KennethBow's Blog

Monday June 15, 2015
I am sitting in the Delta Sky Club in New York City looking out over the traffic of the world. All around me are unfamiliar languages and cultures. I am reminded it is a very big world that our God oversees. 
Sometimes I try to think about things the way God thinks about them. Surprisingly when I do I often offend people. Especially people who are self willed and want my approval to their actions. 
There are many instances, but today my thoughts go to the crowd often referred to as back slider. God tells me they are filled with their own ways (Proverbs 14.14), yet if I mention this I am often labeled as “judging” them. 
These people filled with their own ways would like me to offer approval for their life style. They speak loud and often on social media if they perceive any of us are looking at them the way God does. 
So my question today is, is it so wrong to think like God? Am I and a host of other devoted children of God wrong when we withhold approval from these that are filled with their own ways?
I would like to see each of them return to God and serve Him the way the scriptures teach. I would be the first to say let us kill the proverbial fatted calf and throw a welcome home party. 
However, they seem at times, at least some of them, to expect me to just accept whatever life style they choose to follow and give my approval. If I choose to think like God, they are offended and launch the social media blitz about judgmental Christians. 
It may be spitting in the wind, but I want to say get used to it back slider, for you see God himself judges all of us. Maybe if you spent more time worrying about what God says and less about what people say, the outcome might be more to your advantage? 
Get used to being judged. And most of all maybe think about the moment when God judges you. He will not fall for your cheesy lines, and wounded sense of indignation. Your lame lines of just choosing another road, or not really back sliding, just taking a break, ad infinitum, will fall to the deaf ear of a righteous God. 
I have to wonder about people who want to leave, but yet want to stay connected to every “bleeding heart” still attending church. These bleeding hearts cluck sympathy and understanding to those filled with their own ways. 
The roar for approval and non judgement sounds a whole lot like another social phenomenon right now. That lifestyle flies in the face of God, rejects the Bible, and as loudly as possible, screams about anyone who dares to tell them they are wrong.  
Well, they are wrong, and so are you back slider. We love you and welcome you home, but we do not, and will not, approve of your actions and lifestyle, as long as you walk away from the truth. 
Oh and by the way, we are not self righteous or judgmental, we are just thinking like God thinks. 

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

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Charles Dennis Jones, a husky man, was actually about six feet tall but those who saw the incident I’m about to describe say he was a giant.

A truck had run off the road and crashed into a tree with enormous impact. The engine was forced back into the cab and the driver’s body was twisted under the roof. His feet were caught between the clutch and brake pedals. The doors were crushed and bent out of shape. Wreckers were called and a supreme effort was made to open the cab and free the driver. However, the wreckage was such that despite the best efforts of skilled men, they could not attach hooks to the doors or roof, so the wrecker could not be used. To make matters worse, a fire had started in the cab. Concern turned to panic because it was obvious that before the fire engines could arrive, the driver would be burned to death. 

Although the situation looked hopeless, Charles Dennis Jones decided to see what he could do. Bracing himself against the door, he started to pull. Slowly, grudgingly, the door began to give way. The force of Jones’ effort was so great that the muscles in his arm expanded until they literally burst the sleeves of his shirt. Finally, the door was open. Jones reached inside and barehandedly bent the brake and clutch pedals out of the way. He freed the man’s legs, snuffed out the fire with his hands, and crawled inside the cab with the badly injured driver. Bracing himself in a crouching position with his feet on the floor and his back against the top of the cab, he lifted the roof by his enormous strength. This freed the driver and spectators were able to pull him to safety. Then Jones quietly and quickly disappeared. 

Later, when he was found, someone asked him why and how he was able to accomplish such a herculean feat. His reply was a very simple one. He merely said, “I hate fire.” 

He had a reason. A few months earlier he had been forced to stand by and watch helplessly while his small daughter burned to death.
What if we Apostolics truly hated sin?

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Lachash is a quiet, whispering prayer (like the whispering of forms of incantation in Isaiah 3.3); it is when sorrow renders you speechless in the long run of life; you are out of words, empty and exhausted, and a consciousness of sin crushes so completely, that a man does not dare to address God aloud. It is a time so intense, you hiss your words.

Isaiah chapter 29, verse 4,

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The Resurrection: The World’s most magnificent moment.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most magnificent moment in the history of the world.  Without the resurrection we have no hope, no gospel, no salvation.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians without the resurrection we have nothing but a false hope, our preaching is vain, and our faith is vain.

The resurrection defeats death and validates Christ as the Lord of all creation.

As a christian why would anyone pollute this most magnificent moment with paganism?  How can a rabbit, an egg and baskets begin to compare with the magnificence of Jesus rolling the stone away, and rising from the dead?  Should not we as a christian make sure we fulfill Deuteronomy 6.4-9?  Our God given mandate is to teach our children the way of God.

