An Awana missionary read this at a meeting this weekend. I thought it was awesome. It brings to mind Paul's advice to Timothy:
"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him." (2Ti 2:3-4)
I am a soldier in the army of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Holy Bible is my Code of Conduct. Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire.
I am a volunteer in this army and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the rapture or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me in the Sunday school, to teach the children, work with the youth, help adults or just sit and learn, He can use me because I am there.
I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up. I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.
When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all of my need. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to Captain and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in the army, and I’m marching, claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not run around. I am a soldier, marching heaven bound.
Grace and Peace
Monday, August 31, 2009
God Loves Everybody
The senior pastor at our local church wrote a little "ABC" poem about the different type of people that God loves. It was silly and light and got people engaged. But then he went on to make the real point. God does in fact love everybody, including terrorists and murderers. That bothered some people.
But that's the truth of God's word. When the Bible says "God so loved the world..." that doesn't include only "good" people. If that's who God loved, he wouldn't love anybody, because there's really no such thing. Everybody falls far short of his standard, which is the whole point of why Christ came.
So, even though they make your worst of the worst list, and mine, God loves rapists. God loves child molestors. God loves pornographers. God loves drug dealers. God loves prostitutes and pimps. God loves burglars. God loves corporate thieves. God loves crooked politicians. God loves lawyers who know their client is guiltly but get them off anyway. God loves drunk drivers. God loves arsonists. Get the picture? God loves everybody.
The point was made that he destroyed people in the past for their wickedness, so how could he love them? And I know people have pointed out that if God loves everybody, why would he send anyone to hell?
Well. God is also holy and righteous. He hates all manner of sin, and sin must be dealt with.
Out of his love God will show mercy to the sinner (that's you, me, everybody). He will be patient with the sinner and wait for him to accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, who paid for the sins of the world on the cross. But that offer doesn't last forever. Eventually he will give the sinner over fully, and that sin will have to be dealt with another way. The one who doesn't accept Christ and do it God's way is in dire straits at this point. He has to pay for his sin, but can't. There's only one place for him to go. In other words, God doesn't send anyone to hell; they send themselves there by choosing to do things their own way rather than God's way.
Back to all those "really bad people" out there -- they need their sin dealt with the same way the rest of us do, but God really does love them. He loves them as much as he loves you. They'll be punished one day if they don't come to Christ, but that's their choice. However, if they repent and turn to Jesus, they too will be forgiven, just like you were if you already received Christ. In fact, there is NO ONE who can out-sin God's forgiveness. So what are Christians to do? Spread the gospel to everybody, even those no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole. That's a difficult job. Praise God for those who are called to go out there and do that job with all their heart!
Now, if you're one of those still struggling with this notion that God loves everybody, consider Paul, formerly Saul. You know him. That Rabbinic Jew who was bent on getting Christians killed just for believing in Jesus Christ. Had he had his wish, no one would know about what Christ did today. There would be no Christians. Yet God loved HIM. And he used him. He used him to be a missionary like the world has never seen since. He used him to write much of the New Testament. He used him to bring the good news to the gentiles. He did much through Paul. Yet this man wasn't just a regular "bad guy" back in the day -- he was having people MURDERED for believing in JESUS. And God saved him. So why wouldn't he save anyone else?
Jesus is for everybody. If you don't know him, he's for you, too.
Grace and Peace
But that's the truth of God's word. When the Bible says "God so loved the world..." that doesn't include only "good" people. If that's who God loved, he wouldn't love anybody, because there's really no such thing. Everybody falls far short of his standard, which is the whole point of why Christ came.
So, even though they make your worst of the worst list, and mine, God loves rapists. God loves child molestors. God loves pornographers. God loves drug dealers. God loves prostitutes and pimps. God loves burglars. God loves corporate thieves. God loves crooked politicians. God loves lawyers who know their client is guiltly but get them off anyway. God loves drunk drivers. God loves arsonists. Get the picture? God loves everybody.
The point was made that he destroyed people in the past for their wickedness, so how could he love them? And I know people have pointed out that if God loves everybody, why would he send anyone to hell?
Well. God is also holy and righteous. He hates all manner of sin, and sin must be dealt with.
Out of his love God will show mercy to the sinner (that's you, me, everybody). He will be patient with the sinner and wait for him to accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, who paid for the sins of the world on the cross. But that offer doesn't last forever. Eventually he will give the sinner over fully, and that sin will have to be dealt with another way. The one who doesn't accept Christ and do it God's way is in dire straits at this point. He has to pay for his sin, but can't. There's only one place for him to go. In other words, God doesn't send anyone to hell; they send themselves there by choosing to do things their own way rather than God's way.
Back to all those "really bad people" out there -- they need their sin dealt with the same way the rest of us do, but God really does love them. He loves them as much as he loves you. They'll be punished one day if they don't come to Christ, but that's their choice. However, if they repent and turn to Jesus, they too will be forgiven, just like you were if you already received Christ. In fact, there is NO ONE who can out-sin God's forgiveness. So what are Christians to do? Spread the gospel to everybody, even those no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole. That's a difficult job. Praise God for those who are called to go out there and do that job with all their heart!
Now, if you're one of those still struggling with this notion that God loves everybody, consider Paul, formerly Saul. You know him. That Rabbinic Jew who was bent on getting Christians killed just for believing in Jesus Christ. Had he had his wish, no one would know about what Christ did today. There would be no Christians. Yet God loved HIM. And he used him. He used him to be a missionary like the world has never seen since. He used him to write much of the New Testament. He used him to bring the good news to the gentiles. He did much through Paul. Yet this man wasn't just a regular "bad guy" back in the day -- he was having people MURDERED for believing in JESUS. And God saved him. So why wouldn't he save anyone else?
Jesus is for everybody. If you don't know him, he's for you, too.
Grace and Peace
Sunday, August 30, 2009
If A Man Became God
If a man became God, would we turn into little robots who praise and worship without ever having free choice again?
If a man became God, would we have to worry about getting wiped out in the blink of an eye because he got too mad at the world one day?
If a man became God, would we be concerned about getting crushed like an ant because he was bored?
If a man became God, would we live in fear of hell forever because some cruel guy got put in charge of everything?
If a man became God, would salvation no longer be open equally to all men because he didn't love equally?
If a man became God, would we never again be assured of our salvation because he turned it into a pluralistic, all-paths-lead-to-him, just-be-good-and-you'll-make-it mess?
If a man became God, would we feel slighted because a bunch of evil men made it to heaven just because he thought everyone should get in no matter what?
If a man became God, would we feel even more slighted when some people made it to heaven and some didn't, completely regardless of what they did and what they believed?
Thank God we don't have to worry about any of that.
Rather, thank God that he became a man and paid the price for us on the cross. Thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, in whom we must put our trust to inherit eternal life!
Grace and Peace
If a man became God, would we have to worry about getting wiped out in the blink of an eye because he got too mad at the world one day?
If a man became God, would we be concerned about getting crushed like an ant because he was bored?
If a man became God, would we live in fear of hell forever because some cruel guy got put in charge of everything?
If a man became God, would salvation no longer be open equally to all men because he didn't love equally?
If a man became God, would we never again be assured of our salvation because he turned it into a pluralistic, all-paths-lead-to-him, just-be-good-and-you'll-make-it mess?
If a man became God, would we feel slighted because a bunch of evil men made it to heaven just because he thought everyone should get in no matter what?
If a man became God, would we feel even more slighted when some people made it to heaven and some didn't, completely regardless of what they did and what they believed?
Thank God we don't have to worry about any of that.
Rather, thank God that he became a man and paid the price for us on the cross. Thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, in whom we must put our trust to inherit eternal life!
Grace and Peace
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wake Up Call
Props to my wife for sending this link she came across today:
http://media.causes.com/544740?p_id=77580773
It breaks my heart to see things like that, especially when I have little girls of my own.
Too often I forget what a fallen and broken world we actually live in. Hearing incidents like this should be a wake up call for Christ's followers, myself included. Not just a wake up call to keep an eye out to help hurting people, especially the little ones that can't help themselves. Not just a wake up call to be report criminal activity and get the "bad guys" locked up. But also a wake up call that we need to do our part to get the gospel out to the whole world.
Why? I had a few thoughts about that.
The first is bunk and is something that will never happen, but I will share anyway. The thought is that if everyone trusted in and followed Christ, what would this world be like? What could disappear from the earth? Armies? Police? Jails? Homeless shelters? Food banks? Lawyers? Alarm systems? Surveillance cameras? Whatever-anonymous groups? Psychologists? Computer firewalls? Locks? I bet this list could go on for a while. Not a single one of these, and many more, things would be needed if we lived in world filled with disciples of Jesus Christ. But we know that's not going to happen. This world is going to keep getting worse before it ever gets better. We've got God's word on that.
The second is that the gospel, and key things that surround it, provide answers to questions that surround atrocities like the one shown in the video. The fact of the matter is we live in a fallen world with broken people that have abandoned God and are allowed to make choices. In that situation, there will always be evil. We can help heal and comfort those affected by it. We can influence legislation to control actions, even though it doesn't change hearts. We can speak out in many ways against the evil in this world. But no matter what we do, its not going away until the world is made new again by God himself.
The third, and most important, is that the gospel is essential to salvation. People can get outraged at the evil other people do all they want, and rightfully so. Just remember that it is not the basis for comparison to use when we're talking about our eternal destiny. That's what so many in the world do, isn't it? "Oh I've got some issues, but I'm not as bad as that other guy! So, I'm okay, right?" If you don't know Jesus Christ, the answer is, no, you're not. The "cold blooded killer" and the "moral man" both need Jesus Christ equally, because every single one of us has a desperately wicked heart bent on rebelling against God. No matter how good we think we are, that heart isn't made right until we repent and turn to Jesus and God puts a new heart in us.
