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Powerful messages that encourage, inspire, and convict “People of the Way” to enter into the presence of the Living God and to mirror the image of the precious Lord Jesus, bringing his life to this hurt and broken world. The messages were written by Richard E. Bieber (REB). A pastor whose prolific writings spanned six decades.
Artwork: The beautiful art featured here enhances the power, depth and visual appeal of the messages. It is by the gracious and kind permission of the artists. Please respect their hard work, time, and talent by not using without their permission. We are grateful for their artistic gifts, kindness, and generosity. The art is linked to their websites where you can learn about them and view more of their art. When visiting their websites, you will need to use the back key to return to this website.
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DIVINE SHOCK TREATMENT
Sometimes it takes a jolt.
You could call it a divine shock treatment.
Somebody hurts your feelings, causing you to take another look at how you treat people.
A sudden disappointment.
Or a jolt that comes straight out of heaven—a word that hauls you up short and forces you to face reality.
The result?
Suddenly you see that your heart is in no shape to be exposed to the light of day.
Yet now it’s humble enough to listen to the truth.
God has your attention.
God is not a sadist, he’s your Father.
He loves you like no one on earth ever could or did. But he will do whatever it takes to bring us from darkness to light.
Hence, after the shock treatment, comes the call—always.
God never gives you a jolt without following with a call to a far better life in his kingdom.
Example:
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” cried Peter. Jesus answered, “Don’t be afraid, from now on you will be drawing people into the kingdom of God.”
If you have had a divine shock treatment….
….be sure that you are also under a divine call.
It happened to Isaiah, to Mary, to Peter, to Paul.
It could be happening to you right now.
“And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord,?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.'” (Acts 9:4-6)
Prayer: Lord, Father…. tell us what to do now that you have our attention again, now that you have jolted us back to reality. We haven’t been listening. We’ve been bent on going our own way. Help us to hear your divine call, to follow your divine direction once again. Thank you that you love us enough to stop us from veering off the divine course you have for us. And thank you that you don’t leave us floundering and stunned after the shock. Thank you for the call that follows. Oh Lord may we honor both the shock and the call by turning from the darkness we were headed for and following your light once again. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2006 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Berna Lopez Website: evangil-et-peinture
#DivineShockTreatment #SometimesItTakesAJolt #GodGetsYourAttention #DivineCall #BernaLopezArt
I KNOW I’M RIGHT!
It’s written on their faces.
You can hear it in their shouts.
Those people have no doubts.
They know they’re right!
And we shake our heads in disgust.
“They’re idiots!” we say, and turn away.
We, of course, are more circumspect.
We have an enlightened grasp of scripture. Of Jesus. Of God.
Yet beneath our self-proclaimed integrity, we are strangely similar to those rednecks out there.
We too are quite certain that we are more right than that self-righteous herd!
So why doesn’t the Lord give us a thumb’s up?
Surely we are closer to the truth than those hypocrites!
And the Master sighs and says,
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7)
Maybe it’s time to leave those hypocrites to the mercy of God.
And start dealing with our own hypocrisy.
Lord, have mercy!
Prayer: Yes Lord, have mercy. Open our eyes to our own hypocrisy, our own self-righteousness. Forgive us for the disdain and the disgust in our hearts. Remove the logs that blind us to our own hardness of heart. Lord we are all in need of your mercy, we all stand equally in need of your enlightenment. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Wayne Forte Website: Wayneforte.com
#Hypocrisy #SelfRighteousness #TakeTheLogOut #ImKnowImRight #WayneForteArt
IT’S IN GOD’S HANDS
You laid it before God.
That burden, that problem, that fear.
“Lord it’s beyond my power. I put it all in your hands!”
So leave it there.
There’s nothing wrong with laying it before the Lord every day, as long as you keep your hands off it.
There’s nothing wrong with giving God thanks.
Beyond that, you back off and leave it with God.
How the kingdom works.
“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.
The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4)
The farmer does not dig up the seed to see if it’s sprouting.
He allows the seed to be hidden in God.
He lets God run the show.
In God’s time the farmer has a crop.
Once I put my problem in God’s hands, God does things his way.
He does not need my help.
He does not need my advice.
He wants only my faith.
We spare ourselves tons of grief, when we back off and give God room to do things his way.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one.” (Mark 11)
God will take care of his part.
All you have to do is take care of yours.
Believe
Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Obey
“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one.”
