State Of The Heart

Some people have these great testimony stories about how Jesus saved them from this awful life of crime or drugs or violence or all of the above. He pulled them out of this deep dark pit and turned them completely around. To outside observers that barely new these people there was an obvious and dramatic change. There is no question that something happened to them to dramatically alter their lives.

Not so with myself and a number of others.

I'm not saying that Jesus didn't rescue me out of just as dark of a pit, but I'm saying that the casual outside observer standing at a distance might not have a clue about it.

The reason? My life was pretty good before coming to Christ and its pretty good now -- by the world's standards. I loved my kids very much then and now. I love my wife very much then and now. I had a good job then and now. I drove a decent car then and now. I wore close to the same clothes then and now. To the world, nothing is that different. I just "got a little religious or something".

Understandable.

Its understandable because the world can't see inside my heart. There was some pretty unpleasant stuff in there that I don't really want to post. Its gone now, replaced with a love and focus on Jesus Christ. Praise God for that! Sure, sometimes dark things creep back into it, but I now have the power to resist it, instead of being a slave to it.

I heard Brian talking about just this thing and was so happy to hear him talk about others with the same story. Life looks grand from the outside, but just ask these guys where their hearts were at.

Its also understandable because the world wouldn't call any of the activities I used my time for sinful. Of course not, the world doesn't like that word sin. But there is no way to sugar coat it. My attitude was "Thanks God for this great life -- I'll just go blow all my time trying to enjoy myself; after all, you just want me to be happy." What bunk. What a lame excuse for being selfish, ignoring God, not caring about others, and teaching my children, without thinking about it, that life is all about how much fun you can have before you die.

Thank God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ for saving me from such madness now, while my children are still so young. I pray that they grow up to be strong Christians.

Grace and Peace

Born Again

Are you a Christian? Are you born again?

If the answer to the first question is yes, then the answer to the second question must have been yes for the answer to the first question to be correct. You can't be a Christian without being born again, for this is what the Lord Jesus Christ said:

"Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

Okay, no problem. Wait, what's that mean?

The Lord clarified:

"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Okay, no problem. Wait, what's that mean?

Some people say, baptism. I don't think so. Jesus didn't say baptism. He didn't. Numerous passages about being saved by grace through faith don't square with the baptism being necessary. The salvation of the thief on the cross doesn't square with the baptism being necessary.

Some people say, natural birth. I.e. being born of water indicates natural birth and being born of the Spirit indicates spiritual birth. I thought this for some time, but I don't think so any more.

Recently I have been turned on to the idea that the two go together and describe two aspects of the spiritual birth. Being born of water and the Spirit most likely refers to the spiritual cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ. When we are saved, our past sins our forgotten -- we are washed clean. We also receive the Holy Spirit and gain the ability to be and do what we could not all on our own.

I don't know Greek, but I read that the Greek grammar in this passage indicates that "being born of water" and "being born of the Spirit" should be thought of as one thing. Not water first and Spirit later, but "water and the Spirit" all together. That seems to square.

So how do we become born again? Though our own devices? Absolutely not! It is through the spiritual regeneration brought by genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

If you're not sure if you're born again, ask yourself if Jesus Christ is lord of your life. That means he's in charge and first. Its easy for one to say he accepts Christ as Savior without ever acknowledging him as Lord. That's a dangerous position to be in. If one says he is saved, there should be evidence of a changed life, for when we admit we're sinners, repent, and throw our lives to Christ, we get a new heart, we become new creations, and he leads the way from that point into eternity.

Praise God!

Damn You, Satan

Jesus already won the war, but sometimes we lose some battles, and I think Satan won one tonight.

We're going through a book called Leading Little Ones To God that looks pretty good for teaching children the basics of the faith. I wanted something that was more comprehensive that went into good detail on the big picture of creation, the fall, sin, the promise, the fulfillment, salvation, etc.

Tonight was the night we were going to read a most important chapter about God sending his son Jesus into the world. And what do you know? This little problem. That little problem. Two kids are fighting about something. Another kid is grumpy (we have visitors, there's more than two kids :-)). Trinity lands funny and gets her back messed up.

A million little things all add up together and prevent going through the chapter tonight because the kids really do need to get to bed sometime, and it was already getting way too late.

