Downtown Budapest John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. What qualified him? Perhaps 2 Cor 4:6 helps “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The light of the knowledge of the glory of God? — Light of knowledge? — Of glory? — Of God? — God’s glory’s knowledge? — “Gnosis”, “doxa” in the face of Jesus? — John reflected Jesus’ face of knowledge of the glory of God. How can a person be a shining light? If he or she leads many to righteousness, they will shine like the stars in the firmament says Daniel 10. Ecc 8:1 points out; “Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to…
Category: <span>Liberty – Redemption</span>
Ever feel whacked out? Overloaded? Too many details? Go to the Brunswick All-night Bowl of heaven and roll your heavy ball of gruff toward Our Great Father and Care Solver, right away! Heave the ball vigorously and make it rotate far afield; make sure it does not boomerang. Squash the pins which fasten you to disquiet, and burst through with finesse to the back wall of resolution. Post your score! Then, steady yourself on His revealed mind of comfort and peace and ready for the next frame. Some tips to fine rolling: practice your release point, follow through, and avoid too much spin on the ball. Don’t choose a ball that is too heavy, (because you waited too long), or too light, (because you’re a whiner). Don’t allow your fingers to get caught in the ball-grips, but let go. Don’t slip and fall on your delivery. Taking aim crucializes here,…
When sports teams compete throughout a regular season schedule, many variables are possible. For instance, a team starts out strong and has early success, while another team gets out of the gate slowly. Mid season may bring changes; an injury or two, a disagreement among players or coach, or a suspension. On the positive side, a new player arrives, a team gels, a player finds his game, a team unifies. Then, one team may finish out strongly, winning a last playoff spot. The toll of the season’s ups and downs crushes hopes for another group. I have seen a player’s personal issues hinder or help his or her team. A blunder at week 3 destroys the confidence of an athlete or whole team. I watched a very skilled girl miss 6 straight free throws at the end of a game which her team lost by 1 point. She was never…
Some folks are sane, others insane. Lined up on one side of the field are health, healthy mind and heart, single-eyed, balanced, and whole. On the other team; divided, double-minded, sick, unbalanced and ignorant are the terms. “Holiness” for man speaks of set-apart-to-God; the other guys can be referred to as “profane.” This second term meant originally, “outside the temple.” The Hebrew brings out these definitions also: “exposed, common, wounded, break a word, dissolve.” Ephesians 2:14-15 teaches: “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” “He” is Jesus and His Peace creates a buffer of protection for the soul against internal division. What was the middle wall? Enmity, the law of…
Memory is defiled when something of a snare resides in it. For example, if I have in remembrance a sin or failure, this stumbles my function today. My question for me remains, “What part of ‘blotted out’ do I not understand? Well, my big-shot memory feels that it must keep my big-stuff secure, for the purpose of big-recall in case I need to defend my big-self, or “set the big-record straight.” Sorry, I got carried away with big-me. The problem is I may feel the need to place the blame on the right person, myself or other; after all, I must be honest. Yeah, right! “I must show my sincerity, after all, I have to ‘man up’ and eat my fate. I have made my bed so now I must sleep in it.” —excuse me while I regurgitate. Frankly, “forgetting” has become a chore, and bucks up against my big-boy…
Some folks are sane, others insane. Lined up on one side of the field are health, healthy mind and heart, single-eyed, balanced, and whole. On the other team; divided, double-minded, sick, unbalanced and ignorant are the terms. “Holiness” for man speaks of set-apart-to-God; the other guys can be referred to as “profane.” This second term meant originally, “outside the temple.” The Hebrew brings out these definitions also: “exposed, common, wounded, break a word, dissolve.” Ephesians 2:14-15 teaches: “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” “He” is Jesus and His Peace creates a buffer of protection for the soul against internal division. What was the middle wall? Enmity, the law of…
“The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him.” —The call to nearness enables the resistance of worldly temptation.” A.W. Tozer We surrender when conquered, we yield when broken, we capitulate when exhausted; we “cease from our own works.” Ironically, a faith begins here, and also a hope, and also love. As the project stalemates we find contentment with the Project Manager. His presence defines our new beginning; He-in-us becomes hope-of-glory. His nature in us describes love. Oddly enough, finding Him and losing me arrive simultaneously. My dreams dash, my visions smash, my passivity or enterprise collapses and burns. Will breaks now and resolve , conscience bears hampering , and emotions lose care. Rational explanations wanting, we concede. As children we wrestled with my Dad for fun. He would pin us down and cry out, “give up?” We would squirm only to be pinned again. “Give up?” Finally, we got tired, pinned us…
Have you ever met a passive aggressive person? Their blitzkrieg finds an area of release that you vehemently need and refuses it militantly. These are masters of the shut-down, czars of the melt-down, monarchs of the stare-down, and sultans of let-down with swagger. They live for driving people up a tree, frustration’s outer limits, and leave their friends headed toward the nuttery. Really they may be very lonely folk, grown up, but far from mature in some areas —particularly conversation. They don’t know if they can trust you yet to speak their mind; they are afraid that their lousy people skills will potentially turn you off. Could be they are scared of commitments, insecure and suspicious. Often wounded, they move past caring about relationships in general. Because we love these ones, the frustration manifests. A believer who gets converted later in life aggravates the conversing problem. Ephesians tells us of…
For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life. Eric Hoffer A great statement and wise observation, it grabs us because the folly of human nature often exposes itself so loudly. Hoffer above describes a person who thinks wrongly, but why? We can call him or her a legalistic thinker, because they view life as a proving, a measuring up to a standard, a trying to please or appease a serious onlooker who holds their fate. It’s no shock to us that this law-beaten type of individual must turn their mind toward evasion tactics and ploys of excuse making. Their life is drudgery. They stay with a project for a while and try it on. They wait for the prospect of fulfillment —on their own…
Emotions and the cross of Christ connect uniquely, but rarely. These Feelings follow right thinking and the center of thought is the key. When old patterns of thinking are discarded for Bible-based new ones, the responders rejoice and these are new emotions. So, what of the old feelings? Crucified with Christ, they live, yet not them but Christ lives in them, and consequently they then live by the faith if the Son of God. Cool, huh? See, God wants more for us than just feeling good, or lovely sentiment or even good-heartedness. God sent His Son to crucify the old letter-bound man to create a new one. All things are brand new in Him. We ought not, going forward, think in terms of “how-to,” but in terms of “who I am,” and if my “I am” is in Christ, my old emotions are dead and my new ones are alive.…