"If You've Seen Me, You've Seen The Father".

2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith 

• excellence, to excellence, 
• knowledge; 1:6 to knowledge, 
• self-control; to self-control, 
• perseverance; to perseverance, 
• godliness; 1:7 to godliness, 
• brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, 
• unselfish love. 

1:8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, 

• they will keep you from becoming 
• ineffective and 
• unproductive 
• in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. 

1:9 But concerning the one who lacks such things—

• he is blind. That is to say, 
• he is nearsighted, since 
• he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 

1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, 

• make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. 
• For by doing this you will never stumble into sin. 

1:11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you. 

Peter gives us a list of God's characteristics and then tells us to "make every effort" to develop these same characteristics in ourselves. We are to become like God. We are to "image" him and this reminds me of what we read in Genesis.

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What does it mean to make man "in our image." 

    Gen1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 

1:27 God created humankind in his own image, 

in the image of God he created them, 

male and female he created them. 

In God's image means

• To rule as God's agents
• to represent God's character 
• to "image" God -- 
• to represent God perfectly

Jesus did this so well that he could say to Philip, "If you've seen me, you have seen the Father."

• Others looking at our lives should see God in us
• We should be able to say, "If you've seen me........."
• But, of course, we cannot. 
• But that should not stop us from trying
• Peter is telling us how to "image" the Father
• But his list is not the only one in the NT

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Paul's list to the Phillippians

Philippians 4:8–9 

• Finally, brothers and sisters,whatever is 
• true, 
• worthy of respect, 
• just, 
• pure, 
• lovely, 
• commendable, 
• if something is excellent or praiseworthy, 
• think about these things. 
• 4:9 And what you 
• learned and 
• received and 
• heard and 
• saw in me, 
• do these things. 
• And the God of peace will be with you.

• Paul gave himself as an example to follow
• Are we living lives worthy of being imitated????

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Paul's list to the Romans

• Romans 12:   Our bodies are to become living sacrifices for God's glory
• How to deal with our selves
• How to deal with our friends
• Romans 13:
• How to deal with the State
• Romans 14
• How to deal with those weak in the faith
• Romans 15
• We are to imitate Christ

 Willmington, H. L. (1999). The Outline Bible (Ro 12). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

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Paul's list to the 

Galatians 5:22 Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is 

• love, 
• joy, 
• peace, 
• patience, 
• kindness, 
• goodness, 
• faithfulness, 5:23 
• gentleness, and 
• self-control.

 Against such things there is no law. 

5:24 Now those who belong to Christ 

• have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

5:25 If we live by the Spirit,

• let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. 

5:26 Let us 

• not become conceited, 
• not provoke one another, 
• not being jealous of one another.

By keeping our attention focused upon God and His characteristics we can grow in all of these graces and more successfully reflect the glory of God. This is what God wants us to do and to be. We succeed by "renewing our minds" and by making "every effort" to grow more like God every day. It's a never ending "effort" but the rewards are eternal. 

Name Calling....!

"In the NT, blasphemy takes on the wider Greek meaning, for it includes slandering a human being (Mt 15:19; see also Rom 3:8; 1 Cor 10:30; Eph 4:31; Ti 3:2), as well as God. It even includes mocking angelic or demonic powers, which is just as wrong as mocking any other being (2 Pt 2:10–12, Jude 1:8–10). In other words, slander, derision, and mocking of any kind are totally condemned in the NT."

Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Vulgar Language

Why do we we criticize others for using vulgare language when we use it ourselves? Isn't that called hypocrisy? Yes, I agree that our political leaders SHOULD set a higher standard as an example for the rest of us; but, they are products of our culture and our culture, it seems, has accepted vulgarity into the common vernacular. When we allow vulgarity on TV and in our movies, printed materials, and everyday conversations, why are we shocked when we hear it from our politicians?

Mother-in-law's 102nd Birthday Celebration.

