Itching Ears 2 Timothy 4:3-4

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."  (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

In the first few chapters of Daniel we can see that King Nebuchadnezzar had the habit of surrounding himself with people who would say what his itching ears wanted to hear.  He had magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers and diviners.  We can understand this because when he had his first vision in chapter two, he was not willing to tell them what the dream was.  He wanted them to tell him the dream and then interpret the dream.  The dream was troubling to him and he was in no mood for flattery.  He wanted truthful answers.  As it was they couldn't tell the king the dream or interpret the dream.   What God finally revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar through the prophet Daniel was, among other things, that his kingdom would fall.  This was not good news for the king.

Again in chapter four King Nebuchadnezzar has another troubling dream.  Perhaps because of the bad news from the previous dream, he calls his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners to him again.  It looks as if the king was not willing to receive any bad news this time so he brought those who would say good things to him.  What his itching ears wanted to hear.  This time he told them the dream, perhaps to give them something to go on.  Not only could they not interpret the dream, apparently they couldn't even fake it.  But God again reveals the meaning through his prophet Daniel.  It was worse news this time.  This time it was going to be personal.  God was going to  judge King Nebuchadnezzar for his pride.

We see in the accounts of King Nebuchadnezzar that after the first dream he looked for the truth and found it. After the second dream he turned his ears away from the truth but the truth still found him. He could not escape it.

What thoughts that run through your mind trouble you?  What questions do you have?  And where do you go for answers?  To those who will say what you want to hear, or to those who will tell you the truth?


Who are you listening to today?  Are you listening to people that tell you everything is okay?  Your good with the man upstairs?  God will save everyone?  It will all work out in the end?  There are many ways to heaven?  There is no judgement?  There is no hell?  Are astrologers leading your life?  Tarot cards?  Those who have sidelined the Scriptures?  There are plenty of people out there who are willing to say what your itching ears want to hear.  How long will you put up with their flattery?  How long will you allow them to blind you? 

A few months ago I went into a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs to buy a pocket NIV New Testament.  I like to have one with me.  A few days later as I was looking through it I realized wording had been changed.  I went to the same Christian bookstore in Midland, Texas to find another pocket NIV New Testament.  The wording in those had also been changed.  Asking more questions, I found that the version I was used to was being removed from the shelves and being replaced with these new ones.  I also found out that they were putting NIV gender neutral Bibles on the shelves.  Sales must be down.  Putting gender neutral Bibles on the shelves will increase sales, won't they?  If the general population doesn't want to hear the truth, then put on the shelves what their itching ears want to hear.  But changing God's Word will not change God.  Malachi 3:6a, "I the LORD do not change." 

The fact is that when you wipe away all of the deception, God is still judge and is still going to judge.  The only way to escape the coming wrath of God is to take refuge in Christ.  He is our only answer.  Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin.  He offers to forgive us and give us eternal life.  Just ask Him.  Romans 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  What is left for those who reject such a great salvation?  Judgement.  1 John 5:12, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Don't run from the truth.

The Harvest Field is Ripe

I was in a downtown park hoping for an opportunity to share the gospel...and I got one.  I met a young couple, who I found out later had just been talking about the need to be reading the Bible together.

They, like a lot of others, were confused because of all of the religions out there.  Each one claiming to be the way, and some saying all the ways lead to heaven.  It is confusing.  But a few days earlier I had been going over Romans chapter 4 where Paul is talking about the issue of works versus faith.  And then Paul asks the question, "What does the Scripture say?" 

So we went through Scripture and saw how Jesus was the only way, that our sin had to be dealt with and Jesus dealt with it, and would save anyone who comes to Him.  This young couple made the decision to receive Jesus as their Savior and we prayed.  They are now part of the family of God, with a sure hope and a future.  It is a blessing to see how God works, and still saves.

Please pray for this couple.  That God would open up His Word to them as they read.  That they would find some great fellowship and grow with others who are in the family of God.  That God would give them wisdom to make good decisions with their lives now that they belong to the family of God.

Critical Thinking

On the Bill O'reilly show on March 25, 2013 Juan Williams said that when the professor of a university class instructed students to write Jesus' name on a sheet of paper and then put it on the floor and stomp on it "inspired critical thinking."

I think that to inspire critical thinking you first have to have all the facts.  If a person is contemplating jumping off of a 100 foot cliff to see what happens, shouldn't he first know about the law of gravity?  If he doesn't, he will be found dashed against the rocks.

I would bet that the professor didn't first explain the following facts to the students before giving them their assignment.

Hebrews 10:29, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"

And Isaiah 66:6, "Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple!  It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve."

Now is the time for critical thinking.  Jesus said in Mark 3:28, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them."

