The Greatest Gift You Can Give for Five Dollars

There is something that many people crave even more than their daily food.

This is most true in countries and areas of the world where people often wonder if that day they will eat.

What can this something be? Love? That is a good guess and is partly right, but is not the accurate answer.

Then is it world peace? It has something to do with that.

Is it their human rights that are often violated? No. Then what is it?

It is something that we in the US have in abundance, in fact overabundance. It is God's Word, the Bible.

I daresay that in most homes, even in the homes of casual Christians who rarely attend worships services, are over one Bible. In the homes of many of us in the Christian community, we own even more Bibles. Many simply use some Bibles to keep mementos in. It has been said that "The Bible is the best-selling but least-read book in the world." I don't know where the source got these figures but maybe he was talking about how much it is read compared to its brisk sales. In many parts of the world, it is illegal to own a Bible or read it. Recently, in North Korea, a number of people were reportedly publicly executed just because it was found that they owned Bibles! In that country, if found with a Bible, people can be sent to concentration camps to die, with family members. There is one reported instance of this. In China, so many thousands of people convert to Christ each day that there are probably more Christians in China than there are in America. Unlike in the US, in China, the demand for Bibles far exceeds the supply. In many villages, many people will tear up pages of one Bible and share it among many people! On my Newsfeed the other day, a video showed the very emotional reaction of Chinese Christians receiving copies of the Bible for themselves. Their excitement was obvious on their faces! Their response was like children opening up Christmas gifts for the very first time! People in the Third World treasure Bibles as they are often so rare and hard to get! In many countries it is much the same as in China. Some people groups do not even have a Bible in their "heart language." In many impoverished countries, people simply cannot access copies of Bibles because of economics or low literacy. Throughout so much of the world, to own a Bible is a privilege that they can only dream of.

The situation in the United States is much different, where copies of God's Word are super-abundant. We have many different translations, so many that we have disunity over which translation to use! We have Bibles for every age group. We have children's Bibles, teen Bibles, men's Bibles, women's Bibles, mom's Bibles, bride's Bibles and even Bibles for grandmothers. I have even seen a breast cancer awareness Bibles! Human nature being what it is, it is hard to treasure God's Word for what it is when it is so super-abundant. But in most of the Third World, things are totally different. And for just $5 a Bible, you can give someone on the continent of Asia a Bible that he or she will treasure and which will be a gift which will keep on giving as long as he or she has it. To make this happen, go here. Thank you!

Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen (What is That?)

This book was released over eleven years ago. It is a popular and well-known book. This is a basically a book that exhorts readers how to work toward their best lives now according to this author. This book even made the New York bestseller list and topped that list, unusual for books in the Christian genre. As this book is a motivational "how to" book, the author arranges it by topic. He starts out with self-image issues and nearer the end of his book, he zeroes in on our relationships with others, exhorting the reader in how to treat others to "have your best life ow." He uses examples from his own life and from the lives of his family of origin. Joel Osteen is the well-known, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church, a mega-church with thousands who attend weekly, according to his bio on the book. His televised messages, broadcast nationally and internationally, reach many millions more. His mega-church is estimated to be the largest one in America.

This book was what I expected, as judging from the title. Many years ago, one of my cousins had given my family a free copy of this book, as a favor. I had never read the book then, nor had any of my family members. This book, over 300 pages long, did not hold my interest. I felt that it was more of a large motivational volume with God added on to it all. Seldom is the Name of Jesus mentioned, except in a brief Gospel invitation at the end of the book. Throughout the book, I felt preached at. How does he diagnose the root of humanity's social ills? We have low self-esteem and think negatively, we are told. We are to pull ourselves up y our bootstraps, suck it up, think positive, and overcome our obstacles so we can achieve "our best life now." To this author, this meas the quality of our lives in this world. It means health, success and wealth i a worldly sense. I found myself getting more and more irritated with this book, especially with the topic of giving and tithing. That's because I'm aware that this author preaches principles that he obviously does not put into practice in his own life, as he enjoys an extravagant lifestyle and pastors the biggest mega-church in America. In much of the book, I sensed a self-congratulatory tone. This may be just me. The author says many of the right things, giving us plenty of truth in laying out the principles of positive thinking, self-discipline, caring for people, submitting to God's will, and giving. His error lies in that he leaves the cross of Christ out of his writing and misleads readers into believing that obedience to God brings us health, success, and wealth in the worldly sense--now. He totally omits any mention of sin, God's holiness, God's judgment, and Hell. Could it be that he knows that mention of these "hard sayings" of God would have sold far fewer copies of this book? I have never been a follower of Joel Osteen, but I know that many people in my social networks are. I'm sure that people in my family and in my local church follow this man. I know that Joel Osteen is very popular and has been featured on Larry King Live. As for writing, I though that he could have written the book in far fewer words. He seems to repeat himself. I know that some say that repetition is the stuff of good teaching, but I think that this refers more to oral teaching and not to written material that we can refer to over and over. In the Bible, obedience to God is linked to our well-being, but its promises to obedient Christians lie more in heavenly riches and rewards, as well as the promise that God will never leave us in this life in spite of how bad life may be. I don't think this book has anything to say to many, many people, including the elderly, the poor, the downtrodden, and countless oppressed peoples all over the world who would be turned off by this book's very tone.

