Month: October 2024

How many times have you heard someone say that the Bible says that money is the root of all evil? What 1 Timothy 6:10 NLT actually says is this, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. People desiring wealth have drifted away from true faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.” My church could not do good in our community or missions overseas without money. Any object is only good or evil based on how we use it. Loving things, including money, is idolatry. Living our Christian life, we must worship God, love people and use things for good.

When I was a young boy, I seemed to go from one childhood disease to another. I remember one of my aunts saying that the Bible says, “Suffer little children.” Those three words do appear in Matthew 19 of the KJV, the only English translation we had back then. But if you read the entire chapter, it is clear in 1611 England suffer meant allow and had nothing to do with disease or pain. I use the NLT for this blog to avoid that kind of misunderstanding.

Satan loves to take God’s words out of context just as he did three times when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Even in the Garden of Eden, long before there were scriptures, he asked Eve, “Is that really what God said?”

Lord, help us to keep every word of scripture in context so that your truth will light the path you have for each of us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This blog was established nearly 8 years ago not only to mentor new Christians about what to expect in their walk with the Lord, but as a reminder to mature Christians about how far they have come and encourage them to draw even closer to the Lord. I watched a video today that did that for me. It was taped live in front of a large Spirit filled congregation. Joseph Larson and his sister Grace Larson Bromley sing, “I Thank God”. It is another great description of being “born again.” The song has a lot of repetition for emphasis, but this is the message.

“Hell lost another one, I am free! He picked me up, turned me around and planted my feet on solid ground. He healed my heart and changed my name. Forever free. I am not the same. I thank the Master; I thank the Savior; I thank God!”

If you are reading this and  have not made the decision yet to put your faith in Jesus Christ, look up that video and watch it all the way to the end. After the song, the pastor skips the sermon; but recites the sinner’s prayer with the congregation. Pray that prayer sincerely and you will experience the new life, the Christian life as a child of God, that is described in the song and in each of my blog posts. Hell will have lost another one and you will be set free.

If you saw a scary warning from your search engine and came onto this site anyway, I want to assure you that all of the spam that prompted the warning has been removed and you can safely read any of my blog posts again. The warning should be removed the next time the site is indexed. It bothers me that the enemy is still trying to keep my regular readers away from my blog, but I pray that the Holy Spirit will give others, like you, the courage to come on anyway or at least try again later when the warning has been removed.

I have written before about the storms we go through in our Christian life and the mountains we encounter sometimes to hinder our service for our Lord. This ordeal has been a huge mountain for me, but my 70 year relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within me confirms the truth of these words from one of my favorite songs, “I have not seen a mountain God can not move.” With the prayers of many and the skilled hands of my brother in Christ, Josh, the mountain is now just a mole hill of a warning that should soon disappear as well. Praise God!

Earlier this week I discovered over 11,000 gambling casino ads from around the world posted on my website. When my friend , who designed my website, checked into it he also found that more than 1,000 people have signed in as users on my site. He compared it to an invasion of cockroaches; something I know a lot about. It is an invasion alright, but the one behind it is our spiritual enemy.

The more readers I have in the U.S. and around the world, the harder he has come after me technically and physically. I am convinced he is the one who tried to trap me in that horrible nursing home to put an end to the blog and to me. Thanks to the countless prayers that went up on my behalf God set me free and guided my doctors to get me well and back home sharing God’s message with you. There is much for which I thank God. Most importantly, it appears that none of my more than 700 posts have been affected and I will continue to post new ones while the website is being cleaned up.

Please continue to keep me in  your prayers, because I’m sure the enemy will continue his attacks just as sure as I will continue to stay strong against him with your supporting prayers and God’s help. This is what Christian life and service is sometimes like, but there is joy, peace and even excitement in the storms.