All posts by 5Q

Who Killed Jesus?

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“He [Jesus Christ] was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”1

Many readers would have seen the 2004 Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. Many raved about it. Many sharply criticized it claiming that it blamed the Jews for crucifying Jesus and, as a result, would stir up renewed anti-Semitism. Others claimed that it was far too violent.

Yes, I saw the movie. Yes it is violent. And yes, it does appear that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus and yet it was the Romans that violently beat and crucified him.

No matter how violent or how brutal the physical torture of Christ, as gruesome as that was, no movie, no painting, no book, no article, or no sermon could ever depict the far greater suffering of the Christ when he, the holy and divine Son of God, took upon himself the sin of all mankind and who, while hanging on that cross, was forsaken by God the Heavenly Father. As humans we cannot even begin to imagine the depth of this pain and suffering that Jesus Christ endured to pay the penalty of our sins—and to save us from a lost eternity in hell.

The fact is that Jesus gave his life willingly. No Jew, Roman, or anyone else could take his life from him. He was the Son of God. He could have called on ten thousand angels to save him. But he didn’t because he was giving his life as a ransom for your sins and mine. The Jews of his day and the Romans were only the instruments of his torturous death. It was for your sins and mine that he gave his life and suffered such intense agony.

As God’s Word says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Because of Christ’s death for us, God now offers you and me a total pardon for all our sins and the gift of eternal life. So the crucial issue is NOT who killed the Christ, but have you accepted God’s full and free pardon and the gift of eternal life? To help you do this, be sure to click on the “Know God” button link below to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” or on https://learning.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for giving your Son, the Christ, to die for my sins? And Lord Jesus how can I ever thank you enough for suffering such an agonizing death to pay the penalty for all my sins? Lord I believe. Have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: See the article, “Will the Dead Live Again?” at: http://tinyurl.com/alive007

Again—be sure to go to https://learning.actsweb.org/christian to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian.”

1. Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV).

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Winning Over Worry Part III

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“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”1

“Perfect love drives out fear,”2 wrote the Apostle John in the Bible. It is also true that unresolved fears have a way of blocking out love. So we need to ask God to help us overcome our fears so we can be filled with love. The more we love and trust God, the less we fear man and circumstances. Every day, visualize yourself opening up to God and being filled with his love, joy and forgiveness.

In 1929, business tycoon J.C. Penny was in the hospital because of his severe anxiety. One night he was sure he was going to die so he wrote farewell letters to his wife and son.

But he survived the night, and hearing singing the next morning in the chapel, felt drawn to go in. A group was singing, “God will take care of you,” after which followed Bible reading and prayer.

Penny said, “Suddenly something happened. I can’t explain it. It was a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before.

“I realized then that I alone was responsible for all my troubles. I knew that God with his love was there to help me. From that day to this, my life has been free from worry. The most dramatic and glorious minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning.”3

The cause or causes of our anxiety and worry almost always lie within our self. At best they are triggered by outside circumstances. Only when we see and resolve these causes, are we free to fully surrender our worries and anxieties to God and experience his peace.

Whether this peace comes instantly or over a period of time doesn’t matter. The important truth to remember is that God is always there. His love and power are constant and available to all. As we reach out to him through the fog of our worry and damaged emotions, we discover that he is waiting to help us if only we will respond to his love and give him the chance. For help click on the “God’s Invitation” button link below, or on http://tinyurl.com/gods-invitation.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I commit and trust my life and way to you and choose to trust you in all circumstances. Grant that my emotions will catch up with my choice to trust you. Help me to resolve all my fears that cause me to worry so I can be filled with your love, joy, and peace. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 118:6 ( NIV).

2. 1 John 4:18 (NIV).

3. S.I. McMillen, None of These Diseases, (Westwood, N.J.: Fleming Revell Co., 1963), p.98.

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Winning Over Worry Part II

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Jesus said, “Don’t worry about things—food, drink and clothes…. Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”1

The discovery of how worry and anxiety affect physical and emotional health was not made by our generation. It was three thousand years ago that the Bible pointed out that “a relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.”2 It was two thousand years ago when the Apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”3

However, it’s one thing to know about God’s peace and another thing to experience it. It begins with being able to see and admit our real fears, by facing and resolving them, and by learning to give them over to God—and not take them back.

