What are we to do? First and foremost seek the Father’s face, learn His will for you in these times. All of us have a task set before us. All of us need to be preparing our families. This is the most important task. All others fall by the way side if we fail our families. I myself have been remiss for too long in this duty, and one I am now working on correcting. Yeshua made it clear that our families will be important when the time comes. They will be the ties that bind us together and our support when we feel weak. We prepare our families by getting them in the Word, knowing what we believe and why, memorizing as much scripture as we can, and above all helping each other grow in our personal walks with Yeshua.
Once our families are prepared we must be open to whatever call He has on our lives. Each person in His remnant will have a calling. Some will be simple and may simply be to raise your family in the way they should go, others will have complex callings that will change from time to time. Some will be called to teach and preach, others to sound the alarm and prepare the way. Some will be called to suffer and even give their lives as martyrs. I pray that Yeshua will not have to move and purge the church of the infection, but I also pray that he not stay His hand longer than necessary.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
The Rising Storm
I have been watching and praying a lot lately and I am becoming more and more convinced of something. We are sitting the on the edge of a vast change in how the church is seen over the world, especially here in the United States. Our churches are becoming weak because a very well crafted lie has been spread throughout Yeshua’s church. I have been agonizing over this for some time because I do not wish to know what I know. Yeshua is weeping over the state of his church and has decided to act. He is staying His hand for now because He wishes for those who are caught up in the lie to see the light and come back to their true love.
There is a remnant of the redeemed right now, He is gathering them and preparing them to boldly speak the message that His judgment is coming if we do not repent of our wicked ways and return to Him. He has shown me His heart on this and he knows many will not follow, being content to hear a false gospel that makes them feel good for now without true understanding of the eternal cost to their souls, or the temporal cost to their lives when the time of trial comes.
The church in America will know the persecution of our forefathers. For the ones who have placed their faith in Yeshua it will be a time of the refiners fire and our faith in Him will grow and our love deepened, but for those who have no foundation when the fire comes they will be consumed, they will curse G_d because they think they have been forsaken when their fortunes and lives are gone, their faith crushed because they put their faith in the things of this world and gaining more of them than in following Yeshua, taking up the cross, and dying unto themselves.
My heart is grieved and heavy because of this. I would much rather go on living in bliss, not knowing what is in store for us if the church does not return to it’s first love. I know this is a heavy topic, but it is the message He has laid upon my heart. I thought when he told me I was to start learning that it meant that I would have to find a teacher to teach me, I was right in one regard that I needed a teacher but not on the subject I first thought. I am not even sure how to put this. Time is too short now for a “formal†type of education, not because the trial will be tomorrow, but because it will take time to gather the remnant and for the remnant to spread the message. For some reason I cannot fathom He has chosen me, maybe it is to confound the wise and those stuck in the lie, I do not know, but I do know I am to be a leader of some kind. For now I am looking to gather an on-line remnant to pray and seek His face. We will need guidance and strength in the months and years ahead of us, I will tell you we will be ridiculed, reviled, hated, imprisoned, and some will even lose their life. Remember these are all things Yeshua said would happen to us, but no matter what the world does the world cannot take us away from Yeshua and if we die then we will go to be with Him. I pray that we will all remember when the time of trial comes.
There is a remnant of the redeemed right now, He is gathering them and preparing them to boldly speak the message that His judgment is coming if we do not repent of our wicked ways and return to Him. He has shown me His heart on this and he knows many will not follow, being content to hear a false gospel that makes them feel good for now without true understanding of the eternal cost to their souls, or the temporal cost to their lives when the time of trial comes.
The church in America will know the persecution of our forefathers. For the ones who have placed their faith in Yeshua it will be a time of the refiners fire and our faith in Him will grow and our love deepened, but for those who have no foundation when the fire comes they will be consumed, they will curse G_d because they think they have been forsaken when their fortunes and lives are gone, their faith crushed because they put their faith in the things of this world and gaining more of them than in following Yeshua, taking up the cross, and dying unto themselves.
