DO WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE SUPER POWER?

  

     Today’s post is entitled, “Do We As Christians Have Super Power?” I’m dressed today in my somewhat silly “Super Job Developer” costume that Dee and I made some years ago for my work as the Supported Employment Coordinator at Appleseed Community Mental Health Center. I supposedly had a great superpower in my role to help people get jobs. We can debate how much ‘power’ I really had.
     As a kid, I was fascinated and read many Superman comics and watched many Superman TV episodes. Remember, “Up, up, and away!” that Superman shouted as he flew off to save the day?
     Recently, as an adult, I have been equally fascinated by two Bible verses found in Ephesians 1:18-19. Here they are:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.”

     Surely Paul wasn’t indicating that we as believers have a kind of super ‘power’—was he? Don’t many people think of Christians as wimpy and whiny—that we are so weak that we use our Bibles as a crutch in the face of adversity.
     And what does ‘immeasurable’ mean? According to Merriam Webster, synonyms for ‘immeasurable are the following: “vast, endless, limitless, infinite, immense, unfathomable”. You get the picture. The power of God toward us that Paul was talking about is so great that it can’t even be measured.
     So, in conclusion, it’s clear that we as believers have access to ‘power’ that is much greater than a superhero has.
     So, here I go, off to save the day.

THE BEAUTY, GRANDEUR, MYSTERY, AND ADVENTURE OF GOD!

     The title of my post today is “The Beauty, Grandeur, Mystery, and Adventure of God!” If I were to pick a theme verse, it would be Psalm 19: 1-2:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.”

     The other day, I was listening to Michael W. Smith’s “The Spirit of Christmas” album, which I listen to several times per year. I was in tears while listening to the first two songs on the album. The first one is “All Is Well”, which was written by Smith and sung by Carrie Underwood, with Smith singing backup. It’s about men and angels rejoicing over ‘Emmanuel’, our Lord and Savior, being born. Ms. Underwood sings the song with such passion that it always tugs at my heartstrings.
     The second song, “Almost There”, was also written by Smith and sung by Amy Grant, again with Smith singing backup. The song is about the arduous journey by Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where she was going to give birth to Jesus. The song is one of encouragement to hang in there, because they were ‘almost there'—where the whole world would be changed forever.
     If you ever get a chance to listen to the album, I encourage you to do so. What I think about when I listen to this album and the beauty of the songs, and songs and stories like it, is that it takes the person listening to them into what I would term “an unknown and unfamiliar world.”
     Since the Garden of Eden, when sin was introduced into the world, life instantly became very messy, with much darkness and peril. We as humans may encounter moments of beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure from time to time, but those moments seem very rare. But, with all my heart, I believe that God designed us to crave His beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure—because He is the author of it.
     Many people try to encounter beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure in various ways. One man in my church every summer goes on trail rides out west. He shares breathtaking pictures of the scenic rides into the mountains.
     I experienced beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure when I drove to Colorado in 1995, one year before I was married, and I saw the mountains in the distance for the very first time. I was almost overwhelmed with their beauty and grandeur—and was excited about the adventure awaiting me as I entered those majestic mountains.
     Some people encounter beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure when they hear a symphony, or even watch their favorite movie, or see their favorite actor. The talent of these people, after all, was given to them by the God of the Universe, although most might not know or acknowledge it.
     My wife follows and frequently watches Nate Bargatze, a very popular, but ‘clean’ comedian. She gets a sense of the joy he fosters when he uses the creativity God gave him to write and share funny lines. I oftentimes hear her laughter all through the house from her back office.
     Beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure aren’t limited to only young people with the ability to travel to faraway places. After all, I encountered it the other day in my car on the way to Sam’s Club. Even a 90-year-old shut-in can encounter the beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure of God when he or she reads the great stories of the Bible—when they listen to old hymns of the past—or when their children and grandchildren visit them. We can encounter beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure in a church service and within relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
     Sometimes, however, after we experience beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure, reality hits us right in the face. We might have a disagreement or argument with a family member, coworker, or even a church friend. Or perhaps an appliance breaks down. We’re quickly brought back to the hard lessons of reality.
     But even that reality that hits us so hard—is a part of ‘the beauty, grandeur, mystery, and adventure of God!’

TODAY COULD BE THE DAY! (HOW HOPE IN GOD CAN CHANGE OUR DAYS)

     The title of my post is “Today Could Be The Day! (How Hope In God Can Change Our Days)”. You might ask—“Today could be the day—for what?” I’ll tell you my thoughts in this post.
     I’ve always had a little difficulty getting up in the mornings, even during the fifty or so years that I worked. I’ll let you know, however, that I was never late to work one day that I can remember. I retired a little over six years ago, and now I have nothing pulling me to get out of bed most mornings, so it seems my difficulty getting out of bed has increased. This has been bothering me for some time now, and I have been thinking about and praying for a way to solve this problem. I think the solution is simply—“hope”.
     Dictionary.com defines hope as the following:

“The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.”

     Ephesians 2:12 encourages us to think about a time when we were all ‘hopeless’. According to Paul, it’s when we were “without Christ” and “without God in the world.” And then to contrast it to now, with God, where we have hope.
     The Bible, over one hundred times, references having hope. I could likely fill 10-20 pages with hope-filled verses, ones that will almost knock your socks off with joy—but I’ll only quote a couple here, some that we’ve likely heard often, but perhaps don’t think too much about:

1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
2. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13
3. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
4. "For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:24-25
5. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

     I could go on, and on, and on with Bible verses that mention ‘hope’, but I think you get the message. Hope is a foundation of our faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. What do we hope for then that will help us wake up each morning with anticipation for what lies ahead of us for that day, week, month, and year? Here’s a list that I came up with. Yours may, or may not, be different:

1. Hope that ‘today could be the day’ that God’s mighty Holy Spirit refreshes us anew.
2. Hope that ‘today could be the day’ that God, with His great wisdom and mystery, guides us on the path He has for us to share His wonderful love with others.
3. Hope that ‘today could be the day’ that God continues knocking on the doors of our loved ones to bring them to Himself.
4. Hope that ‘today could be the day’ that God starts a great revival where many people come to Him and don’t miss out on the wonderful joy of knowing Him.

     So, I’m praying that I keep in mind these things to help me get up every morning—and face each day with anticipation—and hope!

'THE WALKING DEAD' TO 'THE WALKING LIVING'!

     My wife, Dee, knows me as a Christian with a nearly incurable positive outlook associated with my Christian beliefs. For example: My Bible is filled with yellow highlighted positive parts of scripture—no negative parts. I also usually try to focus on positive topics about evangelism in my Soulwinnersr.us videos. Occasionally, however, I come across a topic that I deem very important that is not so positive. Today is one of those days.

