Cartoonist/Illustrator - Jeff Larson
Minnesota
 In 2007 (former VP of the USA) Al Gore won an Oscar for his Documentary on Global Warming entitled 'An Inconvenient Truth'. This blog is NOT about Big Al, his Oscar, or his documentary film. But on an awkwardly ironically amusing side note there was a North Pole expedition in 2007 meant to bring attention to Global Warming but was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment. but I digress. The real inconvenient truth America does not like to hear is.. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD! Our Oprah Winfrey-esk society passionately believes in respecting all paths to god (note the small g) at the expense of compromising honor and worship due to the one TRUE God (notice the capital G)of our Bibles.  Society says all paths to 'truth' are equal, and deserve equal respect. Hmmm, well 'your truth' may be your passion, hobby, your so called peaceful center, but still the INCONVIENT TRUTH remains there is only ONE TRUE GOD. I like the analogy of the sincere mountain climber who summits Long's Peak in Colorado at 14,259′ believing he just climbed the world's tallest mountain, BUT.. in reality world's tallest mountain Everest 29,032′ is in Nepal. Well, sincerely believing in another god aka 'truth' will find you just as WRONG as this mountain climber in Colorado. In both cases YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. Many say "THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH CHRISTIANS!! They are so JUDGEMENTAL!" Well same logic would then shame first grade teachers for teaching 1+1=2 when you want 1+1 to = 37. The above Mt. climbing, and simple math analogy, OR.. the fact I can no longer fit into the same pants I did 20 years ago all face an inconvenient TRUTH. note: In my defense I believe they make pants with a 34 inch waist SMALLER now. Maybe it has to do with the metric system? Of course that is my wishful thinking about my waistline.  But back to important truths.. You don't have to be a GENIUS to realize Nature screams that there is a God who was the creator of this world. CREATION was not happenstance, and our universe is NOT the random existence of matter and space…. Our creator is not Buddha, Zeus, or the Kemp’s Cow for you Hindus. It is not the Sister Sun, Mother Moon, or any New Age / Oprah Winfrey wild haired scheme found on a Hollywood Astrology Hotline. The creator of this world and of all things is the God of our Bibles, and may the glory and honor be His and His alone. This is TRUTH no matter if it is convenient or not. As believers let's celebrate and share this BEAUTIFUL TRUTH of our loving Heavenly Father to a world Hell bent (literally) on being inclusive to every nook and cranny 'truth'. There are so many lost in their own secular humanistic LOGIC while attempting to fit the concept of a God in a nice little man sized box.
For those who do not believe, I pray you take time to consider these Biblical Truths ..
 May God bless each of our lives with TRUTH.. purpose, and love for God and others.
May this be the source of happiness and contentment and purpose that gives your life meaning like never before. LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS.. leave the rest as details... and by no means an INCONVENIENT TRUTH Jeff (inconveniently truthful in the Back Pew) Larson 10/30/2021 WRONG is RIGHT?What happened? Was I out for 5 minutes when everything changed? Didn't up used to be up and down .. down.. not the other way around? And I am pretty sure too that WRONG is now the new RIGHT.  Let's start with a few easy Wrongs declared Right from where I sit observing our society.