 We recently drove over to visit my mother-in-law and celebrate her 102nd birthday. These are a few of the photos taken (most of these by my sister-in-law. Thanks, Mary.) For more photos visit the link below. Thanks. Comments are welcome. Just click on "comment" below.

https://www.evernote.com/l/ABtE6zKtSKFMFqqZPlhA4rZMyyR8HA7itgU

Photo to accompany Low Carb Posting and comments. Before and after Lipid Panel numbers. I remain on the same medications as before. Statin drugs but no blood pressure medications. So my overall Cholesterol levels didn't change. It runs around 130 these days. I was pre-diabetic before but that went away after 6 months on the low-carb diet. If I remember correctly, my blood sugar numbers usually ran around 180 but dropped below 100 after 6 months on the diet - usually in the 80's these days. Systolic blood pressure is usually between 110 and 120 while diastolic is usually between 60 and 70. I've always had high blood pressure before the diet. Sometimes as high as 140/90 or even higher. Anyway, let me know what you think. Make a comment below. Thanks.

Questions over Mark 1:9-13

Questions over verses 9-13:

1. Why was Jesus baptized anyway? He had no sin to be remitted. 
• Even though he had no sin, he identified with all of us do. He was connecting with us or joining with our humanity.  
• Jesus honored John’s baptism. He showed that it was ordained by God himself. He thus fulfilled all “right-with-God-ness.” He thus obeyed every command of God. 
2. What is the significance of the Spirit descending upon Jesus? 

• As God he was already one with the H.S., but as a human being he was not so still needed to receive the Spirit. We also receive the HS at our baptism.
• It was the fulfilling of prophecy (Ps. 45:7: “God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows,” and Isa. 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach…”.
• He was receiving the anointing of God. (Acts 10:38: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.”)

3. What is the significance of the Father’s statement concerning Jesus?
• It was the blessing of all three in the God-head: Father speaks, the son begins his ministry blessed with the power of the H.S. 
• John’s baptism was not in the name of the trinity but in a sense Jesus was baptized in the name of the trinity as we are — “In the name of the Father, Son, and H.S.” Mt 28:20.
• It demonstrates the divine approval of Jesus (and us) by the trinity.
4. Why was he impelled to go into the wilderness for 40 days? 
• Jesus’ entire ministry would be a continuous encounter with Satan—not limited to this one experience in the desert.
• Mark uses the term Satan (adversary) as opposed to Devil (accuser), which is used by the other Gospel writers. Jesus will continually be striving with his “adversary”—Satan. This great encounter will climax at the Cross.
• In these 40 days, Jesus takes the offensive against temptation and evil instead of avoiding them.
• These 40 days show Jesus was qualified for His messianic mission.
• These 40 days bear witness to His true humanity.
• The presence of wild animals stresses the hostile character of the desert region as Satan’s domain.
• God’s protecting care through the angels who attended (were serving) him. They supplied general aid and the assurance of God’s presence. They do the same for us in times of trial and temptation. 

Many of the ideas above were borrowed from the following references: 

• Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
• Cooper, R. L. (2000). Mark (Vol. 2). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
• Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
• Dockery, D. S., Butler, T. C., Church, C. L., Scott, L. L., Ellis Smith, M. A., White, J. E., & Holman Bible Publishers (Nashville, T. . (1992). Holman Bible Handbook. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
• Walvoord, J. F., & Zuck, R. B., Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
• Paschall, F. H., & Hobbs, H. H. (Eds.). (1972). The teacher’s Bible commentary. Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers.
• Carson, D. A., France, R. T., Motyer, J. A., & Wenham, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed.). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

Low Carb Diet

I teach a Bible class on Wednesday nights for my local fellowship when I'm here in Fremont, NE. The ladies delight in bringing snacks for all of us to enjoy during the fellowship period. Toward the end of December 2011 I announced that I didn't want the ladies to be offended if I no longer ate any snacks after the beginning of the coming new year and the reason was that I wanted to lose weight and would need to cut back on calories or carbohydrates or both.

Beginning January 1st, I tried first one diet then another but didn't lose any weight. This continue until the end of May when I decided that I knew how to lose weight...so why wasn't I doing what I knew would bring my weight down?