I recommend that every Pastor, who cares about his flock, read this book as well as do research into Joel Osteen. This is a must because it is my guess that in every congregation, church members are following this man. I would not be surprised that some in church leadership follow this man, also. Joel Osteen may seem like a harmless motivational speaker who wants to show people how to "live their best life now." Pastors, check all this author says and compare it to Scripture, especially to what Jesus and the Apostles teach. Do they teach that we can have "our best life now" in this author's sense? Reader, if you follow Joel Osteen (which many people do), please search your Bible to see if Jesus and the Apostles teach that we ca expect physical health, financial wealth, and success in a worldly sense--now.

Let me share this call to action that puts all this in perspective.

While many of us in the West are dreaming about "our best life now," many around the world are dying of both physical and spiritual hunger. Instead of contributing to the success of this wealthy mega-church Pastor, consider sharing Bibles with those who would treasure one copy of their own. You can visit here. Thank you.

Bibles for Asia - Gospel for Asia

Bibles for Asia - Gospel for Asia

Please pay this above hyper-linked webpage a visit! Thank you.

Blessings,

Lisa DeSherlia

Christians & President Obama

I'm disturbed at what I'm seeing.

I'm seeing a lot of vitriol, malice and hate being direct toward President Obama. It is Christians, "religious right" Christians who are leading the smear campaign.
If you feel mad at the President, I sympathize, up to a point. It seems that President Obama is on the defensive when it comes to identifying the nature of the war we are in and is unwilling to denounce Islam and identify its radical element. He seems to be in the dark about what ISIS actually is (Islamic State).

I did not hear his presentation at the National Prayer breakfast, but the President's comments about ISIS being the moral equivalent of the Crusades caused a firestorm of anger directed at him by many "religious right" Christians. While I don't consider myself, in a strict sense, religious right, I was offended by the comments.

The Problem

I did not hear President Obama's full speech. I did hear sound bytes of that speech when a family member had on this family member's favorite political channel. Along with many of you, I think his comments are out of line. Calling us to "Come off our high horse and realize that Christians have done terrible things in the Name of Christ" and that "The Crusades show horrific things done in the Name of Christ that compare with modern day Jihad." Months ago, I had been watching parts of a program that discussed the history of the Crusades from an impartial, historical point of view. The Crusades actually were a response the prior atrocities of militant Muslims against Christians. I will provide sources at the end of this post. Now I don't condone revenge and we are commanded to to return evil for evil. That is what Christians or more specifically, Catholics, were doing. Jihad is wholly different, for the most part. These militant Muslims are not return evil for evil, or reacting to wrongs done to them. In Most cases, radical Islamists commit atrocities against innocent people who are doing nothing to them and have done nothing to provoke them. I think much of the knee-jerk reaction to the President is that many in the Christian community believe that the President is a closet Muslim and even a sympathizer to Muslim jihad. President Obama has professed a faith in Jesus as his Savior and Lord, and God alone knows the authenticity of his profession, just as God alone knows the genuineness of our professions of faith and the secrets of our hearts. Yes, President Obama has made statements that indicate that he believes that "All roads lead to the same God" and that "No matter what religion we are, we are all children of God." Now I don't know if these statements show that the President is just Biblically ignorant or is just trying to be non-offensive. I know that it cannot be easy to be President Obama, leading a deeply divided country full of people who are diverse in race, religion and ethnicity. We know that Jesus alone is the only way to God, and that only those who are linked to Him by faith are children of God. Whatever the President's real beliefs are, I'm with many of you on this: It was un-called for of him to call on us to "not judge" radical Islamists and liken revengeful acts of our forefathers with modern terrorists, especially ISIS. His actions indicate that he is more concerned with not giving any offense than in taking a stand for his convictions and that he is more influenced by the demands of our culture than he is to Christ's claim on his policies and life.

