Continued Changes in the World

My Dear Friend,

With so many changes taking place in the world, I thought I would take some time to share some things with you that will likely be of help to you or perhaps others around you. I will tell you a story about one of my times of significant life change and some of the things I learned when going through it. I think you will find a few things that can be applicable and helpful with people you know. Before that, I would like to remind you that Living God Ministries is still operating stronger than ever. We are encountering new people from all over the world, answering a lot of questions, and continuing to contribute to the faith of a lot of people just like we always have. There has been a lot of volatility with donations for the past couple of months so we are having some difficulty when it comes to budgeting and planning, but we still have a couple of months before we need to make major decisions concerning where we will continue to broadcast. Please do not forget us, and donate to our work when you are able. I would prefer not to use ministerial time doing fundraising, so please do take responsibility on your own to do what you can to help us continue to meet our contracts and perhaps be able to expand in the coming months.

It has been about 25 years now, but during one of my transitional experiences in life, I lost a high paying job. What happened was that I was offered a higher position because of my experience, training, and productive successes, but I turned it down because it was the kind of position that would make it very difficult if not impossible for me to be available to do things for my God if He would ever call upon me to do something with Him. The result was that I was no longer a part of the organization and I entered into this transitional experience of life. It was a very difficult time so I decided to take a, "break" and homesteaded some mountain property deep in the Rocky Mountains. I built a small cabin and was there for about nine months before I returned to civilization and started a new life again.

I have done a lot of camping in my time, but living in the forest is definitely a different experience. I learned a lot that I never would have without living through it myself, but what I think may be useful at this time is for me to share with you what it was like to make the adjustment from one life to another in this circumstance. It took a few days for me to get settled in and start on the new adventure, but about two weeks later I started to have this feeling of, "ok the vacation is over, it's time to go back to civilization." It was noticeable for me and it was an interesting adjustment to realize this was not just some little adventure but a whole new way of life. After about four weeks of this, I started to really question what I was doing there. I really was pondering, "why am I here?" I began to seriously question my purpose, my objectives and poor answers could have really led to some serious depression. Once I hit the six-week mark, I entered into a new phase of acceptance of the new reality of my life. It took a couple of more weeks from there and then I had my routines and projects to keep me more occupied and I would say that was when I genuinely started living there. About six months later, winter was coming so I decided to return to civilization to start again after my break. I sold the property for a profit and built a new life in a nice community.

I am telling you about this because for the past two months I have seen these same transitions in a lot of people I have been corresponding with. I think you know people going through changes like this also, if not yourself, and you have access to them, to be able to encourage them in some very profound ways. We are at that time now when a lot of people are just starting to accept the reality they have and are at risk of accepting the way things are for them. They may enter a serious form of depression and fail to engage the world in a new way and build a new life for themselves. They might feel a sense of deadness within themselves and fail to see new directions they can take. If you have the opportunity to talk with them, remind them that they are alive. Living things grow and living things change. Being a living person means by definition that you will experience growth and change in your life throughout your life from the womb to the tomb. When a former life definition is lost, it is necessary to define a new one, and considering the way the world has changed this must be as intentional as possible with focus, conviction, and diligence. Most of the time people have to learn how to do something new, according to the kinds of work available in their region, or move to another one where they can continue to do what they did before. It is important to be aware of the changes people are going through around you.

This is the time when people would normally start going to church. People begin to accept the reality that their lives are now different and they will either embrace it, move forward, and build something new, or they might move into depression and even despair. Even now suicide rates are competitive with virus infections and deaths. What is different now compared to any other time in history is that churches are closed. Some jurisdictions are allowing some churches to operate in a limited way, but with the social distancing and restrictions on children's programs, this is just not going to be the same. Many churches are facing bankruptcy and with the flu and cold season approaching soon, and a second wave of COVID 19, with uncertainty about #1-#18, and who knows how long it will be before COVID 20, I don't think church life is going to resume for at least another year at best. By the time permission is granted for normal church life to resume most churches could be already closed due to bankruptcy. Normally, this would be the phase where people would consider including God in the redefinition of their life, but this time, with the limitations placed on churches, this will be harder for most people.

