tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91457752098689137962019-02-25T15:27:12.749-05:00Bill's Musings“To pray is to breathe alongside God.” -- Dietrich BonhoefferBill Kraskinoreply@blogger.comBlogger658125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-68006511720067006672016-08-22T08:30:00.000-04:002016-08-22T08:30:00.153-04:00Can Dallas Be A Turning Point? - Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvFY4w7p7To/V7NjAEYlocI/AAAAAAAAbvw/SInd7G9VOdYSuPvJhCd8gIJCogLYf4HMACLcB/s1600/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="413" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvFY4w7p7To/V7NjAEYlocI/AAAAAAAAbvw/SInd7G9VOdYSuPvJhCd8gIJCogLYf4HMACLcB/s320/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" width="560" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Apologies for the delay in getting to part 3. I've been dealing with some health issues. To a degree, I still am. But I also don't want to delay this part of the series any longer than absolutely necessary. So, here we go. As with the rest of the series, there's our exposed mango tree at the top. And that's probably a good place to start.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Hugh Welchel's transcribed sermon brings out some interesting points. But let's set a few guidelines, first. There are certain realities that have to be foundational to any discussion like this. Particularly when they touch on reality.</div><br /><ol><li style="text-align: justify;">You, I, or anyone else can't possibly be responsible for events that occurred before we or our ancestors were on the playing field. No matter how much our anger would like an easy target.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Even if we could place blame on someone living today, that doesn't solve some real problems created in the past. The past is unchangeable, but the future isn't.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">If we live in our anger, we're only going to hear what we think is being said instead of having real dialogue. That solves nothing.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Until we actually talk and listen to each other, any solutions will be by sheer chance.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Despite any real or imagined reasons for all that pent up anger, there are some of us whose goal is to make things better. So, we're looking for real dialogue. Which may include some arguing and shoutinbg in disagreement. But mutual respect can and will keep that discussion moving forward.</li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;">Since the Dallas shootings, there have been riots, statements to the media, and the Olympics. Some of that speaks directly to some of the issues at hand. Let's look at a couple:</div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">A gentleman involved in the rioting in Milwaukee has suggested that the root cause was white people not giving them monetary handouts. I'm reminded of the National Park Service telling visitors not to give the animals handouts because the animals will never learn to fend for themselves. That same principle applies to people, as well. And, when the handouts dry up, there's been no learning process how to fend for themselves. And they're as bad off or worse than when they started being given handouts.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Simone Manuel tied for the gold medal in one of her swimming events. At which point, one of the broadcast announcers suggested her look of shock was because she was an African American swimmer who qualified for a gold medal. That's just plain stupid. Miss Manuel had been ranked 15th in a previous Olympics. If her mindset centered around race, she'd still be 15th (or, perhaps, worse). That kind of thinking negates the four years of hard work at training to become better than she had been. Simone gave credit to God for her success. As a Christian, we tend to downplay what we put into it. And, as a human being, we tend to surprise ourselves. Yes, Simone Manuel now becomes an example of the possibilities for other African Americans, but as a human being willing to put in the time and effort to get there, not just as an African American.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">With those thoughts in mind, let's get back to Hugh Welchel's sermon. He makes some interesting points about the parable of the Talents. We'll discuss them in this post. But, if you want to read the original, that's <a href="https://tifwe.org/work-success-and-the-parable-of-the-talents/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br /><br /><ol><li>It's clear in the parable that work is rewarded, slothfulness is not.</li><li>Hugh points out that we are given everything we need to fulfill our call. A call as seen by God, not our own distorted perception. <b>Ephesians 2:10 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.<span class="ind"><br /></span></li><li>Finally, we're accountable for what we do with our time and talents.</li></ol><div>That last point is important. It says we're accountable for our own thoughts and actions. Not those of some imaginary ancestor, not those of our parents, not those of our associates. Just ours. Yes, we have ways of making mistakes and becoming in need of an occasional assist. But we're not intended to live off handouts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do we want <b>Matthew 14:31 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> And immediately Jesus stretched out <i>His</i> hand and caught him, and said to him, <span class="JesusWords">"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"? Or are we looking for </span><b>Matthew 25:21 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">His lord said to him, 'Well <i>done,</i> good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'? The choice is ours.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">In closing, Pastor Allkan Leitner had this to say, in a recent morning dwevotional:</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><blockquote>I'm looking at this amazing passage this morning and marveling. The three phrases in the middle all start with a verb in the Hebrew... </blockquote><blockquote>Bless LORD<br />Make LORD<br />Lift LORD </blockquote><blockquote>Face and countenance are the same Hebrew word. The word is Paniym (Strongs H6440) and it is plural. The many facial expressions of God all shine grace. When His face is lifted toward us we have peace. We sense Him looking at us and we have peace. The LORD who blesses also keeps. </blockquote><blockquote>God wants His 'name' to be upon His people. </blockquote><blockquote>How do we bless people? Is it by making comparison? Is it by giving? Is it by remembering? Is kindness, as wonderful as it is, the same as blessing? </blockquote><blockquote>God told Aaron to say this as a blessing and it is a profound blessing outside of man and his or her doings. </blockquote><blockquote>Bless LORD and keep<br />Make Your divine face to shine in graciousness on us<br />Lift Your divine face on us and we will have Shalom</blockquote><br />Isn't that how we want it to be? Our life and work blessed by God's countenance?<br /><span class="JesusWords"></span></div></div></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-78063223008912092062016-07-16T08:30:00.000-04:002016-07-16T08:30:00.182-04:00Dallas, Nice, Turkey and More<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlXj8G0uNik/V4lxELXlSuI/AAAAAAAAasc/fb5azvaARtomTBqNHFky0LxUWB-vZGZWACLcB/s1600/night-1439814_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlXj8G0uNik/V4lxELXlSuI/AAAAAAAAasc/fb5azvaARtomTBqNHFky0LxUWB-vZGZWACLcB/s400/night-1439814_960_720.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That's an evening panorama of Nice, France a much nicer image than the slaughter by truck of several days ago. We have a military coup in Turkey. There were the police killed in Dallas. Katie Perry previewed her Olympic anthem with a comment that the world needs to unite. Which had me wondering if she was talking about unity or one world.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">So, we've decided to delay the third part of our series on Dallas. There's enough of the end times unfolding before our eyes that I thought we could better spend the weekend with prayer.</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-40643652394104356252016-07-11T08:30:00.000-04:002016-07-11T08:32:31.858-04:00Can Dallas Be A Turning Point? - Part 2<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BeMQs9v6WWc/V3_iMK8QvBI/AAAAAAAAacA/exkISCYbH2oVEGOx_pCCIb4UM25FuGyfgCKgB/s1600/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="413" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BeMQs9v6WWc/V3_iMK8QvBI/AAAAAAAAacA/exkISCYbH2oVEGOx_pCCIb4UM25FuGyfgCKgB/s320/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" width="560" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Last time, we began with a quote from Pastor Jason Moore. And we talked about the root system and leaves, in terms of nutrition and growth. But, even though part of the ground has pulled away from the mango tree in our series illustration, it's pretty obvious that that the root structure handles one more. The root system keeps the tree or plant upright.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The same is true with how we feed ourselves, mentally and spiritually. Martin Luther King put it this way: "Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." We've gotten away from that with some movements, leading to less stability. Let's take a look.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Black Lives Matter has the same kind of angst and ire that my friend had about white Christians, except BLM doesn't require Christian be part of the defining terms. Listen to some of the picketers outside the trials of the police involved in the Freddie Gray death. They're obviously looking for a guilty verdict of at least some of the mostly white cops. Or there's Friday night's protest. The leader gave no mention of the fallen police in Dallas, ignored the larger number of blacks killed by blacks, but had plenty of anger and complaints about blacks killed by police. Prejudicial thinking? Probably.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hugh Welchel shared some <a href="https://tifwe.org/work-success-and-the-parable-of-the-talents/" target="_blank">thoughts on the Parable of the Talents</a> that we'll discuss briefly. But, yes, that is a link to the full sermon, if you'd like to read it. The parable is <b>Matthew 25:14-30</b> and <b>Luke 19:12-28</b>. Either passage is a bit long to include here, but you can look them up in your Bible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. Welchel starts out by pointing out the world's focus on the material, with the old saying, "He who dies with the most toys wins." Although that's now morphed into a darker realization, "He who dies with the most toys wins, but he is still dead." That's all based on two things he mentioned:</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">I told the congregation they had been lied to. Two great lies have been told to them by everyone from their kindergarten teacher to the U.S. Government:<br /><ol><li>You can be anything you want to be.</li><li>You can be the best in the world.</li></ol>These two lies distort the Biblical meaning of success, and set all of us up for disappointment and failure.</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The reality of what those two things mean in our lives is in our differences.</div><br /><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">We each start with different genes;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Our growth and nutrition, before birth, is different;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Once we're born, everything about our life is different from everyone else;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Our experiences are uniquely ours, which either makes us uniquely suited for some things or uniquely unsuited for others.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">The reality of life is that God formed us and knew us before conception. And part of that formation is around our specific call.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Jeremiah 1:5 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; <span class="poetry2">Before you were born I sanctified you;</span> <span class="poetry2">I ordained you a prophet to the nations."</span> <span class="ind"><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ephesians 4:1-3 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup><span class="ind"> I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="ind"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="ind">Hopefully, some of you reading this who aren't Christian will get past the references and recognize the validity of the point. Whether we believe in God, whether we decide to follow Him, we each have a personal direction that will benefit us most. Often we miss some of that and detour. Some more than others.</span><br /><span class="ind"><br /></span><span class="ind">Hugh Welchel has more to say about being on the right path. So, do I. We'll continue on Saturday, with Part 3. I'm not sure yet if there'll be a Part 4. But, at some point, I'll be dotting my I's, crossing my T's. And, as Dr Phil puts it, I'll be putting verbs in my sentences. There's a pretty clear path to fixing our divisions. A path that cuts out fears and anger. Are you ready for that??</span></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-24984121335927681882016-07-09T08:30:00.000-04:002016-07-09T08:30:00.186-04:00Can Dallas Be A Turning Point? - Part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BeMQs9v6WWc/V3_iMK8QvBI/AAAAAAAAab0/mnv7CdAUPzg2Cz0j5w6xHFMryWu05P2dQCKgB/s1600/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="413" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BeMQs9v6WWc/V3_iMK8QvBI/AAAAAAAAab0/mnv7CdAUPzg2Cz0j5w6xHFMryWu05P2dQCKgB/s320/Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia, photo by Aaron Escobar</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The "Root" of things is never "flesh-and-blood" it is always principalities and Powers and tactics of darkness. Prayer exposes and tears down the "Root". Prayer will change our nation. Our Authority is in prayer! Ephesians 6:10-13. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's a quote from my friend, Pastor Jason Moore. And it fits today's thoughts. As does our illustration. That's a mango tree, I'm not quite sure how the roots got exposed. With a plant or tree, water and nutrients are taken in through the root system, while sunlight is absorbed through the leaves to create the conversion process so the plant can use the water and nutrients.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our own growth, physically, mentally, and spiritually, works in much the same way. We are a product of what we take in and how we convert it. And that speaks to what happened in Dallas, too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a>Let's start with an experience that began a few years ago. A then friend of mine decided he needed to leave our Bible college and church. His explanation was the racism of conservative white Christians. We continued conversing online, over the next several years. And that's where things got really interesting.