Spokesman's Blog

Freedom

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:38:00 GMT

    Thanks to those of you who already signed my new guest book. God bless you all. Any discussion on the following?
    Here it is already: July 4th, 2009. Time races along toward the end of time. As we again celebrate the freedom of our country, I wonder --- are we free? What does freedom mean, anyway? I would be interested in knowing some of your thoughts on this.
   What do you think the Bible means when it says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," (2 Corinthians 3:17, RSV)?

Longing for Happiness?

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:40:00 GMT

    Is happiness what you long for? ... peace & contentment? ... fulfillment & purpose? I know who can help.
    Each of us has been created for a purpose. The one who created us knows how we will function best and what is best for us. He explains this in the Bible. The Bible is a love letter from God telling us how to relate to Him.
    I've heard people say, "but I don't believe the Bible is any more credible or inspired than other books." To them, I would suggest reading Lee Strobel's book, The Case For Christ. He was a skeptic, also. This former legal editor and award-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune tells of his own investigation into the evidence for the truth of Biblical Christianity and his subsequent journey of faith.
    He tells of his interviews with many scholars and archeologists, and how they convinced him there is much more evidence for the truth of the New Testament than for any other book in history.

Greetings From Our New Home

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:00:00 GMT

     Greetings from our new home in Orange City, Iowa. I haven't put anything new
on this website or blog for quite some time, because we have been busy moving
and getting settled. God is so good to lead us here! We love it!

    FREE CD offer:
     Our first CD is ready for sale. Testimony & Praise includes eight songs
I've written, sung by my husband and me and accompanied on Keyboard by Beth Brostrum.
It also includes accompaniment tracks for each song. I am offering one free to the first two
people who request one by e-mail. Otherwise, we will sell them for $10 each. We have
received many favorable comments about it so far. I will need to mail the orders by regular
mail because I haven't learned yet how to run an online store. See my contact information
on the home page.

    REQUEST: If you have read one or more of the articles on this Spokesman's Blog or
on my Spokesman Ink website, I would appreciate your feedback. Please send a comment in
the space below. It will go to my personal e-mail first, so you can request it not be published
here if you wish. Thank you and God bless you.

    Sincerely,
    Judith Vander Wege

Blog for "Why Resist God's Love?"

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:41:00 GMT

Blog for "Why Resist God's Love?"

     As God's Spokesman, my mission is to tell people of God's love and help them understand how to live in an intimate, joyful relationship with him. These words at the end of an article in Voice of the Martyrs by Tom White echoes in my heart:
      "He (Jesus) whispers, "Open your mouth, they need me out there."
      Yet, many who need Jesus get angry when told that they need him. Why? Why resist God's love as revealed in Jesus Christ?
      Christians often cannot comprehend the hate and anger that comes from some unbelievers. We may think we are acting in love, just as Jesus would, but a person may lash out at us as if we were trying to hurt him.
      The Bible records Jesus as saying this would happen: "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; ... because they do not know him who sent me," (John 15:20).
      Jesus called Satan the Prince of this world, (see John 12:13, and my blog for more explanation.) Satan holds captive those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, God's Son, as Savior. Satan keeps their minds in the dark so they can't see the truth and may not know they are trapped.
      Jesus is the Light who shines in the darkness to reveal the truth. (see John 1:1-8.) He was not a man who became God, but rather is the eternal Word of God who came down from Heaven and took on a human body. From then on, he is both true God and true man.
       When we see that we are trapped, we can cry out to Jesus Christ to rescue us. John 1:12 says, "to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." The reason Jesus is able to do this is that he defeated Satan when he voluntarily gave his life as a ransom at the cross. Satan no longer has any legal right to keep us captive. All true believers in the resurrected Jesus Christ have become adopted by his Father, Almighty God!
      That is why Satan and his followers hate Christians. He doesn't want to let us go free and be adopted by a loving heavenly Father. He wants to keep us in bondage, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But true followers of Jesus Christ know the truth of Jesus sets us free. Satan tries to keep people believing his lies, so he can keep them in bondage.
      In the Old Testament of the Bible, Isaiah said, "But this is a people robbed and plundered, they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become a prey ...," (Is. 42:22 RSV).
      When I think of people who react in anger to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I imagine this vignette:
      "Look at my son! Look at my son!" the urgent voice pleads.
      "Why should I look at your son?" yells the man in the pit, his eyes blazing and his fists clenched. " ... so I can see how shameful I am in comparison? ... so I can admire this pure, sinless specimen of humanity? You think you're so smart. All you care about is how great he is! You don't even care that I'm rotting down here!"
      As he hears this, the Father's eyes brim with tears and his voice trembles as he replies, "No, you misunderstand. I want you to look at my son so you can see his nail-pierced hand is reaching out to rescue you from the pit. I want you to look at my son because I love you. He is your only hope!"

      " ... grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, (John 1:17b, RSV).
      " ... then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, (John 8:32).

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What Does God Require?"

