“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11: 28-31)
———————–

This morning, I was alone in the house and had just let our

two dachshunds out the back door when a song began to go through

my head. It was a sectarian song that was very popular

in the 1980s called “You Are So Beautiful To Me.”

The songwriter had (apparently) written this song about a
romantic relationship, but as the lyrics and melody went through my
head this morning, it made me think about the beauty of Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior.

Often, in these crazy days we are living in, our focus on the
Person of Jesus Christ gets lost in all of the various other peripheral
distractions of AmericanChristianity in the year 2010. We get sidetracked
by politics; following certain “celebrity” national preachers to a point
close to idolatry; worshiping the “experience” of musical worship as
a substitute for worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with our voices
and instruments. I could go on and on……

And there is so much ugliness in our sectarian culture. The language
that is used by many people on the internet is frequently shocking
to me - and I don’t consider myself to be a prude. Then, there are
the vile, perverse and violent messages in popular music, movies
and TV shows Sometimes, I feel almost smothered in the cesspool
of filth and degradation that characterizes so much of our
American culture in 2010.

It is during times when I feel overwhelmed by the ugly sin around
me that I know it is time for me to ponder the beauty of our Lord
Jesus Christ.Though no paintings were made of Jesus during His
lifetime on Earth, Scripture “paints” many pictures depicting His
beauty. There we find Him, beckoning the little children to His lap;
preaching the stunningly grace-filled Sermon on the Mount;
bringing a little girl back from the dead; telling of His special love for
the poor, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped, those who feel
alone and estranged; sitting on the ground with illiterate and coarse
people as He explained profound spiritual truth to them by telling
them simple stories that they could understand.

But, by far the most powerful picture painted by the Scripture
writers concerning the beauty of Jesus is found in the accounts
of His crucifixion and subsequent resurrection from the dead.
Beaten and bloodied almost beyond recognition as He hung
on the Cross awaiting His death, Jesus is concerned
about the well-being of everyone else - including the evil people
who hung Him there and who He asked His Father to
forgive: “for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).

It’s interesting to see some of the programs produced by sectarian
cable networks in which they try to make arguments about what
Jesus really looked like during his relatively brief time on Earth.
At best, this is only a guessing game. And, we who are believers
don’t tend to spend a lot of time being concerned about Jesus’
physical appearance.

Instead, we think about the moment in time when we will stand
face-to-face before the One who is beautiful beyond all
human description.

And we will finally be home.

Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
—————
I live in a small city where I grew up and when I go through certain neighborhoods there are plenty of reminders of my childhood days of long, long ago.

There is a basketball court at an old, now-abandoned elementary school where I spent hour upon hour playing ball as a kid. It is across the street from what used to be a soda fountain, pharmacy and magazine shop (bear with me young people - smile).

Recently, someone decided to tear down the goals on the old basketball court and it made me sad to see that the hoops where I used to toss balls through 45 years ago are not there anymore.

Just another reminder to me that everything changes; nothing stays constant in this life.

If you have lost a loved one, then you know that the most painful change is seeing someone you love pass away. This leaves a vacuum on our hearts. But it also serves to remind us that this life is fleeting; we need to be mindful of that fact each and every day of our lives.

I’m an old man, getting close to age 60, and change seems to be a constant in my life. Yes, in many ways, I long for “the old days” and have trouble adjusting to modern-day culture and attitudes.

But I am always comforted to meditate on the truth that God - the Creator of the universe and everything in it - NEVER changes. The Scriptures I listed above attest to that fact. God can be an unchanging constant in our lives, if we let Him. We can hold onto Him and allow Him to be our “rock” of security and comfort.

Have you been feeling anxious and insecure lately? Well, join the club, because that’s a common condition of human beings in the year 2010. There is very little about this quickly-changing world that can make us feel secure and free from worry and anxiety.

