Davie vs Goliath!

Memorial Day Monday Message, May 25, 2026:

1 Samuel 17:32 NLT: “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

In the US, this is Memorial Day, when we honor the lives of patriots who died in defense of our country. I don’t really like wars and fighting, and I don’t think God does either. But we can’t let the bad guys win either. When evil appears to be on a winning path, we have to put our feet down, draw a line in the sand and put a stop to it. Enough is enough!

Bible history tells us that Israel seemed to be in a perpetual war with the Philistines. For 40 days, Saul’s army was on one hill and the Philistines on another, fighting in the valley in between. (Why is it always 40 days?) Little shepherd-boy David was bringing gifts to his brothers who were in Israel’s army, and he saw everything. The Philistines held a distinct advantage via the 9-foot tall warrior Goliath.

David told king Saul, “Don’t worry about this Philistine. I’ll go fight him!”

Saul protested, “You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”

David justified his involvement. “I have fought lions and bears protecting my father’s sheep. This pagan has defied the living God. Let me at him!” He probably thought, “I’m saving you, your army and your country. Why should I have to justify myself?”

With his sling, David lobbed a river stone into Goliath’s forehead, the Philistines turned tail and ran away, and that pretty much wraps up the story. God, who wants us to love one another, granted victory to Israel. Sometimes fighting is necessary to stand up for the Lord’s value system. If something upsets God, it’s worth fighting for. Sometimes we have to be the ones doing the fighting!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Restoration!

April 20, 2026, Monday Message:

John 14:23 NLT, Jesus speaking: “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”

As his ministry wraps up, Jesus wants to reassure the believers of what’s coming next. First off, there IS life after this life. Death is not the end! Jesus said so, so we know it’s true!

As Christians, we talk of dying and going to heaven, but my Bible says that’s kind of temporary. At the end of this age, God will create the New Heaven and the New Earth. By then, mankind will have really messed up the planet, and God will be the restorer, putting things back to the way they were designed. I’m thinking “Garden of Eden” specs, but only God knows what needs to be done.

The fully restored New Earth isn’t for all mankind. It’s a sanctuary for believers only. Everyone who lives here will have the same God. There will be no false gods. Mankind will all be on the same page, so to speak. There are no more wars. Everyone will love their neighbor. We will know shalom, the peace of God that surpasses our current understanding.

Jesus says, “We will come and make our home with them.” In other words, we’re not going somewhere to live with God. God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is going to walk the earth alongside us! God has it all planned, and it will be marvelous, beyond all expectations!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

End Times Progress!

For Saturday, January 17, 2026:

Matthew 24:7-8 NLT: Jesus speaking: “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”

Jesus is teaching about the beginning of the end times. His description doesn’t sound like a pleasant time for anyone. Jesus is drawing a parallel to the pain of childbirth. But when childbirth ends, we get to hold a beautiful little baby, a miracle that puts a smile on everyone’s face! All’s well that ends well!

The Bible tells us that some people will give up during this time of tribulation. Don’t you be like them! One of the Bible’s most loyal believers was Job. We should imitate him, copy his behavior. Job loved the Lord and had a good life. Then things started going south, but Job still loved the Lord. He finally hit rock bottom: starvation and diseases. Job’s wife said he should curse God and then die! But Job didn’t do that. He never lost faith. He never lost hope! God eventually proved himself worthy of Job’s ongoing faith. Job’s good fortune was restored to the best it had ever been! God is good!

As we live our lives, expect some bad stuff. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The truly good life will be the life after this life. Jesus has prepared a place for the faithful in the next life, God’s forever Heavenly Kingdom!

Hold up the new baby, and put a smile on your face!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Someday Soon?

For Thursday, October 23, 2025:

Luke 21:25 NLT, Jesus speaking: “There will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides.”

As we near the end times, our earth will not stay the same. The Paris Climate Accord of 2015 warns of average temperatures increases over 1.5ºC, with 2ºC being the tipping point. Our world briefly passed the 1.5ºC increase last year, and averaged +1.38ºC. Tourists are flocking to Alaska to see the last of their glaciers, many of which have already fallen into the sea. Consequently, the ocean is rising. Several Pacific island-countries are closing up shop, the residents seeking refuge elsewhere. In the US, New Orleans would be totally underwater if not for dams and levees. Today, flooding is threatened in Laredo, McAllen and Corpus Christi, TX. And Galveston, an island, is always at risk. Let me stress that the sun didn’t get warmer. It is our planet that changed, allowing it to absorb and retain more of the sun’s heat.

Discovered in 2025, Asteroid PN7 is known as Earth’s second moon. Kinda. It follows our path around the sun, but doesn’t orbit the earth itself. To astronomers, it’s new!

Scientists keep inventing better telescopes, allowing mankind to see a far larger universe than we ever thought possible. Again, to astronomers, it’s all new!

