Salvation is coming

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)

Remember, no matter what is going on in your life, no matter how bleak it is, God can and will come through. All we have to do is wait.

The Lord is with us...

Source: Kingdomservants.org

A psalm of comfort on a Monday...

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

-- Psalm 23 (NIV)

Who is your true god?

Source: The Journeys Project

"Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 18:24-25 (NIV)

Today's verses do not imply any problems with wealth, nor does it reference the discussions about the rich people in the world as brought up by groups such as Occupy Wall Street. Rather, it is part of a passage from the Gospels (Luke 18:15:-30) in which Jesus first rebukes his disciples for rejecting children coming to him, then probes the heart of a rich ruler who questioned him.

In this passage, Jesus gets the ruler, his disciples and the reader to probe their own hearts on what is their god. Is it God himself, as revealed through Jesus Christ? Or is it something else, whether it is money, possessions, career, sex, or anything else?

Pastor Brooks Simpson of Grace Community Church in North Liberty, Iowa, discussed this recently.

A look around

"Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance." - Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)

 

Here's what popping up around the Internet today:

• Reading books can be a great thing, but is it done at the expense of reading the "big book?"
• The state of Washington may have overtaken its neighbor Oregon in the number of physician-assisted suicides this past year.
• A former employee of shipping giant FedEx recently won a religious discrimination lawsuit against his former employer. The lawsuit had claimed he wasn't allowed to discuss his faith with his co-workers, even when asked.
• Coptic Christians in Egypt are left with bad choices in their nation's first free elections - Islamist versus the old regime.
• The world's wealthiest nations apparently are falling behind in their 3-year-old commitment to help feed the poorest nations.
• Actor Andy Garcia will star in an upcoming movie about Mexican religious freedom fighter Enrique Gorostieta Velarde, who led a rebellion against secularist president Plutarco Elias Calles during the 1920s. Calles had been enforcing new laws against the Catholic Church in a brutal fashion.

Who's afraid of the big, bad bully?

"Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." - Psalm 82:4 (NIV)

In recent weeks, bullying has become a major topic of discussion in the news and other circles, mainly due to tragic circumstances:

• Last week in Detroit, a 7-year-old boy killed himself apparently after being the victim of bullies.
• A 17-year-old boy in the Tampa, Fla., area was left brain-damaged and paralyzed after he tried to kill himself after students at his school taunted him because they claimed he was gay.
• In Kingwood, Texas, a couple withdrew their twin 11-year-old sons from school after the boys had been bullied for their ethnicity. They had been born in India, and according to news reports, bullies at their middle school had taunted them regularly, calling them "terrorists" and punching one in the eye and shaving his eyebrow.

Efforts have been amped up in recent years to combat the apparent growing tide of bullying, though sometimes they have been counter-effective and amount to bullying themselves.

A main example of this came last month.

Sex columnist Dan Savage, who says he is gay, created the It Gets Better Project, in 2010, aiming to reduce the number of suicides among teens who had been bullied because they were gay or believed to be gay. However, at a high school journalism conference in Seattle, Savage profanely spoke out against Christians and the Bible, saying they were responsible for attitudes against gay people. A group of students attending the conference, walked, leading the organizer, the National Scholastic Press Association, to call his remarks "inappropriate," and Savage to later apologize.

So what should be the proper response to bullying?

The Bible is pretty clear in saying that we should live in peace with one another and that we should work to protect those who cannot defend themselves:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

Jesus himself said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (see Mark 12:31) and take care of those around us (see Matthew 25:34-40). Anything less is cowardly and a sin against God (see Revelation 21:8).

In addition, 1 John tells us that anyone who claimed be in the light (a follower of Christ) yet hates his brothers is not truly a follower of Christ (see 1 John 2:9)

He also said we should love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48) and not strike back with similar violence (see Matthew 5:38-41).

At the same time, true peace can only come through Jesus Christ. John 14:27 tells us:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (NIV)

Remembering those who have fallen...



Source: The Sundries Shack

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13 (NIV)

Today here in the United States, we mark Memorial Day, where we remember those who have died while serving in our nation's military. According to USMemorialDay, at the behest of U.S. General John Logan, the day, first called Decoration Day, was first observed on May 30, 1868, with flowers being placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

New York became the first state to make it a official holiday, with northern states following suit by 1890, USMemorialDay.org said. Southern states held their remembrances until after the end of World War I in 1918, when the holiday was changed to honor all who had fallen fighting in American wars rather than just those who died in the Civil War. Congress made it a national holiday in 1971, moving the holiday to the last Monday of May, where it currently stands.