Well, what I knew I had to do is not what my wife wanted me to do. She felt that the low carb diet was not a healthy diet and discouraged me from going down that path. It just happened that during the final week in May I had an appointment with my family doctor. During our 15 minute check-up time, I casually brought up the idea of low-carb diets and what did he think about them. He pounced on the question like a hungry lion on fresh meat. "I think they are great...! Are you thinking of losing weight?" I told him my problem and he related that he had just returned from a seminar where the merits of this type of regimen were discussed in great detail. He was a believer! Armed with his support I cut way back on the carbs and immediately began seeing the results on the scales. He wanted to do a blood lipid panel before I began and then do another one after 6 months on the program. The results after a loss of about 60 or 70 pounds were terrific. All the bad numbers came down and all the good numbers went up. He was dancing with excitement and so was I.

That process began in mid-year 2012 and continues to this day. Overall, I lost about 80 pounds. It's always a challenge over special days like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years day celebrations. However, I'm very happy to report that again this year I had a taste of everything I wanted, ate the protein and fat that I needed and got through this current holiday season without gaining any weight. I feel great, my lipid numbers are terrific and I'm still wearing size 32 pants...!!! (Down from size 43 in 2011.)

While my family doctor enthusiastically supported my regimen, my cardiologist took more convincing.  It was after my second lipid panel that I first met with him and talked to him about my diet. He asked me what I ate and didn't eat and then was silent for what seemed to me to be a very long time. Deep in thought he finally said, "Well, it's not what I've been taught; but, I can't argue with your numbers...! Just keep on doing what you're doing. With these numbers you should live to be 105."

Even my wife has now reluctantly accepted the fact that I intend to stay on this regimen for the rest of my life, or until there is proof that it's unhealthy. I long ago lost my craving for carbs and sweets. I love steak; pulled pork; fried, grilled or roasted chicken; fried or grilled fish; boiled, fried or scrambled eggs; all kinds of hard cheezes; sugar-free Jello; stevia sweetened coffee; and several kinds of flavored water or Coke Zero.

The regimen may not work for everyone; but, it has been working for me over 5 years now and I'm evangelical about promoting it to all who will listen. Several of my friends have tried it and have successfully lost weight. One especially has been following it for well over a year now and found that his doctor fully supports his efforts. He looks better, feels better and has fewer neuropathy attacks. I'm posting just one of any number of addresses on the internet where those interested can do their own research.  For all of you reading this, I wish you a long, healthy, carb-free life. I also wish you eternal life. Contact me if you're ready for that dialog.

Your comments are welcome. Just click on the "Comment" Button. God bless.
sc

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/low-carb-diet/art-20045831

Questions over Mark 1:1-9

Questions over Mark 1:1-9

1. What was John preaching when he appeared in the wilderness? 
• “...a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."
2. a and b
• a. What was different about what he was preaching from the way people were supposed to get forgiveness for their sins? 
• Confession of sin and repentance were required under the law — nothing new. 
• New: That baptism (or Mikveh) was for salvation and that it was as necessary for Jews as for Gentiles. 
• (What was also new was that he announced that someone far greater than himself was coming after him.)  
• b. What did they do when they came to him? 
• They confessed their sins, repented, and were immersed. 
• This baptism which John proclaimed and administered was connected with repentance and resulted in remission of sins.
• "The force of the phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν which modifies βάπτισμα μετανοίας is to make remission of sins the result of the baptism of repentance. Every such baptism bestowed remission upon the person baptized."
• Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House.
3. What did John say about Jesus? 
• Jesus is mightier than I. I’m not holy enough to even remove his sandals or touch his feet. 
• He will baptize (in, with or by) the Holy Spirit. 
4. In what ways does John fit the prophecy from Isaiah Mark quotes in 2-3? 
• Before the arrival of the Queen of England in Jakarta, the roads between the airport and the British Embassy and Indonesian Presidential Palace were all repaired, painted and kept clean. Indonesian and even British flags were flown along the roads and from buildings welcoming her arrival. It was almost impossible for the city citizens to be unaware of her coming presence. This was the work of John the Baptist with reference to Jesus. 
• John was the “bugle fanfare,” the “drumroll,” the "opening act, warm-up act, or supporting act" before the Headliner of the show. He got everyone’s attention and after focusing it on Jesus, faded into the background. 

