Good morning everyone and God bless you all! It's another lovely, rainy day here in Ukiah, CA. It was very cold and wet here last night and I was, and am, very grateful to have a shelter to stay in.
This morning I was watching videos on YouTube and came across the video that is at the bottom of this posting. I don't get on YouTube very often, but I am glad that I did this morning. It discusses Hell and how so many people think that they are not going there, specifically professing followers of Christ.
I cannot tell you how many "Christians" I have come across who do not believe that God is going to throw anyone into Hell. These people say that they have read the Bible, they say that they follow Christ, yet they do not believe Christ's own words. He spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven. How can someone who professes to be a child of God pick out of God's Word what he/she likes and completely disregard the rest?
I spoke to a guy once who said that he was a Christian. He said that he did not believe in Hell and in eternal torments. I asked him how he could consider himself to be a Christian and yet disregard such an important aspect of the Christian faith. He said that he believed that the parts of the Bible that speak of Hell were either added in later, or simply mistranslated. How convenient! Yeah, let's just take out the uncomfortable parts of the Bible and rationalize our actions by saying that God never intended those uncomfortable parts to be in His Word!
When I was a practicing Wiccan, that was one of the things that I loved about that religion. You could pick the best things from a number of religions and incorporate them into your own beliefs. It seems that people are doing that with the Bible.
Honestly, I am kind of speechless after watching this and I know that it convicted me on a few things. So, I am going to keep this short and let you all just see it for yourselves.
Be sure to check out this video. Sure, the guy speaking gets pretty negative at times, but how can you speak positively about anything having to do with such a horrible place as Hell?
Until next week, God bless you all!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Untouchables
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.’
Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!’
Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite Me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give Me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit Me.’
Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?’
And He will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.’
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46
“Large crowds followed Jesus as He came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Him and knelt before Him. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean.’
Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared.” Matthew 8:1-3
lep·ro·sy
n. tropical skin and nerve disease: a tropical disease mainly affecting the skin and nerves that can cause tissue change and, in severe cases, loss of sensation and disfigurement.
Leprosy is transmitted following close personal contact and has an incubation period of 1-30 years. It can now be cured if treated with a combination of drugs.
Hello everyone and God bless all of you. When I first got out of prison I had determined that each week I was going to post something I wrote in prison until such time as I ran out of things I had written in there. But I have changed my mind. I am going to be posting things I wrote in there periodically, but this week, I decided to write about something I have been experiencing since I got out.
Go back and re-read the verses above, because they have a direct bearing on what I am about to talk about.
In Jesus’ time, a person with leprosy was considered “untouchable.” You were not to even touch someone with leprosy. Actually, leprosy was considered so bad that a person with leprosy was to stand at a distance and shout out, “unclean, unclean,” as people approached. People with leprosy often lived in “colonies” with other lepers. They were the “untouchables” of their time. Today, at least here in America, we have a different type of “untouchable.” Right now, I am one of these modern day “untouchables.”
I live in a homeless shelter. It is not the greatest experience of my life, but things could be much worse. It has been getting down into the 30’s here at night time. There are only 80 beds in this shelter and I have been blessed to be able to occupy one of them. For that I am grateful. Each night as I lay down to go to sleep, I thank God that I do not have to sleep outside in the cold as so many in this town do.
I don’t look homeless, but I do many of the things that homeless people do. I hang out at McDonalds, Starbucks, the parks, and basically anywhere I can find a place to sit down. I am blessed in that I have decent clothing to wear, am able to shower and stay clean, and have a bike to get around town on. But, essentially, I am one of the homeless crowd.
Have you ever felt invisible? Or been looked at like you are an animal and below the person who is looking at you? That is often how homeless people feel. People walk by and either look down on you with a frown on their face, or they walk by and act like you are not even there. And, don’t even, if you are homeless, dare to try to stop someone and speak to them, whether you are asking them for something or not.
