A Gift of Love

 

Jesus sat in the Temple and watched as crowds dropped their offerings in the collection box. He told his disciples that a certain widow had given more than the many who had given a much larger amount of money, because she gave out of her poverty while others gave out of what they had left over (Mark 14:41-44). The story reminds me of my friend Clinton Tuck who I’ve written about several times before on this blog.

Several weeks ago, I read a story in Christian Odyssey magazine of a former Buddhist couple turned Christian who started a bilingual school in Thailand. They wanted to share the gospel with their countrymen. They saw a need as Thais desire to learn English to improve their careers prospects. They were encouraged by a friend and mentor who many years ago, gave them $100 to get started. They bought and renovated a five story office building, which is now a school for several hundred students grades K-6. Earlier this year they opened a kindergarten in a building that was once a warehouse which stood behind the office building.   

I read that the couple, Chugait and Fong Garmologomut was in need of high quality educational books in the English language. I sent an email to my friends and posted a request on Facebook. I received a donation of books from a friend and on the following Sunday made a verbal request for books at my local congregation, Worldwide Grace Fellowship. Many were excited about contributing to the effort. I was planning on collecting the books over the next couple of weeks and then mailing them to John Halford, the editor of Christian Odyssey and a friend of the Garmologomuts. Mr. Halford is coordinating the effort here in the U.S.. However, during that same week my aunt, who has been battling cancer, ended up in the Intensive Care Unit of her local hospital on Long Island.  When I spoke to her over the phone, she asked when I was coming up for a visit. I told her I was planning on coming in early June to housesit and dogsit for my cousin who was planning on attending our cousin’s wedding. She said “Oh.” It was an “Oh” of disappointment, an “Oh” like I don’t know if I will live that long. I thought about that conversation while lying in bed that night and by the next morning I decided that I should leave that Saturday, May 12 to see my aunt and the rest of my relatives including an uncle who is suffering with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Before I left my home in Kentucky, I called my friend Clinton and asked if he would like to help me collect some books for the children in Thailand. His response was: “I got your back.” It’s the response that I’ve come to expect from Clinton.

When I returned home from my trip, I went to see Clinton at Shady Lawn Nursing home where he lives. He was wearing his typical big smile as I walked into his room. He had collected two very large boxes of books from his friends at Shady Lawn and Rocky Ridge Baptist Church. I jokingly said that maybe someday he and I could go visit the school in Thailand. To which he responded with and ear to ear grin.

Clinton isn’t wealthy by this world’s standards. Yesterday as I was combing through the books and packing them in smaller boxes, he told me that everything he owned was right in the room where he lived. As I looked around to observe his belongings, there were photos of many of his friends taped and pinned to the wall over his bed, along with his television set, some clothes and a collection of hats and caps. Yes Clinton is a lot like the widow that Jesus spoke of. He doesn’t have worldly possessions, but he does have a gift of love in his heart given to him by the One who he is passionately fond of, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Listen to message from June 9, 2012

Just What Is The Purpose Of The Bible?

In the movie “A Few Good Men,” Lieutenant Jonathan Kendrick (played by Keifer Sutherland) tells Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) 

“I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Corps Code of Conduct and the King James Bible.”  

It's estimated that more than six billion copies of the Bible have been sold. But how many people know what the purpose of the Bible is? 

I opened the Bible for the very first time while attending college at the University of Minnesota. There wasn't enough room on campus for all the students that desired on-campus housing, so we were placed at the Hotel Duluth. I read through chapters of the Bible and found it very interesting, but I never understood what the real purpose was. 

Jesus said to the very religious and pious people of his day, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life John 5:39-40 (TNIV). 

These are the same people that let the Law come between them and the Life Giver! They even accused Jesus of being a sinner, a blasphemer and eventually got their wish and had him “gorified.” They were sin-centric not Christ-centric, and therefore never experienced the freedom of the new life that Christ wanted to give them; the freedom that resurrection Sunday pictures. 

Jesus, the Messiah, said he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; but to fulfill them (Mat. 5:17 TNIV). The word fulfill is the Greek word Pleroo, and it means to complete. Jesus not only completed the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, but he is the Light that opens up the Scriptures so that we can understand them (Luke 24:44-45).

The Light of the gospel of Jesus Christ will remove the scales from your eyes and the shackles from your ankles! 

Are you living life thinking that Jesus called you to change?  Changed equals “chained.” It's "do it yourself religion," as Bible translator and author Francois du Toit says. Jesus never called us to change. He calls us to receive a new life in him (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3). 

