Good evening and welcome back to another, hot off the digital press, Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. The stars are out in full force tonight, singing glorious melodies to God …. there’s a slight breeze out of the south west with a forecast for the rest of the week of cold, dry, but clear and crisp.

I’m Social Porter and i’ll be your host this evening, taking up an unusual topic of terrorism and what it means to be “under siege”, of course from a biblical perspective, and of course in a spiritual sense.

In this present day and age, i have come to the conclusion that our Christian faith is under siege. And if that is true, what are we going to do about it? Maybe a better question is what CAN we do about it and are we willing to take action, bravely hoisting our colors up the flag pole.

i’m not saying this to propagate some conspiracy theory, by any means, but i must say, there is a growing mound of evidence that hell is unleashing wave after wave of assault on the Body of Christ in an attempt to spite God to His glorious face, right to the bitter end. The enemy knows he is doomed and beaten at the cross on Calvary, but it appears he’s not going quietly. Our spiritual person is under siege, our immune systems are under siege, our finances are under siege, our ability to speak the truth is absolutely under siege, our hope and faith is under siege, and maybe even most evident – marriage, love, covenant, and peace are under siege….marriage and covenant being reduced to an agreement and a contract, treated as something voidable at anytime at the whim of the participants…and that’s just wrong, and cruel creating contusions of the soul which are deep and long lasting.

Hell knows that if any goodness gets a foothold, if any righteousness gets a grip, if honor and being honest really stands up and writes the truth on the wall – not just “a” truth is it seems best to someone who doesn’t want the entire truth, but the whole truth according to God who, Himself, IS the standard of what is true, if honor and honesty actually stand up and write the truth of the Lord on the wall, then admission of defeat by darkness will be undeniably evident. Interestingly, hell knows it has been beaten, darkness knows it has failed and it’s end is eminent, but even in light of the fact Jesus Christ defeated evil forever, the devil and his buddies carry spite and hatred to the bitter end.

It should be an interesting topic, with what is an amazing array of responses, everything from “Amen!” to people saying i’m crazy. Stay tuned, enjoy the cool jazz, turn the lights down low, and lend me your ears for a short while.

Part of the idea of being a terrorist and practicing “terrorism” is getting people to participate in the fear that an attack is imminent while the “where” and “when” are always a mystery. For terrorism to work, people must buy into the fear, they must be willing to participate in some fashion or another.

My friends, we give the devil too much press, actually i think ANY press is too much press for him. Also, we give evil and fear too much power whether real or virtual… it’s the fertile ground where terrorism thrives, THRIVES on the power of holding their victims in limbo, in fear until they, the terrorist shows up, all in their good time, to work “well deserved judgment” on their victims, and of course that judgment is according to the one doing the terrorizing.

This may be a bold statement for some, but i say:

At this time in history, “Loss of heart” is one of the most formidable weapons against us today.

In light of that statement, i think it would be good to understand what being “under siege” looks like. 2 Kings 24:10 “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.” More than a few times Samaria and Jerusalem came under siege.

Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times and besieged 23 times.  Another author suggests that it has been the subject of at least 118 conflicts. Jerusalem has been a city of conflict for thousands of years – and to me i think its an ironic twist given that Jerusalem means “city of peace”?

After pondering the idea of “being under siege”, i’m wondering, what does an invading army do in order to be able to say they “set the city under siege”?

i believe the first order is to terrify the people, cause them to be afraid, get them to buy into the idea that they could be injured somehow, and their way of life and culture are threatened. Influence the people to believe they aren’t safe unless the government provides some kind of “safety”. I heard a woman in the grocery store telling her neighbor, “i just don’t feel safe anymore.” I thought to myself, “the truth is, you’ve never actually been safe. Safety has been an illusion. The truth is… badness could happen to anyone at any time, and to think “we are safe” is truly an illusion.” Keeping people terrified means to get them always looking over their shoulder, wondering when bad things will happen, thwart their trust of their leaders and even of their own decision making abilities. Fear is always first and last in their mind, keep them watching the evening horror stories called the news. Tell them the media services always gives the truth, and people should be afraid, very afraid. Fear is the main ingredient. Get them thinking and obsessing over what terrible thing will happen to them next.

Terrorists work to whip people into a fear-frenzy using one of their biggest weapons: people against other people.

Listen to this and hear: If hell can’t get a foot hold in a gathering of believers, they’ll send a disgruntled, dissonant (harmonically unresolved) Christian in to plant discord, backbiting, dissatisfaction, finger pointing (an aiming gun or judgment), and a splintered posture of discouragement. That sower of discord will likely be somewhat correct about the failings of leadership, and will appear to have the “inside scoop” on sound doctrine. .  It is part of being under siege. It is terrorism, born at the gates of hell. Remember, the first thing to do when under siege is 1) keep your head. Don’t let yourself get rattled. Remember God’s promises and don’t be driven by panic and reckless emotion. Keep your head.

2 Kings 25:1 “Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.”

What in the world is a siege wall or a bulwark? In my life i can’t say i’ve ever actually seen a “siege wall”. As best i can tell, it is a high mound laid up against the city, all around. Historically, there are reports of attackers building up mounds around fortified cities higher than the cities walls, hemming the people in, thereby controlling all the going out and coming in, able to cut off all the food in or out…. i reckon control is the key word.

Another thing to do when laying siege to a people or city is to try and cut off their water supply, or devaluing their currency, causing the currency to become worthless. Many towns were situated so they had water inside the city walls, like a good running spring in town maybe, but some towns had a creek or a river which ran through them, which made a nice layout until the town came under attack. The fact that the water supply was outside the city made them vulnerable. If an enemy were to lay siege to their town, the enemy would simply divert the water from the town and wait for the towns people to dry up and die, thereby the attackers would win the fight without loosing a single person or even firing a shot.

And here is another powerful tactic for laying a city to siege: propaganda. It is huge. Spreading lies about the worthlessness of the people and how much better everyone else is. Lie to them about their faith, mix truth with lies, so often, the people can’t tell what is real or not real, breed confusion, influencing them to not trust anyone except those closest to them, and even those alliances can be influenced to become even narrower. Think, the enemy of Heaven is constantly working to divide the Body of Christ, get us squabbling of petty issues which some people think are so important. “He wore sunglasses in the sanctuary! God won’t bless us!” “She was dressed in a jacket and street pants, doesn’t she know God won’t bless her looking like that!?” We aim our fingers at people for the dumbest things and then act like God has given us the INSIDE SCOOP and we just need, we NEEEEED to make sure they, the infamous “they” know of the pending wrath of God they are bringing upon us all with them and their nefarious and iniquitous behavior. Do we think God is really that brittle and we can run Him off so easily? We are under siege.

When we read in 2 Kings 18 about how the king of Assyria came against all the fortified cities of Judah, propaganda was huge…. and it’s always so smooth and reasonable sounding. A general shouted up to the watchers on the wall in 2 Kings 18:19-20 “¹⁹….”Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have strategy and military strength–but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?”

They went on with their propaganda by telling the people to not listen to their king, especially when he says God will help, or God will deliver them. Ohh, whatever you do, don’t listen to that foolishness!
Does any of this sound familiar? This day and time we’re being told, albeit indirectly most of the time, don’t trust God. Why listen to Him? He’s not going to help you? You’ve gone too far this time, He can’t even hear you? Nobody cares about you, you should just go home, sit in the dark and wait to die, God isn’t coming.

Ever heard that stuff? Yea, most of us have and it….is…..a…. lie. It’s part of being under siege!

i believe hell has issued the orders against God’s people similar to what is written in Ezekiel 4:2… “Lay siege against them, build a siege wall against them, and heap up a mound against them; set camps against them also, and place battering rams against them all around.” Do you hear all the “against them” words? And what’s worse, many delusional believers seem to have joined the ranks of the enemy, self-assured they’re doing the right thing, to help build the walls blocking our hearing and seeing Jesus. We must remember that the will of our enemy is fully set against us, with all power, all day, all night, unceasing, giving no quarter.

The pestilence which creeps by darkness, seeing our demise, works  …to “cut off our water supplies”, or our relationship with God, …to make us “lose heart”, or create distance between ourselves and Jesus, coupled with our own obsession with shame. They magnify our personal sense of failure and rejection, in hopes to propagandize us into surrender. Think! If you can get a man convinced that he is worthless and makes no difference in anything, that he’s a failure, his kids are going to failures, and everyone thinks him a fool, then one by one, the strong men will just go waste away, convinced they are worthless, never exercising their valor, strength, and faith in God.

The enemy works to “build bulwarks against us” or inspire, real or virtual rejection and abandonment by family, friends, or our church family. They position themselves to “prophesy against us”, sending disgruntled fellows to inform us we are irredeemable, “you’ve gone too far for God to ever use you again”, that you are unsuitable, that we are “bad”, giving us a continuous stream of words facilitating our own extreme self-loathing. We are constantly manipulated in order to “cut off our Leadership and Captains”, using our own rejection from friends who speak into our lives. The enemy is busy planting seeds which sever relationships, encouraging us to lead isolated and detached lives, singled out and alone…isn’t that a picture of the term, “easy prey”?

i’ll say it again, i believe, and this is just what i think:  “Loss of heart” is one of the most formidable weapons against us today.

Many people have become convinced and grow fearful that it’s true that “it’s gone too far and we probably can’t …”. Yes, their are are so easily filled by the news services that doom is just around the corner, so just sit down and wait for the inevitable.

