For a few weeks I had been obsessed with a certain scripture. Ezekiel 16:49:50. I even preached on it. I wasn't sure why the Holy Spirit was making me think about it, but it was burning in my mind. Then, sitting in a room talking to people, (some of whom probably knew God while others didn't) suddenly everything was busy and everyone was talking and some people were panicking while others were excited. "What's going on?" I asked. Well at first the rumors were not exactly true. "Palestine invaded America." "World War 3 just began." And some were feeling worse because they were St. John's ambulance drivers and they would be on stand-by to go into battle if a war started. It swept like a wave over the room and there was one thing we all knew. This is bad... It didn’t quite sink in at first that so many people had died. I saw a great explosion. I saw a building fall. I saw enormous clouds of dust and smoke and I was shocked and impressed. Hours later it hit me: people have actually died in all of this. And that just drove it home harder and worse than before. This is a terrible thing. First of all... it is a blasphemy. A human being is in the image of God, and is the object of His great love for us. To kill human beings is to spit in the face of God. Secondly it was done in the name of God. Somebody decided that his moral crusade was worth more than thousands of people's lives. So, God was actually implicated in the tragedy. But third and worst of all, it is a symptom of a sick world. All suffering comes from the combined sin of humanity, which has hated God and rejected Him with all our might. Evil doesn’t always kill the guilty ones though. One man's sin can cause an innocent bystander to suffer. And the fact that everyone in the room knew in their hearts that this disaster was an evil thing just proved God right. And the words of the prophet came to me again. "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned. They did not help the poor and the needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I have done away with them as you have seen." We know the terrorists were evil. But on Judgment Day we will not have to answer for them we have to answer each man for himself. And every woman and child also. God did away with Sodom for a few reasons. They were too wasteful, and they didn't care about anyone but themselves, and they were proud. Is anyone thinking "The Western World" here? I sure am. We hoard the whole world's wealth in our countries. Australian, United Kingdom, America. we don't lift a finger to help the poor we turn away refugees in their hundreds. We make the children of poorer countries work in our sweat-shops. We think we are fantastic because of all our technologies. We are haughty and commit abominations before Almighty God. And Jesus said "Unless we repent we shall perish." The WTC disaster is just a small foretaste of the fires of hell. It's a timely warning to us to return to our Creator before the World ends up in an even worse state than it is now. It is a warning that it is time to "Love God with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves." to "Go the extra mile" to learn gentleness humility and faith. Whenever you see a cross, around a neck, in a church or a painting, that cross is an invitation. Your sins are pardoned by the death of Jesus Christ if you will only turn from your wicked ways, humble yourselves and pray. Now is the only acceptable time to turn from selfishness and greed and hypocrisy and return to your Father in heaven. Karl
Wild-Fire #17
Hello everyone! I want to let you all know that if you ask God to show you something in the Bible and then just close your eyes, open it, and start reading He will show you some great stuff. That’s how I found what I want to talk about today! We will be looking at the 21st chapter of Acts. In the first 9 verses of the chapter it tells how Paul and some of his friends are on a journey to Jerusalem, and they stop at many places along the way. One of those places was at the home of Philip, an evangelist. In verse 10, we see that after Paul and his Company had been at Philip’s home for many days, a prophet named Agabus came from Judea. When Agabus got to Paul (verse 11), he took Paul’s belt and bound his own hands and feet. After Agabus had bound himself, the Spirit of the Lord spoke through him saying “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this belt, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” The Lord is telling Paul that when he gets to Jerusalem the Jews will tie him up and give him over to the Gentiles. We see in verse 12 that, after hearing this, Paul’s friends and Philip’s family began to beg Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Then in verse 13 Paul answers them saying “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Finally, in verse 14, the Company agrees that the will of the Lord should be done. They then went to Jerusalem and in verse 27 the prophets words come to pass as Paul is seized by the Jews. This passage just blew me away as I read it. Today I find that Christians look to prophets for words about every decision they have to make. Paul, however, was not like that at all. The prophet came to him and told him if he went on with his journey that he would be captured; however, Paul knew what God wanted and he went on with his journey. No matter what lay before him, Paul knew inside what he was called to do. Even if his calling lead to his death, he would follow it completely. Don’t look to what you see and what people say to find your direction in life because the people around Paul told him not to go. Look to the Lord because He knows what is best for you and even if He leads you to your end, you must follow the will of the Lord. Don’t let what other people do or say affect the path you take. Follow God and God alone, and everything will work out in the end. Thank you for coming. Jordan
