tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26196905542070911232024-03-05T09:13:52.012-06:00Get The WordWe are sometimes wavering, sometimes doubting, but always persevering. God will be glorified in our lives. The Christian life would be a confusing paradox, irresolvable,but for one big piece--the Word of God, wielded by the Spirit of God, as it is meditated upon in context, in its entirety, by a Spirit-filled person in communion with a living New Testament congregation, and with the catholic Church throughout the ages.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-86023870328462534542014-12-26T17:04:00.001-06:002014-12-26T17:04:08.888-06:00Too Stupid For Christ? A Study in Overcoming Illusory Obstacles to ChristThe Apostle Peter was a walking laugh. Blurting out confessions of faith in Christ as Lord, and the next minute saying what Satan wanted to say. Throwing himself into the sea at the sight of Christ on the shore. Wanting to take a full bath when he only needed a foot washing. Asking "how many times shall I forgive my brother? Up to<i> seven</i> times?" Leading all the disciples in a staunch declaration that they will never forsake Jesus, only to become the boldest denier at the fire.<br />
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And yet Peter's place in the Kingdom is not only certain, but his status as an apostle is going to be celebrated on one of the gates of the New Jerusalem. How does a fumbler and a man of such silly capacity become one of God's precious vessels?<br />
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Now the devil has many devices, which we are not ignorant of. If he knows we've memorized all the scriptures about God's promise of forgiveness, and we objectively know our sin is no match for his saving grace, he will try another tack: "You're too silly!"<br />
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I bought this one recently. But it took some time walking alone and meditating on Scripture to get the needed spiritual chiropractic. "Nothing can separate us from his love" (From Romans 8:37-end of chapter)<br />
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<div class="first-line-none top-1">
<span class="text Rom-8-37" id="en-ESV-28138"><sup class="versenum">37 </sup>No, in all these things we are more than <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-28138BR" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-28138BR" title="See cross-reference BR">BR</a>)"></sup>conquerors through <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-ESV-28138BS" data-link="(<a href="#cen-ESV-28138BS" title="See cross-reference BS">BS</a>)"></sup>him who loved us.</span> <span class="text Rom-8-38" id="en-ESV-28139"><sup class="versenum">38 </sup>For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,</span> <span class="text Rom-8-39" id="en-ESV-28140"><sup class="versenum">39 </sup>nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39">This must include the propensity to be silly.</span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39">I'm not condoning being foolish for it's own sake, but we should never be afraid of taking the Savior's hand, even when we've just made a fool of ourselves. It's the fact that we take his hand that saves us.</span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="text Rom-8-39">And that has a way of straightening me up...</span></div>
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-74104631024646569092013-07-04T09:02:00.001-05:002013-07-04T09:03:17.620-05:00July 4, 2013We the People.<br />
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=backdoor collectivism?<br />
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It belies Isaiah 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. If the unbreakable word of God says "each of us has turned to his own way," then how shall we amalgamate and then baptize it in any biblical sense? The prophet was speaking of Israel, God's own beloved wife, and they all went astray. Are we better than Israel?<br />
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Most supposed Christian unity in this country is illusory, and we can only deal with people one at a time. Sure we are stuck with nations and states, but the New Testament knows nothing of Christian nations or states. Nothing! This is the brainchild of Constantine, and the "In hoc signo vinces." vision that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. As a matter of fact, "Woe to you Chorazin, and woe to you Bethsaida" is only the foreshadow of the judgment of the godless nations fulfilled in Revelation.<br />
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As a microcosm, envision a Bible study sponsored by a church. Have you ever noticed that there are no right or wrong answers? Have you ever noticed that people cannot agree, and get into a heated argument, then cover it over with a lackluster prayer for unity, and emphasize that "we all are on the road and at different points in our faith?" <br />
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At the very outset of nations in Genesis 11, we all tried to build a tower of "unity," a collectivist masterpiece of pagan idolatry. "Let us make a name for ourselves." This was a gross misinterpretation of the "Let Us" paradigm in which the world was created by God. Sure, the NT speaks in the collective "we" sense often, but only the Church is, by virtue of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, worthy of the "we." <br />
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This does not mean I would not build a treehouse with my son, and that "we" can do it. The "wes" of life are inescapable in one sense, and no one should abandon the pronoun. But when it comes to framing a philosophy of life, WE better be careful.<br />
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What all this means on July 4 is that God alone has the remedy for fractured human relationships and lack of unity. The USA is a temporary nation, which happens to have some revivals in its past, but for the most part, I count on my fingers the actual number of people I would take by the hand.<br />
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Yeah, I'm going to the silly parade, and yeah, I'm going to the fireworks... musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-79948811010208264202013-06-09T17:11:00.003-05:002013-06-09T17:11:36.327-05:00Facebook is on Ice for a While...now on to summer projectsWhat shall I do...musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-6580034098721869992012-12-20T22:45:00.000-06:002012-12-20T22:57:33.627-06:00Bringing Sanity to the End Times<i>"Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with
scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is
the promise of his coming? 'For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”(2 Peter 3:3-4).</i><br />
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What comes to your mind when you think of Bible prophecy? Probably bearded men in long flowing robes crying out "Repent, for the end is near!" There was even a McDonalds commercial for the McRib sandwich that poked fun at apocalyptic rhetoric.<br />
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On this night before the Mayan Calendar runs out, how are you doing? Any jitters about tomorrow? Or have you heard all this before, on countless occasions, and just sleeping soundly without a thought.<br />
