“Stay relevant by not trying to be relevant.”
—–Jenna Ellis, about John McArthur’s ministry, Grace To You
(“Jenna Ellis In The Morning” on American Family Radio 7-7-25—afr.net)
RELEVANT
July 7, 2025 By Leave a Comment
IS GOD FAIR AND BALANCED ?
July 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Is God fair and balanced ?
You better hope not !
– – –
If God was fair, then we would get what we deserve.
If we got what we deserve, we would be gone instantly.
If God was fair, we would all go to hell right now, because that’s what we deserve for sin, for our sin, for rebellion, refusing what God says in the Bible.
If God was balanced, we wouldn’t fare any better.
God’s balance scales are calibrated by His justice, not our ideas that His judgment should give us a break.
When we see God’s patience, and judgment seems to be deferred, and we think the delay means approval—we don’t see the end of the chapter, the end of the story.
“Do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?”
“God’s mills grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small.
While with patience He may linger,
Yet in justice He grinds all.”
But what about Jesus—wasn’t He the perfect example of fair and balanced ?
NO !
Jesus’ life and death here was anything but fair, especially for Him.
He suffered the worst, the ultimate ‘no fair’, and then offers us the best, the ultimate ‘no fair’—full payment and pardon for our sin and promise to be with Him in Paradise.
That is not fair, but it is glorious, and I heartily accept it—PRAISE GOD ! ! !
Now what about Jesus being balanced, as psychologists and scholars like to suggest ?
He criticized severely, and He forgave compassionately—sounds balanced.
If we had been there, we would have protested His imbalance.
When Jesus called out the top dog religious leaders and raked them over the coals and called them bad names repeatedly, there is not an ounce of compassion recorded.
When Jesus forgave very bad ‘sinners’ on the spot, without (outward) prerequisite conditions, the ‘good guys’ complained to high heaven that Jesus didn’t know anything that God would know, how terrible these people were.
Jesus saw the heart of repentance in these sinners, and their love for Him for great forgiveness—and He sent them on their way with a command and power to stop sinning.
Okay, here is some ‘balance’ from the heart of Jesus, with tears and with judgment.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing !”
“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘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.’ “
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.”
OLD TESTAMENT DETAIL – – – NOT FOR NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS ?
July 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Read all about it—God prescribed every detail of life for His chosen people, Israel.
Do read all of it, from the beginning of His relationship with them.
Don’t get bogged down or frustrated in Leviticus, and miss seeing the heart of God.
– – –
So, we Christians are relieved to know we are not under all those laborious laws for every day.
We are free—we can eat what we want, wear what we want, do what we want any day of the week.
No one can ‘bring us back under a yoke of bondage” because “Christ has set us free.”
BUT
But wait a minute.
God wanted to be in charge of everything in their lives.
He wanted to be in control.
And He dictated the details.
Does God want any less in His followers today ?
Are we tempted to hold back on relinquishing every detail to God’s control ?
Are there some things we ‘take care of ourselves’ and make our own decisions ?
Do we basically live thinking the God of the New Testament is different than the God of the Old Testament ?
– – –
Jesus kept the rules, and He broke the rules.
He observed the Jewish festivals, and He infuriated the religious leaders when He broke ‘their’ rules.”
Jesus asked them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, to heal ?”
No answer, and Jesus healed the man with a shriveled hand.
You see, they took great pride in adding details to the laws of God, because then they were the only ones who could claim to follow all of them.
Church leaders (with authority and power) and church organizations fall into the same patterns today—communicating to the people that adherence to their structure of beliefs and practices makes them right with God.
– – –
Jesus clearly drew the focus away from compliant actions, to repentant hearts.
Jesus fulfilled the expectations of the law, and He completed the promises in every detail by His permanent sacrifice—promises that previous temporary sacrifices left incomplete.
He raised the bar, gave new meaning to the law.
He increased the standards, from outward action compliance, to the heart—the source of evil—the root of evil—where our love is.
“Man looks on the outward appearance; the Lord looks on the heart.”
Jesus said,
“If any man looks at a woman with lust for her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
“What goes in does not defile a man, but what comes out.”
And, further,
Jesus told Peter in a vision of assorted animals (clean and unclean), to kill and eat.
When Peter objected, God said, “What I have made clean, do not call unclean.”
Jesus’ whole mission was to provide and offer salvation to all, even ‘unclean’ Gentiles.
Then Peter was immediately told to share Jesus with Gentiles knocking on his door.
– – –
Let us never become a slave to our freedom, and miss true liberty as a slave to Jesus.