     The title of my post today is “‘The Walking Dead’ To ‘The Walking Living’!” It’s based on a Bible verse that—I’ll be honest, startled me, that I had either never seen, or never noticed. It’s found in John 3, which is a very well-known Bible chapter with some very familiar verses like the following:

1. The first one in John 3:3, is where Jesus told Nicodemus he must be “born again”.
2. Another one is found in John 3:14-15 where Jesus said like the snake Moses “lifted up in the wilderness”, that he too “must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life”.
3. Then almost everyone has heard John 3:16 where Jesus said the very familiar, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

     But the verse that startled me is found in John 3:36. Here it is:

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

     So, in other words, people that don’t believe in Jesus, have God’s wrath on them. So, picture it. The thing that was startling to me—was that people all over—family members, coworkers, people that you see in the store, that you see on the streets—everywhere. If they don’t have Jesus—they are walking around with the wrath of God on them. That’s why I term them “the walking dead”. Only these walking dead aren’t zombies. They’re real live persons around us every day.

     John 3:17-18 explains it more explicitly. Here it is:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, cause he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”

     This is a terrible outcome for our loved ones and friends. What drastic actions do we as Christians need to take about the “walking dead” people in our lives?

1. The first step is to pray like never before—like our very own lives depended on it!
2. The second step is to depend like never before on God’s great and mighty Holy Spirit to open up doors for us to share with our loved ones and friends how very much God loves them, and how much we love them.
3. Step three is to trust God from the bottom of our hearts that He knows everything in the heart of a person and will use any means possible to get that person, the subject of our prayers, to repent and give their hearts and lives to Jesus.

     Only then will many of “the walking dead”—switch ranks to “the walking living”.

CLIMBING THE ROMAN ROAD STEP 7 & 8 (LIVING SACRIFICE/HEAVEN WITH JESUS!)

     I’m very excited today to share my last Roman Road tract post because in it, we’re going to conclude with the ultimate goal of all Christians! I think I loved sharing these posts more than any other posts I've ever done--because they were about the essence of the Gospel that is so near and dear to my heart. OK, here we go.
     My last post, "Climbing the Roman Road Step 5 & 6 (The Response/A Restored Heart),” was about the response a person makes when he comes to the end of his rope. He then needs help from someone much bigger than himself, so he calls out for help from God. His prayer is one of desperation and urgency.
     God always responds to this call, and he gives that person a restored heart, free from sin. What’s next for the person who called out to God and has a restored heart?
     Steps 7 & 8 (Living Sacrifice/Heaven With Jesus!) give us a serious mandate, then a wonderful outcome. The serious mandate, Step 7, is found in Romans 12:1, where Paul wrote, 

"I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” 

     It’s a mandate to, instead of being a dead sacrifice, be a living one. This means that after we become Christians, we obey God’s calling for us to act as Jesus did, to do good works. No amount of good works will get us into heaven--but as Christians, good works are a response of gratitude for what He has done for us. Our good works for Jesus, in a sense, bring a little bit of heaven down here to earth.

     Step 8 isn’t depicted in The Roman Road picture in the tract, but I just had to add Step 8. What is Step 8 of the Roman Road tract? It's the ultimate goal of every born-again Christian. It's eternal life with Jesus in heaven. Paul explained it in Romans 5:21: 

“. . .so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

     It would have been difficult for The Roman Road artist to add a Step 8, “heaven”, onto the top of the picture, but I simply couldn’t leave out the final outcome or scene of the Christian story.
     My wife, Dee, will confirm that I love happy endings of stories like what happens in ALL Hallmark movies. I cry at most of them, and I even cry for joy at the end of action stories like Westerns when the hero wins the conflict and rides off into the sunset with the heroine.
     But what is the happiest ending of all time? It's when we enter the New Heavens, the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem with its streets of gold—and we live with Jesus there for the rest of eternity!

CLIMBING THE ROMAN ROAD STEP 5 & 6 (THE RESPONSE/A RESTORED HEART)

     My last post, "Climbing the Roman Road Step 3 & 4, “The Gift/Cross Solution", was about the “good news of great joy” which was the gift sent by God, Jesus, to be our once-for-all-time sacrificial lamb to take away our sins. No longer was mankind dependent on the repeated sacrifice of animals to atone for sins. Again, I reiterate that God’s plan was “good news of great joy”.
     Steps 5 & 6 of The Roman Road tract is entitled "The Response/A Restored Heart". Step 5 shows a person in the middle of the Roman Road praying in an almost prostrate position. It's the response a person needs to make to experience this “great joy”. After a person recognizes his or her dire need, even if they don’t have a full understanding yet of the cause of their need, they do what Romans 10:13 says: “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
     When I called upon God’s name almost forty-eight years ago, I felt a great sense of freedom that at the time was unexplainable to me. I cried with joy for a long period of time. I knew later, however, that the joy I felt was because I had finally broken free from the bondage of sin.
     Now on to Step 6 on the tract which shows a restored heart. The verse associated with the restored heart is Romans 10:9, where Paul wrote, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” At the beginning of The Roman Road tract, there was a picture of a broken heart as a result of our sins. Now, after calling on Jesus’ name, we have a restored heart as a result of being saved from our sins.
     There’s not much more I can say about the wonderful transaction of being saved from the bondage of sin after calling on the name of the Lord, except that the transaction has heavenly implications. In Luke 15:10, Jesus explains these implications. Here's what He said: “There is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
     Imagine angels in heaven singing with joy over one person, perhaps you, who gives their heart to God.

CLIMBING THE ROMAN ROAD STEP 3 & 4 (THE GIFT/CROSS SOLUTION)

     Today’s post is about easily the most exciting and wonderful part of the Bible.
     The last time we discussed the "Climbing the Roman Road tract, Steps 1 & 2 (The Broken Heart/Sin Problem)". It was about us as people taking the steps to recognize our dire need—the illness of sin that we all have, and realizing we can’t cure it on our own. Then, if left uncured, our sin leads to death—which is eternal death in hell.
     Step 3 of the Roman Road tract is based on the last part of Romans 6:23, where Paul wrote, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” I thought of what the angel told the shepherds in the field that night at the time of Jesus’ birth. In Luke 2:10 the angel said: “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” The gift God sent to the world, which gives us this “good news of great joy”--is Jesus, God’s Son! In Jesus, we have the gift/cross solution for our sin problem. The last part of Romans 6:23 turns the doom and gloom eternal death part of the verse on its heels. How does this occur?
     In the Old Testament, God put a plan in place whereby the Israelites sacrificed animals and sprinkled their blood to atone for the sin of the people. But they had to do it over, and over, and over again. God, however, with His Son Jesus, put into place a better plan.
     Step 4 of The Roman Road tract shows us this plan. In Romans 5:8 Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God allowed Jesus on the cross to suffer, die and shed His blood once and for all time for every one of us to cover our sins. We no longer have to sacrifice animals over, and over, and over again to receive forgiveness for our sins. Jesus was our one-time, forever sacrificial lamb.
     Each one of us can now experience the “good news of great joy” the shepherds experienced in the field that night at the time of Jesus’ birth.