My heart is grieved and heavy because of this. I would much rather go on living in bliss, not knowing what is in store for us if the church does not return to it’s first love. I know this is a heavy topic, but it is the message He has laid upon my heart. I thought when he told me I was to start learning that it meant that I would have to find a teacher to teach me, I was right in one regard that I needed a teacher but not on the subject I first thought. I am not even sure how to put this. Time is too short now for a “formal†type of education, not because the trial will be tomorrow, but because it will take time to gather the remnant and for the remnant to spread the message. For some reason I cannot fathom He has chosen me, maybe it is to confound the wise and those stuck in the lie, I do not know, but I do know I am to be a leader of some kind. For now I am looking to gather an on-line remnant to pray and seek His face. We will need guidance and strength in the months and years ahead of us, I will tell you we will be ridiculed, reviled, hated, imprisoned, and some will even lose their life. Remember these are all things Yeshua said would happen to us, but no matter what the world does the world cannot take us away from Yeshua and if we die then we will go to be with Him. I pray that we will all remember when the time of trial comes.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
A True Friend
My friends I do not do this often, I am going to heap a bunch of praise upon someone who will tell me that I shouldn’t. Since starting blogging I have met a couple encouragers. One of them is Billy D (I can’t wait until his life is settled enough to start blogging again), the other is a very godly woman, she has been given considerable wisdom in her years and I have been tremendously blessed by her presence here in the blogsphere. This is a woman I would be happy to call Mom and in some ways is a spiritual mother to me. I know I am too old to truly be her child but I would be honored if she allowed me to continue thinking of her that way. Serena, as I have told my wife on many an occasion recently “I love this womanâ€, she wholeheartedly agrees with me. May Yeshua continue to bless you and your family. Some day Birdie and I will figure out how to meet you, but if not in this life I will look forward to seeing you in heaven.
Come out to Life
Derech Shalom
Come out to Life
Derech Shalom
Monday, February 20, 2006
I Have Been Challenged
The other day Andrea posted this article (Andrea is asking us to be considerate of the fledgling Christians and those not yet redeemed) about a church being built. Digital Cowboy piped in and claimed that Andrea was being judgmental and “encouraged†her to visit the church before condemning it. This devolved into an discussion over how G_d blesses us and why He does so. Cowboy claimed that those who believed that G_d prospers those he chooses to and for the purpose of spreading the gospel not accepting that often those left in a state of dependence upon Him will come to love Him more for the miraculous provision as just stuck in “religionâ€, and he hates “religionâ€. Well I have news for Cowboy everyone has some sort of “religionâ€. I do, he does, Serena does, Andrea does, the atheist does, and so does Joel Osteen. Religion is simply the code of beliefs that we live by. I know that Cowboy is going to say that is not what he meant, that he meant that he hates when people attempt to limit G_d. I to hate it when we attempt to place G_d in a box and say this is what He is all about. Not one man can limit G_d; we do not have that power. As a matter of fact the entire human race cannot limit Him. He will do as He wills and will bless us according to His will and plan, not by us manipulating Him and basically claiming power over Him.
In that conversation Cowboy claimed that that we were either sinners or we were saved that we could not be both. If you look at it simplistically he is right, but he is wrong. The scriptures are filled with references from those who were followers or simply those who had faith that felt they had no right to be in Yeshua’s presence. He would often bless them for their faith. Yeshua consistently berated the proud and honored those who were humble. When one of his redeemed says we are but lowly sinners saved by His grace, it is recognition of where we came from and an acknowledgement of His grace and power in our lives.
