A REASONABLE PRICE

                                           A REASONABLE PRICE

    There's a song that claims love and marriage go together, and that has been
true in the past. Today I'm not certain that song is accurate. This is a situation
of togetherness quite like Christianity and Commerce. The difference is the two
are exact opposites. There are many today that seek to combine commerce
(money) with Jesus Christ.

    I'm reminded the latter two don't and can't mix. We need to understand there
is a separate price for each. People tell me Christ didn't teach us much about
money. They simply don't bother to research His messages, or they choose to
misunderstand some of His great parables. There are many, many verses of
scripture that deal with money.

    This writing, however, is to deal with the differences between spiritual costs
and the costs of everyday commerce. These are the occasions where you, the
consumer, private businessperson, or family shopper make the decision. What
is a fair price (cost) of the article? What do I use as a judging standard?

    For value shoppers, it requires a valuation of the item, quality and quantity,
etc. There are many levels of quality, and each has a price. Frequently the best
overall value of the item also bears the highest cost. This is probably no news
to you, except your purchase decision may result in resentment that you can't
afford the "best".

    Here is where you should recall the phrase, "a reasonable price". We go from
commercial (man standards) to Christian standards. What is a reasonable price
for salvation and Christian blessings? Well, let's look at the price Christ paid to
grant committed believers eternal life. He was tortured, defiled, crucified, and died
a very painful death. This was the supreme price. He did it willingly.

    As Christians, what is our price? For those who serve as missionaries, death
can also be the price. For those who serve in our military, death or crippling
injuries can be the price. For all of us, seeking truth appears to be an easy and
simple price. But, apparently it is not.

    It wouldn't be so terrible if those quoting isolated verses of scripture were
simply making an honest mistake. We are a nation based on law. Ignorance
or misquoting a law is no excuse. Likewise, ignorance or misquoting scripture
is no excuse, and much worse than manhandling our civil law. Scripture should
be followed because it is God's Law. If we don't follow it, we cannot be Christians.

    Our reasonable price, although so easy compared for most people, is not met
by many who still feel they have eternal life. They also have their own personal
opinions of scripture and their own agendas. They may publicize their version
of the bible, but their goal may have little, if any, connection to Christ's teaching.

    Some of us are familiar with who John the Baptist was. He preached the
coming of Christ. The bible says John preached in the wilderness. This was
not the barren desert, but among the people where there was no knowledge
of the Gospel and only the Law taught by the priests. John was beheaded.
That was his reasonable price.

    You may know who Stephen was (Acts 7:57-58). He was stoned to death.
That was his reasonable price. You may recall, reading these passages, that
Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, was the leader in this stoning. Paul
also suffered death as his reasonable price.

    We frequently pass over the reasonable price paid by thousands of Americans
on D-Day, June 6, 1944. That is history of less than 70 hears ago. It is not noted
on any of the calendars I checked. That was a solemn morning for Americans, who
heard of our troops landing on the shores of France. My parents were mostly silent,
except to say our future and the future of the world depended on the success of our
soldiers. That was a make or break day, and was the day so many of our soldiers
paid the reasonable price. The shores of France had been prepared for an invasion,
and our troops were much like sitting ducks as they waded ashore. They knew the 
price they faced, but they, like Christ, did it willingly for us. Now we don't even
acknowledge it on our calendars. Shouldn't it be a national holiday? How quickly
we forget the supreme sacrifice because we have our personal agenda.

    What do you consider a reasonable price? Spending time in church and
Sunday school? If you are learning the truth from scripture and the teachers,
that may qualify. If you realize that isn't enough, you are on the road to finding
the reasonable price.

    Do you tithe? More importantly, do you know exactly what your money is
supporting? An area bishop is building a beautiful new church, but part of the
cost comes from closing an elementary school. Although local people began
an immediate fund drive to keep the school open, the bishop has to have the
bricks and mortar for another building. The elementary school has a nice
building and dedicated staff. The students have been an asset to the community.

    It is important to have safe and reasonable comfort in a building (church), but
we should recall that Christianity didn't begin and enjoy rapid growth because of
any building. Where two or more believers are gathered together (Matt. 18:20),
in His name, He is among them. I believe many people are influenced by the
church building rather than the Word of God. They are also influenced by the
size of the congregation. Bigger is better? Many of the mega church leaders
do not follow scriptural teaching. Sooner or later, money or apostate teaching
problems sink these cardboard ships.

