Who is this old buzzard who thinks he may make a difference by what he writes?  His name is Bill Biza, AKA Bluegill Bill.

Who is the subject of his writing?  The Lord Jesus Christ!  The second person of the Trinity; the Creator of everything that’s been created, and the One in whom all things live and move and have their being (John 1:1-3; Acts 17:28).

Yes, Jesus Christ is the One of whom I write.  Why?  Because He is Alpha and Omega, He who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).  He is the only One who can save, and His name is the only name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).  When God called me to proclaim the gospel; by preaching, witnessing, writing, and singing, He spoke to my heart in two portions of Scripture (Psalm 9:1,2; and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  God’s purpose, by grace through faith is that his own may be reconciled to Him, i. e., those whom He has chosen from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

My intent is that whoever reads what I write my be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ, initially; and closer to Him ever after.  This, I believe, is the best contribution that I can possibly make in the world in which I live.

If you have any questions about God, the Lord Jesus, or about eternal things, please ask.  If I don’t know, I will find the answer for you, (always) by consulting Scripture, or counseling with Christian friends.  My phone number is (937) 710-4161.  We live in Sidney, Ohio, which is on eastern daylight time.

Sincerely, in Jesus’ blessed name,

 

Bill Biza  (a sinner saved by grace!)

BELOVED FRIENDS, IT CAN’T BE MADE PLAINER!

MARK 1:1-3: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ “

Some of my Baptist friends said (with their tongues in their cheeks) that the gospel began with the the appearance of a Baptist.  As they said: “He wasn’t John the Methodist; or the Presbyterian; or John the Lutheran; or John the Roman Catholic; but, John the Baptist.  Actually he was John the Baptist – the messenger.  He was the one God chose to go before the Lord.  It was he who identified Jesus as “The Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world,” and his faithful witness to Christ cost him his head.

So it may soon be with us.  We live in a world that is vastly bigger and more populated than in the times of John the Baptist’s, and the Lord Jesus’ sojourns on earth; but people are basically the same.  There are those in our day, as in those days, whose eyes are blind, and whose ears are deaf to the saving message of Jesus Christ; and, there are those whom God has made alive that they may hear, and see, and obey the gospel.  These latter ones, are those who have been blessed in that Almighty God “chose us in him (in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us (and made us accepted) in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven, and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:4-10).

How can God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit make it any plainer than that?  So, are you going to hold onto tradition, and prearranged extra-scriptural false beliefs, or are you going to come to Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the life (John 14:6)?  If you know the Holy Spirit is drawing you, if you believe the truth of God’s Word, and receive Christ as he is revealed in Scripture; you may be sure that God has chosen you from the foundation of the world!  Come to him today!

Yours for the sake of Christ and the Gospel!

A sinner saved by grace

Bill

 

 

 

TO PARAPHRASE A BIT: WHAT WILL IT PROFIT A MAN, AND EVERYONE HE COMMUNICATES WITH, IF HE’S A REAL HOOT; BUT MANY GO TO HELL BECAUSE HE’S A HOOT, AND NOT A SOUL WINNER?

The answer to that question is this: There’s no profit at all in being a hoot (a humorous person), if you’re not concerned about people’s souls as well.  I’ve been a hoot all my life, and I could still be just that alone.  It would get me a lot more comments on my blogs if I were just a hoot alone.  But it wouldn’t profit anyone at all in the sense of profit as it’s used in my words above.  The crux of this is:  I don’t want followers!  I want people to follow Jesus Christ.  He is the Way; not I!  He is the Truth; not I!  He is the Life; not I!  My desire is to glorify Jesus Christ, not to make people laugh at me.  The truth is that I’m been pretty good at making people laugh all my life; but in the words of an old hymn:  “I’ve wasted many precious years.  Now I’m coming home.”  Coming home to what Jesus Christ wants me to be.  If I err in my efforts, at least I’ll err trying to serve and honor Him.  If I seem foolish to those who are wise in the ways of the world, at least I’ll be a fool for Jesus, and not for some idiotic worldly reason.