Except God. And that, my friend, means everything.
——-
Prayer for Today:
Dear Lord, I am so blessed to know that you never change and that I can always count on you to be there - even in the midst of great changes in my personal life. Help me to cling to You; to hold onto your wonderful promises; to come to you during my times of anxiety. Thank you so much, Lord, for ALWAYS being there for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I was reading a newspaper this morning when an item caught my eye that gave me a bad start to my day.  This article said that (as I write this blog article) the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a case involving a cross erected in the California desert by World War I veterans to honor their fallen comrades.

According to a Youtube site, “After WWI many U.S. soldiers moved to the Californian desert to find physical and emotional healing. In 1934, they erected a memorial to honor their fallen comrades, a single white cross, — a symbol used around the world to memorialize those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

“The site for the memorial was chosen because at a certain time of day, the sun casts a shadow on the rock which resembles a WWI doughboy. For more than 75 years, the memorial has stood as a reminder that there were those who fought and died for our freedoms. But sadly today, the ACLU and a federal judge in California, want to tear it down. In fact, the judge has ordered the memorial covered from view while the case is on appeal.”

I have written on this blog before about a relatively new “strain” of militant atheism.  People certainly have every right to declare themselves atheists. But these militant atheists give me the impression they don’t want ANYONE ELSE to have belief in and faith in God.

The “Founding Fathers” of this nation did not want to restrict religious freedom in any way. The wanted religious freedom for all, not freedom FROM religion for all. But, over the decades this has been subverted by those who say that this nation was founded on a premise that religion should be severely limited in its public expression in America.

Tell me, how is a little white cross out in the desert “offending” anyone’s religious or irreligious sensibilities?   To a Christian, the cross represents faith and hope in the resurrection of Christ and the foundational belief that there will be a heaven waiting for us.  To those who are not believers in Christ: what can it represent that is so offensive?  What indeed is the negative connotation of the cross as a symbol?  For the unbeliever, it could represent the life of a man who spoke and walked in selfless love and compassion…..a man who was willing to put His life on the line to confront the self-centered attitudes and narcissism of those who were in power during His time on Earth.

Are we going to be a nation that allows militant atheism to dictate what symbols we may or may not place value on in public life?  Are we going to be a nation that tramples all over the memory of, and shows direspect for, these World War I veterans?

Heaven help us if that small, white cross in the desert remains covered from view forever.

Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

Revelation 16:8-9

The other day, I was talking with my brother about the Swine Flu pandemic. He is a health professional and he says he is extremely concerned about what may happen this winter. Hospitals are preparing for the worst and civil defense organizations across the country are stocking up on medical supplies, including face masks.

Government health experts are even warning the public not to shake hands with others at churches and at civil events.

The Swine Flu Pandemic is real.  And it is dangerous.  One estimate has it that 90,000 Americans may die from it this winter.

At this point in this article, I am putting my “natural health practitioner” hat on. Several years ago, I studied natural health modalities with a college in the South through a distance education program.  I’m certainly not the most knowledgeable person in this field; but with close to three years of 30-hour-a-week study, I do know some things about it.

In my personal opinion, the old adage: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is what we all should be thinking about. Conventional medicine has very little in its arsenal to deal with influenza. Your medical doctor is not going to be able to “fix it” if you come down with Swine Flu.
The best conventional medicine can offer against the virus is an anti-viral medicine that takes about one day off of the length of the illness.

We all need to be doing what we can to build up our immune system. Here are some things to think about:

* Keep your body rested as much as possible.  When we are exhausted, we are much more vulnerable to infections.

*Keep your body hydrated.  Dehydration makes the body more vulnerable to infection by lowering natural resistance. It also makes it easier for a person to bring a virus into the body through the nasal passages. Drink LOTS of high-quality water every day.

*Explore supplements and herbs to help your body’s immune system.
I am not going to give a “one-size-fits-all” listing of these here because everyone is different and has different needs based upon their particular health circumstances.  Find a natural health care practitioner near you and have a consultation done if you can; if not, talk to someone knowledgeable in a health food store and/or do some research on the internet.

*Build up your body with nutritious food and regular exercise. It has been scientifically proven that regular exercise strengthens the immune system. It is VERY important to eat food that is high in nutrients. The best way to do this is to eat as many uncooked vegetables and fruits as possible. A big salad with an apple at every meal would be a good idea. Try to stay away from fast food as much as possible and buy organic vegetables and fruits.  They are available today at most grocery chains.

