Favorite Bible Character

Have you ever been asked who your favorite Bible Person is, Old Testament and then New? You can't count God or Jesus (same being), besides He should be everyone's favorite.

My favorite OT person is Joseph. What a life. Hated by his brothers (almost all of them anyway), yet loved and cherished by his dad (Jacob). Envy and jealousy was so rampant that the boys decided to get rid of Joseph once and for all. I don't want to spend too much time on this part of the story but they placed him in a pit with his "coat of many colors" that Jacob had given him. They attempted to sell him but went back to the pit and he was gone. They schemed to make it look like Joseph was the victim of foul play and brought the coat (dipped in goats blood) back to their lamenting father. Moving the story along.... Joseph was in Egypt and gained favor. He was in charge of Potiphar's household. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him but Godly man that he was, he turned her down without hesitation. She was neglected and rejected so she cried rape. Joseph was sent to prison.......Finally he became in charge of all the food in Egypt. Joseph's brothers decided they needed to travel to Egypt to get some food. They had no clue that Joseph was there (that he was even alive for that matter), has great favor in the land and was in charge of the keeping of the food. Long story short, he forgave the brethren who left him for dead and he lived happily ever after. Great bio wouldn't you agree?

In the NT I would have to go with the Apostle Paul. Zealot at the beginning, gathering Christians and bringing them to the authorities. You could kind of liken him to a present day "Dog Chapman". Jesus struck him blind on the Damascus Road where he and his entourage were bringing more Christians to "justice". He even told Ananias that he would show Paul how to suffer for His (Jesus) name's sake. Paul did a great amount of suffering for Jesus and the cause of Christ over the remainder of his life. He traveled immensely, he preached continually, he wrote much of the New Testament and no doubt won multitudes to the Kingdom. He didn't become bitter or angry. He said that he had asked Jesus to remove his "thorn in his flesh", but that Jesus chose not to heal him. That's big. Many people with afflictions do not have great attitudes. Many complain and grumble (I mumble a little). Paul went about his work for the Master. He was shipwrecked, bitten by a viper, beaten with rods more than once, publicly scourged, spent so much time in prison he kept a mugshot in his wallet (joking of course). Once in prison, after being publicly beaten Paul was told that the authorities said he shoud be let out. Look what he told the guards:

But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." (Act 16:37 ESV)

A lot of character in the man, wouldn't you say. So if I had to pick just two from the Bible to emulate it would be Joseph the Unwanted and Paul the Felon. Two of the greatest men in history, not just the Bible. Who are your favorites?

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The Prodigal Son's Brother

Can you imagine what the Prodigal Son's brother thought? You do know the story don't you? A man's son, the youngest son mind you, wanted his share of his inheritance so he could go out and do his thing. He spent the money on "riotous living" and in no time had spent the entire stash. He took odd jobs, the lowest being working with the pigs. While he was slopping the hogs he realized that the "servants" at his dad's place were fed better and treated better than he was. How humiliating. He had to try it his way. Ever been like that? I have. Anyway, he tried it his way, you know, sewed the wild oats and all that. Now he was going to have to go back and grovel to his father.

Switch the scene to the father's ranch. Dad is sitting on the porch, as has been his custom since his baby boy left him. Sipping on some tea and just looking down the road toward the sunset. An evening ritual of his, in hopes that someday he would see his beloved son come back to him. As he peers down the dirt road, squinting from the sun, he notices something or somebody moving toward the house. Could it be? His heart was racing, he began to sweat. Closer and closer the person came. It looks a little like my boy. Very dissheveled though. Yes, I think that's him. He sets down his tea, gets up from the chair and begins to walk toward the figure partly obscured by the sunrays. As he gets closer, the man waves toward the boy. The boy returns the wave and begins to jog toward his dad. His dad doesn't wait for him, he begins to run toward his son. Finally they meet and the old man embraces the younger man. They hug and cry and hug some more.

The father yells at all the others, "Go kill that fat calf, my son is returned unto me, let's party. He puts a nice robe on the boy and gives him a ring for his hand and shoes for his feet. Very touching indeed.

Now switch to the field. The oldest son is looking on in disbelief. He calls to one of the servants and asks to be brought up to speed as to what is transpiring. The servant tells him that his brother has returned and his father is having a barbecue and a half. The son is beside himself.

Look what he tells the old man:

But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'" (Luk 15:28-32 ESV)

That may have done it for the son, but I don't know if I could have bought into it or not. When you are sulking or pouting it is hard to be restored in the snap of a finger. I'm sure Dad's intentions were great, but when you are hurt you are hurt. Let's face it!