Maybe the “spirit of Eyore”, right out of “Winnie The Pooh”, is really a real thing, huh?!!   Another fellow and i used to joke about “the spirit of Eyore”, but i believe it is a valid “spirit type” that brings with it a down turned mouth, weights not wings, feelings of pointlessness, and despair (to name a few), so much so that we’ll run into the desert and lay under a tree and weep to God that we are the only one left and what’s the point of going on.

There seems to be so many little “word tangles” going on everywhere, and i mean everywhere…people finding a reason to not speak because one person looked a little narrow-eyed at the other, or didn’t exactly talk right, or was too honest, or not honest enough in the other person’s opinion, and on and on. They prayed too loud, not loud enough, with too much authority or not enough, laughed too strangely, didn’t laugh at the pastors jokes, dress to short of too long, wrong shoes, hat too big…..our reasons to reject other people are just absurd, preposterous and nonsensical. The word fatuous comes to mind, which implies being not only foolish, dull, and vacant in mind, but complacent and highly self-satisfied with their own aiming finger as well. It’s often like a world of little judgments all stacked up in a summation of failures. Living in the shadow of that stuff makes you feel like you’re constantly looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. Ah yes, the aiming gun of judgment, judgments all stacked up and steaming. This maybe a bit crass, but when we stack up the judgments against each other it’s kind of like watching horses or cows in a barn…if they just pooped once and left, that would be one thing, but they poop on top of poop on top of poop and it just piles up and piles up, and then it gets all in their feet and they get foot problems that make leg problems, and then they’re just generally sick…all from standing around day after day knee deep in their own waste, wondering what that “smell” is, and “why do i not feel well?”

We are under siege and our only way out is Jesus! He alone is the only hope!

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.”

Ephesians 6:14-15 “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

i say “Hold The LINE!!” Don’t budge or give an inch to hell! Our ground that God has given to us belongs to us, it is Kingdom property, Stand Firm and HOLD THE LINE!

We must be diligent to not allow things to stand that have been allowed to stand, have courage to ask what we think are unaskable questions, have a humble heart to pursue resolve. Did you hear that? Pursue conflict resolution, not “who is most right”, but resolve the conflict if you can. Be persistent in your pursuit of resolve, put your self-importance and inclinations toward elitism on the altar and set fire to them. Burn your self-importance, title grabbing needs, put them on the altar of sacrifice and light that junk on fire. Yea, you’ve got you and office now, people call you pastor this and apostle that, and yea, you wear a nice suit and the church pays for your conference attendance and business trips, but in your heart of heart you feel like something is missing, like you left something behind when you moved into the swanky neighborhood and started posturing for the camera. The enemy will use these sorts of things, prying us one against another to tear the house down with our own hands. Be strong and courageous!!  We will not back down from the face of terrorism.

i’m calling us back to humbling ourselves before the Lord, lifting one another up before the Lord for blessing not cursing, and when all else fails, HOLD THE LINE and keep on keeping on, don’t stop! Bless your enemies, pray for them, speak hope and encouragement to them, and declare righteousness and holiness over them in the Name of Jesus. Even to the curse-makers, spell-casters, witches and warlocks! We want to leave behind the gathering darkness and yield to Jesus. I don’t want them hurt, i want to bring them with us to Heaven and that hell wouldn’t win not one of those.

Jesus is our defense and provision, and even under siege, i can assure you Jesus has already won it all and hell has no foothold of a chance to ever return to power and authority. Ever. We are not slaves, we are freemen and will NEVER come under the authority of darkness again.

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Think about it.

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”

i’m not angry, i’m passionate. Go to those who are having a hard time, shield their eyes from the sun, give them a drink of water – i don’t care if they are grouchy, you be bigger than that. Here is how we continue in victory, even when under siege: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

i’m Social Porter, thank you for joining me this evening for Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation. All music was provided by the Pete Minger Quartet, the Allan Broadbent Trio, Darol Anger, Gary Willis, Plas Johnson, and Larry Carlton. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Support was by Living In His Name Ministries, my beautiful brother at Area 22 Guitars, Allan, Kevin, and Tommy at the Mebane Freedom League, Tony and Danielle of McDowell Electric, Paul at International Tile, Shepherd Funeral Home serving down home potato salad and fried chicken while you’re waiting for your loved ones to be processed, and Jeff and Karen of Trinity Bakers on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

Be strong and courageous this week, do the right thing, tell the truth, and hold the line of God’s righteousness up to the world, nail your colors to the mast for all to see. Be encouraged, Jesus is coming back and, be at peace.

Have you ever heard God say something to you that seemed to make no sense? And you knew it was something excellent but His words didn’t seem to connect to anything you understood? That happened to me many years ago, and has happened many times since, but at that time i didn’t get it so i put His words on the back burner for another day. Why? Because i know this to be true ….God never tells us something for no reason, nor does He tell us stuff just so we can say, “I know.” He tells us things to build us up, and for the benefit of the Body, to make us and others more fruitful. Everything He says is for a reason and purpose and just because it doesn’t seem to go anywhere in the moment, we can rest assured, one day, God will connect the rest of the dots, so to speak, and it will be an amazing “ah ha” moment, if you know what i mean.

Many years ago the Lord said to me, “The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing and forward is the way we’re going.” i struggled trying to understand it, but what He was getting at seemed very elusive. Of course i understood the words, but they just seemed to go in a circle a little. It was sort of like saying, “If you do, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t”. At the moment you’re left thinking to yourself, “Say what?” Anyway,  you get my point i’m sure.

Reiterating a little, at the time it was almost an obscure thing to say, a silly sounding sentence of nothingness, but in the last years i’ve realized there really was something to it. What he said addresses … a specific part of a season – today, the specific moment of the season – now, He’s addressing what is being done – as in doing what is in front of us to do. He’s pointing out the direction of His actions in us – which is forward, all while being in our season of where God has us. Yet it’s still a little general sounding … or is it?

What is your heading? Are you more concerned about your ministry launch date than your relationship with Jesus? Which is more important?

So, so many people are incredibly concerned about not knowing their God-designated direction, but i must add, i believe many have far more direction than they realize…maybe becoming awake in Christ is more God’s point than actually having a blueprint of “your calling”.

This is Outposts, a live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. When you turn off the main road and go all the way to the end, at the bend of the river up against the old growth tree line is a fine cafe called Outposts; a place of contemplative conversation and cool jazz.

As we make our way into our time this evening, i’ll be your host and hope you enjoy the virtuoso performances along with tonight’s topic: What’s your heading, your direction? Are you waiting on the call of God to make a move, maybe He’s waiting on you to make a move, and what does the call of God look like anyway? i’ll be right back.

Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” i think that is what is meant by “The date is today”. In other words, be where you are today and don’t sweat tomorrow so much that you become riddled with anxiety over what might or might not happen. It’s all too easy to get lost in the whirlpool of yesterday, or get caught up in the swirl of tomorrow and not be in the room for today.

The Lord spoke something to me, He said, “Most people spend an inordinate amount of time in yesterday or tomorrow, lost in the serpentine, twisting mists of fading yesterday, what was, and are bewildered at the possibilities of tomorrow, or what will be.

We worry so much about everything and even when we think we are trusting God and not worrying, often at our foundation we are still wrestling with tomorrow. “The date is today”. We are here and now, today is the specific part of the season you are in. It maybe you are in a desert place and have been for a while, or maybe it’s a season of favor and prosperity, or a time of storms where you are growing by leaps and bounds but so uncomfortable. Regardless of the season, which could be in days or years, today is the specific date of that season. In other words, whatever God brings to your hand today – that is what you do. Don’t focus on the storm clouds or the howling wind, and i know, when it seems the storm is howling and the water is flooding your boat it’s really hard not to focus on what might happen, but Jesus is saying focus on Me, today, not yesterday which is gone, or tomorrow which isn’t here yet, the date is today and the time is now.

God beckons us to be in today, this time, and in the moment, divided time, with Him, working in today in His purposes, speaking His peace today for those who’s yesterday was so terrible they feel they have no tomorrow. Today and now. Listen to what God says and consider, think about it and roll it around in your thinking until you understand His intent for today and now.

Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

Straightaway, the sense of “the time is now” means …at the present time or moment, and in this case there is an adverb of date, the word “now”, and a noun, the word “time”… as in “when”. Let us not only view the idea of “time” as something passing and we are slowly passing away with it, but more  seeing it as a sign and opportunity of grace, with the Greek idea of “opportunity” as ….a starting point. The word “Now” is an opportunity, or starting point, to have great grace in the face of an unmerciful world in it’s last harsh breaths, and our presenting it with the opportunity for salvation by the hand of Christ.

i believe the Lord means more than just chronos time with respect to a clock, but in the sense of God’s Now which is kairos time, as in a decisive moment, precisely at the most opportune minute, the exact time a decision must be made concerning a “critical situation”. “God time” is not a perchance time, or something that happens merely considered as “fortunate”, but God-time is an exact and conscious definitive action. Additionally, God’s “now” includes kaironomia, which is a very interesting word meaning, “in the moment there is the will to create”. Those are moments of indeterminate time in which something special happens, powered by the Holy Spirit. The date is today, the time is now, not later, not a historical time, but “now” time as a conscious definitive action.

In the Old Testament, God made Himself known as “God of the now”. In the New Testament He continued to make Himself known as “God of the now”, and today, He is still our very present help in our time of need by making Himself known as our “God of the Now”. The Lord said in Exodus 3:14 “Tell them I AM has sent you.” “I AM” is present tense, He is the God of now. The date is today,and the time is NOW.

Consider then, God is busy bringing things to pass.  Now, He comforts, encourages, teaches, and equips. Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;” The date is today and the Lord is also God of the Now.  Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for the past, it can be full of good memories, and it can be used as a learning experience. But Now, the present is good for making the most of life… whether you are in a position to make lemonade or are empowered to do great things.

