Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | May 17, 2014

The United States Government – Under Control or Out of Control, by David Bower

What if we Ran Our Family Finances the Way the Government is Running the Nation’s Finances?

I can recall, as a young husband and father, the agony I felt when we ran out of money before we ran out of month. I can remember the soul searching my wife and I would go through as we tried to determine what options were available to try and hold our family finances together in those difficult and frustrating times.

Fortunately those times were short lived because we both came to the same conclusion; nothing whatsoever was worth the price that kind of problem generated in our lives! To try and make sure we wouldn’t have to go through those times again we lived simply and frugally and made do with what we had. At times we both worked, at other times I had two jobs and worked very long hours but we were determined that we were no longer going to run out of money before we ran out of month! The Lord blessed us with the health and determination to do that so those times became nothing more than a painful memory.

Lessons from Life

The lessons we learned, as a young married couple, my wife was 17 and I was 19 when we got married, have continued to stand us in good stead; although we have been greatly blessed by the Lord, we still live a relatively simple and frugal lifestyle and are perfectly content with what we have.

I see our contentment as a blessing from the Lord and am reminded of Paul’s statement in Philippians 4:11-13 where it is written, “11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

By no stretch of the imagination do we compare ourselves to Paul, but we are in the process of learning and have made some progress, by God’s grace.

The Norm for Most Families

I want to re-emphasize the key place God’s grace and mercy has had in our efforts to maintain a balanced family budget; I am fully aware of the devastating impact that bad health, injury or any of a countless number of other calamities can have on a family’s finances; our family too has experienced a number of those kinds of events.

Despite the unexpected, however, most families manage to attain and maintain a workable financial equilibrium by means of hard work, restraint, and most importantly, God’s grace and mercy.

Under Control or Out of Control?

Let us now consider the subject of our nation’s finances; by any rational standard it is seriously out of control. Every family that has achieved a reasonable financial balance would be horrified to suddenly be placed in the financial predicament being faced by our nation. How and why did our national leadership get us into this mess in the first place and why does there seem to be so little interest in extricating our nation from this mess?

I hasten to add, at this point, that I am neither an economist nor an international banker and make no pretense of understanding such things. I do have some common sense which tells me if you don’t have the money to spend you don’t spend it anyway. I recall how the United States Government was compared to a drunken sailor spending money but the analogy was considered unfair to the drunken sailor because when he ran out of money he just went back to his ship.

Why are we Spending Our Nation Deeper and Deeper into Debt?

There are a number of theories that suggest answers to our out-of-control spending but I’ll limit my observations to only one. It has long been observed that the financial health of the United States has been a major obstacle to one-world government. While there are a number of well intentioned intellectuals who see political unification as the answer to many of the world’s problems, we know from the Bible that the final form of world government will be under the influence of Satan.

We also know, from the Bible, that the United States is conspicuously absent from the world scene when that final one-world government becomes operational under the leadership of the antichrist. What I see, as I look at the United States and the rest of the world, is the heavy hand of God beginning to more overtly move in the affairs of men and nations.

Although I know, from the Bible, that this must take place, it is still hard to watch it happen. I believe we are watching God at work in the affairs of this nation as well as the world to bring world events and circumstances into conformity with His plan for the End Times. I have no idea how much time is left, how long it will be before the ranks of the church are finally complete.

The Lord is hard at work, bringing in those last sheep that are part of His flock into the fold that they may join the rest of the sheep at the time all are called home.

“20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Revelation 22:20-21

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | May 13, 2014

Is Peace Hard to Find? by David Bower

Silhouettes-Watermarked for David's blog 5-13-14

“Silhouettes”, Artist: Adele Bower, www.artbyadelebower.com

“Yes, I am looking for peace in my life and surely peace is hard to find.”

I work as an online missionary for Global Media Outreach and made a discovery recently; GodLife, from Global Media Outreach, had sent a letter to subscribers which concluded with the following:  “Are you looking for peace in your life? Hit reply and tell your volunteer what is going on. We can help!”

