Living With Tigers 

     Part 2

     Will tigers go the way of mastodons? 

     For decades people have been clearing tiger territory for habitat, for agriculture and livestock. Hunting and poaching have reduced the numbers of tiger-prey animals. In 1900, tiger population in Asia and parts of the Middle East was estimated at 100,000. Who's counting? 

     Today, maybe 4,500 remain. Tigers now occupy less than 7 percent of their historic range. 

     In India, home to about 70 percent of the world's tigers, population growth and development press people and tigers closer together. Millions now live in "buffer zones" around tiger reserves. Each year, tigers kill 50 to 60 people and hundreds of livestock. 

In California and Oregon, introduced wolves are killing livestock.

     How do they settle tiger-human conflicts? Government funds help people who have lost family members or livestock, not that money solves everything. The chance of retaliation toward tigers may rise. 

     Schools teach kids about the role tigers and other animals play in their localities. But, the kids view wildlife with hostility and fear. They are told to carry flashlights and talk loudly while walking in groups. Kids are taught empathy for all non-human life. What wins...empathy or fear?

Colossians 3:15, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."  

Living With Tigers

     Okay. We admit it. We're partial to cats, although our "pet" these days is a lovable poodle my departed sister-in-law left for us. 

     When I say, "we are," it's really just me. My best friend in childhood was a pussy cat. Mrs. Donut is always about dogs. I get it.

     The first "tiger" I ever saw was the mascot of the football team in my dad's hometown. The student was dressed in a real tiger skin. Fur? We visited family there every year, sometimes twice during football season.

     Tigers normally are found in India. They can weigh more than 600 pounds, leap up to 20 feet laterally, and take down prey nearly five times their weight. Dad's high school football team has a history of taking down its opponents. 

     Something tigers cannot defeat on their own strength: finding enough land and enough prey. They may be atop the food chain, but a tiger must eat about 100 pounds of flesh each week. That equates to 50 large animals each year. They require large tracts of land...and the land must be filled with prey. 

     Football, 11 "tigers" deal with 11 opponents, and there are numerous rules to make competition fair. In the wild, humans are closing in on tigers. Not fair.   

To be continued

         

Lamentations 3:22-23, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

     

   

One Man, Three IDs 

     "In those days...I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line. He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety." - Jeremiah 33:15

     Jeremiah wrote this around 580 B.C.  Of course, the Branch turned out to be Jesus. When He returns for the world-wide Millenium, He will have a special servant known by three different identifications.

     "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God and my servant David will be prince among them. - Ezekiel 34:23-24 

     "My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. David my servant will be their prince forever." - Ezekiel 37:24 

     "Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days." - Hosea 3:5 

It's already three millenniums since David was king over Judah. Like all of us, he wasn't perfect or sinless. But he was always after God's heart. While Christ rules the world, David will return as king over Israel...again. Many other Old Testament figures will appear again, along with Christians now in heaven. 

 

     

     "It's a forgotten quirk of American military history that one of the most inspiring moments in the Pacific during World War ll occurred on an abandoned railway platform in a dusty ghost town called Terowie, at the parched edge of the Australian outback.

     "On March 20, 1942, on that unlikely heat-baked spot, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the commander of the U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippines, uttered his most famous and oft-quoted words, after a secret escape from the archipelago as the Bataan Peninsula was about to be overwhelmed by the Japanese: "I shall return."

     MacArthur was not exactly in sync with other generals in the Pacific, but they followed their orders while MacArthur took charge of (mainly) Australian troops. After 2-1/2 years, he returned to the Philippines, getting off his ship and wading ashore to make a grand comeback. 

     When Japan surrendered, MacArthur was given authority over the nation for five successful years. 

     Then the Korean war began in 1950 and MacArthur was given command of U.S. troops, who gradually restored South Korea. Not satisfied with that, MacArthur sent his army and marines into North Korea to wipe out the regime. Washington had not ordered this. 

     China sent thousands of troops into Korea to repulse the U.S. (and die), and the American retreat in snow and ice was horrible. President Truman had enough, calling MacArthur to return home. 