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was ready to blame me and every other white conservative Christian for things that happened before my relatives were even in this country. Despite the fact that African slavery began with Africans capturing Africans. It was part of war strategy for so many ancient societies. When the enemy is conquered, sell off some as slaves, kill some, make babies with others (drawing mothers and children into your society). That weakens the enemy's potential of fighting back in the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The other part of blaming me and other conservative white Christians was that there was a live, "recognizable" "enemy". It wasn't some dead name that could no longer hold the same level of accountability that a living target does. Whether there was any reason to make us accountable for history or not. Racism has never been just a white problem. And it's never been just a British and American problem.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every color of man has found ways to make anyone different miserable. Ways to make them seem less. No matter who we are, we seem to be good at that. Somehow, power or the love of power always seems to take precedence over people. One of the shortcomings of being a fallen human.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dr. Caroline Leaf shared a Nelson Mandela quote I think fits here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hy7uz3ZvP6w/V4BWo-fnMjI/AAAAAAAAacc/MvfQ7g468D4pe1tAuOsX7i-Su5cLZWsAQCLcB/s1600/born%2Bhating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hy7uz3ZvP6w/V4BWo-fnMjI/AAAAAAAAacc/MvfQ7g468D4pe1tAuOsX7i-Su5cLZWsAQCLcB/s400/born%2Bhating.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">In modern slang, if we can screw it up, we can fix it. The fact is, we can. If we get out of our own way. And if we let God bring things together. Remember <b>Luke 1:37</b>, "For with God nothing will be impossible."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We haven't talked about adding that God factor. And we haven't talked about modern day politics or Black Lives Matter. Plus an online friend shared a a Hugh Welchel sermon that fits in. So, there's more to come on Monday. In the meantime, was Mandela right?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-19384766576964152822016-07-05T08:43:00.002-04:002016-07-06T07:04:10.164-04:00Something New - Two Verse Musings #1<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAUfgWgmC44/V3uqRSxF5_I/AAAAAAAAaUs/6V9bDUSnqwUTtjdqvTiLlcrnVQ9bczfewCLcB/s1600/1024px-Fireworks4_amk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAUfgWgmC44/V3uqRSxF5_I/AAAAAAAAaUs/6V9bDUSnqwUTtjdqvTiLlcrnVQ9bczfewCLcB/s400/1024px-Fireworks4_amk.jpg" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia, image by AngMoKio</span></td></tr></tbody></table>We're adding another feature to the blog. At this point, it's more idea than full fledged feature. Let me give you a little background. I've been using smartphones since the days of Windows Mobile. And I've been actively Christian, even before that. So, I've been very aware of the potential of smartphones both in aiding personal growth and for evangelism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I got my first Android phone, I discovered two Bible widgets and a sequence for reading them that almost always gave me a blessed meditation. I say almost always because there were rare times when both widgets showed the same verse. And there were occasions where I wasn't getting anything from the combination of verses. But, mostly, God gave me things to "chew on" for the rest of the day, coming back for more at random intervals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a name='more'></a>Over the years, I've considered sharing those gems, but God kept indicating it wasn't time, yet. Till now. My problem, now, is figuring out how best to share those. There's Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, the blog and Lifeletter Cafe for sharing written versions. Or an email list. There's also the possibilities of a brief podcast, a video-log, or a book. And, of course, we might end up with some combination of those. While we work out the final details, we thought we'd share a few, here on the blog.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 33:12 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Blessed <i>is</i> the nation whose God <i>is</i> the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, <span class="poetry2">The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.</span><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="poetry2"><b>2 Timothy 1:7 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.<span class="ind"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What a way to start! If a country is aligned with God, it will be blessed. And we've seen it before. All it takes is a remnant strong enough to prevent the country from falling off the spiritual cliff, in the wrong direction. As if that's not enough, our first verse gives us an explosive insight.<br /><br />We end the verse with it speaking of "The people He has chosen as His own inheritance". We know God is omniscient. He knows who will choose Him. And He mutually chooses them! Whether it's a remnant or a whole country, the people aren't just randomly selected, they're chosen by God Himself! <br />Let's not start getting too proud at that one. We're chosen, no matter how quickly or slowly we spiritually grow. The person who isn't "getting it" easily or quickly, who's having a real struggle, is just as chosen as the supposed spiritual giant. There's nothing about us that adds to our state of being chosen. It's all God. But <b>2 Timothy</b> tells us there are some perks to being chosen.<br /><br />The first one we see is that God doesn't give us a spirit of fear. Yes, we have free will, which means we can choose wrong thinking and give in to fear. Indeed, our flesh leans in that direction - wrong thinking and fear. Despite God offering us a way out of that, we can choose to live in that. We have to choose rightly. And we're free not to.<br /><br />The second half of the verse in Timothy looks like three separate segments, but is it? Can we have God's power without having God's love in us? Can we have that power with out doctrinally sound thinking? Can we have a sound mind without having latched onto God's power and His love? It's when we fully allow God to feed our mind, soul and spirit with all of those things that the fears disappear. The more we think with God, the greater the blessings and the more we understand the enormity of the privilege of being chosen by God!</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-52018764502734740212016-06-28T08:51:00.002-04:002016-06-28T08:51:52.956-04:00Keep On Keepin' On<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eP9_zrVC1pI/V3IzhnWpDjI/AAAAAAAAZ-4/Y5dAunOTGXIQWp8Wo3MK3rc-17dr1vERACLcB/s1600/Bonnie_Raitt_at_John_Edwards_presidential_campaign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eP9_zrVC1pI/V3IzhnWpDjI/AAAAAAAAZ-4/Y5dAunOTGXIQWp8Wo3MK3rc-17dr1vERACLcB/s320/Bonnie_Raitt_at_John_Edwards_presidential_campaign.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia</span></td></tr></tbody></table>When I first started this, I was watching and listening to Bonnie Raitt on the April 23rd, 2016 edition of a CBS This Morning Saturday. There was both performance and interview. There's a lot about her life and attitude that resonates with me. We've both allowed substance abuse to detour us and we've both come back from that. But there was an answer to one question that led to today's post. Anthony Mason asked her how long she would keep performing -- Bonnie's 66. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bonnie Raitt's reply was that she hoped she'd be be doing this till she was 85 or 90, good health allowing. She pointed to BB King and Tony Bennett as examples. And she reminded us of Sir Paul McCartney asking if, instead of continuing to be active in music, he should just retire and go play golf. I think we all agree that our ears are much better off because all of them kept doing what they're doing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">In the interview, Bonnie suggested her reaction to normal retirement would be "This is it? Dinner and a movie, this is it?". And that's what pointed me in the direction of today's thoughts. Indeed, Anthony Mason, who did the interview, is no Spring chicken. He was coming up on 60, this June. And, at almost 73, with some physical shortcomings, I've referred to myself as "the least likely missionary". And all of us display a spiritual reality.<br /><br /><b>Romans 11:29 (AMP) </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] <span class="noindent"><br /></span><br /><br />We can have a particular call for a season. Or we may be given what appears to be a call to stir us up for something bigger. But God never rescinds our real, full-time call, once He's given it to us. And that call may only be recognizable to God and ourselves. Or it may be evident to many. If you're a blues fan, it's easy to imagine that God intended BB King and "Lucille" (his guitar) to always be together. <br /><br />Unlike BB, we can get the perception of our call wrong, too. I don't often write about personal experiences and how they relate to my spiritual life for several reasons. <br /><ol><li>That call may be personal, not for public display.</li><li>We may not recognize all of it. It may be something God unfolds for us in stages, for a variety of reasons.</li><li>We still contend with the flesh, which gets in the way of our perception. Our understanding of our call could be, to some degree (or completely), incorrect.</li></ol><div>Anyway, as some of you already know, I recently had a major flare up of my COPD. One that I'm still dealing with. The timing and the intensity seem very much like an attack, aimed at hindering my call to join our missionary team in Costa Rica., Our ministry just finished our International Convention, one I missed almost completely for the first time in decades. A secondary attack. And we could leave the thinking on all that right there. Or can we?<br /><br />We can spout an ongoing series of verses pointing to the reality that God is all knowing, is in control, is love, and always gives us what's best. But how much do we believe that? If we look at the Psalms, we see David jumping between knowing God had his back, to those "What the heck?" moments we all experience, to "Please get me out of this, God!". Moments of remorse, moments of thankfulness, etc.<br /><br />Yup, one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, part of Jesus' lineage, was as much of a mess as we are. Me in particular. But, while my almost 40 year walk with God has been all over the place, at times, God has been faithful to nudge me toward real training in His Word, from real spiritual leaders. So, even though my spiritual growth has often seemed like baby steps, each one was etched in stone, giving me solid footing.<br /><br />So, when we arrive at our COPD bout, we find me complaining to God. Just like David. I'm disappointed in the possibility that the physical situation may interfere. with Costa Rica, sad to miss being taught at Convention, and missing the fellowship and food. But, in a very short period of time, God has cemented relationships in San Jose that are eternal. Many of the 49 Convention messages will eventually be available online. And, hopefully, there's next year's Convention for fellowship. If not, there's eternity. And there's more.<br /><br />I can hear from God about my call, about our relationship, about lots of things. And I can charge forward, following that plan, but somehow missing God's timing, with more of me than Him at the helm. Who's with me on that? So, God needed to get my attention, for the five millionth time. And that began a growing six week experience with God, particularly in the week of Convention. We had moments of personal conversation together, often without words. And I began to get a glimmer of understanding how Richard Wurmbrand could cherish his prison time, because of what it did for his relationship with God.<br /><br />I had moments that never would have been possible with the noise and distractions (as good as those might be) of convention. And, no, what I got had nothing to do with anything about me. It was all about who God is. He does want the best for me, He does love me personally. And He does want to guide me into the greatest experience of that. He wants that for you, too. Yes, sometimes, the circumstances may not always be to our liking, but we can be sure they're well planned by God for our benefit. And we can think with the Psalmist in his best moments.<br /><br /><b>Psalm 9:9-10 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> The <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span> also will be a refuge for the oppressed, <span class="poetry2">A refuge in times of trouble.</span> <span class="poetry2">And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; <span class="poetry2">For You, <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, have not forsaken those who seek You.</span> <span class="poetry2"></span></span><br /><span class="poetry2"><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></span><span class="poetry2"><span class="poetry2"><b>Psalm 13:5-6 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> But I have trusted in Your mercy; <span class="poetry2">My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.</span> <span class="poetry2">I will sing to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, <span class="poetry2">Because He has dealt bountifully with me.</span> </span></span></span><br /><br /></div></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-5905286325058930972016-06-25T08:30:00.000-04:002016-06-25T08:30:50.856-04:00Sandwiches and Wisdom (Video)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85BiwcuBMcQ/V24ivMfGPPI/AAAAAAAAZ6o/dU95AbRUPawdag91kxpdIPW4OVUmtgV1gCLcB/s1600/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-85BiwcuBMcQ/V24ivMfGPPI/AAAAAAAAZ6o/dU95AbRUPawdag91kxpdIPW4OVUmtgV1gCLcB/s200/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 10.4px; line-height: 20.8px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I mentioned our International convention. I thought I'd share our midweek service. During convention, it always ties in with the theme and have a little extra kick.