Many people in church are living in the past. They look to the cross and only see a suffering Savior. They keep him on the cross because they can manage him there. He forgives them their sins when they need Him to and he doesn’t get in the way of their lives. To them, He’s more a resource held only to the outer edge revolving around themselves, than He is the center of their lives and they revolve around Him. Many read only the comfortable verses. In their minds, it sets the grace in which we hope in some future “revelation” of Jesus. For them, God is either back there, or somewhere up ahead. But I don’t think the revelation is just future. God will not be nailed up to some cross and forgotten by His people. He is the God of now.

The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing.” What is “this”? Many times, for me at least, “this” is a vague word in my vocabulary and i often get called on it because i reference something which is specific by calling it “this” or “that”, and usually no one knows what i’m talking about….. but here, it means the thing, or idea that is present or near in place, time, or thought. To say, “This is what we’re doing” means we do what God has brought to our hands to do, taking action, in the present, and we won’t deviate from our task…keeping our focus until we are released to do something else.

In other words, as in Colossians 3:23-24  ^“ …whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

These words speak of the very attitude by which we live and how we approach any task in life. The phrase “this is what we’re doing” is action.

Living and doing life as unto the Lord, in all we do, in all we say is largely about attitude….and that’s attitude as in the “pitch and yaw of our heart”, or how we lean in our hearts toward God, which starts with intent. A bit of trivia, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph, and along with one of several literal meanings, it means the sound you make before you make a sound…..which would be intent. According to Revelation 2:23 God knows our most subtle intentions. He said, ^“…I am He Who searches the minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts…”

With all my heart, as best as i can muster strength, i work to do what God brings to my hand. Sometimes what He brings to my hand can take several years, other times it is only minutes. Regardless it is all a valuable work unto the Lord, large or small.

i used to be concerned with “what MY ministry was”, but as the years have gone by, my ministry consists more of what so ever God brings to me today, my ministry begins when i wake up and ends when i go to sleep, and honestly, i don’t concern myself much anymore with “wishing i knew what my ministry was.” First in my heart is a continuous upward pointing to God and His sovereignty, and everything else is secondary. i serve the Lord, first, foremost, and last.

FORWARD – moving toward what is ahead or in front. Philippians 3:13-14, ”Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The date is today, the time is now. This is where we are, this is what we’re doing. Forward is the way we’re going. As for yesterday, that was then and this is now.

Paul encourages us to live as Christians in the same manner: throwing away our old way of living and moving ahead into our new life of obedience to God and faith in Jesus Christ. Like the Israelites moving into the Promised Land, we can actively come into the likeness of Jesus for the purpose to destroy the wickedness in our life, or we can simply settle down and live with it. “Oh well, i might as well get used to the darkness. That’s just the way it is.” No…. it’s not. To move in and possess the new life, we must drive out the old thoughts and practices to make room for the new. It requires persistence, and a willingness to pursue a growing abhorrence of evil. God is dynamic, He is always moving forward, and i think that if anyone seems to believe they are standing still, in reality they are going backwards because God is always moving forward.

All this time later, i realize i am living in God’s statement to me of 18 years ago, “The date is today, the time is now, this is what we’re doing, and forward is the way we’re going.” That was then, and this is now. i suppose it wasn’t nearly as non-sensical as i thought at the time.

Has God spoken to you, and what exactly did He say? Are you living in today, the now of life? Are you taking action putting your hand to the plow of what God has brought to you? And are you moving forward? If we can’t answer a solid “yes” to those questions, then we need to be asking the Lord, “What can You and i do to change my situation?” Then listen, please listen, the answer is there. Guaranteed. Think about it.

It has been another wonderful evening here at Outposts, enjoying acoustic night which only happens on every fourth friday of the month.

Be encouraged, Yahweh is for us, He’s on our side! Gather your thoughts, let yesterday become the past and trust God for tomorrow. Be in today, in the now with our Lord and God of Now, and set your feet moving forward, hidden in every moment is the opportunity where change is possible.

Tonight’s program of Outposts has been also sponsored by God Almighty as Himself and the Kingdom of Heaven, Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Werner Graphics where the Kingdom of God is artistically brought to life, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by Alex de Grassi, Jeff Titus, Al DiMeola, Keith Jarrett, Michael Hedges, the Acoustic Jazz Quartet, and W.G. Snuffy Walden. All music us is licensed by BMI.

The date is today, the time is now. This is what we’re doing and forward is the way we’re going! Thanks for joining us and we’ll meet again next week!

Persistence

Calvin Coolidge said: “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.”
When we use the term, “Press On”, as it’s used in Philippians3:12, it means to be diligent and keep on keeping on, don’t stop, don’t deviate, focus and keep on straight ahead. Persistence has won battles, it has been an undeniable aid in everything from restoring marriages to scientific discoveries to overcoming drug and alcohol addiction.
Galatians6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Persistence. The Greek word for “abide” occurs 127 times in the N.T., 35 times in it’s variations in the gospel of John alone. A major concept in abiding is persistence, continuing on, to tarry, and carry on. Considering how often the Lord uses the word in scripture, i figure He sees persistence important for us to practice.
“Cave baestiam”, Latin for “beware the beast”. One of satan’s favorite things to do is to try and get us to give up! However, God tells us to endure, persist, continue, and finish. Let me say those four again …. endure, persist, continue, and finish.
Persistence is one of God’s more subtle attributes, but an attribute of the Lord nonetheless and we should be aware if God was not persistent and did not share His persistence with us, we would yield to the world and capitulate easily in the wave of wrongness of character, which daily, if not hourly, washes over the world around us. Evil may be persistent, but God is more relentless in His pursuit of us than we have enough imagination to grasp.
Thank you for joining me this evening, i’ll be your host here at Outposts, a late evening broadcast from the cafe at the end of the road which overlooks the gently flowing Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge and every evening is pleasant.
This evening’s topic is one of God’s attributes: Persistence. The Lord has pursued us with His enduring, everlasting love, He persists in His relentless reaching and seeking of those who are His to bring us home to Himself.
Consider for a moment if you are a persistent person and in what way. i’ll take a typical break and be right back.

i want to re-tell a story, a sad story, of someone i met at a nursing home. i’ll call her Gladys. When we first walked into her room to visit, she was laying on her bed, covered by a crisp, freshly creased sheet and thin faded blanket, staring at the wall. She was bone thin with very fine gray hair pulled tight across and behind her head, withered facial features, and was pale, nearly translucent pale, her skin so thin you could see the veins just below the surface. She was so frail and still we thought she was dead were it not for the faint rise and fall of her chest barely perceptible only if we stood silently and watched for a moment. Holding our breath with intense focus, we paused for a moment hoping she would turn her head and speak, but when that didn’t happen, i ventured forward and asked how she was today. In a voice as thin as the rustle of dry leaves, while still staring at the wall she replied that she was just laying there waiting to die, tired of being in this world and was done with breathing. Finally, she slowly turned her head to look at us, and from very thin pale lips, told us she didn’t understand why she was still alive. With perplexity in her voice she continued on saying her heart just kept beating and beating, and she had decided to just wait on it to quit. So, everyday, all day, every week she waited.
The next week we came back and there was Gladys, laying in her bed, almost exactly as she was the first time we met. Hands folded across her chest on top of the sheet and blanket, skin thin as wet paper and her eyes were closed. i spoke softly to her a little above a whisper and asked if she was awake. With her eyes still shut, she said “Yes”. i told her it was a beautiful day, it was warm, and the flowers were blooming everywhere….then i asked her why her eyes were closed. She said she was tired of looking at the walls and didn’t want to see the world outside. She insisted she was still waiting to die.
A month or so later, Gladys really did die. She died from a failure to persist….she didn’t want to be here anymore so badly, her body just simply stopped. It took her over two years to will herself to die, but it appeared she had accomplished her goal.
Sadly, we came to find out, two years prior to that, someone had prophesied to Gladys she only had a couple years left and God was going to take her home, and in light of that foolish and cruel prophesy to a healthy woman with children and grandchildren, Gladys decided that if that was the way it was going to be, then she’d just lay down and wait. She waited for over two years, failing to persist everyday a little more and a little more, until one day, she indeed left the land of the living.
Gladys was a good example about where we go when we cease our persistence of the Lord, life, love, goodness, hope, peace or any other good thing God has sowed into our lives. After meeting Gladys, i realized that it’s the truth. Any of us, if we allow it, can become so sad, so resigned to ceasing to breath, we will, at some point, stop. God has another plan though.

After that dreadful story, i much prefer a “positive perspective of persistence”….that phrase has a nice rhythm doesn’t it? “Positive perspective of persistence.
Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. In other words, we press on even when we feel like quitting. Standing firm to the end is not a way to be saved but is the evidence that a person is committed to Jesus. Persistence is not a means to earn salvation; it is the by-product of a truly devoted life.
Joyce Meyer said, “Typically, i have to do the right thing with a right attitude for a long time before i start getting right results, that’s persistence.” i believe she was right. In my experience, though limited, i too have realized i often have to treat people right for a long time before they begin to treat me the same way. Persist in treating people right is the key phrase there. That means even when they don’t treat us well, we repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Just as natural seed finally takes root and the beginning of a plant breaks through the ground, we also will see breakthrough if we continue to do the right thing, regardless of what others do. Again, the sticky words are “continue to do the right thing”, persistence.
People frequently give up too easily. When their feelings quit on them, they quit too. There is what i call, “The spirit of Eyore”, which sounds just like Eyore on Winnie the Poo. Eyore’s attitude says, “What does it matter? No one cares anyway.” OR “It’s ok. i’ll learn to live without it.” OR “It figures, might as well go home.” OR “Nope, just got lonely being so popular. i figured being boring old me was better’n being something i ain’t. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”
When we give up, or cease to persist, despair and hopelessness is just a breath away. Let me encourage us all, when we are pressured to give up and turn our back on our friends or even Christ Himself …. don’t do it. Remember the benefits of standing firm, and continue, or persist to live for Christ. Matthew10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
Enduring means to persist, and it doesn’t mean to persist in order to be merely be saved, it means to persist in our pursuit to apprehend Jesus, our life, the Lover of Our Souls. He is the source and focus of our persistence! Altogether.