As a volunteer worker, one of the replies I received had the statement in quotes, above. This Christian brother, with whom I have worked since January of last year, is from Zimbabwe. He and I have exchanged letters on a regular basis ever since so it was good to see his name in my mailbox; his was the first reply that I received on the subject of finding peace.

I believe we can all agree it seems to be getting harder to find even small pockets of peace in this troubled world in which we live today. I began to suspect that there might well be others who were drawing the same conclusion, “peace is hard to find.” I’ve decided to share with the readers of my blog, the reply that I wrote to fulfill the “We can help!” promise made by GMO on behalf of the volunteers.

I’ve deleted the brother’s name to protect his privacy.

Finding the Peace Which Passes Understanding

Dear _______,

The success of your search for peace all depends on what kind of peace you seek and where you are looking for peace. We are living in a spiritual war so peace in this world cannot be found; there is a peace available to God’s children and that is inner, spiritual peace which is beyond understanding. It is this peace God invites you to enjoy as one of His children, _______.

We can enjoy this peace as we let the Holy Spirit lead in our lives; this is promised in Galatians 5: 22-25 where it is written, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

This deep, inner peace is always available to those who are led by the Holy Spirit; this is the peace which passes understanding. In Philippians 4: 4-7 it is written, “4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

If you look to this world and all of its life situations you will not find peace; the secret to finding peace within your heart is to trust in the Lord always and do not try to understand circumstances. The key to the Spirit led life is confession of sin _______, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, even as Christian men and women. In 1 John 1: 8-10 this is explained, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Notice in verse 9 that when we confess our known sins God even forgives us of our unknown sins as well. When we confess our sins to God, the power of the Holy Spirit is restored in our lives and we can again enjoy the fruit of the Spirit. When you fail to find peace it is probably because you have unconfessed sin in your life; confess your sin to God and you restore the power of the Holy Spirit.

Keep in mind one thing about sin, _______, and that is the nature of sin as described in Romans 14: 23b where it is written, “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Your doubts, fears and uncertainties are all sin _______, and suppress the power of the Holy Spirit in your life; when you feel any of these negative emotions, confess them to God and restore the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

I’ll pray for you now, _______:

Holy Father, I ask your blessing and guidance on _______ as he seeks to live a life that pleases and honors you. I ask that the Holy Spirit may help him understand the nature of sin so that he recognizes sin for what it is and is quick to confess his sins to you. Please help him discover the peace that passes understanding that you have prepared for those who trust you and follow you by faith. Please help him to understand that the fruit of the Spirit is his portion on this earth if he will only claim it. I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit, _______ and you will find peace.

Your brother in Christ,

David

While many of the verses and thoughts are familiar to readers of my blog, the principles involved are of fundamental importance in the daily life of any believer and deserve daily application to the Christian life. If you are experiencing any difficulties finding deep, inner peace, then I encourage you to put these principles into full force and effect in your life too.

Live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit and you will find peace.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 28, 2014

The Mysterious Nephilim, by David Bower

The Nephilim of the Old Testament, a Little Background

In Genesis 6 we are introduced to a class of humanoid men called the Nephilim; in verse 4 we read, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

The exact nature of the Nephilim has been debated for a long time and I’m under no illusion that this one article will finally settle the matter; it is an expression of what I believe to be the most likely explanation of the limited information that has been provided in the Bible.

If you keep in mind there were 1,656 years between the creation of Adam and the flood, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the afterward, referenced in verse 4, was part of that time before the flood, not after the flood. A reference to heroes of old could well mean the time a thousand years before the flood.

I have addressed the subject of the identity of the “sons of God” in other articles and will not open that discussion again here. I will simply conclude that they were a limited number of the fallen angels who had followed Satan at the time of the angelic rebellion in heaven. The Nephilim were the children of these angelic fathers and human mothers and had DNA of both the fallen angels and human women. They had a corrupted DNA and were part of a Satanic effort to thwart God’s plan for a human kinsman redeemer who would defeat Satan.

