Lyle's Blog

The eleventh chapter of John tells the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.  I’ve listened to testimonies of people that have been raised from the dead.  These are true stories with doctors many times bearing witness to the fact.  Jesus had heard that Lazarus was in dire straits and on the verge of death and yet He waited till Lazarus died to show up.  Yes, Jesus could have healed him but He wanted to exibit the power of God.

Doctors today can measure brain function and a myriad of other things and can declare with accuracy when someone has passed.  Two thousand years ago none of this was true, so to prove Lazarus was dead Jesus waited until the body decayed enough to start stinking.  There was no question that Lazarus was dead.  Nobody could quip that he was just in a coma or something else.  No, he was dead and Jesus raised him up.  Jesus performed this miracle so his disciples might believe who He was by seeing the glory of God.  God is the life-giver; that is His glory.

The disciples didn’t want Jesus to go because the Jews were intent on stoning Jesus.  It was dangerous.  But Jesus knew His appointed time to die wasn’t yet, let alone by stoning so they went to Mary’s house.  After the miracle, many came to see the man raised from the dead.  But they chose to not believe.  Oh, they couldn’t deny what had happened but believing Jesus was the Messiah wasn’t in their best interest.  Preserving the old covenant was important because that’s where their power came from.  Men explain away miracles because it doesn’t fit their lifestyle to believe in God.

The story of a rich man dying and suffering in the flames whilst he saw Lazarus being comforted by Abraham reflects what is common to man, that being unbelief.  The rich man wanted someone to go back and warn his brothers about what lies beyond death.  What was he told?  Even if one came back from the dead they would not believe.  There is more to belief than just knowing the facts.  Accepting that Jesus is the only way to God can only happen by choice.  Choose this day whom you will serve.  Our natural tendency is to serve ourselves.  Denying our diety is the hardest thing to do.  Not my will but Yours be done.  My will is my enemy.  It’s what keeps me from doing all the God desires.

Everyone is upset about school shootings.  Rightly so you say.  Really?  I think that what goes around comes around.

We’ve aborted sixty million children who had no voice.  As the instruments of death were ripping them apart, their screams were silent and unheard by this nation.  Someone heard; that someone was God.

What you sow is what you reap.  We’ve demoted unborn to a valueless commodity.  Expendable.  Now we are surprised and shocked that youth is turning upon itself.  School killings are the legacy of an abortion loving society.  Youth killing youth is the ultimate late-term abortion.

Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.  Some of the most horrendous killings have happened without the use of a gun.  We have a society that has exalted wickedness above righteousness.  We could blame the politicians but the majority of us voted them into office.  We don’t have to listen or watch the filth the entertainment industry produces, but we do.  I know, we just watch and listen to the “good” stuff.  The whole of society including much of the churched give a collective ho-hum and just accept that these evil people have a right to do what they do.

The Bible tells us that in the end the whole world will be filled with violence just like the days of Noah.  Violence is all around us.   We’re still eating and drinking, getting married, taking and giving, all the while unaware that God is angry and that it is only His Word that keeps judgement at bay.  If we believed and like Noah knew God, we would pray, seek His face, and intercede for the lost.

We’ve heard.  We know.  We have no excuse.

The first miracle of Jesus had to do with a wedding, turning water into wine.  As followers of Christ, we are His bride.  He has gone away to prepare a place for us.  We are to be ready when He returns.  We’re given a few indicators of when that will be.  Israel becoming a nation, blood moons on Jewish feast days, the technology necessary for enabling prophecy to be full filled, these are warnings to us that the time of His return is soon if not imminent.  What are we to do to be ready?  We are to be without spot or wrinkle.  There shouldn’t be anything that would make anyone question my love and allegiance to Jesus Christ.  His name should be constantly on my lips.  My daily life should reflect my diligence in preparing for the wedding.  Not just a wedding, but the wedding all of creation has been waiting for, that all of heaven was created for; this is the only reason we were saved.  We are His bride; we are His and He is ours.  We will be one.  This is why we must keep our oil lamps filled with the Holy Spirit.  He will be looking for a bride who loves Him with all their heart, soul, and mind.  His bride doesn’t want anything else but Him.  This world has nothing to offer.  She loves Him more than anyone or anything because she knows that He first loved her and gave Himself for her.  Prepare the way of the Lord for He comes quickly.

