The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 20 – She Considers a Field

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” Proverbs 31:16

 

I believe that the greatest wonder of life is God’s miracle of ‘growth.’ It’s a miracle because only God can make things grow. (1 Corinthians 3:7-8) God created everything in full form and with seed for everything (animal, plant and human) to continue on forever. God created with eternity in mind, and He has set eternity in the heart of man.

 

A field that is considered has the potential of producing something of substance and of value. Today, not too many people get to own land outright and have fields to build and plant in. They have lost that ‘God-given’ right because of wicked rulers with all their greed, regulations and penalties for going against the systems of the wicked. Those who do own land for farming and crops have been slowly denied what they need to produce and prosper. When farmers prosper nations are fed as well as the family of the farmer.

 

Why would God require it of us to prosper if not so that we are able to feed and care for our own family as well as have more than enough to provide for others in their time of need? (Exodus 23:10-11)

 

Productivity of fields has decreased and one reason is because of government control. Another very key reason for this is that some farmers do not obey what God said to do for their fields. Every seventh year the farmer is not to sow seed, but to let the land rest from its work, just like we are to do every seventh day and like our Creator did on the seventh day. (Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:2-13) For those who obey God in this, He promises them a hearty harvest in the sixth year that will carry them through the next three years. Imagine that. Some farmers do rest their fields by dividing up their land so that each part alternately gets its rest the seventh year, while the others yield.

 

“Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.’” Leviticus 25:18-24

 

The proper nutrients in food is lacking because the fields never rest. Thus, people have physical problems. God’s way is the best way and when we live according to His laws and principles we are blessed in every way.

 

God’s wisdom for growth in all forms of life is for the eternal continuation of human life.

 

The further away the world gets from God’s laws and principles the less we have in life; the less to sustain us and the less to enjoy in life. The quality of life for all peoples diminishes in proportion to ignorance and rebellion to God. When Jesus returns to reign on the earth all of God’s laws and principles will be re-established, executed, employed and engaged by all. Under Christ’s rule the quality of life will continuously improve. His standard will begin to fill every place and purpose of man’s life on the earth, and even beyond the earth because the eternal life of human reproduction can’t be contained on one planet alone. God has created the universe without any boundaries. Planets were created and sustained by God and for His future purpose of life eternal. If we proudly think that WE can go up in space to make a planet livable, before it’s time, we are fools and ever so wasteful of the resources and strength it uses up.

 

What do you think God brought down the system of man called the “Tower of Babel” that is recorded in His Word (the Bible)? Man was been trying to do what God didn’t tell him to do; what God even condemns doing. Man disobeyed God’s simple command to multiple and fill the earth; to worship Him only. Every system of mankind will be destroyed with the return of Jesus Christ. That means systems such as internet technology and all the different kinds of insurances and loans and schools. Just to name a few.

 

No mind can conceived what our God has planned for those who love Him! So why not just do what He has said to do and wait for Him to fulfill His own promises to us?

 

The fields of God’s people are many, and most are not producing like they could and should. We have far too many distractions, idols and hindrances that keep us from all the various harvests and from celebrating them and enjoying them just like the Lord told us to.

 

A field is also your marriage, your family, a piece of land, an empty building, your children’s growth in the Lord, the ministry God gives you, a neighbor who has lost everything, a people’s group, a government seat of leadership, the books God needs you to write, your art, your craft, caring for orphans or widows, etc., and the list goes on. A seed is something that when sown will produce that which is good and plentiful of its kind. A seed is also a faithful word of encouragement or instruction, your prayers, a gift, a financial donation, etc. God is for you to produce and prosper in every way.

 

“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

 

Our heavenly Father has provided all the various fields and He has all the seed we need to start any with, just for the asking if your field is honorable.  A field is what you see potential in for something good to grow up and benefit your family and others. When you consider a field you might see something there that others don’t see.  It’s very possible that the reason no one else sees what you see is because your heavenly Father has reserved that field for YOU; it belongs to you only.

 

I remember the first winter after the first harvest of my humble field out back. It was just a small vegetable garden at that time. I opened up the pantry of all the jarred food I had stored there (from out of my garden) and saw how my God had blessed me with a hearty harvest. For such a little space of land I produced a good amount of food for our family of six. I was able to give some away. It fulfilled me to see that I was able to feed my family from out of my own field.