This was a major attack on God’s plan for mankind’s redemption and had to be dealt with in a manner that would put the matter to rest once and for all. This, of course, was accomplished by the flood which killed the entire human population of the earth except for eight people, Noah and his family.

It has been estimated by some statisticians that the earth’s population was close to 9 billion people at the time of the flood so one can see from that number the severity of God’s judgment on humanity and the earth.

Nephilim After the Flood?

If the purpose of the flood was to eliminate corrupted DNA then how could it be that there were Nephilim after the flood; did some of them survive that judgment or did they come from some other source perhaps? While there are a number of popular theories, let us examine the Bible’s revelation on that subject and see if we can find an explanation.

First, what does the Bible say about Nephilim after the flood? As we examine the Old Testament we discover that there is only one reference to the Nephilim after the flood and that is found in Number 13:31-33 where it is written, “31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

An important consideration on the use of the word Nephilim is its context; this was used as part of a “bad report” given to try and frighten the Israelites into not going into the land. As I understand it there is no justification from the Hebrew to think the Nephilim were anything but normal sized men.

Were the Nephilim Giants?

It was not until the creation of a Greek translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, the Septuagint that the term gigantes, giants, appeared in verse 4. Since the Septuagint was the basis for the Latin translation called the Vulgate, it is to be expected that this concept would be carried forward into the Latin translation. There is no real justification in the Hebrew word, gibbowr, for such a translation. The Hebrew word used signifies they were strong men, brave men, mighty men from the transliterated root word gibbowr.

In most translations, the Hebrew word is translated, heroes, mighty men, mighty heroes, and powerful men, by way of example, not giants. I believe it safe to say the people of great size were descendents of Noah and his family and did not contain the least particle of corrupted DNA.

I do not believe the use of this word in this context is sufficient evidence to say God failed in His efforts to eliminate the corrupted DNA; after all, these words were part of a bad report. I would, on the other hand, say all of the corrupted DNA was destroyed by the flood and the fallen angels who did this were confined to the Abyss where they remain to this day. I have a high degree of confidence that God will accomplish whatever He sets out to do.

By way of conclusion then, I believe the flood wiped out every last bit of corrupted DNA and that the fallen angels who had fathered the Nephilim were, and still are, confined to the Abyss. The giants encountered in the land were simply big descendents of Noah and his family.

There are volumes of speculation on the flood, the sons of god, and the Nephilim; you can enter any of those in a search engine and come up with a large number of articles.

 

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 19, 2014

It is Finished, Victory Has Been Won! by David Bower

The Weekend That Changed the World Forever

This weekend we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” This is a time of both sadness and joy; sadness as we consider the fallen condition of mankind that made the terrible agony of the cross necessary, and joy as we rejoice in the triumphant resolution of mankind’s sin problem by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Kinsman Redeemer.

The First and Second Adam

I cannot even imagine the feelings our Lord had as He entered the Garden of Eden, knowing full well what Adam had done, and watched Adam squirm and listened to Adam as he tried to pass the blame over to Eve. The Lord, in His omniscience, could see into the future and see the misery that was going to result from this foolish act of disobedience; He could see the terrible price He would have to pay to restore mankind from the results of Adam’s disobedience.

The contrast between the first and second Adam is given in 1 Corinthians 15:44b-49, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

We Bear the Image of the First Adam

We inhabit a fallen, sin cursed, body that has not been redeemed; we bear the image of the first Adam. This body cannot inherit the kingdom of God because it has not been redeemed by our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Although we enjoy a redeemed soul, and have had our spirits brought back to life at the point we received Christ as Savior, our mortal bodies still labor under the curse of sin and must be transformed by the power of God before it can enter eternity.

To this point, those who have died in Christ are spiritually home with the Lord while their mortal bodies have returned to the dust from which it came. Those of us who still live know there is a possibility that the Lord may return for us and we will never see physical death. In the event the Lord tarries, we too shall join those who have gone before and will await the Lord’s return for His church. This is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.“

We Shall Then Bear the Image of the Second Adam

When the Lord was resurrected on Sunday, He became the “First Fruits” of them that slept; this resurrection is what will happen to those of us who have experienced mortal death and will be followed by those who have not when the Lord returns and calls the church home.