Here at Living God Ministries we normally see people who go through this transition after a few years. The usual cycle is that a person goes to church, gets saved after 6 months or a year, they live the "Christian Life" for one or two years before they start getting a little tired of living by the church law. This is when they will start the church hop dance and move from one church to the next on average every two years. They enter a new one with the enthusiasm of the promise of grace but return quickly to the cycle of repent, obey, sin, forgiveness, repent, and so on. We normally hear from them after a few laps in this wilderness, but in the coming years, we might not see the same pattern we have seen in the past. With the limitations placed on churches, there is a high probability our position on the radio will become more important but an economic downturn will make it more difficult for us to hold our positions well. We are monitoring these trends closely and hope to have a better understanding within the next six months or so.

In the meantime, I would like to emphasize the importance of inviting people to your homes to have discussions about life changes and the Gospel. You have access to people in ways that others do not and it is important not to underestimate the influence you have when engaging one person at a time with a personal conversation. Small groups in homes having Bible studies have always been the most effective way to expand the Kingdom of God. You can use the messages available in the radio archive to facilitate group discussions or contact me for where you can find video content that is a replacement for the traditional in-person Sunday sermons. Contact us periodically to let us know how you are doing and also if we can be of any help.

With Thanks,
Aaron
Teaching Pastor for Living God Ministries

A Friend of God

A Friend of God

By Aaron Budjen

The sin in the world during the time of Noah was very profound.  In Genesis 6 the Lord saw that the wickedness was great.  Evil intent was on people's hearts continually and the Lord recognized His part in the abomination He saw.  He was the one who provided them with the land to walk on and the food to eat.  He created the world and all that was in it for the people.  He was the provider, the one who ensured everything functioned so the people would be able to build quality lives for themselves.  He did his part but they used His generosity and love for them inappropriately, and used the resources He provided to build lives of horrific evil.  It is recorded that the feelings of God were deeply hurt.  He is a God of profound sensitivity and has feelings to a degree we will likely never imagine the depths of.  He was the one who provided the resources by which the people engaged in so much evil, and He repented by taking what he provided away from them.  He flooded the earth.  There was no land for people to put their feet on.  The food and clean water was so difficult to get that if some people were able to find something to float on they still would not survive.  They were adequately warned of what was coming.  They could have built a boat and stocked it with provisions like Noah did.  God did not keep any secrets and Noah was a testimony for many years of what was going to take place.  God took away what was rightfully His and being left on their own, everyone but eight people perished.

The Lord established a covenant in Genesis 9:12-17 that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood as He did.  We see rain from the sky all the time now and it can be easy for us to fear the flood again.  The Lord provided the rainbow for us to see in the sky as a reminder for us that we have nothing to fear from the rain.  He will not destroy the world with a flood like He did before.  It is not a covenant to suggest that what He did was wrong.  Some could assume that He perhaps reacted out of anger inappropriately and seeing the error of His ways He is promising He won't do it again.  The people on this earth have no legitimate claim on His property, His planet or His provisions.  What He gives is a gift and is not something He owes them.  They cannot extort Him through His goodness by proclaiming He better give them what they need or He is not a good God.  If anyone wishes to assert He is evil and reject Him as a person, He will probably be merciful and allow them to continue to live in His creation for a time.  However, just as He said in Genesis 6:3 that man would get 120 years, we will all physically die, and if we live all the way to the end, our lives will end when He does destroy the earth again.  He promised He would not destroy the earth with water a second time.  He gave the people a prophecy that He would destroy the earth with water once, and He has told us clearly that one day He will do it with fire.

After the flood of Noah there was a time of quiet peace.  Where was the Lord?  What was He doing?  Besides the Tower of Babel incident, it was about 300 years before we heard from Him again when we look at the record in the Scriptures.  Consider what had taken place.  It was a very emotional experience for Him to go through what He went through.  He confessed His part in providing the means by which people made such terrible choices.  He genuinely wanted to provide for people so they could build happiness and joy for themselves.  He is such a loving and giving God and yet his love and generosity were used to violate Him and what He created.  Once he made the adjustments and gave the few people remaining a way to start over, He took some time off.