Therefore, that is the reason I write the kind of blogs that I do.  If I offend anyone, I apologize for my demeanor, which I’m certain needs work, and can always be made better.  But , I’ll never apologize for presenting Christ to my family, my friends, and my neighbors.  It’s that to which I’ve committed the rest of my life.  It’s what constitutes my real occupation.  Whatever else I do is just to make money so I can continue in my witnessing efforts.  “More About Jesus Would I Know, more of His grace to others show” (Eliza H. Hewitt).  I still like humor, and like to be funny.  Perhaps I can work on being a “hoot” and still presenting Christ in a cogent way.  Until I can, I’m just going to keep presenting Christ as He’s revealed in Holy Scripture.  Nothing else really matters with eternity in view.

Sincerely with love for the Lord Jesus, and for all of you!

A sinner saved by grace,

Bill

 

 

UNBELIEF – THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN!

AFTER HIS CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS IN JOHN 3 ABOUT THE NEW BIRTH, JESUS CONTINUED ON IN THIS WAY:

(John 3:13-21) “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”

Nearly always, when the scripture telling of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus is expounded, the expounder stops at John 3:16; and that’s okay.  But, sometimes it’s good to go on and read about the only reason for condemnation; and that’s this: “But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”  In other words: We may be forgiven for our total depravity, and for any sin we commit, except the sin of unbelief.  That sin is, in fact, unforgivable.  It is the sin against the Holy Spirit, because by not believing, one ignores the wooing of the Holy Spirit, thereby sinning against him.

So I admonish anyone who has not taken this seriously before: Come to the Light.  He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Believe in your heart that He is the One revealed in God’s Holy Word as Savior and Lord.  Call upon His Name, confessing your sins.  Come by faith.  What does it profit you if you gain the entire world, but lose your soul? (Matthew 16:26)  I’m telling whoever reads this these things because it’s what God wants me to do, and because I care what happens to you.

From a sinner saved by God’s Amazing Grace,

Bill

 

 

 

SALVATION OR PROBATION – Which of these do we receive when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

When my son passed away several years ago, I was talking to a friend, and in the course of our conversation, I said that “Bob is safe in the arms of Jesus.”  My friend said, “Well, you can hope so,” indicating his belief that I had no way of knowing for sure that my son Bob, was “safe in the arms of Jesus”  Bob, though life was a constant struggle for him, was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  My friend is (or was), as many people are, a “Galatians Christian,” i. e., one who believes that Jesus puts us on probation.   He, quite apparently, believes that salvation consists of Jesus setting us on course, and then we keep ourselves on course by church attendance, good works, faithfully obeying church rules and ordinances, etc., etc., .   The Apostle Paul, in Galatians 3 said this to the Galatians Church:  “O foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?  It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.  Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

When someone believes that salvation through Jesus Christ requires their additional work to be effective, that’s an affront to Almighty God.  Be they priest or pastor or one who sits in the pew, they are literally “turning to a different gospel!”  Are such people saved?  It’s not for me to judge, however, the shades of doubt are definitely extant in such cases.  Paul admonishes the Galatians by saying, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel-not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6,7).  Paul says, in effect, that people who add their works to (bolster) the Saving Work of Christ on Calvary are preaching a gospel different from the Gospel preached by Christ and the apostles.  They preached the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture.  The Holy Spirit, through the writer of Hebrews says that Christ, as the One who broke the power of sin and death by His resurrection from the dead, is “able to save to the uttermost all those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).  I pray that my friend by this time has come to realize the Scriptural assurance in Christ that all believers should have.  Christ is not a probation officer, He’s the Savior!

With love for the Lord Jesus, and for all of you,

A sinner saved by grace!

Bill

FROM START TO FINISH LIFE IS A STRUGGLE; AND SO THE APOSTLE

Paul said as his life was nearing its end: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Paul had been ship wrecked, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned, all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.  His discourse in Romans 7 tells of his struggle with sin, a struggle that engendered the cry, “Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Romans 7:24,25).  How different Paul’s Christianity was from the pseudo-Christianity of present times.  To hear the proponents of prosperity preaching, we should have no struggles.  They say, if we maintain a positive attitude, we should have a smooth road; and if we don’t, well, we just aren’t tuned in to God in the proper way.

If persons speak of struggles with faith, with sanctification, with plain old sin, they are told by myriads of today’s pseudo-Christians that they just aren’t right with God.  These false prophets would have told the Apostle Paul the same thing.  In fact, they would rather stay away from the Apostle Paul altogether (except for 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14), and even so, their exegesis of those chapters butchers Paul’s teaching beyond reason.