I hope these words are an encouragement to you!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 24, 2014

Inner Peace in a Time of Turmoil, by David Bower

Is the World as we Know it Falling Apart?

It seems as if everywhere I look there are stories of calamity and disaster threatening someone somewhere. The emails I get are often filled with news of events which threaten to bring down civilization or at least bring down the United States. It seems as if we have always lived in turbulent times.

I, for example, was born during the Great Depression and grew up during the Second World War. This was followed shortly thereafter by the Korean War of which I am a Navy veteran. Then there was the Cold War with Russia, the Vietnam War, a number of recessions and many natural disasters, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Desert Storm, etcetera, etcetera. I know I’ve skipped a lot but I think you get the idea.

So, you might ask, what is new? It seems as if we are always either hearing of or in the midst of some crisis or other. Since that seems to be the pattern of life that is our portion, what should we, as Christians, do and how should we react to all these calamities?

All is Proceeding as Planned

We are indeed fortunate to have an authoritative guide to world events which also includes clear advice on what we should expect and how we are to respond. This authoritative guide is called the Holy Bible and is your lifeline to love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (See Galatians 5:22-25)

It is one thing to read the prophecies concerning the end times in the Bible and learn about the events that will be taking place; it is something else entirely to begin to see them playing out in the world around us. Can it be that these are the end times in which we live today? As the world situation continues to develop it keeps coming ever more closely into alignment with the world situation described in Bible prophecy and designated as the end times.

Although I know the United States is completely absent from Bible prophecy; I am nevertheless pained as I see it slip with increasing speed from a place of global significance. I have no doubt in my mind that this will continue but it still hurts to watch the process in action. Is it possible to feel hurt as one watches events unfold but to also experience inner peace as one focuses on God’s plan as it is revealed. I believe the answer to that question is yes, it is possible.

God is in Complete Control of Everything!

This is where the Bible offers significant help; the principle is established in scripture how important it is to evaluate events on the basis of knowledge, not feelings. Knowledge, based on the Bible, is sound and dependable, feelings are ephemeral. The Bible tells us that God is in complete control of everything, He is working all things after the counsel of His own will. Ephesians 1:11.

Talk about a comprehensive statement; could anything be excluded from all things? I think not, all things include everything. Can I understand the enormity of that statement, most assuredly not, I am just a tiny spec of a creation of that mighty God who works all things after the counsel of His own will.

All National Leaders are Servants of God

By God’s grace I have been given the faith to believe all that God has said about nations and national leaders. For example I believe Daniel 4:17 where it is written, “‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’ Then again in Romans 13:1 it is written, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

Just as Nebuchadnezzar was a servant of the most high God so is every world leader today; they are all servants of the most high God whether they realize it or not! Their actions and decisions have been determined in eternity past by our omnipotent, omniscient, creator God. God’s plan for the end will take place exactly as has been determined beforehand by God alone!

What Then Should Christians do and How Should They Think?

As the end time events begin to unfold they will become ever more intense and disruptive. The next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the “Rapture of the Church.” This can happen at any time and I believe it will happen in my lifetime and considering I am 81 years old I don’t have too many years left.

While I am clearly speculating when I make this statement I believe the removal of all Christians from the United States will be a final nail in the national coffin; while nationally we are turning our collective backs on God, there is still a massive number of Christians in this country including many in the government and the military.

God has always known this time would come and has provided a lot of guidance on the attitude we, as God’s children, should have as these times take place. I will mention just a few of them:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30

I know that these verses are familiar to most of you; this, however, is a very good time to assimilate them and make sure they are a part of your daily life.

“For we live by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians 5:7

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 9, 2014

Sin and Grace, by David Bower

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

We have here in John 8:8 our Lord’s response when “3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.” The familiar story is given in John 8:1-11

I have long been intrigued by the statement that follows in verse 9, “9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” What does “the older ones first” say to you dear reader? Could it be that age and experience deepens our awareness of our own personal sin? Could it be that our memories of past failures increases along with our age?

