God

A True Christian’s New Identity

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

Who are you? Where do you come from? Who’s your family? What do you do? How would you answer important, personal identity questions like these?

Let’s imagine for a minute that we’re interviewing a very outgoing lady circus performer. We say “hello” and she says something like, “Hi there, I’m Sally Sue from Peru – Peru, Indiana, that is.”

Interestingly, Peru (locally pronounced pee-roo), Indiana was no doubt a great place to call home. Historically, it was the headquarters for the Haganbeck-Wallace Circus Company which was the primary rival to the famous Ringling Brothers Circus in the early 1920s.

Peru has long billed itself as the “circus capital of the world” and has maintained the International Circus Hall of Fame for some considerable time.

However, regarding the imaginary Sally Sue, would being a Peru, Indianian be the sum-total of her identity? The answer is “no” and there is a great reason why!

Many hats – that is, identities, to wear

To start with, our imaginary Sally Sue would be an American—in addition (obviously) to being an Indianian. She and her comrades in circus entertainment would also have identified themselves as performers in one or typically more circus skills… trapeze artist, trick-rider, sharpshooter, clown, exotic animal trainer, ticket seller, tent set-up worker, and/or announcer, etcetera and so on. Circus people often wore many hats when the Big Show went on the road!

Similarly, we each have several or more physical identities or roles in life. We start as infants, then grow into children. Our parents and schoolteachers ideally instruct us how to be ever more responsible children, then adolescents and finally adults—and in due course to be good parents ourselves.

Early on we learn to be chore doers, students of ever more complex fields of study… Hopefully our instruction includes how to be a good sport as well as skilled in a remarkably wide variety of games and endeavors. When old enough to work a part-time job we begin to take on the identity of a worker.

The list of skills with each its own influence on our overall, individual identities and increasing abilities is really quite remarkable.

Now consider our new, spiritual identity

When God calls us out of this present, evil world and into the true, historic Church of God each of us at repentance and baptism begins a new spiritual identity. That and the beginning of a greater depth of spiritual understanding of God’s Word and plan of salvation. If we do our part in prayer and personal Bible study we notably grow in grace and the knowledge of the true God of the Bible (there is a distinct, though sometimes seemingly subtle, difference between the God that traditional Christianity worships, and the true God of the Bible). For that gift of understanding God’s Word, way and future plan for us and all humanity, we ought to be ever thankful!

The apostle Paul was inspired to write: “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).

Our spiritual growth

Through our personal repentance for our sins which are the transgressions of God’s holy, perfect and righteous law… and our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, High Priest in heaven and soon-coming King… God calls or will call us out of this present, evil world and into His historic, true Church of God that Jesus Christ personally built.

Though we’re still the various people that we were physically—through repentance, faith, baptism and the laying on of hands by one of Christ’s true ministers we are or will be therewith invested with God’s Holy Spirit through the process of spiritual conversion. And through that process God gives each of us our new identities in Christ and in His soon-coming Kingdom of God.

Much more yet to come…

Thus…“beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

That revealing will take place at Christ’s second coming. God speed the day!

– Commentary by Randy Stiver

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

Do NOT Lose Heart!

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

Some 2,000 years ago at His first coming Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the son of man, walked the earth as a human being. Never breaking any of the divine commandments, He lived the absolute, perfect life without sin. Would that we had faith like that now!

As the term is used, Christ was “mission focused” in living that perfect life.

He then, being God as well as man, could give, that is, sacrifice His life so repentant humans could upon their own repentance and faith have their sins forgiven, opening the door for them to ultimately be resurrected to eternal life in the divine and eternal family of God.

In the gospel of Luke is recorded one of Jesus’ parables containing that vital ingredient we humans must have to spiritually overcome that we each may also be resurrected into God’s eternal Kingdom. Here’s the story in the parable:

Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, “Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me”  

Luke 18:1-5

Jesus’ story makes the solution of entering the eternal Kingdom of God crystal clear. The widow’s dedicated persistence in petitioning the “unjust judge” finally motivated him to take the needed action on her behalf:  

Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:6-8

Note to self: there is no person (official or not) who can resist the determined faith of one of God’s truly true worshipers—who just keep on coming—and never gives up—never surrenders!

Challenge yourself each day to remember those words of Christ and apply them—no matter what the day holds—Do not lose heart!

– Commentary by Randy Stiver

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

The Culture of Scoffing: God’s Judgement Against Unbelieving Cynicism

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

-A commentary by Randy Stiver-

Beware!  Never trust a genuine, God-forsaking, scoffing fool!