Again in that conversation Cowboy challenged me on my list of people preaching the prosperity gospel message. I still stand by my list of those preaching the prosperity gospel message. At Cowboy’s request I went and checked out Joel Osteen again. His message has not changed he preaches the same form of “name it and claim it†his father preached before him. It is a little subtler than his father’s but it is still there. He openly denies that Yeshua is the only way to reach the father. When pressed he will claim it is for G_d to judge the heart of the individual and not his place. This is a copout. I have read too much about Mr. Osteen, and read his own words to think otherwise. He preaches a gospel that denies the absolute need for Yeshua’s sacrifice, replacing it with pop psychology and ever present positive thinking masked as living in faith. I would go on to say that Mr. Osteen is one of the top preachers of the prosperity message.
In that conversation Cowboy claimed that that we were either sinners or we were saved that we could not be both. If you look at it simplistically he is right, but he is wrong. The scriptures are filled with references from those who were followers or simply those who had faith that felt they had no right to be in Yeshua’s presence. He would often bless them for their faith. Yeshua consistently berated the proud and honored those who were humble. When one of his redeemed says we are but lowly sinners saved by His grace, it is recognition of where we came from and an acknowledgement of His grace and power in our lives.
Again in that conversation Cowboy challenged me on my list of people preaching the prosperity gospel message. I still stand by my list of those preaching the prosperity gospel message. At Cowboy’s request I went and checked out Joel Osteen again. His message has not changed he preaches the same form of “name it and claim it†his father preached before him. It is a little subtler than his father’s but it is still there. He openly denies that Yeshua is the only way to reach the father. When pressed he will claim it is for G_d to judge the heart of the individual and not his place. This is a copout. I have read too much about Mr. Osteen, and read his own words to think otherwise. He preaches a gospel that denies the absolute need for Yeshua’s sacrifice, replacing it with pop psychology and ever present positive thinking masked as living in faith. I would go on to say that Mr. Osteen is one of the top preachers of the prosperity message.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
New Life is so Cool
For all of those pro aborts and those who think life does not start before birth you can stop reading now.
Ok are they gone now?
For the rest of us, here is how cool an unborn child is. Birdie is now firmly in the third trimester and “Wiggles†is very active. The cool thing is that “Wiggles†interacts with his/her environment. I can talk to the baby and he/she repositions himself/herself to listen better. “Wiggles†also likes to be rubbed or patted and will even push into the rubbing and patting much the chagrin of Mama. “Wiggles†also likes to be held. He/She will get in position that you can even hold a body part “sort of†and will stay there for some time. “Wiggles†Hates the vacuum cleaner and if Mama is in the room when it is being used “Wiggles†will try to exit Mama through her nose. “Wiggles†also does not like several kinds of music including rock, jazz, and the blues.
Nobody could tell me that this little person who is already very opinionated is not yet alive. It is so cool getting to know a little one before they are even born. I cannot wait.
Ok are they gone now?
For the rest of us, here is how cool an unborn child is. Birdie is now firmly in the third trimester and “Wiggles†is very active. The cool thing is that “Wiggles†interacts with his/her environment. I can talk to the baby and he/she repositions himself/herself to listen better. “Wiggles†also likes to be rubbed or patted and will even push into the rubbing and patting much the chagrin of Mama. “Wiggles†also likes to be held. He/She will get in position that you can even hold a body part “sort of†and will stay there for some time. “Wiggles†Hates the vacuum cleaner and if Mama is in the room when it is being used “Wiggles†will try to exit Mama through her nose. “Wiggles†also does not like several kinds of music including rock, jazz, and the blues.
Nobody could tell me that this little person who is already very opinionated is not yet alive. It is so cool getting to know a little one before they are even born. I cannot wait.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Second Prayer Request for a Friend
Some good news, the antibiotics seem to be working for Jimmie, but there are some more concerns for his family now. Please be praying for his wife and MIL.
Thanks.
Hey,
We are need of Prayer at this time. My toe is finally healing,BUT,
1) Anita has just (Monday) been diagnosed with Gallstones and will need to have that taken care of later in the week or early next week ALSO
2) Anita's Mom has had pain in her neck for the last week so today we found out she has a fast growing tumor. Biopsy is Thursday, No information until Monday on Results. The tumor has grown from Ping Pong Ball Sized on Friday to Large orange sized today. This has been a crazy month, and we do appreciate your prayers.
