Be Encouraged

Judges 20:22  And the people the men of Israel encouraged themselves….

Romans 14:19  Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another……

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us build one another up and encourage one another. Let us edify one another and NOT tear down. We need one another even more as we approach the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us strive to serve others and NOT self. And if we are down, and noone is there to help build us up, remember these words:

1 Samuel 30:6  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

Be encouraged in the Lord. God saw such worth in us that HE should send His Son to be tortured and to die in our place. We have victory over death! We are NOT bound to death and the pains of this earth! Our home is above! It is eternal! Let us walk victoriously…. Be ENCOURAGED: The Lord loves you.

The Curse of Calvinism

1 Timothy 2:3-4  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 John 2:2  And he[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Luke 12:8  Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Acts 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Verse after verse we see the heart of God: He desires all men to be saved. He hasn’t designated some for heaven and some for hell. He desires ALL to be saved. I could have posted a multitude of verses. That means that Calvin’s limited atonement is a damnable heresy.

5 Point Calvinism seems to be taking over the landscape of Bible preaching churches in America today. And why not? It’s easy to shirk our human responsibility when we chalk it all up to God’s sovereignty!

The curse of Calvinism: Creating dead churches: Creating self righteous people: Placing academics over authenticity….

Earthquakes in divers places

Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami

Before reading my commentary, I ask that you would take a moment and pray for the Japanese people. They are a wonderful people with an ancient and glorious culture. The nation was the 3rd greatest economic power in the world. But because of this horrifying natural disaster, much of their nation lies in ruin, and the dead are innumerable.

Please take a moment and ask God’s mercy, peace, and comfort for Japan.

Then ask the Lord what HE would have you to do to help these people. If you have the means, go and serve your fellow man. I am praying for the opportunity.

THE   POINT   OF   THIS   BLOG   ENTRY

I have heard mention several times by scoffers on CNN and the like, how believers of the Bible are quoting “earthquakes in divers places”, and how stupid we must be for believing such things. This upsets me that the liberal God haters should use a time of tragedy to bash another man’s faith. But I could not help but thinking of the following scripture: 2 Peter 3:3-4  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? …all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

You read so many times, that there are “no more earthquakes than there used to be”, that you almost believe it. So I decided to do some fact finding. I got my facts from the USGS website.I pasted the web link below.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/graphs.php

One thing I learned is that records for earthquakes begin in 1900, so accurate numbers prior won’t be found. But what I did find was staggering. If I read correctly, the death figures do not include the residual deaths due to tsunami, etc. simply earthquakes.

SIMPLE STATISTICS

1980 – 1989 saw 58,880 total deaths due to earthquake. AVG 5888 deaths yearly.

1990 – 1999  saw 114,646 total deaths due to earthquake. AVG 11,465 deaths yearly.

2000 – 2009 saw 471,015 total deaths due to earthquake. AVG 47,101 deaths yearly.

2010 – 2011 (not including current Japan quake) saw 226,922 deaths due to earthquake.  AVG 113,461 yearly.

It’s scary to think what the toll may be by 2019. Based upon death tolls, there has been an astronomic increase of earthquake ramifications. You can also see the number reflected in the number of 8+ magnitude quakes. The average of 8+ quakes has truly increased with the number spiking ever higher in the past decade. Numbers don’t lie, but men sure do.

GOD  IS  TRUE  BUT  ALL  MEN  ARE  LIARS

God’s Word is always true, even when men don’t believe it. The scripture says in  Matthew 24:7b …there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

There will be an increase in earthquakes in divers places. In just recent years there have been devastating quakes in Sumatra, Indonesia, Chile, Samoan Islands, Kuril Islands, China, Haiti, and now Japan. In 2010 we had significant quakes on our own continent: The Pacific Coast, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, and Maine. When does the big one hit us?

Jesus tells us that “the rain falls on the just and the unjust”. That is to say, bad things happen to ALL people. The teaching of scripture also is that our world is “devolving” not evolving. We are actually on a dying planet, not one getting better. Therefore we should be expecting cataclysm on a Biblical scale.The Bible says that when these things begin to unfold, it’s gonna start happening fast.

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

For those of you buying into global warming, I’ll give you some Bible to think on.  2 Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

THE  GOOD  PART

John 3:16-18  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

If you find yourself mustering up any faith that the Bible Prophecy may be true, please ask God to reveal himself to you. Trust in Christ. It is the only hope for your soul.

A great need filled

As you know from my prayer requests, we were in great need for a vehicle. This life of faith has many twists and turns, locations and relocations, summits and valleys, yet always… our God provides! I needed a vehicle that I could work out of, yet something that was also a family vehicle that I could travel in. WE were thinking a club cab pick-up, but God had greater plans. Let me bare witness:

Monday 1/17/2011 was our coldest day of the winter yet. It was the day that did my old Jeep in. It had close to 200k on it, transmission was slipping bad, and the brakes needed complete overhaul. That morning it overheated from either a cracked engine block or bad head gasket. Either way – she was done. That’s when I sent out the urgent prayer email.

That afternoon: I could drive the Jeep about 3 miles before she started to overheat, so I loaded up the wife and kids and made our way to the local post office. Tricia went in to send a package. I turned off the motor while she went in, but when she came out, I turned the key to only get click-click-click! The sub-zero temps had cause the battery to freeze and I lost a cell. Drats! So I called a customer of mine who lived around the corner and asked him for a jump so I could get it home.

When he saw that my Jeep was dead(and new our situation), he said he had something for me. He had just acquired a mid 90′s Toyota pickup and it could be mine for only $200!! And I could pay him when I had the money. I expected to see a real rust bucket, but the truck was solid through and through and has a strong motor. All I needed was a cap and I would have an excellent work truck. The Lord was putting it all together.

Tuesday 1/18/2011 – I was able to get back to work on Tuesday, because I was able to register the truck. In the evening when I got home I checked my email.  A brother in the Lord had pledged to send us $1000 towards getting a car. I looked on Craigslist for an old ladies car with low mileage. There are about 6 cars manufactured during the 90′s which are notorious for making 250k + in mileage. So finding one with low mileage was my target.

Thursday 1/20/2011 – The check for $1000 came in the mail so I deposited it. I then went to look at a 97 Chevy Lumina with only 90k on it. It turned out to be pretty solid, belonging to an older man who had it since 99. He took very good care of it, but his son had gone overseas and left him with a brand new Honda. His landlord told him that he had to get rid of the second car. (It was a row house with limited parking) He was asking $1500, but I offered $800 and he accepted.

SO LISTEN: My Jeep died because of the ware and tear of being a dual purpose vehicle in it’s old age. But God was able to provide a separate work truck AND a separate family car capable of traveling  for only $1000.. and HE provided that too. No more breaking down my work truck to have a family vehicle. No more having to move all my ladders off of the roof to go to church, etc. etc, etc……..

In spite of the fact we had no money… In spite of the fact we lost our only vehicle and had no way of getting to work… God provided above and beyond our expectations! Jehovah – Jirah – Our Lord truly provides for the needs of His children.