When the Lord rested after the flood, we know that He did watch to see what people would do.  The sons of Noah had a new opportunity to build a new world with the remembrance of who God is and what He had done.  Around a hundred years later the people began to build the Tower of Babel and a city where they could have a name for themselves and effectively declare their independence from the God who created everything.  In Genesis 11:5-6 the Lord recognized that through working together they would be able to accomplish most anything that would come to their minds.  While this can be an opportunity for them to build great goodness, it could also be an opportunity for them to build great evil.  I do not believe the Lord wanted to interfere with their ability to build great goodness.  Instead, He scattered the people by interfering with their ability to communicate with each other.  Miraculously, He intervened through the Holy Spirit so they could not understand what most others were saying.  They understood those who He allowed to have a common language with and they formed new communities accordingly.  This is similar in contrast to what He accomplished through the unification of people with the Gift of Tongues once the New Covenant went into effect.  This did not prevent them from achieving great things.  Instead He established an opportunity for healthy competition between the different groups of people as a system of checks and balances in case some of the groups decided to use their unity for evil.  If one group decided to pursue self destructive behavior there would be other groups who could decide to pursue something different.  When the whole world one day joins together in a new world order, this opportunity for competition will be eliminated.  If the leadership establishes policies that are self destructive for the people of the world there will eventually be no hope for humanity but the direct intervention of God through the return of the king, The Lord Jesus.

In addition to the record of the Tower of Babel incident, we could perhaps include the writing of Job as an example of our God's continual participation in the lives of people after the flood.  Besides these descriptions we don't seem to have any information about God speaking with or interacting with others.  It is as if He was there to respond when needed, but otherwise kept to Himself.  I can't help but wonder what He was doing during this time.  What where the projects He was working on and what were the works He was preparing for people to walk in?  Around 300 years after the flood there was a man, Abram.  Abram was certainly not perfect but God saw something in him that grabbed His attention.  God spoke to Abram and invited Abram to follow Him.  Abram could have easily refused and continued with the successful life he had.  To leave his home and community with so much uncertainty was a substantial risk, and the reward of having more may have easily turned out to be a life of wandering around various lands and living his life in a tent.  He did respond to the invitation and eventually left everything behind to build a new life with a God he barely knew.  I believe it was a special moment for our God that after all of those years from the Garden of Eden until Abram, He finally got to experience someone like Abram who went with Him to start a new life like they did.  It was of course a difficult relationship that was built over time but when reading about it I believe we can see that they shared a special relationship.  The depth and quality of it can easily be overlooked with all of the events and covenants but several hundred years later we were told through Isaiah who Abraham (Genesis 17:5) was to our God.  In Isaiah 41:8 He eventually told us who Abraham was to Him.  Abraham was his friend.  Through all that God had done and experienced, He had and still has a friend, one of many since then.

Entertaining an Angel

"Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." Hebrews 13:1-2

On February 27, 2011, my pastor, Aaron Budjen, was about to start his message when he took a moment to share something about his testimony.

"I got saved back in 1989 ... I was part of a military unit and I called the chapel and I said, "I want to talk to somebody." So somebody came over and they only had a few minutes and I only had a few minutes. I don't remember a whole lot of what he told me. His name was Chaplain Bulla (sp). There were a couple of things that really stuck with me. The first thing he said was, "What I am going to tell you you're not going to understand now, but you will understand later." And I remember now I understand what he was trying to tell me. He was trying to tell me about salvation being the restoration of the Holy Spirit. I didn't have any idea of what he was talking about back then. I can only say that today I can remember that is what he had communicated. He led me in a prayer to be saved and I prayed sincerely that I wanted to be saved. That I wanted to know my God for who He was and that I didn't know really who He was, what He was about or whether it was about ... in Judaism or in Christianity or where, but I knew that he knew this God and I wanted to know the God that he knew and that's how I got started.  And for many years I have tried to find him. I have tried multiple times. I contacted the military. I contacted the base. I talked to everybody and had them go through all the records for every chaplain in the entire base for all history to find Chaplain Bulla. And there has never been any way that anybody's been able to find his existence. There is no record of him anywhere. And so yesterday morning I conceded that it is probably that the Lord sent an angel so that I could be saved. I don't like to concede things like that too quickly or too easily because I could be wrong. I don't want to say that I am somebody special because He decided to send somebody, one of His angels, to come talk to me for a couple of minutes because I am definitely not. I am sure He would do that for anyone and He wouldn't do that just for me. But, on the other hand, I am pretty confident that that is all He had available. I have never spoken about that ever. I have never told anybody about that so I thought I'd go ahead and do that now because I don't think it is possible for me to deny that anymore. I am really thankful that He was merciful."

