We are in a unique condition as we read this material, a condition that is temporary but very significant, a condition that, in all of eternity, we shall only experience once. We are as we are because God has created us to be so. He has chosen to create us to be, at this moment, spirit beings that temporarily inhabit a human body. We will not be forever as we are now. A day will come when each of us will end this human life experience and we will go on to another experience of life called eternal life. But, for the moment, we are living in the human experience of life.

During our human experience we have spiritual experiences because we are spirit beings in our essence. The part of us that really matters is our spirit.

There is now a part of us that says with God, “I AM.” We could go on, but our point today is not to do deep theological exposition on the subject, although we pray to have piqued some interest along the way that may lead to deeper study, but to lay the groundwork for establishing a different way of seeing the mundane of life. After all most of what we do appears to be mundane. Perhaps by lifting our eyes to the infinite we can learn to see the mundane differently. And if we learn to see the infinite in the mundane, then the mundane will never be truly mundane to us again.

Our great need is to see God in the mundane. Our failing is that we tend to only look for Him in the extraordinary or the obviously spiritual realms of life. Because we do, we miss so much!

God uses the ordinary circumstance of life to reveal His extraordinary glory and grace.

Where is He when we spill our coffee? He is there, telling us to laugh at ourselves, that it is no big deal. He is using the circumstance to build the character of Jesus in us, to conform us to His image. Circumstances reveal our inner selves. Our reactions to them allow God to show us our need for Him and to experience our unity with Him, if we will let Him.

Where is God in a demanding customer? Why doesn’t He just handle it when we need Him to? Why does He allow us to hire brothers-in-law who He knows won’t work out?

Can you begin to get a sense of the difference it would make if we could learn to see the glory of God in the moment?

The basis for all discontent and all unhappiness is unwillingness to be content in the present moment.

Joy, peace, contentment, love, happiness and every good thing exist only in the moment. Life in this human form is composed of a series of frustratingly variable trials and problems, interrupted by momentary respites of serendipitous glimpses of grace. No one gets a pass. The rain falls on the just and the unjust and the sun shines on wicked and good alike.  Most days are a combination of problems and trials galore with God always present, and His glory always just a choice away.

Victor Frankl was a Jewish man sent to the Nazi concentration camp at Aushwitz during WW II. He made a profound discovery during the horrible trial of deprivation and torture that he experienced there. He realized that he was helpless at the hand of his captors in all ways save one. They could take away everything material, they could torture his body, and they could kill him if they chose. But they could never take away his freedom to choose his response to what they did to him. He survived, and after the war taught others about what he learned to call the moment between action and reaction. It is in this moment, he taught, brief as it may be, that we choose our reaction. We own that moment. No one can take that moment from us.

Now, if Victor Frankl could use that moment to choose his reactions to the brutality being forced upon him and survive, could we learn to use it to see the glory of God in our moment in the midst of the tests and trials of this human life? We can, indeed we can. And as we do, life is transformed, changed in an instant from mundane to sublime.

Practice taking God into the present moment. For the next week or so, stop in the middle of something and mentally realize that, at this moment, you are One with God. You in Him and He in you. Let His glory overcome the circumstance and capture the moment. It’s all we have and He is all we need.

First, the style of music that is dominant in the “seeker” or “emergent” churches; was it developed in the church and taken into the world, or was it developed in the world and brought into the church? You know what I mean; the driving drum beat, amplified guitars, strutting “praise leaders”, music so loud that you can’t hear the person next to you singing repeated over and over and over and louder each time? Where did all that come from?

Second, the dress that we see most common in the churches today, you know, pastors in jeans with jelled hair, and their shirts unbuttoned, women and teeny-boppers with all they have out for all to see etc., was that developed in the church and adopted by the world, or is it the other way around?

And, as we watch church attendance decline, and see out nation sliding further and further into amoral “whatever”-  my question is “how’s it workin’ for ya?”  Think we’re OK? Headed in the right direction?

Do you really think that the way to win the world is to bring it into the church? Really?

Of course some writers speak more clearly than others and seem to have a discernment that resonates within one in a special way. One such for me has always been A.W. Tozer. I have read much if not all of his published material over 30+ years and found him to be one of the most influential and reliable in terms of his commitment to and exposition of a Biblical, Christ-centered world-view. I commend him to any sincere follower of Jesus and doubt that any will be disappointed with their effort.

