Biblical Moments with Frank King

Being Blessed but Unthankful (Episode 116)

On the fourth Thursday in November, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in America. But also, God has called us to give thanks at all times. One of the most popular verses quoted this time of the year is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Paul writes, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Since God commands us to give thanks, thanksgiving is important to Him. Moreover, since He has commanded us to give thanks, He has already deemed Himself worthy of thanksgiving.
Sometimes, we know we are blessed. But we fail to give thanks because we are not being blessed the way we want to be blessed. Or because we have not been blessed the way someone else is being blessed. The point is that we can be blessed and be unthankful at the same time, if we are not careful.
In the days of Moses, God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt, taking them to a land of their own. When they arrived at the outskirts of the Promised Land, the spies went in and checked it out. They discovered that giants were living in the land that had to be driven out. When the spies returned and reported this news to the people, they started murmuring and complaining and weeping and talking about returning to Egypt.
It displeased the Lord because the people complained and were unthankful although He was blessing them. This can happen to us as well. if we are not careful.
Our ability to give thanks in everything is a function of our faith in God. If the only time we can give thanks is when all things go well, that means we need to deepen our faith so we can in everything give thanks.

God's Involvement in Weather Disturbances (Episode 115)

Have you ever thought about God’s possible involvement in weather disturbances such as hurricanes and tornadoes? These can be deadly. For instance, over 200 people died from Hurricane Helene this year. Do you wonder what God may be saying through these horrific events? In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses this subject.
Generally speaking, weather disturbances are natural occurrences. They come about when air and warm water interact, and the wet air above the water rises. This leaves an area of lower air pressure above the ocean’s surface which is quickly filled by air in the surrounding areas.
It’s interesting that the airline industry often refers to bad weather resulting in flight cancellations or delays as acts of God. This they do because they think that gets them off the hook for compensating angry customers for the flight delays. But, again, these dangerous weather disturbances are natural occurrences.
But God CAN send storms and hurricanes and other weather disturbances as well. Such a declaration goes against the grain of some people’s beliefs. God is a loving God they say. He would never send deadly and destructive storms and hurricanes.
But in Psalm 107, the psalmist speaks of a storm commanded by God. “For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea,” the psalmist writes (Psalm 107:25, NASB).
Regarding those caught in the storm, “Their soul melted away in their misery” (verse 26). Moreover, “They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end” (verse 27). Clearly, the storm the psalmist attributes to God was life-threatening.
Even though the psalmist says God sent the storm, when the men prayed to God, He calmed the storm. “They cried to the Lord in their trouble….”He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed” (verses 28-29).

The Sanctity of Holy Communion (Episode 114)

One of the most sacred rites in the local church is known as Holy Communion, also called the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, etc. The reason we partake of that ordinance is because Jesus told His disciples to keep it in remembrance of Him. He said as often we do so, we proclaim His suffering and His death until he returns.
During the Holy Communion, the bread and the fruit of the vine served are virtually the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly, in Paul the Apostle’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he says believers should examine themselves before eating the bread and drinking of the cup. He warned the church members about the consequences of failing to examine themselves accordingly.
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep,” he writes (1 Corinthians 11:30, KJV).
The Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, was occasioned by the impending death of Christ. It was during the last moments He spent with His disciples before being apprehended to die for the sins of the world. He specifically instituted the rite for us to remember Him. Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it points us to the barbaric cross of Calvary. The One who knew no sin was made sin for us.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church underscored a lack of a healthy fear of God there. The same can be said for us today. People used to have more respect for the local church—even when they walked by the church building. But now, a man will walk in the house of God and gun a pastor down. Or he will walk in the house of God and mass murder the people of God while they pray and study the Word of God. Sad but true, many believers today regard the Holy Communion as a common or unholy thing.

