The last shall be first

A few days ago while walking on the treadmill I had a thought pop into my mind. I love that when this happens because then I can't take credit for that nugget of wisdom.

Here is what popped into my mind, "The road in life seems to be getting narrower, its getting steeper, and there seems to be fewer Pilgrims on it."

These verses then followed; Mathew 7:14, "The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few find it." Proverbs 15:24, "The path of life leads upward for the wise, they leave the grave behind."

My blog last week told of a learning experience that Ruth and I had on the Island of Trinidad during the winter of 1997.

The following experience happened that same winter and was one of my favorite experiences of all on our travels.

While working on a new church building for a congregation that winter on Trinidad, one of the church members who lived in the capitol city told me of a friend of his who was the pastor of a church in a rough section of the city.

He told me that white folks usually don't go there and certainly not after dark.

The pastor friend sent word that he would like me to come and speak to his church on a Sunday evening.

I wasn't too excited about the opportunity at first, but after several pleadings, I consented.

I told him that I would come if I was escorted by some big, really big guys since the church was about a half mile walk from the bus depot. I also told him that I wouldn't bring Ruth with me.

The date was set and I arrived at the church just fine thanks to a couple of big black brothers walking by my side.

I sat near the back of the church during the worship portion of the service.

About 15 minutes into the service a tall beautiful black woman came in and sat along side of me. After looking at her and the way that she was dressed, she had on a bright red dress that didn't leave much to one's imagination, I asked the Lord, "Is she what I think she is?" He spoke to me and said, "Yes, she is a prostitute." "This should be interesting, I have never had a prostitute in one of my meetings before, that I knew about."

Eventually it was my turn to speak and I delivered a strong message on the lack of integrity in the church plus the fact that God wants to purge falsehood from his church.

The Lord must have been convicting people because I saw some heads hanging, including the pastor's.

Upon conclusion of the message the pastor asked if anyone wanted to come foreword and repent of their lack of integrity.

I then walked to the back of the church and was impressed to step out of the side door so I could pray for those inside.

It wasn't more than a few minutes when who should walk out the door and stand next to me but my seatmate, the prostitute.

I thanked the Lord for sending her out to me and then I struck up a conversation with her and asked if she was a Christian. "NO," was her answer.

I then said something that took her by surprise. I said, "Madame, you are probably the most honest person in this church tonight."

She said, "Why do you say that?" I answered her, "Because you are one who is not pretending to be something that you are not and you know the spiritual condition of your heart."

After explaining what it means and what it takes to be a Christian I asked her if she would like me to pray for her. She gladly consented.

Then I did something that may seem strange. I took both of her hands in mine and asked the Lord to show how much he loves her and to show her his kindness and goodness to her.

The Bible says in Romans 2:4, "The goodness of God leads to repentance."

After I finished praying for her I gave her a big hug. I believe that the Lord touched her heart because she thanked me with tears running down her cheeks. 

I have a hope that one day as I am walking down the golden streets of Heaven she will run up to me and say, "Jim, do you remember me?" I will answer with, "Praise the Lord, I sure do, tell me your story."

In Mathew 21, Jesus told a bunch of church leaders who were questioning him that the tax collectors and prostitutes (the two lowest bottom feeders according to the church leaders) would enter the Kingdom before the leaders of the church because they knew the condition of their hearts.

There will be no double minded Pilgrims walking that steep narrow path because their eyes are always looking ahead to the goal.

Next week's title will be a warning from Jesus, "Remember Lot's wife."

Choose your friends very carefully

 The winter of 1997 found Ruth and I living on the island of Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela in what is called the West Indies.  

I was asked to go down there and help a congregation build a new church building.

Ruth and I have been traveling the World for over 40 years either building buildings for Christian organizations, teaching, or helping plant new churches.

Every place that we have visited contributed to our growth and maturity as Christians.

Thinking back to the early days of our ministry I am convicted of how immature we were. Our zeal and passion to use our gifts made up for our lack of maturity.

Some of the places stretched our faith and some places confirmed our faith.

On most of our trips abroad I wrestled with some kind of sickness and this place contributed to my suffering as well.

I was busy working in the hot tropical sun each day. My assigned helper was a Black man by the name of Lenny. As the winter worn on and my exposure to the sun continued I used to tease Lenny that my tan was catching up to his.

On the weekends and some evenings I was busy ministering the Word in church or small groups.

One evening Ruth and I were asked to minister to a group that met in one of the church members home.

It was about a 1/2 mile walk from where we were staying and this evening I was sick.

I had no enthusiasm  for walking that far let alone ministering.

When we got there we saw about 20 people waiting for us.

When I got up to speak I said something very unusual. I even surprised myself a little when I said it. Here is what came out of my mouth, "I don't feel well this evening, as a matter of fact, I feel terrible. I would like a few of you to come up here and pray for me., but, let me qualify my request. If you are not 100% sure that because of your prayers I will get a healing touch from the Lord, stay in your seats. I don't want anyone praying for me with unbelief or doubt in your hearts."

Needless to say that weeded out most of the volunteers. Only 2 or 3 people came forward and I was indeed touched.

I was able to minister to that group and 
Ruth and I walked home that night both strong and encouraged.

Now, I have thought of that experience many times since then and have found president in the scriptures to substantiate my request that night.

In Mark 5:21-43 we find a situation where a report came to Jesus that a church leader by the name of Jaris had a very sick daughter and he requested Jesus to come pray for her so she would recover. 

As he was on his way to the house of the church leader word come that the girl had died so he needn't bother come come.

He continued anyway and as he approached the house he heard a lot of commotion with people crying and wailing loudly.

When Jesus insisted on seeing the girl the crowd laughed at him for believing that he could do anything about the situation, after all, the girl is dead.