Just because we give up on something, does that mean we are a failure? No. There’s a time to doggedly continue on just like there’s a time to let go and go in another direction. Several years ago, two other men and i had a men’s meeting we called the “20/20 Men’s Group”. We persisted for a year, and at the end of that year we felt the Lord point us towards re-assesing our efforts. In our re-assesment, we perceived the Lord to encourage us to let it go. Honestly, i didn’t want to because i loved the idea of the “20/20 Men’s Group, but i also know it’s better to follow the Lord instead of keeping on with something He’s moved on from. So we let it go, and it proved to be a good idea. Does that make us failures? Absolutely not. When to stop pursuing something is a good question, for truly, there are times to cease to pursue a direction which previously we knew to be the will of the Lord. If God changes direction, we must go with God, not be stubborn adherents to an old paradigm.
Greg Herrick wrote that “stubborn faith is not the same as persistent love.” Just because someone’s great great grandparents did church like they did, if God has requested we change our way of doing things, then change. When the great great grandparents started the church, it was a great idea. But people have changed, culture has changed, ideals have changed and we mustn’t be so stubborn as to not change when God has moved on. If we’ll not change, what was once a great blessing could easily become a restraint so tight we can’t hardly breathe anymore. The gospel message is the same, of course, but how we go about doing it may have been called to a higher place by the Lord. If we will move “with” the Lord we will do more than simply grow but will flourish. Persist in the pursuit of Jesus, not persist in a paradigm you like, methods you’re comfortable with, or some melancholy idea of “the way we used to do it.” In fact, i believe the phrase, “We ain’t never done it that way before” has stopped many ministries from continuing to prosper.
Here’s an interesting example of persistence with change: Ever heard of a company called “Traf-O-Data?” No? Well, me either. How about Microsoft? Oh, yea, we’ve all heard of that one. As it turns out both companies were started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Traf-O-Data was the first company they started in 1972. Gates and Allen ran it for several years before throwing in the towel. They gave up. But, if they hadn’t given up on Traf-O-Data, then there might never have been “MicroSoft”, and i must say, they did much better with MicroSoft than their original idea.
So how do you know when to press on vs. when to let go and follow God’s lead to a new thing? Here’s some questions to help in the re-assement of things: Is your plan still correct and how can you tell? We’ve gotta be honest about that one. If it’s not correct, update the plan. Wait on God to confirm it, and yes, the Lord does, unwaveringly, confirm His word. Is your goal still correct? If not, update or abandon your goal. There’s no honor in clinging to something when God has moved on. Here it is, hear me on this: Persistence is not stubbornness.
i am my own best example of stubbornness which i have often confused with persistence. Letting things go was hard for me. I had always believed we should never give up, that once i set my mind to something, i should hang on to the bitter end. i figured the only thing worse than dying was quitting. You know, the old captain goes down with the ship and all. i often felt like a failure if i surrendered and didn’t grip my project even tighter in an effort to “make” it work. It was hard for me to learn the difference between persistence and stubbornness. Again, if God changes direction, we must go with God, not be stubborn adherents to an old paradigm.

Romans14:19 “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which we may edify one another.”
Persist in apprehending that which makes peace and edifies the body of Christ.
Colossians1:23 says we should persist in our faith, persist in our being established and firm, not moved from the hope held out to us in the gospel.
1Corinthians14:1, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
This obviously means to persist until we apprehend love, to persist in reaching towards the spiritual gifts God has for us, especially prophesy…. and don’t let the word “prophesy” scare you off. i think so often we get stuck on a word and miss the content, and i don’t mean to buy into crazy doctrine but simply don’t get stuck on a word like “prophesy” just because it’s not in the scope of our vision. Persist to understand what God means, and just because some individuals have done it poorly doesn’t mean it is not a viable gift from the Lord.
Persist to walk in the truth, not just the facts, but the truth….truth and fact are different. Remember also there is a balance in persistence. 1John5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin”, it isn’t necessarily the one cookie that makes us over weight, but the lifestyle of cookies we persist in. It isn’t automatically the one-sy, two-sy of things we do wrong which defile us, it is the lifestyle of wrongness which we persist in. The key word for today in 1John5:18 is “continue” or “persist”. Like in 1John3:6, it says “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” That scripture isn’t speaking of a single act, but a lifestyle. It is our conduct and habits which reveal if we really know Jesus or not. Remember: There is balance in our persistence and persistence is not stubbornness. Ceasing to persist on something does not mean anyone is a failure.
i read somewhere that the value of persistence comes not from stubbornly clinging to the past. It comes from a vision of the future that is so compelling you would give anything to make it real. This life is real, God is real and alive. i really believe persistence of action comes from persistence of vision. Let me encourage us all to pursue God for our vision and dreams. It ain’t over yet, and i’ve not heard the bell ring, so let’s put our shoulder to the wheel and persist in our pursuit of Jesus. Think about it.

Persistence allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so. According to early Christian writers, there are two virtues of courage: Patience & Persistence. Patience is enduring difficulties or danger without being inordinately cast down. Persistence is continuance in spite of difficulties or danger. If there exists in us true courage, therein is faith & hope also, and if there is hope and faith, patience and persistence are close at hand.
In Luke5:17-20 Jesus was teaching in a house and some guys carried a paralyzed man up onto the roof. There they took apart the roof, and lowered the paralyzed man into the room so Jesus could heal him. Those guys were VERY daring, not to mention it was probably very messy considering there was dirt and roof stuff falling onto the people below. i’d bet anything people complained and maybe even yelled at them to stop, but yet they persisted because they had hope something would change, they had a vision of the future for their friend. Let us be willing to persist on behalf of our neighbors in the same way.
i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Cannie Ledbetter at Oakdale Cemetery, Skyland Battery and Ignition, Mr. Jack Johnson at Johnson’s Gulf Service, Elmo and Mary Hogan, and Trinity Bakers where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Miles Davis, Pete Mills, Jeff Berlin, and Rob Wasserman.
All music use is licensed by BMI.
Be persistent this week, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. Be at peace and let Jesus be your rest and comfort. Until we meet again, Amen.

In the late night quiet of our minds, how many of us go through the following emotional and mental back flips? Jesus said “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Yet, in our thoughts we roll our thoughts around like debris tossing around in the edge of the surf. We think, “But what if i don’t believe like i think i do, afterall i’ve prayed about things, important things and nothing happened.” “What if all this isn’t what i thought. What if i’m not who God says i am? i know Jesus said Trust In God. i think i’m firm that i do, but…but what if i’m not where i’m supposed to be and i don’t know it?” “What if i’m out of God’s will and He doesn’t tell me and i find out too late that i’ve been completely off base?” “Ohh, what if God has told me and i’m just too deaf to hear and too dumb to understand? Jesus also said to Have Faith In God. i know i have faith, i’ve seen it. But if i’ve got faith like i think i do, why am i no further in life than i am and always struggling? i just don’t get it.” “Why is being a Christian so confusing sometimes. My church preaches that we all sin, all the time, but 1John says my daddy is the devil if i sin, and if i love Jesus i won’t sin, but they regularly tell me that i do sin, so what if i don’t know Jesus like i think i do and my daddy really is not God at all?”

It seems so much of scripture is like a pendulum, it slams one direction and then slams in the other. Love your neighbor, hate your mother and father, pray for and bless your enemies, hate the world, be IN the world but not OF the world. What do you think all that’s about anyway, you know? And don’t be telling me you’ve never thought those things, ‘cause if you wear skin and breath, you certainly have.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a late evening broadcast from the easy flowing, casual banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. This is acoustic jazz night, one week late, and Faith vs. Fear is our topic this evening. Can you relate to any of the following dramatic presentation concerning the back and forth bounce that happens in all believers who struggle with faith and fear at the same time. Confusing isnt’ it? Maybe that’s the point, huh? Hold your place, consider the topic, and i’ll be right back.

Fear and faith can not exist together. Fear has a family just like faith has a family. The family of faith has common behaviors like strength, trust, rest, and confidence to name a few; fear’s family of behaviors include disbelief, worry, anxiety, stress, and depression…. We don’t have to keep participating in the Chicken Little family, who was too afraid to cross the road. The family members of fear CAN be replaced with faith, you know. We don’t HAVE to live with them. We CAN move out of the house of fear and into faith’s covering…..the house of faith always has an open door to us all, faith always has a room ready for us to come and stay. i don’t want just a visitation, i want a full habitation of faith, and i’ll bet you do to.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.” Nowadays, i consider a sound mind to be one of my best assets, and mind you, i haven’t always had a mind which, in hindsight, was all too sound. If we allow fear to stay lodged in us, it will eventually nibble away at our faith until madness begins to grip us and sends us spinning into the abyss of insanity. i knew a tough guy, and i mean he truly was THAT guy nobody messed with. Even in prison he carried the title of monster. Finally, after many years of drug addiction he checked into an addiction recovery center, and he said one of the most important things he realized was that he was afraid. Once he dealt with his fear, the need for drugs began to ebb away and trusting the Lord became so much easier.

