No one who is even slightly aware of the situation of today’s world can doubt that we are living in momentous times. Both the Old and New Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) and the New Testament (Greek Scriptures) describe world conditions as if they were modern daily newspapers. Ezekiel 38 shows many nations, led by Russia coming against Israel.  After the great battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39, the people of Israel come to the realization that God is the Lord their God (Ezekiel 39:22) So there is yet to come a turning to God of the Jewish people. So much more could be said regarding the signs of the times, pointing to the prophecies that seem to be reaching their climatic fulfillment in our day. But prophecy is not given to satisfy our curiosity, or scare people into coming to Christ. It is, however, a wake up call to unsaved people, and certainly to those who already know Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is time to be alert and watchful. In the eschatological (pertaining to the last times), passage of Mark 13, Jesus calls His listeners and readers five times to Watchfulness, with such words as “watch”, and “be on your guard”. So the end times are times when the Church can be indifferent and slothful, and needs to be jarred awake by the ominous happenings in the Mid-east and elsewhere. Wake up! Watch! For the signs of the end have been present to every generation. But especially to ours.

Written by,

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

#Jesus #God #End Times #Last Days #Signs of the End #Israel

The author of the Sept. 12 letter, “Religious beliefs belong in home and church,” made unsubstantiated statements, as if there were authority for them, when in fact the only “authority” is his own opinion.

He states, “There must be a definite separation of church and state, which is written in our Constitution.” He doesn’t cite any passage to that effect, and though I have not studied the Constitution, I am not aware of anything in it that states or implies it.

And where does he get the authority to affirm that “your religious beliefs belong in your home and church and only there”? Really? Thank God our founding fathers never noticed that. Or the founders of our colleges and universities, hospitals, promoters of abolition, child labor laws, etc.

In fact, it is impossible to practice the Christian religion only in our churches and homes, for its founder unequivocally charged his followers, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19). I can quote my authority!

To the writer’s credit, he did get one thing right–“What people forget is that God preaches love first…” But true love does not sanction all conduct.

Rev. Richard L. Shaw, Ph.D

(As printed in “Your Views,” Asbury Park Press, September 19, 2015)

Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God is free giving and free receiving.  Those who live out of the attitude of holding, keeping, find it difficult to really live in God’s kingdom.  Entering into the dimension sustained by the kingdom of God precludes any attitude of calculation, of measuring our giving in terms of what it may bring back to the giver.  There is a human impulse for security that leads us away from the risks of the kingdom of God.  But Jesus promises that the mode of being human that is rooted in the kingdom of God is grounded in the real, oriented to the highest possibilities for the fulfillment of human existence.  The shame is that so many of us limit these possibilities by our fear of releasing all to God’s kingdom and trusting in his care and provision.  As we take the step of faith and release all to God, we find our life not becoming narrower, but wider and deeper.  This is the paradox of the Christian life- the more we let go of to God, the broader our life becomes.  The potential becomes the actual.  But our basic motive must not be to get but to give and bless.  Some things are sure to hinder the blessing and the work of God.  Unforgiveness, grudges, bitterness, envy, jealousy, pride, all have no place in God’s kingdom, and grieve the Spirit as he tries to bless us.

Written by,

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

Worship is our total being reaching out to God to adore him, praise him, and admire him.  Yet it is so easy to shift the focus from God to “me”.  Those of us in the congregation can so easily judge worship by what it did or did not do to or for “us”, “me”.  The worship team can drift without really realizing it to creating worship times with the criteria of perfect technology, lighting, feeling, leaving God virtually out of the reckoning.  Many churches that started out with true heart-felt worship of God for God have drifted away into purely mechanical forms of worship and the spirit of it all is gone.  Of course, we do need to do all we can to make our Sunday morning experience as beautiful as possible with our limited technology.  The point is the focus must always be to glorify and exalt our God.  When the focus is truly on God, we will do our best to have the best coordinated worship possible.  The instances of worship in the Old Testament certainly exemplify that.  But we must guard with all our might against all self-glory and self-promotion.  It is so easy to slip from serving to glorify God, and for no other reason, to wanting at last some of the glory for ourselves, and it goes downhill from there.  So we must be aware of this, and jealously guard our motives so God will truly receive all the glory.

Written by,

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not simply the rising of one from the dead, reversing death in that one body.  His rising is the mighty act of God in Christ undoing death itself in a new creation.  Christ rose in the same body in which he was crucified, but that body is no longer subject to the disintegrating processes of death, but has been transformed into a glorious body freed from corruption and decay.  This is an almighty creative act, comparable    to creation itself, in which the whole of creation will follow, for which it is waiting with groaning in expectation and hope.  The undoing of sin in Atonement on the cross means the undoing of death, which is the natural result of sin.  Therefore forgiveness of sin in the Bible is the overcoming of death. Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of a new creation, of which Jesus is the Head.  The resurrection is an event in history, but one which goes beyond human history into a new creation.  The past is undone, and redeemed into a new order of being, the death of the old creation and resurrection into new space and time.  Christ’s ascension was the inauguration of his heavenly rule or reign over all the powers in the universe!  Never be bullied by any form of these powers.  Christ defeated them and gives his believers his own authority over them.  Whether depression, despair, disappointment, even death.  None of these can conquer Christ’s kingdom in you or in the world at large.  So however dark it seems to be sometimes, live in the light of Jesus’ victory.

Written by,

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

Jesus said, in His Triumphal Entry, when the crowd was shouting ” Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonoi (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord), “I tell you if they keep quiet – the stones will cry out” This statement was in response to the Pharisees telling Him to rebuke His disciples for praising Him. Even the stones will cry out. When we look at stones, and other forms of nature, we see them, in a very real sense crying out. Psalm 19 speaks of this statement of nature, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. “Romans also confirms this statement – that all of nature gives us the knowledge that there is a creator. When we look into the sky or gaze at the sea, how could anyone of us, for even a moment doubt the existence of a creator? The magnificence of the universe cannot be misconstrued as some accident. Looking at the mountains, valleys, sunrises, and sunsets only reinforce this innate feeling that a Supreme Being, not only exists, but is involved in our world. God revealed Himself to the world by nature and almost 2000 years ago revealed Himself again, through the supernatural Birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled over three hundred prophecies, many beyond any human control. His birth, proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah over 700 years before, His death spoken of in the Psalms, again hundreds of years prior. Many other specific things, such as the prophet Micah ( chapter 5:2 ) speaking of the town He would be born in – not just Bethlehem – but Bethlehem, Ephrathah ( for there were two towns named Bethlehem ) such specificity shows the accuracy and speaks for the truth of Scripture. Now David after seeing that the Heavens declare God’s glory finishes Psalm 19 in verse 14 with “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Surely when we see the wonders of the universe and realize that God is so awesome, we too, need to pray that not only our words – but also the thoughts that we allow ourselves to dwell on, (the meditations of our hearts) need to be pleasing in His sight. May we all learn to submit our thoughts, words,

and actions to the loving watch of the Holy Spirit.
In Him,

Rev. Larry Sassmann