The causes behind worry and anxiety can be many and varied. The following are some of the major ones with some helpful tips for winning over them.

First, if anxiety is situational—that is, caused by adverse circumstances or too much work, I find it helps to list all my responsibilities on paper. This is half the battle. I then eliminate the least important matters, work on the things I can do something about, and try to learn to accept the things I cannot change and to stop worrying about them.

Second. If the problem is repressed, pent-up feelings such as resentment, hurt or anger, those feelings need to be expressed in healthy ways. If you’re nursing a grudge, you will need to put things right with the other person concerned and forgive him or her.4 Negative feelings can be talked out with a trusted friend or counselor. Or, if it helps, go for a drive in your car with the windows closed and shout your feelings out, go to the bedroom and cry them out, or write them out as David often did in the Psalms. Just don’t bottle them up.

One night when I was worried and couldn’t sleep, I got up and typed a letter to God sharing all my feelings with him. Within a half-hour I had released my pent-up feelings. I then read them back to God, tore up the page, went back to bed, and fell asleep immediately.

Good, hard physical exercise is also helpful when you’re feeling worried or anxious.

Third, if your worry is caused by unmet emotional or spiritual needs, you can remedy this by growing in your relationship to God and other people—both of which are keys to vital, worry-free living. A spiritual growth group or a good twelve-step recovery program can be a big help for some. As you open up to other safe people and to God and feel their love and acceptance, you can slowly change feelings of fear, guilt, anger, inadequacy, anxiety, and worry for feelings of hope, confidence, peace, and love.

To be concluded…

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, when I am worried and anxious, if there are hidden causes behind these, please help me to see them and lead me to the help I need to resolve these issues at their root so I can fully trust in you and not be worried, anxious or afraid. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 6:25, 34 (TLB)(NLT).

2. Proverbs 14:30 (TLB)(NLT).

3. Philippians 4:6-7 (TLB)(NLT).

4. See Matthew 5:23-24.

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Winning Over Worry Part I

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“A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.”1

It’s Monday morning. The weekend is over. The alarm clock blares out its hideous jangle and suddenly you are snapped into the world of reality. First comes the struggle to get out of bed, then the rush to get to school or work on time, and then comes the stress of trying to juggle all of your seemingly endless responsibilities throughout the day.

Is this how your week starts? And aren’t these pressures mild compared to the ones you face as the day and week wear on?

We live in a world of ever-increasing stress and worry with school, work, family, financial, and social pressures. Not many people are free from worry of some kind. However, an overload of worry and anxiety are a major problem of contemporary society. In excessive amounts they can take years off your life.

Some people like to think that things don’t bother them. “No problem,” they say as they put on a brave front and reach for the aspirin or alcohol bottle to medicate the pain of their inner anxieties.

But it isn’t possible to deaden inner anxiety. It will reveal itself in many ways. For instance, George withdraws when he is upset, hurt, or uptight. Susan talks endlessly to cover her anxiety. Bill chain smokes to avoid facing his. Harry attacks when he feels threatened. Jack dominates and Judy procrastinates. Dennis is a constant complainer. Joan is a compulsive eater, Fred a compulsive drinker, Tom a compulsive worker, and Frank a compulsive gambler—all because of inner unresolved worry and anxiety.

Anxiety may also express itself in a physical way. Abdominal pains, high blood pressure, a twitch, allergies, ulcers, nervous stomach, tension headaches—all have been named by doctors as symptoms of anxiety and worry.

Yes, sooner or later unresolved worry and anxiety will win out. When one fails to talk out his worries in healthy ways, he will act them out in unhealthy ways in one form or another.

To be continued …

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if and when I am worried or afraid, please help me not to deny it or escape into over-busyness, procrastination, or any addictive or compulsive behavior, but face it square on, see the cause and lead me to the help I need to overcome and win over my worry. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 14:30 (TLB)(NLT).