THEOLOGY – STUDY OF GOD – – – WHAT’S YOUR SOURCE ? – WHAT’S YOUR GOAL ?
July 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Two sources for studying, learning about God–
– – What man says about God.
– – What God says about God.
– – –
Well, that alone should provide sufficient food for thought, and direction, for study of God.
What God says must always have priority over what man says.
I might add a third source for learning about God, for those Christians wanting a closer walk with Jesus more than anything else—more than just knowledge from studying about God.
We learn more about Jesus every day as we spend time with Him.
“Pray without ceasing” becomes a way of life, “life more abundant”.
We are Born Again
and
We study to Grow In Knowledge
and
We Grow in Grace—The Love of God
– – –
The Bible says, “You must be born again.”—–Jesus said that.
The Bible says, “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of God.”
– – –
A relationship with Jesus is the center of Christianity, that sets it apart from all ‘religions’.
Our relationship with Jesus is the center of every Christian’s life, every day.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will eat and drink and talk with him.”—–Jesus
That is truly blessed fellowship.
It starts by hearing the voice of Jesus, and inviting Him in, to share everything.
And it grows—His love grows sweeter and sweeter.
“He gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by,
Oh, what a love between my Lord and I…
I just keep falling in love with Him over
and over, and over and over again.”
– – –
And then, there’s even more to that relationship—that sets it apart from ‘nominal’ Christianity.
The Bible says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”—–Paul wanted to get just that close to Jesus.
Living for Jesus—Living with Jesus—goes way beyond theology.
– – –
May I strongly suggest–
gotquestions.org
search – – – What is the fellowship of His sufferings?
WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT . . .
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Christian,*
“WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT, OWN IT.”
– – –
*also,
Preacher,
Politician,
Reporter,
Husband,
Wife,
Mom,
Dad,
“WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT, OWN IT.”
SCHEDULING TIME
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
SCHEDULING TIME FOR . . .
OR
SPENDING TIME WITH . . .
Time ?
Time for what we must do !
Time for what’s important to us !
Time for people important to us !
Time for health !
Time for fun !
Time alone !
Time for God !
Time with God !
Time to GO !
Time to STOP !
Schedule time ?
Why do we need to schedule time ?
Can we schedule time ?
Does scheduling time mean we have too much in our day ?
Does scheduling time mean we are better because we get more done ?
Does scheduling time make it go farther ?
Pioneers and Us ?
Seems like they did not have to focus on scheduling like we do.
Seems like they did not try to, or think they could, get more done by scheduling better.
They just worked hard until the day was over.
Always seems to me that we could learn from them, even to counter the expectations of ‘scheduling’.
– – –
Think !
How does it make us feel ?
Is there a difference ?
+ Scheduling time for those closest to us.
+ Spending time with those closest to us.
TO PROPHECY TEACHERS
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Hmmm — You may be right, about everything you say.
Hmmm — Maybe not so sure, about everything.
– – –
You speak and teach with such confidence and certainty, even in answering questions.
You have to answer with authority, or you would not keep the audience.
My question to all of you prophecy teachers —
If your positions, conclusions, predictions, timelines are so clear, so simple—why can’t you, or why don’t you, lead the rest of us through the incremental Bible steps to arrive at all of your teaching, from the beginning, at our speed, not yours ?
All I hear is these leaps to conclusions, repeated like obvious assumptions, with a few quickly quoted verses to verify.
You lose me every time—too fast.
How did you get there ?
And that makes it become suspect in my perspective.
It seems to fall back on, “Trust me—I studied it thoroughly.”
Has not that been the plague of theology throughout church history ? — highly educated leaders who tell the people how much they know, so the people don’t have to, or can’t, study their own Bibles to “see if those things are so, that they were taught.”
I have never seen this so evident as in the recent emphasis on end-times prophecy teaching.
AI SAYS, [IF] [ONLY], [THEN] . . .
June 21, 2025 By Leave a Comment
I heard a program on the radio this morning with a guest in business using AI in dozens of fields to improve life.
The key—with access to sufficient information in real time, we will be able to solve, predict, and prevent ills that plague us and kill us.
So, I write about AI.
Science and medicine and technology have been saying for many decades, “If we just had more information, if we discovered just the right thing, if we just had bigger and faster computers working together, if only . . ., then breakthroughs for better life and health are just around the corner.”
Those scientific promises compete only with political promises.
And we keep believing, and we keep funding, the next promise.
And just what is “just around the corner”?
Another set of promises (with some breakthroughs).
And we keep believing and funding . . .