*Spend daily time in the presence of God. In prayer and in silence.
We need to stay “connected” to God during this challenging time.  He is our ultimate healer. We also need some time to get away from the stresses of daily life in the fast-lane.  Take that time. An hour or  two away from the TV in the evening isn’t going to hurt that badly (smile).

*Help other people who have illness in their families.  As Christians, we should be looking out for the well-being of others this winter. If you need to, put on a mask and gloves when you are around sick people.  At the very least, call elderly folks you know and check on them from time-to-time to see if they are okay.  If they aren’t, then contact their relatives or local health officials.  We need to show the world that the love of Christ is real in our actions.  The Bible tells us that we are not supposed to live in fear.

In the Scripture passage above, you can see that plagues are a result of man’s rebellion against God.  We are living in a time in which it is considered “trendy” to reject God and even to ridicule Him publicly.  We all need to shine the light of God’s truth and of God’s love on a daily basis in these dangerous times in which we are living!

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of

his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With

great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the

Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy

persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or

houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the

apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which

means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the

money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”  Acts 4
———————–

Last night, after my wife and I had come home from a few errands, I

opened the front door of our home and found a huge sack of food.  There

were cherry tomatoes, a giant cauliflower, peppers, onions and

cucumbers.  The best thing about this food: it came from a garden where

no pesticides were used.   Home grown - the best!

We knew who had dropped off this blessing: our neighbors across the

street who have a garden behind their house. They’ve done this three

times this summer.

We live in a relatively small city in an old neighborhood (not the suburbs)

in which many of the folks look out for one another.  The

neighbors who keep bringing the food?  Well, when someone in that

household gets sick, my wife fixes up a big batch of chicken soup and

takes it over to them.  We have also gotten flowers for that woman’s

birthday.  We try to be a blessing to all of our neighbors.  The other

day a young couple was moving in across the street. Both of them

are on leave from the Army.  They have two small children.  We figured

that the last thing they would have time for while moving in was to eat.

So, we bought them a bunch of pizza and they were thrilled.  There

was a young guy who used to live across the street who had many

problems.  One Thanksgiving, we delivered a big pecan pie to him with a

tract about coming to know Christ attached to the container.

We believe that what we DO in the name of Christ is as important as

what we say to our neighbors about our Christian faith.  The Bible says

that God is love and I often tell my teenage son, “Love is a verb.”  We

try to show our neighbors that we love them in the name of Jesus by

DOING something to bless them and to make them happy.

The Book of Acts gives us a much different picture of how Christians

lived and behaved centuries ago than what we see in America today.  It

shows us a picture of Christians loving and sharing - not just within their own families - but

within their communities.  In my lifetime, I have seen

us (Christians) do way too much finger-pointing towards those who

don’t know Christ and not nearly enough giving and sharing of God’s

love with them.

I pray nearly every day that the Lord will make me less focused on me and

my own household and more focused on loving and sharing God’s love

with my neighbors and acquaintances.  Will you join me in that prayer?

Prayer for today:

Dear Lord, you changed the world because you loved us so much that you sent your only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to live among us and to die for our salvation.  Help us to change the world by sharing your love with each and every person we enounter - neighbors and acquaintances.Help us to be more concerned about our own sin and not as concerned about the flaws and imperfections of other people. Help us to learn that love is indeed a verb.  In Jesus’ Name, amen.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.”

