Eternity is a Long Time

  What about women who have had abortions? How does God deal with them and how do we deal with them? Every mother who is self-aware knows that something very traumatic has just occurred when she has an abortion. The procedure is very invasive and, sometimes, very dangerous. Additionally, there is an emotional-biological connection between mother and baby which is profound. Some women try to minimize this, but the amount of post-partum depression clearly shows how deep the connection is. There is also the sha m e and remorse associated with mothers who have had abortions. Given the deep connection between mother and baby, you can see how this would affect many women tremendously. This is not to say that some mothers seem to be unaffected by their actions of ending their baby’s life. Perhaps a few are not. Most of these mothers, however, are putting a big mask over their emotions. The good news, the great news, is that Jesus loves every woman who has had an abortion just like He love...

  [Some years ago, I heard a sermon with this story in it. This is my best recollection of the telling of that story. Dale Coparanis] Just outside the fence which enclosed some of the best apple trees in the county, grew a crabapple tree. This crabapple tree was a very prolific tree and produced much fruit. When some local kids came by they tried the crabapples and spit them out of their mouths. One of the kids said: “How can such a big tree with so much fruit have apples that taste so bitter?” So one day soon after, when the farmer was tending the irrigation around some of the apple trees, the crabapple tree started to cry. The farmer went over and said to the tree, “Are you crying?” “Yes,” said the crabapple tree. “I just want to have nice apples like your other trees. Perhaps if you were to let me share in some of the irrigated water then I could produce nice apples for the kids to eat.” “If that’s what you want,” the farmer replied. So the farmer dug a ditch to bring some o...

  Today is the 19th anniversary of the day I finally gave up depending on me and listened to Jesus to follow Him. In the show #TheChosen , there is a beautiful scene depicting the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus (Season 1, Episode 7) which is similar in some ways to how I was before this day almost two decades ago. I thought I knew things but I really didn’t. I believed I was a Christian (all you had to do was ask me), but I was a Christian only in my own mind based on very faulty reasoning. If July 22, 2002 had not occurred, I would be one of those Jesus will tell at His second coming ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:23) I had many opportunities prior to 2002 to give my heart to Jesus, but I did not listen. It took the woman who was to become my wife actually talking to me about our Lord (or “dripping Jesus” as Diane says) to get me heading in the right direction. She was not there when I finally made my commitment to God, but she was essential...

  I know that some people make a big deal about Jesus never saying something to the effect of "I am God" and, therefore, try to argue that Jesus was just some guy who said interesting stuff. There are many examples in the Gospels of Jesus claiming to be God and acting like God when one has even the smallest amount of understanding of the Old Testament and Jewish culture. However, I came across a passage I haven't seen in a long time which show's the divinity of Jesus. In John 12:32, Jesus says: "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." The being lifted up is when Jesus is crucified, that part is straightforward. It's the second phrase where you have to think - but just for a little bit. If you or I were to declare that something we would do would draw all people to us - how would that come across today? We'd be considered a kook unless we were trying for hyperbole. Even so, the very idea that we would try to do someth...

  I just “happened” to come across a couple of very enlightening passages in the Book of Job yesterday during my quiet time a while ago. The first is Job bemoaning his situation before a just God: Job 9:29-35 New King James Version (NKJV) 29 If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain? 30 If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, 31 Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me. 32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. 33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. 34 Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me. 35 Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me. He speaks for every single person (except Jesus, of course) who has or ever will live. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)! But even in this book of the Old Testament...

  One of the guys I'm mentoring who is in jail, wrote to tell me he is having some interesting issues regarding reading the Bible. First, he's being led to read the Book of Revelations which is a great book but not the easiest to deal with, especially for a fairly new believer like Clyde. What he says is interesting: "I've been in revelations for a week now I don't know what I'm getting out of it but I've went to other stuff like job and paul and James but something keeps telling me to get back to revelations.... sometimes I feel like I know what it means and sometimes I feel like I'm not getting anything at all ....I'm not going to lie I feel like I'll never learn anything from it" In the next email I received from him he said this: "hey dale sorry to bombard u with all of this but I find myself in the book of Matthew chapter 7 I think that I've been judging god on how I see things and not trusting gods judgment..... I don't k...

  People who live at the end of an airfield or next to a railroad track soon get very used to the noise and, eventually, don't even hear it. So too with sin for so many. These people - even professed Christians - allow themselves to get so used to their sin that the voice of the Holy Spirit becomes less and less audible until, unfortunately, it fades into oblivion. The awareness of the silenced sin can be awakened for most if there is some crisis or significant event, but not for all. There's a reason why it says not to grieve the Holy Spirit for you never know if you've gone too far. The key to the Prodigal Son is the son not only awakened to his sin but DID the right thing regarding it which was to humble himself and seek forgiveness. Sadly, too many people do not do the right thing regarding their sins even when they become aware of them. I speak from experience. Twice after I was saved, was I transformed by the hand of God out of specific sins - one that was ruining my ...

  "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) I have always loved the picture of Jesus casting out a demon from a repentant punk-rocker. However, it's too easy for us to think "Of course the punk-rocker had issues - but I don't need that. I'm doing OK." That's why I added the picture of a line of people. We all need Him. Without Jesus you don't know what true rest and contentment are. Without Jesus you are trying to do it on your own and you will always fail - eventually. I'm not talking about failing in the eyes of the world. You may be extremely successful as far as how others may judge you. I'm talking about peace of mind and a soft heart regardless of your situation. That is the weariness and the burdens Jesus is talking about. Only with Jesus will you find rest for your soul.

  The Christian’s walk with Jesus has to be one of intimacy and action. These attributes must occur together. Where there is closeness with Jesus there must also be activity for Him. Ours is an active faith. In the great invitation of Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus calls us to discard our heavy burden of effort in exchange for His requirements which are easy and light. Notice we are still expected to act – but on Jesus’s terms, not our own. What we are supposed to do is summed up in the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel which states: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) Unfortunately, history has many examples of those who have tried to go and do what they thought was good for God in rash and inappropriate ways. Most times, it is because these people have forgotten their first love (Jesus) and acted based on their understanding rather than God’s. A wonderful exam...

The First Great Awakening came circa 1735-1743. It was the first event to draw all 13 colonies together into a common experience. Its deep spiritual message touched everyone from the wealthiest in America to slaves and laid the foundation for our ability to withstand the trials of our War for Independence. The Second Great Awakening came circa 1800-1840. It began in the frontier of Kentucky and spread throughout the land in waves. Charles Finney would lead 500,000 to Christ. This Great Awakening laid the foundation for our ability to withstand the trials of our Civil War. I believe we are on the cusp of a Third Great Awakening. If so, and if the the pattern holds (granted - a couple of big ifs) then, in the next 20-30 years we will have another huge trial to go through. I have said for years that Trump is our King Josiah (see 2 Kings chapters 22 and 23). Trump is poised to continue the tremendous cleansing of the Deep State he started in his first 4 years. Like Trump, King Josiah clean...

  The application and the foreshadowing in Hosea 5:15-6:2 is amazing! God said: "I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant" (Hosea 5:15 ESV) And the people replied: “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." (Hosea 6:1-2 ESV) God wants us to turn to him with urgency and do so consistently; not just a one time crying out. The two days mentioned by the people before God raises them up is profound. Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and it must have seemed like an eternity to him - but it was only 2 full days as Jonah was repenting and on the third day Jonah was released. This passage from Hosea, written 500 years or so before Jesus suffered on the ...