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pbBFRDS7Cgw" width="560"></iframe>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-83656213364235712582016-06-20T08:49:00.000-04:002016-06-20T08:49:57.581-04:00Responsibilities of Salvation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-__BY_WKrT2s/V2fkmJ1HoqI/AAAAAAAAZuY/KLluCusuF6Mbe-5ntF2PnEj8LGMnPjxwQCLcB/s1600/bpg-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-__BY_WKrT2s/V2fkmJ1HoqI/AAAAAAAAZuY/KLluCusuF6Mbe-5ntF2PnEj8LGMnPjxwQCLcB/s200/bpg-cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's the first day of our ministry's International Convention. That means the better part of a week immersed in the Word, having fellowship with friends from all over the world (some of them missionaries, some native pastors). And an array of booths selling a variety of things, mostly food and beverages, to support various foreign missionary efforts. All in all, a great time. If you're interested in joining us, here in Baltimore or streaming any or all of it live, go to the <b><a href="http://ggwo.org/convention2016/">GGWO 2016 Convention page</a> </b>for more info.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the meantime, here's a devotional from our one year year devotional book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski-ebook/dp/B015484H4M?ie=UTF8&adid=1WG8V75H0ETY8F8R47ME&camp=14573&creative=327641&creativeASIN=B015484H4M&linkCode=as1&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bills-musings.com%2F&ref_=as_sl_pc_tf_lc&tag=billsspirmusi-20" style="font-weight: bold;">Breastplate Gems</a>, available on Amazon in bother paperback and Kindle editions, by following the link.<br /><b><br /></b><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Amos 5:14 (KJV)</b> Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In context, this verse talks about God’s Chosen People — Israel and Judah. But consider that, having accepted salvation, we are now as chosen as anyone. This verse basically tells us (and them) to seek God. The evil is seeking anything instead of God. That’s not lusting after something (sex, money, possessions, etc.) and repenting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It speaks of a more permanent replacement of God with something else. Many of us may say to ourselves that we don’t do that. Mostly because we con ourselves into believing we don’t cut God out of our lives. But how many things have we said “just this once” and then they’ve become repeated, maybe to the point of becoming habit. And, if we ever do an honest assessment, those became areas where we leave God out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Matthew 6:33</b> is a New Testament equivalent of <b>Amos 5:14</b>. It says that we need to make the relationship with God our primary focus. Anything else we need will come as a result of that. A contrast to either verse might be the Israelites with the golden calf. Or a more modern example might be the business person who, though claiming Christianity, spends time at church more for the business contacts than to grow closer to God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prayer thoughts for day 6: We need to ask God to shine His light on our lives so that we can clearly evaluate our lives and those areas where we need to repent. We want God’s thoughts on that. Just as a “little white lie” is no less a sin than a bank robbery, a tiny area of our life where God is excluded is no less important than leaving Him out altogether. Yes, we’ll fail. We won’t be perfect till heaven. But God is after our decisions, not our perfection. We need to ask Him to continually guide us in our self evaluation. And we need Him to help us to repent when necessary. After that, we want to be thankful to Him, as we recognize the things God is adding to our life.</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-69897650872116197142016-06-18T08:49:00.000-04:002016-06-18T08:49:33.613-04:00Today, UP and Out of Selfish Love<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bAAdUV9UoI/V2U7-pAQCRI/AAAAAAAAZq0/2ar4vt3wFDYe5-bl9TSicUzgjKX3-MeTACLcB/s1600/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7bAAdUV9UoI/V2U7-pAQCRI/AAAAAAAAZq0/2ar4vt3wFDYe5-bl9TSicUzgjKX3-MeTACLcB/s200/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Public Domain </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license,<br />photo obtained from commons.wikimedia.org</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">There is still lots coming out about the mass shooting in Orlando. Relatives and friends are still hurting, surviving victims are still healing. There is also lots of rhetoric about gun control. Much of that ignoring the fact that, for the most part, we have all the regulation we need. But some of it needs repair to work as intended. We need to be in prayer for the victims, their friends and families. We also need to pray for Godly wisdom in dealing with gun legislation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let's get to some better news. Tomorrow is Fathers' Day. Three cheers for all the great dads out there. We should keep all dads in prayer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, our International Convention starts Monday. Although, with all the returning missionaries, you might think it started several weeks ago. The theme is "Wisdom for Our Times". If you're interested in joining us, registration and more information is available <a href="http://ggwo.org/convention2016/register.php">here</a>.<br /><br />Now. Without further ado, here's a meditation from Todd Parsons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1 Peter 1:8</b> Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Hebrews 11:27</b> By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i> We see people in our day to day, some we know their faces, and some we know their names, where they live. Others we may know more personally, and even call them our friends. They most likely have the same interests as ours. I was thinking on the measure of how much I might know someone. Some thoughts like, I know few people closely and know them and they have a measure of knowing us, but only as that profits ourselves. Others I know their face and where they live, but then there is an emptiness there. Often we don't care about them because we don't think it would profit us to know them, really. I am also thinking about how often I can say, "I love God" and how many times those words have a great barrenness behind them. For I want to know myself as loving God and be known that way, but still there can be in me a great cavern between saying I know or love God and actually knowing or loving Him, Who is invisible... Loving God whom I can not see, I can say it easily. But saying I hate the person nigh to me, that I do see, is really twisted thinking and is really a great error in my thinking that I would rather avoid facing. Except that I really desire to know God as Moses, David, Peter, John, Paul, and as did many other characters in the Bible we know of. As seeing Him who is invisible... To know God and other people really takes the selfishness in me to be made void and of none effect. For the emptiness of truly knowing and loving is found in my place of selfishness where no capacity exists... Moses was satisfied not with himself as being before the king, but forsook that to be believing the LORD whom he could not see...</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1 John 4:10</b> Here in is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1 John 4:19</b> We love Him, BECAUSE He fist loved us.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i> When I know God loves me, the doorway out of my selfishness is opened "up" and I am "up" and out of the pit of selfishness again and again... When I know God loves me afresh today, I am ready to be filled to the overflowing, with His love that is not in the least bit selfish...but was crucified for us...</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Of So Great Love, we are, tjp</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-65941236698370449502016-06-13T08:30:00.000-04:002016-06-13T08:30:37.366-04:00What Happened to Accountability?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bkYIvbuGdLA/V1MIgunfk_I/AAAAAAAAZOM/V3nCp-CKCCcamyEI1A879FD8wo6Wx9ShwCLcB/s1600/22civ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bkYIvbuGdLA/V1MIgunfk_I/AAAAAAAAZOM/V3nCp-CKCCcamyEI1A879FD8wo6Wx9ShwCLcB/s320/22civ.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, I responded to an online statement that the rioting at Trump rallies was incited by Trump's statements and he ought to shut up. Then the riots would stop. And we'll get into my reply. But take a look at our graphic for today's post.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today's illustration was shared on Facebook by my friend Pastor Eric Anderson. Think about what Toynbee said. All the major civilizations arose via standards. And they crumbled when those standards were set aside for the "benefits" of a wealthy, powerful society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We tend to think of that in terms of what we'd describe as moral degeneracy. But there's much more to it than that. And it includes Trump's freedom of speech.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><b>Matthew 12:36-37 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.</span> <span class="JesusWords">For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.</span> <br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">That would seem to suggest that Trump should stop talking in public. And perhaps that would calm things. But consider several things. The first amendment says we have the freedom to speak our minds. Yes there are laws preventing a speaker inciting people to riot or other illegal actions. And none of the authorities have suggested that The Donald incited anyone. Indeed, the media, who seek for ways to vilify him don't even suggest Trump is at fault.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPKqqojx_UA/V12eppPrnKI/AAAAAAAAZcE/9h1n51Rr4f4RSdAbY34dhrMv_3VnHk82ACLcB/s1600/protest-v-riot-thefederalistpapers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPKqqojx_UA/V12eppPrnKI/AAAAAAAAZcE/9h1n51Rr4f4RSdAbY34dhrMv_3VnHk82ACLcB/s320/protest-v-riot-thefederalistpapers.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span class="JesusWords">There's a meme that came out of the problems in Baltimore that applies to this discussion It makes a comparison of protesting to rioting. That's it to the right. The media suggests that the folks having issues outside Trump rallies are protesters. If we receive the truth of that graphic, the people throwing things have gone well past protesting. And, unlike other riots, news reports make it clear that "keeping the peace" means arresting only the most blatant and accessible rioters. I would imagine that's on a basis of not interfering with their freedom of speech.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">So, the theory seems to be that Trump ought to be silenced, but not the rioters. Selective freedom of speech? That's a slippery slope I don't want to think about going down. Especially since it smacks of forced political correctness.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">There's another aspect of that. The sound from inside each of the auditoriums isn't often piped outside. Most venues just aren't set up for that. Which means that the "protestors" came with premeditation to create unrest and disorder. Interesting thought, isn't it?</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">But this is a Christian blog, the online discussion was with a fellow Christian, and that's where it gets <i>REALLY</i> interesting. Some may be asking why. It's because the real issue, here, is not what Donald Trump said or not. It's accountability. Yes, many of the rioters are probably not Christian. Otherwise they would most likely avoid such behavior.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords"><b>Romans 14:12 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. </span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">We use that (and similar verses) to suggest that those going to Hell aren't tossed there by God, but rather, their own decisions took them there. They rejected God by word, deed, and thought. Are we then to accept selective accountability? Or, worse, none?</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><b>Psalm 10:4 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek <i>God;</i> <span class="poetry2">God <i>is</i> in none of his thoughts.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></span>That still highlights the choice made in free will, even for the unbeliever. Yes, Donald Trump will be accountable for every careless word (see our beginning passage), but that doesn't excuse the rioters.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Jeremiah 17:10 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> I, the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, search the heart, <span class="poetry2"><i>I</i> test the mind,</span> <span class="poetry2">Even to give every man according to his ways,</span> <span class="poetry2">According to the fruit of his doings.</span><br /><br />There's one other issue that comes to mind.<br /><span class="poetry2"><br /></span><span class="poetry2"><b>James 3:1 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup><span class="ind"> My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.</span></span><br /><b><br /></b><b>Proverbs 27:23 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, <span class="poetry2"><i>And</i> attend to your herds;</span><br /><span class="poetry2"><span class="ind"><br /></span></span><b>1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (AMP) </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup><span class="noindent"> SO THEN, let us [apostles] be looked upon as ministering servants of Christ and stewards (trustees) of the mysteries (the secret purposes) of God.</span> <span class="noindent">Moreover, it is [essentially] required of stewards that a man should be found faithful [proving himself worthy of trust].</span><br /><span class="noindent"><br /></span><span class="noindent">We all influence someone, even if it's just ourselves. Is our influence going to support selective accountability? The Bible is clear. There are no degrees of sin. That's a man made excuse system. As well, we're no less responsible for our thoughts and actions because we're influenced by someone else. What we do is still based in our own decision. We can't take the law in our own hands just because we don't like what someone else says or does. It may seem like good old fashioned American frontier justice. But it's not. Any way we cut it, it's just plain sin.</span><br /><span class="noindent"><br /></span><span class="noindent">I said there are no degrees of sin. That's true. But there are lots of examples of God getting very angry because people of influence intentionally led others astray. Go back to those last three passages. Supporting viewpoints not in the Word is a pretty good example of that. Such as placing accountability where it doesn't belong. And removing accountability from those who should be accountable.</span><br /><span class="noindent"><br /></span><span class="noindent"><b>Matthew 6:33 (AMP) </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. </span><br /><br />Make sure your thinking includes the Word and lines up with it.<br /><br /> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><div><br /></div><div>Our prayers go out for the people of Orlando. The survivors of both shootings, friends and families. For some, it might be easy to point out their sin as probable cause. And it might be. But the Pulse club might have been chosen, instead, because it was a large gathering of people. Either way, let's not forget that Christ died for their souls, too.