Prayer: Lord we admit that the burdens, problems and fears that trouble us are beyond our control. We can’t solve them, we can’t see beyond them. Lord we give them to you, we place them in your capable and loving hands, Lord help us to leave them to you, to keep from interfering, from advising you and from manipulating situations to our will. We trust you. We trust your sovereign will. We trust your love. And as we lift our hearts to you seeking relief from our distress may your tender mercy strike us to the heart… to extend the same tender mercy and forgiveness to all in our circle.
Message: Richard E. Bieber July 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Rebecca Brogan Website: jtbartworks.com
#Problems #Burdens #ItsInGodsHands #ForgiveAndObey #Leave It WithGod #RebeccaBroganArt
DEEP ROOTS
The storm is gone, and so is the forest.
Only three trees are left standing.
How did they survive?
Their roots went deep.
….that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
To be rooted and grounded in love is to be rooted and grounded in God—
—via the True Vine.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:7-8)
The Vine is rooted in the earth, and the branch is rooted in the Vine. If the branch is truly rooted in the Vine everything else will take care of itself.
To be rooted in the Vine is to be immersed in his words.
Immersed to the point where his words…. color, control, cleanse, and confirm everything we do.
This can happen only through constant exposure to his words.
And constant obedience.
If Jesus is my Lord, and I am his servant,
I check in with him daily.
I pick up my cross daily.
I carry out his orders daily.
I thank God for him daily.
Until I am so rooted and grounded in the Vine that no storm can tear me loose.
And now my branch begins to bear fruit.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”
Prayer: Lord, give us deep roots. Roots that are so immersed in you that everything we do is colored by you. Roots that can truly comprehend and absorb the depth, width, height, and length of your love. Roots that are so deep and grounded in you that we can survive any storm. Roots that are so moved by your love that somehow we are able to glorify you and that we prove to be your disciples and bear fruit. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2019 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Karen Harkema Website: Facebook and Instagram
#DeepRoots #GroundedInLove #RootedInGod # #ImmeresedInHisWords #CKarenHarkemaArt
MY OPINIONS, MY PRINCIPLES, AND MY SCREWED-UP LIFE
I’ll admit I have strong opinions.
I’ll sit and argue with you till daylight about stuff going on in this country right now.
I don’t mind telling you, I’m disgusted with what’s happening!
And I have high principles.
I believe in the Christian family.
I’m committed to the principle of a real marriage, even though my own is hanging by a thread.
I believe in personal freedom. No government is going to tell me what to do!
And I believe every word in the Bible!
So why is my life such a mess?
Why am I so full of anger?
Why do other people drive me batty?
I can’t even get a decent night’s sleep any more.
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: “The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
‘I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.
Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.’”
Revelation 3
Repent!
How?
Start by repenting of all your opinions.
Drop them all. They are as screwed up as you are.
Then repent of your “principles”.
Your “principles” do not match the words of the Jesus you say you believe in.
“Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent.”
Once you’ve repented of your opinions and principles….
Get to know Jesus.
Just Jesus.
Not Moses or Elijah or your favorite teacher. Just Jesus.
Go to the gospels…
…. and focus on every word that comes from the mouth of the Son of God.
And repent some more.
The Lord himself will show you why your marriage is on the rocks.
Why you are so angry.
Why you can’t sleep.
Why you can’t stand other people.
He will also show you what to do about it all.
Finally, repent of your attitudes by forgiving those you need to forgive.
By asking forgiveness from those you have wronged.
Start each day with fresh repentance.
Then walk in the light of the Lord.
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciple,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8)
Prayer: Yes Lord, help us, help us to see you, just you and continue in your words, so that we can truly be your disciples and know and live in the beauty and freedom that only your truth can bring. Forgive us for our opinions and our principles that separate us from you, that do not come from your mouth. We repent of our superiority complexes, our hypocrisy in the midst of our own screwed up lives. Open our eyes to our own flaws, open our eyes to our deep need for you. We repent of our attitudes and our hard hearts and lack of forgiveness to anyone in our lives. Help us to let these things go so we can truly walk in your light. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Sophia Murphy Website: facebook.com/sophiamurphyArt
#Opinionated #Principles #ScrewedUpLife #Anger #IknowYourWorks #OnThePointOfDeath #SophiaMurphyArt
PREDESTINED
“Where did I come from?” says the four-year-old as he and his mother are having lunch.
She smiles and says, “You came from me.”
The child frowns.
So his mother tries again. “You came from God.”
To her amazement the child is satisfied.
But his mother wonders, what does that mean, “You came from God.”?
“Did I come from God?” she asks herself.
“Did God know me before I was born? Did God destin me to be here in this place, to have this child?”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. (Ephesians 1)
If we came from God, if God destined us in love, does this mean that we were predestined?
