WORD From The Woods


1 John 4:1-6
     “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”


     In this passage, John talks about testing the spirits. This can apply to actual spirits whether good or evil, but I think what he was really getting at was teachers and what the spirit or “heart” of their message was. Just like today, in John’s day false teachers were all over and their message could spread rapidly and lead many astray. I think this is an exponentially bigger problem today because of the technology we have at our fingertips. The very words I’m typing right now have the potential to travel literally around the world in a matter of minutes via the world wide web.  Many of us in the timber industry have satellite radio in our trucks or machines because the FM radio reception can be pretty spotty out in the sticks. Things like satellite radio are awesome things and have great potential for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, but they can also spread false teaching just as fast. This is all the more reason that we must develop good discernment skills as followers of Christ, so that we can test all things and know the difference between good and evil. Just because someone says they’re teaching a message from God’s word doesn’t mean they’re teaching truth. I’m gonna pick on Joel Osteen because he’s so well known.  If you do hold his teaching up to the light of scripture and you’ll see that it falls apart. John tells us in this passage that if someone confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and is who He claims to be in the bible, then that person is of God and has the spirit of God. Someone who does not confess Christ is not of God and is in fact “anti-christ.” Joel Osteen almost never even mentions the name of Jesus Christ, and when he does it’s always in a universal, non-condemning way that says everyone can go to heaven. When asked in interviews whether a person has to place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone as Savior and Lord, Osteen says, “I don’t like to judge, that’s God’s job.” Based on John’s words in this passage we can safely say that Joel Osteen is a false teacher and is in fact “anti-christ.” I only bring him up because his teaching is so popular, he even has his own channel on Sirius XM radio now. There are many other false teachers that we have access to today and there are many excellent Godly teachers, but as followers of Christ we must hold all teaching up to the light of God’s word and seek discernment through His Spirit living in us. If we truly know God and seek Him though His word and by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to know the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error, because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


1 John 3:11-18   
    “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”


    Love….that’s a word that we don’t use a lot in the logging industry, at least not in respect to other people, especially other men we work with. We, love our work, most days… We love our trucks and our machines, of course we love our wife and kids but in this passage John tells us to love our brothers, I think this applies to the guys we work with every day. Now, this is obviously a different kind of love than the way we love our wife, but what is love really? Love, in it’s most basic sense is simply to put another person’s needs and rights ahead of our own. It’s to think of others before ourselves. As Christ-followers we are called to a higher standard in the way we deal with other people. We’re called to love one another because Christ first loved us, because He laid down His life for our own. Even as Christians it’s really easy to fall into selfishness and treat the guys we work with poorly, even hatefully at times. We get up way too early and work long hours and patience gets pushed to the limits, we take it out on those around us and sometimes there’s someone we just don’t like. We can come up with all kinds of reasons in our mind why it’s ok to treat people the way we do, they started it, what about my rights, it’s not fair, so on and so forth….  Let me tell you what isn’t fair, in fact it’s the most unfair thing that’s ever happened! It was not fair that the creator of the universe created mankind just because he wanted to have a loving relationship with humanity for all eternity and we respond in sinful rebellion and hatred of His ways. Then, God responds to us by offering His son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice in our place so that we can have a restored relationship Him. It would be completely just and fair for God to wipe us out from existence right now, but that’s not the kind of loving God He is! So, when your pride wells up and you want to respond in a selfish way to guys you work with, think about Christ’s sacrifice for you on the cross and let His love pour out to the world around you. This is such a fitting passage on this Memorial Day, when we pause to honor the brave military heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, by laying down their lives in battle to give us the freedoms that we enjoy today. I’ve attached a short article that was published by the Christian Broadcasting Network years ago that I think is a great reminder for us today!