Then he did something interesting. He order everyone out of the house except the parents of the girl and Peter, James, and John.

After the doubters had cleared out he walked up to the girl, took her by the hand, and said, "Little girl, get up." At his Word, the 12 year old girl got up and walked over to the kitchen and had something to eat.

An incident in the next chapter of Mark, 6 verse 5 confirms how important an atmosphere of faith is.

Jesus returns to his hometown and because of the scarcity of faith in that community his ability to perform miracles was very limited. He could only help a few sick folks.

So, what can  we learn from this? When you are praying for and expecting a miracle, choose your prayer partners very carefully.

Here is the zinger: Would Matthew 7:6 relate to the subject that we are talking about? Keep this in mind, the context of Matthew 7:6 is EFFECTIVE PRAYER.

Extra reading  Hebrews 11:6   Hebrews 3:12 & 19     James 1:6-9

Why God sometimes says, "NO"

 In Mark chapter 5, verses 1-20, we find Jesus landing on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee near a region of 10 cities.

Immediately he is confronted by a wild man, a mad man in the true sense of the word. We don't know any of his history but somewhere in his background he got himself into a fix. The man was possessed by evil spirits. He is so wild that he cannot be restrained, even with chains. If they try to restrain him he just breaks the chains. He lives in the countryside in isolation and sometimes he lives in the cemetery.

Upon seeing Jesus he runs up to him and falling to his knees begs Jesus not to torment him. Jesus then commands the evil spirits to come out of the man.

A large herd of pigs was feeding nearby. Interestingly the demons begged Jesus to allow them to posses the pigs and Jesus allows them to. Upon entering the pigs they wildly run down the hill, jump into the water, and drown.

Now, the man is in his right mind, free from the tormenting evil spirits, and needless to say very thankful.

News of this man deliverance spreads and people from the nearby town come out to see this man and see who delivered him. 

Having know of this man and his reputation the people are amazed.

Then, they do something very strange. Even after witnessing a miracle they BEG Jesus to leave the area and leave they alone.

Jesus complies and as his is getting into the boat to leave the man who was delivered BEGS Jesus to allow him to join his ministry team.

Jesus tells the man, "NO, you stay here in this region and go to these 10 cities telling everyone of God's mercy and what the Lord has done for you."

Later in chapter 7 of Mark, verses 31-37 we find Jesus back in the same area. This time, however, we find a different mentality among the people. Whereas before the people BEGGED Jesus to leave the area and leave them alone they bring a deaf and dumb man to Jesus and BEG Jesus to heal him.

In this story we see the wisdom of God denying the former demon possessed man his request to follow Jesus and join his ministry team so he can stay home and tell his story.

In chapter seven we see the results of his obedience. Before they BEGGED Jesus to leave them alone but because of this man's story the people realized their need for a touch from the Master.

There are times when God asks us to do things that don't make sense. They are contrary to our dreams and plans. To obey him, we would have to sacrifice our dreams and visions.

In Romans 12:1-2 we are told to sacrifice our bodies as living sacrifices, wholly, not partially, then we would know his will, his perfect will for our lives.

By obeying Jesus, laying down his will and staying home to tell his story a whole region was affected.

As a young man I was certain that God wanted to use me in a mission setting somewhere in the world, thankfully I obeyed him when he said "NO."

After over 20 years of waiting he finally said, "YES," and made it possible for my dream and vision to come true.

Ruth and I spent the next 30 plus years traveling the World either working on building projects, teaching, or planting churches.

Here us a truth that every Christian needs to learn; God's delays are not necessarily God's denials.

Life is short---Eternity is long

 I want to share some some elementary biblical truths that seemed to have been obscured by all of the fog that permeates our everyday lives.

These three doctrinal truths are the very foundation of our faith, yet we seldom hear them explained or taught.

JUSTICE---MERCY---GRACE

Justice is simply getting what we deserve. We don't see this principle applied in its truest sense much these days but this is a universal principle that even God Himself follows.

Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone has sinned and falls short of God's perfect standard.

Then, in chapter 6;23, we see the penalty for our sin which is death.

In chapter 5 verse 8 we get some good news saying that while we were still living in our sins, God Himself paid the penalty.

Justice must be served, the penalty for sin is death, someone must pay the penalty, either we must or someone else who has never sinned can die for us.

The sacrifice for sin, the only sacrifice that will satisfy the justice of the Universe is that someone who has never sinned would give their life to redeem the sinner.

God himself, who is perfect and has never sinned, because of His great love for mankind lowered himself, left Heaven, and came to Earth to die so we wouldn't have to.

That is the simple definition of Mercy.  Mercy is simply not getting what we deserve.

Psalm 51: verses 1&2 describe is beautifully. "O loving and kind God, have mercy on me. Have pity on me and take away the awful stain of my transgressions. Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again."

GRACE is simply getting what we don't deserve. Now, as justified children of God we qualify for eternal life in Paradise with God Himself. 

So, why is eternity so long? 

For those who have accepted the only payment to satisfy the justice of the Universe, the shed blood of God himself, it will take all of eternity to express their thankfulness. 

But, for those who decide to pay their own penalty either by good works or trying to live a good life, it will take all of eternity suffering the wrath of God in Hell to satisfy the justice of the Universe.

Since we are eternal creatures, we will spend eternity somewhere, and that choice is up to us,

Grace, however,  is a two sided coin.  Not only do we get what we don't deserve, but according to Titus 2:11-13 we get help. "For the grace of God that brings salvation to all men. It teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." 

 He not only expects us to live a Godly life, but he gives us the power to live it.

Thank you Jesus, how can I ever thank you enough?

That, dear friends, is why eternity is so long.

Praise God, we are almost home.