Additional questions over verses 1-13:

1. Why was John reluctant to baptize Jesus?
2. Why did Jesus insist on being baptized anyway?
3. What did John mean by saying that Jesus would baptize with fire and the HS?
4. What is the significance of the Spirit descending upon Jesus and the Father’s statement concerning Jesus?

Am I a Christian?

Nothing separates us from God's love

What I Learned from Romans Chapter 4

The apostle Paul demonstrates clearly in this chapter that we are saved by faith and by faith alone. I have no problem with the expression “faith alone” if we fully understand the biblical definition of faith. Faith, as defined in scripture, is always active, obedient, doing what God has commanded. It therefore includes works, but the work that saves is the work that God has commanded us to perform. It does not include works that we think might be better or an improvement upon what God has specified.

The biblical definition of faith is found in Hebrews chapter 11. The definition is stated in verse 1 of that chapter, then the rest of the chapter is a rather long list of people who were saved “by faith.” In every case the DID something. They performed a WORK which resulted in their salvation. They did what they were told to do. That’s how it works. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Faith comes from hearing Christ. Christ (God) tells us what to do and we do it. That is what faith is. Trusting in Christ to the point that we do whatever he commands us to do. And apart from that kind of faith there is no salvation for anyone.

A partial list from Hebrews 11:

• By faith: Abel offered the blood sacrifice God commanded.
• Dead faith: Cain was rejected because his sacrifice was not what God requested.
• By faith: Enoch found salvation by doing the things that pleased God. 
• By faith: Noah built an ark as instructed. He and his family were saved as a result. 
• By faith: Abraham packed up and moved at the command of God. 
• By faith: Sarah and Abraham conceived a son. 
• By faith: Abraham offered his son Isaac as commanded. 
• By faith: Moses left Egypt as commanded.

And the list goes on. In every case something was done “by faith". The expression “by faith” means they were told to do something and they did it. They obeyed the commands of God. They were obedient.

James in his epistle talks about a dead faith — the kind that the devils have. But the devils will not be saved because they do nothing “by faith.” James admonishes his readers not to share this dead faith which is inactive. He pleads with them to show their faith by what they DO. His definition of faith is the same as that of Paul and the Hebrew writer. Faith is living and active — doing whatever it has been commanded to do. Refusing to do what God has commanded is not biblical faith. Doing something other than what God has commanded is not biblical faith either.

Let’s get practical. What has God commanded us to do in order to be saved? Has he asked us to say the sinner’s prayer? Where do we find that command in scripture? I contend that saying the sinner’s prayer for salvation is dead faith. Why? Because it is NOT what God commanded people to do to be saved.

On the day of Pentecost, the people listening to Peter’s 1st gospel sermon asked him what they had to do to be saved. They had already become convicted in their hearts. Peter told them: "Repent, and...be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;….” When they obeyed what God had instructed them to do they received the forgiveness of their sins. Repentance and Baptism were acts of faith. By obeying these commands they were saved, not by the water, but by their faith. By faith they obeyed God. 3000 people were baptized that very day. The jailor of Philippi was baptized the same hour he believed and that was between 12 and 1 in the morning — while everyone else was sleeping….! Saul of Tarsus was told to get up, be baptized and wash away his sins…. These were all works or acts of faith. They were done “by faith.” They were done in obedience to God’s command and resulted in salvation by faith.

We are saved by faith alone when we actively and totally surrender to God. Total surrender means that we continue to live a life of total surrender and obedience. There is no salvation without it and nothing else can substitute for what God has commanded. The works that we do are those prepared beforehand by God for us to do. We do them “by faith.”

Is your faith active and alive? Are you living a life of total surrender and obedience to God? Remember, salvation is by faith alone — doing “by faith” what God has commanded. There can be no substitutions no acts of our own merit, thinking, or imagination. God will accept nothing less than total obedience and submission.