Actually, the father in this parable represents God and the Prodigal represents a child of God who has gone astray. The eldest son is playing the part of a dependable, trustworthy, immovable Christian.

Sometimes Christians act like the Prodigal's brother. They aren't happy that someone has been brought back into right fellowship. He seems to think the man should have gotten the left foot of fellowship on the behind. A spark of ol' green eyes (jealousy) creeps up and makes the Christian's world seem a little strange. I mean, he thinks, "I've been here all along. I pay my tithes, I come every service, I do everything I am supposed to do. This man, this drunk, this whoremonger, this thief comes waltzing back in and we are to just take him back like nothing ever happened?"

That's what God says. Like it or not, welcome him back and love him to death.

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Life, Death and Life Again?

My wife, Debbie and I have been going to the VA Hospital the past few days visiting a man who has terminal cancer. It is an odd feeling talking and praying to and for a man whom you don’t know and you don’t know if he can understand or comprehend one thing that you are saying. Debbie is a nurse as well as a minister so she helps me out in things medical. For instance the last thing that goes is your hearing. Seriously, when you are dying you can hear someone talking if everything else has shutdown. It has been proven by people who have drowned and were resuscitated. I’m getting off my point, so I digress.

Anyway, the man’s name is Tommy. He was saved several years ago and was a good Christian man. In fact he was the youth leader of his church. Very commendable. He later took up with liquor and shall we say strayed from the narrow way. I didn’t realize this the first night I prayed for him. I told the family that we probably differed in theology on this point because I knew that if Tommy had been saved before, he was going to go to heaven. I told them he probably wouldn’t be in the first row, but I was sure that he would be there. That gave them some comfort.

Can you imagine trying to pray through with a morphine drip and your eyes glazed over like a man who had just been decked by Mike Tyson. Dying is hard work, man. The waters don’t need to be muddied up by trying to find your way to heaven. I would imagine the light would be very dim at best through all the pharmaceutical haze and what not.

Did you ever wonder why some people died instantly via a car wreck and some lingered for years with a dreadful disease? Which way do you prefer? Dying in your sleep? Come on chicken, you can do better than that. Show some creativity. Did you ever watch “Ghost Whisperer” on television? It is a cool show, albeit maybe not correct in the biblical since. But according to that show some people are dead and do not even realize it. They can talk to Melinda because she is some type of Medium or something. But nobody else can hear them or see them. Kind of like in the move, “The Others”. The kids were dead and yet thought they were talking to and seeing ghosts. How creepy is that?

The bible doesn’t say much in the way of coming back in another form. Sort of like, one shot and that’s it. Make the most of it. Look what it says about dying:

"The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor next to Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. He went to hell and was suffering terribly. When he looked up and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side," (Luke 16:22-23 Contemporary English Version)

So when you read that it would make you think that nothing transpired between dying and going to hell. Am I right? The bible (actually Jesus) says he went to hell and suffered terribly. BTW, this is not a parable but a true story. At least that is what all of the theologians and commentaries have to say about it. They note that Jesus used a man’s name (Lazarus) instead of saying “a certain man” or words like that.

Now look what the Apostle Paul tells the Christians in Corinth:

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2Co 5:8 KJVR)

So it would seem that when you leave this “tabernacle of flesh” you are present with God. Not hard to understand is it?

I gotta be honest with you though. Hard to say, me being a minister and everything, but there seems to be quite a bit of evidence of people living a past life. Mozart playing the piano at such an early age, stuff life that. When our daughter was about three or four years old she told us that she had been on the Titanic. We had just watched the movie so we didn’t pay much attention to it. Then she said that she lived through it and so did her friend. What was your friend’s name Holly? We figured it would be Jennifer or Samantha, something she would be familiar with. She looked at us with a straight face and said “Her name was Khalil”. Wow what an imagination, we thought. Until we got on the Internet and looked up the manifest for the Titanic. You guessed it! There was a survivor on board the Titanic whose name was Khalil. Hair stood up on my arm.

Wait, that’s not the end of that story. Several years later we were talking with her and asking her about it. She said yes she remembered telling us. So, we asked her what her name was at that time. Figuring Mary or Ann or something like that, she blew us away again with an uncommon name like Selena. Want me to tell you the rest? We looked it up and a lady named Selena survived the catastrophe and coincidentally enough stayed on the same deck as Khalil. Anyway that is an honest to God true story and I just wanted to share that with you. Does that lend any credence to reincarnation? Again I am not a theologian but things like that are hard to explain away.

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Eternal Insecurity ?