    Do you tithe to a church organization blindly? I don't want to discourage tithing,
but you should be learning a great deal of new scripture from your attendance
at church and bible study. If you aren't, you should find another church or source
of information. Your tithe is among your considerations for reasonable cost of
spiritual growth.

    Your spiritual growth should enable you to examine the statements and claims
of those who portend to know scripture as they publicize their agenda. If you don't
seek the actual truth of their claims, you are not paying a reasonable cost for
your spiritual growth. There is so much false information, and it is packaged for
your easy consumption. Don't settle for anything less than the truth.

     The reasonable price is rarely the cheapest price. Satan has His salespeople
well trained and active. The can or package off the shelf may be considerably
cheaper than other brands. But, if you check out the contents, you may find some
additives or ingredients very unhealthy. When you cut corners on cost, you may
invite problems.

    The same is true with your spiritual life. Another comment that fits is "you get what
you pay for". If you accept inaccurate or misleading spiritual information, you will find
yourself in some kind of difficulty sooner or later. What is the reasonable price for the
average Christian?

    Select a place of worship based on the soundness of the Word, not the gimmicks
of play for children or music for the younger set. There are different levels of teaching
that are interesting and appropriate for all age groups. Your attention to the Word is
more than a reasonable price to pay for God's gifts. You should remember all those
who willingly gave their lives to follow Christ. 

    You have the greatest gift, the supreme quality, and may still receive this unequaled
product (eternal life) without necessarily paying the highest price. The best there is, is
there for you, and at a price you can afford. Learning scripture and seeking truth, not
rumors or false information, is a reasonable price for anyone. Your future depends on it.

Rev. Walbear



Note---In Honor of D-Day, the photo above is US Troops landing on Normandy Beach. Many thanks to our vets. I can't imagine walking into that certain hell. I was fortunate enough to know a vet who survived D-Day. what a tale. Salute!

LYNCH MOB THEOLOGY

                      LYNCH MOB THEOLOGY

I'm sitting there, listening to a pastor preaching to his congregation. He is screaming his message to them. Not shouting, but screaming. Shouting is mostly loudness. Screaming is inflaming, raising one's emotions to danger and action. This man can't be a Christian minister, although he is apparently an ordained Baptist preaching in a Baptist church.
This gives me a flash back to when I was a youngster, and heard similar inflaming rhetoric from a man who claimed to be a defender of Christianity. His subject was different, and he was dressed impressively in white. It was a white robe or sheet, masking his face except for the eyes, with a sort of hood raising to a peak like a church steeple. That was the closest he came to representing Christianity.

These were the days of the 1930s, when the hooded Klansmen terrorized the South, burning crosses or basically accepting credit for shootings and hangings. I recall a picture of a black man hanging from a tree branch, and hearing stories of shootings and other violence. There was nothing Christian about them. They were filled with racism, greed, hate, envy and the desire to make themselves somewhat above the average person. That was a long time ago, and few white Americans pay little attention to
the terrorism of that day. Black people remember. How could they forget? I'm not going to make this sermon a message on racism. The current situation is worse because it crosses all race lines.

If you're a Christian, you know and understand that Christ did not preach violence. He did lose His temper once, and threw the money changers out of the temple. But He never hurt anyone, and preached love--love of God, the Holy Spirit and fellowman. He told us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and for husbands to love their wives as themselves. (Matt. 21:12 and John 13:34)

Many Christians aren't even making an attempt to follow these directions. That is because Satan is using these fake preachers and politicians to instill fear in people. Fear of others of different nationalities, different religions, and anything else that is different. Even differing Christian denominations are fighting each other because they have differing rules.

So... what did Charles L Worley scream to his congregation that disturbed me? He told the congregation, Christians should build an electrified pen and place all lesbians and homosexuals within it until they all died off. It should be 150 or 100 miles long. This was bad enough, but the congregation was rising to the bait, cheering and adding amens.

There was no supporting scripture. He took it upon himself to make up his own "solution" for a problem, just as Hitler did. He apparently believes God and Christ weren't intelligent enough to handle the gay problem. If we study scripture, we should know God gave us everything. We just need to study to find the solutions.

