Forever

That song is still going thru my head. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the music video I posted last night. Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury, but he has an incredible voice and I think Freddie would have approved.

The song itself is kind of tongue in cheek in that the answer to the question is a kind of sarcastic "not really". And there is something to that. Who wants to live forever when they're old or sick or debilitated? That's how Freddie Mercury's life ended. He died of AIDS. He wanted to live forever, but as a healthy younger man I think. Certainly not in the decay of his final days.

Someone said that youth is wasted on the young, and I would say that's true for some. When we are in our 20's, we tend to burn the candle at both ends for a brief time prior to becoming responsible. Others of us never make that transition. We do not become responsible in the classic sense. We continue to live as we did when we were young and foolish and it can kill us if we aren't careful.

This is why I always say, moderation in everything - except moderation. We have to be extreme in our moderation. It's one of the keys to a long life I think, but I digress....

Our Creator made us to live forever and to live forever with Him. We were never intended to experience old age, sickness or death. Our ancestors thought they could live on their own without Him and do as they pleased and this was successful for awhile. Eventually though, separation from God brings about separation from life. We die. The process is wholly unnatural, but it happens because we choose our own will over His and so separate ourselves from Him who is the source of all life. 

The Lord God created us to live forever with Him. He is our eternal parent. We were never intended to be separated from Him. Sure, we grow up and are able to function in the world, but we are designed to always need Him in our lives. God has no grandchildren. We are it. We will always be His children whether we leave or stay by His side, but only He can ensure that we live forever.

Though we will all die as our ancestors did, our most important part will live on. The day will come when our spirits will be united with a new and uncorrupted body and we will live forever in this form. It will be glorious. The future is bright! 

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[h]

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”^[i]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

You see? Now do you want to live forever? I do. See ya there.  

Queen + Adam Lambert - Who Wants To Live Forever - Live at The Isle of W...

E.L.O-Roll Over Beethoven Live 2001 HQ

5250 Pale Ale - Shivers Brewery

A growler of beer is just enough to know that 5280 Pale Ale from South Dakota Shivers Brewery in Lead, SD is just enough to get you all smiley faced, but not enough to make you drunk or give you a headache. It is a very smooth beer that actually tastes like beer. Not too hoppy, but with real flavor. I thoroughly enjoyed what our neighbors brought back. I think he should buy the brewery and bring it to Iowa.

I have to say that I feel really good about it (;^))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

     

You've Gotta Love Millennials - Micah Tyler

The Armor of Light

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

For whatever the reason, no one ever messes with me. I think it's because I have it. It's better than a hand gun, it always fits and it will protect me forever. What more could I want? It's the Armor of Light!  

Pro Gay, Pro Gun?

This is an interesting development. Since the Orlando massacre, there has been a move in West Hollywood, CA for the gay community there to arm themselves. According to The Daily Wire, 

"On Wednesday morning, posters suddenly appeared in West Hollywood, California featuring a gay version of the Gadsden Flag featuring a rattlesnake on top of the gay rainbow. The flags also had the hashtag #ShootBack indicating a more proactive approach to gay self-defense.
The posters were attracting attention in front of the Pacific Design Center, The Abbey, West Hollywood City Hall and in front of artist Chad Michael Morrisette's house.  Morrisette had covered the roof of his house with 50 mannequins to make a statement about the Orlando shootings.

 If one picture is worth a thousand words, the series of posters surely represented an eloquent plea to the LGBT community and other Americans to stand as one (thus the "Don't Tread On Me symbol of the American Revolution), as well as a marked attempt to encourage the LGBT community to eschew their traditional pacifist role and take up arms to defend themselves, in the manner of Americans from the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War to the armed service members who defend American values to this very day."

This will create a rift in the left if this movement takes hold. I have to say I like the idea. I was thinking on Monday that if just one man had been armed at Pulse, he could have dropped Omar Mateen in his tracks and sent him straight to paradise.  

Then there's this from FOX 31 in Denver,

Gun sales are surging in the wake of Sunday’s deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Fla. The tragedy is generating new debate over gun control reform and the right to bear arms.
Gun shops typically see a spike in customers after mass shootings. But this time, many are seeing shoppers they’ve never really seen before: More gays and lesbians.
George Horne, the owner of The Gun Room, Denver’s oldest firearms dealer, said Tuesday business is booming at his store.
"For this time of year I’d say its three to four times what we normally have," he said.
Background checks that once took minutes can now take hours. It's a sales surge similar to what happened after Sandy Hook and the Aurora theater shootings.
“We’re not surprised by it,” Horne said.
However, what’s different this time around is the clientele. Mike Smith, a firearms instructor in Colorado Springs, is one of many closely tracking the sudden surge in gays and lesbians buying weapons.
“I think right now because of what happened, people are looking for answers,” he said. “You walk into a gun shop and you expect to see people, frankly, who look like me. I think we forget we’re a country of all people, not just people who fit that predetermined mold.”
The Pink Pistols is a national gun club for gays and lesbians. It saw its membership soar from about 1,500 members on Saturday to 3,500 on Monday.

