tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21213538141080343292024-02-06T18:26:24.279-08:00A hutterite blog A collection of thoughts and writings.Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-26508197559148052622021-11-18T17:54:00.000-08:002021-11-18T17:54:56.157-08:00A Prayer for the Anxious. <p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">O dear Heavenly Father, we come to you on bended knee with aching heart and quivering limbs to ask for your comfort. The worries and uncertainties that come with this broken world could easily overwhelm us if we did not know that you, O Heavenly Father, know everything, and everything has to go through your approval. You know the outcome of every day, and not only the outcome of every day, but also the outcome of every one of your children. You alone know the future, and in that we take great comfort, because if you know and approve of what is to come, then we can know our worries are in vain, for we have a loving Father that is standing by and over us, and he knows the count of the very hairs on our head. Therefore teach us, O Lord, that we take no thought for tomorrow, but that we rest in your care today, and this very moment. We can also take great comfort in knowing that tomorrow you will be there as well, for you are not only the God of yesterday and today, you are also the God of tomorrow, your all knowing and all gracious love knows no boundaries nor time. Are we not more than the lilies of the field whom you care for? Are we not more than the fowls of the air? Teach us to be like them in contentment and without worry under your watch and care.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Teach us also to bring our every worry and concern to you, O Father, in prayer and supplication with thankfulness, knowing that you will hear our every word, spoken and unspoken, and our every burden and ache of heart. Teach us that you will deliver us from evil and preserve us for your heavenly kingdom, to you be glory for ever and ever. Teach us also to be still and know that you are Lord. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And may your peace which passeth all understanding keep our hearts and minds through your only Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. </span></p>Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-30518834255377977442021-07-13T12:10:00.001-07:002021-07-13T12:10:34.039-07:00Prayer for Rain.<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px;">Our dear Father in heaven, we come to you in this time of great dryness to ask for your blessing upon the land. Bless this parched and dry ground with rain and dew from the heavens that the earth may bring forth her fruit and thereby sustain both man and animal. We look to the heavens everyday, but the heavens seem locked. The grass and the crops shrivel more everyday, the dugouts and bodies of water dry up, the scorching sun and the hot dry winds wring out even more precious moisture from this stressed land.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">As we look upon all this we cannot help but begin to think, Are you sending this state of dryness upon the land, O Lord, so that we can compare it to the state of our heart? Is a look upon this dry and parched land a look inside our own heart?</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">O Father, when you withhold rain from the heavens but for a little while, we groan and protest, and feel unfairly treated, but how many times do we withhold praise from you, because we think we have no time to praise or worship in our busy lives. The dead cannot praise or worship or give you thanks, they are silent. It is our turn now. We who are alive, to praise you and declare your faithfulness, and in that, dear Father we fall far short. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">But we admit our shortcomings and daily failings, treat us not as we deserve, or we should shrivel up and blow away in the lightest breeze, but bless us instead with blessings from above. And if it is not in your divine will to send us rain, send us the wisdom, courage, and hope to face whatever lies ahead and let not go of our outstretched hand, guide us and lead us, for we know that no matter how bleak a situation looks you will safely lead us through, and provide such an outcome that we will say, O why did we doubt, It all worked out so much better than we could have hoped for. Strengthen our faith, O Father, grant us grace as we go forward with you as our hope and guide, our Saviour and Redeemer. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. </span></p>Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-3203914474992976222020-12-23T19:19:00.000-08:002020-12-23T19:19:34.066-08:00Coronavirus Christmas <p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px;">The whole world stands and quakes in fear. In fear of a virus called Covid-19. This is not only an immensely contagious virus, but it can also be deadly. Therefore, all steps must be taken to prevent infection. We have to watch vigilantly because every human being alive is a potential carrier. Measures are mandated by law to limit contact. Public health orders restrict gatherings at private residences and allows critical retailers to only sell essential items.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Hospitals are locked down so tight it’s impossible to go see a loved one, unless death is holding that loved one by one hand, and then, maybe access is granted, or maybe not. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Old people are especially vulnerable, therefore Assisted Living Centers and Old Folks housing is locked down, effectively keeping the loneliest lonely. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">People are strongly urged to stay locked in their homes, and must let in no one, not even known and trusted contacts like relatives and friends. This will protect them against possible infection. Neighbours peeking out from behind curtains are called to call out rule-breaking neighbours, thereby slowing the spread. Monetary fines will be handed out, and already have. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Grocery and daily needs shopping is preferred to be done online, or by store drive-by pickup, effectively limiting dreaded human contact. For the braver souls who wish to get out of the confines of their home to shop it is possible, but only essential stores are open, and only for deemed essentials as defined by the government. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Personal protective equipment such as masks or face-shields are mandatory as is the disinfecting of hands as you walk through the doors of a store, bottles of germ killer are waiting on a table. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Direction of travel is loudly and clearly marked on the floor to prevent possible passing persons along the aisles. One way traffic only, the way you came in is not the way you go out. Different doors for different directions. Limits such as human density per square footage of store is strictly enforced. Store workers armed with disinfectants are instructed to spray surfaces touched by human hands. Product handling is on an agreed upon ‘you touch, you buy’. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">In case you travel up the wrong aisle or have your mask inadvertently slip, you will be almost instantly reprimanded by your vigilant on-guard and concerned shopper neighbour. No slips-ups are overlooked, however slight. This is one bad virus and we must be held accountable. We are all in this together and it’s only if we all work together that we will exterminate this evil. To help with this extermination, information is vital and at our fingertips. Statistics and Big Data is our friend, keeping us on the leading edge of knowledge on this flu, especially the number of new daily infections and death tallies. We also wait breathlessly for the latest insights provided by leading doctors and specialists in their field. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Strict restrictions restrict the number of people allowed at gatherings such as weddings and funerals, be they conducted inside or outside. Football stadiums stand empty except for the players on the field and the cameras recording them. So are Basketball courts and Hockey Arenas. But to feed the hungry souls, the games must go on.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Non-essential services are outright banned such as hair salons and barbers. Gambling casinos and churches are treated alike, with ‘Closed’ signs hanging on their respective doors.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">But all is not lost, there is hope. Hope that in some laboratory somewhere an anti-viral vaccine will be born that will cure us of this threat. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A threat that has shut the world down tighter than at any time in history. The hope will be that this vaccine will be safe, and that it will not only protect us now, but make us immune forever. We rely on this vaccine to not only save us, but also our future generations, and on this cure we hope and pray. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">But wait, we are not in the clear, because there’s word of another virus on the loose. A virus schemed up back in the dawn of ages by the most evil schemer of all. This extremely contagious and all-encompassing evil virus knows no boundaries and is by far the deadliest ever recorded. It will infect all, and kill all, with a kill ratio of 100%. It carries a death sentence to not only your body, but your soul as well. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 27.4px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">But wait, for this virus exists a cure! This anti-dote was by no means cheap or easy to make, as it required the very life blood of the Provider. He laid down his life that you may live. This story starts on Christmas Day in Bethlehem. </span></p>Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-88056453761854353102020-07-19T11:48:00.002-07:002020-07-19T11:55:20.427-07:00Prayer for Healing<p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">O dear Lord and great Physician, we come to you in prayer in these troubled times with humble heart and anxious minds. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We know not what lies before us with this Coronavirus plague, therefore we come before your throne and plea for mercy. Show us your great love and care, O Creator of all things. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We humble ourselves before you and confess our many shortcomings. We are not worthy of your tender loving kindness towards us, for we do not live like you want your people to live. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We are selfish and prideful, who more often worship money and self than we worship you, O great Lord. We find ourselves too often striving after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and for our pride of life. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">It seems one day slips into the next, one week disappears into the next, then months, then years. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We confess we have fallen greatly and have failed to grow closer to you, our Holy Father. Therefore we come to you with bended knee and beg forgiveness. Heal us from our sicknesses of sins as you healed all manners of sickness and diseases when you became flesh and walked amongst us on the earth. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">We confess we are a sick and ailing people that have strayed far from the fold. Bring us closer to thee O great Shepherd, feed and water us from thy everlasting springs and the green hills of thy steadfast love. Only then, when we are back in your fold and under your gracious hand, will your countenance shine warmly upon us, and your ear will hear our cry. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Wash our muddied souls with the pureness of the innocent blood of thy beloved Son, and feed our starving spirits with thy daily bread. Keep us, that we stray not out of your love and care.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Look down upon us with thy great mercy. Give us strength and courage, give us insight and love. Help us be a light to the world in these troubled times, and them see our love for you, Heavenly Father, let them see how we walk in total trust as children of the Light. Let them hear us praise you, that your name might be glorified. Let the world understand that we thy people view this world and life not as an end to our means, but as a time and place where we can worship you, and show your love to all. A time and place where we can testify and shout out to all the world how great and gracious a God we serve. A God so full of love and compassion that he gave his only begotten Son that he might die for what we should have died for, who endured a most humiliating, gruesome and lonesome death, that we might live. You, O Lord, who spared not the life of your Son in the great love you have for us lowly sinners, look down upon us with compassion and mercy in this time and hear our prayers.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">This we pray in the name of thy most precious and loving Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"> Amen. </span></p>Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-16888480107364236252020-01-20T16:29:00.003-08:002020-01-20T16:29:34.203-08:00High Places - in our time. <div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1">Reading Kings in the Old Testament there are many mentions of ‘High places’.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">These ‘high places’ of old consisted of idols or special places on elevated ground that people worshipped or otherwise payed homage to, and got temporary satisfaction apart from God. These high places competed for and even replaced the worship that should have been reserved for the God of Israel. The high place at Dan was built when Israel was divided into the northern and southern kingdom. The northern kingdom worshipped the golden calf at Dan instead of making the trek to worship at the temple at Jerusalem. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">There was even a high place placed on one side of the gates in Jerusalem that people payed notice as they passed through. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Although the Israelites were commanded <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to utterly destroy the high places, most of them Kings kept them and even built them up. The only two that take them down were Kings Hezekiah and Josiah. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">So my thought is this, if they had these high places for many generations and God was obviously displeased, why did the Israelites display such a casual attitude towards them and what can we learn from them? </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’m sure there are many high places set up in our lives today that we have come used or accustomed to, much like those that existed in ancient Israel. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Places, things or idols that temporarily satisfy us along the way and hinder us from finding God. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"> There are also many other high places. Think of escapism through the news, novels and movies. And music, especially music. It seems the whole world has to have the constant barrage of music in their ears. Music is praise in itself and if not directed to God, worships whatever the songwriter had in mind.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If our heart is the temple of the most high God, then high places can be anything that competes with God for time, attention or worship in that temple.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I challenge you to think what the high places are in our life and time. What satisfies us that keeps us from searching ultimate satisfaction <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in God?</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-453074886175822382019-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:002019-08-25T21:12:25.987-07:00Harden Not Your Heart.<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<b><i><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">To day if ye will hear his voice, </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">harden </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">not </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">your </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">heart</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">s. Hebrews 4:7</span></i></b><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"><i>Why should I confess and repent of a certain sin if I know I will do it again, isn’t that hypocrisy? </i></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">We have all either made this argument or heard it made.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">The main problem with this argument is that it assumes at least two things. It assumes we have a lot of years left to change our habits and/or it assumes that it is our self in charge of our salvation and we can pick and choose when to repent, most preferably the day or hour before we die.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"> But the reality of the situation is this, we never stay the same person as we are now. The daily decisions we make and the consequences of those decisions changes who we are as a person, for better or for worse.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">If we willfully choose the path of sin we automatically begin to harden our heart. The rooster that crows in our heart today may not be there in the future. In fact, if we harden our heart to resist the cries of the Holy Spirit we may just be so successful that we may never hear that Spirit again. We may also be so hardened that we don’t even care, or we may think because we don’t hear the cries of the Holy Spirit anymore that all is well with us. We may even believe God knows we are just poor humans and sinful in nature therefore He will overlook our transgressions and by his Grace pull us into his kingdom. But Psalm 50 has some different words for us. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"><b><i>you thought that I was one like yourself.</i></b></span></div>
