Traveling Mercies Ministry

Well, it's Good Friday. It was not a good day for Jesus, but He counted it as Joy because of the Hope we have if we accept it. Isaiah 53 outlines the work Jesus did on the cross. Like many, I have trouble understanding how Jesus could have spent 3 days and 3 nights in the earth and rose on Sunday if He died on Friday. Yes, under Jewish Law any part of a day is counted as one day, and the day begins at Sundown. The Bible narrative indicates this was a week with two High Holy days. The day before is called preparation day because no work can be done on a Holy Day (a Sabbath). Saturday is always a Holy Day (The Sabbath). The so-called Last Supper was held on Wednesday. Jesus was arrested, run through a kangaroo court, crucified and taken down from the cross before sundown because Jewish law prohibited anyone hung on a tree to be left overnight. Jesus was the Passover Lamb sacrificed for us, He rose on Sunday, the day of First Fruits. Jesus IS the First Fruits of the resurrection. What...

I may have mentioned this a long time ago. Every week, God impresses a particular Scripture to me. This passage will appear multiple times: on the radio, in Sunday's sermon, other places. Last week it was Luke 23:43 where Jesus says to the thief on the cross "today you will be with me in Paradise." First of all, the thief exhibited all the requirements for salvation. He recognized Jesus was who He said he was - Messiah, he feared God, he recognized that what he did was wrong and he deserved punishment (repentance), he asked Jesus to remember him. He did not get baptized, nor did he need to. Now Paradise is in the Earth - it is the place of the righteous dead in Hebrew understanding. They would both be there immediately, not after Jesus was resurrected. Why? Because he was a Jew who was under the law of Moses - not a gentile being saved with his faith by grace through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Paul describes himself in 2 Cor. 12:2-4 as having been tak...

There was more in the news last night supporting the Green Monster initiative, which the Democrats summarily voted down. It is a spin-off of the Global Climate Change hoax. First they talked about the Global Warming crisis, but after they found no evidence of a change in global warming, they morphed into calling it "Global Climate Change." Since the last Ice Age (which took place after Noah's Flood), there has been a warming trend. The glaciers which extended down into central Indiana began to melt and recede. This had nothing to do with human activity. Now, the glaciers have receded into northern climates, into mountains where it is cold all year around. The rate of warming has remained almost constant and the glaciers at lower altitudes continue to melt. The ones at high altitude don't. The biggest error made by the media is confusing weather with climate. They are not the same thing,. Weather patterns are constantly shifting, and go through p...

As I travel around the United States, I do visitations at 20-30 Churches every year, not to preach, but to worship, receive communion, fellowship and recharge my depleted spiritual batteries. What I observe is pews filled with people that don't act very much like Jesus. What is wrong with this picture? I don't believe they are saved. They are among the throngs of people that claim to be Christians but have never done what the Scripture requires to be saved. They think they are saved, but they are not. We are not to judge people spiritually, that is God's job, but I ask them questions. For example: "tell me what you did to be saved." They talk about salvation by works, salvation by water baptism, salvation by joining the Church, salvation by growing up in a Christian home, everything but what Romans 10:9-10 requires. I believe the Institutional Church has preached and taught from the Old Testament (the Old Testament does not end until after the cross) and ...

This is a newly edited version of my YouTube video for Traveling Mercies Ministry. Have a look - Traveling Mercies Ministry

I have always been skinny. When I was a kid, I was very active, riding bike, camping with the Boy Scouts and walking to school, but didn’t like sports. Mom fed us a diet that was mostly meat and potatoes. My parents were trim and also active. In college, I played badminton and archery to fulfill the gym requirement and continued to do serious bike trekking. When I got married in 1961, I weighed 130 pounds. By age 40, as a mid-career professional, I was heavier and began to develop a gut and “love handles.” My neighbor got me started running. At first, I couldn’t run a mile, but soon I was training at 5 miles, then 10 miles. After years of avoiding sports because I was no good at it, I found I had the genes for endurance running. I studied training techniques and nutrition, and followed the advice of world class runners. I ate a diet high in carbohydrates (complex carbs - lots of pasta). Beer was considered a refreshing beverage after a workout, and contains minerals for electr...

What should a Christian Do Who Wants To Be A Good Citizen? Recently, I had a discussion with a Pastor about what you can, or cannot say from the pulpit. His position was that you are only to preach the truth of the Gospel and pray. This follows the old line of “don’t mix religion and politics.” The real question might be “does a Pastor give up his constitutional rights when he stands in the pulpit.” We agreed that the United States is heading in the wrong direction both governmentally and spiritually. We also agreed that the U.S. two-party system is flawed with both Congress and the Senate ineffective and corrupt whether Democrat or Republican. There are lots of organizations pointing out problems, but few proposing workable solutions. The current administration wants to redefine the constitution to say “freedom of worship” rather than “freedom of religion.” The idea is that you can say what you want inside the walls of the Church building, but should refrain when in ...

Note: I wrote this article after one of our recent breakfast meetings at the Saturday 84 Diner Men's Discussion Group. Our discussion this morning began with the observation that many Churches have no Pastor. While there are "circuit riders" who serve some of these congregations without shepherds, the demand exceeds the supply. This is happening because some Pastors have become disillusioned with today's Church and resigned, and there are not enough students entering seminaries to study for the pastorate. While some Church organizations have always ordained woman Pastors, most of the mainline denominations have not. However, in recent times, many Protestant Churches have begun to ordain female Pastors and Bishops. Historically, the Pentecostal, Charismatic, Word of Faith and many non-denominational Churches  - which are products of the 20th Century - have always ordained female Pastors. This led to the never-ending argument about whether w...

I have heard a number of Biblical teachers, who should know better, say that man's life span should be 120 years, based on the passage in Genesis 6:3. The following article corrects this erroneous teaching:  Long Life - Rev. James H. Houchens Before the flood people lived hundreds of years. Adam died when he was 930 years old, so he lived nearly to the time of Noah. The only people born before the flood who survived the flood, were Noah and his family. Noah lived 350 years after the flood, and died at age 950 years (Gen. 9:28-29), so it was not the flood itself that shortened man’s life span. Methuselah was born shortly after Adam was 700 years old, and he lived 969 years, spanning the time of Adam until the flood. He died the year of the flood (not in the flood), and some say God waited until the death of Methuselah to bring the flood. Different meanings are given for his name by various references, but I lean toward the one given by J. Vernon McGee: The name of Methusela...