And here’s why: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).

“Works” in the Bible generally refers to our behaviors. We either choose good behaviors, or we choose bad/sinful behaviors. It’s an easy guess for anyone—who to any degree, understands human nature—to recognize that humanity from the Garden of Eden on up to now has historically and primarily chosen evil works.

Note this passage: “Because the carnal [unconverted] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

God defines “evil works” as sins—violations of His fundamental law of life—the summary of which we know as the Ten Commandments. See Exodus 20 for the formal list.

Then add to that all the rest of God’s Word, “But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’ (Luke 4:4).”

The dark art of scoffing

Cynical scoffing against God’s very existence as well as His prescribed way of life has become the primary, dynamic, negative force in modern education. The powers that be (here and elsewhere) are not just merely God-less but scoffingly seek to elevate their own faulty reasoning to supreme authority—in place of God! Not wise.

Consequently, our children are thus “educated” to ridicule the mere concept of God and His biblically defined way of life. So today we see a secular, “evangelistic” quest to purge from society any and all words and thoughts of or about God.

The educational systems continue this anti-God onslaught—with schools serving as a primary battlefield in favor of atheism. This incessant, godless diatribe will weaken what little that remains of modern culture’s recognition of obvious truth.

We were warned

We must realize that we have been warned. In fact the whole world has been warned! But we have had foreknowledge of modern society’s incessant infatuation with godlessness in all aspects.

Note this prophecy written under God’s inspiration 2,000-plus years ago by no less than the apostle Peter…

“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?”’

(2 Peter 3:1-4)

Beware—some will mock, saying, “Well, I don’t have to beware of this trouble because these aren’t the last days!” Wrong conclusion!

We in the 21st century are living in the last days! The prophetic signs of a sick and dying society are all around us. The great and sobering prophecies that anticipate Jesus Christ’s second coming are clearer than ever! Therefore, having been forewarned we have no excuse for ignoring the unique position of our time in history!

Watch world events closely…

Noah was commissioned by God to warn the world then about the soon-coming, great Flood. Everybody—except for his own family—ignored his preaching… and they perished in the rising waters!

“For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

(2 Peter 3:4-7)

Today’s society is infamous for its scoffing. But remember: “There are none so blind as those who refuse to look!” Don’t let yourself be caught with self-inflicted, spiritual blindness!

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

(2 Peter 4:8-9)

God has indeed promised judgment—and blessing! Eradicate cynicism from your thinking. Stand firm in the true faith…remain repentant and spiritually, watchfully prepared for the coming of our great Savior!

*If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

The Plowing of the Wicked

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

A commentary by Randy Stiver

Obviously, the “plowing of the wicked” can’t be a good thing. In fact, that’s precisely the case. It also sounds proverb-ish because it’s based on Proverbs 21:4.

“A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin.”

During God’s seven Days of Unleavened Bread we, as part of God’s faithful, avoid bread made, or “plowed”, as it were, with leavening (yeast, baking soda or other leavening agents—including sourdough). We know the meaning of getting rid of sin and its haughty or puffed-up outlook.

God’s law of plowing

“You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deut. 22:10).

Physically, it’s the principle of “like with like.” Donkeys and oxen are not “like” each other when it comes to plowing. A donkey or an even an even larger mule (which typically is half horse and half donkey) can effectively pull together only provided they are similar sized.

However the typical donkey is small, and the ox is big. The yoke is the most effective pulling apparatus for oxen, but not for donkeys which need a harness. Nor are their strides similar—another critical requirement for teamed pulling.

We today are among the few called out of this evil, end-time world. Those not called at this era are spiritually unmixable with true Church of God. Spiritual plowing time for us in the true, historic Church of God – is now!

Plowing toward the future

God’s inexorable, intervening power through Jesus Christ comes soon. The plan of salvation through the intervention of God’s calling to true repentance will be ultimately extended to everybody who will have ever lived. The repentant faithful will plow positively straight furrows. Then we, and they, will finally be equally yoked in truth and righteousness before God.

Plowing sin vs. plowing righteousness

God inspired Job to record the “cause and effect” plowing observation of his friend Eliphaz the Temanite:

“Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8).

It appears to be a harsh accusation against Job for supposedly causing his own trouble by secret sins. A valid observation, but greatly misapplied to Job—as he truly was a faithful and righteous man.