The whole "Pink Pistols" thing is cute, but really, it's only logical that more gay people would know how to use firearms. We have been in the military and on your police forces for decades. Maybe it's just a case of gay self defense finally coming out of the closet. If so, the nation should welcome it.

The whole country needs to think about shooting back when things like this happen. We cannot be ruled by fear. Shootings like the Orlando incident would disappear or be minimized if perpetrators knew they would meet resistance. I like it.    

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin? Really?

I have always despised that expression because it conceals so much self righteousness. I like Mark Lowery's take on it. Please see below. There is both truth and humor in his words.

Church and State

It's been an interesting year from a political standpoint. Our choices in the presidential race betray where we are as a nation. We are divided and divided in ways that we have never been divided before. Donald Trump stands out because, even though he runs as a Republican, he is not really one of them. He has become the standard bearer of what is coming and what people really want from government; pragmatism and the ability to choose something other than one size fits all government policy. I could go on, but just let me say, he almost convinces me that voting might matter.

That's right. I don't vote. I don't need to because my vote will not make a difference. Neither will yours. Voting and democracy are an illusion. Don't be tricked.

From a Christian standpoint, there is nothing in scripture that prompts me to take part in the political process. It is inherently corrupt and corrupting. It is something I would ask all Christians to avoid like the plague. It's true that what government does, effects us all, but in the big picture of things, it does not matter for us. We are Christians. We may live in the United States, but as Christians, we are foreigners and aliens. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. Our King is Jesus Christ. Nowhere in scripture are we told to try to influence the path government or politics. We already have an everlasting kingdom. If the world chooses a different path, that is their choice. Let them go. Our responsibility to them is to preach the gospel. Plant that seed. If it grows, then we teach them what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom. Otherwise God will be their judge. They are free to choose.

Every time in history when the church involves itself in the power mechanisms of the state, it becomes corrupted. It is one of the reasons that there was a reformation movement. We need to steer clear of the political arena and share only the gospel in the public arena. In the privacy of our fellowship, we can educate each other about the tenets of the faith. We cannot expect the world to live as we do if they do not accept Christ's lordship. The notion is ridiculous. We need to tolerate them so that they will tolerate us.

I offer again here I Peter 2:9-17

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. ¹⁷ Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

Pretty simple eh? 

On Loving Sin

In the Christian world, we are taught to hate sin because God hates sin. Our faith demands that we turn away from it and toward Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith. But how does all that work from a spiritual standpoint?

I know that there are sins that I hate. I do not practice them and I abhor them in others, but what about those other sins; the ones I commit fairly often? Do I really hate them as I am supposed to? Do I really regret the things in my life that I have done that were contrary to God's will? Am I truly sorry?

My thought is that, far from hating sin, we all love it, even those of us that try to live by faith. There are things I have done in my life that were sinful, but they were also enjoyable. Nothing negative happened to me because I did them. I never received consequences. In the end they were harmless to me and in some respects, even good experience for life in the real world.

So how do we counterbalance our love of sin with what we believers see in the Bible? What has to happen to overpower our love of things that are contrary to God's will?

Some will say that we just have to 'man up' and stop doing whatever it is. God will give us the power to overcome our desires. We simply have to resist our desires and the will of the evil one; be strong. Stand firm.

Let me suggest that this will not work. You will not be able to overcome your own sin habits with will power, spirit power or intense prayer and self deprivation. Let me further suggest that these things may actually make everything worse because eventually you will fail at whatever it is you are trying so hard to prevent, you will fall into despair and depression and you may even lose your faith for a time.

Instead, let me ask you this. How much do you love Jesus?

What I find is that I am able to avoid sin because I love Him. If we can get to the point where we love Him more than we love our own desires, it becomes easier to say no. Sometimes it does not even come to mind because His love is so satisfying.

Even so, sin is like that old boyfriend that comes around once in awhile. There is still some love there. You remember the fun, but not what a jerk he could be and it goes on from there.

In those times, remember how much better loving Jesus is. If you still fail, then go to Him. He is faithful to forgive. He knows you better than you know yourself.

