The Lord is my Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

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. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

 and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. 

                                                                                                  Psalm 23

What more can we want than the Lord as our Shepherd?
With God in our life we can go through anything. Even in the midst of sorrow and trials God is there for us.
Psalm 139:13-18 states,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 
 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”
To put your trust in God is a wonderful thing.
We will go through a lot in life but if we know the Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we have nothing to fear.
A few years ago I was found to have a cancerous tumour on my leg. Worse yet it had spread to the lymph nodes in my groin.
As a result I had underwent an operation to remove the tumour and the affected Lymph nodes.
Thirty nine days later I was rushed to hospital with two massive blood clots in my lungs and one in my groin, the result of the cancer surgery.
I could have died. Yet I felt no fear.
I honestly can’t say I quoted any particular scripture. Although both Psalm 23 and 139 did come to mind.
I can however remember being completely calm. I had no fear because I knew God was with me. And Christians always win.
Were I to die I knew I would be in the arms of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Were I to live, which obviously I did. I would have a wonderful testimony of how God was there for me.
God has always been there for me. Letting God into my life was the best decision I have ever made.
Over the fifty-nine years I have lived, sadly, I have witnessed a lot of personal tragedy. Yet I know God has always been their for me.
And he can be for you. Will you at least consider making Jesus Lord of your life today.
Think about it.

Weeds

“He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.  
The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,  and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  
They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” 
            Matthew 13:37-43 Jesus explaining the parable of the weeds.

Jesus in explaining the parable of the weeds makes it clear that one day there will be judgment on the earth.
That weeds, the “sons of the evil one” will be plucked up and burned in the fire. In other words the world will be cleaned up once and for all. The evil of the world removed leaving the true believer to “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
Weeds can infest everything. They grow easily even when the good seed cannot.
The church is not immune from weeds and sin creeping in.
Over the years we have heard of many prominent evangelist who have let sin enter their lives and thus has destroyed their ministry.
There are also ministers and evangelist out their who are out their perverting the word of God for their own gain.
We must as Christians be careful about who we put our trust in.
We need to look long and hard at what the minister or evangelist is saying. We need from time to time question what they are saying. Asking does what they are saying truly line up with the overall word of God. Or is the person just ‘cherry’ picking. Putting together verses that make what the preacher is saying sound correct, when it really isn’t.
We need to examine what is being said.
Look at all the verses quoted in the context they were used in the chapters they were taken from.
As Christians we need to be asking hard questions of our pastors, teachers and evangelist.
It is essential that we ask them to explain anything we don’t understand or seems like it is being misinterpreted.
An honest preacher will never shy away from questions.
My pastor and I jointly teach a bible study every Wednesday. We have an agenda. We study various books of the bible and biblical topics systematically.
We are however open at any time to questions about anything.
For us a typical bible study opens by asking if anyone has any questions about anything before we start the study. People are also encouraged to stop us at any time during the study to ask questions.
The questions asked particularly prior to the start of the study have been from a wide range of topics, usually unrelated to our study. They are questions people have about what they have read during the week to what they have heard on television, radio or other forms of media.
We do our best to answer all the questions then and there.  Which praise God we have nearly always been able to do so.
Every now and then while we can quote the verse pertaining to the answer we sometimes can’t find it. At that point we tell the person we’ll have the quote for the following week or for Sunday.
This I believe is how it should be.
We are even going to the point of bringing a lap top computer to our studies in the new year as one more resource in helping us study better.
I truly believe the individual should be able to question the pastor or priest of their own church. They should be able to write and expect an answer from evangelist about what they have spoken.
I believe it is up to the individual to pray and read the scriptures asking God for guidance. It is up to us to read commentaries on the scriptures from reputable sources as well as read some church history.
We in the west particularly here in North America have a great deal of resources at our finger tips. Be it from the library, Christian book stores, or the internet, the ability to inform ourselves on what is right doctrinally is there.
   By being well informed we can see for ourselves when a church leader, be they a bible study teacher, priest, pastor, or evangelist is wrong and can take appropriate action to avoid the false teaching.
In a world of mass media it is easy for false teaching to enter the church. It is easy for sinful men to masquerade as honest teachers.
Jesus makes it clear that all those who do evil will one day be plucked up and cast into the fire. Until then however we need to be aware. Asking God to lead us to all that is truth.
So going into this new year of 2014 let us all pray that God will show His glorious truth through His people wherever they may be.
May this year truly be a year when all Christians everywhere reach a record number of people for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

A Saviour that is Christ the Lord

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” 
                                                                                   Luke 2:8-11

On this day when we as Christians celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, may you find the Peace, Joy and Love that only Christ can give.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy new year to all.