DO WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

     The last few weeks and months, there’s been a lot of introspection going on in the Ohio sports world. In the face of high hopes, many Ohio sports pundits have been calling for the heads of teams to be fired or drastic changes to be made.

     In November 2024, for example, after THE Ohio State football team lost for the fourth straight time to “the team up north”, there were many doubters that OSU had the discipline and toughness, both physically and mentally, to beat “the team up north”, and to win a championship. They laid the defeat at the feet of Head Coach Ryan Day. Many thought he had to go!

  Secondly, my Cleveland Cavaliers had an almost unprecedented historic winning season, highlighted by two fifteen-game winning streaks. But on Tuesday night, they lost in the playoffs embarrassingly, for the third straight year. They, too, had their physicality and mental toughness called into question.

      Lastly, the Cleveland Guardians have Jose Ramirez, one of the best players in baseball. But year after year, they come up short in the Major League Baseball playoffs. Is the window for winning the MLB championship with Ramirez leading them closing sooner rather than later? Do the Cleveland Guardians have what it takes?

     Last night, I watched an interview with OSU stars Will Howard and Jack Sawyer, in which they said that after the loss to “the team up north”, they had a team meeting with a no-holds-barred soul-searching question-and-answer session about whether they had what it took to win the big games. In their case, the loss to “the team up north”, motivated them to dig deeper than ever before, and to make a conscious decision to become the toughest, both physically and mentally, team in the playoffs to press forward to win the National Championship.

    I was disappointed, however, when both Howard and Sawyer used what the Bible calls in Ephesians 5:4, “Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking”. So, in other words, it’s likely that many Buckeyes and sports stars in general don’t ask God to help them improve their toughness, which I think is sad.

     That being said, do we as Christians have what it takes to win souls? Do we ask God to help us by His Holy Spirit, and perhaps hold team meetings with heated soul-searching discussions? Can we, with God’s help, do what it takes to become a more disciplined and tougher team, if you will—to press forward to win souls for Jesus?

CLIMBING THE ROMAN ROAD STEP 1 & 2 (THE BROKEN HEART/SIN PROBLEM)

 

     Do you think people are born with innate goodness in them—as many people claim? Or do people have broken hearts as a result of sin as the Bible claims, even though they may not realize it—or won’t admit it? Here are a couple of Bible verses that contradict the assertion that people are born with innate goodness.

1. In the first verse Jeremiah says the following in chapter 17, verse 9:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

(Jeremiah said that the hearts of people aren’t just a little bit wicked—but they are “desperately wicked” and deceitful. In other words, instead of people being innately good, they are innately wicked and sinful. The internet cite “Got Questions” compares the sinfulness of man to being born with a “terminal, incurable illness”.)

2. In the second verse Paul wrote in Romans 1:29-32 the following about the sinfulness and depravity of mankind: 

“They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

(Wow! Paul makes it clear that mankind is unquestionably wicked and they “deserve to die”. He wasn’t talking just about a physical death however, but an eternal death in hell.)

     I’ll use myself as an example. Almost 48 years ago I had a good job and plenty of money. Everything seemed to be going A-Okay. But, what I also had was an incurable ache in my heart, a broken heart if you will, that nothing could satisfy. What was causing the incurable ache?

  It’s been said repeatedly and almost ad nauseam, “To solve a problem, the first step is to realize that you have one.” This statement seems like old-hat, but it is so very true when it comes to every person having a broken heart as a result of sin.

     I don’t want to imply that we have the ability in ourselves to cure our own aching, broken heart. The aching, broken heart in us is just a fact—and it’s something for which WE have no answer. We need someone else to tell us about it, and tell us the solution for the cure. That someone else is God!

     God can, however, use other Christians to tell or show us how to help our broken heart. He can use an evangelistic service. He can use difficult circumstances—and a myriad of other things too deep for us to understand. He can even use a gospel tract.

     What I like about The Roman Road gospel tract I created is that it uses Paul’s writings in Romans to simply and clearly outline the problem of sin, and the aching, broken heart it produces. And then Paul simply and clearly tells us the remedy to heal our heart. Let’s look at the first two steps.

Step 1: The Roman Road tract shows at the foot of the road a broken heart as a result of sin. The verse that coincides with the picture of a broken heart as a result of sin is Romans 3:23:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

(So the first step to solving the broken heart/sin problem is to realize that you and I are born very sinful and wicked beyond repair on our own.)

Step 2: The Roman Road Tract shows a gravestone a short way up the road with the word “Die” on it. The verse that coincides with the gravestone is the first part of Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death.”

(Paul asserted that to be born with sin means certain death. Again, Paul wasn’t just talking about a one-time physical death. He was talking about a forever death in hell.)

    So, we’ve covered the first two steps on the Roman Road tract. I hope and pray it has been meaningful to you. God’s ways are very mysterious and deep, but I think He is very wise to reveal them clearly in the Bible—so even a child can understand them. Recognizing our brokenness and our broken heart as a result of sin for which we have no answer is the first step toward God. And then, the second step is to recognize that our sin leads to death—eternal death in hell.

     See you the next time when we’ll cover the next two steps of The Roman Road tract.

CLIMBING "THE ROMAN ROAD"

     I’ve been a Christian for going on 48 years, and my passion has always been evangelism. I want others, especially family members, to know the wonderful love of Jesus that I have felt these many years. It’s also why I started the “Soulwinnersr.us” website doing evangelistic videos.

     In my many years of being a Christian, I have come across numerous evangelistic tracts—although to be honest, I have only used them a very few times. I guess honesty is the best policy—although it makes me sort of ashamed that I haven’t witnessed more than I have, given my passion for lost souls.

    I practice witnessing a couple of times per week, given what 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” I want to be persistent in that way—just like the widow with the unjust judge—who never stopped asking for justice. I want to never stop asking God for opportunities to witness—and I want to be ready for the inevitable time/s that He gives them to me.

     I’ve tried many gospel tracts at one time or another. Some told stories of famous people, perhaps sports stars, who gave their hearts to Christ—and encouraged the readers to do the same. Some had cartoons with the gospel message in them to draw in the younger reader. Some had colorful pictures of nature or people talking to one another. Some included stern warnings to the readers on how to avoid hell. I had a whole drawer full of gospel tracts.

