New Tools Update

Just thought I'd showcase a few new Web tools that I think are pretty awesome. The first one is a website called LibriVox. While not actually a Bible webpage, LibriVox is a collection of audio recordings of books that are in the public domain. This includes all the books of the Bible as well as many other things. I've embedded the book of Lamentations as an example and just to show some of the other books, I've also embedded 1 Maccabees from the Apocrypha.

Lamentations


1 Maccabees


The second tool that I'm going to list is the Interwoven Gospels provided by Biblos.com. The Interwoven Gospels is a chronological presentation of all four of the Gospels. It weaves together, hence the name, passages from all four Gospels and lays them out in an outline that represents chronological order. While I don't think this is a substitute for the Gospels themselves, it can function as an excellent study aid when it comes to understanding the Gospels.

Just a brief word about Biblos.com. It has a host of different study aids and Bible translations available from it's website so I'm giving it a shout out as a good reference website too.

Finally the last site I want to mention is Net Hymnal. This site is an online database of the lyrics of many old hymns and is quickly searchable. The website interface is a little old school, but it gets the job done, and I find that when you are trying to wrap your head around a concept, or how to say something most likely some song writer has already found a way to say it in a way that sounds good to my ears.

Well, that's it for now.

WWJHMD

I remember in the 90's that the acronym WWJD became very popular. It stands for the question "what would Jesus do?" and is based loosely upon a concept from the book In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon. In this book a congregation makes a vow to ask themselves what Jesus would do before they took any action. An entire fashion fad began when bracelets with the monogram WWJD began showing up on wrists everywhere. You don't hear about WWJD all that much anymore even though the principle behind it was excellent.

What would Jesus do? Do you ever ask yourself that question? Would you do the same things and make the same decisions that you do now if you asked yourself this question? The same effect can be produced if you imagine that Jesus is right there next to when you do something. This works exceptionally well when you realize that He is.

However excellent this principle is, there is another level to our Christian walk that can't be captured just by applying WWJD in you daily life. This is the reason for my post today. This other facet can be defined by the acronym WWJHMD which stands for what would Jesus have me do?

What's the difference you ask? In all actuality they are very similar concepts and they sound the same, but there is an element of leading that is missing in the concept WWJD. If all you ever do is ask yourself what would Jesus do if He was in the situation you are in right now, you ignore whether or not you should be in that situation at all in the first place. When you ask yourself what would Jesus have me do you open yourself up to being led by Christ. What will happen is that you will find yourself not only making good decisions, but also in the situations you should be in.

There's also one more little issue with WWJD; you're not Jesus. I don't discount that it is important to make inspired choices in your life, but at the same time you can't live a productive life solely trying to imitate Jesus because if you do, that's all you'll be, an imitation. Please don't misunderstand me, I think emulation of Jesus Christ is a very laudable goal, but the real life application of this is limited. He made choices that you and I are not capable of making. We are limited, He is not. Whether you apply your own limitations to Jesus, or His lack of limitations to yourself, it is a foolhardy thing to do. Instead, a mature Christian is able to recognize their own limitations and will not only be better for it, but also open to the leading of the Lord and His working in their life.

Paul himself asked the Lord "What wilt thou have me do?" (Acts 9:6). It would be better to emulate Paul than Jesus in this case and ask Jesus what He wants you to do. At least that would be comparing apples to apples as the old saying goes. Understand though, I'm not venerating Paul; I've no WWPD in mind. I do however respect the example that he set for us, although he had to come to the end of his rope to ask it.

There is a song that the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sings that describes what is missing from WWJD and what is added to WWJHMD, so as a close I'll just include the lyrics for the chorus:

Lead me Lord, I will follow,
Lead me Lord, I will go.
You have called me, I will answer,
Lead me Lord, I will go.

Washed in the water

Cut Flowers and Fallen Leaves

We go to the florist and buy flowers to give to our sweethearts or maybe to our mothers on Mothers day. Flowers are purchased for weddings and funerals or just to keep around the house. No one can deny how beautiful they are or the joy that they give.

Autumn in my area is a wonderful sight to behold. The leaves turn deep reds, browns, oranges and yellows and if you'll travel just a bit further north, you'll see pinks, peaches, golds and purples too. However just a week later all of the color is gone. All that you are left with is the dessicated branches of the trees that will remain bare all winter.

No matter how beautiful the flowers you buy are, their beauty cannot last because the truth of the matter is that from the time they were cut, they were dying. The water that they are kept in and the food that they are fed is only a matter of life support to hold on to what was a living thing before you bought it, but really it never stood a chance.

The branch appears dead and for nearly half the year exhibits no growth at all. It is exposed to the elements and there is nothing about it to make it beautiful (Isa 53:2). However when the spring comes again it will make a glorious rebound, first budding then sprouting leaves that nourish the tree. What was dead is alive again.

Appearances can be deceiving. The flower looks so vibrant and alive while the branch looks so drab and dead. The branch however is full of potential and life while the flower is doomed to whither and rot. So are many things in our everyday lives.