What Time Is It? Romans 5

Romans 5:10 "For if, while being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, as having been reconciled, shall we be saved in connection with his life;"

"It is something like a man who wakes up, finds that his watch has stopped, and turns on the radio to learn the time. When he hears, he sets his watch by the radio time. What he’s done is to 'reconcile' his watch to the radio." Richards, L. (1990). The 365 Day Devotional Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

I believe it was in 1971 that I bought a Bulova Accutron watch. I wanted it because in Indonesia at that time, it was difficult to always know the exact time. The Bulova Accutron used the vibrations of a tuning fork to keep the watch within a few seconds of the true time thus meeting my needs. I was disappointed later to learn that I could have bought a quartz crystal watch that used an even more accurate technology. These watches still tended to gain or loose several seconds a day, however, and several minutes a month but they were far more accurate than their predecessors.

Today I get accurate time from my cell phone which has access to the atomic clock located in the U. S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. This atomic clock will not deviate more than 2 seconds from accurate time for the next 2 billion years!!! An even newer atomic clock has been developed which is accurate to 1 second for an even longer period of time, but may not be in use yet.

Another amazing thing about this new technology is that it is available to us free through WiFi and can be updated to the second every few minutes. Wonderful. No excuses for being late any more.

What does this have to do with Romans 5:10? Well Paul says that we have been reconciled to God through the death of Jesus. Reconciled means that we have been set right with God. L. Richards, a favorite author of mine, gives the example of a watch being reset. Reseting your watch every few minutes to the accuracy of the atomic clock in Washington is like reseting your watch to perfection just as Jesus did in reconciling us to God, Jesus reset us to perfection spiritually. This spiritual reset was not available prior to the death of Jesus on the cross but is available today, free to everyone with a faith connection to Jesus. Jesus is our WiFi continually reseting us to the perfection of God himself.

Do you have a faith connection to Jesus? Have you been reset to the perfection that is God himself? You will still find yourself drifting away from perfection from time to time but with a continual faith connection to Jesus you will continually be reset to perfection. Romans chapter 6 tells us how to get and maintain that faith connection. Get your's today if you don’t already have one. It’s free. And the download speed is out of this world.

What Have I Learned From Romans Chapter 6?

We have been offered LIFE through faith, and PEACE with God. Adam’s work is undone through Jesus. We have been offered justification, sanctification and glorification. We have died to sin, been united with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection and set free to serve him. THEREFORE: sin must not reign over our bodies and our bodies must not be used to sin. Our lives must be presented to God, our body parts used for God’s glory. We must control our thoughts and our environments and deepen our understanding of His word. When Christians believe that their sin does not matter they separate themselves from God because Scripture says: "The wages of sin is death."

In baptism we were crucified, buried and resurrected with Jesus. Just as the Old Testament sinner transferred his sins to the sacrifice by placing his hands on the head of the animal, so we in baptism transfer our sins to our sacrifice by re-enacting his death, burial, and resurrection. We are resurrected to live a new and different life — one free from sin. Faith and baptism are two sides of the same coin. Baptism is the “tails” of the coin with faith as the “head.” You can’t have one without the other. The Hebrews definition of faith includes action: By faith Abel OFFERED…. By faith Noah BUILT…. By faith we are UNITED with Jesus when we are baptized. Notice how baptism is related to salvation in the following verses:             

— Acts 2:38, We are given the remission of sins and the gift of Holy Spirit.

— Mark 16:15 Jesus says that faith + Baptism = salvation

— Acts 22:16 Luke tells us that baptism washes away sin

— 1 Peter 3:20-21 Peter says that baptism saves us

— Acts 10:48 Cornelius was ORDERED to be baptized

— John 3:5 Jesus says that we cannot enter the kingdom of God without baptism      

— Gal 3:27 By being baptized we are clothed with Christ.

                                                     

In baptism we are united with his resurrection. We are united by crucifying the Old man and by living as freed from sin — The old corrupted self — former manner of life with its evil practices.        

