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WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

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WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

By Rick Mathes

I have been privileged to walk in the very dust the early saints walked and died in. May times I have imagined myself living in Biblical times with those Ancient Fathers of faith such as Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Isaiah, Jesus and His “gang of twelve.” I often wish a lost gospel will be found disclosing more about the words and works of our Lord. For now, I have to be content to just imagine the questions I would have asked and the probable answers I would have received if I lived in those times to question my favorites.

Let’ just take a peek at a few characters in the New Testament and we would ask such as:

Mary: “When Gabriel gave you notice that the Holy Spirit would overcome you and you would give birth to the world’s Mesiah, what was going through your mind? Did Jesus give you clues as he grew in wisdom and stature? Or was His Godhead a total surprise to you when you saw Him arisen?”

Peter: “Why didn’t you understand His teachings and forewarning of His death, burial and resurrection?”

Simeon: “What was going through your mind as you carried His Cross to the top of Calvary? What happened to cause your two sons to become the first two Bishops of “color?”

Pilate: “What was the aftermath of His resurrection in your home? Did your wife tell you, “I told you so?”

Barabbas: “Of all those Jesus died for, no one knows better than you. What were you thinking as you looked to your substitute die for you? Did you repent and accept Him as your Lord and Savior? I sure hope so!”

Good Thief: “How did you feel to be in Paradise at the moment your heart had its last beat? Did you welcome Jesus into glory three days later?

Lazarus: “What was it like to be dead and then summoned back to life by Jesus? What did you, your two sisters and Jesus talk about when you all fellowshipped over dinner?”

Mary: “When you saw your Son die and then rise from the dead, what went through your mind” What sis you and John talk about in your last years?”

There is so much I want to know! I can hardly wait until the Lord calls me home and I meet those notables in His Word. I know one thing for sure, I will shouting “Praise the Lord!” at the top of my lungs for at least the first hundred years. Then I take time to teach Dave a few licks of blues on his guitar. We’ll jam for ever!

WHAT IS TRUTH?

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WHAT IS TRUTH?

By Rick Mathes

You have to be real careful when you list the absolutes of your life. When you insist something is “always” someone will come up with an exception. The only yardstick we Christians stake our eternal life on is that only the Word of God holds within it 66 volumes of the only truth.

When Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus didn’t even waste His breath to tell him, “I AM the way, the truth and the life.” “Thy Word is truth.” We have the answer and anyone who disagrees is dead wrong.

So what is truth? Let me begin with original sin. When Adam and Eve believed Satan and defied God, hey knew good and learned evil. That same sin is passed on to every living soul through our DNA. You don’t teach a baby to be bad, it just comes naturally. Good comes supernaturally.

Another truth that so many people just plain hate is election. Consider just good logic. If God is all-knowing, he knows who will be saved and who won’t be before they are even born. After they are born they can’t change what God pre-knew, can they? That’s election or predestination. No one “accepts” Jesus as Lord, He “chooses” them!

When Jesus wants you, He’s going to get you because He is all powerful. Like a worm on a hook, you may squiggle and squirm but you are hooked. This is His effectual calling. A hen has a general calling to let her chicks know where she is and she has her “get under my wings” cluck for the chicks to hurry, they are in danger. Get the point?

My favorite truth is “once saved, always saved.” We just don’t quit. We keep the faith, fight the good fight and finish the course. You can’t knock us down and keep us down. We always get our back off of the canvas and press on!

The least favorite truth is that Jesus didn’t take the unbelievers punishment on that cross. He died for those who would believe. If you are without faith in Christ, you will suffer your own hell that He suffered for me. This is called “limited atonement.”

I just know I know you know the truth. You may hide in denial or your might invent a convenient religion for yourself but in your heart of hearts, you know the truth, Jesus is Lord!

WE ARE MORE

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WE ARE MORE

By Rick Mathes

Romans 8:37 (NASB77) 37  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Peter’s transformation from a coward, intimidated by a servant girl to a warrior for Christ, preaching the gospel of His Resurrection in the face of certain death. Countless souls have turned from cringing to steadfast champions because the Holy Spirit has transformed believers from death to life.

This new energy or essence is totally designed to help us forget sin. A dearly s we have learned to love he Lord, conversely our hate for Satan has soared to new depths. The resurrection of the dead as exploded the netherworld with destruction and rampaging plagues of sin not heard of since Jesus cried from the Cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The sky turned black as the Trinity was ripped apart and the Father turned His back on the unimaginable agony of His Son. It was the beginning of exchanging the power of sin to the power of a praying child’s victory.

