Whatever

I was going to write a second part to “Defining Love” but I got so many great answers I think it would be redundant.

It is interesting though where you will gain inspiration for a thought. I was going through the songs I have on my computer at work trying to put together a playlist and came across a couple of songs by Stephen Curtis Chapman. The two songs were “The Change” and “Whatever”. “The Change” is a song about the change that should be evident in our lives when we accept Christ, “Whatever” is a song about surrendering our lives to the call G_d has placed on our lives. I was doing this while contemplating what it is that separates the believer from the non-believer, the redeemed from the lost. I know the answer, but these are the kinds of things I contemplate from time to time. Well all of this got me to thinking about a few questions. What is the evidence of Yeshua in your life? Would someone be able to accuse you of following Jesus just my examining your life? Are you willing to do whatever is required of you? What is the difference you are making?

“Whatever” is a powerful word. In today’s world that word has become one of disrespect, used to dismiss those who do not agree. It is a much more powerful word of acceptance though. When we surrender our life and tell Yeshua “Whatever” we are telling him we will do what He requires of us. I for one want to be one of those who tell Him “whatever”. If we do that, the rest of the answers to the other questions will fall into place.

Christians And The Law

A little while ago I was told that if I Christian expected someone to live by Levitical law then they had to live by that law as well. To be honest I got mad and walked away from the conversation at that point. I wanted a biblical refutation for that argument. It seems that I have been shown one.

Rather than write it here I will link to Triton who wrote the post and let you read what he said. it is from Acts chapter 15 verses 5-21

Christians and the Law

One More Blogroll Update

When I updated my blogroll lat week I forgot someone I have read from time to time and he reads my blog as well.

If you have ever thought Archie Bunker was right you will love 704 Houser Street.

Defining Love Part 1

What is love, and how do we know it is love? This is one of the big questions almost all followers of Yeshua ask. During a discussion over at Morgan’s (The debates can be interesting) she trotted out one of her favorite verses and it got me thinking just what does that verse mean.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34 NASB

The commandment seems pretty straightforward. We are to love one another as Yeshua loves us. So the question in following the commandment is what constitutes love. Is it some Kind of emotion, is it more something substantive like an action, or is it something all together different. I first thought of looking up a definition for love, but I thought better of that, it would be inadequate and most likely a modern definition. So I asked myself how would I define it then? It was sitting right smack dab in front of my face in the verse. Find out how Yeshua showed His love and then we can define it.

Finding all of the references to His love is turning out to be a more daunting task than I originally thought. So I am going to turn this into a two parter. I would like to see how my readers see His love. I know His love is simple, but it is complex in the ways he showed it. How is that for a conundrum?

Bloggroll Update

After being lazy for some time I have updated my bloggroll. I dropped a couple of bloggers who have stopped blogging then I added these to my list:


Patrick Mead (new blog he will keep writing on Tent Pegs)
Philip’s Blog (Crazy Joe’s hubby)
Soup’s Kitchen (Hard right Christian blogger)
The Token Hippie (Proof that not all of my links are with someone I agree with. Liberal Christian that has been known to drive me batty.)
Wake up America ( Mostly articles showing the move towards the end times)


I also added a link to our new family blog which I prommise will be updated soon. I have been trying to get the children to write their intoductions, but I think it will have to be made into a school asignment to get it done.

On Wings of Eagles

Update 1:

I have been remiss.
I have one other that I forgot, Roland Drake.

Update 2, 5-18-06:
When I first went to Empires Fall he seemed like the typical libertarian. Fairly conservative and against Bush. I went back and read him today and it seems like some leftist nut job has taken over. He is being removed because of anti-Christian statements.

A Little Clarification

My last post generated a lot of interest. I am quite amazed. There seemed to be a lingering question that I would like to address. Billy D asked it first, then Heidi asked it in a very much more feminine way, and then Micah talked about actually going through a disaster and being prepared for one.