What Loving Others Has to Do with Prayer (Episode 113)

God has not made any of us to be totally self-reliant. We all need His help in our life. That’s why we must know how to pray effectively. In this podcast episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses how loving others can help us move the hand of God in our favor when we pray.
In John’s first epistle, he talks about the relationship between us loving others and God answering our prayers. He says we are to love in deeds and in truth (1 John 3:18). These days, we use the word “love” too loosely. But love must be accompanied by action. Equally important, our deeds of love must be in truth. False pretenses of love, or self-serving motives behind our acts of love may impress people, but they get us nowhere with God.
When we obey God to love others by deeds and in truth, “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (verse 22). This is a conditional promise contingent upon us genuinely loving others.
Every one of us who has been born again has the power to show genuine love toward others. That’s because the Spirit of God indwells us, and God is love. But still, loving others is a choice. The Holy Spirit empowers us to love, but we can choose to disobey the Spirit.
 The bottom line is that we can’t go about mistreating others and expect to be right with God when we pray.  None of us can afford to allow others to drag us down to a place where we can’t get a prayer through. Having the right relationship with God is not an option but a must. And He says, if you want to be confident to receive from Me when you pray, you must genuinely love others.

Obedience to God Under Grace (Episode 112)

In some places, the Bible clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. In other places, the Bible seems to suggest that we must live a particular way in order to be saved. So, how do we reconcile these biblical mandates for obedience with grace, since grace is unmerited? Why can’t Christians just live how they want to? That is the focus of this episode.
An important point to remember is that even though we are saved by grace through faith in Christ; at the same time, we also become born again through faith in Christ. And when we become born again, we will live in obedience to God.
In Christ, we became a new creation. The Bible says old things were passed away, and all things became new. The evidence that God has changed us is that we obey Him. In other words, we don’t have to obey to God to be saved, but we will obey Him because we are saved.
According to the Bible, genuine Christians don’t live a life of practicing sin. For instance, in 1 John 3:9, John writes, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (NASB).
If someone says he is a Christian but is living a sinful life, either he is not a Christian, or he is living a disobedient life as a Christian. The apostles’ letters are written on the premise of genuine Christian behavior.
What we are talking about here is the life-changing power of the gospel. Absolutely no one but no one who truly meets the Lord Jesus Christ can remain the same and live the same after meeting the Lord. Through Him, we are translated from death to life.

The Second Coming of Christ (Episode 111)

There seems to be an increased amount of concern about the end of the world these days. Much of that concern is being driven by current events, such as killer hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorism, tension between world leaders, etc.
But those concerns about the end of the world are not being taken seriously by most. That is, the troubling things that are happening around the world are not causing people to come running to the church to accept Christ. By and large, just the opposite appears to be happening.
In his second letter, Apostle Peter writes to the believers about the day of the Lord. This will be a horrific day marked by the second coming of Christ.
About that day Peter writes, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10, KJV).
Peter wrote the believers to stir up their remembrance of the words of the prophets and the apostles about this day. He warned them that mockers would come in the last days mocking the message of the day of the Lord’s return. God inspired Peter to address this subject to refute the naysayers and to affirm the certainty of the day of the Lord.
Of course, we have no idea when the second coming of Christ will take place. Neither do we know when the day of the preceding event we refer to as the rapture of the church will occur. Jesus says no one but God knows the day or the hour. That’s why it behooves us to live each day as if the Lord will return today.

When God's Ways Make No Sense to You (Episode 110)