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Both responses are dangerous. Let me explain. <br />
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Events like the bold prediction of Harold Camping that the world would end on May 21, 2011 were met with a media frenzy, and of course, Camping was wrong. People lumped the aged minister together with anyone who even speaks of end-time events, and wrote them all off as kooks.<br />
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To merely carry on without a thought of one's own exit from this world is wishful thinking at best. We continually deny that anything will befall us, and arrogantly sin and put off the just claims of a holy God as mere scare tactics invented by disturbed Puritans.<br />
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The other error is letting the low-grade anxiety permeate everything, and this is taken into full-blown mania, as I read recently in the news. A woman was actually ready to kill her own children to prevent them from seeing the end.<br />
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Here is the problem with datesetters and doomsday prophets. When things they say do not come to pass, people scoff, laugh, and get more and more hardened to considering their own mortality and accountability. The average Joe's response may wind up like the verse in I Peter above. <br />
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So why do I speak of the end? The Bible speaks of the end. And it actually has a lot to say. The end of all things (I Peter 4:7) is the natural conclusion of the beginning of all things. And between these junctures, injustice has occurred. How will this be dealt with?<br />
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Some who hear descriptions of prophetic passages seek to assign a current-day fulfillment to these in the news events, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and the re-election of Obama. While these can get out of hand and become silly, the silliness again blinds people to the real end and it's irreversible danger.<br />
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At the same time, Israel is back in the land, and has decisively taken Jerusalem in my lifetime. Almost every nation in the Middle East breathes death and destruction upon Israel. The fire power to blow the planet out of existence easily lies in the arsenals of several nations. Wickedness like that in Connecticut abounds, and few have a remedy for its deadly effects. Law courts have completely abandoned justice in the name of being politically correct. And the Christian community is either disunited in its cults of personality or sub-biblical agendas, or amalgamating with every heresy under the sun. The Church's cultural salt has lost its savor, and the love of most has grown cold. Even back in 1965, Barry McGuire poignantly believed in song that we were <b>(and should be)</b> on the "Eve of Destruction."<br />
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Let us look logically for a moment. Bible writers such as John refer to "The last hour." (I John 2:18), as being upon them. Was the Bible wrong? It was not the last days apparently when John wrote, or else the Kingdom would be long passed by now.<br />
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Again, Scripture interprets Scripture. II Peter 3:8 tells us "A day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." You cannot be too literal with this passage. What it is saying is that God does not mark time as we do. Peter goes on to say the reason for this protracted timing is patience and love. <br />
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In the face of this love, I believe there is never a wrong time to speak of and desire the revelation of Jesus Christ, as if it were soon. We actually should practice a kind of wishful thinking as the Bible writers did, but at least this thinking matches the inevitable reality God has stated.<br />
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Here then is the problem. The epistle writers speak of the end being at hand as they wrote, but it has not happened yet. Scoffers use the nuisance doomsday reports that go awry as the basis for their scoffing. And all the while, God stands with open hands to anyone who will ignore the din and take the water of life freely.<br />
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How are you doing in this? Are you afraid, but without sufficient remedy? Ignore me as a writer for a moment. Do you see how you harden yourself with every turn away from the One whose blood was shed (and is still fresh today) for even you? Both craven fear and witless rejection of the Good News is eternally too dangerous to risk on this or any night. <br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-25383506936047304742012-12-16T17:09:00.001-06:002012-12-16T17:09:08.364-06:00What Goes Wrong In the Unbeliever's MindWe accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater, because it is the testimony he has given about his son. (I John 5:9).<br />
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God is love (I John 4:16), and I make no apology for upholding it even in the face of apparent contradiction.<br />
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Mankind is locked. He is locked from without and within. Even if he were to arise and try the lock, it would, not work, because man is locked from the outside too. <br />
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This is what accounts for the atheist's scoffing, and his and her primarily emotional objection to the Bible. <br />
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God, in a very narrow sense, is whatever you want him to be. Now I realize that this may sound like Freud's man-made God, but it is not. <br />
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Human beings were made to reflect the glory and character of God, and when we do not, we create our own invalid reality, and God obliges by blinding us to the real truth. In this narrow sense, God becomes what our desires postulate him to be.<br />
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So therefore, when an unbeliever reads the Bible, and wretches at the behavior of people God commends as his own, (i.e., polygamy, concubinage, wars, male domination, the "the concoctions of illiterate Bronze Age bloodthirsty tribalists,") etc. they fail to realize that God's heart of hearts does not celebrate these things. The first plan of God was good, because he made the creation good (Genesis 1-2). Man's sin vitiated his view of God, so man is condemned to a corruption of reality. Literally, blinded, so that we believe God is <i>responsible</i> for evil, because we are responsible for evil, which is only adding to evil. (You can see this in the Genesis 3 account of the questioning of Adam and Eve following their sin).<br />
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This corruption is only temporary. In eternity future, for those who desire it, they will be liberated from the ugliness of sin and the corruption of this world--forever, never to be corrupted again.<br />