I want to make a distinction between what Micah is saying, my directive, and Heidi’s directive. What Micah said and I whole-heartedly agree with is preparing for the short-term disaster. It would behoove us all to try to be as prepared as we could be for those situations. Birdie and I have discussed this on a number of occasions, and we are going to try and be prepared for those kinds of occasions. Several years ago when we lived in AR there was a severe ice storm the day after Christmas. This affected most of west AR and east OK. Power was down in places for weeks, we lost ours for about a week in an all electric home. It was cold, and miserable, for the first couple of days we tried to live in our home but even with the fireplace the house could not be kept warm, we stayed in the living room but temperatures in the house never got above the 50s. The interesting provision came with Birdie’s stepmother being extremely ill. She was taken down to a hospital in Shreveport and Birdie’s father told us to at least stay at his home. While we still did not have lights, we did have gas heat, a gas stove, and hot water. That was a blessing.

BTW Birdie’s stepmother almost died in Shreveport and they brought her back home to AR and while in another hospital ICU in Fort Smith, A young doctor noticed her electrolyte imbalance and realized what a number of other doctors had missed. She was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease called Addisons. They corrected the electrolyte imbalance and it was like seeing a person rise from the dead. To this day we are grateful to G_d for having that young doctor there at the right time and place.

Ok I got off on a tangent there but back to my main point. While preparing for short-term disasters is a good thing my directive and Heidi’s are directed at the long-term disaster that could befall the church. I think that the fact the G_d is preparing people like Heidi and her family to be the providers for those in need and those called to live lightly and depend upon the Lord for their daily provision is a sign that the persecution will come. For some reason I have been called to be a leader of some kind in all of this, and while I have at times questioned why I was chosen, I have accepted the call on my life. My directive though is to teach and to preach, and I cannot do this while working on providing for the physical needs of those I am in charge of during this time of persecution. So I am told to rely on Him. He will provide for my family over the long term. So basically each one of us is being prepared for some aspect of what is going to happen and what their role will be. I find that to quite comforting indeed.

The Pebble Chaser Poses an Interesting Question

“So, we all have the same Sense... What are you doing about it? Anything? Nothing? Why and what?”
Heidi

That is the question she asked in response to the comments to this post of hers.

Well if you have not read it go read it. I can wait… Are you back? Good. Now to answer her question.

This answer goes deep for me. It has a lot to do with my calling and why I consider myself one of His modern prophets. As I mentioned over at Heidi’s there is a big caveat of “IF” in my calling. It is a lot like Jonah’s that way. He was called to preach to Nineveh, and tell them G_d was going to destroy them. Well I was told that He is going to revive his church and make it pure again. This was going to be accomplished one of two ways either His church will willingly come back to Him and follow His word or He will scatter the church in a great persecution that will separate those who are simply “playing church” from those who have sold out their lives for Him. The first time I heard this I was a lot like Jonah and ran. Unlike Jonah, I did not run because I wanted it to happen, it was because I felt unworthy of such a task. I have been rebuffed many times before when I left the “party line” in the churches I attended. I ran for years, sometimes acknowledging his call and then running again when times got tough. The funny thing about running is you cannot outrun G_d. When you turn around He is right there nudging you, coaxing you, and loving you. You just cannot escape.

Well enough background, my calling is to teach and inform those who will listen that this is event is going to happen. We still have time, but I am afraid that the persecution is the most likely scenario. Our churches have embraced the view that it does not matter what sin you are committing it is forgiven and you can live your life like you want as long as you accept the gift of salvation by believing. That is one very appealing message, I can cheat, lie, fornicate, commit and keep committing my sin of choice but still get into heaven as long as I accept Jesus as my savior. The problem with this message is it is only half right. While Yeshua will meet us where we are He does not expect us to stay there. When I said in my last post that accepting the gift was a life changing experience I was talking about the fact that when we accept the gift we also accept His lordship over our lives. In a sense this means what I have said before. We are to die unto ourselves, take up our cross and follow the guidelines he has set forth in his Word. Does this mean that we lose our salvation if we falter in our walk? No it does not. We will all fall and require G_d to pick us up, dust us off, and set us back on the path from time to time. But it does mean that the unrepentant sinner is cut off from His fellowship.

