Thought 4 Today

When preachers start talking about how all the destruction from hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and the like along with endless wars and famines are part of God's judgment, listeners almost immediately think they are crazy. I was watching the news the other night and they actually laughed after a minister suggested that recent disasters might be part of God's judgment on mankind. Honestly, I'm not surprised. If a person sees the world as a place where man evolved from nothing and the earth as nothing more than the sum of a few trillion accidents all coming together to form a place that could sustain life, then laughing at God's involvement seems only natural. But if a person knows that man himself has methodically ruined this planet with his sinfulness and that Jesus will actually soon return in the flesh, then it "ain't" so crazy sounding after all! Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:4-14 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail over His church. He did not however say that the gates of hell wouldn't try! I often wonder if many of those who call themselves Christians have any idea just how far their actions are going toward eroding the foundation of that very church. Our rampant immorality is doing more for Satan's kingdom than any of our false morality is doing for Christ's. Sexual immorality among Christians is, at least from my estimation, at an all time high. And, I'm not just talking about physical acts, but what we watch, read, ponder and talk about as well. Others in the church see the immorality and they figure, "Hey, this must be acceptable in the church" or "I've got my needs, too." Those outside the church want nothing to do with it--Hey, even the blind can see it's not right! What's weird is that every one of these demonic themes were dealt with in the early church and are chronicled in the New Testament. We would do well by studying them today (See 1st and 2nd Corinthians for starters). But that not withstanding, even our own consciences and the Holy Spirit are undoubtedly active in convicting those who are talking about Jesus with one side of their mouth and serving themselves with the other. Why are we not listening? Do we really want to be on the wrong side of this battle, steadily helping with the erosion of the Church? We do not gain salvation by right living, but we certainly show we have it by honoring our Father with the way we live. Working to destroy the tenants of the Christian faith (as my grandmother would have put it) "Just ain't Christian!" We need to be busy being holy, and requiring the same of our brothers and sisters. "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

There are a vast number of people alive today who will readily tell you they are Christians. Some are and some, unfortunately, are not. Telling the difference is difficult at times because just being nice and having some Sunday School experience seems to give people the right to identify with Jesus if they like. But is that true Christianity? If following God was easy the prophets and apostles would not have been killed for it! I don't want to set anyone on the path to a judgmental attitude, but just like a child needs to know not to follow a man who claims to need help finding his puppy, a Christian needs to be wise about the Truth! Be careful who you follow. "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother." 1 John 3:10 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

The Scriptures tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom (Psalm 111:10). "Fear" in this sense can be more accurately translated as "reverence" or maybe better put in today's terms as "profound awe" (from which we get the word awesome). That being said, we can conclude that seeing God rightly, in total reverence and awe, is the first thing we must do if we are to ever be wise on His terms. I have a lot of people who come to me with questions about God. They quite often get irritated and sometimes even angry when they don't understand what I'm trying to communicate. Often, the lack of understanding is not in my explanation, or even in their ability to think rationally. It's in the fact that they don't hold God in high esteem. Look at it this way. If you think God is a colossal kill-joy, looking to keep you from any fun you're looking to have, then you'll never understand why He would send His only Son to die on a cross. Not starting with "the fear of the Lord" keeps you from understanding anything about Him. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." Psalm 111:10 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

The power of suggestion is an amazing thing. I'm not a psychologist or even an elementary practitioner of the science. I do, however, remember being led astray by all types of crazy suggestions by the young people I grew up with. Young people today face even more of an indoctrination of devilish ideas, and not just from other young people. Teachers, professors, people of other religions, and even some sections of the Christian church are busy giving young people a fire-hose dose of whatever they think about God. They make suggestions that make itching ears feel good. "A God that won't judge you!" for example. Be very careful about who you take suggestions from, and weigh everything with the Scriptures before you consider it factual. Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:8-9 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Those of the Jewish faith, some of other religions, and even some Christian denominations still consider some foods "clean" and "unclean" based on Old Testament Scriptures. I've read up on this a little, but being a Christian living in the Church Age (after the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus), we now have a better understanding of many of the principles God was trying to teach us in the Old Testament. There were many burdens the Lord laid on people to teach them that they, as sinners, could never completely obey and obtain a righteousness of their own. They were "unclean" inside even when they practiced every religious doctrine. We can give thanks to God for the understanding we gain from the Old Testament Scriptures, and give more thanks we are now free from the burdens of the Law. We can also give Him praise we are made clean not because of what we do or do not eat, but because of His incredible Grace! He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 7:20-23) Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

We live in an age where people demand respect. If some don't get the amount of it they think they deserve, they'll strike out at those who aren't giving it. No doubt people have been killed and even wars have started because of the perception of a lack of respect among people, races, countries, etc. Suffice it to say that although there are clearly some biblical positions some Christians are called to hold that do demand some level of respect from brothers and sisters (pastor, elder, etc.), those who fill these positions are rarely those who demand respect. They focus on serving instead of being served, and the Lord tells us to respect them. We've all heard it said "vengeance is the Lord's," but there's even more to it than that. When someone strikes us, we're supposed to praise God and turn the other cheek. When someone calls us a name because of Jesus, we are to pray for them and bless them. And even if we are disrespected to the point of death, those truly operating by the power of the Holy Spirit will be beseeching the Lord on behalf of those who are doing them evil. If you demand respect from anyone, you just might be proving you don't deserve it. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:59-60 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Jesus loves His bride. He cannot wait for the day when He comes to bring her (the Church) home. Unfortunately, the bride is often a runaway. Endlessly slowing His coming instead of speeding it. She says she loves Jesus, too, but often she's doing anything but focusing on Him or the work He left for her to do. I don't think it's ironic that Jesus cries out to the churches in the Book of Revelation seven times -- "Repent!" Which literally means, agree with your God and turn from your wicked ways! "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from it's place." Revelation 2:4-5 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate