June 2004 Blog Archives

June 2004

Summer Vacations Again?
6/2/2004 7:27:35 AM
I keep hearing it impressed upon my spirit so I will share it with you: Do not lose focus over these summer months. Don't let holidays or vacations distract you from the Kingdom of God and His presence in your life. In fact, use your travel time on these vacations to your advantage. Listen to some preaching/teaching tapes or perhaps a copy of the Bible on cassette. Sure, the kids may complain, but you have a better opportunity to reach them spiritually there in that car than you do normally with them spread out all over the house...if they spend much time at home anyway. Be wise as serpents, the Bible tells us. Don't let the time away from church and the Body end up costing you spiritually speaking. Remember your brothers and sisters in prayer. Remember that there is a body of believers who are praying for you and yours. Remember to pray, read your word, and meditate upon the wonderful things of God. You never know when He may split that Eastern sky and take His bride away!!!

The Media
6/4/2004 10:16:14 AM
I'm not sure I will survive this presidential election season. Already the lies and hypocrisy are overwhelming. The spin is chest deep out there. The media seems to especially like savaging President Bush. The liberal bent of the mass media is so entrenched that they don't even realize how biased they are. They are blind to the fact that their world view colors every word they print or say, just as my world view effects what I express in my writings. As a college student in a journalism class many years ago, I listened as our professor asked us this question: "Why do you want to become a reporter?" The answer almost everyone gave included some aspect of "making a difference" or "changing the world." I was in a bland mood that day and answered that I wanted to become a reporter so that I could "report the news." Unintentionally, I won my professor over that day. He told the entire class that our goal should be to do just that. I can tell that the answer most of my fellow students gave that day is certainly the truth for them. They bring their bias to their work in an effort to change public opinion, the world, etc., into what they consider a "better place." The problem is that too many of them are atheist, liberal, and self-centered. As this election cycle continues, I pray that the steady clamor of the godless media doesn't erode the faith of the moral content of our country that keeps us in the good grace of God.

Packy: Still Flying
6/9/2004 8:26:49 AM
I just spent a couple of days with my brother, Packy. I am as proud of him as I can be. The people of Bayou Blue A/G are amazing. They love Packy and his family, and they treat him with the utmost love and respect. Packy is receiving a hundredfold what he has poured into the body there in Houma, Louisiana. His church is growing because he is growing. He simply doesn't understand that everyone is supposed to have limits. He didn't live by others' rules as a kid, and he's not about to do that now. I have a short story on these pages called "Packy: How Packy Thompson Learned To Fly." It would be worth the time you'd spend reading it.

Our Common Enemy
6/14/2004 7:50:40 AM
There are six men in the Bible one can study to get an idea of how to battle the enemy we face here in America in these last days. Noah, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Paul, and John the Revelator. These six men all have three things in common: They faced Mystic Babylon, who is the same endtime enemy we face here in America. They made life-altering decisions, choosing to suffer with the Children of God than eat at the tables of Babylon. They overcame the enemy by the Blood of the Lamb, the Word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives on this earth. We would do well to study their battle because we face the same enemy daily.

Abraham: "Father of a Multitude"
6/19/2004 9:31:54 AM
Tomorrow is Father’s Day. I’ll be preaching about Abraham in service Sunday morning. He is the father of the three great religions of our time. The thing about Abraham is all he wanted was to be a dad. He wanted offspring. He wanted an heir. God’s covenant with him must have given him such expectation. As time slipped by and no child appeared, Abraham must have felt a sinking sensation. When our expectations aren’t fulfilled, we allow disappointment and despair to steal from us our sense of wonder and of joy. Abraham tried to force his destiny. From the beginning he tried to “make it work.” God told him to leave his family behind, yet he took Lot, his nephew, who he probably imagined would be his heir. Then he asked God to accept the young man in charge of his flocks as an heir. Finally, Sarah and he conspired to use Hagar as a means of producing God’s promise. But God had a plan. Abraham would have been happy to have been “Abram,” which means “exalted father.” But God wanted him to be “Abraham,” which means “father of a multitude.” We tend to settle in life. God has a wonderful plan for us if we will allow Him to bring forth that destiny in His timing.

The Accuser Vs. The Intercessor
6/25/2004 8:43:33 AM
During our men's prayer meeting our discussion turned to who we are in Christ. So often, the enemy deceives us into missing the point of hiding in Jesus. Our own faults and shortcomings are evident to us, and usually to those around us, and we are already convinced we do not deserve a single thing from God. It doesn't take much for the enemy to nudge us over the edge. A wonderful brother brought out something during the discussion: That Satan used to stand before God accusing the brethren. Every time we mess up, the devil was there to point it out for all to see. But Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall." The enemy is no longer in the presence of our Father making accusation because now Jesus is standing at His right hand making intercession for us. Where Satan once accused us Jesus now justifies us, intercedes for us, stands for us. Goodness! That changes everything. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world! Now the accuser has been removed and the intercessor reigns!

The Sinner's Prayer
6/28/2004 8:54:52 AM
The sweet taste of salvation visited me this weekend. What a lovely moment: Looking into the eyes of a teary-eyed man who was at the end of his rope and found Jesus there. Praying with him. Watching those burdens lift. It reminded me of so long ago when God put His arm around my own shoulders and took me for a walk into the Kingdom of God. Oh Gracious Father, I rejoice with the angels this day.

In His Likeness
6/30/2004 9:49:28 AM
One of the most simple illustrations to reveal the triune nature of God is to look within. God made us in His image. He made us spirit, soul, and body. The only part of Eddie Thompson anyone sees with physical eyes is my body. Jesus represents that Body of God...the part of God who relates to man. Whether it was the great "I Am" from the burning bush or the Savior dying on the cross, Jesus is that content of God with which men relate to in the Bible. Just as I am a triune being, spirit, soul, and body, God is a triune being. I was made in His likeness. The difference is there is no battle within His members like the battle we face, spirit verses flesh, with the soul choosing between the two in us. With God, there is perfect harmony and unity in the Godhead. We can come to know a small amount about the nature of God by studying the inner workings of ourselves. However, the fact remains that His ways still are not our ways. He is still unknowable to the human mind. Spiritually, we get a little closer day by day to understanding the mind of Christ. Until perfection comes, we walk by faith. When confusion about the trinity and other mysteries of God enters our minds we cling to that faith. Understanding we are made in His image is a starting point to drawing closer to perfection.

::: Made by J&C Greer :::