Category Insights on Scripture

The Sounds of Autumn

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

image A View from the Nest
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky

51 I’m telling you a mystery. Not all of us will die, but we will all be changed. 52 It will happen in an instant, in a split second at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will come back to life. They will be changed so that they can live forever. 53 This body that decays must be changed into a body that cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live forever. 54 When this body that decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture will come true: "Death is turned into victory! 1 Cor 15:51-54 (GW)

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The familiar sound of honking geese caught me off guard this evening as I sat outside enjoying the end of summer. This is the last weekend before the official fall season begins. The school buses are already running around town picking up their daily charges and depositing them at their respective institutions of learning. The sounds of autumn are certainly in the air. Although the weather is turning a bit cooler in the evening it has been nice the last couple of weeks for those last minute trips to the seashore or vacations to the mountains. I have yet to get into the mindset that accompanies autumn, I am still in summertime mode. Thus the familiar honking of the southbound geese caught me unaware.

Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking into the future. No matter how hard we try to hang onto those last lazy hazy days of summer, they eventually come to an end. The incessant honking of Canadian geese is a sure sign that summer is past and winter is just around the corner. I enjoyed my summer time and really did not want it to end. To me there is something magical in a warm summer night. But alas those days are now past and the long dark nights of winter are fast approaching. Try as I might I can not extend the length of days, past the times and seasons set by God, I can only endure the long cold winter nights and anticipate once again the sound of honking geese as they return from the warm southern climate to once again grace our northern skies.

To some, the autumn honking of the geese is a welcome sign that the hot days of summer are past to me, however, I much prefer the spring time return of those same honking geese to remind me that the cold dark nights of winter are over.

Much like the sounds of the honking geese indicate the changing of the seasons, so shall the time of the End, be punctuated with the sound of the trumpet blast, indicating that death has now given way to victory, and life has sprung up from the grave. That is probably why I prefer the spring time migratory honks of the geese flying overhead to the autumnal southward trek. The latter reminds me all too well of the fleeting of time towards the darkness of night, while the former brings hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Sound forth the trumpet therefore, so that once and for all time the deadness of wintertime can be swallowed up in the springtime of new life. Until then I shall prepare for the cold long winter while anticipating the soon coming springtime renewal.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Disciple Makers

Allen Frederick 4 Comments


Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky

So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” Matt 28:19-20 (GW)

God looks at the church as if they are already making disciples. And in fact we are. The only question that remains is what kind of disciples are we actually making? Are we making disciples of Christ or of the Anti-Christ? Are we making children of God or children of the devil? What lessons are we teaching those who look upon our lives? Are we showing forth a dedication to God or some other allegiance? What takes priority in our life? Is it God or the world? Leisure or some hobby? Travel or retirement? Are we loving the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength? Do we really see it as our responsibility to be making disciples? The truth is you are whether you intend to or not.

Your decisions and actions will shape those with whom you come in contact with and your lifestyles will pattern an example to others of what you deem important. If your life is led, for the most part, without a God consciousness then your actions and activities will reflect that viewpoint. When was the last time you actually talked about your love affair with Jesus? When exactly was the last time you told someone else about the hope found in Christ? When was the last time you actually talked about the goodness of God? When was the last time that you spoke up for the saving grace of God? When was the last time you testified to the blessings of God? When was the last time you actually told someone about something God had done in your life? When was the last time you spoke of your faith?

Contrast that with the last time you talked about the weather, or what was on TV, or how things were going on the job, or a school activity, or some other community event. Do you find your conversation to be about everything but God and His kingdom? If so then you are making disciples of the devil and not of God. God expects the church to be disciple making organisms. And you can tell by the declining numbers the church is not doing a very good job of it. If we were fruit bearing trees there wouldn’t be enough fruit to make a pie. Why are we not producing fruit? Why is the tree barren? What has happened to the life of the church?

BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous , and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. 2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. 3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. 4 Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away. Psalms 1:1-4 (AMP)

Have we relegated God so far back on the back burner that we have actually grown cold? Have we become so much like our surroundings we are indistinguishable? Has our witness been so tarnished that our testimonies ring hollow? Has the fire of God’s love simply gone out and we are dead towards the things of God? Whatever the reason for our inability to witness and make disciples for Christ I wish to remind you disciple making is a requirement of the church, and by extension, of us. It is not a suggestion or an option but the intended purpose of the church. If the church is nothing more than a social gathering place, or a weekly retreat and escape from the cares of the world, then we have missed the grander design for the church. If we  fail to reach out to others and invite them into a right relationship with their loving heavenly Father, we are not walking in love toward our neighbors. If we fail to mention in our daily routines the love of God and the mercies of God we are allowing Satan to ruin lives and destroy souls.