All along, Jesus is with us in our trials, ready to help if we would only call on Him, and persist to call on His name. How often do we choose to live with a spirit of fear instead of faithfully calling on Jesus? Let me add this thought: if we choose to live WITH fear, eventually, we’ll come into agreement with fear, and then, all of fears favorite friends will come to live with us. Oooo! That’s ugly, isn’t it?

Faith and fear are complete opposites. They cannot reign in the same heart. While fear cowers, faith stands. While fear frets, faith prays. While fear looks within, faith looks to Jesus. Fear despairs, faith hopes.

How do we get more faith then? We can’t go to the store and get more faith. It doesn’t come in sacks, boxes, spray cans, and we can’t go to WalMart and by instant “just add water” faith. Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”  We cannot, by our own effort or willpower, drum up more faith, somehow, to become more effective. God gives gifts to his church, and among those gifts, He gives faith and power as he wills. Is the statement “you don’t have enough faith”, or, “If you’re poor, sick, or sad it’s your own fault because you don’t have enough faith.”, is that saying God’s gift to each of us is insufficient? There is never a time anything of the Lord is in anyway, ever insufficient. Ever.

What is our greatest position of increase and strength, offsetting the fears that seem to easily accompany living this life?

Here’s four points:

Our greatest strength is coming into the likeness of the Son.

Our greatest increase in faith is learning to participate with God.

Our greatest increase in belief is by learning endurance through the

testing of our faith.

Our greatest character is when our endurance is fully developed.

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

i’ll say it again: Faith and fear cannot exist together. i think many of us are in far more of a daily battle in our head and heart largely because we are a mix of faith and fear.

Faith is described in Hebrews 11:1 as being “certain of what we do not see.” Belief means to “stand firm, to be certain and unmoveable”. Faith is the noun and belief is the action verb derivative of faith. i find in myself that i have an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of my life, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that. Faith says “Though i see no tangible evidence, i am certain of what i do not see ”, and belief says, “I am sure of His working, and actively stand firm on His faithfulness to work righteousness in my life.”

On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief or weak belief. As unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions, nibbling and eating at the edges of our faith. Our deliverance from fear and worry is based on faith, which is the very opposite of unbelief. Let us understand that faith is not something we can produce in ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8-9, “Faith is a gift, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Faith is described as a fruit, or a characteristic, which is produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit according to Galatians 5:22. The believer’s faith is a confident assurance in God who loves us, who knows our thoughts, and cares about our deepest needs. That faith continues to grow as we study the Bible and learn the attributes of His amazing character. The more we learn about God, the more we can see Him working in our lives and the stronger our faith grows.

A growing faith is what we should desire and what God is looking to produce in us.

Another point of greatest increase is when our desires and God’s desires are the same. But how, in day-to-day life, can we develop a faith that conquers our fears? Well, for sure our fears are not overcome by becoming indifferent, that doesn’t cause strangling anxious concern to subside, it just puts it off and gives fear a chance to morph into something else to cut our feet from under us. Put your finger, specifically, on what it is which grips you so tightly. Name it. An un-named fear always looks like looming doom.

The Bible says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”.

The careful study of God’s Word is of primary importance in developing a strong faith. God wants us to know Him and completely rely on His direction in our lives. It’s through the hearing, reading and meditation in the Scriptures that we begin to experience a strong, confident faith which excludes worry and fear. In Matthew, four times Jesus distinctly said, “Don’t worry”.

Spending time in prayer and worship develops a relationship with our Father that sees us through even the darkest of nights. You may say that is such a cliche sounding thing to say, but, i’m tellin’ ya’, it’s the truth, and you don’t realize the magnitude or value of that truth until you’re in the dark, alone, and in trouble. In the Psalms we see a picture of David, who, like us, experienced times of fear. Psalm 56:3 reveals his faith with these words: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” i’m reminded of an old song with some of the lyrics being, “When the darkness is closing in, and i’m running against the wind, i will trust in You and i will not be afraid.” Psalm 119 is filled with verses expressing the way in which David treasured God’s Word: “I seek you with all my heart” (v. 10); “I have hidden your word in my heart” (v. 11); “I meditate on your precepts” (v. 15);.

These are revealing words which speak wisdom to us even now. The following words are key to developing faith,  “I seek you”, “I meditate on your word”, “I trust in You”, and “I will not be afraid”.
God is kind and understanding toward our weaknesses, but He does truly desire us to go forward in faith.

The Bible is clear that faith does not mature and strengthen without trials, and, as much as we are uncomfortable with it, as much as i don’t like it or close my ears to not hear this, adversity is God’s most effective tool to develop a strong faith. That pattern is evident in Scripture. God takes each one of us through fearful situations, and as we learn to obey God’s Word and allow it to saturate our thoughts, we find each trial becomes a stepping stone to a stronger and deeper faith. Each trial is like a step and we can either step up or stumble down, but in the end, each trial gives us that ability to say, “He sustained me yesterday, He’ll carry me through today, and He’ll uphold me tomorrow!” i believe at the core of our fears and overwhelming anxieties, is unbelief and lack of trust in God.

In 1Sam17:37, when David volunteered to fight against Goliath, he said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine”. That is faith! David knew that God who had sustained him through dangerous situations in the past, would sustain him in, what appeared to the rest of Israel’s army, as a completely terrifying situation. From the perspective of other soldiers, they were all going to die under the blazing sun of the battle field. But David saw the providence and strength of the Lord. He had seen and experienced God’s power and protection in his life, and this developed within him a fearless faith.
The Word of God is filled with promises for us to take hold of and claim for ourselves. When we face financial trouble, Philippians 4:19 is a faith builder, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” If we are anxious about a future decision, Psalm 32:8 is a faith builder, the Lord says “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.” In sickness faithfully remember Romans 5:3, “Tribulation works patience.” If someone murmurs against us, remember Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us!”

i think it worthy of being said that just because we recite those scriptures to ourselves doesn’t mean they are like magic words which will someone change the intrusion of vicious circumstances. The Lord gives us those words for us to be able to stand strong in the midst of the storm. Make no mistake, storms will come, and the Lord does indeed command the storms of our life to dissipate, but by far and large His intent is for us to trust in Him as overcomers, to stand strong in faith as a lighthouse for others who are also in a terrible storm.

Throughout life we will always face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know faith and peace through every situation. Jesus said, in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Think about it.

Colossians 1:11 “…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may, joyfully, have great endurance and patience.”

(Philippians 4:7) “ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Lord has promised His peace will “guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.

i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Leona’s Dress Shop, the Mebane Freedom League, Mrs. Elsie Freeman at Superior Laundry, Florence Drake, John Deaver of Deaver Cab Company, [world famous Paul Powers of White Knuckle Studios], and, of course, the consistent and enduring, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

What fears nibble at the edges of your faith? We all have little fears here and there, but we don’t have to allow them to manage and direct our lives, much less dictate to our faith. Lean more towards willingly participating with God, read your Bible and think about it. Let’s build the bridges of faith over the fears of this world. Amen? Yea, Amen.

Whew, what a week! Going here, going there. Mrs. Smith fell again but with nothing broken, unlike 7 years ago which put her needing a walker to get around, but i’d also like to add that she lives out an amazing story of life and simplicity in Christ. She grew up in very rural America quitting school in the 3^rd grade because she had to work in the fields growing tomatoes and tobacco, not to mention helping with the general survival of her family of 13.

She grew up in poverty in the rural deep south. She said she caught the mumps when she was a child and the infection ruined her chances for having children. Her first husband died in the Korean war, her second husband died of tuberculosis, and, later in life she took an antibiotic for a sore throat but the drug ended up destroying part of her inner ear in both ears, so since her early 30’s  to her last days she has been completely deaf. After that, till she died, she never heard another bird sing, the wind blow, or person speak and couldn’t even hear herself speak…not another sound for the rest of her life.

Even at 86, she grew an ambitious garden and went to church twice per week, living her life with Jesus and her little dog. Every week she got her walker out and prayed and sang and worked out in the garden wearing a light cotton dress and a big straw hat … with a walker in one hand and a hoe in the other she tended what was hers as unto the Lord. She still kept her little house neat and clean, and was a diligent prayer warrior. Life was simple for Verda Smith…she told me once that the gospel of God was simple, easily accomplished, and the Lord was the core of her life. i like that and i think Mrs. Smith was right.

The gospel is, indeed, very simple, yet we have such a hard time with the Bible, accusing God of being a cruel task master, and all i can wonder is “Why do we think that?”

This is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahha River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. Stay with me for cool jazz and contemplative conversation. i shall return.

Living out the gospel of Jesus Christ is understandable, not-complex, but is quiet. It is straightforward, not hidden and God is plain with us. It is easily discernable by reading the Bible how we are supposed to conduct ourselves, how we should have our conversations, and the kind of character befitting the children of God –it is right character, the kind of character which is profitable for everyone, most especially ourselves.

Think about it. God is not asking us to do ridiculous things. He asks us to be honest and kind, people of good character, to be strong on behalf of the weak, do justice, possess high morals, and above all, to acknowledge Him as friend, lover, captain, and King alone. Romans 10:9 is not a stringent request, “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.”

God didn’t ask us to use a spoon and move a mountain one scoop at a time. He didn’t ask us to pave every driveway in America one shovel full at a time. He didn’t ask us to sacrifice our children in a fire, instead He asks us to simply love Him and our neighbor as ourselves, love our families, practice kindness and grace, and raise our children to know His love.