In His Grace,
Jimmie W. Kersh
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Answers to Arielle on Forgiveness
I'm thinking further study might be necessary, though. I'm not certain that you've covered this as fully as needs to be done.
For one thing, though we are commanded to forgive, the Redeemed are also instructed to put unrepentant sinners out of their midst and not to have fellowship with them. In this case, forgiveness would not absolve them of the consequences of their misdeeds.
What of all those that repent of their sin and become Redeemed, yet still suffer from the physical consequences of their sin?
Arielle
You are correct I did not cover the issue of forgiveness fully. I was speaking more along the lines of who can forgive rather than the ramifications of forgiveness. So lets go a little further in our discussion. Most of Arielle’s questions are based around my statement that forgiveness releases the guilty from guilt and consequences. When I wrote that, I was thinking eternally not temporally, but lets get on to Arielle’s questions.
First is on the subject of the unrepentant sinner and removing said sinner from fellowship. At first this seems a little tricky but if we look at it more closely it is not. Removing an unrepentant sinner from fellowship is an act of the church leadership (sort of a semi-governmental type of thing) and does not actually require that the leadership to be the offended party. There are set guidelines for it in Mathew 18, and actually has little to do with forgiveness. Forgiveness for the Redeemed is for the most part a singular personal action, whereas the act of removing someone from fellowship is supposed to be a last ditch effort to bring the unrepentant sinner to repentance and should be performed by someone in authority in the church who is not personally involved.
So what about suffering the physical or temporal consequences of sin? That is a difficult question to answer. But may have more to do with ultimately giving glory to Yeshua than we see at first glance. For some it is a reminder of where they came from and for others it can serve as a warning of what sin can do to a person’s life. Others such as those dying from a disease brought about by their old sinful lifestyle it may simply hasten going Home to the Father. There are many reasons Yeshua will not remove the temporal consequences from the Redeemed, but we can be rest assured none of them will fail to bring Him glory in the end.
For one thing, though we are commanded to forgive, the Redeemed are also instructed to put unrepentant sinners out of their midst and not to have fellowship with them. In this case, forgiveness would not absolve them of the consequences of their misdeeds.
What of all those that repent of their sin and become Redeemed, yet still suffer from the physical consequences of their sin?
Arielle
You are correct I did not cover the issue of forgiveness fully. I was speaking more along the lines of who can forgive rather than the ramifications of forgiveness. So lets go a little further in our discussion. Most of Arielle’s questions are based around my statement that forgiveness releases the guilty from guilt and consequences. When I wrote that, I was thinking eternally not temporally, but lets get on to Arielle’s questions.
First is on the subject of the unrepentant sinner and removing said sinner from fellowship. At first this seems a little tricky but if we look at it more closely it is not. Removing an unrepentant sinner from fellowship is an act of the church leadership (sort of a semi-governmental type of thing) and does not actually require that the leadership to be the offended party. There are set guidelines for it in Mathew 18, and actually has little to do with forgiveness. Forgiveness for the Redeemed is for the most part a singular personal action, whereas the act of removing someone from fellowship is supposed to be a last ditch effort to bring the unrepentant sinner to repentance and should be performed by someone in authority in the church who is not personally involved.
So what about suffering the physical or temporal consequences of sin? That is a difficult question to answer. But may have more to do with ultimately giving glory to Yeshua than we see at first glance. For some it is a reminder of where they came from and for others it can serve as a warning of what sin can do to a person’s life. Others such as those dying from a disease brought about by their old sinful lifestyle it may simply hasten going Home to the Father. There are many reasons Yeshua will not remove the temporal consequences from the Redeemed, but we can be rest assured none of them will fail to bring Him glory in the end.