     My mind always went a little “boggle-woggle”, as my wife sometimes says, trying to remember the gist of each tract, and trying to discern which one to use for a specific encounter with a specific person. So I decided to develop my own Gospel tract.

     In 2014 I found “The Roman Road” image on the internet, so I developed a tract based on that image. It made sense to me to make a tract that had the theme of ‘climbing’ The Roman Road. I made several iterations of the tract in the ensuing years. I made it for personal use, so only me and a dear elderly couple in my church used them.

     In 2019 I retired from about 29 years of mental health work, and I again began thinking about The Roman Road Image. I didn’t want to use the image in the tract on a wider basis without permission from the owner of the rights to the image. So, I researched and found that “The Tract League” was the owner who had commissioned the painting of the image for their own Roman Road tract.

     I went to The Tract League website and found an email link to contact them about using the image. To my surprise, The Tract League wrote the following response:

“Arlen: Thanks for your inquiry. You are welcome to use that image and any/all parts of that tract. By the end of next year, our Roman road tract will no longer be available as we are closing operations in the US.”

     You can imagine how excited I was to get blanket permission to use the image in any way that I felt the Lord leading me. I know many other wonderful gospel tracts out there are effective in sharing the gospel, and I had many of them in my drawer. But last year I bit the bullet and threw them out and focused only on The Roman Road tract I created.

     Why did I do that? It has nothing to do with the fact that I thought the tracts were bad or poorly made. They in fact were wonderful. But, I’m a concrete thinker, and if I am to share the gospel with others it needs to make explicit sense to me. And, The Roman Road tract that I created does just that for me.

      So, I plan to share a post, or two, or three focusing on The Roman Road tract that I created, and why I think it’s a logical way of sharing the gospel with others. I ask you to give your opinion about what you use, and what you think of using the Climbing ‘The Roman Road’  theme to share with the lost.

DO WE HAVE JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT?

       Do we have joy in the Holy Spirit? I’ll ask it again. Do you—do I—as Christians—have joy in the Holy Spirit?

     Paul wrote in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” I have heard for years ABOUT the Holy Spirit—but do I really know the Holy Spirit and what impact He has in my life to lead me, and to give me joy in the Holy Spirit?

      In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people at certain times for certain purposes. For example, Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s dreams, and Pharoah said of Joseph the following in Genesis 41:38-39:

"Can we find anyone like this, a man who has God’s spirit in him?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are.”

     Joseph was given God’s Holy Spirit to interpret Pharoah’s dreams. That led to Pharoah making Joseph a ruler in Egypt, an acknowledgment of the Spirit’s power in Joseph’s life to lead during Egypt’s famine crisis.

   Jesus, however, shared with His disciples a different dynamic of the Holy Spirit after He was to die and rise again. The Holy Spirit would now live forever inside persons who surrendered their lives to Jesus. The temporary filling for a specific purpose was to give way to a more permanent filling.

   Jesus shared in John 15, 16, and 17 the following characteristics of the Holy Spirit, or “Counselor” in the life of a believer:

1. The Holy Spirit will enable believers to testify powerfully about Jesus and His love for mankind.
2. The Holy Spirit will convict mankind of its sinfulness, how to become righteous in God’s sight, and the judgment that awaits Satan and those that follow Satan.
3. The Holy Spirit will guide believers “into all truth”. There will be no more ambiguity about what truth is.
4. The Holy Spirit will “declare to you what is to come”. In other words, He will make Christians aware of God’s timetable for events. I don’t believe this means exact timing, but an order or sequence of events. 
5. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus by taking what was by birthright for Jesus, and “declare it to you”, to believers. That means Jesus’ power to do His works on earth will be given to us as believers.
6. The Holy Spirit will enable believers to live as one with Jesus, with God, and with other believers to show proof that God sent Jesus to love the world and the people in the world as God loves them.
7. In Romans 8:26 Paul writes that the Holy Spirit “ever lives to intercede, or pray, for us with groanings too deep for words.” 
8. Lastly, the Holy Spirit will give us joy that is “complete” as Jesus described in John 16:24. We may be sorrowful for a short time, but in the end comes joy from the God of the entire universe, and Jesus’ Holy Spirit that lives in us.

     Life many times is difficult, and I think this difficulty distracts us—I know it does me—from understanding who the Holy Spirit is, and what He can do in our lives.

     I think the first step toward having joy in the Holy Spirit despite our difficulties, is to recognize that there is a Holy Spirit in the first place that lives inside of believers in Jesus. 

     The second step is to understand that the Holy Spirit is present to help and comfort us in any situation. 

        Only then can we have “joy in the Holy Spirit”!

THE MAN WITH THREE NAMES

     In the 1960s Clint Eastwood made a series of three movies made in Italy which were considered “spaghetti westerns”. The titles of the movies were “A Fistful of Dollars”, “For a Few Dollars More”, and “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. In each of them, Eastwood was referred to as “The Man With No Name”, because of his enigmatic character in which he brought about justice, albeit violently, to villain characters in each movie. I can’t even watch the movies today because of their violence.
     But today, I’m going to emphasize that I am now ‘the man with three names’. I again reiterate—I am now ‘the man with three names’. How did I come to this conclusion? I read it in Revelation 3:12. Here it is:

“The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.” Revelation 3:12

     So, to make a long story short—here are now my three names—one of them given to me on the day of my human birth, and two of them written directly on me on the day of my spiritual birth!

1.  “Arlen Yoder”—given to me on the day of my human birth.
2. “God follower”—written directly on me on the day of my spiritual birth!
3. “New Jerusalem ‘goer’ “, if ‘goer’ is a word—also written directly on me on the day of my spiritual birth!

     So in conclusion, I am now “the man with three names”!

WHAT IS THE ROAD TO 'UNDERSTANDING'?

“Mankind, with his assets but without understanding, is like the animals that perish.” Psalm 49:20

     Let’s look at my world right now in the United States and Ohio:

1. Donald Trump is back in the White House. He proclaimed that the United States would experience an age of prosperity never seen before in America. Many people will likely dispute that claim. I watched the inauguration just like I did Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, enjoying all the ‘pomp and circumstance’. I don’t envy them, but I sometimes wonder what living in their world would be like.
2. The Cleveland Cavaliers over halfway into this season have been the best basketball team in the NBA. They just keep winning—and winning—and winning. I watch their games like a hawk, following their every move and commentary about how they are doing it, and other teams who can’t figure out how to stop them.
3. The Ohio State Buckeyes on Monday night won the National College Football Championship. They lost about a month ago to the dreaded team up north whose name won’t be mentioned—the fourth year in a row--and everyone thought all was lost. But OSU proved on Monday night by beating Notre Dame that they are the best team in the land. It was a story to be long remembered in the annals of college football.

