Peter tells us clearly to walk in our faith with answers.
1 Peter 315 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
There is more to this than Frank Turek says in this video, but he is a classic example of “being prepared to give an answer”.
This is not a 2 minute warning but, in my opinion, it is 13 minutes that are well spent.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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On March 1, 1974, he was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglaries.
His pursuit of doing “anything to win” landed him in prison, lead to Richard Nixon’s resignation, and fueled the greatest political scandal in United States’ history.
Colson was chasing after “the wrong god”.
When corruption and evil rule the day, it grieves the heart of God:
Matthew 7 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
People are broken on their own accord. And when you combine that with a Satan-influenced hatred of God, you get chaos and every kind of evil. It can rear its ugly head today and we have seen it throughout human history.
There was a time that it was so rampant that God regretted making us. When we turn so far into darkness that we would blame the light for not being able to see, we get what we had in “the days of Noah”. We get a world that isn’t worth keeping.
Genesis 6 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth–men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air–for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
But this writing is NOT about what we are not. It is about what we could be.
As I have mentioned before, the simple phrase “but Noah” changes everything. It changes the very core of what is going on.
What was different about Noah? What made him so great?
I believe that Noah was able to GET REAL with God. He wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t without sin, and he certainly wasn’t changing nations. But he was REAL.
And that is the “us” that God so badly wants to see.
It is the only way that He will accept us.
The series “The Chosen” shows a great perspective on Nathanael- crying out under the fig tree. And Jesus LOVES that because He WANTS TO KNOW US. HE WANTS US TO GET REAL.
John 145 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Nathanael got real with God, and God showed up.
And we should know that God doesn’t show up (most of the time) uninvited.
Our God is a gentleman. He waits for the invitation. He stands and literally waits.
Yes, He will prompt us … or “knock”.
Revelation 3 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
But the invitation to be our God is what He desires.
David also answered that call:
Psalm 139 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
And so is the offer for us.
After time in prison, Richard Nixon’s hatchet man GOT REAL with God. He found that he wasn’t as powerful and amazing as he thought he was … and he found the Lord because of it.
In 1994, Charles Colson wrote:
“Where is the hope? I meet millions of people who feel demoralized by the decay around us. The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws we pass, or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that’s where our hope is in this country. And that’s where our hope is in life.”
Make a point to GET REAL this week.
GET REAL with yourself.
GET REAL with your friends.
But … above everything else … GET REAL with God.
Because if you GET REAL with God, the rest of your stuff will come together.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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“Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He was Himself deluded and self-deceived, or He was Divine. There is no getting out of this trilemma.”
The point is this: Jesus was either God as He claimed … or He was crazy.
Isaiah 611 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners …
Isaiah 61 is an incredible word:
Preach Good News To The Poor
Bind Up The Brokenhearted
Freedom For Captives
And it goes on from that. It is the story of a new hope. And Isaiah wrote this passage so that 750 years later, Jesus could walk into the temple and say:
Luke 414 Jesus returned to Galilee … 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.
17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
It is totally understandable why they got mad at this. He ruined church.
But we know something different now.
Jesus was bringing life to the Bible, He was bringing life to the people, and He was bringing life …
TO YOU.
Because in His appearance, we got a new deal.
And that deal saves us.
We get forgiveness. And hope. And new life.
Romans 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Take advantage of this offer. Isaiah 61 tells His story before he came to be.
The New Testament relives it with eyewitness accounts and instructions for a new era.
And 2023? This is the new story.
It is the story of you and where you are going.
Never doubt your importance. He put His life on giving that to you.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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This Post was meant to be sent out Monday, but I forgot to hit the all important send button!
Peaceful Valley Church will host its second service this Sunday from 10 am until 11 am. All are invited! We are small and simple!
Peaceful Valley Church
Sundays from 10 am to 11 am
Peaceful Valley Ranch
475 Peaceful Valley Rd
Lyons, CO 80540
If you get directions, we are in the: Riverside Lodge and Retreat
Signs will be posted!
And now for the blog that was supposed to be sent out on Monday.
At the end of the day, FAITH in God is all we have.
