Oh...Her...

She's a low-life.
She's scorned.
She's a mess.
Very used.
Now busted,
stands accused
by man and church.

And the church is right.

She's a blatant sinner.

We mustn't fool ourselves...

She knows it.
















"Where are your accusers?"
He asks.

Relunctantly,
she looks up.

And she sees...

no look of disgust,
no trace of lust,
no pointing finger, it...
writing in the dust...

There He was...
Love of God...
Personified.



.

GOD IDENTIFIED

I have a God who has made
Himself known, Who has clearly
identified Himself.  At the perfect time,
and at the perfect place.
































There is no question
that He has
reached out
to touch every
single one of us.

In this account (Luke 14:16-21),
He makes Himself fully known
and goes about His minstry
in deliberate and great fashion...
though many whisper and wonder.

Nevertheless, he continues
to touch and heal
and love and redeem lives.





















I wonder... why is there such confusion
as to whether there is a God or not,
and Who He is?

A Loving Father is not anonymous.

A Loving Father does not say...

"OK, dear ones, I could be any one of
the many gods out there... and you
know, there are many ways to get to me.
I'm sure you can figure it out. 
Just keep trying... "

If we don't know God,
it is not because
He hasn't identified Himself,
it is because we don't want Him.

They didn't want Him back then either.










Love must be wanted.

"For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

FAMILY AFFAIR

Christianity is Exclusive.
So is my family, by the way.

I come from the Morency family.
There is no other family like my family.
I mean, Dad is Claude, Mom is Rolande,
and Serge, Danielle and Christian are my siblings.
You cannot be a part of my family
unless you were born into it.

That's just the way it is.

__________________________________

Now, about another family.


Jesus explains to Nicodemus:

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb,
and be born? Jesus answered,

Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. "

John 3:3-7

__________________________________________

And to the woman at the well...

Again, He speaks explicitly...

"But an hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers
will worship the Father
in spirit and in truth;
for such people the Father seeks
to be His worshipers.

"God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him
must worship Him in Spirit and truth."
-John 4:23, 24

__________________________________________

That's just how it is.

You must be born INTO God's family.
Then and only then can you call Him Father...

All are born of the water of the womb. (physical)

All are called to be born of the spirit of God. (spiritual)

But not all respond. They just don't want to.

So, a Father is an exclusive Thing -
He does not impose Himself on anyone.
He's looking for those who will Love Him...
He is not interested in pre-programmed,
cold, heartless, and mindless children.

So there is a choice to be made -
all for the sake of true love.

It's a family affair...
And it's totally,
lovingly,
fair.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."

Jeremiah 31:3


.

Cool Gospel Tool

'You don't truly understand something
until you can explain it to your grandmother'
-Albert Einstein













So..... how well do you know the gospel?

This last Sunday, I was given the tool of a Lifetime!
Our pastor... in our Sunday School Class, said that
if we were to go to Ephesians 2:1-10, there we
would find the gospel message, all laid out in one
section of scripture.

No need to flip here and there, and lose pace or
focus as we attempt to share our faith.

Here it is: Ephesians 2:1-10


BEFORE CHRIST:

Eph 2:1	And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2	in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Eph 2:3	Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. CHRIST ENTERS:
Eph 2:4	But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5	even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Eph 2:6	and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7	so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. BY GRACE
Eph 2:8	For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9	not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. WITH DIVINE PURPOSE
Eph 2:10	For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

I do plan to make notes in the margin of my Bible if I would
like to emphasize certain points... but essentially, everything
is there in this passage to bring an unbeliever to an understanding
of the Gospel.

So cool!

Thank you, Pastor Lonnie...



.