Leprosy is a nasty disease, for which up until the last decade or two there was no cure. Naaman became an object of horror to everyone when he contracted the disease. An enemy of Israel, the Lord healed Naaman. What was his testimony? “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” The Lord wants His glory to be spread to every ethnic group on earth in just this way. However, Naaman thought that only in the geographic land of Israel could the Lord be found. In this he was wrong. How could we rephrase this to avoid this error? “Indeed, Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in those who trust solely in Jesus.” Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Here is the Jordan river looking southwest from Bethany Beyond the Jordan (the Jordanian side). Across the water is Israel.
While we were at the Jordan, one of the Russian tourists stripped down to his underwear, walked into the Jordan and baptized himself. Can you picture Naaman doing this?
PSALM 115
Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. A god made by man behaves according to man’s nature. Anyone who has studied mythology can observe this. The mythological gods think and act as supermen, but are men none-the-less. Consequently within the myths, men manipulate the gods in order to get them act as men desire. We become like what we worship. If we worship a god of our own creation, one created in our own image, we simply become more of what we are really like. It is no wonder that many churches have become powerless to change lives. It is no wonder that many churches use manipulation to get their desired results. They do not worship a God who does whatever He pleases. They worship a god who uses programs and plans that are manipulated by men. Why? Because that is what they are like.
But this God who does whatever he pleases also desires to bless us. He desires to bless us so that we will praise Him. He desires that we should recognize Him for who He really is. It is only in that recognition that we find what we were created to be and do. Let us bless the Lord for he does whatever He pleases, and He is pleased to bless us. That blessing is that we should be become like Him. It is not that He should become like us. Is my focus on His glory transforming me into His image? If not, then I am focused on my glory not His. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
AMOS 7
In early January of 2013 I sent an e-mail to the White House expressing my displeasure with the President in his move to force family owned businesses like Hobby Lobby and some non-profit religious educational institutions to provide health insurance for employees where that health insurance would pay for abortions and abortion inducing drugs. In the e-mail I pointed out the inconsistencies with what he had previously promised and now was doing. In the e-mail I pointed out that either he was woefully ignorant of the things that were going on, or he was a blatant liar. Two weeks after sending the e-mail, I received notification from the IRS that I was being audited for the 2011 tax year for which I had already received a tax-refund. After much hassle in which the IRS agent initially ignored the contact of my accountant claiming he had not received the appropriate documents to deal with the accountant, I received notification that I was also being audited for the 2010 tax year. While the audit did reveal some minor things that I had overlooked. The end result was that I paid much more money to my accountant than I did to the IRS. I suspect that the amount of additional money which I paid to the IRS was more than the salary represented by the amount of time the agent spent on the case. In the long run it was a loss for the government financially and a loss for me financially. I am inclined to think that the audit was the result of some clerk in the Obama administration directing the IRS to initiate the audit because of the e-mail. It was not about the money, but rather about intimidation of one who would dare oppose the administration
Amos served in the time of King Jeroboam II of Israel. He was the last stable-long-reigned king of Israel. Damascus had afflicted Israel. He re-established the borders in the north taking back the lands taken by Damascus. Under his reign Israel became prosperous. Yet under his reign the poor were greatly afflicted. Under his reign Israel strayed even further from hearing the word of the Lord. In verse 9 the Lord instructs Amos to pronounce His destruction of the house of Jeroboam, “The high places of Isaac shall be desolate, And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.” The ‘house of Jeroboam’ refers to the nation of which Jeroboam I was the founder and Jeroboam II was the present king. (Jeroboam did not die by the sword, yet within 25 years it would be destroyed by Assyria).
Amos gets into a load of trouble because of the prophecy. Amaziah the priest hears Amos’ prophecy and accuses him to the king of sedition. He slightly twists the words of the prophecy to bring pressure upon Amos and to force him to return home to Tekoa in Judah. The priesthood of the northern kingdom had from the beginning mixed worship of Yahweh with idol worship and even Baal and Asherah worship. Courageously, Amos fires back a prophecy of doom upon the deceived priest.
So where is the glory of the Lord? True followers of Him will always stand up for what is right and true. Why? Because we are so overwhelmed by His great glory that we cannot but speak what we have seen and heard. Amos was one of those who put his livelihood on the line because of the great glory of his Lord. His glory is more precious than our livelihood. It is even more precious than our very lives. Mr. Obama has reviled the glory of the Lord in his stand on abortion and homosexual marriage. We who know the glory of the Lord will still speak out against his immorality. It matters not that we may lose some or all of our worldly goods, or even as some, our very lives. Why? His glory is too rich to trade it for peanuts. In relation to His glory, my life, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my friends, my lands, my house, my car are all just peanuts. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 TIMOTHY 4
We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially to those who believe. The work of Jesus at Calvary, the resurrection and the ascension is potentially available to all men, not just the elect. It is applied only to those who believe. His work is available to Saddam Heusein. It was available to Adolf Hitler until the day he died. You may think of whomever you think is the worst person on the face of this earth. The Savior is available to them until the day they die. Is that not amazing? That is why Ashley Smith could speak the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to her murderous captor. She could offer him hope in a hopeless situation. Why? Because she had learned the hard way that there was only one source of Hope. That source was the Lord Jesus Christ. She had found the water of life offered by Him.
Strange thing that water, it seems to expand when we consume it. Anyway, it expanded in Ashley. It expanded and bubbled up in her until she shared it with the Atlanta Courthouse killer who had captured her. The killer drank. When the killer drank, he saw the glory. The glory of the Lord is irresistible. The killer surrendered to the law because he had already surrendered to the One who fulfills the law, the Lord Jesus. Wow! Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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