It's not too late for the professor and the students to repent of what they have done.  Jesus will forgive.  All they need to do is ask Jesus to forgive them of their sin and to give them eternal life, and He will do it.  Romans 10:13, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of he Lord will be saved."

Warfield--An interesting story

Yesterday my wife and I had to go to Midland, Texas to take care of some business and while there, to get to know the city a little better.  We first stopped at a diner off of Interstate 20 at the exit to the airport called Warfield.

We had seen the rooster on the way into the diner, so we asked the waitress about him.  She said he had an interesting story.  So I made up my mind that I would talk to him on the way out and get his story from him.

After breakfast, my wife lingered in the diner talking to the waitresses.  I took a cup of coffee and a handful of birdseed and went outside.  As I drank my coffee and Warfield ate his birdseed, we talked.

Several months ago he and most of his family had been told of a wonderful trip they would take.  They would go to Miami where there were beaches, lots of sunshine, an abundance of birdseed, and more chicks than you could shake a stick at.  Being from Kansas, all of this sounded very promising.

So all of them loaded up on a truck one day and headed out.  The ride was rough, the road was hard, they didn't get any food or water on the way, but they kept hearing how great it would be once they reached their destination.  Their came a point when Warfield started to doubt the promises.  He started to think the driver of this truck had something else in mind, and it wasn't good. 

He started to talk to his family about his doubts, but they said he was just trying to spoil the fun.  There was no way they were going to miss out on what was ahead.

When the truck stopped in Midland, Texas, Warfield knew this was the time to escape.  He knew no one would understand, but he knew he needed to gain his freedom. He knew these promises were no good.  So when no one was looking, he opened the cage and jumped.  No one noticed.

But now Warfield is free.  He has shelter from the heat, and food when he needs it.  The patrons who frequent Warfield Diner make sure of this.  But Warfield, knowing he is now safe from the deception of the one who was leading him and his whole family to the slaughter, thinks and prays about his family.  He prays they will be able to identify the one who is deceiving them and also identify the one who desires to set them free.

John 8:44, "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

John 10:10a, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;"

Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."

John 10:10b, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."


What truck are you on?  What promises have been made to you?  Have you been told it will all work out in the end?  Have you been told there are many roads to heaven?  Have you been told that when you die, you'll go to one great big party?  Have you been told that when things are weighed out on a scale, you'll probably come out okay?  Remember that the devil has been a liar from the beginning.  His only purpose is to lead you to the slaughter.  Will you continue to follow him?

Jesus said He came to give you life, and to give you life more abundantly.  He gave Himself as a sacrifice on the cross for you.  He did it deliberately.  He paid the price for your sins and will fill your account with His righteousness and make you acceptable to the Father right now if you will only ask Him to.  For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved."  Romans 10:13.

Who will be Exalted?

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth."
Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous"

Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD; that is my name!  I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols."

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"I have more to boast of than any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I." (History of the Church, Vol.6, pp. 408-09).   (Joseph Smith)

Matthew 16:18, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

namely, that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are—(Journal of Discourses 7:289)

Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

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Hazrat Isa (Prophet Jesus) is an honored Prophet. After he comes down he would still be a Prophet and Messenger. An affirmation by a person of no account that he will be only a member of the Muslim community is not correct, inasmuch as he being one of the Muslims and his giving effect to the Islamic law is not inconsistent with his being a Prophet and a Messenger. (Alfatawa Alhadisiyyak, p.129)


I believe that our Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is more exalted than all the Messengers and is the Khatamul Anbiya. (Hamamatul Bushra, p.8)

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These are just a few who claim to be equal to God or greater than God.  It would be too time consuming to investigate and list all the others and the claims made by them or about them.  I'm not necessarily trying to single these out, but I use them because I'm more familiar with them.

This idea of wanting to be equal to or greater than God is not a new one.  Satan was the first.  We read in Isaiah 14:12-15:

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."  But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

And what was the first temptation Satan brought to man?  The same thing he tried to do and what led to his downfall.  Genesis 3:5, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

And this resulted in Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Not only is this attempt to be like God or greater than God not a new one, but God's response to this attempt is consistent.  He will share His glory with no one.

Isaiah 2:17 & 18, "The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear."

Are you one of the many who are following those who make these claims?  Are you believing what they are saying?  Are you believing a gospel they are preaching that is no gospel at all? If they are not telling you the truth about God and about themselves, then they are not telling you the truth about how to be saved from judgement.  If you're reading this post, you don't have an excuse.  The Word of God, the Bible, is available everywhere, the standard by which you can grade everything you read and hear.  You probably have a Bible in your home, or can buy one at your local bookstore, or ask for one at your local Christian church.  Or you can read the Bible online.  It's not like the Word of God is not available to you.  You have access to it.  Open it up and ask God for understanding.  He says that He gives wisdom without finding fault.

