Salvation: An interesting example!

Did you ever consider what God will do to bring the Gospel to "all the earth"?
Are all your thoughts about Salvation Scriptural or Church doctrine? There is a difference. My personal "application" of the Salvation Message is very broad "that none should perish but all should have eternal life." Many churches have doctrines that allow for the verbal threat that if you don't receive the Gospel message when they or a member presents it then the time may pass for you to be saved and hell is your only inheritance. Then there is my favorite "Lie" which is that you could be one of the "poor souls" that was born to go to hell. Certainly in both cases above there will be people who will refuse the Gospel and force their entrance into hell "aside from the will of God" which is that "none may perish". Even though Jesus Christ's death and resurrection will only harvest "those who believe" we also must realize that He died for all. The purpose of Gods Unconditional Love through Christ was that the whole world might be saved with the omniscience that many will reject the Gospel. If salvation wasn't open to all then why are we to "fill up the earth with the knowledge of Christ"? Why would God have us preaching to all when only a "predestined few" will believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason we preach (as did the apostles and others in Acts) to all is because only God knows who will open the door when He knocks. Every man is given the same chance at salvation so that the Blood of Jesus has redemptive power over all mankind.
Most teaching about the Holy Spirit is that He is working in everyone's lives to direct us to Christ. There is only one purpose for every experience, intervention, and complications of life and that is for us to be drawn to Christ for salvation, simply, deliverance from ourselves and our own wicked ways. Because the Scriptures say that "God fills all of creation" and "we live and move and have our being in Him" and the Holy Spirit is the Mind of Christ on earth it begs to ask: How can He be taken from us? There is only one time mentioned in Scripture that the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth and that is in the 2 Thes 2:7. Surely until He is taken out the Holy Spirit will be doing His job of convicting of sin and  "baptizing with power" so the Gospel of Christ will have proof through out the earth that Jesus is Lord. If one is alive in this creation then he cannot have the presence of Holy Spirit removed from him to "convict him of sin". Period. The fact that people are "given" over to their sins has to do with decisions not the absence of the Holy Spirit. At this point in creation you cannot escape the presence of God the Father, Jesus the Son or the Holy Spirit. Salvation is rich and free to "all" who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. All who confess with their lips Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved. At Calvary the Blood of Jesus covered all mankind that none may perish so all might have eternal life. No one was missed in that sacrifice, no not one. I can't believe that anyone would believe that the God of Love,(who is Love), would build this creation to prove His Love and preordain (in that Love) that some should be predestined for hell. This is where Predestination and Omniscience are confused. Hell is for satan and his angels it was not designed for man. Love by the power of the Blood of Christ was our free pass from hell and payment for all our sins. That none might perish! The God of Love created all of us to have "fellowship" with Him now on earth and forever in heaven. Jesus said that He will raise up all whom God has given Him knowing that some will not receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and perish. Think of this: Were the drops of blood sweat by Christ in the garden just from the stain of His praying about His being obedient to the Fathers will or was it the passion for the one's that would be eternally lost in hell? Consider that thought. His Blood defeated satan's power of bondage over all peoples. Period. Now lets do our job with all the power of the Gospel, gifts and promises to get the message out to all the earth that "none may perish". Let Gods Omniscience work His Love in the lives of those who will not believe, but let us "with power" be the obstacles on their road to hell.

A couple of examples of Gods Salvation that seemed impossible:

