You Can't Buy Forgiveness

1 Samuel 12:1, 14-15  When I was little there was a claymation show on Sunday mornings called Davey & Goliath. It was a 15 minute show that involved a boy and his dog (who could talk to Davey but no one else) and each episode they would learn a theological truth by way of events in their everyday life. I watched it every week and eventually had every episode memorized. One week Davey and his family were on a ski vacation. Davey took his dad's skis without permission and when one of them came off it slid into a crevasse, never to be seen again.

His dad knew something was up when Davey suddenly became extra helpful and polite around the house. Davey finally admitted that he was trying to earn his dad's forgiveness. I'll never forget Davey's dad's stern but loving voice saying, "Davey, you can't buy forgiveness."

Israel had sinned by insisting on having a king like all of the other nations. They got what they wanted, but feared that God would punish them for pushing for their own way in spite of Samuel's warnings. Having their own way did cause them a great deal of misery over the next few centuries, but God never turned his back totally on Israel. He loved them, not because of what they did for him, but because of who he is.  He still sent Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for their sins. You can't buy forgiveness.

Friends in Low Places

This blog was posted by 360 church in Berkeley, California. Their lead pastor, Earl Creps, is someone I have met and respect. -P.Randy

» Posted by Jeff on Jun 13, 2012 in Berkeley, Faith

In Berkeley there are poor people and there are street people.

Sometimes its really hard to tell the difference between the two.  Indeed the lines of distinction can sometimes cross over and intersect.

Not all the time but sometimes street people choose their lifestyle.  They give away belongings and embark on a journey with nothing but a backpack and end up begging for money on the streets of cities.

Usually street people are in packs with other street people and have creative cardboard signs that say things like “Too Lazy to Rob” or “Smile if you woke up today”.  Recently one just had two words, the second word was “You” and the first was a four letter word.  They tell each other about good places to sleep, steal, and solicit.

These kinds of individuals have a reputation with many of the other sub-groups in the city, especially the business people and young professionals.  Like Bruce Wayne these individuals burn their wallets and live just by what comes their way.

I have to admit even though I’ve stopped to talk with a few of them to hear their stories, I still wonder what they’re thinking.  I wonder why in the world anyone would choose that kind of life.  I have thought they must be mentally disturbed, or not been held enough as a child.  They must have a point they’re trying to prove. They must need to do this in order to show they reject society. It makes them feel better.

Then as I kneel on the floor to fold my hands awaiting the help of someone I call my God, I realize that I don’t look all that different from the street people.

I kneel on a carpeted floor to next to my bed.
They kneel on concrete sidewalks next to buildings.
We both ask for help for what we’re up against.

I am just another beggar who has found bread trying to point my pack to this bread.

What if we were as adamant on relying on something other than ourselves for our future as our friends in low places?

Confluences

Several years ago I went on several amazing fishing trips to Alaska with some friends. We fished on many different rivers, but the place that produced more consistently than any other was a place known to us only as "the confluence". Confluence is a really good word. It refers to the place where two rivers come together and one larger river continues. It can be messy at a confluence because the momentum of two distinct currents of water come crashing into each other, causing turbulence. With the turbulence, a lot of mud and debris gets kicked up and the water isn't usually very pretty for some distance until the newer, wider and more powerful river current settles down and goes about its unending task of delivering the contents of the rivers to the ocean.
The turbulence caused by the confluence of two rivers does more than stir up mud and debris. It stirs up underwater bugs, sculpins and minnows and exposes them as food for the fish of the river. The fish will accumulate just below the turbulence, instinctively knowing that food is coming their way. The fish understand that the messy and turbulent places are places of great opportunity. So out in the seeming middle of nowhere is a busy intersection where life and death activities are carried out. There is no reason for the fish to stay in the clear quiet pools for more than a brief rest because the food is at the confluence.
We encounter confluences in the spiritual realm as well; places where the streams of the world and its pursuits comes crashing together with streams of Christ-centered lives. It is in those messy interchanges of life where we find people who are most hungry and who are actively looking for answers. The quiet pools of life don't offer the opportunities to share the gospel in the way that the turbulent confluences do. We can't wait in the beautiful, quiet places if we wish to encounter people who are looking for answers. We must position ourselves in the turbulent, murky places if we want to find those who are truly hungry.
These confluences occur at work, in neighborhoods, and in the marketplace. They happen at tables and in cars. They happen in living rooms and driveways. They happen in the aftermath of disaster. They happen in bad parts of town. That's where we need to be if we want to live Christianly and share our faith. Confluences are opportunities. They are rarely appointments.