Salvation

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,  
Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 
For my eyes have seen your salvation, 
which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 
                                                                                                           Luke 2:25-32

“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”  The words of Simeon upon seeing Jesus.
Proof Christianity is about God reaching down to man.
Throughout the centuries every culture has believed in an afterlife. They have prepared the bodies of their dead for the afterlife in various ways. Everything from building the pyramids of Egypt to placing simple items people deemed important into graves.
In every case religions of the world have tried to reach up to God. To be as good as they could be.
To meditate to find ultimate enlightenment in the hopes of attaining nirvana or true perfect enlightenment.
Only in Christianity and Judaism, do we see God reaching down to mankind.
God started it all off when he reached down to Abram,
“The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” 
                        Genesis 12:1,2
Because Abram followed God in faith, from his  descendants came the ultimate blessing of salvation to all people through Jesus.
In Jesus we have the infinite God, the creator of the universe enter His own creation and show in purely human terms his love for mankind and just how far He would go to redeem sinful man.
Jesus came into the world to live a perfect life and to die for the sins of every individual that has ever lived or will live.
Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  
     John 3:16,17
 Salvation is a free gift from God all one has to do is accept it.
It’s like being invited to a fine feast. The perfect meal that is beneficial to you in all ways. Yet if you do not eat it, it is of no use to you.
Jesus in John 3:18 issues a warning to those who refuse His salvation when he says   “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
                                                                                           John 3:18.
There is no grey areas when it comes to salvation one must accept it as Christ points out or reject it and accept the consequences.
The choice dear reader is yours.
Think about it.

Christ and Christians

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem  
and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.  
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.  
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’’” 
                                                                                                                Matthew 2:1-6

It is believed the Magi mentioned here were from Persia. They had travelled possibly for weeks to reach Jerusalem where they ask Herod  “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews.”
Herod must have been furious on the inside. Although he obviously didn’t indicate it to the Magi.
Herod the Great (37-4BC) was a ruthless ruler appointed by the Romans. He murdered his wife, his three sons, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and many, many more. Including the babies of Bethlehem.
Herod would have immediately wanted to know the whereabouts of this king whom he would perceive as a threat to his authority.
What Herod didn’t realize was he was fighting God.
God warned the Magi not to return to Herod and they returned to their homeland by another rout.
Mary and Joseph were also warned and slipped away to the safety of Egypt making Jesus technically a political refugee.
With nothing more to go on than the fact that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, Herod took his wrath out on the innocent babies of Bethlehem.
Herod like all despots failed to see the obvious, that if the prophesy was true he would be fighting God Almighty. A fight he couldn’t win.
Over the centuries many rulers have arisen and tried to take down the church. Today according to humanitarian groups Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world.
These persecutors like Herod fail to see that if indeed Christianity is the way to God. They are fighting God Himself.
The Christians over the centuries have suffered horrendous deaths. They died in the death camps of Hitler. They died for doing what was right protecting God’s people and anyone else that faced persecution under the Nazis.
Christians have died in the gulag’s of the Communist. Simply because they were Christians.
Likewise they have been crucified and tortured  under the regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia and under countless other dictators and despotic regimes.
Christian churches and their houses have been burned by their opponents in riots around the world.
Yet the church still continues on with the message of God’s love and mercy to all mankind.
Perhaps of all of the great Christian leaders in my lifetime Martin Luther King jr. expressed best Christian ideals when he said,

"We thank thee, O God, for the spiritual nature of man.

We are in nature but we live above nature.

Help us never to let anybody or

any condition pull us so low as to cause us to hate.

Give us strength to love our enemies and to do good

to those who despitefully use us and persecute us.

We thank thee for thy Church,

founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more

than sing and pray, but go out and work as though

the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee.

Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through all eternity.

Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace;

help us to walk together, pray together, sing together,

and live together until that day when all God’s children,

Black, White, Red, and Yellow will rejoice

in one common bond of humanity in the kingdom

of our LORD and of our God, we pray.