Sometimes I think that Christians over-spiritualize events in their life; thinking that every odd occurrence or hard to explain circumstance is supernatural. There are even those that only seem to focus on these supposed encounters with angels. But, knowing my pastor as I do, he is not one to quickly give into all of this as he mentions in his story. It took him 22 years to conclude that he may have had an encounter with an angel. No doubt people have had encounters with angels, even fallen angels (demons), within the pages of scripture and throughout world history. Many times in scripture there was little doubt that an angel was making an appearance as often times the first words out of their mouth was, "Do not be afraid," indicating that their appearance was quite impressive and intimidating. However, assuming my pastor's experience was legitimately an encounter with an angel, they can also be disguised like regular human beings. This, obviously, can make recognizing them more difficult, if not impossible. But, perhaps, that is the point. It allows the message they are bringing to us to be the focus instead of us focusing on the messenger. I am also inclined to believe my pastor encountered an angel because of the uniqueness of the message Chaplain Bulla relayed to him. Salvation being the restoration of the Holy Spirit of God is, sadly, not something that one hears preached too often, if at all. Personally, I can count on one hand those teachers I know who I believe understand and teach this truth and I would have a finger or two to spare. I don't say that to be humorous, but out of sadness. Just like it took a direct encounter with Jesus to set the Apostle Paul on his path to writing the majority of the New Testament letters, perhaps the Lord sent an angel to my pastor to set him on his path to teach the fullness of the Gospel. Ultimately, I think all of us can take heart in the fact that the Lord does care enough about us to send angels to us or to talk to us directly; even if only for a couple of minutes. And, we may not know He did that for years after the encounter. After all, the Bible says in Hebrews 13:2 that we "unwittingly" entertain angels. What I do know is that as long as we are learning to trust and depend on Him, through our relationship with Jesus Christ and His indwelling Holy Spirit, we will be open to possibly entertaining an angel someday who will carry a message that will change our lives and, perhaps, our eternity.

Better for Some than None

BETTER FOR SOME THAN NONE

By Aaron Budjen

www.livinggodministries.net

In the radio programs I produced for Living God Ministries on Forgiveness, I explained that there will be a large percentage of people who will hear about the forgiveness of God and use it as an excuse to indulge their flesh.  It is an understandable consequence when you consider the nature of the flesh and the weaknesses people have while they grow and mature in Christ.  The people who misuse the truth that our God no longer holds our sins against us can be divided into two groups.  The first group would be those people who would have committed the sin regardless of forgiveness.  In this case the value of forgiveness for them is to perhaps relieve them of guilt or shame, but it is important to recognize they would have sinned without knowing about their sins being forgiven.  When I consider the people I have spoken with about this issue over the years, I feel very comfortable saying the majority of people who understand they have been forgiven of a sin would still have committed the sin if they were not forgiven of the sin.  Even though this could be a reflection of a weak belief in the existence or judgement of God, I personally have found that the truth of forgiveness for most people has not been a deciding factor concerning their decision to sin.  The second group are the people who have decided in the past not to sin because of the threat of punishment from God and have used the truth of forgiveness to sin when they would not have otherwise.  I have found the second group to be relatively small.  Therefore, while it is true that many use the truth of forgiveness as a justification or excuse to sin, I have found only a small percentage of these people who would have restrained themselves otherwise.

Regardless of the magnitude of the increase in sin, through a misuse of the truth of forgiveness, a person has to decide if they will tell the truth about forgiveness or not.  If a person would really consider the nature of this decision, it would be a simple decision to make.  It is better to tell the truth than to lie.  However, just as some will use the truth inappropriately, there are others who know the truth and will intentionally deceive people out of fear.  The decision to tell people God holds sins against them, when a person knows He does not is a sin.  In this case the fear a person will use the truth inappropriately is the excuse given to sin.  Perhaps this decision to sin by being dishonest is committed because the person knows they are forgiven.  If this takes place, it is another example of a person using the truth of forgiveness as an excuse to sin.

