Lyle's Blog

Our church is closing in late April. We received an email informing us all that financially the church can no longer continue. We had the dreaded sermon on tithing a couple of months ago. This resulted in our pastor telling us the following week offerings were way up. Apparently, this did not continue. Our pastor also told us he and his wife were going to Greece for two weeks.

Pastor has said he wants to retire so, he’s been interviewing a possible replacement over the past year, even having one deliver the message once. Just a couple months ago he said he interviewed another pastor but to no avail.

What puzzles us is simply this, if the ship is sinking (this had to be known some time ago), why is a replacement being sought for a new pastor? Perhaps it was hard to accept the reality of the situation. Our pastor, through no fault of his own, lost his last church to the whims of Methodist corporate meddling. The pain of our church passing from the scene must be somewhat disheartening. Maybe it’s not so much retirement he wanted, but a desire not to be at the helm when the ship goes under.

We can’t know the hearts and minds of people placed in a tight place. What would I do? I can pretend to know and radically espouse it, but heroes are made in a moment, not before the event. So let’s not judge; that, after all, is the prerogative of God. Grace and mercy are what we say we’re about. Can we practice what we preach?

We believers are all acquainted with that phrase. Nighttime thieves are aware of one important thing: you are likely sleeping, so you are not prepared to respond in time to prevent the theft. It’s a surprise of the worst kind.

Jesus said He will come like a thief in the night. He’s not coming to steal what is not His but is taking those who are ready to go. We are persecuted worldwide for believing in Christ.

The world will wake up on that day knowing something terrible has occurred. Two shall be in a bed, one taken the other left behind. Two shall be working, one taken, the other left behind. The world will know exactly what has happened and what it means for their future.

So what’s the important thing? We must be ready. If we know about the thief breaking in, we would prepare to meet Him. Preparation is everything. Is Jesus Christ the love of our life? Are we ready at a moment’s notice to steal us away to the wedding? We are a bride, held in bondage in a foreign land, and we are waiting, hopefully preparing every day for His return, His rescue. We do not know what time he’s coming, but we better remain aware. We do not know when He will return. However, we’d better be sleeping with our shoes on.

When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!

Reflecting on what is common to almost every man, we men have a shadow following us. This shadow is unlike the one we see the sun give us, reflecting our every move. The “shadow” I’m speaking of is sinister, selfish, always nudging us to make unproductive and possibly evil decisions.

As men, we are followed twenty-four-seven by this “shadow” which whispers and then eventually shouts in our ears. Who is this bully and why is it so hard to resist his growling? It is the penis, that appendage with so much seeming promise but many times delivers misery after one succumbs to its power.

What you say?

Sex is undoubtedly man’s drug of choice. It’s built-in, programmed to defeat a reasonable mind; an enemy posing as our best friend. This sounds absurd I know. God created man to tend the garden. He said it’s not good that man is alone so from Adam he made Eve. Obviously, by design, they were to recreate themselves; they weren’t to remain alone on planet Earth. Children were a planned outcome of their creation.

Apparently, Eve’s ability to conceive was regulated differently before they fell into disobedience. However, I believe Adam and Eve had sex and enjoyed that satisfying connection. Being created weaker than Adam, Eve fell for the deception of Satan. Being Adam was the one in charge of doing God’s commandments, it was up to Adam to do the will of God. Apparently, Eve quickly learned the power she had over Adam via his penis. She brought the temptation to sin before Adam and I believe enticed him into submitting to sin by the promise of a good time sexually.

Eve lured Adam to her side promising a good time if he would just bend the rules. So many bad decisions and bad marriages have happened because of the relentless prodding of the penis. This is why sex is the source of so many of the cruelest, most brutal crimes. You see, Adam chose sex over the Word of God and obeying God. He had chosen to believe his wife over God. And what did God say? Because you have listened to your wife, you’ll both be thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Sex can lead to disobedience and sex so often leads to sin.