I Corinthians 11:3  "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 

Power of the Cross

     "You and I owe a debt we can never repay. It's a debt we inherited from Adam and Eve - a moral and spiritual debt of sin." - Michael Youssef

     He wrote, "The cross of Jesus justifies us. When God looks at us (those who already have salvation), He does not see the stain of our sin. He sees the righteousness of Jesus." 

     If you haven't yet received the Savior, with faith in Him to save you from eternal hell, you can simply talk to God, praying along these lines...

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I'm sorry. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and you raised Him to life, I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life, I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus Name, Amen.

     This prayer alone doesn't satisfy our need to please God. We have the rest of our lives to live and learn and become the soul He wants for you.

 It's Not - 'Happy' Memorial Day

     The last Monday in May has been marked in all U.S. states since 1890. The first such day was in 1868. It's a day we mourn and honor those we lost.

     From our awful civil war to the military helicopter-airplane collision this spring in our nation's capital and any other recent losses, in battle or simply in training, it's a negative reality in "civilization." 

     Memorial Day is a time of somber recognition. For thousands of friends and family members, it is one of 365 days of sadness. Not only do people die in battle, in recent years many of our soldiers returning safely from conflicts abroad commit suicide.    ??? 

     I was drafted for two years, during which President Kennedy was shot. And Russians were sneaking into Cuba. After basic training, I never held a gun again. 

     A few years before that, in our school marching band, I participated in the Memorial Day parade up Main Street...stopping to hear a speech...stopping again while they tossed a wreath in the river...ending in the cemetery, where a 21-gun salute. Someday, my remains will "remain" up there.  

     I hope my heart, soul and mind will be up there in God's realm, and the same for you as well. 

              Jimmy

   

     

The Perfect Sacrifice

     "In this world it is very rare to find something without blemish. The same can be said for the Old Testament sacrifices. They didn't purify anything and never truly dealt with sin and judgment."

by Will Graham

     There is a moment in history: Hebrews 9:23-28.

     "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us, not that He should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another. He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world."

     "But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." 

 

Moral Injury, Not New

     Following up on yesterday's blog, disobedience and regret began with Adam and Eve. It continued with Cain and others throughout history.

     Trouble can be a good thing, says an article in WORLD magazine. It's natural to feel remorse, which may be toxic, unless we seek forgiveness.

     A Veterans Affairs hospital deals with more than physical injury. A chaplain looks for signs of anger, isolation and such. Patients that open up ask questions like: Am I going to hell? Can I be forgiven? Does God really love me?

     Taking off the uniform doesn't solve the problem. It can make it worse. Some veterans lose their shared sense of mission and acceptance. 

     Service in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in an increase in veterans seeking mental help. Group participants learn to trust each other, hearing what others are going through. Transgressions are especially harmful. Guilt, grief and shame can lead to questioning faith, forgiveness, God's goodness, or even His existence. 

     Some don't feel worthy of forgiveness, but Christ went on the cross for that forgiveness. Sometimes it takes a trauma to where they have no option. So, they turn to God, make him first, then love their neighbor. 

PS. The Biden administration did everything possible to discourage faith in the military. More evidence of their leanings. The former president claims to be a Catholic. - Jimmy

   

Wounds of War 

     Vietnam. The war's unpopularity and messy ending (50 years ago) compounded the struggle many soldiers had (and still do) when they returned home. 

     They never trained for the aftermath of war. Glen Martin told WORLD magazine "In Vietnam we never had an exit. We didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish. All these 55,000 kids got killed, whatever, and for no reason." 

     Martin has battled guilt, shame, disgust, even anger, a response to what doctors diagnose as moral injury. Symptoms occur when people feel they did something or failed to do something that violates their deeply held moral or religious beliefs. 

     The authors of this article say combat veterans from every war experience moral injury, but Vietnam vets were especially susceptible. Five million Americans who served in the conflict are still alive. Thanks to awareness of moral injury and the benefits of faith-based therapy, vets from Vietnam and more recent conflicts are healing for their deepest wounds. 

Next: Moral injury is not new.

             Jimmy   ...PS. I'm certain many of the soldiers in basic training with me went to Vietnam. Back then, many of us were drafted, not volunteers.

Earth Calling God... 

     Very early in history, Adam and Eve had another son, naming him Seth. He grew up and fathered Enosh. At that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord. - Genesis 4:26. 

