Archive for July 9th, 2010

Today & Yesterday

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Today we are talking about yesterday’s news.

There is much talk about the young 22 year old boy that was killed by his stepfather.  This boy worked at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church.  If the blog I read by pastor Mike Slaughter was understood correctly newspeople were asking how the stepfather could be a member of the church one day and a murderer the next day.  I probably didn’t word that exactly the way it was originally written.  My point is there are many questions going through people’s minds about this tragedy.

I have written much about these wolves in sheep clothing lately.  Look back at the June writings and you may see something that talks about how these people that do wrong may be sitting next to you at church.  In this case the man that murdered his stepson seems to be like a selfish spirited coward.   He had his own motives for venting his anger in such a way that he took a young man’s life.  He showed selfishness when he didn’t control himself.  He also showed that he is cowardly when he ran away from the crime.  He committed the crime but he doesn’t want to pay the time. 

I know prisons are not pleasant places.  I wouldn’t want to be in one for even a few minutes from what I am told about them.  I have even been told there are crimes committed within the walls of the prisons.  No one should want to go there.  Prisons are needed though.  There are criminals out there that will continue doing bad things if they are not stopped.  We still live on this earth. 

The cowardly man that shot and killed his stepson may even cry over the terrible thing he has done.  He may even weep real tears.  Does that mean he shouldn’t go to prison? 

I’ve read that because Brandon Haskins was a Christian person his family is prepared to forgive the murderer because Brandon would want them to forgive him.  I agree with the forgiveness going on.  I do think it makes sense that the man that murdered Brandon gets evaluated for this crime committed.  Surely he needs to be captured, tried, and convicted.  His deed was witnessed by his own 7 year old son and his wife.  They saw what he did and he isn’t going to easily be able to get out of this.  So many lives are affected by what this man did.

Do you think the Lord cares that a life was taken?  I believe God cares about all the people that have been murdered.  He cares when he heard the cries of Brandon’s Mother when she knew her son was dead.  He cares about the lonely prostitute that is murdered on the streets, too.  It is written that God is mindful of the sparrow that falls to the ground.  You can read about the sparrow in Matthew 10 or Luke 12. 

Today there is much sorrow over the life of a young boy that shouldn’t have died the way he did.  Murder is a callous hearted action committed by a man.  This was not an act of war.  This was one selfish hearted individual taking a gun and carelessly taking the life of another person.   We need to pray the evil hearted murderer will be captured or give himself up.  We also need to pray that he will genuinely repent over his wrongdoing.  His relationship with God is the serious issue at hand now.  If everyone else forgives him it means nothing if he doesn’t get his heart cleansed by God. 

Revelation 21:7-9 (King James Version)

 ”7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 

 

A Tree Is Known By It’s Fruit

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Matthew 12:28-35,  “28But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.30He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.31Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.33Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.34O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

I’ve been pondering on words a pastor shared with me in January of this year.  The pastor was helping me learn something important that I needed to know.  You see, I met someone that by all appearances of things had led me and others to believe he was a kind Christian man.  I had no proof that this man was anything other than a bonafide Christian believer.  He attended church regularly, he prayed fervently and for others with what sounded like heartfelt prayers, he gave tithes at the churches we visited together.  He did have some unusual behavior show up  a few times but it was never anything that showed me without a doubt that he was anything less than a Bible believing Christian.  I felt I was conned by this man in several ways.  I was not the only person he conned.  There were other Christian people that were around him at the same times I was around him and they saw the same person I saw. 

I won’t bother to write a lot of details here and now about how I saw him change but I did see him take a turn for the worse.  He began to say and do things that were not natural for a Christian man to do.  He talked like I had never heard him talk before.  He had previously shown contempt for cursing and abusive behaviors and all of a sudden he was letting curse words flow from his mouth and he was threatening me with abusive words. 

I sought Christian counseling because I didn’t know what hit him or what hit me.  How could this man change like that?  Did an illness all of a sudden hit him making him change?  I feel the emotional pain I felt then hit me even now as I type these words.

I called on two Christian Bible believing pastors in one day.  The first pastor I talked to told me that the fruit I was seeing in this man was not good fruit.  He told me that it didn’t matter how many mornings this man got up to read the Bible and it didn’t matter that the man had made a confession that he trusts Jesus to be His Lord and Savior since the fruit the man was bearing was not good fruit.  He went on to tell me other things I needed to hear.  He also prayed with me that God would send me confirmation through another pastor that very day.  I already had plans to call another pastor I knew later that same day.  The second pastor did not know what the first pastor had said to me or what the first pastor prayed.  The second pastor basically told me the same thing the first pastor said to me.  Both pastors told me to get away from the man that was not bearing good fruit.

I have to admit that it was very hard to stay away from the man because I had been duped for so long.  I had believed he really cared about the things of God.  I knew the pastors were right to counsel me to get away from him if he did not show good fruit.  I was still baffled by the many months of seeing the man pretend to be a man of God.  It took another few months for me to start to accept the fact that YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUIT MEANS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS SAID. 

Those men of God were bold enough to tell me the truth.  They told me to get away from the man that was only pretending to walk with God.  One of those men also told me that the man I had fallen for was slick so I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. 

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ I want you to know that I didn’t recognize how ugly the fruit was coming forth from the faker because he didn’t show his true colors for a long time.  The few times he did act oddly I made excuses for him thinking about how none of us are perfect. 

May God bless the pastors and friends that helped me start to come to grip with the fact that there are wolves in sheep clothing.  I’ve written about it before and I still couldn’t see one when he was in my very midst. 

I wanted to study the portion of Scripture that says you will know them by their fruit.  The Greek word  for known in Matthew 12:33 means allow, be aware of, perceive, be resolved, can speak of, be sure of, understand, to feel, and to have knowledge of. 

If you meet a fellow person that claims to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and you have knowledge of them doing and presently saying things that are not in line with God’s Word and living a holy lifestyle then let God’s Word help you know to steer clear of that person.  I’m not talking about being away from people that don’t proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of their life.  I”m talking about steering clear of people that claim to know the Lord but they do not show by their lives that they are serious about their relationship with God.  

Anyone can say they love Jesus and they can say they have accepted Jesus into their hearts but you know all who say they believe in the Lord do not necessarily follow Him. 

I am not speaking about a person that has a past lifestyle of sin.  I’m speaking of a person that continues to walk in sin.  When a person is truly saved by the Lord Jesus Christ they repent of the evil things they have said and done and they seek God’s face about how to turn away from the evil things of the past. 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Prayer Request

Friday, July 9th, 2010

We are seeking God’s will & direction for our lives.

There are people that are waiting to sell their home so they can purchase the home we are living in right now.  We do agree in prayer that their home will sell soon so we can move on.

May God send us help & direction to relocate where it is best for us to reside.  We did look at a home very far from where we are & we put a contract on it but we found out there were some things that were not going to work out well for us so we asked for a release of the contract.  The release was granted and the other people that wanted that home are going to get it now.  

I know some of our Christian friends were already praying for us about this.  We thank the good Lord that we found out what wasn’t suitable for us before we moved there.

Please pray fervently that God will direct our paths putting us on the path He wants us to take. 

My personal desire is to be in a serene peaceful place where I can receive more healing in my life.  May our good Lord continue to send that peace & healing no matter where we are.

I Hope New Laws Are Formed

Friday, July 9th, 2010

http://www.wpxi.com/news/23973885/detail.html

When someone witnesses a murder they should tell the authorities.  I read about this new law they are talking about making in PA.  Don’t they already have laws like this in most states?

Jesus said we should treat other people the way we want treated.  If someone witnessed a murder of your family member wouldn’t you want them to tell the authorities about it?

Sad News

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Brandon Haskins was killed. Brandon’s Mother & step brother witnessed the shooting. If you knew Brandon you may want to sign the online guestbook.
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/dayton/guestbook.aspx?n=brandon-haskins&pid=143983744

Prayers sent on behalf of those who knew Brandon – may God send comfort & healing to their weary souls. May it be that our Lord will use all this for good.

The last thing I read about this murder is that the man who killed Brandon was his stepfather.  Jeff Bedinger shot his stepson, Brandon Haskins, in front of Brandon’s Mother and in front of Brandon’s step brother.  I feel sure prayers for all involved will be helpful.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/child-found-safe-dad-sought-in-slaying-abduction-803861.html
Brandon Haskins was known for teaching Sunday School at Ginghamsburg Church for more than 7 years.