Our precious Redeemer knew we would have to live with failure and continually turn to Him for forgiveness and restoration. Life and experience makes this so crystal clear and deepens our gratitude for the marvelous provisions that have been made as an expression of God’s grace to each of us.

My work as a missionary for Global Media Outreach has brought this problem of personal sin so forcefully to mind as I answer letters from all over the world from brothers and sisters in Christ who are weary of personal sin and long to be delivered once and for all.

I wish I could give them a faith formula that would deliver them from the problem of personal sin but that is not possible; there is no way to accomplish that as long as we are in our mortal bodies. While we have been given a way to control and suppress personal sin, there is no way to eliminate it.

What Does the Bible Say About Personal Sin?

Let us approach this chronologically and first consider the origin of human personal sin. Personal sin entered the world when Adam disobeyed a direct command of God. When Adam deliberately disobeyed God he died spiritually on the spot and the rest of the human race died with him. You and I and every human being who was yet to be born, excluding the Lord Jesus Christ, died in Adam in the Garden of Eden at that moment.

All of us, with a human father, since then have been born spiritually dead and only those who have been born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have become spiritually alive. Humanity today is divided into two distinct groups, those who have a living body, soul, and spirit, the Christian, and those who have only a living body and soul, the unbeliever.

The turning point came at the time Christ was crucified; it is also pointed out in Scripture that our old sin nature was crucified with Christ at the time we received Christ as Savior that we might be free to serve and honor God with our lives. By God’s grace, the power of our sin nature is suppressed when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit who came into us, never to leave, at the moment we received Christ as Savior.

The Daily Battle with Personal Sin

There is a clear and present danger though involving personal sin; when we sin the power of the Holy Spirit is quenched and the power of the sin nature is released in our lives. For purposes of clarity it is important to understand what is included in the category of personal sin that can quench the power of the Holy Spirit. The answer to that is very scary, I’m sorry to say, and is described in Romans 14:23b where it is written, “everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

Let’s stop for a moment and let the enormity of that verse sink in. Everything that does not come from faith is sin; every fear, every doubt, every disobedient thought, anger, lust all is sin and quenches the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God knew we would have that problem and provided a solution for His children.

God’s Answer to the Problem of Personal Sin

In 1 John 1:8-10 we find God’s solution to the problem of personal sin. “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

God’s answer to personal sin is the 9th verse, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” A professor of Greek at Dallas Theological Seminary pointed out the basic meaning of the word confess as used in this verse; it simply means to list or acknowledge the sin. It does not mean to do some sort of penance to earn forgiveness, but simply to see the sin from God’s perspective, a lack of faith. Forgiveness of personal sin, just like salvation, is a matter of faith alone; we do not deserve it nor can we earn it, it is a gift from God.

One other point on verse 9 and that is the impact of purification from all unrighteousness; when we confess our known sins, God, in His matchless grace, purifies us from all unrighteousness as well, all of our unknown sins. This permits the restoration of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and gives us the opportunity to live Spirit led lives.

The Good News for the Child of God!

There is good news in all of this; there are wonderful blessings God wants His children to enjoy as the earnest of their inheritance; part of the promise of good things to come. As God’s children we have available to us rich blessings which we can enjoy on this earth as we deal with the challenges of life in a sin cursed world.

When the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives we can enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit, blessings that are a beautiful glimpse of what God has in store for us in the world to come. This is described in Galatians 5:22-25 where it is written, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Please consider this an invitation to always enjoy the Spirit led life.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | December 27, 2013

Duck Dynasty, the Good News and Spiritual Reality, by David Bower

A Sad Development

Christmas should be a happy time as Christians celebrate the birth of the Son of God and reflect on the supreme importance of His birth and the profound changes His life brought to mankind.

