“No one…”

God’s plan of salvation for sinners–the greatest thought that can ever enter the mind of man. The Kindle edition is FREE at Amazon for three days starting today.

“JD Wetterling has given us nothing less than the Gospel in all its simplicity, beauty and glory. If this message is news to you, read this book and let God speak to your soul. If this is news you have heard a thousand times, allow yourself to hear it again, and let your faith be strengthened and renewed.”
Tim Challies, pastor, author, book reviewer, blogger at challies.com 

See you in church.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #6 of 6.

Sunrise on Marathon Key, FL.

The joy begins at number #2 of 6 and lasts forever, and furthermore takes a quantum leap at death.

These six quotes by Jesus comprise God’s plan of salvation for sinners as recorded in the Gospel of John. A small book I wrote a long time ago, entitled (2nd edition, 2016) “No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, spends a chapter on each one of these six quotes. It will be available in Kindle edition at Amazon FREE starting tomorrow for 3 days.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #5 of 6

Sunrise through a cypress tree in Baton Rouge, LA.

The Son of God didn’t die for His chosen and then forget a single one. He’s already written the story of their life and it has a happy ever after–there is no ending. See also Romans 8:29-30.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #4 of 6

Sunrise on Organ Pipes National Monument, AZ

Jesus’ crucifixion was not a catastrophic end to a promising evangelistic career, it was a supremely successful rescue mission planned in the throne room of God before the world began.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #3 of 6

Sunrise at the Blender Arboretum, Raritan, IL

Jesus is the only way to God. His is an inflammatory statement in this age of rampant diversity in religion and non-religion. But it is still the Son of God talking–eternal, absolute truth.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #2 of 6

Sunrise on Joshua Tree NP, CA

Man is sinful from birth and stuck in a deep dark hole, helpless to free himself. Only God can draw him from the hole as a man draws water from a well.

“No one…”: Jesus Explains Saving Grace, #1 of 6

Sunrise over Florida Bay from Cape Sable, Everglades National Park.FL.

In man’s quest for salvation nothing happens until this happens, not even the quest itself, and he has no more control over his spiritual rebirth than he did over his birth. Read the context in John 3.

ANGELS

I’m a sunrise/sunset addict. I sense the reality of our Sovereign God most palpably then. This seraphic sunset picture was taken the last year of our fulltime RV life from atop a cliff above the Oregon shore–Cape Perpetua. It only partially captures the reality of being there, but still speaks volumes to me of God’s omnipotent grace in my life.  As we stood there marveling at that angelic reflection I recalled traumatic times past when the Almighty’s angels saved me from my enemies, and even more times from myself. They were about to do it again and this extraordinary sunset was, in hindsight, a sign that they were still on duty in my life.

A few days later, as we were cruising down the coast on one of California’s potholed freeways, I heard a loud metallic thump. Nothing else felt amiss but I pulled into the next available rest area. I could find nothing wrong in my inspection of the rig, but continued to worry as the potholes seemed to be getting more numerous. So we spent a few days visiting family in San Francisco, discontinued the rest of our coastal cruise in California and headed due east to get out of the state and it’s crumbling highways.

When we got to Missouri a few weeks later, I took the rig in for a routine maintenance check and the mechanic found the source of that noise back in California. He escorted me to his shop, invited me to get down onto his creeper and told me where to go under the rig to see the problem. One of four leafspring snap shackles was broken. He insisted that I not take that rig back on the road until it was fixed. We had come halfway across the continent with that six-ton fifth–wheel attached to its running gear at only three points. The angel that had manifested himself in that Oregon sunset had kept me from pitching the whole rig off the mountain on one of those steep switchbacks in Colorado, or flinging it off the running gear on any of the myriad curves on America’s highways.  My hiding place under the rig became my prayer closet as I envisioned the disaster that might have been and thanked a merciful God. I walked away from that rig, called a Sabre, fighting the same week-kneed gait I had when I walked away from my Super Sabre after a hairy sortie.

One of my prayers during our vagabond years was that God would indicate when it was time to quit hauling that big rig down the road, and He surely talked loudly to me in Missouri. My meticulous pre-flight RV inspection every time prior to taking the road had failed.

That winter, as we remained stationary in our favorite RV Park in SW Florida and pondered our future, God spoke again and removed all doubt. The doc heard the sound of a broken washing machine in his stethoscope, and a few weeks later he overhauled my heart with recycled cow parts. When I was fit to drive again we came north to Mason, Ohio, to be near family for the duration of our days. The Isaiah 6:3 Tour, the most blessedly joyful 6.5 years of our lives, was over. I sold the RV and traded my beloved diesel truck in for an economic sissy car. In the last seven years of immobile sticks-and-bricks living, we have been as content as two old wandering sinners-saved-by-grace could be. Don’t tell me “angels ain’t real.”  As the Lord of Hosts lives, they’re His frontline troops.

See you in church.

MY TREASURE, MY HERITAGE

A Presbyterian scholar and good friend, now with Lord, once said, “If you don’t believe in original sin then obviously you never raised kids.” Thomas Sowell said, “Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.”

But great are God’s rewards for longsuffering parents who persevere in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And this is it–grown, God-fearing children and grandchildren, all of whom I love so much I’d die for, gathered at grandma’s house for her birthday, laughing, loving, giving thanks to our Gracious God. The master of this household is surrounded by his greatest treasures (Matthew 13:52), his gracious heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). Grandpa’s cup runneth over.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

See you in church.

AMERICAN RECESSIONAL, 2021

God of our founders, known of old,
LORD of our wayward, troubled state,
Rebellious souls by sin made bold,
Provoke the hand that holds our fate.
O Holy God, your love we’ve spurned.
Forbear awhile the wrath we’ve earned.

Who’d ever thought in ’76
This hard-earned nation under God
Could get itself in such a fix.
Forsake our God, you’ll get the rod!
O Jealous God, your love we’ve spurned.
Forbear awhile the wrath we’ve earned.

We kill our kids before they’re born,
Conjure genders, ignore the facts.
Our heinous sins we do not mourn
And to your grace we turn our backs.
“Vengeance is mine I will repay.”
How long, O LORD? Whence comes the day?

God’s judgment, Romans one declares:
“God gave them up” to lustful gain–
Unlawful sex, unnatural pairs.
The final stage: demented brains.
O Angry God, there’s still a way,
Withhold your heavy hand, we pray.

You’ve promised, LORD, if we repent,
You would forgive and heal our land.
Your remnant begs, our knees are bent,
We seek your face with empty hand.
O Sov’reign God, this is your plan,
And by your grace we will withstand.

“…if my people who are called by my name  humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

This Independence Day I am driven to church by the overwhelming  conviction there is nowhere else to go in this troubled land.  See you there.