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WHO CAN WE TRUST?

Somewhere between an absolute "individual free will choices dictate all things" and an absolute "God is so sovereign even your sins were chosen by Him" -is mystery.

But there is no mystery to me about who I can and must trust!

The purpose of this brief article (please note, this is not a Bible study) is to vent a particular angle of this old debate that I think might ring true to many of my readers.

Last night my wife Wendi (quite the Bible teacher/scholar I might add!) and I were chatting about mutual friends we deeply love and are spiritually concerned for.

Eventually it seemed our concern came down to this: can we trust God to reveal Himself to them? Should we trust them to finally surrender to Him?

One problem I have with the erroneous positions I began this article with is that neither has even a wisp of God's grace in them. His very character radiates pure love utterly loaded with grace!

But as we next consider His nature, utter holiness and truth comes into view. At that juncture we then have to face His justice. No matter how severe He/this concept seems, justice and yes, judgment based on truth is not removed from His character simply on the basis of His love and grace.

When we face a person's actual choices, be they short or long-term, occasional or habitual, we must never lose sight of the fact that as long as they can breathe, they can repent and believe. They CAN change by His power and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Whether they choose to do so, whether they ever truly walk with Jesus is another matter.

In terms of time, it seems to me that less than three seconds of genuine remorse/repentance/faith towards God in Christ with regard to His sacrifice for our sins on the cross is at least one sort of genuine understanding that God's grace is sufficient for a person's salvation.

For a Christian to live a mature disciple's life takes a lifetime!

In short, I really trust God to extend patience and extreme mercy to people. I do not doubt Him in this at all!

Jesus tells us that when the prodigal son "came to himself" he got up and went home. Homegoing doesn't have to take long once one chooses to do so.

Does God sovereignly call us home to Himself? Daily.

Will we turn to Him and His ways rather than continue to seek our own? That's a matter of our choices.

"Choose this day who you will serve" is true and relevant to this very day.

The will of God is that NO ONE be lost. Yet in both Testaments there is sufficient evidence that some are and others shall be.

The issue isn't with God. It's with me, you, us.

Yet those who love us must trust in God's love for us, in God's ability to "write on our wall" sufficiently. Likewise, we must trust God's will to reveal Himself to those we love.

It does no good to torment ourselves through worrying that God somehow cannot or will not reveal Himself and His salvation to them! The Holy Spirit may sometimes speak with a "still, small voice" but never fear that He's somehow going to be continually silent in the lives of those you love.

Faith in GOD'S love and faithfulness to present Himself and His Good News to those in need is core for those of us who love and fret over others regarding their spiritual state.

I am concerned over a number of individual's free will choices... but I am rarely concerned that God is not sovereign enough to reveal Himself to them to the extent they can repent, believe and inherit eternal life. The same principle applies regarding those we may wonder about in terms of their own walk of Christian growth.

This is the crux of what I've wanted to say here:

God IS sovereign- He certainly knows how, when and where He must speak into a person's life for the sake of their ultimate salvation and afterwards, discipleship in Christ.

God HAS given each individual the ability to choose independently of Himself. If He did not, why all the verses in the New Testament letters written in context to Christians calling -them- to repent/quit choosing sinful thoughts, speach and behaviors? If indeed we are merely predestined for heaven or hell with no choice whatsoever in the matter, individual choice as often mentioned in Scripture, is irrelevant.

Indeed, God has created each individual sufficient to receive/believe/follow Jesus in faith (a gift of God) IF they choose to do so.

We humans are living in a fallen world, and those who are not serving their heavenly Father are indeed serving another god, false as those gods ultimately are.

But to fret that somehow God is not God enough to reveal Himself to those He loves more than we ever could... this is as fruitless as it is useless.

I have growing faith in God, though my faith in human beings is about what it was just at the time of my own conversion to Jesus at 18 years old...

I trust Him- regardless. I know better than to place such faith in humans, including myself!

So I again quote A.W. Tozer: "When I preach, I'm an Arminian. When I pray, I'm a Calvinist". Interpretation: when I preach I call people to choose Jesus. When I pray, I trust God to move and motivate them to make that choice.

Greetings!

This has been an incredible autumn for myself and Wendi and GKB. A LOT of shows have been and a lot more are on the calendar. Check the dates and perhaps we'll see you on tour.

New Things:

BLOGS- Thanks for all the kind words re. the blog writing. More is on the way. Meanwhile, I have a LOT of updating of info. to finish for this site... so will try to get a lot of it done before Christmas. Look around in a few weeks and you'll find a lot more as well as some significant changes in the various areas.

WEBSITE- The new look website. Hope you like it as much as I do. We figured it was time for a change. Those who've written tell me you think it's cool, so thanks to Noah Krogh for a great job! Also kudos to Scott Stahnke and the Grrr staff who've made all this possible.

RECORDING- We've been in Tone Zone Studio the past week doing a new project. It's a Glenn Kaiser cd with a lot of dvd footage shot by Nathan Cameron. For about 5 or 6 years I've wanted to do a recording of older hymns and Jesus movement choruses in a blues and/or American style... so I am :) I expect Grrr Records (see the link) will probably have this project (titled "Bound For Glory") out sometime in Spring '06, so stay tuned. Roy and Ed (bass and drums with GKB) as well as brilliant keyboard work by Chris Mosher and vocal by Ami Moss (my youngest daughter) are featured on this one too. I'm lovin' this a lot. Hope you will too.

JOE FILISKO- The mucho-cookin' harmonica player Joe Filisko (http://www.joefilisko.com) from Joliet, Illinois graciously linked up with me for a show in Beloit. Joe sent me a couple of his incredible harps years ago, and recently I had a deep sense that I needed to do some shows and such with him so asked him about doing so. He kindly accepted- and I think blew a few folk's minds with his tone and talent. He's a brilliant hamonica teacher, creator, historian and plain -nails- the country blues vibe. He may be doing some playing on one of my new project's ("Bound For Glory") tunes, and I expect we'll do more shows together in time. Stay tuned... and check out his site.

TRIMMED AND BURNIN' AMPS AND GUITARS- Shannon Coberly of Trimmed and Burnin' has floored me again. Not only do I use (with great affection!) his Slow Burn model in all my live shows and recordings with GKB, but I have another incredible amp (which I mostly use for amplified harmonica playing) and he's about to send me another one, this time a tube 1/2 watt studio model with typically incredible looks and tone. If that weren't enough, he asked me to consider an endorsement deal... which I've accepted with great pleasure and anticipation. Imagine someone asking you to endorse what you already think of as the finest hand wired and lovingly created/crafted amps (and now, guitars!!) going... not a difficult answer to give! You'll see a page here with all my Trimmed and Burnin' gear, photos, explanation and etc., soon. His website is under construction but can be found at:
http://www.trimmedandburnin.com

Myself, Wendi, Roy and Ed wish you (in the U.S.!) a very Happy Thanksgiving! There is so much to thank God as well as our family and friends for.

Love in Jesus, -Glenn