These fake Christians are following Satan's pied pipers instead of studying the Good Book. I oppose same sex marriage for Christian principles, but these people are guaranteed the same civil principles as everybody else. It's in our Constitution. That document is about freedom of choice as long as people aren't forced to do something against their will.

This never was a Christian nation, or women would have been given the vote and slavery would never have been accepted. The nation was established by Protestant and Catholic men. It is still governed by Protestant and Catholic men, who have very grudgingly "allowed" women more freedom. Up until now it has
largely been a mock Christian Sharia Law situation.

Christians are in a minority, and if the conservatives bring about a theocratic government, the legal citizens of foreign birth and their successive generations will soon control America. They will not stand for their cultures to be destroyed by religious zealots. In many cases, their foreign cultures were and still are
controlled by their own theocratic rulers.

North Carolina seems to be the hot box for these apostate preachers. Another example comes from preacher Sean Harris, pastor of a Baptist church in Fayetteville, who urges parents to whack their limp-wristed sons. This is probably a major criticism by some Baptists because they have the idea boys shouldn't be
artistic. Apparently they have never seen the major paintings, sculptures and engravings, or heard the beautiful classic music by male composers. Limp wrists often indicate talent in the finer arts. Now to "straighten out" limp wrists, we are urged to whack them and perhaps break them.

I have never found in scripture any teaching by Christ to hurt little children. These apostates can refer to Proverbs (Old Testament) where it says to "spare the rod and spoil the child". This had nothing to do with changing the physical appearance of a child. If we follow this line of teaching, all the handicapped, both
adult and children, will have to go because they don't look or act the same as these apostate followers. We are back to the days of Plymouth Rock.

Christ's directions concerning children are given us in Matt. 19:13-15. Verse 14 tells us "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." God creates and rules everything, and if He chooses to have
homosexuals, that is His business. He can change them if He desires. Christianity is only one of many religions, and homosexuality is a sin. Do you really know anything
about sin?

There is only one "unforgiven" sin that will keep a Christian out of heaven, and it has nothing to do with sex. Read Matt. 12:31-32. The unforgiven sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. No other sin--murder, theft, false witness, etc.--will keep you out of heaven. If you believe you are saved and will go to heaven, your trip is
cancelled if you deny the Holy Spirit. I'm not threatening you, Read the verses.

None of these incendiary preachers know anything about the Holy Spirit, and very little about the New Testament and Christ's teaching. In fact, many of them have obsessed on sex. They are condemning the very sins they have committed. Several
have had two or more wives, with the current ones being "eye candy" for political reasons, many have committed adultery, and the beat goes on.

If you follow these senseless "unChristian" leaders, whether they are representing a church or the political rhetoric by a candidate, you are as guilty as they. If you are saved, you should have the Holy Spirit to assist you in determining the truth. Many Christians
tell me they don't know the Holy Spirit. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, a Christian is unable to grow from salvation. Read Acts 10:44-46.

The commitment of salvation brings you the opportunity to become a serving Christian. If your commitment ends with the idea you are now saved and don't have to do anything else except "be a nice guy", you are in trouble. And, BTW, ask these deranged preachers to quote scripture about fencing or penning anyone in so they would die out. Did Christ teach killing? Show me.

When you are a committed Christian, your journey to heaven is only at the starting gate. God expects to see evidence that you are on a Christian walk. In a spiritual sense, you are on trial. everything you do reflects upon your commitment and actions, Your actions include both acts of commission and omission.

You can't just walk away from a situation. You must make a decision. You must study scripture before you accept these crazy inflammatory revisions of Christ's teaching. It's far past time for every Christian to understand that no man is qualified or approved
to change, add to, or subtract the words of scripture. (Rev. 22:18-19)Rev. Walbear 

PLEDGE YOUR LIFE

                   PLEDGE YOUR LIFE

    We observe the first big summer holiday at the end of May--Memorial Day. I see
fewer people each year actually paying tribute to the veterans who either
paid the price of life or disability. Many widows have died since the days of
the "big war." For most of the younger generations, there is no memory of
the early 40s, and Memorial Day is a time for fun.

    Memorial Day is the day every American should understand that every
individual member of our military forces pledged his/her life to defend our
nation. When you took the oath at swearing in, you pledged to defend
America and our Constitution to the last heartbeat. I still tear up at the
memorial services when I can't help but remember those who fulfilled
that pledge to the death. I come from a veteran family. I served, and both
my father and father-in-law served. 

