Quote's

 Blaise Pascal, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction"...and he said that nearly 400 years ago. Can we go to the Scripture and find validity in Blaise Pascal’s statement?  The answer is a profound Yes!  One of the best examples is Jesus He often brought the passion of the religious leaders of His day down on Him.  We have too many examples to list, of Jesus rocking the boat of the Jewish religious leaders, but often it was not what He did, but when His action took place.  One such occurrence is found in the gospel according to John, chapter 5:1-18.  It is the account of Jesus healing a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, and it was done on the Sabbath.  Now after he was healed Jesus told the man to “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”  Now that was a big no-no, that was breaking the Sabbath, and so when confronted by the religious leaders, the man that was healed replied that the one that healed me said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’  Later he found out it was Jesus who had healed him, and he told the religious leaders and verse sixteen states: “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.”  And if this is not enough evidence to support Blaise Pascal’s statement, then look at verse 18, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

I have a very dear friend that our relationship goes back to Jr. High and he loves to pull my chain or anyone else that is close to him.  His favorite quote is the one from Blaise Pascal, listed above, an one that I am in agreement with, I believe religions’ end game is always death, it was religious people that demanded the life of Jesus. 

My friend began by asking me who was the winner of the Crusades, the Muslims or the Christians, and our exchange went on for weeks.  One of our last exchanges, and I am only using the last paragraph of an exchange that went like this: “Christians although they said they were and the millions and millions of people killed over hundreds of years in repeated religious wars in what they said was His name were just unlucky victims. It seems to me that doesn't speak very well for Christianity in general and whatever doctrine is taught under Jesus’ name has historically been ignored. If it were an isolated incident I might understand it better. Unfortunately it follows a historical pattern. But...from what you say, the fault is not Christianity, it's the Christians, even if it happens time after time and the losers are the poor bastards that lost their lives and the winners are the survivors...simple as that. Does that make Christians any different than Muslims?”

And my answer is yes, the Muslims faith is based on “Do” what I must do for Allah to earn his acceptance, and that is religion.  The Christian faith is based on “Done” it is a relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Jesus paid the price for sin.  The Bible gives an account of a man, Saul who was religious and did many evil things in the name of that religion.  He took great joy in hunting down this new group of followers of Jesus Christ, and putting them in prison or killing them all with the blessing of the leaders of that religion, and he and they believed they were doing the will of God.  But if we follow this very religious man after he encountered Jesus Christ, and after entering into a personal relationship, we discover a new man, who became Paul the apostle, and his life and goals changed because he went from a “Do” religion to a “Done” relationship. 

Anyone who follows the teachings of Christ, as the apostle Paul did, will not do harm to their neighbor, or their enemy to make them conform.  You may recall that my friend asked this question: “who was the winner of the Crusades, the Muslims or the Christians?”  After much thought, I’ve come to this answer; the “Do” won, it matters not what name they were fighting the war under, it was all about religion, and power, it was not God centered, it was not doing the will of our Lord.  But, it does seem on spot to blame Christians and God for just about everything. 

The prophet Jeremiah had this to say about our hearts: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?  “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”  And the one who put those thoughts into Jeremiah’s mind had this to say in the book of Matthew 15:18-20a, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart, comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person.”  I believe the Scriptures have stated, that the real winners will be the ones who do the will of the Father and who obey His commandments.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The new guy is getting all the attention

John 3:22-30

We are told a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.  “And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”  It is so important to understand what is being said; “We have a problem, the new guy is getting all the attention.”   The “Forerunner” and we are not talking about Toyota automobiles had this to say: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”  Wow, not one thing unless it is given to us from heaven, do you believe that?  Most Christians if asked that question in a church setting, would answer in the affirmative, but do you really believe what the Scripture has stated; not one thing unless it is given to you by God.  Before you run to all the stuff you have and the savings you have accumulated, ask a couple of questions, who is my Designer, why did the Designer make so many of the same models, but each one has different gifts and abilities and some have been given good health and some have not, some have been placed in poor areas of the world and others have not, and the answer is the Designer has a master plan, and “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

