extra

This was a picture taken of my grandfather passing out  Gideon Bibles at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). As you read this, you will understand why this picture of my grandfather has become so significant to me.   As I have worked on this site, I have fought and wrestled with God. I have been frustrated and exhausted and overwhelmed. This picture has served as a reminder to me of why I am here and what He has called me to do.  I look at my grandfather, “The Tired Gideon”, fighting the good fight.

I have never felt called by God to do anything. God gave all of us gifts as part of being in the body of Christ but to be honest   I wasn’t sure what mine was.   Recently, however,  he has placed an enormous sense of urgency and conviction in my heart. 

july 2014

 

I bought a house that was built in 1940 and I had all these plans for how I wanted to renovate it.   The first thing I wanted to do was paint the outside of it because the whole house is tan, including the roof, and I thought it was ugly.  I put it off and first did a few things that I wanted to the inside.  Not to long after I moved in, however, God started increasing His level of conviction in my heart. I started looking at all things that were going on in the world and I knew He was testing me.  Am I going to seek Him first, and do what I feel he has placed in my heart, or am I going to put myself first and my desires before him? THE PARABLES OF THE WEDDING BANQUET hit me the hardest.

LUKE 14 : THE PARABLE OF THE BANQUET (Matthew 22:1-14)

 

15And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:17And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.  18And they all with one consent began to make excuse.  The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.  19And another sad, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused . 20And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.  21So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

MATTHEW 22 : THE PARABLE OF THE BANQUET (Luke 14:15-24)

 

1And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, 2The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatted calves are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage. 5But they made light of it, and went thei r ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

When I started this site, I knew I needed to make sure that’s the gate my life was heading towards, and after reading the book of Revelation, I wanted to make sure I had the KEY OF DAVID who was a man after God’s own HEART

Revelation 3 : Message to the Church in Philadelphia

 

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; 8I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. 12Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name. 13He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.

I created this site for myself as a place to gather and collect what I was seeing going on in the world in relation to what the bible says.  I wanted to have a place where I could actively engage in what I was learning and to have a place where I could order my thoughts.  I felt overwhelmed with how to process what I was seeing happening in the world and how it relates to my faith.  There were so many verses in the bible that I felt were in direct conflict with the way I was living my life.

My HEART felt like it was being pulled in a million different directions  

I felt like my FAITH was hanging by a thread.

 

I was having more and more trouble discerning what was even right from wrong anymore.  The LINES WERE STARTING TO GET BLURRY.

I felt like THE WALLS WERE CLOSING IN and I wondered how He could use me.

I was doing everything I could just to keep up, but things seem to be moving so fast. 

Psalm 69: The Waters Have Come Up to My Neck! (Matthew 27:32-44; Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:16-27)

 

1Save me, O God; for the waters are come in to my soul. 2I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: my eyes fail while I wait for my God.

13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation. 14Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15Let not the flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth on me.

We are DROWNING in DATA, NEWS, MUSIC, 

PODCAST, &  ENTERTAINMENT

and

STARVING FOR TRUTH

In the last days

people will be

learning more and more

and

NEVER COMING

TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH

2 TIMOTHY 3 : EVIL IN THE LAST DAYS

 

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as their’s also was.  

Amos 8 :  The Basket of Ripe Fruit 

 

11Behold, the days come, said the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

I was desperate to KNOW THE TRUTH and to UNDERSTAND HIS STORY.

april 2016

(5 months later)

I gave my friend a bible at a bible study we were having at my house every week.  (I had not mentioned to him, or anyone about my website at this time).  After just a few days of reading,  this was the text he sent me:  

may 2016

The company I work for took us for a team building exercise to play THE ESCAPE GAME 1 month later.  THE ESCAPE GAME is where a group will go into a room and you have an hour to gather all the clues to unlock the door and break out.  It reminded me of another verse that had a placed a sense of urgency in my heart.

LUKE 13 : THE NARROW GATE (Matthew 7:13-14)

 

22And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said to them, 24Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not from where you are: 26Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets. 27But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. 28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

Revelation 3 : Message to the Church in Philadelphia

 

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; 8I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door,

After this, I felt God prompting me to go back and look at the picture of my grandfather the details of the story of GIDEON.  I soon realized the HEADQUARTERS of GIDEON INTERNATIONAL is stationed here in Nashville as well.   

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance

GIDEON ^[h1439] occurs 37 times in 39 verses

 

---

• Gideon = “hewer”
• “cutter down”
• “brave warrior”
• 5th judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites
•  youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites   

JUDGES 6 :  THE CALL OF GIDEON  

 

11And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son GIDEON ^[h1439] threshed wheat by the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.  