The Cause(s)?

The profound division in America is perplexing, in a sense. I have heard it said that in war time, we as a country had historically pulled together and stood behind each other. I know that this was not the case during the Vietnam War, though we were much more united during the first Gulf War. But I wonder if much of the vitriol and hate directed against this President is rooted in unconscious racism, not only against the Black community but against even peaceful, nominal Muslims. Weeks ago, I was saddened and rather angry, to go to a Christian website that is popular. One of its top articles of the day was titled, "Is it Okay for A Christian to Hate President Obama?"! I read the writer's response to this question. The writer seemed to be almost sympathetic with the person's question and the tone of his response was one of "I know how frustrated you feel with a bad leader." I still am reeling from the sorry fact that a person who claimed Christ would even ask such a question. But it was asked, and since then, I have seen much hate directed against this President. I have learned that a family member has recently declared, "I hate President Obama." Do we really think that trashing a political leader we don't like is going to make our society one bit better? Saddest of all is that this hate and trash-talking is coming mostly from the Christian community, though we know better. Yes, the President should do more to reach out to the Christian community and show more leadership on serious matters like global religious persecution, which he has begun to do at that prayer breakfast, where he made those controversial remarks. But is it a stretch to call President Obama things like "Hitler," "The Anti-Christ," a "Traitor" and a "Sympathizer with Terrorists?" Isn't it a stretch to call the President a criminal and call for his impeachment and arrest? I know that many in leadership have abused their power and positions through fraud, corruption and sexual offenses and crimes. None of our leaders are perfect because they come from imperfect people like us. The Bible would have us respond the President Obama (and every other leader we may dislike) in God's way.

Solutions

I know that many in the Christian community cannot wait until President Obama leaves office for good. Maybe you are one who feels that way. But all of us have to endure the leadership of those we don't like or agree with. That is true on all levels, whether we are talking about in the government, in the workplace or in our local churches. But how are we asked to respond to these leaders, including those we don't like? We are asked to honor their offices, which is tough to do if we don't agree with them or don't like them. We are also asked to pray for them. So, instead of ranting about this President or his policies, do something counter-cultural: Pray for him.

Actual History of the Crusades

Crusades vs, Jihad--A Slideshow

An Open Letter to All of Those Who Were Raised In the Christian Church

Dear Friends,

This post is addressed to a certain group of people, namely, to all of us who were raised in certain denominations in Christendom here in the West.

I'm talking to all of us who were baptized or christened, usually as infants. I have witnessed many of these baptisms in many different worship services all my life.

I'm addressing all of us who were confirmed, who underwent confirmation instruction.

Like so many of you, I grew up and was led to believe that, because I was baptized as an infant (even out of human tradition), that I was "saved" and on my way to Heaven. Yes, I was confirmed, though I do not even remember that. Interestingly, my mom remembers it. She remembers how I had to recite the entire Luther's Small Catechism in front of the entire congregation.

Soon, after I was confirmed, like so many young people, I reduced my worship service attendance if not quitting it altogether. I was told, "You have had enough religion."

Soon after that, I was visiting my great-grandmother's house. I read the Bible and the Jesus I read of in the Gospels was much different from the Jesus that I learned about in my local church and even in some of the hymns that we sang. I came to believe that He was the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." My Bible also showed Him to be confrontational, direct, bold, and unafraid to challenge the traditions of His day and Who stood up to phony religious leaders. He was assertive for God. I read the very hard-hitting material in Matthew 23.