So what's my point? Everyone needs Jesus. The "parent" who really wasn't, and the "good" person who doesn't know him. If you know him, great. Tell this broken world why they need him too, how one day he's going to deal with those who reject his Son, and how one day he's going to make this world all right again.
Grace and Peace
http://media.causes.com/544740?p_id=77580773
It breaks my heart to see things like that, especially when I have little girls of my own.
Too often I forget what a fallen and broken world we actually live in. Hearing incidents like this should be a wake up call for Christ's followers, myself included. Not just a wake up call to keep an eye out to help hurting people, especially the little ones that can't help themselves. Not just a wake up call to be report criminal activity and get the "bad guys" locked up. But also a wake up call that we need to do our part to get the gospel out to the whole world.
Why? I had a few thoughts about that.
The first is bunk and is something that will never happen, but I will share anyway. The thought is that if everyone trusted in and followed Christ, what would this world be like? What could disappear from the earth? Armies? Police? Jails? Homeless shelters? Food banks? Lawyers? Alarm systems? Surveillance cameras? Whatever-anonymous groups? Psychologists? Computer firewalls? Locks? I bet this list could go on for a while. Not a single one of these, and many more, things would be needed if we lived in world filled with disciples of Jesus Christ. But we know that's not going to happen. This world is going to keep getting worse before it ever gets better. We've got God's word on that.
The second is that the gospel, and key things that surround it, provide answers to questions that surround atrocities like the one shown in the video. The fact of the matter is we live in a fallen world with broken people that have abandoned God and are allowed to make choices. In that situation, there will always be evil. We can help heal and comfort those affected by it. We can influence legislation to control actions, even though it doesn't change hearts. We can speak out in many ways against the evil in this world. But no matter what we do, its not going away until the world is made new again by God himself.
The third, and most important, is that the gospel is essential to salvation. People can get outraged at the evil other people do all they want, and rightfully so. Just remember that it is not the basis for comparison to use when we're talking about our eternal destiny. That's what so many in the world do, isn't it? "Oh I've got some issues, but I'm not as bad as that other guy! So, I'm okay, right?" If you don't know Jesus Christ, the answer is, no, you're not. The "cold blooded killer" and the "moral man" both need Jesus Christ equally, because every single one of us has a desperately wicked heart bent on rebelling against God. No matter how good we think we are, that heart isn't made right until we repent and turn to Jesus and God puts a new heart in us.
So what's my point? Everyone needs Jesus. The "parent" who really wasn't, and the "good" person who doesn't know him. If you know him, great. Tell this broken world why they need him too, how one day he's going to deal with those who reject his Son, and how one day he's going to make this world all right again.
Grace and Peace
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Assurance and Emotion
That kid from Toy Story wrote his name on the feet of Woody and Buzz. Homer got a bowling ball with his name on it (for Marge, but that's a different matter). Old school moms theoretically write the kids' names on their underwear. There are titles for cars, deeds for houses, patents for ideas, trademarks for names, and so on. What's the point? Ownership. In a fallen world where people don't do the right thing, we feel the need to be able to show who owns what.
Well, that doesn't stop in the material world. There is ownership in the spiritual world too. Those true believers who genuinely follow Christ are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that's God's way of showing that he owns us. When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit as promised. Now that's some seal! We have the spirit of God living inside of us, guiding our actions and guarding our hearts. At that point, we're his and he's not going to let us go.
Check it out. Romans 8:9 says that "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." You see? If you have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you belong to Christ. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you do not belong to Christ and need to repent and turn to him.
So how do we know if we have the spirit of God in us? Well let's ask some questions. Is our faith in Christ alone? Are we trusting him for our salvation? Is there evidence of that faith through a changed life, through walking in obedience with the Lord, through conviction when we sin?
If the answers to these questions are yes, yes, and yes, then the answer seems pretty clear to me. We do have an assurance of salvation. There is no doubt. God seals us with his Spirit, and we know we are his now and forever. Freed from sin. We can live our lives in service to our king without ever doubting, without ever asking "am I going to make it?"
And when we yield to the Spirit God has put in us, and let him guide us, the feeling it brings is wonderful. I have never experienced the peace and joy that being filled with the Spirit brings through anything worldly. It is an absolute pleasure to serve Christ, who has given me the most precious gift imaginable. If wonder if all unbelievers could know, understand, and feel the same up front, would there be any unbelievers left in the world? Probably (what a stiff necked people we are), but not as many!
That is not to say we should based our assurance of salvation on our feelings alone. There are plenty of people following numerous false religions across the world who have emotional experiences that are very powerful. You'll be able to find "conversion experience" stories from people joining any of the major world religions and cults that seem powerful and moving. And there is no doubt in my mind that for those people, the emotions they felt are completely real. And why not? Satan is the king of counterfeiters, and he can certainly manufacture a false sense of closeness with God, to keep people away from actually following Christ.
Clearly emotions are not enough. Our hearts are so deceitful, we cannot trust the feelings we think we have all on their own. Rather, we need to get into the written word of God so that it gets into us. We need to understand what it means to repent and turn to Jesus. We need to understand the significance of what he did on the cross for us. We need to understand what it means to die to self and live for Christ. When we follow the Living Word in the manner given to us in his written word, we know we are his without a shadow of a doubt. Then when, not if, the joy in serving him comes, we know also without a shadow of a doubt that it, too, is real.
If you, dear reader, do not know the light and love of Jesus Christ, then please turn to him. Know and admit your utter spiritual bankruptcy, that you have nothing to offer God on your own to make yourself right with him. Turn to Jesus for your salvation and trust in him. Receive the free gift God is offering you. Follow Jesus and experience the greatest joy in this world. You won't regret it, especially when you consider that such joy is merely a pitiful shadow of things to come.
Grace and Peace
Well, that doesn't stop in the material world. There is ownership in the spiritual world too. Those true believers who genuinely follow Christ are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that's God's way of showing that he owns us. When we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit as promised. Now that's some seal! We have the spirit of God living inside of us, guiding our actions and guarding our hearts. At that point, we're his and he's not going to let us go.
Check it out. Romans 8:9 says that "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." You see? If you have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you belong to Christ. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you know without a doubt you do not belong to Christ and need to repent and turn to him.
So how do we know if we have the spirit of God in us? Well let's ask some questions. Is our faith in Christ alone? Are we trusting him for our salvation? Is there evidence of that faith through a changed life, through walking in obedience with the Lord, through conviction when we sin?
If the answers to these questions are yes, yes, and yes, then the answer seems pretty clear to me. We do have an assurance of salvation. There is no doubt. God seals us with his Spirit, and we know we are his now and forever. Freed from sin. We can live our lives in service to our king without ever doubting, without ever asking "am I going to make it?"
And when we yield to the Spirit God has put in us, and let him guide us, the feeling it brings is wonderful. I have never experienced the peace and joy that being filled with the Spirit brings through anything worldly. It is an absolute pleasure to serve Christ, who has given me the most precious gift imaginable. If wonder if all unbelievers could know, understand, and feel the same up front, would there be any unbelievers left in the world? Probably (what a stiff necked people we are), but not as many!
That is not to say we should based our assurance of salvation on our feelings alone. There are plenty of people following numerous false religions across the world who have emotional experiences that are very powerful. You'll be able to find "conversion experience" stories from people joining any of the major world religions and cults that seem powerful and moving. And there is no doubt in my mind that for those people, the emotions they felt are completely real. And why not? Satan is the king of counterfeiters, and he can certainly manufacture a false sense of closeness with God, to keep people away from actually following Christ.
Clearly emotions are not enough. Our hearts are so deceitful, we cannot trust the feelings we think we have all on their own. Rather, we need to get into the written word of God so that it gets into us. We need to understand what it means to repent and turn to Jesus. We need to understand the significance of what he did on the cross for us. We need to understand what it means to die to self and live for Christ. When we follow the Living Word in the manner given to us in his written word, we know we are his without a shadow of a doubt. Then when, not if, the joy in serving him comes, we know also without a shadow of a doubt that it, too, is real.
If you, dear reader, do not know the light and love of Jesus Christ, then please turn to him. Know and admit your utter spiritual bankruptcy, that you have nothing to offer God on your own to make yourself right with him. Turn to Jesus for your salvation and trust in him. Receive the free gift God is offering you. Follow Jesus and experience the greatest joy in this world. You won't regret it, especially when you consider that such joy is merely a pitiful shadow of things to come.
Grace and Peace
Friday, August 21, 2009
Stupid Cookie
We had a message on integrity recently at church, plus I've been writing a bit on integrity at home. Its funny how the Lord drops things into our lives to show us the disconnect between our head knowledge and our hearts at just the right moments in just the right way to make the point stick.
Today he did that with a cookie. That's right, a cookie taught me something today -- probably a couple of things in reality. Sometimes we're a little dense and need something as clever as a dessert snack to impart knowledge and bring growth. The main lesson brought through one stupid cookie? Don't even leave the door open a tiny crack for your integrity to be compromised. I did, and it grieved me.
Here's what went down. I went out to lunch with the family today. The girls wanted cookies. I wanted a cookie. They got two cookies with their meals, total. I got zero cookies. So I went to the bakery counter and ordered three cookies and asked how much the third one would be. "Seventy one cents" replied the nice woman behind the counter. Then she handed me my cookies and said don't worry about that last one.
Uh oh.
At the time I reacted in a fairly stupid way. "Are you sure that's okay?" "Yes." "Really?" "Yes." "Thank you, have a good day."