Amen."

Jesus came onto the world to offer salvation to all mankind. From the most despotic dictators such as Herod to the most innocent of children.
His message over the centuries is simple,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Matthew 11:28-30 

Will you consider giving your life to Christ?

If you have any questions please feel free to Email me at nealbelieves@gmail.com

A Look at Christmas

Any educated Christian will agree with you that the 25th of December is not the actual birthday of Jesus. Pope Julius I, in the fourth century set the date for Christmas in an effort to Christianise pagan celebrations.
The Puritans in England banned the celebration of Christmas from the time of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to the middle of the 1800's.
They believed in a strict moral code consisting of prayer and close adherence to the New Testament scriptures.
They believed that since the actual date of Jesus’s birth is not known it should not be celebrated. Especially since the celebration closely resembled the drunken celebration of the Saturnalia of the Romans. The very thing Pope Julius I had tried to change by fixing the date of Christmas on December 25th.
The result was to ban all celebratory activities including decorating houses with evergreens and even the eating of mince pies.
Banning something never works. The result was that when the Victorian era broke Christmas as we know it today came with it.
The Victorians saw the rise of the middle class who had money to spare and at first made it a time of family events with presents and feasting.
They were inspired by the writings of Dickens and his ideals.
Today in the twenty-first century admittedly Christmas celebrations have started to move far away from what the Victorians envisioned Christmas to be. Back some would say to the Saturnalia.
Let’s face it when stores can make forty percent of their years profits in the weeks leading up to Christmas it should tell us we are moving far away from that birth in a Bethlehem stable.
Do people really need an extra gadget. Do they have to spend two hundred, three hundred, a thousand dollars on Christmas gifts?
I like celebrating Christmas. I like my family around me. I even like getting gifts, who doesn’t. But I’m content with what I have.
To me Christmas is sharing and listening to the Christmas story all over again.
In our house we have a tradition. Christmas day morning we get up and read the Christmas story from Luke. It’s a tradition we’ve had since our children were young.
Today my youngest is in his late twenties and still we read the story.
The story means a lot to us. It is the day when God the creator of heaven and earth chose to come into his creation and experience all that it is to be human.
To present us personally with a choice. A choice Jesus spoke of in John 3:16-17 when He is recorded as saying,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

 that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

 but to save the world through him.  

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 

because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”  

The choice is yours dear reader. Do you believe that Jesus truly in the one and only Son of God?
That he came to earth to die for your sins?
Think about it.
Email me with what you think at nealsbeliefs@gmail.com.

Christmas

Christmas
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
So al went to be registered everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
                                                                                       Luke 2:1-7
Christmas. I have been asked why we celebrate Christmas, especially since the bible gives no date for his birth and experts say it more than likely wasn’t December 25th.
Pope Julius I set the date in the fourth century with the best of intents. Hoping to Christianise the Saturnalia a pagan celebration.
According to what I’ve read by 529 December 25th was a civic holiday.
Throughout the history of Christianity Christian fathers in their wisdom have tried to put Christian meaning to pagan things, the Christmas tree, mistletoe, holly, even carols.
For the most part they succeeded. Not many people in the twenty-first century know what mistletoe or holly meant to the Druids or other pagan groups.
Christians have also been responsible for banning Christmas celebrations.
During the reign of Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603) the puritans banned Christmas celebrations right down to the eating of mince pies. Partly because such celebrations tended to be quite raucous and drunken affairs.
The puritans believed in a strict moral code with copious amounts of prayer.
This ban on Christmas lasted until the Victorian era who broke the ban with a vengeance. Giving us what is essentially our modern Christmas an odd combination of Christian and pagan ways.
Looking at Christmas as we approach Christmas 2013 it seems like in the west the pagan ways are winning.
The world has really stepped in with its call to give bigger, brighter and more expensive presents. Forgetting altogether that it is Jesus’s birthday we are celebrating and it is to him we should be giving our gifts of praise.
I as a Christian for over forty years like Christmas. I don’t like the consumerism force upon us in the western world.
Do we in the west really need another gadget in our home? Do our children need designer toys that cost way too much?
I like my family around me, it’s a feel good thing. We exchange gifts but shun the expensive.
I know my wife and children love me and just as importantly love and serve the Lord their God with all their hart and soul.
And that’s what Christmas is all about. Remembering who Jesus is. Serving Him to the best of our ability and rejoicing over the God of our salvation with our family and friends.
So as we enter the Christmas season we need to heed the words of one of the founders of the Greek Church St Gregory Nazianzen who in 389AD warned us about going to excesses in our celebration.
We need to join with the psalmist who wrote,

Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD. 