Wild-Fire #18
Hello! I want to say that I am sorry for not posting anything this weekend, but I just never got around to it. Today we will be looking at the 4th chapter of the book of Amos. In the first 3 verses of the chapter God is showing us that Israel was not living the way they should at that time. He is specifically speaking of the women in Samaria because when the women of a culture become immoral there is no hope there for anyone else. The women of Samaria had live luxurious lives by oppressing the poor, and taking advantage of those who were less fortunate. Starting with verse 4, God begins to speak to them through Amos about what He has done to them in the past. God tells them about the different things He has done to Judge them, and how they have not turned back to Him. God tells them how He withheld the rain so that food and water would not be found in every city. He has destroyed there crops with blasting and mildew and worms. Then He goes on to mention that He sent pestilence among them like He did to Egypt, and still they have not turned. In verse 12, God also mentions that He has slain their young men with swords, taken away their horses, and made their camps to stink. It gets better! Finally, He tells them that He has overthrown some of them like He did Sodom and Gomorrah. In this long list of the punishments God sent to Israel He says one thing at the end of each punishment…….”yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.” God had tried to get them to follow His ways, but they kept turning Him away. They chapter ends with verses 12 and 13, and these verses God tells the children of Israel to “prepare to meet they God, oh Israel.” This is not speaking of a good meeting! He is telling them that since they have turned Him away so many times, He is about to send out complete judgment for what they have done. We all commit sin, and God will let us get away with that sin for a time. He loves us so much that He will hold off on judging us, and try to get us to turn to His ways. However, God will only knock so many times. You cannot keep turning God away, and then expect Him to run to you in your time of need. The presence of God is everywhere, but you cannot control it and us it whenever you want. If God is dealing with you in any way, you must act now! You never know when God will get tired of you telling Him no. You maybe passed over for something God wanted to give to you because you told Him no too many times. Make a decision today about serving God, and do it with your whole heart and soul. Thank you. Jordan
Wild-Fire #19
Hello all. I will be speaking from the book of Hosea, chapter 4 and verse 6. In this segment of scripture God is speaking to the priest of the time about their sins. Verse 6 says this “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” The “lack” that God is speaking of does not mean that the priest had no knowledge, but that they rejected their knowledge of Him. Because they reject what they knew to be true, God is saying that He will also reject them. Furthermore, since they have reject God He will also reject their children. There are many people who have had past experiences with God, or were raised in church, or have studied the Bible. If these people are not Christians it is not because they have a lack of information about God, but they have chosen to reject what they know. In the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel, Saul is given information by God on what he should do to the Amalekites. Saul chooses to reject the information and to do what he wants to do, and because of this God rejects Saul as king over Israel. Just because a person knows a lot about the Bible does not mean that they are right with God. For years growing up I knew more about the word than many of the adults in our church, but I was living in sin and had rejected the knowledge I had. If all someone knows is that Jesus did for their sins and they love Him with all their heart, then they are better off than a person who can quote the Bible and doesn’t live for God. In 2nd John chapter 2 verses 3-6 tells us how to test true knowledge. It says that if someone says they know God, but they do not walk in His ways then they are a liar. It goes on to say more, and you can read it all if you want to. Finally, in Luke chapter 11 verse 52, Jesus speaks to the priests of His day with the same message that is in Hosea. He tells them that they have “taken away the key of knowledge.” These children of the priests in Hosea’s time have been rejected by God, because just like their fathers, they rejected the word of God. God promised to the priests in Hosea that He would reject their children, and when Jesus was on earth that came to pass. So today, don’t try to find knowledge to fill your mind, try to find something that you really believe in. God will be all the information you need in life, if you only believe. Thank you. Jordan