Psalm 119
———————————-
The other night, I was watching a television talk show about current events and the show host made this statement: “The Bible is an evil book.” He was not joking; he was dead serious.
Many in the audience applauded enthusiastically.
This well-known celebrity is very proud of the fact that he is an atheist and that he believes those who pursue God are ignorant and irrational.
Should this guy be taken out behind the shed and given a good whippin’ ? No, I don’t think so. He has a right to his opinions even though his opinions are wrong and illogical. This man needs our prayers and we need to pray that someone(s) will share the truth about Christ with him personally in a way in which he can receive it.
But this man’s brash statement about the Bible is becoming increasingly a more accepted philosophy in America (and the rest of the world) in this so-called “post-Christian era” in which we are living. I think it’s interesting that he never has called (to my knowledge) any other religion’s scriptures “evil.” Only the Bible.
Atheists and agnostics are railing away at the Bible and its truths. But even in many so-called evangelical churches its precepts are not being taught. I read not long ago that a poll was taken in which people were asked on the street the name of the first book of the Bible. Over 50 percent had no idea that the correct answer was Genesis!
When I was young and I shared the gospel with people who didn’t know the Lord, the vast majority of the people I talked with had some idea of the basic tenants and truths of the Bible. Now, I find that I can’t expect people to be familiar with even the most basic foundational truths of the Bible. So, in evangelism, we find ourselves teaching at a kindergarten level to help explain the Gospel to those seeking spiritual truth.
The Holy Bible is a beautiful book in every way. It details God’s love for humanity and gives us guidelines to help us to live fruitful lives and provides a wonderful promise for our future when we leave this Earth.
Over the years, I have noted that new converts who don’t read the Bible regularly and learn what it says generally will not last long in the Christian faith. But I have also seen this to be the case with long-time Christians who decide that the Bible has only minor relevance in their lives over the years.
Satan is fighting a battle to make the Bible irrelevant in the culture of the United States and in all other nations. Those of us who are believers need to proclaim to the world that the Holy Bible is the Word of God; proclaim how it has changed our lives; share how it will change the lives of unbelievers.

Prayer for today:

“Dear Lord, thank you for the Bible, your Word. We are sorry that so many mock your Word and so many do not believe in its wonderful truths. Lord, help us to “live and keep your word.” Help us to live and speak and behave in a way that glorifies you and that glorifies your Living Word. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

Job 2: On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

———————–

During the past week, I have been reading a book about Mother Teresa, the nun who ministered to the needs of thousands of sick and dying poor people in Calcutta, India. She died in 1997 after many decades of selfless and sacrificial service to the Lord.

The name of this book is “Come Be My Light.” This is a book about an extraordinary woman who did extraordinary things for those who Jesus called “the least of these, my bretheren.” But it is not a book that makes Teresa out to be super-human or super-spiritual. The author uses Teresa’s own letters to tell the reader of Teresa’s frequent struggles with feeling distant from God and the weight of spiritual dryness and desolation on her soul.

Teresa often asked other Christians she respected why she would experience such times of spiritual and emotional darkness and dryness. She always believed that there was a purpose for it; a purpose that she might not truly understand until the day she stood before her Lord face-to-face.

I think I know part of the answer to her question and it is found in the pages of this book. When I read Teresa’s letters, I identify with her struggles and I feel better about my own times of spiritual weakness and inadequacy. We live in a fallen world filled with sin and I believe that most Christians struggle with spiritual darkness and dryness more than they would ever want to admit to another human being. But the Lord knows. We can’t fool him. Teresa never tried to. In fact, in one “letter to Jesus” that she wrote she tells the Lord that she is beginning to have fears that God might not even exist. When I know that a remarkable Christian woman who laid down her life for God’s work struggled with spiritual darkness - then I know that I am not the weakest and most flawed Christian in the world. Teresa’s humbly honest and revealing writings help the rest of us to feel that there is hope for us to overcome our own “dark nights of the soul.”

Other than being comforted to know we are not alone in our struggles, how do we deal with these times when doubt and fear and dryness creep into our spiritual lives? I think the answer to this is probably different for each person. I try to follow the example of Job (in Scripture above) as much as I can. I know that God is still good and God still loves me, even though I may not feel it at the time. I also know that in a fallen world, everyone has struggles. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation.” I’m well into my second half-century of living and I seem to keep running into more “tribulation” the older I become.

For me, there are just many times that the best thing I can do is to hold on to Jesus even if I don’t feel Him holding on to me. But He’s still there - he always is - because He promised us He would be.

Jesus doesn’t condemn us. He, Himself experienced many times of feeling distant from His Father, especially during the last few days of His life on Earth.