                                                                                          Psalm 150: 1-6
Think about it.

My Beliefs

Someone asked me what I believe here in its simplest form is what I believe,

I believe Jesus as recorded by the apostle John when he says, 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through him.  

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 

because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

                                                                                                   John 2:16-18
I believe Jesus is the only way to heaven. Jesus saying,

“Jesus answered, 

“I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

                                                                                              John 14:6

I believe we are saved through faith. The words of the apostle Paul stating.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves,

 it is the gift of God—  

not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

                                                                                Ephesians 2:8,9

I believe the words of the writer of Hebrews when he writes,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                                                          Hebrews 11:6
I believe Faith is,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

                                                                                Hebrews 11:1
I believe,

“If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just

         and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 

                                                                                                              1John 1:9
Think about it.

Questions? email me at nealsbeliefs@gmail.com

Who is Jesus?

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
 “You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ? "
                           Hebrews 1:1-5
Who is Jesus?
He is the very Son of God. “
”The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” states the writer of Hebrews.
It is he who provided purification of our sins. Sitting down at the right hand of God.
Over the years I have heard of some religious groups saying Jesus was an angel. The writer of Hebrews here puts that argument to rest by saying
“he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 
For to which of the angels did God ever say, 
“You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” ? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ? 
Angels are flawed. An angel could not have paid the price for our sins. The only one who could come to earth and live a perfect life despite all the temptations and could pay the price for our sins is the very Son of God. The second person of the trinity.
The writer of Hebrews noting that it was “through whom he made the universe.” Again angels did not create the universe they themselves are created beings.
John wrote,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:1-3.
Jesus was there on the day of creation. He took part in the very creation of the universe. Therefore it is obvious that he was God.
Genesis 1:26a states, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,...” the “in our image” is a further reference to the trinity of which Jesus is a part.
He had part in creating man.
The facts with respect to who Jesus are very clear, Jesus is God incarnate. The whole New Testament testifies to this. John 1:14 stating,
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The apostles and the various writers of the New Testament all agree on this.
Jesus himself stating “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30.
There is therefore no room for us to question who Jesus is. The Bible makes it clear that He indeed is God and asks us to believe also.
Think about it.

Pray, Pray, Pray

“Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,  
because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” 
       Luke 11:5-10.

Here Jesus gives a simple statement of truth about prayer. He urges believers to be persistent in their prayers to God. Assuring them that their prayers will be answered by God.
I think however there must be a caution here.
When we pray we must pray for the right things and we must pray in accordance with God’s will.
All too often I have seen Christians praying to be millionaires or for fancy cars or luxuries they don’t need. And when God doesn’t answer their prayers they wonder why.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with asking God to provide a good income for us. It’s when we get greedy and start asking for things in excess.
The Lords prayer states, “Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). 
What Jesus is saying here in Luke 11:5-10 is that we need to pray continually asking for what we need. Keeping the lines of communication open between ourselves and God.
God knows if we need a Rolls Royce. He also knows that most times all we need is small sub compact  or for that matter no car at all, allowing the extra money to go into ministry or other things of importance in our life.
  God  also knows what we can handle. All one has to do is listen to the horror stories of some people who won millions in the lottery, only to find themselves unable to handle the money and end up broke.
We serve a good God. Who answers our prayers according to His will.
And we as Christians need to draw near to God. Through prayer and studying the Bible. Thus when we pray it will be more in tune to God’s will than our own.
 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” states Jesus.
So the lesson is this we need to be continually asking God for what is best for our lives. We need to seek after God’s perfect will for our lives, and we need to be continually knocking on heavens door in order that it will be opened and we will receive full measure of what God has for our lives.
Think about it.