As an example, let me quote from his daily devotional “Renewed Day-By-Day”;

“A Compromise: The Church Must Change”

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine… and they wil turn away their ears from the truth… II Timothy 4:3,4

“Any evangelism which appeals by common interests and chatter about current events seeks to establish a common ground where the sinner can feel at home is as false as the altars of Baal ever were.

Every effort to smooth out the road for men and to take away the guilt and embarrassment is worse than wasted; it is evil and dangerous to the souls of men!

One of the most popular of current errors, and the one out of which springs most of the noisy, blustering, religious activity in evangelical circles, is the notion that as times change the church must change with them. Christians must adapt their methods by the demands of the people. If they want 10 minute sermons, give them 10 minute sermons! If they want pictures, give them plenty of pictures! If they like stories, tell them stories!

Meanwhile, the advocates of compromise insist that “The messgae is the same, only the method changes.”

“Whom the gods would destroy they must first make mad,” the old Greeks said, and they were wiser than they knew. The mentality which mistakes Sodom for Jerusalem and Hollywood for the Holy City is too gravely astray to be otherwise than a judicial madness visited upon Christians for affronts committed against the Spirit of God!”

Kind of leaves you wondering how he really felt doesn’t it? That’s one of the things I love about Tozer, he never does that, never tries to please or cater to feelings, or to please the middle of the bell curve of the contemporary culture. His clear call is always to “the upward call of God in Christ.” The lukewarm Christian never want to go there and always resist one who does. It will never be popular to truly follow Jesus and if popularity is your goal you will inevitably compromise with the clear teaching of Jesus to gain it.

But if you, like I, are tired of playing church and long for real and faithfully fruitful relationship with our Lord, you can do much worse that take a dose of Tozer daily along with a double dose of the Gospels. Focus on just the red letters for a season. Listen to the words of Christ first every day, and then take a shot of Tozer to chew on it. Digest if you will. It can transform your life.

Oh, and by the way, A.W. died in 1963. Wonder what he’d say today?

So, how’s it really working for us? Do you feel safer, more secure, and more happily prosperous than you did 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 20? 40? 50?  Are we experiencing a “kinder, gentler” culture?

How is our public education system working? 50 years ago we were number 1 in the world. No one would dare to claim that today. Most estimates rank us in the 20s somewhere. Are we getting better?

How about our economy? 50 years ago we were the richest lender-nation in the world. Today we are the world’s greatest debtor-nation, our debt growing every time congress is in session. (Republican or Democrat)

This is progress? How the mighty have fallen! And where will the bottom be? And how did this happen?

Here is my take. It all started in the Garden of Eden and accelerated greatly when in 1960-61 the Supreme Court took God out of our public  schools. This opened the door to resisting ultimate authority and the rebellion against all authority of the 60s, including the sexual revolution fueled by the pill and resulting in the objectification of women. Sexual liberation brought none of the hoped for benefits to women and actually deprived them of the respect of men and severely damaged the integrity of the family unit. Men were freed from the responsibility of parenting children they fathered when aborting (murdering) unwanted children was legalized and amazingly recognized as a constitutional right by the Supreme Court. A society that accepts the killing of babies is not a “good society.” God was not considered to be a part of the decision to grant the right of a woman to murder her unborn baby either legally or morally.

Through the 60s and 70s all measures of societal health trended down leading to the greed and immoral public behaviors of leaders in government, business, and the church of the 80s and 90s which expands and continues to this day. Obscene rappers and immoral entertainers have become our “heroes” and the definers of acceptable behavior. Unwed and homosexual procreation are accepted and our vice-president just proclaimed that homosexual marriage will soon become the law of the land. (Elton John’s having a baby!)

We have lost shame. We have lost extrinsic standard. We are losing hope for a better tomorrow.

This is all the inevitable result of ignoring the truth of a statement made by Fyodor Dostoevsky when he said “Without God anything is permissible, crime is inevitable.” Our Founders knew this to be true.

John Adams said: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

George Washington echoed: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable parts.”

John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence is quoted: “Corruption of morals make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten material together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual.”