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<i><b><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">harden </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">not </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">your </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 19pt;">heart</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">s. </span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">Hebrews 4:7</span></b></i></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-77927054103903362862019-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:002019-04-07T07:26:19.909-07:00What is Man?<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: '.SFUIText-BoldItalic'; font-size: 19.00pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">To help us with this question let’s look to the Bible itself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">The Bible is the unique Word of God. It features 66 books written by ~40 different authors, encompassing many different styles and genres, and spanning over 1500 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> These writers came from different countries and wrote in different languages, yet they all come together clearly and coherently in an extraordinary book called The Holy Bible. From the broad beginnings of time and the universe, to mankind with all his struggles, and then sharply focusing down to the person of Jesus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">These writers of history and prophecy ranged from poets to philosophers, from war heroes to humble fishermen, from kings to the prophets that warned them; each author retaining his individuality and voice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">It’s interesting that the God of the universe would choose to have His story told this way. This tells us that the God in whose image we are made, celebrates our individual uniqueness. He works not over and around us but through us. How incredible this is to know, that each and every individual is special, and loved in an unique and personal way. It’s astounding when we realize how much worth God embeds in us from the moment we are molded in our mother’s womb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Knowing this makes life so much more personal and meaningful. We have a God that does not love us superficially, but intrinsically and intimately, on scale that is equal to the vastness of the universe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> Yet, we who inhabit earth, made in His image, hold the balance of power. We can thwart His Fatherly Love and decide to spend eternity away from the very Creator that gave us the unique will and right to choose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Yes, we are wonderfully and fearfully made, each individual so unique and special, and we can feel deep in our hearts that we are destined for something much greater than what we experience in our daily life. Let us choose wisely, my friends. </span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-3853350115083455532019-03-29T20:51:00.000-07:002019-03-29T20:51:17.066-07:00Baptism and Marriage. Part Six. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Display"; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4px;">
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">The concept of Baptism is quite strange. We make a lifetime commitment to the divine Creator and invite him into our heart so he can dwell there. We ask him to be a very part of our being, our thoughts and actions. We ask him to walk with us through life’s biggest challenges and fears, and then finally through the dark vale of death itself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">That sounds like a deal no one would refuse. But many of us do. One reason is we would not feel comfortable having God with us when we visit certain places or do certain things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">Another reason can be that we have the wrong idea of God, we envision him as non-personal and aloof. We think that after our death God will examine our lives and makes a judgement on whether we deserve heaven or hell. Almost as if the sole requirement of our getting to heaven is having our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">I don’t believe God works that way. I think we can look at the concept of marriage here to illustrate the point. When we marry our spouse we may think we know each other, but in all reality we know very little. We make a huge leap of faith that we will live happily ever after. We think our whirlwind love will always be there in it’s burning intensity, but we find something different, something much deeper and substantial. We find a love that delights in giving, rather than taking, and one that flourishes in times of sickness, hurt and need, instead of only anticipated happy times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">The way we find this love is we let go of old ingrained selfish habits and cultivate new caring ones, ones that consider the needs and feelings of our loved one. Once we start bettering and are conscious of our love and commitment deepening, we try harder. As we do this, our relationship comes ever closer and closer to what God had originally intended for marriage: two people becoming one flesh</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">This kind of love is obviously not present at the time of marriage. This is a love that has been tested and purified by the refining ovens of life. A love that comes out of the remains of its first fiery burst, and then slowly but surely turns into the love of understanding and appreciating of our life’s partner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">The same holds true for baptism. We know very little about God till we start a relationship with him. As He reveals himself more and more we begin to understand his love. This causes us to love him more, causing him to reveal himself more. It’s an ever deepening cycle of trust and love and understanding. God accepts us fully when we enter a relationship with him, and the judgmental image that we have of God as we were growing up turns into a image of Love, a God that only has our best interests in mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">To sum things up, we don’t live out our life with the one we love and then at the end decide if we are worthy and then propose marriage. That would make no sense at all. It works this way, we take the leap of faith, marry, and then gradually mold into one flesh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">The same concept applies to Baptism. When we get baptized and accept Jesus as our personal saviour our name is entered into the Book of Life. Then, as we learn more about Jesus and His love for us, our understanding and love for Him grows. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">But here’s the disclaimer. Baptism without faithfulness, through hardheartedness, totally voids the contract. Not that this is God’s will, but ours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">P.S. When I started this blog on Baptism and Marriage I had no idea that it would go beyond the first instalment. As I started writing and thinking the similarities became so obvious that each begged the next post. To help us understand the concept of Baptism it helps to look at the institution of Marriage. The clues and practical experiences are all there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">Thank you for being on this journey with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19pt;">Louie Vetter</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-80718611082010210522019-03-23T17:41:00.001-07:002019-03-23T17:41:25.394-07:00Baptism and Marriage. Part Five. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Forgiveness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">In marriage, if one partner strays and worships false gods, or in the language of marriage, worships someone or something other than the wedding partner, great harm and complete loss of trust occurs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Both marriage partners need to sit down and evaluate where this is going. Is there a use continuing this commitment? Will there be forgiveness, even if the offending partner is truly remorseful that the offence took place? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">God suggests there is. In fact, in the story of Hosea he commands his prophet to marry a prostitute. To take her home and marry her. To clean her up and clothe her. To marry on trust, and if the trust is broken, to start all over again. That would be so hard for us to do, but such is the love of God. He will beg and plead and do everything in his power to make us love Him. If only we will set aside our idols and objects of worship and come and follow Him, He will wash us and make us pure again and white as the falling snow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">But His love also respects us. If we stiffneckedly refuse Him and continue walking the path of our own choosing and worship the objects we desire, He will let us. He loves us too much to put us into bondage in order to prevent us from carrying out our ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">And in marriage we can relate. We can love our partner with the deepest love possible, but if our spouse were to stray, there is nothing we can do except to unconditionally forgive, and then beg and plead and hope that our love would repent and return to its first love. And if reconciliation is not to be, we have to respect that wish as well.</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-42735061333008156072019-03-16T19:36:00.000-07:002019-03-16T19:36:57.070-07:00Baptism and Marriage, Part Four. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Faithfulness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Human nature is so that the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> Imagine this scenario, we get married but still harbour memories from previous acquaintances or new people we meet. Or even worse, if we’d have pictures or gifts from these acquaintances on display on the walls or placed around our home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Now imagine if one were to go and pursue these lusts to their logical end with an adulterous act. The hurt and harm that would inflict on a marriage would be so immense that it would take severe repentance and authentic remorse to even begin to build the former trust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">The wrongdoing of this straying or drifting is so starkly clear and obvious in marriage, and is no less important in our baptism, even though we tend to think God is so loving and understanding that will overlook spiritual adultery. Remember, Jesus said that even looking at a woman lustfully is already committing adultery in our heart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">With these scenarios we can clearly see and feel the significance of the first two commandments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">The first, </span><span style="font-family: '.SFUIText-BoldItalic'; font-size: 19.00pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">“You shall have no other Gods before me.”