Blog Archives

"God just wants me to live up to my potential."

3/29/2018

Over the years, I've heard a lot of "divine" rationalizations from folks who really just want to do what they want to do, but like to tell themselves that God is behind them 110%.

The line I hear most frequently goes something like this: "God has given me all this talent, and He just wants me to live up to my potential." Then, to help me understand the great godly principle at work here, he or she will add something along the lines of, "Why else would He have given me this talent for _______?" (Fill in the blank with whatever you think you're especially good at.)

Really? Is that what God wants of us? To take the business world by storm, or create the most arresting paintings or provide the most effective caregiving or grow the prettiest garden in the neighborhood? Or (getting a little personal here) to write the Great American Novel?

How do we reconcile this thinking with what we read in Luke 9?

"If anyone desires to come after Me," Jesus is quoted as saying in verses 23-26, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."

Call me crazy, but this doesn't sound like a command to live out our earthly dreams. It doesn't sound like an invitation to be the best we can be in whatever disciplines we seem to excel in. It doesn't even sound like we're supposed to go for the gusto, or chase after our personal happiness.

Instead, the Lord has commanded a different sort of life for His children -- those who have repented and trusted in Christ. We are to ignore our own desires, to bear whatever burden He has allowed in our lives, and to obey Him.

That's a tall order, one that we'll never fulfill perfectly in this life. I don't suppose most of us will ever even come close for more than a few minutes at a crack.

But if we take His words to heart, at least we can stop fooling ourselves into believing that we're pursuing our personal ambitions for His sake. And then we can set out on the journey that He does want us to take -- to "be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding," as the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:9-10, "that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

This is the potential He wants us to pursue. And He has laid out the who, what, where, when, how and why of it, in exquisite detail and in language anyone can understand, in the Bible.

1 Comment

The Final Curtain?

3/26/2018

2 Comments

We had a wonderful Christian Music Hour at Care-age yesterday--a time of meditating on and rejoicing over the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

At the heart of our time together was another powerful message delivered by Chris Carrillo. Entitled “The Final Curtain,” Chris based his message on Mark 15’s account of Jesus' crucifixion. But he presented this, the greatest story ever told, in distinctly different fashion--in theatrical terms, not as “The Lion King,” but as “The Dying King.”

Here's how Chris respectfully set the stage for us:

Act I, A King Is Born
Act II, West Bank Story
Act III, Death of the God-Man

But is Good Friday the end of this tale? Or is there a sequel, the one show that you do not want to miss?

Find out here:

Then, if you haven't already done so, be sure to pick up your free ticket!

(Reading this via email? Please click on the title above to be taken to the audio recording of this terrific message.)

2 Comments

Another immensely important book from Dr. Jerry Bergman

3/21/2018

0 Comments

Dr. Bergman’s earlier books on Darwinism have focused primarily on Darwin himself and the disastrous impact his ideas have had on the world. Evolution’s Blunders, Frauds and Forgeries examines this pervasive philosophy from a different viewpoint, exploring some of the fakes, failures, falsifications and fictions that have mutilated the history of paleontology and turned countless young people away from their Creator.

Some of these accounts will be familiar to many readers, but the author has provided color and context that make them eye-opening. Others will probably be new to most, including his discussions of a mythical continent where a certain missing link was supposedly born, and truly horrific attempts at human/ape hybridization. In every case, he has done a masterful job of presenting the facts, in the process underscoring the willful ignorance of this increasingly gullible world.

Major embarrassments to paleontology? You bet. But the truth will out; and with this book, Dr. Bergman has given it a tremendous boost.

I still think Slaughter of the Dissidents and Silencing the Darwin Skeptics are Dr. Bergman's most important works, and everyone should read them both just as soon as possible. But Evolution's Blunders, Frauds and Forgeries comes mighty close to being as critically important. Perhaps the three should be sold as a companion set, with the Blunders unveiling the lie that has deceived generations, and Slaughter and Silencing explaining why it looks like all "real" scientists have bought into that lie.