Has crime increased or decreased? How many prisoners do we have locked up as a percentage of our population today compared to 50 years ago? What is your chance of being a victim of violent crime today versus 50 years ago?

I could go on but it would be purposeless. The obvious fact is are that, when any honest person looks at the last 50 years they will see serious deterioration in our national moral standard which has led to the devastation of every measure of societal health.

Wonder how we have so lost our moral compass? If you want a clue go to http://www.barna.org/culture-articles/462-six-megathemes-emerge-from-2010 and get a sense of what happened to the church in 2010 and possibly http://buckjacobs.com/think-about-this-two-huge-flaws for a short discussion of the two critical flaws that have contributed mightily to our current situation.

There is only one possible recourse to reverse our slide from a culture of hope to a culture of ever increasing despair – repent and turn to God. And if we who claim to follow Jesus won’t or don’t lead our culture to a better place – who will? (II Chronicles 7:14)

And, we are here to do special things that He had in His mind before He even made the Earth. (Ephesians2:10) Ultimately how we understand and apply this truth will determine our success or failure as Christian people. So many are deceived to believe that God has us here to “enjoy” this life. This is a totally false paradigm. That there are joys and some enjoyment in this life is a reflection of God’s loving nature and His grace, but we are here to work. We are here to serve Him and to produce a return

The way it all works is this: If we live as God intends us to, He will provide all we need to sustain life in the place in the world He intends for us. This place, and by place we mean the combination of location, station, vocation, and reputation, is the place where our unique blend of gifting and calling will be maximally fruitful in His Kingdom, which means to produce the highest return. This place is our “eternal sweet-spot.” This place is where we are able to return the greatest measure on His investment in us. For each of us there is that one true place and what is exciting is that any of us can find it. God will not hide it and tease us; He wants us to be and to function in our eternal “sweet-spot” far more than we can imagine.

There are a couple of keys we need to mention: First, remember that we said that “IF we live as God wants us to live?” Well, that’s a big IF. We have to choose to do so. We can all do it but we all won’t. It will only happen as the result of a conscious choice. Not choosing to live as God wants us to live is the same as choosing not to. Choosing to live the way God wants us to live will mean that we choose not to live the way the world tells us to live. It means that we will choose to accept God’s values and priorities for our lives and reject those of the world. Only if we see life through the lens of an eternal perspective will we choose God and His way in life. A godly life will by definition be a counter-cultural life. Not all of us are or will be willing to make the choices that we are called to make in order to live as God wants us to.

Let’s go back now and talk about investment opportunity. Remember we have said that IF we live as God wants us to live that He will provide all we need to sustain us in that place which we have called our eternal sweet spot. That sweet spot can be anywhere. It can be found in the very highest places of society or the very lowest.  Our sweet spot is, for us, the place where the highest return can be found. God will keep us there if we are willing. Remaining in the sweet spot requires no effort on our part in terms of provision, God will always provide all we need to do all He wants. Living in God’s sweet spot is His responsibility if we are willing to live there. Living anywhere else becomes our responsibility and that is where we find the stress and struggle in life. If we knowingly or unknowingly stray from our eternal sweet spot God is honor bound to try to guide us back into it. He has designed us to be nowhere else and, because of His love for us, will do all He can to encourage us back to our sweet spot if we move away from it. His correction is what the Bible calls chastening and it increases in intensity in proportion with our deviation from His highest and best for us. It manifests in an inner tension and the loss of the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) Chastening is always designed to correct our orientation back to our sweet spot.

 A biblical example of living in the sweet spot is found in the parables of the Minas in Luke and the Talents in Matthew.  In both the returns that the faithful servants earned was measured and the servants with the highest return were commended. The master in the parables represents Jesus and we are the servants. In Luke Jesus used the mina to represent the equal opportunity we all are given to seek and live in our sweet spot. In Matthew our Lord used the talents to represent the different packages of gifts, talents, resources, and opportunities that we individually receive that are designed for creating the maximum return as we live in our eternal sweet spot. Both parables tell us that our Lord is extremely interested in the return He receives from His investment in us. His investment in us is death on the cross in our place. When He did that He invested Himself for us. Our investment opportunity begins with giving ourselves back to Him and it continues as we live for Him in the sweet spot that He has designed for us. As we live in the sweet spot we produce much fruit (His return on His investment) and prove to be His disciples. If we live out of the sweet spot our fruitfulness diminishes to the degree we err and His return is lowered.

 If He chooses to give us excess to what we need to stay in our sweet spot we have the additional investment opportunity of releasing it to the use of His Kingdom. This is the kind of investment Jesus meant when He told us not to lay up treasures on Earth but to lay them up in heaven. In fact, the definition of  mammon might be the excess of what we need to keep us in our eternal sweet spot. What we need to keep us in our sweet spot can be properly called sustenance; it isn’t mammon it is just utilitarian to God’s purpose in our lives. Jesus told us that we couldn’t love God and mammon. And if we define mammon as what we have been given beyond what we need to do all God asks the best thing that we can do with it is invest it in God’s business by releasing it to do Kingdom work. The returns are eternal when we do. Keeping for our own use that which God gives us in excess of what is required to live in our sweet spot is actually hoarding. When we hoard something we love it in a sense and we hoard it only because we don’t believe that God will give us enough more of it to sustain us or keep us where He wants us to be. (Hoarding should not be confused with appropriate savings that are a necessary part of out sweet spot.)

 In light of all this we can see the tremendous need to know what our sweet spot is and to stay in it. Truthfully our eternal destiny depends on it. We have each been created by God to do specific and important things in very important and strategic places. When we live in those places and do those things we fulfill our eternal destiny and provide to our Father the highest return on His investment. This truly represents our investment opportunity and His.

 If you are confused concerning your sweet spot or any of the concepts of this segment, the place to get clarity is in intimate questioning of God. Intimate questioning can only be a part of an intimate relationship so begin there. Ask Him. No wise person wants to experience a poor return or miss an investment opportunity.

 Check yourself. In a quiet time ask yourself:

1. Is my investment opportunity being fully realized?
2. If your answer is yes, ask what you need to do to maintain or increase it
3. If your answer is no, begin a process of change by asking God why.

 Are you living in or heading surely toward your eternal sweet spot?

1. If your answer is “Yes,” press on!
2. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know” begin to ask God where it is and how to get there.

 Is your relationship with God intimate enough for you to believe that you can truly answer these questions?

1. If your answer is “Yes”, press on and don’t let it slip!
2. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know”, are you content to continue as is?
3. If your answer is “No” or “I don’t know”, what might you change that could change the answer?
4. When will you make the change? 

“What one generation tolerates, the next embraces.”

“What we do in moderation our children will do in excess.”

“ Our tolerance and silence has given silent permission for morality and common sense to be abdicated!”

“Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority of elitist snobs, and rabidly promoted by a corrupted and unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t–d by the clean end.”

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”– Gerald R. Ford

“Calling an illegal alien an ‘undocumented immigrant’ is like calling a drug dealer an ‘unlicensed pharmacist’.”

“Some things are so foolish that only intellectuals will believe them.”

Facts are not a problem for the intellectual elite, they simply ignore them and ask for more money to apply to problems that their half-baked ideology has failed to solve. They refuse all responsibility for the failure of their ideas and simply get louder and nastier  in shouting at common sense. I.e. our educational system that has been in their hands for over 50 years has “progressed” from the finest in the world to off the list of the finest! Way to go smart guys!

Just a few simple words to start your week!

This piece was written by “Anon”, a pastor’s wife, whom I wish that I could credit. I think that it is spot on. 

“And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land
called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, and their
will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that
person known as “The One.”

He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He
hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you.” My lack
of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my
association with evil doers are of no consequence. I shall save you
with hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the
land that he who proceeded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation,
and that all he has built must be destroyed. And the people rejoiced,
for even though they knew not what “The One” would do, he had promised
that it was good; and they believed. And “The One” said ” We live in
the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah! Change is good!”

Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats.” And the
people said “Sock it to them!” “And redistribute their wealth.” And
the people said, “Show us the money!” And then he said, ”
redistribution of wealth is good for everybody.”

And Joe the plumber asked, ” Are you kidding me? You’re going to
steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??” And “The One”
ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.
One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?” And she was
banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and
having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with
radical terrorists?” And “The One” said, “Simple. I shall sit with
them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they
will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!” And the people
said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons
into free cars for the people!”

Then “The One” said “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.” And one,
lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.” So “The One”
said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”
And the people said, “Hallelujah! Show us the money!”
Then “The One” said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell
your homes!” And the people yawned and the slumping housing market
collapsed. And He said. “I shall mandate employer-funded health care
for every worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every
person unlimited healthcare and medicine and transportation to the
clinics.” And the people said, “Give me some of that!”
Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”
And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”

Then “The One” said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and
electricity rates will skyrocket!” And the people said, “Coal is
dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part
about higher electric rates.” So “The One” said, Not to worry. If
your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out.
Just sign up with the ACORN and your troubles are over!”

Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s
grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches,
free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing…” And
the people said, “Hallelujah!” and they made him king!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and
ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others
simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto
a rock dropped from a cliff.
The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a
crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.

Then “The One” said, “I am the “the One”- The Messiah – and I’m here
to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have
enough!” But our foreign trading partners said unto Him. “Wait a
minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have
to pay more… And “The One” said, “Wait a minute. That is
unfair!!” And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic
programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and
a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”

And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?” But yea
verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon
him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation
was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or
shelter or hope. And the Change “The One” had given them was as like
unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that
consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish,
“give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!” But it was too
late, and their homeland was no more.”

You may think this a fairy tale, but it’s not.
It’s happening RIGHT NOW


_ ]]> http://buckjacobs.com/the-one-by-anon/feed 4 http://buckjacobs.com/think-about-this-two-huge-flaws?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=think-about-this-two-huge-flaws http://buckjacobs.com/think-about-this-two-huge-flaws#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:51:37 +0000 Buck Jacobs http://buckjacobs.com/?p=321 There are two basic flaws in out current Christian paradigm and practice that have allowed America, and by extension the world, to slide closer and closer to moral rot and decay. This post will be short. I just want you to think deeply about what you see as you participate in or observe the contemporary Christian church. These flaws are so severe that they must be totally reversed if we are ever to see the renewal or revival or restoration of our nation. The problems are spiritual, not economic or political and the slippery slope deepens almost daily.

Flaw number one is the paradigm that the members of the church exist to equip the pastors for the work of ministry. They are do this by bringing their tithes into the “storehouse” and building ever larger and more ornate storehouses. The beautiful storehouses will attract the lost and they will want to come visit the beautiful storehouse and be saved. The lost will become saved and then will help the building of even more ornate storehouses. This paradigm is exactly backwards from the true model which says that the pastors and leaders are given to the Church to equip the members to do the work of ministry as they “go into all the world.”

Flaw number two is that the Church needs to bring the current culture of the world into the church rather than taking the Church into the culture of the world. Again, exactly backwards from reality of Biblical model and truth. Christians are to be “salt” and “light” not sponges.

These  maladjustment’s have produced a compromised and powerless church. Think not? Get a grip. Read on.

I know that many of you will be saying; “Yes, but what about the wonderful mega-churches that are growing and prospering? Aren’t they they way of the future? Isn’t the “emergent church” the new way of doing church.”

Is it? Think about this – if we were to add together all the attendees of all the mega-churches and emergent churches together I doubt there would be a total of a million attendees. And if we use George Barna’s statistic to measure the true believers (those having a Christ-centered worldview) out of the total attendees we end up with a fraction of those who attend, say 10% . Statistically this says that there are less than 10% (100,000) of  1 million real believers out of three hundred and fifty million in our population. That’s ,0035.  Statistically insignificant. and that’s what the church has become in contemporary American culture, insignificant. Quibble with the numbers if you want to but even if you double or triple them the resultant powerless and insignificance won’t change. All the result of the two basic flaws. Think about it. What has to change?

It wasn’t always this way for me. I have known the emptiness that comes from following the world’s system of hedonistic materialism. I have set meaningless goals and accomplished them over and again without ever gaining lasting satisfaction or peace through the processs At 30 I was living in a villa north of Rome, Italy having surpassed every financial goal that I had ever had, yet I was empty and unfufilled. I knew there had to be more but didn’t know what it was.  

How about you? What do you see looking out at the coming year? What are you hoping for? What needs to change in 2010 to make it a better year for you than 2009? More stuff? A raise? A romance?

This will be just a short post but I want to do two things. First, to remind you that, if nothing changes nothing changes, and if in your heart you aren’t where you want to be at the start of this New Year, and not excited about what you see looking back, something has to change or 2010 will be a reflection of 2009. I’m not talking about the normal New Year’s resolutions type stuff. We both know that 99% of them don’t live to see February. I’m talking about the deep inner changes that produce a truly better life, not just a more prosperous life or a healthier life. Are you happy with who you are and where you are heading? I pray that you are but if not, what has to change?

I’ve learned the hard way that happiness exists on the inside and has little to do with what’s outside of us. When we depend on what’s outside for our happiness it is always threatened, we can always lose it. If it’s an inner thing no one can steal it or take it f rom us. If our happiness depends on another person it is never secure. (unless of course that person is Jesus Christ who never changes!) Human people always change and happiness that depends on human relationships is always vulnerable.

For me it was a change from the inside out that was the start. I gave my heart and life to Jesus in 1973 and told Him that if He would forgive my sin and wanted to lead me in His way that I would give it up to Him and do whatever He wanted with the rest of it. That was 36 years ago and the very best deal I ever made! If you have never done the deal with Jesus there couldn’t be a better way to start the New Year.

But even if you have done the deal and know Him you may need to make some changes to know Him better. If so you know it and you also know what I’m talking about. He’ll help you change what needs to change, just ask Him.

The great news for 2010 is that He is real, He loves you, and He is calling to all who will listen. If life going forward doesn’t look as exciting to you as it does to me what you need is more of Jesus and less of the world. That fits no matter where we are. young or old, new Christian, old saint, or lost sinner. Jesus is the key to life abundant now and forever. Trust Him more in 2010 and it will be a great year!

I care about and prefer small government and low taxes and a strong national defense but I’m not passionate about them. I would easily vote for a pro-life Democrat over a pro-choice Republican. Those are my choices and I will live with them. I’m disgusted with self-serving politicians period. I don’t like being lied to the way we have been and don’t care who knows it. But politics isn’t the answer anyway.

The thing that I care about above all others is The Kingdom of God. I am a citizen of that Kingdom and belong to the Church of The Firstborn there. I’m only here for a short time on assignment as Ambassador for Christ so the amount I pay in taxes etc. is important to me, but not most important. Living my life in this world as a citizen of heaven is what I care about. Above all other considerations, God and His way in life is what matters. I know that I’m different and not worried what others think of me. We are all accountable for our choices and I’m comfortable with mine.

I have a Statement of Purpose that I wrote in 1992 to help me keep my eye on the ball and to remind me of what is most important to me. Some of you might benefit from seeing it and I hope that, if you haven’t done one for yourself yet, that mine might encourage you to do so. It’s been a great help to me. God bless you and Merry Christmas!

A Statement of Purpose

Buck Jacobs – Jan. 1992

My purpose is: To be used up for God as I completely fulfill His plan for my life, and to honor God through obedience in allowing Him to live His Life through me as; Husband (Jerusalem), Father (Judea and Samaria), Grandfather & Minister  (To the ends of the Earth)

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To honor God through obedience to His Word and His Spirit in life situations.

As Husband –

Loving Bonnie unconditionally, sacrificially, as Christ loves His Church. Praying for her. Meeting her needs for affirmation, security, and freedom to be herself.

As Father –

To Beth, Sarah, and Leah by loving and communicating with them, affirming them, and, as far as I am able, modeling for them an example of a heart hard after God. To share with what I have with them.

As Grandfather –

To be a godly grandfather for Jake, Garrit, Aubrey, Jay, Mallory, and Les – staying close to them and encouraging them to know that God loves them by showing them His love through me.

As Minister -

To serve the Body of Christ as a minister of encouragement and faithful commitment. To love the Body, to minister wholeness and against sectarianism.

To be an example of a Christian citizen. To be involved with Christian candidates and to avoid being entangled with people or causes that do not represent Jesus Christ.

To steward a Christian business that lives and models what it teaches and goes where God sends it.

To be a faithful friend and relative, attempting to see the good in others and to put their interests ahead of my own. To always speak the truth, hopefully in the love of Christ. To faithfully point them to Jesus as the answer to all of life’s problems.

To share faithfully with them my failures as well as my successes.

To encourage them to have a daily quiet time with Jesus.