Category: Walk The Talk

Caught between The ROCK and a HARD world

9/8/2018

I have a growing concern for the American Church that we find ourselves caught between THE ROCK and a HARD WORLD.

This world claims Christians are mostly judgmental hypocrites. Weak minded, Insensitive, pious hymn singers who naivly believe in Noah's Ark and other fairy tales. And they LOL believe the Bible is the inherrent word of God.

In response we claim our ROCK is Jesus... and sing 'A Mighty Fortress is our God', but our knees shake as we become instrospective through the world's judging lens instead of God's loving truth.

We apologize and/or hide our views when God's unchanging truths do not fit nicely with our secular humanistic society. We go mostly silent as not to stir the anti-Christian hornet's nest world view. We don't like people to call us names.. who would. So we become like a deer caught in society's pious headlights and honking horns.

This HARD WORLD has a compromised view of life equally cynical of Christians and mocking of our God.

I believe A.W. Tozer once said "The Church is more afraid of offending the world than offending God". I believe that is true.

So the choice is ours. Serve God or appease man. Stand up for God's Truth or attend a Sunday Social club we call church and live our lives as Christians in name only.

Only one life 'twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. - Charles Studd

There I go again.. another not funny blog by a cartoonist. Next time I promise to write about the plight of unicorns who did not RSVP to Noah.

Truth is all is not lost... not in the Church, not in the world. God cares deeply both for his church and for a world that does not know him. This is our opportunity to make a difference not just attending church but being involved as best we can where we can.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col 3:17

Oh we will stumble but get back up again where Jesus is our Rock while living in this Hard World.

I pray as always His church (we the people) turn daily to God, seek Him first,.. love HIm with our lives, serve Him in all that we do, and love and care others like Jesus did. May God find us all faithful. May He bless and use us all in ways that are beyond our dreams and for His Glory only.

Blessings

Jeff

ps, another quick Tozer post that was a good barameter for me to pay attention to.

“Rules for Self Discovery:
1. What we want most;
2. What we think about most;
3. How we use our money;
4. What we do with our leisure time;
5. The company we enjoy;
6. Who and what we admire;
7. What we laugh at.”
― A. W. Tozer

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The Alcatraz of my Mind

8/18/2018

2 Comments

In the process of Photoshop retouching my past cartoons I came across one featuring this important scripture.

2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

With this great scripture in mind, I feel sometimes like I am serving 60 years to life in the Alcatraz of my Mind. To often I find instead of holding every thought captive obedient to Christ I have become become captive to my thoughts. I become a walking talking Abbott & Costello comedy skit where I end up on the wrong side of the county jail bars of my mind.

In these times my weary brain becomes lost in the tasks of another anxious day living in this very broken spinning out of control world leaves me frazzled, weary, and downright .. pouty. Now pouty may be cute when it is my 4 year old granddaughter, but when it is 61 year old ME.. just ask my wife Mary, it's not cute.

So what do I do? I read aloud again 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

This will be my life long process of returning to this scripture truth when my anxious, jealous, lazy, angry, compromised etc etc thoughts occupy the podium in my brain. Christ is my answer.. He is my hope. So here ya go Jesus.. THANKS!

May God bless each of you this day where God's perfect Truth & Love is the answer when your thoughts are have you locked in the cell next to mine on the Alcatraz of your Mind.

Jeff

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Light v Dark Toast

7/30/2018

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I am one of those folks who likes my food ever so slightly overcooked. I like the cheese on my pizza to be golden.. maybe even a 'dark' golden. I like my bagel toasted dark contrasted with a spread of cream cheese. I want it to hear a slight CRUNCH when I bite into it. And I like DUSK where the sun has just dropped peacefully below the western horizon but before the black of night,

Of course choosing dark over light in the weighty matters of bagals and pizza is fine, but in matters of the SPIRIT.. always choose the LIGHT.

This Present Darkness is a Christian novel by Frank Paretti published in 1986 for adults showing a contemporary view on angels, demons, prayer, and spiritual warfare as demons and angels interact and struggle for control in our lives and communities. And though this book was fiction, I believe this battle is real.