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Romans 5:8 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>We're no better. Just the nature of the sin is/was different. So, don't judge, pray. </div><br /><span class="ind"></span></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-27733478679261158172016-06-11T08:00:00.000-04:002016-06-12T13:42:28.008-04:00The Lord is My Strength and My Shield<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IDp5Nxrb7ck/V1u-l5L37nI/AAAAAAAAZZs/7Bz4M6qKw4UiebNvnMbjBruo1TsSs4kjQCLcB/s1600/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IDp5Nxrb7ck/V1u-l5L37nI/AAAAAAAAZZs/7Bz4M6qKw4UiebNvnMbjBruo1TsSs4kjQCLcB/s200/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">We have another gem from Pastor Chris McFarland, this one fairly recent. We'll let the Word and his thoughts on it speak for themselves. Be blessed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 28:7–8 (ESV)</b> The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 29:11 (AMP)</b> The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Proverbs 24:5 (AMP)</b> A wise man is strong and is better than a strong man, and a man of knowledge increases and strengthens his power;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 3:3 (AMP) </b> But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is almost a thing that does not need to be said, but it is a thing that needs to be experienced and gloried in: "I have been helped, assisted, supported" and deeply strengthened by the Lord himself. He has put his hand on my life. He has put his spirit in my heart. He has strengthened me in the deepest parts of my soul. Those things in my heart that I would hide from and try so desperately to control. Those inner voices of insecurity, fear and forbidden desires that I find in my fallen humanity, he gives me strength and energy to rise above and put behind me. These other masters he removes and replaces with himself. The Lord is my inner strength. He is stronger than all that arises against me from within. Isaiah had this testimony:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Isaiah 26:13–15 (AMP)</b> O Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we will acknowledge and mention Your name only. They [the former tyrant masters] are dead, they shall not live and reappear; they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise and come back. Therefore You have visited and made an end of them and caused every memory of them [every trace of their supremacy] to perish. You have increased the nation, O Lord; You have increased the nation. You are glorified; You have enlarged all the borders of the land.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He takes the power from the inner bullies of our past and removes their control over our lives. Our conscience is purged, renewed and restored. Our will is revamped, reoriented to grace and given strength again. Our mind is transformed and filled with the thoughts of God. Our consciousness comes back to a God filled state and our desires are balanced and freed to respond to the goodness of God. The Lord is my inner strength. I have been helped and my soul has been restored in Christ.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He is also my shield, my outer protection. There is much that will come against us from the enemy's camp. These demonic armies and the world will seek to redirect my path and destroy my faith. We could say a great deal about this because there is much that will oppose the singularity of where God has placed us. To many it will seem too narrow and severe. The many do not often know of the blessing of the his shielding strength. But this does not destroy the value and impact of his covering of our lives. He protects and keeps his people safe. He who watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps. He shepherds and protects us. He is a shield for us. We can know the blessing of his shielding powers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 91 (ESV)</b> He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place — the Most High, who is my refuge — no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lord Jesus, we desire to live in the sheltering presence of the Lord today. We desire to have your inner strength to be our portion this day. Put to flight the enemies of our lives and our families. Stop the progress of evil in our lives and in the land where we live. Bring healing to our lives, our churches, our families and our countries we pray. Amen!!!</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-33134283146602433052016-06-06T08:30:00.000-04:002016-06-06T08:30:13.128-04:00Breastplare Gems - We Need the Gentle Rain<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4fihbWlrRyM/V1VEIztYEpI/AAAAAAAAZQk/9UPf_tV6NQ8cZ-KvYjFBFfx6kZ-p6FvmwCLcB/s1600/bpg-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4fihbWlrRyM/V1VEIztYEpI/AAAAAAAAZQk/9UPf_tV6NQ8cZ-KvYjFBFfx6kZ-p6FvmwCLcB/s200/bpg-cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>It's the first Monday in June, time to share one of this month's readings from our devotional book, <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883?ie=UTF8&qid=&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems">Breastplate Gems</a>.</b> For those interested in the Kindle edition, there's a link to that version on the page.<br /><br />The book's goal is to give the reader a chance to grow closer to God in a way that will leave us with something from the Word that will help us stay close to Him.<br /><br />Life throws both good and bad events at us. When we have a connection with God, it's no longer just us dealing with them. We have God in that equation. For instance, there's this:<br /><br /><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Luke 8:5 (KJV)</b> A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Luke 8:11 (KJV)</b> Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Luke 8:12 (KJV)</b> Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you ever talked to someone who is so convinced that the Bible is a fable and God is a myth? They have so great a need to be right that their ground won’t allow the rain of the Water of Life to soften it enough for anything to get planted into the soil. There aren’t even any cracks and crevices for anything to get into to take root.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While we may consider that to describe someone who has never made a profession, that may not be true. We have to realize that a profession (words) may not be a real confession (heart). And it really doesn’t matter if we recognize the difference. Either way, we find someone who needs to be softened and drawn to God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is where we consider our words. If we pound with our words, it can be like a hammer, tamping and compacting an already dry ground. A torrential rain isn’t much better. Though it may not make the ground harder, it comes with such speed and force that none can be absorbed. What’s needed is a gentle rain that sits on the ground long enough to start being absorbed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prayer thoughts for day 2: If we reject God, we need to allow ourselves to be softened to hear all sides. We don’t want prejudice of any kind to influence our decisions. If we’ve made a profession, but really haven’t connected to God, we want to clearly decide how we want to choose. It may be that the threats of Hell and the “you musts” compacted our spiritual ground to prevent anything getting in. And if it’s our words that are to draw others, we want the gentle rain, not the torrential downpour that merely runs off with no effect. We want our words to be as wise as the serpent, but harmless as the dove (<b>Matthew 10:16</b>).</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-40627875152197578872016-06-04T08:31:00.000-04:002016-06-04T08:39:27.116-04:00Eliminating The Blind Spots<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GtFiv6-Urto/V1LIfymWPdI/AAAAAAAAZN4/W4GcbjPX_D4DqO7Kh86-RVtK3gD8ropygCLcB/s1600/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GtFiv6-Urto/V1LIfymWPdI/AAAAAAAAZN4/W4GcbjPX_D4DqO7Kh86-RVtK3gD8ropygCLcB/s200/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Public Domain </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license,<br />photo obtained from commons.wikimedia.org</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Last Saturday, we shared the video from one of our Wednesday services. <a href="http://www.bills-musings.com/2016/05/blind-spots-and-joy-of-lord-video.html" target="_blank">Pastor Schaller spoke on blind spots</a>. Here, Todd Parsons continues on the theme.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i></i></div><a name='more'></a><i>I'm thinking about "blind spots" today because of Wednesday night's message at Church in Baltimore, taught by my pastor, Pastor Thomas Schaller.</i><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Driving a vehicle on the roadways our blind spot can catch us off guard and we can find ourselves mixed up in an accident or incident. The best prevention for blind spots in to eliminate them. However, first, the number one principle of eliminating blind spots in not living presuming that there are none with me... Most people we will meet today have a blind spot to eternity and the effect eternity is to have on me, as an individual, this day. The Cross of Christ is the place where our blind spots are revealed and covered. The life of Christ that He laid down for you and I, is that of a love that gives at the highest cost to purchase this covering that our blind spots are not fatal to our eternal destiny. This love, when we see it for ourselves, reveals our blind spot of great magnitude. We are not like that and do not love like that... There is something vastly different about our love and the love of God which would give us Christ for our deliverance. It is called a blind spot. It is called sin. Christ shed His blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, when we believe Him... Believe Him that we have blind spots and we need Him to eliminate them, that where He is for all eternity, we will be enabled, by His grace alone, to be there with Him...</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1 John 1:9</b> If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>We are to believe Him about our sin, so we can name it, forsake it, isolate it, get up, and move on. When we fail, we rebound, and again, and again, and again, til we are home with Him. When I see that a blind spot has had its way in my life, as a Christian, I use rebound, as I come to the Cross where God is right and I am not...and I am forgiven... That forgiveness has an effect of eternity upon my life as an individual this day...</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Of So Great Love, we are, tjp</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-75747122455764878032016-05-30T09:50:00.000-04:002016-05-30T09:50:23.018-04:00Memorial to No Offense<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-607efZhUAWk/V0sR8p9nHpI/AAAAAAAAZFI/-fey5-L_4hwZ70OvGIScbyCXCW9Gv9Y_ACLcB/s1600/memday-noafrica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-607efZhUAWk/V0sR8p9nHpI/AAAAAAAAZFI/-fey5-L_4hwZ70OvGIScbyCXCW9Gv9Y_ACLcB/s400/memday-noafrica.jpg" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons license, </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">photo by US Army Africa,, from Flickr,<br />website </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">http://www.usaraf.army.mil/</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Today is Memorial Day in the US. It's the day we annually remember those who lost their lives defending our country. Other countries have other dates reserved for their own fallen heroes. It's one thing we can all share in, no matter what the date or which country. And more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pastor Peter Sheff, visiting from Maine, preached the main sermon in our 9am service. He started by talking about John the Baptist, in jail, trying to find out if Jesus was the Christ. John sent messengers to Jesus, asking Him. And Jesus replied.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Matthew 11:6 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">Pastor Sheff made the point that we're all offended by something, whether it's a wild driver, someone being verbally offensive, or circumstances not going the way we think they should. And it comes down to our having some level of personal uncomfortability. Think about that.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">It was Memorial Day that really got me thinking about this. This "holiday" celebrates those have not come back from battle. It and other military holidays honor those who went to war, knowing they might not return home, and took no offense to that fact. </span>There might be some who went unwillingly, but they went. Most probably had some level of fear, but they went anyway. <br /><br />Those of you who follow me on social media and read this blog are familiar with me joking about being the least likely missionary. That's because I have physical challenges, plus having both COPD and emphysema. But God gave me a vision to be part of our church team in San Jose, Costa Rica. And that's still my goal, despite more recent events.<br /><br />About a month ago, I had a strong flare up of my COPD. Breathing became difficult, added doctor's visits and medications have been slow to restore my usual "normal", while putting a hefty dent in my finances. Healing has been like a roller coaster, some days really good, some days seeming not so good. Since then, my experience of church has been through the blessing of our online stream of our services. Then, in the midst of that, a volcano near San Jose became active, spewing ash and foul air on the city. <br /><br />All of that certainly makes my being a missionary in San Jose seem like a pipe dream. Certainly, till I have a better idea of where my health will stabilize, I don't feel comfortable seeking financial support for that. Yet my prayers, my thoughts, and my desires are still to be with the people I know in San Jose. I am a soldier of the Lord, still true to the mission till my orders change. Am I unrealistic? Maybe. Am I a little dense? Probably. But God hasn't shown me enough reason to change the earthly goal. And I can be stubborn. It made me realize that we see a common denominator between those we honor today and those who are not offended by Jesus.<br /><br /><br /><ol><li>In both cases, the focus is on something beyond, something greater than themselves. -- <b>Hebrews 12:2 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of <i>our</i> faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. </li><li>Not only does their focus change, but they are active in making that happen. The target is the possible, not the impossible. -- <b>Matthew 6:33 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.