The ways of the world are very attractive and they can be very pleasurable, but their end is only death (Prov 16:25). We as Christians are to involve ourselves with that which is pure and true (Phil. 4:8). God doesn't offer gratification or even justification, He offers redemption and sanctification instead.

Resist the intoxication of those things that just seem good but are not. Test what you are being offered and be sure whether or not there is any life in it. Many are those who will be taken in by something counterfeit and it is a sad thing indeed. Be ever vigilant when it comes to what is true, you do not want to be deceived (1 Pet. 5:8). Remember that He makes all things new (Rev 21:5). Only through Jesus is there any hope for life (John 20:31).

Third Verse - An Observation

Have you ever noticed something that may or may not just be coincidence? I have, and in this case it deals with music. What I've noticed is that many times the third verse of wonderful songs seem to stand out above the other verses, either artistically or spiritually and often both. I wanted to share some third verses with you as an example of what I'm speaking of, and in each case these verses have always been a special blessing to me.

The Love of God
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

How Great Thou Art
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

He Hideth My Soul
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God
For such a Redeemer as mine!

Wonderful Peace
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!

It Is Well With My Soul
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

I'm sure that there are many other wonderful examples of this third verse phenomenon, and these five songs are just some of my personal favorites. Do I have some other deep message for this post? Not really, but if you are inspired to write something like these wonderful verses, I'd really encourage you to do it. Don't stifle what might be the working of God in you.

One Thing I Have Desired

Just read through Bro. Steve Lewis' blog: One Thing I Have Desired. I'm impressed by the humility and willingness to be led by God. I'd definitely suggest the read.

All Things

Our fellowship has known many troubling times through its existence and once again we are experiencing some turbulence. I can only speak for myself and from my own experience, but here at my vantage point I've experienced this shaking not only on the larger level that our group is experiencing, but also on a personal and local level.

The way we travel is a narrow one and at times it is difficult; it's supposed to be. (Matt 7:14 NKJV) If the way we were on was easy, that would only signify that we are traveling the wrong way. (Matt 7:13) There's nothing that says that because we are working under God's covering that makes us exempt from trouble or that we are due an easy life. If anything, we probably have a greater portion of trouble coming to us than some others might. (Luke 12:48) It is not out of character for God's people to suffer and we are called to maintain a proper attitude when we do suffer. (Acts 5:41) Our mindset should always be that we will press on, but when we do get overwhelmed, we will seek the Lord because we know that He will hear us. (Psalms 34:4) Run to the Lord, He will hide us and establish us. (Psalms 27:5)

I know that over the last year when things got hard, I learned to pray harder. When I felt lost, I learned to run to Him, and even though these times were fewer and farther between, when things were good, I learned be recognize God's hand and to be quick to declare that God is good. Now that I can see the beginning of the end of these troubles, at least on a local and personal level, I've still maintained a greater fervency in prayer, a greater sensitivity to the moving of the Lord and remained quicker to give God all the glory for what He has done. Also I've quit taking the good times for granted.

The shaking isn't over for our group yet, but I have something to say about what can come from it, and how we should endure it. In Psalms 40:1 David is reflecting on his trouble. When he says he waited patiently on the Lord, that means that he is confident that God will deliver him. This verse says that God inclined Himself to David, or in other words God looked down on David from on high and heard him. In the next verse David recounts how God delivered him. (Psalms 40:2) We sing a song "When He Reached Down His Hand for Me" and David is saying that God reached down His hand for him and took him out of his troubles and once again established his ways on the Rock. Psalms 116:8 repeats God's deliverance, not only from death but also from lack of assurance as well as the sorrow that goes with trouble. When God takes these things from us, He replaces them with something else: He replaces death with life, instability with a firm foundation and our sorrow with a new song, praise to our God. (Psalms 40:3)

So, in closing I say that we need to be confident that the Lord will strengthen us in our troubles and follow the example of the early church when they were suffering: CEASE NOT! (Psalms 27:14, Acts 5:42) Never forget that all these things that we are experiencing right now are our making, the process of a greater anointing. (Rom 8:28) I no longer question whether or not we will emerge from this shaking, instead I am assured that when we emerge, we will emerge better than we started.

I'm So Thankful

The Fellowship Meeting in Warren, MI, just wrapped up and I've got to say it was great. God met us over and over in a wonderful way. The music and the messages worked together to lift the name of Jesus higher and to bring glory and praise to Him.

I want to thank all of you who have prayed for this church and for this meeting, and to any of you who couldn't make it, I hope to see you at the next meeting, and sometime before that too.

Draw Nigh

What is the one thing that you could do (or in some cases quit doing) that would serve to bring you into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ right now? What are you holding back? What is that thing that you've kept hidden and haven't given over yet? We all have these things, myself included, and right now I'm asking you to be completely honest with yourself. What is that one part of your life that you know you need to give to Jesus today? You know what it is, we all do, and right now I'm asking you to lay it out in the open, if only to yourself. Please don't be tempted to make excuses or misdirect yourself. Instead, just honestly say to yourself, "Where I'm lacking is _____".

Next, decided that you are actually going to give whatever it is over to Christ. It's good to identify where you need more of Jesus, but you need to make a decision to do something about it. You've already been bluntly honest with yourself, so now is the time to decide that you are going to change.