Until then, look for Evolution's Blunders, Frauds and Forgeries at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

0 Comments

A tale of two kitties

3/19/2018

0 Comments

My husband and I have, in recent years, been caring for rescue cats who have taught us some important lessons about what a relationship with Christ should look like – and should not.

Wally is the late Oriental Shorthair shown above left; with breaking hearts, we were forced to euthanize him several years ago, when we learned that he was suffering from stage 4 kidney disease. Wally was quite simply the best cat we’ve ever had. Affectionate and vocal, he lived for us. Unless he was sleeping or tending to the other necessities of feline life, he had to be near one of us, preferably snuggling into a lap and purring up a storm. Our existence, and our love for him, were his reasons for living; he had room for little else in that huge little heart of his.

Mindy is the silver Persian at right. She is a living demonstration of the “dogs have masters, cats have servants” philosophy of life held by so many of her kind. She insists that we feed her delectable food and water, keep her five litter boxes spotless, and provide daily combing to keep her looking her best. Except for these brief interactions, she has no use for us; her days are spent gazing out the windows, napping, perhaps taking a turn in the garden to nibble on grass for later deposit on our cream-colored carpeting.

I was thinking last night that these two are excellent illustrations of two basic approaches to Christianity.

There are some Christians who have a Wally-like relationship with Jesus: seeking Him daily through His word and through prayer, drawing as close as possible to Him, doing their best to live lives that are pleasing to Him according to His word, tending to life’s duties as needed but really preferring to spend their time with Him.

Then there are those who have a more Mindy-like relationship with the Lord: attending church when there’s nothing more entertaining to do, listening to a few verses read here and there and considering this an adequate spiritual meal for the time being, spending the rest of their waking hours living, directly or indirectly, for their own pride, pleasure and amusement.

Of course, there are many shades of cat and Christian in between these two extremes. But if you had to choose one, which type of cat would you welcome in to the kingdom you call home? More important, which sort of Christian best demonstrates a heart that’s most likely heaven-bound?

0 Comments

He is risen: here's proof!

3/13/2018

2 Comments

I've always identified with Mistress Mary, Quite Contrary. Seems like whatever the subject, I'm prone to take the position opposite of whomever I'm reading or chatting with.

That was certainly true 18 years ago, when I was seeking the truth about God and had come to the question of Jesus Christ rising from the dead. At first I accepted His resurrection as fact, and as no big deal, because certainly lots of people had returned from the dead over the eons. Then, when my research revealed that resurrection really is unique in human history, with the very few claims of it recorded in the Bible, I decided that He had done no such thing -- that this was just another one of those religious delusions that get people all excited over nothing.

I'm thankful that the Lord did not let me remain on the wrong side of this fence for long -- that He used a long, boring drive home from business meetings in Minneapolis to point me, once and for all, to the truth.

I was nearing Menomonie, site of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, when I stumbled upon a radio program that grabbed my attention. Here's what happened, as I would later relate in my memoir, Heaven Without Her (Thomas Nelson, 2008):

"I don’t know what station I’d found, or who the men speaking were, but they were talking about proofs for Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

"(This, I would learn later, is not at all unusual for a Christian or Christian-in-the-making. Start wrestling with a spiritual issue and you’re bound to come across a pertinent discussion or illustration or analogy in very short order.)

“'It seems,' said the first man – let’s call him Bud, 'that the eye-witness accounts that would become part of the New Testament were all written within a few decades of Christ’s death. Would you say that’s accurate?'

“'Definitely,' said the second man, whom I’ll call Edgar. 'When these writings began circulating, there were still plenty of eyewitnesses around who could have sounded the alarm about any inaccuracies – just as there’d be an outcry if someone today claimed that aliens assassinated JFK. The risen Jesus had appeared to at least 500 people, after all. And yet neither the Bible nor contemporary historians mention any challenges to what’s written in Scripture about this particular event.'

“'No one would accuse those historians of being under the control of the Christians,' Bud said.