No, I'm not posting this to knock centuries long, cherished Church traditions. I'm just making observations and I have done much research on what happens to many who were raised in congregations who use infant baptism and, later, confirmation, to introduce people to Jesus and the Christian faith. According to this research and my own experience and observation, I must cite a disturbing trend. It is this: Well over 70 percent of young people leave the Church sometime after they are confirmed to when they graduate from high school and get out from under parental authority. Only some later return, when they marry and have children.

This needs to stop. We keep losing our youth.

Some of the most terrifying, disturbing verses in Scripture consists of words from Jesus. They are addressed not to heathen, pagans or criminals, but to religious people: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven. MANY (emphasis mine) will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' "

He was not just talking about false teachers here. I fear that He is talking to all of us who may believe that we are saved but who may be self-deceived, who may have been baptized, confirmed, recited a sinner's prayer, went forward in an altar call, made a "decision for Jesus" but who have not embraced Him as Lord from the power of sin. It took me quite awhile, after fits and starts, to let Him be God and Lord and as yet, many areas in my life are not under His Lordship.

Believe me, I pray daily for all those whose baptisms I witnessed over the decades as I have vowed to do during those events.

Statistics tell us that up to 70 percent of us in America list ourselves as born-again Christians. That figure would be very heartening, but for other figures. Some 4000 babies are killed daily by abortion. The divorce rate is just as high in the professing Christian community as it is among those outside it. And youth in the Church are almost as sexually active as those youth outside the Church. Isn't becoming a Christian supposed to make a difference in how we live?

I ponder the profound disconnect between us Western Christians and our severely persecuted brothers and sisters in Jesus throughout many Muslim countries and strongholds, in leftover Communist countries like China and North Korea, and in other restricted countries and hostile areas. These Christians' conversions are so real to them that they proclaim Jesus unafraid and are willing to go to prison for Him and die for Him. These believers take God seriously and being Christians affects how they live. Could much of the explanation be that in these parts of the world, the cost of being a Christian weeds out false professors such as are so often found in our Western churches, leaving genuine disciples and Christ-followers who take their faith seriously?

Yes, I was raised in the "easy believism" tradition. "Just believe in the finished work of Christ and you will get to Heaven." But as I ponder the high figure of those who call themselves born-again Christians, with all of our social ills and crimes (which are getting worse), I see a deep disconnect. Something is not right. No, true Christians are not perfect, and sin daily. I don't agree with the "Christian perfectionism" and "Altogether Christian" doctrines that teach that Christians can become sinless in this life. This is not taught in the Bible. But what is taught is that Christ-followers are always moving, however slowly, toward personal holiness and practical righteousness.

Based on my research and study of the Scripture, I have some ideas on how to remedy this problem: 1). Pastors need be freed from the fear of man, and preach and teach on the uncomfortable Biblical doctrines such as God's holiness, Hell, His judgment and the priority of personal holiness.

2). Pastors need to study the Bible and learn how Jesus evangelized, and clearly stress repentance and faith in their sermons. JUst because we live in "the age of grace" does not mean that the Law is no longer needed. Christ came to uphold the Law, not destroy it.

3). The main spiritual input happens in the home. Therefore, children's ministries and youth ministries ought to seek God about spending less money on programs and materials for children's and youth programs, and spend more money to teach and equip parents to raise their children to know, love and trust Jesus.
4). In ministering to children and youth, stress God's grace, repentance and saving faith in your instruction.

5). In small group ministry, seek God to find ways to make small group ministry more Biblical. Consider moving away from generational groups and work toward more inter-generational groups. We can learn from each other.

6). Seek freedom from the fear of man and introduce church discipline, with the aim being to restore sinning Christians or to awaken non-Christians to their need for God.

7). Pastors should end sermons by opening up the altar to people who want a touch from God or who have prayer needs.

Grace is free, but grace is not cheap. Even a casual reading of the New Testament reveals this. The New Testament writers discuss grace only in context of the Law. Implementing these measures will take sacrifice from all of us, cross-bearing and self-denial, but isn't that what we have been called to?

I'm sure there are other ideas, other than the ones above, but these are Biblical and may not only keep so many people from falling between the cracks, but may help solve some of society's problems and keep some people from slipping out the back door of our churches!

Love in Christ,

Lisa DeSherlia

Transcript of Paul Washer presentation (opens as a pdf on the podcast page in written transcript form)