I was working on a blast furnace in the late 80's gunning the pant legs on top the furnace ( no need to understand what that means) but it was a very dangerous job. A carpenter was assigned to to me to do the scaffolding. He knew me for many years and himself was not saved but rather a wild man with every kind of moral and spiritual depravity working in his life. I used to call him the wild man of Borneo.
Some background on him:
Owned several brothels/crack houses
Addicted to drugs and alcohol
Violently explosive as nitroglycerin
Carried an Uzi in his vehicle to settle disputes
Verbally abusive as sandpapper
Had a dad and several brothers to back him up with the same outlook on life.
As I have said I worked with this man many times over the years in the same application. On this job when he was assigned to me he said "why do I always get stuck with you? You and your hymns." I told him it was because we were the best at this and they had no other choice than to put the two best together to get the job done. I laughed. He sighed.
In the course of the job he asked me why I was the way I was. So I told him about how God used the sin in my life to bring me to Jesus and how I was set free from sin to serve Him. For the first time he "checked" around and many there knew about my life before salvation. This change made him more curious so he came back to me for more on the topic. Now I have presented the Gospel to this man more times than I can count and backed it up by living it before him just as much. By presenting the Gospel I don't mean the "beat him up with the Romans road" but the kind, consistent, words and life that proves that Jesus is the most important person in my life. I also attracted him with the fact that I truly loved my wife and showed respect for her in all conversation. Things that he never knew but deep down inside wish he had.
During one of these "times of conversation" God had me once again (with power) present the Gospel to him with a promise and a prophesy. It went like this: You lead a very violent life and death is sure to come to you in the near future, so there is something that the Holy Spirit is having me tell you now for that time. He says that the time is coming when you will be exhaling your last breath, (and you will know that it is your last), and He wants you to just remember these words and say them with your last breath: "Jesus save me." At that time he will remind you of the Gospel and He will intervene by delivering and saving you because you are valuable to Him and He loves you more than you have ever experienced in your life. Unconditional Love that you will feel at the time it happens and from then on. This man said was all of a sudden very remorseful and said that he wasn't worth saving because of the way he lived his life. I reassured him that (and here is the prophesy) "you are so important to the purpose of Christ that even if He (Jesus) had to appear before him He would do that because He loves you so much." Then I said "remember Jesus save me."
Several years passed and I was back in that plant to work on a discharge runner for the blast furnace. Presently the furnace was being tapped for the steel and the runner was full of melted steel and racing like a river. As I stood back and watched it flow I noticed something moving very fast to my right and in my peripheral vision. I turned to face it because it was quite dark and the object was moving toward me. All of a sudden I saw that it was a man and I didn't know his intent so I braced myself so as not to be thrown into the runner full of hot steel. (Due to drug use in the plant this was not a stretch of the imagination of what could happen there.) As he got within feet of me I recognize the man I have just talked about and he grabbed me up like a rag doll, (he was a very powerful man with fists like sledgehammers), and said "Jerry you won't believe what happened to me." I said if you put me down (thinking he might be on drugs and I was within 5 feet of flowing melted steel), you can tell me. Then began the story of how he was with his girlfriend at one of his crack houses, drinking, and doing crack when they went to bed. In the middle of the night his girlfriend got up and was hallucinating that the room was crawling with giant bugs. She then set off 2 whole house bug bombs and went back to sleep. The room filled with the poisonous vapor quickly and death was imminent for both of them. He woke up having breathed the fumes for some time knowing that he was going to die and was reminded what I had said by the Holy Spirit. He cried out with his last breath "Jesus save me." Just then Jesus appeared to him at the end of his bed parting the fog and said "you have served yourself all these years now you will serve me. I have cleansed you and made you whole, take your girlfriend to the hospital." She was in a comma for 3 days then recovered. His transformation by salvation was so great that his father and brothers were saved within 2 weeks. He forsook his past and embraced Christ.
Some would say this can't happen but it did. God so loved the world...........Nothing is impossible with God.

The second recall of salvation for this posting is my Mother's.
My Mom was miss diagnosed with diverticulitis when all along she had liver cancer. By the time she got a second opinion the cancer had taken over 75% of her liver and was spreading to other organs. For 3.5 years  she suffered with treatments that had little effect and in the end all her children took turns helping my Dad take care of her. During the last several weeks of her demise I had the opportunity to spend many hours with her and on one particular time the door was opened by God to answer her questions about faith and heaven. I prepared each visit with prayer and asking the same of the congregation I had in our house. Having been given this opportunity her questions started with cancer and bitterness and was led to assurance of salvation (which she had no real confidence in). Not to argue Catholicism but most don't clearly perceive the finished work of the Blood of Jesus. All the presentation is there but there is no guarantee that you will make it. I understand the doctrine because I was raised Catholic. Not to beleaguer the point but she was drawn in to the positive assurance that I had in Christ for salvation. She said " I wish I had your faith in where I am going". I said she could have, then presenting the Gospel again she opened her heart to the message of Christ His death and Resurrection and prayed with me. After we sat and wept with rejoicing Mom having been given witness of her salvation and heaven. Time went by and at the end I gave her the last drink of water she had and she passed a few days later.
Now the next part caused me to have anger without sin:
I thanked the church for their prayers on the following Sunday and reported that my Mom had received Christ as her Savior. After the service a brother approached me with these words: "how do you know that your mother was saved? Maybe she was one of those that were born to go to hell. How can you be sure?" I looked at him calmly and said: "If this could be true for my Mother having confessed Christ, then how can you divorce yourself and your family from the same possibility?" He was adamant that this wasn't the case for himself or his family. How selfish and erroneous was his application of the Gospel. Since Christ's death and Resurrection man has twisted the Gospel to hold power and do wickedness to their fellow man with the application that what they were doing was "of God" and did not apply to themselves.

In closing:

Let God be true and every man a liar. If God sent His only Son that all can be saved then how much more will that same Loving Father "manifest" Himself to the objects of His love for that salvation to take place. My personal practice of faith in salvation is to present the Gospel by life and word then leave the rest to God to validate, however He wants to.

