Life Could be Worse

There is a saying in our family that is used whenever life gets to be a struggle or there are issues to be faced that are unpleasant.  We say, "life could be worse" and when you look around the world, life is worse for some people.  When I have traveled to some of the poorer countries in our world, I always ask the Lord, 'why was I born an American?'  Why wasn't I born in one of the slums in the world with no hope and no future?  The answer I always get back from Him is found in Luke 12:48

48)  Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. These pictures were taken in Cape Town South Africa in a community where HIV Aids and other diseases are wide spread.  The open trench is sewer waste water and is obviously a health hazard.  This area is often flooded with the winter rains and the residents in these areas just have to do what they can to just survive.

The most vulnerable in these conditions are the children.

It is easy to forgot, or be ignorant of the blessings of God.  Life could be worse, but for many Americans, it isn't as bad as it could be.  Our prosperity regardless of where we may fall on the economic ladder was given to us as an opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves. 

Any experience God has allowed us to go through was meant for the good of others.  What we have learned and processed through that experience is an opportunity to share the hope we have in God.  When we stand before Almighty God someday we will give an account to Him on how we processed life's experiences.  He will ask us did we bury the experience or did we invest that experience into the lives of others who were hurting and needed some hope. 

The parable of the talents that Jesus told could also include our experiences, our insights, our gifts and talents, and the big question from that parable is: "how did we invest back into people the hope of God?" 

Matthew 25:15-18  15To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.  17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.  18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Life could be worse, but God still cares for the least and the lost, and its our job to invest into  people the hope we have in God. 

Keeping it honest and truthful...K

Ghana Africa

Paulette Kutzler standing guard over the bus that we traveled in throughout Accra Ghana. The temperatures were in the mid 90's with humidity close to 80%.

The bus was air conditioned. 

Below the market place was full of products from fresh fruit to sweet breads.  Everyone had a product to sell and they all carry their products on their heads.  

Ghana is 80% Christian, but the battle for Africa is underway 

with the Muslim community in the north beginning to move South. 

I Would Love to Go to Church, But When I Do I Just Get Mad!

The title of this entry were words that came out of a good friend who has been a Christian most of his life, and he is now in his sixties. Long time church going person who believes everything the Bible teaches, leads a leadership consulting agency and yet is frustrated when he attends church.  So what bothers him about church?  Good question!  I think he would say that church is about itself, and not about the people they are called to serve.  In making an illustration about his feelings, he said the church has become, in nature, like our president who makes reference to himself or his accomplishments in almost every speech.  My friend would say that the systems that operate today in the church keep people from really understanding God and His Word, and keeps people at bay when it comes to making God known in and through the community. When he goes to church, he says "there is so much about the church that I can't see God in it, so it makes me mad." Well what do we expect?  We have taught our pastors to be marketers, and promoters with system orientations like Rich Warrens  "Purpose Driven Church." What this does, it makes us more familiar with the system of a successful pastor than it does about following the heart of the Holy Spirit. My wife and I understand what my friend is saying about church, because she has felt that most worship teams simply play the Christian cover tunes everyone is familiar with, and call it worship. Most pulpits try to analyze the difficultly of living out the Christian life in a post modern world and supply the audience with a few talking points to help them survive their ordeal.  I don't want cover tunes, and I don't want any "tips for successful living" sermons.  What I would like from a church, is a vision statement that impacts a community with the gospel, and  supports that message by generous acts of compassion to the community. I want honesty from the pulpit that informs me on God's prophetic intentions for this world, and how I can engage my world with the tools He has given me to make a difference.  I don't want more small groups to make me more comfortable about myself or my surroundings, and I specially don't want all the spiritual jargon being preached at me that changes nothing in my life. Nor do I want a post modern message that creates an addiction for social justice just so the church gets its strokes from being relevant to the community. 

The church has always been counter cultural, taking risks and speaking the truth, even if it was not convenient to do so. The message of the church is to become a disciple of Jesus at personal risk to resources, reputation, and lifestyle. That message is one that denies self and picks up the cross of Christ based upon the values found in the scriptures. It stands against injustice, and unrighteousness at all levels of society, and does not back down from the powerful forces of peer pressure or denominational mandates.

I would love to go to church where the spiritual foundations are not based upon the best selling Christian books and is not coerced by leadership who don't know the Lord.

Check this verse out.  God was against the shepherds because they had departed from His ways. Are we any different today? Passage taken from Ezekiel 34:10

Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

God was not happy with how the shepherds handled God's people, and I am sure He is not happy with the leaders of many of today's churches. 