</span></li><li><span class="JesusWords">The reason for what is sought is that, given reality, nothing is impossible. -- </span><b>Luke 1:37 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For with God nothing will be impossible." </li><li>There's a recognition that we don't know all things, but God does. Which gives Him a much better perspective on how things should go. -- <b>1 John 3:20 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.</li><li>Trust. Trusting God's love and wisdom for us is essential. -- <b>Psalm 4:5 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, <span class="poetry2">And put your trust in the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>.</span> <span class="poetry2"><br /></span></li><li>There's an acknowledgement that, while there is a hoped for result, neither circumstances nor God are like a trained pet. There's no guarantee that what we seek is necessarily best nor a sure thing. -- <b>1 Chronicles 29:11 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Yours, O <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, <i>is</i> the greatness, <span class="poetry2">The power and the glory,</span> <span class="poetry2">The victory and the majesty;</span> <span class="poetry2">For all <i>that is</i> in heaven and in earth <i>is Yours;</i></span> <span class="poetry2">Yours <i>is</i> the kingdom, O <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>,</span> <span class="poetry2">And You are exalted as head over all.</span></li></ol><div>It's simple. And, while my describing my own personal experience may seem like the focus is on me., it's not. Remember, I said I can be dense and stubborn. For me, those six qualities aren't things I can generate on my own. It took and still takes God guiding and drawing me. Otherwise, they'd never reside in my soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I walk on a spiritual tightrope. On one side is a drop into unbelief that what I desire in my heart is impossible. On the other side is the certainty that only what's in my heart is the goal in this present life. Then there's the tightrope itself, inclined upward toward the platform in front of us. We may not clearly see the goal on the platform, but we trust the rope to take us to the best result.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether it's soldiers in war or Christians depending on our Lord, let's focus on the rope and the platform ahead of us, not the drop on either side of the rope. Because we're all on that tightrope. And let us not forget those whose faith included a dear price for our freedoms.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="poetry2"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-81160279320973303132016-05-28T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-28T08:30:30.096-04:00Blind Spots and the Joy of the Lord (Video)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B52TUKCq0fY/V0mE3vFexXI/AAAAAAAAZCw/Npbkfx710rU2mFFN8T2ahk9Bpn520ISiwCLcB/s1600/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B52TUKCq0fY/V0mE3vFexXI/AAAAAAAAZCw/Npbkfx710rU2mFFN8T2ahk9Bpn520ISiwCLcB/s200/Cross_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller-en-wikipedia-org.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, courtesy of Wikipedia</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We talk about them in a variety of contexts. Blind spots, that is. It's why we have a blind spot monitor on our rear view mirror. It's why we go to others for advice about some relationships, because we just might be too emotionally invested to see things clearly. And there's our own spiritual life. Oh, how easy it is to recognize everyone else's faults while not seeing our own.!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pastor Tom Schaller gave a sermon about that, several Wednesdays ago. Let's take a look.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nwLC3NxZ-Pk" width="560"></iframe></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-48095602968740914392016-05-23T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-23T08:30:38.794-04:00Breastplate Gems - Life's Turbulence<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q1CcePVHI9o/V0KA3kOaXHI/AAAAAAAAY1o/gWbVkdvwak8wvll-6Uul1wShgzLoTMmjQCLcB/s1600/bpg-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q1CcePVHI9o/V0KA3kOaXHI/AAAAAAAAY1o/gWbVkdvwak8wvll-6Uul1wShgzLoTMmjQCLcB/s320/bpg-cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>It's still May and we'll share another reading from this month's section of our devotional book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" style="color: #3366cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems"><b><u>Breastplate Gems</u></b></a>. Or there's the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski-ebook/dp/B015484H4M/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" style="color: #3366cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Kindle edition"><b>Kindle edition</b></a>. I approached it like I do my blog posts. I made a deal with God. He supplied the content, I wrote it down. As I said when I last shared one of the devotionals, I can reread <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" style="color: #3366cc; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems">Breastplate Gems</a> and be blessed by what God has for me, too.<br /><br />Our founding pastor was adamant that we needed Truth, not fluff and, if we were to make it our own, we needed repetition. So, my devotional has 14 readings each month, to be read through twice. Except for February, that still leaves 2-3 days to either have your own devotional reading or go back and do a third reading of some of the month's readings that particularly spoke to you.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px; text-align: justify;">All my books, including <u style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" style="color: #3366cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Breastplate Gems</a></u>, are intended to help support my move to the mission field. Or, right now, also some medical stuff. So, if God leads you in that way, this is one way to make it happen. But let's get to some thoughts on going through life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ezekiel 24:11 (KJV)</b> Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once again, fire is used for purification. This describes the metal refining process. The metal is super heated till it’s molten liquid. When that happens, the imperfections (dross) rise to the top and can be burned or skimmed off. Whether it’s a decorative valuable metal or metal used to create armaments, the imperfections take away from the overall usefulness. In this case, God is speaking and talking about a city. There’s a New Testament equivalent:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1 Corinthians 3:13-15 (KJV)</b> Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We can expect trials. That’s part of life. There are attacks from the enemy, there’s the results of the missteps of our own flesh, there’s the refiners fire, and there’s just plain life itself in an imperfect world. We can expect fiery trials. But it’s our response that makes the difference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prayer thoughts for day 8: We need to ask God for protection in the trials, the edification to give us the strength to walk worthy, the refining to rid ourselves of the spiritual dross, and the power of God to come out of the trials better than we went in.</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-92148186103710838362016-05-21T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-21T08:30:15.274-04:00Theantric Action<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WqaR0axr068/VzyT6PtX6zI/AAAAAAAAYtw/zhKoucqWuE4ETVVYY38ngciOCFIAb1rjACLcB/s1600/architect-graphics-abstract-building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="373" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WqaR0axr068/VzyT6PtX6zI/AAAAAAAAYtw/zhKoucqWuE4ETVVYY38ngciOCFIAb1rjACLcB/s400/architect-graphics-abstract-building.jpg" width="560" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Our founding pastor sometimes came up with his own terminology for certain things, either borrowing from earlier students of the Word or combining several Biblical words to properly describe a concept, when nothing else properly fit. The title of today's guest post is one of the latter. Pastor Chris McFarland joins us, today, with some great insights. And yes, he'll be back. Having said that, let's take a look at theantric action.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">There is a wonderful reality which can seem to elude many believers. It is a place of true spiritual blessing. David called it to mind in his most well known Psalm:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Psalm 23:1–3 (ESV) </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">You will notice that verses 2-3 follow verse 1 not just in the order of the Psalm but in the experience of the believer. We can know and recite the text, but never find the reality described in it. It depends upon our submission to the Lord as my shepherd. The Living bible's rendering brings this out very well:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Psalm 23:1–3 (The Living Bible)</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">When the Lord is my shepherd, he brings me to the places of stillness and true nourishment. Here is where I find the bible is more than just rules and regulations, it becomes my spiritual food. This calls to mind Jeremiah's experience:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Jeremiah 15:16 (The Living Bible)</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Your words are what sustain me; they are food to my hungry soul. They bring joy to my sorrowing heart and delight me. How proud I am to bear your name, O Lord.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">The bible can be a daunting place. We can hear it through the confusion of the law, the subjectivity of our soul or in the mire of our personal memories. All of these voices will lead us into frustration and trouble waters. Waters stirred up and muddy. Pastures with not enough nourishment to sustain our spiritual growth. It is easy to get condemned, discouraged or deeply stressed trying to perform. This all happens when we don't really find the Lord as our shepherd. When we are following voices that only lead us to ourselves, we can end up in spiritual death. Jesus had harsh words for those whose lives were not truly nourished by the spirit of God:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Matthew 23:25–28 (ESV)</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">So what is theantric action? It is where the child of God and the life of God become one in the heart and mind of the believer. "Our Human disposition is merged with life of Christ through a process of growth and the intake of bible doctrine and faith obedience." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Paul refers to it. When Divine Justice blesses and produces his divine nature in our lives.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Notice it says that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled "in" us, not "by" us. This happens when we are humble and filled with the spirit of God and his word lives richly in our hearts. "God's nature controls the believer's nature through the government of the indwelling Word and through the power of the indwelling spirit in us. God literally takes over who we are with divine/human results or theantric action. Then it is a joy to be a believer. The powerhouse of God is where we will find the theantric activity of God and learn to live theantrically. Usually this process will lead us into and under the shepherdship of the proper pastor/teacher and into a fellowship or body of believers. We should be prayerful however, because who we submit to is very important. They should be an undershepherd of Jesus Christ and not anything more. We need to grow up into him and not a religious system of any other sort. Paul described this process in this way:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><b>Galatians 2:19–21 (ESV)</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Totally guilty before the Law. Then Killed and Executed in Jesus Christ. Now dead to the law because my death with Christ put me beyond its jurisdiction. Now living in the life of Christ and allowing grace to nourish, teach and lead me in theantric action. Blessed beyond my wildest imaginations.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><i>Lord Jesus, we have awoken in your likeness and in your renewed image for our lives. We have been resurrected and graced to walk in a brand new life. Help we pray to realize our full theantric potential today. Amen!!!</i></span></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-62959835021512238702016-05-16T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-16T08:30:28.739-04:00Smoke Screens<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EVSkaO75XsQ/VzjLiP8WpnI/AAAAAAAAYnM/5XgtPRAkHKsRiLwj-dESOBLSlrNRlRD8wCLcB/s1600/Lucifer_Liege_Luc_Viatour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EVSkaO75XsQ/VzjLiP8WpnI/AAAAAAAAYnM/5XgtPRAkHKsRiLwj-dESOBLSlrNRlRD8wCLcB/s320/Lucifer_Liege_Luc_Viatour.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license, <br />courtesy of Wikipedia, image by Luc Viatour</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Romans 8:38-39 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We know that passage because Paul talks about his confidence in God's protection. But it also highlights the the flipside of that confidence. The demonic influences are after man because of God's love. There's a reality that Satan doesn't like us much. And it means that demonic activity is focused on keeping the unsaved that way and the saved miserable. Not a pretty picture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's where it gets interesting. Satan never seems to like a full frontal attack. Instead, he's like a magician using smoke and mirrors. Or, actually, like a military strategist using tactical smoke screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></div><a name='more'></a><b>2 Corinthians 11:3 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another familiar verse. That "subtilty" is an older English word that says the devil is crafty and subtle. Again, he's not likely to make direct attack, but resort to smoke screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ephesians 6:11-12 </b><sup style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"></span></sup><b> </b>Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high <i>places</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>We've all read this, heeding the warning to put on "<span style="text-align: justify;">the whole armour of God". That's the focus. But we can't lose sight of why. When we look at that, we realize the need to be vigilant. And, when we co back to </span><b style="text-align: justify;">2 Corinthians 11</b><span style="text-align: justify;">, we get a clearer idea of the subterfuge and smoke screens.