Picking up the story in verse 28-30, “You yourselves bear witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’  The one who has the bride is the bridegroom.  The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.  He must increase, but I must decrease.” If you are a Christian and it seems you drew the short-stack at life’s banquet table, could it be that unlike John the Baptist, your joy is not found in knowing your Designer, your Redeemer, your Provider, your Savior?  The answer is found in verse 30,  “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  Joy and Peace will flow into our lives when we agree that all things come from the Father, and we willingly decrease so that Jesus who is our life can increase.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Vengeance

John 3:16-21

It is no longer in vogue to talk about God as a God of wrath, but the same Bible that tells us of God’s love for who so ever will, also states in the verses that follow John 3:16, these truths; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:18-20)  To reject the offer in John 3:16 is a choice or as Jesus said two roads, one that is wide and leads to hell and the other is narrow and leads to life.  Hebrews 10:30-31, gives this warning; “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”  And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:30)

As stated above, it is not in vogue to talk about a God of wrath, we want a God who is going to grade on a curve, not one that judges on pass if you accept the offer of His Son or fail if you choose not to.  It has taken awhile but I’ve come to this conclusion, many want a god they can understand, and they find him in many places, even in many churches that use the name of Christian.  I am not the only one who has thought such thoughts; “You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” --Anne Lamott But is it kind to not share the truth if you know it to be true, is it not kind and merciful to tell fellow travelers that the bridge is out before they reach the point of no return, I think so.  If you are one who is looking for a god you can understand, how big a god is that god?

God is a loving Father to me, and I hope He is also to you, but if He is not, you must ask some questions: Why, is it because you want to make the rules about how you will live life?  If that is why you will not accept life on God’s terms, you have some big surprises in front of you, He is the Creator, and He makes the rules.  Now God often gets bad press, have you noticed that He is not well thought of in our government, in our educational system, in our press, and especially in the Hollywood crowd?  But that does not change this truth, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

So the question is the same for all, “the whoever,” bows a knee before God and receives this free gift with all it’s promises of life in the full, now through Jesus living His life in you, and at that moment you become an eternal being, or choose to follow the gods of deception and fall into the hands of an angry God; it is your choice.   But you must understand that the message is clear, Jesus did not come “into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Seeking in the Darkness

John 3:1-15

Often, what we call logic or common sense leaves us short of the mark when it comes to Jesus.  In the third chapter of the gospel according to John, we are introduced to a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  He comes to Jesus by night, and the reason for coming at night may have been that he did not want grief from his associates.  He came with a statement of what “we believe” and you can assume the "we" is making reference to his religious friends.  This is his statement; “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)  It sounds like Nicodemus and his “we” friends have also believed in Jesus, that is quite a confession and yet Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Now, is that any way to reply to a man who just said, that he and his buddies believe “that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Jesus, being Creator God, knew the real question in the heart of Nick, and that is that he had this need, this void, and he was trying to fill it with religion, with accomplishment, with travel, with wealth, and stuff, but he could not seem to fill it.  Nick was looking for anything that will give him peace, hope, and joy, and that was the need that Jesus was addressing in Nick’s life.  But Nicodemus has been to school, in fact he is the teacher of Israel, he has degrees on all four walls of his study and people listen when he speaks, and what Jesus had just said did not make sense to this learned man.  “Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4)  Nicks reply is, are you a nut case, anyone knows you cannot climb back into your mother’s womb, but it a wise person who listens to Jesus’ reply.  “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

“Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?  Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 9-16)

Jesus is the void filler, what Nicodemus wanted was much deeper than the question that he ask, and Jesus being all knowing, understood the question.   This question is common to all who have ever lived, it is; “can you fix me,” can you show me how to be in right standing with God, can you fill this emptiness that I can’t seem to fill?  Jesus gave Nick the answer, and it is the only way, in John 10:10 we are told that the enemy came to make the hole or void bigger, but Jesus came with life, abundant life!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“Jesus Knows what is in Man.”

