family celebration, for others, family, friends and even strangers. Some of us in church basements, cooking meals for the needy, others cooking food for family. This day is a time of catching up, just being together with those we love and yet, for some there are at times disagreements & fights, (usually over politics or sports) and the list goes on. One thing we know for sure…..two things are truly the center of whatever else comes about that day. 1. Food, and 2. Giving Thanks, and in that order for most.
…We should remember that the first Thanksgiving, now 398 years ago in 1620 was set aside as a time of Giving Thanks to God for their new lives in the then New World. The freedom they fought so hard for, enduring both loss of life and comfort….ALL for the hope and goal of being able to worship God as they desired with all their hearts. The so called feast was not near as plentiful and diverse, nor in such comfortable surrounding as we have today. Rough-hewn tables and benches, most likely set up in an open sided building in case of rain or storm, everything cooked both over an open fire and in the ovens of what few they had, bringing them over from England.
…It is difficult for us to imagine the hardships they endured, both in England from religious persecution and then in America, forging out of a true wilderness a home site, farms, homes, shops, etc. with very limited means of doing so. From what I have read, that without the help of the Native Americans, called the Wampanaogs, or Eastern Peoples, they could not have made it through that first winter, and many did not.
A little about their journey……………..
…These people were willing to die for their faith, and many did. Their chosen expression of that faith was heart-felt, somewhat basic and different from the existing churches in England at that time, where the Anglican Church was the only true church. As the Anglicans (whom you would think would be more tolerant) because of the persecution they suffered from the Catholic Church, would understand and let the Puritans worship as they saw fit, but they did not.
…Together, their leaders decided their only option, was to become colonists of a new settlement on the American continent. There they could govern themselves, and worship as their hearts dictated. So as we know, they hired a ship called the Mayflower, and also one named the Speedwell, to sail from the Netherlands to Southampton then on to Plymouth, England. The two ships would then sail together, leaving on the incoming tide, July 22nd.
…300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell had been taking on water, having repaired it several times, they gave up and both ships returned to Plymouth, England where those who did not abandon the journey, crowded onto the Mayflower….so deeply was their hope and desire to have the freedom to worship God as they saw fit.
…The depth of their faith in risking not only their adult lives, but the lives of their children is truly heart moving. Their belief in God was all that would see them through the rough months that were to follow.
…There were 102 passengers and 30 crew members now all aboard one ship. Five died aboard ship and 44 more died before actually reaching Plymouth.
…How many of you have ever been to see Plymouth Rock? How big is it? Historic renderings I have seen in the Puritans landing on this expansive granite rocky outcropping…..somewhat romanticized. It was simply the stone marker on which was carve the date of their arrival.
…I considered what Scriptures they possibly relied upon, to read, reread that would have given them faith and courage to go on. Scriptures they could read aloud and pray, and then what songs they sang together, and when alone with God.
…What came to my mind in part was Jeremiah 29:11-14. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “ I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.”
…This passage is literally speaking of the Jews return to Israel….yet I see it as a very similar rendition of a promise that could be adapted to His people here, seeking religious freedom of expression, just as we often adapt specific scripture to our own personal needs.
…Finally….on September 6th, the Mayflower departed England much later than they had planned. The voyage itself across the Atlantic took 66 long days and nights, encountering a number of Fall storms that in particular made the voyage often treacherous. At times their journals say, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them, as it was not safe to use the ship’s sail, which in fact the main mast snapped and had to be reinforced.
…Their original destination was the Hudson River, but because of yet another severe storm, they had to head north, resting briefly at what is now Provincetown Harbor, eventually arriving on November 19th at what became Plymouth, Massachusetts, exhausted, freezing yet joyful….and then began immediately began to build their town.
…God had them right where He wanted them…s they gathered to pray, sing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs in this new land where they could do so without fear of arrest or other persecution….they stood with full hearts, worshiping God freely. They were finally FREE!!
…Today, we remain free, often at a great cost also, losing many of our young and vital citizens who through war and strength guard and fight to keep us so , but as in the case of any prosperous country, the people in time often take for granted the good and comfortable lives they have. All we here in America need to do is go back several generations to the Great Depression, (just one instance) to rediscover just how desperate our families for the most part were during those days.
…Sometimes the cost of following the Lord Jesus Christ….still brings persecution and death, counting into the millions, where living in countries they are persecuted, hunted like animals, rounded up, sold into slavery and often killed. Others….suffering persecution by not being permitted to work, to gather together to worship for fear of torture or death.
…We have in many ways forgotten the costs, rising up as we have this morning in heated homes, hot and cold running water, showering, dressing in clean clothing, putting on the coffee or tea, making a simple breakfast where our food rests in cold refrigerators, cupboards and even full pantries, cooked on stoves on which we just turn a knob or push a button. Then getting into pre-warmed cars with seats that heat our backsides and backs, pulling out of our garages and starting toward our Sanctuaries, to pay homage to the same God of the Puritans.
…We are extremely comfortable and at ease. How important is God to each of us? I have recently read the book of Nehemiah. This books speaks of how in desperate times of need, the Jewish people turn to God for help, promising to obey, live lives as He desires they live, honoring Him with the hearts, minds and souls, and with the fruit of their hard work and incomes. Yet, what happened and happens repeatedly in this narration, is that once that comfortable stage is once again reached….the people forget the promises they made. They no longer NEED God’s blessings, nor need to follow through in their worship, and sincerity of their beliefs, for they in their faith have become complacent and comfortable. They have arrived!!
…True faith it seems often thrives and goes deep in difficult times, simply because the need is greater than, or ability to meet it, and that is when we once again call upon the Lord to help us. In the midst of our comfortableness, I believe we can still have great faith. To give God thanks daily for the blessings we have been permitted to have and to share those blessings with those who do not have what we have. Sure, much of what we have comes from hard work and sacrifices, but it should be the same in our faith. A grateful heart, a true sense of the blessings we have, and voicing our thankfulness to God for them, I believe puts us in His good standing. Sincerity…..an attitude of recognition of God as being the source for all good things in our lives is necessary, both for our well being and for God’s grace.
….Thanksgiving, both a religious and national holiday, to be celebrated as it is meant to be, we, need to know and remember its roots, not to forget its true significance, and remember those who laid the foundation for what we have today, and for the trials, pains, sorrows and losses, along with the JOY that they lived and by choice experienced, when the stepped ashore that first time, falling to their knees in worship, weeping, praying and singing unto the Lord, their God.
…Psalm 100 is a song of praise for the Lord’s faithfulness to His People, and we too…are His people, just as they were. I am sure the Psalm was sung and read by those who in the windy, cold Fall day, exhausted and some ill….sang together to the Lord their God and our God.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands,
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with Thanksgiving
Know that the Lord , He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are the people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
For the Lord is good;
His Mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Some of us are perhaps going through trials and sorrows of your own. Please know, that the Lord our God is with you. Know that He knows you deeply and loves you to the ends of the earth, with a depth that cannot be matched anywhere by anybody…ever. Be thankful!
…Remember this if nothing else from this message today. As you gather with those you love….look around, listen, see what good things the Lord has done…has given you, and then share your giving-thanks with those whom you are with. Everything and everyone has a time limit…but in that time limit….let us be THANKFUL.
On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new.
For sun to light and warm our days,
For Stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And lovely clouds of white.
We are grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound
The list of all we’re grateful for,
Would fill a good sized book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look….
Keep it simple, but keep it honest and true……remembering that God, loves you!
And be thank-full!
Amen
Mack's Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 25th, 2018
"Remember, We are Blessed"
~Thanksgiving ~
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
...I am going to make an assumption this morning, in that most, if not all of us are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, and most likely for multiple reasons. For some it is strictly a family celebration, for others, family, friends and even strangers. Some of us in church basements, cooking meals for the needy, others cooking food for family. This day is a time of catching up, just being together with those we love and yet, for some there are at times disagreements & fights, (usually over politics or sports) and the list goes on. One thing we know for sure…..two things are truly the center of whatever else comes about that day. 1. Food, and 2. Giving Thanks, and in that order for most.
…We should remember that the first Thanksgiving, now 398 years ago in 1620 was set aside as a time of Giving Thanks to God for their new lives in the then New World. The freedom they fought so hard for, enduring both loss of life and comfort….ALL for the hope and goal of being able to worship God as they desired with all their hearts. The so called feast was not near as plentiful and diverse, nor in such comfortable surrounding as we have today. Rough-hewn tables and benches, most likely set up in an open sided building in case of rain or storm, everything cooked both over an open fire and in the ovens of what few they had, bringing them over from England.
…It is difficult for us to imagine the hardships they endured, both in England from religious persecution and then in America, forging out of a true wilderness a home site, farms, homes, shops, etc. with very limited means of doing so. From what I have read, that without the help of the Native Americans, called the Wampanaogs, or Eastern Peoples, they could not have made it through that first winter, and many did not.
A little about their journey……………..
…These people were willing to die for their faith, and many did. Their chosen expression of that faith was heart-felt, somewhat basic and different from the existing churches in England at that time, where the Anglican Church was the only true church. As the Anglicans (whom you would think would be more tolerant) because of the persecution they suffered from the Catholic Church, would understand and let the Puritans worship as they saw fit, but they did not.
…Together, their leaders decided their only option, was to become colonists of a new settlement on the American continent. There they could govern themselves, and worship as their hearts dictated. So as we know, they hired a ship called the Mayflower, and also one named the Speedwell, to sail from the Netherlands to Southampton then on to Plymouth, England. The two ships would then sail together, leaving on the incoming tide, July 22nd.
…300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell had been taking on water, having repaired it several times, they gave up and both ships returned to Plymouth, England where those who did not abandon the journey, crowded onto the Mayflower….so deeply was their hope and desire to have the freedom to worship God as they saw fit.
…The depth of their faith in risking not only their adult lives, but the lives of their children is truly heart moving. Their belief in God was all that would see them through the rough months that were to follow.
…There were 102 passengers and 30 crew members now all aboard one ship. Five died aboard ship and 44 more died before actually reaching Plymouth.
…How many of you have ever been to see Plymouth Rock? How big is it? Historic renderings I have seen in the Puritans landing on this expansive granite rocky outcropping…..somewhat romanticized. It was simply the stone marker on which was carve the date of their arrival.
…I considered what Scriptures they possibly relied upon, to read, reread that would have given them faith and courage to go on. Scriptures they could read aloud and pray, and then what songs they sang together, and when alone with God.
…What came to my mind in part was Jeremiah 29:11-14. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “ I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.”
…This passage is literally speaking of the Jews return to Israel….yet I see it as a very similar rendition of a promise that could be adapted to His people here, seeking religious freedom of expression, just as we often adapt specific scripture to our own personal needs.
…Finally….on September 6th, the Mayflower departed England much later than they had planned. The voyage itself across the Atlantic took 66 long days and nights, encountering a number of Fall storms that in particular made the voyage often treacherous. At times their journals say, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them, as it was not safe to use the ship’s sail, which in fact the main mast snapped and had to be reinforced.
…Their original destination was the Hudson River, but because of yet another severe storm, they had to head north, resting briefly at what is now Provincetown Harbor, eventually arriving on November 19th at what became Plymouth, Massachusetts, exhausted, freezing yet joyful….and then began immediately began to build their town.
…God had them right where He wanted them…s they gathered to pray, sing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs in this new land where they could do so without fear of arrest or other persecution….they stood with full hearts, worshiping God freely. They were finally FREE!!
…Today, we remain free, often at a great cost also, losing many of our young and vital citizens who through war and strength guard and fight to keep us so , but as in the case of any prosperous country, the people in time often take for granted the good and comfortable lives they have. All we here in America need to do is go back several generations to the Great Depression, (just one instance) to rediscover just how desperate our families for the most part were during those days.
…Sometimes the cost of following the Lord Jesus Christ….still brings persecution and death, counting into the millions, where living in countries they are persecuted, hunted like animals, rounded up, sold into slavery and often killed. Others….suffering persecution by not being permitted to work, to gather together to worship for fear of torture or death.
…We have in many ways forgotten the costs, rising up as we have this morning in heated homes, hot and cold running water, showering, dressing in clean clothing, putting on the coffee or tea, making a simple breakfast where our food rests in cold refrigerators, cupboards and even full pantries, cooked on stoves on which we just turn a knob or push a button. Then getting into pre-warmed cars with seats that heat our backsides and backs, pulling out of our garages and starting toward our Sanctuaries, to pay homage to the same God of the Puritans.
…We are extremely comfortable and at ease. How important is God to each of us? I have recently read the book of Nehemiah. This books speaks of how in desperate times of need, the Jewish people turn to God for help, promising to obey, live lives as He desires they live, honoring Him with the hearts, minds and souls, and with the fruit of their hard work and incomes. Yet, what happened and happens repeatedly in this narration, is that once that comfortable stage is once again reached….the people forget the promises they made. They no longer NEED God’s blessings, nor need to follow through in their worship, and sincerity of their beliefs, for they in their faith have become complacent and comfortable. They have arrived!!
…True faith it seems often thrives and goes deep in difficult times, simply because the need is greater than, or ability to meet it, and that is when we once again call upon the Lord to help us. In the midst of our comfortableness, I believe we can still have great faith. To give God thanks daily for the blessings we have been permitted to have and to share those blessings with those who do not have what we have. Sure, much of what we have comes from hard work and sacrifices, but it should be the same in our faith. A grateful heart, a true sense of the blessings we have, and voicing our thankfulness to God for them, I believe puts us in His good standing. Sincerity…..an attitude of recognition of God as being the source for all good things in our lives is necessary, both for our well being and for God’s grace.
….Thanksgiving, both a religious and national holiday, to be celebrated as it is meant to be, we, need to know and remember its roots, not to forget its true significance, and remember those who laid the foundation for what we have today, and for the trials, pains, sorrows and losses, along with the JOY that they lived and by choice experienced, when the stepped ashore that first time, falling to their knees in worship, weeping, praying and singing unto the Lord, their God.
…Psalm 100 is a song of praise for the Lord’s faithfulness to His People, and we too…are His people, just as they were. I am sure the Psalm was sung and read by those who in the windy, cold Fall day, exhausted and some ill….sang together to the Lord their God and our God.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands,
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with Thanksgiving
Know that the Lord , He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are the people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
For the Lord is good;
His Mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Some of us are perhaps going through trials and sorrows of your own. Please know, that the Lord our God is with you. Know that He knows you deeply and loves you to the ends of the earth, with a depth that cannot be matched anywhere by anybody…ever. Be thankful!
…Remember this if nothing else from this message today. As you gather with those you love….look around, listen, see what good things the Lord has done…has given you, and then share your giving-thanks with those whom you are with. Everything and everyone has a time limit…but in that time limit….let us be THANKFUL.
On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new.
For sun to light and warm our days,
For Stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And lovely clouds of white.
We are grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound
The list of all we’re grateful for,
Would fill a good sized book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look….
Keep it simple, but keep it honest and true……remembering that God, loves you!
And be thank-full!
Amen
THE HOUND OF HEAVEN ~ could also be named THE PURSUIT...........................................................................................
November 11, 2018
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
the little church in the pines
"The Hound of Heaven" is literally a 182-line poem written by English poet Francis Thompson, living from 1859-1907. The poem became famous and was the source of much of Thompson's posthumous reputation following its publication, written in 1893. It had an impact on most of the Christian world at that time, highly regarded and influencing none other than J.R. R. Tolkien, who himself presented a paper on Thompson in 1914.
This Christian poem is described as follows:
"The name is strange in reference to God, so much so that it startles one at first. But...when one reads the poem (understanding the English language of that day) this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood, for as the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its following, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with un-hurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine Grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, but Divine Grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever-after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to to Him alone, in that never-ending pursuit while life still present."
The heart of this poem was also the inspiration for a series of 23 painting by the American painter R.H. Ives Gammell, which took him 15 years...and was known as his magnum opus. The crown jewel of all his work.
I AM GOING TO READ BUT 20 LINES OF THE POEM, NOT ALL 182.
(READ)
My reason for this sermon is to clarify the scope of Gods pursuit of us, through His Son. The depth of His love is shown by that very act of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Having given so much by both, he pursues us to the ends of the earth.
I sought Scripture to parallel this poem, seeking to find and isolate a few verse to share with you. I came across Psalm 139, of which I will read it all.
(READ)
Every time I read those words….I am moved by the wonder of God, the awe and majesty of His creation…not only the universe, the galaxy, our earth and sky, but you and I. When I look at myself, even in these latter years of my life, and the design as to how, even now….it all works together to give me life, I am once again, in awe. From the Mite to the Mighty…the inner workings and outer balance of the inner-workings is simply majestic. Take time, give it some thought….”how marvelous are thy works O God”
Hebrews 13:5b reads, “For He Himself has said, “I will NEVER leave you, or ABANDON you.” As He pursues us so relentlessly, He will most certainly not abandon us, unless we refuse His pursuit of us to the point of dying, never turning around, opening our soul to His living presence, accepting Him through His Son. That God created place that each human being is given. That which drives us, in our quest to understand life. The most fundamental question ever asked by mankind…..is there more beyond here? The answer is found in God.
During these Scripture readings, what you hear is a ‘love story.’ The love and pursuit of God for all people….as ALL people are His people. Jesus Christ brought to us the miracle of inclusion into the family of God, as we read in Galatians 3:28, “For you are ALL children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothing. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female……………for you are ALL One in Christ Jesus.”
The details that God tracks us with are as I already read…the details in the happenings of our everyday lives. Going over some of them once more.
Sometimes, we don’t let others know us well. Why, because we are afraid of rejection and afraid that if we say or do the wrong thing, they will no longer want to be with us. Hurt or even fear of hurt, does that, especially if we have been burned by loving or trusting someone and they turned on us.
God knows all we are told…and yet He, does not reject us. The parable of the Prodigal son tells us that so clearly, as to how patient God is and to the extent of His welcoming us home.
He wants us to be fully who He created us to be, who we are in Him, and also who we are in the process of becoming, with all our mistakes, sin and wrong turns.
WE…the entire human race, as we know, has free will. Choices to be made at every turn, and our actions and interactions (acknowledging the reality of evil) sometimes washes up on our shore. Tragedy in its many forms touches us all…yet in the midst of the storms, we can take refuge in Him, where in the eye of the hurricane, the center of the storm there is calm and peace.
Again in verse 5, “You go before me…and, as (the Hound of Heaven,) follow after me. All of these things are too wonderful for me…to great for me to understand” and as He further says, “I can never escape from Your Spirit or Your Presence,” though we certainly do try sometimes, and even fool ourselves into thinking we can do so.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU………………………………………………………
How far are you, yes you, willing for God to pursue you before getting your attention? If God had to choose between your eternal life and your earthly comfort, which do you want Him to choose, no matter the ramifications? Is your comfort now more important than eternity?
The entire Bible, in all its drama, stories, and even the parables of Jesus, are about Gods pursuit of a relationship, that is give and take with we mere human beings. All of it.
In this pursuit, the Bible has a simple story as told from Moses to Moab, to John on the Isle of Patmos. God is as creative as He is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel to feed them in the desert is the same one that set them free from Egypt, but also to captivity in Babylon. He does what needs to be done, and often, we do not like ti or even Him at times.
Both kind an stern, tender and tough, faithfully firm, patiently urgent, eagerly tolerant, softly shouting, gently thundering. “I WANT YOU” which we find a rendition of in a good ole UNCLE SAM poster, pointing one finger out at all of us. We can and often do say NO! Why do some people to their dying day say NO? Well, that’s a sermon for another day.
Jesus said…”I AM” the bread of life that gives life. “I AM” the Light of the world. “I AM” the resurrection and THE LIFE. “I AM” the door. “I AM” the Way, the truth and THE LIFE.”
Jesus proclaiming every offering but never forcing. Standing over the crippled man He asks,” do you want to be healed? Then eye to eye with the blind man, now who can see, he says, “Do you now believe in the Son of Man.? John 9:35
Honest questions….thundering claims…..gentle touches. Never going where not invited, but once invited, never leaving, always pursuing, and never stopping His work in us, until the day of completion. The Hound of Heaven.
God will whisper and He will shout. He will take away our burdens, and even take away our blessings. If there is a thousand steps between us and God, He will take 999, but leave the last one for us to take, for that final step is ours, and that one is THE ONE where, we turn around toward Him, and step into His arms.
There is an “old contemporary” song form the 70’s I think, that I want to share a bit of it with you. It is simple as most of them are from those days.
God will make a way…where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me
He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way….He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness You lead me
River in the desert I will see
Heaven and earth will fade….but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new today. For you!
What do you want out of your faith…out of your relationship with God?
What?
I leave you….with that question to answer.
SELAH…pause and think about it.
November 11, 2018
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
the little church in the pines
"The Hound of Heaven" is literally a 182-line poem written by English poet Francis Thompson, living from 1859-1907. The poem became famous and was the source of much of Thompson's posthumous reputation following its publication, written in 1893. It had an impact on most of the Christian world at that time, highly regarded and influencing none other than J.R. R. Tolkien, who himself presented a paper on Thompson in 1914.
This Christian poem is described as follows:
"The name is strange in reference to God, so much so that it startles one at first. But...when one reads the poem (understanding the English language of that day) this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood, for as the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its following, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with un-hurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine Grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, but Divine Grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever-after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to to Him alone, in that never-ending pursuit while life still present."
The heart of this poem was also the inspiration for a series of 23 painting by the American painter R.H. Ives Gammell, which took him 15 years...and was known as his magnum opus. The crown jewel of all his work.
I AM GOING TO READ BUT 20 LINES OF THE POEM, NOT ALL 182.
(READ)
My reason for this sermon is to clarify the scope of Gods pursuit of us, through His Son. The depth of His love is shown by that very act of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Having given so much by both, he pursues us to the ends of the earth.
I sought Scripture to parallel this poem, seeking to find and isolate a few verse to share with you. I came across Psalm 139, of which I will read it all.
(READ)
Every time I read those words….I am moved by the wonder of God, the awe and majesty of His creation…not only the universe, the galaxy, our earth and sky, but you and I. When I look at myself, even in these latter years of my life, and the design as to how, even now….it all works together to give me life, I am once again, in awe. From the Mite to the Mighty…the inner workings and outer balance of the inner-workings is simply majestic. Take time, give it some thought….”how marvelous are thy works O God”
Hebrews 13:5b reads, “For He Himself has said, “I will NEVER leave you, or ABANDON you.” As He pursues us so relentlessly, He will most certainly not abandon us, unless we refuse His pursuit of us to the point of dying, never turning around, opening our soul to His living presence, accepting Him through His Son. That God created place that each human being is given. That which drives us, in our quest to understand life. The most fundamental question ever asked by mankind…..is there more beyond here? The answer is found in God.
During these Scripture readings, what you hear is a ‘love story.’ The love and pursuit of God for all people….as ALL people are His people. Jesus Christ brought to us the miracle of inclusion into the family of God, as we read in Galatians 3:28, “For you are ALL children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothing. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female……………for you are ALL One in Christ Jesus.”
The details that God tracks us with are as I already read…the details in the happenings of our everyday lives. Going over some of them once more.
- You know me when I sit down and when I rise up.
- You know what I am thinking.
- You see me which I’m traveling….and resting.
- You KNOW everything I do…everything.
- You know what I am going to say before I say it.
Sometimes, we don’t let others know us well. Why, because we are afraid of rejection and afraid that if we say or do the wrong thing, they will no longer want to be with us. Hurt or even fear of hurt, does that, especially if we have been burned by loving or trusting someone and they turned on us.
God knows all we are told…and yet He, does not reject us. The parable of the Prodigal son tells us that so clearly, as to how patient God is and to the extent of His welcoming us home.
He wants us to be fully who He created us to be, who we are in Him, and also who we are in the process of becoming, with all our mistakes, sin and wrong turns.
WE…the entire human race, as we know, has free will. Choices to be made at every turn, and our actions and interactions (acknowledging the reality of evil) sometimes washes up on our shore. Tragedy in its many forms touches us all…yet in the midst of the storms, we can take refuge in Him, where in the eye of the hurricane, the center of the storm there is calm and peace.
Again in verse 5, “You go before me…and, as (the Hound of Heaven,) follow after me. All of these things are too wonderful for me…to great for me to understand” and as He further says, “I can never escape from Your Spirit or Your Presence,” though we certainly do try sometimes, and even fool ourselves into thinking we can do so.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU………………………………………………………
How far are you, yes you, willing for God to pursue you before getting your attention? If God had to choose between your eternal life and your earthly comfort, which do you want Him to choose, no matter the ramifications? Is your comfort now more important than eternity?
The entire Bible, in all its drama, stories, and even the parables of Jesus, are about Gods pursuit of a relationship, that is give and take with we mere human beings. All of it.
In this pursuit, the Bible has a simple story as told from Moses to Moab, to John on the Isle of Patmos. God is as creative as He is relentless. The same hand that sent manna to Israel to feed them in the desert is the same one that set them free from Egypt, but also to captivity in Babylon. He does what needs to be done, and often, we do not like ti or even Him at times.
Both kind an stern, tender and tough, faithfully firm, patiently urgent, eagerly tolerant, softly shouting, gently thundering. “I WANT YOU” which we find a rendition of in a good ole UNCLE SAM poster, pointing one finger out at all of us. We can and often do say NO! Why do some people to their dying day say NO? Well, that’s a sermon for another day.
Jesus said…”I AM” the bread of life that gives life. “I AM” the Light of the world. “I AM” the resurrection and THE LIFE. “I AM” the door. “I AM” the Way, the truth and THE LIFE.”
Jesus proclaiming every offering but never forcing. Standing over the crippled man He asks,” do you want to be healed? Then eye to eye with the blind man, now who can see, he says, “Do you now believe in the Son of Man.? John 9:35
Honest questions….thundering claims…..gentle touches. Never going where not invited, but once invited, never leaving, always pursuing, and never stopping His work in us, until the day of completion. The Hound of Heaven.
God will whisper and He will shout. He will take away our burdens, and even take away our blessings. If there is a thousand steps between us and God, He will take 999, but leave the last one for us to take, for that final step is ours, and that one is THE ONE where, we turn around toward Him, and step into His arms.
There is an “old contemporary” song form the 70’s I think, that I want to share a bit of it with you. It is simple as most of them are from those days.
God will make a way…where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me
He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way….He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness You lead me
River in the desert I will see
Heaven and earth will fade….but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new today. For you!
What do you want out of your faith…out of your relationship with God?
What?
I leave you….with that question to answer.
SELAH…pause and think about it.
The LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 4, 2018
"You are Blessed & Me Too"
This message this morning is about opposites. Those two opposites are blessing and nits. You will understand once you read it. These two opposites cause division and strife. To illustrate what the result is of division and nits can be summed up in these words of Jesus found in Matthew 12:25. “Every nation divided by civil war is doomed. A town, family (church, etc.,) splintered by feuding will fall apart.”
National discourse in politics has reach deeply into our everyday lives, to where division, strife, nit picking & all too often ugliness prevails in our discussions and actions. Today’s Sermon/Message is important to maintaining civility and unity in our homes, churches, workplaces and beyond, touching every area of our lives.
The words bless, blessed and blessing are often used by we Christians in our everyday spiritual language, but do we know the meaning, scope, depth and impact these words can have when understood, and when sincerely, and wonderfully used by us?
There is a prevalent attitude in our mind and hearts when we use the word blessing, which is most often associated with good things, good people, good intentions and just simply good.
There is in our world, an opposing or opposite word that causes great harm in attitude and deed. That word is curse, cursed and cursing. Attitude, as I have said in the past from up here is almost everything in life.
Do we see and experience blessings every day, do we have an attitude of looking toward the good side, of not looking for reasons to get upset, or manufacture those reasons just because all is not as we think they ought to be? Everywhere our Lord went, he was beset by Naysayers instead of Yea-sayers. He fought hard to get through to them in a variety of ways. As an example, listen to this parable or illustration from Matthew 11:17, where Jesus said, "We played the pipe for you and you would not dance."
Why? Because of the preconceived attitude of the ways those people lived and thought the Messiah would come and be....not with a song of love, but a song of power and majesty, a conqueror, not a lowly servant who NEVER complained as to how He Himself was received or treated! Never.
So Church....let's go back to "blessing". What is a blessing? A blessing is a TYPE of spiritual pronouncement, and pronouncement is a "formal authoritative announcement or declaration," and declaration is a formal or explicit statement. A blessing is a declaration, statement or pronouncement like a circle that brings positive feelings, uplifting, life-giving in heart, mind, spirit, and even in the physical realm.
There are two blessings we sometimes overlook: spiritual and simple blessings. One man who came to appreciate the simple was a man named Viktor Frankl, a renowned psychiatrist who endured himself years of unspeakable horror in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
He wrote of the dreams often experienced by his fellow inmates in both Auschwitz and Dachau....I had a friend, one of my elders in our church in Star Valley, an Air Force pilot who was shot down and captured, spending years in Dachau. Unspeakable horrors and nightmares, but amidst those nightmares were dreams of comfort, of what everyday things and events that were then taken for granted, but now in captivity brought comfort and hope of what one day still might be. These dreams were the simple blessings taken for granted, such as times with family, warm bread, a warm bed, cake, ice cream, cigarettes....and most of all a warm bath. The lack of these simple, everyday things and people that were no longer theirs, they sought in dreams to bring them comfort.
When health seems to be failing, when someone has been unkind, when life is turned upside down by any number of people and events, we can through choosing.....by readjusting our attitude.... count our blessings, naming them one by one.
Those in third-world countries, and those who have recently experienced devastating hurricanes, floods, fires, loss of family, homes, friends and more....whom some are at this moment, still living in motels, hotels, almost to the person when interviewed (those who did not lose someone) reiterated how blessed they were because they did not lose someone they loved.
Our lives....could start out every morning with words of thanksgiving that we are waking up in safety and comfort, with central heat, food in the refrigerator, a car to run our errands, visit friends, come to this church service. We, in the United States, with less than 5% of the world's population, use a quarter of the world's resources...just to maintain our every day, what we consider ordinary, normal lifestyle.
How grateful we could and should be in recognizing in the area alone, how blessed we are.
Personally, I am blessed in that I get to stand up here every Sunday, looking and talking with all of you who are blessed, believing with all my heart and mind, that this, right now, is where God wants me and opened up the doors for me to be at this time and stage in my life.
I am blessed with a family that loves me, really does, and that cares what happens to me, and would be there for me if indeed (and the day may come) when I literally, physically, I need them. Our kids actually discussed among themselves which of them would take each of us, if our lives came down to that....and they argued over it. What a hoot!
Up to this time in this message....I have touched lightly upon the spiritual aspect of blessings, so let's take a turn here do some thinking and reflecting. We Christians are to be spiritually focused. There are several approaches in this. There is, as already stated, that of being thankful, and we are to challenge ourselves and each other, in spiritual pursuits, spiritual growth by living our lives as Christ would have us live them, with judgement and condemnation of others. Without prejudice.
Let us not be nit pickers. What is a nit? Well, I am about to tell you. A nit is an egg or young form of a louse, or other parasitic insects. Especially the egg of a head louse, that attaches itself to a human, sometimes animal hair, such as a monkey. You have seen videos of monkeys sitting together picking louse out of each other's hair, and eating them. I don't want to be either a nit...or a nit-picker. So, let us focus on both knowing and living out God's word as we apply it in our lives and culture today, by looking on the good side.
One of those ways is to study, not just lightly read, (though that is good also) Scripture. This is why there is a Bible Study on Fridays. I believe I can say that everyone who attends would state that those times together, are at times challenging and times of growth. Discussion and as we do, coming from different places in our thoughts and lives, have sometimes very different understandings and experiences. Our lives expand spiritually by these times if see them as times for spiritual and practical growth….and apply what we learn.
2nd Timothy 2:15-17, "Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, being able to understand the word of truth. Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like a cancer." How can we know Scriptural truth unless we "know" in the fullest sense what Scripture is telling us?
We are given guidelines in Scripture, and the ability to recognize sin, evil, and any behavior that is out of line. In this recognition in our goals as Christians, is to love God, love our neighbor and our enemies. This does not mean we just lie still and take it, but our way to handle such situations is not out of vengeance or retaliation....but out of our relationship with God through Christ. It means we go to every situation that is negative, by walking into it with the Lord and His word as our sword and shield. Asking Him how He would have us respond (if we haven't already responded from the hip), giving us the words and actions that are the right ones to defuse and bring peace if at all possible.
Ephesians 1:3-7 reads, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who has 'blessed' us with every 'spiritual blessing' in the heavenly realms (because we are one with Christ). And, God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead (spiritually) because of our sins, He gave us life, when He raised Christ from the dead. For Christ has brought peace to us." Peace, we are to be people of peace.
"This peace is not as the world gives, but his "blessed peace' is the peace that passes all understanding," even when our circumstances, our losses, our griefs, our not being able to understand that which is happening to us, all these we can bring to him, put them in His hands as in a sense, an offering...reaching up our arms, sometimes literally asking him in his love and blessedness to take them.....for they are too heavy for us to bear...and we will be blessed by doing so.
Count your blessings...name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done.
We fail all too often, to recognize, that deep within our souls there is a place where God resides...in Christ, and we fail time after time, to dig deep, missing the good that will come out of our relationship with Him. And the reason....we are content to stay on the surface of that faith, missing the really good stuff...like the delicious rich raspberry cordial in the center of a multi-layered, chocolate, mouth-watering delightful piece of candy. The deeper we go, the more wonderful the sensation.
Take just a few moments right now to ponder what blessings are yours as you sit here in these pews, both simple and spiritual? Of these, have you given God thanks for them recently, or have you even thought of them as blessings or just standard to the way you live your life.
All could change in a moment with a heart attack, Yellowstone Volcano, suddenly exploding, a fire, a wreck. A multitude of things, events and people could suddenly turn anyone of our lives inside out and upside down. Such is life on this little blue, time-limited planet.
While we have what time we do have, why would we not choose to understand and recognize just how very blessed we are, and to speak of those blessings to one another and to thank God for them. Sometime, what may have seemed to be a curse turns around in retrospect to be a blessing. But now....just to think of the ones we have and live in, we should give Him thanks for. Would you agree? Let’s not be pickers of nits but let’s be God’s loving representative of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in the truest and fullest sense.
As we enter into our Celebration of coming to the Table of the Lord, carry those blessings with you in your heart and mind, and worship the Lord your God in Christ as you do so with sincere, and heart-felt thanksgiving. Turn to one another and say, "you are blessed, and me too""
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
November 4, 2018
"You are Blessed & Me Too"
This message this morning is about opposites. Those two opposites are blessing and nits. You will understand once you read it. These two opposites cause division and strife. To illustrate what the result is of division and nits can be summed up in these words of Jesus found in Matthew 12:25. “Every nation divided by civil war is doomed. A town, family (church, etc.,) splintered by feuding will fall apart.”
National discourse in politics has reach deeply into our everyday lives, to where division, strife, nit picking & all too often ugliness prevails in our discussions and actions. Today’s Sermon/Message is important to maintaining civility and unity in our homes, churches, workplaces and beyond, touching every area of our lives.
The words bless, blessed and blessing are often used by we Christians in our everyday spiritual language, but do we know the meaning, scope, depth and impact these words can have when understood, and when sincerely, and wonderfully used by us?
There is a prevalent attitude in our mind and hearts when we use the word blessing, which is most often associated with good things, good people, good intentions and just simply good.
There is in our world, an opposing or opposite word that causes great harm in attitude and deed. That word is curse, cursed and cursing. Attitude, as I have said in the past from up here is almost everything in life.
Do we see and experience blessings every day, do we have an attitude of looking toward the good side, of not looking for reasons to get upset, or manufacture those reasons just because all is not as we think they ought to be? Everywhere our Lord went, he was beset by Naysayers instead of Yea-sayers. He fought hard to get through to them in a variety of ways. As an example, listen to this parable or illustration from Matthew 11:17, where Jesus said, "We played the pipe for you and you would not dance."
Why? Because of the preconceived attitude of the ways those people lived and thought the Messiah would come and be....not with a song of love, but a song of power and majesty, a conqueror, not a lowly servant who NEVER complained as to how He Himself was received or treated! Never.
So Church....let's go back to "blessing". What is a blessing? A blessing is a TYPE of spiritual pronouncement, and pronouncement is a "formal authoritative announcement or declaration," and declaration is a formal or explicit statement. A blessing is a declaration, statement or pronouncement like a circle that brings positive feelings, uplifting, life-giving in heart, mind, spirit, and even in the physical realm.
There are two blessings we sometimes overlook: spiritual and simple blessings. One man who came to appreciate the simple was a man named Viktor Frankl, a renowned psychiatrist who endured himself years of unspeakable horror in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.
He wrote of the dreams often experienced by his fellow inmates in both Auschwitz and Dachau....I had a friend, one of my elders in our church in Star Valley, an Air Force pilot who was shot down and captured, spending years in Dachau. Unspeakable horrors and nightmares, but amidst those nightmares were dreams of comfort, of what everyday things and events that were then taken for granted, but now in captivity brought comfort and hope of what one day still might be. These dreams were the simple blessings taken for granted, such as times with family, warm bread, a warm bed, cake, ice cream, cigarettes....and most of all a warm bath. The lack of these simple, everyday things and people that were no longer theirs, they sought in dreams to bring them comfort.
When health seems to be failing, when someone has been unkind, when life is turned upside down by any number of people and events, we can through choosing.....by readjusting our attitude.... count our blessings, naming them one by one.
Those in third-world countries, and those who have recently experienced devastating hurricanes, floods, fires, loss of family, homes, friends and more....whom some are at this moment, still living in motels, hotels, almost to the person when interviewed (those who did not lose someone) reiterated how blessed they were because they did not lose someone they loved.
Our lives....could start out every morning with words of thanksgiving that we are waking up in safety and comfort, with central heat, food in the refrigerator, a car to run our errands, visit friends, come to this church service. We, in the United States, with less than 5% of the world's population, use a quarter of the world's resources...just to maintain our every day, what we consider ordinary, normal lifestyle.
How grateful we could and should be in recognizing in the area alone, how blessed we are.
Personally, I am blessed in that I get to stand up here every Sunday, looking and talking with all of you who are blessed, believing with all my heart and mind, that this, right now, is where God wants me and opened up the doors for me to be at this time and stage in my life.
I am blessed with a family that loves me, really does, and that cares what happens to me, and would be there for me if indeed (and the day may come) when I literally, physically, I need them. Our kids actually discussed among themselves which of them would take each of us, if our lives came down to that....and they argued over it. What a hoot!
Up to this time in this message....I have touched lightly upon the spiritual aspect of blessings, so let's take a turn here do some thinking and reflecting. We Christians are to be spiritually focused. There are several approaches in this. There is, as already stated, that of being thankful, and we are to challenge ourselves and each other, in spiritual pursuits, spiritual growth by living our lives as Christ would have us live them, with judgement and condemnation of others. Without prejudice.
Let us not be nit pickers. What is a nit? Well, I am about to tell you. A nit is an egg or young form of a louse, or other parasitic insects. Especially the egg of a head louse, that attaches itself to a human, sometimes animal hair, such as a monkey. You have seen videos of monkeys sitting together picking louse out of each other's hair, and eating them. I don't want to be either a nit...or a nit-picker. So, let us focus on both knowing and living out God's word as we apply it in our lives and culture today, by looking on the good side.
One of those ways is to study, not just lightly read, (though that is good also) Scripture. This is why there is a Bible Study on Fridays. I believe I can say that everyone who attends would state that those times together, are at times challenging and times of growth. Discussion and as we do, coming from different places in our thoughts and lives, have sometimes very different understandings and experiences. Our lives expand spiritually by these times if see them as times for spiritual and practical growth….and apply what we learn.
2nd Timothy 2:15-17, "Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, being able to understand the word of truth. Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to godless behavior. This kind of talk spreads like a cancer." How can we know Scriptural truth unless we "know" in the fullest sense what Scripture is telling us?
We are given guidelines in Scripture, and the ability to recognize sin, evil, and any behavior that is out of line. In this recognition in our goals as Christians, is to love God, love our neighbor and our enemies. This does not mean we just lie still and take it, but our way to handle such situations is not out of vengeance or retaliation....but out of our relationship with God through Christ. It means we go to every situation that is negative, by walking into it with the Lord and His word as our sword and shield. Asking Him how He would have us respond (if we haven't already responded from the hip), giving us the words and actions that are the right ones to defuse and bring peace if at all possible.
Ephesians 1:3-7 reads, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who has 'blessed' us with every 'spiritual blessing' in the heavenly realms (because we are one with Christ). And, God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead (spiritually) because of our sins, He gave us life, when He raised Christ from the dead. For Christ has brought peace to us." Peace, we are to be people of peace.
"This peace is not as the world gives, but his "blessed peace' is the peace that passes all understanding," even when our circumstances, our losses, our griefs, our not being able to understand that which is happening to us, all these we can bring to him, put them in His hands as in a sense, an offering...reaching up our arms, sometimes literally asking him in his love and blessedness to take them.....for they are too heavy for us to bear...and we will be blessed by doing so.
Count your blessings...name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done.
We fail all too often, to recognize, that deep within our souls there is a place where God resides...in Christ, and we fail time after time, to dig deep, missing the good that will come out of our relationship with Him. And the reason....we are content to stay on the surface of that faith, missing the really good stuff...like the delicious rich raspberry cordial in the center of a multi-layered, chocolate, mouth-watering delightful piece of candy. The deeper we go, the more wonderful the sensation.
Take just a few moments right now to ponder what blessings are yours as you sit here in these pews, both simple and spiritual? Of these, have you given God thanks for them recently, or have you even thought of them as blessings or just standard to the way you live your life.
All could change in a moment with a heart attack, Yellowstone Volcano, suddenly exploding, a fire, a wreck. A multitude of things, events and people could suddenly turn anyone of our lives inside out and upside down. Such is life on this little blue, time-limited planet.
While we have what time we do have, why would we not choose to understand and recognize just how very blessed we are, and to speak of those blessings to one another and to thank God for them. Sometime, what may have seemed to be a curse turns around in retrospect to be a blessing. But now....just to think of the ones we have and live in, we should give Him thanks for. Would you agree? Let’s not be pickers of nits but let’s be God’s loving representative of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in the truest and fullest sense.
As we enter into our Celebration of coming to the Table of the Lord, carry those blessings with you in your heart and mind, and worship the Lord your God in Christ as you do so with sincere, and heart-felt thanksgiving. Turn to one another and say, "you are blessed, and me too""
Amen
The LITTLE CHURCH in the PINES
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH"
"Eternity in Their Hearts"
(John 8:31 & 32 - John 14:6a - Ecclesiastes 3:11a
The FOUR main verses that make up the core of today's message are John 8:31 & 32, John 14:6a and Ecclesiastes 3:11.
John 8:31-32. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. And you will 'know the truth' and 'the truth' will 'set you free." John 14:6a. Jesus told him, "I AM,' 'THE WAY,' 'THE TRUTH' and 'THE LIFE.'" Ecclesiastes 3:11, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
I have been thinking and taking notes on these Scriptures for about the past two weeks while on vacation. My desire today and my attempt to achieve what has been running through my mind will be segmented into parts, with the eventual purpose of bringing together in unity.
The parts are this. You will know the truth.
What will the truth set us free from?
What is truth and does is change?
Jesus said, I AM ~ which firmly establishes his equality with God – this “I AM” is equal and parallels “I AM THAT I AM”
THE WAY
THE TRUTH
THE LIFE
Through all of these statements runs the thread of ETERNITY, and so therefore we should have somewhat of an understanding of what eternity is, its root, its depth and breadth.
Jesus again said He is the Great "I AM, who was and is and ever shall be. (eternally)
He said, I AM THE WAY to the TRUTH of who, what and where God is.
He said, 'THE' 'TRUTH' and all other truths come from the source of who He is.
He said, "I AM, THE LIFE" and therefore the source of all life as we understand, hear and see.
Jesus said, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.” (not some but all) I want us to remember this statement as we go further in to this message. IF indeed He is 'THE TRUTH" he precedes all other truths. In the age of science, research and ever changing and expanding knowledge, some truths change while some truths are eternal. In science, in our faith, in our own personal quests, the truth of who Jesus Christ is, under-girds all that we come to know and learn.
We in this life need anchors of truth, the greatest of these being one founded and grounded in faith. Now that may sound contradictory to truth, but for those who live in faith, the anchor and depth of this truth, is the one on which to discern and build.
Not on religion, but on the Person of Jesus Christ. Religion often becomes more of a cage than a guide, holding us back rather than summoning us onward, a buffer to constructive change rather than a catalyst forward. Jesus Christ in his days on earth was and continues to be THE CATALYST OF CHANGE, which we know got Him into, well, continual trouble, and could possibly do the same for us as His disciples….if again, we believe His truths.
You may not know this, but this saying of Jesus is often stated in academic circles, that want to promote academic freedom and the power and quest for learning. Many universities have this statement emblazoned on a sign near the entrance of varied buildings of learning, each in its own quest in a particular field. "the truth will set you free."
This man/God Jesus was deeply profound, attempting to show we mere men and women truths for everyday living, and truths that exist forever. True belief is more than intellectual assent; for those who are "really" followers of Christ will "hold to" his teachings as though their very existence depends on doing so. And it does.
Truth is most often described to mean, being in accord with proven facts, or reality as we perceive it, or even fidelity to a standard. Truth is also defined in modern contexts as something authentic and provable. It is the opposite to that which is false, but some philosophers view the concept of truth as to be basic, and unable in some cases to be proven. Surrounding facts point in that direction.
Evolutionary truth, especially in the field of science....comes through research......by pushing through known knowledge to get to the core of such truths...into deeper truths....all in an attempt to grasp understanding its origin. The interesting thing is in looking for simple truth, the deeper they go, the more expansive it becomes. That is also true in our understanding, and relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. The deeper we go....the more expansive and incredible, and credible He becomes to us.
We can float on the surface of our faith....and manage to do ok, but to go deeper is like mining a rich lode of gold that gets richer and richer the deeper one goes.
As we go deeper into truths....there is a deep belief in science, philosophy, religion, mathematics, and even natural science called the Absolute. These encompass all physical existence known as reality, and with many, even transcending the concept of known reality, hence the philosophy of the supernatural, such as the miracles Jesus performed and those also found in not only the entire Bible, but other religions and non-religious traditions.
The ABSOLUTE is another term for ETERNAL.
Listen to this again, from Ecclesiastes 3:11. "He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
You and I live in 'time.' Time is measured numerically by nanoseconds (which is a unit of time equal to one billionth of a second) then seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades, centuries, etc. to eternity.
When I try to imagine 'eternity' I have a difficult time, because it is outside my realm of experience. Time in eternity exists and yet doesn't. It exists because while living in time, we also exist in eternity.
We think of God as timeless, yet existing in time, as He interacts with us. God existed before time began as I will read in Genesis. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ Therefore He preceded creation, creating time for the purpose and fulfillment of, we as human beings who then would interact with God.
In explaining his own understanding of the Universe, Einstein said, "A knowledge of the existence of somethings we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man."
"We cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3,........not only can we not see, we can't even truly begin to conceive of such a thing. We have desires, quests and vision.....limited but still necessary to our well being. God gave and gives us His truths that we can build on and create, and love. Remembering though.....................................................................that,
A day is as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. In eternity time is irrelevant...a non-factor. "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun. Because eternity just is....without beginning for end. No days, no hours, no years. We will simply.....be.
With eternity in mind....under-girding our faith...in THE eternal TRUTH, who is Jesus Christ, we are now coming back to where we started in this journey, THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE....FREE, because Jesus being the TRUTH gives us the freedom from both sin and the second death, in and through faith, repentance and forgiveness. And because of this, with eternity in our hearts, we are told in Philippians 4:8...."Finally brothers and sisters,, whatever is TRUE, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things."
Our lives are short in duration, even as we measure and marvel at someone who has lived well into their hundreds. Sometimes, depending on what we are going through, one moment may seem incredibly long. It is not. Even now, looking back seventy-three years, much seems as if it were just yesterday. How much time do each of us have.....as much as is allotted us.
I mentioned earlier about a lode of gold....in our desire to getting to know Jesus Christ and as a result, God himself. It's quite a quest, but one that would be more fulfilling than any other we might choose. How is 'your' quest...'your' understanding and relationship with God, through Christ?' How is it really?
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, they who believe in me will not perish, but have eternal or everlasting life."
In Matthew 19:16, the rich young man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed can I do to have eternal life?” It’s not so much about doing, as it is about ‘being’ a disciple of the Lord, for then, the doing will flow out of the two of us, He and I, and You and He, being one in unity and purpose, with eternity in our hearts. We know the truth….that has set us free…………………………..
Amen
I have been speaking to you as disciples of Christ, not as new believers. It is as you know, one of my goals to grow personally while challenging you to grow also. To grow in our understanding of God, as you come every Sunday to sit in these pews listening to me speak. With the privilege and calling in speaking to you, comes the responsibility of speaking truth as I understand it. I am held accountable to the words I both write and speak. I choose them carefully.
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH"
"Eternity in Their Hearts"
(John 8:31 & 32 - John 14:6a - Ecclesiastes 3:11a
The FOUR main verses that make up the core of today's message are John 8:31 & 32, John 14:6a and Ecclesiastes 3:11.
John 8:31-32. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. And you will 'know the truth' and 'the truth' will 'set you free." John 14:6a. Jesus told him, "I AM,' 'THE WAY,' 'THE TRUTH' and 'THE LIFE.'" Ecclesiastes 3:11, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
I have been thinking and taking notes on these Scriptures for about the past two weeks while on vacation. My desire today and my attempt to achieve what has been running through my mind will be segmented into parts, with the eventual purpose of bringing together in unity.
The parts are this. You will know the truth.
What will the truth set us free from?
What is truth and does is change?
Jesus said, I AM ~ which firmly establishes his equality with God – this “I AM” is equal and parallels “I AM THAT I AM”
THE WAY
THE TRUTH
THE LIFE
Through all of these statements runs the thread of ETERNITY, and so therefore we should have somewhat of an understanding of what eternity is, its root, its depth and breadth.
Jesus again said He is the Great "I AM, who was and is and ever shall be. (eternally)
He said, I AM THE WAY to the TRUTH of who, what and where God is.
He said, 'THE' 'TRUTH' and all other truths come from the source of who He is.
He said, "I AM, THE LIFE" and therefore the source of all life as we understand, hear and see.
Jesus said, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.” (not some but all) I want us to remember this statement as we go further in to this message. IF indeed He is 'THE TRUTH" he precedes all other truths. In the age of science, research and ever changing and expanding knowledge, some truths change while some truths are eternal. In science, in our faith, in our own personal quests, the truth of who Jesus Christ is, under-girds all that we come to know and learn.
We in this life need anchors of truth, the greatest of these being one founded and grounded in faith. Now that may sound contradictory to truth, but for those who live in faith, the anchor and depth of this truth, is the one on which to discern and build.
Not on religion, but on the Person of Jesus Christ. Religion often becomes more of a cage than a guide, holding us back rather than summoning us onward, a buffer to constructive change rather than a catalyst forward. Jesus Christ in his days on earth was and continues to be THE CATALYST OF CHANGE, which we know got Him into, well, continual trouble, and could possibly do the same for us as His disciples….if again, we believe His truths.
You may not know this, but this saying of Jesus is often stated in academic circles, that want to promote academic freedom and the power and quest for learning. Many universities have this statement emblazoned on a sign near the entrance of varied buildings of learning, each in its own quest in a particular field. "the truth will set you free."
This man/God Jesus was deeply profound, attempting to show we mere men and women truths for everyday living, and truths that exist forever. True belief is more than intellectual assent; for those who are "really" followers of Christ will "hold to" his teachings as though their very existence depends on doing so. And it does.
Truth is most often described to mean, being in accord with proven facts, or reality as we perceive it, or even fidelity to a standard. Truth is also defined in modern contexts as something authentic and provable. It is the opposite to that which is false, but some philosophers view the concept of truth as to be basic, and unable in some cases to be proven. Surrounding facts point in that direction.
Evolutionary truth, especially in the field of science....comes through research......by pushing through known knowledge to get to the core of such truths...into deeper truths....all in an attempt to grasp understanding its origin. The interesting thing is in looking for simple truth, the deeper they go, the more expansive it becomes. That is also true in our understanding, and relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. The deeper we go....the more expansive and incredible, and credible He becomes to us.
We can float on the surface of our faith....and manage to do ok, but to go deeper is like mining a rich lode of gold that gets richer and richer the deeper one goes.
As we go deeper into truths....there is a deep belief in science, philosophy, religion, mathematics, and even natural science called the Absolute. These encompass all physical existence known as reality, and with many, even transcending the concept of known reality, hence the philosophy of the supernatural, such as the miracles Jesus performed and those also found in not only the entire Bible, but other religions and non-religious traditions.
The ABSOLUTE is another term for ETERNAL.
Listen to this again, from Ecclesiastes 3:11. "He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
You and I live in 'time.' Time is measured numerically by nanoseconds (which is a unit of time equal to one billionth of a second) then seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades, centuries, etc. to eternity.
When I try to imagine 'eternity' I have a difficult time, because it is outside my realm of experience. Time in eternity exists and yet doesn't. It exists because while living in time, we also exist in eternity.
We think of God as timeless, yet existing in time, as He interacts with us. God existed before time began as I will read in Genesis. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ Therefore He preceded creation, creating time for the purpose and fulfillment of, we as human beings who then would interact with God.
In explaining his own understanding of the Universe, Einstein said, "A knowledge of the existence of somethings we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man."
"We cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."
Ecclesiastes 3,........not only can we not see, we can't even truly begin to conceive of such a thing. We have desires, quests and vision.....limited but still necessary to our well being. God gave and gives us His truths that we can build on and create, and love. Remembering though.....................................................................that,
A day is as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. In eternity time is irrelevant...a non-factor. "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun. Because eternity just is....without beginning for end. No days, no hours, no years. We will simply.....be.
With eternity in mind....under-girding our faith...in THE eternal TRUTH, who is Jesus Christ, we are now coming back to where we started in this journey, THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE....FREE, because Jesus being the TRUTH gives us the freedom from both sin and the second death, in and through faith, repentance and forgiveness. And because of this, with eternity in our hearts, we are told in Philippians 4:8...."Finally brothers and sisters,, whatever is TRUE, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things."
Our lives are short in duration, even as we measure and marvel at someone who has lived well into their hundreds. Sometimes, depending on what we are going through, one moment may seem incredibly long. It is not. Even now, looking back seventy-three years, much seems as if it were just yesterday. How much time do each of us have.....as much as is allotted us.
I mentioned earlier about a lode of gold....in our desire to getting to know Jesus Christ and as a result, God himself. It's quite a quest, but one that would be more fulfilling than any other we might choose. How is 'your' quest...'your' understanding and relationship with God, through Christ?' How is it really?
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, they who believe in me will not perish, but have eternal or everlasting life."
In Matthew 19:16, the rich young man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed can I do to have eternal life?” It’s not so much about doing, as it is about ‘being’ a disciple of the Lord, for then, the doing will flow out of the two of us, He and I, and You and He, being one in unity and purpose, with eternity in our hearts. We know the truth….that has set us free…………………………..
Amen
I have been speaking to you as disciples of Christ, not as new believers. It is as you know, one of my goals to grow personally while challenging you to grow also. To grow in our understanding of God, as you come every Sunday to sit in these pews listening to me speak. With the privilege and calling in speaking to you, comes the responsibility of speaking truth as I understand it. I am held accountable to the words I both write and speak. I choose them carefully.
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
September 29, 2018
sermon, "in Jesus name"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
.....John 16:24b. "Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy." There are a half dozen Scriptures stating mostly the same thing with little variation. The Name of Jesus the Christ is the most powerful name in the world. His name to this day carries great import and great power. Many love Him and His name, and many hate it and Him, just as it was in the days He walked in the flesh on this planet.
.....So...what is in a name? I'm going to spend a bit of time explaining from several different viewpoints and cultures, coming then back to the Name of Jesus and the value and importance attributed to His name.
.....A personal name as we all know is an identifying word or words by which an individual is known or designated. We, most of us have both a first and last name, and often a middle name. It has been tradition for a long time also that women when they marry, use their original family name as their middle name. This continues to identify them as to their roots. Names are always evolving and today, many women are choosing to carry their original family name instead of taking their husbands family name.
.....There are also along with first, last, middle and maiden names, individuals who have nicknames and are often identified by those most always. Along with those there are also titles designating their role in a profession or even institution. i.e., pastor, minister, priest, elder, doctor, professor, etc. There is also Mr. Mrs. and Ms.
.....In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east, (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names are thought to be extremely powerful and act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity. This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech. Yahweh in Hebrew is that word. In Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus, even though he was not a disciples....and....according to Scripture, it worked.
.....In Catholic exorcism it is believed that in order for a demon to be cast out of a person, it can only happen when the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, as Jesus Himself forced the demon called Legion to be cast out of the man in the cemetery.
.....In both the Old Testament and New Testament we find a person's name being changed. Example Abram and his wife Sari were renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" at the institution of the Abrahamic covenant. (Genesis17:4,17:15. Simon was renamed Peter by Jesus when he was given the Keys to Heaven, and also when Saul's name was changed to Paul after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
.....Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that signifies or describes the course of their lives. For example: Solomon meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was completely without war. Likewise Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, names his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget") Genesis 41:51); when Joseph also said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father's family."
.....Native American's would name their children, of which often took a great deal of time after a significant event, a physical malady, or even an animal. From then on that was their singular identification.
There is great deal of significance as you have just heard in a name. Jesus was named by God Himself as spoken through the words of the angel who visited Mary, when being told she would bear a child of the Most High and to name Him Jesus, which is pronounced just as it sounds, 'JEE-zus,' also' hay-SOOS.' It is of course Hebrew in origin, and its meaning is "the Lord of Salvation." It is a short form of Joshua; from the Hebrew name Jehoshua, which is also derived from Jehovah or Yeshua. All having to do with salvation.
.....There are many Title names given to Jesus, and in fact I am going to tell you what many of them are.
