Merry Christmas

Best wishes to you all today and the year to come.  js

Clear

Psalm 21:31 "The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD."

It is clear to me from God's word, that we are to live in this world. To be in the world but not of the world. We are to prepare for every happenstance that we can reasonably foresee and attempt to prevent and yet, we are to rely totally on the Lord for what He brings our way. In fact; we are to be joyful whatever state we find ourselves in, both as a witness to the world of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in our lives and in joyful recognition that we are just passing through. That the Lord has gone forth to prepare for us a place.

This time of year many become depressed and lose their joy. The world through its TV shows and music and atmosphere brings a certain expectation to this season that is not of God and not edifying. Yes we are to be of good cheer that the Lord knew our sinful state since before the beginning of time and prepared His Son Jesus to come here and die as a perfect sacrifice on our behalf. However, we have a tendancy to lose sight of this simplicity and get caught up in the 'presents' and 'false joy'.

It is most important that you know the Lord as your personal saviour. Have you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone?

I am on my way home starting tonight, been away for almost a month. It will be good to be home with my family and church family to remember the birth of our Lord. If I don't post again before Christmas (as soon as I write that I usually end up posting again...) Merry Christmas to you all, may the joy of the Lord be with you during this time. js

It has been sometime....

Galatians 6:3 "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."

Have been at a northern mine for the past week conducting some advance first aid / mine rescue type training. When the Lord grace's you with ability to do a good job it is far too easy (for me at least) to begin to thing your hot stuff. Praise the Lord that by His grace we can recognize this and turn it off at the pass before we become trouble to ourselves and others.

In Yellowknife for a couple of days visiting family then off to another minesite for a few days, then flight home. Actually may get to fly with my son (weather permitting).

Praise the Lord. js

1st Book of...

Kings 19:18 "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

If you are striving to serve the Lord, if you are trying to make your decisions based on Biblical principals, if you are trying to raise your family, do you job, inter-relate with folks in a Christ-like manner.  And feel all alone.  

Don't forget, there are others, the Lord has not returned in glory yet.  There is still work to do.

Have a good week.  js

The Ten Cannots

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. 

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. 

You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. 

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. 

You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. 

You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. 

You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. 

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. 

You cannot establish security on borrowed money. 

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.

William J. H. Boetcker (1916)

H/T "The Patriot Post"

Early morning post

Proverbs 28:28 ¶ "When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase."

Without delving into politics, it is obvious that over the past 40 years the wicked men have rose in our nations. Abortion is not only legal, but in my country there are no restrictions, no law. Crime is not punished, criminals are coddled or released after serving less than half of their sentence upon an unprotected public. Police do not, or are not allowed to enforce law, laws are passed that make no sense from a civilized point of view. Citizens are not allow to protect themselves and yet the policing agencies are clear that they hold themselves free from this responsibility.

Our nation(s) has turned away collectively from the Lord, we will reap the whirlwind.

I wonder however if all of this is foreordained; the Church in China, with all of the government oppression is apparently flourishing. The Church in the old Soviet Union was growing while under severe oppression during the time the communists were in control. Apparently Africa has the largest amount of Christians in the world. India has a large and growing Church despite religions oppression and outright government acquiescence with this.

Are our nations destined to wax worse and worse so there will be a revival?

My hope is revival without the downgrade...

...either way, my hope is for revival. js

Lost

Reading Lamentations of Jeremiah this morning and I came across two powerful verse's that jumped off the page to me:

3:24 "The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him."

The Lord is my portion, wow! when we are down and confused with what life throws our way we can rest on this verse.  

I have been through some ups and downs this past year, nothing really bad if you look back at it (no deaths in the family) just job and employment situations (I left employment with someone who I could not agree with his business philosophy and went out on my own) and the normal family stuff (a son off to university).  

As much as I know in my mind that I can rest on the Lord, in my heart doubt in it's nasty way sneaks in with it's cousin fear (fear is not from the Lord).

When we know that we have stepped away from the Lord scripture is clear on how we can turn back:

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

Search ourselves, ask the Lord to search us and try us against His word.  And once we know our shortcomings, confess, forsake and turn back to the Lord.  

It's only half way (or less) back.  js

Bible verse

Jeremiah 50:6 "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace."


This verse 'jumped' out at me during my morning reading. I try to read The Word every morning, most I am consistent, some I am negligent, God is my strength. I have heard the phrase lately about how a pastor is not to 'scatter the sheep'. I believe this verse supports that. The question however remains, who are the people following as 'shepherds'?

I follow my Pastor as he follows Christ, it is never the responsibility of a Christian for someone else's relationship with the Lord (exception only being for our children as we raise and teach them, but only until they reach the age of understanding and responsibility, then they are directly responsible for what they have done with what they have recieved).

We are all to be accountable for our own relationship with Jesus Christ, to react to His revelation as it comes to us through his word.

We are all sinners who require a Saviour "Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;", we cannot 'make' it on our own. There are false shepherds out there but we are to "search the scriptures" daily to see if it is so. To sift the wheat from the shaft.

There seems to be a tendency (not new, but as old as mankind) to want to blame someone else for our failings, when you stand before God, you will be without excuse.  

Put your faith in Jesus Christ and him alone for your salvation. js

Happy Thanksgiving

Psalm 105:1 "O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people."

We had pie after our evening service last night, everyone stayed until quite late (for a Sunday evening) and yapped, it was good.

Today, my wife cooked supper and we had family over, Turkey and all the fixings, it was good.