John 2:23-25

The title someone placed above these verses in my English Standard Version of the Bible is: “Jesus Knows what is in Man.”  It is important to understand these verses are not referring to how we were designed, for our Designer has full understanding of His design.  In Psalm 139:13, we are told, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”  And in the same chapter verse 16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  So this heading is not addressing livers, brains, kidneys, or any other visible parts.

Jesus is referring to what Scripture calls the heart, and lets be clear He is not talking about that organ in your chest that pumps blood, He is not addressing something seen, but the real you, and the Bible addresses this as the heart or the Soul of a person.  Your Soul is unseen and cannot be removed by a medical doctor or changed from bad to good but your Creator, Jesus Christ will when invited, do just that.  The Scripture is very clear on this, that man has a choice to invite or reject this gift of life offered by Jesus.  But that does not make Christian robots, they still must choose how to walk in this world: according to the flesh, or in the Spirit.

So when it is states in John 2:24-25, “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” Jesus being the designer saw the Soul of people, He designed them with mind, will, and emotions, we often see the reaction of the Soul, but none of us have the ability to look into a person’s soul, or heart.  One of the best examples of this is found in the gospel according to Mark 2:1-12.  Mark gave this account of Jesus returning to Capernaum and when the neighbors found out that he was at home so many came that no one else could get in and Jesus was preaching the word to them; that is when four guys showed up with a paralytic, and when they could not get into the house they removed the roof above Jesus, and after making an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

Picking up Mark’s account in verse 5, “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”  Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that?”  He is blaspheming!  Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” –he said to the paralytic – “I say to you rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”  And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

As a side note; I want friends like these four men who brought their friend to Jesus, who healed him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

House Cleaning

John 2:13-22

In our busy culture, one business that has done very well is the cleaning profession.  These companies clean businesses, churches, hospitals, and homes.  We have one in our area of Texas called Molly maids, and my wife also has one she prefers, it goes by the name Bob.  In the last few weeks, we as a society have observed mobs of people who take over parks, I do not know what is in their hearts, but my observations are that they need someone to come behind them and clean up their mess, or better yet, they need to put their house in order.  They need to be responsible for their personal hygiene, and to the others camped around them to remove trash, and they have a responsibility to the owners of the park and the many who work and shop in the area to keep their protest from causing harm or being disruptive to many who do or do not share their views.  I’m almost sure you are asking, how does this tie into the action of Jesus cleansing the Temple?

I do believe there is some symbolism between the two events, though time and setting are vastly different.  The people that took over the park were using it for something the owners and designers never envisioned, and the same could be said about the Temple.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers were not part of the design and builder’s plans for the temple.  These people had an agenda and it was built around self, and if you get no other message from the people in the park, it was all about them, all about self.

If you are reading this paper, more than likely you are of the Christian faith, and many of us missed the story, just like the Jews did at the time Jesus made the whip of cords and drove out those businessmen with their sheep and oxen and turned over the tables of the moneychangers.  “And he told those who sold the pigeons “Take these things away, do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:16)  Do you believe these businessmen were concerned that the outer court of the Temple smelled like a cow lot, no more than those people in the park who revealed by their actions that they did not care about the park or the businesses around the park?  But Jesus was telling a much bigger story, and once more we Christians, like the Jews, missed the message; the Jews wanted to know “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:18-19)  The Jews said, are you out of your mind it took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?  “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.  When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Is your body a temple?  The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19&20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  This body of ours, houses the real you; mind, will, and emotions, and Scripture tells us it needs maid service, each and every day.  Ephesians 4:22&23, gives clear directions on what to put off.  “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Shall we look at the short list of what you and I need to put off: (1) Lack of Love - 1John 4:7, 8, 20, (2) Judging - Matthew 7:1,2, (3) Bitterness - Hebrews 12:15, (4) Unforgiving spirit - Mark 11:26, (5) Selfishness - Philippians 2:21, (6) Pride -Proverbs 16:5, (7) Boasting (Conceit) - 1Corinthians 4:7,  (8) Ungratefulness - Romans1: 21, (9) Disrespect for Authority - Acts 23:5, (10) Prayerlessness - Luke 8:1.