 

The Proverbs 31 Woman gives consideration to what she puts her finances to. She puts a lot of thought into her purchases and investments because she always has the good of her husband and children in mind as to how it will benefit her family, and others. She considers a field and how to invest in her field of interest so that she and her family have something later in life that financially and eternally keeps producing.

 

My husband used to get upset when I would spend money he didn’t want me to spend. He eventually came to understand that how I think is not the same as how he thinks, and what I see as ‘needs’ is not always what he thinks is a need. It takes time and a lot of passionate (heated) conversations to become one in all things. It takes a lot of patience, prayer and self-denial too. We will never think in the same way, but as we obey God’s order for marriage and family – we can be united in how we spend and invest.

 

I believe wastefulness, as well as impatience, greed and discontentment, adds to unnecessary financial debt so that our ‘earnings’ never provide an opportunity to invest (plant) in a field. Investing is wise; whenever you sow a seed of ‘whatever kind’ you are capitalizing on its potential to grow and produce a hundred-fold.

 

“Be patient….until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-9

 

Government and Church

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

When we think about the immigration problem today confronting us we need to think through the biblical aspect on the role of the government and the church, and what that entails. They are different, but also in some ways conflicting when it comes to immigration. We as God’s people need to give serious thought to this issue.

 

We as Christians are commanded by God to care about the orphans, widows, strangers (aliens) in our land. We are told in Leviticus 19:33-34 “And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

 

It is obvious from this and many other Scriptures how we as Christians and the church as a whole need to be concerned and how to treat aliens in our midst. However, what about the legal status of the aliens in our country? That is another question, and brings out two different things when it comes to the alien in our midst.

 

We need to always keep in mind that the church and government have two different roles. The government’s role is to preserve order and do-justice. It was St. Augustine who said: “Peace flows from order,” and enforcing the law is very important in promoting order and peace.

 

It is important that immigrants come in, but it must be in an orderly, legal fashion. Also, we must also imply as well that employers cannot be allowed to continue to ignore the law against hiring illegals. It would seem to me that if we do not enforce the law then we are teaching millions of people a terrible lesson that law does not matter.  I would dare to say – failure to enforce the law has created the problem that we have today.

 

Those of us who live in the USA must understand that one of the reasons why we have an economy made strong is because of the rule of law.

 

Martin Luther said: “Unjust law is no law at all.” I concur. To secure our borders and provide orderly process for immigrants is a just law and the church needs to respect the law even while we administer aid, compassion and love to those in our midst.

 

AMERICA vs. GLOBALISM

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

What we have today is America versus Globalism. Do we have a nation with or without borders? Basically, it boils down to whether we have sovereign nations or that all nations become one.

 

Two things that have happened in the Western World are shaking the ideology of globalism: Brexit (when England pulled out of the European Union) and the election of Donald Trump with his populist views of building a wall and maintaining borders, and even now with Italy’s referendum that resulted in the Prime minister stepping down.

 

However, what is important for me is: What does the Scripture say? Does God have anything to say about globalism and sovereign nations? Does history really repeat itself?

 

Satan is not omnipotent or omniscient and so over a period of time he does repeat himself in trying to keep mankind enslaved.

 

Genesis 11:1-4 “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”

 

Here we have “one people,” “one language,” and a purpose that to “not to be scattered over the face of the earth” as God said. Here we have a ‘one world government’ (what I would call globalism today). We often talk about history repeating itself and I think with globalism that this is what is taking place today. We are coming back to ‘one people,’ ‘one language,’ and to trying to come back to ‘one place’ of all together under one world government.

 

With Tower of Babel we had a tyrant named Nimrod who ruled with his elite group and with ‘globalism’ we have the same thing: a ruling elite over the rest of society. Is this what we want? Is this God’s plan? According to God’s Word, we do know that there will be a man that will come, and for a short time bring together one government for the whole world, but it will not last long.

 

What was God’s response to all of this? It was to scatter the people over the face of the earth. He broke them down into different languages, different races of families, and put them into different parts of the world.

 

What was God’s plan? Genesis 12 shows us that God chose one man, Abraham, blessed him and made a nation out of him called Israel, and through Israel the Redeemer would come (has come) and through this Redeemer comes His salvation to the other people groups in the world (races of families).

 

Paul is speaking and he says this: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:26-28

 

So, what do we find with this passage of Scripture? God made all the different family groups or ethnic groups, the nations of the world. He had a time for them all. I see this with America. God had a plan. After Columbus discovered America God kept everyone else out until the Pilgrims were ready whom God was preparing in Europe through the forge of fire and persecution. When they were ready they came and settled the land.

