Thoughts From 1 Timothy - Day 3

 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.  1 Tim. 1:8-11

         For every negative there is a positive. For example, don't lie is negative and tell the truth is positive. Don't eat from that one tree is negative and eat from thousands of others is positive. Don't have sex with someone your same sex and don't have sex until you are married is negative, while have sex with someone of the opposite sex when you are married is positive.

       Prior to accepting by faith Christ's forgiveness on the cross, the law was all negative to us. We saw it as a bunch of "dont's" because God was seen as a cruel taskmaster out to ruin our fun and freedom. Paul said in Romans 7 that once he learned coveting was wrong, all he wanted to do is covet. Even though there was only one rule in the garden, Satan came to Eve and focused on the one negative rather than every positive created for them in paradise. Not only did we focus on wanting to do the negatives when we were unsaved, if we did try to do something good, somehow in the midst of that we were breaking a negative. For example, giving to the poor - positive. Seeking recognition for being a good person - negative. Loaning a possession to someone - positive. Expecting reciprocation - negative. Jesus talks a lot about things like this in the sermon on the mount as He exposed people's (especially Pharisees) goodness as fraudulent saying unless we are perfect, we can't get to Heaven.

      When we by faith receive forgiveness of sins and salvation, Christ's perfection is granted to us. Now those desires to do the negatives gradually get replaced by desires to do the positives because God's Spirit lives in us and changes our desires to His. When we do positive things, it isn't done for self-seeking reasons but rather a desire to please the one who made us and gave His life for us and it is actually the power of the Spirit, who has only pure motives, doing it through us. When we do the things that reflect His character and His design for humans, it gives Him glory. It makes Him happy.

      I was thinking, the law is a bit like a policeman. The policeman has a negative function- punish law breakers, and a positive function - create a safe environment for law abiding citizens to live in. If you are a law breaker, the last thing you want to see is a cop. If you are obeying the law, it gives you a sense of freedom when you see him and encouragement to continue to do the right thing.

     The real question is - Is the main desire of your heart to do whatever makes God happy or what makes you happy? The surprise is that the only way for you to be happy is to make God happy. That's how He designed us.

Thoughts From 1 Timothy 1 - Day 2

 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.  1 Tim. 1:3-7

        Paul sent Timothy to oversee the Church in Ephesus which was being threatened in two ways. First was doctrinally. The early Church was threatened by Satan messing with the essentials of the gospel in order that people could believe but believe the wrong gospel and thus not be redeemed. The essentials are

   1. The deity of Christ

   2. Salvation by grace through faith that is evidenced by obedience

   3. No other means of salvation but Jesus

   4. Resurrection of Christ and the dead

   5. The Bible is the inspired word of God (the Old testament scriptures for Timothy)

These are hills to die on and Paul sent Timothy to make sure that error didn't creep in. Today, Satan uses the same tactics and progressive Christianity includes a number of these errors. Church leaders must be aware of these and discerning and confrontational when exposed to them.

       The second attack to the church was geneologies and I'm not quite sure what that is but the results of it were 5 fold

      1. It caused arguing and quarreling

      2. This caused division - didn't lead to love

      3. Those who knew more than others were prideful

      4. Discussing it didn't go anywhere. Didn't lead to sanctification but was an intellectual exercise only

      5. Took away from faith alone. Wasn't violating the essentials but may have been chipping away.

   What are those things today? End times discussions, modes of baptism, incorporation of Jewish customs into Christianity, Calvinism or Arminianism, KJV only, political party allegiance, cessationism or not, old earth vs. young earth and many others are all areas where some people are much more knowledgeable about than you. As they pontificate it usually leads to pride, division, arguing and frankly usually doesn't increase anyone's faith. Paul told Timothy that this was already happening in the church and nip it in the bud.

    Is your church on the right track?

Thoughts From 1 Timothy - Day 1

  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  1 Timothy 1:1,2

             Paul must have been amazed every time he called himself an apostle of Jesus, being a previous persecutor of all who believed in Jesus to the point where he was probably instrumental in the death of people in the early church. Yet God saved him and commanded him to be a sent out one (apostle) to Jews and Gentiles in unreached areas.

           No wonder this title led him to speak of mercy, grace and peace. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Paul deserved the same thing back that he dished out and he didn't get it. Actually he sort of did but it wasn't from the church; it was from the people whose side he was previously on. The world loves you when you are singing their tune but they hang you out to dry when you quit.

       Grace is getting what you don't deserve. Paul deserved wrath from God, yet he received a calling, a new family, and a home in Heaven where I believe he will be rewarded with the same honor as the 12, taking Judas' spot. (Just a theory)

        Finally he received peace. Jesus said "why do you keep kicking against the goads?". In other words Paul's life prior to conversion was one of pain, frustration, inner turmoil. After salvation he knew the Truth and didn't have to fight against God and be His enemy but rather His friend and be empowered by Him. Christians should be characterized by a sense of peace. We don't have to fear like the world does because we know who is in control and we know how the story ends, and it's a happy ending.

