God Loves Everybody

Posted on July 8, 2011 by jesustrek
Dudley Rutherford

My wife and I didn’t see them, but there were some protesters at the North American Christian Convention in Cincinnati yesterday. Some people from the Westboro cult (they are neither Baptist nor a church) were protesting the fact that Christians claim that God loves everybody. In spite of John 3:16, the Westboro people maintain that God hates homosexuals. They even had little children holding up signs with their message of hate.

Some homosexuals also showed up. They were there to protest against the Westboro cult. (Who says we don’t have exciting conventions?).

Dudley Rutherford, the president of this year’s North American Christian Convention, went outside to see what the excitement was all about. He chose to stand with the homosexuals. He told some of them that he had preached at the convention earlier this week about God’s definition of marriage being one man and one woman. He said that Christians don’t condone the homosexual lifestyle, but they believe that God loves everybody. Dudley informed them that none of the nearly 10,000 Christians gathered for the convention agrees with the Westboro people.

Rutherford said that as he walked away, the homosexuals began singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!”

If these homosexual people ever do turn to Christ for salvation, it will not be in response to the hateful and untruthful message of the Westboro cult. They will be won over by the graceful, loving truth of the gospel message.

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Getting Past the Comma

Posted on July 7, 2011 by jesustrek

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.”—Psalm 67:1-2.

Many Christians are content to stay in verse one of this chapter, which ends at the first comma. They are happy to accept God’s goodness, but not particularly anxious to help others know the blessings of the Lord.

If we want to be serious about the Great Commission that Jesus gave us, we need to get past that comma. We need to understand that we have been blessed by God in order to pass that blessing along to others. We also need to realize that we can never experience the fullness of God’s blessing until we are actively helping others discover his ways and his salvation.

How much of your time is spent on the other side of the comma?

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Don’t Drift Away

Posted on July 5, 2011 by jesustrek

Arron Chambers recently spoke at “Summer in the Son”, a conference for teenagers at Kentucky Christian University. He mentioned a relative of his who had suffered from Alzheimers disease. It was sad to see her slowly slip away as she gradually lost her memory. He likened it to losing your grasp of a helium balloon and having it hover just out of your reach and then slowly drift away.

Jesus gave us a beautiful reminder of what he did for us on the cross when he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Communion helps us to remember Jesus’ sacrificial death, so that we won’t drift away from him.

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Freedom in Christ

Posted on July 4, 2011 by jesustrek

We are blessed to be able to live in freedom in the United States of America. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the price of freedom. Many brave people gave the ultimate sacrifice to gain and preserve our freedom. We must never take that for granted.

Likewise, let us be reminded of the price that Jesus paid in order to set us free from sin and enable us to become God’s children. Jesus had to make the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross for us. We must never take that for granted either!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”—Galatians 5:1.

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The Tie That Binds

Posted on July 2, 2011 by jesustrek

Jim Burgen was one of the main speakers at “Summer in the Son”, a teen convention at Kentucky Christian University. Jim pointed out that a set of railroad tracks can illustrate our relationship with God. The rails must stay the same distance from each other, or else the train will derail. If one rail goes left or right, so does the other. If one rail goes up or down, so does the other.

So it is with our relationship with God. We need to stay close to him, no matter which direction he leads us. If we stray away from God, there is a danger of our lives getting off track.

Railroad ties keep the rails close to one another. They are actually called “cross ties”. How appropriate for our illustration, since it’s the cross of Jesus that keeps us close to God!

Let us never forget the tie that binds!

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It Seemed Right

Posted on July 1, 2011 by jesustrek

I enjoy trying to work Sudoku puzzles. I do OK with the easy ones, but the more difficult ones usually leave me baffled. Sometimes I will get almost all the spaces filled in before finding out that I have made a mistake somewhere along the line. I had put a number in the wrong place, and it kept me from getting the puzzle right. While it is a bit frustrating, in the long run it’s no big deal to mess up a puzzle.

It’s tragic however, for people to think that they have life figured out, only to discover in the end that they made a costly mistake. Instead of putting God in the right place, they put something else or someone else in His place, and their entire lives were wasted.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

Jesus says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33).

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Don’t Mess with the Words!

Posted on June 30, 2011 by jesustrek

Hackers recently changed the message on an electronic road sign in Northern Kentucky. The sign should have said, “Nightly lane closures, road work ahead”. However, the message warned motorists, “Nightly lane closures, zombies ahead”.

Officials from the Transportation Cabinet were not amused with the prank. They would prefer that no one change the words on their signs.

God would prefer that no one mess with His words either. Revelation 22:18-19 says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Let’s leave the message the way it is. We must not change it at all!

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Imposing Gaps

Posted on June 29, 2011 by jesustrek

Those who believe in evolution have to make three major leaps of faith in order for their theory to be accepted.

First, there is the gap between nothing and something. How did matter come into existence? There is talk of a big bang, but where did we get the material that exploded? You have to explain the existence of matter.

The second leap of faith is to believe that lifeless matter somehow began to live. How did it do that? An explanation of the origin of life is needed.

Finally, there is the gap between living microscopic organisms and mankind. How did those simple life forms become complex creatures that seem to have been designed rather than formed by a lengthy series of incredibly fortunate mutations?

These three leaps of faith are far too much for me to accept. My faith is in the God of the Bible.

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”—Hebrews 11:3.

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Won’t Make It Any Other Way

Posted on June 28, 2011 by jesustrek
James Taylor

In his classic song “Fire and Rain”, James Taylor sings: “Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus. You gotta help me make a stand. You’ve just got to see me through another day. My body’s achin’ and my time is at hand. And I won’t make it any other way.”

I don’t know anything about Taylor’s religious beliefs, but he said something profoundly true. Jesus himself says, “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

That message is dismissed by many because of its exclusive nature, but that’s just the way Jesus says it is! We won’t make it any other way!

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Bee or Me?

Posted on June 27, 2011 by jesustrek

I recently sat on my back steps to cool off from my walk before going into the house. As I sat there, I noticed a honey bee busily working among the clover in the back yard. Suddenly, it occurred to me that people who believe that all life on earth evolved from a single source would have to admit that the only reason I didn’t become a honey bee and the bee didn’t become me is pure chance.

I don’t know about you, but that struck me as kind of funny! And those who support evolution think that I am the one who believes in fairy tales! It makes me mad enough to want to sting somebody!

It makes so much more sense to believe what the Bible says–“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”—Genesis 1:1.

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