“'No, indeed,' Edgar said sadly. 'The early Christians weren’t exactly winning popularity contests. They were being persecuted and executed.'

“'What about some of those alternate theories,' Bud said, 'those that say Christ didn’t really die on the cross, that sort of thing?'

"Edgar then launched into a discussion of death by crucifixion, going into gruesome detail as he laid out the evidence that Jesus had most assuredly died on the cross that day nearly 2000 years ago, and had been buried in a rich man’s tomb.

"I was beginning to lose interest. I’d read all of these things before, and convincing as they were, they still hadn’t erased all my doubts on this matter. The snow-draped countryside of northwestern Wisconsin was beautiful, and I let my mind wander for a while. I thought about the projects I’d just picked up in Minneapolis, and what the best approach might be to organizing all the information I was heading home with.

"But suddenly peals of male laughter jarred me out of my mobile planning session. I turned my attention back to the radio, wondering what joke I’d missed.

"They weren’t about to tell me.

“'Ah, yes, that was good,' Bud said, his voice still bright with mirth. He cleared his throat. 'But seriously, tell me what in your opinion is the single most important piece of evidence that Jesus did, indeed, die on that cross and rise again three days later.'

“'Hmmm, that’s a good question,' said Edgar. 'Well, I guess for me it would have to be the behavior of His disciples. Right after his death, they were one dejected group. And then suddenly, something happened that turned them into the most joyful and energized people you could imagine. They went out as Jesus had instructed and began to preach the Gospel all over the known world, in the process converting thousands of people to Christianity.'

“'Something happened.'

“'Yes. And as the years unfolded, all but one of them – the apostle John – died martyrs’ deaths, being stoned or crucified or stabbed or beaten to death. And that’s how we can know for sure that Jesus rose from the dead.'

"He’d lost me there. I didn’t get it.

"Apparently I wasn’t the only one. 'Explain that,' said Bud.

"I was listening intently now, but I was beginning to lose the radio signal – it must have been a Minneapolis station I’d been tuned into, and the static was increasing at an alarming rate.

"I then did something I hadn’t ever done before or since: To avoid losing another wisp of signal, I pulled off the highway and onto the shoulder, hoping that no state trooper would come along and interrupt Edgar’s response. I didn’t have to worry much about other travelers stopping to help; I hadn’t seen another car in at least a half hour on this huge highway in the middle of nowhere.

“'The thing is,' Edgar was saying as I shifted into Park, 'people die for what they know to be the truth. They will even die for what is actually a lie, as long as they think it’s the truth.

“'But no one dies for a lie.'

"He let this point sink in for a moment before continuing. My heart was pounding; he was right.

“'If Jesus hadn’t really been crucified, buried and resurrected,' Edgar said, 'if He hadn’t then appeared to them all as well as to hundreds of others – if in fact His disciples had invented this fantastic fiction about Christ rising from the dead – then they all died for what they knew was a lie.'

"Silence, broken only by bits of static.

“'And people simply do not die for what they know is a lie.'

"I found myself fighting back tears.

"Because this fellow had brought me to the brink of an utterly life-changing conclusion:
Jesus Christ had died.

"And Jesus Christ is risen."

--From Heaven Without Her, pages 146-149

2 Comments

“Like it never even happened”

3/6/2018

0 Comments

As a corporate copywriter who has personally written many forgettable taglines, I've always been quite a connoisseur of the genre. And there have been some great ones out there. But in my opinion, none has ever been as monumentally apropos as SERVOPRO’s current entry, “Like it never even happened.”

SERVOPRO is, of course, referring to the restoration services the company provides to help homeowners and businesspeople recover from virtually any physical disaster, from fires to floods. Have such a problem? Call your local SERVOPRO franchise and before you know it, it’ll be just “like it never even happened.” Perfect.

But I think there’s a far more important spiritual application for this tagline, one that the devil himself surely appreciates. Because as far as this world is concerned, within a few decades of your death, your life will be “like it never even happened.” Mine, too. And the lives of nearly everyone who ever lived.