Mother Teresa has done a wonderful thing in leaving behind a testimony which shows us that God can and will continue to use us (in sometimes amazing ways) - even during those times when we are struggling in our faith.

Today’s prayer

Lord, I am a sinner, saved by your grace and mercy. Because I am human, I am imperfect and sometimes weak and flawed. But I know that you used Moses, a man who told the Lord that he was too weak and flawed to be of any use to God, to fulfill a monumental purpose on this Earth. Let us feel your wonderful Holy Presence today, Lord. We want to be close to you each and every day. But when you seem distant from us, help us to hold onto your promises and to remember that you said you will “never leave nor forsake” us. In our prayer life, help us to withhold nothing from you, include our dark struggles and doubts and fears. Thank you for loving me. Praise your wonderful Name. In Jesus’ Holy Name, amen.

(The following is a chapter from my book, My Close Encounter With Jesus Christ. You can order my book at any bookstore or from the home page of this website).

In recent years, there have been a number of movies and documentaries
and books that that have attempted to prove - or to at least raise a question
in the collective public conscience - that the Holy Bible is unreliable and not
a good source for historical information. These films, documentaries
and books all seem to embrace one central theme: that Jesus Christ was
not the only Son of God who was brought into the world to redeem it
from sin.

When Jesus Christ is depicted as simply a wise philosophical teacher who got married, had children, died and is buried in a graveyard, this stands in direct opposition to all of the central foundational truths of the Holy Bible.
What has concerned me most about these well-publicized attempts to strip deity away from Jesus Christ is that we are being bombarded with this type of material at the same time when many so-called “evangelical” Christian churches are not doing much preaching and teaching from the Bible. In many of the large churches catering to “seekers” and young people that I have attended, a large amount of pop psychology or a “feel good” emotional message will dominate the worship with an occasional token sentence of Scripture from the Bible thrown in for good measure.

I think it can be fairly stated that most contemporary sectarian Americans are Biblically illiterate. I recently saw on television a report that a poll indicated that more than 50 percent of Americans don’t know that Genesis is the first book of the Bible.

This should concern any Christian. But what has concerned me even more in recent years is the growing trend among Christians away from the centrality of the Holy Bible in their lives. I am often amazed when I talk to people who identify themselves as being Christians when I find out how little they know about the Scriptures and astounded when I learn that they seldom have even read the Bible.

When I asked Jesus Christ into my life as my Savior and Lord, I had many questions to ask my friend, Dann, and other Christians about my newfound faith. One day, I was struggling with a particular issue when I blurted out to Dann: “How can we know 100 percent that the Bible contains reliable information?”

Dann very calmly listened to my question and I can still remember his answer today just as he delivered it 30 years ago. “Jim,” he said. “Millions of people have lived their entire lives based upon this Book and they have gone on to heaven. Thousands of people have literally lost their lives because of believing what is in this Book, preaching it
and teaching it. Don’t you think that God, the creator of the universe, would
give us His Truth in a way that we could trust completely?”

Dann’s answer made complete sense to me and it has made sense to me
for more than 30 years.

But, beyond this issue of faith in the truth of the Bible, there are a multitude of reasons to believe that the Bible is reliable truth based upon pure human logic.

Had it been written as a fictional work from ancient days, the Bible would have been written much differently. Mythological stories of god-like heroes from 2,000 years ago portray the characters in mythic proportions of perfection and power.

But consider some of the main characters in the Bible. Most of them
are portrayed as flawed, sometimes weak, sometimes doubting, always as
human beings. Moses, the great leader of the Israelites in the Old Testament,
felt unworthy of his calling because he was self-conscious and apparently had
a stuttering problem and perhaps great anxiety about speaking in public.
In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples are a ragamuffin collection of characters, sometimes downright laughable in their speech and behavior.
Peter, who had walked and talked with Jesus and who had seen Him
perform many miracles, denied that he even knew Jesus three times prior to
Christ’s crucifixion.

If the Bible is a book of fiction and unreliable as historical fact,
then Jesus would have not been depicted (Luke 22:42) as asking His
heavenly Father to release Him from the reality of the terrible, cruel
death that awaited Him. He would not have been depicted as being so
agonized that his “sweat became like great drops of blood falling down
to the ground.”