I was saddened this Christmas by an event that took too much of the Christian communities’ attention off the birth of the Son of God and replaced it with something else; a statement by Phil Robertson on personal sins. The fact of the matter is all of us have sinned and failed to measure up to God’s standard; we all need a Savior to deliver us from the penalty of our sins. The good news, the Gospel, is Christ, the Son of God, was born without sin to become our Redeemer and die on the cross in our place and by simply receiving Him as Savior we can be delivered from the judgment we deserve.

This is the focus of the Gospel, this is the message of salvation Christianity has been given to bring to every human being.

I mentioned this problem of focus and priorities in an article titled, “Can Muddy Water Obscure the Gospel Message?” The Gospel message is not that God hates sin, which is certainly scary enough news to those who will listen; the Gospel message is the good news that Christ died for your sins and if you receive Him as Savior you will be delivered from judgment for your sins.

The Natural Human Condition is Like an Unplugged TV

A Christian who places an emphasis on personal sin, which is only a symptom of mankind’s sin problem, is like a man who walks into a room with a TV sitting in one corner; the TV looks like a fairly new model and should work just fine but it has one major problem, it’s not plugged into an outlet; there is absolutely no hope it will work until it’s plugged in.

He sits down in a chair across the room and tries to adjust the volume and change the channels but nothing happens; it’s not only not turned on, it’s not even plugged in and has no power and no hope of responding to the remote; it simply can’t, it’s dead for all practical purposes until it’s plugged in and turned on. Only then is there any hope of changing channels and adjusting the volume.

Lost Humanity is Unplugged and Not Turned On

Humanity has a basic problem, humanity died spiritually in Adam and every human being since Adam, except for the Lord Jesus Christ, has been born spiritually dead. That includes you and me and everyone else who has ever lived since Adam with the noted exclusion. We are both unplugged and turned off at the spiritual level until we are born again by faith in Jesus Christ and that faith is not of us, it is a grift of God that no man may boast as Paul told the Ephesians.

Only with the second birth are we made alive and able to respond at the spiritual level to instructions and commands. Only then can we respond to Biblical standards and see the wisdom of God’s plan for humanity. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” and Paul told the Corinthians “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

What then is the Point?

The point is getting things into proper sequence; talking to a spiritually dead individual about sin is like trying to change channels on a TV that is unplugged and turned off. The all important first step is to get the individual plugged in and turned on; this is called being born again. Only after the individual is plugged in and turned on is there any hope of change.

Paul addresses this process in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, “5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” We may plant or we may water but only God can make faith grow.

What is Our Responsibility?

God has entrusted to His church the responsibility of planting the seed and watering it. The seed is the Gospel, the good news of salvation as a free gift by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. This is the message of the church, not a condemnation of any particular personal sin. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to change channels on a TV that is unplugged and turned off!

The ministry of the church is one of redemption, not condemnation.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | December 18, 2013

Christmas, When the Word was Made Flesh, by David Bower

The Happiest Season of the Year

This past weekend we were richly blessed by the opportunity to see our granddaughter participate in the Christmas Celebration at First Baptist Church, Houston. The entire experience was one of joy and thanksgiving for our risen Savior as the events surrounding His birth, life, death, and resurrection were dramatically presented.

We watched it four nights and had the opportunity to fully absorb the message it provided to the audience; that experience has set the tone for our celebration of the 2013 Christmas season.

The enormous significance of the First Advent of our Lord may sometimes get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season and the sometimes frantic preparations that seem to be an inevitable part of the days before Christmas. We have even witnessed an effort on the part of some to remove Christ and Christmas from the winter “Holiday Season” and to secularize the season so as not to offend those who prefer to reject the message of Christ and Christmas; fortunately that trend seems to be losing ground.

For those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ, this season is a beautiful reminder of our Lord and the wonder of His birth. One of the points the Celebration brought out clearly was the significance of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

Four Hundred Years of Silence

The voice of God through His prophets had become silent; for 400 years Israel did not receive any word from God through the prophets. Much had happened that was instrumental in setting the stage for the events that would transpire during the First Advent but there was no word from the Lord; just silence for 400 years.

