As I type this, I am lying next to the lovely woman in this picture.
If you see her, be forewarned: she is dangerous.
She is tenacious and hard working. She is passionate about her goals and defending those she loves.
And she loves God with all her heart.
That is the dangerous part.
She will help you get to know God or grow deeper in your relationship with Him. She will not let unjustice go by without saying something, and that includes any injustice you may have against God.
And trust me, as a fallen person who needed my Savior to rescue me from the pit and still struggles from time to time with following Jesus completely, I know her ability to do all the things I have described here.
Thankfully, 11 years ago today (at the minute this is scheduled to post online), she agreed to help me personally everyday, no matter how hard it got, how stubborn I can be, or how much I make her laugh. (It seems that last one is a lot, even if I do not mean to …)
So, if you see her …
Remind her she is loved by her Lord and Savior. And her husband of 11 years, as of today.
Oh, and we finally got to meet our nephew, yesterday. He is great!
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV
As our faith deepens, our hope rises. Love both deepens faith and raises hope while growing itself through them. Turn to God. Trust Him. Find hope. Love Him.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23:1-2, ESV
Our God leads us, comforts us, and provides for us in more ways than we understand. He gives a peace we cannot fathom. He gives rest to our weary souls.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24, ESV
Whether your job, a task, or your relationships of all sorts, imagine you are doing it for or to Jesus (because He said we are). That view changes everything.
It takes a little time, sometimes, to have ground to stand on … apparently. Dr. Ross seems fine using the fallacious arguments he accuses others of using.
This is a shorter chapter from Dr. Ross, and in it he makes the claim that naturalistic assumptions are necessary for the age of the universe, the age of galaxies, and the age of planets to support life.
A universe and a galaxy must reach a particular age before they can support life. Only when a star and a moon are of a particular age is life possible near them. And only when a planet is of a particular age is life possible on it. For intelligent life, the time limitations are dramatically more constrained.
While Dr. Ross has said that he does not hold to biological evolution as taught by the likes…
It is about time . . . to finish a short message series.
For the past couple of months, I have uploaded short messages based on the book of Malachi. It has been basically based on the section divisions in the English Standard Version of the Bible.
No special titles. Just taking a quick look at what was said.
So read along with me, and let us study what Malachi said to his people about 2,400 years ago.
Remember that Malachi literally means “my messenger”, so he is God’s messenger, as all the Prophets were.
Chapter 1 was about God’s love for His covenant people – those who obey and love Him – versus those who refuse to listen to Him. The priests offered lame, sick, and injured animals as sacrifices, basically taking the Lord’s name in vain by calling it acceptable even though they were worthless gifts.
Chapter 2 can be called the passage about “bovine scatology”, because priests then (and many now) led people astray with false teachings. So God rebuked them and showed they are outside of the covenant.
Chapter 2 finishes with God rebuking not only the priests but any who practice what God said not to, and leads into chapter 3 in which God calls out those who call evil good and vice versa (which leads to His eventual judgment!)
Chapter 3 is largely about stealing from God, which was equated to not sharing the Gospel or giving the Church (and thus God) a bad name so that others want nothing to do with Jesus. It is like robbing God of souls. And this leads to God’s wrath on the ungodly while separating out the godly. Again, He defends those who listen to Him and obey His commands, and He defends His glory.
Now, on to discuss the Great Day of the Lord:
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
God’s Law is:
Love the Lord your God
Love your neighbor (others)
Love each other (the Church)
Elijah:
John the Baptist
Possibly one of the two witnesses in Revelation?
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
Those who refuse to turn to Christ will be burned by and in fire as eternal punishment for disbelieving and persecuting those who do believe.
Separation from God.
The Great and Awesome Day of the Lord:
2 Peter 3:1-13
All of the heavens and the earth will be dissolved in fire
We must share the gospel
How close are we to the end?
Most deny a global flood
Most claim millions/billions of years
Most turn from God’s Law and do whatever they want
Anything is acceptable and should be celebrated
When Christ returns, He will obliterate all sinfulness from Creation and make a perfect Kingdom on a renewed Earth.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4, ESV
Things go wrong in this world. We can be comforted knowing God is in control and may even be using the events to make us more Christ-like.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!