So you see.. Wrong is the new Right.  We are numbed and dumbed down to vulgar language and violence in movies, TV, and pop/hip hop/rap music. Sex before marriage, and teen sexuality is assumed/encouraged not discouraged.. in fact sex without boundaries is to be explored. We are a Victim Society where everyone claims to be a victim, or bullied which muddies truth of those who truly are victims and/or bullied. AND anyone who voices a contrary view is expressing HATE SPEECH. Words of a contrary view can be considered 'violence'. I guess sticks and stones will break by bones, and WORDS ARE FAR WORSE! The #MeToo movement, toxic masculinity, white privilege, systemic racism, and systemic police brutality often dilute if not poison truth and justice with blanket labels replacing truth/facts. Then we throw together the old KKK in with the new Antifa (anti-fascists? not!). Both are bigoted hate groups. (BLM) black lives matter is a marxist hate group that harms the movement of equality. Oh, and let's not forgot we live in a Cancel Culture society where past sins or perceived sins from maybe even 20 years ago can be dredged up and to ruin lives and there is no forgiveness with this mob. Wrong is the new Right. We are also a culture who in one hand munches on popcorn while being entertained by the latest horror, violence, occult, or the sorted story of a serial killer, BUT.. think that our 2nd amendment rights are the root of all evil. Wrong is new Right.  Then a Virus comes along in COVID-19 where politics is more important than truth. Views on masking and vaccinations have divided us.. including the church. We condemn each other over instead of respecting each others rights. We label each other naive or selfish.. and our emotions become something just short of hate. This is Wrong, but again this Wrong is the new Right. Even in the church simple choices of right and wrong are handled like a bomb squad whose only training was using the old 'Operation board game'. We are so deathly afraid to call sin.. a sin in fear others will judge us as judgmental. The church (as a whole) is 1/2 afraid to speak truth in love, and the other 1/2 is like the frog in the boiling pan of water unaware the temp is rising. We are no longer salt and light as commanded in Mt 5:13-16 as we simmer in this world's hot tub of compromise. But we excuse our compromise with the broad brushed statement.. We are about love, Jesus is love.  Agreed, but also Jesus referenced Hell 46 times. Hell is the scary truth regarding sin though not very 'seeker friendly'. "I am the way, THE TRUTH and the life no one comes to the Father but by me.John 14:6. does not accept 'YOUR TRUTH'. If Jesus spoke today the Cancel Culture mob would rage against Him. Certainly banned from Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. note: and Jesus would still preach truth in love as His truths will not ever be canceled. To share the Gospel truth is the most important truth we can share though agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, and secularists would disagree... or do we remain silent in respect of your feelings. This is to say we would rather let you go to Hell for eternity than offend you today on Earth? This is so very Wrong, and is the new Right  MY OWN MESS - Let me be very clear, I know I am a sinner too with my own wrongs I treat as rights. Plenty of justications of these wrongs with my temper, watching movies and laughing at jokes I should not have. I have made compromises, told altered truths (aka lies) and all the other goodies that many of us do. I am also a man compromised by alcohol (aka alcoholic), and it was ruining my life. I share the cartoon on the left that is typically received understandably with collective cringes as it is NOT FUNNY, but it was becoming my story. So in response to my drinking my wife expressed to me in love and sometimes the appropriate amount of anger "YOU NEED TO QUIT. This is not good for you, or your family." So my question is.. was my wife intolerant and judgmental of me, or was she loving and caring? Bottom-line my wife's loving admonishment CHANGED MY LIFE and I thank God for this. Changing this Wrong in my life to make me return to doing Right. So in this world where WRONG is the new RIGHT how shall we participate? In our society compromised by ignorance, arrogance, and self we need to stand firm, in love and always stand for God's Truth.. because as they say.. Two Wrongs don't make a Right.
May God bless each of you to boldly with love go each day into a world that may hate you for saying RIGHT is still right, and WRONG is still wrong. Thank you for indulging me sharing this topic of societal angst on my heart. Jeff 10/24/2021 TRUTH.. Can you handle it? Q: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God? <pause> A: Hmmm, maybe. What are we talking about, I mean I need some context here before I swear. Ok, I do not believe this type of answer would fly well in a court of law. Truth is truth, and I should not be afraid of the truth. Right? Or can't I handle the Truth? How about outside the court of law where I do not have to swear on a bible? Can I fudge or tweak the truth so it does not look so blessed incriminating? I mean to say.. that check is really in the mail.. almost. :)  What if a wife asks her hubby: "Are these pants too tight?" In this case, be truthful.. BUT choose your words wisely so they are not your LAST. On the flip side if a husband asks: "How do I look?" There is a better than 75% chance the hubby will receive the whole (blunt as a 2x4 to the face) truth and nothing but the unfiltered truth. For all of the above and more truth in love is a beautiful thing. Truth is not always convenient, and it may sting a little or A LOT, but avoiding the truth will not make it go away. In many ways truth purifies, and provides light to shadows, and clarity + context to motives, and agendas.  Side Note: I believe there will be a harsh judgment some day on today's media that is motivated by agendas and narratives instead of reporting truth. Half truths are in reality a LIE. But also the church (we are the church) are called to share the good news (THE TRUTH) of Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. To not share this gospel message of salvation would be unloving. To share a message that 'Jesus is love and wants to help you' but not share a message that convicts us ALL of sins (yes sins) instead of preaching we are all pretty good folk.. is a false narrative much like the above mentioned media.