     No interpreter. No teacher. No pope. No mind reader. Get it? 

     Pastor Jim Cymbala says the Hebrew word for calling on God means to cry out, to implore. In Jeremiah (chapter 33:3) God says, Call on me and I will answer you... God spoke to prophets over centuries, telling us, through them, what He wants us to know. At times He foretold what was yet - or still is - to come. 

     Moses wrote, What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? - Deuteronomy 4:7. There was no promise from God if Israel ceased calling out to him. The same applies to Christians. 

     David knew it. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. - Psalm 4:3. 

     For Jew and Gentile: Acts 2:21; Romans 10:12-13.

     Pastors and rabbis can help, and teachers, counselors, books...maybe family or friends. Know any missionaries? But nothing ...nobody... substitutes for the mercy and grace of God. We are directed to call upon the Lord, daily, in trouble or otherwise. He made us. He knows us!  

             Jimmy

      

Ancient Roots 

     This is as close to heaven as I will ever get in this life. If I were invited to the White House, it would never bring the kind of peace and deep joy I sense here in the presence of people calling on the Lord. 

     The words of Jim Cymbala, long time pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle, in one of New York's nastiest communities. 

     In his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, he writes about Tuesday night prayer meetings, which he considers essential to Sunday worship. "It is there that people express their hearts, needs, desires and praises." Prayer, he says, has ancient roots. 

     "The first mention of prayer occurs in Genesis 4:26, before Christ, before David, even before Moses (and Abraham). 'At that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord.'" 

     "A godly strain of men and women distinguished themselves from their ungodly neighbors by calling on the Lord. They affirmed their dependence on God. Their original name was 'those who call on the name of the Lord.'"

     "On some unmarked day...a God-placed instinct in human hearts came alive. People sensed that if you are in trouble, you can call out to God, he will answer you! He doesn't turn a deaf ear."

We may continue this coming week.

Jimmy

Less is More 

     "Are we too buttoned-down? As Christians, are we blindly loyal? I sometimes worry that we put too much stock in the opinions of what I'll call 'public Christians.'

Lynn Vincent, WORLD magazine

     "Those with big platforms, plenty of followers, and lots of guest appearances on TV. I'm not saying a big audience is a bad thing. But pride goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), and some public Christians begin to believe their own press. 

     "Heaven's Hall of Fame is not associated with climbing to significance, but with obscurity, sacrifice (Stephen) and servanthood (Ruth). The principle that those who are first in the world shall be last in the kingdom is central to Jesus' teaching on humility and the worldly trappings of success.

     "He must increase," John the Baptist said of Jesus, "and I must decrease." 

     "We public Christians should spend more time figuring out how to be less."

 

What Do We Value Most?

Excerpts by Andrew Brunson, pastor

Two years in a Turkey prison

     "People are driven by what they hunger after. Once they have it, they are driven by fear of losing it. Individuals compromise and conform. 

     "What do you 'covet'? What are you afraid to lose? The answer reveals something about how vulnerable we may be to pressures that followers of Jesus are going to face in the near future. 

     "I think social and financial persecution is coming to our country, and it will be enough to cause an exodus from the church in this generation. This may seem alarmist, especially when many evangelicals are euphoric about the political change in the last election.

     "But I think this is a temporary delay. Most of the institutions in our country are led by progressives who are increasingly anti-Christian. The rise of the political right...is not leading to an increase in church attendance or conversions. Significant numbers on the right mirror the progressive left in having no Judeo-Christian moral foundation...driven by the raw will to power. 

     "Faithful followers of Jesus are in the minority - an increasingly despised minority. 

     "How to change what drives me? I need to retrain my heart to most value what most matters - loving God - so that I do not covet what they covet. I do not love what they love. I do not fear what they fear." 

Who Wants Marriage? 

     Okay. Raise your hands, all you who want to marry ..... Now, all you who don't want to marry .....

     Well. More than half of you (in the UK) don't value marriage. 

     We're a long way from the Garden of Eden, when everybody in the world, both of them, were married. If this trend keeps up, marriage may come to an end, and children will have more freedom to find their own way...such as join a gang etc. A brave new world.