So much so — Paul said that without it we are practicing “witchcraft”.
Jesus resurrection is all that we have.
After writing the Hall of Fame (in Hebrews 11) on faith, Paul wrote this:
Hebrews 121 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Consider Jesus.
Born into an assassination attempt on His life, He grew the son of a carpenter in humble roots. When He applied the Word correctly, He was chastised. When He healed the sick, He was accused of breaking the sabbath. When He cried out for help, His greatest of friends disappeared, denied, and even betrayed.
On the cross, He cried out for His broken world.
On behalf of your sinful nature, He asked for your forgiveness and declared the debt “paid in full”.
Consider Him.
And walk out your faith in Jesus Name.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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When Paul walked the road to Damascus, he was angry, he was legally prepared, and he had all the power that he needed.
His enemy was a movement. And it was a movement that was a threat to his way of life.
But knowledge and power and politics are of little use to God, and this is because God sets the rules. He says what is good, and we are left with a choice.
What did Jesus preach?
While men accused and shamed the sinful woman, Jesus called out her sin AND that of the men who had ruined her.
When men overcharged for “religious” gain, Jesus tipped over tables and called them thieves … because they WERE acting as thieves.
When accused of ministering to a tax collector, a town prostitute, or healing on the sabbath, Jesus of Nazareth correctly assessed that ALL MEN AND WOMEN are sinners.
And when Saul (soon to be Paul) walked the road into Syria to lay down punishment on those who would dare follow Jesus, God showed up … and Saul became Paul and changed teams.
And then … he wrote this:
Romans 1 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Without Excuse.
As a coach, I hate excuses.
I hate excuses so much that it triggers something in me that is ugly.
The reality is this: I HATE EXCUSES because I make them more than anyone around me.
This happened because …
I never would have done this if …
This is the fault of somebody else …
But the reality is this — for me — and for you.
Before God, we are without excuse.
WITHOUT EXCUSE.
This is not a condemning word. It is a word that calls us to walk as who we truly are.
And yes … if we walk as we truly are away from God we are destined for the pits of Hell. It is an ugly fate for those who actually look at a loving God and tell Him to “get lost”.
But for those of us who surrender to the God who loves us?
It is promises for a better home.
It is forgiveness.
It is grace.
It is the place that He has prepared for those who love Him.
And it is a Holy Spirit that counsels and loves us each and every minute of our lives if we invite Him to.
I can remember standing on my parents’ front porch, in tears, having an argument with God about speaking at my dad’s funeral. My hero was gone. My heart was broken. And He had called me to present the gospel at my hero’s funeral. I conformed. And I came to realize something from that experience.
God gave me that assignment for me.
He gave me that assignment to heal my broken heart.
And as I stood at the back of my church about 3 weeks later, God took my sting away. The longing to see my dad was not gone, but the sting was.
And I was … Without Excuse.
Because, with God, I didn’t need one.
Praise Jesus.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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When a giant calls on your very life and those who you love:
Which Voice Will You Choose To Listen To?
1 Samuel 162 … the Israelites assembled … and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.
4 A champion named Goliath … came out of the Philistine camp …
10 … “I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”
11 … all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this … (I) will fight him.”
40 he … chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand …
45 David said to (him): “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
51 … After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
As it was with David, as it was with the Israelites, as it is with all who come to follow God … so it is with you: There Will Always Be A Battle Over Your Destiny
You will always be challenged by an enemy who hates everything about who you are.
After all, you were created in the image of the most amazing God. And as long as you belong to Him, you will be the target of enemy attack.
There is a theory that David got 5 stones because he had heard that Goliath had four brothers– and I like to think that that is true. Because rather than cowering in fear, he simply walked forward in the very calling that God had for him.
As Goliath stood and called out the people who loved God, and even God Himself, he set himself up for a defeat of colossal magnitude.
God doesn’t mess around with those who mess with His. Because those who mess with His are on a path to have their head separated from their torso.
So listen to His voice.
Listen to that voice that you know to be true.
Listen to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the One who was before there was, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who said it is “paid in full”.