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Guilty Silence

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“And then he [Jesus] told them, ‘You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone everywhere.”1

In his book, Seven Signs of the End Times, Mark Hitchcock shares the following: “I heard a story recently about two pastors standing near the side of a road holding up a sign that read, ‘The end is near! Turn yourself around now before it’s too late!’

“As the first driver sped by, he hollered, ‘Leave us alone, you religious nuts!’

“From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big crash. One pastor turned to the other and said, ‘Maybe we should just put up a sign that says, Bridge Out Ahead.’”2

And as Hitchcock added, “It does appear to me, as I read the signs in our world today that the bridge is out.” Because of this, it is imperative that we let people know that they need to turn around and receive Christ and God’s forgiveness before it is too late.

In August , 2011, the death of one of today’s leading Evangelical Christian leaders, John Stott, was announced. His passing was a sad loss.

About John Stott, Chuck Colson of BreakPoint wrote, “In 1967, at a time when most Evangelical [Christians] were content to remain safe behind the walls of their churches, ignoring the larger world around them, Stott wrote a book entitled, Our Guilty Silence.

“In it Stott made the case that because the Gospel is ‘Good News’ we are under an obligation to share it with others. This sounds obvious, but in 1967 this kind of witness, and that kind of engagement with the larger society was the last thing many Christians wanted to do. They much preferred their comfortable worship and cultural isolation.”3

And Jerry Beavan, early advance organizer of the Billy Graham Crusades, in his American News Commentary, quoted Joel C. Rosenberg, New York Times bestselling author, who said, “America is in trouble, morally, spiritually and financially. Yet no one seems to have any answers. The politicians seem clueless. The media certainly doesn’t have any answers. Academia seems more out of touch than ever. Sadly, far too many

Church leaders are asleep, as well—or too timid, or drifting off course spiritually and theologically—just at the time they could and should be powerfully proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ as the only real hope of mankind. God hasn’t failed us. We have failed God.”4

Christian friends, if ever there was a time to reach friends, families, and people around the world and across the street with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ—the only hope for our sin-sick world—it is today. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer so eloquently stated it: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” May God deliver us from “our guilty silence.”

To make it simple for you to act and be involved in reaching others for Christ please do the following:

1. Forward this issue of Daily Encounter to all your Christian friends.

2. Join with us as a People Power for Jesus Partner—it’s so easy to do, so effective, and without any financial cost. For details see: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power02.php.

3. Also, be sure to use some of the ACTS Business Witness Cards that are available for a small donation. See them at actscom.com/witness_cards.php. Especially see “Have a God Day” and “Thank You for Your Friendly Service” cards.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I am available for you to use. Please deliver me from the sin of ‘guilty silence’ and give me the courage to help reach friends, family, contacts, and others with the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please do your work through me and make me an attractive and effective witness for Jesus Christ. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 16:15 (TLB)(NLT).

2. Mark Hitchcock, Seven Signs of the End Times, Multnomah Books, © 2002. P.100.

3. Chuck Colson, BreakPoint, http://tinyurl.com/4y6do6t.

4. American News Commentary, August 10, 2011.

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It’s a God Thing

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“Then the righteous will answer Him [Jesus], saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King [Jesus] will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’1

A Daily Encounter subscriber shared, “When we were on vacation in the UK last month, my daughter and I were walking down a side street where there was a church. It was raining. On the side of the church was a man sitting with a dog. The man was selling some kind of magazine—maybe the kind that some homeless people sell for spare change. The dog was lying down under an umbrella. I asked my daughter if we should give the man some spare change, but neither she nor I had any readily available, so we walked by.