Please note I am in no way am I trying to imply that I am Gideon, but I can readily identify with his fear, weakness, and inadequacy when feeling like God has called you do something, which for me I feel like he has called me too ministry in some capacity, and not feeling equipped at all to do so. 

Luke 24 :   Jesus Explains the Prophecies 

 

 30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon. 35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

JUDGES 6 :  THE SIGNS OF THE FLEECE

 

36And Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the threshingfloor^[h1637]; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the earth beside, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. 

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance

THRESHINGFLOOR ^[h1637] occurs 36 times in 36 verses (17 books)

---

• from an unused root meaning TO SMOOTH (as made EVEN)

Matthew 9 :   Sheep & the Harvest

 

36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;38Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

THE LIGHT CHAFF (the waste of the threshing floor) would be BLOWN AWAY/SCATTERED and FALL some DISTANCE AWAY while the HEAVIER LOOSENED GRAIN would FALL at the WINNOWERS FEET & taken into the FARMERS BARN 

THRESHING FLOORS were built in the high parts (hills) of cities to utilize the WIND to accomplish this SEPARATION.  The German word TENNE  means  “THRESHING FLOOR”.

 

When I played the ESCAPE GAME in 2016, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE was the WINDIEST CITY in the Country.

 

THE PROCESS OF THRESHING WHEAT symbolizes SANCTIFICATION

Revelation 18 :Babylon is Fallen 

 

4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 5For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 

We are commanded to COME OUT OF BABYLON in Revelation.To be separate, holy, sanctified.  We have been set apart from the world so that we can be used by God in it.  We are to engage others with purposeful distinctiveness, without being influenced by the culture around us.

Revelation 19 :The Marriage of the Lamb

 

6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.9And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. 10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

THE BRIDE HAS MADE HERSELF READY

Meaning she has sanctified herself and has come out of Babylon, and is given clothing of fine linen, which represents being clothed with Christ’s righteousness.  A bride is carried over the THRESHOLD by Groom into new HOUSE after being married.

 “THRESHOLD” meaning “brink, verge, origin, entrance, dawn, sill into a room or house”.

The etymology of the word “THRESHOLD” comes from the word “THRESHING”.

The Bible is a SCRIPT ( a written text of a play, movie, or broadcast) 

 

It is a NARRATIVE or STORY (a spoken or written account of connected events)

 

We are all part of the most GRAND REDEMPTIVE LOVE STORY that could possibly be conceived.

 

HIS-STORY.  The LAMB’S BOOK of LIFE

 

PENNED BY THE AUTHOR : JESUS

 

(An AUTHOR is the creator or originator of any written work such as a book or play, and is thus also a writer.   More broadly defined, an author is “the person who originated or gave existence to anything” and whose authorship determines responsibility for what was created.) 

 

The author and finisher of our faith, who endured the cross for us, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. 

The bible is a story of a God of love invading the world in the person of his son of love, to establish his kingdom of love, by a radical sacrifice of love, to forgive us in love, and draw us into his family of love, and to send us out as ambassadors of the very same love. The entire hope of fallen humanity rests on this one thing -that there is a savior who is eternally steadfast in redeeming, forgiving reconciling, transforming, and delivering love. Without this, the bible is a book of interesting stories and helpful principles but it is devoid of any power to fix what sin has broken. 

 

His word confronts us with the devastatingly humble DIAGNOSIS of our condition. It tells us that we are in a hopeless, impossible, and irreversible state apart from divine intervention. His word confronts us with the reality that SIN is the problem and that it lives in our HEART.  It separates us from God and leads to inescapable death and destruction.   Anyone who says they don’t have SIN, is a liar, and the TRUTH is not in HIM.  It is an all-inclusive diagnosis. It is an accurate description of the heart and life of every person who has ever lived. We are born with wandering and divided hearts. You will not be interested in the cure if you haven’t accepted the DIAGNOSIS, and you have to know that the cure is only as effective as the accuracy of the diagnosis.

 

~Paul Tripp

The Cross of Christ and the gospel of Christ are inextricably linked.  Indeed, the gospel is the good news of what took place when Christ died on the cross.  To understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross, then, is to understand the gospel.  To believe personally that what Christ did on the cross, He did for you is believe the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the door.

The gospel is the good news that in the cross of Christ, the penalty of our sin was paid fully by Christ.  By this, sin’s powerful hold on our lives, which leads ultimately to death, has been completely defeated.  If we will trust fully Christ’s accomplishment for us-that He paid sin’s penalty and conquered sin’s power-and not look to our own works or accomplishments as if they could commend us to God, we will be saved.