 Think about it,, If there is ONE WAY to Heaven through Jesus Christ then we must preach Christ always in our words and deeds. Do not apologize for this truth! If you believe in Heaven and Hell then as family, friend, neighbor, and/or citizen we cannot remain silent when the Truth of Jesus is eternally important.
While this subject of deep down nook and crannies of our lives truth feels a bit intrusive it must be a cornerstone to our faith. We should embrace truth in love for ourselves and others, and share the truth the only way to Heaven is Jesus Christ. My prayer today is for us all to be truthful and loving in word and deed. Remember, 1 Corinthians 13 shares all is meaningless (including Truth) without love. In all things, To God be the glory. Blessings Jeff (mostly-honest?) Larson 10/13/2021 Our Evolving Evolution Rest assured Ancestry.Com will not find any chimps, gorillas, or Orangutans in your family roots though you may have a second cousin or an uncle that you have wondered about. BUT.. I do believe life evolves, or at least changes. Let me share 'my' scientific findings regarding Evolution from my exhaustive study here at the Back Pew Institute for Common Sense. Don't roll your eyes at me.. this is SCIENCE!  Exhibit A (Valentines Day) THEN: On February 14, 1984 I bought my wife an engagement ring, flowers and proposed marriage. Good news for me Mary said YES to me and the whole Til death do us part thingy. NOW: On February 13th 2016 my wife informed me she was going to pick up some flowers for my 86 year old mom for Valentines Day. I replied "Great, and while you're at it, pick up something nice for yourself from me.. cuz I like ya."  Exhibit B (Romance) THEN: Mary and I were married in August 1984. The newlywed excitement of starting our lives together, holding hands, the kiss, and all the other 'fringe benefits' of being married were truly wonderful. NOW: Just a few years ago I remember trying to kiss my wife Mary as I headed out the door to work. BUT.. she turned her head offering me only her cheek. So I said "I noticed you turned away", and she replied.. "yes I did not want you to wreck my lips." Wreck her lips? I was her husband wanting a simple kiss, not a ZOMBIE wanting to eat her lips.  Exhibit C (Sports) THEN: March Madness Year 1 was a simple game where dunking was not possible as the hunched over Neanderthal players had little to no vertical jump compounded by using a ball which technically was a medium sized boulder. NOW: The game now is fast, the players tall and athletic, the action is high flying, and the courts are free of dinosaur droppings.  Exhibit D (Me) THEN: When I was a kid I would spend hours drawing cartoons. NOW: Hmmm, never mind that is still what I do.  Exhibits E-Z (God) THEN: In the beginning God created the Earth and it was good. Ge 1:1 and God's timeless truths are recorded in our Bibles for us to follow, not to update or redact. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.Isaiah 55:8-9  NOW: Our growingly secular semi-pagan society is Hell bent traveling 90mph down the Route 666 in their eco-friendly vehicle of self-enlightenment while smoking doobies. This road is a wide, 'inclusive' while ever evolving and self-enlightened. Some even even believe in God but also that they are God's themselves. They believe in a 'truth' that is subjective not objective. They judge Christians as judgmental, and are intolerant of us intolerant Christians. They say they like our Jesus, just not Christians. Hmmm, sometimes fair, but.. note: Jesus said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." John 15:18 , Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Lk 12:51 He also said lust=adultery Mt 5:27-28, hate=murder Mt 5:21-22, divorce should very very rarely happen Mt 5:31-32, the love of money will damn you Mk 10:17-27, being lazy will damn you Mt 25:14-30, it matters eternally the soil you are planted in Mt 13:1-30, if your life does not bear fruit you will be cut off and thrown in the fire Mt. 7:16-20, and there is only one way to Heaven Jo 14:6. THIS IS THE NARROW ROAD Jesus paved. So how do they like Jesus now? So while the Evolution/changes of Valentines Day, romance, sports, and Jeff.. may be real.. God does not change, and neither does His word/truth.