Praise the Lord

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

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. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and

 I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. "

                                                                                                         Psalm 23

Over the last couple of years my wife and I have gone through a lot with respect to our health. I had cancer surgery that was successful. However I developed to quote the doctor, “large blood clots on my lungs and in my groin” I should have died but by the grace of God I didn’t.
My wife already having some minor health problems ended up in hospital, in intensive care for a week then six more weeks in hospital. When she came out she couldn’t walk. Today she get around using a walker for short distances and a wheel chair for longer distances.
Someone asked me why would God let you go through such things. I told him that it was simply a part of life.
We live in a world filled with illnesses. I know over the years I’ve been exposed to carcinogens. And at times my wife and I don’t eat right.
The food we eat depending on where it comes from has been in contact with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We over the years have breathed in our fair share of pollution. Such is life in the twenty-first century.
Still God has been good to us. He has been their for us in our darkest days.  
Years ago when our then eight year old son let go of my wife’s hand and dashed across a highway and was hit by a car doing eighty kilometres an hour God was their.
My son was in a coma for a week. All we could do was pray and have our friends pray.
The doctors told us the longer in the coma the worse the potential outcome. Today he’s in his mid thirties and normal. No one can tell that he was in such a serious accident.
My younger son earlier this year was helping build an orphanage in Kenya. He fell from a ladder and broke both bones in his left leg.
Amazingly he was near what some have called the finest hospital in Africa. Not only that there was a top bone specialist from England there for other reasons. He fixed my son’s leg.
The Canadian doctors telling him it couldn’t have been done any better here in Canada.
God is truly good and no one can convince me otherwise.
I know that as long as I continue to follow Him he will lead me by those still waters even in the midst of adversity.
As a result I will echo the words of the psalmist when he says,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”

                                                                                           Psalm 150

November 11th

Today is remembrance day in Canada. The day when we remember not only those who paid the ultimate price in war, but those who served in the armed forces in two world wars, Korea, Afghanistan and as peacekeepers around the world.

On a plaque at a Korean War memorial in Peel County Ontario Canada there is a quote from Romans 14:19

“Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace.”

We remember them by wearing a red poppy.
However I noticed there are people out there passing out white poppies claiming to be for peace. Claiming the red poppy stands for war.
These people, as sincere as they are, are misguided and miss the true meaning of the poppy.
Any soldier will tell you they hate war. War brings about only suffering and death. No one in there right mind would want such a thing.
I would go as far as saying those involved with the white poppy campaign have done little more than protest about war and injustice.
The veterans on the other had put their lives on the line, some even giving the final sacrifice to ensure the freedoms we have today.
They by giving selflessly of their lives, have done more than any protest or letter writing campaign no matter how well meaning to further the cause of peace.
Hitler was not, nor could he be defeated by demonstrations. Many did demonstrate against him only to find themselves in concentration camps or murdered.
Neville Chamberlain the British prime minister of the day, with the best of intentions returned home with a piece of paper signed by Hitler and proclaimed "I have returned from Germany with peace for our time."  While behind his back Hitler is reported to have said it is only a piece of paper, and within a year had plunged the world into world war two.
Sometimes sadly there is no alternative than to go to war.
Can you imagine what it would have been like had those, then young Allied men and women refused to go to war against such evil or failed in their endeavour?
Winston Churchill the man that replaced Chamberlain put it this way,
“But if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.” 
 The ramifications of the Allies losing the second world war are almost impossible to comprehend.
Certainly those who are giving out the white poppy and indeed many of us born after the second world war may never have been born.
Dear reader,
 on this day let us give thanks to God for our freedoms and for the men and women who served and those who serve today in our armed forces.
For it is to them, every man woman and child in this country and every country that enjoys freedom owes an unimaginable debt of thanks.
May God bless them in all they do.

All to Jesus

Read Matthew 16:13-27

"He said to them,

 “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered and said,

 “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus answered and said to him,

 “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,

 but My Father who is in heaven.

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and  the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it....

Then Jesus said to His disciples,

 “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, 

and take up his cross, and follow Me.

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, 

but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, 

and lose his own soul?  

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels,

 and then He will reward each according to his works."