Love in Christ
J&E in Tn


  

True Love Demands Priority

True Love demands priority.

There are many "things" in life that "have" priority or need priority but only one thing demands priority, and that is Love. 

When Love is unchallenged for priority then it has it's rightful place in life. The confidence of Unconditional Love is proved by how much time it's given. Being in the presence of the one Loved deepens the commitment and reassures that priority. Time that is necessary to be away is only a physical lack but the spiritual and emotional "connection" is still alive and yearning. 
Agreement and sacrifice is the proof that Love is functioning on it's highest levels. When one or the other "Lovers" gives up something that they enjoy to be with the one they Love then that time together strengthens the relationship. This "giving up" should be part of both sides equally but more commonly not. Love does not have to be equal for both concerned but constantly expressed so as to be convincing to both. 

Love "out does" each other.  
Love doesn't demand change "of" the other, but Love causes one to change "for" the other. If both Lovers "change" to fit each other then the transition into "oneness" becomes seamless even unnoticed. 

Oneness is the proof of maturing Unconditional Love.

This application is a must for:
Man & Wife
Man & Family
Man & Friends
Man & Mankind
But above all:
Man & God.

Prioritize the time to Love Unconditionally. 
With Love as one:
J&E in Tn

Miracles Witnessed Part 5: Prayer for healing, a vision, a word of faith, and a confirmation from the hospital.

It always amazes me how God is "ever present" with us. Seems to me that the most mundane task could bring on the presence of God and a sense of worship, or a reminder of what mighty work God has done in our lives through the name of Jesus.
It was that way the other morning as I was raking grass for mulch in the garden. The Holy Spirit reminded me of an "intervention" in my neighbors life after a nasty fall.
As I have said in the past that God's word is true whether or not "you" believe it or practice it and Truth is not contingent on you but on God's promises. His Truth does not matter on whether or not you "feel something" should be done, or whether or not you feel spiritual at the time. You could spend all day in the Word and Prayer with fasting and that doesn't give you the right to "preform" for God. (I believe that the Word, Prayer, and Fasting is a necessary part of continuing in fellowship with God but not a "right of usage".) What gives us the "ability" to be used of God is humility and the willingness to "hear His voice and harden not our hearts" when He speaks. As I said before that His promises are true and every man a liar whether or not you believe all of His Word. I keep making this point because many think that they are wise but deny the very things that God has given us to manifest His glory and turn the world upside down.

Here is how God can turn the world upside down for someone whether or not we feel "moved" by the Holy Spirit to do anything about it except to be obedient to respond to what we know is right:

I was coming home from work one evening and as I turned onto my road I was behind an ambulance with it's sirens on turning into my neighbors drive. The neighbor was an elderly gentleman about 74 who lived with his wife and went to the Church of Christ. He always kept busy by doing construction type jobs and made an impression on me when at 68. He moved 30 yds of fill sand into the church he was helping build by himself one wheelbarrow at a time up and down ramps. I pulled up behind the ambulance and went inside the house behind the medics. His wife was in tears and his daughter was there in a fret. I asked "Ma" what had happened as the medics took his vitals while he was laying on the bed. She said he had fallen through a porch 9' onto a basement concrete floor whacking his head and landing on his back and was now passing blood in his stool. My next question was the hand that swatted the hornets nest. With no other leading than to do what was right I asked if anyone had anointed him with oil and prayed for him. His pastor had been called and was present with an answer that went like this: "I guess you could if you believe in that kind of stuff, I don't think it's necessary." His wife was of the same thought. Good thing that his daughter heard me and told him that I was here to pray for his healing. He said "then lets take a minute and do that". He didn't believe in divine intervention either but for some reason wanted it done. The only people that gathered around the bed was me, his daughter, and the medics. I anointed his head with oil and started to pray in the name of Jesus for healing when I had a vision. I didn't know what I was seeing but it was organs of some sort. So I asked the Holy Spirit for an explanation and He said that it was the large intestine where it joined the bowel and it had a tear in it from the impact of the fall. He said that I was to tell him what I saw and what He said and that by the time they check him out at the hospital he would be healed and the doctors would confirm it. His daughter wept and his wife and the pastor rolled their eyes. Off he went in the ambulance and after examination the doc's said that he could only find a tear in his large intestine where it joins the bowel and that it was healed. He was sent home the next day after observation for his "whack on the head". He was quite happy about what happened and rejoiced in the experience he had received from the Lord. He lived to be in his 90's working almost every day of his life.

All that it takes to be used of God is to be obedient!

