Caring for Orphaned Bobcats

Hi friends, my name is Keith.  I’m here to bring the Gospel message to you.  Its great news; you can have eternal life by being reconciled with God.   The Gospel is a spiritual message, so it’s my prayer that God the Holy Spirit would reveal his message to you.

I'd like to start with a news story as an illustration.

I was watching the news back in July. This story took place in a town called MORGAN HILL, California, which is about 20 miles south of San Jose. As I'm sure you know, California is experiencing some of the worst drought conditions probably in history. The drought and the fires are pushing wildlife out of their natural habitat and into contact with humans. The collision between wildlife and humans is taking a toll on the wildlife. The news story focused on the aftermath of a beautiful California bobcat (a mama bobcat) that had been shot and killed for eating a farmer’s chickens. She left behind a 10 week old cub and it wasn’t going well for the cub. The cub was found roaming a Sacramento area neighborhood emaciated and full of ticks. If that bobcat cub had been left on his own he couldn't have survived because his mother would have been bringing him food and teaching him how to hunt on his own.   But that wasn’t to be.

If it weren't for “The Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center” in Morgan Hill, California, that baby bobcat would have starved. Their unique approach to rehabilitating abandoned and injured wildlife is for volunteers at this “Rehab Center” to dress up in a bobcat costume whenever they feed or interact with the baby bobcat. That’s right, the person nurturing the baby bobcat was dressed up in cat costume herself, and the reason they give for that is to minimize human contact with the wild animal.  Since wild cats and people don’t mix, when he gets well and is released back into the wild, it would be dangerous for the baby bobcat to be too familiar with humans,.  It’s because his caretakers only have the baby bobcat’s best interests in mind, and their compassion and love for bobcats that they came up with this clever idea to disguise themselves as cats. I think it might be a little humiliating to dress up in a costume to serve a baby bobcat his breakfast.   I even remember the news anchor snickered a little, when he was reporting this story.

But the story actually represents a profound Christian truth.

In Exodus 33:20 God said to Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Why is that?   It is because God is so holy and so pure and so awesome, that He is a consuming fire to our sinful nature.   Just like bobcats and people don’t mix, we sinful humans can’t coexist with a Holy, Righteous, Glorious God.

Psalm 5:4 says For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

So we’re faced with a dilemma.   God is good and we're not.   We can’t dwell in God’s presence because of sin.   Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “God’s arm is not short, that He cannot save, and His ear is not deaf that He cannot hear, but it is our iniquities that have separated between us and God and our sins have hid His face from us that he would not hear our prayers.   You see, without God, we cannot have eternal life, because the Bible says “In Him is life”. 

So here's the crux of what I'm saying, here's the point, just like those rehab center volunteers veiled (or hid) their humanity beneath a cat costume, God Himself covered (or clothed) his divine glory in the human ‘costume’, if you will, of the person of Jesus Christ.  John 1:14,17-18 And the Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son of God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Galatians 4:4,5 says… But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

When I say we're sinful, here's what I mean...

Ten Commandments 

Sin, righteousness, and the Judgement to come

The Gospel (grace and truth)

Repentance and Faith

New life

The Hempfesters Were Pretty Spunky This Year

I guess the conviction of the Holy Spirit was pretty strong on Hempfesters this year.

I got cursed and spit at and slapped several times.

The good news of the Gospel was proclaimed as people ran the gauntlet of street preachers.

1. You don’t have to experience eternal death
2. You can receive the gift of eternal life,
3. You can have heaven, but not only that, you can experience abundant, new life for the here-and-now
4. You don’t have to experience the wrath of God
5. You can become a friend of God and he can be pleased with you
6. You don’t have to be taken down by sin
7. You can be lifted up by the righteousness of Christ
8. You don’t have to be in bondage; taken captive by the enemy of your soul
9. You can receive the freedom and liberty that can only God gives
10. You don’t have to live in darkness any longer
11. You can walk in the light of life in Jesus Christ
12. You don’t have to be carried around by every wind of false teaching
13. You can be lead by the Spirit of God into all truth by God’s Word

SoundCloud audio -- (needs to be cleaned up and have gaps removed)

Cigarette Smoking "Church Guy" (and Girls)

I took the dog with me, down to the pot pit this afternoon, to deliver some Gospel tracts to kids.  As I walked up, one girl was dancing around.   When the kids noticed I was standing at the top of the entrance to the thicket, she stopped dancing.   I was a little concerned how the dog would react to me chatting with people, but she was just fine;   She entertained herself by rolling in the dirt, exploring as far as the leash would allow and playing with a stick.

I had a nice conversation with Joe, "the church guy".   I asked him what someone had to do to go to heaven.   He had the right answers and was very willing to dialog, but I sense there was "no depth of soil" at present, but I pray the LORD would change that.   He said he was part of a local church, and he was a youth group camp counselor.   He was very nice and open, but his cigarette smoking might be evidence of issues somewhere.

Jordan was not taking in the message; neither was she interested in a dialog, but she did hear the message.

And Laura, who said, "I've read the whole Bible", was not interactive other than that.  I commended the Gospel of John to her as I left.

Praise the LORD for opportunities to preach, and reach out to the lost.

God bless...