All posts filed under: z163

No Chance

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A husband grabs a wall map of the world and tapes it up. He hands his wife a dart and tells her that wherever it lands is where they are going for a two-week vacation. She closes her eyes and throws the dart. I guess they’re spending their vacation behind the fridge! I like that story. It reminds me of what happens when we leave things to chance. As they say in gambling circles, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The problem with chance is that there is no path to follow. You are like a man tossed into the seed at the mercy of wherever the waves go. It may seem that chance had its way with us when we are born. After all, I had no choice of my gender, color, culture, family, environment, etc. It appears that some people are born into opportunity and others born into trouble. The Queen of England was born into a royal family. Could she have been just as easily been born in an impoverished family …

What is wrong with churches?

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I have been to many church banquets, services, and functions. In my experience most churches are divided along economic class lines, some along racial or cultural lines, and others along ministerial lines. Rarely is there a church in which the unity of Christ is extended to all. I understand the desire to be with people like yourself. Rich with rich, poor with poor, etc. There is a familiarity and comfort in this. Church leaders who desire to form a real community in which these various elements form a family have their hands full doing so. And not all leaders want this. Neither do all churches. I know pastors of small churches who unplug toilets, counsel, and preach while the members serve together no matter who they are. Of course, with a smaller church, the members tend to be of one economic class or culture or background. Maybe it is easier to have unity and community in a group that cannot afford to be discriminatory. I know pastors of larger churches. As the church grows and …

Virus Armageddon: Where Is God Now?

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I have a job with the Provincial Government. Usually I have a work schedule for a month in advance for small towns in rural areas. This is the weekend and my schedule for next week is … Wednesday. I’m sure someone will fix the problem, but right now they are busy with bigger things. That is my experience with the Viral Armageddon, so far. I have also just been notified that I can’t visit my old father in his nursing home, if I travel outside the country. Probably you have your own interesting stories. A few days ago, the world seemed normal, with stories about a virus infection that needed to be controlled, mostly in China. Now our normal world has stopped. We hope it will restart soon, but we don’t know what will happen next. Pictures of the next stages are beginning to emerge: I couldn’t make that up. It seems like science fiction, except we are living through it. I have worked in commercial transportation, and I know that we see trucks and …

Are fear and worry weighing you down?

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I was at a seminar several years back, and they wanted to show us how much negative thinking affects us. Each of us were told to hold our arms out from our side and then have someone try to push our arm down while we resisted. Most of us put up a good fight, but then we were told to have that person push down our arms while were thinking negative thoughts about ourselves. It could be anything from rehearsing past failures to thinking about how stupid we were. We all immediately noticed how much physically weaker we were when we thought negatively about ourselves. And, although our thoughts don’t hold an actual physical weight, scientists say that negative thoughts ‘weigh’ on your brain in the same way that repeated movements tire your muscles. Negativity and worry have ‘energy costs’ that can tire out our neurons, that are the physical carriers of our thoughts. As a result, we feel a ‘heaviness’ because of the emotional drain on our brain and its neurons. Negative thinking and …

So Much Racism: How Many Ways Can We Hurt Our Neighbor?

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Are you a racist? Just answer “no” unless you are. The great sin of our modern world is called racism. We don’t use the word “sin” anymore, and this new name for hatred is a serious thing. Some governments have threatened to cancel the rights of citizens who are openly racist. In politics, people on the political left believe that they are free from racism, and they like to assign the sin of racism to “right wing extremists.” That means, the other side can’t even speak because they have a label that makes them unworthy. This explains a lot of the political bickering in the news. We don’t argue about what we believe, we argue that some people should never speak, and our side should always get the microphone. In these modern times, we have something called “new racism.” This can be many things; systemic, personal, micro-aggressive, environmental, legal and there are many other definitions. Apparently, talk about the Coronavirus is racist against people in China. This complicated and poorly defined racism is popular in …

