Love Demonstrated

The word love is used to mean many different things. We say we "love" this house house we just bought, or that we "love" a particular vacation spot, or that "we" love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We also "love" a certain television program, and we "love" our husband or wife. Hopefully we don't love our spouse the same way we love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The greatest love of all, however, is GOD's love for us. A love that showed itself in action. A friend once observed, "Love talked about is easily ignored, but love demonstrated is irresistible." The Bible says, "GOD demonstrates HIS own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) Now, that is real love! How will you respond to HIS love today?

Teach me to love as YOU love, LORD. Give me the boldness to bring YOUR light into dark places and the compassion to carry YOUR beauty to broken people. May my life be evidence of YOUR irresistible love.

Letter To Bangladesh Ministry Volunteers Meeting

A letter I sent to my Bangladesh Ministry Volunteers. It is long, but it is the first letter I have written to the volunteers and those who have been told about me and continually pray for me. My ministry now has well over 5000 total students and volunteers who are being educated on a weekly basis in over 20 towns of Bangladesh by outlines I prepare in their language on the Scriptures.

My brothers and sister this is your brother in Christ, Chuck Ness.

I am but a partner in your ministry, who was once a sinner with many evil things credited to my fallen human past. Yet I now count myself blessed, for I have been redeemed by the blood of Christ who promises me eternal life. I write to let you know I am with you in spirit, and I pray for you daily, and even hourly at times. I write to you as a fellow warrior for Christ Jesus who fights continually for men's souls.

Satan is presently doing everything in his power to lure good decent people into a life of sin. A life where righteousness is not present, but rather a life where evil prevails over good. I humbly ask the LORD Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to strengthen your faith, and to bring to your knowledge the truth that will endure in your heart and mind throughout the days you live in this World. A World Peter tells us will one day melt away;

This Psalm I Sing To Christ, Our King

by Chuck Ness

I got angry, and I stepped out in the flesh in my response to something that I perceived as a wrong. However, it is not my place to correct the World, for the World is lost, and so who am I to fix that which I cannot. All I can do is share the truth, while remembering to do so in love, or else I will be a poor ambassador for Christ Jesus.

I understand it's OK to get angry at those who act as the Pharisees did, because Jesus got angry with them. For they walked around in a way to be seen for their good deeds, while in truth their hearts only cared for the worldly profit they could gain. Those men who claim to teach the Word of GOD, but are just wolves deceiving others with their words of silk and songs of love, truly deserve our wrath but those lost in the World do not.

Lord my God, my Savior, my King, forgive me for stepping in the flesh by chastising the lost. Yes, I allowed myself to walk in the flesh by ridiculing one lost in the Lord, by doing so, I put a stumbling bock that could keep them from coming to You my LORD. We are called to give an invitation to those lost in the World. An invitation to come to You my LORD so they can be healed, not to chase them away as the Pharisees did.

This Psalm I Sing To Jesus Christ, Our King

Forgive me O'LORD, and wash away my guilt so I can again enter into YOUR presence with a pure and forgiven heart.

We are but the dirt YOU formed from Adam's seed, yet when YOU came down to us through Eve's seed, we found forgiveness through Your Blood on the Cross for our evil deeds.

We have been reborn as new creatures, and now we walk down the path towards Your Celestial City, and when we arrive O'Lord we shall receive a crown of righteousness, which we will gladly toss at YOUR feet, and live eternally in YOUR presence.

My Lord, my God, upon Your Name I stake my claim, for upon the Cross You took my blame, now all I have is Yours O'Lord, because all You had you gave to save my wretched soul.

O'LORD, my GOD, my Savior, my King, to YOU this Psalm I sing.

Amen

Proverb 18:1 Desperado

by Chuck Ness

As I was reading Proverbs this morning, I was reminded of what I wrote in my journal many years ago.