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But what will provide the impetus to repent and hate the evil and the fallenness of this world? The first cause of this may be the apparent contradiction of life, and at it's heart is theodicy. IS GOD GOOD? Is the most important question we will ever answer with our words and our lives.<br />
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Life is supposed to be futile, in many ways. Not because futility is good, but the creation is under the curse, which temporary for some of us. Others, having taken the off-ramp on God's highway, will never re-enter the road, because they think the "rest area" will never close. By "making the creation subject to frustration." (Romans 8:20), God is providing the very frustration that should lead us to consider that our detour into knowing good and evil was a bad idea.<br />
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So why are there apparent contradictions in the Bible? God is showing us that the secret things belong to him, and that we'd better not dethrone him to justify ourselves. (Job 40:8).<br />
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But all of this leaves us high and dry unless we take the ultimate excursion into the crossroads of theodicy--the life of Christ, and the Cross. God did not spare his own son from the horrors of sin. Not that he himself sinned, but that we did, and the ultimate expression of that evil led to the greatest act of love in the history of the universe--the Cross, on behalf of sinners. Back for a moment to the universe. If matter and energy, and space-time are just spinoffs of the Big Bang, which is the quantum conclusion of a contraction to the singularity of a previous universe, WHAT IS THE POINT!!<br />
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You could say the universe does not owe us a point, but wouldn't you be making a point in doing so?<br />
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The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, therefore, is the great hinge upon the wheel of eternity spins. There is no escaping the cross. "And even they who pierced him...shall mourn because of him (from Revelation 1:7)." And there is no fear of death for those who have already faced its horrors and have been raised to newness of life. <br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-6179453057289452962012-12-15T16:45:00.001-06:002012-12-15T16:45:14.437-06:00Atheism Dead and Buried, Part 2Cataclysmic events in space beyond our imagination have been analyzed and studied. We hear of multiverses, parallel universes, the laws of physics breaking down in a black hole, and even that we are <i>already inside</i> a black hole. Theories, facts, and quasi-facts on these things are how many scientists coast to a paycheck.<br />
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OK, so here is the Bible claiming that God can be everywhere at all times, that water can turn into wine, and that thousands of animals fit on an ark that could hold 522 railroad cars (this is only the beginning of the list).<br />
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And what is the reaction? Scoffing and claiming it isn't rational.<br />
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As another theory goes, matter, no matter how small, attains infinite mass at the speed of light, and requires an infinite force to move it. But no such force exists in the universe, we are told.<br />
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I thought infinity was a concept, not a number. <br />
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And I thought the universe(s) existed in seeming paradoxes? Matter can arrive before it leaves? Something can be already dead and gone, and not even exist yet? There is no space and time at the singularity of a black hole? And we are<i> in</i> one?<br />
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Stuff like this can make you tear your hair out.<br />
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Science has gone WAY beyond anything practical, or beneficial to mankind, and in this "ever learning" mode, claims to know things it can never see. But, we are told by the atheists, we are working on these answers, and that it's a cop-out to suggest a supreme Being who actually made the laws of the natural, and can override them by fiat.<br />
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What ends up happening is that both sides--theist and atheist--present their evidence, and no one goes home persuaded. From this, we may infer that there must be a force greater that that of logic, that defines logic, and without this force at the beginning, you can't possibly arrive at it at the end. <br />
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What all this means is that when God is at the top of the knowledge pyramid, we may safely believe everything he says in his Word. Now the question remains: what is His Word? <br />
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Next blog coming.<br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-73798641201411368752012-12-09T16:05:00.002-06:002012-12-09T16:05:55.611-06:00Atheism - Dead and Buried, With no Resurrection - Part 1Atheists, in debates, have a very simple plan they think will sway the viewer into their camp. Basically, they are driven by their revulsion to some of the harder-to-accept Bible stories, such as the Fall, the Flood, the conquest of Canaan, etc. Then they try to universalize the "ethical principles" i.e., the Golden Rule, as if all religious cultures have an equal claim on these ideas, but then contrast them with the Bible's seemingly "immoral and bloodthirsty deity." Finally, they cast up the most potent form of criticism: A lack of evidence for the Bible's authority and authenticity, and the life and teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the true Messiah. If that doesn't pan out, they will say they are capable of just as much if not more love for humanity as Christians are, and add that, at least, they are not hypocrites. <br />
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Now I could end the blog right here with a few verses such as Romans 1:18-32, about the intellectual darkness that accompanies the sin nature gone to seed. And, in a sense, this is the hard word the scoffer needs to hear.<br />
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But I have a logic-based, gut-honest appraisal of the failure of atheism to win my alliance:<br />
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1. Tackling point by point, we'd have to start with the "bad God." epithet. Let us take the death of infants as part of the conquest of Canaan. First of all, I believe the infants are safe under God's grace, since they cannot understand concepts such as redemption and blood sacrifices. Then, we'd have to look at the manner in which they died. Most would die instantly upon meeting the spear, thus not suffering. Third, based on the above, we'd have to look at the fact that the death of infants is far worse for the adults in their midst. Fourth, how many infants would there be as opposed to the older people? All of these factors get ignored.<br />
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Another aspect is the "kill the non-virgins and take the virgins for yourself." trap. All are guilty, and because God saves some and not others is exclusively His business. All should fear judgment, and perhaps maybe then, they would have enough oomph to repent.<br />