It is imperative that you find out the truth.  Your very life depends on it.  God will not accept anything from you but that you belong to Jesus.  If you want to belong to Jesus, scroll down to the bottom of my blog and you will see how.

Philippians 2:6-11

Who being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with

God something to be

grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a

servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a

man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death--

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the

highest place

and gave him the name that is

above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee

should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under

the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

The LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

Tim

My wife and I are currently in Ft. Stockton, Texas.  On the way back to the hotel tonight after dinner, we saw a hitch hiker crossing the bridge over Interstate 10.

I took my wife back to the hotel and then went searching for the man to talk to him.  I found him sitting on a bench outside of a gas and shop.  I asked if I could talk to him about his life.  He said yes.

I learned that his life had been very troubled.  A divorce.  Life on the streets that had started out as fun but grew very tiring.  He was at the end.  He was heading to a small town in New Mexico where he said he was just going to lay down and die.

After talking for awhile I found he had asked Jesus to be his Savior at age 17.  At age 18 he found the good life, stopped reading his Bible, and stopped going to church.  As far as he knew now, God was angry with him and had maybe walked away from him.

I talked to him for awhile and used Scripture to show him that God had never left him, and wasn't going to.  We prayed together and I gave him a list of who he is in Christ and what that means (I get this list from Neal T. Anderson's book, "The Bondage Breaker."

In the end, he had a change of mind.  That was good to hear.  Please pray for him that he will meditate on the things that are true of him because he belongs to Christ.  I told him I would post this and that people would pray for him.  Pray also that God would give him direction.  He's asking for your prayers.

Say to this Mountain

Mark 11:22-23, "Have faith in God," Jesus answered.  "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him."

About a month ago I met a man on the streets of Colorado Springs.  He is a veteran of the war, and he is also a brother in Christ.  He, in the past, has received Jesus as his Savior and became a child of God and was given the sure hope of eternal life.

During the course of our conversation I discovered a mountain of deception that had been placed before him.  During his time in the Middle East he had to kill.  Having experienced this trauma, he was led to believe that God would not forgive him.  "Doesn't God say to not murder?" he asked me.

"Yes, God does say to not murder," I told him.  But I went on to say that what he did in war was in defense of our country, our families, our freedoms, and his family.  There is a difference.  I think his concern was that he may have not always had the right motives in killing.  I suppose there could have been times of killing that was done out of fear, sometimes out of anger, sometimes out of wrong motives, I suppose there could have been acts that would be considered murder, or there could be times of just having an overactive consciense. 

But Jesus said something that I believe covers all of these.  Mark 3:28, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them."  What did he say?  All the sins.  That means all.

Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been to war and have had to kill may think they have gone to far.  Don't some teach that even though God will never leave us, that we may leave him?  I know in Romans chapter 8 we are told that nothing can seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Some have told me, "Except us."  Well, I have news for them.  It doesn't say that there.  What it does say is that nothing can. 

I read something recently that greatly encouraged me, and I believe will encourage you as well.  I will copy and paste his web address, and I will also copy and paste that which so encouraged me:

 http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Dr_Harry_Ironside/eternal_security.htm

So He says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” He puts no conditions around that promise, “They shall never perish.” The word “perish” is in the middle voice, so that if rendered literally in English, you would have to make two words of it, because we do not have a middle voice. The words “perish” and “destroy” are the same in Greek. “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never destroy themselves.”


God will not let you destroy yourself.

So, what is this mountain in your life?  You went to war, you saw and experienced the trauma of war, perhaps you were led into the deception that God has walked away from you.  Either God walked away from you and won't forgive you, or you went too far and destroyed your hope. 

That's a lie from the evil one.

You were God's child before you went to war, he was with you during your time there, he is with you now.  He never left.  You are forgiven, you are cleansed, you are a child of God sealed by the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of your inheritance in Christ, and God has never left you.

Choose the truth of God's word and speak to the mountain of deception.  You are a child of God and he has never walked away.

And for those who have come back from the war and have never asked Jesus to save you from judgement, there is only one difference between you and those you fought next to:  You are not children of God.  But you can be. And you can have the same sure hope that they have.  John 1:12, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God." 

We have all at one time by nature been objects of wrath from a just and holy God.  But Jesus paid the penalty for you sin and is waiting to clothe you in His righteousness and put you in right standing with God.  Ask Him to do that for you now, and He will not refuse you.  He will forgive all your sin and give you eternal life.  You will belong to Him forever.  He will never let you go.  And He will not let you destroy yourself.

God is good.