The White Stone Zone

Psalm 77 is a great example of repentance. Psychologist call it "Cognitive Therapy". It is one idea modern psychology gets right.   Repentance means to change one’s thinking, and in this Psalm, Asaph begins relating to God according to how he feels.   He states that his soul refused to be comforted.   Did you ever feel that way?   Notice that he did not say that God refused to comfort him.   It was he that refused God’s comfort.    Asaph felt comfortable with his misery and the idea of trusting God at his word seemed uncomfortable.   However, Asaph made his way by the grace of God to the truth.   He changed His thinking by looking at God’s character, God’s faithfulness and God’s work of our behalf.   He remembered all of God’s mighty works; in other words, he turned away from his feelings, changed his thinking, and set his thoughts on God.   Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ always have a sure foundation to turn to in tim...

7 After the Lord had said these things to Job , he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. " (Job 42)      God told Job's friends that He was angry with them because they misrepresented the Almighty.  In a nut shell, Job's friends told him that all of the suffering he was going through was because God was punishing Him for His sins.  They were playing the blame game.  Unfortunately, this goes on today in the Body of Christ--a place where it certainly does not belong.  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God will not ever punish you for your sins. God is just, and it would be unjust for Him to punish a believer in Jesus Christ. Why? Because God has punished all of our sins at the cross. There is His justice. Not only were our sins punished, but they were taken away--the root of forgiveness means to send away; we are separated from ...

     Well, the election is over and quite a number of people, including myself, are shocked. I was shocked because I did not see it coming. I had my high hopes that this country would make at least a little progress towards avoiding inevitable financial disaster. I could not fathom anyone with such poor leadership skills getting elected for a second term; however, I am not going to list all the sins of President Obama and his political machine. I want to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ.      We are living in a very divided country that will most likely become a Socialist Democracy if we are not there already. The spirit of anti-christ is alive and well, and it too, has been here a long time, but it is growing stronger every day. So, my question is this: Can God work through the Body of Christ in a Socialist Democracy? Will this shift to Socialism in our Nation thwart the Gospel of Jesus Christ from spreading?  The answer is "Of course n...

God Initiates; We Respond 3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. (2 Thessalonians)      According to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, faith is something that grows, and faith is directly linked to our ability to love one another.  Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of faith. All too often, faith is presented as something we whip up to get God to act on our behalf.  And, all too often, when things go wrong or we "don't get what we want from God"  Children of God are told they don't have enough faith. This false teaching has caused harm in the body of Christ and has hindered our ability to do the one thing Jesus said would make the world take notice--and that is to love one another.  "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:33) True ...

Recently, Bruce Springsteen was interviewed about his new album, "Wrecking Ball". He spoke about the lead song of the album, "We Take Care of our Own." Bruce said that he is asking the question, "Do we take care of our own?"  I am not sure of whom he is asking the question.  If he is asking me, I have to answer, "Yes boss, I have a wife and a 9 year old girl that I take care of daily.We have another daughter who is living on her own, paying her bills and working, and still another daughter in college who we send money to monthly.I have a son who I took care of who is now serving his country as a Marine.  So, yes boss, I am taking care of my own.  I can not only answer for myself, but I can also testify to what I see in my community.  Bruce seems to say no one is doing anything for anyone when he says, "There ain't not help, the calvary stayed home, no one hears the bugle blowing." Bruce sounds like a politician blowing out glittering gen...

  11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, 12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen. 13 So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there— so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be i njured and snared and captured.  (Isaiah 28)      Whether or not America is a Christian Nation has been an ongoing argument. Christianity was founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The good news of the gospel is that believers in Jesus Christ are completely forgiven, totally accepted, and unconditionally loved by God.  It also means that they are not under LAW but operate on a higher plain called Grace. In other words to be a Christian Nation would mean we as a Nation operate and live in the Grace of God.  I...

  5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. .. for they give thanks to God. (Romans 14)      I've seen Christians go to extremes to both sides of the Christmas argument.  There are some who claim that the Christmas traditions have its roots in pagan traditons, and thus, should be ignored by the "sold out" believers.  Some have even made the contention that it is satan's way of getting us to worship him.  Others get ornery towards the commercialism of it all and insist we keep Christ in Christmas and adopt an "almost" self-righteous attitude towards those that say "Happy Holidays". I think for God, it is 'much to do about nothing.'  How can I say that?      There is no Scriptural mandate to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  Nowhere is Scriptur...