Jesus said that there will be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. To learn about today’s wars, check any news feed. The US President helped negotiate a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Less than a week later, it’s already been violated by both sides. Our president has met with Russia’s officials about ending the fighting in Ukraine. Yet the conflict continues, with more killing than ever. The #3 offender may be Syria, with the government defending itself against those who want to be the government! A civil war. There seems to be no end to fighting nowadays.

Are these signs of the end of life as we know it? I can’t say for sure. Jesus said that only the Father knows the exact day and hour he will return. But these are prophesied signs, reminding us that Jesus will be coming again, and with his return comes accountability. Jesus taught that if we knew when the thief was coming, we’d have locked the door! His words are always true, so he IS coming! We just can’t say exactly when! So it’s time to get ready. Time to repent and return!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Wars and Rumors of War!

For Friday, October 17, 2025:

Luke 21:8 NLT: Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them.”

We have all heard rumors that the world would soon be ending, that Jesus would be returning on a certain date. The predictions are always wrong. Don’t believe anyone who tells you such things. Jesus said that even he doesn’t know the exact date, that only the Father knows. If someone says they know, they’re lying!

Jesus did give us signs that we’re getting closer to the second coming, and a major sign is the proliferation of wars and insurrections. In case you haven’t heard the news lately, our world currently has wars in spades! The one conflict with Biblical overtones started about two years ago when Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,000 and taking 251 hostages. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a radical terrorist organization that had taken over Gaza. Hamas would not release the captured Israelis, even as Gaza was reduced to rubble.

Today, two years later, the hostages that were still alive were finally released, and a peace agreement was signed. Israel is still complaining that all the bones of the deceased were not returned. My advice would be just to let it go. When someone has died, their soul no longer occupies a human body. Their eternal essence has (hopefully) gone to be with the Lord. The body is no longer relevant. (That’s the Christian view, not necessarily the Jewish view.)

I said the current conflict started two years ago, but the overall disagreement goes back 3,000 years. After wandering on the desert, God set the Hebrew people down in the Promised Land. A Rabbi once told me, “It’s our land – God gave it to us!” However, those who had previously lived there were displaced. Hence the conflict.

(Just my opinion:) I don’t believe this peace treaty will last, because at its roots, this is a religious war. We can fight over territory, over governments, over countries, but people cannot be forced to change their beliefs. Historically, people will rot in prison while hanging on to their religion.

Jesus is the only one who can straighten out this mess. Our prayer for peace should include, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Wars and Rumors...

 Daily message of hope...
For Thursday, September 11, 2025:

Matthew 24:6...8 NIV: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning.”

I remember when 911 was only the phone number you’d dial in an emergency. Nowadays, 9/11 (2001) is remembered as the day the United States was attacked by radical Muslims, killing about 3,000 people and destroying the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the worst attack ever on the continental US. In retrospect, we should not have been surprised.

Jesus told us that there would be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. We’re often told to pray for world peace, but I pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” That’s when we’ll see peace! Currently, the goats and the sheep are roaming the earth together. When Jesus returns, he will separate the goats from his flock. Evil will be sent down, and believers will enter God’s eternal Kingdom, where Jesus has already prepared a place for us. This is God’s plan, and in the end, God always wins. A created being who became evil can never overtake its creator (God.)

People tend to be stubborn, stuck in their ways. If Hamas returned the Israeli hostages, Netanyahu could back off on trying to capture Gaza City. Neither side will budge, neither wants to lose face, and so the war continues. 64,000 (some say 84,000) innocent civilian lives have been lost in this conflict. God cannot be pleased.

Three years ago, Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine. There was no good reason. Putin just wanted a bigger chunk of our planet. Over 1M people have died in the fighting. Despite US attempts to broker peace, the war continues. Nowadays, a drone can be dispatched to blow-up the opposition, with no risk to the sender. Ukrainian people are quite religious, exalting Jesus. Putin doesn’t believe in any god, so the conflict continues. Again, our Lord cannot be pleased.

What is your territory, and what is mine? The lines on a globe separating different countries were drawn by mankind, often the result of harsh conflict. These lines and country names mean little to God. He has no obligation to honor mankind’s divisions. But he did give the promised land to the Jews!

With over 40 conflicts worldwide, it would be easy to surmise that we’re nearing the beginning of the end. Only God knows the exact date. But I can promise you that each day we’re one day closer to the end of the age!

Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship

Wash Your Soul too!

May 26, 2025, Monday Message:

Luke 11:41 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.”

I tell my grandchildren to wash their hands before we eat. God told the Jews to wash their hands before a meal. The Pharisees called it a commandment or a law, and they came up with an elaborate ceremony ensuring its implementation. Sure, it pleases God if we don’t put germs and dirt into our God-given bodies. But God’s words weren’t about religion; they were about keeping mankind healthy!

Jesus was invited to a Pharisee home for a meal, and he skipped the hand-washing part. To say the Pharisees went nuts would be an understatement! Time for Jesus to separate man-made ceremonies from common sense!