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2. The Golden Rule, The Greatest Commandment, Philippians 4:8, and injunctions not to worry about your life in the Beatitudes, were never meant to stand on their own. They are part of a full revelation of the plan of God for all who would trust Him, and technically should not even have convenient heuristic names. <br />
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More to come...<br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-80146170564676509612012-11-22T09:28:00.001-06:002012-11-22T10:00:49.264-06:00While He May Be Found - Can He Be Found?Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you at an hour when you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not overtake him. (Psalm 32:6).<br />
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I suppose it doesn't concern too many people in and out of the Church whether or not God will hear them. Either we deny his existence, minimize his importance, misunderstand his person, or lower the standards for believing we are ok with God.<br />
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Anyone is susceptible to this. David minimized the holiness of God in the covenant of marriage when he plotted to kill Uriah and take Bathsheba for himself. <br />
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But God did hear David. Why? Something happened in David's life that made the existence, value, and need for God something that did not disappear in his sin.<br />
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Verse 4 of Psalm 32 says: "For day and night YOUR hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as in the heat of summer." David is in great anguish, but his concept of God behind his predicament did not go away. This paved the way for his confession and restoration (vv. 5-7), and ultimately, his joy (v. 11).<br />
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This is the blessed problem. Those whom God appoints for salvation cannot get away from him. And from his faithfulness and supremacy. At first, it is terrifying to have a Heavy Hand on you, but when we look up and ask for directions, we actually find him as a hiding place (v. 7) and a teacher to keep us out of further mischief (v. 8-10).<br />
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It reminds me of an old cartoon "Tooter the Turtle." Tooter was always coming to the mythical Mr. Wizard to ask for experiences in the big world. But many dangers, toils and snares awaited Tooter in the form of bad influences and consequent physical dangers. At the end of the cartoon, the turtle would cry out to Mr. Wizard to save him from the predicament. And he came home, rescued from the problem.<br />
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The point is not that wizards mean anything good. The point is that we do not have to stray from God, and the fact that we do and can come back means he may be found!<br />
But why push it? musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-21082088364703826572012-11-15T21:28:00.000-06:002012-11-15T21:28:01.200-06:00The Man in the Iron CageRecently, I re-read a portion of <i>The Pilgrim's Progress, </i>my favorite book of all time. Particularly, where the Christian is in the house of the Interpreter, and happens upon the famous man in the iron cage.<br />
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I also read some of the Internet banter about this man, and the conclusions we may draw from his despondent condition. Some say he represents Bunyan himself, others say he represents an apostate who started out "fair and flourishing," but had gotten entangled in the world, and fell foul of it, likely committing heinous sins against the Spirit of grace. Now he rightly deems himself unforgivable, and can even tell you the verses that prove it.<br />
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Now while I believe Bunyan makes more sense than most people in the church today put together, I think we need to stay on the Bible, and with an honest method of interpretation. <br />
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Was Judas forgivable? Yes and no. Some of those who nailed Christ to the cross were, some of those who handed down the sentence were, and some of those who even pushed for his crucifixion certainly were. Peter told the crown in his sermon in Acts 2 "You have taken [him] and by wicked hands have crucified and slain [him]." And yet they received the One they pierced, and this was demonstrated by the power of the Spirit in the founding of the early church. <br />
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But what made Judas different? He hung around Christ and the disciples for a while, but his heart remained hard. He apparently never took to heart a word of Christ, and he followed his evil heart of unbelief, and sold the Lord out for thirty pieces of silver. <br />
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Regarding the forlorn man in the cage, Bunyan's question and Interpreter's answer were key. "Is there no hope for such a man as this," queried Christian. Interpreter's weighty remark was "Ask him."<br />
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What I can infer from this is borne out by what follows. As Christian dialogs with the man, this cage-dweller persistently focuses on himself. When Christian tells him of the merciful Christ, he wails in despair and only focuses on the scriptures that condemn him. There was no room in his heart for a merciful Christ, as his sin was center stage. <br />
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And so, the man fell victim to the flip side of pride--deeming himself too bad to be forgiven. Some fail to receive forgiveness because they believe they have not sinned, and others fail to be forgiven because of a more subtle, yet equally dangerous kind of pride--unbelief in the goodness of God in the face of one's own sin and stupidity. <br />
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You see, Bunyan's "asking the man" brought out the repeated confession of his despair of God, which was consistent with his other unbelief, that led to his soul-killing sins. Once in his descent he reached the inexorable reality of God, he fled like the wind.<br />
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At the end of this dialog, we are not indulged with a verdict on the man, but he only serves as an example to Bunyan's protagonist, eliciting a healthy fear of similar falling.<br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-66919104498659725962012-06-24T17:38:00.005-05:002012-06-24T17:38:57.561-05:00Passive RighteousnessThis quote is from Martin Luther, from his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, as quoted in<i> Sonship</i> (World Harvest Mission, 2002). <br />
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Speaking of "Passive Righteousness, he writes:<br />
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"It is called 'passive righteousness' because we do not have to labor for it...It is not righteousness that we work for, but righteousness we receive by faith. This passive righteousness is a mystery that someone who does not know Jesus cannot understand. In fact Christians do not completely understand it and rarely take advantage of it in their daily lives...when there is any fear or our conscience is bothered, it is a sign that our passive righteousness is out of sight and Christ is hidden.<br />
The person who wanders away from 'passive righteousness' has no other choice but to live by works righteousness. If he does not depend on the work of Christ, he must depend on his own work. So we must teach and continually repeat the truth of this 'passive' or 'Christian' righteousness so that Christians continue to hold to in and never confuse it with "works" righteousness."<br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-34069038217555119442012-06-24T17:28:00.000-05:002012-06-24T17:29:01.162-05:00Lining up With GodOne of the most liberating things I have discovered about the faith is that as long as what you want matches what God wants, he'd never hold out on you.<br />
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In this regard, answered prayer is as simple as being saturated in the Word of God so that what we ask is what he would gladly do. John 14 makes this clear.<br />
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"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do what I have been doing...And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (vv. 12-13.<br />
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Tying all these facts together, God wants to do much through his Son in the world that he loves, but his disciples are the ones who will carry it out. Asking for resources to do it will be met with a resounding Yes!<br />
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As to healing from a dreaded disease, having enough money, getting free from trouble, well, we may ask for these things, but be prepared to wait. Some of them require time, and some require only the perfection of heaven to get answered.<br />
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<br />musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-11417093463504805952011-04-10T16:58:00.000-05:002011-04-10T16:58:03.262-05:00General Thoughts Lately On The FaithWhere do I begin...<br />
<br />
It is sometimes dangerous to take on philosophical questions without a degree or credentials pertaining to philosophy. But, I live on the edge, So here goes.<br />
<br />
Christianity is counter-intuitive, not because God delights in being weird, but because our intuitions are corrupt, and his ways were right in the first place.<br />
<br />
This accounts for why we keep straying from the faith. We slip back into "what seems right in our own eyes." <br />
<br />
Even our attempts to rectify the situation are completely corrupted. We cannot simply retrain our senses to appraise what is best. <br />
<br />
One of the problems atheists and skeptics run into is the whole issue of claiming to have insufficient evidence to believe the Bible or Christianity. But why do people believe the faith who study it far less? A skeptic can easily try to dismiss it by saying "the person in question is low in intelligence." Perhaps that is true. But countless people of great intelligence believe and trust the Word every day. Even as people of great social standing do, all the way down to the one who empties the dust bin.<br />
<br />
The fault, then, lies not in insufficient evidence, but in not loving the truth. Anyone, even a mature Christian, is susceptible to fall in this area. <br />
<br />
Failure to love the truth and appraise the ways of God are not remedied by human will-power. While it is true that our will must move, and cannot move our own will, the good new is that God, through the Spirit using the Word, gladly does the conforming, <br />
<br />
This may seem all academic, but there is dogging problem that we need to be careful of. Maturity in doing the things of God should lead to knowing his will in what are considered "matters not particularly addressed." These include, but are not limited to: Whether to drink alcohol with a meal, how you choose to educate your children, how to vote, how to view the government, etc.<br />
<br />
Those such as myself who seem to be tossed to and fro need to walk with Him and get busy in His things, while there is still a little daylight left to get it done.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-84963828296209603682011-03-09T09:17:00.000-06:002011-03-09T09:17:49.079-06:00Confusion Is The New ReligionI have bitten the fruit of the tree, so to speak.<br />
<br />
In my addiction to You Tube, something good came out of it, and I am ready to share it.<br />
<br />
The world--even the Christian community--is confused beyond belief. The Middle East is a crazy powder keg, and nobody knows how to defuse it. Israel defenders--rightly so, I believe, love the idea of Israel, and speak tenderly to her (as in Isaiah 40). But many voices-even Christian ones--release crushing blows on this modern-day state with the ancient name. And the camp of Israel-haters seems to grow every day. <br />
<br />
Just look at all the You Tube videos about religion. Many of them are ranting polemics served up by self-appointed heresy hunters who blacklist many other ministers. Now I believe there is a right and wrong theologically, but is absolutely necessary in these days to walk in a relationship with the Lord in order to stay sane--in orthodoxy AND orthopraxy. <br />
<br />
It is at this point that the sheep and the goats start saying "sayonara" to each other. Jesus said " My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:27). Without a real relationship with a healing, loving, storm-calming Christ, we are doomed by our own fallenness to respond to ALL situations in the flesh. And if anyone thinks that's beyond the pale, remember that the great Joshua forgot to inquire of the Lord before the Gibeonites approached him with their trickery (Joshua 9). <br />
<br />
So to keep it simple, here's what I believe about the current landscape of thought:<br />
<br />
Satan has so clouded the truth with side issues, fleshly agendas, cold love, and dueling false prophets mixed among true ones, that the average Christian has difficulty sorting it all out, and is susceptible to every wind of doctrine, and loveless, faithless practice. Some depart for atheism or agnosticism. Even good men and women who walk with the Lord do not follow him all the way, and that adds to confusion. Mea Culpa.<br />
<br />
In the mean time a spiritual war/rebellion is going on, and hardly anyone has the mindset to fight it. <br />
<br />
The remedy? Difficult to state right now, but people like me and others have to start with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-78454279297448089822011-01-09T19:18:00.001-06:002011-01-09T19:27:05.865-06:00Excursion Into Atheism Has Failed-first partObsessive-compulsive is a hard habit to break. <br />
<br />
In addition to watching William Lane Craig and other Christian apologists, I recently became dubiously addicted to watching Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and other atheists on YouTube. Why? Just fleshly, I guess.<br />
<br />
I was actually toying with the idea of what life would be like without any concept of God.<br />
<br />
"Traitor! Defector!" I can just hear the cries now.<br />
<br />
But I learned some things as I watched and noted everything with Asperger's-level ferocity.<br />
<br />
1. Some atheists began as Christians who never went deep enough with God, in all his offices, and with a life-changing result.<br />