Another example:

One morning very early a friend of mine and I were driving up I 75 towards Flint, Mi to take another Hwy to get to a job in a Detroit Edison Plant. It was very icy and slick out, traffic was moving slow at least most were. The exit ramp to 69 was very sharp and icy and I noticed an old beast of a car in front of me, it was some sort of 60+ Buick a two door, might of been an Electra. For the day it was a massive vehicle. All of a sudden a truck zipped by me on the shoulder which was sided with a concrete wall. The Buick lost it on the curve and slid sideways just in time to be hit by this 4x4 truck doing about 60 mph. The impact was so hard that it pushed that massive door into the cabin area as far as the other side of the steering wheel. The fella that was in the Buick was smashed in the side by the door and lying on the front seat. I stopped and ran to the car calling 911. After reporting the accident I went inside the passengers door to see if there was anything I could help with and here is what he said. "I am a para medic going into work and I am familiar with injuries. I will not live through these because I can tell my guts have been crushed. Please call my wife and tell her that I love her, here is the number." I then answered him "if that is the case do you know where you will go when you pass?" He said "I am a Christian, yes." He was weeping and screaming in pain at the same time. My heart broke. I took out my oil and asked if he would mind if we prayed in Jesus name and he said great. All the time I prayed he was screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. After the prayer ended the EMT showed up, it turned out to be his work partner and they took him away. As soon as I got to work I called his wife and told her what happened and what hospital he would be at. All day long that fella was on my mind. As soon as I got off work I called his wife again to get an update and (I found out during the conversation that his sister had answered) was greeted by a very rude person saying how do I know about the accident and what business was it of mine to call. I explained what had happened and who I was then she calmed down. Her attitude changed and told me that he was home and in perfect health with not even a bruise to be found. His wife then got on the phone and thanked the Lord for her husbands healing because he had told her about how he thought he was going to die. I wept. That was all I needed to know. God is good. I never spoke to them again but will catch up when the rolls are called up yonder.

The only thing that God needs to work with is an obedient, humble heart, that trusts His word and counts that as the only necessary thing in life.

Be bold, be vigilant.

I hope this encourages some of you to act on God's Word for all who believe have inherited the promises whether they believe them or not.

God Bless and Keep
Love in Christ
J&E inTn

Fathers Day Reflections

Some might argue but I just have to say it:

My Fathers Day has been the best because, like good food, it has the right ingredients.
1. A Holy Loving God who gave me my Wife.
2. An Incredible Woman to make Fatherhood possible.
3. 13 wonderful children of which 9 remain as 4 has gone home to be with Him.
4. Going on 11 grandchildren to Love and Cherish.
5. Friends that are deep and true.
6. 63+ years to enjoy all the above.
7. Life and that more abundantly.

I am thankful for all these "gifts" that my Father has given, every one a perfect reflection of His Love for me.

I know that you are somewhere on that list and I thank you for your love and friendship.

Love is the golden jewel of life that never stops giving.

God Bless and Keep

Love
J&E in Tn — feeling excited.

My Father

My Father is good, and He is good to me.

My Father is Love, and He loves me unconditional.

My Father has all provisions, and He provides for me.

My Father is the Great Physician, He healeth me.

My Father is Holy, and He delivers me from evil.

My Father is all wise, and He instructs me.

My Father is all knowing, and He directs my paths.

My Father is all powerful, and He gives me precious gifts.

My Father fills all creation, and I live and move and have my being in Him.

My Father has a kingdom, and He give me authority.

My Father would have none to perish, so He gave me Jesus Christ.

My Father is righteous, and He wants me to worship Him.

My Father knows my needs, and He wants me to pray to Him.

My Father is my delight, and He delights in me.

Who am I?

I am my Fathers son, Brother to Christ, and student of the Holy Spirit.

I have entered into the only Love relationship that cannot fail because that relationship is with God and God is Love. Love cannot fail.

Thanks be to God for His glorious gift of Christ that completes me.

God Bless and Keep

Love in Christ

J&E

Fathers Day

Father's Day 2013

I thank God for making me His son,

I thank Elise (my wife) for making me a Father,

I thank my Children for making me proud,

I thank my friends for making me welcome.

I thank all the above for the life full of Love that makes it worth living.

God Bless and Keep

In Christ

J&E in Tn

Timeless Love

Because Love has transcended the barriers of time,

Because Love teaches all to be kind,

Because Love is not hard to find,

Then Love is eternal,

Then Love is supernal,

Then Love is through God, in God, and God is Love.

For He alone is timeless, compassionate, and only a prayer away.

To embrace God is to embrace Unconditional Love from which we learn to exhibit Love which then proves the existence of our Loving Creator. There is no greater gift than Love (God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit) which (whom) never fails.

He who Loves not knows not God for God is Love.

Children walk in Love.

Love in Christ

J&E