Of course there is obvious DARKNESS of this world, but I am surprised by many Churches Frog in the Boiling Pot perspective on life where God is fit into societal norms rather than the other way around as God intends.

"In God We Trust" may be the official motto of the United States of America, but in this world's shadows we move closer to a Godless reality found in Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

How else can explain our society where

Crass is considered clever
Profane is considered Profound
Greed and Envy is in the heart of man
Hatred, War, and Genocide exist
Women are degraded and used via Pornography

The gentle word CHOICE masks the ongoing hollocaust of Aborting babies
LGBT is lauded as normal and
Gender is just another 'selection' on the happy meal of life.

Some items from this list of our world's woes are pitch black dark, but all of them lurk in this land of shadows where Wrong is considered a gray area defined by man rather than God.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3:19-21

So these very words of Jesus make it clear.. It matters what we believe, our choices matter. JESUS WAS NOT TALKIN' TOAST.

So I prayer God finds us IN THE LIGHT, living in obedience to His word, loving and truthful in our words and deeds with others, and never lingering in this world's shadows.

Enjoy this life in the LIGHT.

Blessings

Jeff (dark toast please) Larson

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Too Too Much

7/16/2018

2 Comments

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:5-7

I live in America where moderation is not the modus operandi. We like big, and more, and we supersize whenever possible. Too much for us often is not enough.

I am not saying having nice home, car, etc are bad things at all, but modesty and moderation does not come easy to Americans. IMO

But what if we temper our lives with those 3 verses in Philippians. What if we were known for our moderation, prayerful, and thankful to our God? Then the peace of God that does pass all understanding is there for each of us no matter if we are living check to check or encumbered with the trappings of wealth.

Be poor in Spirit (humble) Mt. 5:3 , faithful to our God and caring of others in the moments that make up your day. Then this whole moderation concept should take care of itself.

May God lead, use, and bless your lives in ways that are beyond your dreams.

Jeff

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I wanna go back to.. EGYPT!

5/16/2018

7 Comments

2018 has started out with many challenges/opportunities for my life.

My employment status has become a bit 'spotty', though I am thankful to start a new job next week once my background check comes back. LOL, what kind of dirt can this background check uncover on a 60 year old, church attending, non drinking, Scandinavian who has been married to the same wonderful woman for almost 34 years, and regularly is seen with his grandchildren? Hmmm.. maybe this is all a front for the Minnesota Mob.. most likely NOT!
Also, my wife and I just bought a Town home near our grown kids and their families. This is a wonderful change but also like any move has come with plenty of work as we settle in.

I add in my penchant for looking back at mistakes in my life including a season where drink was on it's way to ruining all that I had. These regrets are mixed with thankfulness for God's protection and restoration through my bumbles and stumbles.

So sometimes.. like the children of Israel in Exodus.. I want to go back to Egypt. Ok, in my case it would be rural Wisconsin, but the point is I want to go back to a place and time where it was simpler and a chance to redo all that I should NOT HAVE done.

This 'Exodus' from Egypt was filled with miracles, signs, and wonders by the very hand of God was lost on them when their stomachs were heard growling in the wilderness. Their faces were long, stomachs empty, and their memories short. Oh sure God parted the Red Sea so we would not be killed, BUT what has he done for us lately?

When I was younger reading this story of God's deliverance I sometimes shook my head thinking how sad they had such little faith, and such short memories. I would NEVER be so ungrateful, BUT.. upon further review.. I think I sadly would have been among friends.

I would like to say I would be Moses right hand man, I more likely would have been the guy crossing the Red Sea wearing water wings, and a flotation device nabbed back at the Nile YMCA.

I'm so tired but I have too much to do. My trees from the forest vantage point tells me foolishly life will NEVER be better again. I am getting older, my eyesight, hearing, aches and pains, and the grey in my beard remind me of that daily.

I can't do it.. I don't want to do it. Where is God? Can't he see I am unhappy? Can't he see my pouty face? Just ask my wife, my pouty face is hard to miss.

WRITE IT ON A ROCK..
Years ago I heard a sermon at church where our pastor gave the instruction.. To take note of when God answers your prayers in both big and small ways... and WRITE IT ON A ROCK. Meaning make a permanent record of God's providence in our lives to remind us when we are in 'trees from forest mode.'

and finally ..
Trust God with all our hearts and lean not in our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. Pr 3:5-6.

May God bless each of you with his promise of provision even when you cry out "My God my God why have you forsaken me". Wait patiently, remain faithful, stay the course, don't live in the past, and .. cancel that ticket to Egypt.

Blessings

Jeff

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You can't make Milkshakes without Milk

4/26/2018

1 Comment

The author of the book of Hebrews does not mince words when he wrote
.. it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of NOT LISTENING! ... You ought to be teachers by now, yet here you are needing someone to go over the basics on God.. AGAIN! You need MILK, and Milk is for BABIES! Hebrews 5:11-14 (MSG).

BUT then again.. there are plenty of meaningful scriptures exhorting us to have the the faith of a child.

Mt 9:14 (LIV) Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s.

and how about...

Mt 18:2-4 (lIV) Jesus said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. and then Jesus continues.. Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

even Max Lucado chimes in when he wrote in one of his books.. "Play hard, laugh loud and leave the worries to the Father."

Ok God so which is it? Be like a child or grow up? Drink Milk and eat my Wonder Bread, or grill me a T-Bone Steak?

Before God answers that burning question let me take time for some Introspection..

I accepted Jesus into my heart at the age of six while sitting in the Back Pew (both true & ironic) of my home church during Summer Bible School. Score one for faith of a child. BAM!
I was baptized at the age of 14. Score one for the faith of a.. skinny teenager?
I graduated High School and for the next 40 years I wandered like one of the Children of Israel living a life that fell somewhere between becoming the next Billy Graham, and a life of crime. Score one for wandering?

They say When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then by my reasoning.. if I have a glass of milk.. make a Milkshake?

There you have it.. I am neither profound nor insightful all in one simple 'Jeffism'.

Seriously, I know God wants me to trust and love Him like as a child I did my own mom & dad.

Also God wants me to grow up, and not end up a spiritual baby or even a lazy spiritual teen living in my Heavenly Father's basement playing video games while this hurting world is in need of spiritual grown ups (men & women of God).

Love God with all their heart soul and mind and others as themselves. Spending time in God's word daily and in a constant attitude of prayer/conversation with God is the two step formula in becoming a spiritual grown up.

May God bless each of you in your faith journeys. Trust in God with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Jeff (Vanilla Milk Shake Drinking in the Back Pew) Larson

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Always Winter, never Christmas

4/17/2018

6 Comments

- JEOPARDY-
Contestant1: "I'll take COLD for $500"
Alex Trebec: “It is winter, and has been for ever so long…. always winter, but never Christmas.”
- beep, beep!
Contestant1: "What is Narnia?"
Alex Trebec: "I'm sorry, that is not the answer we were looking for."
beep, beep!
Contestant2: "What is April 2018 in Minnesota."
Alex Trebec: "That is CORRECT!"

My wife and I recently bought a townhome on March 29, 2018. That first evening the deck was clear of snow, and the ground was finally looking like after a long cold bitter Winter.. Spring may be around the corner.

Well that joke was on us as two days later (March 31) while we were busy with painting, removing wallpaper and tearing out old carpet. We were hit with first a freezing rain, then a heavy wet snow.

As a winter encore the following weekend April 6th when we started loading our moving truck it was 8 degrees! Not 58, 48, 38, or even 28.. just 8. EIGHT!

Thankfully friends and family with warm hearts and strong backs made the move a success

Over the next week as we were unloading boxes and arranging rooms, the snow was melting and again Spring seemed right around the corner.

Well actually around that corner we found Mother Nature spewing out more winter rage starting on April/Friday the 13th where we transitioned from freezing rain to a full blown blizzard resulting in 18 inches of snow and the winds were I believe 25-30mph. Yeah Spring?