Matthew 11:28-30, which is a literal tipping point scripture when it comes to living under the iron manacles of the world or living life God’s way says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The verse implies the world’s burden is break your back heavy, and the yoke is so hard it will take your mind and life away, then sneer at you as you fall in the dirt and die.

Considering the rules and regulations governments and legislative bodies of men put on us, God’s rules are light, easily received, and peaceful. Man’s rules profit men, and even at that they tend to benefit only a select few, the few who make rules for the many. In fact, i’m convinced, the world never actually changes the rules unless there’s something to be profited. But God has more than just rules of conduct, character, and conversation … according to Jeremiah 29:11-13 God has a destiny for everyone who calls on His name, it says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Now friend, here, right here, you can choose to believe that is meant for someone else, or for yourself. But let me assure you, God means that for you too, and i’d like you to start including yourself in all of God’s promises and stop finding a way to exclude yourself.

The scripture from Jeremiah29 doesn’t sound at all like a hard or bad thing. So why is it people think God and the Bible are antiquated and too “outdated” to take seriously, that God is stringent and living the Christian life is sssooo hard?? Could it be people who think that simply don’t really know what God says nor do they know what the Bible says? Or maybe people have only heard God’s idea of living as it was pulled out of context? Tough questions require brutal honesty, but think about this, truth is only brutal in the face of vague truth. A well defined picture always seems sharp when set next to fuzzy, undefined vision. Can it be that people just don’t want to hear God?

Verda Smith died happy and at rest. She loved Jesus and maintained to the end that the Gospel life was simple. She used to say to me like a mother to her child, “Tell the truth where ever you go, love Jesus with all your heart, He knows your name and He’ll never fail you.” Mrs. Smith used to say that if people couldn’t be honest with themselves they’d never be honest with anyone else, especially God. Hmmm, for someone who only went to the 3^rd grade, she knew a LOT of stuff. i reckon school often doesn’t teach a great deal that we truly need to know.

i saw an incredible child likeness in her. She was like someone in a fire who just clings to the fireman, and trusts to him alone. She raised no question about the strength of God’s arms to carry her, or the zeal of His heart to rescue, she just gripped the Lord. The heat of the fire would be terrible, the smoke blinding, but she clings; and her deliverer quickly carries her to safety. In the same childlike confidence, Mrs. Smith did cling to Jesus, who could and did bear her out of danger from the flames of darkness. i took special note of her life. i can still see her standing in the heat of the day in her garden – walker in one hand a hoe in the other, deaf and living in a broken body, twisted hands, there with her big hat on, smiling and singing as a living testimony.

Jesus invites all those who labor and are heavy laden to come to Him, and He will give them rest. He does not promise this to those who would merely dream about Him. They must come; and they must come to Him, and not simply to the Church, to baptism, or to the orthodox faith, or to anything short of His divine person. We can’t simply dream of better days but continue to lay on our sickbed. We must get up from there and bust a move, or as one guy put it, “i decided to implement a completely unexpected strategy and stop checking Facebook and TV show updates, start meeting with God on regular intervals, and go out and be in the world around me.”

Is it our personal agenda which complicates the gospel? Or is it our heart full of “don’t want to”? Or maybe both. Is it a fear that someone will know our secret thoughts, or the fear of being judged which prevents us? Maybe it’s just general rebellion which started in the garden at the provocation of the serpent, resisting the goodness of God for no good reason other than to resist with jaw jutting rebellion? Consider this…the gospel of Christ is far easier to believe and implement than the modern day idea that the universe and all of life’s incredibly complicated issues spun out of a swirling mass of unintelligent molecules whirling in space somewhere. The odds of that happening are astronomically higher than the probability of carrying, in the rough, the entire Sistine Chapel, with all it’s carved pews, cut stone and tinted glass, in an airplane at 15000 feet, dropping it over the present building sight, and having every last piece fall exactly into place of what we call, today, the Sistine Chapel in all of it’s glory. The odds are about 1 in 10 plus over 100 zeros it could happen, and for life in the universe to spring out of nothing is closer to 1 in 10 with 500 zeroes following. The gospel is much simpler, wouldn’t you agree? What IS our problem with something as simple as the Gospel of Christ? It isn’t hard, it is good for us in all manners and ways, it is eternally prosperous and profitable for ourselves and everyone around us. But yet in our darkest night, when our hearts are seemingly broken in unrepairable pieces, when our bodies are suffering and are nearly dead from self-inflicted diseases and self-loathing, in our final moments, we resist the Love of God, and for what?

It is completely to our advantage to yield our lives to Christ. You’d think for people who are generally incredibly self centered, self-seeking, and self-promoting we would take God up on His offer of help, redemption, and restoration. But nooooo. Many would prefer death on the installment plan as to be engaged with God and my only thought is the world doesn’t comprehend what Jesus is extending them.

As in John1:5, the darkness just doesn’t get it. I have a vision of two on a road, running, racing, but the Light keeps a pace that the arrogant darkness is sweating hard to keep up with, when suddenly the Light picks up the pace again, and then again . . . the darkness breathlessly wonders “How can this be?”

When there is no light in the hearts and eyes of mankind, the goodness of God is mysterious, vague, and hard to focus on, with the face of God obscured from the eyes of the world. The conscience of people is wounded and bruised and has become insensitive to God’s gentle kindness. Mankind has lost their relish of righteous things, and as a result God’s extended hands of hope are unrecognized for many people. They find it easy to say the Bible is outdated. Maybe it’s easier to claim the Bible is outdated than it is to be responsible for what we think, our actions being born out of our twisted thinking.

Ok, well, how outdated is too outdated?  It seems to me mankind spends an inordinate amount of time thinking of reasons why they should NOT listen to God. Even for those of us who are believers, we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time wishing God would do something OTHER than what He’s doing. We groan and moan and complain, find ways to resist Him, coming up with our “good reasons” why we just generally “can’t”. i believe the gospel message is simple and easily understood.

John6:28-29 “Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

That is so very NOT complicated, wouldn’t you agree?

There are many who have tried to take the moral teachings of Christianity and divorce them from the message of the cross. It doesn’t work. Such teachings are meaningless and powerless for there can be no Christianity without the cross and resurrection. The Bible is addressed to everyone, and sound doctrine applies to everyone, not just an elite group. When Jesus sent out the apostles in Mark16:15,  they were sent to take the gospel to every creature of every nation of the whole world. The invitation was extended to everyone. The book of John has a basic theme of “whosoever can come if they will”. Jesus emphasized that anyone who seeks to know the Lord’s will can find it and those who hunger and thirst after the Lord’s righteousness shall be filled with it.

Let’s go back to the Bible. Let’s take the gospel to those who are lost, the unfortunate ones, the bankrupt and blind, “not with eloquent speech but with wisdom, declaring the testimony of God”. Like Paul said in 1Cor2:2, Let us determine “not to know anything among ourselves, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. Men can comprehend that God sent His Son to die on Calvary’s cross for the remission of our sins. They can love Him enough to believe in Him and obey Him. Souls will be won to Jesus Christ, the church will grow, and God will be praised.

The gospel of Christ is simple. Let us not complicate what God has made peaceful and easily grasped. Think about it.

We’re at the end of our time here at Outposts. i hope i’ve left you with some things on their way to being resolved, some things to chew or contemplate, and a little music to brighten your path.

i’m Social Porter and this evening’s broadcast is brought to you fresh every morning by the Kingdom of God, Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Kevin, Perry, and Tommy over at world headquarters for the Mebane Freedom League, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Jim Beard, Pepper Adams, Freddie Hubbard, Steve Morse, and Jeff Berlin. All music use is licensed by BMI.

This week, remember the gospel isn’t complicated and God is closer than your next breath. What God asks of us isn’t cruel or stringent, His rules and boundaries are for our own good, He even has a plan and destiny for each one of us.

Be strong and courageous! The Lord knows your name, and that’s a good thing.

It would appear summer has set it’s sights on us with the break out of wild flowers, honey bees, boaters on the river, and my personal favorites, the fireflies, the crickets, and the frogs who make the evening seem surreal and dream like.

i was in the basement of the cafe this afternoon looking for an old music stand i kept stashed down there and i came across some old pictures of myself and to other boys from long ago. The pictures had folded edges, slightly yellowed, but the memory was still there. There we were, three boys standing at the edge of the river, right near here, barefoot, smiling eyes, fishing poles in hand. i remember well that summer day when the mother of one of the boys took that picture. It was the day we made an agreement between ourselves, that someday, we’d meet again, buy this property and put up a cafe here in this very place with a big deck overlooking the river, where people would come, peace could be found, and sometimes we’d talk till the wee hours of the morning. Laughing about silly old times, sad about some of the trails of life, and expounding on the victories of overcoming and being strong. We imagined ourselves as old men, sitting on the deck speaking our adventures, with wives, children and grandchildren, and how God, from the beginning had a destiny for us. Some of us learned a little about destiny in Sunday school, and it was just enough to dream, believe, and imagine that maybe, just maybe we could be part of the amazing stuff God was doing.

How about you? Do you remember anything from your younger years like that?

Do you know that the word “remember” in all it’s variations, is used 651 times in the Bible? That says to me the idea of recalling the days, years, times and seasons of our lives, our times of joy, opportunity, and enjoyment are all a priority according to the Lord……but above all, it is a vital time to remember that our God and King is good and of galactic importance. He has pursued us as a determined lover, even when we didn’t want to be pursued.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.”

As we’ve said before seeing as how we spend the majority of our lives waiting, how do we spend our time of waiting? What do we allow our minds to dwell on? Like i did when i saw the picture of the three amigos, i allowed myself to dwell on that summer day when we three boys played “Tom Sawyer”. Those boys, who even then, as children, had a dream of fellowship, that the days of our youth would continue and would be as wonderful in our future as that magical day fishing together on the Ockluhwahhah River.