Almighty One..."who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty Rev. 1:8
Alpha and Omega - "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:13
Advocate - "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin, But, if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One." 1 John 2:1
Bread of Life - "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the Bread of Life. Whoever come to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty." John 6:35
Beloved Son of God - "And behold a voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17
Bridegroom - "And Jesus said to them "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from then, and then they will fast." Matt.9:15
Chief Cornerstone - "The stone which the builders have rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone." Ps. 118:22
Deliverer - "And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess.1:10
Lamb of God - "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, "Look, the Lam of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Jn.1:29
Light of the World - "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have Light of Life." John 8:12
Savior - "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
That is but eleven of the over 50 names ascribed to Jesus in regards to the Titles bestowed on Him.
Here are some others, but I will not in telling you them give the Scripture references, but I do have them all.
Faithful and True
Great High Priest
Head of the Church
Holy Servant
I Am
Immanuel
Indescribable Gift
Judge
King of Kings
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Lord of All
Mediator
Messiah
Might One
One Who Sets Free
Our Hope
Peace
Prophet
Redeemer
Risen Lord
Rock
Sacrifice for Our Sins
Son of Man
Son of the Most High
Supreme Creator Over All
Resurrection and the Life
The Door
The Way
The Word
True Vine
Truth
Victorious One
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
And last….Jesus
Do you close your prayers with something like, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen?”
…..You may word it a little differently. But many of us will use some formula to indicate that our prayer is in the name of Jesus. Where do we get this? Is it biblical? What does it mean to pray in Jesus name?
First, it is Scriptural.
John 14:13 “And whatsoever you will ask in My name, that I will do, in order that the Father will be glorified in the Son.”
John 16:24 “Up to this point in time, you have asked nothing in My name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
…..There are other verses as I said in the beginning that repeats these words in a variety of ways, but in identical intention.
…..In these two and other verses, that in all of them Jesus tells His disciples to pray to the Father in His name. But is this just a formula or is there something more to it? In order to get to the bottom of praying in the name of Jesus, we have already considered these three things. :
Given the events of the last weeks with Supreme Court candidate Judge Kavanaugh, and the charges brought against him, he spoke during his hearing of His name being slandered for life by these accusations. I am not here to debate this horrible situation or pass judgement, but I and you certainly understand the gravity and depth of what is happening and should be praying for all involved.
Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold.”
The importance of God’s name and the name of our Lord is of extraordinary value. That is why it is so often exalted above all other names, for it is a declaration of the greatness of His person.
Psalm 8:1 – as one example: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens.
Psalm 148:13, “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”
….There is a lot to this, and unfortunately I can’t take as much time as I would like to with this subject.
…..Jesus told us that we are to use His name when we approach God in prayer. So applying Jesus name to praying to God it first means that when we come to the Father, we come because Jesus sent us and told us how to do so. It is not simply our idea….it came from the Lord Himself.
…..Another is that the Father is obligated to treat us as He would His own Son because we come in His stead. We represent the Son when we come to the Father.
Ephesians 1:5-6 reads, “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace….wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved. We are now….children, literally of God.
….In our times of serious prayer about a particular request, spell this out. Acknowledge that we are unworthy on our own to approach Him, but through Christ we can come without hesitation to make our requests known, for He already knows them…but desires that we communicate with Him about them. This establishes our relationship with our Father through His only begotten Son. It also affirms that we come only in the name of the Lord.
Romans 8:32, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not through Him also freely give us that which we are coming to Him for.”
Coming to God “in the name of Jesus” as my sermon is titled today assures us that we will be heard. The outcome….only He knows, but He will give us what is needed to come through victoriously in the way that is best, and sometimes that best is beyond our own understanding.
Come in humility, but also in faith and in strength.
It is not about formula….it is about the condition of our heart and mind when we come. Our attitude is important. In Jesus name…..we come to Him.
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
September 29, 2018
sermon, "in Jesus name"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
.....John 16:24b. "Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy." There are a half dozen Scriptures stating mostly the same thing with little variation. The Name of Jesus the Christ is the most powerful name in the world. His name to this day carries great import and great power. Many love Him and His name, and many hate it and Him, just as it was in the days He walked in the flesh on this planet.
.....So...what is in a name? I'm going to spend a bit of time explaining from several different viewpoints and cultures, coming then back to the Name of Jesus and the value and importance attributed to His name.
.....A personal name as we all know is an identifying word or words by which an individual is known or designated. We, most of us have both a first and last name, and often a middle name. It has been tradition for a long time also that women when they marry, use their original family name as their middle name. This continues to identify them as to their roots. Names are always evolving and today, many women are choosing to carry their original family name instead of taking their husbands family name.
.....There are also along with first, last, middle and maiden names, individuals who have nicknames and are often identified by those most always. Along with those there are also titles designating their role in a profession or even institution. i.e., pastor, minister, priest, elder, doctor, professor, etc. There is also Mr. Mrs. and Ms.
.....In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east, (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names are thought to be extremely powerful and act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity. This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech. Yahweh in Hebrew is that word. In Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus, even though he was not a disciples....and....according to Scripture, it worked.
.....In Catholic exorcism it is believed that in order for a demon to be cast out of a person, it can only happen when the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, as Jesus Himself forced the demon called Legion to be cast out of the man in the cemetery.
.....In both the Old Testament and New Testament we find a person's name being changed. Example Abram and his wife Sari were renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" at the institution of the Abrahamic covenant. (Genesis17:4,17:15. Simon was renamed Peter by Jesus when he was given the Keys to Heaven, and also when Saul's name was changed to Paul after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
.....Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that signifies or describes the course of their lives. For example: Solomon meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was completely without war. Likewise Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, names his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget") Genesis 41:51); when Joseph also said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father's family."
.....Native American's would name their children, of which often took a great deal of time after a significant event, a physical malady, or even an animal. From then on that was their singular identification.
There is great deal of significance as you have just heard in a name. Jesus was named by God Himself as spoken through the words of the angel who visited Mary, when being told she would bear a child of the Most High and to name Him Jesus, which is pronounced just as it sounds, 'JEE-zus,' also' hay-SOOS.' It is of course Hebrew in origin, and its meaning is "the Lord of Salvation." It is a short form of Joshua; from the Hebrew name Jehoshua, which is also derived from Jehovah or Yeshua. All having to do with salvation.
.....There are many Title names given to Jesus, and in fact I am going to tell you what many of them are.
Almighty One..."who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty Rev. 1:8
Alpha and Omega - "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:13
Advocate - "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin, But, if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One." 1 John 2:1
Bread of Life - "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the Bread of Life. Whoever come to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty." John 6:35
Beloved Son of God - "And behold a voice from heaven said, "This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17
Bridegroom - "And Jesus said to them "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from then, and then they will fast." Matt.9:15
Chief Cornerstone - "The stone which the builders have rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone." Ps. 118:22
Deliverer - "And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess.1:10
Lamb of God - "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, "Look, the Lam of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Jn.1:29
Light of the World - "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have Light of Life." John 8:12
Savior - "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
That is but eleven of the over 50 names ascribed to Jesus in regards to the Titles bestowed on Him.
Here are some others, but I will not in telling you them give the Scripture references, but I do have them all.
Faithful and True
Great High Priest
Head of the Church
Holy Servant
I Am
Immanuel
Indescribable Gift
Judge
King of Kings
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Lord of All
Mediator
Messiah
Might One
One Who Sets Free
Our Hope
Peace
Prophet
Redeemer
Risen Lord
Rock
Sacrifice for Our Sins
Son of Man
Son of the Most High
Supreme Creator Over All
Resurrection and the Life
The Door
The Way
The Word
True Vine
Truth
Victorious One
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
And last….Jesus
Do you close your prayers with something like, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen?”
…..You may word it a little differently. But many of us will use some formula to indicate that our prayer is in the name of Jesus. Where do we get this? Is it biblical? What does it mean to pray in Jesus name?
First, it is Scriptural.
John 14:13 “And whatsoever you will ask in My name, that I will do, in order that the Father will be glorified in the Son.”
John 16:24 “Up to this point in time, you have asked nothing in My name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
…..There are other verses as I said in the beginning that repeats these words in a variety of ways, but in identical intention.
…..In these two and other verses, that in all of them Jesus tells His disciples to pray to the Father in His name. But is this just a formula or is there something more to it? In order to get to the bottom of praying in the name of Jesus, we have already considered these three things. :
- The biblical concept of a name
- The importance of God’s name, and
- What it means to act in someone else’s name, the name of the Lord
Given the events of the last weeks with Supreme Court candidate Judge Kavanaugh, and the charges brought against him, he spoke during his hearing of His name being slandered for life by these accusations. I am not here to debate this horrible situation or pass judgement, but I and you certainly understand the gravity and depth of what is happening and should be praying for all involved.
Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold.”
The importance of God’s name and the name of our Lord is of extraordinary value. That is why it is so often exalted above all other names, for it is a declaration of the greatness of His person.
Psalm 8:1 – as one example: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens.
Psalm 148:13, “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”
….There is a lot to this, and unfortunately I can’t take as much time as I would like to with this subject.
…..Jesus told us that we are to use His name when we approach God in prayer. So applying Jesus name to praying to God it first means that when we come to the Father, we come because Jesus sent us and told us how to do so. It is not simply our idea….it came from the Lord Himself.
…..Another is that the Father is obligated to treat us as He would His own Son because we come in His stead. We represent the Son when we come to the Father.
Ephesians 1:5-6 reads, “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace….wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved. We are now….children, literally of God.
….In our times of serious prayer about a particular request, spell this out. Acknowledge that we are unworthy on our own to approach Him, but through Christ we can come without hesitation to make our requests known, for He already knows them…but desires that we communicate with Him about them. This establishes our relationship with our Father through His only begotten Son. It also affirms that we come only in the name of the Lord.
Romans 8:32, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not through Him also freely give us that which we are coming to Him for.”
Coming to God “in the name of Jesus” as my sermon is titled today assures us that we will be heard. The outcome….only He knows, but He will give us what is needed to come through victoriously in the way that is best, and sometimes that best is beyond our own understanding.
Come in humility, but also in faith and in strength.
It is not about formula….it is about the condition of our heart and mind when we come. Our attitude is important. In Jesus name…..we come to Him.
Amen
the Little Church in the Pines
MACKS INN ~ ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ Savior
Tom Shanor, Pastor
1st. Timothy 4:9-10, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work so hard and continue to struggle for our 'hope' is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly all believers."
Titus 2:12b -13, "We should live in this evil world, with both wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with 'hope' to the wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
Put on your classroom brain today, for this is not so much preaching as it is a teaching time, meaning I am going to want you to think as hopefully, you follow along. I will be focusing primarily on three aspects of my topic. The first of course being Savior, another salvation, and the third soul, and not necessarily in that order on the second two.
The meaning of Savior is the simplest of the three to grasp, and hopefully you have already understood and grasped the vital importance of both the need and acceptance of The Savior.
Savior in its simplest meaning is a person who saves, rescues or delivers from harm or death....and in the case of Christianity....from hell and eternal death of the soul. A redeemer...is one who redeems us by standing in our stead from the consequences of sin.... hence, He saves our souls, and gives us a future with Him and eternally in heaven.
Being a Savior of any kind is risky, sometimes frightening, brave, dangerous and even a lonely calling.... fraught with enemies. In the case of Jesus, the Savior, who for a period of time Himself, felt abandoned by God the Father, and even those who followed Him during the discipleship years, who while on that cross, as we remember cried out to His Father in Matthew 27:46, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" That period for Him was of more agony in Spirit, than the physical torture and pain He suffered from His first beating up unto that time.
In order for there to be a Savior there has to be a need of one. What brought todays' topic to my mind, as I explain it to you sounds a bit superfluous but bear with me.
I was watching the latest Superman movie late the other night. Superman had just returned from Krypton or what was left of it, having been gone five years, and was visiting Lois on the top of a high building. At one point (having felt abandoned by him), in their discussion which was not good, she told him, she and the world did not need a Savior, and if it did it would not be him. He was taken aback by her tone as much as her words.
He asked her if he could take her somewhere to see something, and at first she said no, then after more discussion agreed. She stepped on his feet.... wrapped her arms around him and they then rose very slowly above the city. Higher and higher...to where no sounds could be heard. They both looked down, and he asked her what do you hear? She listened and then said I can't hear a noise of any kind. Superman then said, I hear everything, everything.... the cries for help, the cries of those in pain, the cries of those lost and abandoned, I hear them all. He said I am not your Savior, and I can't save them all or answer them all, but I will do all that I can to help those who need help.
Think of Jesus our Savior who is The Savior, who hears all the individual voices crying out in the wilderness of their souls. Those abandoned, those in pain, those lonely ones, those who have lost hope of any kind. Us. All of humanity....and the question is in hearing all these voices he at times intercedes and then at other times he asks us to intercede for Him. He said to the disciples...go forth, teaching all nations and peoples about me, heal the sick and raise the dead. Minister to those in need and in despair.
The day is coming that all things will once again be set right in the world, but that day and hour we do not know....and meanwhile, He asks us to participate with Him in reaching within and without to those around us and around the world. Can you imagine hearing all those cries and feeling all that pain. The Savior lives within us and can be our own Comforter, our own wisdom dispenser.... our own personal Savior.
A Savior is needed because, we also have a soul which is temporarily housed by this ageing body. We need a Savior because of our mortality and because of sin and its effect on body, soul, and society.
Follow me on this next subject of the soul as it gets a bit deep. Most Christians understand the soul as an 'ontological' reality distinct from, yet integrally connected with the body. (ontological is an adjective and relates to the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of 'being' of knowing, of substance, of cause, of identity, time and space).
The characteristics of the soul are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms. Souls have sensations and thoughts, desires and beliefs, and perform intentional actions. Souls are essential part of being human, and according to Christian eschatology, when people die, their souls will be in the presence of God. As Jesus said to the one thief crucified alongside of him..."today, you will be with me in Paradise."
Augustine, one of western Christianity's most influential early Christian thinkers, described the soul as "a special substance, endowed with reason, adapted to rule the body". According to Creationism in Christianity, each individual soul is created directly by God, either at the moment of conception or some later time.
It is the essence or engine that runs the machine....us. The soul and its resultant actions are what we see in each other manifested by our behavior, including our words, whether in private or public. What we see is what we are, yet in Christ....as our Savior, not only does He redeem our soul, he replaces the engine over time, within us.... with Himself. We are given a fresh start in Him....and for some of us (such as myself) it is an ongoing process that I know will last my entire life.
In 1901 Duncan MacDougall conducted an experiment in which he made weight measurements of patients as they died. He claimed that there was weight loss of varying amounts at the time of each death; which he concluded the average weight of the soul as 21 grams, and there are 28.35 grams in one ounce, therefore the soul weighs just less than one ounce. I would say Mr. MacDougall had a rather sensitive scale for the year 1901. For a thing of capable of such magnitude it weighs remarkable little.
The soul is mentioned for the first time in the Bible in Deuteronomy 6:5, where it says, "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength. "
Over half the verses that speak of the soul also mention the heart.
Mark 8:36 & 37, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Mark 12:30 repeats by Jesus, "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength."
In John 12:27, Jesus says, "Now my soul is deeply troubled."
Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between the soul and spirit."
The spirit.... often overlaps in description with the soul. Spirit like the soul is supernatural and can take on a physical manifestation unlike the soul which cannot.... but can be housed in a spirit.
This bring us to Salvation.
This one in explanation is much easier than the soul. In Christianity, salvation is saving the soul from sin and its consequences. It may also be called "deliverance: or "redemption" from sin and its effects. Sin is not only mentioned in Judaism and Christianity but other religions as well, as it always has a moral source. Right and wrong and good and bad.
Salvation historically, is considered to be caused either by grace of a deity (i.e. unmerited and earned); by the independent choices of a free will and personal effort (i.e. earned and/or merited; or by some combination of the two. Christianity emphasizes the necessity of both personal effort...for example repentance and asceticism.... sourced with divine action...again (grace). Love that word.... perhaps my favorite!!!
At the heart of our Christian faith is the reality and hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Christian faith is faith in the God of salvation revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. The Christian tradition has always equated this salvation with the transcendent, eschatological fulfillment of human existence, in a life freed from sin, finitude, and mortality and united with the triune God. This is the non-negotiable item of our Christian faith.
What has changed and been a matter of debate is what is sin and what is not. If you read historically.... that has changed from culture to culture relating to our acceptance and denial of the importance of those changes, including our activities in the world.
On a simple note....at one time and probably still is in some religious cultures, card playing was sin, gambling of any kind was sin, smoking was sin, dancing was sin, not going to church was sin, even going to movies and reading comic books was sin....these of this ilk are simply stupid....and to find sin, look at the 10 commandments...and even there as an example observing the seventh day and keeping it holy, was changed with Christianity, which decreed Sunday, the first day of the week as the day of worship observances.
...So, we have the Savior Jesus the Christ, we have the existence of the soul and what it is, and last, Salvation and what it is and means to us.
....Feel like you've been to class today? I hope so.....
Do think of how important these three are to our faith, your faith and if indeed you both believe in and adhere to these core beliefs.
Savior, Soul and Salvation
A PSLAM OF LIFE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
“Life is but an empty dream!”
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
“Dust thou art, to dust returnest,”
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us further than to-day! Amen
MACKS INN ~ ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ Savior
Tom Shanor, Pastor
1st. Timothy 4:9-10, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work so hard and continue to struggle for our 'hope' is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly all believers."
Titus 2:12b -13, "We should live in this evil world, with both wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with 'hope' to the wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
Put on your classroom brain today, for this is not so much preaching as it is a teaching time, meaning I am going to want you to think as hopefully, you follow along. I will be focusing primarily on three aspects of my topic. The first of course being Savior, another salvation, and the third soul, and not necessarily in that order on the second two.
The meaning of Savior is the simplest of the three to grasp, and hopefully you have already understood and grasped the vital importance of both the need and acceptance of The Savior.
Savior in its simplest meaning is a person who saves, rescues or delivers from harm or death....and in the case of Christianity....from hell and eternal death of the soul. A redeemer...is one who redeems us by standing in our stead from the consequences of sin.... hence, He saves our souls, and gives us a future with Him and eternally in heaven.
Being a Savior of any kind is risky, sometimes frightening, brave, dangerous and even a lonely calling.... fraught with enemies. In the case of Jesus, the Savior, who for a period of time Himself, felt abandoned by God the Father, and even those who followed Him during the discipleship years, who while on that cross, as we remember cried out to His Father in Matthew 27:46, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" That period for Him was of more agony in Spirit, than the physical torture and pain He suffered from His first beating up unto that time.
In order for there to be a Savior there has to be a need of one. What brought todays' topic to my mind, as I explain it to you sounds a bit superfluous but bear with me.
I was watching the latest Superman movie late the other night. Superman had just returned from Krypton or what was left of it, having been gone five years, and was visiting Lois on the top of a high building. At one point (having felt abandoned by him), in their discussion which was not good, she told him, she and the world did not need a Savior, and if it did it would not be him. He was taken aback by her tone as much as her words.
He asked her if he could take her somewhere to see something, and at first she said no, then after more discussion agreed. She stepped on his feet.... wrapped her arms around him and they then rose very slowly above the city. Higher and higher...to where no sounds could be heard. They both looked down, and he asked her what do you hear? She listened and then said I can't hear a noise of any kind. Superman then said, I hear everything, everything.... the cries for help, the cries of those in pain, the cries of those lost and abandoned, I hear them all. He said I am not your Savior, and I can't save them all or answer them all, but I will do all that I can to help those who need help.
Think of Jesus our Savior who is The Savior, who hears all the individual voices crying out in the wilderness of their souls. Those abandoned, those in pain, those lonely ones, those who have lost hope of any kind. Us. All of humanity....and the question is in hearing all these voices he at times intercedes and then at other times he asks us to intercede for Him. He said to the disciples...go forth, teaching all nations and peoples about me, heal the sick and raise the dead. Minister to those in need and in despair.
The day is coming that all things will once again be set right in the world, but that day and hour we do not know....and meanwhile, He asks us to participate with Him in reaching within and without to those around us and around the world. Can you imagine hearing all those cries and feeling all that pain. The Savior lives within us and can be our own Comforter, our own wisdom dispenser.... our own personal Savior.
A Savior is needed because, we also have a soul which is temporarily housed by this ageing body. We need a Savior because of our mortality and because of sin and its effect on body, soul, and society.
Follow me on this next subject of the soul as it gets a bit deep. Most Christians understand the soul as an 'ontological' reality distinct from, yet integrally connected with the body. (ontological is an adjective and relates to the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of 'being' of knowing, of substance, of cause, of identity, time and space).
The characteristics of the soul are described in moral, spiritual, and philosophical terms. Souls have sensations and thoughts, desires and beliefs, and perform intentional actions. Souls are essential part of being human, and according to Christian eschatology, when people die, their souls will be in the presence of God. As Jesus said to the one thief crucified alongside of him..."today, you will be with me in Paradise."
Augustine, one of western Christianity's most influential early Christian thinkers, described the soul as "a special substance, endowed with reason, adapted to rule the body". According to Creationism in Christianity, each individual soul is created directly by God, either at the moment of conception or some later time.
It is the essence or engine that runs the machine....us. The soul and its resultant actions are what we see in each other manifested by our behavior, including our words, whether in private or public. What we see is what we are, yet in Christ....as our Savior, not only does He redeem our soul, he replaces the engine over time, within us.... with Himself. We are given a fresh start in Him....and for some of us (such as myself) it is an ongoing process that I know will last my entire life.
In 1901 Duncan MacDougall conducted an experiment in which he made weight measurements of patients as they died. He claimed that there was weight loss of varying amounts at the time of each death; which he concluded the average weight of the soul as 21 grams, and there are 28.35 grams in one ounce, therefore the soul weighs just less than one ounce. I would say Mr. MacDougall had a rather sensitive scale for the year 1901. For a thing of capable of such magnitude it weighs remarkable little.
The soul is mentioned for the first time in the Bible in Deuteronomy 6:5, where it says, "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength. "
Over half the verses that speak of the soul also mention the heart.
Mark 8:36 & 37, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Mark 12:30 repeats by Jesus, "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength."
In John 12:27, Jesus says, "Now my soul is deeply troubled."
Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between the soul and spirit."
The spirit.... often overlaps in description with the soul. Spirit like the soul is supernatural and can take on a physical manifestation unlike the soul which cannot.... but can be housed in a spirit.
This bring us to Salvation.
This one in explanation is much easier than the soul. In Christianity, salvation is saving the soul from sin and its consequences. It may also be called "deliverance: or "redemption" from sin and its effects. Sin is not only mentioned in Judaism and Christianity but other religions as well, as it always has a moral source. Right and wrong and good and bad.
Salvation historically, is considered to be caused either by grace of a deity (i.e. unmerited and earned); by the independent choices of a free will and personal effort (i.e. earned and/or merited; or by some combination of the two. Christianity emphasizes the necessity of both personal effort...for example repentance and asceticism.... sourced with divine action...again (grace). Love that word.... perhaps my favorite!!!
At the heart of our Christian faith is the reality and hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Christian faith is faith in the God of salvation revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. The Christian tradition has always equated this salvation with the transcendent, eschatological fulfillment of human existence, in a life freed from sin, finitude, and mortality and united with the triune God. This is the non-negotiable item of our Christian faith.
What has changed and been a matter of debate is what is sin and what is not. If you read historically.... that has changed from culture to culture relating to our acceptance and denial of the importance of those changes, including our activities in the world.
On a simple note....at one time and probably still is in some religious cultures, card playing was sin, gambling of any kind was sin, smoking was sin, dancing was sin, not going to church was sin, even going to movies and reading comic books was sin....these of this ilk are simply stupid....and to find sin, look at the 10 commandments...and even there as an example observing the seventh day and keeping it holy, was changed with Christianity, which decreed Sunday, the first day of the week as the day of worship observances.
...So, we have the Savior Jesus the Christ, we have the existence of the soul and what it is, and last, Salvation and what it is and means to us.
....Feel like you've been to class today? I hope so.....
Do think of how important these three are to our faith, your faith and if indeed you both believe in and adhere to these core beliefs.
Savior, Soul and Salvation
A PSLAM OF LIFE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
“Life is but an empty dream!”
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
“Dust thou art, to dust returnest,”
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us further than to-day! Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "THE DISCIPLINE OF LISTENING"
by Pastor Tom Shanor
September 16, 2018
Proverbs 18:13 "Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
Luke 10:39-40 "Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught.
We know what happened next....in that Martha complained to Jesus that Mary should be helping her in the food preparations, but Jesus surprised her by saying that Mary was doing the right thing at that time, and the under current was that Martha should do the same.
We often get caught up in the 'moment' or so caught up in our own projects, or simply in our own thoughts, as to not grasp the more important things that are happening at that time.
This morning....I am sure you are fresh, alert and both eager and ready to listen to me and this message I have prepared for you....which undoubtedly has the potential to change your life!! It is my one half hour a week to delight, enhance, and teach you all that you need to know. Have a little fun, some seriousness, and challenge you...and myself into a deeper spiritual understanding of Scripture, worship and truth.
Now...please understand the delight and enhance part of that statement was 'tongue in cheek', a little bit of that humor I just spoke of. This is a serious topic and one I think we all really need to think about and as is often the case...one of my main goals here is to cause you to think! In order to challenge yourself to do so....you first have to listen to what is being said....hopefully not distracted to the point of distraction because of your next trip, or fishing expedition, or hunting....or ATV ride, or, or, or!
Jesus said in John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life."
He also said in Matthew 13:12, "To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are NOT listening , even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
My title for this message this morning includes the word "discipline", which of course is included in the word "disciple", which tell us that the two go hand in hand in intent and meaning. To be a disciple of Christ is to be a man or woman of discipline.
So..lets look at the word "discipline". I am going to spend a little bit of time on this word.
Discipline is action or inaction that is regulated to be in accordance (or to achieve accord) with a system of governance. It is commonly applied to regulating both human and animal behavior.
So are we have action, inaction, regulated, accord & governance, with more to come.
Discipline is also applied to each activity-branch in ALL branches of organized human activity, knowledge, and almost all other fields of study and even observation. Discipline can be a set of expectations that re required by any governing activity including religion, churches, self, groups, classes, fields, industries, societies...etc.
Discipline brings order, prevents chaos and with it focus, which enhances life, study and the pursuit of happiness.
Discipline in listening....is critical to personal growth and relationships from the most intimate to the most remote. I get (if you so choose) 1/336th of your week to speak to you about spiritual matters. 1/336th. So, in my preparation it is part of my goal to number 1, stick to the point on which I am speaking, and number 2. have it count. I try to make it interesting, factual and applicable. I do not always succeed, but I do try.
I attend the "Old Men's Breakfast" every Thursday, except when I can't for some reason. With over 30 guys there at one table it can be a bit noisy, and being 73, my hearing (or lack of) inhibits a certain measure of my communication abilities. Well, anyway, all of us seem to have many stories and illustrations to tell on any number of topics....hence there is not the hum of voices, but often, except when eating, a cacophony of voices as we all sit at one loooong table.
My main point is....listening is difficult, but included in that difficulty I noticed that I myself, and then noticed that others were doing the same. That is....at some point in most of the stories or topics being discussed that I too had something to say....and that when that came to my mind, I had stopped listening to "the rest of their story" but now being ready to tell my own, I was putting it together in my mind. So instead of focused listening to completion....all I heard was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Listening is a learned discipline. We often miss important parts of conversations or even in reading a book or article, because a trigger of some kind came along and off we went. It could be prejudice based, experiential based, emotional based, intellectually based, etc., based. We should have the courtesy and discipline to listen to someone to the end....unless of course they are someone who loves to hear themselves pontificate on a given subject. Then...in recognition of that, they can and should be shut down.
James 1:19, he says, "Everyone should be quick to listen; show to speak".
...Remember Matthew 121:12-13, "to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But..for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have, will be taken from them.
...In order to understand some of Jesus's teaching, as he spoke in parables, you really had to listen, for those who did, because they were receptive to what he was saying, eager to hear what he was saying and had the attitude of listening....they were able to understand and grasp what he was telling them.
...It is our responsibility and attitude when listening, towards both the speaker and the content of what is being spoken, for only then can we hear, really hear and learn...IF we want to.
..Listening closely is also is a safeguard if someone is teaching, speaking or professing lies instead of truths, especially in spiritual matters. Two years ago I had that happen to me at a leadership conference. One person who was speaking on church life and growth...actually said that we no longer "had to believe certain truths in order to be Christians". My spiritual hearing from that point on...really went into high frequency, and all along the way, there were both subtle and overt things said that if allowed to, would change the face of Christianity within the Methodist Church....and I was disturbed.
...The book of James may well we the earliest of the New Testament letters, written in the year A.D. 48. This letter was written by the Lord's half-brother James, who became one of the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. James addressed this letter to Christians then and now. He wrote it to teach Christians the 'practice of Christianity'. he emphasizes that IF we have a genuine faith, we will show it by acting like Christians. James gives practical advice on things like anger and quarreling, showing favoritism, controlling the tongue, boasting, patience and prayer...and last of all, listening.
...God made us to be relational people. We have within us (most of us) a longing to be in relationship...some with a few, some with many...as we are all different....and, rare is the man or woman who chooses to live in complete isolation and those who do are often damaged people, who in the long run would benefit highly from human interaction.
...Next to a good relationship with God, that which can give us the most happiness or even contentment is not wealth, not travel, not a Sony Plasma, high definition, 50" curved screen, smart TV...rather, it is a good relationship with another person....and foremost with the Lord our God.
...The reverse is also true, in that which can give us the most heartache and anxiety, is not that Sony, or finances, or health issues, but a relationship that is very strained or even gone bad. A good and healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a treasure to be treasured....but it takes work, discipline, communication, listening, willing to compromise, willing to care...willing to give of ourselves....and also willing to receive.
...Yours and my friendships, our marriages, our relationships, all of these are built up and through the "discipline of listening". To listen is to love and to strengthen the connection.
...I am now going to break all this down to two focuses, which maybe I should have done from the beginning and saved you all this time, all that of the 1/336th time period I have with you in teaching.
#1. Listening is a form of love. By listening, we put aside our agenda and we take a break from what we are doing or thinking. and give our attention to the other person. Listening requires selflessness and humility. It is again a manifestation of love, and love is the very foundation support of all relationships.
#2. Listening shows we care. Listening shows we want to understand what the other person, including myself, having prepared a sermon/message for you...in listening to what I have to share as I feel it is from the Lord to me to you.
It is an affirmation of a person's self-worth, including mine. We need to know what each other is feeling and thinking. Needing to take those into account. Not condemning, but listening even closer, taking in what is being said. NOT listening sends the message....that we really don't care.
...Years ago...me in a hurry to meet with the men in the church, one of my daughters wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She hurriedly began, "Dad, I want to tell yo something...and I will tell you really fast!" As I realized her own desire to talk to me and her frustration knowing I was in a hurry....I stopped, looked at her and said, "Megs, you can tell me...and you don't have to tell me really fast. Talk to me.....I love you.
...Sunday mornings are sometimes like that for me, and I hope and pray that I have not brushed any of you off in your desire to speak with me. Forgive me if I have.....you are very important to me, all of you, and I am trying to use of the art of discipline in listening to learn to slow down and make myself available.
God bless you all...everyone one! Amen
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "THE DISCIPLINE OF LISTENING"
by Pastor Tom Shanor
September 16, 2018
Proverbs 18:13 "Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
Luke 10:39-40 "Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught.
We know what happened next....in that Martha complained to Jesus that Mary should be helping her in the food preparations, but Jesus surprised her by saying that Mary was doing the right thing at that time, and the under current was that Martha should do the same.
We often get caught up in the 'moment' or so caught up in our own projects, or simply in our own thoughts, as to not grasp the more important things that are happening at that time.
This morning....I am sure you are fresh, alert and both eager and ready to listen to me and this message I have prepared for you....which undoubtedly has the potential to change your life!! It is my one half hour a week to delight, enhance, and teach you all that you need to know. Have a little fun, some seriousness, and challenge you...and myself into a deeper spiritual understanding of Scripture, worship and truth.
Now...please understand the delight and enhance part of that statement was 'tongue in cheek', a little bit of that humor I just spoke of. This is a serious topic and one I think we all really need to think about and as is often the case...one of my main goals here is to cause you to think! In order to challenge yourself to do so....you first have to listen to what is being said....hopefully not distracted to the point of distraction because of your next trip, or fishing expedition, or hunting....or ATV ride, or, or, or!
Jesus said in John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life."
He also said in Matthew 13:12, "To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are NOT listening , even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."
My title for this message this morning includes the word "discipline", which of course is included in the word "disciple", which tell us that the two go hand in hand in intent and meaning. To be a disciple of Christ is to be a man or woman of discipline.
So..lets look at the word "discipline". I am going to spend a little bit of time on this word.
Discipline is action or inaction that is regulated to be in accordance (or to achieve accord) with a system of governance. It is commonly applied to regulating both human and animal behavior.
So are we have action, inaction, regulated, accord & governance, with more to come.
Discipline is also applied to each activity-branch in ALL branches of organized human activity, knowledge, and almost all other fields of study and even observation. Discipline can be a set of expectations that re required by any governing activity including religion, churches, self, groups, classes, fields, industries, societies...etc.
Discipline brings order, prevents chaos and with it focus, which enhances life, study and the pursuit of happiness.
Discipline in listening....is critical to personal growth and relationships from the most intimate to the most remote. I get (if you so choose) 1/336th of your week to speak to you about spiritual matters. 1/336th. So, in my preparation it is part of my goal to number 1, stick to the point on which I am speaking, and number 2. have it count. I try to make it interesting, factual and applicable. I do not always succeed, but I do try.
I attend the "Old Men's Breakfast" every Thursday, except when I can't for some reason. With over 30 guys there at one table it can be a bit noisy, and being 73, my hearing (or lack of) inhibits a certain measure of my communication abilities. Well, anyway, all of us seem to have many stories and illustrations to tell on any number of topics....hence there is not the hum of voices, but often, except when eating, a cacophony of voices as we all sit at one loooong table.
My main point is....listening is difficult, but included in that difficulty I noticed that I myself, and then noticed that others were doing the same. That is....at some point in most of the stories or topics being discussed that I too had something to say....and that when that came to my mind, I had stopped listening to "the rest of their story" but now being ready to tell my own, I was putting it together in my mind. So instead of focused listening to completion....all I heard was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Listening is a learned discipline. We often miss important parts of conversations or even in reading a book or article, because a trigger of some kind came along and off we went. It could be prejudice based, experiential based, emotional based, intellectually based, etc., based. We should have the courtesy and discipline to listen to someone to the end....unless of course they are someone who loves to hear themselves pontificate on a given subject. Then...in recognition of that, they can and should be shut down.
James 1:19, he says, "Everyone should be quick to listen; show to speak".
...Remember Matthew 121:12-13, "to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But..for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have, will be taken from them.
...In order to understand some of Jesus's teaching, as he spoke in parables, you really had to listen, for those who did, because they were receptive to what he was saying, eager to hear what he was saying and had the attitude of listening....they were able to understand and grasp what he was telling them.
...It is our responsibility and attitude when listening, towards both the speaker and the content of what is being spoken, for only then can we hear, really hear and learn...IF we want to.
..Listening closely is also is a safeguard if someone is teaching, speaking or professing lies instead of truths, especially in spiritual matters. Two years ago I had that happen to me at a leadership conference. One person who was speaking on church life and growth...actually said that we no longer "had to believe certain truths in order to be Christians". My spiritual hearing from that point on...really went into high frequency, and all along the way, there were both subtle and overt things said that if allowed to, would change the face of Christianity within the Methodist Church....and I was disturbed.
...The book of James may well we the earliest of the New Testament letters, written in the year A.D. 48. This letter was written by the Lord's half-brother James, who became one of the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. James addressed this letter to Christians then and now. He wrote it to teach Christians the 'practice of Christianity'. he emphasizes that IF we have a genuine faith, we will show it by acting like Christians. James gives practical advice on things like anger and quarreling, showing favoritism, controlling the tongue, boasting, patience and prayer...and last of all, listening.
...God made us to be relational people. We have within us (most of us) a longing to be in relationship...some with a few, some with many...as we are all different....and, rare is the man or woman who chooses to live in complete isolation and those who do are often damaged people, who in the long run would benefit highly from human interaction.
...Next to a good relationship with God, that which can give us the most happiness or even contentment is not wealth, not travel, not a Sony Plasma, high definition, 50" curved screen, smart TV...rather, it is a good relationship with another person....and foremost with the Lord our God.
...The reverse is also true, in that which can give us the most heartache and anxiety, is not that Sony, or finances, or health issues, but a relationship that is very strained or even gone bad. A good and healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a treasure to be treasured....but it takes work, discipline, communication, listening, willing to compromise, willing to care...willing to give of ourselves....and also willing to receive.
...Yours and my friendships, our marriages, our relationships, all of these are built up and through the "discipline of listening". To listen is to love and to strengthen the connection.
...I am now going to break all this down to two focuses, which maybe I should have done from the beginning and saved you all this time, all that of the 1/336th time period I have with you in teaching.
#1. Listening is a form of love. By listening, we put aside our agenda and we take a break from what we are doing or thinking. and give our attention to the other person. Listening requires selflessness and humility. It is again a manifestation of love, and love is the very foundation support of all relationships.
#2. Listening shows we care. Listening shows we want to understand what the other person, including myself, having prepared a sermon/message for you...in listening to what I have to share as I feel it is from the Lord to me to you.
It is an affirmation of a person's self-worth, including mine. We need to know what each other is feeling and thinking. Needing to take those into account. Not condemning, but listening even closer, taking in what is being said. NOT listening sends the message....that we really don't care.
...Years ago...me in a hurry to meet with the men in the church, one of my daughters wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She hurriedly began, "Dad, I want to tell yo something...and I will tell you really fast!" As I realized her own desire to talk to me and her frustration knowing I was in a hurry....I stopped, looked at her and said, "Megs, you can tell me...and you don't have to tell me really fast. Talk to me.....I love you.
...Sunday mornings are sometimes like that for me, and I hope and pray that I have not brushed any of you off in your desire to speak with me. Forgive me if I have.....you are very important to me, all of you, and I am trying to use of the art of discipline in listening to learn to slow down and make myself available.
God bless you all...everyone one! Amen
The Little Church in the PINES
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, ID.
September 9, 2018
Sermon ~ YOU, YES YOU!
By;, Pastor Tom Shanor
John 15:12-16 “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ‘You are my friends’…(if) …you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you!” It is both comforting and reassuring to be called friends by the Lord of the Universe. Because however it was done in the creation of humanity…He is our Creator. Where He states “You didn’t choose me, I chose you,” He is referring to specifically His disciples in this instance, but He also chose us, all of us, everywhere, because He died for all of humanity, and that we who in turn choose Him as Lord and Savior, have not only eternal life with Him….but life here on this planet, abundantly. A full life…..enriched and enhanced through both difficult and good times, that we are (those of us who respond to Him)….blessed over and above those who reject Him. I am going to assume (hopefully correctly) that we all have friends or at least one. We also know that we use the word somewhat in the same manner that we do love….in that there are different focuses and different measures of both love and friendship. Each also has different levels of emotion attached. Friendship, for those of you who are curious as to the formal description of friendship know that it is always relational and it take at least two to form a friendship. It is something that is felt as well as described, in that there is always mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than just an association. Friendship has been studied (of course) in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, but not in regards to being a friend of God. In that God by science has not yet been proven or disproven to exist, how therefore (according to them) can it be logically studied? Here are some of the characteristics of a good and deep friendship.
1. Affection or love
2. Kindness
3. Virtue
4. Sympathy when needed
5. Honesty and Loyalty
6. Mutual understanding
7. Trust and the ability to be oneself without judgement
8. To be able to share our deepest thoughts and feelings
Friends are important and a wonderful part of life. In seminary, Dr. Howard Hendricks is quoted as saying, “Two things will most influence where you will be in ten years out of seminary: the books you read and the friends you make.” He added, “choose them both very carefully!” Now of course, Facebook has changed the whole meaning of friending and unfriending, but I think I will stick to the original intent and meaning. For those of us who call Jesus our Friend above all friends, it is a reciprocal relationship, and the more time we spend cultivating that relationship the closer we ‘feel’ to Him. The closer we feel and the more we communicate, the more clearly we can both hear and feel His Presence. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit is a part of that relationship because He communicates through the Spirit to us often. At times we just ‘know’ clearly that it is He who is speaking to us when often decisions are to be made. He also communicates with us and we with Him through prayer, meditation, reading His teachings and by other means such as Bible studies and discussions. As I previously read in John 15:12-15, these words are written. “This is my COMMANDMENT, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love ha no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends. This I COMMAND you, that you love one another.” In the church we started in Lander, Wyoming now 23 years ago, I had several people who had been coming several months said to me. “When are you going to stop preaching on love, as it is in almost everything you speak on”? My answer…”when you understand, get and apply it, then I will stop.” You see, repetition is the key to learning, especially learning something that is not always easy to learn, and one can learn to love. It takes more than one hammer blow to sink a nail all the way to the head. It takes more than saying it once, twice or a hundred times, or sometimes more, for us to learn to love one another, for some of us are sometimes, somewhat unlovable. He hammered on this commandment often and hard because He wanted them and us to remember this one thing……because in this commandment….it is NOT an option, as commandments go….none of them are an option. A COMMANDMENT is something that must be obeyed! With obedience in this arena come benefits. Many! His love dispels and disperses anger, resentment, depression, jealousy, rage, vindictiveness, retaliation and more, and because love is primarily a commitment and a feeling, it can be commanded. The bible does command certain feelings, for example, “Rejoice always.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16. Or, “be anxious for nothing” Philippians 4:6. And love should not and cannot be devoid of feelings. It is a caring commitment; for people should feel our genuine feelings for them. Even when we don’t “feel” especially loving, we need to obey His commandment by sacrificing our own feelings for them, and for Him since He has shown us what to do and how to do it. What does the Lord require of us….Micah 6:8. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good; and this is and what He requires of you: to do what is right, to LOVE mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Every once in a while we will read a story about someone who literally sacrificed his or her life to save someone else, maybe on the battlefield or to rescue a drowning person, or to save someone inside a burning building. Then there are those who even for a complete stranger donate blood, or even a kidney, and sometimes the heart of a loved one who died quickly, and often tragically to another person in need. The kind of Love Christ showed us and the world on that cross so long ago, is the kind of love he desires that we example by doing the same. Forgiveness without being asked to forgive. A song…………….. Amazing love, how can it be….that you my king would die for me Amazing love, I know it’s true, and it’s my joy to honor you, in all I do, I honor But sadly, the church has often failed on this matter. Years ago, a man named Leslie Flynn wrote a book with an intriguing title, “Great Church Fights”. I’m pretty sure that he had to choose his material selectively, because there are and continue to be both small and great fights, often over stupid things….one being this, “that is the way we’ve always done it and we are not going to change it.” In saying this and other things like it….we just threw in the first shovel full of resistance into the death of the church. That does not mean every time someone desire change we do it….it means we consider prayerfully and thoughtfully about what we can change to revitalize the church. Jesus was and is the greatest advocate and force for change in the world. Especially when it comes to changing a person. …..Back to John 15:14 “You are my friends IF YOU DO WHAT I COMMAND YOU! That my friends, does not mean just love….but a myriad of other things such as mentioned before…it would behoove us to spend some time in reading a red letter edition of the New Testament to thoughtfully think and meditate on simply the teaching of Jesus Himself. They…His teaching will change your life, and no doubt for the better…by far. Our greatest and deepest calling is to be LIKE HIM in every way. For us, as Believers, there are two main areas for showing Christ’s love though us. One is in the church and the other is in the world. If we can’t do it here….among fellow Christians how will we ever succeed outside these walls. We are not perfect….by any measuring rod, and we will never be while in this world, but we can be like Him if we truly want to be. It will mean sacrificing some of our desires and wants….it will mean often putting others first. It will mean giving when it is sometimes a sacrifice to give. It will mean giving a blessing instead of grumbling, it will mean lifting someone up instead of tearing them down. It will mean looking for the good instead of the faults. It will mean putting an arm around someone in the natural you are not drawn to, and asking what, if anything you can do for them. It will mean not thinking more highly of yourself than you should, never thinking and acting as though you are better than anyone. It will mean…being a friend. We could all say by experience say, “you don’t know…you don’t know how difficult that person is to be around, let alone love, and I will respond, Oh yes I do! You may be right…I don’t know, but I know the One who does know, because He experienced it deeply and He said love your enemies and do good to those who hate you….and I will add, or simply annoy you! Don’t expect perfection out of anyone….unless you have managed to achieve it yourself. I know…I know…you have heard me say this often and I have to admit I at times fail to do what I preach…but fortunately I am forgiven when I do fail, lifted up and try again…by discipline and by choice to do the right thing, and you….you should do the same. He calls us all to bear good fruit, not be one. We Christians are supposed to be known by our love, not our rhetoric and condemnation of others. We don’t know enough to be in that position especially given the condition of the world we live in today. Some of us even have the gall to think that if everyone thought like we did, and came to the same conclusions and decisions as us, all would be right in the world. NOT! So friends, I leave you with this. Would Jesus call you His Friend? He would if you are loving others, especially those in your home and church. He would if you are seeking to obey His commandments. He would if you are growing to understand the truths revealed by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures you are to live by. And He would if you knew and acted on the truth that He chose you to bear fruit that remains, and you’re seeking to bear that fruit through both prayer and actions. YOU….YES YOU! Now, after having said this previous paragraph, I am going to say that there is really no If in regards to Christ’s love for you. If is simply not in the equation. His love is like grace, in that like love it is freely given, and all the good we do is because we love Him, not to earn our way to Him. We do good because we desire to be like Him and because of our love for Him. He love you and me because He is love….it’s just that simple. YOU….YES YOU are the reason and object of His love……Selah
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, ID.
September 9, 2018
Sermon ~ YOU, YES YOU!
By;, Pastor Tom Shanor
John 15:12-16 “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ‘You are my friends’…(if) …you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you!” It is both comforting and reassuring to be called friends by the Lord of the Universe. Because however it was done in the creation of humanity…He is our Creator. Where He states “You didn’t choose me, I chose you,” He is referring to specifically His disciples in this instance, but He also chose us, all of us, everywhere, because He died for all of humanity, and that we who in turn choose Him as Lord and Savior, have not only eternal life with Him….but life here on this planet, abundantly. A full life…..enriched and enhanced through both difficult and good times, that we are (those of us who respond to Him)….blessed over and above those who reject Him. I am going to assume (hopefully correctly) that we all have friends or at least one. We also know that we use the word somewhat in the same manner that we do love….in that there are different focuses and different measures of both love and friendship. Each also has different levels of emotion attached. Friendship, for those of you who are curious as to the formal description of friendship know that it is always relational and it take at least two to form a friendship. It is something that is felt as well as described, in that there is always mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than just an association. Friendship has been studied (of course) in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, but not in regards to being a friend of God. In that God by science has not yet been proven or disproven to exist, how therefore (according to them) can it be logically studied? Here are some of the characteristics of a good and deep friendship.
1. Affection or love
2. Kindness
3. Virtue
4. Sympathy when needed
5. Honesty and Loyalty
6. Mutual understanding
7. Trust and the ability to be oneself without judgement
8. To be able to share our deepest thoughts and feelings
Friends are important and a wonderful part of life. In seminary, Dr. Howard Hendricks is quoted as saying, “Two things will most influence where you will be in ten years out of seminary: the books you read and the friends you make.” He added, “choose them both very carefully!” Now of course, Facebook has changed the whole meaning of friending and unfriending, but I think I will stick to the original intent and meaning. For those of us who call Jesus our Friend above all friends, it is a reciprocal relationship, and the more time we spend cultivating that relationship the closer we ‘feel’ to Him. The closer we feel and the more we communicate, the more clearly we can both hear and feel His Presence. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit is a part of that relationship because He communicates through the Spirit to us often. At times we just ‘know’ clearly that it is He who is speaking to us when often decisions are to be made. He also communicates with us and we with Him through prayer, meditation, reading His teachings and by other means such as Bible studies and discussions. As I previously read in John 15:12-15, these words are written. “This is my COMMANDMENT, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love ha no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends. This I COMMAND you, that you love one another.” In the church we started in Lander, Wyoming now 23 years ago, I had several people who had been coming several months said to me. “When are you going to stop preaching on love, as it is in almost everything you speak on”? My answer…”when you understand, get and apply it, then I will stop.” You see, repetition is the key to learning, especially learning something that is not always easy to learn, and one can learn to love. It takes more than one hammer blow to sink a nail all the way to the head. It takes more than saying it once, twice or a hundred times, or sometimes more, for us to learn to love one another, for some of us are sometimes, somewhat unlovable. He hammered on this commandment often and hard because He wanted them and us to remember this one thing……because in this commandment….it is NOT an option, as commandments go….none of them are an option. A COMMANDMENT is something that must be obeyed! With obedience in this arena come benefits. Many! His love dispels and disperses anger, resentment, depression, jealousy, rage, vindictiveness, retaliation and more, and because love is primarily a commitment and a feeling, it can be commanded. The bible does command certain feelings, for example, “Rejoice always.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16. Or, “be anxious for nothing” Philippians 4:6. And love should not and cannot be devoid of feelings. It is a caring commitment; for people should feel our genuine feelings for them. Even when we don’t “feel” especially loving, we need to obey His commandment by sacrificing our own feelings for them, and for Him since He has shown us what to do and how to do it. What does the Lord require of us….Micah 6:8. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good; and this is and what He requires of you: to do what is right, to LOVE mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Every once in a while we will read a story about someone who literally sacrificed his or her life to save someone else, maybe on the battlefield or to rescue a drowning person, or to save someone inside a burning building. Then there are those who even for a complete stranger donate blood, or even a kidney, and sometimes the heart of a loved one who died quickly, and often tragically to another person in need. The kind of Love Christ showed us and the world on that cross so long ago, is the kind of love he desires that we example by doing the same. Forgiveness without being asked to forgive. A song…………….. Amazing love, how can it be….that you my king would die for me Amazing love, I know it’s true, and it’s my joy to honor you, in all I do, I honor But sadly, the church has often failed on this matter. Years ago, a man named Leslie Flynn wrote a book with an intriguing title, “Great Church Fights”. I’m pretty sure that he had to choose his material selectively, because there are and continue to be both small and great fights, often over stupid things….one being this, “that is the way we’ve always done it and we are not going to change it.” In saying this and other things like it….we just threw in the first shovel full of resistance into the death of the church. That does not mean every time someone desire change we do it….it means we consider prayerfully and thoughtfully about what we can change to revitalize the church. Jesus was and is the greatest advocate and force for change in the world. Especially when it comes to changing a person. …..Back to John 15:14 “You are my friends IF YOU DO WHAT I COMMAND YOU! That my friends, does not mean just love….but a myriad of other things such as mentioned before…it would behoove us to spend some time in reading a red letter edition of the New Testament to thoughtfully think and meditate on simply the teaching of Jesus Himself. They…His teaching will change your life, and no doubt for the better…by far. Our greatest and deepest calling is to be LIKE HIM in every way. For us, as Believers, there are two main areas for showing Christ’s love though us. One is in the church and the other is in the world. If we can’t do it here….among fellow Christians how will we ever succeed outside these walls. We are not perfect….by any measuring rod, and we will never be while in this world, but we can be like Him if we truly want to be. It will mean sacrificing some of our desires and wants….it will mean often putting others first. It will mean giving when it is sometimes a sacrifice to give. It will mean giving a blessing instead of grumbling, it will mean lifting someone up instead of tearing them down. It will mean looking for the good instead of the faults. It will mean putting an arm around someone in the natural you are not drawn to, and asking what, if anything you can do for them. It will mean not thinking more highly of yourself than you should, never thinking and acting as though you are better than anyone. It will mean…being a friend. We could all say by experience say, “you don’t know…you don’t know how difficult that person is to be around, let alone love, and I will respond, Oh yes I do! You may be right…I don’t know, but I know the One who does know, because He experienced it deeply and He said love your enemies and do good to those who hate you….and I will add, or simply annoy you! Don’t expect perfection out of anyone….unless you have managed to achieve it yourself. I know…I know…you have heard me say this often and I have to admit I at times fail to do what I preach…but fortunately I am forgiven when I do fail, lifted up and try again…by discipline and by choice to do the right thing, and you….you should do the same. He calls us all to bear good fruit, not be one. We Christians are supposed to be known by our love, not our rhetoric and condemnation of others. We don’t know enough to be in that position especially given the condition of the world we live in today. Some of us even have the gall to think that if everyone thought like we did, and came to the same conclusions and decisions as us, all would be right in the world. NOT! So friends, I leave you with this. Would Jesus call you His Friend? He would if you are loving others, especially those in your home and church. He would if you are seeking to obey His commandments. He would if you are growing to understand the truths revealed by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures you are to live by. And He would if you knew and acted on the truth that He chose you to bear fruit that remains, and you’re seeking to bear that fruit through both prayer and actions. YOU….YES YOU! Now, after having said this previous paragraph, I am going to say that there is really no If in regards to Christ’s love for you. If is simply not in the equation. His love is like grace, in that like love it is freely given, and all the good we do is because we love Him, not to earn our way to Him. We do good because we desire to be like Him and because of our love for Him. He love you and me because He is love….it’s just that simple. YOU….YES YOU are the reason and object of His love……Selah
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
September 2nd, 2018
"The Power and Greatness of God"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
The Bible reveals a God so great that we cannot compare anything or any god to Him. Still....we can learn a great deal by meditating on what we read of the portrait painted of Him in His Holy Scriptures some of which I will read.
We...in and through Scripture, reading in both the Old and the New Testaments combined, see a revelation of Him that at times seems at odds. What we must remember is that the two combined Testaments reveal a more complete picture, as we move from the Old to the New. Though in the Old Testament He comes across often in a Warrior, King like manner, and where in the New Testament the revelation is more personal, more grace-filled, with the essence of the Message of Jesus, God.....that of Love, forgiveness, mercy, restoration and kindness, equally as powerful as revealed in Christ.
What does God say about Himself in Isaiah 40:15-17. "Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn., not it's beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. Please remember here that God is speaking to the Jewish nation that thinks more highly of itself being a “chosen” people than it should. He is attempting to put them in their place, as well as having them fully understand His position.
This is one of those times I spoke of that is at odds when given the revelation of who He presents Himself to be through Christ, yet that is not the case. The essence of what He is saying here is that they exist only because of Him, and because of Him and His greatness He can do as He chooses.....but His deep desire is to do as Jesus spoke on His way to the Cross, as He looked over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 "How often I have wanted to gather your children together as hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you would not let me" That is a greatness greater than that of the Warrior/King ....for Jesus said if we want to be great ourselves, this is the way, "for the (greatest) among YOU must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted." Matthew 23:11-12.
...He is great and greatly to be praised....but we, mere men and women find our greatness we are told, in serving, just as our Lord Jesus Christ by example showed us how to be....like Him.
...In Isaiah 55:9 we read, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thought than your thoughts."
...Psalm 47:2, "For the Lord Most High is to be feared. A great King over all the earth."
...Nehemiah 1:5, I said, "I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the Great and awesome God!
...I believe we have lost much of the understanding of what this fear in regards to God means, and is, and why would God want us to fear Him. Well, when we grasp its meaning we will understand, and here it is.
...The fear of God is living in respect, awe, and submission to God.
1. Respect ~ a positive feeling and sometimes action shown towards someone or even something considered important or great. They or it, is held in high esteem, conveying a sense of admiration and deference by honoring them in a variety of ways.
2. Awe ~ again, a feeling of reverential respect, mixed with both fear and wonder of the great power God possesses.
3. Submission ~ to willingly put ourselves under the authority or power of someone else, or deity, and is usually deemed mandatory or obligatory. The failure to do so puts one outside not only a place to serve, but outside the protection offered.
Again, I truly believe.....we have a much shallower understanding of the Greatness of God, and a lack of the reverential awe, respect and submission that comes with knowing and understanding Him. We, in our own spiritual culture have in a sense brought God down more to our level, making Him more like us, than fully understanding who He is, and that is wrong. There is written in both the Old and New Testaments revelation to invalidate that kind of thinking....if we take those Scriptures seriously.
Why in the first place would we want or worship or defer to a God that looks and sounds like us! To revere and worship a God, I choose for God to be far beyond me in every way. This gives me hope, light and life, in that when I need God and call out to God....I know He is there and hears my every prayer, because I know my weaknesses and foibles.
THINK ABOUT IT.................
...Another way to understand more about God's greatness is to study the incredible characteristics of this world we live in. The Apostle Paul said God's glory and power are shown in the physical creation. "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20), not understanding the magnificence of our World, Galaxy and Universe.
...Einstein, though not a believer in a personal God, was a deist. He believed in a Supreme intelligence of design behind the Universe and on a question of sub-atomic physics, he once responded that God, "does not play dice with the Universe."
These are some of the scientists who no longer alive believed in the Biblical God.
1. Nicholas Copernicus
2. Sir. Francis Bacon
3. Galileo Galilei
4. Rene Descartes
5. Blaise Pascal
6. Isaac Newton
7. Gregor Mendel
8. Robert Boyle
9. Michael Faraday
10. William Thomson Kelvin
These are the Fathers of today’s scientists.
I then researched scientists who today....high up in their fields of science believe in both God and Christ...the list included hundreds for highly respected Scientists. Hundreds.
I have chosen two to mention.
Robert T. Baker – paleontologist who was a leading figure in the Dinosaur Renaissance and known for the theory that some dinosaurs were warm blooded. He is also a Pentecostal Preacher who advocates the "deist evolution". also having written much on religion, especially Christianity.
The second is Lindov Eaves, British Behavioral geneticist who has published on topics as diverse as heiratibility of religion and psychopathology. In 1966 he and Kenneth Kendles founded Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia University, where he is currently professor emeritus.
There were lists of Scientists who believe in God in this list of categories and as I said, there are hundreds.
1. Physics of Astronomy
2. Earth Sciences
3. Engineering
4. Biological and Bio Medical Science
5. And many more...........................
And consider our sun. It is an amazingly powerful source of energy. With the sun, earth would be a frozen rock, desolate. According to NASA, "During a single second, the sun converts 4 million tons of matter into pure energy." That's "about equal to 90 billion megatons every second. The entire power generating capacity of the earth equals about 60,000 megatons a year, so in one second....one second, the Sun produces over a million years' worth of energy for the earth.