John 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  This is a verse I read/heard many times but this morning it dawned on me all that Jesus had done.   John 21:5  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, calling upon the weather to obey Him; these are the things that through prayer, believers are to do.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  That alone is a daunting realization.  These are the things that we must do; it strengthens our faith in the Word of God.  But what is the greater work that we must do?  What is it we can do that Jesus couldn’t do?

Jesus had not been to the cross yet.  The old covenant was still in the place.  On the cross, Jesus paid the wages of sin.  Before the cross, the Holy Spirit hadn’t come.  The Holy Spirit came after the cross at Pentecost.  Before the cross, the disciples had witnessed the power of God, but they weren’t filled with it.

Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection and I believe it was then they realized that they were to become Christlike.  The greater work that we can now do that Jesus couldn’t, was to win souls to Christ.  Till Jesus paid the price for sin in full, it wasn’t possible to be born-again.  Healing the sick, raising the dead, and other miracles are for our benefit but have a greater purpose and that is to fill us with faith that we can’t help praise Him and tell others of His wonderful grace.

Billy Graham preached a simple “good news” message.   When I was young, his name was respected by most.  That seems not to be the case these days.  Yes, there are many that still love him, but as Christianity has become the poster child for all that’s wrong in America, anyone with the message of Jesus Christ is an enemy.  All those described in Romans chapter one are spouting off.  Hate for the sake of hate, despising the truth, they wail against anyone who holds a standard of Biblical right and wrong.

The vast progress the perversion crowd has made in the last thirty years is also a huge factor.  When people with perverted sexual orientation are given freedom to exalt their behavior to normal status and they are free to coerce our young to grow their ranks, we have evolved to becoming Sodom.  It is no wonder the opposition and hatred for the message of Christ is so strong.

So it’s the message of Jesus Christ that draws the fiery darts hurled at Graham.  His net worth of twenty-five million is equated as evidence he was in it for the money; Billy is a just a typical evangelist who fleeces the stupid sheep.  And of course, all Christians are stupid sheep.

The Bible does say it’s almost impossible for a rich man to be saved, but it also says that with God everything is possible.  I’ve known a rich man.  He died with a net worth of over one hundred million dollars.  He was a Christian man.  If you knew him up close, you were aware of his immense generosity.  He wanted no credit for what he did.  He believed all the glory belonged to God.  He said many times, “God can bless only what you give, not what you keep”.  His goal was to give away ninety percent of what he made.

There is this notion that being poor has some kind of virtue attached to it.  I can attest to the fact that being poor is not wonderful.  Being poor didn’t make me a good person.  Humbling myself to the cross of Christ gave me the ability to become holy and acceptable to God.

I don’t know how Billy accumulated so much, but I have an idea it’s not what many would think.  We live in America which is a place that you can become rich without much input on your part.  To illustrate I offer a couple examples.  One is from my own life.  When my wife and I married we started making our way through the struggles to attain the “good” life.  Back in those days, British sports cars were not worth a whole lot.  I through some lucky trade obtained a 1963 Aston Martin DB4.  It was a beautiful car but it just sat in the garage gathering dust.  So we sold it for $8000, a lot of money to a couple starting out.  However, if we had just tucked it away and kept it, it would have radically changed our retirement.  Today that car goes for seven to eight hundred thousand dollars.

My sister’s inlaws experience the same thing.  Her father-in-law had bought twenty acres for little of nothing forty years before.  When he died, it was time to sell the “estate” and give his children their due inheritance.  Not only had property gone up in value in fifty years, but it was on this property the state decided to build a connecting highway through this property.  It was worth millions.  The old man didn’t get to benefit from increase; his children did.  I suspect this is the case with Billy.  Billy doesn’t have twenty-five million dollars; he has Jesus Christ.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given you, pressed down and over-flowing.  That’s a promise to every believer.  He will exalt you in due time.  Rest in peace Billy.  Enjoy the real riches, His grace.