       The other consideration with the "apostle" title is why this is preserved for us today. In order for books/ letters to be included in the Bible, they had to be penned by someone with apostolic authority. Paul, by calling himself an apostle, God ordained not self ordained, is lending God's stamp of approval to this epistle and everything you read from hereon in this letter, even though he was penning the words, it was equal to God penning the words. It is truth and should be received that way.

Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects 2024

 So here goes my annual evaluation of all the Brewers farm systems based solely on the basic stats such as batting average ,on base percentage ,slugging percentage ,earned run average ,strikeouts, walks, win- loss, OPS , and WHIP. Also I have not seen these players play so I am basing it only on basic statistics. I don't have any fielding statistics either so take these for what they are worth but these are the players that I am excited about.

SP  

   Hayden Robinson 19y/o RH  ACL  ERA  2.41  WHIP 1.13  AVG .209 Injured

   Dariel Jaquez  17y/o RH  DSL  ERA  1.74  WHIP .94  AVG .129

   Ayendy Bravo 17y/o RH  DSL  ERA 2.38  WHIP 1.04  AVG .194

   K.C. Hunt  24y/o RH AA  ERA  2.12  IP 106  K 145  WHIP 0.95

   Logan Henderson 22 y/o RH AAA ERA 3.11 WHIP 0.98 AVG .199

   Chad Patrick 26 y/o RH AAA record 14-1 ERA 2.90 WHIP 1.09 AVG .215

RP

     Tyler Bryant High A  25y/o RH   ERA 1.82  AVG .182

     Sam Gardner AA  27y/o RH  ERA 2.20  IP 81  K 112 WHIP 1.10  Avg .185

     Jacob Misiorowski 22 y/o RH AAA  ERA 2.55 WHIP 0.85 AVG .088

     Shane Smith 24 y/o RH AAA   ERA 2.69  WHIP 1.05 AVG .200

     Craig Yoho  24 y/o RH AAA ERA 0.94 IP 57 K 104 WHIP 0.94 AVG .151

INF

     SS  Jesus Made  17y/o  DSL  S/R  .331/.458/1.012  BB 39  K 28  SB 28  CS 4

     SS  Luis Pena  17y/o DSL R/R  .393/.457/1.040   BB 15  K 15  SB 39  CS 4

     1B Josh Adamczewski  Low A  19y/o L/R  .307/.445/.909 

     2B Jadher Areinamo  High A  20y/o  R/R  .301/.349/.791  33SB

     Inf  Mike Boeve   AA  22y/o  L/R  .338/.415/.886

C  Jeferson Quero AAA injured all year but preceding year won platinum glove for best fielder in minors

OF

     Juan Ortuno  17y/o DSL  R/R   .344/.464/.945

     Braylon Payne 18y/o Low A  L/L  .438/.526/.625/1/151 (only played in 4 games but straight out of high school, pretty impressive)

Honorable mention - Pratt, Hicklen, Collins, Adams, Black

   Good hitting additions to Brewers are a few years off except for Boeve. Hunt, Henderson and Patrick could contribute as starters next year and Misiorowski, Yoho, Smith could be in the bullpen. Talent is down a little in the minors but Brewers have called up a bunch this year.

Thoughts From 2Thessalonians - Day 3

                                 2 Thessalonians 2:6-17

 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Stand Firm. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

       Having been a believer for so long, it's hard to think like an unbeliever. What makes them tick? Why would they reject the Gospel or Good News of salvation, not condemnation, of grace not wrath, of truth not lies, of God not Satan?

       The problem is not intellectual but spiritual. Satan has deceived them and they think that wickedness is more fun than Godliness. They think that lawlessness is freedom and obedience to teachings means rules or bondage. We see it playing out every 4 years where the left emphasizes rights to do whatever they want with their bodies even to the point of castration or the killing of a life inside them in the name of freedom. Lest the right go blame free, they see America first! Stop worrying about other country's affairs and stop accepting their refugees, especially if they don't contribute anything to us. Both sides are guilty of self seeking, self service, selfishness because Satan has convinced mankind, because he is a liar, that this is freedom. This is fun. This leads to self fulfillment. The antichrist will appeal to this and people will swallow it hook line and sinker.

       Paul teaches that people can break out of the matrix by swallowing a different colored pill. The pill that says freedom is found in submitting your life to Jesus Christ. Self dies and is replaced by the Spirit of God inside you who glorifies Himself through you by sanctifying you to start looking like Jesus. Freedom and fun and fulfillment comes in obedience to the Word of God.

