uncommon sense

Where is God at tragic times like the Sunday, November 5th Church shooting in Texas?

God was there telling that evil person not to do what he did.
God was there taking His beloved children home to suffer no more.
God is here comforting and giving hope to the rest of us.

Is God not powerful enough to stop it?

He is powerful enough, and though sometimes He does, it is not yet time to put an end to all evil. For this reason evil tragedies still happen. We live in a special time in which we can either store up wrath or reward for the time to come.

1 Timothy 6:19
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Romans 2:5-11
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

When that time does come, evil will end, and God's children will be rewarded far beyond any suffering we've had.

Romans 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

When will that time come?

In the end when every knee shall bow to God and every tongue shall confess. There will be no choice but to do so in this time.

Romans 14:11-12
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Philippians 2:9-11
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Acts 16:30-32
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:9-10
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Salvation is so simple. We should not add to it or take away from it but simply proclaim it because...

1 Corinthians 1:21
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

And the proclamation of the Gospel works because...

Isaiah 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

I was introduced recently to Br. Charles Michael Johnson. He has a ministry developing, maintaining, and sharing a free app for smart phones and tablets. This app shares the simple Gospel message along with a daily Bible verse, devotionals, sermons, helpful Scriptures concerning various topics in life, and even a church locator to help you find the closest true church to where you are!

Download The Way of Life app for free from your app store or visit www.JesusSaves.Life

I am here at a time which I would have hoped never to see, a time of blindness and hypocrisy unparalleled in my lifetime among people who claim conservative and even Christian values. I feel as though I am in the haze of a strange nightmare watching the fall of my nation, the decay of its foundations, the crumbling collapse of its buildings, the slow burning of its Constitution, the same people who once fought to uphold it having somehow been deceived, blinded, and used as the very instruments of the destruction, instruments I believe of God’s judgment. I cannot believe otherwise as I see God’s gift of life and breath being abused, destroyed, and even rejected; God’s institutions of marriage, family, and church disdained, mocked, and torn down; God’s Word ignored, twisted, and even hated; and all this done even by those holding the name of Christian.

As my heart breaks and the light of any hope for America fades with the growing darkness around me, I am reminded of a few things. First, I’m not perfect either. Everyone still needs God even if they don’t know it. Because of this I have a responsibility to stand and fight for what is right while sharing the love of Christ with those struggling in darkness no matter the evil that is against me and remembering that if not for Christ I’d be there too. Second, I am God’s. Nothing can change that. With this in mind I have a blessed peace even in the mist of all the darkness and turmoil of this world. Finally, this world is not my home. I am a sojourner awaiting the promise of a new, perfect, and eternal home. With that in sight I have an everlasting light of hope even as I feel the loss of my earthly nation. In conclusion, despite the devastation I’m seeing unfold I have the love of Christ, the peace of God, and the hope of my Lord and King, and I want to share it with you and everyone else. Keep these with you and never give up the fight.

Ephesians 6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Romans 8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 11:10, 13-16
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
....
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Forcing people to partake in a false marriage is wrong. Allowing human sacrifice is wrong. Because you disallow one does not mean you must force the other nor because you do not force one mean you must allow the other. Forcing people to do things against their will is not the same as allowing them to do things that are in their will.

Hitler spread the callous slaughter of the Jews by dehumanizing them. Is this not what has happened to our unborn among abortion supporters? God, please help us. Please, strengthen your people to stand against this evil and bring it to an end.

The fine-tuned detail of the universe gives proof of God’s existence. In atheist fiction an infinite, impersonal mother universe creates all things possible in an infinite multiverse. However, it is equally possible that the entire mother universe and all would destroy itself. It can’t choose not to! Indeed, considering infinity past everything possible has actually already happened in that reality. It would have gone into oblivion an infinity ago! Again, God is needed as a personal agent to stop the oblivion and choose to create only those possibilities that are good.

There are those who are steadfast in the faith. They know what they believe and how to prove it! They are unlikely to change with the winds of doctrine.

1 Peter 5:9
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

There are those who are stubborn. They know what they believe but cannot defend it against the light of truth, yet they are still unlikely to change.

1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

2 Timothy 3:8
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

There are still those who are simply gullible going to whatever sounds good at the moment or whatever works well for them.

Jude 1:12
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

So, don’t be stubborn or gullible but be steadfast in the truth! Learn the truth and stand in it.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 2:13
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

Colossians 3:18
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.


Submit, submit, but what is godly submission?


Colossians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;


Godly submission is realizing and accepting our place and responsibility before God and men while applying what is said in Colossians 3:23.

What is godly leadership? Godly leadership is leadership that sets an example by following Christ.

So, to lead one must first submit to follow God, and when in submission one is a leader by example just as Christ is for us.


John 6:38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Philippians 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

1 Peter 2:21
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Ephesians 5:21
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Too often it seems Christians are accused of being legalistic by those who want to live like the world. This is because as Christians we have principles and doctrines we stand for and in some cases may even be willing to die for.

However, legalism isn’t when we stand for our principles. Legalism isn’t when we have a list of rules or laws to follow.

Legalism is the law applied regardless of justice and without mercy while love is the law applied with justice and mercy in balance.

May we be found standing with justice and mercy: with love. Love is our witness.

John 13:35
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Be true to you heart? Be true to yourself?

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

If you think being true to your heart is the most important thing in life, perhaps instead you need to speak truth to you heart!

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Don’t be self-centered. Put God and others first! Be God-centered!

Knowing the answers is fine. But still, how do you get them, and how do you know they are correct? Teaching what to think is fine but is only the beginning. One should also teach why to think it.

Once upon a time there was no time for nothing, but after time nothing was very tiny and exploded causing nothing to cease to be for then nothing was everything and was very large expanding randomly to be what wasn't then contracting precisely to be what is and suddenly came to life!

Nothing may make no sense to you, but somehow nothing makes perfect sense to the ignorant ones who believe it!

Do experiences out weight the truth of Scripture? Does our logic, experiences, feelings, emotions - our understanding determine what is true in Scripture? Does it determine what is right or wrong in life? Does Scripture determine how we interpret experiences, or do we let our experiences determine how we interpret Scripture?

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

On the other hand:

Jeremiah 17:10
I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Isaiah 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Psalms 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Why do you ask what I think as if I matter? I have no authority to say what is right or wrong, and my thoughts amount not to the height of a hill of beans! However, I do know the One Whose authority is absolute in all matters and Whose thoughts are higher in all things. That is God, and with Him I agree. Do you?

Revelation 21:16-17
“And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.”

That is a city that is about 1,379.5 miles long, wide, and tall! That is nearly the size of the United States! Can you imagine a city that big? Now, according to research done my Brother Roy Matlock (he researched on arkansashighways.com) about the roads in the United States in 2005, we have about 3,905,010 miles of roads. That is a lot of roads. Now imagine that this wondrous new city will have a layer of roads only about every mile which is a very conservative assumption I’d think. Brother Matlock has already done the math for us – 1,379 layers multiplied by 3,905,010 miles of roads gives about 5,385,008,790 miles of streets in the new city not counting the streets that connect the layers.

As Brother Matlock also says, this is all just “mere speculation” and stretches of the imagination. We don’t even know if it will have layers, but it sure is fun to think about!

This particular city is for the bride of Christ as shown in Revelations 21:9-10. May we strive to serve God as He wishes so that we may walk with Him in white (Rev. 3:4) as part of the bride to live in this amazing city.