Blogging Personality
A thank you goes out to the Pebble Chaser for the link.
| Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful |
 |
What is funny is how many blog posts never make it off the cutting room floor because I dont like how they read.
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Reason # 1,759,421 to Homeschool Your Children
Ok, the zero tolerance police are at it again. This time a little boy (6 yo) touches a little girl (6 yo) and gets suspended for 3 days. This is just one more example of the equalitarian society doing what it can to prevent boys from being boys. If it had been my boy, and he had done that, a slap on the wrist and an explanation that boys are to protect girls would have been enough.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Forgiveness
I wrote this a while back and decided to go ahead and post this now.
What is forgiveness? When are we to forgive? Who should forgive? And whom should we forgive? And you ask why bring up the subject?
I bring this up because of this post by Heidi. In it she describes what she thinks a certain couple men deserve for the crime they committed against a boy. What was interesting were the responses to her post. I made an attempt at levity that Heidi got, but others almost chastised her for her post. All the comments centered on forgiveness. Cowboy asked her if she had forgiveness issues (might have been in jest knowing DC), others pointed out forgiveness was conditional upon repentance, others pointing out that vengeance belonged to G_d.
Basically forgiveness involves being released from the guilt and consequences of ones misdeeds. This is closely associated with mercy. The question of who should forgive is easy. We as followers of Yeshua have been given a command to forgive those who have offended us just as He has forgiven us. This allows us to shed in some physical light what Yeshua has done for us. Yeshua also brought up that we are to forgive those who offend us each and every time. So far the answers have been simple but the question of who should we forgive is a little trickier. The simple answer is someone who offends us should be forgiven, but is often applied much further than that in we are told to forgive everyone even those who have offended someone else. Now while this sounds good it is not something we can actually do. You see in order for you to forgive you must first be the victim of some offence. I will use the case that Heidi was talking about to illustrate. Heidi was upset over a 13 y.o. boy who was sexually abused by and AIDS awareness advocate who happened to have AIDS himself therefore ruining the boy’s life. The boy is the victim of this crime; G_d is also offended because His Law is broken; and the state is offended because one of it’s laws have been broken. Now the only ones who can extend forgiveness here are G_d, the boy, and the state. Heidi cannot in reality offer any forgiveness in this case, although I do believe that the boy’s parents could be added to that list.
Now if the boy and / or his parents are a Christians they are commanded to offer forgiveness as an extension of G_d’s grace and mercy, this is not conditional upon the repentance of the offender. G_d’s forgiveness is conditional upon the acceptance of Yeshua’s sacrifice and lordship regardless of the offence. If the offender does not then G_d’s perfect justice will take place. The state is the only entity here that has the option to wave forgiveness and in reality has a mandate to punish those who have committed crimes.
What is forgiveness? When are we to forgive? Who should forgive? And whom should we forgive? And you ask why bring up the subject?
I bring this up because of this post by Heidi. In it she describes what she thinks a certain couple men deserve for the crime they committed against a boy. What was interesting were the responses to her post. I made an attempt at levity that Heidi got, but others almost chastised her for her post. All the comments centered on forgiveness. Cowboy asked her if she had forgiveness issues (might have been in jest knowing DC), others pointed out forgiveness was conditional upon repentance, others pointing out that vengeance belonged to G_d.
Basically forgiveness involves being released from the guilt and consequences of ones misdeeds. This is closely associated with mercy. The question of who should forgive is easy. We as followers of Yeshua have been given a command to forgive those who have offended us just as He has forgiven us. This allows us to shed in some physical light what Yeshua has done for us. Yeshua also brought up that we are to forgive those who offend us each and every time. So far the answers have been simple but the question of who should we forgive is a little trickier. The simple answer is someone who offends us should be forgiven, but is often applied much further than that in we are told to forgive everyone even those who have offended someone else. Now while this sounds good it is not something we can actually do. You see in order for you to forgive you must first be the victim of some offence. I will use the case that Heidi was talking about to illustrate. Heidi was upset over a 13 y.o. boy who was sexually abused by and AIDS awareness advocate who happened to have AIDS himself therefore ruining the boy’s life. The boy is the victim of this crime; G_d is also offended because His Law is broken; and the state is offended because one of it’s laws have been broken. Now the only ones who can extend forgiveness here are G_d, the boy, and the state. Heidi cannot in reality offer any forgiveness in this case, although I do believe that the boy’s parents could be added to that list.