No one gets to choose their own TRUTH. Truth is ONLY found in our 'never-needing-to-EVOLVE God'. His perfect love and grace are our only hope, and His TRUTH is our rock solid foundation. Please share this often with this ever changing/evolving tumultuous doubting world. Our God never changes. He is the creator of all things, and the ONLY savior of our souls. IT MATTERS ETERNALLY what we choose to believe, and who we choose to follow. Blessings Jeff (Evolved to being 20+ lbs overweight) Larson 8/16/2021 This Inconvenient Truth In 2007 (former VP of the USA) Al Gore won an Oscar for his Documentary on Global Warming entitled 'An Inconvenient Truth'. This blog is NOT about Big Al, his Oscar, or this documentary film. But on an awkwardly ironically amusing side note there was a North Pole expedition in 2007 meant to bring attention to Global Warming but was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment. -- read FROSTBITE.. but I digress. But the real inconvenient truth America does not like to hear is.. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD!  Our Oprah Winfrey-esk society passionately believes in respecting all paths to all gods (note the small g) at the expense of compromising honor and worship due to the one TRUE God of our Bibles. Society says each of our paths to 'truth' are equal. Hmmm, well 'your truth' may be your passion, hobby, your so called peaceful center, but the INCONVIENT TRUTH is there is only ONE TRUE GOD. I like the analogy of the sincere mountain climber who summits Long's Peak in Colorado at 14,259′ believing he just climbed the world's tallest mountain, BUT.. in reality world's tallest mountain Everest 29,032′ is in Nepal. Well, sincerely believing in another god aka 'truth' will find you just as WRONG as this mountain climber in Colorado. In both cases YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. Some say "THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH CHRISTIANS!! They are so JUDGEMENTAL!" Well same logic would then damn first grade teachers for teaching 1+1=2 when you want 1+1 to = 37. The above Mt. climbing, and simple math analogy, OR.. the fact I can no longer fit into the same pants I did 20 years ago all face an inconvenience.. TRUTH. note: In my defense I believe they make pants with a 34 inch waist SMALLER now. Maybe it has to do with the metric system?  But back to important truths.. You don't have to be a GENIUS to realize Nature screams that there is a God who was the creator of this world. CREATION was not happenstance, and our universe is NOT the random existence of matter and space…. Our creator is not Buddha, Zeus, or the Kemp’s Cow for you Hindus. It is not the Sister Sun, Mother Moon, or any New Age / Oprah Winfrey wild haired scheme found on a Hollywood Astrology HOTline. The creator of this world and of all things is the God of our Bibles, and may the glory and honor be His and His alone. This is TRUTH no matter if it is convenient or not. To believe anything else is a sad lie, and from the father of lies.  As believers let's celebrate and share this BEAUTIFUL TRUTH of our loving Heavenly Father to a world hell bent (literally) on being inclusive to every nook and cranny 'truth'. There are so many lost in their own secular humanistic LOGIC while attempting to fit the concept of a God in a nice little man sized box. For those who do not believe, I pray you take time to ponder these Biblical Truths ..
 May God bless all our lives with TRUTH.. purpose, and love for God and others.
May this be the source of happiness and contentment and purpose that gives your life meaning like never before. LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS.. leave the rest as details... and by no means an INCONVENIENT TRUTH Jeff (inconveniently truthful in the Back Pew) Larson 1/29/2021 Abraham, home of the WHOPPERI shared recently the Bible story where a mysterious voice saying "If you build it, they will come." happened way before the movie 'Field of Dreams'. This was when God spoke to Noah instructing him to build it (an Ark) and they (the Animals) will come two by two. Next big event IMO in the book of Genesis paralleling pop culture was when the phrase 'Home of the Whopper'. Let me share how this pop culture phrase was coined way before a single Burger King fast food joint existed, and certainly before America's presidential election process. Let me explain.. but first..  ON THE ROAD AGAIN! In Genesis 12 Abram enters the Old Testament story. Abram is maybe a spry 85 years young, his bride Sarai is maybe 70. The Lord tells Abram .. “Road Trip.!!.. pack up the Winnebago”. So Abraham loads a destination of Canaan into his GPS and says goodbye to Sweet Home Haran with Lynard Skynard playing in the background.  HOME OF THE WHOPPER! The next thing you know Abram was in Egypt with his wife Sarai while there was a famine in the land. While in Egypt, Pharaoh spies Abram's wife Sarai who rumor has it was a 'fetching' 70 year old hottie. So Abe tells a little fib that Sarai is his sister as he is afraid they will kill him to take Sarai as their wife. Ok, that is not a white lie this is a WHOPPER of a lie. So Pharaoh takes Sarai into his palace, and treats Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels out of the exchange. side note: I am not sure my wife in Sarai's place would have been such a good sport.  