We were indeed predestined—
—in love—
—to be God’s own.
All of us!
The whole human race!
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1)
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth (on the cross) will draw all people to myself.” (John 12)
Predestined by God before the foundation of the world—
—to be delivered from sin, to be transformed into new creatures!
But the God who predestined us also gave us a free will.
Each of us is free to live our God-given destiny, or to go our own way.
Adam and Eve were destined to live with joy under the eye of God’s love. They were destined to be sustained by fruit from the Tree of Life.
They were also forbidden by God to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—meaning they were given a free will.
They were free to defy God, if they chose.
So they abandoned their destiny and chose the way of death.
The Promised Land was Israel’s destiny. It was theirs forever, provided they walked in the way of the Lord.
A forever destiny!
They were also free to defy their destiny.
The Israelites chose to go their own way again and again.
And paid the price again and again.
God has predestined us all to salvation, to a new life, paid for by the Lamb’s blood, empowered by the Lamb’s resurrection Spirit.
We are also free to walk away.
And many do.
“Many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matthew 22)
Many are predestined to come to the Banquet.
But when the Master says, “Come for all is now ready!” few respond.
To each of us God has assigned a magnificent destiny.
Our destiny is to live in God’s world forever.
The Lamb of God, in a mystery beyond comprehension, has atoned for our sins by his own blood.
Sooner or later, by the power of his cross, Jesus draws us to himself, and says,
“Follow me, and you will never again have to walk in darkness.”
Will we live the destiny God gave us?
Or will we create our own?
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us sense the absolute blessing and joy of being called your own, knowing how deeply you love us. May we choose to dwell in the depth of that love. May we perceive, welcome, and seek this magnificent destiny you offer us. Help us to follow you into this destiny. And Lord, forgive us when we turn away from it, when we foolishly try to create a destiny away from you, without you, without your loving guidance, presence, and touch in our lives. Have mercy on us, keep calling us back until we are transformed into new creatures, into the destiny you planned for us…filled with your light, joy, peace, and love. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Chris Cook Website: Chriscookartist.com
#Predestined #Predestiny#GodLovesUsAll #WeAreAllPredestinedForGodsLove #CalledHisOwn #ChrisCookArt
THE GIFT OF A GRATEFUL MIND
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
And into his courts with praise!
Be thankful unto him
And bless his name!
Psalm 100
None of us was born with a grateful heart.
We’re too preoccupied with ourselves to see the goodness of God.
But there comes a moment…
…when we hear a word of truth.
…we’re struck with a flash of insight.
Our eyes open, and we give thanks for undeserved mercy.
We are being offered the gift of a grateful mind.
Will we receive it?
Or will we let the moment pass?
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet giving him thanks. Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?……..Rise, go your way, your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17)
A grateful mind is a precious gift.
God help us to nurture it.
For true faith can be found nowhere else.
Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to the wonder of who you are and all you have done for us. Help us to dwell in gratefulness. Help us to stop being preoccupied with ourselves and to lift our hearts to you. Help us to dwell in gratefulness, seeing you in our lives, in nature, knowing you are upholding us in difficult circumstances. Give us the faith to trust you enough to be thankful in all things. May we accept, appreciate, and nurture this precious gift. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2011 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Francisco Borboa Website: None
#GratefulMind #GratefulLeper #BeThankful #FranciscoBorboaArt
SPIRITUAL WISDOM
What a great feeling to arrive at the high plateau of spiritual wisdom!
And what a disappointment when I try to share my wisdom with others!
I get blank faces.
How can I bring people up to speed, if they won’t listen?
One day an old man took me aside and said, “Brother you have a lot to learn.”
I was incensed.
Who was he to tell me what I had to learn?
I brushed him aside and forgot about him.
But he was right. I did have a lot to learn—the hard way!
One setback after another brought me down from those lofty heights….
….until I discovered that my “spiritual wisdom” was spiritual vanity.
It was the wisdom of this world wrapped in fancy spiritual robes.
Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.” (I Corinthians 3:18-20)
Spiritual wisdom is a fragile gift.
It evaporates the instant I look down on a single soul.