The great ‘falling away’ versus the great end-times revival

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During a recent presentation to the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, Kristine Stache, the interim president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, warned that at its current rate of decline the Episcopal church will cease to have Sunday services in 30 years. The Episcopal Church is the American equivalent of the Anglican Church and is a member of the Anglican Communion. It came into being shortly after the American Revolution when the Anglican churches in America formed a separate denomination. In 2011, it was the fourth largest denomination in the US but has been in an attendance free fall since 2008. Stache noted that between 2008 and 2018, the denomination saw a 24.9% decline in Sunday attendance. And what is equally disturbing is that the rate of decline seems to be increasing. In 2018, the Episcopal church saw a greater drop in membership than it did in 2017. In 2017, the church reported a membership decline of 32,500 over the previous year and that decline rose to 36,000 in 2018. In an interview with Episcopal News, Stache said …

Is there a spiritual battle raging over Iran?

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Two recent reports out of Iran suggest there is a spiritual battle raging in the heavenlies over that country. The first involves an exclusive report by CBN on how 20 Iranians were recently water baptized after believing on Jesus for their salvation. All 20 were former Muslims and many had come to Christ through Mohabat TV, a Christian TV and radio station that broadcasts into Islamic countries. It is illegal in Iran for a Muslim to convert to Christianity, so all 20 were baptized secretly. The group, that also included family and friends, actually flew out of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, to an undisclosed city where they were baptized in an indoor pool. Several of them were people of influence. CBN interviewed a man identified as only Pastor Amir, a fake name to protect his identity, who reported: “Most of the people at this gathering are artists, musicians, some are TV producers, they are educated people, they are specialists from different fields of Iranian society.” Pastor Amir, CBN News Many believe the underground …

41 | Did God bind the strongman over Argentina?

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Follow our podcasts on: Itunes Stitcher Spotify Google Play IHeartRadio TuneIn Podchaser PODCAST NOTES: Hi my name is Dean Smith and in this podcast I want to talk about the concept of binding the strongman and how it played a major role in a significant revival that took place in Argentina in the 1950s. In Luke chapter 11, the Gospel writer describes how the Pharisees were put in the awkward position of having to explain how Jesus had the power to cast out demons, an ability that the Pharisees and scribes did not have. So they came up with a rather stupid and bizarre explanation, that Jesus was casting the demons out by the power of Beelzebul, who Luke describes as a prince of the demons (Luke 11:15). This description also hints of a hierarchy in the demonic realm with higher and lower level demons. Jesus quickly countered this by explaining how stupid the idea was. How would the satanic realm survive if it was divided against itself? Jesus then goes into a teaching on …

Muslims And Jesus: What Do They Think?

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What do Muslims think about Jesus? I think ideas are changing. You might know that Jesus is described in the Koran as a great prophet of God, and that Muslims expect Him to return and judge the world. There are orthodox and approved ideas about Jesus among Muslims: RELATED: Muslims love Jesus, too: 6 things you didn’t know about Jesus in Islam: VOX That’s an interesting topic; what are Muslims taught to believe about Jesus? But my question is; What does each Muslim personally think about Jesus? What do Muslims think about Christianity? I have heard a saying by some Muslim extremists “We are going to Rome.” When I first heard that, I thought something like, ‘I’m sure the weather is nice at this time of year.’ I missed the point; some radicals believe that their religion will overtake Christianity, and they will triumph. Going to Rome means conquering the other religion. For some Muslims, the Roman Catholic Church is Christianity, and if they conquer Rome, they will control all the Christians. Probably, educated people …

God is changing Justin Bieber!

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Canadian mega pop star, Justin Bieber, has just released his first album in five years. Called Changes, the music is filled with references to God and faith revealing the dramatic changes that have taken place in Justin’s life over the past few years. In his title song, he sings, “People change, circumstances change, but God always stays the same” and in another he says: “Thank you Jesus for your forgiveness.” Along with the release of a new album, Justin is planning a 45 city tour in 2020. In 2017, Justin’s fans were shocked when Bieber cancelled the last portion of his Purpose tour. He realized he needed to get out of the limelight, so he could grow in his faith in God and straighten out his life. During this sabbatical, we have read about Justin being water baptized and leading worship at a Hillsong church in Los Angeles. He also married Christian model Haily Baldwin, daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin. Yet despite pulling back from public appearances, Justin is still the number one ranked streaming …