...In Romans 11:33 Paul extols God's greatness: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!" We are in discovery mode, while He is in dispensing mode.
The more scientists look into life, the more complexity they find. The number of stars in the Universe is really unknown, since every time we look into deep space, we find still more stars. It is estimated that with a rough estimate, there are 10 trillion galaxies in the Universe. Multiplying that by the Milky Way's estimated 100 billion stars, results in a stupefying number that again, by rough estimate exist. 100 octillion stars, or (a "1" with 29 zeros following it.
...No wonder God says, "To whom then will you liken God?" (Isaiah 40:18)
...Did you know that there are 6.5 million species of anamals.
...2.2 million know species of aquatics
...100,000 species of trees
...391,000 species of plants
...10,000 species of birds not counting sub-species
...8.7 million at last count of insects
From the mite to the Mighty...the largest mammal, the sperm whale, the Lord God by...evolutionary design, or by any other means is Mighty, is Himself Great and Mighty is our God!
As I meditate on God, and on Jesus Christ, and on this planet under my feet. As I ponder the great enormity of it all.....how in God's name, could I ever be arrogant, puffed up, think too highly of myself. I am not the center of the universe as I am a very tiny speck on the face of this world we live in. I am continually humbled by what I see every day, what I hear, what I feel, sense and comprehend.
...a very simple song says these words. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift me up. Things go wrong every day, and things go right every day....and If I consider myself the center of my world, I am making a tragic mistake. "For it is in God, that I live and move and have my being." I can therefore no longer be offended, no longer be arrogant in the limited knowledge I have....I, like you, must submit myself to the Lord our God. Religion is for the religious....faith is for the individual who has a healthy perspective of who he or she is, and then we will have lived a life worth living.
THNK ABOUT THIS...............................
...God Himself saved the best for last for you and I...and that best is both belief and faith, in both His greatness as Warrior/King and His humility as shown in Jesus Christ, who sets the example as to how we are to live. It in all its mystery and majesty is really simple....if we but believe in Him and live as He calls us to live.
...I leave you with these two questions. Who are you to God, and who is God to you? This is for you to come to terms with, and there is a lot of direction and information given to us to help us with our last best decision.
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
September 2nd, 2018
"The Power and Greatness of God"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
The Bible reveals a God so great that we cannot compare anything or any god to Him. Still....we can learn a great deal by meditating on what we read of the portrait painted of Him in His Holy Scriptures some of which I will read.
We...in and through Scripture, reading in both the Old and the New Testaments combined, see a revelation of Him that at times seems at odds. What we must remember is that the two combined Testaments reveal a more complete picture, as we move from the Old to the New. Though in the Old Testament He comes across often in a Warrior, King like manner, and where in the New Testament the revelation is more personal, more grace-filled, with the essence of the Message of Jesus, God.....that of Love, forgiveness, mercy, restoration and kindness, equally as powerful as revealed in Christ.
What does God say about Himself in Isaiah 40:15-17. "Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn., not it's beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. Please remember here that God is speaking to the Jewish nation that thinks more highly of itself being a “chosen” people than it should. He is attempting to put them in their place, as well as having them fully understand His position.
This is one of those times I spoke of that is at odds when given the revelation of who He presents Himself to be through Christ, yet that is not the case. The essence of what He is saying here is that they exist only because of Him, and because of Him and His greatness He can do as He chooses.....but His deep desire is to do as Jesus spoke on His way to the Cross, as He looked over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 "How often I have wanted to gather your children together as hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you would not let me" That is a greatness greater than that of the Warrior/King ....for Jesus said if we want to be great ourselves, this is the way, "for the (greatest) among YOU must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted." Matthew 23:11-12.
...He is great and greatly to be praised....but we, mere men and women find our greatness we are told, in serving, just as our Lord Jesus Christ by example showed us how to be....like Him.
...In Isaiah 55:9 we read, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thought than your thoughts."
...Psalm 47:2, "For the Lord Most High is to be feared. A great King over all the earth."
...Nehemiah 1:5, I said, "I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the Great and awesome God!
...I believe we have lost much of the understanding of what this fear in regards to God means, and is, and why would God want us to fear Him. Well, when we grasp its meaning we will understand, and here it is.
...The fear of God is living in respect, awe, and submission to God.
1. Respect ~ a positive feeling and sometimes action shown towards someone or even something considered important or great. They or it, is held in high esteem, conveying a sense of admiration and deference by honoring them in a variety of ways.
2. Awe ~ again, a feeling of reverential respect, mixed with both fear and wonder of the great power God possesses.
3. Submission ~ to willingly put ourselves under the authority or power of someone else, or deity, and is usually deemed mandatory or obligatory. The failure to do so puts one outside not only a place to serve, but outside the protection offered.
Again, I truly believe.....we have a much shallower understanding of the Greatness of God, and a lack of the reverential awe, respect and submission that comes with knowing and understanding Him. We, in our own spiritual culture have in a sense brought God down more to our level, making Him more like us, than fully understanding who He is, and that is wrong. There is written in both the Old and New Testaments revelation to invalidate that kind of thinking....if we take those Scriptures seriously.
Why in the first place would we want or worship or defer to a God that looks and sounds like us! To revere and worship a God, I choose for God to be far beyond me in every way. This gives me hope, light and life, in that when I need God and call out to God....I know He is there and hears my every prayer, because I know my weaknesses and foibles.
THINK ABOUT IT.................
...Another way to understand more about God's greatness is to study the incredible characteristics of this world we live in. The Apostle Paul said God's glory and power are shown in the physical creation. "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20), not understanding the magnificence of our World, Galaxy and Universe.
...Einstein, though not a believer in a personal God, was a deist. He believed in a Supreme intelligence of design behind the Universe and on a question of sub-atomic physics, he once responded that God, "does not play dice with the Universe."
These are some of the scientists who no longer alive believed in the Biblical God.
1. Nicholas Copernicus
2. Sir. Francis Bacon
3. Galileo Galilei
4. Rene Descartes
5. Blaise Pascal
6. Isaac Newton
7. Gregor Mendel
8. Robert Boyle
9. Michael Faraday
10. William Thomson Kelvin
These are the Fathers of today’s scientists.
I then researched scientists who today....high up in their fields of science believe in both God and Christ...the list included hundreds for highly respected Scientists. Hundreds.
I have chosen two to mention.
Robert T. Baker – paleontologist who was a leading figure in the Dinosaur Renaissance and known for the theory that some dinosaurs were warm blooded. He is also a Pentecostal Preacher who advocates the "deist evolution". also having written much on religion, especially Christianity.
The second is Lindov Eaves, British Behavioral geneticist who has published on topics as diverse as heiratibility of religion and psychopathology. In 1966 he and Kenneth Kendles founded Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia University, where he is currently professor emeritus.
There were lists of Scientists who believe in God in this list of categories and as I said, there are hundreds.
1. Physics of Astronomy
2. Earth Sciences
3. Engineering
4. Biological and Bio Medical Science
5. And many more...........................
And consider our sun. It is an amazingly powerful source of energy. With the sun, earth would be a frozen rock, desolate. According to NASA, "During a single second, the sun converts 4 million tons of matter into pure energy." That's "about equal to 90 billion megatons every second. The entire power generating capacity of the earth equals about 60,000 megatons a year, so in one second....one second, the Sun produces over a million years' worth of energy for the earth.
...In Romans 11:33 Paul extols God's greatness: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out!" We are in discovery mode, while He is in dispensing mode.
The more scientists look into life, the more complexity they find. The number of stars in the Universe is really unknown, since every time we look into deep space, we find still more stars. It is estimated that with a rough estimate, there are 10 trillion galaxies in the Universe. Multiplying that by the Milky Way's estimated 100 billion stars, results in a stupefying number that again, by rough estimate exist. 100 octillion stars, or (a "1" with 29 zeros following it.
...No wonder God says, "To whom then will you liken God?" (Isaiah 40:18)
...Did you know that there are 6.5 million species of anamals.
...2.2 million know species of aquatics
...100,000 species of trees
...391,000 species of plants
...10,000 species of birds not counting sub-species
...8.7 million at last count of insects
From the mite to the Mighty...the largest mammal, the sperm whale, the Lord God by...evolutionary design, or by any other means is Mighty, is Himself Great and Mighty is our God!
As I meditate on God, and on Jesus Christ, and on this planet under my feet. As I ponder the great enormity of it all.....how in God's name, could I ever be arrogant, puffed up, think too highly of myself. I am not the center of the universe as I am a very tiny speck on the face of this world we live in. I am continually humbled by what I see every day, what I hear, what I feel, sense and comprehend.
...a very simple song says these words. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift me up. Things go wrong every day, and things go right every day....and If I consider myself the center of my world, I am making a tragic mistake. "For it is in God, that I live and move and have my being." I can therefore no longer be offended, no longer be arrogant in the limited knowledge I have....I, like you, must submit myself to the Lord our God. Religion is for the religious....faith is for the individual who has a healthy perspective of who he or she is, and then we will have lived a life worth living.
THNK ABOUT THIS...............................
...God Himself saved the best for last for you and I...and that best is both belief and faith, in both His greatness as Warrior/King and His humility as shown in Jesus Christ, who sets the example as to how we are to live. It in all its mystery and majesty is really simple....if we but believe in Him and live as He calls us to live.
...I leave you with these two questions. Who are you to God, and who is God to you? This is for you to come to terms with, and there is a lot of direction and information given to us to help us with our last best decision.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
mack's inn, island park, idaho
August 26, 2018
sermon ~ "assurance" (Hebrews 11:1)
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
When “I” find it difficult to live by my faith in 'assurance' of that faith, I then have to live my beliefs by adherence to the truth’s I know! Adherence as such, perhaps illustrated as an example, aquatic muscles adhering to the bottom of a boat, where even at great speeds they cannot be dislodged by the water pushing against them. But....I much prefer to live my faith by assurance.
Let's first understand (though we peripherally know what assurance is) that in its spiritual meaning, carries with it a deeper understanding that is good for us to know and put into practice.
It truly is a term exceptionally rich when it comes to our faith and spiritual application. It signifies the joyous, unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith as applied in trust by our adherence to in our daily lives.
The original words have to do with the heart of a vital religion. One which supports and lifts us up. Jesus repeatedly used the word "amen" to express the trustworthiness and truthfulness of His sayings & teachings, in full assurance that they were truths to live by and trust in, and in doing so, we are assured we are on the right pathway to life, both temporal and eternal.
Amen, by the way means, “so be it”.
Selah, which I use on occasion means, “pause and think about it, by meditating, pondering and thinking deeply.
Back to assurance……..Genuine assurance by its nature, leads those who believe fully in His truths and teachings, to an internal place of peace, joy, love, thankfulness and much more, no matter the circumstances, as difficult as they may be, or become. We are told to "count it all joy when we are going through difficult times," for it is in those times that we not only learn who we are, but who we can become by making the right choices and adhering to the Lord through them.
Our assurance may in various ways be shaken, diminished and even sometimes fail us, because we are human, but the principle or foundation on which it is built by us in our beliefs and faith, cannot be taken away.
Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the 'assurance' of what we 'hope' for, the conviction of things we cannot see." That is
Getting ready in the morning to come here at the church, with assurance and without thinking, I assume my car will start and I will arrive without a problem, but we all know….as an example, one of the squirrels living above my car in the carport roof, just may decide to chew on a few wires and it won’t start. Or packrat will construct a nest in the engine, which actually did happen to me. My assurance will have been misplaced. In Christ my assurance is never misplaced, though circumstances may attempt to tell me it is. My now long experience in life, having faith….I believe it is not, and I say that with assurance.
Assurance, hope and conviction, are three words here in tandem, that we hold and adhere to, that make our faith work for us. Where would we be in our faith without conviction and hope? They are deeply a part of our assurance, that Christ is the Son of God, and that Christ, God and the Holy Spirit work together in making our lives both a blessing to ourselves and to others, whom we encounter every day, be they family, friends or strangers.
Taking a strong hold of our faith and living it out as we are given instructions as how to do so is vital. Why be a peripheral Christian when we can be a manifest destiny Christian? Why live a ho-hum spiritual life when we can live a full and rich one, but a life that has purpose, meaning, vibrancy and much more. Even here in Island Park, Idaho...in this ancient caldera that in itself speaks of the vibrant roots of creation......every place we look and smell and touch speaks of power and might.
I was awaken at around 4 in the morning Saturday before getting up to help prepare for the Pancake Breakfast, thinking about today's sermon and the word "insurance" came to me, then I thought "insurance" (what?) Then I asked myself, are there similarities not only in sound, but in meaning? And by George there are. Assurance is like insurance, for insurance is a vehicle and document that protects a person from incurring future losses, as from damage, theft, illness or even death. It is a contract that transfers the risk of a specified loss to self or another party, in exchange for the payment of a premium.
Jesus Christ is our insurance policy, that when damage, theft, illness or even death come, we are assured by Him by belief in Him, that "all things work together for good, to those who love Him and are called through Him to a new and better life. He paid the premium, we reap the benefits of His policy, written in our name as the beneficiaries. Pretty cool.....though it cost Him a lot! Only His life.........................................
Knowing and believing in God's written word, Holy Scripture is vital to establish the inner workings of this policy. Along with Scripture comes prayer...for the most praying people are the most assured people, because prayer is direct communication with God. It is through communication in any relationship, be it natural or spiritual, that we come to know one another intimately. That intimacy comes through discipline and work. For anything to have value it came about through knowing something deeply and through work, sometimes hard work.
We can only speak for ourselves though.....as to how our journey develops and how our assurance is deepened. Not only can we not read the minds of others, we cannot read the Bible and understand and adhere to its truths for others, but only to and for ourselves, and by doing so take God at His word.
Suppose someone says to you, "there was a person in our church who died last week, and left five million dollars to his housekeeper. "Well," I say in return, "I have heard of such a thing happening before, she was exceptional," and then I forget about it because it had nothing to do with me. But...suppose he says instead to me, "he left the money to you." Then I will definitely pay close attention; I say "to me?" Yes, he left it to you!" I certainly now want to know everything. So it is in regards to salvation. Scripture also says Jesus died for everyone, but no one in particular. But...the truth is He did die for everyone, including you and me in particular. In knowing a believing that, suddenly He becomes very personal and very real to us. That....is the Good News.
HYMN.....Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine......we almost all know and love that hymn. Let's sing it Acapella!
In the midst of a world more and more it seems, losing its foundation of assurance, as it is filled today with uneasiness, insecurity, its moral compass and more....assurance of a man or woman's security in God can be the strength that keep us from losing hope and even direction. We can and should lead authentic Christian lives, based not only on human resources, abilities (though these are good things) including ingenuity, but for us, included in those who are Believers, confidence in the caring power of God.
Divine direction sought in the lives of we as individuals, or our community of faith is not to be likened to some superficial good luck antecdote, or magical talisman, that supposedly protects a person or place against the traumas and tragedies of human existence. "Instead, assurance in God provides our anchor of confidence and hope". (Hebrews 6:18) "In the midst of pain and sometimes sorrow, because we believers have learned the secret of casting all worries and cares on God, who in genuinely concerned for us. (1 Peter 5:7).
St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of assured faith is to see what you believe."
SELAH…..which means?
mack's inn, island park, idaho
August 26, 2018
sermon ~ "assurance" (Hebrews 11:1)
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
When “I” find it difficult to live by my faith in 'assurance' of that faith, I then have to live my beliefs by adherence to the truth’s I know! Adherence as such, perhaps illustrated as an example, aquatic muscles adhering to the bottom of a boat, where even at great speeds they cannot be dislodged by the water pushing against them. But....I much prefer to live my faith by assurance.
Let's first understand (though we peripherally know what assurance is) that in its spiritual meaning, carries with it a deeper understanding that is good for us to know and put into practice.
It truly is a term exceptionally rich when it comes to our faith and spiritual application. It signifies the joyous, unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith as applied in trust by our adherence to in our daily lives.
The original words have to do with the heart of a vital religion. One which supports and lifts us up. Jesus repeatedly used the word "amen" to express the trustworthiness and truthfulness of His sayings & teachings, in full assurance that they were truths to live by and trust in, and in doing so, we are assured we are on the right pathway to life, both temporal and eternal.
Amen, by the way means, “so be it”.
Selah, which I use on occasion means, “pause and think about it, by meditating, pondering and thinking deeply.
Back to assurance……..Genuine assurance by its nature, leads those who believe fully in His truths and teachings, to an internal place of peace, joy, love, thankfulness and much more, no matter the circumstances, as difficult as they may be, or become. We are told to "count it all joy when we are going through difficult times," for it is in those times that we not only learn who we are, but who we can become by making the right choices and adhering to the Lord through them.
Our assurance may in various ways be shaken, diminished and even sometimes fail us, because we are human, but the principle or foundation on which it is built by us in our beliefs and faith, cannot be taken away.
Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the 'assurance' of what we 'hope' for, the conviction of things we cannot see." That is
Getting ready in the morning to come here at the church, with assurance and without thinking, I assume my car will start and I will arrive without a problem, but we all know….as an example, one of the squirrels living above my car in the carport roof, just may decide to chew on a few wires and it won’t start. Or packrat will construct a nest in the engine, which actually did happen to me. My assurance will have been misplaced. In Christ my assurance is never misplaced, though circumstances may attempt to tell me it is. My now long experience in life, having faith….I believe it is not, and I say that with assurance.
Assurance, hope and conviction, are three words here in tandem, that we hold and adhere to, that make our faith work for us. Where would we be in our faith without conviction and hope? They are deeply a part of our assurance, that Christ is the Son of God, and that Christ, God and the Holy Spirit work together in making our lives both a blessing to ourselves and to others, whom we encounter every day, be they family, friends or strangers.
Taking a strong hold of our faith and living it out as we are given instructions as how to do so is vital. Why be a peripheral Christian when we can be a manifest destiny Christian? Why live a ho-hum spiritual life when we can live a full and rich one, but a life that has purpose, meaning, vibrancy and much more. Even here in Island Park, Idaho...in this ancient caldera that in itself speaks of the vibrant roots of creation......every place we look and smell and touch speaks of power and might.
I was awaken at around 4 in the morning Saturday before getting up to help prepare for the Pancake Breakfast, thinking about today's sermon and the word "insurance" came to me, then I thought "insurance" (what?) Then I asked myself, are there similarities not only in sound, but in meaning? And by George there are. Assurance is like insurance, for insurance is a vehicle and document that protects a person from incurring future losses, as from damage, theft, illness or even death. It is a contract that transfers the risk of a specified loss to self or another party, in exchange for the payment of a premium.
Jesus Christ is our insurance policy, that when damage, theft, illness or even death come, we are assured by Him by belief in Him, that "all things work together for good, to those who love Him and are called through Him to a new and better life. He paid the premium, we reap the benefits of His policy, written in our name as the beneficiaries. Pretty cool.....though it cost Him a lot! Only His life.........................................
Knowing and believing in God's written word, Holy Scripture is vital to establish the inner workings of this policy. Along with Scripture comes prayer...for the most praying people are the most assured people, because prayer is direct communication with God. It is through communication in any relationship, be it natural or spiritual, that we come to know one another intimately. That intimacy comes through discipline and work. For anything to have value it came about through knowing something deeply and through work, sometimes hard work.
We can only speak for ourselves though.....as to how our journey develops and how our assurance is deepened. Not only can we not read the minds of others, we cannot read the Bible and understand and adhere to its truths for others, but only to and for ourselves, and by doing so take God at His word.
Suppose someone says to you, "there was a person in our church who died last week, and left five million dollars to his housekeeper. "Well," I say in return, "I have heard of such a thing happening before, she was exceptional," and then I forget about it because it had nothing to do with me. But...suppose he says instead to me, "he left the money to you." Then I will definitely pay close attention; I say "to me?" Yes, he left it to you!" I certainly now want to know everything. So it is in regards to salvation. Scripture also says Jesus died for everyone, but no one in particular. But...the truth is He did die for everyone, including you and me in particular. In knowing a believing that, suddenly He becomes very personal and very real to us. That....is the Good News.
HYMN.....Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine......we almost all know and love that hymn. Let's sing it Acapella!
In the midst of a world more and more it seems, losing its foundation of assurance, as it is filled today with uneasiness, insecurity, its moral compass and more....assurance of a man or woman's security in God can be the strength that keep us from losing hope and even direction. We can and should lead authentic Christian lives, based not only on human resources, abilities (though these are good things) including ingenuity, but for us, included in those who are Believers, confidence in the caring power of God.
Divine direction sought in the lives of we as individuals, or our community of faith is not to be likened to some superficial good luck antecdote, or magical talisman, that supposedly protects a person or place against the traumas and tragedies of human existence. "Instead, assurance in God provides our anchor of confidence and hope". (Hebrews 6:18) "In the midst of pain and sometimes sorrow, because we believers have learned the secret of casting all worries and cares on God, who in genuinely concerned for us. (1 Peter 5:7).
St. Augustine said, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of assured faith is to see what you believe."
SELAH…..which means?
The Little Church in the pines
MACK'S INN, Island Park, Idaho
August 19, 2018
"Worry, Me Worry?"
(Matthew 5:34 ~ Philippians 4:6 & 7)
by, Tom Shanor, Pastor
Good Morning Church! Again! Though I have hopefully an instructive, and informative, fairly serious topic this morning, I want to start out with a bit of humor in the form of a, well, a funny little song, written and sung by one Bobby McFerrin somewhere around or in 1988. I also, as you have most likely seen within your bulletin, an insert with the words to the song, so that you (if like me, are somewhat hard of hearing) you will either be able to follow along, or if you care to, sing along. Also, since we are somewhat limited in our technology, I will be holding my I-Phone up to the mike, which is another reason for the insert. START
I do find myself singing it spontaneously during the day on occasion, and it does make me smile. If things get more serious then I pray……………………
You might just keep that insert in your wallet or pocket, so you can pull it out and sing it, especially when you are alone in your car, or perhaps you might even want to sing a duet with your spouse, or even a friend driving down the highway! I also have a handout for you at the end of the service, that you also could keep with you, reminding you to pray instead of worry.
Here we go, starting off with Matthew 5:34, with Jesus speaking these words to us, "can any of you add one hour to your span of life, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worry . Today's trouble is enough for today." WOW, if that isn’t true.
I say....amen to that wisdom!
Now from Philippians 4:6 & 7, these being Paul's words, "Don't worry about anything: instead pray about everything. Then....you will experience God's Peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His Peace will guard your heart and mind as you live in Christ Jesus!
The definition for worry, in its more than several manifestations, and then we will come back to not only the Scripture just spoken, but others as well.
Worry refers to the thoughts, images and emotions that are negative, or non-productive in nature, and are often repetitive, such as uncontrollable racing thinking, and that by thinking, and thinking and re-thinking, some magic solution is suddenly going to come to us as. Worrying about a problem is far different than setting about to solve it with reason, logic, and last but not least, prayer.
Now Ralph (you don't know Ralph) but was head over heels in trouble, and doing little to help himself in his difficult situation, worrying and worrying as could be seen in his face and body language....A friend offered him some advice, "Ralph, you've got two hands, why don't you do something." "I am" Ralph replied, "I'm wringing both of them."
Perhaps someone in here can relate?
Compulsive, chronic worry becomes very problematic when it becomes obsessive.....and NEVER, EVER has a positive outcome. In fact not only does it mess with your mind, it messes with your body, causing anxiety which then leads to a breakdown of your health in many manifestations.
With this comes a partial list of the physical ramifications of obsessive worry that becomes if permitted anxiety. We may say we can’t help it….but in Christ we can. He says we can, and what He says, He means a makes a way.
Some of you are familiar with some of them personally, secondarily and just by knowledge. It does not take long in chronic worry/anxiety to bringing them about, depending on how you face difficulties and your physiological makeup.
Knowing these things as much as we do, why do we insist on chronic worrying, that leads to anxiety, that expresses itself in such a wide and deeply impacting manner? Let it go….give it to God in Christ! Let it go! We are like a dog chewing a bone….pulverizing, gnashing of teeth…etc.
Worry also, can be both imagined or real, and to be able to tell the difference requires cognitive, thoughtful, non-anxious, prayerful thinking. Most of us live with short periods of worry without incident; indeed, a small amount of worry may be healthy in that it prompts us to take precautions (e.g., fastening a seat belt, buying insurance) or the good sense to avoid risky behaviors like the man several weeks ago who taunted a bison in Yellowstone...who as it turned out was also drunk.
Worry and anxiety cloud our ability to think clearly or to sense that God in our circumstances, may simply be trying to tell us something, or is because of our circumstances helping us to learn a life lesson. We NEED to take the time to listen, quit wringing our hand literally or mentally and bring it in, and give it over to the One who can give us Peace amidst the most trying circumstances.
"For God has not given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind!!!!!" I LOVE this verse and it has helped me more than once to re-establish my foundation of faith and reason.
The biblical word used in Hebrew for worry is (daag) and regards worry as a combined form of both fear and sorrow, which affects (nephesh,) the totality of our being. The Bible takes a fortitude-strengthening approach regarding worrying e.g. Psalm 94, "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul."
Similarly James 12:2-4 motivate us to face trials of any kind with JOY, because if done so, they produce endurance (strength and courage). Further Peter reveals his understanding of healthy living in Second Peter, "We have sure hope...this a a cause of great joy for us."
Often in worrying, we create or build walls, sometimes very strong, almost insurmountable ones.
One day John Wesley was walking with a trouble man who expressed his doubt as to the goodness of God. He said, "I do not know what I will do with all this worry and trouble." At the same moment Wesley saw a cow looking over a stone wall. Do you know, "asked Wesley, " why that cow is looking over the wall?" “No I don’t” said the man. Wesley said, "The cow is looking over the wall because she cannot see through it. That is what you must do with your wall of trouble...look over it at the One who wants to walk with you through all your anxiety and worry. He will give you insight and even clarity into your situation and what you can learn in and from it.”
So…what do you think? Consider the people both Jesus and Paul were talking and writing to. Some of those actually many, of those faced daily persecution and some death by persecution for their beliefs. This topic, to both men was serious business, and for different reasons and in a different spiritual climate (for the time being) than we have today.
How many of you get a kick out of worry and anxiety? How many of you really like the feelings associated with these? How many of you know how to if not rid yourself of them, at least can diminish the clamoring voices in your head? Christ, Paul, Peter and even contemporary voices call to us to take these words seriously. We have received instruction, so why are we not following them.
A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a cloudy day that had the potential for getting worse. He was not very experienced in instrument landing. When the control tower was to bring him in, he began to get panicky. Then a stern voice come over the radio, “You just obey the instructions, we’ll take care of the obstructions.”
Jesus, Paul and others say the same to us, for if it could not be done, they would not have taken the time to not only tell us it can, but they exampled doing so in their own lives. We either believe them and put it into practice, or we call them liars and walk away…continuing to worry ourselves into an early grave, or worse. A life of unfaith….or a life full of faith….and results. Is it easy….it may take some dedicated work and discipline, but in time can become a real and vital part of who we are in Him. The gift is Peace in the midst of chaos, in the midst of a storm….in the midst of changes in our lives…in the midst of illness, in the midst of sorrow and pain, loss, destruction and more, but hopefully not a loss of our love for our Redeemer and Lord, whose name is Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 & 7…(Don’t worry….be happy) about anything: instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then…you will experience God’s Peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Him.!
The choice is mine and the choice is yours, it is just that simple.
Selah
MACK'S INN, Island Park, Idaho
August 19, 2018
"Worry, Me Worry?"
(Matthew 5:34 ~ Philippians 4:6 & 7)
by, Tom Shanor, Pastor
Good Morning Church! Again! Though I have hopefully an instructive, and informative, fairly serious topic this morning, I want to start out with a bit of humor in the form of a, well, a funny little song, written and sung by one Bobby McFerrin somewhere around or in 1988. I also, as you have most likely seen within your bulletin, an insert with the words to the song, so that you (if like me, are somewhat hard of hearing) you will either be able to follow along, or if you care to, sing along. Also, since we are somewhat limited in our technology, I will be holding my I-Phone up to the mike, which is another reason for the insert. START
I do find myself singing it spontaneously during the day on occasion, and it does make me smile. If things get more serious then I pray……………………
You might just keep that insert in your wallet or pocket, so you can pull it out and sing it, especially when you are alone in your car, or perhaps you might even want to sing a duet with your spouse, or even a friend driving down the highway! I also have a handout for you at the end of the service, that you also could keep with you, reminding you to pray instead of worry.
Here we go, starting off with Matthew 5:34, with Jesus speaking these words to us, "can any of you add one hour to your span of life, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worry . Today's trouble is enough for today." WOW, if that isn’t true.
I say....amen to that wisdom!
Now from Philippians 4:6 & 7, these being Paul's words, "Don't worry about anything: instead pray about everything. Then....you will experience God's Peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His Peace will guard your heart and mind as you live in Christ Jesus!
The definition for worry, in its more than several manifestations, and then we will come back to not only the Scripture just spoken, but others as well.
Worry refers to the thoughts, images and emotions that are negative, or non-productive in nature, and are often repetitive, such as uncontrollable racing thinking, and that by thinking, and thinking and re-thinking, some magic solution is suddenly going to come to us as. Worrying about a problem is far different than setting about to solve it with reason, logic, and last but not least, prayer.
Now Ralph (you don't know Ralph) but was head over heels in trouble, and doing little to help himself in his difficult situation, worrying and worrying as could be seen in his face and body language....A friend offered him some advice, "Ralph, you've got two hands, why don't you do something." "I am" Ralph replied, "I'm wringing both of them."
Perhaps someone in here can relate?
Compulsive, chronic worry becomes very problematic when it becomes obsessive.....and NEVER, EVER has a positive outcome. In fact not only does it mess with your mind, it messes with your body, causing anxiety which then leads to a breakdown of your health in many manifestations.
With this comes a partial list of the physical ramifications of obsessive worry that becomes if permitted anxiety. We may say we can’t help it….but in Christ we can. He says we can, and what He says, He means a makes a way.
- We have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- 2. OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Panic Attacks
- Central Nervous Syndrome
- Cardio Vascular Diseases
- Digestive Disorder Syndrome
- Respiratory System Syndrome
- Depression on a wide ranging scale of light to deep to potential suicide
- Hypochondria
Some of you are familiar with some of them personally, secondarily and just by knowledge. It does not take long in chronic worry/anxiety to bringing them about, depending on how you face difficulties and your physiological makeup.
Knowing these things as much as we do, why do we insist on chronic worrying, that leads to anxiety, that expresses itself in such a wide and deeply impacting manner? Let it go….give it to God in Christ! Let it go! We are like a dog chewing a bone….pulverizing, gnashing of teeth…etc.
Worry also, can be both imagined or real, and to be able to tell the difference requires cognitive, thoughtful, non-anxious, prayerful thinking. Most of us live with short periods of worry without incident; indeed, a small amount of worry may be healthy in that it prompts us to take precautions (e.g., fastening a seat belt, buying insurance) or the good sense to avoid risky behaviors like the man several weeks ago who taunted a bison in Yellowstone...who as it turned out was also drunk.
Worry and anxiety cloud our ability to think clearly or to sense that God in our circumstances, may simply be trying to tell us something, or is because of our circumstances helping us to learn a life lesson. We NEED to take the time to listen, quit wringing our hand literally or mentally and bring it in, and give it over to the One who can give us Peace amidst the most trying circumstances.
"For God has not given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind!!!!!" I LOVE this verse and it has helped me more than once to re-establish my foundation of faith and reason.
The biblical word used in Hebrew for worry is (daag) and regards worry as a combined form of both fear and sorrow, which affects (nephesh,) the totality of our being. The Bible takes a fortitude-strengthening approach regarding worrying e.g. Psalm 94, "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul."
Similarly James 12:2-4 motivate us to face trials of any kind with JOY, because if done so, they produce endurance (strength and courage). Further Peter reveals his understanding of healthy living in Second Peter, "We have sure hope...this a a cause of great joy for us."
Often in worrying, we create or build walls, sometimes very strong, almost insurmountable ones.
One day John Wesley was walking with a trouble man who expressed his doubt as to the goodness of God. He said, "I do not know what I will do with all this worry and trouble." At the same moment Wesley saw a cow looking over a stone wall. Do you know, "asked Wesley, " why that cow is looking over the wall?" “No I don’t” said the man. Wesley said, "The cow is looking over the wall because she cannot see through it. That is what you must do with your wall of trouble...look over it at the One who wants to walk with you through all your anxiety and worry. He will give you insight and even clarity into your situation and what you can learn in and from it.”
So…what do you think? Consider the people both Jesus and Paul were talking and writing to. Some of those actually many, of those faced daily persecution and some death by persecution for their beliefs. This topic, to both men was serious business, and for different reasons and in a different spiritual climate (for the time being) than we have today.
How many of you get a kick out of worry and anxiety? How many of you really like the feelings associated with these? How many of you know how to if not rid yourself of them, at least can diminish the clamoring voices in your head? Christ, Paul, Peter and even contemporary voices call to us to take these words seriously. We have received instruction, so why are we not following them.
A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a cloudy day that had the potential for getting worse. He was not very experienced in instrument landing. When the control tower was to bring him in, he began to get panicky. Then a stern voice come over the radio, “You just obey the instructions, we’ll take care of the obstructions.”
Jesus, Paul and others say the same to us, for if it could not be done, they would not have taken the time to not only tell us it can, but they exampled doing so in their own lives. We either believe them and put it into practice, or we call them liars and walk away…continuing to worry ourselves into an early grave, or worse. A life of unfaith….or a life full of faith….and results. Is it easy….it may take some dedicated work and discipline, but in time can become a real and vital part of who we are in Him. The gift is Peace in the midst of chaos, in the midst of a storm….in the midst of changes in our lives…in the midst of illness, in the midst of sorrow and pain, loss, destruction and more, but hopefully not a loss of our love for our Redeemer and Lord, whose name is Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 & 7…(Don’t worry….be happy) about anything: instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then…you will experience God’s Peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Him.!
The choice is mine and the choice is yours, it is just that simple.
Selah
Sermon ~ the 23rd psalm
by: Tom Shanor, Pastor
August 12, 2018
______________________________________________<>____________________________________________
The 23rd Psalm has come to bring comfort to many, and is often used (as I did this last Thursday) in a memorial service as a part of a tribute to the wife, mother and matriarch of the family whose husband, asked me to officiate at her service. It was held in a small meadow in a grove of towering Pines. They are not a religious family, but still desired a service with a spiritual tone. I happily obliged as it gave me an opportunity to witness of God in Christ in such a setting as it was.
The original writing of this Psalm by King David was an expression of his deep love and intimacy of his relationship with God. This love and intimacy was definately not one sided but shared by both, and expressed by both.
It is both a love Psalm and a segment of the history of David’s and God’s relationship. It has been used as a prototype for a relationship that we are all capable of having with God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
This relationship began after God gave the people King Saul, whom they wanted and asked for him to become their king. God gave into their request and the result was less than satisfactory, and in fact was not good. Saul, like Solomon later on became men after their own heart and desires.
~ READ PSALM 23 ~
What exactly by definition is intimacy? Intimacy in general refers to the ‘feeling’ or the ‘emotion’ of being in a close personal association and belonging together. It is a familiar and very close affective connection with another as a result of a bond that is formed through knowledge and experience of the other.
Genuine intimacy in human relationships required dialogue, transparency, vulnerability and is reciprocal. An intimate relationship varies according to what each individual chooses to put into that relationship and to sustain intimacy for any length of time, requires well-developed emotional and interpersonal awareness. Obviously there was not an actual physical aspect to the relationship between David and God, but it went to a deeper level sustained by both…even in David’s times of failure and sin, which I will come back to.
Before I go further….I am asking you, yes you this question. How intimate and personal is your own relationship with God, and the second question is do you have a desire to go deeper? The choice is yours and yours alone, as it was between God and David. Another question only you can answer. In honesty to first yourself…..are you capable of an intimate relationship with another human being? In asking this I am not speaking of a sexual/emotional relationship, but a deep and loving one that where you both share in all honesty your hearts, thoughts and spiritual quests, dreams, fears, joys.
Those of us who have had difficulty forming those, perhaps because of the way we were parented, or where abuse of one form or another was experienced by us, can thwart and hold us back from being able to do so. The answer there is that there are no such things that would inhibit us from going to a deeper lever with God Himself if we go to Him in sincere prayer, ready to hear His answer and forgive if needed. You can ask Him to show you the way, and by His Spirit He will reveal to you those blocks, and then will help you walk through them, both of you together.
Here is a part of the chronology of David’s life……………………………………
God does not expect us to be perfect….but He desires we will love Him as He love us. He desires to have a two way relationship with us. Not that He expects us to be perfect, for we are but human, but and this is a good but….He simply desires us to be one with Him through His Son.
The story of David and God…together speaks of an intimacy that was profound….deep and wide. Eternal.
As a boy growing up, my father and I never really communicated on much of any level. He was there part of the time, as a figurehead who had all authority, and my predominant feeling toward him was fear. He was either gone out with his friends or at work. When home he either slept or ate. He died when I was 36, he 57. As I stood by his open casket looking down at him I profoundly mourned for what could have been and was not…it was too late. He was gone.
Since an epiphany at age 37, God became my true father….and He and I communicate, and can bring anything to Him…anything. He, by His word and Spirit speaks to me, as I to Him. I am eternally grateful. With my own children, I was determined to communicate with them about as much as I could…and I did…and to this day we do. Love is the key, as was David’s love for God and God’s love for David, even in times of discipline and protection both.
You…being male or female, can have the same relationship as David and God. It’s all up to you. All of it!
Amen
by: Tom Shanor, Pastor
August 12, 2018
______________________________________________<>____________________________________________
The 23rd Psalm has come to bring comfort to many, and is often used (as I did this last Thursday) in a memorial service as a part of a tribute to the wife, mother and matriarch of the family whose husband, asked me to officiate at her service. It was held in a small meadow in a grove of towering Pines. They are not a religious family, but still desired a service with a spiritual tone. I happily obliged as it gave me an opportunity to witness of God in Christ in such a setting as it was.
The original writing of this Psalm by King David was an expression of his deep love and intimacy of his relationship with God. This love and intimacy was definately not one sided but shared by both, and expressed by both.
It is both a love Psalm and a segment of the history of David’s and God’s relationship. It has been used as a prototype for a relationship that we are all capable of having with God, through His Son Jesus Christ.
This relationship began after God gave the people King Saul, whom they wanted and asked for him to become their king. God gave into their request and the result was less than satisfactory, and in fact was not good. Saul, like Solomon later on became men after their own heart and desires.
~ READ PSALM 23 ~
What exactly by definition is intimacy? Intimacy in general refers to the ‘feeling’ or the ‘emotion’ of being in a close personal association and belonging together. It is a familiar and very close affective connection with another as a result of a bond that is formed through knowledge and experience of the other.
Genuine intimacy in human relationships required dialogue, transparency, vulnerability and is reciprocal. An intimate relationship varies according to what each individual chooses to put into that relationship and to sustain intimacy for any length of time, requires well-developed emotional and interpersonal awareness. Obviously there was not an actual physical aspect to the relationship between David and God, but it went to a deeper level sustained by both…even in David’s times of failure and sin, which I will come back to.
Before I go further….I am asking you, yes you this question. How intimate and personal is your own relationship with God, and the second question is do you have a desire to go deeper? The choice is yours and yours alone, as it was between God and David. Another question only you can answer. In honesty to first yourself…..are you capable of an intimate relationship with another human being? In asking this I am not speaking of a sexual/emotional relationship, but a deep and loving one that where you both share in all honesty your hearts, thoughts and spiritual quests, dreams, fears, joys.
Those of us who have had difficulty forming those, perhaps because of the way we were parented, or where abuse of one form or another was experienced by us, can thwart and hold us back from being able to do so. The answer there is that there are no such things that would inhibit us from going to a deeper lever with God Himself if we go to Him in sincere prayer, ready to hear His answer and forgive if needed. You can ask Him to show you the way, and by His Spirit He will reveal to you those blocks, and then will help you walk through them, both of you together.
Here is a part of the chronology of David’s life……………………………………
- The Lord chose David to be king. 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (that is definitely what I call being chosen.) Remember this…that God, knowing the beginning from the end knew of David’s deeds to come, of his failures and successes. You may wonder why knowing all that He did, why he did so. The reason simply is found in 1 Samuel 13:14, “the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart.” That was David.
- David kills Goliath
- Saul becomes jealous of David and sets events in place to kill him.
- David marries Michal
- David meets and marries Abigail
- David becomes king of Judah
- David becomes king of Israel
- David captures Jerusalem
- David brings the sacred chest to Jerusalem
- David sees and meets Bathsheba….sin
- David plots the death of Bathsheba’s husband….sin
- Solomon is born
- Absalom rebels against his father David…much pain for David
- Absalom dies and David mourns
- David takes a census….sin against God’s will
- David gives instructions to his son Solomon then dies, a lesser king.
- “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!” A shepherd is one who cares for sheep, who in and of themselves are not too bright. They have a tendency to follow the herd…often into danger. Sounds like people. Jesus called Himself a shepherd, and as we know David was shepherding sheep when Samuel called for him. This is an expression of dependence, for a sheep is prey and passive when it comes to taking care of itself.
- “I SHALL NOT WANT” I will not lack what I need with a Shepherd such as God. He will provide for me. God HIMSELF is my provision, for as long as I am under His care He will watch over me. Especially in difficult times, when it appears He does not care….He cares deeply and is taking us individually on our own personal journey of growth, learning the vital lessons we need to learn, though many of them may be very difficult.
- “HE MAKES ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES” All creatures need rest and strength. Sometimes He makes us lie down, or in other words, stop what we are doing so that we can gain both rest and nourishment. Sheep do not lie down if they are afraid or stressed. Sometimes we are the same and God wants us to trust Him and believe that in the end, for all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called by Him, though the event that is occurring is telling us otherwise. Trust and obey….for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
- “HE LEADS ME BESIDE STILL WATERS” First, in gaining both rest and nourishment, it is now time to get up and start moving. And notice this verse says LEAD ME, NOT DRIVE ME. How does He lead? By walking ahead of us as he continues to shepherd, looking out for those who would prey on us and lead us into a totally different direction. The wrong one. The Judean Wilderness is comprised of mostly sand, rock and shrub brush, nettles, snakes and scorpions. It is rugged country, and yet there are in the midst of such a harsh landscape….those areas known as an oasis, where water and vegetation abounds for times of refreshing and rest. This He does for all those who call upon the name of the Lord, His Son. Often in our walk with Him as He leads us…these places of rest are internal….and if we internally at peace and trusting Him…the harshest of people and situations, and environment are to be filled with His Presence. That is where we find TRUE PEACE…WITHIN.
- “HE RESTORES MY SOUL” The Hebrew word “shoob,” yes, “shoob” means to “return to the starting point,” to recover, refresh, restore, to reverse. At times and perhaps many times, we need a fresh start, a serious ‘start over.’ God will give us as many as we need, so great is His love and grace. As long as we keep trying, then perhaps failing, He will comes along and help us get back up, putting one arm around our waist and one of our arms over His shoulder….and He will literally carry us if it comes down to that. He has a heart after us…..as we need to have a heart after Him.
- David finishes the Psalm with these delightful words of faith….. “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies, preventing (those who would stop us by all means) from staying under His protection, surrounded by His love. You honor me by anointing my head with oil (a symbol of being chosen) and therefore my cup (life) overflows with blessings, and surely then, Your goodness and mercy (or unfailing love) will “pursue” me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord, (not for a short while) but forever, and ever. Amen……
- “YES THOUGH I WALK THROUGH ‘THE VALLEY OF SHADOW OF DEATH’ I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR YOU ARE WITH ME.” The picture we get from this verse is that the sheep are not frightened as they pass through the valley. Notice that it also says “I walk” not run. What happens can be a major health issue, a house burned down, an accident, something to do with someone we love. It can be where we know we need an attitude adjustment, a lifestyle change. It can also be our final walk of life to death. No matter what it is……I will not fear (if indeed our faith as David’s faith was strong in the Lord) He is with us. At times we may skirt a valley…but this speaks of when we are actually in the valley and going through it.
- His Presence and protection is with us….all the time and all the way. His ROD is to beat back the enemy who would take us down…those being both His Presence and His written and spoken word. His STAFF has a hook to it…and that staff is (when we are wandering away) to place around our neck and pull us back into His Presence. Knowing this should when the correction is over bring us comfort. It is God’s desire and determination to get us to “safe pastures” or safely on the other side, no matter the means by which we get there.
God does not expect us to be perfect….but He desires we will love Him as He love us. He desires to have a two way relationship with us. Not that He expects us to be perfect, for we are but human, but and this is a good but….He simply desires us to be one with Him through His Son.
The story of David and God…together speaks of an intimacy that was profound….deep and wide. Eternal.
As a boy growing up, my father and I never really communicated on much of any level. He was there part of the time, as a figurehead who had all authority, and my predominant feeling toward him was fear. He was either gone out with his friends or at work. When home he either slept or ate. He died when I was 36, he 57. As I stood by his open casket looking down at him I profoundly mourned for what could have been and was not…it was too late. He was gone.
Since an epiphany at age 37, God became my true father….and He and I communicate, and can bring anything to Him…anything. He, by His word and Spirit speaks to me, as I to Him. I am eternally grateful. With my own children, I was determined to communicate with them about as much as I could…and I did…and to this day we do. Love is the key, as was David’s love for God and God’s love for David, even in times of discipline and protection both.
You…being male or female, can have the same relationship as David and God. It’s all up to you. All of it!
Amen
Preface to ~ To Stay Offended is Offensive ~
August 5, 2018
Today's sermon came through an experience I had on Friday, later in the day. It was a small one on a scale of 1-10, but big enough to learn a lesson from. I was looking out a window in my office, and a large pickup pulled into the parking lot. In it sat a tiny woman probably in her late 70's, early 80's eating an ice cream cone.
I continued to stand there, and when she had almost finished she took a napkin wiped her chin and threw the napkin out the window onto the parking lot.....well, suddenly my ire was up, and from within me came (crazy as it seems) almost outrage. Without thinking, but adrenaline pumping I opened the door, and walked very quickly toward her.
She saw me coming, started the engine, ready to pull out fast but I beat her to it. Her window was down, and I think by the sheer look on my face I scared the spit out of her. I picked up the napkin and said to her...."I can't believe what you just did, deliberately throwing your napkin out your window onto the parking lot...
In this loud enough to hear, but little voice...saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I'm sorry...and pulled out.
Shortly I felt the tap of the Spirit on my head...saying "well done Tom"...and then I felt like a stupid jerk.....being so outsized offended at such a small incident. I then wished she would come back, so I could apologize sincerely and in humility.
I couldn't...but I could choose to learn a lesson. Again. You see, I had thought I had learned that one well, and was incapable of such a reaction...because on bigger issues I am usually pretty good at not overreacting and not taking offense.
So...seeing that I had further to go than I thought, I thought why not share this with everyone one Sunday morning...and take all of us on a journey into the dire consequences of offense and being offended...and perhaps we can all learn what an awful thing it is....and the consequences can last a lifetime.
So...are you ready...I will now ask you to put on your hat of humility and truth...and go with me. Ok?
August 5, 2018
Today's sermon came through an experience I had on Friday, later in the day. It was a small one on a scale of 1-10, but big enough to learn a lesson from. I was looking out a window in my office, and a large pickup pulled into the parking lot. In it sat a tiny woman probably in her late 70's, early 80's eating an ice cream cone.
I continued to stand there, and when she had almost finished she took a napkin wiped her chin and threw the napkin out the window onto the parking lot.....well, suddenly my ire was up, and from within me came (crazy as it seems) almost outrage. Without thinking, but adrenaline pumping I opened the door, and walked very quickly toward her.
She saw me coming, started the engine, ready to pull out fast but I beat her to it. Her window was down, and I think by the sheer look on my face I scared the spit out of her. I picked up the napkin and said to her...."I can't believe what you just did, deliberately throwing your napkin out your window onto the parking lot...
In this loud enough to hear, but little voice...saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I'm sorry...and pulled out.
Shortly I felt the tap of the Spirit on my head...saying "well done Tom"...and then I felt like a stupid jerk.....being so outsized offended at such a small incident. I then wished she would come back, so I could apologize sincerely and in humility.
I couldn't...but I could choose to learn a lesson. Again. You see, I had thought I had learned that one well, and was incapable of such a reaction...because on bigger issues I am usually pretty good at not overreacting and not taking offense.
So...seeing that I had further to go than I thought, I thought why not share this with everyone one Sunday morning...and take all of us on a journey into the dire consequences of offense and being offended...and perhaps we can all learn what an awful thing it is....and the consequences can last a lifetime.
So...are you ready...I will now ask you to put on your hat of humility and truth...and go with me. Ok?
Sermon, "to Stay Offended is Offensive"
Pastor Tom Shanor
There’s a relatively contemporary Christian song that’s been around awhile that is a good introduction or preface to today’s sermon. It has a simple chorus that goes like this. Lord,
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you, I want to be a vessel you work through, I……. want to be more like you!
As a Christian, it seems that this should be the bottom line of our faith. I am not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I am posing this question to you this morning. Do you, do I…. want to be more like Him? To be like Him, will mean changes in our acceptance of our self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, be they family, co-workers, friends and those with whom are in our faith family. Our church.
To change or even want to change first comes with recognition that change is indeed necessary, and that once we recognize the need, then are willing to do the work necessary to bring it about. That goes for every aspect of our lives, and the one that will bring the most personal results, is the one in becoming more like Jesus.
For those of you who have struggled with alcohol or drug addiction knows deeply what I am saying and the truth of these words. I will say it again, recognition of the NEED to change comes first, and that friends, is the biggest step on any journey.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have started and pastored. It is never aimed at any one person or any one situation, but to my way of thinking it is both a very serious topic, and one that all of us who desire to be like our Lord, need to deeply think and take to heart and see what Jesus & Paul and a few disciples have to say about it. It is one of those behaviors that causes along with gossip, the potential for deep division and strife in the Church, the body of Christ.
James 3:6 “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
This topic on offense, offending, offended, offensive and offend starts with the three-letter word ‘off’ something is off, something is wrong. Off-ended. The multiple words here all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. Resentful, annoyed or even outraged, typically as a result of a perceived insult that can be deliberate or accidental. It can be personal or aimed at someone else.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing, when the choice is there for us to make.
How do we show Him how much we love Him. He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love me will do what I say.”
Perceived, deliberate or unintended offense is to be handled in this way. In humility not in outrage. Matthew 23: 12 “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves…. will be exalted.”
This is one of my favorites and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44 and can only be achieved when we are most like him. “You have heard it said to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you. In that way you will be acting as true children of your father who is in heaven.” Lord, I want to be more like you, like you!
This next one is the essence of it all and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like the Lord. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you, for this is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
The essence of something is its substance….it is what it is and you cannot change it. Truth. The words of the Lord.
At best, being offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To be “offended” is an expression which should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians no “right” to take offense, but if we do…we definitely have no “right” to hold on to it. None whatsoever. The lord himself was never personally offended, even though abuse was hurled at him incessantly. He was never offended for Himself, though He was once offended for God, and only once where His outrage was expressed…and that was in the temple courtyard where we find in Luke 19:46, “Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declares, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer; but you, you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
There has been some progress the Church, and humanity as a whole could make us better people in understanding each other…if…. we stopped indulging in our petty knee-jerk and whiney reactions. We can do it and should.
To Take Offense Toward a Person Means There is No Grace
When we act offended to a person, we are creating a boundary of separation without any space for reconciliation or understanding. It is a graceless position. It is also acting like a bully. To be and hold on to an offense at someone means they have no recourse but to stay away from you or grovel in some kind of submissive plea for mercy. That is NOT Christ-like. It shows you want power over them and will do whatever it takes to do have it. It’s means.
Only those who want control and power (because they think they are right, and only they) exert that type of offended-ness. Another reason for being offended or disgusted is to revel in self-righteous indignation.
Being offended can be addictive. It is like the expression, “everyone loves to hate a villain.” We Love righteous indignation, it is one of our favorite feelings; to be completely justified in hating or showing anger to another human being. However, righteousness-indignation is much like offense…they are both absolutely useless in achieving anything good. What kind of fruit does being offended bear…. rotten fruit! Certainly not the fruit of the Spirit.
We Christians are to be agents of reconciliation, peacemaking, understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness and finally restoration. These are anathema to indignation and offense.
God…how we would change the world if we just quite being self-righteousness, speaking of all the wrongs instead of simply being the right.
If…we are to truly be useful to Christ, we must learn to be “shock proof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meet OUR expectations and criteria. It is bad out there, you all know that. Even when confronting true lawlessness and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early Christians were, ready to be an example of our Lord who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son who is a policeman and swat team member in Idaho Falls, as is Tom and Nancy’s son in Montana…. they see often, the darkest faces of humanity. David said he attempts to treat these people in the same way as he would anyone, first….….and that is with dignity and understanding….at first. Then if they don’t respond, he has to move on into a defensive stance….and do what needs to be done, but he never fails to see their humanity….no matter what they are doing or have done. To keep his soul healthy, he never gives into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are at that moment.
If there is conflict, make sure we are not the once who accelerate it, but are instrumental as much as is possible to bring it to a peaceful resolution and restoration.
Offense and Indignation Leaves us Open to Being Exploited
Please…I beg you and myself to listen to these words. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any, and a humble person has no buttons. When we are potentially offend-able, then other people can and will control our behavior. They can “rile us up” by getting a knee-jerk, emotional reaction…and many will. Only by ridding ourselves of reactionary habits can we be in control of our words and our actions to others.
Do you know that news outlets and PR agencies rely on Christians to generate press? We are so predictably indignant and reactionary that they feel they can use us to sell not only their stories but their own agendas. That’s sobering.
So…does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting in a godly way instead of a purely emotional self-righteous knee-jerk way. Our goal in any situation…be it at home, at work, at play, in our Church, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation. To bring peace, healing and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, let us be certain we are not the accelerant, but the fire-extinguisher as James wrote…. quoted earlier, “but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire,” or destroy an individual, a Church or a world. Is our ego that important to us…our stance, our being right, our perspective…is it. If so, we will trouble wherever we go and in whatever we do.
Our goal should be…to be like Jesus, who knew no offense because he knew what was in mankind.
We should as I spoke of weeks ago, strive to be in harmony…allowing for as I spoke of last week, for mistakes to be just that, and forgiven. Always imagine Jesus who when He hung on that cross, dying, He looked out over those gathered there, asking His Father to forgive them, for they really did not know what they were doing. If He, in that deadly and dire situation could do what He did…. can we not do the same under far less dire situations?
1 Peter 3:11 says to us,” Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.”
Selah…. (pause and think about it). Amen
Pastor Tom Shanor
There’s a relatively contemporary Christian song that’s been around awhile that is a good introduction or preface to today’s sermon. It has a simple chorus that goes like this. Lord,
Lord, I want to be more like you, like you, I want to be a vessel you work through, I……. want to be more like you!
As a Christian, it seems that this should be the bottom line of our faith. I am not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I am posing this question to you this morning. Do you, do I…. want to be more like Him? To be like Him, will mean changes in our acceptance of our self, and changes in how we interact with those around us, be they family, co-workers, friends and those with whom are in our faith family. Our church.
To change or even want to change first comes with recognition that change is indeed necessary, and that once we recognize the need, then are willing to do the work necessary to bring it about. That goes for every aspect of our lives, and the one that will bring the most personal results, is the one in becoming more like Jesus.
For those of you who have struggled with alcohol or drug addiction knows deeply what I am saying and the truth of these words. I will say it again, recognition of the NEED to change comes first, and that friends, is the biggest step on any journey.
I have preached on this topic one time in each of the churches I have started and pastored. It is never aimed at any one person or any one situation, but to my way of thinking it is both a very serious topic, and one that all of us who desire to be like our Lord, need to deeply think and take to heart and see what Jesus & Paul and a few disciples have to say about it. It is one of those behaviors that causes along with gossip, the potential for deep division and strife in the Church, the body of Christ.
James 3:6 “But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
This topic on offense, offending, offended, offensive and offend starts with the three-letter word ‘off’ something is off, something is wrong. Off-ended. The multiple words here all describe the essence of wrongness. It is an adjective, which is described in several words. Resentful, annoyed or even outraged, typically as a result of a perceived insult that can be deliberate or accidental. It can be personal or aimed at someone else.
James 4:17 reads, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” This simply says that “sin” is also not doing the right thing, when the choice is there for us to make.
How do we show Him how much we love Him. He tells us in John 14:23, “All who love me will do what I say.”
Perceived, deliberate or unintended offense is to be handled in this way. In humility not in outrage. Matthew 23: 12 “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves…. will be exalted.”
This is one of my favorites and encompasses every aspect of our lives. Matthew 5:43-44 and can only be achieved when we are most like him. “You have heard it said to hate your enemies, but I say to you, Love your enemies and do good to those that persecute you. In that way you will be acting as true children of your father who is in heaven.” Lord, I want to be more like you, like you!
This next one is the essence of it all and the summation of what it truly would be like to be like the Lord. Matthew 7:12, straight from the mouth of the Savior Himself. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you, for this is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
The essence of something is its substance….it is what it is and you cannot change it. Truth. The words of the Lord.
At best, being offended is one of the most pointless and devastating emotional indulgences possible. At its worst, it is the very seed of potential violence, persecution, and separation. To be “offended” is an expression which should never be welcome in the Christian vernacular. There is not one virtue in being indignant, and we have as Christians no “right” to take offense, but if we do…we definitely have no “right” to hold on to it. None whatsoever. The lord himself was never personally offended, even though abuse was hurled at him incessantly. He was never offended for Himself, though He was once offended for God, and only once where His outrage was expressed…and that was in the temple courtyard where we find in Luke 19:46, “Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declares, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer; but you, you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
There has been some progress the Church, and humanity as a whole could make us better people in understanding each other…if…. we stopped indulging in our petty knee-jerk and whiney reactions. We can do it and should.
To Take Offense Toward a Person Means There is No Grace
When we act offended to a person, we are creating a boundary of separation without any space for reconciliation or understanding. It is a graceless position. It is also acting like a bully. To be and hold on to an offense at someone means they have no recourse but to stay away from you or grovel in some kind of submissive plea for mercy. That is NOT Christ-like. It shows you want power over them and will do whatever it takes to do have it. It’s means.
