Saturday, July 03, 2010

Fourth of July Greetings

“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.  The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born.  Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Ex. 22:21; Lev. 19:33; Ps. 146:9)

Dear Friend & Partner,

Patt and I send you our warmest “July 4th” greetings!  This is the first Fourth I have been in the country for a number of years.  Usually I am in Africa leading a “Kingdom Adventure Safari.”  But I had to postpone it this year due to our remodeling and relocation from NDI to our new “Home Office.”  Thankfully the work is almost completed and we can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.  Now that the construction dumpster and pod have been moved, our back yard no longer looks like “Sanford & Sons.”  So we might even be able to have a normal Fourth of July cookout in our backyard this weekend like millions of other Americans!

THE ALIEN INVASION

Every July 4th, there are thousands of new Americans celebrating the wonderful freedoms we have in this great country.  Some of the immigrants are here legally.  Others illegally.  Untold thousands have come to America at great personal sacrifice.  Many of them have been repatriated here as a result of warfare, political turmoil, genocide, ethnic cleansing or natural disaster in their home countries.  But regardless of how they got here, the vast majority become good productive citizens. They roll up their sleeves and go to work—seizing opportunities and doing jobs that many other Americans pass up or are no longer willing to do.  As a result, they soon succeed and prosper—especially in comparison to how they previously lived in their countries of origin.  So millions of people the world over will do almost anything to come to America.  We are still the “land of opportunity” like no other country on the face of the earth. And in spite of the current economic recession we are in, we still enjoy the highest standard of living of any other people on the globe. Our level of prosperity—even in bad economic times—is still the envy of the world.  So the “aliens” keep coming…and coming…and coming.  There is a continuous “alien invasion” of America! We are a great nation because we open our arms to them, reminding ourselves that, except for a few native American tribal groups, we all came here as aliens.

Read More/Less

Friday, June 18, 2010

Fatherless Day

four of our grandchildren
Four of our grandchildren that we have not
been permitted to see in over 2 years.

“...rejoice before Him…a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows…God sets the lonely in families.”  (Ps. 68:5-6)

Dear Friend & Partner,

As you know, this Sunday is Father’s Day in America.  For many fathers, it will be a wonderful day of affirmation, appreciation and affection from wives, children and grandchildren.  But for millions of broken and estranged families, it will be a day of sadness and sorrow rather than one of joy and celebration.  That’s because there is an epidemic of fatherlessness in our world today.  So Father’s Day will only remind them of the relational vacuum in their lives due to an absentee father.

Read More/Less

Sunday, April 04, 2010

40 Days of Passion - Day 40

 

THE PURCHASE OF THE CROSS

Now we come to the final study in this Lenten Series.  I trust that these forty days have enriched your spiritual life and drawn you closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.  There is so much more that can be said regarding the most important event in human history.  These 40 studies have been taken from my book, The Passionate Christ, where there is even more detail on His passion.  Please see the information at the end of this study if you would like to order a copy. 

Read More/Less

Saturday, April 03, 2010

40 Days of Passion - Day 39

 

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

All of God’s power that He has made available to us through the Holy Spirit flows from the cross.  God never imparted any power to His people, then or now, apart from the full and finished work of Christ on the cross.  While Christ’s incarnation began at His birth, His glorification started at the cross and was consummated at His resurrection and ascension.  (John 12:23; 13:31)

Read More/Less

Friday, April 02, 2010

40 Days of Passion - Day 38

 

THE PEACE OF THE CROSS

Peace is one of the rarest commodities in our world today.  Almost everyone is looking for a lasting peace, whether on the personal level, marital level, social level, political level or vocational level.  We all want peace – peace of heart and mind.  The wise man of Proverbs rightly observed, “A heart at peace gives life to the body.” (14:30)  But where can you find that kind of peace?

Read More/Less

Thursday, April 01, 2010

40 Days of Passion - Day 37

 

THE PROFIT OF THE CROSS

As Julia H. Johnston, the hymn writer, penned, God’s grace through Christ “exceeds our sin and our guilt.” It is His grace that will “pardon and cleanse within.”  This is the grace that is literally “greater than all our sin!”  Hebrews said it so well, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.”  (Hebrews 7:25)  “Uttermost” means “at all times; completely.”  Only on the basis of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus could God say, “I will remember their sins no more.”  (Hebrews 8:12)

Read More/Less

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

40 Days of Passion - Day 36

 

“THE PROPITIATION OF THE CROSS”

For the remaining 5 days of this series, we are going to move from information to application.  Thus far we have primarily focused on how the passion related to Christ.  Now we are going to end with how Christ’s passion impacts us, because it was His passion that produced our pardon.

The foundational word in both the Old and New Testaments that summarizes our pardon is the word propitiation.  It is definitely one of the heaviest and most weighty words in the entire Bible.  Since it may be one of the least understood words, we need to unwrap this rich theological term to see how propitiation and pardon are inseparable.

Read More/Less

Podcast feed: Subscribe

About Our Website

JLWilliams.org is where Patt and I will share our personal views and perspectives on a wide variety of issues from the Bible, to politics, to world events, business and entrepreneurial issues, to my international travels. We hope you will find them provocative, challenging and edifying.