<br />
2. Others were burned by people in the church, and in their anger, went to skeptical scholarship to confirm what they had already decided was a farce.<br />
<br />
3. Atheists like to begin at the beginning with Genesis, and debunk each story in the Bible. But theoretically, they would hate on every page, through all 66 books. Don't they see the futility of it all? How could a mere man write all those "offensive stories" back to back? The paradox of it all seems like it should awaken faith, as the emotions tire of sore hatred, and the promise of the Seed of Abraham unfolds to comfort the soul.<br />
<br />
4. Virtually all atheists make the same mistake as they consider matters of religious faith, and often the Christian apologists follow them down the same hole: The mind is tool which is to be used to receive truth, but the affair does not end with the mind. Both atheists and Christians can put up some astute arguments for their positions, and there are many eminent scholars from both camps. But I have never heard a skeptic convinced by a debate. In this regard, the Enlightenment reaches further than many have anticipated. Debating on the plausibility of faith or lack thereof misses the point that God is a person, and therefore implies a relationship. Information about a relationship doesn't save you. Reconciliation to a Person does.<br />
<br />
5. From my own personal experience, relational dysfunction has a way of warping the perceptions of the mere mortal parties. We tend to attribute negative motives and characteristics to persons we do not like, regardless of how much good information we hear about them. This determines more political elections than we care to admit. It is the same with the faithless. They really do not like God, and therefore they harp on all the things they they hear that they don't like--this accounts for the "through the Bible" tirade they carry out.<br />
<br />
6. Faith is a pre-condition of the mind's operation, and consists in a positive posture toward the object of faith. The mind chooses in the direction of it's desire. In this way, it is the pre-existing condition of verbal affirmations of God and his truth. Therefore, my problem is a cold heart, and that is an emergency before the attending Physician of heaven. <br />
<br />
Even after my confession to God for my faithlessness and the attending joy, I realize the battle may have only begun. There will be more assaults on faith in God via stress, disappointment, human flesh, Satan's activity, and last but not least, relationship problems on a human level. But the struggle did not succeed in pulling me away to a faithless position--and that is encouraging. It reminds me of the Eagles song: "Every time I try to walk away...something makes me turn around and stay."<br />
<br />
I guess that means one of the things that has to happen in 2011 is a vital connection to the church local and catholic.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-24707685290587816642010-12-05T15:35:00.000-06:002010-12-05T15:35:04.978-06:001 Corinthians 16 and the Collection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN70B6KnczTMb5dxBxEELWGAvedq2p9y8-5oflBElP3yZNGYoC0RBRhvgHtcna6Cotjwo9bJq3fbjLJk5LYVBrF2BusvDB7NzYEZWfmEMZ0Ao_Pa3UER-efGWHbNGtSE7-W8rIz9qjzE/s1600/279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN70B6KnczTMb5dxBxEELWGAvedq2p9y8-5oflBElP3yZNGYoC0RBRhvgHtcna6Cotjwo9bJq3fbjLJk5LYVBrF2BusvDB7NzYEZWfmEMZ0Ao_Pa3UER-efGWHbNGtSE7-W8rIz9qjzE/s320/279.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
In 1 Corinthians 16, we have an opening discussion of Paul's instruction to the Corinthians, regarding the collection. The gift called for is to be stored up in keeping personal prosperity, on Saturday night for Sunday. It is to be collected from all God's people for all God's people. It is best to see this chapter as being about <b>gifts,</b> not about money. <br />
<br />
By the way, here is an antidote to the problems created by the preacher preaching about money.<br />
<br />
1. To those who say the preacher is merely trying to get a gift, we say some are, but the best preach on all subjects, and talk about the heart when they talk about giving.<br />
<br />
2. To those who say the church exists on alms and think that a cheap shot, we say who else is going to feed the preacher?<br />
<br />
3. To those who say "if God is all powerful and all sufficient, why does he need all this money," we say he doesn't, but people always give freely where their heart is. <br />
<br />
4. To those who think they won't have enough if they give, we say He is able to supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-67806928170106594002010-11-21T15:42:00.000-06:002010-11-21T15:42:18.663-06:00Personal application of 1 Cor 15 and ResurrectionI Cor. 15 is saying that not only is there a literal. bodily resurrection in the future for the believer, but that a believer's resurrection is dependent on Christ's resurrection. If we have been united with him in his death, we shall also be united with him in his resurrection. For Christ to rise and we not rise would violate the pattern of both our connection with the humanity of Christ, and our partaking of the divine nature. <br />
<br />
<br />
The resurrection of Christ, and the future resurrection of the believer have very practical implications for this life. In verse 58 is the summation: " Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain." Even when this involves vexing physical danger "What do I gain, humanly speaking, if I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, if the dead are not raised. 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'" (v. 32). <br />
<br />
Oh my my is the Word of God relevant! The eating and drinking referred to here cannot be taken to mean necessary food, but a consumptive lifestyle that lives for selfish hedonism. I guess then, that this would be a good test of spirituality; If I am incessantly thinking about what I am going to eat and drink, it indicates that I do not practically believe in the future resurrection "For tomorrow we die." <br />
<br />
But what hold does this food and drink have if I believe that the cross of Christ deals with all the justice the a sinner's sin ever demanded, and that he rose again, and loves with a supreme, forgiving love that does not count men's trespasses against them? Then I look to him and ask him "What will you have me do?" At that point, it seems silly as well as sinful to live with a flesh-feeding orientation, locked into a sort of spiritual autism that needs stimming to constantly feel happy. musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-313368033192805072010-10-17T21:43:00.001-05:002010-10-19T20:41:42.597-05:00Interpreting You: A Poem About David<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUWTHcSTtDM7TWgJN2hiPPyjP93GSsPA16vQHMgB26I85xmdZx9Hg5rUQ2geFArJJHmRuAH2pFa83hxlk-6V1FtgcEOkBvV9kQglHVttHwYf7fd1MUYBluwkctG1_iQFJ3YkLTAznmJg/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUWTHcSTtDM7TWgJN2hiPPyjP93GSsPA16vQHMgB26I85xmdZx9Hg5rUQ2geFArJJHmRuAH2pFa83hxlk-6V1FtgcEOkBvV9kQglHVttHwYf7fd1MUYBluwkctG1_iQFJ3YkLTAznmJg/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Snatched from the jaws<br />
of being common<br />
Autism's reputation<br />
shattered by the smile that puts more of life <br />
together than puzzle pieces <br />
<br />
When you hop<br />