This doesn’t mean you should never listen to your wife, it just means weigh her advice against the Word of God. This is why we must “wash” our wives in the Word. By doing so, couples understand what God requires. Adam quickly blamed Eve for the sin. “The woman You gave me” argument didn’t fly then and it doesn’t fly now. Men are to be in control of their bodies and their minds; they aren’t.

So that nasty, little appendage has become man’s “god”. Man will do most anything for his penis. Rape, whether a baby, child or a woman in there nineties, no problem. Murder for sex? Story after story could be told. The penis has the capacity to be the instrument to create life but that is not it’s over-riding mission; it’s sex for the sake of power. Men’s unchecked power is what’s wrong with our world; that’s what’s wrong with men.

Men will get together with women solely for sex. They live with them, have children with them, all for the sake of sex. There’s no becoming one flesh, no desire to please God, just pleasing the penis.

King David said his mother conceived him in sin. Does that mean sex is sin? No, of course not; God designed the human body for sex. It means David’s daddy just had to have sex and he was a byproduct. David was the youngest of eight boys and there were probably a like number of girls. Are large families good? Yes. But we should thoughtfully have children. Resist having more children then your money can support. Don’t naively believe that God will provide everything you need. It is you who are responsible for your children. We don’t need nice houses, automobiles, and all the amenities that a comfortable life requires. But we do need some kind of shelter, food, and transportation that we can afford. And we must be willing able to provide a vision for our children’s future, especially boys. Teach them to depend on God and not the penis for their most important decisions.

To sum it up, we choose between a penis-driven life or a purpose-driven life; and that makes all the difference.

I watched Elon’s rocket take to the air and then, amazing to all of us, return safely to its launch pad. Why hadn’t NASA developed technology like that? Understanding the bureaucracy’s complex requirement to seemingly hinder new concepts, it’s no wonder this idea of recycling rockets ever crossed their minds. It’s a real hassle thinking outside the box.

But, bureaucracy aside, the fundamental reason is obvious. Elon runs a business that demands costs that can’t overrun his ability to cover them. The government doesn’t suffer from demands of efficiency. There is no incentive to save money because whatever they do is covered within a definitive budget. Whatever they lose is covered by the taxpayers.

Elon must make a profit to survive; NASA, like all government-funded enterprises, doesn’t live under the restraints of business. NASA will continue into perpetuity simply because its budget is controlled by a money-printing behemoth. Money the government extracts through taxation or money the government prints, the burden is borne on the shoulders of the public.

This is why the opposition to President Trump’s efficiency push is so immense. Unaccountable government spending has grown to out-of-control budgets that rely on permanent debt increases. Donald Trump is a businessman. Profit and loss matter to him. Balancing a budget is necessary if the country’s survival is important.

Corruption has become a cottage industry in federal and state governments. Those people (citizens and illegal immigrants alike), will cry bloody murder and are likely to become violent. Those who need the theft to continue are angry and if the government nipple is unavailable, they will take it out on us evil taxpayers.

Be armed, alert, and ready. Taking benefits by force may well be the new norm.

Psalms 150:6 says “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. In the book of Genesis, we are told that everything was made for God’s pleasure. This knowledge is crucial to understanding why we are on earth. We are here to praise God. If we don’t, the very rocks would cry out in worship because God is worth to be praised.

God warns us that is dangerous to fall into the hands of the living God. This is why we need to find the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. The world has long ignored/rejected God. Oh, they’ll find other gods that are more to their liking, but the real God? No, the real God doesn’t allow us to participate in justice. The Ten Commandments are too restrictive. Lesser gods make room for sin and cozing up with them is comfortable. We kind of enjoy lust, envy and doubt.

The earth is in continual distress because of drought, flood, earthquakes, etc The apostle Paul tells us that the earth is in turmoil and groaning for the return of Christ. If we don’t praise God and worship Him only, the earth will and does cry out. Creation is furious, unsettled, and vindictive because mankind has covered the earth with violence and hatred of Jesus Christ. The earth longs to be at rest with the Creator. The lion and the lamb will live in peace when we accept the Prince of Peace.