</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">And the second, “</span><span style="font-family: '.SFUIText-BoldItalic'; font-size: 19.00pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness..., You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-43816231107381906112019-03-11T06:41:00.000-07:002019-03-11T06:41:39.159-07:00Baptism and Marriage. Part Three. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">I think we can all agree that marriage and the marriage vows are sacred and holy, and carry a commitment to love, cherish, and obey one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">When we think of sacredness and holiness we often think of a church or temple. </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Think of how we conduct ourself when we enter into one of those buildings. We speak in a softer tone of voice, we won’t speak certain words or talk of certain topics. We act in a more respectable and responsible way than we normally would. We are kinder, gentler and more considerate to the people around us. Now imagine if our body is a temple to the living God, and guess what, it is! </span><span style="font-family: '.SFUIText-BoldItalic'; font-size: 19.00pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Well, if we think of this way, that changes things a little bit. And so it should. For if we don’t treat our body as a temple, chances are that the Holy Spirit won’t like the atmosphere we produce and very predictably, will move out. And without the presence of the Holy Spirit influencing us, our temple will turn into a house of shame rather quickly and our baptism is desacralized.</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> As with baptism so with marriage, when we treat our vows with anything less than sacredness, we may soon start to find ourself estranged from the one we promised to love, cherish and obey.</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-71397853792398425282019-03-04T19:28:00.000-08:002019-03-04T19:28:17.339-08:00Baptism and Marriage. Part Two. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Here are some more thoughts on the similarities between baptism and marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">We cannot get married to our loved one by ourselves, we need an ordained representative to create the bond, almost as a free gift with no work on our part, except to say I do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">And the same goes with baptism, we cannot get baptized by ourselves, we need an ordained representative. </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Once committed to God we receive the Holy Spirit that comes to live in our bodily house, and then we are in a very real sense in a marriage with the Third Person of the Trinity or in other words with God himself. </span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">We can see here that this bond is also a free gift with no work on our part, except to affirm. But that bond doesn’t assure us salvation. Because just as in marriage, we have some work to do. Let me illustrate.</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">In marriage, as soon as the bond is set, work begins. Though in all fairness it’s not really work as much as it is a working out of your love towards your partner. Labour of love, if you will. Not that we have to do it but we want to do it. To not do it would be to deny or quell our love, and effectively our marriage commitment to our partner. That would be marriage in name only, which throws up the question where our heart lies. “For where your treasure lies, your heart lies also.” Matthew 6:21</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">So it is in our baptism, except it’s not us working but a letting of the Spirit work in us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">‘Do not quench the Spirit,’ writes Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians. </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">The Spirit will then naturally produce fruit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Galatians 5:22</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Again, these fruits are the natural out-workings of the unquenched Spirit. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5</span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-80114735044396066772019-02-22T19:39:00.002-08:002019-02-22T19:39:43.985-08:00Baptism and Marriage.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Baptism is often likened to marriage and it’s easy to see why. Like marriage, baptism vows are pledging allegiance and faithfulness to God till death do us part, but the difference is that death, instead of parting us eternally, binds us eternally. </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Both marriage and baptism vows are like signing a contract where we promise to commit ourselves totally and faithfully to our partner.</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">We can easily see and understand how cheating and indifference can hurt our partner and our marriage, but for some reason we don’t draw the same conclusions with our baptism. We seem to fall into a rut where we think that if we don’t commit major sins against God that everything will be alright and God with his Holy grace will overlook our minor daily transgressions. Well, good luck with that! Revelation 3:16 writes to the Laodiceans “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">These are harsh and terrifying words, and again, if that would be going on in an earthly marriage where one partner would go lukewarm and indifferent it would be quite clear to see. Lack of interest and care in the one’s partner would be a terrible drain on a marriage and would probably be harder to put up with than a separation or divorce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Yet that is how we tend to treat our baptism. We generally don’t put enough energy and devotion into our relationship with God and seem to think our name will still be written into the book of life on that terrible day of judgement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Baptism is a beautiful thing. It guarantees us a place in heaven if taken seriously and righteously, but only if we uphold and don’t break the terms of the contract.</span></div>
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<ol>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you now acknowledge the teachings of Jesus, which have been laid before you, as being the truth and the true foundation to salvation?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you believe in and agree with the twelve articles of our Christian Faith, and will you witness to them? </span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you desire the prayer of intercession of the church so that God may forgive and remit the sins committed by you either knowingly or in ignorance?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you desire to yield, to give and to sacrifice yourself to the Lord God in the covenant of Christian baptism?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you sufficiently understand the Word of God and acknowledge it as the only path to eternal life?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you truly and heartily repent of the sins which you committed either knowingly or in ignorance against God and do you desire to henceforth fear God, never more willingly to sin against God, and rather to suffer death than willfully sin against God?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you believe that your sins have been forgiven and remitted by God through Christ and the prayer of intercession of his people?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you desire to accept brotherly discipline and admonition and also to apply the same to others when needed?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you desire to yield, to give and to sacrifice yourself, body and soul with all that you have to the Lord God in heaven, and to yield in obedience to Christ and his church?</span></li>
<li style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Do you desire to establish a covenant with God and with all his people and to be baptized on confession of your faith?</span></li>
</ol>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-71462394620372049612018-09-30T12:41:00.002-07:002018-09-30T12:41:48.404-07:00Pieces of Coal. <div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">Imagine we are are pieces of coal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> To have the knowledge of Jesus is to be a piece of coal, to have the Holy Spirit is to start to glow and provide warmth. A lit coal cannot help but excite another coal to start glowing by proximity. To share the gospel with the lips is to turn pieces of earth into pieces of coal. To share the gospel from the heart is to turn turn pieces of coal into pieces of glowing embers that provide comfort and warmth in a cold and hurting world. </span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-86211094310135747982018-09-16T11:42:00.001-07:002018-09-16T11:42:44.372-07:00Is Hell Our Own Making?<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;">I think hell is a product of our own making and choices.</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> If we choose not to let Jesus live and reign in our hearts and bodies (our earthly temple) then God will respect that choice. When we breathe our last and enter the next world, whatever is in our heart here will still be in our heart there. If God is not in our heart, we will face eternity without God. And that is hell.</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> If God is all that is good, then whatever is evil is all that remains. And that is hell.</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> Much like when you extract all the light out of a room, all that is left is darkness. </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he feared something so terrible that he sweat drops of blood. Yes, he fully understood what manner of death he was going to die and how terribly he was to suffer. But he also knew that for a period of time his Father would forsake him, as on the cross he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 19pt;"> And in that moment Jesus knew what it felt like to be in the total absence of God. And that, my friends, is hell. </span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-88976417221842593562018-08-12T10:39:00.000-07:002018-08-12T10:39:14.933-07:00"Watch Therefore:" By Guest Writer Sarah M. Hofer.<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><i>'Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.' </i></b></span><b style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 5.7pt;"><i>Luke 12:37</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We Hutterites are now living in a golden age. Never