We need to teach our children the truth.  It is our God given responsibility.  

Picture yourself with your child at the judgment seat of Christ.  You have your child by the hand.  As you look into Christ’s eyes you see hurt.  He asks you as a parent, did you teach your child about Me?  Did you teach them I am God? Did you teach them I am the only God? Did you teach them to never mix worship of me with paganism?

As a responsible parent, it is your God given responsibility to train up a child in the way they should go.  What can be more basic than Jesus rose from the dead? 

Paganism seeks to shift the glory off Christ, and place the celebration on things that are not God. Paganism always distracts from the real meaning of things that relate to God. 

Paganism is not harmless.

Paganism steals God’s glory. Paganism teaches a child to celebrate things not related to God.  Paganism creates false joy on a lie. 

There is no easter bunny.  It is a lie, just like there is no Santa Claus.  We must be careful to teach our children truths, and never teach them to believe a lie. It is not innocent or harmless to condone a lie.

Easter baskets, eggs, and rabbits have nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Why not teach your child the truth?  Teach them Easter is a time to recognize the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

When you stand before Christ in the judgment, you will feel confident you trained up your child in the way of truth, not the way of paganism. You kept the most magnificent moment truly magnificent.

In our church we call this time of year Resurrection Sunday. 

It is the true meaning of the world’s most magnificent moment!

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I believe in Wikimedia, you may not know they operate from private donations. Here is a letter I recieved from them….

Dear Kenneth,

Thank you for your invaluable gift of bringing knowledge to every human around the world.

My name is Lila Tretikov, and I’m the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. Over the past year, gifts like yours powered our efforts to expand the encyclopedia in 287 languages and to make it more accessible all over the world. We strive most to impact those who would not have access to education otherwise. We bring knowledge to people like Akshaya Iyengar from Solapur, India. Growing up in this small textile manufacturing town, she used Wikipedia as her primary learning source. For students in these areas, where books are scarce but mobile Internet access exists, Wikipedia is instrumental. Akshaya went on to graduate from college in India and now works as a software engineer in the United States. She credits Wikipedia with powering half of her knowledge.

This story is not unique. Our mission is lofty and presents great challenges. Most people who use Wikipedia are surprised to hear it is run by a non-profit organization and funded by your donations. Each year, just enough people donate to keep the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Thank you for making this mission possible.

On behalf of half a billion people who read Wikipedia, thousands of volunteer editors, and staff at the Foundation, I thank you for keeping Wikipedia online and ad-free this year.

Thank you,
Lila

Lila Tretikov
Executive Director,
Wikimedia Foundation

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A friend of mine had a wreck on his bicycle several weeks ago. He banged his leg on the curb and got a big ugly bruise on the calf of his leg. The swelling was about the size of a baseball and the wound became infected. It was an ugly red wound full of pus and poison to his body.

He went to a critical care unit to have it looked at after a few days. They prescribed antibiotics. He took the medicine and seemed to be doing better.

After several weeks he went for another bike ride then went for a run. The infection came back with a vengeance.

While at the hospital with him and his family last night I learned something I had not known about antibiotics. The doctor explained you need the right kind of antibiotic to combat the type of infection you are dealing with. The critical care facility had not prescribed the correct antibiotic.

The infection had looked superficially better but was not cured. So it returned worse than before.

They prescribed the correct antibiotic and lanced and flushed the wound and hopefully he is on the road to health again.

Because the last 38 years of my life has been spent treating spiritual wounds and conditions I took note of the principal involved.

It takes the right medicine to attack the cause of the problem. Some medicines may appear to help but only hide the issue and it gets worse while being unseen.

For me as a pastor and minister of the gospel, I must make certain I am presenting the right cure for the problem. I wonder how many times I prescribed the spiritual medicine and thought the issue was cured while all the time it was only superficially better?

Unknown to me the issue was only hidden under apparent healing, ready to resurface with a vengeance.

I suppose there has never been a day in Apostolic history where we need the cure for sin like we need it today! We must not only preach, but we must preach the particular things that attack the cause of sin!

We do not need spiritual band aids today, we need the cure. I pray my congregation is not sitting there week after week with hidden issues unresolved and not healed. God help me to seek God until I have the right medicine in my hand for every service.

This brief incident in my life has stirred me to want to be more prayerful. It has caused me to want to carefully take a long look each time I write that spiritual prescription.

May the preaching of the gospel produce healthy, spiritual, saints of God!

Thanks for reading today!

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How to put a whooping on the devil.

Romans 16.20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly~kjv

before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt ~msg version

1. Just go to church. He will give you 27 reasons not to go to church. Too tired, too old, too poor, too beautiful, to ugly, too friendly, too depressed, too sad. No friends, no one likes you, it’s raining, too hot, etc. Everytime you go to church you put a whopping on the devil.