God was planning on breaking that silence in the most dramatic way possible; God the Son, the living Word, would be born of a virgin and become flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. The silence would finally be broken by the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord; the Word of God would be made flesh and dwell among us. We would have a Kinsman/Redeemer, a Savior who would take our place of judgment and die on the cross for the redemption of our sins.

The Birth of the King

It is fascinating to me to reflect on the decisions God made as to the birth of the Son of God. The eternal creator of the universe was not to be born in a palace or even a major city of the time; but was to be born of humble parentage in a small insignificant village named Bethlehem. Although both were of the line of King David, any association with royalty had faded generations before. His mother, Mary, was a peasant girl and her husband, Joseph, was a simple carpenter; hardly a likely couple to become the caregivers for the humanity of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.

All proceeded according to God’s eternal plan and the precious baby was entrusted to humans to care for and love as He grew in stature and wisdom over the early years of His life.

The Shepherds

The Bible describes two events surrounding the birth and early childhood of our Lord. The first had to do with the angelic host appearing to the shepherds. I have read that these particular shepherds and the sheep of their flock were very special; these were the sheep destined for temple sacrifice. How fitting that the announcement of the birth of the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, should be made to shepherds tending the sheep to be sacrificed on the Temple altar.

The Magi

The second event concerns the arrival of the magi whose number is not specified in Scripture. I have previously written on the magi and the mysterious star they followed and have some strongly held opinions concerning both. The account of the magi is only given in Matthew 2:1-12, and the implications are the magi appeared around two years after the birth of Jesus. I believe these particular magi were of a group founded by the prophet Daniel, and the gifts presented by the magi were placed with that group originally by Daniel himself.

Daniel had prophesied the very day our Lord would enter Jerusalem as the Lamb of God and I believe he instructed the magi to pay particular attention as that time drew closer. I believe the star was in fact the Shekinah Glory of God and led the magi to the place where Jesus was living. While none of this is specified in Scripture, it would explain a lot.

Christmas Today

Although under attack, Christmas is still a powerful factor in the lives of many. I think we can all agree that the mood becomes a bit more joyous and happy around Christmas especially in the Christian community. The traditions of Christmas are always welcome and bring remembrances of Christmas past and the fun and fellowship of family and friends. The traditional Christmas hymns are a great blessing and tell the story of our Lord’s birth with beauty and simplicity.

Christmas is a happy time and I’m thankful it is here again!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 

 

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | November 3, 2013

Can Muddy Water Obscure the Gospel Message? by David Bower

 What is the Gospel Message?

Probably the best known summary of the gospel message is found in the words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus as recorded in John 3:16,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That seems to be simple and straightforward enough to be understood by anyone. The message of salvation is simple and unadorned and tells of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind. I have always been impressed by the comments made by the Apostle Paul when he spoke on the subject of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 where he wrote:

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

That simple message is the vital first step of the great commission that was given to the church by our Lord God, Jesus Christ. The second step which I shall only mention in passing is given in Matthew 28:20, “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How then is the church obscuring this message with muddy water? Let’s explore the ways.

Fox News’ Highly Reluctant Jesus Follower

An article was posted on 10-22-2013 on the “Christianity Today” website concerning the conversion of Kirsten Powers who is described there as “Kirsten Powers is a contributor to USA Today and a columnist for Newsweek/The Daily Beast. She is a Democratic commentator at Fox News.”

In her article she says:

“Just seven years ago, if someone had told me that I’d be writing for Christianity Today magazine about how I came to believe in God, I would have laughed out loud. If there was one thing in which I was completely secure, it was that I would never adhere to any religion—especially to evangelical Christianity, which I held in particular contempt.”

Then farther down in the article she wrote:

“To the extent that I encountered Christians, it was in the news cycle. And inevitably they were saying something about gay people or feminists. I didn’t feel I was missing much.”

To me that is a scary, sad comment on Christian focus; in the minds of the unbelieving world is Christianity mostly about being against this or that sin? What a tragic distortion of the “Great Commission;” how could we have gone so far astray?

