Today’s newspapers, magazines, television, movies–ALL MEDIA–continue to herald the debauchery and madness that has set in as a kind of world disease.

However, the precious few people who both know the true way to live and still hold to those practices that please God must remain alert to the forewarning we all have been given about these last days. As we each “plug in” for the latest world events, let’s also be constantly reminded of the kind of society in which we now live.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 reads, “But KNOW THIS, that in the LAST DAYS perilous times (times of stress) will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving (irreconcilable), slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And FROM SUCH PEOPLE TURN AWAY!”

These words from almost two thousand years ago accurately describe this age and this generation. Christians have long understood that these very troublesome times will come to an end when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of unending peace and happiness–the Kingdom of God! Then, and ONLY THEN, will these prophesied headlines for today give way to the promised GOOD NEWS of God’s majestic Kingdom.

Let us all continue to watch as we are admonished (Luke 21:36). And let us also do so with great confidence and eagerness, because we know with complete certainty that both we and this world really do have a future and a hope!

If we lost the use of our dominant hand through an accident, we would be forced to change and learn to use the remaining good hand. That wouldn’t be easy, but it would be possible. If we lost our home through some disaster, we would have to build anew.

Again, even though this would be terribly upsetting, this is something we could do. Finally, even if our whole world was turned upside down such as happened to Job, we could still start over and carry on.

In a very true sense, all of the above and more has happened to each one of us who have been called to conversion. Our walk in this world, in this age, has been dramatically altered. We must never allow ourselves to grow dull and lethargic in this new pattern of living and learning.

Each year at Pentecost we are reminded of our calling. As we once again approach that special time for this current year, let’s consider those momentous challenges we accepted at God’s calling. In Acts 3:19 we found our first steps with these words from Peter, ” ‘Repent therefore and be converted…’ ” In our zeal of “first love” we embraced these commands with conviction and commitment.

Now, most of us find ourselves well along the path of our calling with much personal history of our Christianity already written. Another insightful directive in this process of our change was taught by Paul in Acts 26:20, in which he taught that all “…should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.” Where do we find ourselves, now? Have we changed? Are we converted to God’s way of life–still growing vibrantly after all these years with “works befitting repentance”?

Brethren, being called now is not easy. The proof of that is measured against how much we have changed. Central to the meaning of conversion is being changed into a different form or state. Christ told those willing to hear that humanity faced an almost impossible challenge when He said, ” ‘Therefore you shall be PERFECT, just as your Father in heaven is PERFECT.’ ” (Matthew 5:48).

For certain, we must remember and always consider the awesome and ongoing challenge we face in the conversion process. However, let us also thankfully rejoice that our Father in Heaven has given us of His Holy Spirit so that we can become what He desires of us–converted, sons and daughters of the Living God!
 

How balanced are we – including in our approach to God’s truth? The Bible warns against extremes. Solomon cautions us in Ecclesiastes 7:16-17, “Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?”

During the many years in the Church, I have seen people jump from one extreme to the other. Some of those who seemed to be extremely conservative turned out to be extremely liberal. They did not really change – all they did was to replace one extreme with another.

The Bible encourages us to hold fast to the truth that we have (cp. Revelation 3:11; Jude 3), and, at the same time, to increase in God’s knowledge of the truth (cp. 2 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 4:13). To be complacent with what we got (cp. Revelation 3:17) – thereby resisting the acceptance of newly revealed understanding – is as wrong as rejecting the truth that has been delivered to us (cp. 2 Peter 2:15, 21; 3:17). And, if we have rejected aspects of God’s truth, we must return to it. We are told in Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.'”

We will be celebrating Pentecost in a very few weeks, reminding us that we have received God’s Holy Spirit. It is God’s Spirit that leads us into all truth (John 16:13) – showing that we do not have all of it yet. Even the apostle Paul said, prior to his death, that “now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Jesus came to teach us new understanding – He came to exalt the law and make it more honorable (cp. Isaiah 42:21), showing us how we need to keep it, not just in the letter, but also in the spirit. He knew that some would resist that new understanding. It takes time to let God’s truth sink in – and some are unwilling to do that. Notice Luke 5:37-39, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. AND NO ONE, HAVING DRUNK OLD WINE, IMMEDIATELY DESIRES NEW; FOR HE SAYS, ‘THE OLD IS BETTER.'”

