Tag Archives: faith

Music for Life.

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Growing up I have always had a natural talent. From a young age, I loved music because I had an ear for music. Then I discovered that I could sing on key. I was in the choir most of elementary and high school. Until my voice changed, I sang soprano. I could even hit high C on the musical scale. When my voice changed, I became a baritone and some times I could sing tenor. My father loved classical music, which I still love to listen to today.

During college, I messed around more than studied and didn’t do so well. I studied communications (radio and television) in college. I served in the military after college. Then I got married. I knew it was time to get serious. I secured a job as a music director for a local Christian radio station. There I listened to all the music. Some music was good and some not so good. What I was listening for was the anointing of God. Most albums had 12 songs on it. Yes, this was before CDs. The music companies wanted me to play their choice of music. As I searched for suitable music for the radio station, I would find one or two songs that had the anointing. The criteria for the station was 1) you had to be able to hear the lyrics, 2) it had to lift up the name of Jesus. The station went from a Southern Gospel to Adult Contemporary Gospel music. Most of the time the music I chose wasn’t what the music company wanted. Sometimes I had go-rounds with their representatives. Our goals where different. What I was trying to accomplish was music that lifted people up to trust and believe God. Hope is a powerful thing. God is the author of music. The angels play music all the time. If they aren’t singing, they are playing music. It has a force all its own. As with all of the things of God, there are two sides, faith and doubt. It is the same sword. It can be used both ways. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. With all the music the angels have, there is one song they can’t sing. It is the song of the redeemed. Only we can sing that song to the Lord and all the angels stop and listen to it.

Music is a powerful instrument. If used in the right way, it can uplift people and soothe the savage beast. There are many different forms of music that can inspire us to greatness. And we know that there is music that can destroy us also. That is why it is so important for us to guard our ears when listening to music.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Life and Death.

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I have heard that from the moment you are born, we begin to die. I can understand that somewhat. Our skin continually is shedding the outer layer everyday. Our body rejects anything that doesn’t belong inside of us. But time and age always catches up to us no matter what we do. We look at people from around the world that have lived over a 100 years. But they are an anomaly. With medicines and better living, we have increased the average age lived to from 32 in the 1800s to 73 in the 2000s. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to die.

Life and death are two subjects that people seemed to be obsessed with. If it isn’t trying to live longer, it’s glorifying death so that we seem more important. The bible has different views on life and death. It says in Proverbs, life and death are in the power of the tongue. It also says that if you don’t bridle your tongue, you can’t control your life. It’s interesting that our tongue has a direct influence upon our life or death. And if you don’t think that is true, just look at people that you know that don’t control their tongues. In Ephesians, it says to obey you parents that you may live long on this earth. That is a direct correlation to the length of our lives.

It’s funny, interesting, how God seems to be interested in how long we live on the earth. And He delineates what will cut off our lives prematurely. And all of this decision making comes right back to what we do and say. So, we are in charge of our lives and have to make the right decisions to, 1, stay alive and 2, live a long life. Life and death are not only in the tongue, but also in what we do with our lives.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Will of God.

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The bible says that Jesus made everything including earth. After God set everything up and gave it to man, man rejected God. It was by God’s will that the earth and mankind be made to share with Him all that God has. God has continually tried to bring man back into the fold. God has not given up on mankind. But mankind has given up on God. Ever since Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil, man has declared his godhood. He can do what ever he wants. The only problem with that is that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Then mankind does not have the power to correct his mistakes. In which they lead to death and destruction. That is why there is so much devastation in this world.

God has from the beginning intervened in the affairs of man. He has tried and with some success, helped man to create a stable world to live in. It is funny, interesting, that man knows and proclaims who the devil is. But is unwilling to confess the same for God. In 1982, a US Congressman, who was dying of cancer, tacked a bill on the wall of Congress for anyone to sign. This bill would proclaim that 1983 was the Year of the Bible in the US. It didn’t go through any committee or any debate. It was just up to the Congressmen and Senators to sign if they wanted it to become law. Well it passed and the President Reagan signed into law. It was the first time in 2000 years that any government had acknowledged God. The GNP for the US increased by 100% over the passed 20 years. People became wealthy by the will of God.