But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. side note 2: While Abraham would become known as a great man of faith, Honest Abe was our 16th president and never confused with this Abram guy pawning his wife off in Egypt.  After Egypt, Abe travels to southern Canaan as a very wealthy man with cattle, silver, and gold. But tension arose between Abram and his nephew Lot because there were simply too many animals for the land to support. So Abe says to Lot, “Let’s not bicker over land. If you choose the land to the left, I will go to the right, and if you choose the land to the right, I will go to the left.” And Lot chooses the land in the direction of Sodom which could have been named LOT VEGAS!  In chapter 14, there were battles, but I gather that military tactics were a bit primitive. One particular lesson learned is still taught in the Soldier’s Field Manual at WestPoint stating a soldier should always avoid the short cut across the TARPITS. During all this time, the Lord often reminds Abraham that he will be blessed by God so that to try to number his descendants will like trying to count the grains of sand on the shore, or the stars in the skies. There was of course the minor problem that AARP collectors Abram and Sarai had no kids. So now the plot thickens as Sarai (the good wife) says to Abram, “Why don’t you sleep with my slave girl Hagar?” I have a couple of Back Pew comments with this part of the story. 1. When I think of Hagar, I think of that Viking cartoon character Hagar the Horrible. 2. My wife has never offered me a slave girl to sleep with! Of course if she did I would say very politely, “Why Mary, thank you very much for this most generous offer, BUT (with the vision of Hagar the Horrible in my head) I’m good.” I may not be a great man of faith like Abram, but my momma didn’t raise NO DUMMY!!  But Abram ignores the tell tale warning signs that this idea is DUMBER-ER than a bag of hammers, and wanders out onto THIN ICE IN THE HOT DESERT and says more than howdy-do to the lovely miss Hagar. Hagar now becomes pregnant by Abram and Sarai lets Abram have it by probably saying something like, “I told you to sleep with her, but not SLEEP with her!” To which Abram so eloquently in his defense says, “Huh? What? But you said!!! I thought I could.... Huh?”  As you can read in chapter 16, this arrangement is nothing you ever see discussed on Focus on the Family, Oprah, or even The Jerry Springer show. These chapters are NOT in the Bible as an example how to model the perfect marriage, but to instead show us God is faithful and caring for Abram and Sarai even when they do really dumb things. Fortunately for all of us, our foolish choices are covered by God’s grace and goodness. In chapter 17, God says to Abram to change his name from Abram, to Abraham. I wonder if this was so that he could start fresh and people would not know he was the guy who lied that Sarai was his sister, and slept with his wife’s slave girl. Sarai also has her named changed to Sarah. Then near the end of the chapter 99 year old Abraham is circumcised. This profound scripture emphatically reminds me not to complain about my own aches and pains. And all men collectively shout AMEN!!.. and .. YOWTCHEE!!  So there you have another story of a very flawed man used by God in great ways. I thank God for His love and grace not dependent on my perfection.
I pray God finds us all faithful in words and deeds and willing to hear God's voice when He calls us. Jeff (my wife is not my sister) Larson 9/25/2020 Truth.. can you handle it? 2020 Q: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God? <pause> A: Hmmm, maybe. What are we talking about, I mean I need some context here before I swear. Ok, I do not believe this type of answer would fly well in a court of law. Truth is truth, and I should not be afraid of the truth. Right? Or can't I handle the Truth? How about outside the court of law where I do not have to swear on a bible? Can I fudge or tweak the truth so it does not look so blessed incriminating? I mean to say.. that check is really in the mail.. almost. :) What if a wife asks her hubby: "Are these pants too tight?" In this case, be truthful.. BUT choose your words wisely so they are not your LAST. On the flip side if a husband asks: "How do I look?" There is a better than 75% chance the hubby will receive the whole (blunt as a 2x4 to the face) truth and nothing but the unfiltered truth.
For all of the above and more truth in love is a beautiful thing. Truth is not always convenient, and it may sting a little or A LOT, but avoiding the truth will not make it go away. In many ways TRUTH PURIFIES. Truth provides light to shadows, and clarity + context to motives, and agendas. Side Note: I believe there will be a harsh judgment some day on today's media that is motivated by agendas and narratives instead of reporting truth. Half truths are in reality a LIE. But also the church (we are the church) are called to share the good news (THE TRUTH) of Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. To not share this gospel message of salvation would be unloving. To share a message that 'Jesus is love and wants to help you' but not share a message that convicts us ALL of sins (yes sins) instead of preaching we are all pretty good folk.. is a false narrative much like the above mentioned media.