Some went so far as not to even follow Christ any more when they could not understand aspects of the teaching that He brought (cp. John 6:53-60, 66). We must never make the same mistake of ceasing to follow Christ when He, through the Holy Spirit, reveals new aspects of the truth to us.

A balanced person will be able to combine “the old” with “the new,” seeing how it all fits together. Christ said in Matthew 13:52, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Let’s continue to do so.

When Christ admonished us to “pray that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things” it should be understood in the larger context of our responsibilities as Christians to “preach and publish the Gospel as a witness ” and “grow in grace and knowledge”. To the shepherds you can also add, “feed my sheep”.

We all have a responsibility in the areas God has assigned to us. We in the ministry are to feed the flock. Members are to pray for and support the work of getting the Gospel out. One should never underestimate the power of prayer in this regard. One thing to consider in the larger context is making sure everything we do and pray for is according to God’s will and not our own. It is nice to pray that we escape future trials and go to the place of safety for what I believe is final training and also to get the spots and wrinkles out but this should not be a means unto itself, that is, it must always be according to God’s will. I am sure Stephen was not looking forward to being stoned to death so early in his walk as a deacon in the church but history shows us it was God’s will and God gave him the strength to say what was needed at the time prior to his death.

Therefore our focus should not be to pray that our hides be spared but rather pray that God’s will be done in our lives. If our lives are spared in the future that is good — if not, that is good also. Whether we live or die at the end we all want to stand before our Lord and Savior at His return to rule the earth.
 

We are all aware that April 15 here in the U.S. is income tax day. It is settlement time for one more year with Uncle Sam. Of course, he makes it relatively painless for a majority of taxpayers with the current withholding system established to collect taxes at the time a person gets paid, thus transferring a good part of the burden of the collection effort to the employers in this country.

God has a system of collection for funds due Him to be used in carrying out His work on the earth. He calls that system tithing. The big difference in the two systems is that God depends on the honor of the individual, thus allowing the individual to properly pay the funds due Him.

The thing many do not consider is that the obligation to pay God’s tithes is just as binding under God’s system as is the obligation to pay the U.S. Government for taxes due. Most people, today, are not even aware that such an obligation is due from them. But those called of God have been apprised of the truth in this matter. Yet, many have begun looking for any and every reason not to pay God’s tithes. This is a serious error!

Christ tells us in Luke 20: 25 to “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

God told Adam, in the Garden of Eden, that he was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest he die. (Gen 2: 16-17) He and his wife chose to go contrary to that command and established a pattern of death.

Today, God raises the question in Malachi 3: 8 … “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. When asked the question, “Wherein have we robbed You?” … The answer comes back … “In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.”

This nation is cursed, brethren, because it has failed God in the payment of His tithes. But even more critical, many in God’s Church, today, are suffering from this same curse, because of disobedience. Let us not be guilty of committing this sin against our Creator.
 

While we are observing, with horror, the present violent events in the Middle East, we must remember that worse times are ahead of us. Future events will involve the city of Jerusalem. Prophecy paints a dark picture of indescribable suffering, pain and misery for that city and its inhabitants. At the same time, the bible portrays a bright and peaceful future following the soon-coming desolation of Jerusalem — once the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has returned to the Holy City.

The present and immediate future looks grim, and yet, the true disciples of Christ can already see the joy and hope that is in store for this world and the Middle East. God expects His people to fulfill a mission — to announce and to share the good news of the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth. They are to proclaim what is soon coming to pass. Listen to these encouraging words for us today, that can be found in the Scriptures of the prophet Isaiah:

“O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!'” (Isaiah 40:9).

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings back Zion.” (Isaiah 52:7-8).

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7).

What a privilege, and what an awesome responsibility it is, to be called by God as one of His watchmen. Let’s all make sure that we are fulfilling our commission and that we are doing what God expects us to do.
 

Just as it happened to Adam and Eve, to the children of Israel and to anyone with whom God is revealing Himself, so-also-has it happened to us. We must make choices of life and death importance!

Today, we call this “free moral agency.”