     Civilization...man and woman, promising to love and stay together for the rest of their lives. Yes, some stay single. 

Marriage brings stability to society. New marriages provide stable, loving homes established on commitment. Mother holds the baby, while friends sing and rejoice. Families befriend other families. 

     Our granddaughter is expecting in September. Her parents committed to each other 35 years ago, and their daughter and husband are on the same path...people of faith and commitment. This baby will be loved. 

     My wife and I were rejected by our first spouses. It's not like a ball game. Lose today; win tomorrow. There is hurt. Children left to make poor decisions. 

     America's "greatest generation" married and stayed married, despite the depression and two world wars. Our United States is looking up, but if we're not more united in our families, this won't be another "great" generation.

             Jimmy

  

     

What a Crowd! 

     A football rally? A concert? May Day celebration in South America?

     None of the above. It was the Roman Catholic introduction of Pope Leo XIV, originally known as Robert Provost, of Chicago. Yes, the first American to be voted Pope. 

     Catholics from up to 70 nations gathered in Rome to listen to his speech, in Italian. They cheered. Some waved their nation's flag. There were two marching bands. And bells. Such a roar. Oh, maybe a Beatles concert.

     We heard the name Mother Mary. We even heard the name Jesus. 

     Catholics have cardinals, priests, bishops, archbishops and deacons. They were dressed in colorful robes. The church is somewhat polarized, but all honor the Pope. 

     About 600 years ago, Roman Catholics were so far removed from biblical truth Martin Luther asked the leaders to tell him where he was wrong...quoting the Bible. They couldn't answer. They wanted him to come to Rome, where they planned to silence him. 

     Luther was taken to a safe location, and people - Lutherans - began to "protest." There was a 30-year war that nobody won. Then came the Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and more. 

     Honor Catholics. But when Jesus returns to rule our/His world, will there be a big celebration and speech? See Revelations chapter 19. 

           Jimmy - a Protestant

  

 Part 5, conclusion 

The Judgment 

     Speaking of himself, but focusing on heaven's schedule, Jesus said, The Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels. He will reward each according to his works. - Matt. 16:27. 

     No one will be saved because: "I am a good person." 

     Muslims are taught, if they do more good than bad, they will enter eternal life. What a horrible error. 

     We are all in the history books. 

     Jesus: Nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light." - Luke 8:17 

     In the gospels (the reports of Jesus' short time on earth) the word "hell" appears three times for every mention of "heaven." 

      Jesus once more: Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life...he has crossed over from death to life.  - John 6:24 

God bless you

Part 4

The Books

 Dr. David Jeremiah: 

The Book of Law

     "By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified... For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Rom. 3:20, 23  He wrote in his book, "Those who claim justification by the law sign their own death warrant ... that is those who fail to obey it perfectly."

The Book of Works 

     The unregenerate dead "are judged, each one according to his works." - Rev. 20:13. "The Son of Man...will reward each according to his works." - Matt. 16:27. 

The Book of Secrets

     Jesus warned, "Nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be come to light." - Luke 8:17  Paul: "God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." - Rom. 2:16 

The Book of Words

     "For every idle word man may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment." - Matt. 12:36-37

The Book of Life

     Those whose names are in the Book of Life will not stand before the throne of final judgment. References include chapters Ex. 32, Ps. 69, Dan. 12, Phil. 4, and Rev. 3, 13, 17, 21 and 22.  

 Friday: heaven or hell?

  

 Part 3   

And he (the Father) has given him (the Son) authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man. - John 5:27

     What? Shouldn't the Father be our judge? What does Son of Man mean? We thought Jesus is the "Son of God?"  

     As the Old Testament forecasted, a time came when the Holy Spirit made it possible for a virgin in Israel (Mary) to bear a child. God was the father. Jesus grew up in a regular home in a regular town. When the weather was cold, he was cold. He got tired. He experienced life like we do. Except, he never sinned.

     At age 30, this "man" left home, spent 40 days alone, except when the devil tempted him, without food, and from then on was led by his heavenly Father. He is qualified to be the Son of Man. 

     Jesus has authority to execute judgment. He will deal with all classes of people...rich or poor...famous or obscure...beautiful or plain...powerful or weak...intelligent or dull...religious or agnostic. 

