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Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category

The Apostle Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Those words ring true not only for religious freedom (the object of the comment above) but also for freedom in general.  God made man a free being.  He designed us for freedom and gave us the ability to think and reason and choose.  This is not an easy life to live – but it is the one for which He designed us.  In fact, the very freedom and the ability to choose present problems to many people who can not understand that if we have no choice but to do good that our obedience is empty and hollow, mechanical in nature rather than stemming from a heart that is desirous of pleasing one’s Creator.

The other evening we were discussing the problem of sin and evil with a new Christian.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve read this before, but it arrived in my e-mail inbox yesterday and I got that round tuit to read it again today.

The Cycle of Democracy follows this sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty (rule of law);
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage (rule of men).

(Attributed to Frasier Tytler)

It reminds me of the story of the little boy who asked his mother, “Mommy, is it true that God made Adam from the dust of the earth?” Read the rest of this entry »

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)  And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” – Mark 7:18-23

For millennia people have sought ways to be ceremonially pure. Their conscience has burned and caused distress because they know that they do not match up with the Divine ideal.  God, through The Law of Moses, helped them to search out this tendency – and find that mankind is incapable of attaining purity by elimination of externals.  The Lord spoke to His people and told them that He was fed up with their ceremonies and celebrations and fasts – that He wanted a people who sought after justice and mercy rather than being obsesses with sacrifices.

The key to all this?  Man is not defiled by that which he eats or drinks, he is defiled by that which comes out from within him.  When his thoughts lead him to do that which is against God’s nature – that is what defiles him.  Even today people search ways to eliminate externals.  “If there is no opportunity to sin there will be no sin” is the rationale.  But sin does not come from opportunity, it comes from desire.

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Have you ever thought to yourself what the consequences of your beliefs would be – if you REALLY lived them out?  I’m talking about what you claim to believe, not what you show you believe by your actions.  What would really happen if you lived out your truth claims to the fullest? Read the rest of this entry »

In this, an election year, it would do us all well as a nation to give thought to the quotes below.  We should seriously give consideration to the path which we have recently fallen into and whether such a path is for the greater good over time.  Huge amounts of debt acquired in order to fund an ever growing governmental body which overshadows our entire nation, choking the freedom which we once knew.  Is it really best for the government to oversee our entire life, from cradle to grave?  Is it really best for us to exchange our Creator’s benevolent and wise oversight for the intrusion into our private lives by fallible and corrupt men and women?  Give careful consideration to the quotes below.  What path shall we follow?

We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands: we have a check upon two branches of the legislature, as each branch has upon the other two; the power I mean of electing at stated periods, one branch, which branch has the power of electing another. It becomes necessary to every subject then, to be in some degree a statesman: and to examine and judge for himself of the tendencies of political principles and measures.

[John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. 1, p. 81, from "'U' to the Boston Gazette" written on August 29, 1763.]

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People.  We are weird creatures. Given the ability to choose, too often we choose unwisely.  Most seem to prefer to be told what to think rather than to reason through issues themselves.  Over the years I’ve participated in various internet forums and e-mail lists, acting as moderator on a few.  In that time it has been my privilege to observe humans interacting with each other.  I was reminded today about something my friend Jim Taylor said years ago.  “The internet is a great place to talk and a poor place to communicate.“  That pretty much sums it up right there.

And it is interesting to hear folks talk on the ‘net.  Over the years it has been my pleasure to visit various internet friends in person.  And getting to talk with someone over a cup of coffee or a meal is a great way to get to know them a bit better.  Sometimes one forms an opinion about folks because of the way they “talk” on the internet. But once you get to know them personally you see a different face entirely.  And then there’s the voice.  Am I the only one who forms an “image” of what someone’s voice must sound like by reading what they write?  The first time I talked with various people was an experience – because they didn’t sound like I’d thought they would.  And what about SEEING them? That reminds me of my dad and a story he told about someone he used to talk with on the phone all the time.  He built up an image of the person based on their name and their voice. But when he met that person in person he was in for a surprise.  From physical stature to race – everything was different. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are a couple of videos off of YouTube – the repository of all kinds of video stuff on the ‘net.  I’m no sports fan, but even so I could not ignore the the scandals the rocked Tiger Woods’ world.  It made the news clear down here.  What did not make it down here was the criticism of Brit Hume for sending a message to Woods via some kind of sports commentary in which he inserted his opinion that Woods should turn to the Christian faith in which he would find forgiveness and redemption.  Hume then did a follow up on O’Reilly’s show.   Here’s the clips. Read the rest of this entry »

I do believe that we are but pilgrims and strangers on this earth.  We are on a journey, hopefully along The WAY, and therefore our stay here is but temporary.  But part of that journey is learning to serve God by serving others and it behooves us to do the best we can where God places us or where He leads us.

We know that God lead us to our current place of residence and ministry.  We sought His face and His wisdom and His guidance – and He brought us here and has kept us here in the face of many trials and problems.  We also know that our enemy does not wish for us to be here. Read the rest of this entry »

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. Read the rest of this entry »

They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien. Hosea 8:4,12

As I was reading through Hosea recently, I came upon the verses above.  To say that they gave me food for thought is an understatement indeed.  The traditional way of thinking in our nation is that if we have a governor, president, congressman, senator or other public figure that it’s  “God’s fault”.  After all, He is the One Who sets up kings and rulers, is He not? Interestingly enough, at the time the words above were written, kings normally received their kingship by inheritance – there was little chance for public opinion to be expressed under normal circumstances.  And yet, although there was no “democratic process” such as we enjoy in modern times, they DID choose men to rule over them – and men who were not according to God’s plan or design. Today we are ruled by a constitution.  Within that constitution the means of selecting rulers is spelled out clearly and the responsibility and power of government is both spelled out and limited.  How much more responsible are we today for the rulers we choose than those who lived thousands of years ago! Read the rest of this entry »