it's like a calf leaping from the stall<br />
Only the stall is long gone<br />
but the hop remains<br />
I think you dance before the Lord<br />
like your namesake<br />
and you remind us<br />
that the joy must move the body<br />
or the joy is not<br />
<br />
Even the howl<br />
speaks of the creation<br />
subjected to frustration<br />
awaiting the routine<br />
of the everlasting rest<br />
without change like shifting shadows<br />
<br />
The sacred words you memorized<br />
make you mighty<br />
more mighty than earth's greatest sage<br />
Happy is the man who hears<br />
more wisdom in the rigid voice<br />
than all the schools of knowledge muster<br />
<br />
The walk you take<br />
for your middle namesake<br />
Enoch walked with God<br />
and God walks beside us<br />
You show that no one takes one step<br />
to heaven's spacious estate<br />
Many steps intervene<br />
to prove they shall walk and not faint<br />
before the entropic world<br />
<br />
So you speak<br />
more than your words display<br />
You appeal<br />
in a language few appreciate<br />
thus far we must say<br />
In this way you remind<br />
of the new song the redeemed sing<br />
only veiled but for nowmusicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-16092826193753329112010-08-17T16:00:00.000-05:002010-08-17T16:00:55.730-05:00Home School Vision for 2010-2011 YearAs the new year of home school dawns, here is my vision:<br />
<br />
To know what my kids are studying at all times. (Ephesians 6:4)<br />
<br />
To give physical, emotional and spiritual support to my wife the teacher as never before seen. (Ephesians 5)<br />
<br />
To rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15)<br />
<br />
To let love and faithfulness never leave me (Proverbs 3:3)<br />
<br />
To show patience (as it has been shown to me) (Proverbs 19:11)<br />
<br />
To protect my children from evil thinking patterns (Phillipians 4:8)musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-61461860954308677732010-03-07T20:16:00.003-06:002010-03-09T21:31:21.545-06:00Corinthian Conversation III: First Corinthians 5 Is Not About Sex?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0y7t_yjRWdoh3-efEJfD7tVFZ3dbXyjXrTZn44qe-nFOkXVo0ek-6cAKP1lJFCvmZxqBqWtR1E_mJQd1yHpSC3M1iMftAjO-0AcCRycMBpX3Ch31o4vHD2XUnxL9aOceZ5t_5FssYq4/s1600-h/red+taboo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0y7t_yjRWdoh3-efEJfD7tVFZ3dbXyjXrTZn44qe-nFOkXVo0ek-6cAKP1lJFCvmZxqBqWtR1E_mJQd1yHpSC3M1iMftAjO-0AcCRycMBpX3Ch31o4vHD2XUnxL9aOceZ5t_5FssYq4/s320/red+taboo.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
That is what Josh Moody says about I Corinthians 5 and the man having his father's wife.<br />
<br />
We actually had a Bible study about this chapter today while a respite worker tended to Dave. Yes, I said "sex" around my 12-year old son and younger daughter. It is in the Bible. Things seemed to be going a little slow in the study until my wife paraphrased the situation of the Corinthians' boasting and tolerating the blatant sin for my five-year old girl. That broke it open like a sack of grain.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>What I believe we need to understand from this chapter is that God is very serious about sin. Church discipline is a real deal. And the attitude the Corinthians should have had toward this man is something like: "Ok, you are out of our protection, and back to the world you love so much. But we pray that having come up against your sin, as rubbed in by being in Satan's playground, you will repent, and join us in heaven forever." But for now, you are out. The Church is more important than endorsing your corrupt lifestyle." Pretty psychologically incorrect, huh.<br />
<br />
What is the message for those not particularly involved in blatant sin? Don't go there. God wields a mighty sword. And we do not want to be found as Satan's victims under God's sovereign control. But the way to avoid it is not to get all white-knuckled and resist with will-power. It is to stay on the narrow road fenced in by the justice of God on one side, and the mercy and grace of the Passover Lamb, Christ, on the other.<br />
<br />
Being at a good church, then, is not a religious ritual, it is the very place where the help to stay on this path lies.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-52054608004814392792010-03-01T08:51:00.000-06:002010-03-01T08:51:49.626-06:00Thought As We Open March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdRGBLy7JXPvadzByl9P7oFvEQJZHVs9DUUsr7i_lJsS3EffbbJpBAMASr0k7cIX3J8lT4rzv564q-3M4oQ3IUFS4xNk9EvzsS7mHyvVZ7z-hDwfU8CiMuI7sYyAKMhAnSLkIEZfJ_Rs/s1600-h/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDdRGBLy7JXPvadzByl9P7oFvEQJZHVs9DUUsr7i_lJsS3EffbbJpBAMASr0k7cIX3J8lT4rzv564q-3M4oQ3IUFS4xNk9EvzsS7mHyvVZ7z-hDwfU8CiMuI7sYyAKMhAnSLkIEZfJ_Rs/s320/006.JPG" /></a></div>The best way to see the reality of your faith is to repeatedly commit acts of it. musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-2665215923503372382010-02-28T16:00:00.002-06:002010-02-28T16:04:27.109-06:00Corinthian Conversation II: What Happened To the Corinthians?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU0qBr4MVCFQUEYToECMcJEdy3KrMj0kHSp9jngTdNXSl0Tc7XSqP2HXSWk3JgfVRm42TvgQ_sbz8o4Wg21Oh5xwj3SwVcII3BleYZOLAfS_na_QfDjbPoPxzLVo2rbEnZBVU6DbNdLE/s1600-h/save+button.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU0qBr4MVCFQUEYToECMcJEdy3KrMj0kHSp9jngTdNXSl0Tc7XSqP2HXSWk3JgfVRm42TvgQ_sbz8o4Wg21Oh5xwj3SwVcII3BleYZOLAfS_na_QfDjbPoPxzLVo2rbEnZBVU6DbNdLE/s320/save+button.JPG" /></a></div>I am not up on Corinthian history.<br />
<br />
What did they end up doing? Did they end up hearing what Paul was saying about the centrality of the person of Christ and his cross?<br />
<br />
I fear sometimes. Just how much of this are we getting? I am afraid that technology will be the great slayer of the would-be Christian soul. I feel this pressure every day, as the Internet and e-mail beckon, and take us further and further away from our ability to wait on God. Who can wait on God when we're striving to get faster and faster communications devices and methods with each other?<br />
<br />
But letting the Good News sink in in a transforming way depends on the ability to trust God over time, and with many difficulties. Pilgrim didn't get to fax himself to the Celestial City.<br />
<br />
Can we please assist each other in seeing that it is about a person, namely Christ. And put the servants of God in their rightful place--messengers. Nobody goes around claiming to have allegiance to the errand runner. Now true ministers of the Gospel are greater than mere errand boys due to their calling, but in another sense, they fade in personal magnitude compared to Christ. That is to say, I believe, if we spend more time thinking about how great a particular pastor is than time saying what Christ has done, we are out of balance. <br />
<br />
Back to this "true ministers" notion. There are not a lot of them. We mean those who stick to the cross and Christ as the grand subject of life. And that is easy to get off track, even for the best of them.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-30965391251178741272010-02-07T15:54:00.004-06:002010-02-07T16:02:36.868-06:00Corinthian Conversation I: Intellect Is a Tool To Bring Us To Love, Or To God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9H7myAFn43qg0IK9JnUdjnmrlwQocrUN0WvjvwdbUt2RfEIRWp32cS80ktNa40c5BT8trzIZWpXQEgGKr0R30-rtR9zIk3v0L2ChRxnEjHGH2YHAVLH07xIxawWZt9_fzyNnz4Lvqa0E/s1600-h/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9H7myAFn43qg0IK9JnUdjnmrlwQocrUN0WvjvwdbUt2RfEIRWp32cS80ktNa40c5BT8trzIZWpXQEgGKr0R30-rtR9zIk3v0L2ChRxnEjHGH2YHAVLH07xIxawWZt9_fzyNnz4Lvqa0E/s320/024.JPG" /></a></div>In response to Dr. Josh Moody's exposition of I Corinthians 2:6-16:<br />