before in our history has there been such a long period where the authorities
have left us alone to live and worship as we wish. The communities we live in
are safe, secure and prosperous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Around us, the world is changing at an incredibly
rapid pace. The Christian worldview that has shaped societies for over two
thousand years is under fire and in some places, almost obsolete. Self is
worshipped in place of God and truth is considered relative. The world is at
our gates, trying to win the hearts and minds of our young people. It is a time
to be on our guard, <b>‘</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the powers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.’<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">That our love and zeal has grown colder in these
peaceful, easy times must be acknowledged. Good times do not generally make for
good Christians. Consider the words of Jesus to the Church of Ephesus: <b>‘</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee,
thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore how thou hast received and
heard, and hold fast, and repent.’<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The early Hutterites saw clearly that to follow in the
footsteps of their master Jesus, a life of self-denial and loving service to
their fellow man was required. They believed that community of goods was the
necessary outward expression of a life truly committed to Christ and His
kingdom. <b>'And all that believed were
together and had all things in common.'</b>This is the vision that the
Hutterite Church has tried to uphold in the long centuries since the
Reformation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">From their beginnings in Austria where they
witnessed to the truth with their lives, their journey with this vision led
them across Eastern Europe. Many times they established flourishing communities
on the estates of noblemen, but the periods of peace never lasted for long. Suffering
terrible persecution and unjust treatment, they fled on to next place, refusing
to deny their God and faith. Finally, to escape military conscription in
Russia, they left behind the comfortable farming villages they had established
and immigrated to America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In addition to their steadfast faith, they took their
language, culture, and customs with them across the Atlantic Ocean to the
New World. Thanks in part to the legacy of our forefathers, the Hutterite
church has managed to preserve a distinct identity and faith in modern day
America; where many other cultures and religions, of greater numbers, have
assimilated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Our church has been able to take an uncompromising
stand on many issues, refusing to conform to the world. From head coverings and
male leadership, to divorces and gay marriages, the church has not bowed to
popular opinion and trends but has kept its doctrines scriptural. <b>'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and
forever.'<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The current modern worldview is a dangerous lens
through which to look as we seek to preserve our faith. Condoning the values of
the world in our church makes us increasingly resistant to the guidance of the
Spirit. We have a rich treasury of literature and the background of a godly
heritage that help correct our vision and bring us back to the Biblical
foundation of our beginnings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The literature includes the sermons preached in our
church services, written centuries ago by Spirit-filled elders with a deep
faith in Jesus and a sincere love of the brethren. From their genuine spiritual
and communal experience they wrote of issues that we are still dealing with
today. The sermons provide commentary and profound Biblical insights, as well
as serving as a safeguard against the tendency to drift away from Scriptural
truths. Our community gathering at the end of every day to listen to the Word
of God, to sing and pray together, strengthens our bond and acts as a constant
reminder of Whom we serve. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Part of our heritage are the laws, practical
arrangements, and accepted codes of behaviour maintained throughout our history
to govern our communities and keep our people separate from the world. If these
standards are in accordance with Biblical teachings, we should consider what we
might lose if we abandon them. <b>‘Prove
all things, hold fast to that which is good.’ </b>But we must be careful lest
we adhere only to the letter of the law without seeking after the Spirit. That
path constitutes a barren and meaningless religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Adding strength to the structure of the church is the
accountability of each individual community to all the other Hutterite
communities, and the accountability between each believer to the other.
Brotherly admonition keeps our vision clear and vibrant, so that none among us
may be led astray by the deceiver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Our elders have an important role in preserving the
vision of our church. They are gatekeepers of the church of God, watching<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> for our souls as they that must give
account. </b>A gatekeeper needs to be sober and vigilant, for the enemy circles
the house of God, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">seeking whom he may devour.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>‘Watch
therefore; for ye know neither the day not the hour wherein the Son of Man
cometh.</b></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>’ </b>To hear the words: <b>‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant,’
</b>when our Master returns is our sincere hope and longing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In preserving our vision, we believe we are fulfilling
our Master's will and giving our children the best possible hope for their
eternal future. Through the Church we can <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, </b>protected from much of
the harmful influence of the world and providing them with a Christian
worldview and valid counter-culture. Then when the Spirit comes to these young
people, the vision comes gloriously alive, its truths illuminated from within,
and unites them to all true believers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Our church provides for the widows, the sick and the
elderly, it provides discipleship and accountability. Rightly lived, it is the
fulfillment of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount; it is the city set on a hill, whose
light shines so that all men see it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 5.7pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We do not know what the times will be like when the
next generation finds themselves being the leaders and elders of the Hutterite
Church. The Bible prophesies terrible times <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">before that great and notable day of the Lord comes.</b> By the grace
of God we hope to be a small part of preserving this vision for them against
that day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>"Dear
brothers, I plead with you to keep watch against disunity, for you can well
imagine the terrible disasters that would come in its wake and what great
suffering would befall widows and orphans.<o:p></o:p></i></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Watch
that you keep firmly to the fine old Church Ordnungen and follow them without
moving the boundary stones.<o:p></o:p></i></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hold
firm to Christian community, and fight with all your might against stinginess
and selfishness, for covetousness is the root of all evil and destroys
everything good.</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Guard against innovation</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and
starting on a new course. Take special care, my brothers, not to compete
against or take advantage of one another, for that is not right.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>I
appeal to you before God to give fatherly care to the widows and orphans and to
concern yourself faithfully with the needs of the church.<o:p></o:p></i></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Always
act in the fear of God, following truth, justice and righteousness.<o:p></o:p></i></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell
the elders as a last request that I urge them before God to be wholehearted in
taking on the responsibility for the Lord's Church and giving all their
strength to its care.</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>I
commend you to the protection of the Almighty God. May He care faithfully for
His people, bless you, keep you in peace, uphold and preserve you. Amen.
Amen."</i><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hutterite
Elder Klaus Braidl. Neumuhl Community, Moravia. 1611</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></i></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Droid Arabic Naskh","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Droid Arabic Naskh"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sarah M. Hofer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-54251564260232080122018-07-30T19:16:00.001-07:002018-07-30T19:16:55.244-07:00Bob's Objection With Christianity.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<b>Bob</b> “My main objection to Christianity is that anyone can live a horrible, even murderous life and just before they die they can proclaim Jesus and go to heaven.” </div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
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<b>Louie Vetter</b>. Yes that’s a valid concern Bob, but consider this. For someone living that kind of life, chances are Christianity is not very real to them. To pay lip service to Jesus for insurance purposes with their last gasp is not going to make Jesus any more real than before. There is the story of the sinner on the cross, but that is a single Biblical example of true remorse at point of death. Someone living a sinful life with a sinner-on-the-cross action plan is probably quite blasphemous to God and His grace. Whatever keeps a sinner from following Jesus while he’s sinning, will most likely keep him from grace on his deathbed. </div>
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Consider this saying from Jesus, <b>“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” </b></div>
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<b>John 4:35</b></div>
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The highest genetic potential of a seed is on the day it is planted, every day after that potential yield is lost to various environmental stressors, disease and insects.</div>
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Are we any different? These four months to harvest are like the days of our life. We have a set number of days till our last. A day lived in the lust of our eyes or flesh is a day lost, never to be regained. It is a day where we denied the rain and blessings of the Holy Spirit that our loving Father wanted to pour out over our dry and parched eternal soul. </div>
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When a field is white to harvest the yield is set. Rain and perfect growing conditions at this point are too late. When the autumn of our life is upon us, will we have the grace, power and will to increase the one pound our Lord gave us? Or will our yield be set with the lifestyle and decisions we deliberately chose? </div>
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<b> “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” ~Ecclesiastes 12</b></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-47394331024124002652018-05-24T22:02:00.000-07:002018-05-24T22:02:23.831-07:00Pentecost. The Coming Down Of The Holy Spirit.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<i>As the time of compassion drew near when God wanted to fulfill his promise and have mercy on the lost human race, he sent his Word, who was in and with God in the beginning. By means of his messenger Gabriel, he sent Word to a virgin whom he had previously chosen. As soon as she believed, she was sealed with the Holy Spirit. Then she was told, “Power from on high will overshadow you, and the Holy Spirit will come down from above into you. Therefore, the Holy One who is to be born of you shall be called the Son of God.</i> (Excerpt from Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith)</div>
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We can imagine how blessed Mary felt to have born Jesus, the Son of the Living God! How amazing that must have been to carry the maker of the universe inside her!</div>
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But 33 years later mankind brutally beat, and ridiculed her beloved son Jesus, murdering him with the most agonizing and cruel death they could devise by nailing Him to a cross and mocking him till he breathed his last. But Jesus defeated death, leaving his mankind in the carved out, rocky tomb, and arising victorious. Before he left earth for his heavenly home he made a promise: He promised to send down his Holy Spirit from above into us, to dwell in us. If we but receive his gift we can have the Spirit of God living inside us, guiding us and providing comfort and wisdom. Unbelievable passion to want to be part of the very creatures he created! </div>
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But unlike the Virgin Mary, whom after a short while bore the fruit of the Holy Spirit in a stable in Bethlehem with the baby Jesus, we get to house the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple of our bodies. Imagine, our earthly body a living temple to the Creator God! We are never more alone or afraid, for in us radiates the power, love, and comfort of a mighty God who spoke the whole universe into existence with merely a word! Who loves us so thoroughly and personally that he sent his Son down to us, to inhabit human form and live according to our human conditions, knowing full well that he would be rejected and killed, but knowing also that it was the only way to reconcile man to God.</div>
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So how grand we build that temple, or not, to his Holy Presence is up to us. The natural outworkings of our human condition are fleshly and manifest themselves as described in Galatians Chapter 5: <b><i>Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. </i></b></div>
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<b><i> I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.</i></b></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-34994398127235291972018-05-24T21:42:00.000-07:002018-05-24T21:42:11.626-07:00Eins Betrübt Mich Sehr Auf Erden.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
One thing grieves me beyond measure,</div>
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That so few will enter heaven,</div>
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Oh, just where should I begin,</div>
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There’s so many people dying,</div>
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The Son of God they are denying,</div>
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Leaving earth, bound fast to sin.</div>
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Everywhere, in every nation,</div>
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Men live in retaliation,</div>
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From across all walks of life,</div>
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Few are those who gain salvation </div>
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Most are striding to perdition. </div>
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Oh, what are the reasons why?</div>
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It’s not hard to see the answer</div>
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Man is full of hate and envy, </div>
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In a life that denies God,</div>
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Indulging their inner vices,</div>
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Just as if they didn’t cognize,</div>
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Heavens road is oh so small. </div>
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Pride and self-glorification, </div>
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Boasting and self-adoration,</div>
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Greed takes over more and more,</div>
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As the self fights for attention</div>
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Do we even want redemption?</div>
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Is that the way the heavens door?</div>
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Throwing banquets, eating, drinking,</div>
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Playing, dancing, fleshly thinking,</div>
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Living in the moment bold,</div>
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Can that be the path to heaven,</div>
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Then it’ll be to slight the faithful,</div>
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Surely this will not work so. </div>
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People make no qualms of lying, </div>
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What’s more commonplace than cheating, </div>
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Just as if it were okay,</div>
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He who does right, he is losing,</div>
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Dishonesty ends up winning,</div>
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Greed and money pave the way.</div>
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Oh how common cussing, swearing,</div>
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Blaspheming God in heaven,</div>
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Don't the children know that well?</div>
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‘Tis no wonder, that corruption, </div>
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Young and old die in destruction, </div>
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Heading down the path of Hell.</div>
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Stealing honour from another,</div>
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Spiting, envy, and dishonour, </div>
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Isn’t that now common place?</div>
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Finger pointing, accusations,</div>
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Repeating false allegations,</div>
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More and more, that is the case.</div>
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What do we hold more important, </div>
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Than exerting every effort</div>
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Gathering material goods.</div>
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Gold and silver, rare held treasures,</div>
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Harm our spirit without measure</div>
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Loved and sought out by the world.</div>
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Those who take others possessions, </div>
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Will in fear and pain be sweating </div>
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Eternal in the fires of hell.</div>
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Even though so many know this,</div>
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Stand accused before their conscience,</div>
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Yet they do not seem to care. </div>
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Who seeks virtue, wisdom, morals?</div>
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Look how far the youth has fallen,</div>
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Where is trust, humility?</div>
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Those who seek to follow Jesus,</div>
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Mocked, ridiculed, and mistreated,</div>
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Persecuted constantly. </div>
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My child, turn and follow Jesus,</div>
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Look at what he taught and showed us,</div>
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What his deeds and actions were.</div>
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He, the truth, way, life, forever,</div>
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Follow him, you’ll make no error,</div>
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That’s the best advice for you.</div>
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Brotherly love is fundamental, </div>
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Without it we’re barred from heaven, </div>
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Love God with your heart and soul.</div>
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If we show love to another</div>
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We will never grieve our brother,</div>
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We will also not grieve God.</div>
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Keeping reins upon our passions,</div>
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Curbing evil wants and habits,</div>
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If we seek eternal life.</div>
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Those who seek a life of pleasure,</div>
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Will not find a place in heaven,</div>
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Stand in judgement when they die.</div>
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Poverty and will to suffer,</div>
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Bravely facing persecution, </div>
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That's food for the chosen few,</div>
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Praising God, strong hearts so faithful,</div>
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Suffer willing all that’s painful,</div>
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Blessed who learns this virtue.</div>
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Do you want to follow Jesus,</div>
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Oh, so live a life that’s righteous, </div>
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Seek out the minority,</div>
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Once this poor, short life is over</div>
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God will give you one eternal,</div>
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Greet you into royalty.</div>
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So my friend, so let it happen,</div>
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Come what may, I will be ready, </div>
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As God wants, so it will be.</div>
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Lord, please be my guide and shepherd, </div>
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In my thoughts, my words and actions,</div>
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And through your love, grant me mercy. </div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-64208949878436458812018-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:002018-04-27T21:17:44.825-07:00Thoughts on the Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash.<div style="color: #454545; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">I have been following the Humboldt bus crash with empathy and a great sense of loss. When I first heard about the crash it didn’t affect me too much, but as the details and stories started to emerge, as faces and names were announced, the significance of what had happened started to sink in. 14 out of 28 dead, and the rest all in the hospital. Some in critical condition, some paralyzed, reality and horror set in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Then comes the comprehension of the vast number of people this tragedy has affected. Every parent who has ever lost a child. Every parent who has ever seen off a child on a bus. Everyone who has ever tried to make sense of a senseless tragedy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As the funerals rack up, the idea of ‘not fair’ and the question of ‘Why?’ looms large. If God in Heaven is a caring and loving God, why didn’t He intervene? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The question that countervails in my mind is: Did we want Him to? What kind of a question is that, you may ask? Of course we want God to intervene, to prevent bad and horrible stuff from happening. But at what level? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Do we want Him to intervene at loss of life and limb? Yes, we do. Do we want Him to intervene at health and well being? Yes, we do. Do we want Him to intervene at injury and happenstance? Well, maybe or maybe not. Do we want Him to intervene on our bad but deliberate decisions? I think this time most of us would agree that we wouldn’t. We are our own man and want the freedom to say what we want, and do what we want, and no one better stand in our way. That is our right! How else can our lives have meaning?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> These are valid points, but we can’t have it both ways. We can’t demand that God intervene and then demand He shouldn’t. We love the freedom of free will and charting our own course, but when tragedy strikes we demand interference. We love the promise of God walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death, but balk at the thought of walking with Him every day. In essence, we really don't know what we want, and we for sure don't know what's best for us. How can the creation argue with the Creator?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>“Be still and know that I am God.”</b></span></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-20015366570001720642018-04-09T19:37:00.001-07:002018-04-09T19:39:02.222-07:00Where are the miracles of Jesus today?<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 18.9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bolditalic"; font-size: 18.90pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bolditalic"; font-size: 18.90pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Reading these accounts of Jesus makes us wish He was amongst us today. There are so many he could heal! And so many ailments; cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, the list goes on and affects us all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">But there’s one thing we can take comfort in, and that is that Jesus sees and knows the afflictions and burdens we bear and carry. If our prayers for healing don’t get answered right away maybe it’s because of the possibility that our earthly instances, sufferings, and struggles will serve to soften our hardened, wayward hearts to His message of hope and glory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;"> But maybe Jesus is working miracles today. Miracles far greater than the healing of our bodily sicknesses. Maybe he’s healing our spiritual ailments, by making the blind in faith to see, the crippled in sin to walk, the deaf to His Word to hear, and the dead in spirit to live. Maybe he’s performing miracles that will make us whole not only for a few years or decades, but throughout eternity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">For even if we would get a temporal reprieve from our earthly sicknesses, there is still old age to contend with. And there’s no getting away from that. It’s only the fact that Jesus conquered the grave that we have hope. Only that truth can make the sting of death be swallowed up in victory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Viewed from that angle, we have no argument with the shaper of the clay and the firing kilns that we walk through. They can serve to turn us into the worthy vessels that God desires us to be and oh, what a miracle that would be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bolditalic"; font-size: 18.90pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ~Paul in Romans 8:18</span></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-23743042151965702472018-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:002018-04-03T20:51:14.540-07:00Am Ölberg Weiß Ich Eine Stätte.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 18.9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">I know a place near Mount of Olives,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Secluded from the rushing world,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">The Kidron murmurs in the valley,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">The olive trees stretch out their boughs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">There you see naught of manmade clamour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">But rolling hills, forest and sea,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">And all around this quiet courtyard,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">The garden of Gethsemane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">There lay the Holy One in prayer,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">In dark of night upon His knees,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">The promised child of faithful fathers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Cried out to God despairingly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">A heart so full of fear and pleading</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">An anguished and forsaken soul.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">And from His sacred, stricken forehead</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Flowed heavy drops of crimson blood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">O Lord, you worked on my salvation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">You feared for me in dark of night,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Alone, removed from all creation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">You cared and prayed with all your might.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">My thoughts are always near that courtyard</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">No matter where I go or stay’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 18.9pt;">That harboured God, Gethsemane. </span></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-13166261561128179372018-03-23T21:03:00.000-07:002018-03-23T21:03:38.652-07:00Global Warming. Q's from Amanda<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Hi Louie Vetter! I have learned much from the articles that you post. Good reading material! I was just wondering what your view is on global warming? Does the Bible mention anything about it? Is it true that it is happening? Just curious... </div>
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Hello Amanda and thank you for reading my posts. Yes, I have concern about the health of the earth and our role as stewards thereof. There is certainly a lot of hype out there. Canada believes strongly enough in global warming that they want to impose a carbon tax. As far as I can see, this is not so much a solution to the problem but a sort of a penance for polluters, where you still go on polluting but now you pay for it, thereby feeling better about it. </div>