Sometimes, God’s ways won’t make much sense to you. At times, His instructions or guidance to us will defy human logic. It’s like you’re adding 1 and 1 and you’re getting 3.
A perfect example is recorded in the book of Genesis. After God had miraculously opened Sarah's womb to bless Abraham with a son at the age of 100, God tested Abraham. He told Abraham to offer young Isaac for a burnt offering.
This made no sense to Abraham. Isaac was Abraham’s miracle baby. He was God’s answer to Abraham’s complaint that he did not have a son to be his heir. How could Isaac become Abraham’s heir and be a burnt offering at the same time? Nevertheless, Abraham obeyed the Lord. He had to believe that God knew what He was doing because Abraham surely didn’t know what God was up to.
The same can be true about us. Sometimes, you may find yourself in a place in life where you can’t find any biblical reason why you are where you are in life. Remember that God’s ways are higher than ours. We don’t intuitively understand His ways. That’s one reason we must study His Word. It is our only source for understanding God’s ways.
When what God is doing in your life makes no sense to you, your only way forward is to place your faith in Him. That’s what faith is all about—trusting God even when what’s happening in your life makes absolutely no sense to you. You have to believe that God knows how to make all things work together for your good—even when there seems to be no rhyme or reason to what’s happening in your life.

God Uses Imperfect People in Mighty Ways (Episode 109)

If you are a Christian, your prayers, when coupled with faith, are extremely powerful. You may not feel that way when you pray. You may feel less than perfect because you are. You may feel you don’t have it all together—because you don’t. In this episode, Frank King encourages Christians to believe more deeply in God’s ability to use imperfect people in extraordinary ways.
Specifically, this episode focuses on the power of the prayer of faith to accomplish healing in the Christian church. In his epistle, James writes:
“The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:15-16, NASB).
Based upon these verses, it was never God’s will to use only the apostles to minister healing to others—even during the apostolic age. God can and wants to use ordinary fellow Christians to pray for one another to receive their healing.  This is not a put down of medical doctors. God uses them to minister healing as well. But the biblical prescription for healing in the church is prayer coupled with faith.
To encourage us to believe that God can use imperfect people in extraordinary ways, James cites an experience of Elijah the prophet. “He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months” (verse 17). Elijah was not perfect. He was a fallible human being just like the rest of us. But through the prayer of faith, he shut up the windows of heaven for 3-1/2 years.

The Truth Makes You Free (Episode 108)

Sad but true, today it is becoming increasingly harder for us to know the truth. Our politicians are more interested in getting elected than they are in being truthful. With artificial intelligence, we don’t know if what we are looking at or listening to is genuine or not. This episode addresses the importance of truth and its liberating power. Jesus says, “If you continue in My word…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32, NASB).
The fact is that you can live in a free country and still be a servant or slave of some kind. For instance, you can be free physically but bound spiritually. Many people today are slaves to something or someone that they don’t have the power to break free from. And sometimes, this kind of bondage can be more difficult or even more cruel than physical bondage.
We live in a world where there are many voices among us. All are anxious to give us their version of the truth. We have bloggers and podcasters and radio personalities and cable news, to name a few. All of these add their own political or cultural spin to the message they promote. But the Word of God trumps all of that. It is our only reliable source for the truth.
But in his writings, Paul the apostle warns, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3, NASB). That time is now upon us. For in the church today, our appetite for sound doctrine –which is rooted in the truth--has been weighed and found wanting.

Rest for the Weary (Episode 107)

Many people today feel overwhelmed by the heavy load of life. Some are exhausted from the constant struggle to keep their head above water. Many of them feel as though they are always a day late and a dollar short. Then there are those who live their life aimlessly. Every day, they find themselves going nowhere fast. So many people today find themselves in toxic relationships that take so much from them and give so little. The list goes on and on.
It’s interesting that during Jesus’ public ministry, He addressed the subject of rest for the weary. That means it concerns Him. Needless to say, it’s not the Lord’s will for us to be overburdened by the load of life. But that’s where many people find themselves today.
When Jesus extended His invitation to the weary, the religious leaders of His day were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They had imposed countless and burdensome rules and regulations upon the Law of Moses that the people had to follow. The people were weary from following all these dos and don’ts and never being able to measure up. But Jesus came to proclaim the good news. He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NASB).
In this episode, Evangelist Frank King expounds on Jesus’ invitation to rest for the weary. He says the rest available through Christ is more than physical rest. It is rest for our soul. If you are weary today, if you feel overwhelmed by the load of life, why not accept Jesus’ invitation to experience rest for your soul?