Now if the boy and / or his parents are a Christians they are commanded to offer forgiveness as an extension of G_d’s grace and mercy, this is not conditional upon the repentance of the offender. G_d’s forgiveness is conditional upon the acceptance of Yeshua’s sacrifice and lordship regardless of the offence. If the offender does not then G_d’s perfect justice will take place. The state is the only entity here that has the option to wave forgiveness and in reality has a mandate to punish those who have committed crimes.
A Friend's Prayer Request
Hey everyone,
My mentor Jimmie sent this prayer request and I am passing it on to you, so when you get the chance pray for him. I know the anguish he is going through because my MIL (who is diabetic) had to go through this when she injured her knee. She lost half of her leg because of the infection. Please pray for him.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to ask you if you would pray for me. I am diabetic and I have an infection from a hangnail on my large toe. I had to go to the doc today and he told me to stay in the bed for the next three days. I am on a high powered antibiotic and hoping it will improve before Friday. If not, I will have the toe removed. Never thought I would start falling apart this bad this fast. (haha)
Doc was great and gave me an option of complete bed rest at home or in the hospital. I chose home. Hopefully that was the right choice.
In His Grace,
Jimmie W. Kersh
Jimmiekersh.blogspot.com
My mentor Jimmie sent this prayer request and I am passing it on to you, so when you get the chance pray for him. I know the anguish he is going through because my MIL (who is diabetic) had to go through this when she injured her knee. She lost half of her leg because of the infection. Please pray for him.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to ask you if you would pray for me. I am diabetic and I have an infection from a hangnail on my large toe. I had to go to the doc today and he told me to stay in the bed for the next three days. I am on a high powered antibiotic and hoping it will improve before Friday. If not, I will have the toe removed. Never thought I would start falling apart this bad this fast. (haha)
Doc was great and gave me an option of complete bed rest at home or in the hospital. I chose home. Hopefully that was the right choice.
In His Grace,
Jimmie W. Kersh
Jimmiekersh.blogspot.com
Monday, February 6, 2006
Odds and Ends
I want to say I am sorry for the absence from my blog for the past week. Birdie is still having some problems, she got a little better but she is not out of the woods yet. It seems that this pregnancy is just going to be hard on her. She has been ill from the beginning and has only had brief periods where she felt well. Please keep praying for her.
Over at Heidi’s she is having a contest to give Difster a real name. Why? I am not sure why, he does have a perfectly good name in Difster. (I know it is all in fun ;)) Speaking of names Birdie has mentioned to me more than once how hard it is for he to think of me as Eaglewood on her blog. So if you see another name for her husband over there don’t think she has flipped out and gotten herself a new husband. She has called me “Bear†for 15 years and it is more comfortable for her. Eaglewood was the family name we formed from a medieval unit study we did and from a cat that I had that we called Misty of Eaglewood. I just thought it would make a good on-line name as I have a fascination with eagles.
Over at Heidi’s she is having a contest to give Difster a real name. Why? I am not sure why, he does have a perfectly good name in Difster. (I know it is all in fun ;)) Speaking of names Birdie has mentioned to me more than once how hard it is for he to think of me as Eaglewood on her blog. So if you see another name for her husband over there don’t think she has flipped out and gotten herself a new husband. She has called me “Bear†for 15 years and it is more comfortable for her. Eaglewood was the family name we formed from a medieval unit study we did and from a cat that I had that we called Misty of Eaglewood. I just thought it would make a good on-line name as I have a fascination with eagles.
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