     So this is my world. It seems like a dream—or dreams--come true. Everything seems to be coming together—and I admit that I do feel a sense of joy. What’s missing then? Why is my heart still aching?

     I think it's because I know this euphoria is only temporary. It’s like a drug fix. It makes me feel good for now—but in a few weeks or months, the euphoria will fade away. The memory I have of the good times will be just that—a memory. I then will look for something to fill the void—to give me a new sense of euphoria—then another—then another.

     You see—I know the end of the story. The Bible's clear about it. I did a video recently that included the words of the song “Imagine”. If only we could ‘imagine’ away problems. But they are here to stay. Sin is still sin according to Romans 3:23. People are going to continue to hurt and even kill others. There also will be many deceivers who come in the future, maybe even soon, that try to “deceive” others as is described in Matthew 24—to draw them down the wrong path—toward an eternity in hell.

     I think it’s great to bask in and be happy about the good things that are happening now. But, we also need to deal with reality. We are all going to suffer hardship at some point and die—unless the rapture occurs before then.

     At the inauguration, and with the sports teams that I love, there were and are many millionaires and even billionaires who are living extravagant lifestyles. I do realize, however, that many humble people have worked hard to be where they are—many likely even put into their positions by God. But the end for all of them is the same as the rest of us—the grave. They can’t take their millions and even billions with them.

     Psalm 49:20 which we read previously sums it up. I'll read it again: “Mankind, with his assets but without understanding, is like the animals that perish.”

     What then is the road to ‘understanding’? I could do a long dissertation here about what it is. But I don’t have to because there is one scripture that sums it up in a nutshell. Here it is in Micah 6:8:

“Mankind, he has told each of you what is good,

And what it is the Lord requires of you:

To act justly, to love faithfulness,

And to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

     In conclusion, how to have ‘understanding’ and ‘walk humbly’ with our God is revealed very definitively in the Bible. I encourage all of us—to check it out very soon—before it’s too late.

THOUGHTS & IMAGINATION VS. PRAYERS & INSPIRATION

     The title of my post today is “Thoughts & Imagination Vs. Prayers & Inspiration”. Lately, two things have been popping up frequently as ways that people talk about and address problems. Here they are:

1. Thoughts: When tragedy strikes a person or a group of people, then many in authority as well as in the media often say, “Our thoughts are with you”. I always think to myself, “What can good thoughts alone do to help ease the burden that people face?”
2. Imagination: Last week at Jimmy Carter’s funeral Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang the famous John Lennon song, “Imagine”, supposedly one of Jimmy Carter’s favorite songs. I always thought it was a nice song full of hope. I never, however, looked at or thought much about the words. Following is verse 1 and the chorus:

[Verse 1]

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

[Chorus]

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one

     Well, what do you think? John Lennon wrote, sang, and dreamed about how the world would be a better place if there was no “heaven” or “hell”—and if all we had was what we see now—and we all just lived for, as he said, “today”.

     He didn’t stop there. Listen to verse 2 and the chorus:

[Verse 2]

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

[Chorus]

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one

     Mr. Lennon imagined that the world would be a better place if there were no countries that had opposing views—and didn’t fight for what they believed in. I agree that the world would be a better place if there were no fighting for possessions and land—but will that ever happen in our lifetime? He even went so far as to “dream” that a world without religion would be better for everyone—then maybe everyone would get along, and “would be as one”.

     I believe that thinking good thoughts—and imagining the world being better make for good sentiments and a nice song. But they forget something—reality!

     The reality is that we live in a sinful world full of sinful people. I know that many people don’t want to even consider what the Bible says about anything—but the truth is that we can’t think or imagine away problems. Thinking or imagining away problems has no teeth in them to help anyone face the realities of life.

     What is the answer if thoughts and imaginations can’t do anything? Only two things have the answer.

1. Prayers: The only thing we can do is look toward and pray to a loving heavenly father that is described in the Bible. He is the only One who can really help us.
2. Inspiration: God is the most important person to inspire people to do great things to help our world and the sinfulness that is in it.

     Nowhere in scripture does God and His Son Jesus instruct followers to think good thoughts to bring about change. But, there are 357 references to prayer. Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament alone instructed over 100 times that people pray to God to bring about change.

     Now, let’s look at the word imagine or imagination used in the Bible. There were in total only seven usages of these words. And in EVERY usage it depicts the evil in men—not their goodness. Ezekiel in chapter 13 says twice that the false prophets prophesy out of their own “imagination”. And in Acts 17 Paul said that God is nothing like the Athenian’s images "carved out of gold, silver, and stone" that are “fashioned by human art and imagination.”

     Dee laughs at me when I share my aversion to the “Our thoughts are with you” sentiment. Many people I think are hesitant instead to say “Our prayers are with you”, due to fearing backlash from their bosses or the people that support them. It’s much like the increasing mandate by many leaders of government or companies for their underlings to use the “Happy Holidays” phrase as opposed to saying “Merry Christmas” during the holiday season.

     So, instead of thinking good thoughts and imagining good outcomes that in reality don’t have any positive effect—let’s instead, as is described in Luke 22, pray fervently as Jesus did in the garden to His loving Heavenly Father. And let’s pray prayers as described in James 5:16 that are “very powerful in its effect”. These prayers in turn can inspire us to do great things to help our fellow man.

THE NEW JERUSALEM

     First, I want to wish everyone who watched this video post, a "HAPPY NEW YEAR"! Speaking of "new", the title of my post today is simply, “The New Jerusalem”.

     For this first day of the year in 2025, I will read Revelation 21 about the New Jerusalem, the majestic city almost too wonderful to describe—and what lies ahead for the people of God whose names are written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life”. I urge you to read along and take it all in.

     Here it is—Revelation 21—from the Christian Standard Bible. I hope you get as excited as I am about the prospect of going to “The New Jerusalem.”

All Things Made New

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The Glory of the New Jerusalem

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

MANAGERS OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD

“A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.” I Corinthians 4:1

     Christians are sometimes thought of as legalistic tyrants—or killjoys—or dull people. One politician stated not too long ago about working-class Midwesterners in the face of adversity: He said, “They cling to their guns and religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them. . .” In other words, he was saying that Christians are very staid and unbending, and they very much dislike or even hate people who aren't exactly like them.

     From the Bible recently I’ve been getting a very different picture of Christians and Christianity. I’m not naïve enough to think there aren’t problems in Christianity and within some Christian people. But it would be like casting all police officers as evil for the evil of a very, very few.

     When I read the verse in I Corinthians 4:1 it was reaffirmed to me that we as Christians are on wonderful adventures—full of great mystery. Paul in the verse was referring to himself, Peter, who Jesus named Cephas--or rock, and Apollos as the managers of the many mysteries of God.