Let me ask you a question: when you pass by a homeless person on the street, how do you react? Are you one of those who frown down on the person? Is it a blot on your day to see a homeless person and be subjected to the indignity of having to see them and walk by them?
Or, do you act like that person is not even there? How would you react if someone looked down on you with contempt or acted like you are not there? Would you not be indignant?
The Bible tells us that God has a soft place in His heart for homeless and poor people. In ancient Israel, God instructed the people not to harvest all of their crops so that the poor people of the land could glean food for themselves. Look at the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-25.
“Jesus said, ‘There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.’”
Now, I am not one of those who say that it is a sin to be rich and point to this as a proof text for that. I am one of those who say that it is a sin to be rich, or even have more than you need, and yet look down on those who do not have anything. I am fortunate. I live among those who Jesus would have been most at home with. As Todd Agnew says in his song My Jesus, “…and I think He’d prefer Beale street to the stained glass crowd.” I’m not quite sure what Beale street is, but I think I get the point of the statement and I think that Mr. Agnew is on to something.
So, let me take the previous questions about what you do when you see a homeless person a bit further. How do you react when a homeless person tries to make conversation with you? Do you rush on by, just supposing that they are only trying to get money for drugs or alcohol? Perhaps they just want someone to talk to, someone to listen to them for a second, a little confirmation that they are still a human and therefore deserving of a little attention, even if only for a second.
Now that I am in the predicament that I am in, I have learned the value of even saying a simple, “Hi, how are you doing?,” to each person that I come across, regardless of how they look or even how they smell.
What do you do when a homeless person has the nerve to ask you for some spare change? I have seen so many homeless people trying to get spare change for whatever purpose, be it food, or alcohol, or whatever, and you should see people’s reaction. It is sad and shocking to see how these people are treated. Now, I have been in this situation for nearly a month, with no end in sight in the foreseeable future, and I know that some of the people who have passed me with disdain written all over their faces had to have been “followers of Christ.” Do you think to yourself when you pass these people that you have no obligation whatsoever to them? When you say your prayers at night and give thanks for a warm house to sleep in and food to eat, do you think of those who are less fortunate? Do you say a prayer for them? Do you think to yourselves when you pass these people on the street, “Well, I have already given money to the church this week, so I don’t need to help this person?” Make sure that when you give that money to the church, you fill out your name on that little envelope so that you can receive your rewards from man. Yeah, I am being sarcastic, but I mean every word of it. I get aggravated sometimes at the attitudes people display who are better off than those around me; those who are more fortunate are only a missed mortgage payment away from being just like me. The people who are around me are “normal” people. They are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. Most of us started out in decent living situations, with parents who loved us. Most of us just fell on hard times. Speaking for myself, I have a wife and 2 children, and immediate family who loves me very much. I just have to be like this until parole says I can go back home to my family 3100 miles away.
The Bible has a couple of things to say about this situation that I think we should take a look at. James 2:14-16 says, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ - but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” Hebrews 13:2 says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” And, finally, Luke 14:12-14 says, “The [Jesus] turned to His host. ’When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ He said, ’don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.’”
The Bible says that the world will know that we are followers of Christ by our love for one another… let us extend that love, the love of Christ, to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. I’m not saying to give money to each person that you come across, but you don’t understand how far a little acknowledgement, a small show of kindness, can go with a person. If you have it to spare, maybe you could buy some homeless person a sandwich. Buy two, and do the unthinkable - sit and eat with them, talk to them, listen to their story, give them a sense of normalcy. Pray with them, tell them about Jesus. Dare to touch the untouchable. His eye is on the poor, and it is also on you.
God bless you all.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.’
Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!’
Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed Me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite Me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give Me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit Me.’
Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?’
And He will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.’
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46
“Large crowds followed Jesus as He came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Him and knelt before Him. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean.’
Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared.” Matthew 8:1-3
lep·ro·sy
n. tropical skin and nerve disease: a tropical disease mainly affecting the skin and nerves that can cause tissue change and, in severe cases, loss of sensation and disfigurement.
Leprosy is transmitted following close personal contact and has an incubation period of 1-30 years. It can now be cured if treated with a combination of drugs.
Hello everyone and God bless all of you. When I first got out of prison I had determined that each week I was going to post something I wrote in prison until such time as I ran out of things I had written in there. But I have changed my mind. I am going to be posting things I wrote in there periodically, but this week, I decided to write about something I have been experiencing since I got out.
Go back and re-read the verses above, because they have a direct bearing on what I am about to talk about.
In Jesus’ time, a person with leprosy was considered “untouchable.” You were not to even touch someone with leprosy. Actually, leprosy was considered so bad that a person with leprosy was to stand at a distance and shout out, “unclean, unclean,” as people approached. People with leprosy often lived in “colonies” with other lepers. They were the “untouchables” of their time. Today, at least here in America, we have a different type of “untouchable.” Right now, I am one of these modern day “untouchables.”
I live in a homeless shelter. It is not the greatest experience of my life, but things could be much worse. It has been getting down into the 30’s here at night time. There are only 80 beds in this shelter and I have been blessed to be able to occupy one of them. For that I am grateful. Each night as I lay down to go to sleep, I thank God that I do not have to sleep outside in the cold as so many in this town do.
I don’t look homeless, but I do many of the things that homeless people do. I hang out at McDonalds, Starbucks, the parks, and basically anywhere I can find a place to sit down. I am blessed in that I have decent clothing to wear, am able to shower and stay clean, and have a bike to get around town on. But, essentially, I am one of the homeless crowd.
Have you ever felt invisible? Or been looked at like you are an animal and below the person who is looking at you? That is often how homeless people feel. People walk by and either look down on you with a frown on their face, or they walk by and act like you are not even there. And, don’t even, if you are homeless, dare to try to stop someone and speak to them, whether you are asking them for something or not.
Let me ask you a question: when you pass by a homeless person on the street, how do you react? Are you one of those who frown down on the person? Is it a blot on your day to see a homeless person and be subjected to the indignity of having to see them and walk by them?
Or, do you act like that person is not even there? How would you react if someone looked down on you with contempt or acted like you are not there? Would you not be indignant?
The Bible tells us that God has a soft place in His heart for homeless and poor people. In ancient Israel, God instructed the people not to harvest all of their crops so that the poor people of the land could glean food for themselves. Look at the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-25.
“Jesus said, ‘There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.’”
Now, I am not one of those who say that it is a sin to be rich and point to this as a proof text for that. I am one of those who say that it is a sin to be rich, or even have more than you need, and yet look down on those who do not have anything. I am fortunate. I live among those who Jesus would have been most at home with. As Todd Agnew says in his song My Jesus, “…and I think He’d prefer Beale street to the stained glass crowd.” I’m not quite sure what Beale street is, but I think I get the point of the statement and I think that Mr. Agnew is on to something.
So, let me take the previous questions about what you do when you see a homeless person a bit further. How do you react when a homeless person tries to make conversation with you? Do you rush on by, just supposing that they are only trying to get money for drugs or alcohol? Perhaps they just want someone to talk to, someone to listen to them for a second, a little confirmation that they are still a human and therefore deserving of a little attention, even if only for a second.
Now that I am in the predicament that I am in, I have learned the value of even saying a simple, “Hi, how are you doing?,” to each person that I come across, regardless of how they look or even how they smell.