Paul’s advice to Timothy was: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

The Apostle John says in 1 John 4:1:  “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  Study God’s Word.  Seek to know the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in God’s Word.  But, don’t expect a picnic every day, or to always sleep on a bed of roses.  It’s just not that way.  Nevertheless, we have God’s promise from Isaiah 41:10:  “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!”

HALLELUJAH!  WHAT A SAVIOR!

With love for the Lord Jesus and for you all,

A sinner saved by grace,

Bill

WHO ELSE IS THERE EXCEPT THE LORD JESUS,

that is, to whom we may go to for help in times like these?  He had some extremely hard things to say to his disciples in John 6th chapter.  Many of them, because they couldn’t reconcile what He was saying with what they knew was right, went away.  He turned to the twelve and said, “Will you also go away?”  Peter answered, “Lord, to whom would we go?  You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6″68,69).

And so it is yet today.  There are many places that people go to find answers to the world’s dilemmas; but the Only One who has answers for our problems now, or for eternity, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you looking for answers in the world of politics?  Turn on your TV and witness what is passed off for political debate.  Did you ever see such a senseless fiasco.  People calling one another names, and behaving like first graders.  Actually, that’s an insult to first graders.  Most of them have more courtesy toward one another than the political candidates have for anyone.  I’ve noticed that most of them (not all, but most) may look for answers anywhere, except in God’s Word.  Why, if they did that, it would be politically incorrect; and after all, politics is what it’s all about.  You take Donald Trump for instance.  His initials are D. T.  I think of D. T., i. e., delirious tremens, a condition caused by excessive abuse of alcohol.  Is it mere coincidence that Trump’s initials are the same?  After all, they both cause tremors, anxiety, and hallucinations (my tongue is in my cheek).

Now, in absolute seriousness, look to the Lord Jesus Christ.  He brings light, and peace, and hopeful assurance.  Light to dispel the darkness that shrouds the world and its systems; peace to still the anxious and troubled heart in times like these; and hopeful assurance to all who call upon His Name, realizing that salvation is by grace through faith.

Yours, with love for the Lord Jesus, and all of you,

A sinner saved by grace,

Bill

 

 

“Water, water everywhere; but nary drop to drink.”  

Those words are from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Coleridge.  On Saturday last, March 19, 2016, I heard a missionary to Liberia speak.  He told how there was an abundance of water in Liberia; but virtually none that was safe to drink.  Immediately I thought that possibly, if I commit myself to the task, with the help of others who have worked in water treatment, we might be able to help this country (that was originally a colony of the USA), have safe water.  This would eliminate most of the physical diseases that plague the Liberian people.

Lack of water isn’t the only thing that troubles Liberia.  Although there are many Christians there, their Christianity is mixed with their old religion, and all of its bugaboos.  Ancestor worship, and belief in evil spirits are prevalent.  The people are more likely to go to a witch doctor for treatment for an illness, than they are to an educated and trained medical doctor, even if one is available.

Immediately this morning, as I meditated on these things, my thoughts went to the “Woman at the Well,” in the fourth chapter of John.  She could draw water from a well; but like the Liberian people, it wasn’t the water she needed most.  Jesus told her, speaking of the water in the well: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.  But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life.”  This most important water, the water of eternal life, is primarily what the missionaries in Liberia are trying to give the people.

How about us?  In the USA we have an abundance of both kinds of water; both the physical kind, and the spiritual.  Do we truly thank God for the abundance of clean, potable water in the United States; and, far more important and miraculous, that we can go to many different churches and here the message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ?   I dare not dwell on these things any longer, without doing something about it.  My thought and hope of being mentally (educationally) and physically able to help the people of Liberia to obtain safe earthly water may be merely a grandiose dream.  If that is so (and I’m going to pray fervently about that possibility), then I’ll support the effort of others anyway I can, and invite others who may be so inclined, to do the same.

David and Gina Rawls are serving of God with the Hope 2 Liberia Mission.  They are graduates of the Great Lakes Christian College and David is a graduate of Cincinnati Bible Seminary as well.  Their address follows:

Dave and Gina Rawls, 1010 Centenial Avenue, Muncie Indiana 47303.  Phone: 765.730.3115  Email: DRawls@Hope2Liberia.org

Please pray for Dave and Gina, and for Liberia as well!