That's where I went wrong. I got back to the table and said to Jamie "You think its okay for her to give these away?" "Probably not." D'oh. Now I had a situation on my hands. My natural man tried to rationalize it. Because I was allowed to give things away when I worked in the deli, maybe she was allowed to give cookies away. That wouldn't do. I was the night manager. She wasn't the manager. She didn't have authority in the place.
So what did I end up doing? Not wanted to embarrass her -- or at least that's what I told myself, the truth of that may be suspect given our deceptive hearts -- I went back inside and asked the manager if it was okay for her to do that. Even then I screwed up the story. The way I said it sounded like she gave me the third cookie without asking for three! He briefly double checked what I was asking and said that's fine, but his eyes told a different story. I can't read people very well, but either he thought I was insane, or it really wasn't okay and this lady's going to get in trouble.
Not a good situation either way. Maybe the woman gets in trouble at work. Maybe I look like a bad witness to the manager for even accepting the stolen goods, especially after talking to him about the Lord not a half an hour before! I definitely didn't enjoy the cookie as I should have with a clean conscience. It was a completely rotten event that's been bothering me until now. But since all things do work for good for those of us who love God and are called according to his purpose, it sure gives me a way for me to remember in the future not to even open the door up a tiny smidge when dishonesty knocks.
And all this over a stupid cookie.
But then, its not really about the cookie, is it?
Grace and Peace
Today he did that with a cookie. That's right, a cookie taught me something today -- probably a couple of things in reality. Sometimes we're a little dense and need something as clever as a dessert snack to impart knowledge and bring growth. The main lesson brought through one stupid cookie? Don't even leave the door open a tiny crack for your integrity to be compromised. I did, and it grieved me.
Here's what went down. I went out to lunch with the family today. The girls wanted cookies. I wanted a cookie. They got two cookies with their meals, total. I got zero cookies. So I went to the bakery counter and ordered three cookies and asked how much the third one would be. "Seventy one cents" replied the nice woman behind the counter. Then she handed me my cookies and said don't worry about that last one.
Uh oh.
At the time I reacted in a fairly stupid way. "Are you sure that's okay?" "Yes." "Really?" "Yes." "Thank you, have a good day."
That's where I went wrong. I got back to the table and said to Jamie "You think its okay for her to give these away?" "Probably not." D'oh. Now I had a situation on my hands. My natural man tried to rationalize it. Because I was allowed to give things away when I worked in the deli, maybe she was allowed to give cookies away. That wouldn't do. I was the night manager. She wasn't the manager. She didn't have authority in the place.
So what did I end up doing? Not wanted to embarrass her -- or at least that's what I told myself, the truth of that may be suspect given our deceptive hearts -- I went back inside and asked the manager if it was okay for her to do that. Even then I screwed up the story. The way I said it sounded like she gave me the third cookie without asking for three! He briefly double checked what I was asking and said that's fine, but his eyes told a different story. I can't read people very well, but either he thought I was insane, or it really wasn't okay and this lady's going to get in trouble.
Not a good situation either way. Maybe the woman gets in trouble at work. Maybe I look like a bad witness to the manager for even accepting the stolen goods, especially after talking to him about the Lord not a half an hour before! I definitely didn't enjoy the cookie as I should have with a clean conscience. It was a completely rotten event that's been bothering me until now. But since all things do work for good for those of us who love God and are called according to his purpose, it sure gives me a way for me to remember in the future not to even open the door up a tiny smidge when dishonesty knocks.
And all this over a stupid cookie.
But then, its not really about the cookie, is it?
Grace and Peace
Christianity Is Not A Religion
A video post by SinCityPreacher motivated me to write this quick post up. He drove the point home so well here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZE-2t8E7s&feature=related
I've been called religious before. It bothered me a little bit. I certainly hope not! I don't think people using that word understand what it means sometimes. Christianity is not a religion; therefore, it follows, that Christians are not religious.
A religion is a system of things to do to earn approval from God. Such systems fail because we cannot earn our way to heaven. Anyone who trusts in religion to get them to heaven is condemned.
Christianity is not based on what we do for God, but rather what God has done for us. God became a man, Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He rose again from the dead on the third day, proving who he is, and showing that the sacrifice was acceptable.
Christianity is about our relationship with Jesus. A Christian worships Jesus because he is God. A Christian trusts Jesus as his savior. A Christian follows Jesus as his lord.
If you are trusting in religion to save you, run away from it, straight into the waiting arms of Jesus Christ.
Grace and Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZE-2t8E7s&feature=related
I've been called religious before. It bothered me a little bit. I certainly hope not! I don't think people using that word understand what it means sometimes. Christianity is not a religion; therefore, it follows, that Christians are not religious.
A religion is a system of things to do to earn approval from God. Such systems fail because we cannot earn our way to heaven. Anyone who trusts in religion to get them to heaven is condemned.
Christianity is not based on what we do for God, but rather what God has done for us. God became a man, Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He rose again from the dead on the third day, proving who he is, and showing that the sacrifice was acceptable.
Christianity is about our relationship with Jesus. A Christian worships Jesus because he is God. A Christian trusts Jesus as his savior. A Christian follows Jesus as his lord.
If you are trusting in religion to save you, run away from it, straight into the waiting arms of Jesus Christ.
Grace and Peace
Thursday, August 20, 2009
You Must Be Born Again
I've heard it said here and there "those born agains" or "I'm a Christian, but I'm not a born again". Now, I can understand semantics and not wanting to identify with this label or that one, but, labels aside, let's make one thing perfectly clear. If you are not born again, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. Period. There's no way around that. Don't believe it? What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus was confused. Jesus clarified with "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
What does that mean? The Barclay Daily Study Bible puts it nicely: “There are two thoughts here. Water is the symbol of cleansing. When Jesus takes possession of our lives, when we love Him with all our heart, the sins of the past are forgiven and forgotten. The Spirit is the symbol of power. When Jesus takes possession of our lives it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven; if that were all, we might well proceed to make the same mess of life all over again; but into life there enters a new power which enables us to be what by ourselves we could never be and to do what by ourselves we could never do. Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ, which wipes out the past and gives victory in the future.”
In other words, when you are born again, you are made new. Like Paul said, you are literally a new creation. Your heart of stone is torn out and replaced. Your carnal, fleshly, worldly, natural nature is dead, crucified with Christ on the cross. You rise with Christ. As he rose from physical death so do you rise from spiritual death. You're no longer in bondage to sin. No, now you have the spirit of God himself put in you so that you can live a life pleasing to him, for his glory.
So what's that look like? Well for one, you're not a natural man anymore, you're a spiritual man.
From the time the natural man gets up in the morning to the time he goes to bed, what does he think about? Things of the flesh. I'm not just talking about overtly sinful perverted things or anything like that, only, but rather things of this world. The natural man gets all wrapped up in work, family, finances, sports, entertainment, movies, whatever. He may go to church once a week and go to a Bible study now and then. He may do service projects and volunteer at the church. He may do many things that look good on the outside, and these things are not wrong. But the natural man's heart and mind are not focused on God.
The spiritual man is different because he a new creation. He has his heart and mind focused on the things of God. He doesn't make big decisions in life without consulting the Lord for direction. He dives head first into things of the spirit, seeking God's will, God's plan, God's purpose, God's priorities.
Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying the spiritual man thinks about God 24/7 -- the same way (some) natural men don't think about the world 24/7. It's really just a priority reversal, but its not one that comes from our own efforts. In our own efforts the best we can do is try to kill the flesh with the flesh. It never works. All the well intentioned lifestyle choices we make won't do it. All the service in the world won't do it. All the giving in the world won't do it. All the rituals in the world won't do it. All that will do it is to recognize our spiritual bankruptcy and come to Christ in humility, with a pure heart, pleading for him to save us. All that will do it is realizing and believing in his work on the cross. Only then can we be born again and have something greater to kill the flesh, and that is the spirit of Almighty God living in us.
Grace and Peace
What does that mean? The Barclay Daily Study Bible puts it nicely: “There are two thoughts here. Water is the symbol of cleansing. When Jesus takes possession of our lives, when we love Him with all our heart, the sins of the past are forgiven and forgotten. The Spirit is the symbol of power. When Jesus takes possession of our lives it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven; if that were all, we might well proceed to make the same mess of life all over again; but into life there enters a new power which enables us to be what by ourselves we could never be and to do what by ourselves we could never do. Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ, which wipes out the past and gives victory in the future.”
In other words, when you are born again, you are made new. Like Paul said, you are literally a new creation. Your heart of stone is torn out and replaced. Your carnal, fleshly, worldly, natural nature is dead, crucified with Christ on the cross. You rise with Christ. As he rose from physical death so do you rise from spiritual death. You're no longer in bondage to sin. No, now you have the spirit of God himself put in you so that you can live a life pleasing to him, for his glory.
So what's that look like? Well for one, you're not a natural man anymore, you're a spiritual man.
From the time the natural man gets up in the morning to the time he goes to bed, what does he think about? Things of the flesh. I'm not just talking about overtly sinful perverted things or anything like that, only, but rather things of this world. The natural man gets all wrapped up in work, family, finances, sports, entertainment, movies, whatever. He may go to church once a week and go to a Bible study now and then. He may do service projects and volunteer at the church. He may do many things that look good on the outside, and these things are not wrong. But the natural man's heart and mind are not focused on God.
The spiritual man is different because he a new creation. He has his heart and mind focused on the things of God. He doesn't make big decisions in life without consulting the Lord for direction. He dives head first into things of the spirit, seeking God's will, God's plan, God's purpose, God's priorities.
Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying the spiritual man thinks about God 24/7 -- the same way (some) natural men don't think about the world 24/7. It's really just a priority reversal, but its not one that comes from our own efforts. In our own efforts the best we can do is try to kill the flesh with the flesh. It never works. All the well intentioned lifestyle choices we make won't do it. All the service in the world won't do it. All the giving in the world won't do it. All the rituals in the world won't do it. All that will do it is to recognize our spiritual bankruptcy and come to Christ in humility, with a pure heart, pleading for him to save us. All that will do it is realizing and believing in his work on the cross. Only then can we be born again and have something greater to kill the flesh, and that is the spirit of Almighty God living in us.
Grace and Peace
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Little, Big
I did two things today. Okay I did a lot of things today, but two of them are relevant to this post.
The first is that I looked at "The Human Body Book" with my kids. There were various things they were interested in, but one of the most interesting things, to me, was the innards of a cell. You know what's in a cell? A whole lot of junk, that's what. It varies depending on cell type, but the picture of a generalized cell we looked at looks like a huge aquarium teeming with a couple dozen forms of life. You have parts for nutrient absorption, cell reproduction, moving substances through the cytoplasm (cell goo), sugar/fat digestion and energy production, material/water storage and transport, structural support, protein assembly, substance flow control, plus the control center in the middle and various other pieces that make this whole thing work. Its like a factory more complicated than any I've seen. And we've got a gazillion of these things working together in our bodies.
The second is that I took the dog on a walk at night and looked up at the stars (and maybe one planet, it was really bright). I saw maybe a couple of dozen stars, billions of miles away, shining brightly in the depths of space. Its estimated that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and maybe the same number of galaxies. Let's say those estimates are off by a factor of 100, each. That would still be 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 stars. I don't know about your universe, but in mine, that's a lot of freaking stars.
Then I thought of something. Okay I thought of a lot of things, but one of them is relevant to this post.
In ages past, people didn't know about the complexity of the cell. It wasn't that long ago that people didn't even know what a cell was. It wasn't that long ago either that people didn't know how vast the universe was. Yet many believed in God.
Now we live in a time when people can see small things so much more than ever before and large things so much more than ever before. These are the very things that point to God's existence. The complexity of the human body and the vastness of the universe is so great, it is a huge testimony to the vastness and glory of God himself. And what do some so called "brilliant minds" do with it? They try use the very evidence of God's existence to say that he could not possibly exist.
"Yes, this vast universe just popped into existence from nothing! And life too! This incredibly complex system called life just popped into existence from nothing too! And the little complex things grew into more and more and more complex things until one day they grew into something that had enough of a brain to think about its own existence and say 'There is no God'".
Rubbish.
If with greater revelation comes greater accountability, how much more accountable are we today, knowing the enormity of God's creation? I think much, but that's just one man's opinion.
Grace and Peace
The first is that I looked at "The Human Body Book" with my kids. There were various things they were interested in, but one of the most interesting things, to me, was the innards of a cell. You know what's in a cell? A whole lot of junk, that's what. It varies depending on cell type, but the picture of a generalized cell we looked at looks like a huge aquarium teeming with a couple dozen forms of life. You have parts for nutrient absorption, cell reproduction, moving substances through the cytoplasm (cell goo), sugar/fat digestion and energy production, material/water storage and transport, structural support, protein assembly, substance flow control, plus the control center in the middle and various other pieces that make this whole thing work. Its like a factory more complicated than any I've seen. And we've got a gazillion of these things working together in our bodies.
The second is that I took the dog on a walk at night and looked up at the stars (and maybe one planet, it was really bright). I saw maybe a couple of dozen stars, billions of miles away, shining brightly in the depths of space. Its estimated that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and maybe the same number of galaxies. Let's say those estimates are off by a factor of 100, each. That would still be 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 stars. I don't know about your universe, but in mine, that's a lot of freaking stars.
Then I thought of something. Okay I thought of a lot of things, but one of them is relevant to this post.
In ages past, people didn't know about the complexity of the cell. It wasn't that long ago that people didn't even know what a cell was. It wasn't that long ago either that people didn't know how vast the universe was. Yet many believed in God.
Now we live in a time when people can see small things so much more than ever before and large things so much more than ever before. These are the very things that point to God's existence. The complexity of the human body and the vastness of the universe is so great, it is a huge testimony to the vastness and glory of God himself. And what do some so called "brilliant minds" do with it? They try use the very evidence of God's existence to say that he could not possibly exist.
"Yes, this vast universe just popped into existence from nothing! And life too! This incredibly complex system called life just popped into existence from nothing too! And the little complex things grew into more and more and more complex things until one day they grew into something that had enough of a brain to think about its own existence and say 'There is no God'".
Rubbish.
If with greater revelation comes greater accountability, how much more accountable are we today, knowing the enormity of God's creation? I think much, but that's just one man's opinion.
Grace and Peace
Restoration Or Alteration?
I have heard the Mormon phrase "restoration of the gospel" in the past, and again just recently, but I never looked up exactly what that meant. If what I read was true, I am saddened by it. From the LDS website, it is this:
"When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established His Church among His followers. After His Crucifixion and the deaths of His Apostles, the fulness of the gospel was taken from the earth because of widespread apostasy. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ restored the fulness of the gospel. The true Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again. Because of the Restoration, the teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation are available to all people."
The phrase "teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation" is very scary already.
Ordinances is further define as:
"In the Church, an ordinance is a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Some ordinances are essential to our exaltation. These ordinances are called saving ordinances. They include baptism, confirmation, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (for men), the temple endowment, and the marriage sealing. With each of these ordinances, we enter into solemn covenants with the Lord."
So "saving ordinances" include all these other things mentioned nowhere as necessary for salvation in the pages of the Bible. Paul makes it quite clear in Romans that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and does not come from ANY kind works we do on our own, including rituals like water baptism.
I had some discussions with one of my Mormon friends in the past, and it seemed clear to me that he believed in salvation by grace through faith, but yet here we have on the LDS website an indication that salvation comes through these other things as well. So I don't know what to think on the subject, but what I have to say is this:
If there is ANYONE out there in ANY organization trusting that their salvation comes something other than faith in Christ, they are dead wrong. It doesn't come from a family line. It doesn't come from affiliation with any certain group. It doesn't come from saying a certain prayer. It doesn't come from some ritual. It doesn't come from doing good works. None of these things will save anyone. All they will do is give people a false sense of security like many Jewish leaders had 2000 years ago. Salvation comes from genuine repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Period.
Grace and Peace
"When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He established His Church among His followers. After His Crucifixion and the deaths of His Apostles, the fulness of the gospel was taken from the earth because of widespread apostasy. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ restored the fulness of the gospel. The true Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again. Because of the Restoration, the teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation are available to all people."
The phrase "teachings and ordinances necessary for salvation" is very scary already.
Ordinances is further define as:
"In the Church, an ordinance is a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Some ordinances are essential to our exaltation. These ordinances are called saving ordinances. They include baptism, confirmation, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (for men), the temple endowment, and the marriage sealing. With each of these ordinances, we enter into solemn covenants with the Lord."
So "saving ordinances" include all these other things mentioned nowhere as necessary for salvation in the pages of the Bible. Paul makes it quite clear in Romans that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and does not come from ANY kind works we do on our own, including rituals like water baptism.
I had some discussions with one of my Mormon friends in the past, and it seemed clear to me that he believed in salvation by grace through faith, but yet here we have on the LDS website an indication that salvation comes through these other things as well. So I don't know what to think on the subject, but what I have to say is this:
If there is ANYONE out there in ANY organization trusting that their salvation comes something other than faith in Christ, they are dead wrong. It doesn't come from a family line. It doesn't come from affiliation with any certain group. It doesn't come from saying a certain prayer. It doesn't come from some ritual. It doesn't come from doing good works. None of these things will save anyone. All they will do is give people a false sense of security like many Jewish leaders had 2000 years ago. Salvation comes from genuine repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Period.
Grace and Peace
Saturday, August 15, 2009
What's In A Name?
The name "Christian" is tossed around a lot these days. It originally meant something to the effect of "disciple of Christ" or "follower of Christ", but today it's so watered down that there are even those who say there are "Christian" drunkards, drug addicts, homosexuals, pornographers, and so on. Bunk. Jesus came to die on the cross to save us from our bondage to sin, not so we could revel in it and slap a label on ourselves to make us feel better and give us a false sense of security.
There are a lot of people who believe they are Christians, but are so in name only. They may go to church. They may do church work. They may have said the "sinner's prayer". They may have been baptised. They may go to Bible studies. They may have gone to seminary. They may even hold a leadership position in a church. And they may be wrong about who they think they are because they never really turned from their sin and turned to the Lord.
Jesus never told people to "come forward" or "pray this prayer". That's an American cultural thing. He told people to turn from their sin and follow him.
So if there is no marked change in your life to show evidence that you're a Christian, don't shrug it off, examine yourself, as Paul encouraged us to do, to see if you really fit the bill. When you turn your life over to Christ, you're washed, you go through a transformation.
Does that mean a Christian is perfect? By no means. There is a difference between committing sin and practicing sin. A Christian can definitely still stumble into sin. I know from first hand experience, and let me tell you, it's miserable. The Lord convicts you, and hard sometimes. You know shepherds would sometimes break the legs of the wandering lambs so they would learn to stay with the shepherd? The same goes for our good shepherd.
So what's in a name? Sometimes not much anymore. But there should be.
Grace and Peace
There are a lot of people who believe they are Christians, but are so in name only. They may go to church. They may do church work. They may have said the "sinner's prayer". They may have been baptised. They may go to Bible studies. They may have gone to seminary. They may even hold a leadership position in a church. And they may be wrong about who they think they are because they never really turned from their sin and turned to the Lord.
Jesus never told people to "come forward" or "pray this prayer". That's an American cultural thing. He told people to turn from their sin and follow him.