Always making right choices is a quality of God’s character. Being a Christian and having the approach of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is the way in which we take on this same character of God. Hebrews 2:10 speaks of God “bringing many sons to glory”-eternal life in the family of God.

What we face in this process is learning to make right choices. The danger for us lies in making wrong choices. Wrong choices are usually the easy ones. We sugar coat these with justifications such as saying we told a “little white lie”. Oftentimes, we procrastinate instead of really engaging in what is good. This kind of action on our part can easily become a wrong choice.

In Deuteronomy 30, God commands us to choose life. Yet WE must choose!

Christ focused on this critical responsibility we face in Matthew 7 when He warned that the way to destruction was an easy path. However, He went on to reveal that the more difficult path does lead to life.

Just be aware that our choices are the hard ones! Each day we are to make the choice that God has set before us. Let us continue to fight the good fight and do
as God commands-“choose life”.

Well, brethren, the Days of Unleavened Bread are upon us. The feast of Passover begins at sundown on Tuesday, March 26, and ULB begins 24 hours later. These days picture our coming out of sin. We know that “Sin is the transgression of the law.” (I John 3:4) God’s law is the law of “Love,” and is defined by the Ten Commandments.

But Christ tells us (Mark 7: 20-22) “What comes out of a man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man.”

The problem, then, begins in the mind. Notice (James 1: 14-15) “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” Thus, it is in the mind where we must begin in our effort to come out of sin.

So it is temptation that we must concentrate on, brethren. Temptation begins in the mind. Temptation begins with the things we think about, things we contemplate in our minds. It is here where the lusts of the flesh are conceived. And it is here where sin is born.

And we know this requires that God’s Spirit be in our minds, if we will ever be able to overcome the lust of the flesh. Once we have God’s Spirit, we have a fighting chance to do this. We must utilize that Spirit which God gives us at baptism, through the laying on of hands of the ministry, after we have repented of our past sins. (I Tim 4: 14) We must, then, change the way that we do things “…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8: 4)

How do we do that?

We must fill our minds with thoughts of God’s Way of Life. “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.” (Col 3: 2) To do this we must be drinking in of God’s Truths from His Word, the Holy Bible. We must meditate on these things and make them so much a part of our lives that when we do begin to go off in our minds from God’s thoughts, from His Ways, we immediately replace those thoughts with God’s Truth, thus thwarting Satan’s effort to see us go contrary to God’s Way.

We must remember, brethren, to hold fast to that which we have been given, that no man (including ourselves) steal our crown.

With the trials that we have been facing lately in our little group it sometimes gets a bit discouraging. Well the truth is Christ said with “much tribulation ” we enter into the kingdom. This should sharpen our senses as to what lies in the future but we can be encouraged by the fact that individually or collectively we are never tried beyond our capacity to endure those trials. If we learn nothing else other than to endure through the tough times patiently, we have done well. At the end of His life Christ took all the punishment patiently, without complaining, looking beyond the pain to the Glory after His resurrection. We have not struggled to blood, at least not at this time. Lets hope in the future if we do we can follow Christ’s example of looking beyond the present trial. Just like a woman in labor quickly forgets the pain when she sees the child she has brought into the world and is filled with joy. I leave you with the same message God gave to Joshua prior to entering the Promised Land. Let’s be strong and of good courage, the one who is for us is far greater in every capacity than the one who is against us.

When sin convicts us, how do we react? Do we acknowledge and hate our transgressions? Are we determined to get rid of them? Or do we try to “justify” or to “explain” them, by perhaps placing blame on others? Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who covers [tries to justify and explain away] his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses [admits] and forsakes them will have mercy.”

God is merciful with us if we are honest and if we don’t try to play games. Notice 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.”

When God gave Adam the opportunity to accept and confess his guilt, he failed miserably. Rather than truly repenting of having disobeyed God by eating from the forbidden fruit, he blamed both God and Eve, saying, “The woman whom YOU GAVE TO BE WITH ME, SHE gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12). Eve did not do much better. Here is her “defense”: “The SERPENT deceived me, and I ate.” (v. 13).

Was God impressed? Not at all. He “DROVE OUT the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (v. 24).

How different could this world be today, if Adam and Eve had not disobeyed God, or if they had truly repented of their sins. Their “self-defense” and “justifications” did not help them, and they won’t help us today, either.