The War is over – Please come out
In 1944, Lt. Hiroo Onoda was sent by the Japanese army to the remote Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to conduct guerrilla warfare during World War II. Unfortunately, he was never officially told the war had ended; so for 29 years, Onoda continued to live in the jungle, ready for when his country would again need his services and information. Eating coconuts and bananas and deftly evading searching parties he believed were enemy scouts, Onoda hid in the jungle until in 1974, a college dropout named Norio Suzuki decided to travel to the Philippines. Suzuki told his friends that he was going to search for Lt. Onoda. Where so many others had failed, Suzuki succeeded. He found Lt. Onoda and tried to convince him that the war was over. Onoda explained that...
Read MoreAre we like morons?
2 Timothy 2:23: “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.” I have heard the following controversial subject debated, “Was Jesus crucified on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?” There is some evidence for a day other than the traditional Friday. But what difference does it make, even if it is settled? To be devisive and separate oneself from other believers because of that, is ridiculous, yet there are people, even within our own small congregation who do that. Another example is the debate going on today about whether the Shroud of Turin was the burial robe of Jesus or not. Again, it is an interesting question and it merits some discussion. But it does not merit controversy or argument or...
Read MoreThe “Greater Things”…
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.(John 14:12 Amp) Just the other day I was listening to a sermon preached by Ray Stedman back in 1985. What Ray brought to my attention was surely one of the most astounding promises in the Scriptures… I have always read this passage, and thought that we ordinary humans are somehow so capable that we can actually do greater things than the Son of God Himself did, when He was here in the flesh, but what I learned was that Jesus was really saying here is that as the risen Lord, who dwells in us by means of the Spirit, He will do greater...
Read MoreFruit of the Spirit – Life through Christ
In Romans 6:4 Paul says, “We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life. ” [Amplified] Here Paul is answering the question that every Christian asks at one time or another: “Can believers go on sinning?” Paul’s answer is an emphatic, “Absolutely not!” We cannot go on sinning because we have died, have been buried, and have risen again with Jesus, and therefore we too may live a new life. If we are true Christians, there will be a noticeable change of our behavior, because of a radical change of government. Paul is saying that if we continue to go on living as...
Read MoreNo room at the inn? I doubt it!
Most Bible translations state that after Jesus was born, He was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn”. This sounds as if they were rejected by the people of Bethlehem. Was that really the case? There is a trap in traditional language. “No room in the inn” has taken on the meaning of “the inn had a number of rooms and all were occupied” in other words, the “no vacancy sign” was already “switched on” when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem. But the Greek word does not refer to “a room in an inn” but rather to “space” (topos) as in “there is no room my desk for my new computer”. It is important to keep this correction in mind as we turn to the...
Read MoreHow do we deal with conflict?
The most common criticism against the Christian church in our times is that it is irrelevant to people’s real problems, and does not help people where they live. Many churches of our day are interested only in singing hymns and performing religious ceremonies, or in spouting moral platitudes and reading Scripture, but not really engaging in the current problems of our society. In Chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians, we see that the Apostle Paul comes to grips with our constant urge to lie, to steal, to gossip, to be hateful and bitter with one another. He deals at length, frankly and forthrightly, and every way, he brings Christian truth right down into life, and shows us how to live in a sick society, dealing with such matters as climbing divorce rates,...
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