<br />
Did you ever feel like the Word of God was like a friend who knew everything about you, and was telling you some ugly stuff in love? That is what I Corinthians is like so far. <br />
<br />
God knows everything there is to know about James E. Quattrochi--and you. And yet, he loves us. Simply amazing, that he would do that. If you can read this, and I can write it, we are not in hell. And that is astounding if we think about it. <br />
<br />
Specifically, I am gathering a notion I have suspected for some time. That the knowledge of God is categorically different from any other kind of knowledge. God does not just give that to anybody. <br />
<br />
We are used to the classroom idea of knowledge: that it is something we should memorize for a test to come. At that point we simply regurgitate that information, collect our "A," and move on. <br />
<br />
What I see is that proceeding like that causes people to crucify the Lord of Glory. And that is not good. Kierkegaard championed the Christian faith because he felt that its beauty was that it didn't make sense. That is not exactly where I am coming from. A crucified man 2000 years ago as the source of joy today does not make sense to those without the Spirit. And even those whom God will save stumble over it at times. But in order to know what God's message to us about reality is, we must get that from God himself. Which means that the old "Read your Bible pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow" sing-song chant is actually a good but simple start. <br />
<br />
People like me trip over simplicity, though. We like lofty philosophical speculations and revel in conjectural thoughts about God and the Bible. Again, later in I Corinthians 13, Paul is going to demolish the "knowledge as candy" orientation of the Corinthians. And the same tendency of philosophers like me. Do you remember "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love...?" Paul goes on to say that even if he could fathom all mysteries, it would be meaningless without love. And love is the old, old story of Jesus. So here we can tie I Corinthians 13 into chapter 2. <br />
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So how should we view our intellectual capacities? As leading to and supporting love. And love begins at the cross. The very cross our Lord submitted to when we proceeded in our common view of wisdom and knowledge. May he do a great work to awaken real love and wisdom in us today!musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-67154399132419375132010-01-07T19:32:00.000-06:002010-01-07T19:32:24.683-06:00Do You Wish It Was Not Winter Right Now?Dream of a warm and sunny day with <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_5820771_spend-day-alone-nature.html">this article</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1BK5vJj78JL3RjTGcO8vicJG7_N-uhr9YWPh1TeH9gdR0o_VTZq1JFuLylgjgQcVSxmctddH3Gt5Kajwsh7qUEzVCGAK6YIbHik_zixOSSdp57_whlj5Z02vX-p5vTfdFt8NlAzaa6o/s1600-h/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1BK5vJj78JL3RjTGcO8vicJG7_N-uhr9YWPh1TeH9gdR0o_VTZq1JFuLylgjgQcVSxmctddH3Gt5Kajwsh7qUEzVCGAK6YIbHik_zixOSSdp57_whlj5Z02vX-p5vTfdFt8NlAzaa6o/s320/039.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-64656685013881013332010-01-02T13:10:00.004-06:002010-01-02T13:23:22.853-06:00The Problem With the Problem Of EvilMention "The Problem of Evil," and you will get differing reactions. Some will just move on to other topics. Others will discourse at length about all the current philosophical buzz on the subject of evil. Still others will defend <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHJ4ztnldQ">atheist</a> or agnostic views with some adamance. What Christian views have you heard expounded?<br />
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In my observations of the Problem of Evil, I noticed that people mostly want to address evil from an "out there" kind of perspective. That is, they don't see themselves as part of this problem. But yet, humans perpetrate evil all the time. <br />
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There are some objections which can be raised almost immediately even to the phrase. First of all, if the goal is to justify the existence of a benevolent God, who in the world are we to sit in judgment on such a lofty notion? It is just that we remain oblivious to the most obvious fact in the universe: God. <br />
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The first temptation of Eve and Adam can be seen as a test. I believe it is a real occurrence in time and space, that speaks to a reality beyond time and space.<br />
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Have you ever "tested" your parents as a kid? Done something wrong just to see what they would do? Such a "testing" is wrong for us, but God is, at another point, spoken of as "leaving" a king to test him. This, however, does not make him wrong. The objections howl at this point "How can you say that it is wrong for us to test God, and yet he tests us?" <br />
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So we are back to the finite trying to understand the infinite again. There is a way for a sovereign God to test people, yet remain utterly holy and perfect in all attributes. Do you want to figure that out? Mathematically, I would say, you can sooner find, count, and use infinity practically (can you bear an infinite amount of weight?), than you can understand the infinite. <br />
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Back to faith and desire again...We always choose (act, thought, attitude) in accordance with our greatest desire at the moment of choice (Edwards). We have a biblical record, believed in and died for for centuries and milennia, or whatever you want to believe in the end.<br />
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OK, objectors...show your desire.musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2619690554207091123.post-63522960741146099552010-01-01T09:13:00.000-06:002010-01-01T09:13:54.504-06:002010: Wisdom WantedI have been struck with a notion on this first morning of 2010. How many times in the books of Kings that phrases like "...said to the king," and "...if it pleases my lord the king." It seems that the king, whoever it was, was always getting advice from someone. But how much of that advice was wise?<br />
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As regenerates, we have a mighty responsibility. We are responsible to make wise decisions regarding money, children if we have them, and time. We have a sort of "rulership" over some sphere of life. And this is why I am thinking of a new kind of resolution when major issue advice is given to me, something like: "If you feel like you must give me advice, be sure you are praying for me as well." That way, we can both get a hold of real wisdom. musicappreciatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12952288073468018096noreply@blogger.com0