Only those who want control and power (because they think they are right, and only they) exert that type of offended-ness. Another reason for being offended or disgusted is to revel in self-righteous indignation.
Being offended can be addictive. It is like the expression, “everyone loves to hate a villain.” We Love righteous indignation, it is one of our favorite feelings; to be completely justified in hating or showing anger to another human being. However, righteousness-indignation is much like offense…they are both absolutely useless in achieving anything good. What kind of fruit does being offended bear…. rotten fruit! Certainly not the fruit of the Spirit.
We Christians are to be agents of reconciliation, peacemaking, understanding, tolerance, justice, mercy, kindness and finally restoration. These are anathema to indignation and offense.
God…how we would change the world if we just quite being self-righteousness, speaking of all the wrongs instead of simply being the right.
If…we are to truly be useful to Christ, we must learn to be “shock proof.” How can we go out into the world and serve “the least of these” if we insist the world first meet OUR expectations and criteria. It is bad out there, you all know that. Even when confronting true lawlessness and corruption, our hearts must be ready (just as the early Christians were, ready to be an example of our Lord who only condemned the self-righteous.
In talking to my son who is a policeman and swat team member in Idaho Falls, as is Tom and Nancy’s son in Montana…. they see often, the darkest faces of humanity. David said he attempts to treat these people in the same way as he would anyone, first….….and that is with dignity and understanding….at first. Then if they don’t respond, he has to move on into a defensive stance….and do what needs to be done, but he never fails to see their humanity….no matter what they are doing or have done. To keep his soul healthy, he never gives into condemnation, because some very bad things have brought them to where they are at that moment.
If there is conflict, make sure we are not the once who accelerate it, but are instrumental as much as is possible to bring it to a peaceful resolution and restoration.
Offense and Indignation Leaves us Open to Being Exploited
Please…I beg you and myself to listen to these words. No one can push our buttons if we don’t have any, and a humble person has no buttons. When we are potentially offend-able, then other people can and will control our behavior. They can “rile us up” by getting a knee-jerk, emotional reaction…and many will. Only by ridding ourselves of reactionary habits can we be in control of our words and our actions to others.
Do you know that news outlets and PR agencies rely on Christians to generate press? We are so predictably indignant and reactionary that they feel they can use us to sell not only their stories but their own agendas. That’s sobering.
So…does all this mean nothing should bother us, convict us to action, or require confrontation? Of course not, but there is a huge difference between acting and reacting in a godly way instead of a purely emotional self-righteous knee-jerk way. Our goal in any situation…be it at home, at work, at play, in our Church, amongst ourselves, should be to find avenues of reconciliation. To bring peace, healing and compassion within and without. Whenever we enter a confrontation, let us be certain we are not the accelerant, but the fire-extinguisher as James wrote…. quoted earlier, “but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire,” or destroy an individual, a Church or a world. Is our ego that important to us…our stance, our being right, our perspective…is it. If so, we will trouble wherever we go and in whatever we do.
Our goal should be…to be like Jesus, who knew no offense because he knew what was in mankind.
We should as I spoke of weeks ago, strive to be in harmony…allowing for as I spoke of last week, for mistakes to be just that, and forgiven. Always imagine Jesus who when He hung on that cross, dying, He looked out over those gathered there, asking His Father to forgive them, for they really did not know what they were doing. If He, in that deadly and dire situation could do what He did…. can we not do the same under far less dire situations?
1 Peter 3:11 says to us,” Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.”
Selah…. (pause and think about it). Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
July 29, 2018
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "BREATH OF THE SPIRIT"
(Genesis 2:7 "He breathed the breath of life")
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Today’s sermon is a continuation of last weeks, in which I spoke of “Religion and Faith,” and how they can be compatible. I am going to add into this mix, the element of the Person of the Holy Spirit…..the living breath of God.
To start out, so you know where I stand theologically or doctrinally, as I move into today’s sermon, I am going to read to you my own personal beliefs which you can read along with me, because they can be found in the Apostle’s Creed.
The reason for this is I may be extending for some of you, your own boundaries, and to know that I cannot be accused to be heretic. _______________________________________
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” The breath of life is the breath of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit!
Our Christian faith, we could say, was born on a weekend, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Those three days are the birthplace of our faith, and later one day, a day to yet come, on what is known as the Day of Pentecost, the church was born.
First on what we call Good Friday, there was a painful death, a letting go. For us then and today, this represents the collapse of what we call the death, of
living by and for the Law. Religion often at its worst, while being born anew that day became a living by faith, not the letter of the Law, but the Spirit of the Law in Love. Faith as I said last week, is confidence or trust in a particular person, deity, and in our case as Christians, that is Jesus Christ, and in that he taught as to how to live…by faith.
Today, our faith for many of us, and the church specifically, needs a rebirth. A breath fresh of the living breath of the Holy Spirit, who gives life, to experience a faith that is bigger, deeper and richer . Young people are not buying into our faith as it exists. We most often offer them a boxed in religion, that has little usable air left in our box….we are content….they are not interested. Our world has become to most of them spiritually irrelevant in an age of dynamic change.
A world that most of us have trouble understanding, let alone keep up with. We could be like the Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites, withdrawing from the modern world, but then we would lose and opportunity calling to do what we in part are called to do, and that is multi-fold, as we are to a light to the world, and to be known by our yes, our love.
The latest statistics are as such: 85% in 1900 were Christians in America
81.6%...in 2001
78%..... in 2012,
75%..... in 2017
Of the 75% today, 62% say that are affiliated with an organized church.
In 28 years, Christianity has fallen by 10%, and with all the schisms and issues the church is embroiled in today, the rate is increasing dramatically of those who drop out, not only of churches, but their faith entirely. How many unbelievers would want to be a part of a faith/religion that is involved in so much in-fighting. Our “faith” is to be in Christ, in Christ alone. Structure is important for worshiping together, ministering together, being that light and life, together, together as we are told not to forsake gathering together.
They, being us, the church, and non-Believers need what we all need, and that is (though some of us grow weary of hearing it) the way of love. The problem is we have not yet grasped how many of us just do not get it. Not just for some, but for everyone. Culture is constantly changing sometimes quickly, other times over time, and more time. As we grow older, the less change we feel is better. At the same time that we are growing older, the galaxy we live in and the universe that holds over 100 billion galaxies, continues to age….and expand. That is an example for us…we too are to grow and expand. It is a natural law.
We cannot as many fundamentalists have, put aside Science, and the continual discoveries about the world, galaxy and universe we are but a speck in its vastness. We cannot bury our head in the sand and pretend these discoveries are not applicable. We cannot run with our religious tails between our legs because we don’t want to think about these things. Running scared is not who and what we are to be. All Science does is tell us what an absolutely remarkable world we live in, with a vast number of discoveries yet to be made. The wonder of it all is too big for me to comprehend, let alone understand. I bow to God in all his wisdom and creation. “do not be afraid, for I am with you, says the Lord”
Jesus Christ…..came, to fulfill the law, and in fulfilling the Law, broke the existing law of the jot and tittle mentality and observances, minute laws that imprisoned the spirit and killed the soul. In doing so, he brought into the world, a new law, the Law of Love, with the promise of new life and new potential for a whole new world within, working its way out, as he hoped, to fill the world, unfortunately we haven’t done all that well.
What have we done with this law of Spirit, grace, mercy, forgiveness? We have imprisoned it so that in many ways it looks and acts and sounds like the Old law. Do this, do that, think this way, for this is the only way, don’t go there, go here, don’t listen to them as they are deceivers and liars, believe this, don’t believe that.
In the South Christian Ministers from the pulpit for generations, preached that black people were not fully human and we had the right to enslave them. We needed desperately a fresh breath of the Spirit….but instead we opted for war, killing one another instead of accepting and loving our black brothers and sisters. This can also be said of the Native Americans…whose culture was raped and destroyed, to name a few, not that they were innocent of atrocities themselves, but we often took their children from them, trying to turn them into us.
Instead of the love of Jesus Christ we instead gave them prejudice, animosity, even hatred that continues to a degree into today. In taking away the culture of a people, we destroy their foundation that has existed for as long as they existed. Death….ran rampant across our land, their land, God’s land, but unbeknownst to anyone…the breath of life not obviously seen or heard was quietly stirring.
Now we come to the second day of the three days, which represents a silence, a contemplative pause following Friday’s loss. His disciples, and many others in confusion, and in shock and in mourning, wondering what comes next, if anything? Since Friday represented a letting go, Saturday represents sinking to the depths, a descent into a deeper vantage point. The recognition of a new reality in that death is real and what comes following death of death? Today culture is demanding changes….can we, and if we can, will we. Or like other generations before us, just moan, groan and find fault and resisting necessary change. Truly if Christianity is potentially not going to survive after we are all gone….it will be our fault. Young adults are calling us out for our lack of living up to what and who we say we are. They are also calling out for love and acceptance of all people, all races and all cultures. The minimalized, the outcasts, the very ones that Jesus himself said he came for.
Sobering, isn’t it. IF…this is to happen, needed change, we will face some tough issues, tough truths to work through. Attitude is critical in the salvation of our faith. Is that even important to us, or is it more important that at least we make it and too bad for those behind us. Friday, as I was writing this I thought to myself…what are you doing? Is this me…or is this the Spirit’s inspiration, who wants us to experience a fresh breath of renewal, speaking to and through me? In this little log church? Why don’t I just preach a nice little comforting sermon, so that I can make everybody feel good. I need to talk with other ministers to see if they too are sensing what I am.
I don’t fully understand myself, but all I can say is, I feel a deep compulsion to push a bit here. I have told you, my congregation for months, that if I can get us all to think, reason, question, discuss and shift, and think and question our faith, so that not only can we full embrace it, but fully live it.
(TEXT I RECEIVED FROM SOMEONE READING MY SERMONS IN ARIZONA)
________________________________READ___________________________________
We all need a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, the living Spirit, the very life giving Spirit of God Himself, and in doing so, may he give us the ability to see, hear and do IF indeed this is of him. We need a basic understanding of God…a theological migration…to unleash Christianity’s potential for healing and transforming the world, by first transforming us.
Now comes the 3rd day. Sunday and having let go of so much on Friday, allowed ourselves to go to the depths of sorrow and questions on Saturday. We can now begin to rise up with a deeper understanding, a clearer vision with both spiritual and practical incentive, direction and goals, but how do we do this?
As the Jewish people migrated, we too are to be in migration in a practical, ecclesial or missional migration. We need to develop a fresh understanding of the Law of Love and its application to grasp that organized religion, for people of faith can be a wonderful tool instead of a manipulative dead air box. We need to actively become more involved in our local communities, organizations, institutions….not to manipulate, but to show by our wisdom and love what it means to be a follower of Christ. Not demanding that everyone has to do and be what we demand, but that by walking side by side with those who don’t believe as we do, are worthy and all are the children of God. All. Let him through us draw others to him, not by words of conversion, but by words of acceptance and grace, and mercy and yes, again, Love.
You may tell me I have gone too far, go back! Others have said, “you have already gone too far,” and others will say “go farther.”
It is my firm belief that the Holy Spirit of God is moving, not only across this land but across this world, and that He desires that we listen to Him closely, and respond to the voice of the Lord.
Is it possible (just think about it) that you and I today, and they, are being orchestrated in a genuine movement by and of the Spirit, with a fresh breath of spiritual, practical, missional air, and that together we are being led and called into a better way of being Christian without vitriolic (cruel and bitter) words of judgement or condemnation, but words of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no LAW against these things. Galatians 5:22-23
What do you think about that? All I ask…is that you do think about it, knowing that the word think itself means to ponder, reflect, deliberate, consider, meditate, contemplate, muse, ruminate, using logic, reason, facts, and faith.
We have been given the gift of reconciliation in 2nd Corinthians 5:16-20a. (read)
PRAYER………………………Amen
July 29, 2018
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
SERMON ~ "BREATH OF THE SPIRIT"
(Genesis 2:7 "He breathed the breath of life")
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
Today’s sermon is a continuation of last weeks, in which I spoke of “Religion and Faith,” and how they can be compatible. I am going to add into this mix, the element of the Person of the Holy Spirit…..the living breath of God.
To start out, so you know where I stand theologically or doctrinally, as I move into today’s sermon, I am going to read to you my own personal beliefs which you can read along with me, because they can be found in the Apostle’s Creed.
The reason for this is I may be extending for some of you, your own boundaries, and to know that I cannot be accused to be heretic. _______________________________________
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” The breath of life is the breath of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit!
Our Christian faith, we could say, was born on a weekend, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Those three days are the birthplace of our faith, and later one day, a day to yet come, on what is known as the Day of Pentecost, the church was born.
First on what we call Good Friday, there was a painful death, a letting go. For us then and today, this represents the collapse of what we call the death, of
living by and for the Law. Religion often at its worst, while being born anew that day became a living by faith, not the letter of the Law, but the Spirit of the Law in Love. Faith as I said last week, is confidence or trust in a particular person, deity, and in our case as Christians, that is Jesus Christ, and in that he taught as to how to live…by faith.
Today, our faith for many of us, and the church specifically, needs a rebirth. A breath fresh of the living breath of the Holy Spirit, who gives life, to experience a faith that is bigger, deeper and richer . Young people are not buying into our faith as it exists. We most often offer them a boxed in religion, that has little usable air left in our box….we are content….they are not interested. Our world has become to most of them spiritually irrelevant in an age of dynamic change.
A world that most of us have trouble understanding, let alone keep up with. We could be like the Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites, withdrawing from the modern world, but then we would lose and opportunity calling to do what we in part are called to do, and that is multi-fold, as we are to a light to the world, and to be known by our yes, our love.
The latest statistics are as such: 85% in 1900 were Christians in America
81.6%...in 2001
78%..... in 2012,
75%..... in 2017
Of the 75% today, 62% say that are affiliated with an organized church.
In 28 years, Christianity has fallen by 10%, and with all the schisms and issues the church is embroiled in today, the rate is increasing dramatically of those who drop out, not only of churches, but their faith entirely. How many unbelievers would want to be a part of a faith/religion that is involved in so much in-fighting. Our “faith” is to be in Christ, in Christ alone. Structure is important for worshiping together, ministering together, being that light and life, together, together as we are told not to forsake gathering together.
They, being us, the church, and non-Believers need what we all need, and that is (though some of us grow weary of hearing it) the way of love. The problem is we have not yet grasped how many of us just do not get it. Not just for some, but for everyone. Culture is constantly changing sometimes quickly, other times over time, and more time. As we grow older, the less change we feel is better. At the same time that we are growing older, the galaxy we live in and the universe that holds over 100 billion galaxies, continues to age….and expand. That is an example for us…we too are to grow and expand. It is a natural law.
We cannot as many fundamentalists have, put aside Science, and the continual discoveries about the world, galaxy and universe we are but a speck in its vastness. We cannot bury our head in the sand and pretend these discoveries are not applicable. We cannot run with our religious tails between our legs because we don’t want to think about these things. Running scared is not who and what we are to be. All Science does is tell us what an absolutely remarkable world we live in, with a vast number of discoveries yet to be made. The wonder of it all is too big for me to comprehend, let alone understand. I bow to God in all his wisdom and creation. “do not be afraid, for I am with you, says the Lord”
Jesus Christ…..came, to fulfill the law, and in fulfilling the Law, broke the existing law of the jot and tittle mentality and observances, minute laws that imprisoned the spirit and killed the soul. In doing so, he brought into the world, a new law, the Law of Love, with the promise of new life and new potential for a whole new world within, working its way out, as he hoped, to fill the world, unfortunately we haven’t done all that well.
What have we done with this law of Spirit, grace, mercy, forgiveness? We have imprisoned it so that in many ways it looks and acts and sounds like the Old law. Do this, do that, think this way, for this is the only way, don’t go there, go here, don’t listen to them as they are deceivers and liars, believe this, don’t believe that.
In the South Christian Ministers from the pulpit for generations, preached that black people were not fully human and we had the right to enslave them. We needed desperately a fresh breath of the Spirit….but instead we opted for war, killing one another instead of accepting and loving our black brothers and sisters. This can also be said of the Native Americans…whose culture was raped and destroyed, to name a few, not that they were innocent of atrocities themselves, but we often took their children from them, trying to turn them into us.
Instead of the love of Jesus Christ we instead gave them prejudice, animosity, even hatred that continues to a degree into today. In taking away the culture of a people, we destroy their foundation that has existed for as long as they existed. Death….ran rampant across our land, their land, God’s land, but unbeknownst to anyone…the breath of life not obviously seen or heard was quietly stirring.
Now we come to the second day of the three days, which represents a silence, a contemplative pause following Friday’s loss. His disciples, and many others in confusion, and in shock and in mourning, wondering what comes next, if anything? Since Friday represented a letting go, Saturday represents sinking to the depths, a descent into a deeper vantage point. The recognition of a new reality in that death is real and what comes following death of death? Today culture is demanding changes….can we, and if we can, will we. Or like other generations before us, just moan, groan and find fault and resisting necessary change. Truly if Christianity is potentially not going to survive after we are all gone….it will be our fault. Young adults are calling us out for our lack of living up to what and who we say we are. They are also calling out for love and acceptance of all people, all races and all cultures. The minimalized, the outcasts, the very ones that Jesus himself said he came for.
Sobering, isn’t it. IF…this is to happen, needed change, we will face some tough issues, tough truths to work through. Attitude is critical in the salvation of our faith. Is that even important to us, or is it more important that at least we make it and too bad for those behind us. Friday, as I was writing this I thought to myself…what are you doing? Is this me…or is this the Spirit’s inspiration, who wants us to experience a fresh breath of renewal, speaking to and through me? In this little log church? Why don’t I just preach a nice little comforting sermon, so that I can make everybody feel good. I need to talk with other ministers to see if they too are sensing what I am.
I don’t fully understand myself, but all I can say is, I feel a deep compulsion to push a bit here. I have told you, my congregation for months, that if I can get us all to think, reason, question, discuss and shift, and think and question our faith, so that not only can we full embrace it, but fully live it.
(TEXT I RECEIVED FROM SOMEONE READING MY SERMONS IN ARIZONA)
________________________________READ___________________________________
We all need a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit, the living Spirit, the very life giving Spirit of God Himself, and in doing so, may he give us the ability to see, hear and do IF indeed this is of him. We need a basic understanding of God…a theological migration…to unleash Christianity’s potential for healing and transforming the world, by first transforming us.
Now comes the 3rd day. Sunday and having let go of so much on Friday, allowed ourselves to go to the depths of sorrow and questions on Saturday. We can now begin to rise up with a deeper understanding, a clearer vision with both spiritual and practical incentive, direction and goals, but how do we do this?
As the Jewish people migrated, we too are to be in migration in a practical, ecclesial or missional migration. We need to develop a fresh understanding of the Law of Love and its application to grasp that organized religion, for people of faith can be a wonderful tool instead of a manipulative dead air box. We need to actively become more involved in our local communities, organizations, institutions….not to manipulate, but to show by our wisdom and love what it means to be a follower of Christ. Not demanding that everyone has to do and be what we demand, but that by walking side by side with those who don’t believe as we do, are worthy and all are the children of God. All. Let him through us draw others to him, not by words of conversion, but by words of acceptance and grace, and mercy and yes, again, Love.
You may tell me I have gone too far, go back! Others have said, “you have already gone too far,” and others will say “go farther.”
It is my firm belief that the Holy Spirit of God is moving, not only across this land but across this world, and that He desires that we listen to Him closely, and respond to the voice of the Lord.
Is it possible (just think about it) that you and I today, and they, are being orchestrated in a genuine movement by and of the Spirit, with a fresh breath of spiritual, practical, missional air, and that together we are being led and called into a better way of being Christian without vitriolic (cruel and bitter) words of judgement or condemnation, but words of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no LAW against these things. Galatians 5:22-23
What do you think about that? All I ask…is that you do think about it, knowing that the word think itself means to ponder, reflect, deliberate, consider, meditate, contemplate, muse, ruminate, using logic, reason, facts, and faith.
We have been given the gift of reconciliation in 2nd Corinthians 5:16-20a. (read)
PRAYER………………………Amen
The Little Church in the Pines....
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
July 22, 2018
"religion and faith" (Their differences)
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, it's good enough for me..........................................
Hmmmm, well to me, that depends on when in time, given the expression of religion at that time, and the methodology used to maintain that "old time religion" in that time.... for "religion" can be wonderful or it can be horrendous, ugly and devastating. That hymn, or song is not in our hymnal, for which I am ok about. The intent in it is I suppose, ok, but again, as to how in particular any religion is expressed is critical.
What exactly is "religion?" And by the way the word "religion" is mentioned only 5 times in the New Testament and -0- times in the Old Testament. Religion...may be defined as a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, worldviews, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations that relates humanity to the supernatural or spiritual elements. With all that said, there is not a singular scholarly consensus as to what precisely constitutes a "religion."
Religions may or may not contain elements ranging from divinity, sacred things, or even faith...or even a supernatural entity or entities and may or may not be transcendent. Religion often contains within its sphere rituals, sermons, veneration of deity, sacrifices, festivals, feasts trances, initiations, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service which all together can give a deeper meaning to life....which all humanity desires to have, for life to have not meaning can be extremely debilitation and scary.
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide. 84% of the world's population is affiliated with one of the five major religions, namely Christianity the largest, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and then forms of local 'folk religions,' and each of these believe they are the one true religion, which is often why there is strife, division and even wars, for religion for most of humanity is vital to our lives. Religion offers various explanations for the origin of humanity, thereby giving those of us who are religious, once again, deeper meaning to our lives that we would otherwise have.
As I said above, "religion" can be wonderful, fulfilling, give meaning and comfort, but also can be horrendous, devastating, frightening and bring death, depending on who is doing what in the name of their religion for the sake of being the one true religion.
You may have heard it said that religion (usually said by atheists) is the main cause of wars and human destruction, but let me tell you, (though there are wars and death caused by religion) it is not the most prolific or main cause. In the course of human history, there have been 1,763 actual wars, of which 123, or 7% were principally religiously motivated. Is that still too many? yes. One is too many in my way of thinking.
The Huffington Post (believe it or not) published this. They wrote "objectively, (love that word, especially today) an objective look at history, reveals that those killed in the name of religion have, in fact, been but a tiny fraction in the bloody history of human wars."
Unfortunately, the cause for the majority of Christian deaths have come from within Christianity itself, and in the Crusades. In each of these, they were brought about by wars between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation with a combination of Church Power and politics. Both Kings and Queens, fostering laws backed by the Church, to prevent Protestantism from spreading and taking away the authority of The Church.
1. The Eighty Years War in which the King of Spain implemented different religious rules that the entire Spanish dynasty, to prevent once again the spread of Protestantism.
2. The Thirty Years War that was fought between 1618 and 1648 which left more than 800,000 deaths including soldiers and civilians This was between the Holy Roman Empire, again against the spread of Protestantism.
3. The French Wars of Religion between 1562 and 1598. These wars were fought between the French Catholics and again the Protestants, which also overflowed into England and beyond with deaths not only by wars by assassinations, quartering, burning people alive and torture. There is no account of the number of death during this time, but it was many.
4. There was also the German Peasant's War which for the same reasons as the others in which 200,000 poor farmers, civilians, and untrained soldiers, and of course the Crusades, which were called the Holy Wars in which over half a million were killed from 1095-1303.
Why am I speaking of these? One is because we should all know our church history as a reality check. Specifically, from history, we can clearly see that the marriage of political power and religion only brings with it destruction, because of the corruption of men through power, and self-righteousness in that there is only one religion through whom salvation is assured....and by God men who believe as such can go to any means and through any measure assure it.
Our Founding Fathers in giving us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, knew what "religion" was capable of, when married to politics, thereby calling for the separation of religion from government. But, including in the Bill of Right, the right to freely express and embrace our religion. It is a fine line and one that I can embrace by remembering in our Religion as Christians....we are saved by Grace and by Faith.
“Religion” does give us doctrine, truths to live by, parameters of behavior, and a system of beliefs that also give us comfort and assurance, plus many more virtues. But again....it is not our doctrine that saves us, it is our Savior and Lord, whose name is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of The One True God. With so many Christian denominations since the Reformation....you tell me of the 34,000 that exist today, which one is the one true doctrine? I...will cast my vote and life at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and his saving Grace before any one doctrine, relying on that singular belief in faith that I will be in His Presence on the day I pass on. That, my church family and friends is enough to make me secure and enough to make me smile in assurance of His unfathomable love.
With the combination of Religion lived right, and Faith understood as the means to salvation, and an assurance we can all stand and rejoice in the joy of our Salvation.
FAITH is confidence or trust in a particular Person, and all that He taught us as to how to live, and that Person is our Lord. Hebrews 11:1 say clearly that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
The word Faith is mentioned only 2 times in the Old Testament, and 104 times in the New. Both Jesus and the writers of the Gospels and the Letters emphasized over and over the power of "faith" in our Christian lives and walk.
A few examples...........................................................................................
1. One of two mentions of the word faith in the O.T. Isaiah 7:9 "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm."
2. Matthew 17:20 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, if you had the faith of even a small mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
3. Luke 7:50, "woman, your faith has saved you, go in peace."
4. Romans 3:27-28, "Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."
5. Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you, if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
Passing the test of faith, is by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that there is no other as the begotten Son of God, and that He is among us. It is that simple....and beautiful.
Someone once said...."Faith is like a muscle which grows stronger with use, rather than like rubber, which weakens over time with us as it is stretched."
My singular purpose in this topic today, was not to point out the past failures of The Church....but to show that history has proven time and again that a religion, any religion that joins itself together with politics, creates over time a very potentially dangerous environment often with a deadly outcome. Power as we know can corrupt, even the best of people with the best of intentions over time. Power brings with it the desire for more power, and with that power are perks that entice and corrupt.
We can and should take our faith with us everywhere we go, even in politics, but as a foundation on which to live our own lives as an example of the Lord, and as an example of what it means to be a man or woman of integrity in that walk. Incorruptible.
Religion and faith can be a beautiful combination.....and an asset to any government, when as individuals we live our faith to the fullest, while extending to men and women of other faiths, the right to the free exercise of their own faith, which means as much to them as much as ours to us. By doing so, they may see and hear from us, the beauty and strength of our faith, and desire to know why we are who we are. We are to be a light to the world.... not a ranting, finger pointing, self-righteous, arrogant, sin finding people...but as Scripture says, "they will know we are Christians by our Love." by our Love.
That Church and friends is who we are called to be, God Bless you all!
Amen
"SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO"
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
July 22, 2018
This is not a profound message on the surface….but is deeply profound if you spend enough time thinking about it, and even more profound in results if applied. It is ‘something “ we can all do” and in the course of doing, can help make the world a better place.
.....When I began preparing for this sermon/message, I tried to come up with a novel way to introduce it but could not think of anything unique, so I chose this by way of introduction. Sing ~
Thy loving-kindness is better than life
Thy loving-kindness is better than life
My lips shall praise thee, thus will I bless thee,
I will lift up my voice in thy name....
.....ok so that wasn't so unique, but it was the best I could come up with.
.....Titus 3:4-7 reads, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He save us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, So that, having been justified by His grace. We might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
.....My thought here, is that Christ having given us kindness, love, mercy, rebirth, renewal, generously being justified by grace, we in turn having been given so much freely, ought to give several of these that we are capable of giving, to others, also freely!
.....And which are we capable of giving freely? Certainly not rebirth or renewal, justification or hope of eternal life, so that leaves KINDNESS, LOVE MERCY AND GRACE. Of these, the one that I am going to focus on that we can all do....is be KIND.
.....The concept of kindness can be personal, can be the focus of a group such as a church, actually and organization of any kind, a government, a nation and even the entire world. It is a phenomenon that can be seen and felt in philosophy, religion and literature. Kindness is often regarded as the highest virtue, and with good reason.
.....It can be the compassion one feels for the troubled, the love one has for mankind in general, the concern one shows for those in need and the sympathy one extends for those in hard times. It is safe to say that Kindness is also a form of worship in that it is a major part of world religions as well. For some it is not just an attribute that on occasion is given, but a way of life in spreading joy among others, even those they do not know.
.....Kindness is a KIND of happiness that knows no boundaries, as in Christ's kindness toward us....and in His case as limitless as the universe itself. It can be in the form of small acts of our everyday lives. The kindness that makes anyone and everyone feel human and feel as though they are a part of all of humanity.
Mark Twain put it this way. "Kindness is the language spoken by the those who cannot speak, heard by the deaf and seen by the blind. It can be a smile in passing, a gentle disposition, charitable behavior, tenderness in times of need, pleasantness or concern, and compassion on all levels and to all people for others."
One small act of kindness can make our day much better, and so small as to be almost insignificant, such as another driver making space for us to get into a stream of moving traffic.
A smile can change our world. I don't know why and have never been able to get it....but I can be simply walking on a sidewalk, or in the mall and people smile at me, and of course I smile back. I have looked at my face closely in a mirror (well, not so close these days as I used to) and try and see what it is in my face that they see and do this, and quite frankly I don't see it.
.....Think of all the kind things that Jesus did. Fed thousand, as Scriptures say in the Gospels that he looked out upon the people and had compassion on them, had them sit down in groups of 50, and fed them all with just a few loaves of bread and fish.
.....He healed a man with Leprosy
.....He healed a Roman officer's servant...from a distance
.....He healed Peter's mother-in-law
.....He healed a man who was paralyzed
.....He gave life back to a young man who was the only child of a widow
.....He healed a blind and mute man
.....In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he illustrated so well that all of mankind is capable of extending kindness, even to strangers.
Those are just several of the miracles he did out of kindness and love.
Out of love and kindness he told John from the cross, to take care of Mary his mother.
He brought out of kindness and love, salvation to the woman at the well and those who followed her back to the well from the town.
Rhetoric, Book II by Aristotle declares kindness to be an emotion that drives mankind to extend help to those in need without expecting anything in return. Such an act is born out of God, who planted in the nature of mankind to those in need without expecting anything in return. Such acts of kindness are never extended for the benefit of self, and are focused only for the good of others.
Take for example how many nations and individuals aligned themselves to rescue 12 boys and one man, from deep in a cave system, not giving up but working co-operatively, saving all. Not forgetting the one who died in the process....if only....if only we as humanity could so co-operatively work together, to bring about peace in a world gone amuk. So much kindness and good to offset the bad and ugly.
Frederick Nietzsche also made a point that love and kindness are two of the most curative herbs, which also play an uncanny role in inducing human interaction. Kindness is indeed one of the godly virtues.
..According to the Bible, Kindness is considered one of the seven virtues or more specifically, it is the opposite of Envy ~ one of the Seven Deadly Sins and is, therefore known as a Contrary Virtue. The Talmud, a sacred Jewish Scripture also lays immense significance on kindness by claiming that kind deeds are equal to all the commandments in weight. (Though the Jewish leaders of Jesus day, failed to adhere to that edict)
.....A study was conducted which included more than 37 cultures of the world and around 16,000 subjects were asked to mention the most desirable trait that they wish to see in a mate. Regardless of gender, the first trait was kindness, and second preference was intelligence.
How about that....are you kind by nature of who you are at the core....of who you are? Is that a virtue that others would say and recognize in you...in me?
The kindness we show does not have to be a big thing that all the neighbors and perhaps town and beyond will see. It is doing by acts of kindness what we see close at hand, seeing and responding to the needs that we can respond to.
READ (AT ABOUT 50) next page……
Right now....ask the Lord to open your eyes, to go beyond yourself, and see how Jesus might visit you....by giving you an opportunity to be kind, and respond as He Himself would respond in Grace, Mercy, Kindness and Love. Believe me....He will give you opportunity, so that each of us can give a hand to our brethren and strangers, thereby doing it to and for Him, for in doing so we will have seen and been visited by the Lord Himself, for as my sermon title says, “THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO.”
Amen
AT ABOUT 50…………
…..At about age fifty, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy developed a profound interest in spiritual things and began studying the Gospels in earnest. Unfortunately, he rejected more than he accepted, repudiated belief in miracles, the deity of Christ, the personality of God, and the plan of salvation. Tolstoy reduced Christianity to little more than charity and good works.
He nonetheless wrote about it beautifully, and nothing sums up his philosophy better that this story which Tolstoy based on one of his favorite passages, Matthew 25:31-40
One night Martin Avdeitch, a humble shoemaker, dozing over his open bible, suddenly seemed to hear a voice saying, “Martin! Look thou into the street tomorrow, for I am coming to visit thee.” Convinced the Lord Jesus was going to visit him, Martin awoke the next morning with nervous excitement. But no one showed up that day except a succession of penniless and pitiful souls: an aged veteran, a shivering mother and newborn, an old peddler woman and frightened boy who had stolen one of her apples.
With a KIND heart, Martin cared for each person, but as evening fell, he was disappointed that Jesus had not visited hat day. Putting on his spectacles, he took up his Bible with a sigh, and opened to Matthew 25. Martin read: “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.”
“Lord, when did we do these things?”
Looking on down the page, Martin read: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Then Avdeitch understood that he vision had come true, and that his Savior had in very truth visited him that day, and that he had received Him.
May we see you in everyone Lord!
by, Pastor Tom Shanor
July 22, 2018
This is not a profound message on the surface….but is deeply profound if you spend enough time thinking about it, and even more profound in results if applied. It is ‘something “ we can all do” and in the course of doing, can help make the world a better place.
.....When I began preparing for this sermon/message, I tried to come up with a novel way to introduce it but could not think of anything unique, so I chose this by way of introduction. Sing ~
Thy loving-kindness is better than life
Thy loving-kindness is better than life
My lips shall praise thee, thus will I bless thee,
I will lift up my voice in thy name....
.....ok so that wasn't so unique, but it was the best I could come up with.
.....Titus 3:4-7 reads, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He save us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, So that, having been justified by His grace. We might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
.....My thought here, is that Christ having given us kindness, love, mercy, rebirth, renewal, generously being justified by grace, we in turn having been given so much freely, ought to give several of these that we are capable of giving, to others, also freely!
.....And which are we capable of giving freely? Certainly not rebirth or renewal, justification or hope of eternal life, so that leaves KINDNESS, LOVE MERCY AND GRACE. Of these, the one that I am going to focus on that we can all do....is be KIND.
.....The concept of kindness can be personal, can be the focus of a group such as a church, actually and organization of any kind, a government, a nation and even the entire world. It is a phenomenon that can be seen and felt in philosophy, religion and literature. Kindness is often regarded as the highest virtue, and with good reason.
.....It can be the compassion one feels for the troubled, the love one has for mankind in general, the concern one shows for those in need and the sympathy one extends for those in hard times. It is safe to say that Kindness is also a form of worship in that it is a major part of world religions as well. For some it is not just an attribute that on occasion is given, but a way of life in spreading joy among others, even those they do not know.
.....Kindness is a KIND of happiness that knows no boundaries, as in Christ's kindness toward us....and in His case as limitless as the universe itself. It can be in the form of small acts of our everyday lives. The kindness that makes anyone and everyone feel human and feel as though they are a part of all of humanity.
Mark Twain put it this way. "Kindness is the language spoken by the those who cannot speak, heard by the deaf and seen by the blind. It can be a smile in passing, a gentle disposition, charitable behavior, tenderness in times of need, pleasantness or concern, and compassion on all levels and to all people for others."
One small act of kindness can make our day much better, and so small as to be almost insignificant, such as another driver making space for us to get into a stream of moving traffic.
A smile can change our world. I don't know why and have never been able to get it....but I can be simply walking on a sidewalk, or in the mall and people smile at me, and of course I smile back. I have looked at my face closely in a mirror (well, not so close these days as I used to) and try and see what it is in my face that they see and do this, and quite frankly I don't see it.
.....Think of all the kind things that Jesus did. Fed thousand, as Scriptures say in the Gospels that he looked out upon the people and had compassion on them, had them sit down in groups of 50, and fed them all with just a few loaves of bread and fish.
.....He healed a man with Leprosy
.....He healed a Roman officer's servant...from a distance
.....He healed Peter's mother-in-law
.....He healed a man who was paralyzed
.....He gave life back to a young man who was the only child of a widow
.....He healed a blind and mute man
.....In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he illustrated so well that all of mankind is capable of extending kindness, even to strangers.
Those are just several of the miracles he did out of kindness and love.
Out of love and kindness he told John from the cross, to take care of Mary his mother.
He brought out of kindness and love, salvation to the woman at the well and those who followed her back to the well from the town.
Rhetoric, Book II by Aristotle declares kindness to be an emotion that drives mankind to extend help to those in need without expecting anything in return. Such an act is born out of God, who planted in the nature of mankind to those in need without expecting anything in return. Such acts of kindness are never extended for the benefit of self, and are focused only for the good of others.
Take for example how many nations and individuals aligned themselves to rescue 12 boys and one man, from deep in a cave system, not giving up but working co-operatively, saving all. Not forgetting the one who died in the process....if only....if only we as humanity could so co-operatively work together, to bring about peace in a world gone amuk. So much kindness and good to offset the bad and ugly.
Frederick Nietzsche also made a point that love and kindness are two of the most curative herbs, which also play an uncanny role in inducing human interaction. Kindness is indeed one of the godly virtues.
..According to the Bible, Kindness is considered one of the seven virtues or more specifically, it is the opposite of Envy ~ one of the Seven Deadly Sins and is, therefore known as a Contrary Virtue. The Talmud, a sacred Jewish Scripture also lays immense significance on kindness by claiming that kind deeds are equal to all the commandments in weight. (Though the Jewish leaders of Jesus day, failed to adhere to that edict)
.....A study was conducted which included more than 37 cultures of the world and around 16,000 subjects were asked to mention the most desirable trait that they wish to see in a mate. Regardless of gender, the first trait was kindness, and second preference was intelligence.
How about that....are you kind by nature of who you are at the core....of who you are? Is that a virtue that others would say and recognize in you...in me?
The kindness we show does not have to be a big thing that all the neighbors and perhaps town and beyond will see. It is doing by acts of kindness what we see close at hand, seeing and responding to the needs that we can respond to.
READ (AT ABOUT 50) next page……
Right now....ask the Lord to open your eyes, to go beyond yourself, and see how Jesus might visit you....by giving you an opportunity to be kind, and respond as He Himself would respond in Grace, Mercy, Kindness and Love. Believe me....He will give you opportunity, so that each of us can give a hand to our brethren and strangers, thereby doing it to and for Him, for in doing so we will have seen and been visited by the Lord Himself, for as my sermon title says, “THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO.”
Amen
AT ABOUT 50…………
…..At about age fifty, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy developed a profound interest in spiritual things and began studying the Gospels in earnest. Unfortunately, he rejected more than he accepted, repudiated belief in miracles, the deity of Christ, the personality of God, and the plan of salvation. Tolstoy reduced Christianity to little more than charity and good works.
He nonetheless wrote about it beautifully, and nothing sums up his philosophy better that this story which Tolstoy based on one of his favorite passages, Matthew 25:31-40
One night Martin Avdeitch, a humble shoemaker, dozing over his open bible, suddenly seemed to hear a voice saying, “Martin! Look thou into the street tomorrow, for I am coming to visit thee.” Convinced the Lord Jesus was going to visit him, Martin awoke the next morning with nervous excitement. But no one showed up that day except a succession of penniless and pitiful souls: an aged veteran, a shivering mother and newborn, an old peddler woman and frightened boy who had stolen one of her apples.
With a KIND heart, Martin cared for each person, but as evening fell, he was disappointed that Jesus had not visited hat day. Putting on his spectacles, he took up his Bible with a sigh, and opened to Matthew 25. Martin read: “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.”
“Lord, when did we do these things?”
Looking on down the page, Martin read: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Then Avdeitch understood that he vision had come true, and that his Savior had in very truth visited him that day, and that he had received Him.
May we see you in everyone Lord!
"COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS"
July 8, 2018
by,; PASTOR TOM SHANOR
.....Courage in both small matters and large matters takes a measure of fortitude, and calls for being sometimes brave in the face of difficulty, be it physical, mental, emotional, verbal....in thought, word or deed. It is the ability to act rightly in the face of perhaps popular opposition, and could manifest itself politically, religiously or in any other realm. It also could involve an aspect of patience and perseverance, in the ability to stay calm while listening if in conversation, or physical restraint when necessary, without interruption or shutting it down completely, either by simply to stop listening or telling someone to shut up or planting your feet firmly to keep you where you are.
.....In Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kierkregard as examples.
.....In the realm of Western Christianity, we have such contemporary notables as Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, Pope Francis, J.I. Packer, Joel Osteen and many more. Few have had the impact or position as Billy Graham or Pope Francis yet each in their own way and in their own words, have been influential to a greater or lesser degree. Each also, have displayed courage at times by differing in both thought and word, from the then current main stream of Christian thought.
.....I have had Christian friends drop our friendship, because I chose to differ with them on some aspect of our common faith. Sometimes on what I considered a small matter. In the process of the conversation, we both lost out because the conversation if it had been allowed to proceed, could have either broadened or deepened, or perhaps even changed our position, or at least changed our attitude as to how we viewed and or treated others outside our personal mainstream, if we had allowed each other the privilege of letting our thoughts be fully known....by a healthy, on-going and even deep discussion. It takes courage just to listen at times. In listening we show the person we are having a discussion with, the value of not only their thoughts but their lives.
.....In here today, gathered together in the name of and Person of Jesus Christ, we come from a collection of different doctrinal backgrounds, but the same faith. Christianity. Our closing hymn today is "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love." They being, non-Christians, and we, not necessarily being known as Methodists, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Independent, Anglican, etc., etc., etc....but by what.... our Love. Oh Lord, if only that were always so.
..... I am going to take you to a brief exchange between the disciples and Jesus.
.....But...before I do that, for those of you who are visiting with us today, I want you to understand how I see my role as a minister.
1. To love and serve the Lord, and to love the people He has given me.
2. To preach the Word.
3. To represent by word and deed, as much as an imperfect man can (that's me) Jesus Christ.
4. To help both my congregation and you, think and grow, and to challenge you to open the lid of your doctrinal box....and let in some fresh air.
5. To be accountable to both the Lord and the people He has given me to lead.
It is not our doctrine that saves us.... (if I could only get that across to people of faith) though it may give us both comfort and direction, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who saves us. We too often worship our doctrine above Him. It is Him we find our security in.
.....So...now on to the conversation which though brief, is found in Luke 9:49-50. (49) John says to Jesus, "Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn't in our group." (50) But Jesus said, "Don't stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you."
.....By using these words, He is saying we are to embrace an open-arms attitude toward Christians outside our own group. Back then there was of course, not a church and definitely not thousands of different denominations. We are to rejoice with one another when good fruit is produced by any Christian group, denomination or individual. "For we will know them by two things, their love, and the good that is produced by them…...called good fruit......and by us. .....In Idaho Falls, several times a year’s people of different denominations and even faiths, gather together to discuss their commonalities and difference. It has brought together a large number of people who desire to be healers and not dividers. Some hundreds have come, and it is a blessing. It is not about watering down what we believe, it is about having courageous conversations in a godly and peaceful manner, in order to learn about each other, love each other and accept each other, even in our differences.
.....There is another conversation in the New Testament that I want to share with you. It is between two friends. Philip and Nathanael. Philip had just been called out by the Lord and chosen by Him to become one of the soon to be twelve. (This is found in John 1:40-50) Philip immediately thought of his good friend Nathanael, went to find him, and upon doing so said, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth.” Nazareth” ….exclaimed Nathanael, “can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
…..As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is genuine son of Israel…a man of complete integrity.”
…..Nathanael had to rise above his predisposed prejudices to even go to meet this Jesus Philip was speaking of. Sometimes it literally takes courage to do so, because of what we perceive we might hear, or whom we might encounter, especially if we have a bit of knowledge about their background. Most of us are content to be comfortable where we are, and do not like to be challenged in any area of our lives. Why? We often think we are right……and only we. That my friends, is an area of pride or backed by even fear that we might be wrong. We can miss valuable lessons, valuable conversations, valuable people who can help us in our own life’s growth and journey.
…..Had Nathanael’s skepticism remained too high and had he not at least been open to Philip’s advice to “come and see.” Nathanael would have missed it. He would have missed Jesus, the very One who would not only shape his future, but the One who….for we Christians….stands at the center of history, as we learned last week on my topic of the “Impact of Jesus,” on both the secular and spiritual world we live in.
…..While it might be easier to see ourselves as Peter, who, on the one hand displays great faith, and then a lack of it moments later, I contend that we also need to see ourselves as a Nathanael. Skepticism and, in some cases even cynicism is ingrained in our American personality, as reflected in Missouri’s state motto, SHOW ME! These two, cynicism and skepticism are safeguards, but are not to be walls. In order to learn about each other and about our religious doctrines, we need (if only to understand better) have dialogue, conversations where we can share our differences without fear of backlash, reprisal or judgement.
…..If we do not dialogue, we label and ultimately dismiss the perspectives of those we worship alongside, and fail in our attempt to engage our collective mission, of bringing Christ to the world without division and strife, which truly negate our attempt to show them the Christ of Love, Peace, Salvation and unity, being of one heart and mind.
…..We need to emulate Nathanael who was willing to move from skepticism to curiosity and then openness to encounter God’s Grace. Courageous Conversation is a toolbox that individuals, local churches and denominations can use to inspire and encourage, the church and individuals to participate in what at first might be difficult. We often view these as pointless since “we won’t convince anyone to change their opinions. If we go into it with this thought, nothing will be accomplished. The purpose has to be remembered….to foster unity in the Body of Christ.
…..The purpose….so that together, we an encounter the Grace of God who is among us, just as He is this morning in all our diversity and unity.
Now…briefly, I am going to turn this conversation to a place that is practical, personal and potentially courageous. The needle is now going to point to you….and me, in our personal, interactive, everyday relationships with one another, in regards to family, friends, neighbors and even political adversaries.
…..We are told to love ourselves….”you must love yourself before you can love others.” I am not speaking of inflation of our egos, or thinking too highly of ourselves, but a health knowledge of who we are in Christ.
…..We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves….and we can learn to love ourselves by loving our neighbors.
…..We are told to love our enemies, even doing good to those who would harm us.
…..We are told to bless those who spitefully use us.
…..We are told to basically do the impossible in some of these cases, but impossible only if we attempt to do them on our own. For we can do what is impossible through Christ who enables us.
…..I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me….me!! The thing is we have to be willing to want to. Without that go ahead Lord and do them impossible in and through me….He will not and cannot without our ok.
…..To have unity in the Church and amongst one another, we must have unity within ourselves. THAT IS PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT.
…..I am going to make a few recommendations here. Get out a pen and paper, as you set some time apart to reflect, asking the Lord to sit with you at your desk or table. Even pull up a chair and make an invitation, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you….not for guilt or punishment….but for revelation of both your weaknesses and strengths. Two side by side lists.
…..The strengths you have….thank Him for them, and ask Him to enable you to use them for yourself and for others, that you may bless Him by blessing them. The strengths will outweigh the weaknesses.
…..I can guarantee He will assist you. You see, He wants you whole, He wants you healed of events like past abuse of all kinds. Give to Him those events and people if they indeed they still are available to reach. Each one…asking Him by His Spirit to heal, so that you can forgive and let go. Have a COURAGEOUS CONVERSTATION of open and honest dialogue with Jesus. Hold nothing back. Nothing.
…..If you have sinned against anyone that He brings to your mind, ask Him to show you how to first repent of that sin, and then how to ask forgiveness from that person if they are still around. Be it letter, phone call, email, whatever. As you do this….you too will receive healing and a new freedom to more deeply be the new person He has given you the opportunity to become.
…..If you are in trouble in your marriage……have a Courageous Conversation with your spouse. If difficulty with your children, do the same by being real and being honest. With your co-worker, your boss, your neighbor....your political adversary, do the same.
God continually gives us the opportunity to be healthy, happy, whole people whom He loves without prejudice or judgement, all through His dear Son, our Lord.
…..If our request for forgiveness is rejected by those we ask, we accept that and give that also to Him…to work out, but we will have done what we are asked to do and therefore can be free. For “when Christ sets us free…..we are free indeed!”
John 10:10. “The thief’s purpose (the thief being the enemy of our life and soul) is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.” Says Jesus.
Life is certainly not easy….being human is not easy all too often, but yet we have great moments of joy, happiness, satisfaction, love, side by side sometimes, like the two lists of our good qualities and not so good. Our perspective and resultant attitude along with God in our lives will make all the difference in every aspect of who we are. Amen
July 8, 2018
by,; PASTOR TOM SHANOR
.....Courage in both small matters and large matters takes a measure of fortitude, and calls for being sometimes brave in the face of difficulty, be it physical, mental, emotional, verbal....in thought, word or deed. It is the ability to act rightly in the face of perhaps popular opposition, and could manifest itself politically, religiously or in any other realm. It also could involve an aspect of patience and perseverance, in the ability to stay calm while listening if in conversation, or physical restraint when necessary, without interruption or shutting it down completely, either by simply to stop listening or telling someone to shut up or planting your feet firmly to keep you where you are.
.....In Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kierkregard as examples.
.....In the realm of Western Christianity, we have such contemporary notables as Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, Pope Francis, J.I. Packer, Joel Osteen and many more. Few have had the impact or position as Billy Graham or Pope Francis yet each in their own way and in their own words, have been influential to a greater or lesser degree. Each also, have displayed courage at times by differing in both thought and word, from the then current main stream of Christian thought.
.....I have had Christian friends drop our friendship, because I chose to differ with them on some aspect of our common faith. Sometimes on what I considered a small matter. In the process of the conversation, we both lost out because the conversation if it had been allowed to proceed, could have either broadened or deepened, or perhaps even changed our position, or at least changed our attitude as to how we viewed and or treated others outside our personal mainstream, if we had allowed each other the privilege of letting our thoughts be fully known....by a healthy, on-going and even deep discussion. It takes courage just to listen at times. In listening we show the person we are having a discussion with, the value of not only their thoughts but their lives.
.....In here today, gathered together in the name of and Person of Jesus Christ, we come from a collection of different doctrinal backgrounds, but the same faith. Christianity. Our closing hymn today is "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love." They being, non-Christians, and we, not necessarily being known as Methodists, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Independent, Anglican, etc., etc., etc....but by what.... our Love. Oh Lord, if only that were always so.
..... I am going to take you to a brief exchange between the disciples and Jesus.
.....But...before I do that, for those of you who are visiting with us today, I want you to understand how I see my role as a minister.
1. To love and serve the Lord, and to love the people He has given me.
2. To preach the Word.
3. To represent by word and deed, as much as an imperfect man can (that's me) Jesus Christ.
4. To help both my congregation and you, think and grow, and to challenge you to open the lid of your doctrinal box....and let in some fresh air.
5. To be accountable to both the Lord and the people He has given me to lead.
It is not our doctrine that saves us.... (if I could only get that across to people of faith) though it may give us both comfort and direction, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who saves us. We too often worship our doctrine above Him. It is Him we find our security in.
.....So...now on to the conversation which though brief, is found in Luke 9:49-50. (49) John says to Jesus, "Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn't in our group." (50) But Jesus said, "Don't stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you."
.....By using these words, He is saying we are to embrace an open-arms attitude toward Christians outside our own group. Back then there was of course, not a church and definitely not thousands of different denominations. We are to rejoice with one another when good fruit is produced by any Christian group, denomination or individual. "For we will know them by two things, their love, and the good that is produced by them…...called good fruit......and by us. .....In Idaho Falls, several times a year’s people of different denominations and even faiths, gather together to discuss their commonalities and difference. It has brought together a large number of people who desire to be healers and not dividers. Some hundreds have come, and it is a blessing. It is not about watering down what we believe, it is about having courageous conversations in a godly and peaceful manner, in order to learn about each other, love each other and accept each other, even in our differences.
.....There is another conversation in the New Testament that I want to share with you. It is between two friends. Philip and Nathanael. Philip had just been called out by the Lord and chosen by Him to become one of the soon to be twelve. (This is found in John 1:40-50) Philip immediately thought of his good friend Nathanael, went to find him, and upon doing so said, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth.” Nazareth” ….exclaimed Nathanael, “can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
…..As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is genuine son of Israel…a man of complete integrity.”
…..Nathanael had to rise above his predisposed prejudices to even go to meet this Jesus Philip was speaking of. Sometimes it literally takes courage to do so, because of what we perceive we might hear, or whom we might encounter, especially if we have a bit of knowledge about their background. Most of us are content to be comfortable where we are, and do not like to be challenged in any area of our lives. Why? We often think we are right……and only we. That my friends, is an area of pride or backed by even fear that we might be wrong. We can miss valuable lessons, valuable conversations, valuable people who can help us in our own life’s growth and journey.
…..Had Nathanael’s skepticism remained too high and had he not at least been open to Philip’s advice to “come and see.” Nathanael would have missed it. He would have missed Jesus, the very One who would not only shape his future, but the One who….for we Christians….stands at the center of history, as we learned last week on my topic of the “Impact of Jesus,” on both the secular and spiritual world we live in.
…..While it might be easier to see ourselves as Peter, who, on the one hand displays great faith, and then a lack of it moments later, I contend that we also need to see ourselves as a Nathanael. Skepticism and, in some cases even cynicism is ingrained in our American personality, as reflected in Missouri’s state motto, SHOW ME! These two, cynicism and skepticism are safeguards, but are not to be walls. In order to learn about each other and about our religious doctrines, we need (if only to understand better) have dialogue, conversations where we can share our differences without fear of backlash, reprisal or judgement.
…..If we do not dialogue, we label and ultimately dismiss the perspectives of those we worship alongside, and fail in our attempt to engage our collective mission, of bringing Christ to the world without division and strife, which truly negate our attempt to show them the Christ of Love, Peace, Salvation and unity, being of one heart and mind.
…..We need to emulate Nathanael who was willing to move from skepticism to curiosity and then openness to encounter God’s Grace. Courageous Conversation is a toolbox that individuals, local churches and denominations can use to inspire and encourage, the church and individuals to participate in what at first might be difficult. We often view these as pointless since “we won’t convince anyone to change their opinions. If we go into it with this thought, nothing will be accomplished. The purpose has to be remembered….to foster unity in the Body of Christ.
…..The purpose….so that together, we an encounter the Grace of God who is among us, just as He is this morning in all our diversity and unity.
Now…briefly, I am going to turn this conversation to a place that is practical, personal and potentially courageous. The needle is now going to point to you….and me, in our personal, interactive, everyday relationships with one another, in regards to family, friends, neighbors and even political adversaries.
…..We are told to love ourselves….”you must love yourself before you can love others.” I am not speaking of inflation of our egos, or thinking too highly of ourselves, but a health knowledge of who we are in Christ.
…..We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves….and we can learn to love ourselves by loving our neighbors.
…..We are told to love our enemies, even doing good to those who would harm us.
…..We are told to bless those who spitefully use us.
…..We are told to basically do the impossible in some of these cases, but impossible only if we attempt to do them on our own. For we can do what is impossible through Christ who enables us.
…..I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me….me!! The thing is we have to be willing to want to. Without that go ahead Lord and do them impossible in and through me….He will not and cannot without our ok.
…..To have unity in the Church and amongst one another, we must have unity within ourselves. THAT IS PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT.
…..I am going to make a few recommendations here. Get out a pen and paper, as you set some time apart to reflect, asking the Lord to sit with you at your desk or table. Even pull up a chair and make an invitation, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you….not for guilt or punishment….but for revelation of both your weaknesses and strengths. Two side by side lists.
…..The strengths you have….thank Him for them, and ask Him to enable you to use them for yourself and for others, that you may bless Him by blessing them. The strengths will outweigh the weaknesses.
…..I can guarantee He will assist you. You see, He wants you whole, He wants you healed of events like past abuse of all kinds. Give to Him those events and people if they indeed they still are available to reach. Each one…asking Him by His Spirit to heal, so that you can forgive and let go. Have a COURAGEOUS CONVERSTATION of open and honest dialogue with Jesus. Hold nothing back. Nothing.
…..If you have sinned against anyone that He brings to your mind, ask Him to show you how to first repent of that sin, and then how to ask forgiveness from that person if they are still around. Be it letter, phone call, email, whatever. As you do this….you too will receive healing and a new freedom to more deeply be the new person He has given you the opportunity to become.
…..If you are in trouble in your marriage……have a Courageous Conversation with your spouse. If difficulty with your children, do the same by being real and being honest. With your co-worker, your boss, your neighbor....your political adversary, do the same.
God continually gives us the opportunity to be healthy, happy, whole people whom He loves without prejudice or judgement, all through His dear Son, our Lord.
…..If our request for forgiveness is rejected by those we ask, we accept that and give that also to Him…to work out, but we will have done what we are asked to do and therefore can be free. For “when Christ sets us free…..we are free indeed!”
John 10:10. “The thief’s purpose (the thief being the enemy of our life and soul) is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.” Says Jesus.
Life is certainly not easy….being human is not easy all too often, but yet we have great moments of joy, happiness, satisfaction, love, side by side sometimes, like the two lists of our good qualities and not so good. Our perspective and resultant attitude along with God in our lives will make all the difference in every aspect of who we are. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
July 1, 2018
~ The IMPACT Of Jesus Christ ~
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..As I began to prepare for this message this morning, I started laughing to myself. Why….because I believe if the agnostics and atheists among us,really knew just how much Jesus Christ has influenced their daily lives and the world in which we all live it would drive them nuts. But then I thought, maybe they do know, and that is what drives them nuts.
…..This man Jesus from the tiny nation of Israel, not formally educated in the sense that we know of formal education, of average means, the son (though not literally) of a carpenter, whose childhood was the childhood of all the other children of His day with some exceptions, would have a deep and eternal IMPACT not only where he was raised, but throughout the entire world and for all of eternity.
…..This impact would deeply influence the Value of Human Life.
…..Compassion and Mercy
…..Marriage and the Family
…..Education
…..Government of the People throughout the entire world
…..Science
…..Art, Music and Literature
…..Freedom on many levels
…..The daily changed lives of millions
…..To my way of thinking, though all these are amazing in and of themselves, and I will cover some, maybe all of them to a degree, the last one, “the daily changed lives of millions” is the most important of all, because that one in itself is why and how all the other changes came to be.