                                                                                       Matthew 16:15-18, 24-27
There’s something important, here, to note.  When Jesus asked Peter who He was, Peter said Jesus was the Son of God.  To which Christ notes, it was God who revealed it to Him.
Jesus simply presented Himself to the disciples and those around Him, He went out and ministered the Word of God.  He let people make the decision on who He was.  They either accepted Him or rejected Him, the choice was always theirs.
That’s the way we are to be. We are simply to present the Gospel.  Present Christ to people, and let them decide on who Jesus is.
By accepting  Christ, we are becoming the church itself.  It is something we can’t take lightly. Which is the other point here.
We must consider the cost, that’s why I believe that Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  (Matthew 16:24)
In some parts of the world when a person comes to know Christ and is taking the important step of baptism they ask the person “are you willing to die for Christ?”
It’s that serious because they are rejected by family and live within a very hostile environment.

Something to think about

Christ from the outset, made it clear that following Him would not always be easy; there would be persecution, even death, but the rewards would be great.
We in North America have it easy. We don’t have to fear death for becoming a Christian.
Frequently all we are asked to do is give up a few bad habits and to make a few lifestyle changes.
Yet still many people are not willing to give up even that.
We are called to take up the cross and follow Him.  No matter how much we have or how little, we must be willing to give it up. This is the call of Christ.
“All to Jesus I surrender all to Him I freely give.” states the words of an old hymn.
  Are you willing to do that? Are you if necessary willing to give up your life for Christ and stand up for the Gospel.

The Needy

“ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field 

or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  

Do not go over your vineyard a second time 

or pick up the grapes that have fallen. 

Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.” 

                                                                   Leviticus 19:9,10
Do you remember the poor?
Sometime ago I gave a ride to someone I know into downtown St. Catharines. She noticed a man who appeared to be drunk calling various people around him dirty names.
She commented “drunk and it’s only ten in the morning.”
On another occasion we were near a place that serves food to the needy, when she commented, “why don’t they get a job.”
On both occasions her comments disgusted me. The man on the street calling people names was schizophrenic and wouldn’t stay on his meds.
In his case it would be easy to say well it’s his fault that he doesn’t stay on his medication. But as someone with a mental illness I can relate.
Quite often especially when you’re first being treated the medications can make you feel like a zombie.
Or you take the meds, they make you feel good so you think you’re cured and get off them only to find yourself in worse shape and quite often unaware that you need those meds.
As for the people being served food in many cases had tried to get jobs but they were in a catch twenty-two situation.
Sadly many of them had some kind of mental illness or they had fallen so far down the social ladder that many of them didn’t have fixed addresses. No fixed address made it almost impossible to get a job even if they had the skills to do so.
The above quote from Leviticus nine reminds us that we need to make provisions for the poor around us.
I hear politicians say the social welfare system should be a way of giving a person a hand up not a hand out. Sadly at least where I live it only gives a hand out despite what the politicians say.
Now living in Canada is not as bad as the United States.
In Canada going to the doctor or hospital is fully covered but it’s the things the government doesn’t cover that’s the problem  
I know several people who are on government disability benefits here in Ontario. The benefits while they give the recipient drug, basic dental and eye glasses, they system does not give them much to live on. In some cases around seven hundred dollars a month.
This when the average cost of an apartment is five hundred dollars or more per month and there’s a waiting list for subsidised housing of five years.
So with a cheap apartment at a minimum of five hundred dollars you have to take into account the person needs bus fair to get around the city which can run around a hundred dollars for a monthly pass. That leaves precious little for food and other basics.
I once asked a disabilities benefit worker if there were any programs that the government run that would help those on benefits get skills needed to get into the work force.
The answer was no. So much for giving a person a hand up.
The same is basically true for those on welfare.
Many people I’ve met that are on welfare want to work the trouble is they don’t have the skills to get anything decent.
If they do take a low paying job instantly they loose their dental and drug plans. Which if you’re disabled is necessary.
I know several people who have to take large amounts of medications costing hundreds of dollars a month. Going off welfare or disability benefits means they’d have to pay all that themselves from a minimum wage job which in Ontario is ten dollars an hour sixteen hundred a month before the tax man takes his bite.
I think we as Christians particularly the big churches with several thousand in their congregations need to start looking for ways to help the poor more than just giving them simply food as noble as that is.
There is a saying that states.
“Give a man a fish and it feeds him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a life time.”
Think of all the positive things that setting up an adult training centre in a church in the name of Jesus would generate.
Centres that as far as possible train people for jobs that are needed within the community around them.
Acts 2:44-47 states,
“All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
                                     Acts 2:44-47
This portion of scripture tells me that the believers ensured everyone’s need was met. Not only that it was evident to the people around them that they were doing good and thus the early church enjoyed favour with those around them.
Think about the kind of favour it would bring if the very large churches or groups of small churches got together to offer job’s training free of charge to both those in need within the church and those outside the church.
What a witness!
Think about it.