So again, what is always winter, but never Christmas. April in Minnesota!

Ok I do realize Spring will come eventually. In fact my wife Mary told me last night the forcast is for the temperature to be in the 60s all next week. That would be nice, and I trust my wife, but.. Mother Nature? Not so much.

I know sometimes in everyones lives it feels like 'always winter but never Christmas'. Not the go sledding, or skiing kind, but a cold, dark existence where literal and figurative storms rage threatening to destroy everything.

The loss of a job, marriage tensions, divorce, sickness, death, depression, anxiety, and a host of other factors in our lives that are more threatening than an April blizzard. The answer to all these storms and more is the Jesus who calms the seas.

My wife and I have both learned that the pursuit of God through quiet times reading our bibles, a good Christian book, and/or time spent in prayer is where Jesus calms these storm in our lives.

We call it doing our magic.. I know, I know magic may be a bad Christian analogy, but being close to God, and focusing my eyes on Him instead of any raging storm gives us peace all while the waves may remain high and the winds whistling. It is not magic, but instead the Spirit of God opening our eyes and giving us hope.

One last thing about always winter, but never Christmas. This world appears to be always winter and never Christmas.. even in the deserts of the Middle East.

Chaos reigns in this world of natural disasters, and even more so in the hearts of men who do not know God. For this too, I pray to Jesus for revival in the heart of men in women in America and throughout the world.

Only with Jesus will this world experience hope in the storms that threaten to consume us.

May God bless each of your lives today. You may live in sunny Florida where it feels like always winter and never Christmas in your heart and/or circumstance, but our God can give you the peace that passes all understanding and/or storm.

Know that God is so good and with you even in the storms and trials of this broken world.

Blessings

Jeff (Ready4Spring) Larson

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Persecution then and now

3/3/2018

2 Comments

Persecution for my faith? I think the closest thing I encounter to persecution for my faith is going to church on a miserable cold MinneFROZEta Sunday morning while 'Old Man Winter' mocks me for leaving my warm home to worship with the frozen faithful.

Or maybe the fact that I am a Green Bay Packer fan living in the state of Minnesota Viking fans. Besides that.. persecution is a little on the light side in my life.

Persecution 2000 years ago looked much different. After the first Christian movement begins at Pentecost in Acts 2 the church grows. In response the religious establishment of the day is outraged and fights them for the next 26 chapters of Acts.

This first century church perseveres through REAL PERSECUTIONS that make 'Minnesota Winter Windchill' feel like a warm summer breeze.

Peter and John are imprisoned for what I like to call 'inciting a revival',

Stephen is stoned to death as the first Martyr for the Christian Faith.

Then Paul enters the scene and is blinded, beaten, stoned, snake bit, shipwrecked, and logged more jail-time than Otis from the old Andy Griffith show.

Now fast forward to today .. I am sitting in my warm home in a country that has allowed me freedom to worship. While the outside temperature may go below zero in the Minnesota winter months I have my gas fireplace warming me as I type.

But.. is Persecution on the rise? I do see a fast moving trend in the news that alarms me where traditional Christian values are under attack.

Recently Jo Behar from the TV show 'The View' called Vice President Mike Pence mentally ill because he prays to Jesus for direction for our country.

Pro-life, traditional marriage stances are demonized as political hate speech by the ever growing 'progressive' profane, vulgar lifestyles of the 'rich and shameless' .

The body of Christ should be unwavering and unapologetic of the gospel message. If we really believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Jesus. Jo 14:6, then shame on us as believers when we are silent.

Our words and actions should be the evidence we are living out God's two greatest commandments. Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and care for others in need and love them as ourselves.

May God find us all faithful and full of His Love, and in all things we do. I pray God's people do not live to please man but instead to honor God.

To God be the Glory!

Blessings,

Jeff (persecuted by Viking fans) Larson

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Good enough..

2/10/2018

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I am a pretty good guy. I did not keep a good tally of my bad behaviors versus good choices on my pocket abacus , but I still attest I am 'pretty good and not so bad'.