So if there is no marked change in your life to show evidence that you're a Christian, don't shrug it off, examine yourself, as Paul encouraged us to do, to see if you really fit the bill. When you turn your life over to Christ, you're washed, you go through a transformation.
Does that mean a Christian is perfect? By no means. There is a difference between committing sin and practicing sin. A Christian can definitely still stumble into sin. I know from first hand experience, and let me tell you, it's miserable. The Lord convicts you, and hard sometimes. You know shepherds would sometimes break the legs of the wandering lambs so they would learn to stay with the shepherd? The same goes for our good shepherd.
So what's in a name? Sometimes not much anymore. But there should be.
Grace and Peace
Thursday, August 13, 2009
God's Word
A friend of mine said something to the effect of "Isn't God big enough to give us a book we can understand with a straightforward reading?" Absolutely. We don't need to be Biblical scholars to understand the word of God. We don't need to be experts in history or archeology to understand the word of God. We don't need to learn Hebrew or Greek to understand the word of God. We don't need to understand ancient Jewish culture to understand the word of God. These things are all helpful and give us a deeper, richer, understanding, but you know what? We've been given revelation about God's creation, man's sin inclination and way to salvation, and God's final restoration -- that anyone literate can pick up and read.
But do you know what so many individual people and groups do with the simple teaching found in God's word?
They take away from it. It's just history. It's mythology. It's corrupted. It's not inspired. It's not authoritative. It's just a book. When you go there, it reduces Christianity to just another religion of the world and reduces Jesus to just other great teacher and example like Buddha or Ghandi. And so on.
They add extra cruft to it not found in its pages. We have tradition that is equally as important. We have new special written revelation that was written down. We have special messages from God that only our leader understands. And what's the common line among many groups that purport these things? We are the one true church. You must join our organization and abide by our rules to be truly saved or to reap the biggest rewards. And so on.
They twist it. Everyone else translated it wrong, we have a special translation. You don't understand the language of the day, here's a 40 page argument on why my false doctrine is really what this one verse means. Jesus was really just a created being and not fully God. Abortion is really okay. Homosexuality is not really a sin. There's no such thing as the devil. There's no such place as hell. And so on.
You know what? We can have a simple faith as presented in the pages of the Bible without resorting to diminishing or twisting the word of God or making up new teachings that are nowhere to be found in its pages.
If left to my own analysis, I would certainly be baffled that so many mishandle God's word and so many more buy into it; however, all these were issues the first believers had to deal with, and its only gotten worse in the last 2000 years. I am somewhat calmed by the facts that we were told this would happen by our Lord, and that my eyes were opened to the truth of God's word by his grace, rather than being left to my own reasoning or interpretation.
I pray earnestly that all would come away from false beliefs to have salvation through Christ as laid out in the Bible, but, sadly, I know that such a thing is not going to happen.
Grace and Peace
But do you know what so many individual people and groups do with the simple teaching found in God's word?
They take away from it. It's just history. It's mythology. It's corrupted. It's not inspired. It's not authoritative. It's just a book. When you go there, it reduces Christianity to just another religion of the world and reduces Jesus to just other great teacher and example like Buddha or Ghandi. And so on.
They add extra cruft to it not found in its pages. We have tradition that is equally as important. We have new special written revelation that was written down. We have special messages from God that only our leader understands. And what's the common line among many groups that purport these things? We are the one true church. You must join our organization and abide by our rules to be truly saved or to reap the biggest rewards. And so on.
They twist it. Everyone else translated it wrong, we have a special translation. You don't understand the language of the day, here's a 40 page argument on why my false doctrine is really what this one verse means. Jesus was really just a created being and not fully God. Abortion is really okay. Homosexuality is not really a sin. There's no such thing as the devil. There's no such place as hell. And so on.
You know what? We can have a simple faith as presented in the pages of the Bible without resorting to diminishing or twisting the word of God or making up new teachings that are nowhere to be found in its pages.
If left to my own analysis, I would certainly be baffled that so many mishandle God's word and so many more buy into it; however, all these were issues the first believers had to deal with, and its only gotten worse in the last 2000 years. I am somewhat calmed by the facts that we were told this would happen by our Lord, and that my eyes were opened to the truth of God's word by his grace, rather than being left to my own reasoning or interpretation.
I pray earnestly that all would come away from false beliefs to have salvation through Christ as laid out in the Bible, but, sadly, I know that such a thing is not going to happen.
Grace and Peace
Ations
There are those who want to dumb down the Bible for people because "some words just don't make sense today to the post-modern man" or some such other nonsense. Typically these are in the same group who want to embrace those in groups teaching false doctrine, who want to deny the vital importance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, who want to call the deity of Christ into question, who want to deny the reality of judgment and hell. Of course they want to dumb down the Bible -- because they want a watered down Christianity that is on par with other religions of the world that should be considered as valid as Christianity. Rubbish.
Enough ranting, I thought I'd just take the time to clear up some of the big "ations" that are at the heart of the gospel.
Salvation. This is the gospel in a word. In a sentence I would say that Jesus came into the world to die as an atoning sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world and then rose again, so that those who put their faith in him and follow him will be made right with God and inherit eternal life. Salvation is gained by grace through faith in Christ.
Interesting though that when the Bible talks about being saved, it talks about it in three ways. We've been saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. And all three can be summed up with a few more ations:
Justification. We've been saved. We're freed from the guilt and bondage of sin and made right with God. We get Christ's righteousness imputed to us. It happens the moment we receive God's free gift. I remember when it happened for me distinctly. I have experiential evidence that God took my heart of stone out and put in a heart of flesh.
Sanctification. We're being saved. Though we're freed from sin, we're not perfect. Sanctification is being free from the pollution of sin. This is a lifelong process that starts the moment we receive Christ and makes us more like him. We have to cooperate in this process and some days go better than others. The Holy Spirit prompts us to move in certain directions and do or not do certain things and we should listen to him.
Glorification. We will be saved. This is when we're completely freed from the presence of sin and will happens when Christ returns and we go to be with the Lord.
A website I came across put it this way:
Justification delivers us from the penalty of sin and requires one act of faith, establishing our position with God. Sanctification delivers us from the power of sin and requires many acts of faith, transforming our condition. Glorification delivers us from the presence of sin and requires no act of faith, matching our condition with our position.
That doesn't seem so complicated to me. I think some just want to make the word of God fit their beliefs and can't do that without dumbing it down to make their false beliefs about Christ square up. Some even think the word "saved" is "too harsh". Well, its used all over the New Testament, so I think we'll stick with that -- and keep the rest of it too.
Grace and Peace
Enough ranting, I thought I'd just take the time to clear up some of the big "ations" that are at the heart of the gospel.
Salvation. This is the gospel in a word. In a sentence I would say that Jesus came into the world to die as an atoning sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world and then rose again, so that those who put their faith in him and follow him will be made right with God and inherit eternal life. Salvation is gained by grace through faith in Christ.
Interesting though that when the Bible talks about being saved, it talks about it in three ways. We've been saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. And all three can be summed up with a few more ations:
Justification. We've been saved. We're freed from the guilt and bondage of sin and made right with God. We get Christ's righteousness imputed to us. It happens the moment we receive God's free gift. I remember when it happened for me distinctly. I have experiential evidence that God took my heart of stone out and put in a heart of flesh.
Sanctification. We're being saved. Though we're freed from sin, we're not perfect. Sanctification is being free from the pollution of sin. This is a lifelong process that starts the moment we receive Christ and makes us more like him. We have to cooperate in this process and some days go better than others. The Holy Spirit prompts us to move in certain directions and do or not do certain things and we should listen to him.
Glorification. We will be saved. This is when we're completely freed from the presence of sin and will happens when Christ returns and we go to be with the Lord.
A website I came across put it this way:
Justification delivers us from the penalty of sin and requires one act of faith, establishing our position with God. Sanctification delivers us from the power of sin and requires many acts of faith, transforming our condition. Glorification delivers us from the presence of sin and requires no act of faith, matching our condition with our position.
That doesn't seem so complicated to me. I think some just want to make the word of God fit their beliefs and can't do that without dumbing it down to make their false beliefs about Christ square up. Some even think the word "saved" is "too harsh". Well, its used all over the New Testament, so I think we'll stick with that -- and keep the rest of it too.
Grace and Peace
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Judgment
I was listening to one of Brian's sermons on judging the other day and thought it was wonderful, so I want to reiterate the key points of his message.
There are those who say that the Bible says not to judge. If you tell them that what they believe is wrong or that their behavior is wrong, they may say "hey, your judging me, man, Jesus said don't judge". Well that's not true. We must make judgments about various things, but what we must not do is judge incorrectly, such as the following:
1) Going beyond God's requirements. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were experts at this. They didn't want to break God's law so they put a mile hedge around it. Unfortunately what happened is that their standard became to them what God's law said instead of what God's law ACTUALLY said. Then they applied judgment to other people based on their man-made standard rather than the laws of God.
We do the same sort of things today I think in some circles. Well I think we ALL do it in some form or another, but there are various groups that focus on this thing or that thing and pass judgment on people based on something that is traditional to them but is not actually forbidden in God's word.
Examples today may be smoking, drinking, going to the movies, playing cards, drinking coffee, keeping a particular day as the Sabbath, and so on. The list could go on and on. For some of these various arguments can be made about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit and we shouldn't defile it, and so on. But then again the same kind of argument can be made about eating hot dogs and nachos or breathing air in Los Angeles. Also there is a valid argument about the great freedom we have as Christians -- many things are permissible but not everything edifies. Really it does build a person up more spiritually to spend two hours studying the Bible than watching a secular movie. Completely valid, but it does not call for passing judgment. God's word is very clear on many subjects about what is and what is not permissible, and in those areas where it is silent, we are not to judge.