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:48:00 GMT

      In my last blog entry, I said the first and foremost truth I want to convey is "God loves us and wants an intimate relationship with each of us." This includes you, whoever you are. I concluded that article by saying the first step in having that type of relationship with God is to believe in and accept (i.e. receive) his Son, Jesus Christ.
      Lately, I've been reading Deuteronomy in the Living Bible. The words in chapter ten seem to be in bold print: What does God require of us? "... to listen carefully to all he says to you, and to obey for your own good the commandments ..., and to love him, and to worship him with all your hearts and souls" vv. 12-13.
      Deuteronomy 11:22 reiterates the idea: obey God, love him, walk in his ways, cling to him.
      Micah 6:8 NIV, says the same thing in a slightly different way. We are to 1. act justly (i.e. do what is right, obey God,) 2. love mercy (or show) mercy (i.e. be merciful by loving one another as Christ loves us. This is how we show we love God), and 3. walk humbly with your God (i.e. live in him through his Holy Spirit, dependent on him, or clinging to him.)
      To worship God means to honor him above all else, to consider him of utmost importance in our lives. I keep thinking of a song we used to sing in church and which my son used to like from Bible Camp. It uses the words in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, (RSV), "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD, and you shall love the LORD with all your heart, and you shall love the LORD with all your soul. You shall love the LORD with all your strength, and you shall love the LORD with all your might."
      If we love him like that, we will listen to him and obey him. God is the creator of all that is good. He is almighty, all-knowing, just and holy, merciful, compassionate and longs for a personal relationship with each of us. How can we not respect him above all others, worship him and cling to him? His commandments are not burdensome, but are for our good. "And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (I John 3:23, RSV)."

(See page 3 of my web site, Spokesman-Ink.org/ for a song I wrote,
which relates to this article, called "I Love You, LORD!")

Purpose of Spokesman's Blog

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:20:00 GMT

   F.B.Meyers, in his Devotional Commentary says, "It is most necessary that Christians should bear witness to the truth," (Page 580). My purpose as God's Spokesman is to bear witness to the truth as God has revealed it to me through the Bible and his Holy Spirit, especially regarding one's relationship with him.
   The first and foremost truth is:
      God loves us and wants an intimate relationship with each of us.
   The whole Bible is the love story of almighty God for his created beings. In the beginning, everything he created was good and pure. But in order for him to have the intimate relationship he wants, he needed to give humans a choice. Love isn't love unless it is given voluntarily.
   Therefore, God gave Adam and Eve a choice to obey or disobey. They could eat of every tree in the garden except one. All their needs were met; they didn't need that one tree. But Satan, the fallen "angel of light," came in the form of a serpent and lied to them. He implied God wasn't fair to deprive them of that particular fruit. They yielded to the temptation and chose to disobey God.
   Previously, God had given "dominion" to Adam and Eve. This means they had the authority to rule the earth. But Satan tricked them. When he deceived them, their resultant disobedience actually transferred their dominion of the earth to Satan. This is why there is evil in the earth. This is why people get sick and die, are cruel to each other, oppress and abuse and cheat and lie. It is because Satan is the Prince of this world. (see the following scriptures about this: Genesis chapter 1, especially verses 26, 28, and 31, chapter 2 especially verses 15-24, and chapter 3).
   In essence, Satan (the devil) kidnapped the whole human race through his deception. But God did not quit loving his people. He gave a promise (see Genesis 3:15) that someday the devil's head would be crushed (i.e. he would be defeated) by one born of a woman. This was the first prophecy of the coming Messiah. Then God began to carry out his plan of Salvation by preparing a nation from which the Messiah would come.
   When the time was right, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who defeated Satan by dying on the cross and then rising again. Since he was perfectly sinless, he alone was qualified to pay the price for the disobedience of the whole world. Since then, all who believe in him and accept his forgiveness are redeemed, (i.e. rescued from the dominion of Satan.) We no longer have to sin, and we can have an intimate relationship with God.
   The Bible says about Jesus Christ, "In him, the whole fullness of deity(God)dwells bodily," Colossians 2:9. "There is Salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," Acts 4:12, RSV.
   Therefore, the first step in having an intimate relationship with God who loves us is to believe in and accept his Son, Jesus Christ.

Tune Me Up, Lord!

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:47:00 GMT

Dear Lord Jesus, you are my master; I am your instrument. Tune me up, Lord. Bring every part of my being into harmony with your heart and mind. Play your music through me to express your love, drawing others into your heart. May I, in tune with you, speak healing to the hurting, proclaim release to the captives, open the eyes of the blind. Enable me always to live in harmony with your will and purpose. Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful privilege of being your instrument. Amen.

Welcome to my blog.

judithvanderwege@orangecitycomm.net (Judith Vander Wege) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:46:00 GMT

Welcome! This is the blog of one of God's Spokesmen. I would like comments, after you read my home page, about:
               1. What is your understanding of "An Instrument of Grace?"
               2. Who can be a Spokesman for God?
               3. Any other comments, or questions, are also welcome.
                              Thanks. Judith Vander Wege