While we are occupied with these decisions, it is easy to forget that God probably has a few opinions concerning this subject.  I believe He would like us to tell the truth regardless of the consequences.  I believe He is fully aware of the consequences and the benefit is greater than the consequences.  For example, many will use the truth of forgiveness inappropriately but some will not.  There will be some who will embrace the complete forgiveness of sins for themselves and this will enable them to walk in the newness of life when the others will not.  Forgiveness is necessary to be loved by our God, accepted by our God, at peace with our God and grow in a knowledge and understanding of who He is.  Without forgiveness, the new life in Christ is not possible, and only the few who embrace the complete forgiveness of sins will have the opportunity to move forward and grow in a personal relationship with the Living God on the basis of truth.  This is the value God obtains that is worth the cost.

The decision to provide for the complete forgiveness of sins shows it is better for some people to know the truth than for no one to know the truth.  Complete forgiveness makes it possible for us to be saved, through ensuring the Holy Spirit never departs from us once we receive Him and are made spiritually alive.  Complete forgiveness makes it possible for us to understand other things our God wants to share with us.  Complete forgiveness makes it possible for us to relate to Him as our friend in addition to Him being our Lord.  Complete forgiveness makes it possible for us to forgive others in a way that sets us free from the bondage of the pain of sins committed against us.  It is better for some to be saved than none.  It is better for some to understand things that require an understanding of forgiveness than none.  It is better for some to be friends with God than none.  It is better for some to experience the healing of forgiving others than for none.  These are examples of why it is better for some than for there to be none.

For those who are familiar with what I described about the cost and the benefit of forgiveness, I would like to encourage you to consider other topics of interest where you can see similar dynamics revealed.  For example, predestination through the Gospel is another opportunity to see how God relates to us.  He defined the criteria through which a person can be saved.  He requires us to understand our condition, His provision and we must choose to embrace His forgiveness and receive the Holy Spirit He promised to resurrect us from the dead spiritually at the moment of our surrender to the New Covenant.  Through His offer to us to choose, the group of people who will reject His offer are predestined to be lost and the group of people who will accept His offer are predestined to be save.  Through defining the criteria at the foundation of the world, all people in the future are predestined to be in one category or the other.  Most will not choose to surrender to the Gospel, but it is better for some than for none.  Many will reject the inheritance as Esau, or harden their hearts as Pharoah, or resist the work of God in their life like poor quality clay in the potter's hands, but God will do what He is able with the people who are on His planet.  God's project of planet earth is worth the effort because it is better for some to turn to Him than for none.

Another important topic you can consider is the change and transformation that occurs within us over time.  In my experience I have seen it take an average of two years after a person has a firm grasp of what the Gospel is before it begins to have an effect in their heart.  Everyone is different of course so I do not want to imply that a person will not experience profound change in six weeks or that a person can live six years and still not see any change in their lives at all.  It's my believe that a person should periodically reflect on their lives and consider if they are the same person they were two years ago or eve ten years ago.  For those in Christ they will likely see some reduction of sin in their lives.  The cause of the reduction of sin might not be fully understood, and this could be an opportunity to ask the Lord how He did a work in a person's heart.  Regardless of the amount of change or the significance of the change, the point is that there will likely be some acknowledgement of change that can only be attributed to the work of God in a person's life.  The decision to be made at this point of reflection is will a person be thankful for the work God did in them, or will they be occupied with thoughts of what they would have preferred He do instead.  It is a decision of acknowledging that it is better for God to do what He can with a person in the condition they are in, than for Him to do nothing.  It is better for there to be some reduction of sin in a person's life, than for there to be no reduction of sin in a person's life.

The theme of it being better for some change than no change is found throughout the history of God interacting with us since the Garden of Eden.  This is a way of perceiving the world through His eyes and appreciating the character of our God.  We can understand more about why He made decisions in the past and can give us a vision of the decisions He will make in the future.  He will be able to show us more about how He is interacting with us personally today and how He is working with the people around us.  From our point of view we can embrace thankfulness in a new way.  Instead of being tempted to be thankful for what we do have when being overwhelmed with what we don't have, we can start with an understanding that there would be nothing without Him.  Thankfulness can become an expression of true appreciation when we see what we do have is greater than having nothing.  Do not be occupied with what you do not have.  Begin with an understanding that you have no claim on anything or anyone.  When you see that what you have, and the God you have is not consolation for what or who you wish you might have, you will live an expression of profound thankfulness.