The bible is a written history of what God has said and done for mankind. In every case, those people who did the will of God have prospered. And those who did not, fail in their efforts. We ,with free will, have to decide if we are going to do the will of God. God did not make His will complicated. He made it simple for man to follow. But we have to decide what we are going to do. I would ask you and implore you to follow God. This is the only way that we will succeed in this life and in the world to come. Yes there is another world. It only has two place to go to. There are heaven, God’s home, and hell, the devil’s home. God does not send anyone to hell. Anyone who goes to hell has to choose to go there. Although God is sovereign with all power to do anything, we have to choose where we are going after death on this earth. God’s will is there for anyone to choose. And I highly recommend to follow God home to heaven.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Pearl Harbor Day – What does it take to go to war?

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I served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam war. I went to basic training like everyone else. I went on to advanced training school. Then I was assigned to my post. I left home not knowing what to expect. Even when I was at my post, I still did not understand what it took to go to war. The basic training I received was just that. It was the basic knowledge of being in the military. Training for war was more of advanced than that. Also the knowledge of war or the understanding of that knowledge had to be experienced. I was stationed state-side for my tour in the Air Force. Three of my sons served in the Iraqi and Afghanistan war. Two came back with PTSD. They all understood what it took to go to war. They had experienced the trauma of war. It’s been 15 years since they served and are coping with the understanding of war.

War is not natural to man. It goes against everything that we are. It takes a little bit by bit of our heart each time anyone serves in the front lines. But it is a conscious decision on our part to go to war. It is not surprising that many people choose not to go to war. There are cost to war. The bible says that before a king goes to war, he sits down and counts the cost. To see if he is able to wage the war and win. If not he sues for peace. This comes from an understanding of war.

Jesus calls us to be good soldiers to put on the armor of God to fight the enemy. Many people when they first start with God are on fire and press against the enemy. I have watched them falter and stop their fight with the enemy. The cost became to high for them. They saw and understood the cost of war. Jesus fought the fight everyday. He did not stop just because the devil was pressing in on Him. People say He is God and can do that. Jesus proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that man can live righteously on this earth. He was a man was all the frailties. The bible says that Jesus learned obedience by things which He suffered. God’s call to man comes with many promises. These promises can be had if we stand up and press into God. It all depends on what you decide to do. Whether to go to war and follow Jesus or not. Yes it does cost us everything we have, our life. But once you have given your life, what else can the enemy take from you? He can’t take anything from you because God has promised.

I saluted all the men and women who have served their country with honor. Some paid the ultimate price. But all gave their lives to serve with duty and honor. God bless you all.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Though He slay me…

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Today I want to tell you a non-fictional story. The story is about a man who lived about 4000 years ago. The three great religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all consider this man a prophet of God. We are talking about Job, whose book in the bible is considered to be the first book written. Job was a righteous man. He had a wife, seven sons and three daughters. Job lived in the land of Uz, which is north of Jordan, along the Syrian and Iraqi border. He was very rich. Job owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred donkey and a lot of servants. Job was a Patriarch or king in the middle east. He was the grandson of Esau, the brother of Jacob or Israel.

Because Job was a righteous man, God put a hedge about Job. Nothing or anyone couldn’t touch Job. The story goes that satan went to God and asked Him for permission to attack Job. God gave him permission to take everything but his life. Satan believed that if Job lost everything, he would curse God and died. The devil took his wife, his children, his servants and his livestock. The devil did all this and Job still praised God. The devil touched his body with a pox, which was very painful. Job’s three friends came to console him. They look at Job and lost hope. Then they told Job to just curse God and die. After all that happened to Job, he looked at them and said, Though He slain me, yet will I trust God.