That voice will never let you down.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Not the kind of FAITH that shows up when everything is going well, but the kind of FAITH that is necessary to pick up the backpack that I can not possibly carry and walk over the mountain with it.
Inside, I know that I don’t have the strength, or the heart, or the mindset required to carry out the assignment.
It is a testimony to my weakness and the idea that I carry anything good inside of me. How could God have possibly chosen me … for anything?
But He did.
And He chose you too.
He chose us because He is good.
Hebrews 111 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
God has made no secret of what the gospel is that He has given us. We just pervert it. We chose this world, and everything in it. We chose the brokenness, and He sent Jesus to rescue us from it. If you doubt that you are not responsible, just look inside. For me, I can’t even obey for a week. When the negative hits me I fold up like a chair, not able to show the character needed.
Look at Abraham:
Hebrews 11 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
I love it: “He was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” He left the great life for the good life. Because the good life … is perfect. And it is perfect … because God is there.
You can look the whole world over and find the great. You can fill yourself up— with money, and power, and prestige, and all that you can grasp to your fingertips – and still be empty. I’ve done it. It doesn’t fill me and it doesn’t fill those I love. It is fools gold.
Leave the Great Life. Find the Good Life. Thank you Jesus.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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I encourage you to find a quiet place and cue the song….
Then, read this as it is playing.
Jesus was very clear about who He was and what we needed to do:
John 109 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved …
Whoever “enters through the gate will be saved” …
This is not a figurative statement. And Jesus said this many more times and in many more times. This is the man who John described as “the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us”. This is not watered down. It is not hidden. It is not a code.
But this “word made flesh” is under attack.
How do we respond?
There are no easy answers to this question. But I do not recommend “sweeping it under the rug”.
Ephesians 6 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This verse is always a reminder to me to think, and pray, and seek counsel before I respond in my flesh. For I have proven time and again that my flesh is corrupted.
So what would I say this day?
I would say to be like Jesus. And Jesus was:
UnAfraid, UnAshamed, and UnWavering
He stood up to the mob.
He challenged the powerful.
He out-thought the thinkers.
And when they could not overcome His enduring ministry and went to kill Him:
He hung on the cross on our behalf.
UnAfraid, UnAshamed, and UnWavering in His commitment to me, and to you.
He did not back down. He was not Afraid when the mob came up the hill to imprison and punish Him. He was not Ashamed that the town prostitute crying on His feet might make Him look bad. And He didn’t Waver and change His message when the mob came to challenge Him.
I can assure you: The Legion is coming for you. And they are coming for everyone you love. The word says that they aim to “Steal, Kill, and Destroy” you and everyone you love.
Good luck to that Legion:
Revelation 1911 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, …
He is coming on your behalf. And when He brings His army, the enemy stands NO CHANCE.
So I say to you today:
Do Not Be Afraid.
Do Not Be Ashamed.
Do Not Waver.
He’s got you and everyone you love. So tell everyone about Him. Everyone will be glad you did.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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As I drove up to school this morning, I thought to myself: “I do not measure up”, and I walked into the building discouraged. But as the day proceeded, I began to allow that truth to bless my life.
“YOUR DANG RIGHT I DON’T MEASURE UP!” Amen!
Thank you Jesus.
In the depths of my soul, I so long to water down this gospel. I would love to ride in on my horse and be the hero.
But again and again, I prove that I can’t even meet the most minimum of requirements.
I am lost, desperate, and without hope.
Never will I ever … be who I want me to be … much less what God would want …
And so there is a need that all other religions demand: adequacy. And I am unable to satisfy. How could I possibly be adequate?
John 82 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
The woman in John 8 is standing in a place of brokenness. The enemy has accused her of not living up to the Godly standard. And, in this one case, the enemy is correct. But this situation has put her in a place where we all need to stand: The place of knowing who we truly are.
As we stand before His throne, we might as well own up to who we truly are: A sitting duck for Hell. We are guilty as charged and unable to change our position.
But God …
When Jesus shows up to confront the mob, He does so by being willing to put it all on the line. It is the mountain He is willing to die on.
And that … is my gospel … and my hope … and my King.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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2 MINUTE WARNING 