     Their job was to “ be found faithful” (vs. 2) under God’s command to lovingly inspire the people under them to take part in the great adventures and mysteries of God that lie ahead of them. They do this with the guidance and care of Jesus, of His Holy Spirit that lives in each of us, and of His Holy Scriptures.

     Shepherds, or pastors today are also engaged as managers to be like Paul and his cohorts, inspiring the people in their flocks to engage in the exciting adventures and mysteries that God has set before them. They are today’s “managers of mysteries of God”.

'ALL-IN' WITH JESUS!

       Are you and I “all-in” with Jesus?

      I post a lot of religious content on social media. I post it on my website, Facebook, YouTube, and Rumble. I joke with Dee, my wife, almost every time I make a video. I say, “I’m going downstairs to make another unviral video.” She just smiles.

     I get very little feedback or “likes” on my posts, but I can see the number of “views”, and it usually goes up toward, or over one hundred views. The video I posted about my Amish Grandpa got over four hundred views. So I know people are at least looking at my posts. But, I think overall people are reluctant to get involved to the point of commenting or acknowledging posts that have religious content.

   Sometimes I think perhaps I am too one-minded—that people possibly think that I am too “religiously preoccupied”, a term I learned working in the mental health field to describe a person who has a mental illness, and his or her dialogue with other people is usually about religious topics. What do you think? Do you think I’m too religiously preoccupied?

     One of the blessings of living in today’s internet age is the possibility of listening to the Bible in addition to reading it. In the last week, I was listening to Jon Mohr’s reading of the epistles in the Christian Standard Bible. One thing that struck me while listening was the passion for Jesus that each of the apostles shared in their epistles.

     I don’t think it was just Mr. Mohr’s interpretation of the text, but hearing it for me made it come more alive, and it was evident more than ever before how much each apostle was “all-in” with Jesus.

     So I’m in very good company—in also being ‘all-in’ with Jesus.

WHAT ABOUT VISIONS AND DREAMS?

Acts 2:17 states the following: “And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”

     I thought about that verse in the last few weeks, especially after reading Ezekiel, who had very, very detailed visions. Ezekiel 40, for example, especially grabbed my attention. In it, God gave Ezekiel a vision in which “a man” sent from God, gave specific instructions on exactly how to build the temple. We’re not talking generalized instructions—the man gave Ezekiel detailed instructions, down to the dimensions in feet and even fractions of feet.

     I counted at least 42 exact measurements that the man gave Ezekiel about the dimensions of the temple, not to mention the exact description of each outer wall, outer gate, outer court, inner wall, inner gate, inner court, and each inner room. My mind went a little dizzy trying to comprehend how Ezekiel remembered it all to write it down.

     I had two visions in my lifetime, both within a three-year period of time. One was before my Amish Grandpa’s funeral in 1977. The other was right before my Dad died in 1980. I won’t give details of the visions, as they are personal to me, and I don’t want it to sound like I’m bragging.

     To put it into perspective, however, I had two visions in my entire almost 71-year life on earth. That means that in almost 26,000 days of my life, I had two visions. So, in the other 25,998 days of my life, I had no visions—or dreams for that matter, since I am now considered old.

     What was the purpose of the two visions I had so long ago, especially when I crave God speaking directly to me once again after nearly fifty years? I think they were to give me hope of specific promised outcomes.

     I believe God knows every detail of my mind—of the way I think—and what I needed, and what I need now, to get me through the long drought of promises not fulfilled.

     I was a new Christian back in the late 70's and early 80's, I didn’t have any good mentors in my life, and I didn’t know scripture like I do today. Perhaps God knew I would need anchors to keep me going on the path He had for me.

    In conclusion, I’m very thankful for those two visions so many years ago, but I don’t hang my hat on only them. Instead, I hang my hat on God’s unfailing, unending love and mercy for me that is described in the Bible. The Bible and what God tells me in the Bible is now my main anchor.

     I’m open, however, to a dream or two, now that I’m what many consider an old man. I’m not going to pray for God to give me a dream—but I’ll surely accept one if He gives it to me.

GOOD AT THE ‘WHY’—BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ‘HOW’?

     I started the Soulwinnersr.us website a couple of years ago to motivate myself—and perhaps others to be more intentional in sharing the Gospel with lost people. But I’ve hit some snags along the way. Part of the reason, I think, is that I understand the 'why' of sharing the Gospel, but I lack the 'how' to effectively share it. Let’s look at these two facts a little bit more:

1. First, let's look at The why of sharing the gospel.

• Simply put, people need the wonderful love of Jesus to live for and with him now, and then forever with Him in heaven. If they don’t accept, know, and live for him, they are lost and headed toward an eternity in hell. A very blunt verse that struck me this week is found in John 3:36: 

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life, instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36           

Let that sink in—"the wrath of God remains on him.” I want to remember that fact often as I encounter lost family members, and as I encounter people in the community that may be lost.

2. Secondly, let's look at the how of sharing the gospel. This, I think is where the church may be lacking. I'm not here to dog the church. But is there something we're missing?

• We as Christians are encouraged to in a sense emulate the famous Nike commercial that says “Just Do It” in sharing the gospel.
• But I think what holds us back is that we lack the “how”. Therefore, we don’t even know where or “how” to start. What can be done about this dilemma? Following are some possible steps:

• Learning to “live In the Spirit”: In the Bible, there are examples of the Fathers of the faith who were led by the Holy Spirit to go to certain places and to speak to certain people. Could we as Christians learn more about how to focus on the Holy Spirit within us, and spend more time praying in the Spirit as we engage the people around us?
• Increasing confidence in witnessing: I think that for Christians, including myself, to become more confident in witnessing, it would be helpful to learn the strategies that work for each of us individually. Let's look at baseball pitchers. Each one develops different pitches at various speeds and angles to achieve the desired goal of getting the batter out. No two pitchers develop exactly the same pitches. They learn from coaches, by collaborating with other pitchers, and by day-after-day practice to develop pitches that work best for them. They increase confidence as they develop and refine their pitches.

     What would it be like if church leaders acted as coaches to help each Christian develop and refine their own strengths and pitches, if you will, to share the Gospel? Christians could also collaborate to pick each others' brains about what each one finds effective in sharing the Gospel. And then we all might practice individually over and over again to develop our own unique style of witnessing to lost people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     What do you think? Am I on to something that might help us reach unsaved people? I for one, know I need a lot of help in this area.

     So, in closing, I think most of us understand the why of sharing the gospel. But, could we as a church body take steps to improve the how of sharing the gospel?

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A CITY?