Folks, that is a very short list of what needs to be cleaned up in our temple, but we also need to do some refurnishing and we find that in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  Once more, this is a very short list of what needs to be put on: (1) Love - John 15:1, (2) Let God search my heart - John 8:9; 15:22, (3) Tender hearted and forgiving - Ephesians 4:32, (4) Forgiving spirit -Colossians 3:13, (5) Self denial - John 12:24, (6) Humility - James 4:6, (7) Esteeming others - Philippians 2:3, (8) Gratefulness - Ephesians 5:20, (9) Honor authority - Hebrews 13:17, (10) Praying - Matthew 26:41.

When you invited Christ into your life, at that moment you got all of God you will ever get, and your body is home to the Holy Spirit, is it not time to ask Jesus to send in His cleaning service?  But it will require you and me to listen and obey, and to put off and put on what He has instructed us to do in His Hand book on living life now.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Mothers Secret

John 2:1-11

How long can you keep a secret, not some little something like we are going to have a baby or my wife/husband is going to be the next CEO of a Fortune 500 company, I mean a big secret, one like Mary had been keeping for thirty years.  Most of us are not that good at keeping secret the good things that have happened to us, an a good thing had happened some thirty years earlier; the Holy Spirit had placed the Son of God into a virgin and that virgin was Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Christ.  We have no record of how many weddings Mary and the family had attended, but we do know that Jesus is thirty and this friend of the family the bridegroom has a problem, too little wine, or too many big drinkers’ at the wedding.  The Scriptures do not tell us the motivation of Mary, we are not given any insight as to why she did what she did, but for some reason she says it’s time to come out of the closet, it’s time for my oldest son to show the neighbors that He is more than a carpenter. 

Now imagine, you were also invited to that wedding, if you are Baptist it will help if you imagine the wine was grape juice, and that’s ok, unless you read on and it tells us that the good stuff was served first so that when the guests got a little wasted, they would not know the cheap $3.00 per bottle wine was being served.  You may be like me, if food is being served I want to get there early, so were eating and watching, Mary the mother of Jesus shows up, and guess what, Jesus also shows up with some guys who seem to be part of a group of some kind.  We are all eating and drinking, when I over heard Mary say to Jesus, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (Taken from John’s gospel 2: 3b-5) 

Now, I’m not sure what you were thinking, but I was wondering why Jesus called her women and not mother, and what did he mean by my hour has not come?  By now, I had forgot all about food, in fact I got closer, so I could see what Jesus was going to tell the servants, and this is what happen, just like John reported in verses 6-10, “Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them to the brim.  And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.”  So they took it.  When the master of the feast tasted the water that had now become wine, and did not know where it came from, (though the servants who had drawn the water knew) the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”

I’m not sure about you, but I got back into the line and after tasting this water that was now wine, I ask the servant to fill my cup to the rim, it was the best wine I had ever drank.  But you may have been in the food line when this happened, you may not have seen Jesus do this amazing thing, and as I reflect, he did not say any magic words, all He did was pray to the Father, and it was a done deal.  I’m a little ashamed to tell you but later that night I tried to do the same thing, but I must have heard the wrong formula, because mine tasted like water. 

As I was leaving I saw that group of guys that came with Jesus and I knew they were there when the water was turned to wine so I listened to what they were saying and the biggest of the group, man did he need a bath, he smelled like a fish, but he said to the group, He is Messiah, and another, his name was Nathanael, said Jesus is the King of Israel, He is the Son of God. 

We do not use our imaginations that often in the world of I-phones, I-pads, computers, and Television, but if you had been there, and if you had seen the water become wine, would you have believed like Nathanael?  Would you agree with what was written, that Jesus is the only Son of God?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice