Month: September 2021

Jesus – Friend of Sinners

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The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ Luke 7:34 NIV

Several years ago I wrote an article on encouraging aging voices to sing. Little did I realize at the time how much I would need my own advice today. It has been discouraging to me this year to realize I am slowly losing my voice. At first I just chalked it up to a bad day or overuse but it is beginning to be clear that I cannot sing as I once did. Now I have a choice to either, quit, deny the change or make the best of the situation. It is a bit like working through the stages of grief. It hasn’t been an easy thing, but I have accepted the weakness as real and will just do the best I can because in my heart the melodies are still ringing.

This week I share, Jesus What a Friend For Sinners, which is one of my favorite hymns. In the words of John Newton, “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” May you also be blessed as you remember what a great Savior this Jesus – the Friend of sinners has been for you!

God’s Heavy Rescue Plan

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This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:15 KJV

We go every week to church on Sunday morning, take communion and spend time worshipping with our brothers and sisters, but I confess that on Sunday night I love to watch a show with the questionable title; “Highway Through Hell!” In spite of how it sounds, this program is not about sinful lifestyles with sketchy scenes, but rather about a hardy bunch of Canadian tow-truck operators. I especially enjoy the watching these guys go out into the worst possible winter weather to rescue tractor trailers tipped over and stuck in several feet of snow. After working out in similar conditions for years cutting trees, I can really identify with these guys. I can still feel my own frozen hands when I see them hook up their cables working hard, to get these big rigs back on the road. One of my favorite highlights of the show is their catchphrase, “on the highway through hell – closure is NOT an option!” My wife rolls her eyes every time they say this with me chiming in at the beginning of each episode!

Photo by Burak Kebapci on Pexels.com

While I do not watch these rescues for their spiritual content; they do remind me of God’s work in our lives. In today’s scripture the Apostle Paul responds to critics of his past sinful lifestyle, by agreeing wholeheartedly with them. He tells them that yes he was indeed a sinner and in fact the worst sinner of all. But then he goes on to point out that God sent Jesus to the cross because He was in the business of rescuing sinners. Just like many of us, Paul had veered off life’s road and gotten jammed up in the snow drifts of sin. But then He remind us that we can have hope – no matter how big a wreck we have made in our lives – because Jesus went out into the worst possible conditions to die on the cross for our sins. Today, the power of the blood of Jesus is far greater than any heavy equipment on my favorite show, because He not only pulls us to safety but He completely restores smashed up lives and sets us upright on our wheels, headed in the right direction. By God’s amazing mercy, we are no longer on a Highway through Hell but on His Highway that leads to Heaven. Now with Jesus behind the wheel of our life it is more true than ever that “Closure is not an option!”

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel on Pexels.com

Quiet Time or Prayer?

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Isaiah 12:6 KJV

It seems that everyone is insisting lately that we have a “Daily Quiet Time.” But with all the discussion about it, maybe we have gotten a little off track. For starters, the phrase quiet time doesn’t occur anywhere that I know of in the Bible. Of course Jesus spent plenty of time teaching about prayer, but the prayers we read about in the Gospels are not always private and very few of them were quiet. In fact if we prayed like Jesus prayed, our time would be far from quiet –  

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, … Hebrews 5:7

And King David did not have much to say about quiet prayer either.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Psalm 34:6

You could add to the list of these noisy prayers others; like Moses who was often crying out to the Lord because not a day went by without a problem, first in Egypt with Pharaoh, then in the wilderness with complaining Israelites. Elijah prayed loud enough for thousands to hear him on Mount Carmel and those loud prayers didn’t stop in the Old Testament. During Jesus’ ministry the Syro-Phoenician woman with a demon possessed daughter had the disciples begging Jesus to send her away because she was crying out too much. Then we all remember Blind Bartimaeus, whose friends kept insisting he sit down and shut up. But Jesus wasn’t disturbed at all by his noisy request. What impressed Jesus then and what impresses God today is when we believe in His ability and willingness to answer us so much that we cry out to Him from the bottom of our hearts. God values neither quietness nor loudness but when you and I need Him way too much to be quiet!