God never changes

Malachi 3:6 - "For I the Lord do not change."
James 1:17b - "The Father of lights with whom there is not  variation of shadow due to change."

God never changes. He is "immutable." We humans are always changing. Our bodies change. Our financial situations change. Our emotions and sense of contentment certainly change. Technology seems to change every week. As soon as a new phone comes out it is obsolete. (My iphone wants to update about once a month.) Yes, change is inevitable in this world.

It should be a source of comfort to us that our God is always the same. He is always loving and full of mercy. We can always count on him to meet our needs, to give wisdom and direction, and to keep his promises. God knows the past, the present, and even the future.

It is amazing how accurate the word of God is. One example is from the book of Daniel. It was written around the sixth century BC, or more than five hundred years before the birth of Christ. Yet it so accurately predicts events more than four hundred years into the future that critics want to say it is a book of history. Only God could write history before it happens. This is the kind of God we serve. A good who knows the end from the beginning. And the most awesome part is that he cares about each of us. There is no need to worry today. Our God is an unchanging rock in whom we can trust.

God never changes!

Thankfully,

Sullivan Jones

Who is guilty?

Earlier today someone posted an article on Facebook about the attacks in Paris. It seems that at the time of the first attacks the people at the rock concert were singing a song called "Kiss the devil". The lyrics of the song  ask "who will love the devil and who will sing his song?" Then they answer, "I'll love the devil and I'll sing his song." The article contained a picture of youth with two fingers in the air, making a sign intended to imitate the devil's horns. One comment under the article articulated my first thought, "I guess they met the devil quicker than they thought."

Another person who read the comments thought the article was very inappropriate. They felt as if the writer was placing the blame for the attacks on those singing the song, as if they asked for the attacks. When I read this I was heartbroken for the young people. Surely they did not know that such a thing was about to happen, even as they naively sang a song inviting the devil into their lives. I am not naive enough to think that the song they were singing had anything to do with the attacks, I just grieve that a group of young people went to meet their maker while singing such a song.

Even as I read the account I thought of Jesus words in Luke 13: 1-5:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Apparently the scenarios Jesus spoke of were well known to his followers. It is evident from the few verses we have that many wanted to place the blame for this tragedy on those who died. After all, weren't they suffering the judgment of God for their sins? Jesus answer should make us all stop short. "Except you repent you will all likewise perish."

All of us have committed sins according to Romans 3:23. Not one of us can claim to have never sinned. Without the mercy of God all of mankind is collectively doomed to perish. We all deserved death for the sins we committed and it is only because of God's grace that we do not receive it.

If there ever was a time that our world is in need of prayer it is now. We must pray for those in government and those trapped under the fist of the giant evil that is slowly overtaking our world. Only a genuine move of God's Spirit can change anything. Let us pray that we will not be caught up into the foolishness and wickedness of the hour. Let us pray for those who are hurting after loosing loved ones. Let us pray for those Christians who are being persecuted in lands that are hostile to the gospel. Let us pray that government leaders would have Godly wisdom to make decisions that are for the common good. Most of all, let us ask God to forgive us all so that we do not all likewise perish.

Prayerfully,

Sullivan Jones

Bewitched

Did you know?
The TV show "Bewitched" from the sixties and seventies had a decidedly Jewish theme. The screenwriter, Sol Saks, was a Jewish man from New York. Here are just a few Jewish themes.

In several episodes there was a Menorah on the living room wall of the Stephen's home. Samantha, a witch, tries to look like a mortal. She uses her nose to do magic. In one episode she and her husband fantasize about what would happen in she was known to the world. There might be a witch burning if the neighbors knew about her. In another episode Darren introduces Samantha to a plastic surgeon that does "nose jobs." He insinuates that she probably already knows him, making a jab at the things she can do with here nose. The list goes on...

The Jewish meaning is clear. Samantha, as a witch, represents a Jewish woman who tries to look like a gentile. She is married to a "mortal", meaning she is in a mixed Jewish-Gentile marriage. The nose is also a pun since Jews are stereotyped as having big noses. If the neighbors, i.e. Christians, knew who she was, she might be in danger. The undertones continue but I think you get the picture ...

As I recently discovered this it made me ponder our treatment of not only the Jewish people but everyone who is not like us. I find it sad that so many atrocities have been done to people in the name of Christ through the centuries. The Christ that I purport to follow, while being God in flesh, is a God of love. He went out of his way to talk to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He welcomed Greeks and healed a Syrophoenician girl of a horrible disease. Surely a Savior that did such things would not advocate mistreatment of anyone, least of all his own flesh and blood people, the Jews.

Lord help me not see anyone as a "witch" just because he or she is different than I am. While I do not have to agree with everyone's religion I can love just the same. After all, Jesus said we would be know as His disciples by our love. Lord, help me to love.

In Christ's Service,

Spanish Pastor Jones