     Some people love city living. They enjoy the hustle and bustle of a city and the spots where they can see new sights and experience new things. I have a niece who loves to visit cities with friends, her mom, and even by herself.
     I’m more of a country bumpkin. I dislike traffic jams, worrying about encountering crime, and being a miser that wants to avoid the higher cost of inner-city living.
     But there is one city that I am looking forward to living there. Hebrews 11:10 said of Abraham about this city:

“For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

     Hebrews 11:13-16 went on to say the following about many other Israelite men and women of faith in the Old Testament:

“These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

     Chapter 12:1-2 gives some details on how to get to the city:

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

     Hebrews 12:22-24 then gives us the reason why all of us should want to go to the city:

“Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.”

     If you want to learn more about the new heavens, the new earth, and the city the writer of Hebrews was talking about please read Revelation 21. I think your mind will be blown away by the wonders explained there about the New Jerusalem to come for men and women of faith. 

     The New Jerusalem is not a city where we have to worry about traffic jams. We won’t encounter crime there. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we don’t have to worry about the high cost of living—because our mortgage has been paid up in full—by Jesus!
     My question then is, “Are you looking for that same city?”

IMMORTALITY: WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

     I came upon the word "immortality" several times in the last few weeks. I hadn’t thought very much about the word before. What’s the first thing you think about when you hear the word immortality?

    My mind immediately goes to science fiction or horror movies. Following are two that come to mind:

1. “Dracula” is a tale of a human-vampire who has a consuming desire for eternal life that drives him to feed on the blood of living people. He wants to love people and not kill them, but he knows that to do so he would have to give up his quest for immortality.
2. My wife occasionally talks about the second movie, “Soylent Green”, a 1973 Charlton Heston futuristic movie that she and her late husband watched one time. I haven’t been able to bring myself around to watch it. The premise of the movie is that amidst world famine a seemingly innocent global food company has come up with a way for people to survive, to extend life, if you will. The food company’s name is Soylent Green, which makes life-sustaining green wafers. It's like a miracle food. But the green wafers they manufacture to extend life are found out by Heston’s character—to be made of—don’t be too appalled--dead human bodies.

     Research has been going on for several hundred years to figure out ways to extend life—to achieve immortality. Theo Zenou of the Washington Post wrote an article on May 1, 2022, entitled “The Long and Gruesome History of People Trying To Live Forever”. It’s about the fact that people over the centuries have spent millions and even billions of dollars trying to reverse the aging process.

     Zenou wrote that even today researchers are trying to find a way for people to live forever. He wrote that the total cost of the research is thought to be around 610 billion dollars. Big tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal have each funded and developed separate research companies to try to achieve—immortality.

     The definition of immortality from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the following: “The indefinite continuation of a person’s existence, even after death.” What then is the only way that immortality comes about? Let’s look at what the Bible says about it:

1. Paul wrote in Romans 2:6-7 the following: “He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality.”
2. In 1 Corinthians 15:53, he wrote this: “For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.”
3. Lastly, in 2 Timothy 1:10 Paul wrote: “This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

     So, to make a long story short, movies about immortality might be interesting, scary, and fun to watch. Researchers might find ways to yield some short-term benefits to extend life just a little bit.

     BUT—true immortality comes from only one place!

DO WE HAVE 'BURNING HEARTS'?

     Last week one morning I read Jeremiah 20:9 where Jeremiah said:

“But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”

     Jeremiah was so stirred by the message that God gave to him that it burned in him so much that he could no longer hold it in.

     My pastor a couple Sundays ago preached a sermon entitled “Burning Hearts”. It was based on Luke 24:13-35 about the time after Jesus was crucified on the cross, was buried in a tomb, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James the next morning encountered two angels at the tomb who said, “He is not here, but he has risen!” Peter then ran to the tomb and confirmed that all that was in the tomb were Jesus’ burial cloths.

     The story after that was an amazing encounter. If we can, put ourselves in the place of the two followers of Jesus on the seven-mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Luke wrote that the two men were “discussing and arguing” over the previous day's events. On the long walk, they encountered a man they didn’t recognize and began to talk to him about what happened.

     They were startled that the man questioned about it, and was seemingly “the only visitor in Jerusalem” that didn’t know about the crucifixion of Jesus.

     Imagine again yourself and a friend walking seven miles with this man—SEVEN MILES! Picture the longest walk you have likely ever taken. I can remember my brother and I riding our bicycles from our house on the Charm Road in Holmes County, Ohio five miles south to Charm, Ohio to visit Grandma. That seemed like a long way—and we were on bicycles!

     So, the men didn’t recognize the strange man as they walked, likely up to two and one-half hours according to some sources. Two and one-half hours of walking and talking! Just imagine it for a moment. The man told them toward the end of their seven-mile walk, “How foolish you are, and slow to believe all the prophets have spoken!”

     They noticed something different about this man. So as they approached their home in Emmaus toward “evening”, they urged him to come in and get something to eat and drink after the long walk. Luke wrote that the man “took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.” Then their eyes were immediately opened, and they recognized him, but he instantly disappeared from their sight.

     The two men said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the scripture to us.” They finally realized that the man they spent a couple of hours with was the same Jesus that they began the long walk “discussing and arguing” about.

     They didn’t even take time to sleep that evening. They immediately returned seven miles in the dark back to Jerusalem. Because of their ‘burning hearts,’ they walked another two and one-half hours—or possibly they almost ran, and it took them perhaps one and one-half hours because of their excitement.

     Think of a time that you or I acted off adrenaline. We were so exhilarated by what we were doing that taking time off to rest wasn’t possible. We were likely going to crash later with exhaustion—but for now, we couldn’t stop.

     Following are two questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. “Do you and I have ‘burning hearts’ like the two followers of Jesus on the Emmaus road tell others our wonderful story?”
2. “Do we have ‘burning hearts’ like Jeremiah who tried—but it wasn’t possible—to hold in the message God had for the people?”

THE LAST HOUR

     Early one morning this week I woke up at about 5 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I read 1 John. 1 John is among my favorite Bible books that I find both inspiring and thought-provoking. I’ve read the book many times in the past, but I was never struck with the following passage like I was on this specific morning. Following is the passage in 1 John 2:18:

“Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this, we know that it is the last hour.”    1 John 2:18

     Five times in the Gospels, John is referred to as “the disciple Jesus loved.” He wrote in this passage over two thousand years ago that the time they were living in was ‘the last hour’. Here we are over two centuries later, and we still often talk about the signs of the times and the last days. We speculate when the church will be raptured off the earth and when Satan will give the antichrist power to rule over the earth for seven years.

     I went back to Dee’s office in my curiosity to question her about the passage, and how could John back then refer to that time as “the last hour”. She encouraged me to look it up.