 

Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States written about the time of the Civil War by Benjamin Morris states: “The persecutions of the Puritans in England for non-conformity, and the religious agitations and conflicts in Germany by Luther, in Geneva by Calvin, and in Scotland by Knox, were the preparatory ordeals for qualifying Christian men for the work of establishing the civil institutions on the American continent. ‘God sifted,’ in these conflicts, ‘a whole nation, that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness;’ and the blood and persecution of martyrs became the seed of both the church and the state. They were trained in stormy times, in order to prepare them to elaborate and establish the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty and of just systems of civil government.”

 

In this we see Acts 17 being carried out how God planned the times and the exact place where they should be. Why?   “So that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him.”

 

Is this God’s plan today with the mass of immigrants that are flooding the West? Yes, but we have been told to go into all the world and bring the Gospel. Is this God’s plan to bring them to the West where they do not know the language, customs, etc. and then win them to Christ? Yes, that is one of the things that we should be doing with local churches, but I am not sure if this is “God’s plan,” because the people coming in bring in the possibility of our country becoming “Balkanized.” This is what we have seen with the former Yugoslavia and even the Middle East when the powers to be after WWI and WWII divided the Middle East in ways that were not conducive to the different family groups. And now we see the carnage taking place.

 

This does not mean that we do not accept refugees (we accepted hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union), but it does mean that they ‘should’ get indoctrinated with our value system, our Constitution, our language, etc., or we too will become Balkanized.

 

Eventually we could be broken up into many little countries instead of being the United States of America. Balkanization will do the same thing. It might take a little longer, but if left unchecked it will happen.

 

God’s plan: We, His disciples, are told to go and bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

 

 

The Gospel – Part 3 of 7

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.”

 

To me one of the great signs of His coming is the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom in all of the world. However, it is interesting to note that it is talking about the Gospel “of the Kingdom.” Reformation will brings us back to the Gospel of the Kingdom.

 

Many have been duped by cheap salvation, a salvation which excludes the Cross where we are to come and die to ourselves as well as to be forgiven. It has been a Gospel where Christ has come to save us from our troubles rather than from our sins. Perhaps this is why so few persevere and go on in their Christian life, or why there is not much difference today between those in the church and those who are on the outside. When we come to Christ we find that we are not delivered from troubles, but just the opposite. Our lives seemed to be filled with troubles. We find that the whole fallen word is against us. Because we do not understand this we find that when difficulties come we have a tendency to fall away.

 

Being born again is the beginning of a great journey toward the full maturity that God is wanting. For the church to go to maturity it must begin with our message. Our message is a message of hope, but it is also a call to battle. It is a message that the rightful King is coming to take over. To be saved by a vision of the Kingdom is an enlistment into the army of the coming King.

 

The preaching of the Gospel today is done in such a way that it seems that when someone accepts it is as if they are doing the Lord Jesus a favor. Preaching of the gospel today needs to be done in such a way that the Kingdom is seen and when it is seen we will bow the knee begging His acceptance. According to Matthew 24:14 we are to be preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

 

It is interesting to note the pattern in Scripture. In Genesis we see the Power of God. In Exodus we have not only the Power of God being revealed (bringing the Children of Israel) out of bondage or slavery, but we see the holiness of God (giving of the Law) and then the love of God in the Tabernacle (God dwelling with us).

 

This is something that we are missing today in the presentation of the Gospel. We bring out the love of God, but not the power and holiness of God.

 

Presenting the Gospel is like a three-legged stool and with any one leg missing it falls down and whoever is sitting on it also falls.

 

I think it is interesting that when Paul speaks to the man who has no Bible He starts with the wrath of God. Roman 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness.” What is Paul doing? He is following the pattern laid out in Scripture.

 

Jesus did not come to just be our Savior, but to be our King. Reformation will bring us back to this truth.

 

 

 

 

The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 19 – Like a Merchant Ship

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

Since the Proverbs 31 Woman has an “enterprise perspective” she sets goals for herself. She also sets goals for her children to reach and helps them reach those goals. She teaches her children the benefits of a goal reached. She sees an earthly and a heavenly gain in this, since she fully understands how the physical and the spiritual are connected. She has trained up her children to help her and to take on worthy projects themselves that she watches over for their profit, just like her heavenly Father does for her.