What about not plowing at all? “The lazy man will not plow because of winter; he will beg during harvest and have nothing” (Proverbs. 20:4). Being too lazy to plow the ground for planting is in effect “plowing” the sin of laziness. Consider the great, spiritual danger of being the lazy plowman or plow-woman!

“Plowing” as national punishment

Hosea the prophet wrote during the early to mid-700s B.C. This was the very time that the Assyrian Empire conquered and took into captivity the northern 10 tribes of Israel who had been led by the tribe of Ephraim.

“Ephraim is a trained heifer, that loves to thresh grain; But I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break his clods” (Hosea 10:11).

The tribes of Israel plowed crooked, spiritual rows to their own hurt. Let us as modern plowers beware!

“Plowing” for repentance

There is also repentance plowing, as well as “promise” plowing for the lost 10 Tribes of Israel (as well as for all humanity):

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground [by plowing], for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12).

Hosea goes on to explain the cause and effect of bad vs. good plowing for both ancient as well as the modern Israelite nations (mainly the America, Britain and the northwest, European nations):

“You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men (Hosea 10:13).

Our modern nations have put their hands to the plow wrongly—and will ultimately suffer for it: “Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood” (Amos 6:12).

Plowing to the Kingdom of God

Our great Lord Jesus Christ also lovingly but clearly admonishes His true Church: “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

As we progress through the Days of Unleavened Bread and concentrate on de-leavening our lives of sin, we are strengthening our hands on the plow of truth.

Let us therefore, with all our might and with all the might that God may give us, plow straight furrows that will yield large spiritual harvests when our Savior returns to earth!  

*This originally appeared as a weekly note sent to my local congregation. If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

Major Bank Failure – Where Is Our Treasure?

/ rpstiver / Leave a comment

A commentary by Randy Stiver (3-11-2023)

“Don’t worry, Be Happy!” – Remember that long lost, hit song of 1988?

Written and performed by jazz and folksong writer Bobby McFerrin, it became what you might call an eclectic hit with wide-ranging appeal because of an uplifting lyric and tune.

Fast forward to the latest banking disaster of 2023. On Friday, March 10th the Silicon Valley Bank situated in the heart of the tech industry in California, failed rapidly and dramatically. Federal agents stepped in and closed the bank, but not before lines of desperate investors filled sidewalks outside. Will they get their money? Unlikely because only a meager $250,000 per individual is guaranteed by the FDIC.

The rub? SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) apparently disproportionally underwrote and funded many tech companies and green-startups, some of which we are familiar with in casual use. They also underwrote electronic payroll companies around the nation, which will have a large impact, as well.

“Don’t worry, be happy” about today’s news?! “Ha!”

Economies and stock markets bob up and down—sometimes dramatically. Most of society has been in a long, “bobbing up” stretch. But how long can good luck last?  

Many nations have prospered considerably in recent years and decades. Low interest rates and easy money policies seemed to ensure a perpetual upward swing in personal fortunes. But what happens when the world hits a bobbing down stretch—or worse yet, gets locked-in to a financially downward phase?

Jesus Christ prophesied that our selfish world would cause itself no end of trouble in the last days before His second coming. Any serious student of God’s Word would recognize the current world conditions to be as described in Revelation 3:17, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…”

If we appropriately summarize God’s way of life as the way of GIVE, and the world’s way of living as obviously the way of GET (as in getting for self without concern for others regardless of what God says)—then we can better understand why the bad economic news.

“Don’t worry, be happy!”

Given the nature of human nature the world has ignored Bobby McFerrin’s advice. But, much worse, the world has also ignored God through His prophet Jeremiah: “The [human] heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

What to do about this latest banking reversal? Hide our money in the baseboards? Run around in panic?

No—we fall back to our foundation, the only thing of genuine value as expressed in Matthew 6:19-20:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And this action advice from the last part of Matthew 6:31-34:

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Seek God, study His Word, learn His wisdom and trust Him completely! That wisdom will powerfully guide all who change their own ways and live by God’s way! Look to his Kingdom, and may it become more real in our minds than this world around us.

Remember always what God has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5/Deuteronomy 31:6)

*This originally appeared as a weekly note sent to my local congregation. If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.

OUR OLD CATS – WINSTON & CLEMENTINE

/ rpstiver / 1 Comment

A commentary by Randy Stiver (12-2-2022)*

“Hey mister, would you like a kitten—or maybe two?” The two teenaged sisters were sitting on a bench at a country store in rural Ohio doing their homework on a Sunday afternoon – and were trying to give away some small kittens snuggled together in the basket between their young guardians.