God bless and have a great week! -Terry


Memorial Day – to some it’s merely the beginning of summer and to others it’s a solemn day to remember those who have passed from this life. However, to the war veteran and to the families of fallen soldiers, Memorial Day carries significance so deep that words cannot express their hearts.
When we look into the eyes of those who still mourn these once vibrant men and women, we often sense their loneliness and pain. We hear them choke back tears as they simply say the ranks and names of their military brothers and sisters at a Memorial Day service. White gloves, dress uniforms, rigid posture, and perfectly precisioned salutes represent the reverence and respect flowing from within. Those who have been personally affected by war understand and appreciate this day of remembrance.
What should we say to those who sincerely honor this day? "Happy Memorial Day" doesn't seem fitting. "I'm sorry for your loss" may be closer to appropriate. What would the fallen soldier want from their comrades and the rest of the country on this day?
In an often quoted Memorial Day speech given in 1884 by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the speaker ended his address with these words, “Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death -- of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.”
The American soldier who gave his or her life for U.S. citizens to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness won’t be telling us how to observe the holiday. But I believe that Holmes’ proposition to “think of life, not death” would honor the fallen soldier. Their sacrifice follows the example of Jesus Christ laying down His life for our freedom. It's selfless love for others – not so they can mourn forever, but live!
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." 1 John 3:16
Notice that in scripture and in military service, the willingness to give up one’s life is not dependent on the worthiness of the people who benefit from the honorable act. In a perfect world, all who receive freedom and grace would be worthy of such a sacrifice and full of gratitude. But that’s not the way it is anywhere on Earth or in Heaven.
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
We are blessed to be living in a free society. May we honor our American soldiers for the liberty we have in this country. May we also give thanks to Almighty God for the freedom we have to spend eternity with Him because of His gift of forgiveness through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

WORD From The Woods


1 John 2:28-3:10
     “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother”


     In this passage, John calls us little children and talks about us being a part of the family of God. He says that if we’re truly walking with Christ, we are now children of God. John puts it pretty plainly, he says if we walk in righteousness we’re born of God, if we walk in sinfulness we are not of God. Does this mean that if we sin at all that we aren’t truly saved or that we can lose our salvation by slipping up? Of course not! John is talking about a lifestyle, an ongoing pattern of seeking Christ and desiring to walk in his ways versus a lifestyle of sin and rebellion against Christ where someone would rather do things their own way instead of God’s way. Think of it like this, we’ve all seen a rookie in the woods, wether it be on a yarder, a shovel, a processor, a rigging slinger, a cutter, or a truck driver, you can spot a rookie from a mile away. Why is this? Because they don’t know what they’re doing. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things and it shows when when you say you’re one thing but you act like another. Imagine taking a granola munching, burlap wearing yuppy from the streets of downtown Eugene and throwing him in the woods. Now, I’m not in any way meaning to disrespect folks like this, God loves them just as much as you and I, we were all created in the image of God. But, the contrast between our tree hugging “owl saving” friends and a logger is about as big of a contrast as you can get between two people. This is how it is between us and God without Christ. Just as the granola crowd is completely opposed to almost everything we do as loggers, apart from Christ we are totally opposed to God and the way we live shows that. If we truly want  to follow Christ as children of God, we have to seek Him and walk in his ways. As we grow in Christ we become more like Him, this is called the process of sanctification and it’s called a process for a reason. It’s not something we can do on our own but something the Holy Spirit does in us by His power not our own. We will continue to struggle with sin as long as we live this life, but by God’s grace and power Jesus Christ will shine though us in spite of our weaknesses!


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


1 John 2:1-27
     “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.  I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life —is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life.  I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him”


     This passage is one of my favorite in all of scripture, partly because of it’s clear instruction about walking with Christ but mostly because it contains my favorite word in scripture, “propitiation.” My former pastor, and fellow Christian logger used to say all the time how much he loved the word propitiation, and growing up, I never really understood why he always made such a big deal about it. There are a lot of words in the bible, why was this strange word his favorite? I can remember many times that my pastor would give the definition of propitiation from the pulpit, “all of the righteous requirements of God’s wrath were fully satisfied in Christ’s work of redemption on the cross.” The concept behind propitiation is that when a god was angered, a sacrifice would have to be made to appease the wrath of that god. In John’s day, people in the Roman Empire believed in many different gods, so this concept of propitiation would have really resonated with them. As grew up and grew closer to Christ, I realized why my pastor had made such a big deal about this word. It was a big deal, a huge deal! It’s what the entire bible is centered around. The fact that mankind has sinned and deserves to have the wrath of God poured out on us all because of our sin and God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ is what the whole bible is about! This is all summed up in the word “propitiation.” Nothing else in this life really matters if we haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as our savior and Lord, the propitiation for our sins! This passage is about abiding in Christ, which just means to walk in His ways and follow Him. The reason John begins this passage by talking about propitiation is because if we understand what Christ has done, repented and trusted in Him, we will abide in Him. We will have our ups and downs and continue to struggle with sin, but if we truly know Christ, our life will show it by the fact that we abide in Him. John says that if we say we abide in Him but continue to live a lifestyle of sin we are liars. John is pretty clear about this. It may seem like this passage is a bit repetitive, that’s because it is. John says the same thing over and over. He wanted to make sure his readers got the point! We should really take this passage seriously because I know how easy it is to fall into sin, especially with some the guys that we work with in the woods. A lot of times, it seems easier to just do what the other guys are doing, but if we really have been redeemed by Christ, our lives should show it. Our hope for the ministry of FCL is that we can give you some tools and encouragement to stand up and live for Christ right were you’re at and that the people you work around will see the light of Christ in you and desire to have what you have.


God bless, and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


1 John 1
    “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”


     The book of 1 John, is the first of three letters written by the Apostle John. These short letters contain some of the clearest and boldest proclamations of truth in the whole bible, which is perfect for us loggers because we usually like things short and to the point. When John speaks about the word of life which was from the beginning, he’s talking about Jesus Christ himself and the fact that He has existed eternally with the Father since before the creation of mankind. The awesome thing about this, is that God had a plan for the redemption of mankind even before the universe we live in was created. Even before man had sinned in the Garden of Eden, God had a plan of salvation for us because in His great sovereignty, He knew that we would all fall into lives of sin. As John says in this passage, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. God can’t have any fellowship with darkness and those that walk in it. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness then we lie and do not practice the truth. If we say we have no sin, we lie and His truth is not in us. We must repent and turn our hearts to trust in Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters in any of our lives if we don’t recognize the fact that without the light of Christ, we are walking in darkness.  Our country is walking further and further into darkness every day and if we as Christ followers don’t stand up now and share the light of Christ with the world around us, our nation is doomed to utter self-destruction.  But, this starts in our own hearts. If we walk in darkness ourselves, how will we be effective in telling others about the light of Christ? In our industry, we are around a lot of darkness all the time on the landing, from the foul language to the constant perverse sexual joking. It’s really easy for us even as Christ followers to just blend in with the other guys and join in the darkness, but we can not, we must not do that any more.  One of the good things about being around a lot of darkness is that when a light is lit, it’s very obvious and seen by all! Just don’t hide your light or you get lost in the Darkness yourself.


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


John 1:1-18 (ESV)
    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. ’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known”


     As Christians, we talk a lot about following Jesus Christ. The word “Christian” literally means “Christ-follower.” I think that even if we’ve studied the bible and followed Christ for a long time, it’s easy to get a wrong impression of who Jesus Christ is from our culture.  We are led to believe that Jesus was just a soft-handed, meek and mild, quiet, gentle, super nice guy. Jesus certainly was kind and gentle, but He was also tough and loud when He needed to be. The problem with the “world’s view” of Jesus is that it looks at Him as just a really good man that lived 2000 years ago and did some incredible miracles. Even as true Christians, we often fail to recognize that this Jesus we claim to follow, was and still is 100% divine as the second person of the Triune God. The Trinity, one God revealed in three distinct persons, is something that we can’t fully comprehend as finite human beings, but it’s the reality none the less. John, is his gospel account tells us that Jesus Christ has existed for all eternity and that He was right there with the Father when God spoke this limitless universe into existence!  As loggers, we are blessed to work out in God’s good creation every day, and we see first hand how awesome it really is! As you think about this passage from John, realize that this Jesus not only created the universe and all that is in it, but He also came down into this broken, sinful, rebellious world to live among us and willingly lay down His life in our place so that we could have redemption and become children of God. This is the Jesus that we are called to follow and have a relationship with. No other religion on earth claims to have a god like our God. When we look at Jesus the way John did, it should transform our faith and inspire us in a whole new way to truly follow Him!