 

She has put a lot of thought and course-plotting to the future of her children. It is pitiful to see young men and women today wasting away because they have no clue what life is all about or what they should be doing with their thoughts, their time, their talents, their strength and their money. They just live each day without a care for their future.

 

Parents make idols of their children when they give their children everything they scream and ask for. If we allow our children to be lazy and unproductive – we assist them in ruining their lives. As wise and productive mothers (and fathers) we should be the ones our children are taught by. We are wise to employ our own children under us in any way we can think of or they think of. It allows the parent to instill the principle value of sowing and reaping, as well as giving them a way to see what they can do.

 

Children will fall away from godliness if sent off too soon to learn and be accountable to someone else but you, and especially someone without faith in Jesus Christ. Putting your child in a place where God and His principles are not honored is the perfect way to destroy your child’s future. If that child has been offered to God and dedicated to Him then you are responsible for your child’s upbringing in the truth and training in righteousness. If you do not follow through then it puts God in a position He shouldn’t have to be in; that of doing what you should be doing for the children you dedicated to Him and that He has entrusted you with. Dedicating our children to the Lord makes us responsible for how they turn out.

 

As Christian parents most of us have dedicated our children to the Lord, but do we understand what that really means? Like most Christian parents, we had the pastor pray over each one of our children and over us as their parents. We should understand the responsibility we have to God on behalf of these children to care for them properly and to raise them up for His glory and Kingdom. The thing that so grieves God’s heart is that He sees so many parents (who have dedicated their children in this way) not following through. When times get tough, they fall away from the Lord, from their marriage, from being the parents their children need. God expects us to live up to our vows we’ve made to each other and to Him; that we be faithful. He will help us to be faithful if we will not give up and go our own selfish way. This teaches our children more in life than we realize.

 

We made mistakes as all parents do, but God trained us by those mistakes. It made us better counselors to our adult children when they began raising our grandchildren.

 

Many parents send their children off to Sunday school, to public school, on mission’s trips or into the military to learn what they should already have established in their character because of your input and prayers.

 

When you send your son (or daughter) off to do something good for other people they should be able and willing to give of themselves; to be of good (godly) use simply from the way you raised them at home. A troublemaker should be conquered at home. A child’s meanness is to be removed at home with the rod of learning on their seat of understanding or they will become a threat to society – as we see so much of today.

 

The ignorance in children is the responsibility of the parent primarily, and not the responsibility of schools, and not the church or government either. Ignorance is not the lack of worldly knowledge; ignorance is the void of God’s truth and love; the foundation that we then build upon.

 

Before you send your young adult off anywhere in the world ‘with your blessing’ you better be sure that your child will in fact be a blessing there, instead of a troublemaker. Our children represent our parenting skills; they represent the values we instill in them.

 

My husband and I have helped send young men (fresh out of high-school) to far-away places on “mission trips” only to hear that they caused trouble partying or slacking off – wasting their team leader’s time and the financing of their supporters. When you send your child or anyone off they are representing you – the sender. It is your responsibility to make sure they are ready and prepared for the work of the Lord there, no matter what job they do. If you are financially supporting someone for their ministry or work in an area you better know if that person is responsible or not before you back him up and send him/her off.

 

Whatever the Proverbs 31 Woman has that is of value she is not selfish with it. She finds a way to share her wealth and wisdom with others when the Lord has put some person, family, community or nation on her heart or in her path; whether they need Bibles, food, clothing, words of hope and encouragement, or even sending them her own trained and prepared children.

 

 

Political Correctness vs. Common Sense

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Since Political Correctness set in to America’s culture, we need to hear more than ever from those with real Common Sense (wisdom). What is the difference between Political Correctness and Common Sense?

 

Meriam Wester Dictionary definition of “political correctness” is: conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend ‘political’ sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated. Agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.

 

So powerful is the draw of political tribalism that people are now increasingly able to turn their tastes on a dime in order to conform with what is politically correct.

 

Common Sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

 

P.C. says: Everyone must have a college education. C.S. says: It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning. (Proverbs 17:18)

 

P.C. says: What is truth, but what we say truth is? And, what is justice, but how we see justice? C.S. says: “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent; both are detestable. It is not right to acquit the guilty or deny justice to the innocent.” Proverbs 17:17

 

P.C. says: Who are you to judge us? C.S. says: When you deny God’s truth there are sure consequences. “So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight (common sense) so that the people could understand what was being read.” Nehemiah 8:8

 

Proverbs 13:16 “Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.”