Be Humble

Read Matthew 23:1-12

"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,

saying, “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,

 but do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do...

“But all their works they do to be seen by men.  

They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

“Greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’...

“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

                                                                                                  Matthew 23:1-3,5-7,11,12
Jesus is referring to the scribes and Pharisees wanting to be seen by everyone.
They were arrogant, puffed up.  They lacked humility and a servant’s heart.
We need to look very carefully at our lives.  Do we have a servant’s heart?  Do we love the LORD our God with all our heart and soul?  If so, are we following Jesus’ example.
Jesus washed the dirty feet of His disciples.  When was the last time you washed the feet of anyone?
It’s normal in church to want to be in the high profile positions.  To be performing in the choir or leading worship.  There’s just something that appeals to one’s ego, about being at the front, visible to all.
Somehow compared to changing a diaper in the nursery, leading worship is just more appealing.  Yet, that child needs the help of someone perhaps more than the church needs a worship leader.
I worked for a large institution, one time, as a janitor.  When you started, the first thing they put you on was cleaning washrooms.  I cleaned thirteen public washrooms, which included thirty toilets for my first year there.  Most people didn’t last that long, they quit even though the money and benefits were excellent.
Those “who paid their dues on washroom duty” usually stayed with the company a long time and did an excellent job.  It proved a bonus for the company, because they found out who really wanted the job.  Who was really willing to serve the company.
Something to think about:

            Christianity is about service.
It’s about Christ leaving His thrown in heaven to become a servant. John 3:16 states it clearly “  "For God so loved the world that he gave...” God gave of himself that we may have eternal life.
God sent His only Son down from the security of heaven to die for our sins.
If we are to be effective as Christians we have to have that same servants heart. We have to be willing to do anything for Christ. Be it cleaning the church wash rooms, changing a dirty diaper in the nursery or ministering the word of God to our neighbour.
We must be willing to do those hidden, thankless jobs around the church and do them without hesitation or thought of reward.  Are you?

On Being Christians

On Being Christian

C. C. Montefore said something  of Jews that can also be said of Christians,
“We Jews (Christians) have a more pressing responsibility for our lives and beliefs that perhaps any other religious community.
Don’t shelter yourself in any course of action by the idea that ‘it is my affair.’  It is your affair, but it is also mine and the community.  Nor can we neglect the world beyond.  A fierce light bears upon the Jew (the Christian).  It is a grave responsibility this—to be a Jew,(Christian) and you can’t escape from it, even if you choose to ignore it.  Ethically or religiously, we can be and do nothing light-heartedly."
Salvation comes from the Jews through Christ.
 Christianity is not a religion it is a lifestyle we choose to follow. A lifestyle we should not choose lightly.
Christianity is not a Sunday morning go to church thing.
We do not become Christians simply because our parents and grandparents were Christians.
It is a personal choice we make when we are old enough to understand what we are doing.
It is a moment by moment way of living in word and in deed. Following in the footsteps of Christ.
And people are watching us.
Non-Christians that know us, know we go to church and claim to be Christians but do they see Christ in us. It is imperative that they see and hear, in both our words and our deeds the message we have for the world.
Jesus said,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish 

but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through him. 

                                                                               John 3:16,17

“I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father 

except through me.” 

                                                                      John 14:6
In Matthew 7:1 He says,

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” 

He also states,

“....“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart 

and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  

This is the first and greatest commandment.  

And the second is like it: 

‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

                                                                                            Matthew 22:37-40
These are the basic pillars of Christianity. These are the beliefs we are to take to the world.
Our God is an all inclusive God that has provided a way for all mankind to come to know him personally.
As Christians this must be what we want to do most of all. And it must beyond a shadow of a doubt be what we present to the world by our lifestyle.
Someone once said to me we should always be a witness for Christ no matter where we are even if we don’t use words.
                          Think about it.