     I did so, and a small snippet in “Barnes Notes On The Bible” made sense to me. Following is what Barnes wrote about the meaning of ‘the last hour’:

"It is the last time - The closing period or dispensation; that dispensation in which the affairs of the world are ultimately to be wound up. The apostle does not, however, say that the end of the world would soon occur, nor does he intimate how long this dispensation would be.”

     So, in essence, Barnes was saying that we are in ‘the last dispensation’, or the last period of time that will end with Jesus returning to the earth. Jesus died and shed his blood for the sins of mankind and then rose again. He gave us His Holy Spirit to live inside us to help us.

     And finally, it's clear that there will be no other savior or messiah in this last dispensation—or in ‘the last hour’!

ARE WE RADIANT WITH JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT?

     Are we radiant with joy in the Holy Spirit? I reiterate the question. Are you—am I—radiant with joy in the Holy Spirit?

     As Christians we are to be different—aren’t we? We've been changed by God from being a sinful person to one saved by grace—isn’t that right?

     I know that sometimes I don’t feel different. I struggle with hurt feelings, with feelings of insecurity, and sometimes I get angry. I’m not sure where all these feelings come from. I pray repeatedly from the depths of my heart for God to change me. I read over and over again Romans 8:26-27:

“In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

     It’s doubtful that any of us will ever totally shed our insecurities. But by looking to God, praying to Him, and reading His Word, we can have joy—real deep down joy in the Holy Spirit, as Paul talked about in Romans 14:17:

“—for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

     Then here's the real clincher whether we can have real deep, down, visible joy in the Holy Spirit. It's found In Psalm 34:5 where David wrote the following:

“Those who look to him are radiant with joy.”

I want to look to him when I have hurt feelings, periods of insecurity, and definitely instances where I feel anger ready to burst out. I want instead to look to Him—to be radiant with joy in the Holy Spirit!

THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!

     Last year, my brother Craig and his wife Linda went on a six-month around-the-world cruise. An elder in my church lost his wife some years ago, and each summer ever since, he has spent a couple of weeks in the majestic Rocky Mountains at a horse ranch engaging in daily trail rides. The pictures taken by both parties gave me a sense of the wonder and adventure that each of them experienced.

     I grew up in Holmes County, and I am old enough to remember the travelogues that came to our high school from time to time. Going with Dad I loved listening to the narration and watching the traveling adventures shared by the presenter in the form of picture slides or videos of mountains, people, and wild animals in faraway lands. Many Amish and Mennonite people, and myself lived the presenter’s adventure vicariously through their travelogue.

     I know that some people with conservative values have varying opinions about PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, because of their sometimes liberal views. But there are two shows that I watch almost every time they come on. One is “Rick Steves’ Europe”, and the other is “Alone in the Wilderness”.

    I love "Rick Steves’ Europe" adventures with the vast mountain ranges where Mr. Steves shows videos of himself engaging people of different cultures and wonderful mountain ranges. I don’t like Mr. Steves frequent references to “climate change”, but I love the video adventures he shares. I joke with Dee that I think I like them because they are where “my people”, the Anabaptists, came from.

     Also, I’m always fascinated by Richard Proenneke’s “Alone In The Wilderness” movie of his compilation of video clips he shot of himself, living and surviving a primitive life over thirty years from 1968 to 1999 alone in Alaska’s harsh and sometimes unforgiving climate. He used no power tools, but only primitive hand tools to build his cabin and many other features around his cabin. I especially remember him saying with his cabin fire crackling, “It’s a toasty 43 degrees” as the outside temperatures sometimes dropped to 40 below zero.

     Why do I like the pictures and videos of all the people I have mentioned in this post? It’s because I realize at the age of 70 years old that I will likely never experience the vast majority of these adventures myself. My guess is that most of the Amish people at the travelogues have never gone to faraway lands. So, we resort to living vicariously through others who share their experiences.

     Most of us encounter circumstances and even peril beyond our control. My brother Merv was shot and blinded by a gunman in 2001. My wife has some physical problems, and I am realizing that at my age I will likely never travel to experience physical and visual adventure. Even Richard Proenneke, at the age of 83, had to give up his Alaska adventure. He and his family members came to the realization that he would be in physical danger if he continued.

     That being said, the other night Dee and I shared what we think is missing in many people living the Christian life, including ourselves. It’s the sense of adventure—the sense that all of us are on a great spiritual journey almost too wonderful to comprehend.

     Smokey and Juanita, two 90-year-olds in our church can experience that adventure—and it goes all the way down to babies and toddlers in the church who are at the beginning of their adventurous lifetime journey.

     Following are two Bible passages that gives us just a partial view of this adventure of a lifetime here on earth that we as Christians are on. Here they are:

1. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3.
2. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:18-19.

     Then, every adventure has a climax—which is the reason for the adventure of a lifetime in the first place. You can find the reason in Philippians 3:13-14:

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”

     The reason for our adventure of a lifetime, whatever twists and turns it may take—is to be in the end with Jesus in heaven forever and ever!

THE BLESSING OF HAVING THE DIGITAL WORD OF GOD!

 

     In 1988 I paid about $90 for a set of 48 Bible on Cassette tapes as you see in the video. I had been trying to read the Bible every year—and my dream for several years was to listen also to it as I read. I used some inheritance money after Mom died, or I likely wouldn’t have paid that much, as I was still attending North Central College at the time. The prospect of listening to God’s Word as I read it was very exciting to me. I wanted to learn as much as I could about God’s real Living Word—Jesus!

     John 1:1 states the following: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the true Word of God—and the Bible in its entirety tells the whole story.

     I had just taken some keyboarding classes a year earlier at West Holmes High School on an electronic typewriter before I enrolled at North Central, so needless to say computers were very new to me. My boss in 1990 at my first job after college at Appleseed Mental Health admonished me that the future of mental health documentation was with computers—and that I needed to get a computer of my own to bring me up to speed. It was still the age of DOS if some of you old-time computer geeks know what that means.

     Computers can present many problems if not used for the glory of God. But for the past nine or ten years I have been using Bible Gateway, a wonderful computer Bible program for both Bible reading AND Bible listening. Oh, how things have changed since the days when I listened to the Bible on Cassette. The bad thing about cassette tapes is that there is a lot of fast-forwarding and rewinding to reach a designated spot. And then there are forty-eight separate cassette tapes to navigate. With Bible Gateway I can access a given passage with just a few clicks.

     Bible Gateway offers various Bible reading plans, and I prefer the Old Testament/New Testament one-year reading plan. Sometimes I even listen to the Bible when I lay in bed before falling asleep. It still amazes me that I can learn about the most wonderful person that ever lived—the Living Word of God—Jesus—by using a computer!