Salvation is a free gift that can only be received and not earned or achieved.  All we can do is receive and apply the salvation he has so freely given us.   “News is a report about something that has happened. You can’t do anything about. It’s been done for you, and all you can do is respond to it.”

The gospel is an offensive confrontation because it is first an indictment and a diagnosis of the condition of our hearts which are hostile to His claims of authority over it. It is can be hard to receive because you can only receive it when you admit weakness, failure, and your inability to save yourself.  The claims that Jesus made about himself, that He is the only way, the truth, and light, and that no man can come to the father but through him, means there can be no neutrality.  You will either tremble in fear, hate and despise him, or fall down on your knees and worship.  People get offended at his claims because they don’t believe he is the only way.  They think that is too narrow.  

Yes it is narrow and exclusive but it is the most inclusive exclusive truth possible because it is freely open to anyone regardless of what you have done in your life, your status, how much money you have, your race, or gender.  Everyone falls short of the glory of God and yet his grace and mercy is freely available to anyone who will receive it.

Our Heart, which in the bible is used to describe the core, or control center of a person, is Gods Throne and Footstool.  It is the Threshing floor upon which His temple is built.

 

 

HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM  HEAR

 

A bride is carried over the THRESHOLD

 

 

by Groom into new HOUSE after being married.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROVERBS 23:CONSIDER DILIGENTLY WHAT IS BEFORE YOU

 

7For as he thinks ^[h8176] in his heart, so is he:  Eat and drink, said he to you; but his heart is not with you.

This is the only time this word is mentioned in the whole bible.

 

It is the primitive root word that Gate ^[h8179] sha’ar derives from

PSALM 118:GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD  

 

19Open to me the gates ^[h8179] of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: 20This gate ^[h8179] of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.

Solomon’s Temple was built on a THRESHING FLOOR

 

A PURE HEART is needed to enter through the GATE of RIGHTEOUSNESS 

 

 

All of the mysteries of the world are now at our fingertips and this box can lead you into an endless number of directions, wandering down never ending rabbit trails.

The moment your armor is not on, you let your guard down, and you veer from the narrow path, the intent of your heart will go straight into that box.  Just 1 click away from a billion different snares…

…pornography, advertisements, getting caught up in the next trend, measuring yourself with others, the list goes on and on…leaving you with a grenade in your chest.

 

 

 

Christ is now OVER and ABOVE all things,

who fulfilled the Law for us

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

Luke 18 : Parable of the Persistent Widow

7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them? 8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith ^[g4102] on the earth?

 

 

 

 

  

 

The Gospel is a proclamation that the

long awaited kingdom of God has arrived

in the person of Jesus and this kingdom of God

is where this truth is being turned right side up again

and all things made new.

 

And through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

everyone from every tribe and nation can enter

into this kingdom through faith in the king.

That announcement is bearing fruit all over the world.

 

Joshua 18 :  The Tabernacle at Shiloh

1And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh^[h7886], and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

  THE REMAINER DIVIDED

8And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh^[h7886]. 9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh^[h7886]before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

Has God not chosen the poor of the world, rich in FAITH, and HEIRS of the kingdom which he has PROMISED to those that love him?   

 

If in this life only, we have HOPE in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 

 

Living by the PROMISES of God is the hardest thing to do but it is the only way worth living.

 

The Bible does not deny reality and never tricks you into thinking that things are better than they are. The Bible is straightforward and honest but not void of HOPE.  The honesty does not crush the HOPE but neither does the HOPE negate the honesty.

 

Confession of sin is rooted in HOPE because that HOPE is rooted in whats already been done for us.  The only reason we would confess our sin is because we confidently HOPE and expect to be delivered from it.   When we confess our SIN, he is FAITHFUL to FORGIVE.   

 

What is Wholehearted Life in Jesus?

 

 

Wholehearted life in Jesus

is the lifelong process

of our thoughts, emotions, desires, and choices

uniting through the cross

to find our deepest longings and greatest hopes

satisfied in Jesus alone (Psalm 86:11).

 

This kind of life is expressed through

the following four characteristics:

 

RENEWED MIND

As God makes Himself

known to us through

the written and Living Word,

we are continually transformed

by replacing the lies we believe,

with the truth He reveals.

 

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

As our inner being is made whole

through faith in Jesus,

and through the continual integration of

thoughts, emotions, desires and choices,

we begin to relate to God,

others and ourselves with our whole hearts,

leading to health in relationships

 

SATISFIED SOUL

As we turn from the things of this world

and turn to Jesus to satisfy our desires,

we discover that what we long for

most deeply is most fully satisfied in Him.

 

ACTIVE FAITH 

As God speaks to us, we hear and we act –

living out what we believe through

immediate and tangible steps of obedience.