I couldn’t understand the purpose of the Bible when I opened it up for the first time while attending UMD, because I never wholeheartedly received what God wanted to give me in Jesus Christ. 

The purpose of the Bible is to lead us to Jesus Christ for eternal life or immortality in him; that we may receive freedom and participate in the new life we have in him; and that we would grow in the grace and knowledge of him (2 Peter 3:18); and that we would participate in his priestly ministry. 

I’m sending each of you a “key.” Here it comes! Now catch it. Stand up. With the key in one hand, lift the opposite leg up and put your foot over your knee. OK. Now reach down and unlock the shackle from your ankle. Shake it off and free yourself from that ball and chain that you’ve been carrying around. Now do the Hallelujah dance. Jump up and down and yell, “I am free! Free! Free! Hallelujah Amen! 

You are now free to experience your new life in Christ!  You have been unshackled from whatever sin or problem, fear or anxiety that you have focused your life on! You are now free to enjoy your life in Christ. You are free to wholeheartedly experience him! To live in Him! The old life is gone with all its sin and problems and fears. It’s really that simple. Don’t complicate it. Don’t labor. Rest in Jesus (Mat. 11:28-30). 

There is no life in the prophets. There is no life in Bible stories; nor is there life in the Scriptures; but the Scriptures, the Bible does point us to Christ who fulfilled them; he filled them to the full; he completed them; because as the Messiah, that’s  what He was called to do. Jesus completed his earthly ministry when he was resurrected from the dead, and ascended to the Father.

We have been given a new life in Christ - not a changed life, but a new life in Him - eternal life in him - freedom in Him! We share in his priestly ministry. It’s good news for everyone, especially for those who believe. 

We are free! Free! Free! Celebrate your freedom in Christ!

Update: Touched By The Hand Of God Community

I recently completed a revision to "Touched By The Hand Of God." If you have already purchased the book you can get the latest revision at Smashwords by clicking on the book cover to the right of this post and then signing in to the site and downloading it. If you haven't read my book yet, you can purchase it and read it on your computer or on iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Android or just about any other e-Reading device. Just click on the book cover and you will be directed to my Smashword's book page where you can read more information about it and download a free sample.

I came across a great site for uploading and sharing audio files. I uploaded a sermon that I gave on February 19, titled "If You Aint Got Love You Aint Got Nothin," to this site and shared it on the Touched By The Hand Of God Community page last week https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Touched-By-The-Hand-Of-God-Community/226463410760342. The name of the site is yourlisten.com. You can listen to my sermon by clicking on this link http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/116724/If_You_Aint_Got_Love_You_Aint_Got_Nothin?rn=cvxxbqs4xwqo

I'm also experimenting with video editing software and I hope to put together a video to compliment Touched By The Hand Of God and some additional videos to share with the Touched By The Hand Of God Community (read my post from December 28, 2011, "Living Life Fearfully of Fearlessly").

If you like what you read or hear, why not join me? Follow my blog and like my Touched By The Hand Of God Community page. Together we can encourage one another and others through every seemingly hopeless situation that comes our way. Knowing our hope is not in this world but in Jesus Christ who lived and died so that we may live in love and peace together forever united with him and in him.

If You Aint Got Love, You Aint Got Nothin!

A hero is most often described as a person who in the face of grave danger unselfishly and without regard for their own personal welfare, risks their own life to help save the life or lives of others. Michael A. Monsoor was a Navy SEAL who is such a hero.

Monsoor became a SEAL on September 2, 2004. In April 2006, he was sent to Ramadi, Iraq to help train Iraqi soldiers to fight in the War on Terror. Ramadi was described by former President Bush as a place where the fighting was most fierce. Yet even though Monsoor was scheduled to be going home, he volunteered to stay and continue to fight.

On September 29, 2006, Monsoor and his team were engaged in heavy combat. He and several other SEAL and Iraqi soldiers took a roof-top position. He was a heavy machine gunner and he positioned himself between two snipers. From out of nowhere a grenade was thrown and it hit Monsoor in the chest. Instead of taking cover behind a nearby brick wall and saving his own life, he yelled “Grenade!” to warn his teammates and then leaped on top of it smothering it with his own body. He died thirty minutes later but saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

Monsoor won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor. He is described as a man who had faith in God. Master at Arms Second Class (SEAL), Michael A. Monsoor, was true to his identity as a Navy SEAL.

Although many in Jesus day tried hard to persuade him to be someone he wasn’t, Jesus was also true to his identity as the one and only Son of God-God incarnate or God in the flesh. Yet being God didn’t diminish him from being a man. He was and still is the Godman; one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. The apostle Paul says he is “the fullness of God in a human body,” (Colossians 2:9).

