20. July 2011 by admin.

Prior to the Babalonian Captivity Jeremiah had a strong message for Judah that has relevance to America today.

Jeremiah 18:1–12 (ESV) ¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. ⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ ¹² “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

 Josh McDowell recently stated that 91% of the American Christian Community no longer believes in absolute truth. According to McDowell “the prevalent worldview in America today, ‘There is no truth apart from myself,’ that’s what even many young ‘evangelical, fundamental, born-again Christians” believe,’” (The Christian Post).

The US is falling on hard times. We are experiencing natural disasters and economic decline worst than in any other time in American history. There is finger pointing toward our politicians, our banks, our corporations, even our president. But few have the courage to say, “God is taking away our blessing because we have turned away from him.”

Why are so few Christian evangelicals willing to point out the sins of the nation and call for repentance?  The message that God is punishing us for our sins isn’t a popular message. Jeremiah’s message was not received well by the people,

¹⁸ Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” Jeremiah 18:18 (ESV)

The problem in America is not economic, it’s not political, it’s not social, it’s not environmental. The problem in America is spiritual. America needs to repent and turn to God for healing. The answers are not found in raising taxes, balancing the budget, universal health care, the right political leader, or any other human answer. The answer is humbly confessing our sins, repenting, and acknowledge our Creator.

I’m not asking Americans to turn back to God. I’m not convinced we were ever a country seeking after the will of God. Our past has too many sins. I’m begging us to become a new nation, a people truly seeking God’s heart and will, desiring to follow his ethical standards. We can no longer afford to be a people “doing what is right in our own eyes.”God will bless the nation that listens to Him. It’s all in the hands of the Potter.

⁵ Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. ⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. ⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. ⁸ He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:5–9 (ESV)

If we want God’s blessings, to be delivered from our time of peril, we must trust the Lord.

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19. July 2011 by admin.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  We used Crazy love in a Wednesday night Bible study for our church recently. Several ladies in the church had suggested it. We were enthusiastic due to all the excitement about it in the Evangelical Community. Our church is located next to a military base and is made up predominately of young military families. My review is based on the response of the young adults in our study. In addition to the book, we received the DVD with short summaries and group questions for each chapter. We also encouraged our students to visit the Website associated with the book. I found both the website and DVD to be very helpful and insightful. It was nice to meet the author and learn his heart for writing the book.
Chapter One - Stop Praying - focused on the awesomeness of God and encouraged students to consider who it was that we were praying to. Chan discussed gave a general overview of the Attributes of God. The group responded well to it, especially to the video. Chapter two dealt with the frailties of life and the realities of death. It’s a sobering Chapter and was delivered well by Chan. The class got into Chapter three - Crazy Love and Chapter three - Profile of the Lukewarm (possibly my favorite) were also good chapters. Chapter five - serving leftovers may have been the weakest chapter for our group, not because it was in error, but because it didn’t relate well to military families. The chapter and video seemed to be addressing middle to upper class, California white suburbanites. Our group is made up of low income military. The chapter was asking for sacrifices that would be impossible for this body. The rest was all right, but seemed to have lost some of the enthusiasm of the first four chapters.
Overall, I’d recommend the book. It’s not deep, but pretty solid. It works more on the heart than the intellect. Chan is sincere. He doesn’t seem to be teaching something he doesn’t also practice. It was a good study for our younger disciples.

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15. June 2011 by admin.

I ran across a video on youtube called The Reason to Live. It’s great video that mixes scenes from The Passion of The Christ with youth doing things they ought not. Some of the viewers in Youtube weren’t happy with it’s evangelical message and tagged it. So now it’s only available to mature audiences (over 18). GodTube has it on their site for all audiences at http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WWYWNNNX

I like enough that I decided to embed into my website. I really want to have as many people see it as possible. Christ died for sins. This video does a good job of telling it as it is. Let me know what you think. You can view on my website at http://biblestudies-online.com/TheReasontoLive.htm

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14. June 2011 by admin.

I’ve been listening to Dr. David Jeremiah for years. I can’t remember ever hearing him deliver a message in which I wasn’t blessed. I’ve had Dr. Howard Hendricks in my home. I’ve had dinner with Dr. Chuck Swindoll. Both were blessing from God. My only connection with David Jeremiah has been through his radio ministry and his books. Yet, I’ve been blessed by his gentle message and his obvious love for Christ as much as by any other man of God.Dallas Theological Seminary recently sent a short video clip with some simple, yet encouraging bits of wisdom to young men seeking to serve Christ. I’ve decided to share the link to this clip. It is good reminder that our primary focus must be on seeking Christ through the Word of God.I’m a Bible teacher and pastor that likes to use video clips and a large number of visual illustrations to get the message across. I find them extremely helpful. However, in using modern methods we must remember to use them to enhance the message of Scripture, not replace it.  Nothing replaces preaching the Word of God. See Dr. Jeremiah at http://deptfiles.dts.edu/supporters/adv_2011_spring_04.mp4

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