Rise up church and be the salt and light God desires you to be. Rise up church and make a statement in the world. Rise up  church and make a difference in your communities. Otherwise you might as well shut the doors, board up the windows and put a for sale sign on the front lawn because you no longer are fulfilling the Lord’s calling, nor are you walking in the Lord’s purposes.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey
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Growing Character by Weeding the Mind

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest. If you plant in {the soil of} your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction. But if you plant in {the soil of} your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life. Galatians 6:7-8

Many times others say things far better than I can and this is one of those times. Sometimes it is far better to quote someone else than to try to say the same thing poorly. I hope this message blesses you as much as it blessed me.

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen is arguably the best non-inspired book ever written on the power of thought…

Allen compared the mind to a garden and its owner to a master gardener. A good character is not the product of chance any more than a beautiful garden could happen by accident. Integrity is a natural result of continued effort in right thinking.

The overarching theme of As a Man Thinketh is that individuals control the development of their character through controlling their thoughts. At the very moment one chooses his thoughts, he also chooses his destiny. Allen’s garden analogy well-illustrates this cause and effect relationship. Just as plants come from seeds, actions grow from thoughts. The challenging part is getting the right seeds into the garden of the mind. Useless seeds find their way there all by themselves, but useful ones must be purposely planted. Good thoughts must be deliberately sown and carefully nurtured to produce the fruit of righteousness. Bad thoughts must be eradicated in the same way one removes weeds to preserve a well-kept garden. Good thoughts cannot produce bad acts and bad thoughts cannot produce good acts. The law of sowing and reaping is as true in the mental and moral realm as it is in the plant world. Holiness, like husbandry, requires planning, effort and diligence. (Aubry Johnson)

KneEmail: “Keep your heart will all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23; cf. Romans 12:2

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Information Overload!

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

These people have become close-minded and hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that their eyes never see. Their ears never hear. Their minds never understand. And they never turn to me for healing.”’Acts 28:27 (GW)
We have a lot to explain about this. But since you have become too lazy to pay attention, explaining it to you is hard. Heb 5:11 (GW)

I never realized how many emails I averaged on any given day until I got home after being away for only one night and found over 300 emails in my inbox. Checking my email periodically throughout the day gave me a false measure of the huge volume of time-wasting info sound bytes I was receiving on a daily basis. Granted many of those emails held inspirational value but when I sat there and compared the time it took to actually go through each one, or to put it better, delete the ones I was not going to read, my eyes were opened to the sheer volume of worthless data bytes that were sent to my inbox.

Not everything we hear or see or read is worthy of our time and attention and yet, if you are anything like me, you too will find yourself bombarded with tons of information on a daily basis. Over a lifetime these sound-bytes will add up to be a very huge number. Now I would not mind if each day I would find an additional 300 dollars placed in my bank account, at least at the end of the year there would be something of value accumulated.

Information too can be valuable if we are discerning. Knowing what to heed and what to discard can have a positive or a negative effect on our life. If we heed valuable information and fashion our life accordingly then we can live a successful life, if on the other hand we spend far too much time digesting worthless and foolish advice and information our lives could end in tragedy.

There is a far more sinister effect information overload can have upon a person, and that is to desensitize that individual so that they are no longer able to discern valuable information from worthless drivel. Loosing one’s ability to differentiate valuable content from mindless rubble is a dangerous position to be found in. If we treat all information as equal we place ourselves in a position to become dull of hearing and blinded to truth. Even when presented with SOLID evidence, because we have lost focus on what is valuable, we are unable to receive the truth as anything more than just another sound-byte. We end up approaching all information peddlers with cynicism and skepticism. Discarding whatever does not suit our particular situation or attitude, we toss aside anything that requires more than a second or two to process. We do not wish to be bothered with weighty issues that might require more thought and research. We want our information in easy to swallow sound-bytes and do not wish to be bothered with a lengthy discourse.

This was the state of the religious people of Christ’s day. Although they prided themselves on being a learned people they were unable to ascertain the clear truth of God manifested in the life of Jesus Christ. Their eyes were blinded to the truth of God’s love and God’s ways and their ears  stopped to the knowledge of God’s word. Although surrounded by overwhelming evidence they were unable to process the information. They had grown comfortable in their own thought processes and did not wish to have their ideas challenged. They had become lazy when it came to information gathering. They did not desire to find out what was true or what was not true, they just picked what sounded good to them at the time and disregarded anything that did not.

Should we be on guard against information overload as well? To answer that question all we really need do is turn on the radio or television and listen for about an hour and see what type of information is being broadcast. Is it uplifting, soul stirring, energizing or simply a waste of time and mindless blather?