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2 Corinthians 11:13-15 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For such <i>are</i> false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore <i>it is</i> no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saturday, I wrote about the transgender bathroom edict. The one that has aroused so much discussion and reaction. Some have vowed to ignore and fight it, some have applauded it, and others are somewhere in the middle. And it dawns on me that it's just another of the devils smoke screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There's a lot of political polarization in the US, and international lack of respect for President Obama. The polarization tends to get some to picture Obama as evil in his thinking. Or the best president ever. And it takes our focus away from the head general of the demonic manipulation and his smoke screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The hullabaloo about transgender people using bathrooms is important on its own level. But it's a distraction from everything else going on. Obama is not my favorite president. But I doubt all of his maneuvers are from wrong motives. We certainly don't question the motivation of legalists or lukewarm Christians, only the thinking that got them there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">President Obama was elected twice, partly on the basis that he was going to end our involvement in the wars in the Middle East, blamed on President Bush. As of this moment, not only has that not happened, but President Obama has now been at war longer than George W. Bush.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There's Obamacare. More and more it's becoming a financial disaster, with healthcare providers dropping out. Despite Nancy Pelosi's arrogantly stupid "You have to pass it to know what's in it." statement, I believe the intent was right. But it takes strong competence to design something that encompassing and have it work. The same for the transgender bathroom issue. Something that, if properly thought through, might very well have been handled very differently and more protective of the transgender people, as well as the rest of the population.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All of those things, in their own right, are important. But, from a spiritual viewpoint, they're just smoke screens. If we went to a show and a dummy "said" things that were offensive, we'd recognize that the fault was with the ventriloquist, not the dummy. But all these issues have been handled in such a way to point toward the White House, not the ventriloquist. They're more of the devil's smoke screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those of us who read our Bible know that, as the end of time approaches, there will be more attacks and more smoke screens. I don't have to drag out a bunch of verses as a reminder. But we do need to be reminded, sometimes, don't we? Otherwise our focus heads in the wrong direction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We've talked, before, about what's labeled "The Lord's Prayer". It was prayed during His heaviest assault by the demons, in the garden at Gethsemane. So, Jesus knows about attacks, smoke screens, and seeking protection. In <b>Matthew 6:13a</b>, He says, "<span class="JesusWords">And do not lead us into temptation,</span> <span class="poetry2">But deliver us from the evil one." Christ knew we would be attacked, too. That he would try to muddle our thinking with his smoke screens. And God gave us a solution.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="poetry2"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2 Timothy 3:16-17 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> All Scripture <i>is</i> given by inspiration of God, and <i>is</i> profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But we do get mentally detoured sometimes and need another reminder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2 Timothy 2:24-26 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all <i>men</i>, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And <i>that</i> they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We need to "be gentle unto all <i>men</i>" that God's message isn't clouded by smoke screens, but overcomes through God's love. And "those that oppose themselves" can be anyone -- the unsaved, believers distracted by Satan's smoke screens, or the lukewarm. Even ourselves. Are you ready to turn God's floor fan on the devil's smoke screens and just blow them away?</div><br />Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-3176465660663876992016-05-10T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-10T08:30:12.302-04:00Mary, Did She Know...?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LN298prv3-o/VzCeCyXkUNI/AAAAAAAAYb0/qTE-taAXKLg09hnDWacYv6JdeBUAvMr_ACLcB/s1600/icon-1060612_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LN298prv3-o/VzCeCyXkUNI/AAAAAAAAYb0/qTE-taAXKLg09hnDWacYv6JdeBUAvMr_ACLcB/s320/icon-1060612_960_720.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Between some health things and Mother's Day, our posting schedule got shifted a bit. So, even though it's Tuesday, make believe it's Monday. Wait!! Do we really want to do that?!? LOL</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sorry. I couldn't resist. But let's get serious. Sunday I shared a <b><a href="http://lifelettercafe.com/2016/05/even-jesus-considered-mothers-important/" target="_blank">LifeNote about Mary</a></b>, for Mother's Day. And, while I gave the two most common overviews of how Christianity views her, I also expressed some doubts that either had it fully right. That led to an brief online discussion with one gentleman who threw in some a passage that I really feel is a prime example of a place where interpretation went wrong. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today, let's look at it all and, maybe some more, to see why I come to my conclusions. That's not an "I'm right and you're wrong" study we want. I could very well be wrong. But here's a chance to think and meditiate on it, pray about it, and discuss it. At worst, it'll give us more to meditate on, at best I might get some misconceptions clarified and corrected. And, hopefully, we'll draw closer to God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a>I started Sunday's LifeNote post suggesting that one form of Christianity elevates Mary too much, while the rest may not hold her in sufficient esteem. I believe the truth about Mary is somewhere in the middle.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I began Sunday's LifeNote by noting that Mary wasn't randomly selected, she didn't win some heavenly lottery, she was chosen. That's clear in <b>Luke 1:26-33</b>. Prophecy from the Old Testament pointed to a young girl, at least assumed to be a virgin because of her age. Mary fulfills that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Luke 1:34-35 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We also know that God's perfection and sin can't coexist in the same place. But, thanks to salvation, we can confess our sins and we're cleansed of them. At least momentarily. When <b>Luke 1:37</b> tells us<sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "For with God nothing shall be impossible.", can we not consider that Mary was likely in a state of momentary sinlessness leading into conception? And couldn't God give her the extra assist she'd need to remain that way through her pregnancy? That makes both Catholic and Protestant tradition correct. Mary sinless when it was required, but a sinner, like the rest of us, in everyday life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we get to Sunday's discussion of the wedding at Cana, we see a unique picture. Today's diplomats, politicians, and military people might say Jesus "broke protocol". There was an order of things and the wedding was prior to the scheduled beginning of Christ's public ministry. It wasn't ministry time, yet. But Mary had no qualms asking Jesus to change the water to wine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mary obviously recognizes the full nature of her son and His capacity to do what she asked. And, by faith, she not only thought He could, but that He would do it. That Mary asked Jesus to do this says something about what she believed their relationship to be. I know I can't picture anyone else asking Him, much less getting Him to comply. Can you?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then, there's the kicker. Jesus did it! He changed the water into wine. Ahead of His public ministry, when He did all the other recorded miracles. And it truly was special! If you attend a wine tasting, participants rinse their mouth with water between glasses of wine, to clear the palate. Otherwise, some of the flavor and nuance of previous glasses of wine would mask at least some of the true nature of the wine now being tasted. But this was a wedding party. No rinsing between glasses. And the wine Jesus produced was so spectacular that the guests noticed it, despite having all the normal wine first. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Would Jesus always make that quality of wine? Was it random and another batch might be of lesser quality? As God, could He only make top level wine, incapable of varying that? Were the bride and groom special friends, so Jesus decided to bless them? We really don't know any of that. But I lean toward believing that was because of His relationship with Mary. She's mom.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's when my discussion started, with this passage:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Matthew 12:47-50 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, <span class="JesusWords">Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?</span> And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, <span class="JesusWords">Behold my mother and my brethren!</span> <span class="JesusWords">For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">Evangelicals all seem to want to take that as indicating that here was an example that Mary was a sinner. The gentleman who added that passage to the discussion suggested it pointed to a lack of obedience. The first thought that came to my mind was Jesus on the Cross made sure that Mary was taken care of, when He was physically gone. Perhaps so we'd recognize Mary wasn't excluded by the above passage. That got me a two part response.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">We'll look at the second first. "Jesus doesn't exclude anyone, but the whole reason for His statement in <b>Matthew 12:48-50</b> was exactly that his mom was excluding herself." Interesting statement. Mary the willing sinner? But there's nothing there (or in the parallel passage) that indicates she was "off". So, let me throw out another possible interpretation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">When we read the examples of how Jesus taught and how He thought, He often got His disciples to focus from a different angle and there were no negatives toward family. Could this be the same? People were telling Jesus that His family needed to see Him. The entire Bible points toward God and having a spiritual priority. So, why wouldn't this be another teaching moment? Yes, these were His family, but the disciples needed to view them as Jesus family because they <b><i>did</i></b> do the will of God, not because they had an earthly relationship.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">The gentleman had another good point about Jesus making sure Mary was cared for. He suggested that, as the eldest son, Jesus was taking care of a familial responsibility. Because Joseph is last mentioned about the time Jesus was 12, many assume that he had died. Yet, we attribute so much not being mentioned as because we didn't need to know. Rationalization, in either case? Could Jesus have made an extreme effort, despite the pain and agony on the Cross, because of a special relationship with Mary?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">If Joseph was deceased and Jesus was doing His sonly duty, can we assume that's all it was? We say "God is love." We recognize love as part of His nature, Him as the epitome and examplar of love. And yet, here, we're willing to change an unchanging God into a mere elder son performing a duty? If God loves us so much that He'd go to the Cross for our salvation, is it a stretch of the imagination that there might be a more personal connection with Mary, who bore Him as an unborn child?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">A side note was brought up about the assumption. Why, I'm not sure. It wasn't a part of anything else in the discussion. But the comment was made that it would likely have been mentioned by John if it had actually occurred. On the other hand, Karl Keating of Catholic Answers makes a point.</span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">Remember, in the early Christian centuries, relics of saints were jealously guarded and highly prized. The bones of those martyred in the Colosseum, for instance, were quickly gathered up and preserved; there are many accounts of this in the biographies of those who gave up their lives for the Faith [for example, the bones of St. Peter and St. Paul were widely known to be preserved in Rome, and the sepulcher of David and the tomb of St. John the Baptist are both mentioned in Scripture]. Yet here was Mary, certainly the most privileged of all the saints ... but we have no record of her bodily remains being venerated anywhere.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">In both cases, each side of the argument was that there was no mention. And there's the answer for both. Israel was a male dominated society. We've spoken before about the fact that women held a much lower position in society. I suspect women of that day might have appreciated a few vocal feminists to change that. Whether the assumption happened or not, it might not have been recorded, because it involved a woman. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">Then, of course, there is </span><b>John 3:13</b>, "<span class="JesusWords">And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, <i>even</i> the Son of man which is in heaven." Jesus own words. There's an argument that this passage refers to Jesus' Resurrection, but the original word used for "ascended" leans neither toward a source or a cause. So, it could easily be negating the assumption.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">Finally, yes, Mary knew she was a sinner in need of salvation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Luke 1:47-50 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy <i>is</i> his name. And his mercy <i>is</i> on them that fear him from generation to generation. </div><br /><div>She called Jesus "Saviour" and spoke of her "low estate". Can we assume that "low estate" is strictly a financial and social condition?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Those are some of reasons why I believe Catholicism has gone overboard about Mary, while Protestant Christianity doesn't give her enough of a place in our faith. Which may be partially in reaction to the split from Catholicism. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then there's human nature, the flesh, our sin nature, whatever you want to call it. We have a tendency to become invested in our own viewpoints, maybe to the point of unintentionally injecting our own bias into our research. Scientists have to be careful of that. How much more so for studies with as much emotional impact as religion? Indeed, we've seen the same evidence used to support opposing views about Mary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm suggesting that, when we really remove the "I believe" and replace it with "the Word says", there's something different than the arguments those opposing views think is truth. Am I missing something, here? What do you see in this?</div></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-4553967235686480832016-05-02T08:30:00.000-04:002016-05-02T08:30:10.462-04:00Breastplate Gems - Learning Self<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vXPaL-Mxq_c/VydCy03nXyI/AAAAAAAAYO0/YhoEZJ4FMBECQpzCmuvGfvX2cbhEu3omQCLcB/s1600/bpg-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vXPaL-Mxq_c/VydCy03nXyI/AAAAAAAAYO0/YhoEZJ4FMBECQpzCmuvGfvX2cbhEu3omQCLcB/s320/bpg-cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>It's May and we'll share a reading from this month's section of our devotional book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems"><b><u>Breastplate Gems</u></b></a>. Or there's the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski-ebook/dp/B015484H4M/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank" title="Kindle edition">Kindle edition</a>. The book was an interesting project. I approached it like I do my blog posts. I made a deal with God. He supplied the content, I wrote it down. As a result, I can reread <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems">Breastplate Gems</a> and be blessed by what God has for me, too.<br /><br />The founding pastor of our ministry had a principle he taught that I incorporated into this book. He was adamant that we needed Truth, not fluff and, if we were to make it our own, we needed repetition. So, our devotional has 14 readings each month, to be read through twice. Except for February, that still leaves 2-3 days to either have your own devotional reading or go back and do a third reading of some of the month's readings that particularly spoke to you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All my books, including <u style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank">Breastplate Gems</a></u>, are intended to help support my move to the mission field. So, if God leads you in that way, this is one way to make it happen. But let's get to today's reading.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Genesis 22:6 (KJV)</b> And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We all know the story of Abraham and Isaac. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. That was a huge thing. It was a real demonstration of the difference between love for our own interests or love for God. Especially in sacrifice, love needs a fire. As we know from the story, God had no intention of letting Abraham sacrifice Isaac. God supplied an alternative sacrifice. So, what was the point?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There’s an interesting insight, here. Because the story highlights several underlying factors. We can start with God testing Abraham. Why? God’s omniscient. He knows everything. And there’s the answer. Abraham ISN’T omniscient. So, while God knows what’s in Abraham’s heart and the resulting outcome, Abraham is in need of building up in that. He needs to see his own God-given spiritual strengths and where he needs to change direction. A truth for all of us. If we don’t understand ourselves, we’re not going to maintain the good and pitch out the bad. We won’t get out of the way of positive change and push away negative change, because we won’t fully recognize the difference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prayer thoughts for day 3: We need to ask God to open our spiritual eyes. We want to see the things in ourselves that are good and can be enhanced. And we need to know what to set aside, the things that get in the way of our growth.</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-14306052557241402982016-04-25T08:30:00.000-04:002016-04-25T08:30:03.271-04:00New Endings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXPXI6qRUs/VxtvSgcLIrI/AAAAAAAAX84/GDcZg1KmxwkCf91uD7EImKHm1TzOUrw_QCLcB/s1600/notfitting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXPXI6qRUs/VxtvSgcLIrI/AAAAAAAAX84/GDcZg1KmxwkCf91uD7EImKHm1TzOUrw_QCLcB/s320/notfitting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>"The worst sentence is this:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'It’s too late to work on my goals this year.'</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">January is for resolutions and goals. It’s when we buy calendars and running sneakers and kale. That’s the only time you can really focus on changing your life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By April, you’ve missed your chance. Too much of the year is already gone. The moment of inspiration has passed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That’s garbage."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The above is a quote from Jon Acuff, in one of his latest posts, "Don't Say This Sentence This Month". Then, there's also our graphic illustration from the Gospel Coalition.<br /><br />At this point, you might be wondering where we're going with this. And you might be more incredulous if I added that this is actually a continuation from Pam Enderby's wonderful guest post, on Saturday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">There was a graphic I shared on Google+, that said "You are your only limit.". Yes, our faith is a gift from God, through His grace. But He also allows us free will. We are free to think however we choose. That includes how much we believe, how strongly we believe, what we believe. Is it any wonder that Jesus says to Peter, in <b>Luke 22:32a</b>, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:"?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We get an interesting picture when we look at what Jesus said about "thy faith" and "your faith". Maybe even more because of the rule of Biblical interpretation when something is mentioned more than once -- it's understood to have greater importance. And Jesus is very clear about our faith and it's importance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The very first time Jesus talks about "thy faith" in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He says "thy sins are forgiven". That's <b>Matthew 9:2</b>, <b>Mark 2:5</b>, and <b>Luke 5:20</b>. In <b>Luke 7:50 </b>and<b> Luke</b> <b>18:42</b>, we see Jesus say "thy faith hath saved thee". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Matthew 9:20-33, we see a healing, a resurrection of a young girl, and two more healings. Indeed, we see, in <b>Matthew 9:22</b>, the first mention of "<span class="JesusWords">thy faith hath made thee whole.", repeated in <b>Mark 5:34</b>, <b>10:52</b>, and <b>Luke 8:48</b>, <b>17:19</b>. And that's where it gets interesting. All of those are physical healing, but not just physical healing. More often than not, healing came through a faith in God that also brought salvation, forgiveness of sins. "Whole" wasn't just physical well being.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">As we read the Gospels, we learn some interesting things about our own faith:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ol><li><b>Matthew 9:29b </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "<span class="JesusWords">According to your faith be it unto you." - Faith drives our experience. It ushers in the miracles in our life. </span><b>Matthew 17:20b </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "<span class="JesusWords">If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."</span> </li><li><span class="JesusWords"><b>Matthew 17:20a </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "And Jesus said unto them, <span class="JesusWords">Because of your unbelief".</span> - A lack of faith can hinder miracles. Whether it's healing, avoiding danger, or salvation, the good things are less likely to come without faith.</span></li><li><span class="JesusWords"><b style="font-weight: bold;">Matthew 15:22-28</b> is the story of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter. Jesus tested her faith by saying He only came for the Jews, suggesting anyone else were as dogs. Her response brought us to <b>Matthew 15:28</b>, "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, <span class="JesusWords">O woman, great <i>is</i> thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.</span> And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." - Faith is not based on who we are, but on who we have faith in.<span class="ind"><br /></span></span></li><li><span class="JesusWords"><b>Luke 22:32b </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "<span class="JesusWords">and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." - Faith brings about a change in us, which is why salvation is possible.</span></span></li><li><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><b>Luke 22:32b </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "<span class="JesusWords">and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." - While faith changes us, it's also a beacon for others. Whether we talk about our faith or others see how it effects us, it makes a difference in other lives, as well.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><b>Luke 22:32a </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "<span class="JesusWords">But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:". - We come back to our quote from Jon Acuff. Or there's a meme going around that I've actually reshared, more than once. It reminds us that we can't change the past, but we can start fresh whenever we choose to and, from that point, create a new ending to our story. That's applicable, at some level, to all of us. And it highlights a real truth. Failure can begin or end at any time, which means there's no set starting or ending times for faith. If we lacked faith two seconds ago, we can still have it now! There's reality to </span></span></span></span><b>Ecclesiastes 7:8 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> "Better <i>is</i> the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: <i>and</i> the patient in spirit <i>is</i> better than the proud in spirit."</li></ol><div>I can't speak for anyone else, but seeing what Jesus Himself says about faith, I'm excited about the possibilities, as my faith grows. Are you ready for new endings, too?</div><br />Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-85024402324557097062016-04-23T08:30:00.000-04:002016-04-23T08:30:06.866-04:00A Miracle We All Need<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wAvV_6tprt8/VxnCdQBPwJI/AAAAAAAAX5A/ROrhmSlB-K01WqxKpaQUVh-ZePy8U2wlgCLcB/s1600/prayer-1143598_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wAvV_6tprt8/VxnCdQBPwJI/AAAAAAAAX5A/ROrhmSlB-K01WqxKpaQUVh-ZePy8U2wlgCLcB/s200/prayer-1143598_640.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, I read a post by Pam Enderby that resonated with some thoughts I'd been meditating on. The context was a bit different, but the theme was similar. So, I asked Pam for permission to reshare her post as one of our Saturday guest posts.<br /><br />One of the greatest problems for the believer is faith. Not the kind that carries us through our daily turmoil, but the faith that trusts God for more serious stuff, and things in other peoples' lives. Somehow, our lack of understanding of someone else's relationship with God has a greater impact on our thinking than how big our God is. Or how much what happens is all grace and all mercy, despite ourselves.<br /><br />With all that in mind, let's see the insights God has given Pam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a name='more'></a>I’m praying for Gunner, a tiny, struggling, one-year-old. Gunner requires eating through a feeding tube, five times a day. Mushed up food is placed in the tube, then travels directly into Gunner’s stomach, bypassing his mouth. It keeps him alive, but unfortunately, the “food tube” comes with complications. Gunner frequently vomits his precious nourishment. Compared to other boys his age, Gunner measures at 0 percentile for length and for weight on the growth chart.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This serious situation requires God’s intervention. It challenges my faith. At times, I believe God can and will heal Gunner. However, there are moments when doubt sneaks in. I feel perplexed, like the troubled father of the demon-possessed son. For years, his child was writhing on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and when brought to Jesus’ disciples for healing, they seemed powerless to do anything about it. (Mark 9:14-32)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Do you sometimes identify with the father? We believe in God, but…how long must this suffering last? We believe Jesus has the power and authority to heal, but…we are afflicted with doubts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The father cried out to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (vs. 22). Notice how Jesus responds to the father.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jesus kindly replied, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” (vs. 23)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jesus didn’t scorn the man’s weakness. He didn’t scold him with a curt, “Well, if that’s the kind of faith you have, then I guess your son will just have to be demon possessed the rest of his life.” No!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The father eagerly confessed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” That’s when miracles began to happen. Yes, Jesus cast the demon out of the man’s tortured son. Yet, another, perhaps greater miracle happened: Jesus welcomed the father’s feeble faith and expanded it!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This also happened when Jesus’ disciples cried, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). Jesus encouraged them, by saying, “have faith as small as a mustard seed, [and] you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20-21).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Friends, when our heart grows anxious, when our faith collides with a deep pain for our child, or someone else, God hears and understands our doubts. Jesus accepts what little faith we have.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let’s honestly cry out, cast ourself upon the Lord and put our entire focus on Him. He will increase our faith.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Isn’t that the miracle we all need?</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-57974281605819658122016-04-18T08:30:00.000-04:002016-04-18T08:30:12.965-04:00Unity or Sinless Perfection?