Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

11 Jul

Whose Health?

Posted by sandhillspastor in Culture, Evil deeds, God's Word, Sanctity of Human Life, Ten Commandments, Truth.

Hello friends,
It was a busy Independence Day weekend here at the lake. There were lots of people, and the fireworks display didn’t disappoint. The several fund-raising events were well attended and much needed dollars were donated toward lake projects. A big thank you to all who volunteered or helped out in any way.

As mentioned in last week’s article, the new camper window arrived mid-week and has been installed. If I ever need to do this again, I have gained valuable experience on the subject. it was done with a minimum of personal injury and no ER visits were necessary.

After some very hot days, the mowing has slowed down a bit, however there have been a few timely rains so I expect the grass to keep growing. The garden is doing well, we have had cucumbers and it is just a matter of time until we are overrun with tomatoes; this is a good thing. I had hoped for the gardening bug to start fading away, but there are plans for a larger garden space for next year.

Abortion is being called health care by its supporters; what about the health of the unborn baby? Let’s talk about that. There is so much misinformation being tossed around on this subject, we must be able to present the truth. The Bible indicates the unborn is as much a person as one who is born and grows to maturity. There is no thought that this is not true.

In God’s law as given to Moses, we read this. “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise” (Exodus 21:22-25).

While unintentional life-taking was not usually a capital offense, here it clearly was. Also, the unborn child is viewed in this passage as just as much a human being as its mother; the abortion of a fetus was considered murder. (Bible Knowledge Commentary on Exodus 21:22-25).

These verses are basic to the pro-life position on abortion for they indicate that the aborting of a fetus was equivalent to the murdering of the child. (Warren Wiersbe’s Commentary).

For the unborn,
Pastor Jerry

23 May

One Way

Posted by sandhillspastor in Body of Believers, Culture, Eternal Life, Gospel, Salvation, Truth.

Dear readers,
After a very cool overnight temperature (28 degrees here), we had a beautiful Sunday. Let’s hope this was the last we see of frost until fall. Our new garden plants and flowers escaped any damage because someone (not me) covered them all the night before. On the topic of weather, it would be good if all God’s people continued to pray for rain, as many areas are still in need of beneficial rains.

I had the pleasure of speaking at Grace Bible Church in Loup City on Sunday, and the ladies who provide the music let me join in. We had a guitar trio… two acoustics and an electric bass. It is good when God’s people worship in song.

The message for Sunday focused on the need for Christians to know what they believe and why. To quote a well-known evangelical pastor, we need to “remember what we know.” A survey from 2021 found that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults said they believe in heaven, but there was widespread disagreement about how to get there. Among all Americans, nearly 40 percent said heaven will be the home of those who do not even believe in God. Among those calling themselves Christians, 58 percent said there are multiple religions that can lead to heaven. (Pew Research Center, November 23, 2021).

Many preachers today are preaching from the culture, making their message acceptable to everyone. We need preachers to preach the Word of God that convicts people of their sin, in order to turn them to the Savior. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). It does not speak of many ways, nor any other “truth.” He also said this; Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13).

Jesus also said, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep…; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:7-9). Paul wrote, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

Blessings,
Pastor Jerry

9 May

Elections Matter

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Bible, Culture, Freedom, Obedience, Politics, Truth.

Dear friends,
Isn’t it amazing how a little rain transforms the landscape and gives people a better outlook on life? Grass is growing, the flowering trees are in bloom, even the dandelions are a welcome sight after a long dry winter. Those recent rains were definitely an answer to many prayers. Let’s continue to thank the Lord for the blessing of rain.

Don’t forget to vote this Tuesday, May 10. It is our right as citizens to go to the polls and elect those who would represent us in the government. Pray that God would allow those in office who will stand for truth, and for biblical principles. Also, that those who do not know Him would see the light of His salvation, and be changed. Scripture commands us to pray for everyone. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings (governors and presidents included), that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Christians are called to acknowledge those in authority as sent by God. The apostle Paul wrote these words: Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves. (Romans 13:1-2).

Those who lead will also be held accountable. “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
“Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill…”
I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession…
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:1-6, 8, 10-11).

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

7 Feb

God’s Love

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Culture, Eternal Life, Gospel, Obedience, Salvation, The Good News.

Dear friends,
Sunday evening saw the return of our church’s annual Valentine’s dinner. Over fifty were in attendance, and it was a very enjoyable time. It is good to have an evening of great food, good fellowship, and an entertaining speaker with a gospel message.