It all just becomes easier when you finally love Jesus more than yourself.

Orlando

I have been silent about this, waiting for more facts to emerge in regard to the shooter and I find myself puzzled by many things.

Initially we heard and read that Omar Mateen was an Islamic extremist and terrorist for ISIS that he had been investigated by the FBI in the past. As more facts came out, we learned that he had been going to this particular bar (Pulse) for quite awhile. An ex-wife has said he was gay. His current wife said he had homosexual tendencies. Some of the regular bar patrons said Omar had been patronizing Pulse for a long time, maybe as much as 3 years, that he would drink to excess and that he could be found on gay dating and hook up apps. And this is what confuses at first, but really explains it all in the end.

What kind of Muslim does these things? A bad Muslim. This guy was gay and he liked to drink. He kept a wife and family as a "beard" and trolled for boyfriends by night. His entire life was a contradiction to what he was supposed to be by faith.

It is a testimony to what an extreme religion can do to a man living in the closet that is unable to process who he is with what his faith demands.

I find myself wondering if this man was ever introduced to Christ, if he would have done any of these things. Christianity has been described by some as extreme. Christ followers have been called haters. I ask you, has a Christian of any stripe ever done anything like this in our society?

There has been much vitriol in the gay community and the Church over the morality of alternative sexualities, but there has not been any bloodshed like this. I hope and pray that it never happens. We need dialogue and we need to understand that if people reject Jesus, it is their choice. Ultimately God will judge us all. It is not for anyone to take justice into their own hands and punish. As God says, "vengeance is Mine. I shall repay". I know some of us just want to be about our Father's business. We need to remember, it's His business and not ours.

What Omar did was the result of a very confused mind. The contradictions between his faith and his desire were more than he could handle and apparently the ISIS leadership took advantage of this and offered him a one way ticket to paradise if he would do this thing.

Jesus could have given Omar that and a way to balance the apparent contradictions between who he was and what faith in the One True God demands. The way of love, grace and peace could have made Omar a true child of God. No suicide mission with death and mayhem of the many would have been required.

The whole thing is an unfortunate mess and I do not try to diminish the enormity of his crimes by saying he was confused, but all he really needed was Jesus. It would have fixed everything.

Gun control would not have stopped this.
Banning homosexual behavior would not have stopped this.
Banning Islam would not have stopped this.

Submitting to Jesus would have changed everything for Omar and saved all the lives lost at Pulse.

Islamic immigrants and LGBT people need the opportunity to hear about Jesus free of judgement, in the way of love and grace.

Is anyone really doing this? Please tell me. I want to know.  
  

Final Exhortations

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 Peter 2:9-17

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. ¹⁷ Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Rich Mullins - Brother's Keeper

Rich Mullins - Qouting Deuteronomy To The Devil

Then and Now

I was thinking about the events in my life in the last three weeks and the last six months as I was trying to wake up this morning, standing in the cold water spray of the shower. Yes, cold water. Even at 58, there are things that just will not subside without a dose of cold water. But I digress :^)))

Anyway, as I was standing there on the edge of hypothermia, it all came together in my mind.

I am sooooo saved. I feel like I have aged 100 years in the last three weeks, but the events have not thrown me into panic or depression as it would have a year ago. I am good with whatever happens because He, the Lord, is with me. I have done what He wanted me to do. I did it six months ago and I have been steadfast to do what He wanted in the last three weeks of the current difficulty.

There is peace of mind in obedience.

I know that many of you think I am an unsubmitted, unregenerate sinner at this point. To this I say, I am a sinner, but the Lord's Spirit within me is now, and has been, changing me. I see things I have never seen before with a clarity I wished I had at 23. The path is clear to me and there is no turning back. I will, I must continue to help others like me find the way to freedom. There are many places that this can be done. I do not really want to move on. I want to stay and work where I am, but I do not want to be the house homo that proves how loving and accepting everyone else is. I want to be me and I want others like me to join us. Some are already in the house, but they are now afraid to speak and be themselves because of recent events. There is a chill in the air that was not there before. It's as though someone said, "this far and no further".

I think what I need to do is dial up the hot water and try to melt the hearts of those that bring the chill. There are some whose hearts are so hard, they will just crumble to dust. So be it. The Lord always loves a remodeling project. I just cannot, at this point, bring myself to pull up stakes and move on. Now is not the time.

------------

Lord, you never gave up on me. I praise your name for that. Who am I to give up on my reluctant friends and even those that oppose me. I cannot. I must love them and do the right thing even if the whole process frustrates me and those I am loving cannot see the forest for all all the trees in their way. They are yours too. Even so, please soften their hearts, open their minds and invigorate their souls. Help them to see the contradiction in their behaviors then and now. Help me to be patient and not angry, to be merciful and not self righteous, to be loving and not vindictive.