“Actually,” I responded, “our family is looking for a good cat. We just moved here this past summer, but “Duke” (short for Marmaduke) our 19-year-old Maine Coon Cat died last spring. However, my friend and I are going deer hunting this afternoon so I can’t take a kitten right now.” 

Then I asked for their parents’ phone number, promising to call the next day. Long story short… their folks showed us several cardboard box tops filled with three litters of active, month and a half to two months old kittens huddled together in the box tops to ward off the autumn chill.

One smaller orange-gold kitten sat bolt upright watching us while all the others hunkered down to stay warm. He reminded us of Duke and was promptly selected. “Take two,” they pleaded, “please take two!” So we picked up a beautiful, slightly larger, tortoise shell female of light brown shades with black and gold-gray highlights.

Home we went with the two free kittens to fill the spot in our lives that the one and only Duke had held. They were summarily named Winston and Clementine after the famous World War Two era, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife. History aficionados never run out of good names for pets!

The two kittens proved to be excellent rodent-control specialists—Winston in particular—and faithful companion pets. Time passed, and on November 21st Clementine died of old age at 16. Now old, yet spry Winston soldiers on a little sadder and lonelier on his own.

Cats in the Bible

God created cats the same as He created every other creature on earth, whether still living or now only a part of the fossil record. But the smaller felines (like our Clementine) were well suited as companion pets whose day job in rural and urban settings was and has been vitally important rodent and pest control.

Looking back

Who knows. Possibly Adam and Eve had a pet cat or two after their exile from the Garden of Eden where they had disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Archeology shows that cats were kept (and sinfully, sometimes worshipped) in ancient Egypt and elsewhere.

God forbids idolatry—whether fabricated, false gods or “god-ifying” people, creatures or things. God loves cats and all the other animals He created. However, He especially loves human beings because we are His children created in His divine image.

Above all the fish, birds and animals—including felines, God gave His human children the incredible potential to be resurrected into His spirit family, thus to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We must, of course, actively choose good and systematically reject evil in our life-long quest to overcome sin and to faithfully follow Jesus Christ as our Savior.

As creatures we are unique in God’s creation. Much as we appreciate them, cats (and all other pets) do not have the potential for eternal life. Only humankind is made in the image of God and has the destiny of the Kingdom of God.

Cats and character

How do cats or other pets help us build that godly, spiritual character?

We learn persistent kindness and tender heartedness as we care for our pets. This instills in us the loving-kindness of God the Father who feeds the little birds.  “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:20).  Note: as wonderful as pets are, God ranks them below our love for our neighbor and especially our love for God and Christ.

Pets teach balance and value

Caring for a pet or treating animals kindly and with respect in a proper priority schools a child or any person in finding and keeping that vital balance.

Consider the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus asking Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter (read Matthew 15:21-28). She cried out to Him repeatedly—to the point that His disciples requested that Jesus should send her away. Always the “great Teacher” Jesus chose to speak to her and probe her faith a little. He knew it would also be instructive for His disciples – and any uppity Pharisees looking on.

Christ told her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” “Dogs” was an occasional derogatory term then used by the Jews for Gentiles (non-Israelites). Christ was testing both the woman’s understanding and her depth of faith. The dedicated mother persevered in her request for her daughter’s healing when she responded, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

To all His disciples and any Pharisees listening, Jesus’ words had seemed to echo their dismissive opinions about the non-Israelite gentiles. However, He was searching the woman’s faith and teaching all the Jews listening a powerful lesson:  Gentiles (non-Israelites) were and are God’s children too!

However, please note: The “little dogs” who had masters were pets. Pet dogs and cats were therefore not uncommon in the Jewish, other Israelite and Gentile (non-Israelite) communities of the 1st Century. And given the repeating commonality of human nature, the same keeping of pet animals is true in our era.

Take the time to read Proverbs 27:23-27 and Proverbs 12:10 to see firsthand how God wants His people (all of us) to care for our pets as a lesson in loving kindness.

Caring for our pets is a gentle-hearted, character-building duty that has thousands of years of human history behind it. It teaches us to better appreciate God’s creation and to be diligently watchful of our pets and livestock. It also teaches us gentleness, kindness and patience. God desires us to also make sure that above our dear pets, we love God above all and love our neighbors as ourselves.

*This originally appeared as a weekly note sent to my local congregation. If you wish to reprint this commentary or learn more about how to do so, please contact me in the comments below. I reserve my rights to this content, it is not in the public domain for use or reprint without my permission.