Revelation 21 & 22

Rev 21
Then John saw a new heaven and a new earth.  The old has passed away and all that believe in the Lord and has been faithful, get their reward.  Sounds wonderful to have no more pain, no tears and even no more death.  But the ungodly people have plenty to fear because not only do they have to go through one death, they will go through a second permanent death.  Thrown in the lake of burning sulfer.  The Holy City sounds fantastic!  Nothing impure will never enter it.  Just the people in the book of life.

Rev 22
Its time for all of our faith to be rewarded in heaven with our Heavenly Father who promised us that if we over came, we would be with Him in heaven.  No more worries about this or that.  Just spending eternity with the Lord.  But until that day comes, we have to be on guard every minute of every day.  The Lord says we will get whats coming to us by what we did on earth.  Don't know about you, but that makes me try harder and harder everyday to please the Lord.  The Lord warns us not to add or take away from His book or there will be hell to pay.  See ya in heaven one day!  God bless you all!

REV 19-20

REV 19

After the fall of Babylon all the people in heaven very glad God put an end to their wicked ways, and the people gave glory and power to God.Then John seen a rider on a white horse ( the lord ) with his army of saints getting ready to do battle with the beast and prophet that have been decieving Gods people by putting the mark of the beast on them. The beast and prophet were caught and thrown in the fiery lake of burning sulfur,and all that helped the beast were killed and the birds had their fill.

REV 20

And then John seen an angel coming down out of heaven with a great chain,he seized the dragon (devil )and threw him in abyss for a thousand years,after that he will be released as part of Gods plan.
Then all of Gods people that didnt bow down to the beast were awakend and were with the lord for a thousand years,and will not see death again,they will be called priest of God..Then satans time to be released is now and he is trying to decieve all the nations,But satans rein of preying on Gods people is comming to an end.God threw satan in the lake of burning sulfur. Then John saw the dead awake and how they are going to be judged.The bible tells us that were going to be judged according to what we have done on earth.Its all in the book of life. How do you think you would stand right now? Because at that time their will be NO secound chances,now more EXCUSES. As i have repeated chapter after chapter it all boils down to the same thing,your relationship with the lord.With anything,the more you put in it, the more your going to get out of it.

Fall of Babylon

REV 18

People from Babylon all thought that their reward was all in material things,they couldnt get enough wealth,they figured the more you had the more status you had.Then at last they ran out of the wealth and status.But the moral of the story is if they would have put God first in their life,everything they would have needed God would have provided.Some people never learn,bottom line would you like something that just last a while or would you rather have something that last forever.Really not hard to answer is it?

Revelation Technical Difficulties

Had a little bit of a technical difficulty when trying to post to the blog for Revelation 14-17.  But all is corrected and the posts are current.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Revelation 16 & 17

REV 16

The seven bowls of Gods wrath
One by one each of the seven wraths were worse than the other.It shocks me that these people were just that wicked,everything God tries to do to make them see the light fails.All they could do was to blame God for their problems.Seems it never accured to them if they had God in their lives they would have all the problems in the first thing.


REV 17

There is alot that has happend and yet alot more that has to happen to fulfull Gods plan.But you can rest assured if you stay faithful till the end,the lord will be right by your side all the way.He loves us,its high time we show him how much we truly love him....

Revelation 14 & 15

REV 14

This chapter is about Gods people that has overcome Gods wrath so far.
It's time for the harvest and all of the peple that has resisted satan
and does not have the mark of the beast on them. But on the other hand if you forgot about God and all he has done for you and you have the mark of the beast on you then you have a problem {A GOD PROBLEM}it might get a little rocky to put it mildly..The lord rewards his people.


REV 15

Where getting down to the last seven plagues.
The great harvest keeps getting closer and closer.All the people that stayed faithful were givin harpes to play and they all song the song of moses,how fantastic that would be.The way i see it,the lord wants us to listen to him and to have a relationship with him and he will take care of all the rest,sound like it is kinda one sided.But thats just how much he loves us..