Prayer: Lord, we confess, we do have a lot to learn when it comes to spiritual wisdom. Convict us when we fall into the trap of spiritual vanity, when our views, beliefs, and ways cause us to look down on and to sneer at others. Oh Lord, open our hearts to the futility of our wisdom and spiritual pride. Help us take off the worldly spiritual robes we wrap ourselves in. Lift us from self-deception. Open our hearts to know we are greatly in need of mercy ourselves and all our supposed wisdom pales in the face of your wisdom and holiness. Each day, we are all in equal and great need of steering from our own foolishness. We are all in need of your presence, your guidance, and your mercy. And in our gratefulness for your mercy towards our own foolishness, may we treat others with the mercy you treat us and stop looking down on anyone. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2019 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Via Good Salt license from their General Conference collection
Website: Good Salt .com
#SpiritualPride #SpiritualWisdom #StopDecievingYourselves
WHICH WORLD ARE WE LIVING IN?
“The kingdom of God is at hand!”
What is Jesus talking about?
A new religion?
A new belief system?
A new government?
Jesus is talking about a new world.
A world that makes our vast universe look like a speck of dust.
God’s World.
Jesus brought God’s World into this world.
All his teaching is about God’s World.
His signs point straight to God’s World.
His death and resurrection have opened the door to the world that has no borders in time or space.
So which world are we living in?
This world?
Or God’s World?
I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. (John 17:14)
They are in “the world”. They buy and sell, eat and drink, pay their bills, love their unbelieving neighbors.
But they are aliens and exiles.
God’s World is where they actually live.
I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. (John 17:15-19)
If we belong to God’s World…
…We are in this world as men and women who have been sent by the Master.
We are here to give people a taste of God’s World.
We are here to point them to its open door.
We are here to give them hope.
But here’s the problem:
There is always a chance that we become so engaged in this world and its ways that we lose touch with God’s World.
The Lord Jesus is doing everything from his side to keep us safe, but we have to take care of our part.
Our part is to abide in the Vine.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. (John 15:5-6)
This world is nearing its “expiry date”.
God’s World is forever.
Prayer: Lord, we want to live in your world now. Despite living in this world with all its cares, comforts, and temptations, help us to remain in you. Keep our hearts connected to you and your kingdom. Help us to continue to belong to your world. And yes, protect us from the evil one, teach us your truth, and make us holy, sanctified by your truth, so that we may be truly one with you…accomplishing your purpose, now, here in this world. Amen
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Anthony Falbo Website: Fine Art America- Anthony Falbo and Facebook
#AWhichWorld #GodsWorld #NotOfThisWorld #John17 #AbideInTheVine #AnthonyFalboArt
MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
Christian politicians claim to be doing it.
Dictators claim to be doing it.
Corporations claim to be doing it.
Protesters of all stripes are trying to do it.
Priests and paupers, scientists and celebrities are all in the game.
To make this world a better place.
Admirable thought. Worthy intention.
Yet the world doesn’t seem to be improving.
Division, suspicion, bitterness, bullying, hypocrisy, violence, deceit are rampant across the earth.
Truth is, we’re all powerless to make the world a better place…
…so long as greed, lust, and deceit prevail.
The good news is that the shelf-life of greed, lust and deceit is about to expire.
God is still in charge.
Jesus is still Lord.
The Kingdom of Evil is reaching its limit.
The Lord of the Universe is about to make this world a better place.
The time is fulfilled, The Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and believe the good news. (Mark 1)
The days of this world of despair will soon end.
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98)
Prayer: Lord, we can’t help but want the world to be a better place. We admit that we all have opinions about how to achieve that. But so many times our efforts just make things more of a mess. So many times we mistakenly think that the ends justify the means….multiplying the power of evil in this world and increasing misery. Forgive us Lord for getting our hands bloody, for tainting our souls with delusions of our own grandeur. Only you have the power to destroy evil, only you can make the world a better place, only you can end despair. Help us to trust this and not take justice into our own hands. At the same, help us to do what we can to dwell in your mercy, your peace, your love… so that even though we can’t end evil…we can bring some relief, some hope … to those who hurt so badly, who live in despair and want. Help us to look forward to the time when evil is crushed, to rejoice that suffering will end forever and the world shall truly be a better place. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2018 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Lars Justinen Website: via Good Salt license
#MakingTheWorldABetterPlace #KingdomOfEvilWillEnd #JudgeWithRighteousness #EvilCrushed #LarsJustinenArt
IS IT SAFE IN OUR HANDS?
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20)
The authority to free a living soul from the power of sin.
“In the name of Jesus, your sins are forgiven.”
The authority to tell a living soul that their sins are still there.
“Your sins are holding you under the judgment of God.”
This authority was given to ordinary men.
They were not Levites.
They were not priests.
They were fishermen and tax collectors and ex-revolutionaries.
By the power of the Spirit these men were sent to free captives and to warn the arrogant that they were under the judgment of God.