Yet we keep clinging to the idea that our worldly impact will last forever. Just read a column or two of death notices in your local paper, and notice how often you spot something along the lines of “We’ll never forget you, Dad!” But the truth is, Dad will be forgotten, and in relatively short order – usually within a generation or two.

Want proof? Think back on your own ancestors – great grandparents or even grandparents, in many instances. How often do they influence you? How frequently do they cross your mind? How much do you even know about them? If you’re like most people, your honest answers would be “never,” “rarely” and “not much.”

Turns out that all those heartfelt promises to “never forget” are as fleeting as our lives are … that Jesus’ half-brother James was correct when he wrote, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14b)

What’s even more eye-opening is this: we don’t even have to die to be forgotten. Just one example: Before retiring my freelance copywriting business a few years ago, I spent 30 years serving GE Medical Systems/GE Healthcare as a primary marketing communications writer. Three decades! Yet GE survived my retirement without a whimper or a phone call. They’re still turning out stellar marcomm tools without my help.

And GE is far from the only company to move along nicely without me, proving that my entire career was “like it never even happened.”

Which has prompted me to ask you a few impertinent questions.

Are you doing anything today that will be remembered a century from now? Better yet, for all eternity?

Even more important, where will you be spending eternity? Will you join the children of God in heaven, to rejoice forevermore? Or will they get along perfectly well without you – without, in fact, even giving you a second thought?

If you haven’t already done so, please consider these issues before it’s too late! Click here if you need a little inspiration.

0 Comments

Extending human longevity

3/2/2018

4 Comments

Back in 2015, a friend lent me her 2/23 issue of TIME, a magazine I don’t think I’d even glanced at for a decade and hadn’t read seriously for 40 years. But this issue intrigued me, because the cover featured an adorable infant and the headline:

THIS BABY COULD LIVE TO BE 142 YEARS OLD:
Dispatches from the Frontiers of Longevity

How interesting, I thought. Our Creator said in Genesis 6:3 that 120 years will be our maximum lifespan; TIME implies that He was probably mistaken.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that this magazine challenged His declarations. After all, it was TIME that famously asked, in 1966, “Is God Dead?” – this in spite of His repeated assurances (in Deuteronomy 33:27, to cite just one verse) that He is eternal. I think TIME’s editors and reporters might save themselves some embarrassment if they would read the Bible once in a while, don't you?

But I digress.

So: scientists are apparently working feverishly, and spending a ton of money, in a frantic quest to extend human life. There’s a lot that could be said about this activity, but I’d simply like to ask these “longevity pioneers” just two questions:

If you think this life is all there is, then what difference does it make how long you live? In the end, you’ll be dead and gone and probably, in very short order, forgotten completely, at least in the personal sense.
If you believe in the possibility of any sort of eternal life, why would you not put your time, energy and money into investigating it – i.e., into figuring out what that life might be, and how to make sure you'll spend it in the best possible place?

I just don’t get it. Why would you want to live to be 142, or even 120, on this earth? Even if you remained in great health until the very last day, what would all that extra time buy you? Another 4,000 rounds of golf? Five more Packer Super Bowl victories? The opportunity to see your great great great great grandchildren?

Whatever you might add to that list, I’d have to ask “So what? What conceivable difference would it make in the long run?”

Because when all is said and done, eternity is the only timeframe that matters.

“Happily ever after” is the only rational goal.

And the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing you need to know in order to get there.

4 Comments

"God just wants me to live up to my potential."

The Final Curtain?

Another immensely important book from Dr. Jerry Bergman

A tale of two kitties

He is risen: here's proof!

“Like it never even happened”

Extending human longevity

Kitty
Foth-Regner

Archives

Care to subscribe?

"God just wants me to live up to my potential."

The Final Curtain?

Another immensely important book from Dr. Jerry Bergman

A tale of two kitties

He is risen: here's proof!

“Like it never even happened”

Extending human longevity

Kitty Foth-Regner

Archives

Care to subscribe?

Kitty
Foth-Regner