If the Bible was a book of fiction and unreliable as historical
fact, a woman, Mary Magdalene, would not have been depicted as the
first human being to discover that Jesus had risen from the dead.
(John 20:1). In the Jewish culture 2,000 years ago, women were
relegated to second-class status - often treated as children. A writer “making up” the story about Jesus being resurrected from the dead would have never
chosen a woman to be the first post-resurrection evangelist. Such a writer
would have known that having a woman in that role would have made the
chauvinistic men of that period doubt the integrity of the story.

The Holy Bible has stood the test of time and the scrutiny of thousands of scholars, archaeologists and other intelligent and learned people for many hundreds of years.

Now, if you are wondering why I have spent so much time in this chapter talking about the Bible, the Word of God, here’s the reason:

Many people sense emptiness in their lives and decide to see if this thing called “Christianity” can fill that void. They enter into the Christian faith primarily based upon emotional need and an expectation that becoming a Christian will bring peace into their lives.

These are certainly valid and rational reasons for taking that first step of faith (sometimes called a “leap of faith”) in the direction of Jesus Christ. But the problem that I have seen in over 30 years as a Christian is this: a majority of people who enter into Christian faith seeking solely an emotional balm don’t grow and mature in their faith
because they do not comprehend or accept the premise that reading and
understanding the Holy Bible is the absolute foundation for Christian growth.
They often want to construct their own ideas about what it is to be a
Christian based upon what “feels” right to them at the moment.

I once wrote a newsletter article that I entitled “Make Your Own
God.” In this piece, I used the concept of building a home computer set-up
as a metaphor for the tendency I have seen for many people to construct
a “god” as they want Him to be, rather than to know Him as He is.

When building a home computer, a person will add various
“components” to make the system perform the tasks he or she wants
it to perform. The person who “makes” his or her own god uses
his or her own “components” to create a god of their own making. As
an example of this, I have run into many theologically liberal people
(some of them even pastors) who do not believe that Satan and hell actually
exist. This, despite the fact that Satan and hell are mentioned hundreds of
times in the Bible and a multitude of times by Jesus Christ Himself. But
because the concept that there is an evil power in the world makes them feel
uncomfortable, these liberal theologians decide that they will leave this
“component” out of their belief systems.

Let me tell you very simply: if you do not base your Christian
faith upon trusting in the reliability of the Word of God, your faith will not
and cannot survive. To grow and mature in the faith, one must read the
Word of God regularly.

It is important to learn what the Scriptures say about the purpose for your
life. Base your faith upon its eternal truths. If there is something you don’t
understand, ask a Christian who has studied the Bible for many years or
simply pray for the Lord to reveal to you the meaning of the Scripture you
are reading.

Along with placing a centrality of the Word of God, the Bible,
in your life as a believer, do not neglect your relationship with God.
He wants to be your friend. He wants to be your confidante. He
wants to walk with you through the valleys in life as well as during the
good times.

The first step in establishing a relationship with Christ is to pray
and ask Him to come into your life, to take control of it, and to be your
Savior and Lord. But this is just the first step in a long process of faith.
Many people I know call themselves “Christian,” but seldom pray
(which is essentially just talking to God), seldom open a Bible, seldom
become involved in fellowship with other Christians. Using the metaphor of marriage again: What if you married your wife or husband in an elaborate wedding ceremony where you pledged your love and your life to your spouse and then the two of you went off on a romantic honeymoon together? But then, after returning home and
beginning the day-to-day process of living, your interest in your spouse
becomes casual and your time together becomes sporadic. What would be
the odds of that marriage lasting very long?

But yet, many people who call themselves Christians have
that kind of casual approach about their relationship with God. In many
respects, God seems mostly irrelevant to them from day to day as they go
about their normal routines. For many, they do not become aware of
how distant they have allowed themselves to become from God until a sense
of emptiness and depression begins to set in.

We are all only as distant from God as we want to be, because He is as
close to us as we want Him to be. James 4:8 says: “Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you.”