Beware shepherd, judgment begins in the household of God. 

1 Peter 4:17  17For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and iif it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Keeping it honest and truthful...K

Who Owns the Soul of Mankind?

Ezekiel 18:4 says: "Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine:the soul who sins shall die." This verse is a great reminder that the soul of a person does not belong to the individual who possess it, but the soul belongs to God who created it.  We say that it is the soul of a person that defines a person, in character, and in personality.  It is also the soul that will live forever. The fact that the soul lives forever means that God had an intention for us to live forever with Him, and because of sin, we were separated from God until Jesus died upon the cross. It is the restitution of the cross that brings us back into fellowship with GOD.  If God owns the soul of a person, then where does free will come in?  God may own the soul, as creator and His stamp of creation, "Made By God"  is on every soul, but he also gave every soul the freedom of free will.  Free will is the choice God gave to every soul to serve Him, or to serve self, and only you can exercise that free will, but the soul still is under the owndership of God.   That is why God says that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, because it is His creation that will die in their sins.  Ezekiel 18:32  32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 33:11  11Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? The social ills of abortion are quick reminders that society has decided when and where a life should be defined, and we give no thought to the perspective of who owns life.  Our lives do not belong to us, ownership of my body and soul belong to God.  That is why suicide, murder and abortion steal God's ownership rights to end life. In the case of abortion, life doesn't begin when a child is born, it begins when the soul and physical matter unite at conception. If God creates life,  then He owns the rights to that life, and is the only one who has the right to end a persons life here on earth. When society removes the idea of God from government, from marriage, from the classroom, and even from the pulpit, you are then basically just stealing His rights to His creation. When the process of redefining God to the one dimensional aspect of love, you have created a God that does not exist.  The only thing we talk about today is God's creation, and how He loves us. However, what about the fact that God owns everything, we never hear that message anymore, because people don't believe He does.  In our day, we are in a battle for the souls of men like never before in the history of mankind. Yet, we rarely speak of His ownership of life, His commandments, or His requirements for eternity with Him. You see we need to be reminded continually that life is all about Him, and not about us.  This world has this backward, and sometimes the church is just as guilty. Life belongs to God, hook, line and sinker, there are no exceptions to this.  The reason the scriptures mentions relationships so often is because God wants us to treat each other with respect. This makes sense since everything and everybody belongs to God, and if we love Him, we should respect what He has created. Who owns you?  God does! That is why one day every knee will bow and every tonuge will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  All of Gods creation will be in harmony on that day, and everyone will acknowledge Him as Lord over all the earth.   Keeping it honest and truthful...K

Someone Once Said!

Someone once said, "you are so heavenly minded, that you are of no earthly good."  This could be said of many churches and denominations over the years, but, really, it's not true.  I suppose the person coining this phrase was disgusted with fellow Christians because they were lazy and indifferent about reaching out to their fellow man. However, if one is heavenly minded, the focus isn't about heaven it's about getting people to heaven as an objective for the work here on earth.  

Paul the Apostle said it this way in Colossians chapter one:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. It is questionable to me if you are a follower of Christ that unless your emphasis has a future appeal and concern, that you will only focus on eliminating the issues in our current world. Social justice advocates have many good causes, but as hard as they try and as hard as they work with society, they will never solve the problems they face.  None of us will.  Jesus said the poor will be with you always, indicating that the sin of man is so engrained in us that it will be impossible to alleviate poverty and the affects of poverty on this side of His return.  Now, that sounds so heavenly minded, but it's the truth.  When my wife and I were in South Africa recently, we visited a ministry that was dealing with HIV Aids victims, and even though they were caring for these patients, the hope they gave them wasn't in curing their disease, but in a Savior who loved them, and is preparing a place for them for all eternity.  Now, the reality is, social justice cares for their pain, and their problems related to their incurable disease, but their hope is in a place in heaven because of Jesus.  What comes down from heaven is the source and purpose of our hope. It instructs our steps, informs our purpose, and provides us with the security that God is in control of this earth, regardless of what is happening around the world.  That theme alone is worth being heavenly minded about, to know that "GOD IS IN CONTROL." It is this heavenly source that keeps us grounded here on earth so that we can invest our lives into the social justice issues so that people know God is in control. That's right, being heavenly minded is to know God is in control.  Knowing He is in control, helps me to encourage others to know Him, and the promises He gives to us about the future.  Don't stop believing that God is in control, regardless of what we may experience.  We are still moving toward the completion of things to come so that He will return to His place on earth to rule and and to reign. Keeping it truthful and honest....K