I will thank God that all my sins have been transferred to Jesus and I am free because by faith I was united with Jesus in Baptism. We died with Jesus. He was raised never to die again. Death was no longer his master. I, too, have died and now live to God.  I have experienced the crucifixion and resurrection with Jesus.  Eternal life has already begun for me. It is a present reality. My life must reflect this.

What I Have Learned From Romans 7

There have been several times when I was distressed over sin in my life, but I have now come to know that I am a cell within the body of Christ and his blood is flowing through his body cleansing every cell of it’s filth and bringing fresh nourishment. I struggle, but I turn my imperfections over to him and he constantly cleanses me keeping me constantly in a state of perfection because of his blood flowing through his body. God sees me as perfect, flawed though I am, because of the cleansing blood of Jesus.

We died to the law of Moses. In fact we gentiles were never under the law of Moses to begin with and we are not under it today (We are not obligated to keep the letter of the law, but we are taught to keep the "spirit" of the law). We now live under Grace (love) — the perfect law of liberty. He has written his law on our hearts and made it internal rather than external. Let’s listen to our hearts and not to our hormones.

Who will set me free from the body of this death?

The apostle Paul sees a war going on within himself. His spirit wants to do the right things but his body doesn't do them and the things his spirit hates, his body loves (Rom 7:24). He's talking about the sin problem. 

We all sin. There are no perfect people no matter how much we long to be perfect and there is absolutely nothing we can do ourselves that will undo the sin we have already committed. Words once said cannot be unsaid. Things once done cannot be undone. Once we become imperfect, we can never be perfect again by our own efforts. But imperfect people will not live eternally. They will die physically and spiritually. How can we escape this dilemma? 

Frankly, there is no solution to the sin problem other than the one offered by God himself. No one else can solve the sin problem. Humans sin and sin must be punished. It is punished with separation from God because God is perfect and everything in His heaven is perfect or will be eventually. There is no room there for sinful men. 

God's answer to the sin problem is God himself. God himself became a human, a perfect human, a sinless human, and offered himself as a sacrifice for all humans who will believe in him. The perfect died for the imperfect. He who did not deserve to die physically or spiritually, died. He didn't die for his own sins -- he had none. Therefore his death has merit for those who accept God's offer of eternal life. 

So, how do we accept God's offer? We accept this offer of grace (something we receive without deserving it) by faith -- believing that Jesus is God's answer to the sin problem. Our faith leads us live as God wants us to live and to do what God wants us to do. Faith leads us to change our way of life -- to stop doing the things God hates and to start doing the things God loves. Faith also leads us to unite with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection -- by going through the motions of his death, burial and resurrection (baptism) we are united with perfection. 

In his death, the perfect Jesus was punished for my imperfection -- personal sins.  By uniting with his death, I have been pardoned and have regained my original state of perfection. God changes my status. He no longer sees me as imperfect. When he sees me, he sees Jesus — he sees perfection. I still struggle with sin on the physical level but the Holy Spirit given to me at baptism, helps me to hold on to my faith and struggle to overcome sin in my present life, the blood of Jesus constantly washes me clean and I keep my status of perfection.  And because of that I will not experience the 2nd death — eternal separation from God.

Faith in Jesus, then, is God's answer to the sin problem. His gracious offer is open to everyone, even you. If you haven't yet accepted his gracious offer, why not? God has set before you 2 choices: Life and Death. Choose Life...! 

Eph 2: 8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The Suffering of Jesus

The apostle Paul gives us a list of the things he suffered because of his faith in Jesus: 

He was afflicted in every way, persecuted, discouraged, delivered over to death, enduring beatings (times without number), imprisonments, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, 5 times whipped with 39 lashes, stoned and left for dead, 3 times shipwrecked. He was often in danger from rivers, robbers, fellow Jews, non-Jews, in cities and wilderness areas, on the sea, and among false teachers.  He was often cold, suffering from exposure and apart from all this, he was burdened with concern for all the churches. (2 Cor 4:7-19; 6:4-10; 11:23-28)

I've circled the globe more than 40 times (or the equivalent thereof) working with the churches in Indonesia for the better part of 23 years. I've endured 3 heart by-pass surgeries, 2 heart attacks and now wear a defibrillator. Folks thank me for the suffering I've endured for Jesus, but compared to Paul, I really have not suffered at all. 