…..Throughout human history, the impact Jesus had on the lives of people has never been surpassed. No other person has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of his followers. People who encounter the risen Christ are transformed…..from within. To the degree of that transformation is to the degree of their following the example of “being like Him” in every way possible. Not on their own power, but by the choice of submitting to Him, His teachings, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is just that simple, but involves a dedicated willingness to be transformed in both an intellectual and spiritual transformation.
…..The power of Christ knows no boundary of time or space. In our age and in ages past, many skeptics have been convinced that Christ was not the Christ, or a Christ, and set out to prove it. For example, Lew Wallace, a famous general and literary genius, was a known atheist. For two years, Wallace studied in the leading libraries of both Europe and America, seeking information that would forever destroy Christianity. While writing the second chapter of the book outlining his arguments, he suddenly found himself on his knees crying out to Jesus, “May Lord and my God.”
…..When confronted by solid indisputable evidence, he could no longer deny, but only accept that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God.
…..Similarly, the late C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University in England, was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ for years. But he, too, in intellectual honesty, submitted to Jesus Christ as his God and Savior while studying the “evidence” he had hoped would confirm his own pre-Savior beliefs.
…..Both of these men went on to write books such as Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, Ben Hur, and many more, all with a Christian foundation and theme.
…..The IMPACT of Jesus Christ, the Son of God continues to this day, influencing and changing the lives of those who in all honesty, are seeking truth…I believe at some time there will once again (because of what is coming) be great numbers come to Him, because of the events unfolding in our nation and world.
…..Christianity is responsible for the way our society is organized and for the way we currently live out our daily lives. So extensive is the Christian contribution to our laws, or economics, arts, calendar as an example, the AD. which means “the year of the Lord” meaning, the reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus, and AD counting the years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of this era. There is no zero in this schematic, so the year AD 1, immediately follows the year 1 BC. This is what he majority of the world runs on….the Judean/Christian Calendar.
…..COMPASSION AND MERCY
Kennedy and Newcombe in a book the two authors collaborated on, writing details the rise of charity in the name of Jesus over the centuries, still going on deeply and profusely without much recognition. This is in stark contrast to history before Jesus. Historians record that prior to Him, the ancient world left little trace of any compassionate and merciful organized charitable effort.
For example, Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) is a classic illustration that is still a part of our language today in pointing out this example of doing good…for even our enemies. We are all neighbors, He tells us.
There is the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, religious hospitals such as ST. Luke’s in Boise, church supported food kitchens, one of which in Idaho Falls operates lunch for the needy 7 days a week, year round. There are also thrift shops which help not only with goods, but providing jobs, and also orphanages all over the world. Idaho’s own Hope House, Home for Children of whom the couple who started this ministry was here in our service several weeks ago, the Zarybnisky’s. There are literally thousands of such ministries around the world that have changed millions of lives through Jesus Christ, giving them Hope, Compassion, Love and even Joy.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
…..Christianity exalts monogamous love, which provides the basis for a lasting and exclusive relationship between spouses, and oriented toward the rearing of children. We take the family so much for granted, yet it remains perhaps the most powerful ideal in our society. There are cultures today that still permit multiple wives, but NO multiple husbands…..even in those cultures women always come out on the short end of the bargain, so to speak.
EDUCATION
…..From the beginning of Judaism, from which Christianity is derived, there was an emphasis on the written word, hence having the Essenes Sect, who copied all Hebrew Scriptures meticulously. The phenomenon of education for the masses has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. In order to promote Biblical literacy, Christians have been leaders in education. This was accelerated with the advent of the printing press at about the same time as the Protestant Reformation. Many of the world’s languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in order for people to read the Bible. I have a nephew by marriage whom both he and his wife are involved in this very ministry in Indonesia. The very first work printed on the Gutenberg ( a German) printing press was the Bible, of which I have one page of one of the very first published. On this page are smudges that are said to perhaps be blood, because the Catholic Church did not want the public to have access to Holy Scriptures, for only the priests were allowed to teach and interpret. The punishment in time for anyone but priests reading Scriptures was imprisonment, beatings, torture and in some cases death by fire or on the rack. I am reading a book called “A Column of Fire” written by Ken Follett which is based on the history of this time period. Stunning, what is done in the name of religion.
…..I want you to know, I am NOT in any way attacking Catholicism or the Catholic Church today, but am simply stating historic facts for the purpose of relaying both positive and negative impacts of Christianity in both the, then and now world we live in.
…..The last one today I will speak on, because of Independence Day, is Christ’s IMPACT on Government. This impact is remarkable in its depth.
We also need to continue to pray, seek God and ask with our whole being that what has been given us will continue to be the foundation on which our government stands. Can you agree and say amen?
…..I did not have the time, once I started on this to include Christianity’s influence through Christ on Science, Free Enterprise and Art, Music, Literature, Medicine.
…..An overreaching theme given to the world by Christianity is the equality of human beings, and the preciousness and worth of human life.
…..At times, especially in our hideous era of slavery, we failed miserably, also during the time of Civil Rights in the sixties, and before that in our refusal to give women the right to vote. There have been grave errors in judgment as there are still today, division and strife run rampant across our nation….yet as in the past we have moved forward, usually after much in-fighting, in both the general population and in government. My hope, and my prayers are that we can, with divine help and intervention do so again today….the continuation of our Nation Under God is in peril.
…..Whatever we can do in prayer, in our own personal, every-day lives, we must do. The end of Christianity also would mean the systematic erosion of values like equal dignity and equal rights that both religious and secular people cherish. If…secularism continues to gain, so will come with it the loss of much of what we take for granted…and we will as a nation spiral downward to what depth I do not care to imagine.
…..The spirit of Christ in us, enables us to embody the wonderful qualities as given to us in the “Fruit of the Spirt, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23.)
……We are at risk as a nation…God helps us to be peacemakers and give us wisdom along a path of involvement and action, for it is not a time to become vitriolic, angry, lashing out….but a time to pray and hope and do what we can to halt the slide in a way Christ would have us do.
…...I hope this morning I have not taken too much of your time, but I felt it was important to know the IMPACT more deeply that Christ has on the world and on us, each one of us individually and collectively. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Let us have Him lead us.
Amen
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
July 1, 2018
~ The IMPACT Of Jesus Christ ~
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
…..As I began to prepare for this message this morning, I started laughing to myself. Why….because I believe if the agnostics and atheists among us,really knew just how much Jesus Christ has influenced their daily lives and the world in which we all live it would drive them nuts. But then I thought, maybe they do know, and that is what drives them nuts.
…..This man Jesus from the tiny nation of Israel, not formally educated in the sense that we know of formal education, of average means, the son (though not literally) of a carpenter, whose childhood was the childhood of all the other children of His day with some exceptions, would have a deep and eternal IMPACT not only where he was raised, but throughout the entire world and for all of eternity.
…..This impact would deeply influence the Value of Human Life.
…..Compassion and Mercy
…..Marriage and the Family
…..Education
…..Government of the People throughout the entire world
…..Science
…..Art, Music and Literature
…..Freedom on many levels
…..The daily changed lives of millions
…..To my way of thinking, though all these are amazing in and of themselves, and I will cover some, maybe all of them to a degree, the last one, “the daily changed lives of millions” is the most important of all, because that one in itself is why and how all the other changes came to be.
…..Throughout human history, the impact Jesus had on the lives of people has never been surpassed. No other person has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of his followers. People who encounter the risen Christ are transformed…..from within. To the degree of that transformation is to the degree of their following the example of “being like Him” in every way possible. Not on their own power, but by the choice of submitting to Him, His teachings, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is just that simple, but involves a dedicated willingness to be transformed in both an intellectual and spiritual transformation.
…..The power of Christ knows no boundary of time or space. In our age and in ages past, many skeptics have been convinced that Christ was not the Christ, or a Christ, and set out to prove it. For example, Lew Wallace, a famous general and literary genius, was a known atheist. For two years, Wallace studied in the leading libraries of both Europe and America, seeking information that would forever destroy Christianity. While writing the second chapter of the book outlining his arguments, he suddenly found himself on his knees crying out to Jesus, “May Lord and my God.”
…..When confronted by solid indisputable evidence, he could no longer deny, but only accept that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God.
…..Similarly, the late C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University in England, was an agnostic who denied the deity of Christ for years. But he, too, in intellectual honesty, submitted to Jesus Christ as his God and Savior while studying the “evidence” he had hoped would confirm his own pre-Savior beliefs.
…..Both of these men went on to write books such as Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, Ben Hur, and many more, all with a Christian foundation and theme.
…..The IMPACT of Jesus Christ, the Son of God continues to this day, influencing and changing the lives of those who in all honesty, are seeking truth…I believe at some time there will once again (because of what is coming) be great numbers come to Him, because of the events unfolding in our nation and world.
…..Christianity is responsible for the way our society is organized and for the way we currently live out our daily lives. So extensive is the Christian contribution to our laws, or economics, arts, calendar as an example, the AD. which means “the year of the Lord” meaning, the reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus, and AD counting the years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of this era. There is no zero in this schematic, so the year AD 1, immediately follows the year 1 BC. This is what he majority of the world runs on….the Judean/Christian Calendar.
…..COMPASSION AND MERCY
Kennedy and Newcombe in a book the two authors collaborated on, writing details the rise of charity in the name of Jesus over the centuries, still going on deeply and profusely without much recognition. This is in stark contrast to history before Jesus. Historians record that prior to Him, the ancient world left little trace of any compassionate and merciful organized charitable effort.
For example, Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) is a classic illustration that is still a part of our language today in pointing out this example of doing good…for even our enemies. We are all neighbors, He tells us.
There is the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, religious hospitals such as ST. Luke’s in Boise, church supported food kitchens, one of which in Idaho Falls operates lunch for the needy 7 days a week, year round. There are also thrift shops which help not only with goods, but providing jobs, and also orphanages all over the world. Idaho’s own Hope House, Home for Children of whom the couple who started this ministry was here in our service several weeks ago, the Zarybnisky’s. There are literally thousands of such ministries around the world that have changed millions of lives through Jesus Christ, giving them Hope, Compassion, Love and even Joy.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
…..Christianity exalts monogamous love, which provides the basis for a lasting and exclusive relationship between spouses, and oriented toward the rearing of children. We take the family so much for granted, yet it remains perhaps the most powerful ideal in our society. There are cultures today that still permit multiple wives, but NO multiple husbands…..even in those cultures women always come out on the short end of the bargain, so to speak.
EDUCATION
…..From the beginning of Judaism, from which Christianity is derived, there was an emphasis on the written word, hence having the Essenes Sect, who copied all Hebrew Scriptures meticulously. The phenomenon of education for the masses has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. In order to promote Biblical literacy, Christians have been leaders in education. This was accelerated with the advent of the printing press at about the same time as the Protestant Reformation. Many of the world’s languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in order for people to read the Bible. I have a nephew by marriage whom both he and his wife are involved in this very ministry in Indonesia. The very first work printed on the Gutenberg ( a German) printing press was the Bible, of which I have one page of one of the very first published. On this page are smudges that are said to perhaps be blood, because the Catholic Church did not want the public to have access to Holy Scriptures, for only the priests were allowed to teach and interpret. The punishment in time for anyone but priests reading Scriptures was imprisonment, beatings, torture and in some cases death by fire or on the rack. I am reading a book called “A Column of Fire” written by Ken Follett which is based on the history of this time period. Stunning, what is done in the name of religion.
…..I want you to know, I am NOT in any way attacking Catholicism or the Catholic Church today, but am simply stating historic facts for the purpose of relaying both positive and negative impacts of Christianity in both the, then and now world we live in.
…..The last one today I will speak on, because of Independence Day, is Christ’s IMPACT on Government. This impact is remarkable in its depth.
- America’s first constitution was called the Fundamental Order of Connecticut. The Puritan framers of this document required that each aspect of it be grounded in Scripture.
- At least 50 of the 55 signers of the U.S. Constitution were orthodox Christians, one Catholic.
- The concept of the checks and balances system is a direct result of the biblical doctrine of the sinfulness of mankind. All of our founders understood the importance of this doctrine to the constructed social order. Wrong and right, bad and good, etc.
- 4. America’s foundational ides of the Rule of Law rather than the authority of man traces back to the Old Testament, beginning with the 10 Commandments.
- Even the idea that all men are created equal as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is a biblical doctrine.
- The existence of what are called Moral Absolutes (a biblical concept) is an important idea in our Declaration of Independence…specifically, self-evident truths and unalienable rights from the Creator.
- Also, for example, the judicial, legislative and executive branches trace to Isaiah 33:32. Fair trials with witnesses have numerous Old Testament support.
- Regarding civil liberties, founding father John Adams (and others) emphasized 2 Corinthians 3:17 as the basis for American civil liberty. The slogan on the Liberty Bell is “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” is from Leviticus 15:10. Kennedy and Newcombe argue that Jesus Himself was the greatest civil libertarian of all time.
We also need to continue to pray, seek God and ask with our whole being that what has been given us will continue to be the foundation on which our government stands. Can you agree and say amen?
…..I did not have the time, once I started on this to include Christianity’s influence through Christ on Science, Free Enterprise and Art, Music, Literature, Medicine.
…..An overreaching theme given to the world by Christianity is the equality of human beings, and the preciousness and worth of human life.
…..At times, especially in our hideous era of slavery, we failed miserably, also during the time of Civil Rights in the sixties, and before that in our refusal to give women the right to vote. There have been grave errors in judgment as there are still today, division and strife run rampant across our nation….yet as in the past we have moved forward, usually after much in-fighting, in both the general population and in government. My hope, and my prayers are that we can, with divine help and intervention do so again today….the continuation of our Nation Under God is in peril.
…..Whatever we can do in prayer, in our own personal, every-day lives, we must do. The end of Christianity also would mean the systematic erosion of values like equal dignity and equal rights that both religious and secular people cherish. If…secularism continues to gain, so will come with it the loss of much of what we take for granted…and we will as a nation spiral downward to what depth I do not care to imagine.
…..The spirit of Christ in us, enables us to embody the wonderful qualities as given to us in the “Fruit of the Spirt, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23.)
……We are at risk as a nation…God helps us to be peacemakers and give us wisdom along a path of involvement and action, for it is not a time to become vitriolic, angry, lashing out….but a time to pray and hope and do what we can to halt the slide in a way Christ would have us do.
…...I hope this morning I have not taken too much of your time, but I felt it was important to know the IMPACT more deeply that Christ has on the world and on us, each one of us individually and collectively. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Let us have Him lead us.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Idaho
JUNE 24, 2018
The Body of Christ in "HARMONY"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
THE BODY OF CHRIST.......in Christian theology, the term Body of Christ has two main but separate meanings. It may refer to Jesus' words as he spoke over the bread at the Last Supper, saying, "This is my body" in Luke 22:19-20.
Also, it may refer to the usage of the term “the Body of Christ” by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, describing the meaning to the Christian Church. A third reference is in regards to Christ's post-resurrection body in Heaven.
There are significant differences in how Christians understand the term as used by Christ at the Last Supper, and it evolved in the Christian theology of the Eucharist, which we often refer to as Communion. For some (protestants) it may be purely symbolic, for others, (Catholic, Greek Orthodox as an example) it becomes a more literal or mystical in understanding. The term used in the Catholic Church in regards to participation in the Eucharist, interprets both the bread and juice as becoming during the taking thereof, literally the body and blood of Christ. This is called "transubstantiation."
This subject historically led to a major rift between Luther and a theologian named Zwingli....and eventually even in "Protestantism". Lutherans come the closest to the Catholic Church, but reject the Catholic stand.
My subject this morning will be focusing on Paul's words found in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. In these two books are some of the best words I have ever read on supportive, interactive, upbeat and the best of human behavior.
READ ROMANS 12 (stop) then......(me) read up to "HARMONY" Louise and Lorrie, would you come up please....I would like you to do me a favor as an illustration, by singing a song in "HARMONY" so that we can have a better understanding of the meaning of the word. Can you think of one?
SING
Thank you, well done! Harmony, as we have just heard in music, uses the process in and with the composition of individual sounds, simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches, tones, notes, or chords connected by the principles that govern them. Actually, there is much more to harmony, both in music and human interaction that what I just tried to clarify. Fortunately the song sung by Louise and Lorrie most likely did the job better than my words.
Moving along into 1st Corinthians 12, but I will be coming back to Romans 12.
WE....Believers in and adherents to the Lord Jesus Christ are representing Jesus by all that we do and say. Not only with one another, but also in our communities, in our nation and to the world.
My questions are....are we in harmony, are we in unity, doing a good job at representing Him? 1 Corinthians 1:12-27a, is subtitled, “One Body with Many Parts.” READ verses 12 - 27a.
I look out at those of you I know, and are a part of this body in The Little Church in the Pines, and who and what do I see? Some of you are hands, some of you are heads, some of you are eyes, some ears, some of you other hidden parts....some of you are outgoing, some shy, some somewhere in the middle. You....are all important, all. No matter your role that may be obvious, or your role that is seldom seen, but always present. Some of you more quiet ones may be holding us all together by your prayers, some of you by your hands, all of you by your hearts and spirits, for we are one in the Spirit and we are one in the Lord, by the fact that we are Believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You are all essential to what the Lord wants to do here, and how he wants to be seen.
We care for one another. Though we have different personalities, and in the natural we are drawn often to those with whom we seems simply drawn to, and here as in all churches there are sub-gatherings, who for reasons of personality become close and do things together. There is nothing wrong in that, but there is if we with purpose and learning to our natural inclinations exclude others. None of us are perfect....no, not one, for in Romans 12 we heard these words. Paul says, "I give you this warning.
"Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves by faith God has given us." Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. "US" WE are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other."
We have to be better than how the world in its often judgmental approach resolves differences....but unfortunately or fortunately we can sometimes learn from them. We have no right to lean to our natural inclinations in the Body of Christ. No right. All are equal in His eyes.
He goes on to say as I read, "don't just pretend to love others. Really love them!!! If you don't naturally, work on it. Find out something that is lovable about them...and tell them. It will make both of you feel good.
This I have seen time and time again. "When God's people are in need, be ready to help them." That is often when we let go of our prejudices and ill thoughts....because compassion and sympathy rises to the top, leaving underneath all the negativity up to that time we harbored. Why wait until pain, loss, tragedy come along. Why? Do now what God would have us do daily.
Paul's words next spoken take us on and up to the next step, which is vital in our Christian walk.
1. "Bless those that persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them." Can we do that....? We are told, "We can do all things through Christ that enables us." If...we make the choice to do so and if we do this we are truly being Christ's body in this church, in this community. Will....we?
2. Don’t be full of pride, but enjoy the company of ordinary people," and (I put this in capital letter here) DON'T THINK YOU KNOW IT ALL, AND I WILL ADD...DON'T THINK YOUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY! That is PRIDE!
Be people of grace, people of compassion, people of light, people of life, people of happiness, people of acceptance....of joy, of laughter...of wisdom and knowledge.
3. NEVER (another capitalized word) NEVER pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable, but not to gain recognition for yourself, but because it is what the Lord would have you do and be as a part of the Body of Christ. If you want recognition or thanks or accolades....you are doing what you are doing for all the wrong reasons.
Dear friends....NEVER take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.
PAM...... (Discordant playing on the piano)
If you do with the wrong motives....or are overtly prideful....or think you know it all....and think your way is the only way......no one is truly blessed, and how it affects the Body of Christ has just been exampled by Pam. Discord....lack of harmony, lack of peace, joy, laughter, grace, mercy, goodness....come from real and true humility.
If...people say thank you....or acknowledge a good deed, or even give you an award or recognition...there is nothing wrong with that, and as it is good to recognize these things, but NEEDING AND WORKING TOWARD THEM IS NOT WHO WE ARE TO BE....BECAUSE IT IS NOT WHO CHRIST EXAMPLED IN HIS LIFE FOR US TO BE.
Paul goes on to say...."Instead, if you enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink."
We are called to always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults....because of your love! That is awesome, awesome, awesome....."Making allowances for each other's faults."
A man reportedly came to the British pastor Charles H. Spurgeon looking for the perfect church. The famous preacher told him he had many good people in his congregation, but a Judas could also be among them. After all, even Jesus had a traitor in the company of His apostles. He went on to say that some most likely were walking in disobedience, as had been the case among the believers at Rome, Corinth, Galatia and Sardis.
"My church is not the one you're looking for," said Spurgeon. "But, if you should happen to find such a church, I beg you not to join it, for you would spoil the whole thing.
You see...it's not perfection in the body of Christ that makes a healthy body. It is love. The love of Christ. It is not status, occupation, race, education, rich or poor, handsome or homely, tall or short, skinny or heavy set. It is being one in the Spirit and one in the Lord, and this often takes the reeducation of our minds through these truths, that help bring about our change of heart.
HARMONY.....can only be achieved by the above and by both our outlook and our attitude. These are reflected in our words and deeds. Can we say to ourselves....Lord, I want to be more like you, can truly say this with every fiber of our being. Lord, I want to be more like you.
Let that be our prayer.............and if achieved, we truly will be as the Body of Christ in Island Park....in HARMONY.
Amen..........................
Macks Inn, Idaho
JUNE 24, 2018
The Body of Christ in "HARMONY"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
THE BODY OF CHRIST.......in Christian theology, the term Body of Christ has two main but separate meanings. It may refer to Jesus' words as he spoke over the bread at the Last Supper, saying, "This is my body" in Luke 22:19-20.
Also, it may refer to the usage of the term “the Body of Christ” by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, describing the meaning to the Christian Church. A third reference is in regards to Christ's post-resurrection body in Heaven.
There are significant differences in how Christians understand the term as used by Christ at the Last Supper, and it evolved in the Christian theology of the Eucharist, which we often refer to as Communion. For some (protestants) it may be purely symbolic, for others, (Catholic, Greek Orthodox as an example) it becomes a more literal or mystical in understanding. The term used in the Catholic Church in regards to participation in the Eucharist, interprets both the bread and juice as becoming during the taking thereof, literally the body and blood of Christ. This is called "transubstantiation."
This subject historically led to a major rift between Luther and a theologian named Zwingli....and eventually even in "Protestantism". Lutherans come the closest to the Catholic Church, but reject the Catholic stand.
My subject this morning will be focusing on Paul's words found in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. In these two books are some of the best words I have ever read on supportive, interactive, upbeat and the best of human behavior.
READ ROMANS 12 (stop) then......(me) read up to "HARMONY" Louise and Lorrie, would you come up please....I would like you to do me a favor as an illustration, by singing a song in "HARMONY" so that we can have a better understanding of the meaning of the word. Can you think of one?
SING
Thank you, well done! Harmony, as we have just heard in music, uses the process in and with the composition of individual sounds, simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches, tones, notes, or chords connected by the principles that govern them. Actually, there is much more to harmony, both in music and human interaction that what I just tried to clarify. Fortunately the song sung by Louise and Lorrie most likely did the job better than my words.
Moving along into 1st Corinthians 12, but I will be coming back to Romans 12.
WE....Believers in and adherents to the Lord Jesus Christ are representing Jesus by all that we do and say. Not only with one another, but also in our communities, in our nation and to the world.
My questions are....are we in harmony, are we in unity, doing a good job at representing Him? 1 Corinthians 1:12-27a, is subtitled, “One Body with Many Parts.” READ verses 12 - 27a.
I look out at those of you I know, and are a part of this body in The Little Church in the Pines, and who and what do I see? Some of you are hands, some of you are heads, some of you are eyes, some ears, some of you other hidden parts....some of you are outgoing, some shy, some somewhere in the middle. You....are all important, all. No matter your role that may be obvious, or your role that is seldom seen, but always present. Some of you more quiet ones may be holding us all together by your prayers, some of you by your hands, all of you by your hearts and spirits, for we are one in the Spirit and we are one in the Lord, by the fact that we are Believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You are all essential to what the Lord wants to do here, and how he wants to be seen.
We care for one another. Though we have different personalities, and in the natural we are drawn often to those with whom we seems simply drawn to, and here as in all churches there are sub-gatherings, who for reasons of personality become close and do things together. There is nothing wrong in that, but there is if we with purpose and learning to our natural inclinations exclude others. None of us are perfect....no, not one, for in Romans 12 we heard these words. Paul says, "I give you this warning.
"Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves by faith God has given us." Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. "US" WE are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other."
We have to be better than how the world in its often judgmental approach resolves differences....but unfortunately or fortunately we can sometimes learn from them. We have no right to lean to our natural inclinations in the Body of Christ. No right. All are equal in His eyes.
He goes on to say as I read, "don't just pretend to love others. Really love them!!! If you don't naturally, work on it. Find out something that is lovable about them...and tell them. It will make both of you feel good.
This I have seen time and time again. "When God's people are in need, be ready to help them." That is often when we let go of our prejudices and ill thoughts....because compassion and sympathy rises to the top, leaving underneath all the negativity up to that time we harbored. Why wait until pain, loss, tragedy come along. Why? Do now what God would have us do daily.
Paul's words next spoken take us on and up to the next step, which is vital in our Christian walk.
1. "Bless those that persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them." Can we do that....? We are told, "We can do all things through Christ that enables us." If...we make the choice to do so and if we do this we are truly being Christ's body in this church, in this community. Will....we?
2. Don’t be full of pride, but enjoy the company of ordinary people," and (I put this in capital letter here) DON'T THINK YOU KNOW IT ALL, AND I WILL ADD...DON'T THINK YOUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY! That is PRIDE!
Be people of grace, people of compassion, people of light, people of life, people of happiness, people of acceptance....of joy, of laughter...of wisdom and knowledge.
3. NEVER (another capitalized word) NEVER pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable, but not to gain recognition for yourself, but because it is what the Lord would have you do and be as a part of the Body of Christ. If you want recognition or thanks or accolades....you are doing what you are doing for all the wrong reasons.
Dear friends....NEVER take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.
PAM...... (Discordant playing on the piano)
If you do with the wrong motives....or are overtly prideful....or think you know it all....and think your way is the only way......no one is truly blessed, and how it affects the Body of Christ has just been exampled by Pam. Discord....lack of harmony, lack of peace, joy, laughter, grace, mercy, goodness....come from real and true humility.
If...people say thank you....or acknowledge a good deed, or even give you an award or recognition...there is nothing wrong with that, and as it is good to recognize these things, but NEEDING AND WORKING TOWARD THEM IS NOT WHO WE ARE TO BE....BECAUSE IT IS NOT WHO CHRIST EXAMPLED IN HIS LIFE FOR US TO BE.
Paul goes on to say...."Instead, if you enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink."
We are called to always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults....because of your love! That is awesome, awesome, awesome....."Making allowances for each other's faults."
A man reportedly came to the British pastor Charles H. Spurgeon looking for the perfect church. The famous preacher told him he had many good people in his congregation, but a Judas could also be among them. After all, even Jesus had a traitor in the company of His apostles. He went on to say that some most likely were walking in disobedience, as had been the case among the believers at Rome, Corinth, Galatia and Sardis.
"My church is not the one you're looking for," said Spurgeon. "But, if you should happen to find such a church, I beg you not to join it, for you would spoil the whole thing.
You see...it's not perfection in the body of Christ that makes a healthy body. It is love. The love of Christ. It is not status, occupation, race, education, rich or poor, handsome or homely, tall or short, skinny or heavy set. It is being one in the Spirit and one in the Lord, and this often takes the reeducation of our minds through these truths, that help bring about our change of heart.
HARMONY.....can only be achieved by the above and by both our outlook and our attitude. These are reflected in our words and deeds. Can we say to ourselves....Lord, I want to be more like you, can truly say this with every fiber of our being. Lord, I want to be more like you.
Let that be our prayer.............and if achieved, we truly will be as the Body of Christ in Island Park....in HARMONY.
Amen..........................
The Little Church in the Pines
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
June 3, 2018
This is the Day!!
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
PSALM 118:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made....let us rejoice and be glad in it." I'm going to read it again...........
As I shared last week, too often we live in the future for the next new thing, new place, new, event, new person, ad infinitum, forgetting that this is the day that we have.... and to live and to live as fully as we can in this day.
This particular verse for the more stoic of us, might pose a potential problem, because for many of us, order, quiet, low key and being comfortably safe, are key elements in our lives that we sometimes desperately need to exercise control of....no matter the cost. It is who we are and it's how we choose to live. Nothing wrong with that, except at times.
BUT.....we also relegate God to our confining box, unable to see that God has many dimensions and many facets of His personality different from ours, and yes, God has a personality as both reflected in the Old Testament, and in Christ in the New Testament. Jesus said, "when you see me, you see the Father." He is the NEW manifestation of God to all of mankind.
I ask you this morning a question in regards to an aspect of God and His personality that many of us are unfamiliar with, and which just might make us that uncomfortable I was speaking of. In our new study, "Meeting God" the first chapter starts out with this. "Some people think of God as the impersonal soul of the universe, or the sum total of everything that is. Others like to believe he is kindly grandfather in the sky out there, but always available to grant our requests. Still others see God as an absentee landlord who created the world and then went off to a celestial Acapulco for an extended vacation. There is not a universally agreed on definition of 'God,' and ideas about him vary from person to person, denominations to denomination and religion to religion.
Well...here, backed up by Scripture is that other portrait of God that we have difficulty at times grasping. That would be the God of JOY, HAPPINESS, CELEBRATION, DANCE, SONG, and this upbeat list goes on with these descriptions and their derivatives.
SO....this morning, I am as stated, going to use Scripture and some personal insights and illustrations to back up this, or these aspects of God's personality. Jesus also had a few things to say in regards to this subject. All of these words involve something that could again, make us rather uncomfortable, especially in our church gatherings apart from pre and post service times we spend together.
Now...we have no problem with singing, unless it is too expressive as in this example. Psalm 100 starts out with the word SHOUT. “Shout with joy to the Lord all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him singing with Joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and go into his courts with praise.
SHOUT….JOY EXPRESSED, GLADNESS, SINGING WITH JOY AND PRAISE.
SHOUT with JOY all the earth! Express to him the love that we have for him.
Here is another one from Psalm 47. For some of you, this one might curl your hair….but remember, its God’s word…HOLY Scripture.
I’m quoting here. COME, EVERYONE! CLAP YOUR HANDS!
SHOUT TO GOD WITH JOYFUL PRAISE!
Clapping in the church….God forbid, totally irreverent….wrong! There is a time and a reason to offer up to God shouts, expressed in the emotion of our love and gratefulness to him and to clap our hands in enthusiasm and joy.
Here is the somewhat contemporary version of those verses put to song.
Yes, you have to listen to me sing it.
Clap your hands, all you people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
Clap your hands, all you people, shout unto God with a voice of praise.
Hosanna, Hosanna, shout unto God with a voice of triumph, praise him, praise him, shout unto God with a voice of praise.
Colossians 3:16b. “Sing Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord with thankful hearts.”
Thankfulness is backed up by both rational and emotional responses, to a great variety of events, people and situations.
So….as you know, we can’t fall-in-love without emotion and we definitely can’t express love without emotion. Well, I suppose we can as I think about it, by the performing an act of some kind that is obviously or subtly loving, but behind that action is emotion. It is a vital, healthy God-given gift to us. Is there a place of balance in emotion expressed…of course…but, we don’t have to check our feelings at the door of our church before walking in. Do some people get carried away? Yes…I’ve seen, and in a few of my past services (not here) where I have had to stop the service, to stop the person from expressing themselves as they were, as they were not honoring the Lord, but simply and overtly drawing attention to themselves. Emotion it is nothing to fear…but it is to be discerned as appropriate or inappropriate by the minister or leader of that gathering.
Billy Sunday said, “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
Charles Spurgeon, a famous minister/writer said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in Joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. “A merry heart does good like a medicine, a merry heart is the joy of the Lord.”
In 2nd Samuel 6, King David is returning the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, because the Philistines had captured it and taken it. David made a few serious mistakes in the way it was being carried back, but through those acts decided to carry it the correct way and was so joyous and happy that it was going home, that he danced before the Lord. In verse 14, “David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.” He was criticized by his first wife Michael, which had some serious consequences for her. In his retort he said in verse 21. “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family!
God of SONG, of JOY, of even DANCE. In a Methodist Church I filled in for, and pastored one summer in Florence, Oregon….we had two little girls who were sisters, ages 3 and 5, who when the music began, would get up from their seats and twirl, and dance up the center aisle. To me…it was a pure expression of their JOY as young as they were…to express what they were feeling. It was charming and it was Joyful to watch, though one ‘old’ curmudgeon complained every week, and that I had to stop them. I didn’t and wouldn’t. He never came to like me and was glad when I left. So be it!
Also….and what I am about to share was a rare even for me. One, that happened only two times in all my years of ministry. It was in Lander, Wyoming, where we had started our second church, the first being in Star Valley, Wyoming. It was during our singing that morning during the service that I felt, truly felt the Lord wanted ‘me’ to dance before him and the congregation. It was so strong, that I could not say no. Yes, I did so, obediently and in confidence that it was of the Lord. No one else joined me. After the service that morning I had people thank me for being obedient to the Lord, and that they were blessed….and then my wife during lunch told me this. “Do you know who was dancing with you? I said….no one! She said, Tom, I ‘saw’ Jesus dancing with you. I was moved deeply…..as I am to this day when I think about it…..rarely ever talking about it. What a gift I was given that day by my willingness and obedience.
In my Bible I looked up the meaning of dance…..and the meaning and description is written as this. “To move up and down in a quick or lively manner.” Now, I don’t want you to worry that suddenly I am going to break into dance….or even break-dance, but….what I have to be, is be open to the Holy Spirit and obey him above myself, or what you might think of me if he calls me to do something that might make myself or yourself uncomfortable. But really…I hope not, as probably you do too! Smile.
We should want to please the Lord….in as many ways and places as possible. Being people of Joy…laughter, worship, of the word, examples by our actions of what it means to be Christian, should be important to us individually and as the ‘body of Christ’ in the Little Church in the Pines. We have nothing to prove….we are to simply ‘be’ who and what he has called us to be.
Reflections of him, obedient to him….and true to him and to one another.
To be willing to move out of the box of religion we often create, and into the Spirit of Truth and Life, and that abundantly! One of joy, peace, sometimes sorrow, sometimes laughter and so much more. As Solomon said…there is a season and a time for everything under heaven.
I’m going to finish with Isaiah 55, verses 6 through 12.
PRAYER……
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
June 3, 2018
This is the Day!!
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
PSALM 118:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made....let us rejoice and be glad in it." I'm going to read it again...........
As I shared last week, too often we live in the future for the next new thing, new place, new, event, new person, ad infinitum, forgetting that this is the day that we have.... and to live and to live as fully as we can in this day.
This particular verse for the more stoic of us, might pose a potential problem, because for many of us, order, quiet, low key and being comfortably safe, are key elements in our lives that we sometimes desperately need to exercise control of....no matter the cost. It is who we are and it's how we choose to live. Nothing wrong with that, except at times.
BUT.....we also relegate God to our confining box, unable to see that God has many dimensions and many facets of His personality different from ours, and yes, God has a personality as both reflected in the Old Testament, and in Christ in the New Testament. Jesus said, "when you see me, you see the Father." He is the NEW manifestation of God to all of mankind.
I ask you this morning a question in regards to an aspect of God and His personality that many of us are unfamiliar with, and which just might make us that uncomfortable I was speaking of. In our new study, "Meeting God" the first chapter starts out with this. "Some people think of God as the impersonal soul of the universe, or the sum total of everything that is. Others like to believe he is kindly grandfather in the sky out there, but always available to grant our requests. Still others see God as an absentee landlord who created the world and then went off to a celestial Acapulco for an extended vacation. There is not a universally agreed on definition of 'God,' and ideas about him vary from person to person, denominations to denomination and religion to religion.
Well...here, backed up by Scripture is that other portrait of God that we have difficulty at times grasping. That would be the God of JOY, HAPPINESS, CELEBRATION, DANCE, SONG, and this upbeat list goes on with these descriptions and their derivatives.
SO....this morning, I am as stated, going to use Scripture and some personal insights and illustrations to back up this, or these aspects of God's personality. Jesus also had a few things to say in regards to this subject. All of these words involve something that could again, make us rather uncomfortable, especially in our church gatherings apart from pre and post service times we spend together.
Now...we have no problem with singing, unless it is too expressive as in this example. Psalm 100 starts out with the word SHOUT. “Shout with joy to the Lord all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him singing with Joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and go into his courts with praise.
SHOUT….JOY EXPRESSED, GLADNESS, SINGING WITH JOY AND PRAISE.
SHOUT with JOY all the earth! Express to him the love that we have for him.
Here is another one from Psalm 47. For some of you, this one might curl your hair….but remember, its God’s word…HOLY Scripture.
I’m quoting here. COME, EVERYONE! CLAP YOUR HANDS!
SHOUT TO GOD WITH JOYFUL PRAISE!
Clapping in the church….God forbid, totally irreverent….wrong! There is a time and a reason to offer up to God shouts, expressed in the emotion of our love and gratefulness to him and to clap our hands in enthusiasm and joy.
Here is the somewhat contemporary version of those verses put to song.
Yes, you have to listen to me sing it.
Clap your hands, all you people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
Clap your hands, all you people, shout unto God with a voice of praise.
Hosanna, Hosanna, shout unto God with a voice of triumph, praise him, praise him, shout unto God with a voice of praise.
Colossians 3:16b. “Sing Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord with thankful hearts.”
Thankfulness is backed up by both rational and emotional responses, to a great variety of events, people and situations.
So….as you know, we can’t fall-in-love without emotion and we definitely can’t express love without emotion. Well, I suppose we can as I think about it, by the performing an act of some kind that is obviously or subtly loving, but behind that action is emotion. It is a vital, healthy God-given gift to us. Is there a place of balance in emotion expressed…of course…but, we don’t have to check our feelings at the door of our church before walking in. Do some people get carried away? Yes…I’ve seen, and in a few of my past services (not here) where I have had to stop the service, to stop the person from expressing themselves as they were, as they were not honoring the Lord, but simply and overtly drawing attention to themselves. Emotion it is nothing to fear…but it is to be discerned as appropriate or inappropriate by the minister or leader of that gathering.
Billy Sunday said, “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
Charles Spurgeon, a famous minister/writer said, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in Joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. “A merry heart does good like a medicine, a merry heart is the joy of the Lord.”
In 2nd Samuel 6, King David is returning the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, because the Philistines had captured it and taken it. David made a few serious mistakes in the way it was being carried back, but through those acts decided to carry it the correct way and was so joyous and happy that it was going home, that he danced before the Lord. In verse 14, “David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.” He was criticized by his first wife Michael, which had some serious consequences for her. In his retort he said in verse 21. “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family!
God of SONG, of JOY, of even DANCE. In a Methodist Church I filled in for, and pastored one summer in Florence, Oregon….we had two little girls who were sisters, ages 3 and 5, who when the music began, would get up from their seats and twirl, and dance up the center aisle. To me…it was a pure expression of their JOY as young as they were…to express what they were feeling. It was charming and it was Joyful to watch, though one ‘old’ curmudgeon complained every week, and that I had to stop them. I didn’t and wouldn’t. He never came to like me and was glad when I left. So be it!
Also….and what I am about to share was a rare even for me. One, that happened only two times in all my years of ministry. It was in Lander, Wyoming, where we had started our second church, the first being in Star Valley, Wyoming. It was during our singing that morning during the service that I felt, truly felt the Lord wanted ‘me’ to dance before him and the congregation. It was so strong, that I could not say no. Yes, I did so, obediently and in confidence that it was of the Lord. No one else joined me. After the service that morning I had people thank me for being obedient to the Lord, and that they were blessed….and then my wife during lunch told me this. “Do you know who was dancing with you? I said….no one! She said, Tom, I ‘saw’ Jesus dancing with you. I was moved deeply…..as I am to this day when I think about it…..rarely ever talking about it. What a gift I was given that day by my willingness and obedience.
In my Bible I looked up the meaning of dance…..and the meaning and description is written as this. “To move up and down in a quick or lively manner.” Now, I don’t want you to worry that suddenly I am going to break into dance….or even break-dance, but….what I have to be, is be open to the Holy Spirit and obey him above myself, or what you might think of me if he calls me to do something that might make myself or yourself uncomfortable. But really…I hope not, as probably you do too! Smile.
We should want to please the Lord….in as many ways and places as possible. Being people of Joy…laughter, worship, of the word, examples by our actions of what it means to be Christian, should be important to us individually and as the ‘body of Christ’ in the Little Church in the Pines. We have nothing to prove….we are to simply ‘be’ who and what he has called us to be.
Reflections of him, obedient to him….and true to him and to one another.
To be willing to move out of the box of religion we often create, and into the Spirit of Truth and Life, and that abundantly! One of joy, peace, sometimes sorrow, sometimes laughter and so much more. As Solomon said…there is a season and a time for everything under heaven.
I’m going to finish with Isaiah 55, verses 6 through 12.
PRAYER……
the Little Church in the Pines
May 26, 2018
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
SERMON ~ "THEY THAT WAIT"
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strenth, they will rise up with wings of eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint." Teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait.
~ To wait...and to have patience, most of the time are one in the same. Waiting for a fish to bite, standing in line at the grocery store, airport, waiting for results from lab work, MRI, waiting for the beginning of our vacation, the birth of a child, grandchild......and any other literally millions of things, events and people that take place in the future often cause us to be impatient, anxious, restless, even angry.
~ In living this way...for what is in the future, be it 10 minutes off or 10 years off, we lose the time we have at hand. Time to live in the now! Our lives go by without having fully lived in the present, which is all that we know, really know that we have. An unexpected turn of someone's car into our own, a man sitting on his porch this last week in Hawaii, when suddenly a volcanic lava bomb crashes through his porch roof, shattering his right leg. Why does this moment, or why should this moment, even right now, sitting here in this little church mean more than we think it does. Simply because we are right here, right now.
~ Some of you may be thinking about where you are going on your four-wheeler after the service, or your old friend, your fishing pole is sitting in the corner just waiting for you to pick it up, or your outdoor chaise lounge on your porch is calling your name....Bill, come to me, come to me and I will give you rest.
~ So much in life is about waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, sigh long and loud, fretting inwardly in frustration. When is he ever going to be finished up there?
~ God might be saying...listen, and hear what I am speaking to you and you that need to hear.
~ Waiting is one of life's best teachers for in it we learn the virtue of.....well, waiting, waiting patiently while God unseen and seen works in us and for us. It is his desire and for our good, that we develop patience and endurance...along with those, the ability to trust even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for.
~Sometimes This trial of waiting...and learning patience I'm afraid for most of us is a tough one to learn. In the spiritual side of our lives, not so hard because we do not often take that side of our lives as seriously as we take the physical, emotional, mental side of our lives. We often relegate our spiritual lives to simply coming together on Sunday morning in attending our worship service. It's kind of ironic how long an hour seems Sunday morning, worshiping God, and how short that hour seems when we spend it fishing, playing golf, bridge...or spending that time in our chaise lounge on the porch.
~ I have to admit that I work with the goals in mind, because you do come, to attempt to do several things. One...use Scripture always (not the news of the day) as my foundation for what I speak on, second to challenge you with it, and third, to make you think, fourth, to cause you to grow, fifth, reveal to you the Person and Presence of our Friend an Savior, Jesus Christ. Sixth....I try to do all this in such a way as to keep your interest during your time here. Seventh, to build deeper relationships amongst us who consider this our spiritual home, and eighth, to welcome and encourage every person who comes through our doors, stranger or friend.
~ Here is an excellent illustration of patience, besides spending 20-25 minutes listen to me.
~ We all know that there are Chinese bamboo trees of which the Pandas live primarily off of consuming 20-30 pounds a day.
~ Well, the Chinese plant a bamboo seed; they water and fertilize it, and the first year nothing happens. The second, third and fourth year, watering and fertilizing....nothing happens, not even a shoot. Then the fifth year, once again watering and fertilizing it, it beings to grow, and in a period of six weeks that fifth season, grows roughly ninety feet. The question is, did it grown ninety feet in six weeks, or did it grown ninety feet in five years. The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years, because for the first four it was growing a root system that would support that ninety feet of growth in six short weeks.
~ The obvious fact it....what really counts in our lives, is both what and how we grow inside our minds, hearts and spirits by the work we do in all of these areas, by what we feed ourselves with. When difficulty comes, and come it will, because that is just the way life is, will we be able to stand when they happen...or fall because we have not taken the time or energy to build a root system or foundation under us that goes deep, able to support us when the winds and earthquakes of life assail us?
~ It is never too late to begin.....the time is always right now...and now IS the time. One of John F. Kennedy's favorite stories concerned French General Louis Lyautey. After World War I, the general asked his gardener to plant an oak tree in a particular area of his estate. The gardener noted to the general, that the tree that he had chosen was slow-growing and would not reach maturity for nearly a century, and did the general really want such a slow growing Oak, for there were some that would grow much faster. The General's response was, "In that case, there is no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon."
~ In regards to our spiritual lives.....there is not a better time to start, than today. For today is what we know we have.
~ Now back to my foundational Scripture in Isaiah 40:31. "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall rise up with wings of eagles, they will walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint, teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait."
~ It is proven time and time and time again, that those who spend time cultivating their life in God through Christ are those who when difficulties assail them....come through the storms not untouched, but with an inward strength and the ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength they have through their knowledge and relationship with him. Being a Believer is no protection from the hard times in life....it is simply that we have the Creator at our side through it all. Through it all....and we also have each other of the same faith and relationship...as we are family.
~ We shall rise up with wings as eagles....have you ever watched an eagle rise, and how little they flap their wings...for they simply catch an up draft effortlessly...and go from one to the next when it comes along, eventually rising to sometimes over 10,000 feet, soaring elegantly, effortlessly and beautifully. This is how we too....with God as our wings, staying in his updrafts....take us to great heights, even when through events and illness and circumstances that seem to weigh us down, he desires to carry us up, if we will let him....by getting to first walk with him, and talk with him, along life's narrow way.
Three things I want to finish with………
1. Let God be your hope. (2 Chronicles 20:12) "Our eyes are set upon you." "My eyes are ever on the Lord."
2. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) Wait quietly on the Lord, patiently getting to know him.
3. Give ourselves to him. Submitting our wills to his, for he works through and in all things, for our own good.
~As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, he will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us because he wants to renew our strength at the end of whatever it is we go through. In these times if we allow him, he builds us into men and women after his own image.
~I am finishing with number 3 above, Romans 8:28 from the Message, "We can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God, are worked into something good."
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience....in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, he wrote, "nothing is more noticeable than the quiet, even poise of His life. Never flustered whatever happened, never taken off His guard, however assailed by men or demons in the midst of fickle people, hostile rulers faithless disciples….always calm always collected. Christ the hard worker indeed....but doing no more, and no less, than God has appointed Him to do, with no restlessness, no hurry, no worry. Was ever such a peaceful life lived, under conditions so unsettling.
"He who waits on God loses no time, but gain love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation. To God be the glory…………………
Amen
May 26, 2018
Macks Inn, Island Park, Idaho
SERMON ~ "THEY THAT WAIT"
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strenth, they will rise up with wings of eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint." Teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait.
~ To wait...and to have patience, most of the time are one in the same. Waiting for a fish to bite, standing in line at the grocery store, airport, waiting for results from lab work, MRI, waiting for the beginning of our vacation, the birth of a child, grandchild......and any other literally millions of things, events and people that take place in the future often cause us to be impatient, anxious, restless, even angry.
~ In living this way...for what is in the future, be it 10 minutes off or 10 years off, we lose the time we have at hand. Time to live in the now! Our lives go by without having fully lived in the present, which is all that we know, really know that we have. An unexpected turn of someone's car into our own, a man sitting on his porch this last week in Hawaii, when suddenly a volcanic lava bomb crashes through his porch roof, shattering his right leg. Why does this moment, or why should this moment, even right now, sitting here in this little church mean more than we think it does. Simply because we are right here, right now.
~ Some of you may be thinking about where you are going on your four-wheeler after the service, or your old friend, your fishing pole is sitting in the corner just waiting for you to pick it up, or your outdoor chaise lounge on your porch is calling your name....Bill, come to me, come to me and I will give you rest.
~ So much in life is about waiting. We twiddle our thumbs, shuffle our feet, stifle our yawns, sigh long and loud, fretting inwardly in frustration. When is he ever going to be finished up there?
~ God might be saying...listen, and hear what I am speaking to you and you that need to hear.
~ Waiting is one of life's best teachers for in it we learn the virtue of.....well, waiting, waiting patiently while God unseen and seen works in us and for us. It is his desire and for our good, that we develop patience and endurance...along with those, the ability to trust even when it seems we have waited long enough for whatever it is we are waiting for.
~Sometimes This trial of waiting...and learning patience I'm afraid for most of us is a tough one to learn. In the spiritual side of our lives, not so hard because we do not often take that side of our lives as seriously as we take the physical, emotional, mental side of our lives. We often relegate our spiritual lives to simply coming together on Sunday morning in attending our worship service. It's kind of ironic how long an hour seems Sunday morning, worshiping God, and how short that hour seems when we spend it fishing, playing golf, bridge...or spending that time in our chaise lounge on the porch.
~ I have to admit that I work with the goals in mind, because you do come, to attempt to do several things. One...use Scripture always (not the news of the day) as my foundation for what I speak on, second to challenge you with it, and third, to make you think, fourth, to cause you to grow, fifth, reveal to you the Person and Presence of our Friend an Savior, Jesus Christ. Sixth....I try to do all this in such a way as to keep your interest during your time here. Seventh, to build deeper relationships amongst us who consider this our spiritual home, and eighth, to welcome and encourage every person who comes through our doors, stranger or friend.
~ Here is an excellent illustration of patience, besides spending 20-25 minutes listen to me.
~ We all know that there are Chinese bamboo trees of which the Pandas live primarily off of consuming 20-30 pounds a day.
~ Well, the Chinese plant a bamboo seed; they water and fertilize it, and the first year nothing happens. The second, third and fourth year, watering and fertilizing....nothing happens, not even a shoot. Then the fifth year, once again watering and fertilizing it, it beings to grow, and in a period of six weeks that fifth season, grows roughly ninety feet. The question is, did it grown ninety feet in six weeks, or did it grown ninety feet in five years. The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years, because for the first four it was growing a root system that would support that ninety feet of growth in six short weeks.
~ The obvious fact it....what really counts in our lives, is both what and how we grow inside our minds, hearts and spirits by the work we do in all of these areas, by what we feed ourselves with. When difficulty comes, and come it will, because that is just the way life is, will we be able to stand when they happen...or fall because we have not taken the time or energy to build a root system or foundation under us that goes deep, able to support us when the winds and earthquakes of life assail us?
~ It is never too late to begin.....the time is always right now...and now IS the time. One of John F. Kennedy's favorite stories concerned French General Louis Lyautey. After World War I, the general asked his gardener to plant an oak tree in a particular area of his estate. The gardener noted to the general, that the tree that he had chosen was slow-growing and would not reach maturity for nearly a century, and did the general really want such a slow growing Oak, for there were some that would grow much faster. The General's response was, "In that case, there is no time to lose. Plant it this afternoon."
~ In regards to our spiritual lives.....there is not a better time to start, than today. For today is what we know we have.
~ Now back to my foundational Scripture in Isaiah 40:31. "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall rise up with wings of eagles, they will walk and not be weary, they shall run and not faint, teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait."
~ It is proven time and time and time again, that those who spend time cultivating their life in God through Christ are those who when difficulties assail them....come through the storms not untouched, but with an inward strength and the ability to cope far above those who do not have the spiritual walk and strength they have through their knowledge and relationship with him. Being a Believer is no protection from the hard times in life....it is simply that we have the Creator at our side through it all. Through it all....and we also have each other of the same faith and relationship...as we are family.
~ We shall rise up with wings as eagles....have you ever watched an eagle rise, and how little they flap their wings...for they simply catch an up draft effortlessly...and go from one to the next when it comes along, eventually rising to sometimes over 10,000 feet, soaring elegantly, effortlessly and beautifully. This is how we too....with God as our wings, staying in his updrafts....take us to great heights, even when through events and illness and circumstances that seem to weigh us down, he desires to carry us up, if we will let him....by getting to first walk with him, and talk with him, along life's narrow way.
Three things I want to finish with………
1. Let God be your hope. (2 Chronicles 20:12) "Our eyes are set upon you." "My eyes are ever on the Lord."
2. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) Wait quietly on the Lord, patiently getting to know him.
3. Give ourselves to him. Submitting our wills to his, for he works through and in all things, for our own good.
~As we go through difficulty, trials and temptations, he will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us because he wants to renew our strength at the end of whatever it is we go through. In these times if we allow him, he builds us into men and women after his own image.
~I am finishing with number 3 above, Romans 8:28 from the Message, "We can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God, are worked into something good."
Using Jesus as an example of waiting and patience....in a biography written by Missionary JO. Fraser, he wrote, "nothing is more noticeable than the quiet, even poise of His life. Never flustered whatever happened, never taken off His guard, however assailed by men or demons in the midst of fickle people, hostile rulers faithless disciples….always calm always collected. Christ the hard worker indeed....but doing no more, and no less, than God has appointed Him to do, with no restlessness, no hurry, no worry. Was ever such a peaceful life lived, under conditions so unsettling.
"He who waits on God loses no time, but gain love, grace, mercy, maturity and of course salvation. To God be the glory…………………
Amen
The little church in the pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
The Birth of the Church ~ PENTECOST
May 20, 2018
by Pastor Tom Shanor
~ What exactly is this event called Pentecost? Is it as some Biblical scholars write, merely a narrative, overblown by the writers of the events that happened on that evening so very long ago? Why were the disciples gathered together when supposedly the Holy Spirit “fell” on them? Also, what does that event, even if it was exactly as described, mean to us today?
~ We have to take a brief journey back into the Old Testament, where we can read that this was a long standing promise of God that would one day be fulfilled as written. During the time of Joel God’s Spirit seemed to be available only to kings, prophets and judges, but Joel saw a time to come when the Spirit would be available to every believer. This chapter in Joel revolves around the theme of “The Lord’s Promise of Restoration, followed by The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit to All People.”
Joel 2:28-29 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike.”
~ If….we are going to call ourselves Christian, it behooves us to know the fullness of our history, which includes the history of the Church. We can choose to embrace or discard portions that bother us, but even if we do individually, we cannot negate their importance in the birth of Christiandom and the Church. Things are what they are, because of what they were.
~ In Jesus discourse with Peter found in Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks Peter and the others whom do you say that I am? Peter says in response, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then answered him, you are Peter, and upon this rock, (the rock of your statement) I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.”
~ The church in it’s original meaning comes from the world ek-klay-see-ah, spelled ‘ekklesia.’ A gathering of believers…not a building. A living breathing, Spirit let people of one accord…in unity in their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God. So…the history I am speaking of is not just that of our organized religion, but of individuals both part of and not a part of an organized structure. That is why we should always see ourselves and all of Christiandom as brothers and sisters under the covering, and in fellowship with Christ.
~ Now back to Pentecost…..the narrative of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in all four Gospels starting in Matthew 3:11, as John speaks to those coming to be baptized in the Jordan River for the repentance of their sins.
He says, “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God, But someone is coming soon (Jesus) who is greater than I am…so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
~In baptism, the earliest form was complete immersion, representing the total and complete washing away sin….and the total and complete immersion into a new way of life….that being our new life in Christ. This which is about to happen in regards to the Holy Spirit is more than a token baptism, but the complete immersion into the life in the Spirit, followed by, as Christ said, “with ‘power’ from heaven.” More on this later.
~ Down the road in time….following the death and resurrection of Jesus, he appears to two of his disciples on the road (not revealing who he is) and he discourses with them about the events involving himself, and then disappears. Suddenly he again appears in their midst, saying “peace be with you,” (scaring them out of their wits) showing them the holes in his hands and feet, startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! He then actually eats some fish. Still they stood there in unbelief filled with both joy and wonder.
Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled, as he opened their minds to now understand the Scriptures concerning him. He further talks with them, leaving them with these words. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised.” And now comes a directive. “But stay in the city, until the Holy Spirit comes….and fills you….with power from heaven.”
~Having given his last directions to them…he led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them…and was taken up to heaven, they then returned to Jerusalem as he said, with great joy…and they spent most of their time in the Temple, praising God.
Not knowing what was about to happen to them.
~We now come to this critical and vital time in the history of the church and the world. These men and women praying their hearts out.
Let’s take a breath for a moment………………………………………………………
~ Ok, onward. The city of Jerusalem was filled to overflowing, due to the fact that this was one of three major annual festivals, a festival of thanksgiving for the harvested crops. Jews of many nations had gathered in Jerusalem. Therefore what was about to happen, was rather fortuitous and the timing perfect. Peter’s sermon following the even to unfold, was given to an international audience, resulting in a then world-wide harvest of converts to Christ….the first of millions in time, to come to Christianity.
READ THE NARRATION FROM ACTS 2.1-21
Another sign of this wonder of wonders is, we hear Peter, a man proven impetuous, speaking out of turn, often letting his bravado be his downfall, even denying that he know Jesus just a short time before, now a new Peter, humble but bold. His confidence and power now comes from the Holy Spirit, who made him in that moment and beyond, a powerful and dynamic speaker, concise, factual and focused.
So…we have three very powerful and out of the norm, manifestations that knocked the socks of everyone within hearing, ( I don’t think actually that they worse socks with sandals though) now, even the disciples themselves, as they were “filled” to overflowing with a power heretofore unknown to them.
I personally have experienced three. Peter’s, and one and two. It would be cool to experience tongues of flames, but only if there were an actual reason.
Did I seek them? Not directly. Of one and two, like those gathered in the upper room it was during times of prayer. As in regards to power to speak, when I chose to not prepare a sermon message, but instead just held my Bible and spoke as I felt led. A big step for me….but I felt the presence of the Spirit and relaxed and let it flow, and was cohesive, informative and can I say powerful…probably not, but no one left.
~ Speaking in tongues I have told you before, I can do at will and at any time I choose. It’s benefit? I feel a close connection to the Lord. It is an amazing thing to hear with my own ears what I am speaking, but like the disciples, cannot literally understand what I am saying. You might say logically, then what is the purpose? As I said, it seems to be a way for me to both pray and draw closer to him.