Jesus leads us though the Cross as through a star-gate into the wonderful spender of the heavenlies, beyond description. Our Lord chooses us form all others to be and adopted son to the Father and brother to the church and Bridegroom of glory. As heirs of heaven we share our Lord’s throne with Him and stand as equals with all those chosen the Father loves.

This is why Father God permitted us to go through this life and earth experience so that we would fully understand that death stung Jesus and died. Isaiah 53 may be the hinge of the Holy Scriptures but the resurrection is the capstone that illuminates every word of the original Logos and manuscripts with God’s signature.

The glue that holds this all together is the prayers the rush of warriors to the front lines with no regard of self. The victory is of ours is oblivious to our deeds forf Him and our destruction of the devil and his fallen angels. All we ae are ofis His pleasure and approval. We live to make His joy compete!

 

WALKING DEAD

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WALKING DEAD

By Rick Mathes

The funeral home was plain, quiet and respectful and the silence was broken only with the sobs and cries of family and friends at my Dad’s last moment on earth before he was planted in the earth. I remember the flag that draped his casket and the rifle shots at the cemetery. It had taken years to ship his body back from Belgium and I stood as a 5 year only soldier, saluting him for the last time. He gave his life so that his “Butch” could have life protected by the Constitution and Bible he loved so dearly. Now that is all gone. I’m in the winter of my life and I miss my Dad.

It staggers my mind how man of “us” there must be: millions?

I have been blessed with three score and ten of that freedom he gave his life to in WWII but where is the return on all the lives invested in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan?  Post-traumatic stress disorder is rampant and so are suicides of those valiant soldiers: 20 per day! Why?

Middle-East conflict is just the point of the spear. The real problem is the fallen angel that wields the weapons of eternal death in the yawning pit of welcoming flames he has labeled “Heaven.” Satan is a full-throttle war with believers and is not holding anything back. He is evil personified

Lucifer’s temptations to self-destruction seduce this fine, young Americans and allies to take their lives so as to end their nightmares of death, beheading, child mutilations and worse. Their minds are a playground of the devil’s insanities that drive them to destroy their lives to end the seemingly endless horror of memories that would drive even the elect to despair if the Holy Spirit wasn’t there to rescue us from certain damnation.

The sign of the times only points one way: go back to your old sins, fighting evil if futile. Evil trumps God’s goodness and truth. And sadly, too many buy into this lie and sacrifice their lives as the seal of their abandonment of any god.

Let this serve as a life saver: To think Jesus is Lord is not enough. To live Him is your only salvation! It’s going to get worse so let this be a warning that you need to ask yourself: “How deep is your love?” Is it as deep at His?

There is no “Plan B” after your last heartbeat. Think of the consequences if you choose wrongly.

TRUTH: WHO CARES?

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TRUTH: WHO CARES?

By Rick Mathes

The true glory of any man is the man himself, the character he bears and not the material wealth he has accumulated. People should look at you and admire the person you have become. Jesus set the mold when He saved others by refusing to save Himself. He has demonstrated truth by not what He knows, not by what He teaches but by who He is. Truth is Jesus.

Facing truth in our own life as measured by Jesus can be a very difficult project, especially if we really try to be objective. Let’s give it a try.

  • We are either dead in sin or alive in the Spirit of God.
  • We are either a Holy Saint or a tarnished sinner.
  • We are either spiritually alive or shamefully dead in spirit.
  • We are either children of the promise or a bastard of the father of lies.

The question remains to hound your deep and inner conscience: are you born again or not? We are to live only for God’s glory and Christ’s purpose. This means we put behind us all self-serving, desires of worldly glory and wish to be great in man’s eyes and lust to be rich.

We are basically unfit to grasp truth. In the flesh are we able to sin: in the Spirit we are able not to sin. Our nature, second nature doggedly holds on to our unwillingness to let go and let God. Truth slips through our understanding because we are unable to do good apart from the supernatural immersion in the Triune god, a real immersion of dipping of the old into an eternal grace and a rising of the now in Jesus: the way, truth and life.

Along the way in the pursuit of truth, Satan will throw road blocks before us of suffering, sorrow, disease and death: all the consequences of sin. So I ask again, have you been born again? Do you want truth as dearly as you gasp for that next breath of oxygen? If so you have moved from spiritual death to eternal life in Him:

  1. Sin to righteousness
  2. Damning sin to saving grace
  3. Enmity with God to friendship with Him and,
  4. Darkness to light.