God Bless, and have a great week! -Terry Mann-

WORD From The Woods


1 Timothy 4
    “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”


    In this passage, Paul is encouraging his young disciple, Timothy, to be strong and stand firm in the faith as a good servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were all kinds of false teaching and distractions to draw people away from following Christ that Paul was warning Timothy about. I love that, instead of naming ever specific false teaching or doctrine, Paul just tells Timothy to train himself for godliness. The last verse in the passage says to persist in these things, and by doing so he will save himself and his hearers. I don’t think this is talking about saving in the sense of salvation, but saving them from falling into false doctrines. It’s just like when the FBI trains specialists to look for counterfeit money, they train by studying authentic currency so that when they see a counterfeit, they will recognize it immediately. They don’t study all they different counterfeits, they study they real thing. That’s the example that Paul gives here, to devote ourselves to the study of God’s word and training ourselves for Godliness, and by doing that we will become equipped to stand against the false teaching and deception that we will certainly encounter. One of the things I love about Timothy is the fact that he was a very young man when he was called into service to Christ. Most commentators think he was in his 20s or 30s when this letter was written, and he was already shepherding a group of believers in Ephesus. Paul tells him not to let his youth stop him from what he’s been called to do, but to be a godly example to those around him. I pray that you will be encouraged by this passage to draw closer to Christ and become more equipped to be an example to those around you!


God Bless and have great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


Galatians 1:11-24
“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.”


    Paul says in this passage that the gospel he is now preaching is not something that he came up with or learned from any other man but it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel was given to him in an encounter with Christ Himself, on the road to Damascus (Acts ch. 9). Paul goes on to tell the Galatians that this gospel had changed him from one who was a zealous and violent persecutor of the Christ followers, to a man who may well have been the most hard working Christian that has ever walked the earth!  As Paul puts it, Christ, by His grace, was pleased to call even a sinner like Paul to salvation! I think we need to look closely at Paul's former life as a Pharisee. He says in this passage that he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. How many times do we let tradition get in the way of the gospel? Do we ever sacrifice true worship for tradition? I think if we would examine our hearts closely we would see all kind of ways that tradition has infected (and I don't just mean affected, but infected) the way we worship and serve The Lord!  Paul goes on to say that people were hearing about his dramatic conversion even before he had a chance to tell them himself. The work of Christ in his life was so powerful that his testimony was spreading like wildfire! We need to do the same as Paul and let the world know about the work of redemption that Christ has done in our life!


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


     Well, another Resurrection Day celebration is in the books, back to living our normal Christian lives……Resurrection Day doesn’t stop for us as Christians after Easter dinner and an egg hunt. We should celebrate it every week on the Lord’s day, and it should change the way we live and act in the world each end every day!  One of the core values I’ve had for a long time as a Christian, and for the ministry of Fellowship of Christian Loggers, is discipleship. Discipleship is really pretty simple, it’s just the process of equipping others to grow in the Christian faith and teach others to do the same. This is what’s known as “The Great Commission,” and it’s generally quoted from Matthew 28:19
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”   Now, that sounds really nice right? Go tell the world about Jesus! The problem is, many people will quote just that one verse without ever looking at the entire context of the passage. Or they just take it to mean that Jesus was a really nice guy and if we just learn be really nice and spread the love of Jesus to the world around us, they can learn to be nice too. As if, the doctrine of niceness will convince people to turn away from their path to hell, and nice them right into the Kingdom of Heaven. Many Christians act like we’re standing on the outside of the world looking in, just trying to be nice enough for people to want the nice faith we have. Now, I’m not saying christians shouldn’t be nice, we should be like Christ and demonstrate love in all that we do, love is kind and does no wrong, but it’s not always nice, (see Matthew 23.) What I to want to point out today is the broader context of The Great Commission, this was the last thing that Jesus said to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. Matthew 28:16-20 “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Notice is the word ‘therefore” in verse 19, like I said, many people like to quote that one verse by itself. But, when you see the word “therefore” in scripture, you need to find out what it’s there for. To do that you need to back up and look at the broader context. You see that the disciples worshipped Jesus when they saw Him. That’s the position we need to start with when it comes to discipleship, fall on our face before a Holy God in worship Him because He is God and we are not. They worshipped Jesus because they knew that He had all authority, not just in Heaven but also here on Earth! That’s why, when Jesus taught them to pray, He prayed to the Father “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”  It’s because Jesus has all authority in all the universe that we can “Go therefore, and disciple the nations.” But disciple them to what?  To be nicer to each other?  Just like verse 20 says “ to do all that Christ had commanded.” To repent, to turn away from sin and follow Him. Then He says that He will be with them always even to the end of the age, but how could that be when He was about to disappear into the sky not to be seen again for at least 2,000 years? To understand that, we have to know where He went. Mark tells us plainly in his gospel account of the same great commission.  Mark 16:19 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” Jesus ascend to the throne room of Heaven, where He was and still is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning over Heaven and Earth as the King of kings and Lord of lords! In the end of Matthew 22, Jesus quoted from Psalm 110 to establish His authority, right before he unloaded a scathing rebuke of 7 woes against the religious leaders in the temple.   Psalm 110:1-2 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!” The apostle Paul understood the authority of Jesus when he wrote to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” I point out all these verse to show you the reality, that when we come to faith in Christ, we enter into a Kingdom that is being ruled by a Savior who not only died to pay the penalty for our sin, but who is a risen, glorified King who is seated on His throne and has ALL authority in Heaven and here on this Earth, yesterday, today and tomorrow.  We aren’t just standing on the outside of this messed up world looking in, hoping people will want to follow Jesus with us. We are members of the great and eternal Kingdom of Heaven, and as such, we bear the authority and commission of King Jesus to go into all the world, making disciples, teaching them to obey all the He has commanded!


God Bless, and have a great week! -Terry-

WORD From The Woods


Mark 10:46 - 11:11
    “And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.  Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.”
  
    Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday, and the beginning of Holy Week. Palm Sunday is the day that we remember the triumphal entry of the Messiah, the Savior and Shepherd-King of His lost sheep. His sheep were lost because they were spiritually blind and unable to see in a dark and sinful world. I think this is why we find the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus, and the Triumphal Entry of Jesus together in the same context. Jesus had great compassion on those he healed of their various physical problems, and that was part of why he healed them, but the real reason he healed so many people was to demonstrate the fact that he came to heal people's souls! He came to bring us out of spiritual death and darkness, into new life with Him! I love they way Bartimaeus calls to Jesus, "Jesus, have mercy on me," he knew that he didn't deserve healing, both physically or spiritually, but he called on the abundant mercy of the Savior.  When Bartimaeus was told to stop, he persisted even louder! Jesus told him that his faith had made him well, this wasn't some healing power that Bartimaeus discovered within the depths of his own faith, but because he placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save him spiritually. I also love his response when Jesus tells him to go his way, he immediately followed Jesus on HIS way! Jesus' way was now Bartimaeus' way! The cry of Bartimaeus was the same cry of the the people of Jerusalem when Jesus entered, the people were crying out "Hosanna," which simply means, "please save us." The people of Jerusalem were so hungry for their long awaited messiah that they called out to him with praise honor and worship, begging for him to save them! They spread out their coats and branches just so Jesus wouldn't have to ride in on the dirty streets, this was a way of honoring Him as King.  I pray that we can learn to have a heart like this toward our Messiah, that we would praise, honor and worship Jesus as our Savior and our Lord, willing to make his way our way! That we would lay everything down at His feet, longing for Him to save us from spiritual blindness! Are we willing to jump up and follow Jesus on his way as Bartimaeus did? Let this awesome account of the Savior-King coming to His people, stay on your heart and mind this week as we prepare to celebrate His death and resurrection this coming weekend.


God bless and have a great week! -Terry-