Is That the Worst of It?

Unfortunately there is more to the problem than a misguided focus on personal sin; there is the problem of vast dissension in the Christian camp. Soldiers of the cross are going around taking shots at each other rather than focusing on the true enemy in our age’s old spiritual warfare. Anyone who seems different or has a slightly different message too often becomes the enemy which should be attacked and disabled. The misguided attacks on personal sin coupled with the internecine warfare in the Christian community is more than enough to muddy the water and confuse the unbelieving world as to the real substance of the Christian message.

Let me ask you; if every personal sin of every kind was stopped and the entire world lived an ideal life would that reconcile the world to God? The answer to that question must be a resounding no; it would most certainly not reconcile mankind to God!

There is another more fundamental problem that must be resolved and the answer to that problem was given by Jesus to Nicodemus in the very same conversation where Jesus told him in verses 5-8, “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The only way to be reconciled to God is to be born again into God’s family by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior!

Why must we be born again? The answer to that question goes to the heart of the problem of man’s alienation from God; we must be born again to escape the inevitable consequences of our first birth which is the second death, the second death is the Lake of Fire. At our first birth we were born spiritually dead as members of a spiritually dead race who died in Adam, at our second birth we are born spiritually alive into the eternal family of the living God and are no longer subject to the second death! The second birth can only come when Jesus Christ is accepted as Savior and God.

The good news, the Gospel, is the declaration that there is a way to be reconciled to God and that is by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; that is the message of salvation and there is no other! The extent to which that message is lost in the tumult of misguided protests against personal sin and internecine Christian warfare is the extent to which we, as a church, individually and collectively, are failing in our proclamation of the Gospel message and our carrying out the Great Commission itself.

Do yourself, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the unbelieving world a big favor and center your focus on the gospel!

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 26, 2013

The World Situation Today from a Christian Perspective, by David Bower

How Quickly Are Things Moving Now?

I think we can agree that changes in all aspects of life seem to be coming with greater speed than ever before. In 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote a book called, “Future Shock” in which he defined the term as “too much change in too short a period of time”. Looking back at 1970 it is easy to see that the speed of change has only increased since then and to one degree or another all of us are doing our best to deal with “Future Shock.”

There seems to be almost no area of life that is not undergoing rapid change; no area of life that is being treasured and saved. Everything from the family to society as a whole is in the process of drastic alteration; there seems to be nothing that is viewed as having an inviolable sanctity which is worthy of preservation.

The Biblical standard for the family as the concept of one man and one woman becoming one flesh, living together and having children has essentially been discarded for anything goes. This, coupled with abortion, has resulted in an inevitable drop in the birth rate which is causing irreversible depopulation of many peoples and nations.

History Repeats Itself

For over 100 years there has been an effort to move the world toward global unity. Among those who promote this unity there is a feeling that nationalism is the root of all evil and if it can be eliminated then most of the world’s problems could be solved. This, of course, is an over simplification of the globalist philosophy but provides the general idea.

You will recall the world situation after the flood; there was only one language and people had joined together to create a tower, the Tower of Babel. We are told the story in Genesis 11.

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

It would appear that the fallen nature of man demands its “Tower of Babel” and has never lost its desire to build it in some form or fashion. This desire will reach it’s culmination for a brief period when the Antichrist rules the world during the Tribulation.

Much of what we see today in Western society is a part of the process of globalization that is moving quickly toward its goal of world unity and the Bible tells us how that will end.

Can Permanence and Stability Be Found Anywhere?

Although our world seems to provide no evidence of permanence and stability, the Christian can find it by looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We are told in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” That is something on which we can always depend; our Savior never changes and is always with us, always loves us, and always works all things together for our good.

It is important to fully confirm in our minds the Biblical truth that this world is not our home. As we see the good compromised and evil prosper we must realize that we are ambassadors and represent the Lord Jesus Christ as his emissaries to this sin cursed world.

In the midst of all of this change and chaos we are told to rejoice in the one thing on which we can always depend.

 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!    (Philippians 4:4) 

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