The apostle Paul lived as a Pharisee until he saw a “blinding light” and the risen Lord revealed himself to him while Paul was traveling on the road to Damascus. Paul was then given the task of telling others that they have an “identity crisis” and that their true identity is in Christ Jesus. He told the Colossians, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God,” (Colossians 3:3).

A couple of years ago, I came to see that I had been worshiping an anemic Jesus; one who had shed a lot of blood and made that long journey from earth to heaven and in the process had grown a little tired and had become frail.  Because I was worshiping an anemic Jesus, I thought I needed to help him out and work tirelessly to “help him save me.”  I was having an “identity crisis.” I didn’t know the “real Jesus,” the one that Paul told the Colossians about and because I didn’t know the “real Jesus,” I didn’t live in the reality of who I am in Christ. I didn’t understand that the Christ who “lived in me,” (Galatians 2:20), was the all-Powerful all Mighty God himself. He was and is the God who knows who he is and always was and is faithful to who he is and the fact that he now lives in me by the Holy Spirit, does not change who he is.

When Jesus commanded his disciples to “Love each other as I have loved you,” (John 15:12, 17), it seemed like an impossible thing to ask, especially when we consider that Jesus lived a life of selfless surrender. I believe what Jesus was saying, was to trust in his faithfulness to be who he is-love (1 John 4:16), and then live in the identity of who you really are in Christ.

The soldiers who were with Monsoor the day he displayed great courage trusted in his faithfulness to be true to his identity as a Navy SEAL and he did not disappoint them.

Upon graduation from SEAL training both officers and enlisted personnel receive a gold badge that’s called a trident. Because they are brothers in training and on the battlefield, they receive the same insignia. On the day of Monsoor’s funeral almost every SEAL on the west coast turned up. Each SEAL took the gold trident from his uniform and tapped it into Monsoor’s casket as they passed by to pay their final respects.

Jesus didn’t receive any gold badge when he was killed. His insignia is his wounds of love that he bore in his flesh on our behalf! He was content with that. All he asks is that we trust in his faithfulness to continue to do what he has done throughout eternity-love! 

Listen to sermon here: http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/116724/If_You_Aint_Got_Love_You_Aint_Got_Nothin?rn=jbbw5wwazxfk

Sources: You Tube Videos: Mike Monsoor Medal of Honor by eliotness76; Medal of Honor Story by gopconvention 2008; Marcus Lutrell on Michael Monsoor’s Medal of Honor by unclejimbomadcity; Michael Monsoor-American Hero-On Huckabee by timandanita; Zuster Michael Monsoor by kruisvaarder1683; Rare Mikey Monsoor memorial footage by SEALbrotherhood. The Holy Bible. Incarnation, The Person and Life of Christ, Thomas F. Torrance.

Living Life Fearfully Or Fearlessly?

As I rode up the elevator I wondered what I was going to see when I entered my friend Ernie’s room. Ernie had become sick with a respiratory infection and only after being persuaded by his loved ones did he agree to be taken to the hospital. For me to tell you that Ernie had gotten sick is an understatement. For Ernie was born sick, he had just become more sick.

            As I walked down the hall towards Ernie’s room, I was greeted by Ernie’s sister in law, Laura. I entered Ernie’s room and there was Ernie lying in the bed with an oxygen mask over his face. He was working hard for every breath but he was alert. I said hello and asked if he was in any pain. He nodded no. I chatted with he and his family for a few moments and before I left him, I remember saying something like, “Get well soon Ernie so we can watch ‘A Few Good Men.’” The look in Ernie’s face told me that he had finished the race.

            Ernie died a few days later on Wednesday, February 26, 2011. I got to speak at Ernie’s funeral and  later wrote and published, “My Journey With Ernie,” http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2011/s11030047.htm.

            When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” Peter without hesitation shouted, “You are the Christ! The Son of the Living God.” Jesus didn’t deny what Peter proclaimed but affirmed it saying, “Blessed are you Simon for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven,” (my emphasis) Matthew 16:13-17.

            Peter experienced first-hand Jesus’ miracles. He witnessed Jesus walking out on the stormy seas. He himself walked out fearlessly upon the crashing waves as he focused his eyes on Jesus. But as soon as he focused on the event, the wind and the stormy seas, he became fearful and began to sink. Thankfully, he came to his senses and focused back on Jesus, crying out for him to save him. It was then that Jesus reached out to grab ahold of Peter to keep him from drowning in the sea (Matthew 14:22-33).

            As I reflect on 2011, Ernie’s death was the saddest event of the year for me. But Ernie Hughes didn’t live life fearfully. He lived fearlessly even though he was in constant pain and infirmed.

            The highlight of 2011 was publishing my autobiography, “Touched By The Hand Of God,” on Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39345 and Amazon Kindle bookstore http://www.amazon.com/Touched-Hand-God-ebook/dp/B005007Y5E.

            In 2012 I plan on making a revision to my book that includes a new cover. I will be making a video as a compliment to the book. I may even publish my book in Chinese.

            I will also be creating some videos to share with those in the Touched By The Hand Of God Community http://www.facebook.com/pages/Touched-By-The-Hand-Of-God/226463410760342 . I created the Touched By The Hand Of God Community for everyone who has been, or is in a seemingly hopeless situation in life and needs the support of others. I also plan on setting up video conference calls to encourage those who are experiencing hopelessness.

            There will undoubtedly be turmoil in 2012. For there are violent storms brewing in this world all the time and we never know when some catastrophic world event will occur. The world is a dangerous place. Will there be a war in the middle east? Will the United States and China embark on a trade war?  Will Europe and the euro collapse and if so how will it impact the United States? Will the United States have austerity or will the debt crisis here at home continue?

            I don’t know the answers to these questions and the best I can do is take an educated guess. I do know that in times of crisis there are many people who will tell you to dig a hole and store up cans of tuna and bottled water, to save your own ass and live fearfully. However, I will encourage you to focus on and center your life on Christ not on yourself, not on events or places.

            I choose to live life one day at a time. To live life fearlessly like my friend Ernie Hughes, like the Apostle Peter and like Jesus. I will keep my eyes focused and centered on Jesus who created the laws of nature, defied them and is above them; who fed five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish; who danced on the crashing waves and calmed the stormy seas; who bled drops of blood as he prayed fervently before his time of suffering; who had his flesh and muscles torn open, his bones and bowels exposed before being nailed to a cross and pierced through his lungs and heart, rising from the dead three days later.

             For when turmoil arises the only one who can save you is the same one who reached out to Peter as he began to sink beneath the crashing waves. It’s the one they worshipped afterward saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

           

Do Believers Have Two Natures?

It would make perfect sense to me if I had two natures. This would explain why I still sin. But if I have only one nature, how do I explain all the times that I act selfishly and not in love?

Christians are supposed to be people who walk in love, right? As I understand it, if we have the Spirit of God and if Jesus lives in us, then it should be evident to everyone around us, to everyone who knows us. People should be able to identify us as Christians by our love (John 13:35; 15:13).

The apostle Paul said, “We walk by faith” (2 Cor. 5:7). “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Peter said, we “have received a faith” (2 Pet. 1:1).

Saints (believers) are children of God. We are children and heirs (Rom. 8:15-17). I believe faith is the key to our our journey. We are still children and this is why we sin. We are growing in faith. We are becoming more mature in the faith. We are awaiting our future glory ( Rom. 8:18). However, we have received divine power or the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3), the seal of sonship, his Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5) guaranteeing what is to come. By grace we have received the precious promises, we participate in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).

Those in the flesh (this isn’t speaking of a mortal body -  it’s referring to the sinful nature) cannot please God. But you aren’t in the flesh (Paul is obviously not talking about being a human being) but in the Spirit, if God’s Spirit dwells in you. Without the Spirit of Christ, we are not God’s children (Rom. 8:8-9).

Jesus lives in Christians by his Spirit, and Christians live by faith in Jesus (Gal. 2:20). It’s true that Christ has perfect faith, but we obviously don’t walk in his perfect faith perfectly. However, this does not mean that we are in the flesh or that we still have the sinful nature as Paul stated in Romans 8.

911 Celebration Of Freedom

Worldwide Grace Fellowship, Clarksville, TN

“You can take our land, but you can never take our freedom.” Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart, portrayed WilliamWallace, a Scottish knight that helped lead the Scots to an upset victory over the English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge September 11, 1297.

Man has always equated blood for freedom and there have been many battles since the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Many have given there lives in quest of freedom.

In Genesis chapters 10-11, we read about a man named Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson. He saw God as someone who stood in the way of his freedom.  Just like Nimrod, human beings have tried to obtain freedom by their own best efforts.

Everyone wants freedom, but where does it come from and how can we attain true freedom?

Jonathan Ielpi worked for the New York City Fire Department in Squad 288, a unit that handled various kinds disasters. He was called to duty after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower on September 11, 2001.

After getting a call from his son Jonathan, Lee Ielpi a retired firefighter, drove down to the Twin Towers with his younger son Brendan to see if they could help out. When they arrived, the North and South Towers had already collapsed and looked as though they had been crushed in a giant trash compactor. The two 110 story towers were now just five stories of broken rubble.

Lee and Brendan began to comb through the debris in search of survivors, Lee, hoping that he would find his son alive. The day ended, but Lee Ielpi had not yet found his son.

Somewhere in the pile is a woman named Genelle Guzman. She and some coworkers were heading down Stairway B when she stopped on the thirteenth floor to take off her high heel shoes. That’s when the North Tower collapsed and a rolling wave of concrete, steel and everything else that was in the tower, buried her. Only her head and left arm were free.

For twenty seven hours she waited to be rescued. While waiting, she believes she encountered an angel named Paul, who came and held her hand  until rescue workers could cut her free. Genelle Guzman was the last survivor to be pulled from the fallen towers.

Lee Ielpi was still searching for his son Jonathan. He had given up hope of finding him alive. However, he wanted to be able to bury his son. On December 11, 2001, Lee and Brendan Ielpi, helped carry Jonathan’s body from ground zero.

On this the tenth anniversary of the 911 attacks, families of the victims are gathered at the September 11 Memorial to remember those who were killed. They will notice two huge holes in the ground where the twin towers once stood. For me, these holes represent the 2983 people who were killed in the 1993 bombing and the 911 attacks. Their names sketched in the bronze plates that surround the footprints of the two towers. But they also symbolize our poverty and nakedness without Jesus Christ.

The Freedom Tower is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. It will be 1776 feet high, commemorating the year of our nation’s independence. However, independence doesn’t equal freedom!

Jesus said that everyone who sins is a slave of sin John 8:31-36. His words offended the Jews who thought they were free men. They were Abrahams descendants and to them, that meant they were free.

But Jesus explained that Abraham’s blood couldn’t set them free from sin. Slaves have no purchasing power, they have no inheritance, they can’t afford to purchase righteous garments to clothe themselves, nor could they purchase immortality. It was only Jesus who could do this for them, because it required his precious blood not Abrahams.

In the old covenant, slaves were set free once every seven years (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12) and only once every fifty years (called the Jubilee), on the day of At-One-Ment could they return to their inheritance - their land and their families (Lev. 25:8-16).

But the good news - the gospel of Jesus Christ is we don’t have to wait fifty years to return to our inheritance - our inheritance is Jesus Christ. We are set free when we trust in Him. Jesus redeemed us. He bought the righteous garments to cover our naked bodies and he will clothed us with immortality. He is rich in the love nature. A nature that is foreign to human beings. It’s the nature that loved even His betrayer Judas, in that Jesus washed Judas’s feet before he was crucified, knowing that Judas had already betrayed him.

How many men did William Wallace slaughter for freedom? His sword and his garments stained with the blood of men. Since the Battle of Stirling Bridge, there have been many battles. I witnessed the battle at the World Trade Center ten years ago this day from a high-rise office building on 15th Street and 8th Avenue.

Throughout history, man has been willing to shed his blood in exchange for what he has perceived to be freedom. In reality the exchange has kept him in bondage to a sinful hurtful nature.

Today Jonathan Ielpi’s fireman’s jacket is part of the remaining artifacts which is held in the September 11 Memorial and Museum. That garment couldn’t save Jonathan’s life.

Jesus died, but He isn’t in the tomb. He is in you and in me and in all those who have surrendered their lives to Him. Christ in you the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27).

I can hear him saying, “Don’t worry. I am your Tower Of Freedom. I have come to set you free from the hurtful, sinful nature. I will clothe you in white garments of righteousness (Rev. 7:14). I will clothe you in immortality (John 3:16). All that the Father has is mine (John 16:15). I am rich in the love of God, because I am God. I am a Warrior of Love! I have violent love for you.

It’s not the shedding of your own blood... it’s not the shedding of another man’s blood... No,  my robe has been dipped not in the blood of men, but in my own precious blood (Heb. 9:12; Rev. 19:13), which was shed for you, and you, and all of you. So that all men can live in freedom-  life forever more.

Let the celebration begin! 

Bibliography: You Tube, Genelle Guzman McMillan, Guideposts TV; Kelly, Mike, “Last Survivor pulled from WTC rebuilds life, recalls horror.” The Record (Bergen County, NJ) Sept. 10, 2003; O’Shaughnessy, Patrice, “God Willing, I Will Find & Bury My Son.” Daily News, October 14, 2001; Hastings, Deborah;/Lennihan, Mark, “911 Father: I Don’t Understand All of This Hate.” AP, Sept. 9, 2010