Relational Bridges

 HAPPY NEW YEAR A new year begins. New Year's resolutions seem to indicate that people know things are not the way they should be in their lives, in their families, in their neighborhoods, cities and nations as well as the whole world. Something was desperately broken at the very beginning of time. The first humans turned from Life and turned to "self" to give definition and meaning to human existence. Life was inextricably broken, without hope for human intervention to change death into life. As you enter this new year, I urge you to turn from the illusion of mankind being able to evolve to the point that its brokenness is undone. Jesus Christ, by His life, death and resurrection has made a way...actually the only way...to be restore to God in an eternal relationship where life begins to be lived into as was intended from the start. You can know forgiveness, grace, mercy, renewal and restoration of all that is broken. May your New Year be absolutely blessed.

GOOD NEWS IN THE FACE OF BAD The birth of Jesus Christ was the most momentous event in human history. There was a reason that a young Jewish virgin named Mary conceived Eternal God the Son in her womb by the Holy Spirit. The Word was made flesh, God the Son taking His humanity from Mary, for an eternally crucial reason. Mankind was lost in the thrall of sin and the deception that life could be fully lived without any meaningful relation to God, the Creator. The spiritual, moral, ethical, and relational chaos of heart that had become the human norm in recorded history was what Jesus came to undo. Most do not want to hear the truth about their need, their powerlessness and God's answer to the problem of death-dealing sin in the human heart: the Incarnation, Life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ...and THAT alone. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Holy One of Israel, is humanity's only hope of the repentance, forgiveness, redemption, wholeness, and human flourishing; being restor...

 LIVING AS GOD LIVES Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard the Law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. It may seem like a stretch, but God has commanded the followers of Jesus Christ to love as He loves. God love those who hated Him (the world) so much that He gave His one and only Son, to the ends that all who would believe in Him would not be separated from Him forever but would actually be given eternal life by grace through faith in all that Jesus has done and all that He is. God's love is not human sentimentality. It is the absolute commitment to us that we become our best selves, THAT is only accomplished by the Holy Spirit living within us, transforming us to become all God intends for us to be, that is, to live like and ...

 MERRY CHRISTMAS! In a culture that increasingly demands draconian tolerance of anyone and everyone, any ideology or opinion, every choice or lifestyle, I find that cultures "universalistic tolerance" is not a reality at all. There is a script, a posture, a dogma that actually defines "tolerance" in very narrow terms. If you ae a follower of Jesus Christ and are as open about your beliefs as any vegan might be about their menu choices, you can expect to be informed that your beliefs are not only unacceptable, but are, in themselves, the epitome of intolerance itself. In some places of business, corporate leaders have now told employees they can no longer say, "Merry Christmas" while they are at work, because it may offend someone, i.e. anyone who may not consider Jesus Christ as the historical basis of the seasonal celebration at hand just now. Corporate magnates have permitted an employee to say, "Happy Holidays" not knowing that the word ...

 HOLY SPIRIT ANOINTING I saiah 35:1-7 This prophecy specifically pointed to what would happen when the Messiah He came. The blind would see again; the deaf would hear again; the lame would run and leap and dance again; the mute would shout and sing for joy again; the dead would be raised to life again; incurable illness would be cured; demons would be cast out of the oppressed. These are the very things Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah, did in His ministry on earth before His crucifixion and resurrection. These are the things He said His followers would continue to do as signs of the Kingdom of God pushing back, displacing the kingdom of darkness, the consequences of Adam's fall in Eden. When someone believes the Gospel, turns from self and sin, and in that repentance turns to God, the Holy Spirit come to live in that person the Resurrection Life of Jesus Christ. He comes to live out salvation and restoration in you. When the Holy Spirit then comes upon the believer, empowering them...

 HE HAS COME TO RESCUE I want you to know the truth. All the darkness that you may feel has swallowed you whole and is now destroying you, cannot ever prevent the Light of Jesus Christ from breaking through and rescuing you. Don't believe the lie that you are somehow "demon-seed", too far gone to be helped. Satan is a liar and the father of lies. He knows that Jesus Christ has vanquished sin, death, hell and the grave. Satan knows that the power of Jesus Resurrection is infinitely greater than all he has combined. Jesus knows where you are and is standing at the ready for you to surrender to His love, grace and truth. When the Light of Christ pierces the darkness, darkness flees. It cannot exist in Heaven's Light. The Light of Christ has come into the world to rescue, restore and save you to the uttermost. Call out to Him. He will respond and set you free. He will come and live His life within to making what you think is impossible and living reality of wholeness and...