The observance of Valentine’s Day is all about hearts and flowers, candy and sweet sentiments, along with love and starry eyed couples. From a biblical perspective, the message of God’s love is for all time, and for everyone, not just for couples. It is a message that becomes more urgent with each new day. The greatest love story of all time begins, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That means all people. In the words of a dear friend, “All means all, that’s all all means. Every person who believes in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross has eternal life. Period.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost, no exceptions. Everyone has the opportunity to respond to his call. Galatians 3:28 reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul told us to pray for those in authority, because “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself for all men–” (1 Timothy 2:3-6a).

The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him…, Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

It is God’s will that all people will believe on Jesus for their salvation. Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21). “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).

In His love,
Pastor Jerry

23 Aug

Look to Jesus

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Christian Living, Culture, Faith, God's Word, Hope, Persecution, Prayer, Salvation, Trials, Trust, Witness.

Dear friends,

My trusty laptop has decided to take a vacation this week. I will be taking it to the repair shop Monday, but for now I’m using an older one that doesn’t have all the perks I’m used to. This will be a re-learning experience, I am sure. We managed to get a little rain last week. As usual, we didn’t get the amount we thought we needed, but we are thankful for every drop.

This month, I will have the blessing of sharing God’s word with three different churches. In light of the ongoing news from Afghanistan, I believe it is proper to share a thought or two from the message I am preaching.

It is no secret that the Taliban there in Afghanistan, and other places around the world, are bent on destroying Christianity. It is in their teaching that followers of Jesus Christ are to be killed, as well as anyone who doesn’t submit to their religion. The persecution of Christians in that part of the world is real, and it is going on now. However, the Bible tells us God is just and righteous, and He will have the final say.

The apostle Paul wrote this to the persecuted church in Thessalonica, “All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering, God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling… We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12).

Look to Jesus,

Pastor Jerry

9 Aug

Stand With Israel

Posted by sandhillspastor in Culture, God's Word, Obedience, Persecution, Salvation, Trials, Witness.

Hello friends and family,

This past week has been pleasant. We didn’t see any of those extremely hot days, and it has cooled nicely at night. We could certainly use a nice rain or two, but since we aren’t in control of that, we’ll have to ask the One who is to send us some.

I hurt my shoulder in a strange way last week. It happened as I was lying down for my afternoon nap. I’m chalking it up to the fragility of old age, but whatever the cause it was painful. After a trip to the chiropractor on Monday, it is much better, thank you.

As we watch and listen to the changing culture, I am reminded of a statement I heard many years ago relating to the question of why America isn’t mentioned in Bible prophecy. The answer given was this; America will cease to be a force for Christianity. It certainly appears that we are headed in that direction today. It is a fact that Christianity is growing rapidly in many areas of the world, while the western world becomes more secularized. Here in our country, Christian voices are being shut down, while the godless become more and more vocal.

We know from Scripture that Israel will be restored to fellowship with God as His chosen people. The Gentile world is warned that disregard for Israel will be judged and punished. It is also clear that a set number of Gentiles (non-Jews) will become followers of God before Jesus returns.

God said to Abram (later named Abraham), “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). As I see some in our government calling for boycotting Israel, I want to say, “you don’t know what you are getting yourselves into.”

God withdrew His blessing from Israel because of their disobedience, and gave Gentile believers the responsibility for sharing God’s plan of salvation, but He will restore the Jews to their intended position as His chosen. We must be faithful to stand for the truth of the gospel, and to defend Israel until the Lord returns to take us all to glory.

For His glory,

Pastor Jerry

26 Jul

Where Will You Be?

Posted by sandhillspastor in Culture, Eternity, Faith, God's Word, Judgment, Rest, Reward, Salvation, Trials.

Hello friends,
Summer is still here, as evidenced by the temperature forecast for this week. It was a busy weekend at the lake; the campgrounds were full and the river was crowded with tanks, kayaks, and other floating devices. The swimming area was busy, as is usual on sunny days. We are beginning to enjoy some produce from the garden. We wait for this season with anticipation, and have never been disappointed. It has occurred to me that the Labor Day holiday is a mere six weekends away. Where has the summer gone?

