The Waldo Canyon Fire started June 23 and has scorched 16,750 acres. It has burned 347 homes and killed at least two people.
Father in heaven I place the people of Colorado into your hand; especially those who have been affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire. Many of these people have lost everything they owned. These are difficult times Lord, but I hope someone will find a way to encourage hope. May they find solace in Jesus Christ. Amen!
“And, behold, there arose a veritable tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, “Lord, save us: we perish.”
And he said unto them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a perfect calm.
However, the men marvelled, saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:24-27).
Jesus has a way of surprising us. He says things that no one else can say and does things that no one else can do. He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He is the bread of life.
My friends, despite what the doubters say. Jesus is alive. The writer of Hebrews 13:8, puts it this way, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Suffice to say, He is the same Jesus who went about all Galilee, teaching in synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases among the people.
And as His fame went throughout all Syria: they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils and those which were lunatics and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24)
Fellow believers if you are wavering in your faith, If doubters have some how managed to convince you to throw in the towel. I dare you to think again. Jesus is no different today than He was when He walked this earth. Like the woman at the well, lives are still being touched. Like the man who was born blind, sights are being restored. And yes, water is still being turned into wine. There is only one Man I know who is capable of doing such things. His name is Jesus.
Jesus is the:
Messenger and the Message
Morning Star and Light of the world
Servant and King
Shepherd and the Lamb
Sacrifice and the High Priest
Vine and the Fruit
Author and the Story
Lifeline and the Anchor
Physician and the Cure
Promise and the Fulfillment
“Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).
A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon an extremely disturbing article on the internet. “From Minister To Atheist: A Story Of Losing Faith.” Here, is an excerpt: You may read the entire article at www.npr.org.
Teresa MacBain has a secret, one she’s terrified to reveal.
“I’m an active pastor, and I’m also an atheist,” she says. “I live a double life. I feel pretty good on Monday, but by Thursday — when Sunday’s right around the corner — I start having stomachaches, headaches, just knowing that I got to stand up and say things that I no longer believe in and portray myself in a way that’s totally false.”
According to the article, MacBain, 44, was raised a conservative Southern Baptist. Her dad was a pastor, and she felt the call of God when she was 6. She had questions, of course, about conflicts in the Bible, for example, or the role of women. She says she sometimes felt she was serving a taskmaster of a God, whose standards she never quite met.
For years, MacBain set her concerns aside. However, when she became a United Methodist pastor nine years ago, she started asking sharper questions. She thought they’d make her faith stronger.
“In reality,” she says, “as I worked through them, I found that religion had so many holes in it, that I just progressed through stages where I couldn’t believe it.”
The questions haunted her: Is Jesus the only way to God? Would a loving God torment people for eternity? Is there any evidence of God at all? And one day, she crossed a line.
“I just kind of realized — I mean just a eureka moment, not an epiphany, a eureka moment — I’m an atheist,” she says. “I don’t believe. And in the moment that I uttered that word, I stumbled and choked on that word — atheist.”
But it felt right.
On March 26, at the American Atheists‘ convention in Bethesda, MacBain seems almost giddy. The day before, she decided she would go before the conference’s 1,500 or so nonbelievers and announce that she is officially an atheist.
“I am nervous,” she says, “but at the same time I am so excited. I slept like a baby last night because I knew I wasn’t going to have to live a lie anymore. Such freedom.”
Moments later, in the darkened, cavernous conference room, MacBain steps onstage.
“My name is Teresa,” she begins. “I’m a pastor currently serving a Methodist church — at least up to this point” — the audience laughs — “and I am an atheist.”
Hundreds of people jump to their feet. They hoot and clap for more than a minute. MacBain then apologizes to them for being, as she put it, “a hater.”
“I was the one on the right track, and you were the ones that were going to burn in hell,” she says. “And I’m happy to say as I stand before you right now, I’m going to burn with you.”
A few minutes later, MacBain strides off the stage into a waiting crowd. One man is crying as he tells her that her speech is “one of the most moving things I’ve seen in years.” Another woman says she, too, had been a born-again Christian. “Join the club,” she says as she hugs MacBain.
“I have never felt so appreciated and cared for, you know?” MacBain says later, noting that she has left one community — Christianity — for another. “New member, just been born — that’s what it feels like.”
My friends, I do not know about you, but I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here, is a song that says it quite well.
Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There are a thousand reasons why you should trust God with all your heart. But, just knowing that God sent His only son to the cross to die for you, is reason enough. However, many people do not trust or even think there is a God. Despite all the compelling and convincing evidence, they reluctantly decline to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.
Here is an audio clip that has been around since I was a kid. I hope you will find touching and convincing as I have.
Chinese depiction of Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10) – 1879, Beijing, China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the 1900, the average person living in the United States wanted seventy two different things and considered eighteen of them essential. Today, the average person, wants over five hundred things, and considers one hundred of them essential. Our obsession with stuff carries a hefty price tag. Eighty percent of us battles the pressure of overdue bills. We spend 110 percent of our disposable income trying to manage debt. And who can keep up? We no longer measure ourselves against the Jones next door but against the stars on the silver screen or the stud on the magazine cover. Hollywood’s diamonds make yours look like a knock-off bought in China. No one can compete against Madison Avenue. So be content with what you have.
Jesus warns against greed.
According Luke 12:13-21, Jesus was addressing a large crowd one day when one of the men in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, my father just died and left some things for us. Tell my brother to share them with me.” But Jesus said to him, “Who said I should be your judge or decide how to divide your father’s things between you two?” Then Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they own.” Then Jesus used this story: “There was a rich man who had some land. His land grew a very good crop of food. ‘What will I do? He thought to himself. I have no place to keep all my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I will put all my wheat and good things together in my new barns. Then I can say to myself, I have many good things stored. I have saved enough for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!’ “But God said to that man, ‘Foolish man! Tonight you will die. So what about the things you prepared for yourself? Who will get those things now?’
“This is how it will be for anyone who saves things only for himself. To God that person is not rich.”
Friends, Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). What we feel and believe are the truly precious and meaningful things in our lives. If we do not commit ourselves to what is good and right, then we are empty. Moral poverty occurs when we place things above relationships. Christ sent His disciples out in the world without possessions, but no one in history has known more wealth than those chosen men who walked with Jesus. It is when we choose to walk with Jesus that we find out what true riches are.
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