Thanksgiving

The following was sent to me by a friend.

Love is never wasted!

It may not be the results or the reaction which is expected …

But it is never wasted!

In fact, love that expects positive reaction or results is something less than love.

Love never makes demands …

Love only gives …

And it does not cease when there is no reciprocity.

The true lover does not require the beloved to meet any conditions.

True love is unconditional.

The perfect Lover devoted Himself to others …

And they crucified Him!

This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience – it looks for a way of being constructive.

It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.

Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.

It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.

Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8

“God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“… if God so loved us, we ought to love one another” (I John 4:11).

Only a person who loves can know the meaning of Thanksgiving.

The holiday is upon us and this will be my only post this week to Bullets for the Battle. All of us at Ventures for Christ wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving full of family joy, time to count your blessings and praise to the Great Giver of all things.

The Bullet of Truth: Jesus IS Truth

Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, said, “Know thyself.” Jesus says, “Right on!” But the only way for a man to really know himself is to know God. Jesus added, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Men are prisoners to their own limited information. They are victims of the invisible. In rejecting Truth they become slaves to their own ignorance. Jesus promised that if you let Him make you free, you’ll really be free (John 8:36).

God came to earth in Jesus, not primarily to get men into heaven, but to get God into men! To those who put their faith (belief, trust and will) into Christ’s hands, will be given the power to begin living like sons of God … right now! Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? In essence, that’s THE TRUTH seriously Christians are all worked up about. Not the church! Not religion! Not being good for goodness’ sake! But the fantastic experience and reality of beginning to live like Christ! There’s no other “TRUTH” on earth like it! Have you found it? It’s a “Live It … Up” discovery!

The Bullet of Truth: What Truth?

The marble dedication stone on the library of my alma mater is engraved with the words, “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” As a bewildered freshman I thought to myself, “That’s really a great thought. I wonder who said it?” About a year later I ran across the statement in its full context. I was shocked. Jesus said it in John 8:31-32. I had been a Christian for less than two years, and the New Testament was very new to me. I shall never forget this wonderful discovery. Listen to the full statement: “Then Jesus spoke to some Jews who had believed in Him. If you continue in My Word, you are My true disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” Jesus is saying that it’s not just truth but THE TRUTH about Himself that frees a man up! In other words, the truth that should matter most to man is the Truth about Jesus who walked the earth as God in the flesh … in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, THE TRUTH and the life …”

Truth is defined as that which conforms to fact or reality. Mankind has learned the truth about many things, but Jesus says the great truth to learn, above all others, is the truth about the God/Man relationship. Man can learn the truth about how to make money, how to fix an engine, how to use electricity, how to prevent polio, etc., but it still isn’t enough truth to pull a man over his deepest needs, desires and problems. There is still a vacuum, an emptiness.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

On April 14, 2004, two young Marines learned what it means to owe someone for your life. On patrol near the Syrian border with Iraq their unit, including Corporal Jason Dunham, engaged the enemy. Dunham found himself in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent who dropped a live hand grenade. In a split-second decision the corporal covered the deadly bomb with his helmet, shielding two of his fellow Marines from its full explosive force. His brothers-in-arms lived but Jason Dunham died eight days later.

A grateful country awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to this brave Marine for his sacrifice but it is his friends who most understand what it means to live and die sacrificially. They know that, like so many other Medal of Honor recipients who have throw their lives on hand grenades to save other, Cpl. Dunham died so that THEY might live.

In a magnificent parallel, Christians are called to throw their lives on the Devil’s hand grenades of life so that others may live. Sometimes these bombs in the Disciple’s way are minor: the Sunday morning crisis in the church nursery when not enough workers show up and someone throws him or herself over the problem by volunteering to step into the chaotic world of crying babies. Others demand the ultimate sacrifices of one’s life: the growing list of martyrs who have died for the cause of Christ reaches back to Stephen in the Book of Acts.

In my sermon, “The Biblical Patriot,” I speak of the three kingdoms we must live in as Disciples: the Kingdom Without (the Government of America), the Kingdom Above (the Government of God) and the Kingdom Within (the Government of Self). Our first priority on earth is the Kingdom Above; but that reality is given substance by how we rule the Kingdom Within. It is then we are qualified best to contribute to the Kingdom Without. The Patriot of the Kingdom who bleeds first for the will of King Jesus will bleed best as a Patriot of his or her Country! May our Lord grant that we conquer self and be His kind of patriot for both. Let’s yield to Him and do it, even though it means throwing all we have on the hand grenades that the “enemy” continually throws into our lives!

Photo Credit: Army Sgt. Osvaldo Ortiz sleeps next to the flag-draped transfer case and personal gear of his fallen friend aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft bound for Dover Air Force Base, Del. Ortiz accompanied the remains from Afghanistan to Dover AFB and eventually back to the soldier's home in Puerto Rico - June 2003. Photo by Staff Sgt. Peter Rimar.

Account of Cpl. Dunham's bravery: see Veterans Today.

Veterans Day 2008


Here are a few quotes that remind us of the courage and sacrifice it takes to live in freedom both of body and spirit. Let us set our hearts to live as the heroes of our nation who know that freedom is never free. Even more significantly, let us join our Master in living as He did so that in Him all men and women may be free indeed (John 8:36).

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. G.K. Chesterton

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight … II Corinthians 5:6-7

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Elmer Davis

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Quotes from: Quote Garden and New American Standard Bible

Photo credit: USAF personnel Isaac G. L. Freeman

The Bullet of Truth: Greater Than You Ever Imagined
(Part 3 of 3)

The Master takes a dim view of His children who are timid and unbelieving about what He wants to do for them. After calming a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee the Lord Jesus rebuked the disciples for disturbing His nap and fearing they would die (Mark 4:35-41).

Amazed, they commented to one another, “Who is this that even the winds and waves obey Him?” Their estimate of Jesus was too low! They realized through this experience that He was GREATER than they thought!

The Christian’s major obstacle to living the triumphant life remains the same. We think too little of Christ! Until we see God’s greatness we will never see our own as created in His image. Until we experience what He can do for us we will despair of Him doing anything for anyone else!

God has temporarily allows the world “to be” as it is. Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The master is trying to teach me that He is greater than I think. Learning that gives me the assurance that I can be greater than I am! So can you! Frankly, that rather excites me!

Today is Election Day 2008

I trust you have voted in this historic Presidential contest as well as the other offices and proposals on the ballot this fall.

I want to recall to your mind a fundamental, eternal truth about human government. Our Creator God is Sovereign, no matter the outcome of any election. The Lord will be as much in charge of His creation and recreation on November 5 as He was on November 3 no matter who wins!

Let us VOTE our conscience, may our conscience PLEASE the Father and let us PRAY for all of our leaders as well as the victor as we TRUST in the Sovereign Power of Jesus! Nothing … nothing … can stop His purposes for each of us individually as we yield to His Voice for our specific mission of Cross Discipleship.

Note: Painting is Congress Voting Independence, a depiction of the Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence. Oil on canvas. Source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, via the Library of Congress.