I have known many people who have professed interest in
Christianity based upon the idea that to become a Christian is like
joining a social club or a political movement. These people don’t generally last long in the faith because they often become disillusioned with other
Christians. This is because their focus has been on other people instead of
their own personal relationship with Christ.

Scripture tells us that friendship and fellowship with other Christians
is generally a good thing and something that we need in our spiritual lives.
But there is a balance even in this.

When I was a young Christian, I would try to be involved in
activities involving other Christians as much as possible. This was
overall a good and positive pursuit, but, in time, it began to
consume too much of my focus.

Finding myself alone and with no church activities scheduled became
a troubling experience for me, because I had not learned how to
be content alone with God and to enjoy His presence without being in a
crowd of Christians.

A Christian man who lived in Spain in the 16th Century, John of the
Cross, had no other choice than to learn how to make the most of being
alone with God. He, like many other Christians at the time, became
concerned about the materialism and fleshliness that had come into
organized religion. His rebellion against these values was reflected in
some pretty non-threatening behavior. He wore sandals instead of shoes
and lived very simply in prayer and much solitude.

But bucking “the system” eventually landed John of the Cross
in prison in Toledo, Spain. He was locked inside a dark six-by-ten-foot
cell for nine months. Most of the time, no light would penetrate into
his tiny cell.

Most of us (if we were to be thrown into a dark prison for doing
absolutely nothing wrong) would become bitter, vengeful and perhaps depressed and full of despair. But John of the Cross made the most of his time in his cell. He believed that not even the walls of that nasty place could separate him from the love of God.
John had many beautiful experiences and encounters with the Lord in those nine months, including his own personal “close encounter” with Jesus Christ. Later, he wrote deeply spiritual poetry about some of his experiences and the insights he gained during the time of his captivity.

Certainly, no modern-day American Christian would want to
spend nine months in a dark prison cell, but aren’t most of us really
in need of more time alone with God? The responsibilities and pressures
of 21st Century living tend to draw our focus elsewhere, but we need
to be “connected” to the One who says, “before I formed you in
the womb, I knew you.” (Jeremiah 1:5).

My “close encounter with Christ,” the true story of an event
more than 30 years ago, would not continue to have such relevance
in my life had I not stayed close to Christ every day through all of these
years.

Like every other human being, I run into trouble when I allow
my focus to stray too far away from God for too long. We’re not
supposed to go it alone in this world, left to fend for ourselves.

If I could leave you with one thing to think about after having read this book, it is this: God wants to be a part of your life. He loved you so much that He sent His only Son to die on a Cross so that you can have a relationship with Him both in this world and for
all eternity.

Jesus Christ is waiting with outstretched arms. But you must choose to come to Him, each and every day of your life.

I had my amazing and wondrous “close encounter” with Jesus many years ago, but my faith would have never been sustained through all of these 30-plus years - through all of the difficult trials and challenges of living in the modern world - if I failed to have daily “close encounters” with the One who saved my soul.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heaven laden,” says the Lord in Matthew 11:28. “…..and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.”

Mark 13:13: “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures until the end will be saved.”

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In many ways, I am beginning to see these words of Jesus being fulfilled in our American culture today.

There is a strong dimension of anger and hostility towards Jesus Himself threading its way through American music, film, art, poetry, television programs, etc.

Are we in what many experts are calling the “post-Christian era’ in America?  It certainly appears to be that way.

When I was a younger man, I knew people who were hostile to Christians - who they viewed as hypocritical, holier-than-thou, judgmental, inclined to preach more than to give and to love in Jesus’ Name.  Some of those criticisms were warranted.  Some of them weren’t.

But now, I have been seeing something much different. This is the actual hatred of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who sacrificed His life so that those who give their lives to Him can spend eternity in heaven.

I am an old man and I have seen a lot. But I have never seen anything like the hatred of Jesus I am seeing communicated in our American culture now.

Tell me, what in the world is there for anyone to hate about Jesus!? When He walked the face of the Earth He was love personified. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, gave hope to the hopeless. And, though He is not walking the Earth now, He is still doing all of these things for those who have faith in Him.

