June 26, 2020

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2

It seems that many today have the same vocabulary but are using a different dictionary. Of course, there does seem to be the creation of crazy new vocabulary almost daily in the form of acronyms such as CHOP, CHAZ, BHAZ, BLM, and LGBTQ. It’s hard to keep it all straight. The result is that we are not even thinking about thinking about things like truth, and that means we are susceptible to believing lies. Truth is always the first casualty of corruption, whether in the Garden seduced by the snake or in our world today influenced by Satan, the angelic being called Lucifer, “the god of this world” who is also “the father of lies.” When lies are told often enough we soon start to believe them. At times we cannot distinguish the difference between truth and lies. The media is the medium with the message, and truth does not seem to be at a premium. This is why the church, which is called to be “the pillar of truth” (I Tim. 3:15) and “the salt and light” in our society, (Matt. 5:13-14) must enlighten itself and immerse itself in the truth. Try this exchange experiment. For every hour you watch Fox News, read the WSJ, or your local newspaper, reserve an hour to read the Bible and reflect on the truth. Just remember as Goethe reminds us; Things that matter least must never come at the expense of things that matter most. What matters most?  “Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.” (John 17:17) Serving Him with you Until He comes for us, Fred Chay

June 19, 2020

Secession – Sedition – Subversion - Stupid We Call it Seattle

What government would allow, media would trumpet, and the public would endure. Seattle and its CHAZ “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” has allowed us to finally see what foolishness looks like, what lawlessness feels like, and what stupidity acts like... Rejection of all authority; Rebellion against the rule of law; Refusal of rational reason. This is the modern moment of William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies.” However, is this not true of all of us in our rejection of God’s law, our rebellion against God’s existence, and our refusal to acknowledge His person and place in our lives? The fact is, Romans 1:18-32 is describing the heart of darkness and the rebel, whether it is the silly people and politicians of Seattle or me. When we become foolish and worship the creation instead of the Creator it is not going to end well. In fact, there comes a time when God gives us over to ourselves, which is what we think we want, but it is not what we need. Please, right now - read Romans 1:18-32. Reflect on its truth. Realize that the battle in our country is indeed a social crisis, but it is even more a spiritual catastrophe. BTW Always remember - “Lord of the Flies” is a translation of the Hebrew word; Beelzebub! AKA The Devil; the god of this world! Serving Him with you Until He comes for us, Fred Chay

June 12, 2020

Sorrow Looks Back, Worry looks Around, But Faith Looks Up Adrian Rogers It is very easy to get misdirected these days with so much “news” clamoring for my attention. It feels like everything, occurs everywhere, all the time. At times it feels that I am being mugged by reality. The famous question offered by Pilate, “What is truth?” is echoed today by its twin, “What is Real?” Truth and reality go together for those of us who hold to the correspondence theory of truth because truth corresponds to reality. If that were not true, then what is real? Surreal best describes the days that we are encountering. We live under the attack of the killer Covid. We live in a culture of crazed and craven leaders and brazen criminals - and sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. We live in a word without trust. For some, it is the Police and for others it is Politicians. For some, it has always been and will always be an issue of identity - Racism. For others, it is and always will be Money.   In all of this, vision is vital. Where are you looking? How do you see? What do you see? Who do you see? Our world needs to see Jesus. They need to see Him in Us in the midst of Covid,  in the midst of racial riots, and in the midst of economic uncertainty. We need to see, as Jesus did from the Cross as He gazed upon those who hated Him and killed Him, and be able to comprehend the love that could pray, “Father,  Forgive them for they know not what they are doing”. You’ve got to “Look Up” to pray that prayer. Serving Him with you Until He comes for us, Fred Chay

June 5, 2020

You Say the Times are Evil Live Nobly and You will Change the Times -St. Augustine-

We are living in evil times. We must remember the Church has always lived in evil times. They are called the Last Days. We must remember that “the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one.” Hence, it makes sense that these are evil days. In fact, the Apostle Paul reminds us and commands us to “redeem the time for the days are evil.” The good news is that Christianity is not dependent upon the environment. It does not need a friendly host. Karl Marx concluded that environment determines expression. That may be true if you are Pavlov’s Dog. However, the New Testament teaches that Christianity is not dependent on Environment, but on Relationship. The New Testament teaches Immunization not Isolation from the world. This being true, we must seek to be immunized from the world by reading, studying, meditating and memorizing the word of God (Psalm 119; 2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 12:1-2, 13:13; 2 Cor. 7:1) as we live in a culture that is controlled by the god of this world. (I John 5:19) The first century church reminds us of the spiritual law of thermo dynamics: The greater the heat the greater the expansion. But let’s not kid ourselves---expansion like an explosion can hurt. Serving Him with you Until He comes for us, Fred Chay