Thoughts on Christ and His Word

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog." Just kidding. He was an Old Testament prophet. He got himself into a lot of trouble with the Jewish authorities for speaking the truth. He knew the truth because he would hear it directly from God's mouth. But when he would proclaim the truth, the rulers would get angry and punish him. On one occasion they got so mad at him that they plotted to kill him ( Jer . 38). So they grabbed him and threw him into a cistern (large containers to collect rain water). This one had no water but it did have mud and Jeremiah sunk into it. The idea was to allow him to starve to death. But one man was righteous. His name was Ebed - Melech . He feared God and wanted to save God's prophet. So he spoke to the king and got permission to take Jeremiah out of the cistern. Later on when the Babylonians invaded and ransacked Jerusalem, Ebed - Melech was spared by God. Through Jeremiah God sent this message to Ebed - Melech just prior to the Babylonian invasion: ...

Today's health and wealth preachers (your know the ones who teach "God wants all his children to wealthy and healthy here on earth") are preaching what the masses want them to preach, not what God's Word teaches. In fact God warned us of this danger when he wrote: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 Jeremiah wrote about the same phenomenon when THE LORD spoke through Jeremiah saying: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them ...

God hates bad leadership. I'm not talking about leadership that makes poor administrative decisions or bad strategic decisions, but ones that make bad moral decisions. "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 23:1-2 Poor leaders are harsh, oppressive, self-serving, and disregard the needs of their people. What we need in this world are leaders who use their power to serve their people and care for them. These kind of leaders are needed in families, businesses, and churches. The leader must cast vision, set goals, and motivate his people to achieve greater things, but he must do it with full integrity of character and caring for ...