A day once a year when we should take time to reflect and count our blessings.  Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour?  js

Early morning

I was awake before Shaelynn our young dog came in the room, so I let my wife know I would let her out.  Then the sleeplessness struck.

Sitting looking into the Word and am searching on 2nd Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

I am just a 'jar of clay', no matter how 'great' I think that I am, in this world I will perish, there will, sooner or later, be little or no trace.  Sooner for most of us than latter.

Looking at some pictures of a massive gravesite from some period of time back in China, the 'Terracotta Warriors' http://bloggingbeth.blogspot.com/2008/10/xian-weekend.html .   Without Christ and the joy of knowing that I am free from the debt of my sin, there too in fear, would go I.

Many of the most powerful men (and women) who have lived on this earth have tried, or forced their underlings to try to ensure that they would not be forgotten, but who actually remembers the actual man King Tut beyond just the National Geographic pictures of his carefully preserved corpse?

No one knows who he was, his joys, fears, pleasures, loves and who or what his losses were, nor will we ever while on this terrestial ball.

Without Christ it is but a vapour and will soon pass away.

I am not a powerful man in this world, but in heaven I am counted, praise God.  It is not about me, it is about Him and his completed work on Calvary.

Put your faith in Christ, Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God, can I understand it?  Some things are the 'mysteries of God'

But I know whom I believeth.  js

God's hand on matters...

Just getting prepared to return for the evening service.  Was amazed once again at how our Lord and Saviour can superintend matters for His glory.

Most of the songs I selected for this mornings service were seemingly Easter ones, can't tell you exactly why they were selected, just seemed right.  Then, Pastor, after the first song said to me in passing that his message had changed.

He preached a clear message on salvation, not saying that my songs  was the reason, no, just that the songs reinforced and supported his message, which was the Lord's message.

I am never to the point where I would believe that the Lord cannot surprise me.

Praise God.  js

The spoilers

Jeremiah 12:12 "The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace."

Trying hard to stay out of politics on this post (not too hard as the 'bail out' seems to be opposed or supported across party lines).  This verse jumped out at me during my morning reading, which I cut short due to concern as to the financial situation world wide (not a good thing but am back into the Word).  

And note this truth... 'world wide'.  If anyone thinks that the American economy can go 'into the tank' and the rest of the world can slide through scott-free, are I believe, deceiving themselves.

All that aside; biblical financing is clearly laid out in scripture: 2 Book of Kings 4:7 "Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest."  

First: God provides, live within His providence.

Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."

Proverbs 22:7 "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Though I do not believe that the Lord is commanding us never to borrow money, we are just to be wise in our use of same.  The borrower is the servant (slave) to the lender until the debt is paid.  Only borrow with wisdom, a well thought out plan based on ability to pay and need to borrow (ie: mortgage, car if required etc, most of our debts are probably unneeded!).  

Second: Pay your debts first!  And if you cannot, go to your debtor and work out a solution, bankruptcy is I believe, without every other effort first, reneging on your obligations.  

I think of a secular saying I first heard as a young teen and was a favorite of my father, 'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"("Tanstaafl").  Very popular now with many interpretations but the bottom line is everything has a cost, if not directly to you to someone and always to you in the sense that you will lose the satisfaction of supplying (with God's grace) for your and your families needs.  

Third: work for what you need.  God gives you the ability... use it at whatever He provides for you to do.

Even the fact that salvation is free only denotes that it is free to all, but God's Son paid the price for our freedom!

My thoughts is that there were a lot of shenanigans going on in the stock and brokerage markets and the cows have come home to roost.  Hope no innocents suffer, but many foolish will lose their shirts.  js

Break us to His will

Nahum 1:13 "For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder."

Got home late Saturday evening from the northern peninsula of Michigan, was there for a couple of days at a Christian Men's Retreat (being ex-military I don't like the word retreat used in this context... but cannot think of another word that would not send the wrong message to an unsaved carnal world). It was a good trip; the Lord has challenged my heart that I am still voluntarily allowing myself to serve the wicked counsellor. Though I am doing ‘good’ I am doing it in my own will, ‘self-will’ which I believe will lead to acts of believed righteousness… ‘Self-righteousness’, which is sin. Praying that He will lead me into the paths of righteousness, His righteousness.Praise the Lord we serve a powerful God who can break the yoke of sin. js

Acts 26:28

'Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."

Our childrens club tonight, my daughter and I did a short skit about a youth who was 'king of the basketball court', willing to help another youth learn something about basketball but was offended when the youth tried to give back the secret of eternal life.   The singing and games were a lot of fun, we had extra kids so I asked them if they could sing loud enough to lift the roof off (they sang pretty hard, but young Jakie told me "the roofs still there"...) LOL.

How many will we see at the Great Judgement who were 'almost persuaded'?  js

4th Blog page

I started blogging online back in 2003.  For various reasons the first two were cancelled (one because I did not know how to get rid of a troll, the second because I was beginning to believe it was becoming just vanity), the third exists as a business information service.  This one is strictly to preach the Word.

I am connected to both of the northern countries of North America, both of my first blogs I attempted to cover politics, that will not be my aim with this note, I will strive to stay away from that as the Bible clearly tells me to stick by the right; and all of the parties are far too human and therefore often, far too wrong.

The title of this blog, I believe, speaks for itself.  We are all here on this earth, whether we know, believe or realise it, we all have a destination.  There can only be one of two places.

My text for today is 1st Corinthians 9:19-22, the key phrase being "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

For those who do not have a Bible handy: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;  To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

Paul was prepared to go into the highways and byways to seek out the lost and preach.  He did not change who he was but did not let himself get in the way of showing a lost world the light.

You must be born again.  js