The Pharisees washed their dishes, inside and out, but only cleaned their bodies on the outside. The inside portion, their souls, were a filthy mess. Obsessed with their concern for observing the Law, they overlooked God’s commands telling them to love their neighbors. That principle was huge with Jesus, who taught that the most important commandment was loving the Lord, and the next, like it or equal to it, is to love our neighbors. A person could perform a perfect religious ceremony that would be meaningless if they showed no compassion for their fellows.

Today is Memorial Day in the US. We remember and honor our ancestors. We remember and honor those who gave their lives so that we could live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I don’t like wars, and there are currently about 80 conflicts in our world where people are shooting at one another with real bullets! Wars are typically about power and money. And wars become good people defending themselves against evil aggression. How much better our world would be if everyone could love their neighbors like Jesus taught, rather than shooting at them!

God will eventually have his way!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Brothers and Sisters!

For Wednesday, April 17, 2024:

Colossians 3:11 NLT: “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

Take a moment and think about how much better the world would be if everyone lived according to the teaching of Jesus. I mean everyone, no exceptions!

If all of mankind lived by the words of Jesus, Putin would have never invaded Ukraine. It’s wrong on so many levels. And Hamas would have never attacked Israel. They’re neighbors, probably cousins; they should get along better! And if Israel had never been attacked, they’d have no reason to retaliate against Gaza, where the bad guys live. Making sure Gaza had enough food would be a priority, not a punishment.

How many times can the good guys turn the other cheek when so much of the world is out of step with Jesus’ teaching? Consider our situation from God’s point of view. When the Messiah was coming to earth, God provided a home for him within the Jewish nation. But now that Jesus has come and gone, does any good thinking persist for separating countries and races? Paul, who heard directly from Jesus on the road to Damascus, says ‘no.’

There is no longer slave or free, Jew or Gentile, and no more black or white. The world should be filled with brothers and sisters in Christ. He is our all in all, our best example for how we should live the rest of our lives.

Jesus said that we should even love our enemies!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Prince of Peace!

For Friday, March 15, 2024:

Isaiah 9:6 NLT, speaking as a prophet of the Lord: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor (or Wonderful, Counselor), Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah isn’t all gloom and doom. He speaks of the Lord enlarging the nation of Israel, and its people celebrating, full of joy, like at harvest time. God will bring the Israelites out of slavery and lift burdens from them. The Lord will cause other nation’s aggression to cease.

Verse 5 is one of my favorites: “The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.” In other words, wars will end; violence will cease. People will no longer have to live in perpetual fear.

I pray that wars could end. If Russia would just go home, Ukraine could start rebuilding! If Hamas would release the hostages, Israel would lose motivation to continue the fighting. Israel wants to eliminate Hamas, who attacked Israel, killed over 1,100, wounded another 3,400, and captured about 240 hostages, with 130 individuals still being held prisoner. Most Palestinians don’t like Hamas either. Hamas is the reason Israel attacked Gaza resulting in the death of over 31,000, mostly innocent civilians. The rest of the world has condemned all the fighting and killing.

Jesus arrived to shine a light into a dark world. The Bible says that in the end, governments will bow down to Jesus, not the other way around! “Everlasting Father” describes Jesus. The Good News is that he is eternal! He’s also the “Prince of Peace,” Prince of a joyful world!

We should all put our faith, hope and trust in the Prince of Peace!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Acts of God!

For Tuesday, September 26, 2023:

Psalm 46:1 NLT: “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”

Natural disasters are often called “Acts of God,” when “Acts of Satan” might be more correct. God did not yet end the Devil’s reign on earth, so we become unwitting witness to his evil efforts. The Bible speaks of earthquakes, flooding rains and surging oceans, and that’s certainly not an exhaustive list.

In addition to the natural disasters, people live in the midst of fighting and wars. Wars result in nations of poverty and famine, often many miles away. Example: Russia invaded Ukraine, whose grain was feeding a lot of Africa. Now people in Africa who know nothing of the war are starving. Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. In other words, the world will be one big mess until Jesus shows up again.

So right there we’ve been given the answer: More God, more Jesus. God is our refuge, strength and hope. And Jesus will lead us to victory in the world’s final war.

Don’t be fooled by those headed down the wrong path. Satan represents weakness and defeat. Always stick with the winners!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Pray for Peace!

May 29, 2023 Monday Message:

Psalm 46:9 NLT: “God causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.”

Today is “Memorial Day” in the United States. It’s a day to honor those who gave their lives to defend our country. And since our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, they died defending God’s values, and that is indeed a high calling!

Surprisingly there are still hundreds of little wars in the world, resulting in lives being lost. Right now the big war is in Ukraine. It’s on your TV every night. The war is about which government controls a small piece of real estate. To God this is just silliness, since they’re not fighting over anything of substance, anything of eternal value. The Lord says, v10: “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

So make no mistake: “Be still” isn’t about meditating. “Be still” means stop the fighting. Stop the loss of lives. Stop your foolishness and focus on your destination in the life after this life. Pray for peace in the world.

The Bible says there will be wars and rumors of wars until Jesus returns, so also pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship