Thursday, October 30, 2014

Genealogy for us all


I have always been fascinated by my roots. That fascination, however,
never really blossomed into action. My middle brother, now
diseased, delved into the family tree on my father's side and
discovered that really getting serious about one's background
can be a task that is time consuming, expensive, and
frustrating!

We all want to know where we came from; it's one of those
core questions in our lives. In talking with my relatives, I
learned that my roots are German, English, Scottish, Dutch.....
I even had one relative state that I probably do not want to
know!

But I have a deal for you. I can trace your roots back to the
same place mine began. We are all related to the first humans created
by God and placed in a luxurious garden of unimaginable beauty.
Unfortunately, their time there was cut short, and they were
made to leave, having changed the course of human events
in drastic ways. We, thus, have inherited from them the curse
of sin. This sinful nature is within us from birth to death. We
cannot, of our own will and effort, rise up against sin.

Well the other part of the deal is that I know who your
real Father is. Amazingly enough, He is my Father, too.
He is God the creator of all things, and that 'all things'
category includes you and me. This Father of ours loves us
despite our sinfulness, and He has provided that which
we cannot attain, forgiveness from sin. It is a provision
that came at a dear price; yet, we need only accept this
gift and believe and trust His son, Jesus Christ, the savior
of the world.

Hard to do? Expensive? NO! He is our Shepherd, our
Priest and our Redeemer. He accepts all those who seek
Him. He is waiting. He is the Truth and the Answer. He is
the God/ Man who came into the world to save all of
us who were lost.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Be aware of your "use by" date!



We are, all of us, Christian or non, born with a 'use by' date. We
don't have any bargaining power when it comes to the end of
our brief stay here on this planet. Unless we purposely make
our own exit, something I would never encourage, we will come
to an final due date.

 

Those who are Christians, who are re-born into Christ through
faith and grace, are well aware of this end. Others may see
an end point as random, fate-driven, haphazard... not something
planned by a God who is sovereign, in complete control.

 

My point, here, is that our lives here are as a vapor, here one
day and then gone. While it is important to make plans for
those we leave behind, we ought to bear in mind our own
future. Within all of us, whether we want to admit to it or
not, is the fundamental realization that we are eternal. Oh
our atheist friends, our nihilistic friends and others will claim
that it does not matter, that they do not care. They know,
nonetheless, that this is a self-deceptive lie.

 

It really comes down in the end to where each of us will
spend eternity. Deny the living God, deny the Lord Jesus
Christ, deny the salvation offered to all who are deserving
only of God's wrath, and one sentences himself to a
never changing existence without the presence of God.
The descriptions of such a choice are very troubling.

I would assert that each created understands this. One
cannot fool oneself without sinful pride and the help of the
Evil One. 

Just be careful! Your terminal breath can come
suddenly; that last moment may be too late, even for a
God who was willing to give His beloved son to die for
each of His created.

 

Wise up, kneel down and ask Jesus into your hearts while
you still can! Why not do it right now!!!

Friday, October 24, 2014

The REAL Ebola Czar: Jehovah

If one maverick molecule exists in the universe, God is not
sovereign, and if God is not sovereign, He is not God.

R C Sproul

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the qualities and abilities
of God, probably because we aren't cognitively able to wrap
our minds around the immensity of those attributes. The
sovereignty of the living God proclaims complete control
over all events, from minute to immense, simultaneously.
Take a moment and let that percolate.

The recent events surrounding the Ebola virus were certainly
interesting and troublesome. I found, and find, myself
troubled that I wasn't really concerned until things began to
unravel in Dallas. I believe I should have been praying in
ernest for those in West Africa who are being over-run by
this disease long before the events at Dallas Presbyterian.

 Listening to news radio, CNN and others, I was amazed
as the whole scenario of blame and anger took place. Yet,
the most amazing thing of all was the total absence of any
mention of seeking God's help and God's good will/ plan.
The real Ebola czar, truth be told, is none other than Jehovah,
the God of the Universe.

One could debate things like disease in relation to God's
sovereignty, whether or not He knew them into existence,
but one dare not doubt, for even a moment, His control
over events here on this planet. So while the rush is on
to find a vaccine, the debate ensues about limiting travel
to and from and incubation periods are completed, I
want to welcome you in joining me in prayer to the One
who really can control outcomes. Nothing, not one
thing, is beyond the grace and ability of our Sovereign....
nothing!

Praise Him and Pray to Him!

Saturday, October 18, 2014

So WHO killed Jesus?

Who killed Jesus?
To bring about the atonement, Christ Jesus had to be a
sacrifice for those He would save. This was a part of the
covenant agreement made among the persons of the
Trinity before the very dawn of creation. But when we picture
the very God of the universe hanging there brutalized on
the cross, we want to cast blame. The answer to the
question is most humbling.

 
The Jewish Leaders killed Jesus. They were looking for the
Messiah foretold in scripture, a king who would bring a
triumphant end to Roman rule and set things right. This
Jesus did not fit the mold, so to speak. He challenged their
legalism and hung out with the wrong people. They feared
His growing popularity and, therefore, handed Him over
to be crucified.

 
The Romans killed Jesus. Though they did not invent it,
the Romans were experts at the horrific art of crucifixion.
So in a very literal sense, it was the Roman soldiers who
saw that He was dead.

 
God killed Jesus. For He so loved the world....  God knew
that only one path lay open to the salvation of His people,
to the eventual re-establishment of the bond between the
Creator and His creation. It was His gracious plan to
have His beloved die and rise again to Glory as the King
of all creation. He did it out if love.

 
I killed Jesus!  My selfish, prideful life of sin, lost for all
those years in darkness, placed that precious God-Man
on the cross. My every sin became His burden and He
willingly paid the ultimate price for those transgressions!

 

I have been forgiven my sins, and with that been forgiven
for His suffering. Without that death, without that cross,
without that resurrection, I would be dead in my sin, still.
What a glorious God we serve and love!

Praise Him!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Today's Homework Assignment...

Having been a teacher for all those many years makes me
yearn for just one more chance to give a homework assignment.
Are you ready?

 

In one paragraph, explain the Gospel to me. Now this gospel
is not the type of music that sings 'Oh Happy Day,' that would
be gospel music! It is not the first four books of the New
Testament, co-authored by Mark, Luke, etc.

 

No. This gospel is the Good News wrapped around the success
of Christ Jesus, the one envisioned and agreed upon before
time began. That Gospel!

 

It is a concept vital to the souls of us all; yet, I went sixty years
upon this earth ignorant of its purpose and meaning. That,
my readers, is really frightening.

 

So....
Get out the pen and paper or fire up the tablet and write
that paragraph. Then send it to me at thomaskearms8@gmail.com
or share it with a Christian friend, your pastor, anyone who
can give you some feedback.

 

If you don't complete this assignment, I will keep you
in during lunch recess OR... you may be like I was
and continue dangerously lacking the single most important
concept in this universe..Don't go there!

 

Praise God!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Questions: THE BIG THREE

Alistair Begg, in several of his wonderful sermons, speaks of
and delineates three fundamental questions of each human
condition. They probably will not surprise anyone because
they lay at the very heart of our lives....

Who Am I?
We all have a name. We all live each day with a sense that
we are someone... yet, to many, this is an intricate question.
To the Christian, the answer seems easy: I am a child of
God, a creation of the Creator, and it is He to whom I
belong.

What Am I Doing, Here?
Now we are dealing with purpose. Many feel that they are
here to make a difference. Many work to earn a big home,
a portfolio, a retirement plan. Many seek to be famous in some
fashion, to be worthy of being remembered by others, to
leave a legacy. These things, however, are temporal and
temporary. The Christian believes that their purposes are
to bring glory to God and work to bring the message of
eternal salvation to others. Not temporary. Eternal. We are,
in fact, living lives whose every day have been mapped out
even before our lives began. We are not in control.

Where Am I Going?
The nihilist... to the grave. Those who believe in reincarnation,
to a next existence, trying to do better. To the atheist, it
matters not. We, within us, all have an awareness that we
are eternal. The question, then, can be answered in this
way: We are all going somewhere for eternity. God's living
book, the Bible, shows, through Christ's sacrifice, that
those who would believe on Him are going to an eternal
home in the very presence of God. The other horrific
option is clearly to live an eternity in a place devoid of
God, a place apart from the new heaven and the new
earth.

So.....  here's the Good News. Christ does not turn
any away who seek Him. You must offer your life, quit
being in charge, trust and let God grant you faith. Hard
to do? No. Swallow your pride, get down on your
knees and answer those three questions immediately!

Praise God!

Friday, October 3, 2014

His dance card is not completed!

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13: 32

Scripture clearly tells us, through Jesus, that only the Father knows
the exact time for the triumphant return of the True King. While
we exist in a time-space continuum created by God, He decides,
along that time line, when to intervene.


Four hundred years spanned the time between the final Old Testament
prophet and the birth of Jesus. That same Jesus marched
steadfastly toward the cross mindful at all times of the 'time'
for His work to come to fulfillment.

We yearn for Him to come, to return, to set things right, to
judge creation justly and return all to what it was supposed
to be, including us. That resurrected body certainly sounds
nice to me, and the glorious chance to walk with God as
His adopted.

 So why the delay? Whether you lean toward predestination
or scriptures that indicate God's wish that All should be
saved and not perish, it is clear that God has not yet filled
His family. The mansion is not yet full, the book of life
still has unchecked boxes, the eternal saintly choir
has not yet been fully peopled. There are those who, for
whatever reason, have not yet taken to their knees and
called upon the name of the Lord.

While we anxiously wait, we may just play a part, big or
small, in adding a soul by God's means to the attendance
in Heaven. What a productive and glorious use of our
time as we patiently wait for the trumpet and the sign
of His return!

Praise God!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Glancing back after 67 years of life.....

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  Romans 1: 16
 

Luckily there was no attempt to place 67 candles on a birthday cake.
In fact circumstances put me alone on this birthday; except of
course the company of my precious Lord Jesus.

 

It did give rise to some introspection; looking back over so many
many years gives rise to a myriad of memories and thoughts. Is
it just me or do we all feel, on the inside, that we are that same
person we have always been, in many ways?

 

There are regrets, glorious moments of blessing, times of sorrow,
loss and trouble...the same stuff we all must experience in this
brief, first course, if you will. Yet, I am very very different, now,
and that difference wraps itself in God's allowing me understanding
of His Gospel. Sixty years went by with my eyes, my heart and
my understanding blocked by an inability to comprehend
the good news of Jesus at the cross.

 

That understanding has become, slowly and progressively,
at the center of my life, not by my own worthiness or my
own volition, but by Grace. I, like many others who are
lost, had heard of the Gospel... we just hadn't comprehended
its glory.

 

If I could share this birthday wish... that you go onto your
knees and plead with God to open your heart, mind and
soul to an understanding of that Gospel message of
reconciliation, forgiveness and rebirth. Even one enlightenment
would make this a birthday to remember!

Praise our God!