Yours for the sake of the Lord Jesus, and His wonderful Gospel.

A sinner saved by grace, Bill

 

 

 

THE WORDS THAT JESUS SPEAKS ARE SPIRIT AND LIFE!

THEY WERE WHEN HE LIVED ON EARTH, AND THEY ARE STILL – SPIRIT AND LIFE – NOTHING LESS THAN THAT (John 6:60-64)!

What is the problem with human beings?  Why are there divisions among us, especially among those who claim to believe in, and follow Jesus Christ?  The answer lies, I believe, in our desire to be right, to be authoritative, even above what God clearly declares in His Word.  Because of our proclivity to be right, we will sink our teeth into something, and hold on like a pit bull, often without sufficient reason, and without following reason to its logical conclusion.  Because everyone naturally wants to be right, and wants to be authoritative, we wind up with the mess that exists in the world today.  Because strong willed men and women, will just naturally exert their ideologies on those who are less strong willed; and consequently, easily led, many wind up with false gods and goddesses, and entities that claim kinship to Jesus Christ; but in reality, know nothing of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

This is the very reason that the principal of Sola Scriptura, only Scripture, or Scripture alone is so important (2 Timothy 3:16).  The Bible is the very Word of God.  It is our only guide for faith, and the practice of our faith in Jesus Christ.  Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8).  The Holy Spirit indwells every true believer in Jesus Christ.  He is our Teacher, our Guide, and our comforter.  He is the One who convicts people of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8-11).

How then can we have Christian Unity, and leave behind the chaotic fiasco of “Follow the self-declared, or traditionally declared leader?”  By coming in repentance to God the Father, directly, and not through a human mediator, when the Bible says there is indeed, no Mediator between God and man but Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5).  Then by coming in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in your heart that He is who the Bible says He is, and confessing Him with your mouth (Romans 10:9,10).  Then, either stay where you are and proclaim the Truth of God’s Word, come what may, or find a church where His Word is faithfully proclaimed.  The Words of Jesus Christ are Truth and Life.  He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.  Therefore, it makes sense that if you begin with Christ alone, as He is revealed in the Bible alone, you’ll belong to Him alone, and He to you, in a covenant that is signed and sealed with His blood; and, in union with all others who believe the Truth as revealed and declared in God’s Holy Word.  O, by the way, all such will “dwell in the house of the Lord, forever” (Psalm 23:6).

Yours, with love for the Lord Jesus and all of you, a sinner saved by grace,

Bill

 

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS

As the day of total darkness approaches (and who among those with ability to reason can deny its approach in light of the wickedness that is extant in news reports), it is urgent that the Gospel be propagated by those whom God has called to belief in Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20).

The true gospel, the Gospel of Grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in Holy Scripture (Acts 4:12) needs to be preached from the rooftops.  This general call to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ must be on the lips of all who know Christ, not just pastors and evangelists.  This witnessing and preaching is necessary so that God’s elect may hear and come to Him (God’s effectual call).  When the very last person who has been chosen and given by God the Father to the Lord Jesus Christ, comes by faith to Him, Christ will come, and fulfill all of the prophecy of Scripture concerning His coming and His Kingdom (Read your Bible!  It’s full of this stuff!).

Dear friends, I have wasted so much of my life on trivial things and pursuits.  For the sake of my Lord Jesus Christ, I’m determined to do this no longer.  You who know me, and have known me for a while, know indeed that I’ve not always been this way.  On November 7, 2015, I made my “Calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10).

In light of the above, I’m making my “Christian Manifesto” known.  What things were once allowable in my life, may not be allowable now.  Some of you may think I’ve gone “over the edge.”  I don’t care.  Every Lord’s day, I hear a godly man (Pastor Dale Ritts, pastor of the Oran Christian Church where I attend, preach “Christ, and Him crucified.”  God’s call, through Pastor Dale, to a life of faith, love, and justice has reached this hardened heart, and hopefully, made it pliable for Christ’s sake.  “I have decided to follow Jesus,” not in word only, but in truth.  The  verity of my manifesto comes from this Scripture, Psalm 9:1,2:  I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart.  I will tell of all your marvelous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in Thee.  I will sing praises to your name, O Most High!.

Yours in Jesus’ Name,

A sinner save by grace,

Bill Biza