Tribute to a Faithful man

“Then Jesus came to them and said, 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

                                                                                      Matthew 28:18-20

He said to them, 

“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, 

but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

                                                                                      Matthew 16:15,16
On October 19th 2013 a faithful man died. He never became a household name but I’m sure today heaven is rejoicing.
His name Konstantin Vladianu. He was born in Pinzaran Moldova in the former Soviet Union. He died in Hamilton Ontario Canada.
His obituary reads in part.
“Konstantin’s faith in God was the most central thing in his life. He was very involved in the secret underground church, and he was a gifted preacher, blessed with dreams and visions from God which directed his life. He led his family by example in sacrificial giving of his time and resources.”
Konstantin truly knew what it was to serve God. To go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation and he did it under pain of imprisonment. Something few people here in the western world have ever experienced.
He did this because his first love was God and he was obedient to God’s word.
As Christians particularly here in the west we need to from time to time evaluate what we are doing for God.
Are we truly going into all the world our world, be that world within our country, our city, town or simply to our neighbour.
Think about it will you as a Christian one day stand before God and hear him say well done thou good and faithful servant?

Be prepared

Read Acts 26

“And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise

 made by God to our fathers.

“To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain.  

For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

“Why should it be thought incredible by you 

that God raises the dead?...

 “Therefore, King Agrippa, 

I was not disobedient to the heavenly realm,

“but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem,

 and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles,

 that they would repent, turn to God, 

and do works befitting repentance.

When he had said these things the king stood up as well as the governor and Bernice

 and those who sat with them.

and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying,

 “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

                                                                                               Acts 26:6-8,19-21,30,31
Paul was prepared.  Paul had studied the Word of God and was able to give a good account of himself.
I hear, many in the church say “don’t worry about what you are going to say, God will put the words in your mouth.”  That maybe true, but we need to give a good account of ourselves.
Paul when writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 states this:

“Do your best to present yourself to God

as one approved,

a workman who does not need to be ashamed

and who correctly handles the Word of truth.”

Christians, both leaders and laity, constantly misuse Scripture.  Sometimes, it is out of deception.  Most times, I believe it is our lack of understanding.
It is imperative, that we study the Word of God to understand, what it means and how to use it.
Paul here, uses the Word of God very effectively.  He is standing before both a Roman, who doesn’t have a complete understanding of Scripture and King Agrippa, who knew the Word.
He lays down his argument in a way that both understood.  The result, was they pronounced him innocent.
We need to be like Paul, to study the Word of God, and know it in context.  We should also do our best to look at a bit of the history around the Scriptures, which will also give us a bit more insight.
Something to think about
You can use Scripture to produce almost any scenario you want.  When taken out of context, anything can be made to sound right.  The only way, we can be certain that we are getting the right message out there is to study the Word of God.
The words of Paul to Timothy are just as important to us in this century:

“Do your best to present yourself to God

as one approved,

a workman who does not need to be ashamed

and who correctly handles the Word of truth.”

One day we will have to give an account to God. Will you be able to stand before Him and not be ashamed?

Forgiveness

Read Matthew 18:21-35

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, 

as we forgive our debtors.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, 

your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

                                                                                  Matthew 6:11,12,14
Then Peter came to Him and said,

“LORD, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  

Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him,

 “I do not say to you, up to seven times,

 but up to seventy times seven.

                                                                                              Matthew 18:21,22
Do you forgive?  Do you truly forgive?  Do you practice forgiveness even to the one who has wronged you the most.
As Christians, we can’t afford not to forgive.  If as Christians, we truly believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light, that no one can come to the Father but by Him, then we can’t afford not to forgive.  The eternal resting place of those around us, depends on us.
If we have unforgiveness in our hearts, then it becomes very difficult to witness.  We might even become a stumbling block to those whom we don’t forgive.
To be a Christian is to be like Christ.  We must do as He did.  Although, He had the right to judge as God, He didn’t.
Jesus forgave the very people responsible for crucifying Him.  What more of an example can we have?
Our call is to love even our enemies, listen to the words of Jesus:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

“that you maybe sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise

 on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

“For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? 

 Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

“And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? 

 Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

"Therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

                                                                                             Matthew 5:43-48
In order to love someone, we must be able to forgive them.  Thus, Jesus said we must forgive and not keep track of how many times we forgive.
Paul states,

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though Io give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Something to think about:
Love is the key to forgiving.
Do you love? Do you love even when you hurts.  Christ did, he went to the cross.