So do we look down on people because of their hobbies, because of what they eat, because of what they drink, because of the religious organization they do/don't associate with, because they do/don't use only the 1611 KJV Bible, or because of the day they choose to go to church on?
Or do we, as we should, get our standards from the word of God, and file "traditions" in the proper location -- under that which is man made.
2) By appearance. "Oh he can't be a Christian. He's got green hair, and long hair, and a tattoo, and body piercings, and shabby clothes". We better sit HIM in the back, while this nice guy in a suit can sit up front. He's MUCH more holy, obviously, just look at the way he looks.
Back in the day before my time there was discussion in various churches about whether or not to let people with long hair attend. What?! "Brothers I KNOW there's a SINNER among us! A lost sheep!" And the poor guy with the long hair with his Bible sitting in the front just came to worship with fellow believers, not get indirectly berated by the pastor because he had long hair.
So are we Samuel searching for someone to replace Saul and looking at outward appearance only? Are we like some of the early Christians James rebuked for fawning over the same rich people who were oppressing them just because they had the money?
Or do we, like our father, have a greater concern over what's inside a person than what's on the outside?
3) Self-righteously. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were good at this one too. The opinion of some was that everyone else was around to fan the fires of hell. What hubris! Any kind of self-righteous judgment comes out of a failure to remember one thing: we're ALL sinners and in the SAME boat. The only reason believers are not in a worse off state is by the grace of God alone, not because of anything good in them.
So are we like the old Peter who pretty much said "Lord, THESE may desert you, but NOT I, I love you MORE". Are we like those who think they're saved because their so good on their own? Are we like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who thanks God that he is not like "those sinners"?
Or do we, like the tax collector in Luke 18, have proper humility before God and avoid judging self-righteously?
4) Mercilessly. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were good at this one too. You're sick? Secret sin. You're a prostitute or tax collector? Must be wicked and God judged you already. Yeah God, get THEM!
There are people in some churches today that come down overly hard on certain sins. Sin is sin, but some people go to the extreme about particular sins. Guess what happens when the leader is weak and commits the sin he came down so hard on? His congregation comes down incredibly hard on him. Makes one wonder where that extra effort and loudness was coming from in the first place. We're all susceptible, and when people stumble, yet are genuinely grieved and repentant, mercy is called for, not judgment.
So are we like those dragging the adulterous woman before Jesus wanting her to be stoned?
Or are we, like our Lord, willing to show mercy?
5) Finally. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Concluding someone, anyone, is beyond God's grace is not something Christians are to do. There was a vicious murderer a while back who said he repented, turned to Jesus, and was assured he was doing to heaven. I don't know if its true or not, but if it is, good for him. Others were appalled by such a statement -- even some Christians. "Oh there is NO way THAT man is going to heaven." What about the thief on the cross next to Jesus? What about the parable where the one working all day and the one working for one hour receive the same reward? What about the sick needing the doctor? No, there is no sin too great for God to forgive outside of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
I know I've judged in all these ways at some time or another, and I know I ought not do it. That is not what we as Christians are to do. However, neither are we to stick our head in the sand because people say we shouldn't be judging when it comes to things like salvation, false teachings, clearly sinful behavior, etc. No, we are called to tell people the truth -- the actual truth that is grounded in the word of God, not tradition or man-made ideas -- and come from a proper attitude of meekness.
Grace and Peace
There are those who say that the Bible says not to judge. If you tell them that what they believe is wrong or that their behavior is wrong, they may say "hey, your judging me, man, Jesus said don't judge". Well that's not true. We must make judgments about various things, but what we must not do is judge incorrectly, such as the following:
1) Going beyond God's requirements. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were experts at this. They didn't want to break God's law so they put a mile hedge around it. Unfortunately what happened is that their standard became to them what God's law said instead of what God's law ACTUALLY said. Then they applied judgment to other people based on their man-made standard rather than the laws of God.
We do the same sort of things today I think in some circles. Well I think we ALL do it in some form or another, but there are various groups that focus on this thing or that thing and pass judgment on people based on something that is traditional to them but is not actually forbidden in God's word.
Examples today may be smoking, drinking, going to the movies, playing cards, drinking coffee, keeping a particular day as the Sabbath, and so on. The list could go on and on. For some of these various arguments can be made about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit and we shouldn't defile it, and so on. But then again the same kind of argument can be made about eating hot dogs and nachos or breathing air in Los Angeles. Also there is a valid argument about the great freedom we have as Christians -- many things are permissible but not everything edifies. Really it does build a person up more spiritually to spend two hours studying the Bible than watching a secular movie. Completely valid, but it does not call for passing judgment. God's word is very clear on many subjects about what is and what is not permissible, and in those areas where it is silent, we are not to judge.
So do we look down on people because of their hobbies, because of what they eat, because of what they drink, because of the religious organization they do/don't associate with, because they do/don't use only the 1611 KJV Bible, or because of the day they choose to go to church on?
Or do we, as we should, get our standards from the word of God, and file "traditions" in the proper location -- under that which is man made.
2) By appearance. "Oh he can't be a Christian. He's got green hair, and long hair, and a tattoo, and body piercings, and shabby clothes". We better sit HIM in the back, while this nice guy in a suit can sit up front. He's MUCH more holy, obviously, just look at the way he looks.
Back in the day before my time there was discussion in various churches about whether or not to let people with long hair attend. What?! "Brothers I KNOW there's a SINNER among us! A lost sheep!" And the poor guy with the long hair with his Bible sitting in the front just came to worship with fellow believers, not get indirectly berated by the pastor because he had long hair.
So are we Samuel searching for someone to replace Saul and looking at outward appearance only? Are we like some of the early Christians James rebuked for fawning over the same rich people who were oppressing them just because they had the money?
Or do we, like our father, have a greater concern over what's inside a person than what's on the outside?
3) Self-righteously. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were good at this one too. The opinion of some was that everyone else was around to fan the fires of hell. What hubris! Any kind of self-righteous judgment comes out of a failure to remember one thing: we're ALL sinners and in the SAME boat. The only reason believers are not in a worse off state is by the grace of God alone, not because of anything good in them.
So are we like the old Peter who pretty much said "Lord, THESE may desert you, but NOT I, I love you MORE". Are we like those who think they're saved because their so good on their own? Are we like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who thanks God that he is not like "those sinners"?
Or do we, like the tax collector in Luke 18, have proper humility before God and avoid judging self-righteously?
4) Mercilessly. The Pharisees Jesus rebuked were good at this one too. You're sick? Secret sin. You're a prostitute or tax collector? Must be wicked and God judged you already. Yeah God, get THEM!
There are people in some churches today that come down overly hard on certain sins. Sin is sin, but some people go to the extreme about particular sins. Guess what happens when the leader is weak and commits the sin he came down so hard on? His congregation comes down incredibly hard on him. Makes one wonder where that extra effort and loudness was coming from in the first place. We're all susceptible, and when people stumble, yet are genuinely grieved and repentant, mercy is called for, not judgment.
So are we like those dragging the adulterous woman before Jesus wanting her to be stoned?
Or are we, like our Lord, willing to show mercy?
5) Finally. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Concluding someone, anyone, is beyond God's grace is not something Christians are to do. There was a vicious murderer a while back who said he repented, turned to Jesus, and was assured he was doing to heaven. I don't know if its true or not, but if it is, good for him. Others were appalled by such a statement -- even some Christians. "Oh there is NO way THAT man is going to heaven." What about the thief on the cross next to Jesus? What about the parable where the one working all day and the one working for one hour receive the same reward? What about the sick needing the doctor? No, there is no sin too great for God to forgive outside of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
I know I've judged in all these ways at some time or another, and I know I ought not do it. That is not what we as Christians are to do. However, neither are we to stick our head in the sand because people say we shouldn't be judging when it comes to things like salvation, false teachings, clearly sinful behavior, etc. No, we are called to tell people the truth -- the actual truth that is grounded in the word of God, not tradition or man-made ideas -- and come from a proper attitude of meekness.
Grace and Peace
A New School Prayer
Nice to see young people of character standing up for Jesus:
Since the Pledge of Allegiance
And The Lord's Prayer
Are not allowed in most
Public schools anymore
Because the word 'God' is mentioned....
A kid in Arizona wrote the attached
NEW School prayer :
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen
Since the Pledge of Allegiance
And The Lord's Prayer
Are not allowed in most
Public schools anymore
Because the word 'God' is mentioned....
A kid in Arizona wrote the attached
NEW School prayer :
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen
Saturday, August 8, 2009
There Is Nothing Secular
Brian said something that spoke to me in one of his archived talks as he was going through the Sermon on the Mount. "For the Christian there is nothing secular." Amen! May all Christians take that to heart and never forget it.
May we never forget that the whole world belongs to God.
May we never forget that we are working for Christ.
May we use everything in his service. Our "natural" abilities, our spiritual gifts, our resources, and our position in life. Because, really, its not ours anyway. Its all his.
May we remember that in every thing we do, at every place we go, with every person that we meet, at every time, there is an opportunity to serve our Lord in some way.
May we never be content to have God in our lives only for an hour on Sundays.
May we never be content to let "the church" do the service work, as if we were not part of the body of Christ ourselves.
May we never be content to shove prayer only into a 5 minute time slot every night and maybe now and again before we eat.
May we never be content to know the gist of God's Word without opening it up and studying it with a pure heart.
May we always love and serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, doing everything for his glory. If we do that, guess what? There's nothing left. There's nothing for another master. There's no separation of the "sacred" and the "secular". There's no putting God in a box.
Grace and Peace
May we never forget that the whole world belongs to God.