They spread the fire of God across the earth.
They shook the foundations of the human race.
The fruit of their work continues as we read these words.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The Spirit of God in these men kept them humble like their Master.
The Spirit of God in these men gave them power—God’s power, to speak with the authority of heaven.
By the gracious humility and the mysterious power of the Spirit, these men forgave sin.
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.”
They also spoke warnings of judgment to those who turned their backs on God’s grace.
“If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The same risen Lord who breathed on those men, empowered them, and sent them out,
…is now speaking to us.
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.
Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven;
If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But here’s the question we need to ask ourselves before the Lord:
Is such power safe in our hands?
If we forgive sins in Jesus’ name, are we ourselves walking in forgiveness?
If we warn the obstinate that their sins are retained, are we doing it in fear and trembling before God?
We did not choose to be heralds of forgiveness or prophets of judgment.
We did not even choose Jesus.
He chose us.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.” (John 15)
One thing we know:
Only the authority of heaven is able to break through the hard crust of cynicism and despair that grips human hearts in these waning days.
Authority to free souls that are captive to sin.
Authority to arrest the attention of the arrogant.
Is the authority of heaven safe in our hands?
If it is, we will set the captives free from the power of sin.
And when we shake the dust from our feet, the act will be more than a ritual.
God will confirm the words we speak with unmistakable power.
And people will know that the kingdom of God has come near.
Prayer: Lord, how unworthy we are to receive the authority you offer us, how incapable we feel to handle it. How can we do such things? But you Lord, have chosen us. You are sending us. You speak your peace into our lives and breathe the Holy Spirit into us. You have given us this holy authority. What a gift, may we not waste it. Lord, help us, make your authority safe in our hands. And yes, by your mercy and power may the authority of heaven free captive souls, releasing many from despair and the grip of sin. And Lord may those we speak to, those we touch, know they have been touched with a power that is beyond us and know You and your Kingdom are real. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Mino Cerezo Barredo Website: servicioskoinonia.org/cerezo/
#Authority #IfYouForgive #IfYouRetain #PeaceBeWithYouReceivetheHolySpirit#HeChoseUs #MinoCerezoBarredoArt
BORING?
No wonder the churches are empty!
Even the mega churches are losing their grip.
The world rushes by and doesn’t take a second look.
It’s all so boring!!
Church is boring.
Christian radio is boring.
Evangelists are boring.
Christians are boring.
So how do we fix it?
How do we jazz things up?
Do we put out a survey and find out what the folks out there are looking for?
Boredom in Jesus’ day.
Those scribes and Pharisees would bore you to death.
And the pompous priests would put you right to sleep.
So everybody went out to the Jordan wilderness to hear that crazy John the Baptist.
At least he wasn’t boring.
He would shake you up.
Next thing you knew you were out there in the river getting baptized!
When you came home, you knew something had actually happened to you out there.
When Jesus came to town, people dropped everything and went out to hear him.
Nobody fell asleep when Jesus spoke!
There were no gimmicks.
No fancy music.
No entertainment.
Every word he spoke burned with fire.
If you were proud he brought you down.
If you were humble, he lifted you up.
If you were arrogant, he scared it out of you.
If you were afraid, he gave you peace.
But where is Jesus now?
Jesus hasn’t disappeared.
He has relocated.
When the saints no longer pay attention, he always relocates.
“Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2)
Jesus is strangely missing from the clatter of Christendom.
You will find Jesus where people focus on what he has to say.
Jesus isn’t interested in our doctrinal squabbles.
He is turned off by our politics.
He has no time for our conspiracy theories.
You will find Jesus wherever people listen to him and repent.
Jesus is never boring.
“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12)
“I came to cast fire upon the earth.”
That fire is spreading over the globe at this hour.
Look for that fire, and it will find you.
And you will never be bored again!
Prayer: Holy magnificent Lord, oh how we want to be part of the fire you are casting upon this earth…to be kindled, ignited, enlivened by you. We need to hear you, we need to know you, we need your words to burn within us. Help us to truly find this fire, to live this fire, to speak this fire. Help us to stop being satisfied with the boring counterfeit of you offered by so many. May what they offer bore us, disgust us , disappoint us until we are drawn to others who are listening, who are ready to be baptized with the fire you have for us…to accomplish your perfect holy purpose in our lives and on this earth. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber September 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Courtesy of Rik Berry…photo via unsplash Website: rikBerry.com
#ChurcheIsBoring #JesusIsNotBoring #Boredom #JesusHasRelocated #ICameToCastFire #RikBerryArt
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