Look in the mirror of your soul deep down and ask yourself “How deep is your love?” Do you want to know the Truth? Think seriously and honestly about the most important question of your life.

 

 

THE CROSS

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THE CROSS

By Rick Mathes

(Author of “Allah or Jesus”)

One Christmas years ago the men at our Fort Good Shepherd Ranch wanted to decorate our “Cross on the Landing” on the Meramec River with blinking lights and tinsel garland for Christmas. I about had a stroke! “I this was an electric chair our Lord was murdered in would you do the same?” I yelled at them. I couldn’t believe that the Cross was just an icon to use for decoration while it was the turning point of the world’s future, greater than the creation!

What has happened is that current Christianity has moved away from the standards of the New Testament and Holy intentions of the founding fathers. Jesus commanded us to pick up our cross and follow Him. In fact He said that if we don’t we are not worthy to follow Him. I can think of three ways this can be interpreted, take your choice or some combination thereof.

First, when we become a Christian, make Him our Lord and change our evil ways, old friends and even some family are not going to believe us. Those who are unbelievers are going to do all they can to trip us up and mock our faith for our faults and temporary slips. They will be encouraging maybe in words but while they go about their normal daily sinning, they really wish we would fall and join them.

Secondly, we can label the cross we bear as the “consequence of our sins.” Broken marriages, fractures families, felony record, AIDS, and much more are all directly attributable to the sin we wallowed in much like a cesspool bubbling up from Hades. We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for the casualty of our sinfulness. Suicide was certainly an option many of us thought seriously about but going to Hell is so final. There isn’t a “Plan B.” in Hell. So for those of us saved by Jesus understand that we can still pick up the pieces and press on!

Lastly, I know what Jesus really intended by that statement, “Take up your cross and follow me.” He meant for us to take up that death-stake, crawl up on that cross and dies to our sins, every day. It is only in doing so that we can rise with Him to a resurrection of a new life in Him and in glory forever.

Don’t wait until you die. Die to sin and live to Him now because if you are His your eternal life has begun today! We must endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us.

 

SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR

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SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR

By Rick Mathes

Did you know that if a baby was born the moment Jesus died and lived for seventy years and then a baby was born and lived seventy years and on and on; if you laid the bodies our end to end you would find the we are less than 30 bodies away from the Cross! Think about that the next time you are in a room with 30 people. It wasn’t that long ago!

Albert Einstein proved that light bends time. If that I true and you followed the curve of that time-line, it would meet itself and be a circle. That means time is constant and doesn’t change. The “I AM the I AM” is making a lot more sense to me. Time doesn’t exist for Jesus. It is one long continuum. Imagine that; I can’t.

I believe we are a hairs-breath away from the person of God. Our five senses as so dull that even an eagle can see better that we can and a dog has better ears that we have. We really are sadly inept to sense the presence of our Lord. We are so close and yet so far away.

I’ve even imagined alternate universes all occurring at the same time. Or imagined that our galaxy was just a speck of dust on the arm of the Lord’s throne. Or how about this one: that a molecule has a thousand universes in it, inhabited by a thousand Adams from many ages. Thinking out of the box is fun for me. I really enjoy asking “What if?”

However, all praise the glory be to Jesus, I keep my feet on the ground by keeping my nose in God’s Holy Word. It’ the only thing that brings any reason or sense to this world gone insane where evil is good and good is bad.

Thank you Jesus for assigning your buddy the Holy Spirit to keep o the right track to glory. I may not know all the answers to all my questions but I have learned from the Word has kept me healthy, happy, and content with my assurance of salvation.

I really believe God and what I believe to be time and space will never be understandable to me but at least I can think in concepts of infinity and laugh at a joke: the very things that separate me from the animal kingdom.

SHUT EYES

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SHUT EYES

By Rick Mathes

It is because we shut our eyes that we become so sadly blind. I once questioned a donor about his Lutheran faith. I asked him, “What do you as a Lutheran believe? What is your doctrine?” He responded, “I believe what our church believes.” I pressed further, “What does your church believe?” He fired back, “They believe what I believe.” I insisted, “What do you both believe?” He answered, “The same thing!”  This is called circular reasoning as opposed to objectivism. It is a perfect example of “shut eyes.” There can only be one 12 inch ruler. It can’t be 11 inches for the carpenter and 10 inches for the mason and 13 inches for the electrician. This would be chaos.