Revelations 12 & 13

Rev 12
The time for the great war between satan and Michael and his angels,Satan couldn't get the job done,and we should be very grateful.
That's just another example of how much God loves us,he is always taking care of us,and all he ever ask in return is for us to trust him,now that's just beyond a lot of peoples grasp, but I'm loving it..

Rev 13

(The time of the beast)

Just a big bully,just running around trying to scare everyone and everything,just part of Gods plan to get his people to repent and get right with him,but as i have said before and I'm sure i will say it again..if you have faith and love god with all your heart what can anyone do to you? NOTHING Because you have all you need GOD

We serve such an awesome God that truly loves us and all he will ask of us is to love and trust him... Its a WIN WIN kinda thing.

Revelation 9 & 10

Rev-9
When the 5th angel sounded his trumpet, a star fell from the sky to the earth.  That star was given authority to unleash a plague of locust on the earth.  Two other plagues are yet to come and still the rest of mankind would not repent. I can't really believe that some people are just arrogant and self consumed.

Rev-10
John has a vision of another mighty angel with a little scroll. This angel's purpose affects all of creation and the little scroll will be eaten by John.  The number 7 is mentioned in this chapter.  It refers to 7 thunders (no He isn't speaking about our NBA team).  The 7 thunders represent God's coming wrath and judgement.  John finally eats the scroll as the angel told him.  It tasted sweet in his mouth but soured in his stomach.  John now understands that he must deliver his final message about the judgements to come.  The judgements will be contain much sorrow and bitterness.

Revelation 7 & 8

Rev-7
This chapter is a 'pause' between the 6th & 7th seal.  The John saw four angels standing on all four corners of the earth to halt the wind from blowing.  Then he saw another angel coming from the east, having the seal of the living God on which the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel.  Were their foreheads were stamped with that seal to protect them from future judgments. Then as i looked around and seen people from every tribe, nation, that spoke many languages worshiping God, all these people were from the great tribulation. Just shut your eyes and think how wonderful it would be to be in a place where their is no pain no hunger and no getting older and spend your time worshiping God, {HOW AWSOME}

Rev-8
Then John seen the seven angles,all were given trumpets to be sounded one after the other with differnt devastating effects,my take on this is this was one of Gods ways to get ready for the harvest and this a way to get all the hardheaded people to repent and start seeking the lord so the harvest will be greater,like he says,he wants knowone to parish.. Boils down to this-with faith all is within reach without faith its just a guessing game,don't know about you but im not good at guessing.see ya Sunday

Revelation 5 & 6

Rev-5
In this chapter we learn about the scroll and the 7 seals.  Who can open the seals and read the scroll? None, but Jesus (the 'lamb').  The word 'lamb' is used 28 times in Revelation as a reference to Jesus.

Contained within the scroll is the future of the people and the world. It tells how the world will be judged and how God and His people will win over evil.  7 seals held the scroll closed.  Once the seals are opened one by one, a vision is revealed.   

Rev-6
Seals 1-4 are opened.  Some believe that when the 1st seal was opened, the 7 year tribulation began.  1) A White Horse - the rider of the white horse represents the antichrist.  God will use him to trick the ones that are against Christ.  2) A Fiery Red Horse - the rider of the red horse represents war and death.  3) A Black Horse - the rider of the black horse represents hunger and suffering 4) a Pale Horse - the rider of the pale horse represents horrible deaths, plagues, disease and evil beasts.  The 4th seal (the pale horse) will be so bad that 1/4 of the of the people will be killed. WOW! 1/4 of the population gone!  Just like that!

When the 5th seal is opened, John's vision takes him to heaven where he see's what is going on up there.  He see's the ones that were slain for their belief in God.  They are told to have patience as more people will be slain for their faith in God.

Did you know that some people will be given an opportunity to accept Christ during the tribulation?  It will be for the people that didn't get the chance to learn about God.  The people that had the chance to learn but resisted won't get that chance to accept Christ. 

A great earthquake happens when the 6th seal is opened.  Can this be the end? 

The people that are left on earth (the unGodly) will have great fear and will try to hide so they won't experience God's wrath.

After reading all of the bad things that will happen, it would be in everyone's best interest to be faithful to God!