Romans 14:16 teaches: “Let not then your good be evil spoken of.” “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemns not himself in that thing which he allows.” Romans 14:22 “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Galatians 6:4-5 Fellow believers, do you have this kind of confidence? Before I turn to the burdens of others I must bear my own burden. Is my faith before God? Am I living outside of condemnation? Does my walk before God carry more weight than any other, enough to ignore the evil spoken of me? What does it mean? Frankly put, do you know who you are? Do you carry with you this identity and set of values into every varying circumstance? In addition, does…
Healing at the Cross Posts
“The meaning of the word “grace” as used in the New Testament… it is nothing less than the unlimited love of God expressing itself in limitless grace.” Chafer “Grace is the free bestowal of kindness on one who has no claim to it.” Berkhof “Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.” Edwards “…grace is His voluntary, unrestrained, unmerited favor toward guilty sinners, granting them justification and life instead of the penalty of death, which they deserved. Herman Bavinck “Grace is the very opposite of merit… Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favor shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite.” Ironside “Grace is favor shown to people who do not deserve any favor at all… We deserve nothing but hell. If you think you deserve heaven, take it from me, you are not a Christian.” Martin Lloyd-Jones R.C.H. Lenski shows the…
Life presents certain complexities, and within a course of life, choices impair or facilitate the better way. For example, a grandfather rates hanging with his grandchildren a top priority. He is enamored by the sweet exchanges, and they love him. But, he has a second love and that one presents a conflict. He eats late and long and uses little discretion on his food choices. One day his doctor warns him that if he doesn’t stop the binge eating, he will have a heart attack and could die. Granddad weighs his loves. He must make a choice — the toddlers or — pizza at midnight. Tim Keller tells this story and more in “Making Sense of God” A young person buys a sailboat. He or she wants to experience the exuberance of sailing on the bay. Quickly found out, a learning curve mandates itself. The laws of the winds and…
In 1Corinthians 3:10-11 Paul’s words speak loudly to our hearts: it’s the Bema Seat of Christ. “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Corinthians 3:12-13 go on to explain: “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” Tim Stevenson writes this in his book, “The Bema:” He describes a vision he received, as God takes him right to the actuality of the Judgment seat of Christ for believers…
A utilitarian view of the universe pits pain and pleasure at opposite poles — sovereignly governing the majority of all decisions and actions made by men and women. Seems that this philosophy has some truth in it. “Utilitarianism” was founded by Jeremy Bentham, an English moral philosopher and legal reformer, born 1748. Some Lost souls purchase such a philosophy, never realizing the far-reaching implications of establishing a moral code on the simple, “pain versus pleasure.” Their simplistic creed explodes when a situation pushes them to higher moral ground. Perhaps a happening, provoking extreme pleasure, simultaneously hurts others. Such common occurrences require moral elevation. Michael Sandel gives this example in his book “Justice.” “In ancient Rome, they threw Christians to the lions In the Coliseum for the amusement of the crowd. … the Christian suffers excruciating pain as the lion mauls and devours him. But think of the collective ecstacy of…
“…Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:8=9 Have you heard? God talks to sinners. “…And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Genesis 4:5-6 God talks with angry men. He goes on to say much more to Cain, even after Abel’s slaying. To say it straightforwardly, if God never spoke to sinners, we’re all lost. Often the words are ignored. “…And forthwith he (Judas), came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, ‘Friend, wherefore art thou come?’” We know the unfortunate ending for Judas. Matthew 26:49-50 But, Jesus, God incarnate, spoke to an adulteress in John 8: “When…
Slobs make messes, Pigpens dust-up and dirty all they get near, humans squirt out “humanity” which touches fellow and foe. Friends, ugly to me are the self serving cries-for-help of the complacent complainer and blamer of Peers and protégé’s. Some Media-types favor the “reality” stories over tales that end in harmony. They promote the spew of hatred. Outrage is a favorite theme. After all, news must be sold! Proverbs 30:11-14 shares a progression: “There is a generation that curse their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”…
Paul and Silas went to jail. The charge? They hindered the monetary gain of men who exploited a soothsaying woman. Soothsaying? Yes, a person supposed to be inspired who foretells the future, but actually casts spells. This one had a spirit, and Paul cast it out. She had followed Paul and Silas proclaiming, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” The Story comes from Acts chapter 16. So, Paul and Silas were seized and dragged before Magistrates, charged with violating customs and proclaiming unlawful practices. “But the whole charge was pure hypocrisy; for as these men would have let the missionaries preach what religion they pleased if they had not dried up the source of their gains, so they conceal the real cause of their rage under color of a zeal for religion, and law, and good order.”…
From an disturbing article on the meaning of life; New York Times: “when the Hubble space telescoped (sic) pointed to a black spot in the sky about the size of an eraser head for a week it found 30,000 galaxy(sic) over 13 billion years old with many trillions of stars and many many more trillions of inferred planets. (So) how significant are you? … You are not a unique snowflake, you are not specials (sic), you are just another piece of decaying matters (sic), on the compost pile of this world. Nothing of who you are and what you will do in the short time you are here will matter. Everything short of that realization is vanity. So celebrate life in every moment, admire its wonders, (and) love without reservation.” What? Really? The conclusion does not match the premise! Tim Keller addresses the discrepancy “…given the secular view of the…
“In short, no one can purge him or herself from all faith assumptions, and assume an objective, belief-free, pure openness to objective evidence. Hume There is no “View from nowhere.” “…all reasoning is based on prior faith commitments to which one did not reason.” Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty. “…reason depends on the faith that our cognitive senses — our eyes and ears, our minds and memories, are not tricking us.” “…the declaration that science is the only arbiter of truth is not itself a scientific finding, it is a belief.” Evans All quotes taken from “Making Sense of God” by Timothy Keller So? Though a tough truth to swallow, reasoning requires faith. Let’s explore this farther. The Bible attributes to man a bearing-witness conscience. Romans 2:15 etc. A faculty for discerning, it accuses or excuses. All men have this faculty of passing judgment on their actions. It acts according to the…