When you've made the decision to change, just do it. Whatever it is that you need to do, just do it. If instead you need to let go of something, do that. What's going to happen is not only are you going to go through a period of improvement, but God is going to meet you where you are and lay His hand on you. Don't quit doing what it is you need to do; God honors commitment.

If we as Christians fail to do these steps in our lives, we doom ourselves to stagnation. It's better to give ourselves over by inches than not at all. This is your Christian walk, just don't stop walking!

When you've completed these three steps, start over. This is not a one time process. Never quit doing this, and don't try to do it by yourself. Rely on God to see you through, and you will draw nigh to Him (Heb 7:19, James 4:8).

Mirrors

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

I want to share a wonderful thought with you today that I hope strengthens you and encourages you. Jesus Christ is the light of the world and we are His mirrors. We have been called to reflect the light of Jesus in the world.

Paul calls us children of light, telling us that we are now light in the Lord (Eph 5:8). As children of the light, we have a great task to complete, and that is to spread the light to all the world (Mark 16:15). We cannot do this by ourselves as we have no light of our own. Instead we must strive to live lives that reflect Jesus well to the world. As the song says, "Can the world see Jesus in me?"

One facet of reflecting Christ is orientation; you must be pointed the right way. In order to reflect Christ, you just can't be focused on anything else. We are not retroreflectors (prisms that reflects light regardless of angle) and in order to function properly, we must be pointed directly at Him. If you have your focus on the world, or yourself, how can you expect to reflect anything else. In order to properly reflect Christ, we must live a Christ-centered life.

Another facet of reflecting Christ is occultation. Relax, I'm not getting all pagan on you or anything, this word just means that something is hidden behind something else. My point is that even if your orientation is correct, sometimes you can let things get in between Jesus and yourself. This will block some if not all of the light you are trying to reflect like an eclipse, it just depends on how close you let the obstacle get to you. If there is anything between you and Christ, remove it or move yourself until that thing is no longer in the way.

One final facet of reflecting Christ is albedo. Albedo is a term that describes how reflective a surface is. When it comes to us reflecting Christ, we need to look at how clean our mirror is. In other words are we keeping our lives free from the stain of sin that will detract from how well we reflect the light of Jesus? We should endeavor to maintain a high polish on our lives as our actions can cast a pallor on us, and what we reflect can become diminished. The proper Christian mentality should always be to remove anything from our lives that hampers our light shining.

A little more on how well we reflect Jesus in our life, and that deals with purity. When precious metals like silver and gold are purified, the way that the refiners know that the molten metal has reached the desired level of purity, the surface begins to reflect like a mirror. Only in the heat of trials do we become refined, and still during those trials, He always has His eye on us (Job 23:10).

I've used astronomy terms in this post because I see a correlation to the heavenly bodies that orbit our sun and followers of Christ. Just as everything in the solar system reflects the light of the sun and shines against a curtain of darkness, so should the children of God reflect the light of the Son and shine within a world of darkness. Christianity isn't just about us and any personal growth that we've achieved through Him. We must emerge as witnesses to the wondrous glory of God. If the heavens declare the glory of God, how should our calling be anything less (Psa 19:1)?

So I have a message today for the Christians, those who choose to associate themselves and give themselves for Christ and His message. Our mentality must be the same as that song we learned to sing in Sunday School. Our attitude should always remain "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine". Friends, shine on.

Work week at the Gospel of the Kingdom Camp Ground in Shepherdsville, KY

Once again it is time to pay my small contribution to the Lord, at the Gospel of the Kingdom Campground.  Workweek now happens once a year before the June camp meeting.  I always feel a little bit sentimental as I drive up the hill, thinking about all Gods people over the years that have helped and contributed monumental efforts to keep the doors open for all of us to gather in an open General-meeting environment.   God has been with our efforts to support the campground, but also he is “WELL PLEASED” with our ongoing and future efforts to make it a place of worship for all Gods people to meet.  I feel inspired to do some history about the campground and just a few of the folks that have labored to make it available for us to once again offer a sacrifice to our King on Shepherdsville hill.  I firmly encourage EVERYONE who participates in the services up there to help with the workweek efforts.  Even if you have never contributed time, money or labor to afford members of the body of Christ to continue meeting up there, I think it would be pleasing to the spirit of the Lord to not continue to dwell in your ceiled house while the house of the Lord lies waste.  Come up next week (May 3^rd thru 7^th) and help get the campground in working order.  If you can’t come send an ambassador in your stead and if that is not possible send an offering to help cover the meals and materials of those that are there.  I can’t  mention how much I appreciate all the people that fought so hard to keep this place available.  As I mentioned earlier in this post I am going to share some history about the campground and plan on making this available prior to the June camp meeting.  The song comes to mind “If You Want To Do A Great Work, Come And Go Along!”  Thank you Godfrey and Bro. Alfred Daves and ALL the other CHURCHES and PEOPLE that have sacrificed all those many decades that the bulk of our brethren did not support the campground or assist in maintaining it for use.

PS--Thank you once again to Bro. Dillon for allowing me to use his blog to share my thoughts.