What do you do when a homeless person has the nerve to ask you for some spare change? I have seen so many homeless people trying to get spare change for whatever purpose, be it food, or alcohol, or whatever, and you should see people’s reaction. It is sad and shocking to see how these people are treated. Now, I have been in this situation for nearly a month, with no end in sight in the foreseeable future, and I know that some of the people who have passed me with disdain written all over their faces had to have been “followers of Christ.” Do you think to yourself when you pass these people that you have no obligation whatsoever to them? When you say your prayers at night and give thanks for a warm house to sleep in and food to eat, do you think of those who are less fortunate? Do you say a prayer for them? Do you think to yourselves when you pass these people on the street, “Well, I have already given money to the church this week, so I don’t need to help this person?” Make sure that when you give that money to the church, you fill out your name on that little envelope so that you can receive your rewards from man. Yeah, I am being sarcastic, but I mean every word of it. I get aggravated sometimes at the attitudes people display who are better off than those around me; those who are more fortunate are only a missed mortgage payment away from being just like me. The people who are around me are “normal” people. They are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. Most of us started out in decent living situations, with parents who loved us. Most of us just fell on hard times. Speaking for myself, I have a wife and 2 children, and immediate family who loves me very much. I just have to be like this until parole says I can go back home to my family 3100 miles away.
The Bible has a couple of things to say about this situation that I think we should take a look at. James 2:14-16 says, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ - but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” Hebrews 13:2 says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” And, finally, Luke 14:12-14 says, “The [Jesus] turned to His host. ’When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,’ He said, ’don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.’”
The Bible says that the world will know that we are followers of Christ by our love for one another… let us extend that love, the love of Christ, to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. I’m not saying to give money to each person that you come across, but you don’t understand how far a little acknowledgement, a small show of kindness, can go with a person. If you have it to spare, maybe you could buy some homeless person a sandwich. Buy two, and do the unthinkable - sit and eat with them, talk to them, listen to their story, give them a sense of normalcy. Pray with them, tell them about Jesus. Dare to touch the untouchable. His eye is on the poor, and it is also on you.
God bless you all.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Answered Prayers
I just wanted to write this for my beautiful wife, Yolanda Cobb. We have been married for a year and a half and it has been quite a ride. However, something changed in her when I went back to prison on this last parole violation. Many, many people have been praying for her and for our marriage. Her whole attitude has gone through such a dramatic change, I simply cannot get over it. I have often said that the most (physically) beautiful person in the world can also be the ugliest. It’s all about a person’s attitude. Many times I have poured out my heart to God asking him to save our marriage and to change my wife. Once, I actually left her. Many times I started to. I’m glad now that I didn’t leave again, and, once again, I am happy to be married to her.
While I was in prison she gave birth to my first child, a boy named Caesar Micah. I think that changed things a bit, but I know that, ultimately, it was God who changed her. Both of us still have a long way to go, but I am learning to “let go and let God.”
For those of you reading this who thinks that God is deaf to the prayers of humanity, let this stand as a testimony of His love for us and His desire to work in our lives. God is not dead Mr. Nietzsche. Lol! He hears our prayers and He understands what we go though. He is not far from each one of us. All we need to do is seek Him. The Word says that when we seek Him, we will find Him. So, what’s wrong with you? Get to seeking!
Even though you may never read this, I love you to pieces Yolanda, Reakwon, and Caesar. You all mean the world to me. And to my wife, I look forward to growing old with you. Get the rocking chairs ready love, I’m already 30! :-)
God bless you all!
While I was in prison she gave birth to my first child, a boy named Caesar Micah. I think that changed things a bit, but I know that, ultimately, it was God who changed her. Both of us still have a long way to go, but I am learning to “let go and let God.”
For those of you reading this who thinks that God is deaf to the prayers of humanity, let this stand as a testimony of His love for us and His desire to work in our lives. God is not dead Mr. Nietzsche. Lol! He hears our prayers and He understands what we go though. He is not far from each one of us. All we need to do is seek Him. The Word says that when we seek Him, we will find Him. So, what’s wrong with you? Get to seeking!
Even though you may never read this, I love you to pieces Yolanda, Reakwon, and Caesar. You all mean the world to me. And to my wife, I look forward to growing old with you. Get the rocking chairs ready love, I’m already 30! :-)
God bless you all!
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