2. Do not get offended. He will try to make you be offended. Offended at the pastor, offended at the song leader, offended at the hostess, offended at the usher, offended at…parking space, chair, too loud, can’t see, can’t hear, Ebola ☺ . So put a whopping on the devil and do not get offended.

3. Give God a little dance. He hates it when you dance with your love. If you don’t want to hurt the Devils feelings be sure and not dance because you’re clothes are to tight or you’re too fat or too skinny, or you are mad at your wife or your husband is a jerk or your kids have been ornery. Your dog has been sick, your kid did not finish homework, your car needs cleaning, you have lousy neighbors. But if you want to put a whopping on the devil, do a little dance.

4. Hang around and talk to good clean godly people. The devil hates that. Go home talk to back sliders or sinners, Facebook, gossip, find some dirt, run someone down….watch YouTube for two hours…get the latest football scores. But if you want to put a whopping on the devil, hang around godly people and fellowship!

5. Go out and fellowship after church and talk about things that build up spiritual character. Man I promise you the devil hates that. Most of all never invite the server to church. They would not like the church. Go home and pout, or kick the dog, get carnal. Drive up and down skid row and see if you can sin a little. Go to a bar or club or drug party…. But if you want to put a whopping on the devil… Go with good people and have good fellowship.

Thanks for reading today.

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Matthew 13:3 (KJV)
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

It was the beginning of the second year of Jesus’ ministry. The religious leaders were growing increasingly wary of Jesus and began to pepper him with questions that illustrated their doubts. To avoid confrontation and debate that only led to confusion, Jesus began to speak in parables.

He had just been accused of working supernatural miracles by the power of evil, and while in this moment of confrontation, Jesus’ family arrived. Jesus throws down the gauntlet of future discipleship by declaring who his family was. His proclamation that his disciples were his family, separated him from the umbilical cord of family ties once and for all.

Matthew says “the same day”, Jesus began to speak the parables of Matthew 13. Jesus deliberately chose this method to reveal truth to his followers and conceal truth from his accusers.

The first parable Jesus spoke was about a sower that sowed seed in various places and the ensuing harvest.

I broach this subject today because it is my opinion many of us feel unqualified to teach a Bible study or witness or win a soul. This parable illustrates some interesting things to us.

For all of us who think we must be well prepared, intelligent, or qualified, to win souls, I want to point out some basic points.

The sower was not brilliant. In fact he/she was not a good sower at all! What sower with good sense would scatter seed where birds would immediately eat it up? If the sower was such a hot shot sower, why did he/she sow seed where the ground was stony and shallow? If Mr or Mrs Sower was as smart as we think we need to be to work with lost people, why did he/she sow seed among weeds?

I point out the obvious conclusion, the sower is not that important! The seed is what is important!

Even dumb sowers will get results if they just keep sowing. What would happen if all of us stopped making excuses about not knowing enough, or about being illiterate about the Bible, etc., and just sowed seed?

What if we stopped being soil analyzers and just threw seed there anyway? What if we stopped looking at the outward circumstances and just threw seed there anyway?

Maybe there is good ground not being reached because we analyze the soil before we sow? Maybe we feel like we need some kind of Union Card for Sowers International or something?

Maybe if we quit looking at the sower (us), and just threw seed everywhere like in the parable, maybe just maybe we would see more of a harvest?

Thanks for reading today….

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Guest blog…excellent material…

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For over 38 years of preaching I have never stopped and looked up what a “virtuous” woman is by the Bible definition. I looked up Proverbs 31.10, “the virtuous woman” and I was very surprised at the Bible definition!

I confess I always saw this “woman” by the single, narrow interpretation the KJV translators gave us. Virtue: morally good behavior (Merriman-Webster dictionary).

Here is what the original language gives us when they translate this Hebrew word “Chayil“, When Chayil is translated, it is translated as …
army 56 times
man of valour 37 times
host 29 times
forces 14 times
valiant 13 times
strength 12 times
riches 11 times
wealth 10 times
power 9 times
substance 8 times
might 6 times
strong 5 times
miscellaneous translations 33 times
[Total Count: 243]

from (chuwl); probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength :- able, activity, (+) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, (+) valiant (-ly), valour, virtuous (-ly), war, worthy

Sounds like she was a woman of force, energy, capable, moral, strong, powerful, and a woman of substance in many many ways.

Maybe now we can now salute the forceful powerful women of the Bible without qualifying. Only one woman in scripture is called virtuous…Ruth!

So to these women who proved to be such a force in their world: Ruth….Sarah…Rachel…Hannah…Bathsheba…Mary…Martha…Phoebe….Priscilla…I salute you!

A virtuous woman is more than just moral!

She is a powerful force to be reckoned with.