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LbUDX1rWLIw/VxRzbLLmRvI/AAAAAAAAXvI/EGY7hhLzTFwoNY1r2vB5rCL4M8vYfdXqwCLcB/s1600/prayer%2Bat%2Bnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LbUDX1rWLIw/VxRzbLLmRvI/AAAAAAAAXvI/EGY7hhLzTFwoNY1r2vB5rCL4M8vYfdXqwCLcB/s400/prayer%2Bat%2Bnight.jpg" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 20.8px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Creative Commons license, </span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">photo by mrehan, from Flickr</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">I have a date in mind for getting onto the mission field. And I'm probably being overly optimistic. Mostly because of finances. As a result, I've been thinking a lot about the prayer we know as the "Our Father". Partly as an upcoming book project. One of the things that caught my attention was the very first line of the prayer. It speaks volumes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Matthew 6:9 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="JesusWords">We've talked a lot about relationship. As believers, we have a relationship with God, with each other, and with those presently of the world. There were a number of things running through my mind about how this verse fits those relationships Think about a few verses with me.</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords"><b>Matthew 4:17 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, <span class="JesusWords">Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.</span></span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></span><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><b>Matthew 21:43 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.</span></span></span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></span></span><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords">We get an interesting picture from Jesus' own words. We see that heaven and God are not necessarily in some far off location. Indeed, if we study out the phrases "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven", the two most often are interchangeable to speak of the presence of God. Which means any place God is will be heaven. In the future, those of us who have a relationship with God will be in a place where only those and God will be present. But, for now, we can still experience the kingdom of God in the midst of worldly chaos. Take a look at something else Jesus says.</span></span></span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></span></span><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><b>John 10:30 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">I and <i>my</i> Father are one.</span></span></span></span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></span></span></span>Jesus is one with the Father in unity and spirit, but also in mind, character, and nature. When we see one, we see the other. Which makes <b>Matthew 4:17</b> a statement that being with Christ is being in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was saying "This is it! Here I am!". And, when we talk about Jesus in us, that gives us a really special spiritual truth. When we focus on the God in us, we can blank out the experience of the world and replace it with the experience of the kingdom of God. Which takes us into some interesting territory.<br /><br />Remember that <b>John 10:30</b> says "I and <i>my</i> Father". But Jesus tells the disciples, in <b>Matthew 6:9</b>, to say <b><i>Our Father</i></b>! It's not just <b><i>My Father</i></b> any longer. He's now your Father and my Father, too., We already talked about glory in our next verse.<br /><br /><b>John 17:22 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:</span><br /><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span><span class="JesusWords">Note the second half of that. The reason we were given honor was to unify us, not just with God, but with each other. Somehow, that brings to mind those shouting preachers or some devotional writers whose written words do the shouting. And the anger always seems to be aimed at the sinner instead of the sin and Satan. And I'm astonished! That attitude and behavior brings up so many questions.</span><br /><br /><ol><li>How can we have unity if we're busy berating our brethren, yes, exactly like the Pharisees did? Those are the same Pharisees who sought not unity, but a level of superiority.</li><li>If we're seeking to have our fellow disciples do something to fix themselves, how can we honestly sing the old song that indicates we're saved and made whole by "nothing but the blood of Jesus"? By our anger at the sinner, aren't we saying they need something more than what Jesus did on the Cross? Because our attitude is saying we as sinners need to add something to Christ's sacrifice. And it's Pharisaical because that attitude says "I'm superior because I don't need to do what you need to do.".</li><li>If we look at the latter part of <b>Matthew 6:9</b>, it says "Hallowed be thy name". May it be sanctified or holy. We know God is holy and sanctified, so that has to refer to men's attitude about it. We must consider it holy. Remember that the historical use of a name wasn't just a label. It described something about the essence of the person. That's still true in many parts of the world. How holy do we consider His name, if we suggest the Cross is not sufficient, we must add something?</li><li>If we believe the Bible, how can we deny that the flesh is incapable of fixing itself? The Father sees only Jesus in us, not our flesh or our sin. But, through the eyes of our flesh, that isn't our experience. So, all that shouting and berating is nothing more than someone's flesh looking at another person's flesh, evaluating it through the limitations of the flesh, then trying to repair it using the flesh. Which leaves God out of our calculations.</li><li>Verbally, we admit we're not God. And that only God is truly perfect. So, how can we expect sinless perfection? In reality, we don't have a term for a state so close to perfection that human perception can't tell the difference. But we're not God, so total perfection is impossible. And only God can get us that close.</li></ol><div>Let's look at <b>John 17</b>, again.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>John 17:21-23 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> <span class="JesusWords">That they all may be one; as thou, Father, <i>art</i> in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.</span> <span class="JesusWords">And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:</span> <span class="JesusWords">I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.</span> </div><div><span class="JesusWords"><br /></span></div><div><span class="JesusWords">That was part of Jesus' final prayer in the garden at Gethsemane. And He says, "...</span>that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." Because the goal is to have as many as possible avoid the pain of Hell by having a relationship with God. With Jesus physically gone from this world, we're supposed to be the example that draws people to God. Notice I said drawn to Him, not pushed at Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>The reality is that God makes coming to Him easy. So, easy that we often doubt that there isn't more required. And God does the drawing. We're invited into the relationship, we don't have to force our way in. Hell was not created to punish sinners, but as a place of separation from God. God doesn't send anyone there. Their own choices do. Two almost final verses.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Proverbs 23:7a </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For as he thinketh in his heart, so <i>is</i> he:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ephesians 1:4 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:</div><div><br /></div><div>God's love had a plan in place before there was a need. Man's part was simple and easy. And the goal was for all men to be with Him. But not as mindless automatons. So, we have free will to choose -- rightly or wrongly. But he has a message throughout the ages, specifically for his people.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jeremiah 29:11 </b><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup> For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">LORD</span>, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you ready to immerse yourself in that kind of love?</div></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-6841397773734072952016-04-16T08:30:00.000-04:002016-04-16T08:30:14.793-04:00"Who Am I?" to "Who I Am..."<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qh0erZfzpBU/VxDbcSDFHlI/AAAAAAAAXqw/Gg1DpcOvy_4qNLl02VssHtxMMVQVnqyZACLcB/s1600/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qh0erZfzpBU/VxDbcSDFHlI/AAAAAAAAXqw/Gg1DpcOvy_4qNLl02VssHtxMMVQVnqyZACLcB/s200/500px-Gold_Christian_cross.svg.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">image used under Public Domain </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 20.8px;">license,<br />photo obtained from commons.wikimedia.org</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">We shared the four videos from our church's Easter series of drama/sermon combinations. It's time we gave Todd Parsons a chance to bless us, again. In today's thought, Todd takes us to the final moments on the Cross. Let's take a look at the passage, then see what God is showing Todd.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Psalm 22:1-5</b> My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You hear not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, O You that inhabits the Praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You: they trusted, and You did deliver them. They cried unto You, and were delivered: they trusted in You, and were not confounded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><i>For you and I, we doubt God in our trying times, but if it were not for Christ, we most likely would not know to trust our heavenly Father still. On the Cross when Christ was forsaken of His Father for three hours, we know of the account of Him crying out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Yet in <b>Psalm 22</b> we see this account written, quite some time before the Cross. When Christ was in His trial He cries out to the Father, but we also see Him reckon on the character and nature of the Father that He can be trusted.</i><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Do we know, this day, that since the fall in the garden, man as a whole has not known the character and nature of God. God's character and nature came into man's heart as questionable by the deception of the serpent. We all have need of this question being resolved. As part of Christ's purpose, He came to show us the character and nature of the Father, <b>John 17:4,6,26</b>, and it is also seen in <b>Psalm 22:22</b>. Without knowing the character and nature of God, Satan has provoked in us to be asking the question, "who am I?". When we know the character and nature of God, that question of "who am I?" becomes "who I am..." When we know God, we know who we are because we were in the beginning created in the image of God. Knowing His image, defines with surety and clarity "who I am..."</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Another point is that I leave being governor of my own life and I trust the Lord to be my Governor... Simply put, I am the clay, and He is the Potter. He molds me and makes me... He directs my steps and not me His... I am His...and He is mine is not a matter of ownership, but a matter of covenant relationship and fellowship as son and father, as bride and groom...as He is so are we...</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i> Of So Great Love, we are, tjp</i></div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9145775209868913796.post-19905630505568237362016-04-11T08:30:00.000-04:002016-04-11T08:30:19.491-04:00Except Ye Be Converted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsgW18V75bE/Vwi5naYNkrI/AAAAAAAAXgQ/2EBu-qcT4WQgpJUq38JlXmkDIB_366wjQ/s1600/bpg-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsgW18V75bE/Vwi5naYNkrI/AAAAAAAAXgQ/2EBu-qcT4WQgpJUq38JlXmkDIB_366wjQ/s200/bpg-cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We try to share a portion from our one year devotional book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems"><b>Breastplate Gems</b></a>, monthly. So, it's time for one of the devotionals for April.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our priorities change with having a relationship with God. And our focus changes. But that doesn't necessarily happen overnight.And that's the thought from our selected reading from April's section of <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breastplate-Gems-Bill-Kraski/dp/1517257883/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank" title="Breastplate Gems">Breastplate Gems</a> </b>that we'll explore.<br /><br />What we see, today, is a turning, both toward and away from. And we realize there's a flavor of repentance baked into conversion.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>Matthew 18:3 (KJV)</b> And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. <br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We’re all familiar with that verse. We talk a lot about having child-like faith, not being childish, keeping it simple, etc. But when is the last time you heard anyone speak or preach about “Except ye be converted”? In a way, that’s the most interesting part of the verse. Jesus is speaking to the disciples. I’ll bet you haven’t thought about the disciples’ need for conversion. I know I haven’t.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The word for “converted” is <b><i>strepho</i></b>. It basically translates to any of several phrases that use the word “turn”. It’s a change of mental and spiritual direction. That certainly seems to come as a part of salvation. But the disciples are already saved and converted to Christianity. The reality is that we don’t get rid of the flesh completely. The moment of salvation doesn’t bring with it sinless perfection. I often wish it did!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The power of conversion is in spiritual growth. Think of a flowering plant. It doesn’t instantaneously go from a seed covered by dirt to a large, full plant with blossoms that are admired by many. There’s a standard process between those two conditions. The disciples have tried keeping children from bothering Christ. But Jesus, being God was certainly capable of His own time management. The disciples weren’t sure if they ought to let foreigners near Jesus (the Greeks in <b>John 12</b>). Yet, the disciples, after the crucifixion, hid in fear in the upper room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prayer thoughts for day 2: We need to ask God to continually convert us from worthless coins to spiritually valuable currency. Help us, Lord, to grow more spiritually than physically. If we don’t yet know Jesus, we want Him to begin the process. If we already have that relationship, we want Him to finish the work in us that He started.</div>Bill Kraskihttps://plus.google.com/111195838733454098219noreply@blogger.com1