~ The mighty rushing wind also came during a collective prayer meeting in a house we were gathered in. I can’t even remember specifically what we were praying for, but in our earnest time of prayer….yes, the sound of a mighty rushing wind came, startling us all. No fear…just a powerful sense of the presence of God
Is this baptism essential to salvation as many Pentecostals and Charismatic Christians say it is. Absolutely not. Can he, the Spirit be sought for such an experience, I suppose so, but that would not be the reason to do so. To pray for signs and wonders is not a good goal. To pray for the infilling of the Spirit…sure, and then if there is a manifestation, or manifestations, the same or different from Pentecost….that is great, but if there is none, that is great too.
1 Corinthians 12:11 reads, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift or gifts each person should have.”
~ So..you can pray for this baptism yourself….or not. As I said earlier, it is not essential for your salvation, but can be a tool for living a deeper Christian life
~Some say, that since the Bible, the so-called “perfect” has come into being, these signs were done away with. Well, first of all, the Bible itself is not perfect. Don’t get up in arms, let me finish. I am not saying anything disparaging, but since man has put it together, it could not be perfect. In fact, I was just reading the other day, some verses and sentences that have over the course of many years, been taken out of the Bible since it was first published. Scholars (men) through historic records, decided there was not enough substantiation to include some of them…and therefore they were deleted. You don’t do that if something is perfect.
Perfect is without error or flaw.
In Chapter 13:8-10, we read, “prophecy and speaking in unknown languages, and special knowledge will become useless. But Love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even, the gift of prophecy. But when the perfect comes, these things will become useless.
What times are being spoken of here?
I’ll tell you. The perfect is Christ himself. When we see him face to face! God gives us believers spiritual gifts for own lives on earth, in order to build up, serve and strengthen one another. In the presence of the Lord, we need nothing but him, and that will take place once this life is over.
~Pentecost’s primary function that day of Pentecost, so many hundreds of years ago was two-fold. One….to show the people the unique and powerful work of God through His Spirit, and second to give a major kick start to the Church of Jesus Christ, that he said would be built on the statement of Peter, that he, Jesus, is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, founded on his life, his words, his Spirit and his truths….that last on through eternity.
~ I am going to finish with 1 Corinthians 13:11-13………READ
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
The Birth of the Church ~ PENTECOST
May 20, 2018
by Pastor Tom Shanor
~ What exactly is this event called Pentecost? Is it as some Biblical scholars write, merely a narrative, overblown by the writers of the events that happened on that evening so very long ago? Why were the disciples gathered together when supposedly the Holy Spirit “fell” on them? Also, what does that event, even if it was exactly as described, mean to us today?
~ We have to take a brief journey back into the Old Testament, where we can read that this was a long standing promise of God that would one day be fulfilled as written. During the time of Joel God’s Spirit seemed to be available only to kings, prophets and judges, but Joel saw a time to come when the Spirit would be available to every believer. This chapter in Joel revolves around the theme of “The Lord’s Promise of Restoration, followed by The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit to All People.”
Joel 2:28-29 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike.”
~ If….we are going to call ourselves Christian, it behooves us to know the fullness of our history, which includes the history of the Church. We can choose to embrace or discard portions that bother us, but even if we do individually, we cannot negate their importance in the birth of Christiandom and the Church. Things are what they are, because of what they were.
~ In Jesus discourse with Peter found in Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks Peter and the others whom do you say that I am? Peter says in response, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then answered him, you are Peter, and upon this rock, (the rock of your statement) I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.”
~ The church in it’s original meaning comes from the world ek-klay-see-ah, spelled ‘ekklesia.’ A gathering of believers…not a building. A living breathing, Spirit let people of one accord…in unity in their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God. So…the history I am speaking of is not just that of our organized religion, but of individuals both part of and not a part of an organized structure. That is why we should always see ourselves and all of Christiandom as brothers and sisters under the covering, and in fellowship with Christ.
~ Now back to Pentecost…..the narrative of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in all four Gospels starting in Matthew 3:11, as John speaks to those coming to be baptized in the Jordan River for the repentance of their sins.
He says, “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God, But someone is coming soon (Jesus) who is greater than I am…so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
~In baptism, the earliest form was complete immersion, representing the total and complete washing away sin….and the total and complete immersion into a new way of life….that being our new life in Christ. This which is about to happen in regards to the Holy Spirit is more than a token baptism, but the complete immersion into the life in the Spirit, followed by, as Christ said, “with ‘power’ from heaven.” More on this later.
~ Down the road in time….following the death and resurrection of Jesus, he appears to two of his disciples on the road (not revealing who he is) and he discourses with them about the events involving himself, and then disappears. Suddenly he again appears in their midst, saying “peace be with you,” (scaring them out of their wits) showing them the holes in his hands and feet, startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! He then actually eats some fish. Still they stood there in unbelief filled with both joy and wonder.
Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled, as he opened their minds to now understand the Scriptures concerning him. He further talks with them, leaving them with these words. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised.” And now comes a directive. “But stay in the city, until the Holy Spirit comes….and fills you….with power from heaven.”
~Having given his last directions to them…he led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them…and was taken up to heaven, they then returned to Jerusalem as he said, with great joy…and they spent most of their time in the Temple, praising God.
Not knowing what was about to happen to them.
~We now come to this critical and vital time in the history of the church and the world. These men and women praying their hearts out.
Let’s take a breath for a moment………………………………………………………
~ Ok, onward. The city of Jerusalem was filled to overflowing, due to the fact that this was one of three major annual festivals, a festival of thanksgiving for the harvested crops. Jews of many nations had gathered in Jerusalem. Therefore what was about to happen, was rather fortuitous and the timing perfect. Peter’s sermon following the even to unfold, was given to an international audience, resulting in a then world-wide harvest of converts to Christ….the first of millions in time, to come to Christianity.
READ THE NARRATION FROM ACTS 2.1-21
Another sign of this wonder of wonders is, we hear Peter, a man proven impetuous, speaking out of turn, often letting his bravado be his downfall, even denying that he know Jesus just a short time before, now a new Peter, humble but bold. His confidence and power now comes from the Holy Spirit, who made him in that moment and beyond, a powerful and dynamic speaker, concise, factual and focused.
So…we have three very powerful and out of the norm, manifestations that knocked the socks of everyone within hearing, ( I don’t think actually that they worse socks with sandals though) now, even the disciples themselves, as they were “filled” to overflowing with a power heretofore unknown to them.
- A sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house (the sound that is) as there was no actual wind, but that sound must have made them all unsettled and frightened, even without being physically impacted.
- Now this one….very visual. “Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire, appeared and actually settled on them, and apparently not burning them. Therefore were not actually what they appeared to be.
- They began to speak in other tongues or languages, the languages as it turned out of the many nations represented by those who were in Jerusalem for the festival.
I personally have experienced three. Peter’s, and one and two. It would be cool to experience tongues of flames, but only if there were an actual reason.
Did I seek them? Not directly. Of one and two, like those gathered in the upper room it was during times of prayer. As in regards to power to speak, when I chose to not prepare a sermon message, but instead just held my Bible and spoke as I felt led. A big step for me….but I felt the presence of the Spirit and relaxed and let it flow, and was cohesive, informative and can I say powerful…probably not, but no one left.
~ Speaking in tongues I have told you before, I can do at will and at any time I choose. It’s benefit? I feel a close connection to the Lord. It is an amazing thing to hear with my own ears what I am speaking, but like the disciples, cannot literally understand what I am saying. You might say logically, then what is the purpose? As I said, it seems to be a way for me to both pray and draw closer to him.
~ The mighty rushing wind also came during a collective prayer meeting in a house we were gathered in. I can’t even remember specifically what we were praying for, but in our earnest time of prayer….yes, the sound of a mighty rushing wind came, startling us all. No fear…just a powerful sense of the presence of God
Is this baptism essential to salvation as many Pentecostals and Charismatic Christians say it is. Absolutely not. Can he, the Spirit be sought for such an experience, I suppose so, but that would not be the reason to do so. To pray for signs and wonders is not a good goal. To pray for the infilling of the Spirit…sure, and then if there is a manifestation, or manifestations, the same or different from Pentecost….that is great, but if there is none, that is great too.
1 Corinthians 12:11 reads, “It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift or gifts each person should have.”
~ So..you can pray for this baptism yourself….or not. As I said earlier, it is not essential for your salvation, but can be a tool for living a deeper Christian life
~Some say, that since the Bible, the so-called “perfect” has come into being, these signs were done away with. Well, first of all, the Bible itself is not perfect. Don’t get up in arms, let me finish. I am not saying anything disparaging, but since man has put it together, it could not be perfect. In fact, I was just reading the other day, some verses and sentences that have over the course of many years, been taken out of the Bible since it was first published. Scholars (men) through historic records, decided there was not enough substantiation to include some of them…and therefore they were deleted. You don’t do that if something is perfect.
Perfect is without error or flaw.
In Chapter 13:8-10, we read, “prophecy and speaking in unknown languages, and special knowledge will become useless. But Love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even, the gift of prophecy. But when the perfect comes, these things will become useless.
What times are being spoken of here?
I’ll tell you. The perfect is Christ himself. When we see him face to face! God gives us believers spiritual gifts for own lives on earth, in order to build up, serve and strengthen one another. In the presence of the Lord, we need nothing but him, and that will take place once this life is over.
~Pentecost’s primary function that day of Pentecost, so many hundreds of years ago was two-fold. One….to show the people the unique and powerful work of God through His Spirit, and second to give a major kick start to the Church of Jesus Christ, that he said would be built on the statement of Peter, that he, Jesus, is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, founded on his life, his words, his Spirit and his truths….that last on through eternity.
~ I am going to finish with 1 Corinthians 13:11-13………READ
The Little Church in the Pines
Mack's Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 13, 2018
SERMON ~ "BEING HUMAN"
(Genesis 1:26a, "Let (us) make human beings in (our) Image, to be like us."
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ This is not a sermon on the origin of human beings specifically, though I will be discussing the finding of science in regards as to who we are, either created as we exist today or having evolved. My goal is to see God as our source of life, breath and spirit, and the responsibility and beauty of being a human being, or what it means to be human.
~ Here are some verses I have chosen out of the Bible in regards to being a 'human being' from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
~ Starting with Genesis 1:26-27, (26) Then God said, "let (us) make 'human beings' in our image, to be like us. They will reign over fish in the sea, the birds in the sir, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry across the ground. (27) Then God blessed them and said. "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. We are doing the filling very well, with now over 7 Billion human beings on our small planet. The second....well, not so well. More on that some other time.
~ To touch on the "let us make human beings in our image." First of all, there is disagreement among Biblical Scholars as to the meaning of us and our, but are agreement in one aspect. That being, without question, this statement does not mean that God created humans to resemble him physically (John 4:24). Rather, this seems to support the idea that God endowed humans with a certain kind of awareness, one which animals and birds and fish were not given. In other words, humans possess the capacity to reason and to live a moral life by choice using language, personality and purpose.
~ Specifically in regards to the us and our used here, is what and who we have come to understand as the Trinity, or Oneness and Wholeness of God in three persons or personalities. A beautiful mystery of mysteries, beyond our finite ability to full comprehend.
My opinion I am voicing here in regards to the animals, and how they are spoken of, do possess personality, though not to the degree of self-awareness that we have. They also possess language, and in my opinion, can reason or think in making decisions concerning their survival and the survival of their offspring. A much simpler reasoning ability. Morality and purpose solely apart from survival is distinctly human, and within that reasoning comes a God place created by God, within us, that drives us to seek God, in giving us meaning beyond just living, and also as to what purpose and end we exist at all. We also possess the capacity to experience and understand love, truth and beauty, pondering them and recreating them in heart, song and art. Again, my opinion is that animals also can experience emotion similar to us, yet without the whys of that love. Ever watch and animal play, or hear a nurturing mother cry at the loss of her little ones?
~ The fact is that we are unique among all of creation.
Genesis 1:28. "Then God created (human beings) in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Now that's curious. "In the image of God....he created them male and female." This again tells us that God does not have a physical body that is either male or female. He is not a gender in his manifestation(s).
~ When we refer to God as is stated in this verse, the word 'his'. We also refer to him as Father, yet in 'his image' he created them male and female. I did a bit of a study on the word father. Father can refer to a metaphorical being who is considered the founder or Creator. Unlike the Mormon God Elohim or "Father God" who begets spirit children with his spiritual wives by the droves. Almighty God, Jehovah God does not. Almighty God existed before time and eternity. He was not a man who achieved Godhood by his good works and deeds, with a planet and wives as his reward.......he, Jehovah God is not a sexual God, but still a paternal God....as he is the Father, or founder of all of creation, including we 'human beings.'
Moving in a new direction briefly, I want to address a bit of science and scientists, most of who believe we have evolved, and our closest living relatives are Chimpanzees. I am not here to clarify or argue with science, because I do not have either the knowledge, education or wisdom to do so. But, I do have, as I spoke on not so long ago, quoting a Biblical version of thinking, using reason, facts and both Scripture and scientific facts.
~ To do this, I had to set aside my own dogma/beliefs, and even my fear of discovering science might be right. I have come to my own personal opinion that it does not matter in the least to me, either one, for I believe that God in his power and creativity could be deeply involved in both.
~ According to science, Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, and yet they were unknown to most of the world until Charles Darwin wrote about he popularized them in 1859. Much about them has only been discovered recently, and misconceptions abound due to the exaggerations of a small group of scientists, and artistic license used in works of fiction. Nevertheless, our similarities and differences are not what many people think. By learning about them we can science says, understand more about ourselves.
~ Chimpanzees are often incorrectly called monkeys, but they are actually in the great ape family, and according to science, so are we. The other great apes are the gorillas. There is only one species of human being alive at present...homo-sapiens. In the past, many scientists tried to argue that there were several species of humans, and would often hasten to add that they themselves (egos) belonged to the 'superior species'. Sounds like human beings, doesn't it? However, all humans can produce fertile children which therefore as they say, puts us all in the same species. .
~ This will give you some things to think about. It is often said that humans and chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA. Genetic comparison is not simple due to the nature of gene repetition and mutations, but a better estimate is somewhere between 85% and 95%. That in itself at least shows a common environmental and creation factor. This figure may sound impressive, but most DNA is used for basic cellular functions which ALL living being share.
~ Now this is interesting as an example. We have about half the same DNA as a banana, and yet people do not use this to emphasize how similar bananas are to us! ; ) So 95% does not say as much as it first appears. Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes, two more than humans. it is thought that this is because in a human ancestor, two pairs of chromosomes fused into a single pair.
~ This is an interesting fact, and from here I will be moving into more specifically what it means to be human beings. Humans have some of the least genetic variation of all species, which is why inbreeding can cause genetic problems. Listen to this.....even two completely unrelated humans across races even, are usually genetically more similar than two sibling chimpanzees.
~ We cannot, as thinking human beings, shove scientific evidence under the rug because don’t like what science tells us. God gave us our minds to use them, to think, using reason, logic and proven facts to move ahead in our world or discovery. We accept discoveries that help us in healing, help us in our every- day lives and help us in a myriad of other ways, rejecting that which makes us uncomfortable or goes against our way of perceiving truth.
~ Again....it is in my heart and mind....not to confuse our contradict your beliefs, but to compel you to think more deeply on why and who you are in your faith. That by challenging you....you will more fully own what you believe, therefore able to state why you believe what you believe with reason and facts and yes, faith.
Now for additional Scripture,
Psalm 9:20....The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
Psalm 8:5...What is human being, that you take thought of them, for you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. (so much does he, the Lord esteem us)
Psalm 89:47a...Remember how short their lives are.
John 2:24....Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to ell him what mankind is capable of.
1 Corinthians 2:13a....When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.
Being human as human beings, we carry within us the capacity for both great good and great evil. A wonderful capacity for great creativity that includes art, on canvas, in buildings, sculpture, etc., etc. and then technology, reaching to both the stars and the depths of the oceans. For great love and deep hate. For going to great lengths in saving life and yet killing the lives of infants yet unborn. Without morality.....without reason, where would we be?
~ What truly sets us apart this morning from all other living beings, is our God-given gift to seek and connect with our God through Jesus Christ....and the wisdom and strength to learn and abide in what it means to be the friends of God. The ability to also come together to accomplish collectively what we could not accomplish alone in every area of living.
Beyond all creation...we are blessed as Scripture says, being made a little lower than the angels....crowing us with glory and honor. IF...
Being a human means many things, and we certainly cover the earth, though we are not yet near as good as we should be at taking care of God's creative jewel, this planet we are blessed to live on. The industrial revolution unchecked caused deep harm to the planet, but was one of the stepping stones to advance our cultures, and we are slowly learning.
I enjoy looking up statistics. I entered on my computer one day, asking this question. What are the percentages of chances of earth simply existing as it does in all its complexity? Would you venture to guess the percentage of 'one in how many' chances there are?
" 1 in 700 quadrillion! That church is beyond my mind’s comprehension to digest. A single quadrillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000. Times that number by 700! This world and we are designed by our God and are privileged as such.
We try to understand our world by education, science, philosophy, religion, faith and even myth. Wanting to understand has helped us discover all that we know to this day. MOVING ON………………
MORALITY......is that which is a major factor that sets us apart and above all of the other living species, and morality is the fruit of the Spirit of God. We will substitute the word VIRTUE for morality.
VIRTUE...........is a quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle for both social and religious stability, on which the foundation of our cultures and faith are built.
I am not going to go into the modern (sins) as they are called other than to read them. My focus will following that, be on what are called Heavenly Virtues, on which our Christian foundation, through the teachings of both the 10 commandment and of Jesus Christ established.
~ The seven modern sins are.
1. Lust, or excessive desire
2. Gluttony, or over-indulgence.
3. Greed, or covetousness.
4. Laziness, both physical and Spiritual.
5. Wrath, or rage.
6. Envy, or insatiable desire.
7. Pride, the original and most serious of all with the most deadly and serious number of consequences.
NOW....THE 7 HEAVENLY VIRTUES that we are to learn and incorporate into our ordinary every-day lives.
1. Chastity...only humans are capable of this. Abstaining from sexual immorality, embracing of instead moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of through-through education and spiritual instruction.
2. Temperance....restraint, justice. Awareness of others and one's surroundings; practicing self-control and moderation in behaviors.
3. Charity....or generosity, self-sacrifice; for in Christian theology, charity is love. The greatest of virtues.
4. Diligence, which is of a zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work. Steadfastness in belief, and the capability of not giving up.
5. Patience, means endurance through moderation. Resolving conflicts in a peaceful and reasonable way. Accepting the grace to forgive, and to show mercy to others.
6. Kindness, one of my favorites. Love, compassion and friendship. Empathy and trust without prejudice or resentment. Unselfish love and voluntary kindness to all.
7. The last of the seven is Humility. Modest behavior, selflessness, and the giving of respect. It also includes the spirit of self-examination, correctly assessing who you are under your own scrutiny by being honest with yourself. Showing courage of the heart to put others often before yourself, accepting that there may be sacrifices in choosing to do the right things. Giving credit where credit is due, not boasting of your so called good deeds. Following through as best you can in that which you have agreed to do. Confront fear and uncertainty with God at your side.
Being human can be summed up in these verses.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In doing these, you are fully, the human being created by God for his good works, and for the betterment of yourself, and those whom you encounter every day of your lives.
It is just that simple.......................................and pure.
God bless you.....Amen
Mack's Inn, Island Park, Idaho
May 13, 2018
SERMON ~ "BEING HUMAN"
(Genesis 1:26a, "Let (us) make human beings in (our) Image, to be like us."
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
~ This is not a sermon on the origin of human beings specifically, though I will be discussing the finding of science in regards as to who we are, either created as we exist today or having evolved. My goal is to see God as our source of life, breath and spirit, and the responsibility and beauty of being a human being, or what it means to be human.
~ Here are some verses I have chosen out of the Bible in regards to being a 'human being' from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
~ Starting with Genesis 1:26-27, (26) Then God said, "let (us) make 'human beings' in our image, to be like us. They will reign over fish in the sea, the birds in the sir, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry across the ground. (27) Then God blessed them and said. "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. We are doing the filling very well, with now over 7 Billion human beings on our small planet. The second....well, not so well. More on that some other time.
~ To touch on the "let us make human beings in our image." First of all, there is disagreement among Biblical Scholars as to the meaning of us and our, but are agreement in one aspect. That being, without question, this statement does not mean that God created humans to resemble him physically (John 4:24). Rather, this seems to support the idea that God endowed humans with a certain kind of awareness, one which animals and birds and fish were not given. In other words, humans possess the capacity to reason and to live a moral life by choice using language, personality and purpose.
~ Specifically in regards to the us and our used here, is what and who we have come to understand as the Trinity, or Oneness and Wholeness of God in three persons or personalities. A beautiful mystery of mysteries, beyond our finite ability to full comprehend.
My opinion I am voicing here in regards to the animals, and how they are spoken of, do possess personality, though not to the degree of self-awareness that we have. They also possess language, and in my opinion, can reason or think in making decisions concerning their survival and the survival of their offspring. A much simpler reasoning ability. Morality and purpose solely apart from survival is distinctly human, and within that reasoning comes a God place created by God, within us, that drives us to seek God, in giving us meaning beyond just living, and also as to what purpose and end we exist at all. We also possess the capacity to experience and understand love, truth and beauty, pondering them and recreating them in heart, song and art. Again, my opinion is that animals also can experience emotion similar to us, yet without the whys of that love. Ever watch and animal play, or hear a nurturing mother cry at the loss of her little ones?
~ The fact is that we are unique among all of creation.
Genesis 1:28. "Then God created (human beings) in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Now that's curious. "In the image of God....he created them male and female." This again tells us that God does not have a physical body that is either male or female. He is not a gender in his manifestation(s).
~ When we refer to God as is stated in this verse, the word 'his'. We also refer to him as Father, yet in 'his image' he created them male and female. I did a bit of a study on the word father. Father can refer to a metaphorical being who is considered the founder or Creator. Unlike the Mormon God Elohim or "Father God" who begets spirit children with his spiritual wives by the droves. Almighty God, Jehovah God does not. Almighty God existed before time and eternity. He was not a man who achieved Godhood by his good works and deeds, with a planet and wives as his reward.......he, Jehovah God is not a sexual God, but still a paternal God....as he is the Father, or founder of all of creation, including we 'human beings.'
Moving in a new direction briefly, I want to address a bit of science and scientists, most of who believe we have evolved, and our closest living relatives are Chimpanzees. I am not here to clarify or argue with science, because I do not have either the knowledge, education or wisdom to do so. But, I do have, as I spoke on not so long ago, quoting a Biblical version of thinking, using reason, facts and both Scripture and scientific facts.
~ To do this, I had to set aside my own dogma/beliefs, and even my fear of discovering science might be right. I have come to my own personal opinion that it does not matter in the least to me, either one, for I believe that God in his power and creativity could be deeply involved in both.
~ According to science, Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, and yet they were unknown to most of the world until Charles Darwin wrote about he popularized them in 1859. Much about them has only been discovered recently, and misconceptions abound due to the exaggerations of a small group of scientists, and artistic license used in works of fiction. Nevertheless, our similarities and differences are not what many people think. By learning about them we can science says, understand more about ourselves.
~ Chimpanzees are often incorrectly called monkeys, but they are actually in the great ape family, and according to science, so are we. The other great apes are the gorillas. There is only one species of human being alive at present...homo-sapiens. In the past, many scientists tried to argue that there were several species of humans, and would often hasten to add that they themselves (egos) belonged to the 'superior species'. Sounds like human beings, doesn't it? However, all humans can produce fertile children which therefore as they say, puts us all in the same species. .
~ This will give you some things to think about. It is often said that humans and chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA. Genetic comparison is not simple due to the nature of gene repetition and mutations, but a better estimate is somewhere between 85% and 95%. That in itself at least shows a common environmental and creation factor. This figure may sound impressive, but most DNA is used for basic cellular functions which ALL living being share.
~ Now this is interesting as an example. We have about half the same DNA as a banana, and yet people do not use this to emphasize how similar bananas are to us! ; ) So 95% does not say as much as it first appears. Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes, two more than humans. it is thought that this is because in a human ancestor, two pairs of chromosomes fused into a single pair.
~ This is an interesting fact, and from here I will be moving into more specifically what it means to be human beings. Humans have some of the least genetic variation of all species, which is why inbreeding can cause genetic problems. Listen to this.....even two completely unrelated humans across races even, are usually genetically more similar than two sibling chimpanzees.
~ We cannot, as thinking human beings, shove scientific evidence under the rug because don’t like what science tells us. God gave us our minds to use them, to think, using reason, logic and proven facts to move ahead in our world or discovery. We accept discoveries that help us in healing, help us in our every- day lives and help us in a myriad of other ways, rejecting that which makes us uncomfortable or goes against our way of perceiving truth.
~ Again....it is in my heart and mind....not to confuse our contradict your beliefs, but to compel you to think more deeply on why and who you are in your faith. That by challenging you....you will more fully own what you believe, therefore able to state why you believe what you believe with reason and facts and yes, faith.
Now for additional Scripture,
Psalm 9:20....The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
Psalm 8:5...What is human being, that you take thought of them, for you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. (so much does he, the Lord esteem us)
Psalm 89:47a...Remember how short their lives are.
John 2:24....Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to ell him what mankind is capable of.
1 Corinthians 2:13a....When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.
Being human as human beings, we carry within us the capacity for both great good and great evil. A wonderful capacity for great creativity that includes art, on canvas, in buildings, sculpture, etc., etc. and then technology, reaching to both the stars and the depths of the oceans. For great love and deep hate. For going to great lengths in saving life and yet killing the lives of infants yet unborn. Without morality.....without reason, where would we be?
~ What truly sets us apart this morning from all other living beings, is our God-given gift to seek and connect with our God through Jesus Christ....and the wisdom and strength to learn and abide in what it means to be the friends of God. The ability to also come together to accomplish collectively what we could not accomplish alone in every area of living.
Beyond all creation...we are blessed as Scripture says, being made a little lower than the angels....crowing us with glory and honor. IF...
Being a human means many things, and we certainly cover the earth, though we are not yet near as good as we should be at taking care of God's creative jewel, this planet we are blessed to live on. The industrial revolution unchecked caused deep harm to the planet, but was one of the stepping stones to advance our cultures, and we are slowly learning.
I enjoy looking up statistics. I entered on my computer one day, asking this question. What are the percentages of chances of earth simply existing as it does in all its complexity? Would you venture to guess the percentage of 'one in how many' chances there are?
" 1 in 700 quadrillion! That church is beyond my mind’s comprehension to digest. A single quadrillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000. Times that number by 700! This world and we are designed by our God and are privileged as such.
We try to understand our world by education, science, philosophy, religion, faith and even myth. Wanting to understand has helped us discover all that we know to this day. MOVING ON………………
MORALITY......is that which is a major factor that sets us apart and above all of the other living species, and morality is the fruit of the Spirit of God. We will substitute the word VIRTUE for morality.
VIRTUE...........is a quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle for both social and religious stability, on which the foundation of our cultures and faith are built.
I am not going to go into the modern (sins) as they are called other than to read them. My focus will following that, be on what are called Heavenly Virtues, on which our Christian foundation, through the teachings of both the 10 commandment and of Jesus Christ established.
~ The seven modern sins are.
1. Lust, or excessive desire
2. Gluttony, or over-indulgence.
3. Greed, or covetousness.
4. Laziness, both physical and Spiritual.
5. Wrath, or rage.
6. Envy, or insatiable desire.
7. Pride, the original and most serious of all with the most deadly and serious number of consequences.
NOW....THE 7 HEAVENLY VIRTUES that we are to learn and incorporate into our ordinary every-day lives.
1. Chastity...only humans are capable of this. Abstaining from sexual immorality, embracing of instead moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of through-through education and spiritual instruction.
2. Temperance....restraint, justice. Awareness of others and one's surroundings; practicing self-control and moderation in behaviors.
3. Charity....or generosity, self-sacrifice; for in Christian theology, charity is love. The greatest of virtues.
4. Diligence, which is of a zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work. Steadfastness in belief, and the capability of not giving up.
5. Patience, means endurance through moderation. Resolving conflicts in a peaceful and reasonable way. Accepting the grace to forgive, and to show mercy to others.
6. Kindness, one of my favorites. Love, compassion and friendship. Empathy and trust without prejudice or resentment. Unselfish love and voluntary kindness to all.
7. The last of the seven is Humility. Modest behavior, selflessness, and the giving of respect. It also includes the spirit of self-examination, correctly assessing who you are under your own scrutiny by being honest with yourself. Showing courage of the heart to put others often before yourself, accepting that there may be sacrifices in choosing to do the right things. Giving credit where credit is due, not boasting of your so called good deeds. Following through as best you can in that which you have agreed to do. Confront fear and uncertainty with God at your side.
Being human can be summed up in these verses.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In doing these, you are fully, the human being created by God for his good works, and for the betterment of yourself, and those whom you encounter every day of your lives.
It is just that simple.......................................and pure.
God bless you.....Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
May 6, 2018
Sermon ~ "Substance"
by, Tom Shanor, Pastor
Hebrews 11:1 "Now 'faith' is the 'substance' of things 'hoped' for,
the 'conviction' of things NOT seen."
.....There are four words that I am concentrating on this morning in this passage.
They are. . . ‘faith’, 'substance', 'hoped, 'conviction'
.....Starting with the word substance. Substance may refer to 'matter', therfore anything that has mass and takes up space. Also, in reference to an issue, even a subject it means something of importance or depth. As a chemical, substance is defined as a material, with a definite chemical composition.
.....My podium has substance, looking out at all of you, you all have substance. Water even in it's natural fluid state or as ice, has substance, but is not considered a pure substance, because it is made of more than one element, but it still is tangible, definable, can be seen, touched and handled. So...a pure substance is more definitively defined as being made up of only one type of atom or chemical.
.....In religious terms and in the Greek word as it is translated, substance is defined as such, literally meaning "a standing under" and was used in the technical sense of a "title deed." The root idea is that of standing under the claim to the property to support its validity. Therefore, faith is THE SUBSTANCE or TITLE DEED of all our hopes in the Person of Jesus Christ, and ALL HE IS, TAUGHT AND STANDS FOR.
.....Over two-thousand years now, with all the religious power plays, of corruption and schism, religious wars and rumors of wars, division and strife, the rise and fall of nations, the advancement of technology, from horse drawn carts to walking on the moon, forays into deep space, from wind and oar powered boats, to exploring the depths of the oceans, Jesus Christ of substance, still stands, still speaks, is quoted more than any other personage on the face of the earth, who proves time and time again that his substance is from everlasting to everlasting.
Can you say Amen........
.....Substance in our daily lives is all too easily crowded out today by our drive for entertainment, technology, massive amounts of information. So few know what it means to reflect, to ponder, to think about something to a conclusion. In fact, we often deliberately avoid doing so. Taking time apart for the quiet, and taking time apart to spend time in prayer, and in helping us to realize our hopes and desires beyond the material.
.....Even in our religious culture today, little time is taken by many churches during their services, to fully reflect and understand the importance of coming to the Table of the Lord. Communion is based on communication, or communing, in thanksgiving and true worship of the One in whose name and life we are coming together under as a title deed.
.....In saying what I am about to say, I ask that you take it with the spirit with which I am delivering it. Which is...in the spirit of assessment and love. Emotion....and feeling good has often replaced depth, a sense of holiness, a connection with the very Spirit of God. Music in much of today's religious culture has replaced ceremony, ritual and depth all too often, and the people are starving for substance and don't even know it. There is a top 10 chart for Christian music, based on which song is selling the most recordings. It's not always the depth and insight of the song that is selling, but how it catches on and becomes temporarily popular.
.....I listen to K-Love sometimes, and at times 'feel emotion' in what I am hearing, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact it's good to feel, but it is not good to use those 'feelings' as a measuring rod for our spiritual depth and maturity. God help us if we do that, because those emotions can be misleading and even harmful if unchecked. Some of the songs I have heard are at times scripturally incorrect just to make the song work. We must examine everything by the light of the Word of God
.....So do I think that our services need to be somber and 'religious' in the negative sense, ABSOLUTELYL NOT! Do I think that we have to only sing old time-proven hymns, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Do I think we can't have humor, laughter and even fun in our services, ABSOLUTELY NOT!. You know that from me. Scripture says, Make A Joyful Noise unto the Lord, and sing to the Lord a New Song. I am saying though....that it is my hope and desire that we, together, are during our services and beyond, building a faith of substance and of eternal duration.
FAITH..........
.....Our Christian 'faith' should be the substance on which we build up from its foundation, the rest of our lives....not as an attachment to, fitting our gathering together as the sole purpose for coming here, but to grow that faith in depth as stated above. Our Christian faith means believing God's promises in Christ, trusting in His 'faithfulness' in both the good times and the sometimes very hard times. It also means relying on God's character and His own faithfulness to do as in Christ He says He will, even when it seems He isn't.
"The substance or assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." It includes a belief in the existence of God, in the reality of a transcendent domain from which God administers as His Kingdom and in the benevolence of the will of God and His plan for all of humankind.
.....In our 'faith' we differ from other Abrahamic religions in that our focus is on the teachings of Jesus, and His place as the prophesied Christ/Messiah....his life, death and resurrection.
....I don't know if you are aware of a meeting among various denominations and sects that took place in 1999, for the purpose of unifying Christians even with our diversity in denominations and sects. It is called the "Doctrine of Justification." Despite the differences among the gathered group, came this vital declaration. That "'faith' in the written historical Jesus, and who He was and is, lies at the core of all our traditions, and that such faith is required in order to be a Christian."
.....In our gathering here this morning, I would venture to say, that there are more than a half dozen historical denominational and non-denominational backgrounds in our midst. Does it matter...it does not, for our focus is simply on what I just said, unity in Christ, who He is, and our worship services are a blend of several of these backgrounds. As long as in 'faith' we have unity in Him, even our liturgical or non-liturgical backgrounds come together, as we worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and His self-sacrificing love shown to us, for us.
CONVICTION.....
Hebrews 11:1 “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things NOT seen.
.....Conviction means "the act or process of convincing." This can come about by a convinced person who convinces us, or just by our own reading, praying, pondering and thinking, which when convinced, becomes 'a fixed or strong belief." Thus, by biblical conviction we mean convictions or beliefs derived from and based on commitment to Scripture, the Bible, as God's Holy Word. For Christians, as we revere the Old Testament, most of our spiritual and moral authority comes from the New Testament, in particular the teachings and examples of Jesus. There are three primary things that characterize the ideal Christian, be they leader or simply a person of maturity.
1. A commitment to our understanding of Scripture as our authority.
2. The construction of specific beliefs and convictions based on that authority.
3. The courage to live and act on those convictions in 'faith.'
HOPE
Things hoped for.
What is it we hoped and hope for? A long healthy life? Riches, enough food on the table and in the refrigerator, a new car or a car that really meets our needs. Kids and grandkids and even great grandkids?
A deep vibrant walk with the Lord. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues or more? A deeper understanding of Grace, forgivenss and freedom from fear.
What is it we hoped and hope for today?
What is hope....this elusive but ever present desire, for hope is another word for desire, cloaked in religious terms.
Hope, hoped and hoping, are spoken 75 times in the New International Bible. Therefore it is a very important part of our 'faith.'
Here are some quotes written by people whom we will recognize.
C.S. Lewis..."A continual looking forward to the eternal world."
Dale Carnegie..."Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seem to be no hope at all.
John Bunyon who wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress.' "Hope is never ill when faith is well."
Emily Dickinson..."Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tunes without words/And never stops...at all."
Cicero...."While there is life, there's hope."
What I hope to do, is offer hope through my messages, through our services, through our unity in the Spirit, raise our hopes that in Christ, and in tandem with each other....we can grow spiritually in understanding....and in love, and in turn both show and give a measure of hope to those outside these walls, both to the community in which we live and to the visitors that will coming in here from all over the world.
I hope that we, by faith, in the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.....walk as He walked in strength, humility, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control,. Against all of these there is no law.
We can do all things....through Christ who gives us the strength and ability to accomplish these.
Amen
May 6, 2018
Sermon ~ "Substance"
by, Tom Shanor, Pastor
Hebrews 11:1 "Now 'faith' is the 'substance' of things 'hoped' for,
the 'conviction' of things NOT seen."
.....There are four words that I am concentrating on this morning in this passage.
They are. . . ‘faith’, 'substance', 'hoped, 'conviction'
.....Starting with the word substance. Substance may refer to 'matter', therfore anything that has mass and takes up space. Also, in reference to an issue, even a subject it means something of importance or depth. As a chemical, substance is defined as a material, with a definite chemical composition.
.....My podium has substance, looking out at all of you, you all have substance. Water even in it's natural fluid state or as ice, has substance, but is not considered a pure substance, because it is made of more than one element, but it still is tangible, definable, can be seen, touched and handled. So...a pure substance is more definitively defined as being made up of only one type of atom or chemical.
.....In religious terms and in the Greek word as it is translated, substance is defined as such, literally meaning "a standing under" and was used in the technical sense of a "title deed." The root idea is that of standing under the claim to the property to support its validity. Therefore, faith is THE SUBSTANCE or TITLE DEED of all our hopes in the Person of Jesus Christ, and ALL HE IS, TAUGHT AND STANDS FOR.
.....Over two-thousand years now, with all the religious power plays, of corruption and schism, religious wars and rumors of wars, division and strife, the rise and fall of nations, the advancement of technology, from horse drawn carts to walking on the moon, forays into deep space, from wind and oar powered boats, to exploring the depths of the oceans, Jesus Christ of substance, still stands, still speaks, is quoted more than any other personage on the face of the earth, who proves time and time again that his substance is from everlasting to everlasting.
Can you say Amen........
.....Substance in our daily lives is all too easily crowded out today by our drive for entertainment, technology, massive amounts of information. So few know what it means to reflect, to ponder, to think about something to a conclusion. In fact, we often deliberately avoid doing so. Taking time apart for the quiet, and taking time apart to spend time in prayer, and in helping us to realize our hopes and desires beyond the material.
.....Even in our religious culture today, little time is taken by many churches during their services, to fully reflect and understand the importance of coming to the Table of the Lord. Communion is based on communication, or communing, in thanksgiving and true worship of the One in whose name and life we are coming together under as a title deed.
.....In saying what I am about to say, I ask that you take it with the spirit with which I am delivering it. Which is...in the spirit of assessment and love. Emotion....and feeling good has often replaced depth, a sense of holiness, a connection with the very Spirit of God. Music in much of today's religious culture has replaced ceremony, ritual and depth all too often, and the people are starving for substance and don't even know it. There is a top 10 chart for Christian music, based on which song is selling the most recordings. It's not always the depth and insight of the song that is selling, but how it catches on and becomes temporarily popular.
.....I listen to K-Love sometimes, and at times 'feel emotion' in what I am hearing, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact it's good to feel, but it is not good to use those 'feelings' as a measuring rod for our spiritual depth and maturity. God help us if we do that, because those emotions can be misleading and even harmful if unchecked. Some of the songs I have heard are at times scripturally incorrect just to make the song work. We must examine everything by the light of the Word of God
.....So do I think that our services need to be somber and 'religious' in the negative sense, ABSOLUTELYL NOT! Do I think that we have to only sing old time-proven hymns, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Do I think we can't have humor, laughter and even fun in our services, ABSOLUTELY NOT!. You know that from me. Scripture says, Make A Joyful Noise unto the Lord, and sing to the Lord a New Song. I am saying though....that it is my hope and desire that we, together, are during our services and beyond, building a faith of substance and of eternal duration.
FAITH..........
.....Our Christian 'faith' should be the substance on which we build up from its foundation, the rest of our lives....not as an attachment to, fitting our gathering together as the sole purpose for coming here, but to grow that faith in depth as stated above. Our Christian faith means believing God's promises in Christ, trusting in His 'faithfulness' in both the good times and the sometimes very hard times. It also means relying on God's character and His own faithfulness to do as in Christ He says He will, even when it seems He isn't.
"The substance or assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." It includes a belief in the existence of God, in the reality of a transcendent domain from which God administers as His Kingdom and in the benevolence of the will of God and His plan for all of humankind.
.....In our 'faith' we differ from other Abrahamic religions in that our focus is on the teachings of Jesus, and His place as the prophesied Christ/Messiah....his life, death and resurrection.
....I don't know if you are aware of a meeting among various denominations and sects that took place in 1999, for the purpose of unifying Christians even with our diversity in denominations and sects. It is called the "Doctrine of Justification." Despite the differences among the gathered group, came this vital declaration. That "'faith' in the written historical Jesus, and who He was and is, lies at the core of all our traditions, and that such faith is required in order to be a Christian."
.....In our gathering here this morning, I would venture to say, that there are more than a half dozen historical denominational and non-denominational backgrounds in our midst. Does it matter...it does not, for our focus is simply on what I just said, unity in Christ, who He is, and our worship services are a blend of several of these backgrounds. As long as in 'faith' we have unity in Him, even our liturgical or non-liturgical backgrounds come together, as we worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and His self-sacrificing love shown to us, for us.
CONVICTION.....
Hebrews 11:1 “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things NOT seen.
.....Conviction means "the act or process of convincing." This can come about by a convinced person who convinces us, or just by our own reading, praying, pondering and thinking, which when convinced, becomes 'a fixed or strong belief." Thus, by biblical conviction we mean convictions or beliefs derived from and based on commitment to Scripture, the Bible, as God's Holy Word. For Christians, as we revere the Old Testament, most of our spiritual and moral authority comes from the New Testament, in particular the teachings and examples of Jesus. There are three primary things that characterize the ideal Christian, be they leader or simply a person of maturity.
1. A commitment to our understanding of Scripture as our authority.
2. The construction of specific beliefs and convictions based on that authority.
3. The courage to live and act on those convictions in 'faith.'
HOPE
Things hoped for.
What is it we hoped and hope for? A long healthy life? Riches, enough food on the table and in the refrigerator, a new car or a car that really meets our needs. Kids and grandkids and even great grandkids?
A deep vibrant walk with the Lord. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues or more? A deeper understanding of Grace, forgivenss and freedom from fear.
What is it we hoped and hope for today?
What is hope....this elusive but ever present desire, for hope is another word for desire, cloaked in religious terms.
Hope, hoped and hoping, are spoken 75 times in the New International Bible. Therefore it is a very important part of our 'faith.'
Here are some quotes written by people whom we will recognize.
C.S. Lewis..."A continual looking forward to the eternal world."
Dale Carnegie..."Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seem to be no hope at all.
John Bunyon who wrote 'Pilgrim's Progress.' "Hope is never ill when faith is well."
Emily Dickinson..."Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tunes without words/And never stops...at all."
Cicero...."While there is life, there's hope."
What I hope to do, is offer hope through my messages, through our services, through our unity in the Spirit, raise our hopes that in Christ, and in tandem with each other....we can grow spiritually in understanding....and in love, and in turn both show and give a measure of hope to those outside these walls, both to the community in which we live and to the visitors that will coming in here from all over the world.
I hope that we, by faith, in the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.....walk as He walked in strength, humility, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control,. Against all of these there is no law.
We can do all things....through Christ who gives us the strength and ability to accomplish these.
Amen
A REASON TO SING…..a song to the lord
April 8, 2018
Sing to the Lord a ‘new song,’ for he has done marvelous things!
A song…..what is a song? In broad terms, it is a single (and often standalone) work of music, that is most often intended to be ‘sung’ by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using both sound and silence, along at times with a variety of forms, words and at times instruments. The words (if there are words) are meant to convey a theme of often great variety, but most often of love. One seldom hears a song written because they ‘like’ or ‘hate’, but again, most often of love, in the words and notes written by the composer. At times they are simple and clear….other times complex and intricate.
Of the songs and words written, at times with similarities, but most other times (given the limited number of notes available) different as night is from day. Some songs succeed, and others end up forgotten. The key of a song writer, is to touch a resonant note within the heart and mind of the listener or listeners.
But….the bottom line is to express in words and notes, or music, what lies within the heart and mind of the composer.
Yesterday, when I sat at my computer to write this message, which had been floating around in my mind for several days…..I first put on a CD of instrumental hymns, low, to serve as the background as I wrote. Inspiration I guess, while listening as I composed, I ‘felt’ the timbre, the tone, the instrumental music reaching out to me, and at time moving me emotionally and also mentally, in a positive and delightful way. Whether it shows up today…….now, we will hear.
I now come back to my key verse this morning, upon which this sermon is written.
SING TO THE LORD….A ‘NEW SONG,’ FOR HE HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS. Ps. 98:1
SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD! And so I did, as I thought of the marvelous things and people, whom he has brought into my life over the course of these past and present 72 years of life-giving breath. I thought of how as a young man, he told me through his written word, “that he would never leave me, or never forsake me” and he has kept his word.
And for that I am both presently and eternally grateful, even though I still to this day lack full understanding of what the word ‘eternal’ means in its deepest level.
……In writing this I know by experience that not everyone is blessed with the innate ability to sing well. I learned this the hard way, as in my first church as a staff member, I was given the position (amongst other positions) that as the worship leader. In that I could not read music or compose a song of any kind, I found I did have a good ear, and knew when a song was off, or sung too slow, or when it came across just right. BUT…in that position I also (in leading worship) had positionally close to me while on the platform, the senior pastor who sang consistently both loud and off key. Too many times that I could count, there were times that I lost my way in leading, because of his strong voice. His name was Harold, and at Christmas I called him my (Hark the Harold angel who could not sing.) Yet…one of many reasons I loved Harold and even his singing, was because he loved to sing of his love for the Lord. He knew he was most often off key…..but as he said, “I just have to sing” to the Lord I love, because of all the marvelous things he has done for me.
…..I read of a young person who went to a school that required students to take four exploratory courses, including home economics, art and choir. On their first day in choir, the instructor called each student to the piano individually, to hear their voices and place them in the room according to their vocal range. During Toms turn at the piano, he sand the notes the teacher played multiple times, but afterwards, wasn’t directed to a section along with the other students, but instead was sent to the counseling office to find a different class altogether to take. From that moment on he felt he should never sing at all, that his voice should never be heard in song. It was a stark reality and a difficult one, but he learned his limitations, and that he could move on and do other things better suited to him.
….In singing to the Lord, it is never about quality of a voice, but about the state of our heart, the motivation of our gratefulness and love to and for him….”for he has done marvelous things.”
…..In pondering marvelous things, having last Sunday ended six weeks of the observation of the resurrection of the Lord, in Celebration I recalled the singing that was such a deep and vital part of our services, once we observed his death and burial, though prior to our Tenebrae Service, Pam played a prelude of music that was deep, and beautifully fitting for that moment for where we were going….thank you Pam.
…..The first marvelous thing that came to mind was Jesus willingness to walk steadily and resolutely toward the cross, the instrument of his death, and toward all that would lead up to that final event.
…..The second marvelous thing that came to mind were his words as he hung there, having been tortured, spit upon, jeered, and wearing a flesh-piercing crown of thorns, as he looked out over the crowd mostly full of hate and disappointment, but also, there were present those who had followed him the past three years…..as he proclaimed words, that to me encapsulated the absolute essence and heart of who he was and is, as he declared, ‘“Father’ he said….forgive them, for they do not know what they have done.”
…..”Father forgive them”….and I say back to myself, if he, can forgive so readily and so deeply what heinous things were done to him, how can I not do the same, no matter what is done to me?
…..SINCE indeed, he who showed me how much he loved me, and readily, without hesitation, forgives me my sins of rebellion, neglect, meanness and more, there is nothing that cannot be forgiven others by me, who have at times hurt me with both words and actions.
…..The next marvelous thing is, that when I do forgive, I too am forgiven for the time I held on to unforgiveness, and suddenly I find myself no longer a captive to unforgiveness, but find myself instead basking in freedom from anger, perhaps bitterness, resentment and vengeance.
….For when Christ set us free (because we choose to accept this marvelous gift)…..we were and are free indeed! Our goal therefore, should be to live out the truths that he teaches us from the Word….the Rhema Word, or as it is called the spoken, life giving word.
The song…..that each of us is capable of singing to Lord, that I am talking about, is much deeper than any song we can sing, because it is the song of our hearts….that is in itself a living song….as it creates and moves deeply within us, in our personal relationship to Jesus. This song does not need harmonious notes….or even words. Though what I am about to read to you is a song in itself….it goes much deeper within….and touches upon who we are to be.
In THE HEART OF WORSHIP
Here are the lyrics…
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it,
When it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All l have is yours
Every single breath
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the things I’ve made it
For it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
…..My message this morning in essence, is all about The Song that does or does not resonate in your or my heart and life, but our desire and our goal in believing and loving him, is that ‘we’ resonate together as one, with him, Jesus, our Lord.
…..The message is simple and pure, and each of us has born within us, a place where God in Christ, desires to sing our song of belonging, our song of deliverance, our song of blessing, our song of contentment, joy and love, as we make our way in our own journey, to that final place of unity with him.
…..To end this message this morning I am going to read Psalm 98 in it’s entirety, including the first verse from which the foundation of today’s sermon is built on. It is a song of joy and victory. Because God is victorious over all things that are not of him, all those of us who follow him are therefore victorious in and with him. Amen
Psalm 98 (READ)
I leave you with this question this morning.
What are the desires of your life and heart? No matter our ages, our health, our positions, our responsibilities……do we seek Him with all our hearts, mind and strength. Do we truly desire to know how rich and full our life can be in him.
That choice is ours, but know this; that no matter how seriously and deeply we know or do not know him, he knows us….and as he said to me so many years ago, he says to you.
I will never leave you….or walk away from you. Ever.
And understand this……”Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things, and yes, we all have A REASON TO SING, so let us sing.
April 8, 2018
Sing to the Lord a ‘new song,’ for he has done marvelous things!
A song…..what is a song? In broad terms, it is a single (and often standalone) work of music, that is most often intended to be ‘sung’ by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using both sound and silence, along at times with a variety of forms, words and at times instruments. The words (if there are words) are meant to convey a theme of often great variety, but most often of love. One seldom hears a song written because they ‘like’ or ‘hate’, but again, most often of love, in the words and notes written by the composer. At times they are simple and clear….other times complex and intricate.
Of the songs and words written, at times with similarities, but most other times (given the limited number of notes available) different as night is from day. Some songs succeed, and others end up forgotten. The key of a song writer, is to touch a resonant note within the heart and mind of the listener or listeners.
But….the bottom line is to express in words and notes, or music, what lies within the heart and mind of the composer.
Yesterday, when I sat at my computer to write this message, which had been floating around in my mind for several days…..I first put on a CD of instrumental hymns, low, to serve as the background as I wrote. Inspiration I guess, while listening as I composed, I ‘felt’ the timbre, the tone, the instrumental music reaching out to me, and at time moving me emotionally and also mentally, in a positive and delightful way. Whether it shows up today…….now, we will hear.
I now come back to my key verse this morning, upon which this sermon is written.
SING TO THE LORD….A ‘NEW SONG,’ FOR HE HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS. Ps. 98:1
SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD, SING TO THE LORD! And so I did, as I thought of the marvelous things and people, whom he has brought into my life over the course of these past and present 72 years of life-giving breath. I thought of how as a young man, he told me through his written word, “that he would never leave me, or never forsake me” and he has kept his word.
And for that I am both presently and eternally grateful, even though I still to this day lack full understanding of what the word ‘eternal’ means in its deepest level.
……In writing this I know by experience that not everyone is blessed with the innate ability to sing well. I learned this the hard way, as in my first church as a staff member, I was given the position (amongst other positions) that as the worship leader. In that I could not read music or compose a song of any kind, I found I did have a good ear, and knew when a song was off, or sung too slow, or when it came across just right. BUT…in that position I also (in leading worship) had positionally close to me while on the platform, the senior pastor who sang consistently both loud and off key. Too many times that I could count, there were times that I lost my way in leading, because of his strong voice. His name was Harold, and at Christmas I called him my (Hark the Harold angel who could not sing.) Yet…one of many reasons I loved Harold and even his singing, was because he loved to sing of his love for the Lord. He knew he was most often off key…..but as he said, “I just have to sing” to the Lord I love, because of all the marvelous things he has done for me.
…..I read of a young person who went to a school that required students to take four exploratory courses, including home economics, art and choir. On their first day in choir, the instructor called each student to the piano individually, to hear their voices and place them in the room according to their vocal range. During Toms turn at the piano, he sand the notes the teacher played multiple times, but afterwards, wasn’t directed to a section along with the other students, but instead was sent to the counseling office to find a different class altogether to take. From that moment on he felt he should never sing at all, that his voice should never be heard in song. It was a stark reality and a difficult one, but he learned his limitations, and that he could move on and do other things better suited to him.
….In singing to the Lord, it is never about quality of a voice, but about the state of our heart, the motivation of our gratefulness and love to and for him….”for he has done marvelous things.”
…..In pondering marvelous things, having last Sunday ended six weeks of the observation of the resurrection of the Lord, in Celebration I recalled the singing that was such a deep and vital part of our services, once we observed his death and burial, though prior to our Tenebrae Service, Pam played a prelude of music that was deep, and beautifully fitting for that moment for where we were going….thank you Pam.
…..The first marvelous thing that came to mind was Jesus willingness to walk steadily and resolutely toward the cross, the instrument of his death, and toward all that would lead up to that final event.
…..The second marvelous thing that came to mind were his words as he hung there, having been tortured, spit upon, jeered, and wearing a flesh-piercing crown of thorns, as he looked out over the crowd mostly full of hate and disappointment, but also, there were present those who had followed him the past three years…..as he proclaimed words, that to me encapsulated the absolute essence and heart of who he was and is, as he declared, ‘“Father’ he said….forgive them, for they do not know what they have done.”
…..”Father forgive them”….and I say back to myself, if he, can forgive so readily and so deeply what heinous things were done to him, how can I not do the same, no matter what is done to me?
…..SINCE indeed, he who showed me how much he loved me, and readily, without hesitation, forgives me my sins of rebellion, neglect, meanness and more, there is nothing that cannot be forgiven others by me, who have at times hurt me with both words and actions.
…..The next marvelous thing is, that when I do forgive, I too am forgiven for the time I held on to unforgiveness, and suddenly I find myself no longer a captive to unforgiveness, but find myself instead basking in freedom from anger, perhaps bitterness, resentment and vengeance.
….For when Christ set us free (because we choose to accept this marvelous gift)…..we were and are free indeed! Our goal therefore, should be to live out the truths that he teaches us from the Word….the Rhema Word, or as it is called the spoken, life giving word.
The song…..that each of us is capable of singing to Lord, that I am talking about, is much deeper than any song we can sing, because it is the song of our hearts….that is in itself a living song….as it creates and moves deeply within us, in our personal relationship to Jesus. This song does not need harmonious notes….or even words. Though what I am about to read to you is a song in itself….it goes much deeper within….and touches upon who we are to be.
In THE HEART OF WORSHIP
Here are the lyrics…
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it,
When it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All l have is yours
Every single breath
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the things I’ve made it
For it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus
…..My message this morning in essence, is all about The Song that does or does not resonate in your or my heart and life, but our desire and our goal in believing and loving him, is that ‘we’ resonate together as one, with him, Jesus, our Lord.
…..The message is simple and pure, and each of us has born within us, a place where God in Christ, desires to sing our song of belonging, our song of deliverance, our song of blessing, our song of contentment, joy and love, as we make our way in our own journey, to that final place of unity with him.
…..To end this message this morning I am going to read Psalm 98 in it’s entirety, including the first verse from which the foundation of today’s sermon is built on. It is a song of joy and victory. Because God is victorious over all things that are not of him, all those of us who follow him are therefore victorious in and with him. Amen
Psalm 98 (READ)
I leave you with this question this morning.
What are the desires of your life and heart? No matter our ages, our health, our positions, our responsibilities……do we seek Him with all our hearts, mind and strength. Do we truly desire to know how rich and full our life can be in him.
That choice is ours, but know this; that no matter how seriously and deeply we know or do not know him, he knows us….and as he said to me so many years ago, he says to you.
I will never leave you….or walk away from you. Ever.
And understand this……”Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things, and yes, we all have A REASON TO SING, so let us sing.
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Easter Sunday
April 1, 2018
Sermon ~ "I AM The RESURRECTION and The life"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 11:25 "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, ever after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." Do you believe this, Martha?"
_____My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in coercion. You see, we, you and I have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences and paragraphs, perhaps even whole books because we have become familiar with them. They just go phhht, without giving them serious thought, let alone contemplation.
_____I will be breaking this up a bit by speaking intellectually, as well as spiritually and experientially.....and hopefully with some practical application.
_____Let's start out with the first two words of this declaration. They are I AM. Now, the first place we hear those words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking His name. Gods answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and intent. It is one of the most famous verses in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. It is both literal present tense and future tense. Putting the two together His answer reads clearly, "I Am Who I Am" and in the King James Bible, "I Am that I Am!" and therefore, there is nothing more that needs to be said.
_____In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Amharic Bible, it is written as (I Am that exists and will exits).
_____There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction in regards as to not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I Am. For he said, when you see me, you are seeing the Father. THEY are the Great I AM. This divine name is mysterious just as God is a mystery. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time, something likes the refusal of a name, and hence it expresses God as what he is.... (Infinitely above everything that we can understand or say): he is the "hidden God, who not so subtly reveals Himself in Jesus, His only begotten Son
_____This is a revelation of God that the Hebrews have not seen before Jeus, at least to this degree, and this is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God. This God was too much like themselves and therefore could not be God at all. They wanted a conquering political warrior.
So...He, Jesus in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God!
_____Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, he says, The Resurrection and the Life. This establishes before His crucifixion as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up. Coming back to life, and this is the, the, the central core of Christianity, for without the Resurrection, he is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if he was just a man, but HE WASN'T an ordinary man, He was and is the Great I Am.
_____Was He the first man to be resurrected, no. In fact He had brought back from the dead the young man at whose funeral he had intervened in, and of course Lazarus, who had been dead four days and being in desert country we are told smelled. We...who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which the majority of Christians do) firmly and with JOY believe in and adhere to His Resurrection.
_____Paul said, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." We are blessed and rejoice in the Lord of our Salvation. Our brother and our friend.
_____During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, commissioned his Twelve Apostles too, among other things, raise the dead. Whether they did or not, we do not know. In doing this, he most certainly equipped them to do so, by the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
_____If you....do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider these words today. For once you ask, or simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are immediately a member of the household of God. Simply said....a "Believer."