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After the Great Flood, the Bible has these words from the Lord in Genesis;</div>
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<b><i>“While the earth remains,</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Seedtime and harvest,</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Cold and heat,</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Winter and summer,</i></b></div>
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<b><i>And day and night</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Shall not cease.”</i></b></div>
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Is it true that global warming is happening?</div>
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That is a good question and I won't profess to know the answer, but here's my thinking. The earth goes through (and always has) periods of cooling and warming. If humans are at fault now, what was at fault before? </div>
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I think there are many factors at play here, most of which we have no control over. For instance, the solar cycles of the sun have a major effect on our weather. That the earth will fall back into a cooling cycle is almost a certainty. </div>
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How concerned should we be?</div>
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I think we should do our very best to treat the earth as God’s creation and as home for us and our generations to come. God is still in control, he won’t let anything more happen than he wants to and not anything less. </div>
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We know we live in a fallen world that is in deterioration mode, along with the universe, but we can feel safe that we are under God's control. Did He not say <b><i>“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”</i></b></div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-6487398221072962122018-03-20T20:50:00.001-07:002018-03-20T20:50:33.753-07:00Biggest Fear For Your Children. Q from a Stranger.<div style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 2px;">
<span style="font-size: 12px;"><b>Stranger</b>. What is the biggest fear you have for your children?</span></div>
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<b>LouieV.</b> I would say the biggest fear I have for my children is the type of adult(s) they grow up to be. Will they be responsible, caring, loving, generous, moral, ethical adults and parents? How do I instill these values in them? What foundation do I lay for these values to be able to withstand the ferocious headwinds and shifting societies of today?</div>
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I can think of no other worldview that provides reason along with support and logic than the Judeo-Christian one. It’s on this worldview that my children can understand the following propositions:</div>
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<b><i>The value and sanctity of human life.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Our responsibility to the planet and it’s animal life.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>The reason why we are here.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Why everything is the way it is.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>The hope we have when everything seems to go wrong. </i></b></div>
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I will provide two responses, one without a Creator and one with. </div>
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<b><i>The Value and Sanctity of Human life.</i></b> </div>
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<b>Atheist.</b> We are here by chance and evolution and every one of these propositions are meaningless. It’s survival of the fittest. Morals and ethics are unimportant and can even be a hindrance. Survival is paramount. I am the only thing that matters. Fellow humans only matter if they are of use to my survival, gain or protection.</div>
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<b>Christian.</b> We are made in the image of God and on that basis are of immense intrinsic value and worth. God knows and loves us on a personal level.</div>
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He created each one of us in his image with an eternal soul- therefore our lives are sacred.</div>
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Our bodies serve as a living temple for his indwelling Holy Spirit - our bodies are sacred. </div>
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Our race and ethnicity is sacred.</div>
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Our sexuality is sacred. </div>
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Our marriage is sacred. </div>
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That is enough to know that we are uniquely special in his eyes and our lives have meaning. </div>
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<b><i>Our responsibility to the planet and it’s animal life.</i></b></div>
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<b>Atheist</b>. This planet is our home. It’s in our best interests to keep it as functional as possible for us and our offspring. Animals ensure our survival, especially in case of catastrophe, with food and clothing.</div>
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<b>Christian.</b> God placed us on earth as stewards of his creation, therefore we have a responsibility towards God for keeping our planet undefiled and unpolluted. He gave us dominion over the animals, they are for our use and to be treated with care and respect. </div>
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<b><i>Why we are here. </i></b></div>
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<b>Atheist.</b> Pure unadulterated chance. </div>
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<b>Christian. </b>We are here in our place in history in accordance with God’s plan for us. In the Old Testament, God interacted with the world. In the New Testament, God sent his son Jesus to walk and interact with the world. In our time, God is sending his Holy Spirit to dwell in us to interact with the world. A huge responsibility and gift. All those gone before us, along with the patriarchs, prophets and people of the OT and NT are not alive to worship and carry on God’s work. It’s our turn now. </div>
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<i><b>Why everything is the way it is</b>. </i></div>
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<b>Atheist. </b>Pure unadulterated chance.</div>
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Christian. We know that we live in a finely tuned universe and the likelihood of that happening by chance and out of nothing is almost certainly a mathematical impossibility. God, as Creator, solves that problem and at the same time provides meaning. </div>
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<b><i>The hope we have when everything (seems) to go wrong. </i></b></div>
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<b>Atheist.</b> There is no hope. Wrongs stay wronged and rights are inconsequential. We are a random compilation of atoms hurling across an unending dark, cruel, and cold galaxy at mindblowing speeds towards certain destruction on an unordinary, fragile sphere of earth, rock, air and water. </div>
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<b>Christian. </b>There is hope. We may not (and may never will) understand the hows and whys of what befalls us, but the comforting hand of God is always stretched out and there, if we only reach out, take hold and trust completely. We can take solace in the knowledge that the Ruler of the heavens and earth will rule justly, that the tears of pain and frustration will be wiped away with a loving hand, if not on this world then on that distant beckoning one. That the wrongs that were seemingly gotten away with on this world will be judged rightly. That those that were gone too soon and those that lived out their lives in pain and sorrow will not give a thought to those bygone, trying times, nor care. </div>
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<b>Postscript</b> </div>
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<b>Atheist. </b>The fact is that life is unliveable with these premises. It would be best to pretend that we matter, that there is a God with a personal love and plan for each and every one of us. </div>
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<b>Christian. </b>The fact is that we do matter, that there is a God that loves us and has a personal plan for us, this serves to quell any fear or uncertainty we may have. </div>
Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121353814108034329.post-47734530756757412932018-03-18T11:24:00.000-07:002018-03-18T11:24:52.219-07:00Mission Work. Q and A with Matthew<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Display"; font-size: 21.1px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4px;">
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;"><b>LouieV. </b>It depends on what you mean by being called. If we get called like Jonah got called, we will go, even if in the belly of a fish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;"> If we don’t maybe it’s because of the many from foreign countries immigrating here. It’s not uncommon to walk around in a shopping mall and hear many strange tongues. What are we doing to spread the gospel to them? What of all the people we see, meet or interact with in our daily lives? Are we letting our light shine that beckons to a lost and lonely world and that says “ Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, I will give you rest?” Do people sense in us the peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace? Do we treat people with the respect and love that tells them we are all His children and loved by Him? Do we give off the air of wanting to serve our fellow man instead of wanting to be served? Is our language fitting of a unworthy sinner graciously saved? Is there anything in our demeanor that would appeal to a non Christian? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">People will always believe more on what they see than what they hear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;">Yes, Matthew before we worry about mission work in foreign countries let’s see how our mission work is going on this one. Which is every bit as, if not more important because we either affirm in the eyes of the world what we believe, or our message is ‘Hey, we really don’t take belief in God seriously, don’t look to us for affirmation.’ Especially in the case of us Hutterites with our distinctive dress code and our purposeful separation from the world. When we walk down the streets of our local western Canadian towns our peculiar dress shouts out to the world “We stand in accordance with what our Anabaptist forefathers burnt at the stake for, we believe in a Holy Christian community, forgiveness of sin and eternal life”! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 18.9pt;"> Does our life show what our dress proclaims? Does our fruit accurately portray the Tree of Life? Are we a light to a watching world or are we potentially extinguishing any light that may arise in them?</span></div>
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Louie Vetterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12043398291118229944noreply@blogger.com0