Lord, I love you. In Your name I Pray These Things

Amen

Behold His Mighty Hand

Sometimes, despite protests to the contrary, we really have no desire to be free. We sacrifice freedom for safety and security and a life of comfort and calm. We depend on government and law to protect us from those that harm us and we depend on our employers to see to our material needs. We love our grocery stores and discount stores and paved roads and air conditioned homes with two car garages with room for a boat. Why would anyone want to get free of all that?

What we fail to realize is that we have these things because we are slaves. We have been laboring so long in the land of Egypt that we have forgotten what it means to be free.

For most of a year, Moses and his brother Aaron labored alongside the Lord to bring His people, Israel, out of slavery in the land of Egypt and into a new life where their only leader was the Lord God and their only life was one of uncertainty and trusting in His guidance. The proposition was a scary one. I can imagine that many of these people thought, "we can trust a God we cannot see and go with Him to who knows where or we can stay here in the peace and safety and plenty of this land of prosperity building monuments to dying kings."

The choice was one of trusting in uncertain circumstances versus no trust required. It would have been a no brainer for many. Why give up all of this to wander in a desert toward a place we have never heard of, lead by a God that we cannot see? Is all that suffering and uncertainty really necessary?

In the end, they decided to go, but all the way along the road people had second thoughts. Those regretful moments began on day one at the shore of the Red Sea and they continued throughout their 40 year journey.

Day One -   ¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Most of you probably know that this attitude of fear and doubt among the people and their never ending desire to appeal to the power of the state to protect them, feed them and save them, did not end well. Of all those that came out of Egypt on that day, only two families of that generation ever saw the promised land. The others of that generation died in the desert in their rebellion against a God that had set them free. Only Caleb and Joshua with their families were spared and this for their obedience and lack of fear. It was them that lead the second generation to the promised land.

You might ask, "So what's your point Jeff?"

Last year I stood at the shore of my "Red Sea" deciding whether I would obey the Lord and cross over into an age of uncertainty and adventure with Him as my only guide. I decided to cross. I trusted the Lord and His people with my last secret and I went to the desert with Him and everyone else. 

Now there are many that want to go back. They want to appeal to Pharaoh to save them rather than trust in the Lord our God for our journey. To this I say, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

The time is now to obey the Lord. Please come with me. Enjoy the security that comes with trusting in the Lord. It will not be what you were used to in Egypt, but one day you will have a land of your own flowing with milk and honey. Turn away from the kings of this world and put your eyes on Jesus. He is our King and Our Savior. Do not stand there crying out to Him. Rather, move forward in faith to an uncertain future in the desert with only Him as your guide. 

Are you ready to go? Or do you still want to seek Pharaoh's permission one more time?

Thanks Lord

Thanks Lord for a day filled with hope; for the emails from those who pray with me for peace. I lift up again their prayers to you and also mine.

Please guide the leadership of our church tonight as they move through the decision making process on things that will effect so many. Help them Lord to walk for a minute in the shoes of others. Help them to put on your sandals and know the empathy you feel toward those lost and without faith and to those with faith that need the encouragement and help of their brethren.
.

Put upon their hearts your love and grace and compassion. Help them to turn away from the path of wrath and defiance and fear. Cause in them a desire to embrace those that need you in a consistent manner and not with olive leaves in one hand and a sword in another. Help them...help us all to fear only you and nothing else.

In Your Name We Pray,

Amen! and Amen!

Glorified

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

I am feeling glorified this morning. There is a lot of crap going on right now in my life and in the lives of others in my world, but I think it is going to resolve itself in a way I do not expect and it will ultimately work out for everyone involved.  

I am up for that adventure. I started one last Sunday. I need some more.

I've been feeling betrayed or maybe 'used' is a better word. I am so over that today.

I am beginning to move on. I suppose we are all traitors to something. I am not perfect either. I know I should strive to be perfect, but I am not, and it does not bother me all that much. I find that the less perfect I am, the better I understand and relate to people.

I know self righteousness because I have been self righteous.

I know judgmentalism because I have been judgmental.   

I understand the angry because I have been angry.

And I understand stupidity, because I have been stupid. (I know. I can't believe it either.)

I have become all things to all men so that I might commiserate with some of them.

Somewhere in heaven Paul is laughing...or maybe not. 

Whatever. I am moving forward with the Lord to a glorious future

Wanna go?

Albert Einstein

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

Albert Einstein