Friday Men’s Group 2/25/22

Ukrainian Soldiers – Mariupol, Ukraine 2/24/22

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. 
These things must happen, but the end is still to come. 
Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…..”
Matthew 24:26-27

[Note:  There is a lot to ponder……. Possibly take time over the weekend]

Hi Men:

I’m sure many of you are staying abreast of the developments in the Ukraine….. yet the invasion by Russia should come as no surprise.   As I came across the above photo, I thought to myself, what’s going to happen in the days ahead to these young soldiers?  As I have mentioned many times before, we have NO CONTROL over this life…… anything can happen at any time.  Our only safe position is staying firmly “in” His Grip!

For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you:
Do not fear, I will help you.
(Isaiah 41:13)

There will always be wars.  Tell me from the Bible, other than a brief period during Solomon’s reign, when was the nation of Israel not at war?  You won’t be able to, because there was perpetual war.  We seem to have a very short memory concerning what Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
(Matthew 10:34)

You might even want to read the rest of what Jesus said:  Matthew 10:34-39   So, what you do think now?

Rather than watching non-stop depressing news, maybe you should read about the life of  J. Hudson Taylor  and when he coined the term, “The Exchanged Life.”   As Jesus said in the above verse, “He who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”  Remember 2 weeks ago  (E2Vegas.org/Friday-Mens-Group-2-11-22) when reminded that God, “Causes well-being and creates calamity”…….  “I am the Lord who does all these.”  What do you tell your church buddies or a friend that is seeking when asked “Why is God letting all this happen?”  You might answer by saying, “If God allowed the United Nations, ambassadors and diplomats to be successful,” (I think Walt said it best)…….. “It would seal the eternal damnation of the world, for the path from God is independence; the path to God is dependence.  God uses chaos to teach people their need of Him. Never cease thanking God for Chaos.” 

Men, there are so many opportunities right now “……….. to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you……….”  Just like the worker at my house yesterday asking, “where is God while all this is happening?”  Don’t you think this mother and her child escaping the Ukraine yesterday by bus might be asking the same question? (See photo on left)  
As Jesus said, “……..Wake up and look around. The fields are ripe for harvest.”

Thanking God for Chaos,
Dan
The Exchanged Life = Galatians 2:20

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” 
(Is 55:9) 

 


“These two seemingly irreconcilable truths are anchors in every believer’s life.
No one understands how both can be true, but all of Christ’s followers should be grateful that both are true.”

Men:  These two truth are critical in your walk with the Lord….

God Is Sovereign and Man Is Responsible – Red Book Day 55
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically

Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”

For More Teachings:
John MacArthur
Twin Truths: God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility (John 3:11-21)
YouTube (49 mins) 

 


Quote from:  The Discipline of DelusionHow secular ideas became the new idolatry

“The cost of following Christ has always been high.  We in the modern West have paid little to follow Him, and as a result have lost the ability to see the plain truth of the Bible.  The world is opposing Christ and His followers with increasing ferocity, and that cost to follow Him is about to go up for us.  War is being waged against the truth of Christ, yet the modern church does not know how to biblically wage war.  She has forgotten the truth.” (Page 182) 


 

Letter From Lee Yih

Men:  This short note from our brother Lee Yih is profound.  If at first take you have questions, ask the Holy Spirit to clarify.
It may take some time, but stick with it.
To enlarge upon this, please read his recent article on the MIM website:  MIMworldwide.com/remembering-romans-26
(Also, see attached PDF:  “Remembering Romans 2:6)


I remembered an encouraging note that a dear brother sent to his family a number of years ago.  How appropriate for right now!…………

Hi All, 
Seems like most of us in our family are living with some life uncertainties that can be downers if we let them. The prophet, Jeremiah had a life of challenges and not a lot of temporal victories. He wrote the book of Lamentations which reveals his moments of distress and his solution of shifting his thoughts/hope from his circumstances to God Almighty. May we do the same.

Lamentations 3:19-26

19  Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. 
20 Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me. 

Note:   Jeremiah was mentally down to say the least. 

21  This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.

Note:Jeremiah mentally moved from despair to hope by changing the focus of his thinking.  So can we.

22 The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Thy faithfulness.

Note: The Lord is in control and is good so we have hope.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26 It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.

Chin up! Jesus is coming!

Love,
Papa


DO NOT READ THIS!

The large paragraph below is taken from one of the sermons by Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758), possibly one of Americans most important and original theologians.  He also played a critical role in the First Great Awakening.  His famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.  Here was just one of the sentences:

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousands times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”

Jonathan Edwards also wrote up 70 resolutions for his daily conduct.  He started entering them in his diary when he was only 17. 

Here is just one of them: 

Resolution #55  “Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and hell torments. July 8, 1723

Ok, I warned you!  This paragraph is from Sermon #15  “Heaven is a World of Love”  Great title and so good.  I encourage you to read the entire sermon, but what he said about hell will set you back in your chair…… [Link to full sermon]

You are in danger.

Hell is a world of hatred. There are three worlds. One is this present world, which is an intermediate world, a world where good and bad, love and hatred are mixed together; a sure sign that the world is not to continue. Another is heaven, a world of love where is love and no hatred. And the other is hell, a world of hatred where there is no love, to which world you, while you remain in a Christ-less state, do properly belong. This is a world where God manifests his hatred, as heaven is a world where he manifests his love. In hell God manifests his being and perfections only in hatred and wrath, and hatred without love. Everything in hell is hateful. There is not one object to be beheld there but what is odious and detestable. There is no person or thing to be seen there which is amiable, there is nothing pure or holy, nothing pleasant, but everything perfectly odious. No persons there but devils and wicked, damned spirits which are like devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast den of poisonous, lusting serpents. There is that old serpent who is the devil, and there is his hateful brood. And there are none there but whom God hates with a perfect and everlasting hatred. He exercises no love, no mercy to any one object there; there he pours out his wrath without mixture. All things in the whole universe which are hateful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a grand receptacle provided on purpose, that the universe which God has made may be cleansed of its filthiness by casting it all into this great sink. And it is a world prepared on purpose for the expressions of God’s wrath. God has made hell for this. He has no other use for it, but there to satisfy his hatred of sin and sinners………. [ continued in attached PDF: “Heaven is a World of Love”]

Now tell me again why we shouldn’t talk to our neighbor mowing his lawn in his “Christless” state?


One of the brothers favorite verse is John 3:30 …. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  If there are areas in the Bible that are troubling, be patient and wait upon Him through His Holy Spirit to reveal His truth.  Pray that we always have a “teachable spirit”…….. especially as we get older.