Jesus had a similar attitude. In his talk comparing himself and his followers to a vine and its branches, he talked about the love of God for people. John 3:16 tells us that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)

To show this, God sent his Son, Jesus, to the cross, to bear the punishment for the sins and all of the wrongdoings that we have committed and will commit once and for all. This is despite Jesus having committed no sin of his own (see 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5, Isaiah 53:9).

That is great love, willingly giving your life to save others. We remember those who died for their country today on Memorial Day, and we can accept the gift of salvation through Jesus' sacrifice (and his resurrection) by repenting of our sins and proclaiming him Lord (see Romans 10:9-10).

Persecution spotlight: Palestinian Territories

Source: Independentword.com

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." - Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV)

Today we begin what we plan will be a regular feature looking at the persecuted church here at the Disciple Beacon. Using information from groups such as Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors and International Christian Concern, among others, as well as other news sources, we hope to raise awareness of what is happening to million of people around the planet and the struggles they are facing simply because they choose to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Today, we go to the Palestinian Territories. According to Voice of the Martyrs, in recent years, as the Palestinian Authority has gained power in their autonomous territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip around Israel, non-Muslims, particularly Christians, have been forced to either face severe repression in terms of the loss of their job, freedom and even lives or just leave the country.

In a blog posting by the Voice of the Martyrs, Pastor Steven Khoury, who had been leading a church among the Christian Arab community in Jerusalem, received an eviction notice for his church to leave their building. Christians in other traditional towns such as Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem or his hometown of Nazareth also have been leaving, reducing what had once been a good-sized population of Christians to nearly nothing. The eviction came, Khoury said, after he appeared on CBN's "The 700 Club."




Combine this with the troubles that Palestinians deal with in terms of the Israeli blockade along the West Bank and it spells out a decline on population. According to the Biblical Seminary, the number of Christians in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has dropped from 20 percent of the population in 1948, when the State of Israel was formed, to around 1 percent today.

What can be done? As Jesus said on numerous occasions, we can pray for those who are being persecuted and we can also pray for those causing the problem, including both the Israeli authorities for the blockade and the Palestinian authorities and extremists who amp up the pressure on Christians to either convert to Islam, leave or suffer the consequences.

Have peace...

Sources: 20th Century Fox, Permanentstressrelief.com

"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." - Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)

It can be argued that most people deal with some stress in their lives.

This stress can come from a variety of sources. Maybe it's a job that you do not know will be there next week, but you continue to go at it because you have mortgage and bills to pay. Maybe it is the stress of dealing with the diagnosis of a major health issue such as cancer or HIV/AIDS. Maybe you are a parent who has a child who continues to deal dangerous with the wrong kind of people at all times of the night. Maybe your marriage is in trouble, and likely to fail with some miracle. Maybe you are a student who is struggling in class with aspirations of getting into the school of your dreams.

The effects of that stress can not only cause worry, but also be damaging to your health. According to WebMD, 75 to 90 percent of all doctor's visits are for some stress-related ailment, including headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems and depression. The same article also said that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, said stress is a hazard of the workplace, costing American industry more than $300 billion each year in lost productivity.

So what to do about it?

Jesus said those who are weary should come to him for rest:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Psalm 55:22 tells us to "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." (NIV) 1 Peter 5:6-7 says we should humble ourselves and give our burdens and care to God, because he cares for us.

Yes, even Christians deal with stress in a fallen world, and Christians do have many of the same problems as anyone else does. However, followers of Christ can look ahead to the point where God "will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."(see Revelation 21:4)

Until then, the Bible tells us to do this:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Are you self-righteous?

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:14 (NIV)

Most people are aware and generally do not like it when people pump themselves more than they are. We see it all the time with athletes, movie stars, and even amongst us. We ourselves can be guilty of it by looking down on those who do not have our viewpoints, whether we are liberal or conservative politically, root for a rival sports team, and other positions. Christians also have been accused of this, looking down on those who do not believe as they do.

Pastor Brooks Simpson of Grace Community Church in North Liberty, Iowa, recently spoke on this topic, referencing Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14.