Faith is not something that you can touch. But it is something that can move mountains. It is the hope of salvation from this world. God rewarded Job’s faith in Him. He restored to Job, a wife, children, servants and livestock. Job became a greater Patriarch in the end. Faith in God, Jesus, will get you from here to home, heaven, just like Job.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

There are Good and Bad Conseqences.

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Consequences, most people think about bad ones instead of good ones. There are both good and bad consequences. Sometimes making a bad choice turns into a good one. Those are few and far between. For the most part, we think that our decisions are the right ones. The bible says that man thinks he is right in his own eyes. Until everything goes south quickly. Then we are in fix it mode and try not to tell anyone about. Unless it is monumental and we can’t get out of it. I am not saying that everything we choose is bad. The good is mixed in there with the bad. Unfortunately there is more bad than good. And you know that this is true.

I am writing this because my mother in law died last Saturday. Her life, as far as I saw was that mixture of good and bad. I have plenty of good memories about her, but the bad memories have influenced her family far greater than the good ones. My wife would go to her aunt for advice and comfort, knowing that she could not or would not talk to her mother about whatever. My mother in law had progressive dementia the last few years of her life. My father in law is a decent man, but he also made good and bad choices. Everyone has. There is no getting out of them, unless God changes the circumstances. Both my father and mother in law are Christians. I have seen them live a life for Jesus. So I know where my mother in law is, in heaven. Her trials and tribulations are over. I am grieving for my mother in law. Not only for her absence, but for our family and the legacy that she left behind.

When we think that we are completely right, that is when we need to look at what we have done in this world. To see whether or not it was right. Or whether we need to change our ways. We need to stop and consider what our decisions have done to our family and in general the world around us. And if we judge rightly with the wisdom of God then we can be satisfied with the decisions we have made. God bless and keep you wherever you go.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

When Time runs out?

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What will you do when time runs out? Just like an hour glass, time will run out for everyone. We are given by God a certain about of time. We can do whatever with of lives until time runs out. Then what is going to happen to us? It is a very valid question that everyone must answer. No one can escape answering the question. People put off answering that question until they understand it’s all over for them. Then reality sets in as they see their lives clearly. What they did or did not do in their lives. It is an unsettling dilemma. People have to face that dilemma with uncertainty. Not knowing what is going to happen to them if they don’t settle the issue of their life.

How can we settle the issue or even know what is going to happen? Why do we know about or even be concerned with this issue? There is a hole in our being. To become whole we have to try to fill that hole with something. I have watched people fill that hole with money, power, sex, drugs or anything that they think will fill that hole. The only problem is that hole was designed by God to be filled with only one thing, God Himself.

It is said the people fear death because of this hole and are held in bondage to it. This is when people become slaves to money, power, sex, drugs or anything that they can fill that hole with.

So how do we break free from this bondage and fill that hole in our lives? There is a plan in place for us that is over 6000 years old. It was there at the beginning of time for every human being. God finished the work for us about 2000 years ago. This work was done for us because God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. His only begotten son is Jesus Christ. And all we have to do is to turn to Him and repent of our sins and believe in Him. This will fill that hole in your life and assure you of the life to come when time runs out.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

How Coincindences Work.

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This is how coincidences work through events happening without any of the same apparent causes. Let’s look at the life of Joseph, the eleventh of twelve sons of Israel, Jacob. Benjamin was Joseph’s younger brother. Jacob protected Benjamin, being the baby of the family. But he also favored Joseph, because he was first son of his favorite wife, Rachel. When Jacob blessed his children right before he died, he called Benjamin a ravenous wolf. Jacob didn’t do right by his other ten sons, who were the sons of Rachel’s sister Leah. When God chose Joseph to be the one who saved his family, God gave him a dream about how Joseph would do it. Jacob also gave Joseph a coat of many colors. Which showed the other brothers that he was the favorite son.

One day when Joseph was out in the field with his brothers, he told them about the dream God gave to him. His brothers had had enough and plotted to kill Joseph and blame it on a wolf. Reuben stopped them from killing Joseph and instead sold him into slavery to an Egyptian. Eventually Joseph was sold to Potiphar and then put into prison for thirteen years. By the hand of God, Joseph could interpret dreams. He interpreted a dream for a servant of Pharaoh, who was restored to service with Pharaoh.