As I sorted through my inbox with the intention of separating the worthless from the valuable, I too became aware of the millions of mind numbing bytes wasted on most of the emails sent to my inbox. I am now on a journey to eliminate waste from the bird cage. I am on a journey to block all correspondence from sources that do not provide valuable content. I do not wish to spend my day reading and responding to matters of insignificance. I do not wish to be found wasting my time having to delete these unimportant emails. So from this day forward I am instituting a new email policy. If the information contained in the email is not of eternal value then the sender will be added to my spam filter and their emails will be dead on arrival.

So like Jesus says, there are many things He would like to tell me, and in order to have the desire to hear those things I will have to de-clutter my inbox. Caution, the eagle is cleaning out the birdcage. Beware of flying debris.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey
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God is With Us

Allen Frederick 10 Comments

image Wherever I go, He is there. So goes the children’s song we sang all week at Vacation Bible School. The words are simple, the melody is catchy, but the message it carries is timeless. The Lord promised His disciples that he would be with them always even until the end of the age.

The promise was not only for that time and that place but even until the end of the age. What comforting words to have heard from the Lord. Jesus was asking His disciples to go into all the world and teach others about the love of God through Christ Jesus. It was a hostile environment in those days to be labeled a “Christian”. I believe much of the same circumstances exist today with the persecution of Christians increasing around the world. Even in America, where freedom of religion is protected in the Constitution, Christians are finding it much more difficult to practice their religion freely and openly. It would appear the spirit of Anti-Christ is alive and well in the world.

Can we rest upon this promise given to the early church in a hostile world today? Do the words of Jesus still hold forth the same comfort as when they were first spoken? Do we as the church in the world today believe that God is with us? I fear that many live their life as if God is a distant relative they visit once a week. Perhaps you place a call to God daily but then go about the rest of your day forgetting that you spoke with Him.

Do you ever pause to acknowledge His presence in your day? Or do you perhaps feel your privacy is being invaded by this constant companion? I would hate to think about being alone at this time in history without the comforting knowledge of God’s abiding presence. I dare not think about what my life would be like without His constant help and encouragement. I tremble at the thought of facing life’s challenges alone and self-reliant. I, like Gideon, do not see myself as a brave soul, but more of a reclusive introvert. Some might just call me a closet coward.

rowboat_2929c I must confess that left to my own strengths, my weaknesses are far too evident. It is only when I rely upon God’s abilities do my insecurities not seem so great. I take comfort in knowing that I have not been the first, nor shall I be the last Gideon to have walked this earthen sod feeling insignificant when faced with overwhelming odds. (Judges 6:15) Nor shall I be the last Israelite who stood terrified in the shadow of Goliath. (1 Samuel 7:23-24) Nor dare I say that I will be the last disciple who fears drowning when confronted by an unrelenting flood of despair. (Mark 4:38)

Some people seem to have an inert ability to face any obstacle stoically. Not I!

However, I have lived long enough to know that God is faithful, and He will never leave me comfortless. He is always there and all I need do is acknowledge His abiding presence and allow him to have control of my life’s circumstances. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He shall be with me even when the world comes to an end. Those are comforting words. But do we believe them?

Do we actually believe that wherever we are God is? That means God tags along with us throughout our days just looking for an opportunity to be there for us. How often do we neglect to acknowledge that abiding presence. Are we like the disciples caught in the violent storm at sea with Jesus asleep in the boat? They exhaust themselves attempting to bail out the boat while JESUS continues to sleep in the stern. Why was Jesus asleep while the disciples were fighting for their lives? (Mark 4:38) Because Jesus knew God was with him and he knew that God was in control of his life. He knew he was one with the Father. Can we say the same? Are we able to find rest in the midst of the storm?

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31 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?] Romans 8:31 (AMP)

What obstacle do you suppose is too big for God to handle? What in this created world can defeat God? That is right, NOTHING! If God is with you no matter where you are, could it be said then that you are the instrument through which God desires to impact the world around you? Do you suppose that the same God who was with Jesus also resides within you? And the same power that raised Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body. (Give life to, energize, make fully alive.)

LentFifthAepcl If the Spirit of the Lord is able to resurrect the dead do you suppose that same Spirit is able to work mightily through you to impact your circumstances? Do you suppose your life can be changed for the better because of God’s abiding presence? If God is with you and you acknowledge His presence.do you think  that you can feed 5000, move mountains, or speak in His name and bring salvation to a lost soul? What do you suppose we could accomplish in His name if we only believed he is actually alive and well and living within us?

Wherever I go, God is with me;
wherever I am, He is there.
I’m never alone;
He won’t forget me.
I’m never afraid; I know He’s near.
Wherever I go, God is with me;
wherever I am, He is there.
I’m never alone;
He won’t forget me.
God is near.