 

Proverbs 14:15 “The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps. The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps.”

 

Proverbs 14:18 “The naive inherit foolishness, But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.”

 

P.C. says: We must open our borders to all, since that is our American heritage. C.S. says: Protect your borders and your law-abiding citizens by establishing, upholding and enforcing prudent laws and right systems to govern by. For those who want to come into your nation, understand and judge why they want to come in.

 

P.C. says: When there is mass killing it is because of guns; so we must take away the right for law abiding citizens to own guns. C.S. says: This mass killing was because of evil in the heart. We must punish the criminal with quick justice and make people responsible for their actions.

 

Jeremiah 16:12 “And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, instead of obeying Me.”

 

James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and entice. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.”

 

P.C. says: We must allow men who think they are women into the women’s bathroom with women and little girls. C.S. says: Normal women and children have rights too; therefore, give those who are confused and deceived – their own bathroom. Why take a right away from one in favor of another?

 

2 Chronicles 19:6-7 “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment. And now, may the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice, partiality or bribery.” People who only think and care about themselves, will lash out at those with Common Sense. (Proverbs 18:1)

 

So where is our country headed, and what will my grandchildren be faced with if Political Correctness continues to be used in governing our nation? Free speech ended for those who live by God’s Word. Arrests for those who get caught preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Imprisonment for those who convert others to Christianity. Educating all children in schools in how to think and speak and live.

 

The Bible says that in the last days, “That which is evil will be called good, and that which is good will be called evil.” So, the question is: Are we in the last days, and if so – are you ready?

The Gospel – Part 2 of 7

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

2 Timothy 1:14 ‘Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.’

 

1st and 2nd Timothy, being part of what is known as the Pastoral Epistles or Pastoral Letters, has much that we who are in the ministry should keep in mind. However, like the rest of the Word of God it is all written for our admonition. We should all keep in mind that if we are part of the Body of Christ and have been born again that we are all ministers; we are part of the holy priesthood. (1 Peter 1:5)

 

One of the admonitions of Paul to Timothy, and I believe through Holy Writ to us as well, is to guard the Gospel. Is it possible that the gospel has become watered down today because we have not guarded it as we ought? I think so. Consequently we do not see the Gospel as dynamite today, like Paul expressed in Romans 1.

 

The question comes: how do we guard the Gospel? Our text tells us that we guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. But what does this mean in practical terms? I would like to offer several things in this connection.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” There is no better way to guard the gospel than to see the gospel being demonstrated in one’s life.

 

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only.”  When Jesus spoke it was often said that the people were amazed because He spoke with authority. Authority and His life go together.

 

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.” What does this mean: I believed; therefore I have spoken. Paul knew that what he believed was real because it was working in his life and because of that he spoke.

 

A question that we could ask ourselves is: Is the Gospel real in our lives? Has it made a difference? Paul said to the Corinthian church: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

 

WE GUARD THE GOSPEL WITH OUR LIVES. One of the reasons why the Gospel does not have much of an impact is because there is not much difference in the lives of those who profess to have the Gospel – from those who are ignorant of the Gospel.

 

We are to guard the Gospel by our suffering. 2 Timothy 1:8 “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”  I think it is interesting to see that suffering and being ashamed is in the same sentence. Is there a connection? I think so. For many of our brothers and sisters in certain countries there is real suffering for the gospel to the point of death. However, for those of us in the West it might be more the suffering of embarrassment.

 

If we are honest there is a certain amount of shame or embarrassment in sharing the Gospel. Paul, I believed faced this when he was writing in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”  Here in our sophisticated west we have a tendency to being ashamed of the simple pure gospel. By sharing it will bring suffering of embarrassment that we are not wise in believing the Gospel. But like Paul says, we have come not with the wisdom of man, but with the simplicity of the Gospel that can change a man’s life.

 

Reformation will bring us back to the simplicity of the Gospel.

The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 18 – An Enterprise Perspective

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

The truly fulfilled woman has the confidence, energy and initiative to start and carry on with projects till finished. Even undertakings that are risky and somewhat dangerous she will take on as long as it lines up with God’s will for her and her family. We are denying God and lying to ourselves if we are applying this confidence, energy and initiative outside our marriage and family so that it has little to no benefit to our husband and children.  As wives and mothers our husband and children come first and God will hold us responsible for this remaining our top priority. They deserve more than left-overs and crumbs that fall off the table. They deserve all our attention, energy and affection.