But no matter how good or bad I am, getting into Heaven is always about God's Grace and not about my relative goodness. His grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12:9

So in my case, being pretty good never felt so.. good.

The bible is loaded with stories of God's Grace and hope for both those of us in the pretty good guys club, and also those falling way short of.. pretty good. Our God's love and His patience is great, and there is unlimited grace for all who would receive it.

The Psalms is a great book of the Bible filled with poetic words of worship sharing God's love and protection for ALL those who choose to follow him. ie The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.. Psalms 23
Then in Luke 23:39-43 the story of the thief of the cross who repents while dying on a cross, and Jesus comforts him with the words "today you will be with me in paradise." note: the thief was not such a pretty good guy.
In Matthew 20 Jesus shares the story of the owner of the vineyard pays the workers who arrived at the end of the work day the same as those who worked all day. God's Grace is never prorated. It is full and complete not dependent on your stage or station in life. God's Grace is far reaching, and complete for ALL who will receive it.
and then.. in Luke 15 the Father welcomes home his prodigal son with open arms after a time sharing room & board with literal pigs. When the son returned his Father was not interested in the broken path his son had chosen, but instead rejoiced that his son was finally home.

So rest easy there is no entrance exam to get into Heaven. You will not need to know the names of at least 10 of the 12 disciples, or know the names of the sons of Nahor in Genesis 22. hint: Their names rhyme with fuzz.

At the Pearly Gates you will not be greeted by a Gate Keeper suspecting you of smuggling in contraband (ie devils food cake?).

The only question asked in 'Pearly Gate Redneck speak' will be "if yer kin yer in."

note: This email is not a battle cry for mediocrity, or to strive to only be 'good enough', but only to clarify our goodness is tentative when compared to our perfect creator.

This is all GREAT NEWS for all of us. From the thief on the cross, to any Jeff on his office chair, and everyone else.

Blessings,

Jeff (Good Enough) Larson

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Evil all the Time (rr)

2/8/2018

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The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5

This was the report card for mankind by God just before He commanded Noah to build an ark. The letter grade for having the inclinations of your heart being only evil all the time got them a.. F! They failed! Mankind did not even show up for class or open a book (figuratively speaking). There was no extenuating circumstances to consider so get ready, and be sure to update your flood insurance policy cuz it's gonna be getting wet.

Evil all the time.. what does that even look like.? I would guess there would be your garden variety envy, greed, racism, and hatred fueled by a self indulgent 'hell bent' looking for the next high' attitude in drink, sex, and/or any other means imaginable. Evil all the time.. folk are gluttons for all forms of pleasure with no boundaries. Their motto was .. 'What happens in Genesis 6:5, stays in Genesis 6:5.'.

Now fast forward to our modern lives. I cannot imagine a society where evil all the time is there every inclination. <insert reflective pause> Unless.. I turn on the evening news. Then I might declare .. 'whoomp there it is.'

Maybe 'evil all the time' is an unfair assessment life today, but we are exposed to a very secular 24/7 stimulus overload with very little time left over for worship of our God. This is not the road God intends for us. We see hatred, envy, anger, greed, and more fuel theft, murder, wars, and more. The internet is a great source for answers and information that is just a click away. But this same internet is a cesspool of depraved, violent and truly dark sites that scream to us evil and is just a click away.,

Of course evil all the time is not a description of the church and God's people and if someone is outside the church just to be clear does not make someone evil.. BUT I see society as a whole being like 'frog in the boiling pot' unaware of how hot the water is. Cooked in what he thinks is a Jacuzzi while drinking a pitcher of margaritas.

Insert REVIVAL here!

BUT.. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

I know 2 Chronicles 7:14 was written a long time ago to the nation of Israel, but I believe the promise to restore and heal our lands is true today... and not just for Israel.

So what if.. our nation sought the face of God? Then God would maybe paraphrase/revise Genesis 6:5.

The Lord saw how great the goodness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only to love GOD and care for others all the time. Genesis 6:5 (revival edition)

May God bless each of you today in your pursuit of God and for a revival that changes the world.

Jeff

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