I just read the will! Oh.....My!

Guys, I just read the will of my father's estate. He was vastly wealthy and has left me enough to make many rich. Just reading it has changed me forever. I don't know what to say, but I have decided to be very generous with the select few on my email list. I want you to read it, and I think if you fully comprehend what this is saying, you will NOT be able to contain yourself! I am so happy I can do this for you. Please read it all. I could not be more serious. Here is the essence of it: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.--Eph.1:3-14 Scott "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."-Psalm 16:11

The Life Cycle of a Democracy

Let's look at Alexander Fraser Tytler's exact full quote: A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

They're dying next door.

What would you think of someone who had money, and next door there was a building full of children dying by the hour of starvation, and all they needed was a little money each, for bread, but he was using his money to play, say, internet games? Is that what we Christians in America are doing as tens of thousands PER DAY die of starvation and disease in Africa, and worse, several hundred thousand die per day worldwide, and pass into eternal hell...while we could take significant amounts of our discretionary dollars and invest them in ministries like Samaritan's Purse (which has vast numbers of workers meeting both physical and spiritual needs around the globe)??!! This used to not bother me at all. I would hear stuff like this and push it away into some "Not important for me" category. After all, I tithes a tenth. I'll take virtually uninterrupted comfort, throw a little bone, and they can suffer and die, and somehow I'm fine! Out of sight, out of mind. (Some of you will do this right now. And I, myself, am NOT going to do all I can.) But more and more I think this is God's heartbeat and He lives with our apathy, but we could give him so much more pleasure if we shattered our idols and invested like we will wish we did (soon) on That Day! Help me, Father, do whatever it takes to change me! I'm going to give a chunk here right now. In Sudan, children are sting, churches are being burned, and pastors are being nailed to trees (yes): (May have to copy and paste this address to Samaritan's Purse) http://links.mkt1529.com/servlet/MailView?ms=Mzk2NjU4NTAS1&r=MzMyOTc2NTYzNzkS1&j=MTU2ODM4NDgyS0&mt=1&rt=0 Scott "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."-Psalm 16:11

So why does God say, "No harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent?"

That verse from Psalm 91, and others in the Bible seem to be embarrassing impossibilities in light of all the suffering and calamity that Christians go through! So what's up with that?! How dare God say, "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart?" Here's how...it's all true: (This will only take a few minutes, then a few years.....) First, the "shelter" and "refuge" of Psalm 91 is like the eye of a hurricane-Incredible peace on the inside, incredible destruction all around. Next, look at what Jesus promised us in the last days: Luke 21:16-19 "You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives." Note that He says, "not a hair of your head will perish," yet He says, "some of you they will put to death." What?! Believers aren't gonna suffer severely? Tell that to Job, Stephen, all the apostles but John, and millions around the world even now! So what's the solution? It's in the last 2 words of Luke 21:19 above--"your lives." Now look at Col. 3:3--"You have died, and YOUR LIFE is HIDDEN with Christ in God!" Friends, you are not your body nor are you the interests that claim you in this world. Oh, we suffer here, but the true you--the inner man--isn't touched! And because Paul says, "the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension will guard your heart and your mind...."(Phil 4:7), we know we can walk in the eye of the hurricane any time we choose! Satan and our emotions and our eyes and our memory tell us we can't have supernatural peace! But God says it is ours NOW, and in abundance! Jesus said, "MY peace I give to you." Wow. HIS peace! I think Stephen had that peace as the rocks ended his life, while he gazed at Jesus and saw the invisible world for the first time. We can see Him by faith now and enjoy the peace that surpasses all comprehension, even in the midst of the inevitable suffering that comes our way. In the end we WILL say, "Nothing touched me!" I was safe all along. And to the degree that we appropriate his peace now, we can say now, "No harm OVERTAKES me!" Now go let God rock your world, and stay in the eye of the storm! Scott "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."-Psalm 16:11

Shame-spawning Parents

Christian parents can set their Christian kids up for great failure if they imply that falling into sin is virtually unpardonable (they wouldn't SAY this, but...) or that it mars you for life. Kids will hide their sin and get under so much shame, it leads to greater problems. Many parents have never faced how horrific their own flesh is in God's eyes, and so they have THEIR socially acceptable sins and YOUR socially UNacceptable sins. They can't relate to testimonies of people who escaped addictions or other wrecks, yet don't realize that 1) they could easily fall into worse and 2) their own sins in God's eyes are far worse than they could ever imagine! The end result is both kids and parents living inauthentic lives and never knowing true freedom!

This is something I have enjoyed writing and then tweaking a little through time! The New Me, The True Me... In Christ! "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - II Corinthians 5:17 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." -Galatians 2:20 I was spiritually dead; now I am live. - Eph 2:1,4-5; Rom 6:11 I was in Adam; now I am in Christ. - Rom 5:14-18; I Cor 15:22,45; II Cor 5:16,17 I was alive to sin; now I am dead to sin. - Rom 6:2,11 I was, by nature, a child of wrath, walking in trespasses and sins; now I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Eph. 2:1,3,10 I was essentially earthly; now I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. - John 3:3; Eph 2:1,5,6; II Cor 5:16; Col 3:1-4 I was in the flesh, now I am in the Spirit. Rom 8:9; 7:5 Now my life is hidden; one day I will be revealed (when He returns and is revealed). Col 3:3,4 The old man was alive; now the old man is dead. Rom 6:2-4,6,8 It was I (my true self) that sinned; now it is no longer I that sins, but rather sin that dwells in me. Rom 7:17,20; II Cor 5:17,18 I was under condemnation; now there is no condemnation. Rom 8:1 I was under the authority of darkness; now I have been transferred to the kingdom of God's son. Col 1:13 I was slave to sin; now I have been set free (I used to have to sin; now I don't have to sin.). Rom 6:6-7,14,17; 8:1-4,12,13 I was powerless to live righteously; now I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Rom 8:8; Phil 4:13 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete." Col 2:10,11 "Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous……As He is, so also are we in this world." I John 3:7; 4:17 "I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Here is what one man did and then said!

Here is what the great preacher, George Whitefield, said the day after his 36th birthday, in 1750. (Been reading the 2 volume biography by Dallimore) Keep in mind that he had already graduated from Oxford, preached extensively both in Britain and in America, traveling in harsh conditions by horseback or carriage, building the first orphanage in America and maintaining it, writing extensively while being harshly criticized in the media, and often preaching twice a day every day of the week, often outside in the open air, to crowds of thousands, including in the very early morning hours. Genuine change in whole societies was being accomplished, with tens of thousands of people born again (His message focused on, among other things, the absolute necessity of the new birth.) When he wrote this, he had just finished going through a very serious illness that kept him confined to bed for 2 weeks: "My disorder was a violent fever. Jesus hath rebuked it. I am raised up once more. O may it be that I may minister unto Him! For me to live is Christ. But alas! how little do I live to His glory! Yesterday I entered upon my 37th year. I AM ASHAMED TO THINK I HAVE LIVED SO LONG AND DONE SO LITTLE...." God, forgive us for aiming low and believing You for so little! Scott Keep looking down. "...He raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."-Eph 2:6