Particularly disturbing to me is reading articles about popular music groups who use their celebrity to write horribly blasphemous songs about Jesus.  Many of the popular anti-God music groups now have Biblical names which they derisively distort.

Before I came to accept Christ as my personal Lord and Savior in 1976, I had great respect for Jesus. I saw no fault with Him and considered Him to be a wise and good teacher. Even though at the the time I did not understand that He is the Son of God, I had absolutely nothing bad to say about the historical Jesus Christ.

But these are different times. Where does this hatred in our culture come from?  Simple answer: the devil himself! No one hates the person of Jesus Christ more than Satan.
Because when Jesus defeated death at The Cross, it spelled the beginning of the end for the devil.

So, as Christians, how do we try to counteract the growing hatred of Jesus in our American culture?  By being Christians who love and who express that love in tangible ways to those who don’t know Christ.  Also, we need to communicate to people the Jesus of the Holy Scriptures. Many people - especially young people - have very little real knowledge and understanding about Jesus Christ.  They’ve never cracked up a New Testament. They base their opinions about him on what their favorite heavy metal rock group has communicated to them about Jesus - which is distorted and untrue.

It’s amazing to think that after 2,000 years, there are so many who hate the One who laid down his life for all of humanity to make a way for us to experience heaven in the presence of God.   But the Jesus haters continue to rage on.  We need to pray for them; we need to love them; and we need to tell them the truth about the wonderful, loving Jesus those of us who are Christians know and love!

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5:21

When I was young I had many idols.

No, these idols weren’t anything like the idols in the Old Testament: golden cows, etc. These idols were human beings.

When I was in elementary school, I experienced my first major involvement in human idolatry. I idolized The Beatles.  As I grew older, I idolized a greater number of rock musicians, movie stars and other celebrities.

I was in my 20s when I came to Christ. Upon reading what the Scriptures said about the problem of having idols, I immediately began to work on that problem. But the thing was, my solution to this problem was to replace my sectarian idols with Christian idols. So, instead of having sectarian musicians as idols, I had Christian musicians as idols.

I started working as a newspaper reporter at about this time. Doing this work, I had occasion to meet many people who would be considered celebrities.  I soon discovered that though they were rich and famous and idolized by thousands, they were just “folks.”

In my youth I had many idols who were sports figures. One of them was Kent Benson, who helped lead Indiana University to the NCAA basketball championship in 1976.  Kent was the first pick in the NBA draft after his senior season.

Lo and behold, a major national magazine took me up on my offer to do a magazine article about Kent. At the time, he was living in a small apartment in Bloomington, IN., and, except for a fishing boat out in the parking lot, he had few of the trappings of fame and fortune.

I quickly discovered that Kent was/is just “folks.”  (though a very big “folk” at 6-10).  I enjoyed listening to him talk about his love for fishing and about his relationship with God and his Christian faith. Within 20 minutes of the interview, I forgot that I was talking with someone who had been my idol. We still keep in touch all of these years later.

In time, I began to meet many of my “Christian idols.” For the most part, they were different than I had imagined them to be. Like me, they had/have “clay feet” (which comes with being human) and some had/have very surprising human imperfections. One thing that amazed me when I began to meet my Christian idols is that many of them appear to be a bit antisocial. They don’t seem to like people very much. I imagine this comes from years of a having people want things from you, and want to have their picture taken with you, and want you to listen to all of their dreams and trials and tribulations.

The lesson in all of this is that God is not pleased when we make other people our idols - even Christian people. Having an idol of human flesh is to place that person between oneself and God.  The Lord wants nothing standing between Him and us.

God never tires of listening to our dreams and to our trials and tribulations. He’s never antisocial.  He is God and He never changes.

And, here’s something else to ponder: In the Book of Matthew, Jesus said He especially has a home in the lives of those He called “the least of these, my brethren.”  Christ also said that “the last shall be first (in heaven),” etc. etc.

My wife teaches severely mentally handicapped children. In God’s pecking order, they are much closer to His heart than all of our famous and wealthy human idols.

But no one asks for their autographs.