Most everyone, i would imagine, would like to forget the tragedies and terrible times of our lives. There have been overwhelming storms in my life i would love to not remember, because, well, because they were hard, or sad, or cruel, but on the other hand, looking back, remembering even those times, i can see God at work in my life… even then. God at work in my life is more important to see than just remembering the heart break of life. We have to look over the top of those seasons of grief and hand wringing, past the blackened mile stones of vicious circumstances to see God, even if at that time, Jesus was not part of our everyday as we knew it, God was there, speaking, working, and helping.

Regardless of what a person has done, or what kind of abuse one has suffered, God still calls us. We may think our secret is worse than anyone else’s. Rest assured that He knows all about it, and still draws us with an immutable call. No matter how difficult life seems, people with a past need to make their way to Jesus. Regardless of the obstacles within and without, they must reach Him. We don’t have to tell everyone our entire history. Just know that He calls, on purpose, people with a past. He knows our history, but He calls us anyway. The “wounded redeemed” is a good term, and Jesus is setting those captives free…those with burned out, black and white lives that have been reduced to smoldering ashes…and out of the ashes… OUT OF THE ASHES COMES THE WORK OF THE LORD.

Remember God in your life, not your life as it appears in fading memory. Jesus made those broken weary bones to dance again, it’s Jesus who waters our thirsty hearts with a river. Like the song says, Lord we rest our eyes on You, we are waiting…for You are our garland of grace and we worship Your Great Name with songs of praise and a lifestyle of worship.

When David was in the cave hiding from Saul’s thugs, the people that showed up were “desperate, discouraged, and dissatisfied”, and those people ended up becoming the “mighty men of valor”, the people willing to bleed for a cause. They no longer merely appeared to be valiant, but actually BECAME strong men of valor. What an interesting transformation…from the 3 D’s to the 3 R’s… from Desperation, Discouragement, and Dissatisfaction – To Redeemed, Reconciled, and Restored.

That transformation is worth remembering, forever.

Jesus wants us to want Him enough to overcome obstacles and to push in His direction. He doesn’t want to just throw things at us that we don’t have a real conviction to receive. When we see a humped-over person crawling through a crowd, know that that person really does want help, even if they say they don’t, somewhere in their heart they wish they did have some help. That kind of desire is what it takes to change our lives. Jesus is the answer. We may seek help by going from one person to another, but Jesus is the answer. We may be sick in our body, but Jesus is the answer. If my son is dead, insane, on drugs, or is just far away in a distant land, Jesus is the answer. No matter my problems, Jesus is the answer.

God remembers His covenant with people, He said so in Genesis 9:15. Nehemiah 4:14 ^“…Remember the Lord, great and awesome…” Psalm 9:12 says God remembers, or brings to mind, the cry of the poor and does not forget them. Because God remembers them, we should remember them also. In Psalm 42, David gives us a good example of what to do when we are remembering the more unkind times in our lives and we incur turbulence in our emotions and feelings, reliving that hardness. David says he goes to God and pours out his heart, and he remembers the goodness of God which gives Him rest and peace. Notice, David didn’t just dwell on all the injustice and wrongness. He purposely focused on God, and as he rested His eyes on God, his heart came to rest.

Do you remember God in your life before you knew He was in your life? If i set my mind to the task of remembering the times of my youth, knowing Jesus now, i can see Him back then. i can see things God did, things He said to me, things He influenced in other people, long before i thought i knew Him. Interestingly, those memories of God’s working in my life are so alive, even now. and even though all my other memories have lost or begun to lose their luster, the memories of the footsteps of the Lord are as bright now as ever before. It’s also odd to me, i can clearly see that in those moments, it never crossed my mind anything about the Lord whatsoever….and some would say, how can that be? All i can think is that the Lord was there and i simply didn’t have eyes to see Him, and now that i do have eyes to see, He is clearly there in my memories.

In John 5 there is an account of a man who was sick for 38 years whom Jesus met at the pool, Bethesda in Jerusalem. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be made whole, and even though the man made an excuse for why he hadn’t been healed in the past and never did actually answer the question, Jesus healed the man anyway. Interestingly, the man did not know who it was who healed him. The knowledge nor the recognition of God was not present in his memory, even to the point that when the Pharisee’s asked him who did this, the man said, “i don’t know”. Only after Jesus found the man in the temple later on, and said, “You are well, go and sin no more lest something worse comes upon you”, only then did the man know who Jesus was.

God was working in that man’s life, even when the man did not know it was God who did the work. In the same way, i believe God is at work in our lives, even when we do not know it is God who works in us and in our circumstances.

Now that i know Christ and am much older, i remember times of my wild days as a young man, and i can clearly see God miraculously turning the car from the sure death of going off a mountain road; i can clearly hear God speaking wisdom to me to not go down a certain pathway; i can clearly remember the Lord motivating me to try harder in school to help me not see myself as a complete failure; it is clear to me now, and it is the kindness of God, that today, in my remembering myself as a young man, i see the Lord bringing me into relationships with other people, with some of those friendships continuing to this day, and they are not only good for me, i see the Lord in them also.

Look beyond the stagnant days of your life, think and remember. Can you see the Lord in your life, even before you knew it was the Lord in your life? Can you see Him?

Remember…. the Lord says, “Look and see, it was Jesus all along”. Many, if not most times, we don’t need someone to bring us BIG change, we just need a firm foot provided us so we can set our foot against it in order that we can find purchase to change direction some.

Ultimately, it is the foot of the Savior, who in His mercy, provides us a  stanchion…even when all our closest, most relied on friends have gone, Jesus gives us the pinion and rope to hold us fast to His Heart, even when we are dangling from a reverse-inclined sheer rock cliff, Jesus is there with us, and He is busy working on our behalf, driving pinions, making pivots, throwing us ropes, pulling us close to His heart, never leaving or forsaking us. He is there!

From the Journal of the Unknown Prophet:

“Oh, and how long has He sought you, beloved? How many nights, has He stood listening, silently waiting in the shadows unseen by you and those that surround you?

For it was He who wept as He heard your soundless scream in the  midnight hour. It was He who watched as you tried in your brokenness to marshall together the fragments of your shattered heart.

And so most beloved of His children, now He comes closer, the fairest of ten thousand. And as He walks out from behind the shadows and you lift up your tear-stained face to Him, half blinded by the radiance from the most beautiful of countenances, He reaches out His hand to you.”

“…’You?’ you mouth soundlessly. And you hear His whisper: I have sought you all your life. Through all the pain, through the loneliness, I have sought you. Each time your heart broke soundlessly with the agony of not belonging, i sought you. Through each rejection, through each hour of despair, I sought you. I was there, loving you. Reaching out to you. It was Me all along.

And as your eyelids gently close, you are engulfed in His tender embrace and the tears fall, somewhere through the sands of time in that gray place between sleeping and waking, you recognize that familiar presence and you too know that He was there. It was He all along.” Think about it.

Let’s pull this program to a close this evening. The day is done, gone the sun, only the world at rest is left around us.

i’m Social Porter and this evening’s broadcast is brought to you by our good friends on Main Street, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven, Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Kevin, Perry, and Tommy over at world headquarters for the Mebane Freedom League, and Werner Graphics.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Andreas Vollenweider, Coleman Hawkins, George Benson, J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, and Didier Malherbe. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Remember this week as you go your way in your work-a-day world, God has been working in you since before it ever entered your mind He was in your life. The Lord is merciful and kind to us, long past our ever deserving anything as good as His love towards us. Be kind to each other, speak peace to your neighbor, afterall, God is working in them also in order to bring them safely to anchor in a peaceful and restful harbor.

Be strong and courageous. One day soon i’ll meet you under the flag of the Lion of Judah, the ensign of the Son of God and we’ll talk further. Amen.

The church invisible “is made up of the summation of the whole, meaning everyone who belongs to God who ever was, presently is, or in the future shall be gathered into one body under Christ, who is the head.” i think of it as “invisible” because the greater part of those who comprise it are already in heaven or aren’t born yet…. and also “invisible” because its members who are still on earth can’t easily be seen many times. i reckon it’s the truth, not every believer, at first glance, looks like a believer…how are we supposed to look other than how we look? We don’t wear a special badge, or special clothing, live in special houses, or drive special cars so everyone knows us as believers. Regardless of what some negatively think, regardless of the grievances some may have laid at the feet of “the church”, according to scripture, God calls us a holy community, “the church”.

The qualifications of membership in the family of God are internal and are hidden. It is “invisible” or unseen except by Him who “searches the heart.” 2 Timothy 2:19, “The Lord knows those who are His”.

The church to whom the attributes, exclusive rights, power, privileges, and promises as a rightful part to Christ’s kingdom belong, are a spiritual body consisting of all true believers, and again, the church invisible. You may object to the wording there, but that is how God sees it, and truly, my friend, the buck stops with Him, not with us, our prejudices and disagreements. And yes, i realize throughout this entire program i’ve said, “God loves the church”, over and over. It is no mistake of repetitiveness but has a purpose.

God loves His people, He loves the church. The Lord has extended Himself beyond our wildest dreams in order that He would be involved with us, His people. From the beginning, His heart has been that He would be known, and we would be known by Him. Here’s a sticky statement: Right relationship is a two way street with good boundaries. If The King of the Universe didn’t love us, as He most certainly does, He wouldn’t fool with us. Think about it, we have a lot of nerve to declare “God doesn’t care” in light of from before the beginning He had a plan to redeem us, even before we fell to sin…He would not correct us if He didn’t care. Hebrews 12:6 “For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes.” Hold your place on this page, and i shall return in a moment.