May we never forget that we are working for Christ.
May we use everything in his service. Our "natural" abilities, our spiritual gifts, our resources, and our position in life. Because, really, its not ours anyway. Its all his.
May we remember that in every thing we do, at every place we go, with every person that we meet, at every time, there is an opportunity to serve our Lord in some way.
May we never be content to have God in our lives only for an hour on Sundays.
May we never be content to let "the church" do the service work, as if we were not part of the body of Christ ourselves.
May we never be content to shove prayer only into a 5 minute time slot every night and maybe now and again before we eat.
May we never be content to know the gist of God's Word without opening it up and studying it with a pure heart.
May we always love and serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, doing everything for his glory. If we do that, guess what? There's nothing left. There's nothing for another master. There's no separation of the "sacred" and the "secular". There's no putting God in a box.
Grace and Peace
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Take Up Your Cross
On a television show I heard some of tonight they mentioned the cross. Well, they mentioned a cross, and they didn't mention it right. They made a joke. One character said "we all have our cross to bear" and the other responded "here comes your cross now", talking about another person who was approaching. This is undoubtedly a reference to Jesus saying "take up your cross and follow me".
However, its not a very good one.
This is a misconception many have. That "taking up your cross" means to bear with some burden in your life. A thankless job. A handicap or illness. A difficult relationship. And so on. This is not what it means.
Think about what the cross means. To us as Christians today its a symbol of atonement, grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, redemption, etc. In the time of Christ the cross was not a symbol of any of those things. In the minds of the people at that time it meant one thing: death. Christ carried his cross to his death, and that is most likely what he was referring to by his statement.
So we're not talking about mere burdens, but death. Whose death? Ours! We must die to self and follow Christ. Remember that Jesus followed up with "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will save it."
What does it mean to die to self and follow Christ? We put Christ first in all things. He is more important than our friends, our families, our money, our jobs, our hobbies, our reputations, and even our lives.
That doesn't mean that we cut off our friends, leave our families, give away all our money, quit our jobs, abandon our hobbies, and go live in a hut. But it does mean that we must be willing to part with anything to follow Christ if it comes down to it. For some people in some cultures, choosing to follow Christ really does mean leaving everything behind and risking death. Many of us will never have to go through such an extreme to follow Christ, but we all should be willing to. For those that actually have, how wonderful for them to have such a great proof of their faith for themselves -- and how wonderful their stories are to inspire us believers who have it so much easier comparatively.
Grace and Peace
However, its not a very good one.
This is a misconception many have. That "taking up your cross" means to bear with some burden in your life. A thankless job. A handicap or illness. A difficult relationship. And so on. This is not what it means.
Think about what the cross means. To us as Christians today its a symbol of atonement, grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, redemption, etc. In the time of Christ the cross was not a symbol of any of those things. In the minds of the people at that time it meant one thing: death. Christ carried his cross to his death, and that is most likely what he was referring to by his statement.
So we're not talking about mere burdens, but death. Whose death? Ours! We must die to self and follow Christ. Remember that Jesus followed up with "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will save it."
What does it mean to die to self and follow Christ? We put Christ first in all things. He is more important than our friends, our families, our money, our jobs, our hobbies, our reputations, and even our lives.
That doesn't mean that we cut off our friends, leave our families, give away all our money, quit our jobs, abandon our hobbies, and go live in a hut. But it does mean that we must be willing to part with anything to follow Christ if it comes down to it. For some people in some cultures, choosing to follow Christ really does mean leaving everything behind and risking death. Many of us will never have to go through such an extreme to follow Christ, but we all should be willing to. For those that actually have, how wonderful for them to have such a great proof of their faith for themselves -- and how wonderful their stories are to inspire us believers who have it so much easier comparatively.
Grace and Peace
Liar, Liar
I'm listening to Pastor Brian (Cavalry Chapel of Costa Mesa) go through a series covering the Sermon on the Mount. Its very good and is archived here:
http://backtobasicsradio.com/dynamic/archive.cfm?seriesID=1
This series is helping to better realize the higher standard that we Christians are called to. I hope to come back to the Sermon on the Mount often, and this particular series now and then, to use as good measuring stick to compare my walk with the Lord against.
One that I listened to today was "Jesus On Integrity". Its great, go listen to it (after you listen to the first 13). But I wanted to comment on one thing that I heard in the middle of it.
Some Bible commentators apparently totally rip on Rahab for lying. She's wicked. She's a Canaanite. This was a horrible thing she did. And so on. All I could think as I heard that is WHAT?!
Even the answer here from the GotQuestions.org website is a bit harsh:
http://www.gotquestions.org/right-to-lie.html
It says that despite the favorable outcome of the lie, nowhere does God condone these lies and that the Bible nowhere praises the lies themselves.
I'm shocked that anyone would come down on Rahab for her actions and I'm even more shocked that the normally solid Got Questions site answers the way it does.
Some points from the talk to consider:
1) No Bible writer comes down on Rahab for her actions. We'll take their words over the Bible commentators, because they were the inspired ones!
2) Rahab is include in the "hall of faith" in Hebrews 11. Her faith in the one true and living God is what prompted her to lie to the wicked and save the Israelite spies. James also commends her in his book as well.
I came across an article that disagrees with me. Apparently according to this article, I'm a "smooth talker" by trying to convince you that the praise of her faith also included a praise of her lying:
http://www.journal33.org/lovenbr/html/lienot.htm
I respectfully disagree. Its pretty easy to write against someone's actions not being able to be in their shoes, but exactly how does anyone think she could have demonstrated her faith and help the spies out without lying in this instance? Telling the truth about where the spies where located would have done the opposite and demonstrated a lack of faith. She demonstrated her faith by risking her own neck to deceive the soldiers.
People can talk all they want about situations they have never been in and make judgment calls, but the fact of the matter is that Rahab was put in between two absolutes and a choice had to be made. There is always a right choice, and, in this instance, keeping God's people from getting murdered was the right choice and her action was not wrong.
So, yes, there are situations when it is right to lie, but they are a rarity. Problems arise when people start thinking that those situations happen every day, justifying lying in cases where one is not actually between two moral absolutes.
Biblically we are called to act and speak with integrity. Our "yes" should be "yes" and our "no" should be "no". We can be people of integrity without being so rigid that we actually insist that we should never, ever, lie to save another person's life, and that it is sin if we do. Really there is a big difference between saying "I deny Christ" to save yourself and saying "no I'm not hiding any innocent people here" to likely put yourself at greater risk and save someone else!
Grace and Peace
http://backtobasicsradio.com/dynamic/archive.cfm?seriesID=1
This series is helping to better realize the higher standard that we Christians are called to. I hope to come back to the Sermon on the Mount often, and this particular series now and then, to use as good measuring stick to compare my walk with the Lord against.
One that I listened to today was "Jesus On Integrity". Its great, go listen to it (after you listen to the first 13). But I wanted to comment on one thing that I heard in the middle of it.
Some Bible commentators apparently totally rip on Rahab for lying. She's wicked. She's a Canaanite. This was a horrible thing she did. And so on. All I could think as I heard that is WHAT?!
Even the answer here from the GotQuestions.org website is a bit harsh:
http://www.gotquestions.org/right-to-lie.html
It says that despite the favorable outcome of the lie, nowhere does God condone these lies and that the Bible nowhere praises the lies themselves.
I'm shocked that anyone would come down on Rahab for her actions and I'm even more shocked that the normally solid Got Questions site answers the way it does.
Some points from the talk to consider:
1) No Bible writer comes down on Rahab for her actions. We'll take their words over the Bible commentators, because they were the inspired ones!
2) Rahab is include in the "hall of faith" in Hebrews 11. Her faith in the one true and living God is what prompted her to lie to the wicked and save the Israelite spies. James also commends her in his book as well.
I came across an article that disagrees with me. Apparently according to this article, I'm a "smooth talker" by trying to convince you that the praise of her faith also included a praise of her lying:
http://www.journal33.org/lovenbr/html/lienot.htm
I respectfully disagree. Its pretty easy to write against someone's actions not being able to be in their shoes, but exactly how does anyone think she could have demonstrated her faith and help the spies out without lying in this instance? Telling the truth about where the spies where located would have done the opposite and demonstrated a lack of faith. She demonstrated her faith by risking her own neck to deceive the soldiers.
People can talk all they want about situations they have never been in and make judgment calls, but the fact of the matter is that Rahab was put in between two absolutes and a choice had to be made. There is always a right choice, and, in this instance, keeping God's people from getting murdered was the right choice and her action was not wrong.
So, yes, there are situations when it is right to lie, but they are a rarity. Problems arise when people start thinking that those situations happen every day, justifying lying in cases where one is not actually between two moral absolutes.
Biblically we are called to act and speak with integrity. Our "yes" should be "yes" and our "no" should be "no". We can be people of integrity without being so rigid that we actually insist that we should never, ever, lie to save another person's life, and that it is sin if we do. Really there is a big difference between saying "I deny Christ" to save yourself and saying "no I'm not hiding any innocent people here" to likely put yourself at greater risk and save someone else!
Grace and Peace
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Brilliant
I thought of something tonight that I think is just brilliant in God's revelation to the world. We know the Old Testament testifies about Jesus Christ in many ways and that there are numerous prophecies about him in the Old Testament that were fulfilled nearly 2000 years ago. But a very awesome part of that, to me, is that there was such a gap between the last canonical Jewish scriptures and the coming of Christ.
Why do I think this is awesome?