Why ?
The power of hope.
The power of power.
The power of promises for more, in exchange for less freedom of choice.
We have been royally and masterfully conditioned for some time with all the good things that technology can buy (or give us).
And now, that technology (those in charge of it) is calling the card, the game.
We have wondered all along where all this advancement at lightning speed could lead, and could it turn to bite us—or worse ?
We are starting to find out.
Back to the title, with the brackets, and without the brackets.
AI SAYS, [IF] [ONLY], [THEN] . . .
Actually, that’s what science and technology say, “If only, then . . .”
Somehow, somewhere, someone determined that now was the right time to play the AI card to the world.
AI eliminates the “IF”—and is rapidly building the “ONLY”—and is threatening, about to demonstrate what it can do “THEN”.
Every weapon ever invented in all history, has been used—for good—for evil.
The breakthroughs in advancement and use of weapons has been fascinating, and scary.
AI is all that, and more.
No one seems to know how it will get used ultimately—except the people who are in charge of controlling it (or who think they are).
I believe someone will take the opportunity to use AI to try to control the world.
– – –
– – –
It’s ‘hard’ to recall a nuke that’s been fired.
IF THERE IS A GOD
June 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment
If there is a god–
— then I can hate him.
— then I can fight him.
— then I can argue against him.
— then I can modify him.
— then I can deal with him on my terms.
Is not this what all mankind has been doing since day one in the garden with a little logical/rational help from the first creature to try the above ?
If there is a god – – – and we all know there is – – – that explains all the enormous effort spent on religion—every imaginable stripe, invention, ritual, sacrifice, power grab, control system, and ‘non-religious’ religions (non-name-brand).
– – –
B U T – – – as in “But God . . .”
– – –
If there is a god –
– changes to –
THERE IS GOD.
– – –
And He has spoken “in the beginning”.
— By His Word we are here.
— By His Word everything is here.
— By His Word we are gone.
And He still speaks today.
— He even wrote it down in a book, in black and white.
— He tells us everything we need to know.
— He tells us THE TRUTH.
— He still gives us a choice—for now—take it or leave it.
— He also tells us the consequences of our choice, now and when we die.
BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING
June 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment
I sent this to an 88 year-old Jewish widow—decades long friend along with her husband.
They were in national harness racing with smaller horses.
I just buried another horse for her (over a dozen in all).
We had quite a spiritual conversation, including Jesus and the Bible.
She respects me and my beliefs very highly—but will have nothing to do with it herself.
– – –
I am so “blessed to be a blessing” to many with my bobcat over many years.
I am very thankful for that, and I ask God to anoint me and ‘His’ machine before every job.
And sometimes I get to talk about this with customers.
Now, not only the above—
I am also blessed to read from the hundreds of testimonies of God’s faithfulness to His people in the Old Testament.
There are the big stories of deliverance, and the countless little verses with specific experiences and names.
Because God’s story is one story, Hisstory, I am part of God’s seamless plan.
He promised a Savior (hundreds of detailed promises).
Jesus matched all of those promises, and my faith is complete and my future is secure.
The only way to deny the many promises of the coming Messiah, is to avoid them.
The only way to deny the many promises of the Messiah that Jesus filled to the letter, is to avoid them.
Is it not true that most Jews, and most Jewish leaders, avoid those passages that sound too close for comfortable, like they’re talking about Jesus ?
The God of Abraham is absolutely my God.
“Abraham rejoiced to see my day.”—–Jesus
No hope so.
No counting on heritage (yours or mine).
No depending on what I think.
No figuring out my plan, my case, to present before God someday.
I have a Word from God (loads and loads of Words from God) to stand on, to get comfort, to get strength—from God’s record in the Bible of what He did for the Jews for thousands of years.
We are not two religions—there is only one God.
God wrote one story, and He wrote it down, and He preserved it for us.
And His one story fits together perfectly !
It really does !
That gives confidence from the printed Word, from the Faithful God, from Almighty God, from God Who is “the same yesterday, today and forever”.
I’m writing this because my Bible is open to Psalm 68, and I just read verses like this:
“Let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
Sing to God, sing praises;
Extol Him Who rides upon the clouds;
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.”
“Oh God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
The earth shook;
The heavens also dripped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.”
“Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation ! Selah”
“The God of Israel is He Who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God !”
Psalm 69 has a note I wrote in my Bible, “2-18-09 tough times”.
I don’t remember details from16 years ago, but the printed words there mean everything today.
And that is where I get strength for another day—straight from God’s Word ! ! !