And I'm sure Paul would agree with me that neither of us has suffered at all when compared to that which Jesus endured while hanging from the cross. I'm convinced that many of us neither fully understand the depth nor the profundity of what Jesus suffered there. It wasn't just a physical death.   

What Jesus suffered was nothing less than the consequences AND the punishment for the sins of the whole world. The consequence of sin is physical death or the separation of the spirit from the body. Everyone suffers that kind of death eventually -- believers and unbelievers alike. The punishment for sin, however,  is separation of our spirit from God. Unbelievers, the apostle John tells us, will suffer the 2nd death or eternal separation from God but believers have no fear of the 2nd death. And the reason we have no fear of the 2nd death is because Jesus suffered it for us. He took our sins upon himself and in doing so separated himself from God for a time. How long, I do not know. But if he was not separated from God, then our sins are still unpunished and we are without hope of eternal life. 

No wonder Jesus sweat blood while praying the night before his crucifixion. No wonder he requested, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." The blackness of hell, separation from the Father, even if only for an instant, would have been the ultimate suffering for Jesus. Every other form of cruelty or torture would pale in comparison. But he went through with God's eternal plan. He suffered the ultimate because he loved the Father AND he loved his creation -- you and me. He love us SO much that he suffered our punishment for us, satisfying what had to be satisfied to make it possible for the sinful to be regarded as sinless. Only then would we be able to live eternally. 

Thank you, God, for sending Jesus. And thank you, Jesus, for suffering the punishment of sin, making it possible for us to live eternally. Thank you. We will sing your praises throughout the endless ages of eternity. Great is our God and worthy to be praised, Amen. Come Lord Jesus. 

Who can argue with God?

Who can argue with God? 

If God has JUSTIFIED us, who can undo that justification? Has Jesus, our attorney, ever lost a case? Has Satan, our adversary, ever won a case in God’s courtroom? Has he ever presented an argument that God or Christ could not answer? But Satan will argue, “He’s a sinner, and that cannot be denied!” Jesus will respond, “Yes, he is a sinner…BUT I have already suffered the penalty for his sins. He can no longer be charged for those sins because the penalty has already been discharged.” And the judge will say, “Case dismissed!” And we will walk away into eternal life. In God's courtroom, there is absolutely nothing in or out of our universe that can win it's case against us. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.".

Romans 8:

33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was ^craised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 Just as it is written,

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;

We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Earth As We See It Today is Not The Planet God Originally Created

ROM 8:19-22

I believe Paul is talking here about the created universe or what we see around us. The physical universe is suffering now and will be set right when Christ returns. This planet is not the planet God originally created.  The EARTH was cursed when Adam sinned. So this planet waits anxiously to be freed from the curse. When Christ returns, the curse will be removed and the planet restored to what it was before Adam’s sin. Just as believers will be restored to Adam’s condition before the fall. What that new heaven and earth will be like is beyond our wildest dreams. Our mind cannot even begin to imagine it and no science fiction movie or book will ever be able to picture it. 

19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Merry Christmas & A Very Happy New Year

Jean Cate

Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year

This year began on a sad note for me personally. I lost several of my closest friends during the months of January, February and March. I thought the list was never going to end but it did. The sadness of one funeral, however, was offset by the opportunity to showcase the considerable talents of my oldest granddaughter who traveled with me and made a presentation concerning our family’s work in Indonesia. June and July found me on the islands of Java and Nias participating in the work there along with our 3 sons: Scott, Brett and Eric. I arrived home from that trip to immediately spend 5 days in intensive care and another 6 days at a rehab center. Having recovered now, Scott and I are planning another trip next January or February. 

Jeanie continues to work so I can play. She’s still quilting beautiful quilts and enjoys teaching her Sunday school class. She stays busier than I do, actually, and continues to be in good health. 

We both pray God’s richest blessings for you in the coming year. Keep in touch. 

With all our love,

Steve and Jean Cate

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