God gave Pharaoh two separate dreams which no one could interpret. Finally, the servant that Joseph helped spoke up to Pharaoh about him interpreting dreams. They took Joseph out of prison, cleaned him up and presented him to Pharaoh. Pharaoh told him the two dreams and Joseph said they are one and the same from God. Joseph gave him the answer and Pharaoh made him Prime Minister of Egypt.

Eventually the famine that God showed Pharaoh came. Joseph had prepared Egypt against famine. They stored enough food to save not only Egypt but the rest of the known world. This made Egypt very rich and powerful. Famine came to Canaan and Jacob, Israel, had his sons to go to Egypt and buy food. They appeared before Joseph twice before telling them who he was. When he revealed himself to them he told them this:

Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

There are no coincidences with God. It may have seemed that the two events were unrelated, but God prepared a way to save as many people as possible through Joseph. God is still making a way for people not only to survive, but to live through His planning.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Fear and Doubt.

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I don’t have to introduce you to fear and doubt. They are old and familiar friends that we were raised with. I wouldn’t call them friends, because they always got us into more trouble. As much as we don’t want them around, they were always there in times of trouble. When we couldn’t see a way out, they would stick close to us. Fear has been clinically proven to cause heart attacks. Doubt will stop us dead in our tracks from doing anything productive. Fear and doubt are the opposite of faith and hope.

I should say hope and faith. It is hope that we receive first. Hope that our lives can be changed into something better. Hope is the promise of the future. It is what leads to believing in ourselves and someone greater. Usually hope comes when we hit the wall running and fall down nearly dead. We come to ourselves hoping for an answer that will solve our problems. If we see that there is an answer that will resolve our pain and misery, we being to hope. Hope is a fleeting thing. It will not last forever. If we decide to accept the way out of our problems, then our hope will grow. Then when we see our problems being solved, we begin to believe and our hope becomes stronger. Then our hope becomes faith.

In the beginning, it is always hope and faith are sketchy. We are looking for proof that our lives will change. But once we have decided to follow the plan to change our lives, then we will see the proof we need to believe what God says it true. It doesn’t mean that our faith will not be tested. What it does mean is that our hope and faith can grow into what God wants for us. Anything that we receive without any adversity isn’t worth having. So hope and faith come by adversity, knowing that we have decided on the God’s plan to change our lives for the better.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Why would God create and sustain mankind?

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When God created mankind, He knew that man would fail. How did He know this? His 1/3rd angels that He created rebelled against Him. God had to expelled them from heaven. Knowing this God made man anyway. Why would He do this? The scripture that always comes up explaining this phenomenon is very familiar to everyone. People have heard up signs with this scripture everywhere. There was even a US court case about that very scripture. It was ruled that holding up a sign with the scripture name and number wasn’t illegal, no matter where it was. I bet you can guess the scripture I am talking about.

“ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

So, what does this scripture say? It says that God loves this world, mankind and creation, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. This was to allow mankind to come home again. And anyone that accepts God’s offer of clemency, can enter into heaven once again. You talk about faith in this world. God’s faith that man would accept His offer, from the offset, seems risky at best. So, what makes the difference in this offer? It is the love of God. It is how far God will go to bring us back home again.

So, let me ask you a question. How is heaven our home in the first place? We were wonderfully and perfectly made by God. Our spirit, who we are, is immortal and comes from God. This is what will return to heaven to be with God. Earth is temporary and will disappear in the end. Our home will be either heaven or hell. Heaven is where the children of God reside. Hell was made for the devil and his angels and all the people who don’t chose God’s offer. As individuals, we have a choice to make, whether or not to chose God. With that choice, it decides where we are going to living eternally. I chose to accept God’s offer and to live in the kingdom of His dear son, Jesus.

It has been written out for us for over 4000 years. It is called the bible. Read for yourselves and decide whether God is telling the truth or not.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com