I was born with two questions in my mind that have hounded me to this very minute. What is truth” and Why? I need to know the root cause and effect and this pursuit has been an exciting adventure I have no regret of continuing. All my thinking is proceeded with these two questions and they have got me in a lot of trouble over the years.

So I seek the greater truths and I chase down the “Why?” to it source. It has and continues to challenge my world view and provide an apologetic for my faith. What is greater than man personified in Christ, the God-man or Son of God?

There are greater truths in His Word:

  • Greater depths of experience
  • Greater heights of fellowship
  • Greater works of usefulness
  • Greater discoveries of power
  • Greater expressions of love
  • Greater levels of wisdom

Remember my question, “What is truth?” He makes the answer crystal clear when He announced “I AM the way, the truth and the life.” My follow up question “Why” is answered:

  • We see Him in His truth without shadow and deception in His Word.
  • We bask in His unbelievable love of sinners so much so as to wash dirty feet.
  • We reach to His level of excellence to realize our level of mediocrity.
  • We drop to our knees and give all submission to His Sovereignty

So here we are, back at the beginning. Shut eyes won’t help so take a good look at reality and turn your eyes upward to His guidance, not downward to spiritual blindness..

REAL DEAL

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REAL DEAL

By Rick Mathes

A real Christian feels he can never think enough about Jesus. Obsessive, compulsive disorder? Maybe, but that will do it is a genuine response to His effectual calling. There are two unshakable pillars of faith that must precede a conclusion on this issue: 1. A deep conviction of sin and 2. A lively faith in Jesus Christ. In either case there is an awakening trek to holiness.

Let’s take a quick survey of the attributes of the real deal:

  • He is born of God
  • He has faith in Christ
  • The mark of His new birth is holiness
  • He is spiritually minded
  • He claims and has victory over Satan’s world
  • He is meek but not weak
  • He delights in all the blessings of grace
  • He has a new love toward others

What is a natural man in comparison? He is a wretched slave to the opinion of the world.

Back to your examination of yourself: let me challenge you with this question, “Do you want holiness more than drugs, sex or alcohol?” If not, you’re going to take a fall.

You thoughts should be focused on spiritual matters as they once lingered on skin magazines, mentally undressing women, using drugs and alcohol.

A real Christian is not a loser anymore. He stands against the evils of Satan’s kingdom because He has certainly in God’s word that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our King of Kings.

Don’t mistake meek for weak when it is really controlled strength that is most effective in loving your enemy. The love of Jesus wins all wars and those that a born again thrill at the new vitality then’ve been empowered with to press on!

PREACHERMAN

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PREACHERMAN

By Rick Mathes

The gates of hell have unleashed counterfeit preachers that have graduated from our finest seminaries. They have gravitated to an estimated seven out of ten pulpits, from small country churches to large mega-churches where thousands are lied to. No lies of commission, commission or permission. A mass of our earth’s population will be destroyed by the conflagration of flames St. Peter has prophesied.

How can we know the minister we learn from speaks fresh from the throne of Jesus? What test can we put them to so as to be certain we are being taught by God? We will never know until our Lord returns but I do have a few guidelines that I go by.

My minister must have holiness of character. Even a minister occasionally worldly is an indication that his integrity is soiled and what you get may be what you see. Any minister that winks at sin does not hate sin and thus does not love the Savior. Look closely for Christ-likeness!

He must have a high degree of spiritual life in his family as well as in darkness it is in light. I would be suspect if he is inclined to abuse any of the seven deadly sins or violate the Ten Commandments. I know we’re all human but this minister of yours cannot just be called he must be chosen to be the Lord’s ambassador. When you get to know your minister do you get to know Jesus? If not, tread carefully.

He must live out the faith he professes. If he doesn’t walk is he should be restrained from talking it. I would rather see the sermon than hear it. His true self should mirror Christ with his most earnest effort. We are able not to sin and he should be the highest example for you to emulate.

Now I’m not trying to make your minister some kind of super human being. I just expect that he should be fully committed to Christ in the simplicity of his heart. Look deeply into his soul and discern if he has complete surrender to God. He must example what he preached and encourage how to rise to our Lord expectation of your fleshly levels of mediocrity.

To be holy we must be wholly God’s and our minister must lead the way.