I have sat beside a tiny crib, And watched a baby die,As parents slowly turned toward me,To ask, “Oh, Pastor, why?” I have held the youthful husband’s head,And felt death’s heave and sigh.A widow looked through tears and said,“Dear Pastor, tell me why?” I have seen a gold-star mother weep,And hold a picture nighHer lonely breast, and softly ask,“Why? Pastor, why, oh, why?” I have walked away from babyland,Where still-born babies lie.A mother stretches empty arms,And asks me, “Pastor, why?” I have watched my drunken Father leaveOur home, and say “good-bye,”While looking into Mother’s faceI asked, “Please tell me why?” I have heard the white-tipped tapping cane, Which leads a blinded eye.And then a darkened, lonely voiceCries, Preacher, show me why.” I have caught a fiancee’s burning tears,And heard her lonely cry.She held an unused wedding gown,And shouted, “Pastor, why?” I have heard the cancer patient say,” Tis…
Category: <span>Law – Grace</span>
Confidence is a great thing. Don’t throw it away. Reliance, trust, belief in the powers of; these thoughts relate to confidence. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” Eleanor Roosevelt. “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Joe Namath. “To have faith doesn’t mean you get any less frustrated when you don’t do your best, but you know that it is not life or death.” “Take what you are given, and when you continue to work hard, you will see results. That will give you the confidence you need to keep going.” Tom Lehman “The moment you doubt whether you can fly,…
Does time heal all wounds? Well, I tire easily reading psychology books that teach: “the interplay between suppressing and exposing a hurt will eventually bring healing.” “grieving losses will eventuate a return to “normalcy.” “re-integrate a victim into society, and again they will be adjusted. “ Sincere ideas which may contribute. Friends, my problem is this; “normal” for these guys, encompasses the old sin nature. They assume wrongly that a man is born free. They suppose that the whole head and the whole heart ain’t sick and faint. In stark contrast to their evaluation, “normal” equals “wounds, bruises and putrefying sores.” “My wound is incurable,” said Jeremiah. Way before time’s wounding event, man exists a ball of woundedness. God plans to exterminate all of it — every speck. Only a bloody cross, only a dying Savior can fix a man. Because man miscalculates, God’s solutions seem radical. Paul admitted, however, “in my…
Can we become someone else? Yes and no. We can change names, thoughts, even chemical identities, yet;Can we discard old DNA, and then find new? The writer of a Psalm says, “My substance (DNA?) was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:15-16. Perhaps a key lies with the words, “Thine eyes.” When God sees, it is in omniscience. His “seeing us” is what makes us somebody. If I exist in the mind of God, I truly exist. I’m in a book written. If I do not exist in His mind, can I still exist? No, or–only in hell-likeness. Would we agree? Maybe an…
“Like as a father pitieth* his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14 (*to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.) God pities us. Do you know Him that way? If so, it might change a lot of things. Mom and dad taught us “don’t be a complainer, don’t whine about everything.” I understand why. God differently says, “come to me, you will find pity.” Father knows we are made of dust. Have you failed a lot lately? Be honest with Him. Is it because your circumstances are unbearable? Don’t make excuses for sin, but please tell Him all about everything. We must endure much on this earth, but sometimes our rear ends are getting kicked and we are not making it. Tell your Father in Heaven; He pities you…
Proverbs 30:18 three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: Proverbs 30:19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin. These first three cannot be tracked, neither the fourth. The illustration builds on natural phenomena. So the true believer in Christ goes similarly, only theirs operates on spiritual phenomena. The spiritual life carries untraceable as much as the bird, snake, ship, or man with virgin; yet even more-so. See, the blood of Christ cleanses our sin beyond hint, suggestion, tinge, or smidgen of remembrance. It carries our sin into the forgetting determination of an Almighty God as a permanent washing. As far as the east is from the west, into the depth of the sea, and to a land uninhabited our sin has gone.…
“To the praise of the glory of his grace (Ephesians 1:6) Ephesians 1:3 teaches, “we are holy and without blame before Him in love.” In the Messiah he chose us in love before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in his presence. CJB “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:11 “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” “For who hath despised the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:7 and 10. Matthew Henry says, “that we should live and behave ourselves in such a manner that his rich grace; might be magnified, appear glorious, be worthy of the highest…
Ezekiel 44:17 “…no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.” Ezekiel 44:18 follows; “They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.” These priests were forbidden to wear wool. Why? Maybe because of pesky moths who eat holes in it? Could it be that the price of mothballs was going up? Was there a shortage on Woolite or the Sheep-shearers union had gone on strike? None of the above was true. Then what? The problem with wool was that it caused perspiration due to its air-tightness. God didn’t want that, it didn’t picture the way things ought to be in the presence of God. See, sweat comes with the wrong clothing and is a sign of a body laboring. Is it possible that…
“Never once did we ever walk alone, never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, you are faithful.” Have you heard the song? It brings a tear to my eye to think it, but it is so true. Hasn’t He been more than gracious with us; hasn’t He done more with our lives than we could have ever dreamed possible? Yes, though He be high, yet has He respect unto the lowly. He then uses these foolish low-things to confound the wise, and weak things He uses too. He has dealt with our lives from an extreme position of realism. By this I mean that He has had to deal with our weak double-minded disposition, and still work in us a humble demeanor, as much as a confident one. God knows a whacked out soul is incapable of either, and the timing of these mind-builds…
Many are failing the grace of God, forsaking their diligent looking, and allowing for a troubling root of bitterness to develop, defiling many. This is written in Hebrews 12:15. Yes a lot of believers are spineless, but David was not. In 2 Samuel 12:20 it says “Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.” The verse above culminates a former lusting; a wandering eye in a time of weakness, and an affair. Then, it was followed by a denial, a woman’s pregnancy, a panic by all, and a husband’s murder. Not done yet, we see a cover up, a chastening by God, a rude awakening by David and acknowledgement of sin; his repentance followed that,…