_____Do I offer you proof? All I can offer you are His own words, and the testimony of those who saw and experienced His life, His teachings, His miracles, His ministry, His crucifixion, His death.....and His resurrection, and the testimony of my own words as to the reality of my faith, trust and love for Him, as he continues to walk with me, talk with me, along this pathway of life. The rest, your belief and your faith are your choice, and yours alone.
_____And now....we move on to "The Life." What exactly is The Life He is speaking of. There is a new movie out, named "Rotten Tomatoes." In this movie a son who has a monster for a father, (his words) who comes to accept Christ as His Savior and Redeemer. The movie is about the redemption and dramatic change in his father.....and because of this, many are deeply moved and come to believe in Jesus, because of the testimony of the father and this son. The son writes a song that is the theme for this movie called "I Can Only Imagine'.
READ (SING)
_____There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very rich and extremely poor, whose lives have been changed. Some drastically, some subtly, but never not at all. The degree to which one changes is equal to the degree that you choose to get to know just who this "I Am, the Resurrection and The Life" is. To what depth you want to know Him, is the depth to which you will know Him. If you put as much time into taking the time apart, to read, meditate, pray, be in fellowship with others who know Him, as we do, in let's say, watching TV, or any other myriad of activities, we will come to know Him, well, quite intimately.
_____I finish this simple message with His words that complete today's Scriptural foundation for this teaching. "Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this Martha?"
Do you believe this....all who are here today?
_____For we all die, but like Him and in Him, we....have life after this life.
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELBRATE TODAY!!
Amen
MACK'S INN, ISLAND PARK, IDAHO
Easter Sunday
April 1, 2018
Sermon ~ "I AM The RESURRECTION and The life"
by; Pastor Tom Shanor
John 11:25 "I AM the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, ever after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." Do you believe this, Martha?"
_____My attempt this morning in bringing this message is singular in motive, but multiple in coercion. You see, we, you and I have a tendency to gloss over words, sentences and paragraphs, perhaps even whole books because we have become familiar with them. They just go phhht, without giving them serious thought, let alone contemplation.
_____I will be breaking this up a bit by speaking intellectually, as well as spiritually and experientially.....and hopefully with some practical application.
_____Let's start out with the first two words of this declaration. They are I AM. Now, the first place we hear those words is when Moses is speaking with God, asking His name. Gods answer is both singular and multiple in meaning and intent. It is one of the most famous verses in both the Torah and the Christian Bible. It is both literal present tense and future tense. Putting the two together His answer reads clearly, "I Am Who I Am" and in the King James Bible, "I Am that I Am!" and therefore, there is nothing more that needs to be said.
_____In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Amharic Bible, it is written as (I Am that exists and will exits).
_____There are several other instances where Jesus uses the same introduction in regards as to not so subtly stating who He is, for He too is the I Am. For he said, when you see me, you are seeing the Father. THEY are the Great I AM. This divine name is mysterious just as God is a mystery. It is at once a name revealed and at the same time, something likes the refusal of a name, and hence it expresses God as what he is.... (Infinitely above everything that we can understand or say): he is the "hidden God, who not so subtly reveals Himself in Jesus, His only begotten Son
_____This is a revelation of God that the Hebrews have not seen before Jeus, at least to this degree, and this is why they rejected Him. They did not want a suffering, loving, miracle working, healing, grace-filled God. This God was too much like themselves and therefore could not be God at all. They wanted a conquering political warrior.
So...He, Jesus in the first part of this declarative statement is declaring Himself to be God!
_____Having established that, let’s move on. I AM, he says, The Resurrection and the Life. This establishes before His crucifixion as to what will occur after His death. He will be raised up. Coming back to life, and this is the, the, the central core of Christianity, for without the Resurrection, he is just an ordinary man. A good one no doubt, if he was just a man, but HE WASN'T an ordinary man, He was and is the Great I Am.
_____Was He the first man to be resurrected, no. In fact He had brought back from the dead the young man at whose funeral he had intervened in, and of course Lazarus, who had been dead four days and being in desert country we are told smelled. We...who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which the majority of Christians do) firmly and with JOY believe in and adhere to His Resurrection.
_____Paul said, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But if Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." We are blessed and rejoice in the Lord of our Salvation. Our brother and our friend.
_____During the ministry of Jesus on earth, before His death, commissioned his Twelve Apostles too, among other things, raise the dead. Whether they did or not, we do not know. In doing this, he most certainly equipped them to do so, by the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
_____If you....do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, I would ask you to consider these words today. For once you ask, or simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, resurrected as the Son of God, you are immediately a member of the household of God. Simply said....a "Believer."
_____Do I offer you proof? All I can offer you are His own words, and the testimony of those who saw and experienced His life, His teachings, His miracles, His ministry, His crucifixion, His death.....and His resurrection, and the testimony of my own words as to the reality of my faith, trust and love for Him, as he continues to walk with me, talk with me, along this pathway of life. The rest, your belief and your faith are your choice, and yours alone.
_____And now....we move on to "The Life." What exactly is The Life He is speaking of. There is a new movie out, named "Rotten Tomatoes." In this movie a son who has a monster for a father, (his words) who comes to accept Christ as His Savior and Redeemer. The movie is about the redemption and dramatic change in his father.....and because of this, many are deeply moved and come to believe in Jesus, because of the testimony of the father and this son. The son writes a song that is the theme for this movie called "I Can Only Imagine'.
READ (SING)
_____There are countless men, women and children from all walks of life, all educational levels, all races, from the very rich and extremely poor, whose lives have been changed. Some drastically, some subtly, but never not at all. The degree to which one changes is equal to the degree that you choose to get to know just who this "I Am, the Resurrection and The Life" is. To what depth you want to know Him, is the depth to which you will know Him. If you put as much time into taking the time apart, to read, meditate, pray, be in fellowship with others who know Him, as we do, in let's say, watching TV, or any other myriad of activities, we will come to know Him, well, quite intimately.
_____I finish this simple message with His words that complete today's Scriptural foundation for this teaching. "Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this Martha?"
Do you believe this....all who are here today?
_____For we all die, but like Him and in Him, we....have life after this life.
THAT IS THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION WE CELBRATE TODAY!!
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
March 18, 2018
The Seaosn of Lent
topic of sermon ~ The Anatomy of Pain
Good, Bad or Both & Why it is Necessary
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
As you all know, we are in the Season of Lent....covering topically the events, and many of the circumstances, feelings and passions that encapsulate this season in the church, and in each of us individually.
This season in particular is not one the church or we, take lightly, and until the coming resurrection of the Lord from death to life, it is often a dark and troubling journey. One aspect, of which we will be covering today.
In the Old Testament, let's start with Isaiah 52:14, which correlates to my topic. “Many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man." In Mel Gibson's movie The Christ, if you saw it, you will remember that the Lord was so disfigured, beaten, cut and whipped so deeply that indeed he was unrecognizable and that yes, he barely seemed human.
Isaiah 53:2-5 continues, "There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our weakness he carried, and we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins. BUT, he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins and he was beaten so we could be whole."
The NEW TESTAMENT....brings us to Hebrews 2:17-18, "Therefore it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. (experiencing the same pain, the same sorrows, the same emotions and feelings that we do) Then, (experiencing life in the flesh) he could offer the sacrifice of himself that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we...are being tested.
Now…...on to John 12: 23-27, Jesus replied; "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels...a plentiful harvest of new lives.”
Here is a list of the descriptive words used in these few scriptures, telling us what he endured.
He Suffered, suffering, was disfigured, rejected, despised, a man of sorrows, pierced, crushed, beaten and acquainted with the deepest of grief.
THESE WORDS....speak clearly of a wide variety and depth of pain he endured to the end, for one reason only, to be able to present us to God, through Himself. His motivation was twofold. To satisfy God’s requirement of sacrifice for sin….and his love for God, his Father and for us.
So now...let's take a brief look into the "Anatomy of Pain" my choice of words for today's message.
The first thing is the need to understand the word 'anatomy.' Anatomy is characterized by an on-going or progressive "understanding" of the functions or an organism...evaluating its structure, function(s) and purpose(s) if multiple. Though pain is not an organism in itself, it affects four areas of our lives with multiple purposes.
Pain itself is described as a distressing "feeling" caused by intense or even damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain's widely used definition, defines pain as an "unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage, however, due to it being a complex, subjective phenomenon, defining pain has been a challenge (they say). (duh)
Pains main function is to motivate the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part perhaps, while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future. I had to chuckle a bit here, thinking.....oh, if only....it were that simple and that easy!
WE know....all of us by experience, that 'pain' manifests itself not only physiologically, but also (these are the four areas I spoke of) emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and at times seem to know no boundaries or limitations in its intensity.
Who can say with complete understanding, which of these four areas are or can be, the most painful or the most damaging, for all can be long term or temporary. Once pain is gone, we have no tangible way to re-experience it...unless the sources comes back, or the illness. Nor should we want to. But we do have 'memory' of it, and that alone is enough in most cases, to not want to experience it again, and we will (with all legitimacy) go to great lengths to avoid doing so..
Pain is part of creation....and without it and our reaction to avoid and alleviate it, we could not exist. I understand that, and yet I would ask God why not also create with it a limitation on its intensity and duration?
Think of a leper. Dr. Paul Brand, a deeply committed medical missionary, worked with lepers and saw the suffering that they went through. One of the problems with leprosy is that they cannot feel pain in the affected part of their body, and Dr. Brand talked about what a tragedy that is. He said, "If I had the power to eliminate human pain, I would not exercise that right." "Pain's value is too great."
There is a protective purpose of pain. Dr. Brand said that when a healthy person has an injured leg as an example, he or she develops a limp that cause him or her not to put weight down on it. A leper will sometimes wear away quickly an affected member of his or her body because they feel no pain.
We learn from our encounters or battles with it, in all of the four areas I spoke of in the above, therefore it is a gift in our design from God. Pain unifies the body. Dr. Brand says, "I can tell the health of a human body by its reaction to pain. If the body does not react, I know something is dreadfully wrong.
Have you ever hit yourself on the finger with a hammer or some other tool/object? The first thing we do is grab it, then put it under cold water or even pop it in our mouth. Next we might do a little dance which helps in distracting its pain.
Pain itself is one of the greatest and most powerful tools for learning, which I will come back to.
There is also a corrective purpose of pain. It tells us something is wrong. If we did not feel pain, we would not know we were sick, and we wouldn't seek an answer to find healing. We often though, make the mistake of not addressing the pain in a timely manner, thinking, given enough time it will simply go away....or attribute it to something else....or just flat ignore it....until we can't. And in some cases and times it has gone beyond the stage to be truly helped, when healing could have been available...but now, no longer exists and the consequences are too often damming. God made us smarter than that, and we need to address our fears in this area by seeking help in all of the four arenas we experience pain in, be they physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.
Jesus now, walked boldly and with pre-ordained purpose into his pain. For us. Why God required his self-sacrifice through his Son from the beginning, I can only surmise. It seems there could be a better way.....but by his specific ordaining, and then creation of us....in dealing with the darker side of our nature (sin) this is the way he chose.
We, you and I live in a world of opposites...sometimes opposing forces. Duality is the nature of our world. Light and dark, earth and water, rain and drought, desert and jungle, mountains and plains, rich and poor, strength and weakness, health and illness, good and evil, war and peace, pain and comfort....and many more.
There is much we can learn in and from pain, not only for and in ourselves, but for others......we can learn compassion, tenderness, gratefulness, we can learn mercy, justice, we can learn to appreciate each day that we are gifted with. Looking at the bigger picture when we allow ourselves due to circumstances and people, to become upset, petty, vindictive, mean, angry, hateful.
There is so much pain in the world, that we must remember these few verses to sustain and help us overcome those things within us that would kill the spirit and soul. Through all of this, especially in this season, we come back to where I started in Hebrews 2:17.
"Knowing what lay ahead....the pain he would go through, it was necessary for him to be made in every way like us, his brothers and sisters, (in deepening his understanding by experience) so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God." Talking to God for us....the High Priest, One in the middle, between the created and the Creator.
If we have anguish and pain emotionally, we can also go to the Lord who experienced emotional pain on the deepest level, when from the cross, he felt totally abandoned and alone, albeit temporarily.....in this emotion and anguish, he cried out, in Matthew 27:46, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” In doing go feeling deeply as he did, he was still quoting Scripture from the Old Testament in Psalm 22…a deep expression of the anguish he felt when he took the sins of the world upon himself, which caused him a temporary separation from the Father….and then in Luke 24:46, Jesus shouted “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
Jesus….knows by experience our pain. He understands, yet does not always alleviate it. Sometimes he does, and why at times he does, and others he does not, I can only trust that there is a reason, and whatever that reason is, only he knows. At times like this, I put myself without condition or question, into the hands of the man who stilled the water, in the hands of the man who calmed the sea…who raised the dead…sets the captives free. This is faith.
I am going to sum this up…..with this paragraph, asking a question that has been asked by millions.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow suffering and evil? These are two questions central to the Christian faith, and questions that even here, I have tried to explore and offer an opinion of, and which to this day these two questions continue to be asked.
Job, Augustine, C.S. Lewis and others have contributed to the ongoing dialogue surrounding these issues. For some, stories of personal suffering, persecution, and martyrdom provide a rallying point and reminder of the pain Christ faced on the cross and the price of our sin. Others suggest suffering is a character-building endeavor. I have tried to cover these to the best of my ability, hoping and praying for a measure of success. One thing is sure though, and that is, suffering is an important element of the Faith. As the apostle Paul wrote. “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Philippians 3:8.)
So now….we look forward to Palm Sunday, our Good Friday Tenebrae Service, Easter Sunrise Service….and the Celebration of the miracle of Easter Sunday’s Resurrection from the dead….of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Amen
March 18, 2018
The Seaosn of Lent
topic of sermon ~ The Anatomy of Pain
Good, Bad or Both & Why it is Necessary
by Tom Shanor, Pastor
As you all know, we are in the Season of Lent....covering topically the events, and many of the circumstances, feelings and passions that encapsulate this season in the church, and in each of us individually.
This season in particular is not one the church or we, take lightly, and until the coming resurrection of the Lord from death to life, it is often a dark and troubling journey. One aspect, of which we will be covering today.
In the Old Testament, let's start with Isaiah 52:14, which correlates to my topic. “Many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man." In Mel Gibson's movie The Christ, if you saw it, you will remember that the Lord was so disfigured, beaten, cut and whipped so deeply that indeed he was unrecognizable and that yes, he barely seemed human.
Isaiah 53:2-5 continues, "There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our weakness he carried, and we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins. BUT, he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins and he was beaten so we could be whole."
The NEW TESTAMENT....brings us to Hebrews 2:17-18, "Therefore it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. (experiencing the same pain, the same sorrows, the same emotions and feelings that we do) Then, (experiencing life in the flesh) he could offer the sacrifice of himself that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we...are being tested.
Now…...on to John 12: 23-27, Jesus replied; "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels...a plentiful harvest of new lives.”
Here is a list of the descriptive words used in these few scriptures, telling us what he endured.
He Suffered, suffering, was disfigured, rejected, despised, a man of sorrows, pierced, crushed, beaten and acquainted with the deepest of grief.
THESE WORDS....speak clearly of a wide variety and depth of pain he endured to the end, for one reason only, to be able to present us to God, through Himself. His motivation was twofold. To satisfy God’s requirement of sacrifice for sin….and his love for God, his Father and for us.
So now...let's take a brief look into the "Anatomy of Pain" my choice of words for today's message.
The first thing is the need to understand the word 'anatomy.' Anatomy is characterized by an on-going or progressive "understanding" of the functions or an organism...evaluating its structure, function(s) and purpose(s) if multiple. Though pain is not an organism in itself, it affects four areas of our lives with multiple purposes.
Pain itself is described as a distressing "feeling" caused by intense or even damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain's widely used definition, defines pain as an "unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage, however, due to it being a complex, subjective phenomenon, defining pain has been a challenge (they say). (duh)
Pains main function is to motivate the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part perhaps, while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future. I had to chuckle a bit here, thinking.....oh, if only....it were that simple and that easy!
WE know....all of us by experience, that 'pain' manifests itself not only physiologically, but also (these are the four areas I spoke of) emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and at times seem to know no boundaries or limitations in its intensity.
Who can say with complete understanding, which of these four areas are or can be, the most painful or the most damaging, for all can be long term or temporary. Once pain is gone, we have no tangible way to re-experience it...unless the sources comes back, or the illness. Nor should we want to. But we do have 'memory' of it, and that alone is enough in most cases, to not want to experience it again, and we will (with all legitimacy) go to great lengths to avoid doing so..
Pain is part of creation....and without it and our reaction to avoid and alleviate it, we could not exist. I understand that, and yet I would ask God why not also create with it a limitation on its intensity and duration?
Think of a leper. Dr. Paul Brand, a deeply committed medical missionary, worked with lepers and saw the suffering that they went through. One of the problems with leprosy is that they cannot feel pain in the affected part of their body, and Dr. Brand talked about what a tragedy that is. He said, "If I had the power to eliminate human pain, I would not exercise that right." "Pain's value is too great."
There is a protective purpose of pain. Dr. Brand said that when a healthy person has an injured leg as an example, he or she develops a limp that cause him or her not to put weight down on it. A leper will sometimes wear away quickly an affected member of his or her body because they feel no pain.
We learn from our encounters or battles with it, in all of the four areas I spoke of in the above, therefore it is a gift in our design from God. Pain unifies the body. Dr. Brand says, "I can tell the health of a human body by its reaction to pain. If the body does not react, I know something is dreadfully wrong.
Have you ever hit yourself on the finger with a hammer or some other tool/object? The first thing we do is grab it, then put it under cold water or even pop it in our mouth. Next we might do a little dance which helps in distracting its pain.
Pain itself is one of the greatest and most powerful tools for learning, which I will come back to.
There is also a corrective purpose of pain. It tells us something is wrong. If we did not feel pain, we would not know we were sick, and we wouldn't seek an answer to find healing. We often though, make the mistake of not addressing the pain in a timely manner, thinking, given enough time it will simply go away....or attribute it to something else....or just flat ignore it....until we can't. And in some cases and times it has gone beyond the stage to be truly helped, when healing could have been available...but now, no longer exists and the consequences are too often damming. God made us smarter than that, and we need to address our fears in this area by seeking help in all of the four arenas we experience pain in, be they physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.
Jesus now, walked boldly and with pre-ordained purpose into his pain. For us. Why God required his self-sacrifice through his Son from the beginning, I can only surmise. It seems there could be a better way.....but by his specific ordaining, and then creation of us....in dealing with the darker side of our nature (sin) this is the way he chose.
We, you and I live in a world of opposites...sometimes opposing forces. Duality is the nature of our world. Light and dark, earth and water, rain and drought, desert and jungle, mountains and plains, rich and poor, strength and weakness, health and illness, good and evil, war and peace, pain and comfort....and many more.
There is much we can learn in and from pain, not only for and in ourselves, but for others......we can learn compassion, tenderness, gratefulness, we can learn mercy, justice, we can learn to appreciate each day that we are gifted with. Looking at the bigger picture when we allow ourselves due to circumstances and people, to become upset, petty, vindictive, mean, angry, hateful.
There is so much pain in the world, that we must remember these few verses to sustain and help us overcome those things within us that would kill the spirit and soul. Through all of this, especially in this season, we come back to where I started in Hebrews 2:17.
"Knowing what lay ahead....the pain he would go through, it was necessary for him to be made in every way like us, his brothers and sisters, (in deepening his understanding by experience) so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God." Talking to God for us....the High Priest, One in the middle, between the created and the Creator.
If we have anguish and pain emotionally, we can also go to the Lord who experienced emotional pain on the deepest level, when from the cross, he felt totally abandoned and alone, albeit temporarily.....in this emotion and anguish, he cried out, in Matthew 27:46, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” In doing go feeling deeply as he did, he was still quoting Scripture from the Old Testament in Psalm 22…a deep expression of the anguish he felt when he took the sins of the world upon himself, which caused him a temporary separation from the Father….and then in Luke 24:46, Jesus shouted “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
Jesus….knows by experience our pain. He understands, yet does not always alleviate it. Sometimes he does, and why at times he does, and others he does not, I can only trust that there is a reason, and whatever that reason is, only he knows. At times like this, I put myself without condition or question, into the hands of the man who stilled the water, in the hands of the man who calmed the sea…who raised the dead…sets the captives free. This is faith.
I am going to sum this up…..with this paragraph, asking a question that has been asked by millions.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow suffering and evil? These are two questions central to the Christian faith, and questions that even here, I have tried to explore and offer an opinion of, and which to this day these two questions continue to be asked.
Job, Augustine, C.S. Lewis and others have contributed to the ongoing dialogue surrounding these issues. For some, stories of personal suffering, persecution, and martyrdom provide a rallying point and reminder of the pain Christ faced on the cross and the price of our sin. Others suggest suffering is a character-building endeavor. I have tried to cover these to the best of my ability, hoping and praying for a measure of success. One thing is sure though, and that is, suffering is an important element of the Faith. As the apostle Paul wrote. “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Philippians 3:8.)
So now….we look forward to Palm Sunday, our Good Friday Tenebrae Service, Easter Sunrise Service….and the Celebration of the miracle of Easter Sunday’s Resurrection from the dead….of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Amen
Little Church in the Pines
Mack’s Inn, Island Park, Idaho
Sermon Title ~ RITUAL VERSES SPONTANEITY
“Hand in Hand – brings Harmony”
EPHESIANS 5:18-20
BEFORE TODAY’S MESSAGE….once again, I am going to delve into a ‘church’ history lesson. Some of you will know all of this and others perhaps little to none, all depending on your church background and religious training.
This last Wednesday was and is called ASH Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of what is called the Lenten Season which lasts for a period of six weeks, ending with Good Friday. So…let’s first let’s start with ASH WEDNESDAY.
ASH Wednesday begins with a call to repentance. A time of preparation for us, as we follow the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The service, and the ASH used to form a cross on the forehead of those who participate, is based on one very sobering Scripture; Genesis 3:19. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (told you it was sobering, but also is the next six weeks of what is called Lent. Very symbolic, and depending on you as to how important this preparation is.
LENT, and its purpose is to prepare the individual and collective believers for Easter, through prayer, doing penance, (meaning doing good to offset our sin) and part of that is denying the flesh, (meaning perhaps giving up something that we enjoy doing) and giving to charity beyond what we normally give.
LENT’S purpose is also heightened in the annual commemoration and observances, for the last week of Lent, which is called Holy Week, marking the death, burial and resurrection, which stresses the events of the New Testament, beginning on Palm Sunday, reaching its’ climax on Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, and ultimately culminates in the JOYFUL CELEBRATION on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection.
MANY Believers who are deeply serious in observing and taking these services during Holy Week, will participate in all or as many of these rituals as they can, most of which are observed in our main-line churches, such as Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and surprisingly even a branch of the Baptist Denomination.
MYSELF, being raised semi-Pentecostal and peripherally another denomination, knew next to nothing about such rituals and services. In our way of thinking as I was told, and I am serious, that most of the denominations I mentioned above were not really Christian, but had fallen so far from who and what we were, and that we were to have little to do with them.
SO much for the ‘church’ history lesson, and now onto THE SERMON for today which is a mixture of topics and thoughts, that have been troubling me for a long time, based on the chasm (or so it seems) that divides not only our nation, but families, friends and strangers. So many strong opinions and strong emotions, that we dwell on our differences more than our similarities. And with Christians in particular, we as Christians must be real, and get over it. In saying that, I am going to quote a group of Believers who were harassed and persecuted, sometimes to death for their belief system being out of the norm.
THE Moravians…who were a godly people made up of a cross section of society and nations came to the U.S. in the 1700’s and often sent missionaries to the Native American tribes….in fact many whole tribes converted to Christianity and built towns and villages, becoming farmers and tradesmen and women, only to be hunted down and killed by early pioneers who continued to see them as heathens, resenting them. If interested, do a little research.
Here is the quote attributed to them, and they fully believed lived their motto. “In Essentials Unity, in Non-essentials, Liberty, in all Things Love” and as their foundational living standard, never retaliated or defended themselves.
St. Augustine is the one who originally is quoted as stating this phrase, and from whom the Moravians adopted it.
The Little Church in the Pines
Mack's Inn
Island Park, Idaho
February 11, 2018
"pride and prejudice"
PROVERBS 16:18-19/21
By: Pastor Tom Shanor
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
Those who trust in the Lord, will be joyful!
The wise....
are known for their understanding, and pleaseant words are persuasive.
This is not about Jane Austin's novel by this name, (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) but.....her story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of making hasty judments and comes to appreciate the diference between the superficial and the essential.
WOULD THAT WE ALL DO THE SAME!
A protagonist (if you do not know) is the main character among all the leading characters in a play, drama, movie, etc....in your life, you...are the protagonist, and what you and I, as a protagonist, learn along the way, not only learn, but apply to our lives can affect not only us, but all the other protagonists in their lives....so in some ways, by our words and by out actions, we literally affect the entire human population....much like a pebble being thrown into the center of a calm pond....”our” ripples move forth from that center larger in our immediate area...but gradually washing up on shore. Smaller, perhaps almost insignificant..and unseen, but having reached the shore nonetheless.
2.
~ We all know, or think we know the full meaning of the word “PRIDE,” but let’s assume we do not.
~ Pride is an inwardly directed ‘emotion’ that carries two ‘antithetical’ meanings. Antithetical means (they are not compatible), they do not belong together and never will. With the negative connotation pride refers to a “foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one’s personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris, or excessive pride or excessive self-confidence.
Maybe today I should have a chalkboard up here! : )
~ Now, with a positive (yes there is a positive pride) connotation, pride refers to a humble and content sense of attachment towards one’s own, or another’s choices and actions, even towards a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and fulfilled feelings of accomplishment, but never (emotion here) “feeling” above or better than someone else. Thereby never become prideful…or egotistical. Narcissistic…a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
~ In a book titled “Similrilian….we find Satan as the protagonist. He…created by God, the most beautiful of the Angels…and with a voice like no other, would lead the Angelic Choir….but, because of his beauty, as he was called “Morning Star” and his voice, he began to think of himself as equal to God. He then began in his mind a rebellion….thinking he could outsmart God. He quietly began to convince other angels that indeed he was equal and perhaps even greater than….but of course God knew what was happening because…He was God, but he let it happen. Up until this time, there was never a discordant note in the singing of the choir of angels. Then…suddenly and without warning, because of his pride and prejudice, a discordant note was heard in the heavenly choir. God…stopped the singing…saying, what is this I hear, and who is this, that destroys the harmony and beauty of My choir of Angels. Upon revelation and then confrontation…the once beautiful Morning Star, and all who followed him were cast out of heaven, and once so beautiful, now Morning Star became hideous and evil, and those who followed him suffered the same consequences….becoming Satan and his demons.
…..This is an allegory, or a story of happenings that have symbolic meaning, deep and profound. Though not a word for word story of Satan’s fall, it is full of symbolic meaning for those who have negative pride….and always with negative, and even sometimes deadly results. Our Scripture verse parallels this story very well. Pride comes before destruction……………………………………
~ Prideful people….are insecure, needing to inflate the egos< and as a result need to have themselves built up by others….and if not by others, through power and force (if in the positon to wield that power) through fear and manipulation of reprisal of many kinds, and who demand, control and obedience
~ Paul, once proud in his positon of a righteous Jew among Jews….used that pride to manipulate Jewish leaders in to giving him judgmental power to maim and kill Believers…UNTIL…he encountered a greater power than himself on the road to Damascus. Jesus….Paul overnight became a humble follower of the Savior….though it did not make him weak….but strong in a new way, under the directions and power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Today….the last several months many prideful men, who once in the world wielded power, a great deal of power in human terms in their own spheres, have been brought low….removed, and some to be jailed, because of the power via fear, of those within their reach, in taking advantage of women, some just girls in a despicable way, thinking that because of their inflated egos and high standing in their own minds could not be touched. Well…there is a saying that goes like this. “You reap what you sow.” In time all that is done in darkness will be brought to, not light, but The Light.” All will be revealed.
Oswald Chambers says, “Pride” “is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious. There are he also says, three tests by means of which it can soon be discovered.
There is nothing wrong in healthy pride…pride that has a humble foundation of gratefulness undergirding it. I take pride and pleasure in finishing a painting that I end up being pleased with, and that others enjoy while looking at it. Underlying that pride is gratefulness and pleasure….that I was born with the ability to do what I do, grateful to God for giving it to me.
~ If…I happen to be able to put together a sermon or talk that comes across well, and people comment on it, saying so. I simply say “thank you.” and am glad, and I also in my mind and heart give the Lord the thanks and praise….and after a while doing so just becomes part of us.
Please understand, I am not saying I am the perfect example of a man without pride….but through life in Christ, I have at least learned to temper somewhat that of which I am capable of being. Praise God!
~ There is pride in our hearts and gratefulness when our kids and grandkids do well. Even then we should tell them so…but also remember to tell them, that they should give thanks to the Lord for their achievement. To do so…keeps them focusing on being thankful and grateful, and to not judge others for not doing as well as they, because we are all different in our levels of giftings and abilities.
We can become prejudicial against all sorts of people, places and things which in turn make us into judgmental, unkind, mean-spirited people. Religion against religion…racial differences that cause division….white pride, black pride, yellow pride, red pride, one above another, all pride of this kind is simply and deeply divisive.
Christ came to set, not an example, but THE EXAMPLE of what it means to walk in and through life with the right heart and the right attitudes. Here are some examples.
I will end with this…..look around this room, this church building and what do you see? You see fellow believers. Friends, maybe strangers, but we are all part of the same creation, made by the same God…..we are all equal in His sight and heart, and though we all come from different backgrounds, educations, financial histories…but, our similarities are greater than our differences…..because the source of our beings are one and the same. We are all under Grace…and we are all saved by that same grace…no matter of the above things I spoke of. We are ONE in Christ, and therefore there is no room for negative pride or prejudice in the life of a Christian, or even a church.
Amen
Mack's Inn
Island Park, Idaho
February 11, 2018
"pride and prejudice"
PROVERBS 16:18-19/21
By: Pastor Tom Shanor
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
Those who trust in the Lord, will be joyful!
The wise....
are known for their understanding, and pleaseant words are persuasive.
This is not about Jane Austin's novel by this name, (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) but.....her story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of making hasty judments and comes to appreciate the diference between the superficial and the essential.
WOULD THAT WE ALL DO THE SAME!
A protagonist (if you do not know) is the main character among all the leading characters in a play, drama, movie, etc....in your life, you...are the protagonist, and what you and I, as a protagonist, learn along the way, not only learn, but apply to our lives can affect not only us, but all the other protagonists in their lives....so in some ways, by our words and by out actions, we literally affect the entire human population....much like a pebble being thrown into the center of a calm pond....”our” ripples move forth from that center larger in our immediate area...but gradually washing up on shore. Smaller, perhaps almost insignificant..and unseen, but having reached the shore nonetheless.
2.
~ We all know, or think we know the full meaning of the word “PRIDE,” but let’s assume we do not.
~ Pride is an inwardly directed ‘emotion’ that carries two ‘antithetical’ meanings. Antithetical means (they are not compatible), they do not belong together and never will. With the negative connotation pride refers to a “foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one’s personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris, or excessive pride or excessive self-confidence.
Maybe today I should have a chalkboard up here! : )
~ Now, with a positive (yes there is a positive pride) connotation, pride refers to a humble and content sense of attachment towards one’s own, or another’s choices and actions, even towards a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and fulfilled feelings of accomplishment, but never (emotion here) “feeling” above or better than someone else. Thereby never become prideful…or egotistical. Narcissistic…a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
~ In a book titled “Similrilian….we find Satan as the protagonist. He…created by God, the most beautiful of the Angels…and with a voice like no other, would lead the Angelic Choir….but, because of his beauty, as he was called “Morning Star” and his voice, he began to think of himself as equal to God. He then began in his mind a rebellion….thinking he could outsmart God. He quietly began to convince other angels that indeed he was equal and perhaps even greater than….but of course God knew what was happening because…He was God, but he let it happen. Up until this time, there was never a discordant note in the singing of the choir of angels. Then…suddenly and without warning, because of his pride and prejudice, a discordant note was heard in the heavenly choir. God…stopped the singing…saying, what is this I hear, and who is this, that destroys the harmony and beauty of My choir of Angels. Upon revelation and then confrontation…the once beautiful Morning Star, and all who followed him were cast out of heaven, and once so beautiful, now Morning Star became hideous and evil, and those who followed him suffered the same consequences….becoming Satan and his demons.
…..This is an allegory, or a story of happenings that have symbolic meaning, deep and profound. Though not a word for word story of Satan’s fall, it is full of symbolic meaning for those who have negative pride….and always with negative, and even sometimes deadly results. Our Scripture verse parallels this story very well. Pride comes before destruction……………………………………
~ Prideful people….are insecure, needing to inflate the egos< and as a result need to have themselves built up by others….and if not by others, through power and force (if in the positon to wield that power) through fear and manipulation of reprisal of many kinds, and who demand, control and obedience
~ Paul, once proud in his positon of a righteous Jew among Jews….used that pride to manipulate Jewish leaders in to giving him judgmental power to maim and kill Believers…UNTIL…he encountered a greater power than himself on the road to Damascus. Jesus….Paul overnight became a humble follower of the Savior….though it did not make him weak….but strong in a new way, under the directions and power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Today….the last several months many prideful men, who once in the world wielded power, a great deal of power in human terms in their own spheres, have been brought low….removed, and some to be jailed, because of the power via fear, of those within their reach, in taking advantage of women, some just girls in a despicable way, thinking that because of their inflated egos and high standing in their own minds could not be touched. Well…there is a saying that goes like this. “You reap what you sow.” In time all that is done in darkness will be brought to, not light, but The Light.” All will be revealed.
Oswald Chambers says, “Pride” “is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious. There are he also says, three tests by means of which it can soon be discovered.
- The test of precedence. How do we react when another is selected for the assignment or position we had worked towards and perhaps even expected? When another is promoted and we are overlooked? When anther outshines us in gifts and accomplishments. How DO we react?
- The test of sincerity. In our moments of honest self-criticism, needing to talk to someone, we will say private struggles an things about ourselves, and really mean them to trusted friends. But how do we feel that someone tells others, especially our rivals, and they in turn, repeat these same things about us to others, that we had shared in honesty and privately with them.
- The test of criticism. Does criticism arouse hostility and resentment in our minds and hearts, and cause us to fly into immediate self-justification, in turn criticizing the criticizer, or is there something we can learn, even in unjust criticism.
Fatal words. ( humorous allergory)
~ Two ducks and a rather egotistical frog developed a friendship in their small pond. When their pond dried up due to a drought, the ducks knew they could easily fly to another location, but what of their friend the frog? Finally they decided to fly with a stick between their two bills, and with the frog hanging onto the stick by his mouth. All went well until a man looked up and saw them pass close to him overhead. “What a clever idea,” said the man. “I wonder who thought of that.”
There is nothing wrong in healthy pride…pride that has a humble foundation of gratefulness undergirding it. I take pride and pleasure in finishing a painting that I end up being pleased with, and that others enjoy while looking at it. Underlying that pride is gratefulness and pleasure….that I was born with the ability to do what I do, grateful to God for giving it to me.
~ If…I happen to be able to put together a sermon or talk that comes across well, and people comment on it, saying so. I simply say “thank you.” and am glad, and I also in my mind and heart give the Lord the thanks and praise….and after a while doing so just becomes part of us.
Please understand, I am not saying I am the perfect example of a man without pride….but through life in Christ, I have at least learned to temper somewhat that of which I am capable of being. Praise God!
~ There is pride in our hearts and gratefulness when our kids and grandkids do well. Even then we should tell them so…but also remember to tell them, that they should give thanks to the Lord for their achievement. To do so…keeps them focusing on being thankful and grateful, and to not judge others for not doing as well as they, because we are all different in our levels of giftings and abilities.
We can become prejudicial against all sorts of people, places and things which in turn make us into judgmental, unkind, mean-spirited people. Religion against religion…racial differences that cause division….white pride, black pride, yellow pride, red pride, one above another, all pride of this kind is simply and deeply divisive.
Christ came to set, not an example, but THE EXAMPLE of what it means to walk in and through life with the right heart and the right attitudes. Here are some examples.
I will end with this…..look around this room, this church building and what do you see? You see fellow believers. Friends, maybe strangers, but we are all part of the same creation, made by the same God…..we are all equal in His sight and heart, and though we all come from different backgrounds, educations, financial histories…but, our similarities are greater than our differences…..because the source of our beings are one and the same. We are all under Grace…and we are all saved by that same grace…no matter of the above things I spoke of. We are ONE in Christ, and therefore there is no room for negative pride or prejudice in the life of a Christian, or even a church.
Amen
The Little Church in the Pines,
Prayer
February 5, 2018
In its most basic form is simply communication.
…..communication is life!
…..communication is expressed in a multitude of means, and is self-aware and self-realized. Without it we are dead, whether we are alive physically or physically dead.
Prayer is an invocation (invocation being the act of invoking or seeking someone of higher authority and power) God as an example, for the purpose of activating a rapport or connection so to speak, through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious “practice” and may be either individual or communal, taking place in private or in a public setting. It may involve the use of words understood, or in feelings. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, a psalm, incantation, formal doctrinal or creedal statement, such as in the case of, as Christians, the Nicene or Apostle’s Creed, or it can be totally spontaneous.
Scriptural references of prayer……………..include these four words.
My real hope is that I can with the help of the Spirit, and Scripture accomplish this.
So….how many of you have a cell phone?
When you desire to communicate with a friend, a family member, a business, etc., etc. It is one of the best means of immediate communication (unless of course the line is busy or disconnected) for whatever it is you wish to communicate. But…until you pick the phone up, making sure it is charged and powered up….it is just a dormant communication device lying there, wherever, doing nothing. But pick it up, turn it on and punch in the number…you are in touch…you are ready to communicate…ready to get down to business!
And, so it is the same with God. He’s there, just waiting for you to pick up the phone, power it up and talk to him. That is prayer….talking to him. Now whatever you wish to talk about, implore, intercede, ask, cry out…..take a deep breath, knowing you are talking to a friend, (so you can be completely honest) and talk. You can laugh, you can cry, you can yell, you can ask questions, make your request known….so, just be yourself. No contrived religious talk, full of platitudes and sometimes high sounding religious stuff….no contrived King James language….just simple, straight-forward communication is best.
You see…God is on the line all the time, fully charged and, actually looking forward to spending some time with you. Cool, huh!
He is like a fully powered atomic generator….ready to light up the world, our world….but until we turn the on switch on….it just sits there and quietly hums….he saying to himself, somebody plug in, come on, somebody hit the on switch!
When we come together on Sundays, one of our group participatory actions is to both share our blessings….and the other to pray for those whom we know or don’t know, and who we do know, needs support through prayer. So…you speak, I pray, out loud, (and I’ve never been eloquent at it) but pray none-the-less, praying also that God will see my motivation and desire more than my lack of eloquence. Remember, I said he simply wants us to be honest and real. So…then, as I pray, you join with me in spirit, which makes it then a conference call/prayer….for we are all on the line together. It’s kind of amazing and a good thing.
We have seen positive results, and some not so…..we are glad when we hear of progress and then in turn, thank God for intervening through our prayers, but disappointed when it doesn’t happen, as we had hoped and prayed, but, the thing is, not to grow weary and stop when things do not turn out as we had hoped. We….are not God, but are his people, and because we are, just as in the case of our parents when things did not go as we had hoped, though we may not understand, we accept and go on. Papa God.
Do I like it that some prayers are not answered? No.,but then what I need to do is some self-examination, referring back to my earlier paragraph….that obstacles of unforgiveness, anger, hatred, etc. and sin, stand at times in the way, but it does not change my mind about prayer and the power to bring about change….and speaking of change…can I change God’s mind or pre-disposed actions. Yes….God is not a puppet attached to our strings and we control him….nor are we puppets, where he does this movement with his hand and we move this way or that way. No….he give us freedom and the ability to make choices, and that is in regards to prayer as well. But…we can move him by prayer.
An example can be found in the story of Lot and his family in Sodom. There is verse after verse of Abraham interceding on behalf of the righteous who were living among them…that God would not destroy everyone including Lot and his family. Abraham started with 50 righteous people…then continued to coax God by intercession, getting the number down to 10, and ultimately four.
Abraham’s prayer for Lot and his family…is a revelation of the faith of one man in the face of great odds. Abraham is an example to us that as he stood alone before God, he wielded a significant spiritual/practical influence over God’s actions. Lot and his family were saved. FYI, Sarah was a close blood relative of Lot, hence because of being family, Abraham interceded on their behalf.
There is one more element that is a bit more difficult (for me) to grasp, in regards to unanswered prayer. That being that God desires to at times (test our faith) and as an extreme example, and, to understand this example, we have to read the progressive story of Job. Job was caught in between basically a bet between God and Satan. The crux of the illustration being that most ALL of Job’s blessings were to be taken away, including all his children, his riches, his health and more….his unkind and unsupportive friends. If, Job stood strong in his faith, and endured to the end of the test….not only would Job win, but God would win too! This bet! And, God won…..his faith in Job was verified.
So…hopefully, we are out of Job’s league, and the time of testing for our faith does not encompass those extremes.
A few verses on prayer and I will be close to finishing up, for today! Close!
Intercessory Prayer….is a step deeper than earnest prayer…and an illustration is praying in the Holy Spirit…meaning you sometimes may move out of your understanding into a place in the Spirit, where you sense you are one with God, and perhaps even praying in utterances that you do not understand.
PRAYER NEED NOT BE A MYSTERY…..BUT A FACT, AN ACTION OFTEN BEARING VISIBLE RESULTS.
Life is not without uncertainties, whether they come in the form of a major life transition, family issues, health scares and or financial trouble. What we should continue to learn is that God cares, about even the smaller issues in our lives, he asks us, and even invites us to let go of our fears on all levels, by giving them to him. When we do truly let go……he, who knows all things, promises that his peace, “which is transcends all understanding, will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Prayer
February 5, 2018
In its most basic form is simply communication.
…..communication is life!
…..communication is expressed in a multitude of means, and is self-aware and self-realized. Without it we are dead, whether we are alive physically or physically dead.
Prayer is an invocation (invocation being the act of invoking or seeking someone of higher authority and power) God as an example, for the purpose of activating a rapport or connection so to speak, through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious “practice” and may be either individual or communal, taking place in private or in a public setting. It may involve the use of words understood, or in feelings. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, a psalm, incantation, formal doctrinal or creedal statement, such as in the case of, as Christians, the Nicene or Apostle’s Creed, or it can be totally spontaneous.
Scriptural references of prayer……………..include these four words.
- Prayers
- So, an obstacle of effective prayers lies in unforgiveness, resentment, anger, hatred and oh so many other negative behaviors that we humans can come up with, and all of these are in truth designated as sin.
- Doing what we do prior to actually taking part in Communion, is exactly what this is all about…..cleansing our minds, hearts and spirits before God and each other….praying along with David when he says to God…. “create in me a clean heart O God, take not your Holy Spirt from me, cast me not away from thy Presence O Lord, renew a right spirit, mind, heart and attitude within me.” Psalm 51:10-12
My real hope is that I can with the help of the Spirit, and Scripture accomplish this.
So….how many of you have a cell phone?
When you desire to communicate with a friend, a family member, a business, etc., etc. It is one of the best means of immediate communication (unless of course the line is busy or disconnected) for whatever it is you wish to communicate. But…until you pick the phone up, making sure it is charged and powered up….it is just a dormant communication device lying there, wherever, doing nothing. But pick it up, turn it on and punch in the number…you are in touch…you are ready to communicate…ready to get down to business!
And, so it is the same with God. He’s there, just waiting for you to pick up the phone, power it up and talk to him. That is prayer….talking to him. Now whatever you wish to talk about, implore, intercede, ask, cry out…..take a deep breath, knowing you are talking to a friend, (so you can be completely honest) and talk. You can laugh, you can cry, you can yell, you can ask questions, make your request known….so, just be yourself. No contrived religious talk, full of platitudes and sometimes high sounding religious stuff….no contrived King James language….just simple, straight-forward communication is best.
You see…God is on the line all the time, fully charged and, actually looking forward to spending some time with you. Cool, huh!
He is like a fully powered atomic generator….ready to light up the world, our world….but until we turn the on switch on….it just sits there and quietly hums….he saying to himself, somebody plug in, come on, somebody hit the on switch!
When we come together on Sundays, one of our group participatory actions is to both share our blessings….and the other to pray for those whom we know or don’t know, and who we do know, needs support through prayer. So…you speak, I pray, out loud, (and I’ve never been eloquent at it) but pray none-the-less, praying also that God will see my motivation and desire more than my lack of eloquence. Remember, I said he simply wants us to be honest and real. So…then, as I pray, you join with me in spirit, which makes it then a conference call/prayer….for we are all on the line together. It’s kind of amazing and a good thing.
We have seen positive results, and some not so…..we are glad when we hear of progress and then in turn, thank God for intervening through our prayers, but disappointed when it doesn’t happen, as we had hoped and prayed, but, the thing is, not to grow weary and stop when things do not turn out as we had hoped. We….are not God, but are his people, and because we are, just as in the case of our parents when things did not go as we had hoped, though we may not understand, we accept and go on. Papa God.
Do I like it that some prayers are not answered? No.,but then what I need to do is some self-examination, referring back to my earlier paragraph….that obstacles of unforgiveness, anger, hatred, etc. and sin, stand at times in the way, but it does not change my mind about prayer and the power to bring about change….and speaking of change…can I change God’s mind or pre-disposed actions. Yes….God is not a puppet attached to our strings and we control him….nor are we puppets, where he does this movement with his hand and we move this way or that way. No….he give us freedom and the ability to make choices, and that is in regards to prayer as well. But…we can move him by prayer.
An example can be found in the story of Lot and his family in Sodom. There is verse after verse of Abraham interceding on behalf of the righteous who were living among them…that God would not destroy everyone including Lot and his family. Abraham started with 50 righteous people…then continued to coax God by intercession, getting the number down to 10, and ultimately four.
Abraham’s prayer for Lot and his family…is a revelation of the faith of one man in the face of great odds. Abraham is an example to us that as he stood alone before God, he wielded a significant spiritual/practical influence over God’s actions. Lot and his family were saved. FYI, Sarah was a close blood relative of Lot, hence because of being family, Abraham interceded on their behalf.
There is one more element that is a bit more difficult (for me) to grasp, in regards to unanswered prayer. That being that God desires to at times (test our faith) and as an extreme example, and, to understand this example, we have to read the progressive story of Job. Job was caught in between basically a bet between God and Satan. The crux of the illustration being that most ALL of Job’s blessings were to be taken away, including all his children, his riches, his health and more….his unkind and unsupportive friends. If, Job stood strong in his faith, and endured to the end of the test….not only would Job win, but God would win too! This bet! And, God won…..his faith in Job was verified.
So…hopefully, we are out of Job’s league, and the time of testing for our faith does not encompass those extremes.
A few verses on prayer and I will be close to finishing up, for today! Close!
- Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything.Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
- James 5:13-16, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick?You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
- 17b, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” To earnestly pray….takes discipline and effort of the will, but once involved it will flow from you to God…because like the phone illustration, you will be connected.
Intercessory Prayer….is a step deeper than earnest prayer…and an illustration is praying in the Holy Spirit…meaning you sometimes may move out of your understanding into a place in the Spirit, where you sense you are one with God, and perhaps even praying in utterances that you do not understand.
PRAYER NEED NOT BE A MYSTERY…..BUT A FACT, AN ACTION OFTEN BEARING VISIBLE RESULTS.
Life is not without uncertainties, whether they come in the form of a major life transition, family issues, health scares and or financial trouble. What we should continue to learn is that God cares, about even the smaller issues in our lives, he asks us, and even invites us to let go of our fears on all levels, by giving them to him. When we do truly let go……he, who knows all things, promises that his peace, “which is transcends all understanding, will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
The Little Church in the Pines
MACK’S INN, IDAHO
January 28, 2018
“HOPE”
“a vital part of our lives”
Romans 15:13
“I pray that God, the source of ‘hope,’ will fill you completely with joy and peace, because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
By; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Hope….depending on a given state of mind and faith, can be hard to grasp, ethereal or substantive and encouraging.
So….what is the actual meaning of this both ethereal and substantive word anyway. Well, I will tell you.
Hope…is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes, with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life, or the world at large. As a verb (action) it’s definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation with a desired outcome”.
Among it’s opposites are dejection, hopelessness and even despair.
This morning, did you arrive here with a measure of ‘hope?’ Hope of something or someone? We humans are as I said last week, with the ability to reason, think and weight the benefits or consequences that lie in front of us, are unique in all the living beings on this blue planet. The fact that we can even entertain ‘hope,’ is distinctly human.
In the New International Bible, the word HOPE is used 180 times. In it’s every day usage, it’s depth is measured by the emotions that lie beneath it.
There are many different kinds of hope…such as 1. Desired Hope
2. Expressly Christian Hope
3. False Hope
4. Fulfilled Hope
5. Others
Hope is a forever word……and in doing a little research found that without being redundant, in speaking it’s many manifestations more than once, citizens have named their towns, points of interest and fishing lodges, etc., using the word hope, and here are some examples.
Hope, Hopewell, Fairhope, Mount Hope, Hopeville, Hope Valley, New Hope, Point Hope, Good Hope, East Hope, Hopeful Heights, Pleasant Hope and Spring Hope….of which there are an additional 90 more…oh yeah, Fishope Lodge. Can you believe that?
We are still in the month of January, the New Year is still fresh on our minds, especially if we still write a check once in awhile….as it takes time to make that singular adjustment. Did you…come into this new year with hope. Are they intimate to you, unspoken hopes but hope none the less. Perhaps broader, bigger in scope, such as the proverbial hoped for world peace? Better health, Hope for our children and grandchildren….or a new car. The spectrum is huge, and what lies at the root of each one is peculiar to you and you alone.
I would suggest you put some additional tools in your hope box…and that would be prayer, not just a ho hum prayer….but an authentic, deep intercessory prayer….and add to that some practical (if applicable and possible) effort in the natural. If we desire and hope for something deep enough, but doing just these two things….will make a difference.
On the down side….I have had hopes that have not come about, some due to my own doing, and others due to other’s doings. Those unfulfilled hopes are the hardest to deal with….to make peace with….and to replace the regret, sometimes pain that accompanied them. I have been there…experienced just like you, those times. But….even in those times, I never completely lost the Presence of the Lord…in fact, the opposite. For it was in those times that I needed him the most….and called on him the most, because I might not have made it through had it not been so.
Living, breathing, illness, accidents, death, loss, disappointments….are all a part of life on this spinning world we live on. A natural part of simply being here. To comfort and encourage one another in those times of loss, disappointments, are the times when we can (if we have the will and courage to choose) draw closer to our Lord and one another. His love….and our love for one another….through whom we stand together in the Spirit with…..and continue to hope….to lift up one another. This is vital to living. Vital to our well-being and even our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
The Lord is always with us because He is within us. Take a deep breath, reign in your thoughts and in that moment audibly say to him, I give you all that I cannot understand, hoping you will comfort me, wrap your arms around me, hold me. In those times, it behooves us not to ask why, but to simply give him the burden of your soul. I guarantee…..he will be with and embrace you.
Physically…it helps also to simply change your location. Going to someplace where there is peace and solitude and even beauty, for in that solitude, we can say to him as Solomon said in Psalm 40 verse 3, “Put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to my God.”
A song of worship, of praise, to take the place of loss. Not to dispel it, but to lift it up on the wings of a song, a song of hope, as it rises as a note of praise, a s sacrifice literally of praise. For then it can turn into worship, for as we worship, we will find our selves being lifted out of our selves and into his Presence.
A song I sing….that give me hope is one that you know that I love. Morning Has Broken…(sing) Page 5.
I have HOPE, hope for us here in TLCP…that God is and will accomplish here, in us and in this chapel….and will grow us, deepen us, brighten our light here in this community….and in each of us individually….transforming us into a special people of God….not better in our own eyes, but humbly and taking on the form of servants to serve one another and this place in which we live, who just by being here and reflecting him….will bring honor to his name.
Will you say AMEN to this?
C.L Lewis who wrote so m any wonderful books, including the Narnia Chronicles, Screwtape Letters and many more said about hope: “Hope is a continual looking forward to the eternal world to come.”
Dale Carnegie said: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying, when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim’s Progress said, “Hope is never ill when faith is well.”
Emily Dickenson wrote: “Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches on the soul, and sings the tunes without the words, and NEVER stops at all.”
Cicero wrote: “While there is life, there is hope.”
G.F. Watt has a famous painting entitled “Hope.” It pictures a woman going through deep and difficult times. Her eyes are bandaged so that she cannot see ahead. In her hands lies a harp, but all the strings are broken but one. Those broken strings represent to her, her shattered hopes, her bitter disappointments. She named the last unbroken string, her last hope. She strokes the string and instead of a singular sound, comes a glorious melody that floats out over her world, filling her dark skies with stars, taking away the darkness and filling her heart and life with joy. Her outward circumstances had not yet changed…but her heart now sang instead of with despair….with new born hope.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disillusioned within me? HOPE IN GOD, (for the midst of my despair) I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM…the help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 31:24, “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all of you who ‘hope’ in the Lord.”
We all…at times need New Beginnings undergirded with hope. To do so, we need to keep our faith alive, real and growing. That my friends…..takes at times an act of our wills, based on our love and hope in God. An act of our will in that we actively pursue our relationship with God in Christ.
The first person to invent the wheel and put it to practical use, only discovered what God had already designed, for the Lord created creation in circles and spheres. The stars and planets are round, they move in an orbital circuit, and life, as a result, moves in cycles. Every one hundred years, we have a new century; every three hundred and sixty five days a new year; every 24 hours a new day; every sixty minutes a new hour, and every sixty seconds a new minute.
God created the potential for New Beginnings into the very design of our universe, and for good reason. Every person needs a chance, more than a chance, sometimes multiple New Beginnings and New Chances. Some of those folks we have read about.
Adam and Eve….after their failure
Moses after he killed the Egyptian
David after his adulterous relationship
Peter, after his denial of Christ three times
And maybe….just maybe you and I….oh, actually, not maybe!
Here is a humorous tale that I may have shared once before, awhile ago, but will do so again….and it is about attitude in times of perceived failure, laced with hope.
A man was out for a walk one afternoon, saw a baseball game going on and stopped to watch the young boys play. He asked one of the boys in the dugout what the score was? The boy responded, “eighteen to nothing…we’re behind.”
The man said to the little guy, “I’ll bet you are very discouraged, aren’t you?”
The boy responded, “why would I be discouraged?” We haven’t even been up to bat yet!”
Let’s pick up our bat and join with the attitude of that little guy….in hope and anticipation of what the Lord has for us…each and every one of us.!
That is My hope, backed with prayer….and “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.: Halleluiah, amen.
MACK’S INN, IDAHO
January 28, 2018
“HOPE”
“a vital part of our lives”
Romans 15:13
“I pray that God, the source of ‘hope,’ will fill you completely with joy and peace, because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
By; Tom Shanor, Pastor
Hope….depending on a given state of mind and faith, can be hard to grasp, ethereal or substantive and encouraging.
So….what is the actual meaning of this both ethereal and substantive word anyway. Well, I will tell you.
Hope…is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes, with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life, or the world at large. As a verb (action) it’s definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation with a desired outcome”.
Among it’s opposites are dejection, hopelessness and even despair.
This morning, did you arrive here with a measure of ‘hope?’ Hope of something or someone? We humans are as I said last week, with the ability to reason, think and weight the benefits or consequences that lie in front of us, are unique in all the living beings on this blue planet. The fact that we can even entertain ‘hope,’ is distinctly human.
In the New International Bible, the word HOPE is used 180 times. In it’s every day usage, it’s depth is measured by the emotions that lie beneath it.
There are many different kinds of hope…such as 1. Desired Hope
2. Expressly Christian Hope
3. False Hope
4. Fulfilled Hope
5. Others
Hope is a forever word……and in doing a little research found that without being redundant, in speaking it’s many manifestations more than once, citizens have named their towns, points of interest and fishing lodges, etc., using the word hope, and here are some examples.
Hope, Hopewell, Fairhope, Mount Hope, Hopeville, Hope Valley, New Hope, Point Hope, Good Hope, East Hope, Hopeful Heights, Pleasant Hope and Spring Hope….of which there are an additional 90 more…oh yeah, Fishope Lodge. Can you believe that?
We are still in the month of January, the New Year is still fresh on our minds, especially if we still write a check once in awhile….as it takes time to make that singular adjustment. Did you…come into this new year with hope. Are they intimate to you, unspoken hopes but hope none the less. Perhaps broader, bigger in scope, such as the proverbial hoped for world peace? Better health, Hope for our children and grandchildren….or a new car. The spectrum is huge, and what lies at the root of each one is peculiar to you and you alone.
I would suggest you put some additional tools in your hope box…and that would be prayer, not just a ho hum prayer….but an authentic, deep intercessory prayer….and add to that some practical (if applicable and possible) effort in the natural. If we desire and hope for something deep enough, but doing just these two things….will make a difference.
On the down side….I have had hopes that have not come about, some due to my own doing, and others due to other’s doings. Those unfulfilled hopes are the hardest to deal with….to make peace with….and to replace the regret, sometimes pain that accompanied them. I have been there…experienced just like you, those times. But….even in those times, I never completely lost the Presence of the Lord…in fact, the opposite. For it was in those times that I needed him the most….and called on him the most, because I might not have made it through had it not been so.
Living, breathing, illness, accidents, death, loss, disappointments….are all a part of life on this spinning world we live on. A natural part of simply being here. To comfort and encourage one another in those times of loss, disappointments, are the times when we can (if we have the will and courage to choose) draw closer to our Lord and one another. His love….and our love for one another….through whom we stand together in the Spirit with…..and continue to hope….to lift up one another. This is vital to living. Vital to our well-being and even our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
The Lord is always with us because He is within us. Take a deep breath, reign in your thoughts and in that moment audibly say to him, I give you all that I cannot understand, hoping you will comfort me, wrap your arms around me, hold me. In those times, it behooves us not to ask why, but to simply give him the burden of your soul. I guarantee…..he will be with and embrace you.