Now as to what I am doing. First and foremost I am trying to spread the word. Second I am learning more about just what does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him. The more I learn the more I understand why it is that the church is in need of real revival. The history of His chosen people is rife with times he scattered them for their lack of faithfulness and we are in that same position now. Our tolerance of heresy in the church doctrines and desire to live worldly lives rather than a life dedicated to Him falls in line with the times before the Hebrew people have been scattered. The one thing some may not understand is I am doing nothing to prepare for calamity. My first thought is that would be admitting defeat before I even start, the second is that I have to lean on Yeshua for my family’s provision. Ultimately our provision comes from Him, and putting up stores would be a lack of faith upon my part. This is not something I recommend for everyone. Your families provision for the future is between you and Yeshua, do not base it upon my understanding of the Holy Spirits directive to my family and myself. There could be a hard road ahead of us, but if each of us prepare as we are directed to, then not only will we get through it we will prosper.

Nobody Likes A Prophet

All I have to say is I am glad that I am not in the business of making people happy. I am doing a very poor job of doing that right now. I have not been posting much here but I have been around and commenting here and there. It seems that either I am too legalistic like Morgan’s True Christians™ or I am a heretic because I don’t toe the line on whatever particular doctrine I need to be following. You know what? I could care less. I answer to no one but Yeshua.

In some ways I expected this. I knew that my conservative approach to reading and interpreting what the Word says would rile those who are more permissive and liberal in there thinking, but I also saw that some hardliners would have a problem with my approach to dealing with the lost. Most hard-line Christians take an almost militant approach to evangelism that is off-putting to most people. The more liberal, permissive, and tolerant groups are more appealing to the average man, but often these groups sell the love of Christ while excluding His holiness. I find myself in the position of finding the truth in the balance of these extreme views.

Yeshua was far more complex than most people wish to see. For those who are more liberal they see the loving, compassionate, tender Teacher. The more militant see the hard, truth preaching, confrontational Leader. The truth is He is all of these things and more. The thing is He took the approach that was needed at the time with each individual. He had a keen understanding of the human condition, and an in-depth knowledge of the Scriptures. He should after all, He is G_d. He could spin the religious leaders of the day on their heads with how He would deflect their traps, and then turn around and show such love and adoration to the simplest person seeking Him.

Being a just and holy G_d, He cannot abide us while we are lost in our sin, yet He has what could be described as an almost desperate love for us as His creation. He set forth a plan to reconcile our sinful nature to His holy nature. He became one of us, He lived among us, and He died for us. Through His shed blood He provided a way that his Holy justice that demanded death as the penalty for sin would be satisfied. He then did the unthinkable; He conquered death. Three days after his death He arose from death and now sits at the Father’s right hand. With His death and resurrection He provided a way for us to approach Him. All we have to do is accept the gift. Be warned though accepting this gift is a life changing experience.

New Blog for the Family

Hey everyone. I just wanted to let you know Birdie, and I are starting a family blog. We will still post on our personal blogs, we just wanted something that is oriented around our family. Our two older children will be posting there from time to time as well. I thought it would be a good way of getting them writing their thoughts out, and get acquainted with blogging.

My blog here will start reflecting more of my ministry goals and writing about my future ministry goals. The more personal stuff will go on the family blog. I have thought about doing something like this for a while. It is just now coming to fruition.

On Wings of Eagles

Life

I am finding it interesting that a good portion of the people who read my blog are finding their lives in some sort of turmoil right now. I am not sure what it means but I find it interesting. Not all turmoil is bad; it is just drastic change.

I have made the statement before on numerous occasions that parents should not outlive their children. I just never imagined that I would be one who did, yet I thought I would be more devastated than I am. I had pictured the rending of clothes and wailing to be the typical response, yet I never went through that. Oh, I have shed many tears alone and with my wife and children, but I have never “lost it”. I am reminded of a line out of a song by Rich Mullins that he wrote for his parents in which he describes how they handled the loss of one of their sons. He wrote that the pain did not leave them crippled and that the scars made them strong. Somehow I see this as how people will see Birdie and I. I think that one of the difference makers that Birdie and I have is the hope we have in Yeshua and that Samuel is in a place where he can never hurt. While we have mourned our loss of seeing Samuel grow up we are not without hope of seeing him again.

I am now wondering why it took me so long to pick up archery as a hobby; I am enjoying it a lot. I honestly could see myself entering a contest or two in the future. I am not sure I could ever be good enough to go pro but in the few times I have had to use my bow I am learning a lot about stance, aiming, and how each arrow flies. I am still too stiff in how I hold the bow, and the bow needs to be tuned properly before I can truly assess how good my groupings are. For now it just feels good to go out and shoot the arrows and work on my form.