“The next day we walked down that same street and the man and dog were on the other side of the street and we walked by again. That night I felt that God convicted me and it was as if he said to me, ‘You passed me by two times, will you pass me by a third time?’ So the next day I went to that street, got a larger denomination coin out, and gave it to the man. He wished me a very good day and as he did, I could see he had some kind of visual impairment. I realized afterwards that I actually had been the blind one. I had missed ‘God Himself’ sitting there as it were, in the rain, next to a dog who was sheltered by an umbrella.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always to be sensitive to those who are genuinely in need and realize that when I lend a helping hand, in your sight it is the same as if I were doing it for you. So help me God so to do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 25:37-40 (NKJV).

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Healthy Doubts

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“But the people of Beroea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and gladly listened to the message. They searched the Scriptures day by day to check up on Paul and Silas’ statements to see if they were really so.”1

John Henry Fabre, the French naturalist, conducted an interesting experiment with some processionary caterpillars, which are called by this name because they blindly follow each other, one behind another.

Fabre placed caterpillar food in the center of a flower pot and placed caterpillars end to end so they formed a complete circle around the edge of the pot. Round and around they went for seven days and nights until they dropped dead of starvation and exhaustion. With all the food they needed only a few inches away, they starved themselves to death.

Sad to say some people are like these caterpillars that blindly follow a leader never questioning what he says or teaches. This is especially noticeable in false cults but it can be equally true in any church or religious group, especially where legalism still exists. It can also be true in secular leadership including the political realm. It is imperative to know what the leaders we are following stand for and where they are leading us.

Imagine questioning the Apostle Paul, the most powerful leader in the early church. But the Christians in Beroea did and made sure that what he was teaching was in line with God’s Word. And they were commended for it.

It is important that we, too, learn to study and know the Scriptures for ourselves and question everything we are taught to make sure it is what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches. In other words, while we need to respect our leaders, we need to make God’s Word our “final voice of authority” and not the word of man no matter how high his position is or how appealing his words.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be open to truth/s I have not yet seen or been aware of—and help me to make sure that all I am taught is in harmony with your Word. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 17:11 (TLB)(NLT).

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My Daughter Is a Lesbian

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“Because of this [changing the truth about God for a lie], God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”1

A reader writes, “Please help me to understand why my adult daughter has become a lesbian over the past couple of years. She was brought up in a Christian home, was married for several years but is now separated. She has two sons who ask questions that I don’t know how to answer. All I know is that God is against homosexual activities. Also, her father is a homosexual….”

Dear Friend, regarding your daughter “becoming” a lesbian, my guess is that she has probably had these tendencies or feelings from her youth but has only recently made the choice to act out these feelings.

The fact that her father is a homosexual can be a strong contributing factor as children need both a mother and a father during their developmental years. A daughter needs both parents to confirm her female sexual identity when she is a teen, just as a son needs both parents to confirm his masculine identity. If the father hasn’t resolved his own sexual identity, he isn’t able to confirm his children’s sexual identity. Homosexuality is a failure to complete the maturity of a child’s sexual development. Furthermore, it is out of harmony with God’s design for the individual and the family. Keep in mind, too, that all of God’s rules/laws are for our protection, well-being, and for the health of the individual, the family, and ultimately the nation. We defy these laws to our own peril—even if it is eventually.

As Bruce Kaercher put it: “Our culture’s embrace of homosexuality has ignored the cause in order to embrace the symptom.”

Some homosexuals claim that they were born that way. Others claim that homosexuality is in their genes. The fact is, however, that sin is in my and everybody else’s genes because we are born sinners,2 but this does not justify acting out my sinful nature.

It is true that while God loves all sinners he hates all sin because all sin is destructive of those whom God loves—us! Keep in mind, too, that God not only condemns homosexuality. His Word says, “Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”3

I realize it can be extremely difficult to change one’s sexual disposition but help is available for those who want it.* Unfortunately, unless your daughter genuinely wants to change, there isn’t much you can do except to pray for her and assure her of your love and acceptance, while lovingly informing her that you are opposed to her lifestyle. And constantly ask God to help you to be “as Jesus” to your daughter and to your grandchildren.