     All will appear - not in human skin - before his "great white throne." Without hope. He who created the world can do this.

     Jesus died in our place and rose again, so we don't have to attend the white throne judgment. He leaves the decision to us.  

 Tomorrow: the books

 Part 2

It is appointed for men to die once...

but after that, the judgment.

     Never mind the courts of our world. There will be two judgments from on high. The first, at an unknown time: "We (believers) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him...whether good or bad." - Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10.

     This will be a solemn experience. But, not condemnation.

     God revealed to the disciple John that after the millennium, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence... And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened... The sea gave up the dead...and death and Hades gave up the dead...and each person was judged according to what he had done." 

     "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire...the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." - Revelation 20:11-15. (Hades is a holding place for those destined for hell.)

     So, which judgment do we prefer? 

     The white throne judgment will have no jury, no defenders and no appeals. God's truth will be the standard, not our cultural right or wrong.

     Wednesday: What does "Son of Man" mean?

'Many will wish they had never been born' 

     Last we knew, university fraternities hold a "hell week" to initiate new members. We know of at least one freshman who died during his week. 

     Well, real hell is far worse. We encourage you to read our blogs this week, as we summarize a chapter in The Coming Golden Age. If you aren't 100 percent certain of your salvation, please, please take this seriously, and stick with it. It's our most important blog series, now in our 15th year. 

     Think that Jesus the Son of God who endured crucifixion is soft on belief and obedience? We begin with a few of his statements during his visit to Israel two millennia ago.

     Anyone who is angry with his brother is subject to judgment. - Matt. 5:22. Better to lose a part of your body than your whole body thrown into hell. - Matt. - 5:29   ...be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matt. 10:28. 

     How will you escape being condemned to hell? - Matt. 23:33. Better to enter life maimed than with two hands and to go into hell. - Mark 9:43. Fear him who...has power to throw you into hell. - Luke 12:5. 

    James, half-brother of Jesus, who won him over after rising from the dead: The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil. It corrupts the whole person, and sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. - James 3:6.

     And Peter, the extrovert disciple Jesus straightened out before he arose: For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment...    -2 Peter 2:4.  

 Tomorrow: Dr. Jeremiah explains

     

     

 

Good News Is Coming  

     God's rich love we wrote of yesterday was absolutely proven by Jesus's voluntary beating followed by death on a miserable cross. 

     "As a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. His justice was taken away." Acts chapter 8. He suffered not just for the people of Israel and Judah, but for the whole world...then and now.    

     Christ arose, conquering sin and what we fear most...the grave. Jesus is said to be with the Father in heaven...and the Holy Spirit (the third in creation, Genesis 1:1-2), sent to connect us to the Lord. 

     Speaking of creation, God - on the scene - evicted the first couple from their beautiful "garden." Along the way, God appeared in human form to Abraham. Later, He gave Abraham an extreme test. Abraham obeyed, and God made him an example for us, fearing God and concerned chiefly to do God's will.  

     There were other short visits to earth, and God's communications to kings, prophets, David, Solomon and others. But Old Testament prophets wrote of someone yet to come...someone like no other.

     One night, angels surprised lowly shepherds, lighting up their sky to announce the birth of a Savior in Bethlehem. That would be Jesus, called the Son of God. He grew up in a town of no importance. At age 30 he began to interact with people, teaching, healing and speaking what his Father wanted him to reveal. A crowd turned on him when he wouldn't evict the Romans. 

     He is returning to Jerusalem and the world, and this time He will be King for one thousand years. This is the Good News. 

  

Need Some Love?

 From a magazine, the apostle Paul: 

     "The God of creation, who strides the winds of the earth, who sets boundaries for the waves of the sea. The same God who hung the stars, who spins our planet, the God of thunder and lighting, of sunshine and rain...the God who is all powerful, and who knows everything...that God loves you!"

Surety of God's love

     In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12 

Intimacy of God's love

     For this reason, I kneel before the Father from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. vv. 14-15

Generosity of God's love

     I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being... v. 16 

Security of God's love

     so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love... v. 17 

Sufficiency of God's love

     may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - vv. 18-19 

Glory of God's love 

     Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen   - vv. 20-21