 Think about it,, If there is ONE WAY to Heaven through Jesus Christ then we must preach Christ always in our words and deeds. Do not apologize for this truth! If you believe in Heaven and Hell then as family, friend, neighbor, and/or citizen we cannot remain silent when the Truth of Jesus is eternally important. While this subject of deep down nook and crannies of our lives truth feels a bit intrusive it must be a cornerstone to our faith. We should embrace truth in love for ourselves and others, and share the truth the only way to Heaven is Jesus Christ.  My prayer today is for us all to be truthful and loving in word and deed. Remember, 1 Corinthians 13 shares all is meaningless (including Truth) without love. In all things, To God be the glory.
Blessings Jeff (mostly-honest?) Larson 9/2/2020 My Bull in a China Shop Faith I love my God, but during Sunday morning worship let's just say I am not GIFTED .. Please don't ask to me sing, clap, and chew gum at the same time. Our church is big enough that you would not be 'blessed' by hearing my mediocre voice... My lack of a sense of rhythm is concealed well because as I now raise my hands during worship in a low key manner which minimizes my ability to clap along with any song. I mean to say.. We are PROTESTANTS not PENTECOSTALS! note: I am neither making fun of Protestants or Pentecostals here.. I am making fun of ME.. BUT I DIGRESS  But my Bull in a China 'Worship' Shop stylings is NOT my topic for today. The Bull I speak of exists in what I may say, or tweet, or maybe a facebook post. I have the ability to undermine the Gospel message with blunt, biting, and sometimes sarcastic words. AND if the person I am talking with or the group I disagree with I feel disrespects me.. my button gets pushed. This button must be pretty easy to spot and has hair trigger switch. Like usual my disclaimer is .. I am not a bad guy, BUT sharp, and sarcastic words compounded by a frustrated spirit is NOT a fruit of God's Spirit. WHO KNEW?  The Fruit of God's Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, and self control to name a few. Well with this as my measuring stick I stand before you all blurting in my daily email A WITHERED TREE. So back to being a BULL.. how do I stop myself from breaking life? How do I return to being peaceful? I think one of problems is though I break a few things and hurt a few feelings to those close to me,, the bigger damage I often do is crashing around inside my head hurting myself with feelings of failure.. and not allowing for God's Grace to heal me.  All I can do is pick up the pieces and not try to superglue them back together, but make them a matter of prayer. Ask forgiveness from those who I may have injured, and pray for God to intervene in my heart and mind, and a soul to where my bull like manners become peaceful. You know, that Peace that passes all understanding. I don't want today's words to be a downer to any of you BULLS. I pray you will encourage any of you who struggle in your BULL-ish moments to regroup, and return to God where peace is waiting. May God bless, lead and use each of us today DESPITE our frailties, insecurities, frustrations, limitations, and.. lead us through this faith journey without breaking the good China. AND if we do break anything, God's grace is bigger than superglue. hmmm.. I think that should be on a Hallmark Card. Jeff (Bullish in the Back Pew) Larson  PS.. a very big PS: Sharing the Gospel message can be another Bull in the China Shop moment. Not everyone has the gift of evangelism, but we ALL should pray for opportunities to share.