The doctrine of eternal security has been debated for centuries. Calvinists strongly defend it and Armenians just as strongly denounce it. I am not a theologian and I don't have a doctorate in anything. I do however have a basic knowledge of reading. I mean something either says something or it doesn't. Can you feel me? Seriously, if I write a sentence and say , "the sky is blue". That is the total verbiage of my thoughts. Whaddya think? Do you think the sky is blue? Or maybe, you could just play around with it a little. Like, the sky is blue, unless clouds get in the way, and then it is kind of gray. Or maybe the sky is blue now, but tomorrow it may not be blue. Does that make you see things more clearly? I didn't think so. Some people are very dogmatic about this subject.

1. The most known and recited verse in the Bible

Jesus tells us in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life."



Now, we could roll up our sleeves and begin to systematically dissect this verse and see what the original Greek words meant, or how many dangling participles there may be, or maybe even to see if "begotten" is used in the correct tense. I can't read anywhere in the Bible where it says to do all of that literary autopsy. Believe what you read if you are a Christian. I can understand sinners having problems understanding since they don't have the Holy Spirit inside their hearts to help guide them. But you Christians should really believe what your Lord and Savior says and not what your granddaddy said that he meant. That could be the root of the problem. Many people are rooted in their ancestry to such a level that whatever they said was true.


The only condition Jesus put in that verse was "that whosoever believeth in him". He added nothing else. So why do we? Well, it looks too easy. Well Pastor Cliff, it's just a license to sin. Both points well taken. Now take your seat please. It is very easy to say "I believe in Jesus". That is all well and good to say that. The catch is that you must believe it in your heart. It cannot just be lip service. Either you believe that He died for you and has to power to forgive your sins or you don't. You must take your pick. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how many banks your robbed, how many homes you burgled (yes that is a real word), or how many people you murdered. At that point the only thing that matters is 'what did you do with Jesus'. Your disbelief will send you to hell without parole, not all of the felolnies you were guilty of. Is that too hard to wrap your mind around?


Armenians believe that since salvation is not eternal, you can somewhere along the way lose it (your salvation that is). By losing it I mean having it taken from you from your Father in Heaven. Meaning, that since you were saved you have done something than didn't muster up to the standards. Meaning God's Grace is no longer sufficient for the hour. Without grace, we are looking at a salvation by works.
That's no good, read this:

2. Salvation is received by Grace alone (through faith)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9 ESV). Now I have the KJV'ers (those who won't talk to you about anything unless it's from the good ol' King James Version) up in arms at me. That was from the English Standard Version (my heretical genes are taking over again). So let's see it from the KJV: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9 KJVR) . Says pretty much the same thing, won't you agree? So God is now an Indian Giver. Gives you a free gift and now wants it back. Taking away something that is impossible to earn (by God's own words) by you now not being deserving of this gift. Taking back eternal (which means forever) salvation, thus making it temporal. Interesting.

3. To Know or Not to Know

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Mat 7:23 KJVR)

Notice that He says "never knew you". He doesn't say "you once believed but then you stopped". He doesn't say "I used to know you but you have done some things which displease me so depart from me". He doesn't say "I used to know you but now I don't". How can you rationalize that verse with your Armenian brethren?

4. The Paternal Instincts

Listen, God is a father. I too am a father, and so are some of you who read this blog. "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matt 7:9-11)



I don't know what kind of parent you are, but I wouldn't turn my back on any of my children, no matter what they did. I mean it! Some things can become ugly, but blood is thicker than water. God is about a billion times better as a parent than either you or I. If you were saved you have God's royal blood coursing through your veins. Be happy, be privileged, be confident in knowing you are going to heaven.







There are three things I want you to take with you when you finish reading this entry.

• God said "Eternal life"
• Eternal means without end
• God cannot lie
  

Remember we can always agree to disagree. But if you do not believe in eternal security, we have a discrepancy up on us. I know I am going to Heaven, but you will just have to wait and see.

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Patience Is More Than a Virtue

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be patient? Well, I am probably one of the world's worst at it. I have zero tolerance when it comes to patience, always have.

When God speaks to you and tells you He is going to do something for you, it is difficult to just "sit back and wait". That is precisely what He wants though. Perfect patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (Jam 1:4 KJVR)

God told us (in this ministry) that He would provide a building for our church. We are currently holding our meetings in a local woman's club. It is very chaotic trying to move sound equipment around every Sunday. Setting up chairs and moving them back when you are through. Very taxing on your nerves. It is hard to wait when you need something now. Do we really need it now? Well it sure would be nice and convenient and make our lives much more comfortable. Father , if it is possible let this cup (waiting for our building) pass from me. All of a sudden it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, does it? I mean it's not like we are going to have locust thorns crushed into our scalp, be beaten to within an inch of our lives, be spat upon, publicly riduculed, and then be nailed to an old rugged cross, and then stabbed in the side with a sword. Oh, did I mention the vinegar? Yeah, just when a cool drink of H2O would really hit the spot they slip you a big slug of bitter vinegar.

I know that is a little drastic for an illustration, but it does put things in their proper perspective. I mean, we can certainly live with a few inconveniences, can't we? Maybe for you it's not a church building. Maybe it is that new job He told you about. Or maybe it is the financing on that new house. We are not working in our timetable when it comes to things God has promised. We are strictly in God's zone. If you want it, wait. If you don't want it, keep whining, maybe He can change His mind. After all, usually when God promises something, He will attach a condition or two along with it.

If He said He will part the Red Sea, someone has to raise the staff. If He said He would knock down the wall, someone has to march around it. If He promises you something, do your part. Be patient.

It is said that patience is a virtue. Patience, in God's world, is much more than that. It is an essential ingredient in God's recipe book.

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The Beauty of God's Artwork

Today is just the opposite of yesterday. The weather is beautiful, 60 degrees and sunny. A perfect autumn afternoon. It seems weird to me that anyone can doubt the existence of God. When you look at weather like this with the leaves beginning to change colors, and see the mountains looking like an artists pallette, you just have to thank God for allowing you to live in such a beautiful world. For someone to believe that the world was created from a big "bang" or evolved from "primortial ooze" is preposterous to me.

The same God who made those leaves also saw to it that man should have 2 lungs, 2 kidneys, a pancreas and each one would have a different number of hairs on their head. A big bang created you with miles of blood vessels winding their way through your body in a network of lifegiving fluid. A skeleton was also provided by the big bang in order for you to have something to hang your meat on. I mean without the skeleton you skin would just not hold up. Someone once said that the big bang theory is tantamount to a printshop exploding and a collectors' edition of "War and Peace" evolved from the chaos. Can you wrap your mind around that for a minute?

Why someone would choose to believe that way is beyond me. Even if they denied the existence of God, something or someone would be much more pallatable than either of those two concepts.

Next time you are outside on a beautiful night look up at the stars and try to imagine a big bang (or anything else for that matter) created such beauty in the sky. God just placed each one where He wanted it in the same way an artist or sculptor would place something in their piece of art. After all, all of nature is just God's work of art.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, (Gen 1:14 ESV)

I am surprised that the same people who disclaim God's wonderwork, even accept that children come from procreation. I mean wouldn't it make just as much since to believe that your mom and dad were on a picnic one day and you just drifted down the creek in a wicker basket?

God gave us a brain and a certain amount of common sense. Let's try to use that brain and get to the direct understanding that God designed it all, breathed life into it all, and stops that same life when He has decided its time is up.

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Reflections on Life

A little on the chilly side today. Sitting in my chair with my pomeranian, Foxy watching the flames dance in the fireplace before us. Funny thing, just looking at a fireplace in operation is somewhat warming in itself. I mean, even if the fire hasn't grown to the degree you're looking for, it seems to warm your body just by looking into it and reflecting.


Reflecting on life today. My cousin and good friend has just lost a close friend he was in the military with years ago. He is driving to South Carolina as I pen these words (odd to say pen like Spurgeon or someone, haven't used a pen to write anything in years :) ). My friend is in deep pain as he senses his keen loss. I don't know the spiritual condition of the gentleman who passed away but I will inquire when Junior comes back to town.

Many people have no idea what to expect when they die. I guess nobody does precisely which causes a slight bit of anxiety in most of us. I mean just like the old saying, everyone wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die. Lot of truth to that. I know that the Apostle Paul says,
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2Co 5:8 KJVR) That is great reading and is also a completely true statement of fact. I guess what I'm trying to say is that with modern TV shows such as "Ghost Whisperer" and "Crossing Over with John Edwards" many thoughts begin to flood even the believer's mind. Do we die one moment and open our eyes in Heaven or Hell (as the rich man in Luke chapter 16) or does it just seem that way because we have been in such a blissful slumber for uncounted years. I know that if we have given our lives to Jesus we won't have to worry about all the afterlife nonsense. Anyway that is something people usually reserve their thoughts to until someone close is snatched from them.

When you get to be in your fifties you stop taking everyday for granted as you did when you were younger and filled with vibrancy and curiosity. Some, no doubt, who read these words are not set to thinking about such trivialities (as they see it). We all must face the specter of death someday. When you begin to hear the death winds howlin', a closer walk with God is soon desired. We shouldn't put it off to the last days because I have seen it and believe me dying is hard enough without the added stress of deciding your eternal home.

Chances are we have never met, but my wish to you is that you will accept the free gift of Jesus and call upon His name before it's too late.

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