       What are the results of submission to Jesus Christ? First of all, eternal glory. We get eternal life in Heaven. We have hope in this life and don't have to fear death but can embrace it. Second, isn't it nice to know you aren't being duped or brainwashed anymore? Do you really like being gaslit or living with the Stokholm Syndrome. No! You want to believe the truth not a lie. Three - we become loved by God. Satan doesn't love us. He's totally using us to get back at God and discards us when he is done. 

       Lastly, we have encouragement. I got to thinking about this whole topic because an unbeliever I know asked me to pray that they would get the job that they had applied for and I would know the results next week by whether they would be in for work or not. If they got turned down, they were going to take a day off because they would be too discouraged to work. I told them I would pray that they would get the job but now I'm thinking the best prayer is that they would know the Truth and if getting accepted leads to that- great. If getting rejected leads to that - great. Satan's ways in the end lead to discouragement but knowing Christ and having the Spirit inside us is a well spring of encouragement flowing up from inside of us.

        Truth or Lie? Which do you choose? Ask your heart because your brain is being deceived.

       

Thoughts From 2 Thessalonians - Day 2

             2Thessalonians 2:1-5

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?

              I remember coming home from school at a young age and no one was home. That could never happen now because at the age of 8 kids aren't even released from school without a preapproved credentialed guardian to escort them home. Of course, back then we just walked  down the sidewalk 3 blocks to my ranch styled middle class home. When I arrived, I entered the unlocked door and called out for my mom or my sister but no one answered. I had recently been scared to death at a YFC (Youth for Christ) meeting where they showed A Thief in the Night, a 50 year prequel to Left Behind, where the rapture occurs and a group of teens get saved during that post rapture time and it ended with a guillotine. I was concerned that my family had been raptured and I had been left behind, an 8 year old, to endure the wrath to come.

           So much for my psychotherapy, but this appears to be why 2 Thessalonians was written. A fake Pauline letter had arrived in Thessalonica saying the rapture had occurred and they missed it and the reason that they were having so much persecution was that they were already in the tribulation. Paul goes on to explain why this isn't true, although just to get a letter from Paul should be proof enough. He could have written, "Hey, I'm still here. Love, Paul.", and that should have been sufficient. However, just in case they thought it might be a forgery, he gives them reasons why they couldn't have missed it and that they aren't in the tribulation, namely if they were they would be seeing the antichrist on the scene.

         There has been a lot of debate about whether there even is a rapture among theologians, but to me, the existence of this letter along with the fact that Paul, spending only about 3 weeks there, then fleeing, felt the end times was essential doctrine to teach, shows me that this is true and a doctrine important enough to put in a church's doctrinal statement. Not to say it is essential for salvation and it's a doctrine we can agree to disagree on, but I think a church needs to unapologetically teach it from the pulpit.

        Maranatha! When's the last time you heard that? 

Thoughts From 2Thessalonians - Day 1

              2 Thessalonians 1

 Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

            In baseball, when you are a small market team, you keep players the allotted number of years that you can pay them the league minimum and then when those years are used up, they usually can go to free agency and the teams with lots of money acquire their services. This can be somewhat delayed by giving them a "large" contract early on in exchange for more years of service. It's a gamble from the team's perspective because they are paying a player before they have proven anything in the big leagues large sums of money, betting that they are going to be successful in the majors like they were in the minors. It is also a gamble for the player because 5 years from now, he may be so good that he could be making $25 million per year instead of $10 million he committed to as a wide-eyed newbie.

         What does this have to do with the passage? My mind went there when Paul talks about when the Day of the Lord comes, his prayer is that we may be found worthy. I remember when the Brewers signed Aaron Ashby, a pitcher, to one of those contracts. Instead of receiving $400,000 per year, he was getting  $7 million. His response was," I hope I can prove myself worthy of the cost they are paying for me." To be honest, up until this year, he hasn't. Now, 4 years later it has all come together and he "is worthy" and playing a big role in our playoff run. However, during those 4 years, he has been terrible. Imagine his shame around management, fans he'd see in public or even teammates in the minors bitter that he is getting so much money while they are doing so much better and making a pittance of what he is.

          God has paid a big price for you - his only son, and as He looks at you is He thinking, "What a waste."? When the angels see you are they thinking, "What did God ever see in them?" When fellow believers see you are they thinking, "(S)he is a waste of pew space."? Paul encourages the believers in Thessalonica, those "on the team", that they are to act on every good deed that has been prompted by the Holy Spirit and every desire for goodness that the spirit brings to their minds. He tells them that God's desire for them is to look like a bunch of little "Jesuses". His Son came to die in order to form His likeness in people all over the Earth who receive Him. If we are looking like Jesus, God is glorified. His investment was worth it. If we are not any different from the unsaved people in our life, you can almost sense His disappointment.

         When you stand before God someday, is He going to say "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" or will you be ashamed on that day?