Who are those comprising the visible church? They are all those throughout the world that profess the true faith. i call them “visible” because they are known, for the most part public, and although some are in secret because of murderous gov’ts and brutal societies, they are alive and functioning in the now. In the middle of “the church” is a mixture of “wheat and chaff,” or saints and sinners. One fellow wrote, “God has commanded His people to organize themselves into distinct visible legislative and ruling communities, with constitutions, rules, officers, badges, ordinances, and discipline. The organization is for the purpose, which is a conclusion to a matter for us to take action to accomplish, for the purpose of giving visibility to His kingdom, of making known the gospel of that kingdom, and of gathering in all those who belong to God. Each one of these distinct organized communities which is faithful to the great King, is an essential and indispensable part of the visible church, and they, all together, constitute the visible church.” The Lord gave momentum to the church, and their character and progress are set forward in motion in all the earth. You know, that’s a really big statement. i’ll be awhile thinking about that.

David Wilkerson wrote, “Consider what Paul said of the purity of Christ’s church: Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

Mr. Wilkerson continues on saying, “God’s great concern is not about the apostate church. Even apostasies will not be able to kill or destroy the church of Jesus Christ. In spite of these problems, God has everything under control, and his anointed, visible and invisible, overcoming church is not dying. Rather, the river of the Holy Spirit is flowing into the “dead sea” of apostate churches, exposing iniquity and luke warmness. And it’s causing new life to spring up everywhere.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If you want to do something for God, then love what he loves. It is a way to imitate God without “playing God”.

In Psalm 146:8 we see that the Lord loves the righteous.  God loves the Church.  He loves the people whose lives are hidden in Christ and who obey him. The Lord holds that the church is indeed a big deal. Why? …because God loves the church deeply, and with an everlasting commitment.

The Lord is the very embodiment of loyalty and commitment. With Him it is more than a couple nouns. Because He IS the two nouns, His person gives living substance to them as they are a someone, more than a something. Because He is the personification of loyalty and commitment, He represents his love for the church through the example of marriage. The Church isn’t just a brick and mortar facility…it’s not an empire, or a club, an organization, institution, or a religion. If it was an empire or a club we would only have to agree we are right and everyone else is wrong. Indeed, there are some who act like it’s a club instead of being part of the body of Christ. But in the true Body of Christ we all agree there is only one who is right, and it ain’t us. The focus is the Kingdom of God, not the empire of men. In God’s love, like marriage, there is covenant, promise, and responsibility. A friend recently said something like, “It’s no wonder many people are church surfers with little commitment. If they treat the body of Christ and church like they treat their marriages, with an average divorce rate of 52% or more, we shouldn’t be surprised at the lack of commitment to any church body.”

We are God’s family! Christianity means, not only relating to God, it means relating to other believers. When you become a Christian, you are a part of a family. That means our relationships are more than just passing in the night, but more the continual action of loyalty and commitment, if possible, to stick it out. Romans 12:18, ^“ If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” If possible is accented here, and i too am stressing the phrase because there truly are situations where it is not possible with people, and that requires an entire set of different choices and decisions, complete with renewed boundaries, and distinct plans of action.

Being part of the church, as in the body of Christ, is not merely being part of a group which meets at a brick and mortar facility, it is not in terms of a boy friend/girl friend relationship, yet, i believe many are subtly doing nothing more than dating God and the church whom He loves, seemingly only hanging around for what they can get from Him. In their hearts they treat the Lord like He’s on a short leash. They are critical of Him, judging what they have imagined Him to do or not do, and ready to terminate their relationship with God at any moment if He doesn’t do what they think He should. Oh, how little those people know God. i’m going to be a little aggressive here according to some, but i think many of us don’t know God nearly as well as we think we do.

Ephesians 2:19 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”.

This verse says the church is God’s family, and every believer needs a home, connected to the legisla  body as well as a family of believers. i didn’t say a brick and mortar facility, but a church home as in.. others with whom we are in fellowship with. The question isn’t, “did you go to church” as in a building somewhere at a certain time, but did you connect with God? And if we think 10mins before and after a meeting is sufficient to call it connecting, we are wrong.

The church is God’s beloved, and it’s about His house, from the start. The very first letter of the Bible is the Hebrew letter, beit, and it’s oversized, emphasizing that from cover to cover it’s about the house of God and His family whom He loves. It’s there in 1 Thess 1:4 where it says, “brothers loved by God.” God loves the church, so let’s not get caught up in letters and miss the point … The male-ness of the terminology here is not meant to exclude women or children. The church is a family of brothers and sisters, the language simply refers to siblings. In 1Peter4 it is mentioned again concerning the church as the ‘household of God.’  The reference is very clear to me. A household is a unit, one comprised of children, mother, and father. God loves the church, and we should be reminded it isn’t right to call the bride of Christ names and we ought not forget this. Neither should we ignore it, doubt it, downplay it, belittle it, or de-emphasize it. Just because the church has problems, doesn’t mean God doesn’t love the church, and just because we may have personal ought with the church, doesn’t mean God doesn’t love the church. That God loves the church, that He set His affections on her, that He set His affections on us, is a truth we must… prize. i’m not saying the church doesn’t have some serious problems to resolve, and by only speaking sweet things made of moon beams, candy canes, and merry-go-rounds is not honest nor does it resolve anything. But… even in light of our difficulties, we are still the church whom He loves.

So then, what does it mean for God to love us, from His perspective? i was amazed when i looked up the word “beloved”. Simply put, it means to cherish, or take pleasure in. God cherishes, He t akes pleasure in the church family as more than a companion! Ahh, truly it is more…. The Hebrew word for beloved in 2Sam, used 208 times in scripture, literally paints a picture which says God leans in His heart towards us, to exercise grace for the return of His people whom He loves. That is what He means when He calls us His beloved. He loves us so passionately, it is said, “He breaths after us and calls us His darling.” Psalm108:6, “That your beloved ones may be delivered”. “Beloved” is used of the desire of ones heart 30 times alone in the Song of Solomon. This is significant and we should take note of God’s attitude toward the church, putting away our snurling lip and aiming finger of judgment.

To be God’s beloved, metaphorically, is like He takes his wallet out, or turns on His smart phone, and says, “Check it out! These are My kids! These are my sons and daughters!”, acting like a proud parent. Like a man prizes his super car, or his son or daughter, just like a woman treasures her diamond engagement ring and wants to show it off to the other girls, God holds the church near and dear.

‘How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make me, a wretch His treasure’

            i believe that the Love of God is broader than being just about you and i though. It has a broader scope than just loving the church. God the Father loves God the Son. John 3:35 straight out says, “The Father loves the Son…” And John 14:31 says that the Son loves the Father as a perfect love, unblemished by any questionable motive, and untarnished by even the slightest infraction.

That God so loved the world that He gave His Son does not mean He so loved only those who loved Him back. There’s that retributive theology again. There may be those who try to make it say that…but that’s not what it says. That “God SO loved the world” means He loved the object of His affection who was full of wrongness. The world (kosmos) in John refers to a wicked, rebellious, self-centered, God excluding system with a God-hating order of things, which is full of moral darkness. And regardless of all that, God still loved.

In the book, “The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God” by Don Carson he states, “In John 3:16 God’s love in sending the Lord Jesus is to be admired not because it is extended to so big a thing as the world, but to so bad a thing as the world; not just to “so many” people, but more as to such wicked people”. Brennan Manning said the Lord told Him one time, “God expects you to fail far more than you expect yourself to fail.” In other words, the Lord Almighty knows the world is worse than it understands, yet His love and grace do not stagger or waiver.

So, if God’s love is bigger and more complex than his love for the church, what makes his love for the church a big deal? God loves. God is love. In the O.T. God didn’t love all equally and the same. He didn’t love Egypt the way he did Israel; He didn’t love Esau the way he did Jacob. Ahhh, but once we leave the O.T. and cross into the new, Jesus died once, for all, and grace extends His love to small wickedness as well as large. It isn’t in terms of worthiness. A changed heart thoroughly saturated with the tenderness of God passes that tenderness around indiscriminately, making no distinction between the worthy and unworthy. Grace levels the mountains and fills in the valleys, and makes a level playing field for all to receive His love with reckless abandon.

John 3:16 says God loves the world…. that is the world in all it’s moral darkness and wickedness… But the love he has for His people, for the family who are the church, moves the Lord to mark them out, to set them apart from before that chaos which existed in the beginning. He calls that being sanctified.

God loves His people beyond our wildest and most stretched out imagination. Regardless of circumstances, even when our ship is overwhelmed in the storm and the deep is coming over the sides, God’s love for us stands firm. The Lord our God loves us, His church, His bride! Never lose sight of that! Think about it.

Never forget God loves us, the church. Whether we like it or not we are part of the family of God, we who believe on Christ Jesus and exalt the Lord as the One and only God, by whom we relate to each other, and are looking and hoping for unity through Christ who is our means of harmony.

Thank you for joining me here at Outposts for acoustic jazz night accompanied by some contemplative conversation, broadcast semi-live from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by the Kingdom of God, Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Werner Graphics where the landscape of Heaven comes to life through the art of God’s imagination here on earth, the Mebane Freedom League with Kevin, Tommy, and Perry, and of course, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by Al DiMeola, Billy McLaughlin, Mark O’Conner, Phil Keaggy, Preston Reed, and Andy McKee. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Be strong and courageous, dance before the Lord when no one can see you, speak to the Lord and those around you in holy songs and melodies. Visit someone this week who you wouldn’t normally see, and look to the sky, the return of Christ is near. Amen.