    Our service wasn't over when we were discharged. We also had to serve
many years as reservists. Our pledge covered years into the teens before we
were actually "free", and owned our lives again. I hear all these "patriots"
say they support our troops, but they don't serve in the military. I see no evidence
of service to America. There's not one day they spend risking death for their
country. Not all can serve for various reasons, and that's okay,

    But, listen to the esteemed elite leaders giving their reasons for not taking
the "unto death" pledge. 1. I had better things to do-wealthy former vice president
Cheney. 2. I needed more time in college-Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the 
House. There are many others in Congress, as well as former national leaders
who found lucrative reasons for cowardice and making money. Because few
Americans now serve in the military, service "unto death" doesn't mean anything
to them. 

    The bible tells us to look for the evidence that someone is actually a serving
Christian or a pretender. I follow the same principle when looking at all these
people who claim to support our troops. Pretty comfortable doing that sitting at 
home. If for some reason you can't serve in the military, there are dozens of
reasons you can do things in support. I know many people do these civilian
support measures, and I applaud them for taking the word "patriot" seriously.

    Just slightly worse than ignoring veterans' pledge is the misunderstanding
of the Constitution. This has been a big deal for the ultra conservatives during
their political campaign. They misquote that wonderful document regularly so
they can criticize social efforts and lay groundwork for a one-religion nation
which is their revision of Christ's teaching and the Christian bible. The members
of Congress take the same oath as military people, but I have strong doubts
many of them would serve "unto death." Not likely they'll be tested as our troops
are.

    In World War II, we lost over 405,000 men and women, with another 672,000
wounded. . In Korea we lost nearly 34,000, and in Viet Nam, we lost nearly
48,000. There has been a continuing drain through the various "wars" in the 
Middle East and Asia. This drain has been bad for America, because our troops
are usually model citizens with families and experienced in many fields of work.
They are the cream of the crop. As Jesus teaches in the Parable of the Sower
(Matt. 13:18-23), many who hear the Word will not bear fruit. That explains
exactly the situation for all the misquoting Constitution "patriots."

    Preachers are supposed to spread the "good news" of the Gospel, but we also
need to point out the bad news. As a nation, we are gradually losing sight of the
sacrifices made by our ancestors to keep this country free. As this happens, we
become weak instead of strong. We have moved the date of observances to
accommodate commercial desires and the desires of the general populace to
have a "fun" vacation time. The tragedy of this is that young people don't hear
the story of the sacrifices and relegate these experiences to "history", which is
on its way out of our educational experience. Ask young people about World War II
or Viet Nam. You'll get a lot of blank expressions. Ask about the Pilgrims and you'll
get a lot of misinformation.

    I appear to dote on World War II because it was the defining moment for real
freedom. If we had lost, the entire world would have gone into a modern type of
slavery. The inhumane practices of the Germans and Japanese would be the
modern normal lifestyle. This war wasn't about "some" nations; it was truly a
world-wide event. For us, who lived through it, it was "now or never."

    We talk about civil freedom and religious freedom. They need to be kept separate.
When God ruled directly, there was no problem with either. After Israel wanted a human
king, the civil and religious rules melded together, as did the human desire to be king.
This was the task Christ faced when He preached to Israel. Civil and religious views 
shared a combined set of rules. He pointed out that major difference when He told
His followers to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is
God's (Matt. 22:21).

     On this Memorial Day, and the others that follow, I pray each of you truly reflect
on the sacrifices made by those who freely gave their lives, and those who lost a
husband, son, daughter, or the children who were left fatherless. One other thing,
for those of you who say "you only served because you were drafted", there was
a choice of serving or "jumping" the country to Canada or elsewhere. There was
also a choice to secure an exemption for agriculture or other circumstances,
and the choice of being a conscientious objector. No Christian could use that
excuse to reject responsibility to serve his country. If there is an Army of the Lord,
as Joshua 5:14 tells us, there is also an army of Christian men and women.

    Christian men and women may serve in a military or civilian capacity, but neither
of these can be political. If we do this, we are taking our faith all the way back to
the days of Christ, when religion and government were combined. God clearly
showed that was wrong when He sent us His Son. Are we about to repeat history?

Rev. Walbear 

The Last Day

The Last Day  This is sobering!!!  'BE KIND' Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down.