Every week, I search for a topic for these articles. There is no shortage of things to catch my attention, but which ones to comment on? From the Christian point of view, it seems more and more there is an anti-God mentality. At every point, the culture is downplaying the existence of God, and the need to follow His teaching. Jesus Christ is seen as nothing more than an ordinary human being, who lived a good life, or even a good teacher, and His followers are painted as being out of step with the times.

The following statement is a quote from Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Theological Seminary: “I think convictional conservative Christians are in the predicament of being considered by the world, to be what we are not accustomed to experiencing and that is, they’re looking at us as people on the wrong side of history, people on the wrong side of morality, people on the wrong side of all the revolutions that are running their course these days.” (World Magazine, 7/16/21).

I believe that the One in charge of history will eventually show the world the true side of history. He will prove that He is who He says He is. And everyone who ever lived will bow at His feet and acknowledge His lordship. Those who know Him will be rewarded, and those who rejected Him will be judged. This doesn’t mean life for His followers will be easy, but that they will be on the right side at the end.

“For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:
“’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God’’’.
“So, then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10c-12).

In Him,
Pastor Jerry

19 Jul

The Word of the Lord

Posted by sandhillspastor in Bible, Culture, Faith, False teachers, God's Word, Obedience, Sin, Truth.

Hello friends,
It’s time for another of our weekly conversations. Things have been going well here, we had a little rain and the temperatures have been tolerable. The garden plants are beginning to give us hope of some fresh veggies in the near future. We have had one small zucchini, and more are coming along. Beans are ready to pick and we have had a few green onions. Did I mention cucumbers? We will be enjoying them soon, also. Sunday, we attended church at Grace Bible Church, and enjoyed a fellowship meal afterward. We found some new roads on our way back home, but this is not unusual for us!

Regarding spiritual matters, I have been seeing articles referencing a trend in which high profile Christians have announced they are leaving the traditional evangelical church. The term being used is ‘exvangelical.’ The Scriptures long ago identified this trend, where people would follow false teachers and be led astray by false doctrine.

Many of these people started out believing God’s word as it was given to us. Then when the culture started to insist that marriage could be something other than between a man and a woman, and all kinds of other sinful behaviors were okay, it wasn’t popular to hold to those beliefs. Rather than stand on the Word, they said “God really didn’t mean what he said, that book is outdated, and we have to get with the new way of looking at these things.”

Hear the Word of the Lord!
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).
“I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them” (Romans 16:17).

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:16-17).
“God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).

Count on it: God’s Word is true.

In Him,
Pastor Jerry

12 Jul

Godly Living

Posted by sandhillspastor in Christian Living, Culture, End Times, Evil deeds, Obedience, Truth, Witness.

Hello all,
Last week was a welcome change from the busyness of the previous one. We did receive about a half-inch of rain, but missed all the nasty stuff. The heat was the biggest issue for us. As I write this, we are experiencing a cool morning, with a forecast high of 74 degrees. During our camping trip last week, I discovered our kitchen faucet was leaking, so this week I replaced it. I am sure the ones who designed the camper had never tried replacing a faucet in their old age.

Shout out to some old friends who camped at Lake Ericson last week. It was good to catch up with you for a couple of hours. Have a good rest of the summer!

Did you know there are passages of the Bible that describe our time? Does any of this sound familiar?
Concerning the last days: “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

The apostle Paul also describes those who reject God in this way; “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree… they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:29-32).

To the Christian, Peter writes; “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter1:14-15). “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, although they accuse you of wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Finally, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who correctly handles the truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Standing on His unchanging Word,
Pastor Jerry

3 May

Creation Speaks… Listen

Posted by sandhillspastor in Bible, Creation, Culture, God's Word, Truth, Wisdom, Worship.

Dear friends,
Another week has flown by, and it is already May. The weather continues to be variable, moving between hot and cool, calm and windy, dry and damp. In the midst of all this flowers are blooming, as are the ornamental trees and wild plums. And, we are seeing pairs of geese with their newly hatched goslings.

I’m reminded of these verses from the Psalms; “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:7-9).

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-3).

There are many people in our world today who do not know God. It has always been so, but it seems those who will not acknowledge him are more antagonistic toward any talk of a righteous and just God. I believe the scriptures speak of this, and have warned us about times such as these. The evidence of a Creator is everywhere, but they refuse to believe their eyes.

I return to the book of Romans and read this; “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. for since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

The psalmist has written;
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good, not even one (Psalm 14:1-3).

I pray they see the truth, and come to Christ.

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

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