Physically…it helps also to simply change your location. Going to someplace where there is peace and solitude and even beauty, for in that solitude, we can say to him as Solomon said in Psalm 40 verse 3, “Put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to my God.”
A song of worship, of praise, to take the place of loss. Not to dispel it, but to lift it up on the wings of a song, a song of hope, as it rises as a note of praise, a s sacrifice literally of praise. For then it can turn into worship, for as we worship, we will find our selves being lifted out of our selves and into his Presence.
A song I sing….that give me hope is one that you know that I love. Morning Has Broken…(sing) Page 5.
I have HOPE, hope for us here in TLCP…that God is and will accomplish here, in us and in this chapel….and will grow us, deepen us, brighten our light here in this community….and in each of us individually….transforming us into a special people of God….not better in our own eyes, but humbly and taking on the form of servants to serve one another and this place in which we live, who just by being here and reflecting him….will bring honor to his name.
Will you say AMEN to this?
C.L Lewis who wrote so m any wonderful books, including the Narnia Chronicles, Screwtape Letters and many more said about hope: “Hope is a continual looking forward to the eternal world to come.”
Dale Carnegie said: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying, when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim’s Progress said, “Hope is never ill when faith is well.”
Emily Dickenson wrote: “Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches on the soul, and sings the tunes without the words, and NEVER stops at all.”
Cicero wrote: “While there is life, there is hope.”
G.F. Watt has a famous painting entitled “Hope.” It pictures a woman going through deep and difficult times. Her eyes are bandaged so that she cannot see ahead. In her hands lies a harp, but all the strings are broken but one. Those broken strings represent to her, her shattered hopes, her bitter disappointments. She named the last unbroken string, her last hope. She strokes the string and instead of a singular sound, comes a glorious melody that floats out over her world, filling her dark skies with stars, taking away the darkness and filling her heart and life with joy. Her outward circumstances had not yet changed…but her heart now sang instead of with despair….with new born hope.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disillusioned within me? HOPE IN GOD, (for the midst of my despair) I SHALL YET PRAISE HIM…the help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 31:24, “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all of you who ‘hope’ in the Lord.”
We all…at times need New Beginnings undergirded with hope. To do so, we need to keep our faith alive, real and growing. That my friends…..takes at times an act of our wills, based on our love and hope in God. An act of our will in that we actively pursue our relationship with God in Christ.
The first person to invent the wheel and put it to practical use, only discovered what God had already designed, for the Lord created creation in circles and spheres. The stars and planets are round, they move in an orbital circuit, and life, as a result, moves in cycles. Every one hundred years, we have a new century; every three hundred and sixty five days a new year; every 24 hours a new day; every sixty minutes a new hour, and every sixty seconds a new minute.
God created the potential for New Beginnings into the very design of our universe, and for good reason. Every person needs a chance, more than a chance, sometimes multiple New Beginnings and New Chances. Some of those folks we have read about.
Adam and Eve….after their failure
Moses after he killed the Egyptian
David after his adulterous relationship
Peter, after his denial of Christ three times
And maybe….just maybe you and I….oh, actually, not maybe!
Here is a humorous tale that I may have shared once before, awhile ago, but will do so again….and it is about attitude in times of perceived failure, laced with hope.
A man was out for a walk one afternoon, saw a baseball game going on and stopped to watch the young boys play. He asked one of the boys in the dugout what the score was? The boy responded, “eighteen to nothing…we’re behind.”
The man said to the little guy, “I’ll bet you are very discouraged, aren’t you?”
The boy responded, “why would I be discouraged?” We haven’t even been up to bat yet!”
Let’s pick up our bat and join with the attitude of that little guy….in hope and anticipation of what the Lord has for us…each and every one of us.!
That is My hope, backed with prayer….and “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.: Halleluiah, amen.
The Little Church in the Pines
mack's inn, island park, id.
"Sermon"
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
"To Question and to Think?"
equals
"wisdom?"
January 14, 2018
~ This morning’s message begins with a challenge. Are you up for one? In accepting a challenge, one has to know that there will be obstacles and possibly prejudices to overcome, especially in regards to what we often hold to as truth. The first challenge is making a decision to do just that. Especially when it comes to the way we think about truths....or alleged truths. There are some truths that stand on their own, and there are others truths that we have accepted as truths, but because of man, and man's ability to manipulate, due to desire, circumstances and goals, can change truths with a word, a period or a whole new paragraph, or a whole new book such as the Book of Mormon
~ I wish I could say that this has not been done, especially in regards to our faith, but time, culture, motivation, evidence, and the will and hand of man, has, and will continue to change and attempt to change accepted truths.
~ In regards to this, we can challenge ourselves to think....or build walls. Building walls is much easier than challenging truths, because it means we will have to think. Not on a superficial level, but on a deeper level such as is described next, in what the meaning of thinking is, which I found the meaning of in my Bible. This is not Scripture of course, but a short paragraph on what the word think means.
It means....to ponder, reflect, remember, all subject to the process of logical thought; to have an opinion based on logic, evidence, and sometimes faith. To also conceive or reason,
and lastly, to mediate on.
Arriving at a place in our minds....that what is said or written or thought and spoken...is true.
This goes for my messages as well, and what I share with you! As often as Ido, I try to let you know when something is my opinion, but even then, in thinking about what I am about to share....if it is something that bothers you....do research...think...and also pray. Now, that's a novel idea!
~ We, most all have been told and heard, that we only use a tenth or so of our brains and what they are capable of, yet no one has yet to discover how to access the other 90%.
Wow....wouldn't that be something to find the way to do so? Actually, considering what we do with what we already have, have 90% more is a bit scary.
~ Also, with each of us comes a way of thinking that is unique to each individual...some of us use mostly logic, others emotion, others a blend. Some of us have the ability to think down the road...and others cannot seem to think beyond the moment. Overall....we are uniquely complex and diverse.
~ My personal prayer every Sunday that as I stand up here and talk with you, that I do not transgress the responsibility that has been given to me. I do not take this position lightly or even without a measure of fear. I do not consider myself a wise person….for that would be arrogant, and I am not anyway, a wise person that is, but I do rely on the wisdom of God through four means.
1. The Scriptures 3. Logic
2. The Holy Spirit 4. Evidence
~ There were things I was taught as a child, but I will get into that a bit later, as much as I am about to share is personal in regards to my beliefs and how they have changed, especially in the last ten years. Prior to that I pretty much taught others, and came from a place in me that had a lot of fear behind my beliefs and teaching.
~ I believed basically everything I was taught, and God forbid I would ever leave the foundation that my faith was founded on, taught to me, coming from roughly 30 years as an Evangelical, and most of those were in some form of leadership.
~ God also forbid if I voiced questions that differed from those Evangelical teachings. I knew the accepted doctrine, and I knew it well. I knew what the correct Evangelical worldview was and always (that is a relative term) had been
~ I also always knew how to back it up with the Bible..(or tried to) and when I could not, how to fall back on saying (God is in control and by His Spirit would not allow one word to be mistranslated or changed to suit man.) That was naïve.
~ That is…until I didn’t, and admitted to myself I couldn’t go on being a puppet, with strings attached to the hierarchy above me. I had to challenge what I believed and taught so that I could not only own it, but understand it’s roots and foundation, thereby being able to truly teach it, back it up and rest on it.
~ Some of these beliefs could not stand the test of scrutiny of time, or evidence. I came to the revelation that we as Evangelicals failed greatly in one major area, in that we came off being (in our own estimation), and acting superior….we were not humble followers of Jesus, but selfrighteous judges, looking down (and not nicely) on those who did not believe as we did. I also saw that we failed to look at human beings who thought and believed differently than we, as human beings just like us. You see, we labeled people, and as soon as we labeled them, that is really all we saw. We failed to see their humanity, their vulnerability, their capacity for love, for pain, for grief, for joy…….in that, they are just like us.
~ Until I didn’t…………….
~ It didn’t and doesn’t need to be this way. I could have been given (gratefully so) a much broader snapshot of Christianity, a much deeper and wider picture of church history, of doctrine, of philosophy, etc. I could have been told that though there were difference in our doctrines and philosophies, we could still be brothers and sisters in the faith.
~ Here are some points I want to talk about……………………………………….
~ Little is truly said, or understood in regards to heaven and hell. But the little that is said….has been built into monuments…starting with Dante’s painting of hell that dramatically changed not only Christianity, but the entire then culture, from one of tolerance and grace…to one of damnation and fear.
~ The doctrine of hell was that which was most responsible for driving me from the Evangelical cage. I couldn’t and still can’t see a loving God who created all the beauty and astoundingly intricate world we live in…..condemning individuals, already in pain, to literal flames for even a moment, let alone for all eternity. And I couldn’t fathom spending an eternity in heaven while those I loved were tortured forever in such a place as Dante pictured. That is not the God that I know, that the Bible speaks of….and fills me with grace and mercy and goodness.
~ The kicker though, is that Christian thinkers in the early church couldn’t fathom such things either. There were and are a whole host of theologians who believed that hell wasn’t everlasting, and that those who found themselves consigned there, are there for their own good. In other words, hell had and has a purpose, which is not for the sake of burning people, but to burn away all the wood, hay and stubble that prevents them from “going to heaven” to put it in Evangelical terms.
~ My own dad…and what Jesus revealed to me….proved this dramatically. (tell as an illustration of God’s love and Grace)
Another issue of doctrine……………………………………………………………………..
2….that the Rapture is not even a 200-year-old-doctrine, and to this day is not believed by the great majority of Christianity, irregardless of the fictional series of books written (Left Behind)… that took the Evangelical world by storm and became in much of the Evangelical world….doctrine.
~ If hell in its’ taught model drove me away…this one, as I think back to my childhood was right up there with it, and that being the Rapture. I can recall, well into my adulthood, but oh so much in my childhood, that this supposed truth scared me to death. Out of nowhere I would wonder if I couldn’t find someone, that the rapture had happened and I was “left behind” as the book series is called. If that happened, what was the antichrist going to do me.
~ Here is where it became literal doctrine…that Christians did not start believing this until 1830’s (around the same time Mormonism arose. If such an important tenet of the faith (as we were taught) were true, then shouldn’t Christians have been privy to it much earlier on?
~ And maybe, just maybe, they could have mentioned it in the Nicene Creed? Or the Apostles Creed, or somewhere in the tenets of the faith, being taught consistently and deeply, as it is taught today. Think about it! Living as a small, vulnerable child would have been, even for me, a more delightful time without being frightened of such.
Remember, that my purpose today is not to get you mad at me, or confused, but to drive you further and deeper into what you believe, or change what you believe, but to back it up with history, and fact, and faith…not just because someone(s) taught you these things.
~ I sat in on months of teaching in an evening class, over 20 years ago, about the things that were going to happen soon, starting with the year 2000 and Y2K…..listening to a teacher I respected…(at the time) of not only the rapture but all that prefaced the event that was to happen shortly.
1. Concentration camps being built for Christians in various places in the US…upstate New York, other locations!
2. Guillotines that were sitting in a warehouse in Alaska, ready to behead we Christians, who missed the Rapture, but came to faith because of being left behind. Death was a way to redemption.
3. And oh so much more…..we were excited, and blessed to be ahead of the game…and
what was to come. God forgive me.
There is one more I want to cover….though I have others as well, and this last one for today is…..that it is ok to question things, including doctrine, and that it is also ok to be wrong, in that you are not automatically consigned to the Evangelical accepted hell and damnation, for being supposedly wrong.
~ I can never remember my leadership giving me the ok to question accepted beliefs and doctrines. You just didn’t do that.
~ For when done, if the courage to do so….any deviation brought with it correction and admonishment. You see, as a leader and teacher….the responsibility was too great, in that the ‘flock’ might be led astray. The responsibility and accountability is much harsher (and in a sense I agree with that) for the leader than for the sheep. You. Yet…we should always have the freedom to think and to question.
We are told today as well, that the ticket to heaven is having the correct beliefs about who Jesus is, what he accomplished, and so on. (FEAR based) So, why would we question accepted doctrine. Why take the chance we may be wrong?
~ The truth is much simpler….and can be summed up in one sentence….found in Romans 10:13, and Acts 2:21.
“Whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.”
~It’s a beautiful thing……the simplicity of accepting and believing, and the benefits are rather amazing….in faith, grace, mercy, justice, joy and simply life in and with the Lord, and each other…and with all of humanity.
Here is a closing thought about God; “His center is everywhere, His circumference is nowhere.” Henry Law
Please, do not be afraid to either think or question….God gave us the ability to do so, and respects that we are honest with him in doing so……..he can handle any question or inquiry…..and answers us in patience, grace….leading to wisdom………………. Amen
mack's inn, island park, id.
"Sermon"
by; Tom Shanor, Pastor
"To Question and to Think?"
equals
"wisdom?"
January 14, 2018
~ This morning’s message begins with a challenge. Are you up for one? In accepting a challenge, one has to know that there will be obstacles and possibly prejudices to overcome, especially in regards to what we often hold to as truth. The first challenge is making a decision to do just that. Especially when it comes to the way we think about truths....or alleged truths. There are some truths that stand on their own, and there are others truths that we have accepted as truths, but because of man, and man's ability to manipulate, due to desire, circumstances and goals, can change truths with a word, a period or a whole new paragraph, or a whole new book such as the Book of Mormon
~ I wish I could say that this has not been done, especially in regards to our faith, but time, culture, motivation, evidence, and the will and hand of man, has, and will continue to change and attempt to change accepted truths.
~ In regards to this, we can challenge ourselves to think....or build walls. Building walls is much easier than challenging truths, because it means we will have to think. Not on a superficial level, but on a deeper level such as is described next, in what the meaning of thinking is, which I found the meaning of in my Bible. This is not Scripture of course, but a short paragraph on what the word think means.
It means....to ponder, reflect, remember, all subject to the process of logical thought; to have an opinion based on logic, evidence, and sometimes faith. To also conceive or reason,
and lastly, to mediate on.
Arriving at a place in our minds....that what is said or written or thought and spoken...is true.
This goes for my messages as well, and what I share with you! As often as Ido, I try to let you know when something is my opinion, but even then, in thinking about what I am about to share....if it is something that bothers you....do research...think...and also pray. Now, that's a novel idea!
~ We, most all have been told and heard, that we only use a tenth or so of our brains and what they are capable of, yet no one has yet to discover how to access the other 90%.
Wow....wouldn't that be something to find the way to do so? Actually, considering what we do with what we already have, have 90% more is a bit scary.
~ Also, with each of us comes a way of thinking that is unique to each individual...some of us use mostly logic, others emotion, others a blend. Some of us have the ability to think down the road...and others cannot seem to think beyond the moment. Overall....we are uniquely complex and diverse.
~ My personal prayer every Sunday that as I stand up here and talk with you, that I do not transgress the responsibility that has been given to me. I do not take this position lightly or even without a measure of fear. I do not consider myself a wise person….for that would be arrogant, and I am not anyway, a wise person that is, but I do rely on the wisdom of God through four means.
1. The Scriptures 3. Logic
2. The Holy Spirit 4. Evidence
~ There were things I was taught as a child, but I will get into that a bit later, as much as I am about to share is personal in regards to my beliefs and how they have changed, especially in the last ten years. Prior to that I pretty much taught others, and came from a place in me that had a lot of fear behind my beliefs and teaching.
~ I believed basically everything I was taught, and God forbid I would ever leave the foundation that my faith was founded on, taught to me, coming from roughly 30 years as an Evangelical, and most of those were in some form of leadership.
~ God also forbid if I voiced questions that differed from those Evangelical teachings. I knew the accepted doctrine, and I knew it well. I knew what the correct Evangelical worldview was and always (that is a relative term) had been
~ I also always knew how to back it up with the Bible..(or tried to) and when I could not, how to fall back on saying (God is in control and by His Spirit would not allow one word to be mistranslated or changed to suit man.) That was naïve.
~ That is…until I didn’t, and admitted to myself I couldn’t go on being a puppet, with strings attached to the hierarchy above me. I had to challenge what I believed and taught so that I could not only own it, but understand it’s roots and foundation, thereby being able to truly teach it, back it up and rest on it.
~ Some of these beliefs could not stand the test of scrutiny of time, or evidence. I came to the revelation that we as Evangelicals failed greatly in one major area, in that we came off being (in our own estimation), and acting superior….we were not humble followers of Jesus, but selfrighteous judges, looking down (and not nicely) on those who did not believe as we did. I also saw that we failed to look at human beings who thought and believed differently than we, as human beings just like us. You see, we labeled people, and as soon as we labeled them, that is really all we saw. We failed to see their humanity, their vulnerability, their capacity for love, for pain, for grief, for joy…….in that, they are just like us.
~ Until I didn’t…………….
~ It didn’t and doesn’t need to be this way. I could have been given (gratefully so) a much broader snapshot of Christianity, a much deeper and wider picture of church history, of doctrine, of philosophy, etc. I could have been told that though there were difference in our doctrines and philosophies, we could still be brothers and sisters in the faith.
~ Here are some points I want to talk about……………………………………….
~ Little is truly said, or understood in regards to heaven and hell. But the little that is said….has been built into monuments…starting with Dante’s painting of hell that dramatically changed not only Christianity, but the entire then culture, from one of tolerance and grace…to one of damnation and fear.
~ The doctrine of hell was that which was most responsible for driving me from the Evangelical cage. I couldn’t and still can’t see a loving God who created all the beauty and astoundingly intricate world we live in…..condemning individuals, already in pain, to literal flames for even a moment, let alone for all eternity. And I couldn’t fathom spending an eternity in heaven while those I loved were tortured forever in such a place as Dante pictured. That is not the God that I know, that the Bible speaks of….and fills me with grace and mercy and goodness.
~ The kicker though, is that Christian thinkers in the early church couldn’t fathom such things either. There were and are a whole host of theologians who believed that hell wasn’t everlasting, and that those who found themselves consigned there, are there for their own good. In other words, hell had and has a purpose, which is not for the sake of burning people, but to burn away all the wood, hay and stubble that prevents them from “going to heaven” to put it in Evangelical terms.
~ My own dad…and what Jesus revealed to me….proved this dramatically. (tell as an illustration of God’s love and Grace)
Another issue of doctrine……………………………………………………………………..
2….that the Rapture is not even a 200-year-old-doctrine, and to this day is not believed by the great majority of Christianity, irregardless of the fictional series of books written (Left Behind)… that took the Evangelical world by storm and became in much of the Evangelical world….doctrine.
~ If hell in its’ taught model drove me away…this one, as I think back to my childhood was right up there with it, and that being the Rapture. I can recall, well into my adulthood, but oh so much in my childhood, that this supposed truth scared me to death. Out of nowhere I would wonder if I couldn’t find someone, that the rapture had happened and I was “left behind” as the book series is called. If that happened, what was the antichrist going to do me.
~ Here is where it became literal doctrine…that Christians did not start believing this until 1830’s (around the same time Mormonism arose. If such an important tenet of the faith (as we were taught) were true, then shouldn’t Christians have been privy to it much earlier on?
~ And maybe, just maybe, they could have mentioned it in the Nicene Creed? Or the Apostles Creed, or somewhere in the tenets of the faith, being taught consistently and deeply, as it is taught today. Think about it! Living as a small, vulnerable child would have been, even for me, a more delightful time without being frightened of such.
Remember, that my purpose today is not to get you mad at me, or confused, but to drive you further and deeper into what you believe, or change what you believe, but to back it up with history, and fact, and faith…not just because someone(s) taught you these things.
~ I sat in on months of teaching in an evening class, over 20 years ago, about the things that were going to happen soon, starting with the year 2000 and Y2K…..listening to a teacher I respected…(at the time) of not only the rapture but all that prefaced the event that was to happen shortly.
1. Concentration camps being built for Christians in various places in the US…upstate New York, other locations!
2. Guillotines that were sitting in a warehouse in Alaska, ready to behead we Christians, who missed the Rapture, but came to faith because of being left behind. Death was a way to redemption.
3. And oh so much more…..we were excited, and blessed to be ahead of the game…and
what was to come. God forgive me.
There is one more I want to cover….though I have others as well, and this last one for today is…..that it is ok to question things, including doctrine, and that it is also ok to be wrong, in that you are not automatically consigned to the Evangelical accepted hell and damnation, for being supposedly wrong.
~ I can never remember my leadership giving me the ok to question accepted beliefs and doctrines. You just didn’t do that.
~ For when done, if the courage to do so….any deviation brought with it correction and admonishment. You see, as a leader and teacher….the responsibility was too great, in that the ‘flock’ might be led astray. The responsibility and accountability is much harsher (and in a sense I agree with that) for the leader than for the sheep. You. Yet…we should always have the freedom to think and to question.
We are told today as well, that the ticket to heaven is having the correct beliefs about who Jesus is, what he accomplished, and so on. (FEAR based) So, why would we question accepted doctrine. Why take the chance we may be wrong?
~ The truth is much simpler….and can be summed up in one sentence….found in Romans 10:13, and Acts 2:21.
“Whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.”
~It’s a beautiful thing……the simplicity of accepting and believing, and the benefits are rather amazing….in faith, grace, mercy, justice, joy and simply life in and with the Lord, and each other…and with all of humanity.
Here is a closing thought about God; “His center is everywhere, His circumference is nowhere.” Henry Law
Please, do not be afraid to either think or question….God gave us the ability to do so, and respects that we are honest with him in doing so……..he can handle any question or inquiry…..and answers us in patience, grace….leading to wisdom………………. Amen
The modern English word hell is derived from Old English, hel, helle, (about 725 AD to refer to a nether world or the world of the dead) Subsequently, the word was used to transfer a (pagan concept) to Christian theology and it’s vocabulary…..the Jewish and Christian word’s origin is found in the Hebrew word, Gehenna, which in reality was a public dump in Israel, that was continually smoldering and sometimes burning.
The accepted doctrine of an Evangelical hell….which encompasses that of many denominations is this…..which includes the overall, though perhaps not in detail of Dante’s painting, the Divine Comedy….and is,
…..one of perpetual torture of a great variety, of sinners who do not believe in Christ, which includes all non-Christians, who have not repented of their sins, including ‘fallen or unrepentant ‘former believers.’ This also could include those who had not accepted the sovereignty of Christ, even if and because of the way that Christ was delivered to them….perhaps by force, threat of death, or just a poor example of how the Gospel was presented….and how that individual lived their life. Basically…it’s about punishment without grace, mercy or goodness, though the person may have lived an exemplary life.
…..Catholicism, which if you remember had resolved this for over 1500 years before Luther, has a different version of Hell, which also include purgatory, or a place of purging….or cleansing before heaven.
…..Judaism has a far different doctrinal stance, as does the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox…..
…..Once again….I am talking about this to compel you to do your own research, unless….you are comfortable with the doctrine you hold on to and believe…and like the title of my sermon, it is important to “Question and to Think” for several reasons…1. That you know what you believe and equally, 2. why you do, 3. so you can explain to others why, and 4. to strengthen your faith, and 5. So you be tolerant and accepting of others who believe differently than you.
….BACK TO THE KICKER….
The accepted doctrine of an Evangelical hell….which encompasses that of many denominations is this…..which includes the overall, though perhaps not in detail of Dante’s painting, the Divine Comedy….and is,
…..one of perpetual torture of a great variety, of sinners who do not believe in Christ, which includes all non-Christians, who have not repented of their sins, including ‘fallen or unrepentant ‘former believers.’ This also could include those who had not accepted the sovereignty of Christ, even if and because of the way that Christ was delivered to them….perhaps by force, threat of death, or just a poor example of how the Gospel was presented….and how that individual lived their life. Basically…it’s about punishment without grace, mercy or goodness, though the person may have lived an exemplary life.
…..Catholicism, which if you remember had resolved this for over 1500 years before Luther, has a different version of Hell, which also include purgatory, or a place of purging….or cleansing before heaven.
…..Judaism has a far different doctrinal stance, as does the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox…..
…..Once again….I am talking about this to compel you to do your own research, unless….you are comfortable with the doctrine you hold on to and believe…and like the title of my sermon, it is important to “Question and to Think” for several reasons…1. That you know what you believe and equally, 2. why you do, 3. so you can explain to others why, and 4. to strengthen your faith, and 5. So you be tolerant and accepting of others who believe differently than you.
….BACK TO THE KICKER….
PRE-MILLENIAL RAPTURE
Definition….of Millenialism first, which is the belief that Jesus will return to earth literally, to set up an earthly kingdom, and reign for a thousand years.
PRE-MILLENIAL RAPTURE is, the belief that Christians who are worthy, will prior to His coming, be lifted up or taken up to Heaven, therefore not having to live during the 3-1/2 year period, of the rule of the anti-Christ (a man who will be the antithesis of Christ) and will demand that he be worshiped by all of mankind…who’s goal during that time, will be to root out and kill those who during his reign come to Christ.
Definition….of Millenialism first, which is the belief that Jesus will return to earth literally, to set up an earthly kingdom, and reign for a thousand years.
PRE-MILLENIAL RAPTURE is, the belief that Christians who are worthy, will prior to His coming, be lifted up or taken up to Heaven, therefore not having to live during the 3-1/2 year period, of the rule of the anti-Christ (a man who will be the antithesis of Christ) and will demand that he be worshiped by all of mankind…who’s goal during that time, will be to root out and kill those who during his reign come to Christ.
NEW DOCTRINE………
Rapture doctrine was invented, written and presented to Christian America by one John Nelson Darby…at this time. All attempts to find legitimate evidence of this doctrine before this time have failed.
Darby’s doctrinal treatise has had a profound impact on Evangelical Christianity to this day. Since Darby’s “secret rapture” false doctrine has infected most conservative, evangelical churches. While the official creeds and statement of faith of again, the Catholic Church, and most older denominations do not hold to this vein of doctrine.
The churches who do believe this, use Israel’s modern state-hood status, of 1948 to be a beginning of the countdown to the end. But, by one of their own Scripture’s used to validate their belief, has already passed and not fulfilled……that, “this generation,” the generation being the one alive at the time of Israel being established as a nation,) (a generation being 40 years) will not pass away until all this comes to pass.” It has now been 70 years.
Since this doctrine has been adopted…..there are Date Setters, and Date Teasers….the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Jehovah Witnesses…among others, have set dates in the past and most likely will in the future…days and times for the great day of the coming of the Lord….only to be proven time and again, wrong. For no one knows the day and time of His coming.
There are more than several ‘so called prophets’ today who time and again do the same….only to embarrass and give Christians and Christianity a bad name….by getting behind these guys. It takes just a few….to taint the whole pot. Most of these are TV preachers and authors….who promote rapture and/or “date setters” all wrongly believe they are prophets of God with special illumination.
Back to “if such”.
Rapture doctrine was invented, written and presented to Christian America by one John Nelson Darby…at this time. All attempts to find legitimate evidence of this doctrine before this time have failed.
Darby’s doctrinal treatise has had a profound impact on Evangelical Christianity to this day. Since Darby’s “secret rapture” false doctrine has infected most conservative, evangelical churches. While the official creeds and statement of faith of again, the Catholic Church, and most older denominations do not hold to this vein of doctrine.
The churches who do believe this, use Israel’s modern state-hood status, of 1948 to be a beginning of the countdown to the end. But, by one of their own Scripture’s used to validate their belief, has already passed and not fulfilled……that, “this generation,” the generation being the one alive at the time of Israel being established as a nation,) (a generation being 40 years) will not pass away until all this comes to pass.” It has now been 70 years.
Since this doctrine has been adopted…..there are Date Setters, and Date Teasers….the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Jehovah Witnesses…among others, have set dates in the past and most likely will in the future…days and times for the great day of the coming of the Lord….only to be proven time and again, wrong. For no one knows the day and time of His coming.
There are more than several ‘so called prophets’ today who time and again do the same….only to embarrass and give Christians and Christianity a bad name….by getting behind these guys. It takes just a few….to taint the whole pot. Most of these are TV preachers and authors….who promote rapture and/or “date setters” all wrongly believe they are prophets of God with special illumination.
Back to “if such”.
The Little Church in the Pines
January 7, 2018
macks inn
Island Park, Idaho
"DO I WANT TO?"
John 21:19b
1 Cor. 4:17b
by
Tom Shanor, Pastor
~ "Then Jesus told him, "Follow Me." John 21:19b
~ "Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go" 1st Cor. 4:17b
~ "But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him" Matthew 17:5....and I save the last part of that Scripture for thought, so think about it...all of it, including that of the disciples who heard the voice, and their reaction. The disciples were terrified...and fell face down on the ground.
~ There are some key words here I want to point out before giving you my composite illustration of those words. They are; follow, Son, great joy and terrified.
3 words so very different in their meaning yet bound together in intent.
How many of you have planted a Sun flower, or several sunflowers? There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them stand out.
1. When in bloom, it is usually a large bloom, that literally stands as a symbol for the sun in its beauty, and form and color.
2. It has a strong stem that can withhold most wind, and the heavy weight of the bloom itself.
3. It also follows the path of the sun....all day long. It greets the morning sun, and as the sun traverse across the sky, it looks up ever so slightly....and the bloom follows that traversing, ending up at the end of the day still facing the sun.
~ In conjunction with the sun and the flower, it should be our spiritual goal to emulate this flower in relation to THE Son.....of God, Jesus the Christ.....Savior of all mankind.
~ This brings us back to the title of today's message; "DO I WANT TO" ? "DO I WANT TO" ? To follow the Son of God?
We just came through weeks of preparation and celebration of the birth of this Jesus, this Son of God....who throughout human history these past 2000 years....has brought both GREAT JOY....and at the hands of corrupt men in leadership, TERROR.
~ The freedom to choose is ours every day that we have on this planet.
~ With this, freedom in following, at times brings with it all manner of thoughts and emotions....from the mundane or ordinary, to deep connection and exquisite creativity. From sin and death to goodness and life, we live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, cold and heat, wind and calm, good and evil....and the list goes on and on.
~ Yet in the center of all this, like the sunflower following the sun, are we, who are to do the same......through all manner of changes and opposites.....to follow the Son.
~ We are but days into another "new year," sometimes full of resolutions and thoughts of change....a time of introspection and hope, and fear, and joy and laughter, and tears and sorrow, of gain and of loss.
Solomon said it so well, as he wrote....."For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time quite searching. At time to keep and time to throw away. At time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and at time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE....A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE......
A new day, a new year, the same life, changed as time advanced.....one minute at a time. Have you ended this past year knowing in all the changes that came your way....some as quoted above....where both joy and sorrow came hand in hand....where laughter and tears flowed from the same eyes....where pain and peace seemed just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
In all this...as in years past and in years to come....there can be One constant in our lives....and that constant is the presence in us and around us, of the one we follow....the Son of God.
My question to each of you and myself this morning is.....in following this Son of God, "Do I WANT TO ?
Do I want to, what....in following Him? Do I want to know Him better, deeper...because as the years wind down and we all come closer and closer to that day....that day of reckoning. What should be our highest and deepest priority? Entertainment, more trips, more material goods, a bigger garage, a bigger house....more grandkids, more kids, more money. None of these are bad.....all are good.....and yet, we leave the highest and best too often as our lowest priority.
Walking hand in hand with the one who gave us the life we live. If often or at times this walk of faith seems shallow and mythical...and not quite real...it is never because he has walked away from us....it is because we have left him behind in our pursuit of other thing, events and people.
My challenge to each of us this New Year....is to take our personal one on one relationship and knowledge of Him to a new and deeper level. It is not my desire this morning to motivate by guilt....or by coersion, but by love....love for Him and love for one another, and love of ourselves.
To be deeply contented in our hearts and spirits at no matter what age....or what physical condition, or even mental emotional state of being....so our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more contented. IF...we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by us) to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading Our Daily Bread, taking time in that quiet time to think about and pray simply, not long dragged out eloquent prayers....but prayers from our heart for our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the world and ourselves.
And allow God through His Scriptures.....perhaps reading just 10 verses at a time every day......then pondering on them, to speak to us through them.
And this also....to spend some of that brief time, simply being grateful and saying so to Him...for what we do have in all the areas I spoke of.
A grateful heart is like good medicine....like putting lotion on dry skin, or putting on our glasses so we can see better and clearer, because a broken spirit makes our lives dry and brittle.
Here's how the little song goes.
A merry heart, does good like a medicine, like a medicine is a merry heart, but broken spirit drieth up the bones.....a merry heart, is the Joy of the Lrod. Whoa..........
Some of us fail a lot in this life....and we fail because we try. If we did not try we would not fail. Failure can do two things....it can beat us up and at the same time tear us down.....OR.....we can learn from our failures, and try again and again until we get it. Attitude in failure is everything, everything....and in success....for having the self agranddizing ego that laps up success...will if gone unchecked lead us back to failure, for we lose our balanced and spiritual perspective.
In our spiritual lives....as in our everyday get through our daily lives....we can become complacent, listless and bored. Attitude is everything..........and a healthy person realizes, that by the grace and love, and help of the Lord....gets up and goes on....sometimes failing sometimes succeeding. Give thanks to God, not for failure but in the failure, and ask him to take you by the hand....help you up and then to walk forward...and I tell you, He will.
The famous missionary C.T. Studd once traveled to China on a ship whose captain was an embittered opponent of Christianity and who often studied the Bible for the reason of arguing with the missionaries who frequently sailed on his ship. When he learned that Studd was aboard his ship, the captain lit into him. But instead of arguing with him, Studd put his arm around the captain and said, "But, my friend, I have a peace that passes all understanding and a joy that nothing can take away"
The captain replied, "Your’re a lucky dog," and walked away. Before the end of that voyage, and the response of Studd....the capatain became a rejoicing believer in the Son of God.
DO I WANT TO.....KNOW HIM MORE DEEPLY.........AND IF SO, WE TOO WILL SEE WITHIN OURSELVES....OUR VERY ATTITUDE CHANGING TO THE BETTER.
In the play Godspell.....is a song that includes these verses...............
O, dear Lord three things I pray...................................................
1. See thee more clearly
2. Love thee more dearly
3. Follow thee more nearly...day by day, by day, by day
As we come to the Table of the Lord this morning.....ask yourself to do these same three things....this coming year, and ask Him how best YOU and do this....for your way will not be my way, or my way your way. He will tailor it just to fit you.....that's who He is.
You are precious in His sight....and in His heart......You are valuable, and you are uniquely and wonderfully made....in His image.
Be a sunflower in God's garden.....and follow Him. Amen
January 7, 2018
macks inn
Island Park, Idaho
"DO I WANT TO?"
John 21:19b
1 Cor. 4:17b
by
Tom Shanor, Pastor
~ "Then Jesus told him, "Follow Me." John 21:19b
~ "Timothy will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go" 1st Cor. 4:17b
~ "But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to and follow him" Matthew 17:5....and I save the last part of that Scripture for thought, so think about it...all of it, including that of the disciples who heard the voice, and their reaction. The disciples were terrified...and fell face down on the ground.
~ There are some key words here I want to point out before giving you my composite illustration of those words. They are; follow, Son, great joy and terrified.
3 words so very different in their meaning yet bound together in intent.
How many of you have planted a Sun flower, or several sunflowers? There are several characteristics of sunflowers that make them stand out.
1. When in bloom, it is usually a large bloom, that literally stands as a symbol for the sun in its beauty, and form and color.
2. It has a strong stem that can withhold most wind, and the heavy weight of the bloom itself.
3. It also follows the path of the sun....all day long. It greets the morning sun, and as the sun traverse across the sky, it looks up ever so slightly....and the bloom follows that traversing, ending up at the end of the day still facing the sun.
~ In conjunction with the sun and the flower, it should be our spiritual goal to emulate this flower in relation to THE Son.....of God, Jesus the Christ.....Savior of all mankind.
~ This brings us back to the title of today's message; "DO I WANT TO" ? "DO I WANT TO" ? To follow the Son of God?
We just came through weeks of preparation and celebration of the birth of this Jesus, this Son of God....who throughout human history these past 2000 years....has brought both GREAT JOY....and at the hands of corrupt men in leadership, TERROR.
~ The freedom to choose is ours every day that we have on this planet.
~ With this, freedom in following, at times brings with it all manner of thoughts and emotions....from the mundane or ordinary, to deep connection and exquisite creativity. From sin and death to goodness and life, we live in a world of opposites. Day and night, desert and tropical, cold and heat, wind and calm, good and evil....and the list goes on and on.
~ Yet in the center of all this, like the sunflower following the sun, are we, who are to do the same......through all manner of changes and opposites.....to follow the Son.
~ We are but days into another "new year," sometimes full of resolutions and thoughts of change....a time of introspection and hope, and fear, and joy and laughter, and tears and sorrow, of gain and of loss.
Solomon said it so well, as he wrote....."For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time quite searching. At time to keep and time to throw away. At time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and at time to speak.
A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO HATE....A TIME FOR WAR AND A TIME FOR PEACE......
A new day, a new year, the same life, changed as time advanced.....one minute at a time. Have you ended this past year knowing in all the changes that came your way....some as quoted above....where both joy and sorrow came hand in hand....where laughter and tears flowed from the same eyes....where pain and peace seemed just a heartbeat apart. Such is life on planet earth.
In all this...as in years past and in years to come....there can be One constant in our lives....and that constant is the presence in us and around us, of the one we follow....the Son of God.
My question to each of you and myself this morning is.....in following this Son of God, "Do I WANT TO ?
Do I want to, what....in following Him? Do I want to know Him better, deeper...because as the years wind down and we all come closer and closer to that day....that day of reckoning. What should be our highest and deepest priority? Entertainment, more trips, more material goods, a bigger garage, a bigger house....more grandkids, more kids, more money. None of these are bad.....all are good.....and yet, we leave the highest and best too often as our lowest priority.
Walking hand in hand with the one who gave us the life we live. If often or at times this walk of faith seems shallow and mythical...and not quite real...it is never because he has walked away from us....it is because we have left him behind in our pursuit of other thing, events and people.
My challenge to each of us this New Year....is to take our personal one on one relationship and knowledge of Him to a new and deeper level. It is not my desire this morning to motivate by guilt....or by coersion, but by love....love for Him and love for one another, and love of ourselves.
To be deeply contented in our hearts and spirits at no matter what age....or what physical condition, or even mental emotional state of being....so our lives can be better, deeper, richer, livelier, happier, more contented. IF...we but set apart some small amount of time (determined by us) to spend with Him and Him alone. It can simply be sitting in our favorite spot, reading Our Daily Bread, taking time in that quiet time to think about and pray simply, not long dragged out eloquent prayers....but prayers from our heart for our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the world and ourselves.
And allow God through His Scriptures.....perhaps reading just 10 verses at a time every day......then pondering on them, to speak to us through them.
And this also....to spend some of that brief time, simply being grateful and saying so to Him...for what we do have in all the areas I spoke of.
A grateful heart is like good medicine....like putting lotion on dry skin, or putting on our glasses so we can see better and clearer, because a broken spirit makes our lives dry and brittle.
Here's how the little song goes.
A merry heart, does good like a medicine, like a medicine is a merry heart, but broken spirit drieth up the bones.....a merry heart, is the Joy of the Lrod. Whoa..........
Some of us fail a lot in this life....and we fail because we try. If we did not try we would not fail. Failure can do two things....it can beat us up and at the same time tear us down.....OR.....we can learn from our failures, and try again and again until we get it. Attitude in failure is everything, everything....and in success....for having the self agranddizing ego that laps up success...will if gone unchecked lead us back to failure, for we lose our balanced and spiritual perspective.
In our spiritual lives....as in our everyday get through our daily lives....we can become complacent, listless and bored. Attitude is everything..........and a healthy person realizes, that by the grace and love, and help of the Lord....gets up and goes on....sometimes failing sometimes succeeding. Give thanks to God, not for failure but in the failure, and ask him to take you by the hand....help you up and then to walk forward...and I tell you, He will.
The famous missionary C.T. Studd once traveled to China on a ship whose captain was an embittered opponent of Christianity and who often studied the Bible for the reason of arguing with the missionaries who frequently sailed on his ship. When he learned that Studd was aboard his ship, the captain lit into him. But instead of arguing with him, Studd put his arm around the captain and said, "But, my friend, I have a peace that passes all understanding and a joy that nothing can take away"
The captain replied, "Your’re a lucky dog," and walked away. Before the end of that voyage, and the response of Studd....the capatain became a rejoicing believer in the Son of God.
DO I WANT TO.....KNOW HIM MORE DEEPLY.........AND IF SO, WE TOO WILL SEE WITHIN OURSELVES....OUR VERY ATTITUDE CHANGING TO THE BETTER.
In the play Godspell.....is a song that includes these verses...............
O, dear Lord three things I pray...................................................
1. See thee more clearly
2. Love thee more dearly
3. Follow thee more nearly...day by day, by day, by day
As we come to the Table of the Lord this morning.....ask yourself to do these same three things....this coming year, and ask Him how best YOU and do this....for your way will not be my way, or my way your way. He will tailor it just to fit you.....that's who He is.
You are precious in His sight....and in His heart......You are valuable, and you are uniquely and wonderfully made....in His image.
Be a sunflower in God's garden.....and follow Him. Amen
The Little Church in the Pines
December 17, 2017
mack's inn, island park, id
"Joseph"
by
Pastor Tom Shanor
~ Two years ago this Sunday I spoke in the Little Church for the first time. On that Sunday, I told the tale of Mary, the woman, the wife, the mother of Jesus. For one so young to be so strong, so gracious, so demure and accepting, she proved herself over and over that indeed she was up for the calling, the position, and the long and difficult road that lay before her.
~ Like any mother, she loved her son, attempted to understand his call and position. The things she carried in her heart and mind, no mother should have to do. She pondered....and I am sure that she and Joseph spoke often and deeply of the enormity and depth of the calling to be both the mother of God and the husband, and step-father to this long promised, amazing child/God.
~ I am sure their hearts, Mary's and Josephs were knitted together over and over again....a binding that both thrived and endured. Forever.
_ Now on to Joseph. The Scriptures that carry his name are few, very few considering his role in this drama. He like Mary, had been specifically chosen to wear his role in the prophetic arrival of this babe, born in a manger, among the scents, smells and lowing of common farm animals, and exotic far traveled Magi, ordinary Shepherds and Angels from on high. A story such as this could only be put so intricately together by God Himself, in conjunction with His Son, Jesus the Christ. That every jot and title....spoken of prophetically since the first we hear of it, 700 years earlier, would be fulfilled. Only God............................
~Joseph the "carpenter" (Matthew 13:55) was "just a man" Matthew 1:19, who belonged to Nazareth (Luke 2:4). He was of Davidic descent (Matthew 1:20) and (Luke 2:4), the son of Heli (Luke 3:23) or Jacob (Matthew 1:16), the husband of Mary (Matthew 1:16), and the legal, but not natural father of Jesus (Matthew 13:55: Luke 3:23; 4:22, John 1:45; & 6:42).
~ Like Mary...a man of impeccable status, though "just a man", as Mary was just a young girl...living ordinary lives of their day in Israel. He was exactly what and who was needed to guide and love this bewildering man, through his upbringing, into manhood.
~ How many of you have heard of or perhaps read from the Apocrapha? This denotes the collection of ancient books, found in some editions of the Bible, in a separate section between the Old and the New Testaments or as an appendix after the New Testament. It is recognized by the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and others. It was in Luther's Bible in 1534. It's writings are also in included what is called the Revised Common Lectionary recognized by Methodists, Moravians and many other Christian denominations.
~ Well, in the Apocrypha we are told that Joseph was a widower, who had six children, two daughters and four sons. Because of this, the reference in Luke to Mary and the Lord's brothers and sisters showing up, asking for him seem to verify this. For there is no word in any Scripture of Mary and Joseph having children beyond Mary birthing Jesus. This is also why many scholars say and agree that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, and that Joseph established himself more of a guardian of both Mary and Jesus.
~ As I said earlier....God chose Joseph to be the earthly step-father of Jesus. We are told he was a righteous man, which is born out in his actions toward Mary, his fiance’, revealed just that, and that he was a kind and sensitive man. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce the contract with Mary, but under Jewish law she could also be put to death by stoning.
~ Although, Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her shame, so he decided to act quietly in putting her away, but God....sent an angel to Joseph to verify Mary's story, and reassured him that his marriage to her was God's will. Joseph...now willingly obeyed God, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. It is truly this quality among others, that God made him the man of choice for the Messiah's legal father.
~ Although the Bible does not reveal much detail abouit his role, but we know from Matthew, chapter one, that he was an excellent earthly example of integrity and righteousness. Joseph is last mentioned in Scriputure when Jesus was 12 years old. We also know in Scripture that Jesus continued on to wear the vocation of a carpenter Himself...and having been raised by Mary and Joseph deeply into the Jewish traditions and spiritual observances.
I am going to digress here to cover an event shortly after Jesus birth, once again to verify the quality of this man.
Matthew 2:13. After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'GET UP" Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him."
~ During this time Herod does initiate the Massacre of the Innocents (the cry of mothers could be heard across the land, the cry of Rachel weeping in the wilderness) where all male babies under two were slaughtered. Peace on earth and good will to man?....was not yet to be, and will not be until the babe, now the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord, comes back to cleanse, by destroying the evil that runs rampant across the world.
~ Egypt was a logical place to find refuge, as it was outside the dominions of King Herod, but both Egypt and Israel were part of the Roman Empire, linked by a coastal road known as "the way of the sea", making travel between them relatively easy (unless of course you have just had a child) and have to ride on the back of a donkey. But it was a safe route, guarded by the Roman soldiers.
~ We can, I believe safely assume that while there, Joseph was able to ply his trade to meet their everyday needs. It is also possible that either of them had relatives they could live with during that time. As the time came to return from Egypt.....because Herod died in 4 BC, which meant they were there approximately 4 years and Jesus still a young lad.
~ This was also the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy found in Hosea 11:1, where it states' "When Israel was a child, then I loved Him, and called my Son out of Egypt." The fulfillment is spoken of in Matthew 2:15, saying, "Out of Egypt I have called My Son."
~ So where did they go from there....they went to Judah, the only place in the entire New Testament where Judah acts as a geographic description of the whole of Judah and Galilee. "They shall call Him a Galilean...but also a Nazarene, for Nazareth is a city in Galilee.
________________________________________________________________________
These are Joseph's accomplishments.
He was the earthly father of Jesus, the man entrusted to raise the Son of God.
Joseph, also as we read, a carpenter and skilled craftsman, He obeyed God in the face of severe humiliation. He did the right thing before God, in the right manner.
His Strengths.
He was a man of strong conviction who lived out his beliefs in his actions. He was described in the New Testament as a righteous man.
Even when personally wronged, he had the quality of being sensitive to someone else's supposed shame. He responded to God in obedience and he practiced self-control.
He was a simple, hard-working, uneducated God-fearing man.
His life from his engagement to Mary on....was one of self-sacrifice, allowing himself to be a tool in the hand of God, without and sense of being used....he willingly followed all that he was asked to do and be.
Joseph love his wife deeply and dearly..............
________________________________________________________________________
Following the search and finding Jesus in the Temple at the age of 12, we never hear of Joseph again.
Tradition says that being an older man, he died a natural death before the crucifixion, and most likely far before that, as he is never mentioned in the few times Mary, and in one case his family shows up looking for him.
________________________________________________________________________
In my opinion.....I would today call him, one of those rare "salt of the earth men" who do what is right, and do so with a right heart. Simply a good man in every way, whose desire was simply to be the best that he was created to be.
I am going to finish with this....a poem, written by Madeleine Engle, as it is a poem written in honor of Joseph...
The Little Church in the Pines
November 26, 2017
Macks Inn ~ Island Park
CHRIST ~ THE SERVANT KING (Revelation 19:18)
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
________________________________________________________________________________________________
~ First, a little bit of Church history, leading into the heart of the message today. I LOVE history, but not everyone does. So, for those of you who do not, bear with me....you still can learn something. I wouldn't say it will change your life, but it will enhance your understanding of some of the whys the church is what it is today.........................
~ Several weeks ago, I spent a little time explaining what the Church Liturgical Calendar is and why it is used, not by all, but by millions, including most of the High Churches, including Catholic, Episcopalean, Methodist, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, Anglican....and others.
~ The "New" Church year begins next week with what is called Advent, the Coming of the Christ Child....and each week will have a corresponding reading, a single candle being lit....until four candles, one each week, with the final candle being the Christ Candle, this year which will take place on Christmas Eve Day, which also this year is a Sunday.
~ This day...today, is the last Sunday of the Church year....also called the Season of Pentecost.....this day completes the Christian journey through the Life of Jesus Christ on earth in a calendar year.
~ This Sunday ties into the Book of Revelation, the end times and the coming of the reign of Christ the King...hence this Sunday is called Christ the King Sunday.
~ In our culture...."king" starting with the Pilgrims, then up and through the Revolution....comes with a very negative connotation or meaning. Kings.....are really not cared for very much. We...are an independent people....staunch in our democratic thinking....voting....choosing....living. Yes...rules, laws and etc, exist for our well-being....but "king?" What would we do with a king?
~ What is a king? A King is an absolute ruler : they attain power by raising and leading armies into war against other countries. They 'impose' taxes, laws and rules at their whim....and can change those laws and rules with their next whim. Once you become an enemy of a king, you can be thrown into prison, beaten, starved or be-headed..though of course in our modern world...a very rare things indeed....but the absolute power...is there.
_______________________________________________________________________
~ We are told in Revelation....that even when Christ returns as King, He will rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shives....just as I have received authority from My Father. Revelation 26-27. Who is them?....it is those who, even in His presence refuse to acknowledge Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That there will be a final rebellion....against His Kingship...and then peace will reign across the planet.
~ To us....all this may sound like a made up story. This clashing, and gnashing....wars, armies...Kingdoms, and King....one last great battle. One who comes to subdue and conquer Satan in that final battle. Kingdom without end...amen.
~ Jesus spoke of the Kingdom more than of Himself as King....so listen to these...His words.
Matt 3:2
Matt. 4:23
Matt. 5:10
Matt. 5:19
Matt. 6:10
Matt. 7:21
Matt. 13:11
Matt. 18:4
Matt. 19:12
Matt. 19:23
Matt: 20:1
Mark 4:11
Luke 10:11
Luke 12:31
Luke 23:42
John 3:3
Eph. 5:5
~ In my reading….there are two kingdoms…..the first one is within us as we read in Luke 17:21….”The Kingdom of God cannot be detected by visible signs. You will not be able to say, “here it is! Or It’s over there!’ For the kingdom of God is within you….is within you”
~ You see…..The living Christ in you….the Spirit of God within you, brings with them the totality of all that God gives us in Christ accessible to us….to live a godly and Christian life. Whether we take the opportunity to do so or not, is up to us, choosing to live in the kingdom within….or not. It’s just that simple.
~ The Kingdom is within and the coming Kingdom is yet to arrive…but will, when Christ the King returns to earth. No longer will it seem like a fantasy, for its’ reality…will be the most real event you will ever experience.
~ This is certainly a Scripture input day……Jesus spent a lot of words speaking of the two kingdoms…..but, as Christ the returning King…………………………he speaks clearly, yet
Matthew 24:3-14. 30-31, 36
There are many verses I left out……some even more disquieting and more descriptive……yet they are not to be discounted or try and explained away….they stand as Holy Scripture…and all Scripture is to be read, considered, pondered on….asking the Spirit of God to enlighten…and enhance to our understanding.
Here is a description that fits into Christ the King Sunday…..
Revelation 4…The voice said, “come up here, and I will show you………..
And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was a brilliant as gemstones…like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circles his throne like a rainbow. Twenty four thrones surrounded him, and twenty four elders sat on them They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder…and in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames.
CHRIST THE KING…..MAJESTY…..KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS….MAJESTY…………………..
A KING….RIDING IN TO JERUSALEMN ON THE BACK OF A COLT….A DONKEY…..THE God who chose to serve…wash the feet of His disciples…..had compassion on a widow whose only son had died….and then was brought back to life….who said to the grieving mother….”don’t cry’…..a king of willingly left his kingdom in heaven…to hang on a cross….who stood and stands as a living sacrifice, so that you and I can be part of the ‘kingdom.’ That is within us and is to come…..
___________________________________________________________________________________-
I am going to almost end with Ephesians 1:15-23 READ.
HONESTLY……I do not know….how successful I have been today in bringing you what I had hoped would be a representation of Christ the King…….Revelation in itself stands as a book of great depth and great mystery….and those who study it deeply…and spend their entire lives doing so…..can’t always agree with one another as they try to establish its full meaning……
Me…as simple as I am….and with as simple an approach as I try….there is a bottom line in all of it and that too is a simple and plain one….easy to understand
I will sum it up….as I summed up my sermon last week….and if I, and we do this one thing….this one thing…..we do not have to even try to comprehend or figure out what Revelation, and the kingdom is all about in its two fold…application.
And Me….I love the simple answer, the one that helps me through every single day of my life as a Believer and follower of Christ the Servant King…..and here it is.
Matthew 7:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets….X2.
Amen
November 26, 2017
Macks Inn ~ Island Park
CHRIST ~ THE SERVANT KING (Revelation 19:18)
By; Pastor Tom Shanor
________________________________________________________________________________________________
~ First, a little bit of Church history, leading into the heart of the message today. I LOVE history, but not everyone does. So, for those of you who do not, bear with me....you still can learn something. I wouldn't say it will change your life, but it will enhance your understanding of some of the whys the church is what it is today.........................
~ Several weeks ago, I spent a little time explaining what the Church Liturgical Calendar is and why it is used, not by all, but by millions, including most of the High Churches, including Catholic, Episcopalean, Methodist, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, Anglican....and others.
~ The "New" Church year begins next week with what is called Advent, the Coming of the Christ Child....and each week will have a corresponding reading, a single candle being lit....until four candles, one each week, with the final candle being the Christ Candle, this year which will take place on Christmas Eve Day, which also this year is a Sunday.
~ This day...today, is the last Sunday of the Church year....also called the Season of Pentecost.....this day completes the Christian journey through the Life of Jesus Christ on earth in a calendar year.
~ This Sunday ties into the Book of Revelation, the end times and the coming of the reign of Christ the King...hence this Sunday is called Christ the King Sunday.
~ In our culture...."king" starting with the Pilgrims, then up and through the Revolution....comes with a very negative connotation or meaning. Kings.....are really not cared for very much. We...are an independent people....staunch in our democratic thinking....voting....choosing....living. Yes...rules, laws and etc, exist for our well-being....but "king?" What would we do with a king?
~ What is a king? A King is an absolute ruler : they attain power by raising and leading armies into war against other countries. They 'impose' taxes, laws and rules at their whim....and can change those laws and rules with their next whim. Once you become an enemy of a king, you can be thrown into prison, beaten, starved or be-headed..though of course in our modern world...a very rare things indeed....but the absolute power...is there.
_______________________________________________________________________
~ We are told in Revelation....that even when Christ returns as King, He will rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shives....just as I have received authority from My Father. Revelation 26-27. Who is them?....it is those who, even in His presence refuse to acknowledge Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That there will be a final rebellion....against His Kingship...and then peace will reign across the planet.
~ To us....all this may sound like a made up story. This clashing, and gnashing....wars, armies...Kingdoms, and King....one last great battle. One who comes to subdue and conquer Satan in that final battle. Kingdom without end...amen.
~ Jesus spoke of the Kingdom more than of Himself as King....so listen to these...His words.
Matt 3:2
Matt. 4:23
Matt. 5:10
Matt. 5:19
Matt. 6:10
Matt. 7:21
Matt. 13:11
Matt. 18:4
Matt. 19:12
Matt. 19:23
Matt: 20:1
Mark 4:11
Luke 10:11
Luke 12:31
Luke 23:42
John 3:3
Eph. 5:5
~ In my reading….there are two kingdoms…..the first one is within us as we read in Luke 17:21….”The Kingdom of God cannot be detected by visible signs. You will not be able to say, “here it is! Or It’s over there!’ For the kingdom of God is within you….is within you”
~ You see…..The living Christ in you….the Spirit of God within you, brings with them the totality of all that God gives us in Christ accessible to us….to live a godly and Christian life. Whether we take the opportunity to do so or not, is up to us, choosing to live in the kingdom within….or not. It’s just that simple.
~ The Kingdom is within and the coming Kingdom is yet to arrive…but will, when Christ the King returns to earth. No longer will it seem like a fantasy, for its’ reality…will be the most real event you will ever experience.
~ This is certainly a Scripture input day……Jesus spent a lot of words speaking of the two kingdoms…..but, as Christ the returning King…………………………he speaks clearly, yet
Matthew 24:3-14. 30-31, 36
There are many verses I left out……some even more disquieting and more descriptive……yet they are not to be discounted or try and explained away….they stand as Holy Scripture…and all Scripture is to be read, considered, pondered on….asking the Spirit of God to enlighten…and enhance to our understanding.
Here is a description that fits into Christ the King Sunday…..
Revelation 4…The voice said, “come up here, and I will show you………..
And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was a brilliant as gemstones…like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circles his throne like a rainbow. Twenty four thrones surrounded him, and twenty four elders sat on them They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder…and in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames.
CHRIST THE KING…..MAJESTY…..KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS….MAJESTY…………………..
A KING….RIDING IN TO JERUSALEMN ON THE BACK OF A COLT….A DONKEY…..THE God who chose to serve…wash the feet of His disciples…..had compassion on a widow whose only son had died….and then was brought back to life….who said to the grieving mother….”don’t cry’…..a king of willingly left his kingdom in heaven…to hang on a cross….who stood and stands as a living sacrifice, so that you and I can be part of the ‘kingdom.’ That is within us and is to come…..
___________________________________________________________________________________-
I am going to almost end with Ephesians 1:15-23 READ.
HONESTLY……I do not know….how successful I have been today in bringing you what I had hoped would be a representation of Christ the King…….Revelation in itself stands as a book of great depth and great mystery….and those who study it deeply…and spend their entire lives doing so…..can’t always agree with one another as they try to establish its full meaning……
Me…as simple as I am….and with as simple an approach as I try….there is a bottom line in all of it and that too is a simple and plain one….easy to understand
I will sum it up….as I summed up my sermon last week….and if I, and we do this one thing….this one thing…..we do not have to even try to comprehend or figure out what Revelation, and the kingdom is all about in its two fold…application.
And Me….I love the simple answer, the one that helps me through every single day of my life as a Believer and follower of Christ the Servant King…..and here it is.
Matthew 7:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets….X2.
Amen