“There will be wars and rumors of wars.” Jesus said it, and it is correct. These are the birth pains of a world in labor. The sad thing is these labor pains will result in the end for many. Why is this sad? There remain millions of people who have never heard the Truth about Jesus the Messiah. Rebels are fighting in the north of Mali, along the border of North and South Sudan, in Syria, and now Israel and Iran are inching closer to conflict. People have died, are dying, and will die as these continue. In the eyes of the world many innocent people will lose their lives. According to the Bible, “we all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” “There is none innocent, no not one.” The desire of God is that none should perish, but all would have eternal life. Why the conflict? If God wants us to have eternal life with Him, then why does he allow the “innocent” to die? Because God is Just. Every person created has an opportunity to know Him. Every one. Most people choose not to. If you think about it, even Jesus pointed out in the Parable of the Soil that one in four people would be saved. Then within that twenty-five percent you have diferences. That’s hard to accept, but it’s been going on since the beginning of time. What is the role of the Christian in all of this, and more specifically, what is my role in the plan of Global Redemption? Do the best I can with what I have. I caan’t go everywhere, but I can go somewhere. I can’t tell everyone, but I can tell someone. I’m not gaurenteed forever, but I do have now.

Just a little something to think about.
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2 Peter 1:12, “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” Coaching, like parenting, has its frustrating moments. If I show someone the proper technique to throw the ball, they should be able to do it, and I shouldn’t have to say anything else. However, such is not the case. Proper technique must be demonstrated until it can be repeated, then it must be corrected until it is correct. The time involved depends on the student. This applies to adults as well. It is probably more dificult for adults because we are more deeply entrenched in our ways. Peter recognizes this situation. As he writes to the Believers he reminds them of the Gospel which they follow. The beauty of salvation is presented in verse four. Then in verses five through seven he tells us to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Each trait builds toward the next. Why? Verse eight, “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If you don’t have them, you are nearsighted, blind, and you forgot how you were cleansed. These are so important that Peter goes on to say in verse twelve, “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” Verse fifteen, “I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” I do not want to be ineffective nor unproductive in anything I do, especially my Christian walk. I need to constantly be reminded of the traits, and I need to be open to the corrections around me. This serves as a reminder as well, that I should not get frustrated with the need to correct those in my charge, but I should do it in godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Let’s be effective and productive today.
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So our church is in the third day of a five part “Kingdom Conference.” I think it’s our normal revival series, but they’ve changed the name. I hope the name change is because you can’t schedule revival. Is it bad that I have no desire to attend? I attended the first session, and I learned from the lesson. The message was from Matthew 16, where Jesus asks His disciples, “who do people say I am?” The speaker went on to talk about building the church, not a church, but the body of Believers worldwide. He talked about the importance of a strong foundation that is rooted in the Word of God, and the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. If all of this is good, what’s my beef? Thank you for asking. This is a speaker who uses guilt to move people to action. He puts the audience in a position where they must respond one way, or “look bad.” “If you want to see the world changed for the Glory of the Kingdom, come to the altar.” If you believe… then you must do … I don’t like that form of preaching or teaching. It produces a carnival type atmosphere where emotions are played like fiddles. Peoples actions make decisions which they have no intention of following through with. Of course we want to spend more time with our families. Of course we want to get closer to the Lord. Of course we want to do more for the Kingdom. But… (Insert any excuse here. Our family has several of our own.) True change, true revival, begins in the heart. It begins with a heart that is sold out for Jesus, and everything in life will stem from this sold out heart. So a heart matter needs a Spiritual breath of Life. Only the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can change the heart of anyone. If you want to see change in your life and the people around you, then pray that the Lord will give you the ability to allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and to work in them. The Holy Spirit will work in you if you allow Him the Freedom.

Pray for the Breath of Life.
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If you spend enough time digging around in a treasure chest you will find something that catches your eye. So it was this morining as I read in Deuteronomy. I know it is probably not a book at the top of your reading list, and most people prefer to stay away from the Old Testament altogether. May I suggest you read the Old Testament and the New together. Try this, read Hebrews and one of the Books of Moses, the Pentateuch, together. Watch how the writer of Hebrews uses the writing of Moses to point the Jewish people to the Messiah. But I digress. Deut. 33:12, Moses is is blessing the tribes of Israel prior to his homegoing. “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” There is rest in the Lord. There is security in the Lord. As I read this verse a picture came into my mind. The picture of a father carrying a child, the child’s head on dad’s shoulder. Sure, moms carry kids all the time. The next time you see a dad carrying a child, and the little arms are wrapped around dad’s neck and shoulders; remember you can rest equally secure between the shoulders of the One who created you to know Him in that exact same way. You are shielded, you are secure, and you can rest. Praise God above for such a love as this.

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I’ve been journeying through the Book of 1 Kings lately and it is quite good when you follow the Books of Samuel. You see the flow of the lives of the first three Kings. So today as I was in chapter 8, which I read twice, I saw the flow of God’s redemptive plan again for all people, not just the children of Israel. “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.” verses 41-43. How cool is that? When people come in search of the God they don’t know, and they pray to the place where His Glory Dwells, the plea is that He will hear and heal. This is so that all people will Know the LORD. This know is to know in a relationship. The greatest relationship ever is the one with the Creator.

“Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.”
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So at practice yesterday I was sharing our devotion from Colossians Chapter 1, verses 3-5. Paul writes, “the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel…” We talked about Paul’s use of “Faith, Hope, and Love”; these are popular themes in his letters. Faith in Christ, Hope in heaven, and Love for others. Then I asked the team about the Gospel. Faith, hope and love, are only possible because of the Gospel. They don’t exist unselfishly apart from the Gospel. So I said, “Okay ladies, what is the Gospel?” First response was, the first four books of the New Testament. Partially correct, they are known as THE Gospels. Next, the Bible. Okay, pretty basic, but it does contain the Gospel. Then, Jesus died for us. You are getting warmer. Jesus died and rose again, and our sins are forgiven! Thank you. The Gospel, the Good News, is that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5.8). The Perfect for the imperfect. His death, burial and resurrection, have paid our sin debt. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” Rom. 6.23 To them who Believed He gave the right to be called children of God. John 1.12. The Gospel is Good News. Pass it on. Praise God for stages such as softball where the Gospel may be proclaimed.

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I have been coaching the middle school softball team through winter workouts and tryouts are on Monday. Last Friday it was my turn to bring the Devotion from the Bible. As a softball program we are using Colossians 3:23 as our theme, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men” So I began the Devotion with that verse. I expressed to the girls that in all we do, softball, school, other activities, these should be with the sole purpose of bringing Glory to God, because we are working heartily, doing our best. In all things we should play to win. We don’t play to win for the accolades of people, instead we play to win because it gives us a stage to share Jesus with others. If you are doing your best at work, at school, in your sport, whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord. This will cause people to notice, whether or not you are the best, they will notice your hard work and efforts, and it will give you an opportunity to tell them about the Lord you play for. Trophies and medals and ribbons all end up in a box in the attic. Few people will remember the champions, but they will remember someone who made an impact in their life. Whether you are sweeping floors, flipping burgers, cleaning toilets, or waiting on customers, who are you really playing for?

Play to win.
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Turkey, like most countries, is made up of several people groups. The ID card says you are Turkish, but people of other decent try hard to maintain their history and culture. Take the Kurdish people for example. The Kurds live in Eastern Turkey, Northern Syria, and parts of north Iraq and Iran, for the most part. Even the Kurds have diferent groups. If you are Kurdish, you could be Kurmanji or Zaza, or something else. Anyway, I say all this to say that there is a young man traveling eastern Turkey trying to meet with the Zaza people to share the love of Christ with them. In their villages. He is traveling with a small group. It has been snowing in the area and the progress is slow. His team is practically working house to house. Please pray for Zaza ministry in the area. Pray that people will be open to the work and the Word of God. Pray for this group as they travel. This serves as a reminder to pray for other missionaries who are taking the Message of a Savior into hard to reach areas. Here in the States that is happening too. These Laborers need your prayers. I will leave in three weeks for Turkey again, and I will be living with the Kurmanji Kurds. Please pray now that the Lord will Open Doors for His Message among them.

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I have been doing a lot of reading lately. The Bible is an amazing Book about failure, forgiveness and Faith that restores. As I began my walk through the First Book of Samuel, I was reminded of the Faith of the young man. This young man was born into a family of Faith. From the time his mother prayed for a child, to the dedication of that child to the service of God, it is a family of Faith. Then we watch as Samuel is trained in the temple under the tutelage of Eli. Eli is a dad who is out of touch. He knows his sons are sinning against God, but he does nothing to fix the situation. As things in the temple service worsen, Samuel continues to grow. In chapter 3 we learn that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Why? It tells us in verse 7, “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” You can know about God because Creation Declares His Majesty. You cannot know God relationally without the Word of the Lord being revealed to you. The Word had not been revealed to Samuel, yet. John Chapter 1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word…” Yes Lord. How many people around us do not know the Lord God relationally because we have not shared the Word of God with them? Chapter 3 goes on to tell us how the Lord spoke to Samuel, and how He revealed His plan to Samuel. Then comes the verse that has echoed in my mind since I read it, over and over, “The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.” “He let none of his words fall to the ground.” Wow! The Word of God was so important to this boy that he didn’t let them fall; he didn’t waste them. He showed concern for them and he took care of them. Things we care about we don’t let fall to the ground. I am reminded of a man I met in Shanghai in 2008. He carried his Bible wrapped in a bag to protect it. When he took it out to show me, he held it in both hands and close to his body. He would not let the Words fall to the ground. The Word of God either is or isn’t. What’s it worth to you?

Read it and pray it, and don’t let the Word fall to the ground.
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I couldn’t think of a catchy title, so I threw that up there for attention. I didn’t watch the ball game, because I don’t get that channel. My favorite team wasn’t in it, so I didn’t have a dog in the fight anyway. Actually I was at church last night during most of the game. That doesn’t make me holy or you less holy for skipping church. I didn’t know I didn’t get the game until I got home, so I can’t use that as the reason for going to church first. As I was driving home I was thinking about the decision to stay home or go to church. I didn’t think about it before church. I always go to church on Sunday, morning and evening, unless I have to work. If I’m out of town I try to worship where I am. Has this become a routine in my life that has no meaning? I don’t think so, because you have to look at the heart issue involved. Am I going to church because I have to go? No. Am I going because I want others to acknowledge that I was there? No. I feel that I am going because I enjoy it. I enjoy meeting with other people in my faith family. I enjoy worshiping in song and, believe it or not, I enjoy being able to give my offering. A long time ago I couldn’t say that. I attend a church which has a pastor who teaches the Word of God as it is. Even when it is hard to accept or hear. We have an associate pastor who is the same. These men do not gloss over sin, but at the same time they reveal the Truth of God’s Mercy and Grace, “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Our pastor reminded us last night that nothing we do in life is as important as the message we carry into our worlds. That is the message that there is a God. This God loves us so much that He desires a relationship with us, because it brings Him Glory. This relationship is broken because of the sin in our lives. This sin carries a debt, and that debt requires blood, and that blood was shed by the Son of God. Jesus Messiah, perfect Man, perfect God, paid that price to restore us to Himself. Believe it or not. Next week you may not remember who won the game last night. I pray you will always remember the God who loves you and will never leave you.

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