Because of the following annoyance I had tonight. I came across the part in 2 Kings where Josiah found the book of the Law and cleaned up the nation. There was a note pointing to where 1 Kings where a man of God prophesied this was going to happen. It was a pretty specific prophecy. There's a lot of those in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the Old Testament. Every once in a while when I run across one of those, that nasty little Satanic voice pops in my head and says "well that's way too specific; maybe it was added in or altered later". Now I don't believe that to be true in the least, but that's what happens to make people doubt the word of God and turn away from it -- Satan sows a tiny seed of doubt and, left to grow, it turns believers into unbelievers and facilitates heretical nonsense like the "emergent church" movement. The prophecies in the book of Daniel that have already been fulfilled are so specific that critics often try to do what this seed of doubt encourages and "late date" the book.
This kind of annoyance, these tiny seeds of doubt that the devil could sow in people's minds, cannot exist regarding the messianic prophecies! Sure, people can argue all kinds of things, but there is no way they can argue that the prophecies were written after the events took place. The Jewish Bible was complete, written down in Hebrew, translated into Greek, stored, etc, all before Christ arrived on the scene to fulfill the prophecies about himself that were in it.
Had canonical writings continued all the way through the coming of Christ with things mixing together, you'd have a door open for people to question the legitimacy of those incredibly important messianic prophecies.
Throw in a few hundred years between Malachi and the Incarnation, and you slam that door shut in the devil's face.
Brilliant!
Grace and Peace
Why do I think this is awesome?
Because of the following annoyance I had tonight. I came across the part in 2 Kings where Josiah found the book of the Law and cleaned up the nation. There was a note pointing to where 1 Kings where a man of God prophesied this was going to happen. It was a pretty specific prophecy. There's a lot of those in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the Old Testament. Every once in a while when I run across one of those, that nasty little Satanic voice pops in my head and says "well that's way too specific; maybe it was added in or altered later". Now I don't believe that to be true in the least, but that's what happens to make people doubt the word of God and turn away from it -- Satan sows a tiny seed of doubt and, left to grow, it turns believers into unbelievers and facilitates heretical nonsense like the "emergent church" movement. The prophecies in the book of Daniel that have already been fulfilled are so specific that critics often try to do what this seed of doubt encourages and "late date" the book.
This kind of annoyance, these tiny seeds of doubt that the devil could sow in people's minds, cannot exist regarding the messianic prophecies! Sure, people can argue all kinds of things, but there is no way they can argue that the prophecies were written after the events took place. The Jewish Bible was complete, written down in Hebrew, translated into Greek, stored, etc, all before Christ arrived on the scene to fulfill the prophecies about himself that were in it.
Had canonical writings continued all the way through the coming of Christ with things mixing together, you'd have a door open for people to question the legitimacy of those incredibly important messianic prophecies.
Throw in a few hundred years between Malachi and the Incarnation, and you slam that door shut in the devil's face.
Brilliant!
Grace and Peace
Monday, August 3, 2009
Light Of The World
At one point in his life Gandhi went on a quest to determine which religion of the world was best for his country. On his quest he visited Britain. He stayed in a Christian home. He went to a Christian church. He went away concluding that Christianity is not the religion for his country. Why? He felt no love. He reasoned that if God is love and he felt no love, then God must not be there, and in that home, and in that church, he felt no love. Not one person in the church extended a hand to welcome him, and the Christian home looked no different than a non-Christian home.
No wonder he also said something to the effect of "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
Why? Because many of us do not practice what we preach. We're often hypocrites. Period. That makes me hurt inside, especially when I realize the ways in which I also fall into this category. But I pray that anyone, especially myself, who falls into this category doesn't shrug it off and ignore it. I pray that we, who claim to follow Christ, all realize what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I pray that we all realize what it means to be the light of the world.
I pray this because too often we want to be just like the world, liking the world and having the world like us. Rubbish. We're supposed to be set apart, which means that while we're in the world, we're not of the world. It doesn't mean isolation, and it doesn't mean conformity. It means standing up against the darkness around us and being the bright lights we're called to be.
Think about this. What if someone followed you around for a day? From the time you got up in the morning to the time you went to bed? Would you look like a Christian, or would you look just like everyone else?
1) What about your reactions? Do you race to beat someone on to the freeway or get the parking spot? Do you look the other way when you see someone in need that you really don't want to help? Do you ignore the phone when someone calls because of what you think they might have to say? Do you ignore people that smile at you and say good morning just because you're having a bad day?
2) What about your speech? Are you kind to everyone, or are you kind only to the people that matter to you and rude to others? Are you quick to snap at someone, or do you hold your tongue? Do you join in with gossiping about others or making fun of them, or do you refuse and walk away? Do you yell at other people in your car, even if no one else can hear you? Do you speak graciously to your spouse even when you disagree?
3) What about your appearance? Do you dress modestly, or do you flaunt what you've got? Do you dress down to earth, or do you dress to impress with designer clothes? Do you come as the real you to church, or do you dress way up (or way down) just to stand out from other believers and make them look at you? Do you pick out clothes that represent your Lord and your heart, or do you wear clothes promoting man made "heroes" that have nothing to do with Christian values?
4) What about your music, television shows, movies, books, and video games? Do you make wise decisions about which ones to buy, or do you grab whatever is new and popular? Do the images and sounds glorify God, or are they filled with gore, sex, murder, theft, deceit, foul language, coarse jokes, wicked lifestyles, and demonic imagery?
5) What about your faith? Do you witness to people when the opportunity arises or do you shy away? Do you share the Lord in regular conversation when you're prompted by the Spirit, or do you ignore that prompting and steer the conversation to worldly things? Do you stand up for the Lord when your friend or co-worker takes his name in vain, or do you pretend not to hear? Do you take God's word seriously or do you cherry pick what you want to hear and ignore the rest? Do you pray earnestly and fervently, or do you just rattle off something canned and heartless in the last 5 minutes of your day? Do you teach your children about the Lord and set the right example for them, or do you leave that only up to the local church?
I could go on, but I won't!
I know there are places here we ALL fall short. That's not the point. The point is what we do about it. Are we content to fall short and chalk it up to "the flesh" and "our human nature" and "that's how I am"? Or do we mourn over our shortcomings, our failings, our sins and desire truly to pursue a godly life with all we've got? So, regarding these questions, and the million others that can be asked, the most important question is this: in everything we think, say, and do, is there an overwhelming amount of evidence to convict us of being Christians? If the answer is not yes, we have many things to work on.
And. Even if the answer IS yes. We STILL have many things to work on.
If we are to be a light of the world; that light needs to stand out and shine brightly, not fade into the darkness that surrounds.
Grace and Peace
No wonder he also said something to the effect of "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
Why? Because many of us do not practice what we preach. We're often hypocrites. Period. That makes me hurt inside, especially when I realize the ways in which I also fall into this category. But I pray that anyone, especially myself, who falls into this category doesn't shrug it off and ignore it. I pray that we, who claim to follow Christ, all realize what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I pray that we all realize what it means to be the light of the world.
I pray this because too often we want to be just like the world, liking the world and having the world like us. Rubbish. We're supposed to be set apart, which means that while we're in the world, we're not of the world. It doesn't mean isolation, and it doesn't mean conformity. It means standing up against the darkness around us and being the bright lights we're called to be.
Think about this. What if someone followed you around for a day? From the time you got up in the morning to the time you went to bed? Would you look like a Christian, or would you look just like everyone else?
1) What about your reactions? Do you race to beat someone on to the freeway or get the parking spot? Do you look the other way when you see someone in need that you really don't want to help? Do you ignore the phone when someone calls because of what you think they might have to say? Do you ignore people that smile at you and say good morning just because you're having a bad day?
2) What about your speech? Are you kind to everyone, or are you kind only to the people that matter to you and rude to others? Are you quick to snap at someone, or do you hold your tongue? Do you join in with gossiping about others or making fun of them, or do you refuse and walk away? Do you yell at other people in your car, even if no one else can hear you? Do you speak graciously to your spouse even when you disagree?
3) What about your appearance? Do you dress modestly, or do you flaunt what you've got? Do you dress down to earth, or do you dress to impress with designer clothes? Do you come as the real you to church, or do you dress way up (or way down) just to stand out from other believers and make them look at you? Do you pick out clothes that represent your Lord and your heart, or do you wear clothes promoting man made "heroes" that have nothing to do with Christian values?
4) What about your music, television shows, movies, books, and video games? Do you make wise decisions about which ones to buy, or do you grab whatever is new and popular? Do the images and sounds glorify God, or are they filled with gore, sex, murder, theft, deceit, foul language, coarse jokes, wicked lifestyles, and demonic imagery?
5) What about your faith? Do you witness to people when the opportunity arises or do you shy away? Do you share the Lord in regular conversation when you're prompted by the Spirit, or do you ignore that prompting and steer the conversation to worldly things? Do you stand up for the Lord when your friend or co-worker takes his name in vain, or do you pretend not to hear? Do you take God's word seriously or do you cherry pick what you want to hear and ignore the rest? Do you pray earnestly and fervently, or do you just rattle off something canned and heartless in the last 5 minutes of your day? Do you teach your children about the Lord and set the right example for them, or do you leave that only up to the local church?
I could go on, but I won't!
I know there are places here we ALL fall short. That's not the point. The point is what we do about it. Are we content to fall short and chalk it up to "the flesh" and "our human nature" and "that's how I am"? Or do we mourn over our shortcomings, our failings, our sins and desire truly to pursue a godly life with all we've got? So, regarding these questions, and the million others that can be asked, the most important question is this: in everything we think, say, and do, is there an overwhelming amount of evidence to convict us of being Christians? If the answer is not yes, we have many things to work on.
And. Even if the answer IS yes. We STILL have many things to work on.
If we are to be a light of the world; that light needs to stand out and shine brightly, not fade into the darkness that surrounds.
Grace and Peace
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