The Thursday Update

OCTOBER 19, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

God calls us to love all people, no matter what.  No “ifs”, no “ands”, no “buts” are allowed.  If God loves us with unconditional love, we must offer the same to others.

With all of that said, have you ever encountered a person who tends to suck the life out of you, like a vampire sucks the blood out of its victims?  It may be that they are so critical of you that you feel lifeless when you encounter them.  Or it could be needy people who always begin a conversation with you with words like, “what I could really use is…” and make you feel obligated to do something for them every time.  Perhaps it’s a manipulative person who is trying to get you to do what they want and you feel worked over every time they try.  What about the hypocritical person who tells you what to do but never takes their own advice?  Or the gossipy person who leaks information faster than a radiator leaks fluid after your car front ends a deer in rut?

After a while, you have no blood left inside.  But you still have to love them!  What do you do?

That’s what we'll talk about in our brand new series starting on Sunday, Relational Vampires: Loving The People Who Suck The Life Out Of You.  We’ll examine five of the biggest 'vampires' who seem to be more focused on a re-leech-tionship than a relationship, along with how we can spot them, help them, and respond to them.

Sound like something you could benefit from? Yeah, I've heard many of you laughing during the series trailer we shown the past two Sundays, so I think the answer is yes.

Why not invite family, friends, coworkers and neighbors to join you here on Sunday?  Let’s invest and invite people and live out what we just learned in our prevois series on the gospel.  We’ll do all we can to provide services that are power-packed and practically helpful.

Warmly,
Vince

P.S. Let’s keep praying for Israel and the Middle East (Psalm 122:6)

OCTOBER 12, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

These past few days have been some of the worst in Israel’s recent history.  Over 1,200 innocent people brutally murdered in barbaric fashion by Hamas terrorists backed by Iran and supported by many others in the Islamic world. Hundreds are being held as hostages and innocent Palestinians in the West Bank are being used as human shields against the military response by Israel.  Some Americans are even included in this list of victims.

It’s hard to believe that any decent and semi-moral human being would do anything but condemn Hamas, but sadly on college campuses and around the country people are trying to explain away or even justify these attacks by blaming Israel.  We even have elected officials in Congress holding this view.  How could this be the case?

The only answer is that evil is on the rise around the world, especially toward Christians and Israel.  These conflicts in Israel are directly tied to Muhammad’s conquest of the Holy Land 14 centuries ago, which explains why many Muslims will not give up trying to take over Israel despite any diplomatic efforts we think will help.  They believe they are entitled to the land because of Muhammad.  It is satanic in its origin and people are being deceived into believing lies about us and Isarel.  This is spiritual warfare as the Bible talks about in Ephesians 6:10-18 and persecution that Jesus warned would happen in Matthew 5:10-12, the last two beatitudes.  We better be prepared for more of it unless our country turns to God ASAP.

What should we do in response?

1. Keep our hearts with Israel.  These people will have to live with loss, defend their land, and be in this battle for the long haul.  Expect war to be a prolonged experience over there.  Let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) and support them as God’s chosen people (Romans 9:1-5).  They are the only democracy in the Middle East and when you consider all the land of Muslim countries in that region compared to the tiny parcel Israel has, you know this is not about land, but much more.  Which leads to my second point:

2. Keep our eyes on Israel.  The Bible talks about the last days with a focus on Israel and Jerusalem more than any other country.  That’s because God has a plan to restore Israel to be His people at some point in the future, and someday very soon, the false leader known as antichrist will broker a seven year treaty between Israel and her enemies that will lead to the final seven years of life on earth as we know it.  So we would be wise to both keep our eyes on Isarel and better understand biblical prophecy about how the world ends.  Our brand new Midweek series in the Book of Revelation is so well timed (by God, not me, as it turns out) to help you understand this.  You can find out more about this series here. If you missed last week's message, you can watch it here.

Let’s pray that Israel will succeed in defending herself and that God’s plan will include many people finding faith in Jesus and the Gospel as a result.

Warmly,
Vince

OCTOBER 5, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

One of the more interesting terms used in the Bible is the word "called".  God is the One who does the calling in the Bible and we are the ones who respond to this calling.  He does so in a number of important ways.  One of the most important questions we can ask about God’s calling is this: does God call everyone to believe in Jesus Christ and receive the gospel?  The answer is yes, in a certain sense.  Let me explain.

The gospel goes out to people over most of the world even though some have restricted access to hearing it.  People in the 10/40 window (often called "The Resistant Belt", see image) includes people between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude where the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists live.  This area has very restricted access to the gospel and yet the goal of all Christians is to help get the message to these people.  And someday, God promises that He will (Matthew 24:14).  In the meantime, God starts the calling process through what is seen in creation, as Romans 1:20 explains.

And yet in another sense, not everyone has the same calling.  Consider Matthew 22:14, where it says that while many are called, few are chosen.  This indicates there is another more effective calling (being "chosen") that the gospel makes for those who will eventually believe it that not all those who are called will experience. 

Beyond that, for those who will believe the gospel, there is yet another calling that everyone should embrace once they commit their lives to Jesus, one that all of us who are Christians are urged to be a part with no exceptions.

And even further for a small subset of those who are Christians, there is yet another calling that some will engage in.  Pastor Brian Pawlowski will be an example of this when he is ordained into the gospel ministry during our services on Sunday.

If this seems a little confusing, we’ll clear up the confusion on Sunday in my message.  Be sure you’re there to understand God’s calling and to celebrate this special and sacred day with the Pawlowski’s.

Warmly,
Vince