Unfortunately a Christian home doesn’t guarantee one’s emotional, physical, or sexual maturity. For these, a child needs two mature and healthy parents—or at least a mother and/or father substitute, where needed, as a role model with whom the child can identify. God’s plan and design for the family is to bring up children with a loving mother and a loving father and we simply cannot improve on God’s plan. Furthermore, when parents are living out of harmony with God’s will and plan, their children can and usually suffer the natural consequences of parent’s unresolved sins and issues. As God’s Word, the Bible, says, “The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.”4

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to know and understand your will and plan for marriage, for the family, and for the lives of my children. Please help me to live in harmony with your plan so that I will be able to model for my children the kind of persons you want them to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 1:26-27 (NIV).

2. Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23.

3. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NLT).

4. Numbers 14:18 (NLT).

*For help for homosexuals…. See Exodus International at: http://exodusinternational.org/. See also Chuck Colson’s article, “When a Dog Says Moo” at: http://www.breakpoint.org/commentaries/2851-when-a-dog-says-moo.

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A Boy, a Brick, and a Doctor

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“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”1

In “Character Counts” Michael Josephson writes, “Consider the parable of a doctor driving through a poor part of town. He was in a hurry, so he ignored a young boy who tried to flag him down. But, as he slowed for a traffic light, his car was hit by a brick. The man got out of the car and screamed, ‘You’ll go to jail for this!’

“The boy cried, ‘Take me to jail, but first please call someone to help my mom. She’s on the floor in our apartment and I think she’s dying. We have no phone and I couldn’t get anyone to stop—I didn’t know what else to do.’

“Filled with shame, the doctor rushed to the woman’s aid and saved her life with CPR. Of course, he didn’t call the police, and he made sure the boy was taken care of as his mom was taken to the hospital.

“When the doctor got home and told his wife, she said, ‘Well, that dent will cost you $1,000 to fix.’

“‘No, it won’t,’ he said. ‘I’m not fixing the dent. I’m going to leave it as it is to remind me that not everyone in need has a brick.’”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be sensitive to the needs of people with whom I come in contact every day. I am available, please make me usable, and use me today to be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:27 (NLT).

2. Michael Josephson, Character Counts.

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Can a Good God Do Evil?

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“But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people [Israelite slaves] go.”1 “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.”2

A pastor asked the question: “Please help me unravel this question I was asked at our last Bible study. Can a good God do evil? For example, the Bible says that an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and also that God created Pharaoh for purpose of destroying him. I am yet to find a good explanation myself and need your help to share with my congregation.”

“Dear Pastor, regarding questions like these I go back to Pharaoh in Moses day when he refused to let God’s people leave their slavery in Egypt. In spite of the many plagues God sent on the Egyptian people, the Bible says that Pharaoh kept hardening his heart. Time and again Pharaoh hardened his heart against God, Moses and the children of Israel. In other words it was Pharaoh who hardened his own heart and then God gave up on him and confirmed the hardening of his heart.

Also, when the Bible says that God will send unsaved sinners to hell, it is really sinners who send themselves to hell because they have chosen not to, or failed to, confess their sins and ask God for his forgiveness.

Where it says that an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, because Saul rejected God’s plan for him, God didn’t stop this evil spirit from coming on Saul. I’m sure that an evil spirit would like to come upon every Christian who is faithfully serving the Lord, but God blocks it because we are trusting and serving him.

It’s the same here in the U.S.A., the more we as a people reject God, the Bible, and Christianity, the more we will further accelerate the moral decay that is happening throughout the land. In so doing, we remove ourselves from God’s blessing and protection. It’s not that God sends the catastrophes that come upon us, but rather, that we remove ourselves from his protection and blessings, and as a consequence we reap the natural consequences of going against God’s will.

The same principle applies to individuals—if we reject God and go against his will—we will remove ourselves from God’s blessings and protection and will reap the natural consequences of our sinful behaviors.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that all of your laws, rules and principles are for my safety, protection and well-being. Please help me always to live in harmony with all of your ways and, in so doing, reap the rewards of your blessing on my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus name, amen.”

1. Exodus 8:32 (NIV).

2. Exodus 9:12 (NIV).

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