Pray to be used by God to share His light in this dark world. Through conversational testimony found in our words and actions the seeds are planted in those who at this point do not know Jesus. Whether we plant or sow we are all part of God's plan. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Cor. 3:7 8/15/2020 An Inconvenient Truth 2020 No, this email is not about Al Gore, Global Warming, or Big Al’s Oscar Award Winning Documentary. But on an awkwardly ironically amusing side note there was a North Pole expedition in 2007 meant to bring attention to Global Warming but was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment. -- read FROSTBITE.. but I digress. But for me the real inconvenient truth America does not like to hear is.. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD! Our Oprah Winfrey-esk society passionately believes in respecting all gods (note the small g) at the expense of compromising honor and worship due to the one TRUE God of our Bibles.  Believing in another god or no God is just as WRONG WRONG WRONG as sincerely attempting to summit the world's tallest Mt. Everest but actually being on the side of Long's Peak in Colorado which is less than 1/2 as tall as Everest. YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. Some say "THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH CHRISTIANS!! They are all so JUDGEMENTAL!" Well same logic would then damn first grade teachers for teaching 1+1=2 when you want 1+1 to = 37. The above Mt. climbing, and simple math analogy, OR.. the fact I can no longer fit into the same pants I did 20 years ago all face the same inconvenience.. TRUTH. note: In my defense I believe they make pants with a 34 inch waist SMALLER now. <pause> ok, ok.. that is me in denial of another inconvenient truth! You don't have to be a GENIUS to realize Nature screams that there is a God who was the creator of this world.  CREATION was not happenstance, and our universe is NOT the random existence of matter and space…. Our creator is not Buddha, Zeus, or the Kemp’s Cow for you Hindus. It is not the Sister Sun, Mother Moon, or any New Age / Oprah Winfrey wild haired scheme found on a Hollywood Astrology HOTline. The creator of this world and of all things is the God of our Bibles, and may the glory and honor be His and His alone. To believe anything else is a sad lie, and from the father of lies. Truth is Truth.. even when it is INCONVENIENT.  As believers let's celebrate and share this BEAUTIFUL TRUTH of our loving Heavenly Father to a secular world hell bent (literally) on being inclusive to every nook and cranny faith. There are so many lost in their own secular humanistic LOGIC while attempting to fit the concept of a God in a nice little box.
For those who do not believe, I pray you take time to ponder these Biblical Truths ..
May God bless all our lives with TRUTH.. purpose, and love for God and others. May this be the source of happiness and contentment and purpose that gives your life meaning like never before. LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS.. leave the rest as details... and by no means an INCONVENIENT TRUTH Jeff (inconveniently truthful in the Back Pew) Larson 8/10/2020 You can't get there from here Where do you think you are going or 'yer goin' for us rednecks at heart? Honest question that can be asked of most of us. And many times the answer is.. "you can't get there from here." This question holds true on many a road trip where I became lost, or took what I thought was short cut. This is true for many a college graduate looking for a high paying job in Corporate America with a Masters degree in 'Cartoon Art History' with a minor in 'Bagpiping'. Or that mountain climber aspiring to climb Mt. Everest, but afraid to leave his home state of Nebraska. or taking a road trip from California to Hawaii. In all these cases and more.. the answer is .. you can't get there from here. While these may be absurd and hopefully amusing examples, there is a more alarming examples in today's culture.  I observe a concerning trend in church becoming a Sunday social club where we go to be fed/entertained every week but never go deep. We do not devote our lives to God except to be a pretty good person. Not exactly a high calling. Will being a pretty good person get me to Heaven, or does God expect more of me? Where do I think I am going? Heaven? This is not a pointing my finger at anyone else before I point it at myself. Is my life foremost about ME, or is it about my God? Honestly, what is my answer? Umm.. easier to talk about politics in church than my honest commitment to my creator. The following are a few scripture passages, that are convicting and give clarity to this question? Where do I think I am going? I Never Knew You “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Mt 7:21-23 What good is it to love those who love you? “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Lk 6:32-36  So based on the road I have chosen for my life.. am I going to Heaven or not? Am I a true follower of Christ or just another 'church goer'? How about you? It matters eternally what we believe so choose the God of our Bibles. There is no other God. But many are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or simply believe in a 'higher power' and so we all believe basically the same thing, right? I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, Is 45:5 So sincerely wrong is still wrong.  Now you may argue with me that I am wrong, but this is what I believe. So the answer for me to the statement we all believe in basically the same thing is.. If you want to get to Heaven.. You can't get there from here.
So take these words for what it is worth. I am sure I am preaching to the choir for the most part, but even us in the choir need to daily turn to God and consider seriously.. Do I serve Him first and foremost in our lives.. going beyond being a good (church goer) person? And for those not in the choir, I respect where you are at, but prayerfully take to heart the issue of Eternity. It matters what you believe and where you place your faith. Placing your faith in Jesus, and pursuing God first in your life, then with regards to eternity, and Heaven.. You CAN get there from here. May God bless and use us all with our lives for his glory. Amen. Jeff (a little bit lost sometimes) Larson important ETERNITY note: The alternative to not getting to Heaven from here.. is Hell. It is our choice alone. Heaven is the free gift from God to those who place their hope and lives in Him. Hell is the awful other choice we all are allowed to make. There is no home (eternal existence) in between for being a pretty good person. |
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8/16/2022
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