"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment."
Proverb 18:1

I had a dream last night about an old friend I haven't see in years. His name is Larry, and he was a preacher of his own church in Columbus Georgia. The last time I saw him was a time in my life when all I wanted was to be away from people. If anyone got too close I would disappear.

It was after my 2nd marriage fell apart. Our son had recently died, and it led to problems unforeseen. My wife was never the same, and things just deteriorated in our marriage. We separated, and I ended wondering around the country. I would stay in a place long enough to work a few Months and then leave town without notifying anyone. Sometimes I would leave without even collecting my last paycheck. I figured if I wasn't going to give a notice why collect the check.

For a few years I kept getting an urge in my heart to just go. It was about ten years or so before I truly accepted Christ in my heart. OH I knew Him, but didn't have a relationship with him. Today I know my uncomfortable feeling came from trying to run from Him. I would begin feeling uneasy and just pack up my backpack, chose a destination, and start hitchhiking from place to place. Working for awhile and then start hitchhiking again.

The only thing I ever had that I cared about in those days, was the backpack that had some cassette tapes of music for my Walkman, an old poncho for rain or to make a lean-to with. A mess kit, a compact fishing pole with some hooks, a bar of soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a few changes of socks and underwear, some jeans, a few shirts, and one set of nice pants and a dress shirt I would wear when I needed to apply for job when my money ran low. I hate begging. (Yes the backpack pictured, is the one I carried around America with me)

If I needed money I would just get a job as an auto mechanic, a carpenter, a cook or even a dishwasher. Jobs were easy for me to get in those days. I was young, in great shape, and not picky.

I offer this because of the advice my friend gave me when he was trying to reach my heart. I was lost, and he wanted to save me. Larry was a Preacher of his own small church whom I met in the mid "70"s while I was still in the service, stationed at Ft Benning Ga. So here it was almost 10 years after I first met Larry, and I was hitchhiking from Texas to Columbus Ga. When I arrived, he was the first person I looked up, and called.

To this day I am convinced that God led me to Columbus, because HE was still trying to reach me. When I look back, I can recall many instances in my past when the timing of certain things happened that were of such importance, I now know God was intervening so I would wake up to His calling. Yet time and time again I would momentarily respond, just to fall back into my old ways. This was one of those times. Larry, and his wife Mary, invited me to stay with them. He knew I was broken and needed a good friend. Being a good man of God, Larry was truly interested in bringing me to Christ.

I stayed with them for a few Months, and I even publicly gave my life to Christ. I truly thought I had been saved, because I began to change. Yet later I realized I hadn't, because I never had a true relationship with Him. No one walks away from Christ, you are either His or just a pretender who goes through the motions. Many new followers believe they are saved, yet our Lord Jesus reads the hearts, and even His anointed can see the truth. Larry was a true anointed Saint, and he knew that I was still holding out.

Well one day we were at a restaurant, I had recently gotten a job at, and he again attempted to reach me. Larry told me that I reminded him of the character in the Eagles song, "Desperado". He told me that the original definition of a desperado was not what Americans believed it is. Instead, the true definition was derived from the Latin word, "disperare". Which means to despair or to lose hope.

The character in the Eagles song is a loner. He was living day to day like I was. Surviving day to day with no love in his heart. Like the character in the song, I too had hardened my heart. I refused to come in from the cold, regardless of how uncomfortable I was from living the way I was. He said that without love I would one day die from lack of feelings if I didn't wake up.

He went on to explain that it's not good for a man to have no one. To walk away from everyone, regardless of how some people may have treated me, was not the way to heal from the hurt I was feeling. All I was doing was making my heart harder by the day. He told me, that the world is full of men who had hardened their hearts just to become lonely bandits or renegades. The final destination of such a person, he said was not good. Just an eternity separated from the ONE who truly loves us. GOD.

We had a good long talk that day, and I really felt like he hit a raw nerve. He also told me to read Proverbs 18:1, and heed the advice in it. Later I read the Proverb, and I can see why he told me to read it, because I was isolating myself from people. Something that I still seem to do from time to time. When I do, I know I need to go to Christ.