That really irks me. Granted, its a good sign in one way. Satan doesn't mess with people that he's already got -- he messes with the ones that got away and have a new master. I don't really expect him to leave me alone. He didn't leave Jesus alone, so what hope do I have of that? None. I'll just trust that somehow God's going to pull some good even out of the madness tonight, because I have it on good authority that all things work for good for those who love God.

Grace and Peace

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to our great God and father in heaven!

Thank you for the many blessings you've poured down on our lives. Thank you for creation, and thank you for salvation. Thank you for laughter, and peace, and hope, and joy. Thank you for wives and mothers and children. Thank you for homes to shelter us, food to feed us, clothes to cover us, cars to get us places, and jobs to support our families. Thank you for your words and teachers of it. Thank you for the freedom to get together and worship you together without fear of punishment or death. Thank you for the new hearts you've given us. Thank you for the atoning sacrifice of your son Jesus. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for everything you've done, do, and will do for us.

If you happened across this page and you don't know the light and love of Jesus Christ, please, turn to him. Recognize man's big problem is sin. Admit it and turn from it to Jesus and commit your life to him. We may all be God's creation, but we are not all children of God, and he is not our father, until we put our faith in Jesus Christ:

"He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:10-12)

So as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ I can say "Happy Father's Day, Abba, Father, God."

Grace and Peace

Abortion: A Different View

I lifted this.

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together."

So the doctor said: "Okay, and what do you want me to do?"

She said: "I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: "I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too."

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms."

The lady was horrified and said: "No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!"

"I agree", the doctor replied. "But you seemed to be okay with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution."

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb.

Division

I thought this was an interesting read. Parts of it echo something running around in the back of my brain:

http://paceebene.org/blog/jarrod-mckenna/heretics-calvin-and-luther

Here is a highlight that caught my attention (after the statements from Calvin and Luther that made my jaw drop):

Why is it that the litmus test for orthodoxy for many evangelicals has been frozen in the 16th century in the thought of brilliant men who never the less had theologies that made it possible to disobey Christ's commands to put away the sword, love our neighbor and even enemies like God has loved us (i.e. not drowning, beheading or burning those who disagree with us).

The underlying attitudes behind such statements haven't gone away today. Rather than "killing for Christ" instead of "dying for Christ" we now have a bunch of division in the form of "denominations" (and splits within individual denominations!) and even animosity between them.

I just don't get it. We're supposed to be united. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We don't follow Paul or Apollos or Cephas. We follow Christ. Was he divided? No.

Now this is just a bunch of rambling on my part. I don't say any of it to reflect what I see in my own church home (CRB) or in churches that have archived sermons I listen to (New Life London, Shadow Mountain, Cavalry Chapel Costa Mesa, etc). Its just a rambling comment on the whole idea behind why all these various "denominations" exist in the first place.

So I still don't get it. But I see that its not a recent thing. Its not a Reformation thing. Apparently it was around 2000 years ago and isn't going away anytime soon. C'est la vie.

Praise God for solid Bible believing churches that preach Christ crucified and don't get hung up on other crap.

Grace and Peace

Sown Seeds

"You Christians are all idiots. There is no God. The universe came from nothing all by itself. Life came from non-life without any intervention. We evolved from monkeys. Its pretty much meaningless."

Ever read that God has made his existence plain through creation and you are still without excuse?

Blasted birds. They ate the seeds.

"I believed in Jesus once. My life was going great. I had it all. Great job. Big house. Fast car. Fine clothes. Hot wife. Great kids." Then I lost the job, the house burned down, the car got wreck, moths ate the clothes, my wife left and took the kids. If God would let me go through that, I want nothing to do with him."

Ever read about Job? The prophets? Jesus? The earliest Christians? Missionareis in hostile countries today?

Blasted rock. It prevented the seeds from getting moisture.

"I don't have time for that Bible study, I have bowling. I'm skipping church next week -- the big game is on. I don't have time to read the Bible, I'd miss my TV shows. I can't volunteer at that event, I have to get my car detailed."

Every read about being a doer of the word and not just a hearer? Ever read that faith without works is dead?

Blasted thorns choking those plants.

Pray to always grow in good soil.