 

The woman who trusts in God has a readiness to take a risk with her enterprise perspective. She sees it as an adventure with God who would have something extremely beneficial for her and her family. She’s not afraid of failing either; for it only helps her narrow in her perspective to do things in the most excellent way; the most effective way.

 

The reason there are countries of people going without food is because of wicked leaders. The reason our neighbor or relative is going without food is because – those who have more than enough – simply don’t care. “For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the Lord; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.” (Isaiah 32:6)

 

The woman of virtue pulls together what others (especially her husband and children) are in need of and figures a way to get it – knowing full well that when she asks, she gets; when she seeks, she finds; when she knocks, the door is opened to her. This is who ‘her’ Father God is. Our Father God doesn’t expect us to do more than we can with more than we have; just that we do something within our own means and abilities, and watch how He can bless it all the more.

 

If we are not moved by our faith in what we see happening around us we will do nothing, or we will do things that aren’t going to really help in a right way. Our enterprise perspective should have God’s heart in it if we expect Him to bless it so that it benefits our family and community, and so that what we do will be rewarded one day by our Lord God.

 

God gets emotional when He sees people being deprived of food and water, but God’s emotions do not result in the same way the emotions of worldly people do. It is not God’s will that people starve to death, but they do. It’s not God’s fault when He has generously given us everything we need to take care of the world and that He put mankind in charge of. We have left far too much in the hands of corrupt leaders and greedy governments. But in countries where there is a devil-like man in control over the people – we should not forget that God is still God of the impossible; God of all wonders just waiting to work though His children of faith, hope and love.

 

Any nation that is rich in resources and supplies, and not rich in humanitarian efforts could become an impoverished nation overnight. God has put more than enough resources in the earth; it only takes people with the right enterprise perspective to discovery it and put it to GOOD use.

 

Any government that deprives its people of the fruit of their own labors could quickly become a depleted government. It is happening here in America with government growing bigger and bigger, raising taxes and making more laws with unfair and unnecessary regulations to discourage free enterprise.

 

Definition of Free Enterprise: “Freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulation necessary to protect public interest and keep the national economy in balance.” Not all government leaders honor and uphold this God-given right. They want ‘slavery’ where the people work for them and their greedy/selfish/wicked agendas. Oh Lord, deliver us from evil!

 

As a woman of God it is not enough to care only for feeding my own children. I must take in consideration the whole world of God’s children, for anything less than that would not be compatible with the heart of God and His unlimited storehouse. But God does not expect me to do more than what He’s enabled me to do with how He has blessed me. We can fear not having enough for ourselves if we take care of someone else, but how can we out-give the Lord? We can’t. God has enabled me to serve Him without any fear! Just be wise in what you feel you should do for others. Human sympathy won’t get the results that godly compassion gets.

 

Whatever the harvest you want, plowing is how you begin. Plow with prayer to the God who defends and blesses the enterprise perspective of His children.

 

A wife and mother’s enterprise perspective takes in consideration how her work will affect her family and home-life. My get-up-and-go needs to have the right motive in it, or it can cause your husband to get-up-and-go to another woman. My get-up-and-go can run right over my children too, and crush their potential.

 

Children are naturally inclined to think only of themselves and they must be taught and held accountable to the needs of those around them, beginning at home. They need to be taught that God will make sure that they will have all that they need just as long as they are doing a good work that pleases God. This is the right foundation for an enterprise perspective; that it pleases our Father God.

 

Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:1-5) We each should look not only to our own interests and how to take care of ourselves, but also to the genuine needs and godly interests of those God puts in our lives – as important as our own. God sees our humility or pride or greed in “humanitarian efforts.” We can fool people, but not the Lord.

 

There will always be the ignorant who will misunderstand when a true leader sets out with a genuine interest and bold work for the good welfare of his nation; a nation that has been taken advantage of for so long. It happened to Jesus when He saw what was happening in Jerusalem’s Temple with wicked leaders taking advantage of God’s people, and it is happening to our nation and to our world where evil rules over the people. But when God’s people humble themselves, repent of their own wicked ways and pray to Him about it, God will turn things around.

 

We are living in a day of great turmoil and Christian persecution, but also in a time of great opportunity from God! Father God, help us to see what we need to see, know what we need to know, in order to do what we need to do.

 

The Gospel – Part 1 of 7

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

We need to see the difference between the Gospel and Postmodernism. Reformation will attack this worldview that we have in the West and bring us back to the simplicity of the Gospel of our Lord.

 

2 Timothy 1:14 “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”

 

Another aspect of reformation that we need to consider is what we call The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that reformation will bring us back to the true gospel and what it can do for anyone who puts their faith in the gospel. Paul said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

 

Do we, like Paul, believe that this gospel is like dynamite? Do we believe that it can enter into a man’s heart and life and change him or her? Or do we believe that something ‘else’ is needed to bring about the change in a person? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

 

It seems that a new gospel has crept into the church and is being preached today. A gospel where Jesus does all of the dying; a gospel where there is no sacrifice on our part, no giving up, no dying to the self-life; basically – a gospel where the life of Jesus is absent.

 

I am reminded of the passage of Scripture when Jesus was 12 years of age and He went with his parents to the temple in Jerusalem. After two days and on their way back they thought that Jesus was with them, but He wasn’t. He was back in the temple doing His Father’s business. (Luke 2: 41-49) In the same way there seems to be a gospel preached today where Jesus is not really present with us.

 

The gospel that Paul was talking about in 1 & 2 Timothy was a radical gospel. That gospel called a man or woman to come and die to themselves and to the world. They realized like Paul that this gospel delivered them from their self-life. 2 Corinthians 5:15, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

 

When the gospel came into a man’s life he realized several things:

  1. That he was not his own; he had been bought with a price. 1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ.”
  2. That there was a new Lord or Master in his life. Romans 14:9 “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” Self who had been king has now been replaced by a new King, King Jesus.
  3. That there was a new beginning and direction in his life. “He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
  4. That this gospel was ‘free,’ but not cheap. It cost God everything. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

It was THIS gospel that went out and changed the course of history in the first century. In the first 60 years the gospel had gone forth throughout the Roman Empire; churches were planted, lives had been changed and new hope had pervaded the world. The world would never be the same. It was THIS gospel that changed a man by the name of Martin Luther and through whom God ushered in the reformation five hundred years ago – which changed Western Civilization.

 

It is THIS gospel that we need to come back to in our preaching and living.

Who Is Man – Part 6

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

 

POSTMODERNISM AND CULTURE – WORLDVIEW AND THE GOSPEL

 

1 Corinthians 15:4-8 Speaking of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

 

That Christ was buried and rose from grave and then was seen by a number of witnesses; this is good news!

 

God had told us that we should let everything be established by two or more witnesses. Deuteronomy 19:15 “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Here we have over five hundred at one time.

 

Francis Schaeffer talked about the “mannishness of man.”  He said this:  “This draws attention to the fact that humans are different from all other things in the world.  Several things bring this out:  1. Creativity 2. People fear death 3. We are able to choose and we are able to verbalize.  People are able to remember the past and make plans for the future.”

 

With the gospel being the core of a biblical worldview we see how this question is answered: How does this build a biblical worldview?

 

When I think of what Christ has done for me (for man) it makes me realize that I, or man, am different from all other creatures. I can think, verbalize, create, love, fear, feel and express emotion, etc. One of the things that Schaeffer brings out is that man fears death. There seems to be within the heart of man a sense for the eternal. Even in our postmodern culture we see this coming out with man trying to remain young. Look at the medicines being propagated that will reduce aging, exercises that we do to remain healthy. Pseudo spiritual mantras are being voiced, etc. All of this because of the sense of the eternal in the heart of man placed there by God. Man knows that he is different, but why?

 

The Gospel tells us that man is unique because he is made in the image of God. Man has a longing for eternal life, but why? God has placed eternity in his heart. Man fears death. But the Gospel gives us hope. The Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead. To collaborate this truth He was seen after the resurrection by over five hundred brethren at one time. So what does the Gospel tell me? 1. God made the world and He is in control. 2. Man is made in the image of God.  He is different from other creatures. 3. Man has sinned and fallen out of fellowship with God his Maker. 4. Jesus died for my sin so I might be forgiven and brought back into fellowship with God my Maker. 5. He rose from the dead and so will I.

 

Another question that comes is: Why do I know that this is true? The answer lies in Scripture. Twice in 1 Corinthians 15 it says: “….according to the Scriptures.” These are the core beliefs in creating a biblical worldview.  How important it is to be grounded in these truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

We need to see the difference between the Gospel and the world’s Postmodernism of a worldview. Reformation will attack this false worldview that we have in the West and bring us back to the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with His worldview.