"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment."
Proverb 18:1

Well, after that long talk, I started reading the Bible more, and truly thought I was headed for greener pastures in my walk with Jesus. Yet, one day something happened, and I again grew angry. OH, the reason matters not, since all anger truly comes from our own insecurities and our inability to give everything to Christ. That conversion was just whitewash on the outside of my decaying soul. So I eventually packed up my backpack and headed to the nearest freeway entrance to leave for another destination. I remember reasoning to myself that I wasn't the type who Jesus wanted, so I just accepted reality, and did what I always did, I ran away again.

Truth is I never allowed Jesus into that certain room in my heart where I kept things locked away. Thus I refused to let the love of Christ sink into my heart as much as I thought I had. Or maybe he just got too close to the truth and I was afraid of the unknown. It was so much easier to be alone, than to let others become part of me. For many years in my life that was the true, I refused to let anyone in to that part of me that was angry over so many things.

I always believed in God, and that Jesus is the only way to gain salvation. However, it took more trials, more disappointments, and more tragedies in my life before I finally gave Him the key to that one room in my heart that held all the anger I had inside. My friends advice did eventually sink in, and once I truly understood how my own inability to love others, or to allow others to love me was stopping me from allowing Christ into my heart. That's when I finally began to have a soul changing relationship with the lover of my soul.

Isn’t it amazing how we can listen to the lyrics of songs and paste them on those we know. It’s as if the person who wrote the song knows us and what makes us tick. Personally I think we can listen to most songs and, depending upon how we look at them or what part of the song rings more special in our ears, we will see our friends and relatives in them. I guess that is why Brother Larry saw me in that song. To him, I was the true definition of the Latin word that desperado came from.

Below are the Lyrics to the song, and a video of the Eagles performing it.

"Desperado"
The Eagles

""""Desperado, why don't you come to your senses? You been out ridin' fences for so long now Oh, you're a hard one I know that you got your reasons These things that are pleasin' you Can hurt you somehow

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy She'll beat you if she's able You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things Have been laid upon your table But you only want the ones that you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin' Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time? The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine It's hard to tell the night time from the day You're losin' all your highs and lows Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you) You better let somebody love you before it's too late""""

Where is our Hope?

by Jose Barajas

I love the movie, “The Shawshank Redemption. It is based on a short story from one of my favorite writers when I was growing up, Stephen King. Andy Dufresne is imprisoned for killing his wife, even though he didn’t do it. After having spent two weeks in solitaire confinement for playing opera music over the prison loudspeakers, Andy is telling his fellow inmates how it was the two easiest weeks because of the music he had in his heart and mind. Him and Red, his best friend in prison, go back and forth saying, 

“Andy Dufresne : That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music? 

Red : I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here. 

Andy Dufresne : Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget. 

Red : Forget? 

Andy Dufresne : Forget that... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours. 

Red : What're you talking about? 

The Way Human's Treat Animals Reveals Their Heart

by Chuck Ness

Back in 2013, two days after Christmas, I had to have our beloved 18 year old dog, Hershee, euthanize. Her kidneys had shut down and she was in so much pain she could not even settle down for more than five minutes at a time. So the merciful thing to do was to end her life.

It's easy to talk about it now, but at the time it was as if a member of our family had died. Maybe this should not be, I mean after all, she was just a dog. But, whether we choose to accept it or not, Hershee felt that she was one of us, and we treated her as if we would treat any member of our family. We were her "pack" so to speak, and I trust that she felt herself a valuable member of that pack. She ate good when we ate good, was happy when we were happy and always tried to do her part, even if it was just to bark and growl at people she didn't know.

Happy Valentines To Everyone from Christ Jesus

by Chuck Ness

True love only comes when you empty yourself of all yourself.
Only then can you experience the love that God has for us

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another."