Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 41
Recently I had a phone conversation with a childhood friend. As we had not seen each other, nor talked, for quite some time we first exchanged health updates; and since he is wrestling with some very serious and life threatening issues, I asked about his eternal security (future destination and plans). He laughed and said he planned to go to heaven. So I asked if he’d made his reservation. He said he had. So I asked who he had made them with. And, this led us to a conversation about church, church doctrine, and hypocrisy within the church. I... Full story
It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. (ACTS 11:26) We would do well to note that nowhere in Scripture does it proclaim: They were called, Protestant or Catholic, Lutheran or Methodist or Pentecostal, or, for that matter, any other denomination. It was man and his traditions that have divided the church. But, as Is recorded in Genesis, "What man intends for evil, God intends for good." Galatians 5 makes a distinction between aspects of our human spirit, which brings... Full story
To understand God it is important to know some things about God. For example, it is important to know that God is omniscient. This is particularly important to understand the seeming contradiction between the verse in 2 Peter 3:9, which says, “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but desiring all to come to repentance,” and the verse in Romans 8:30, which says, “Those he predestined, he also called.” Since the dictionary definition of “predestined” is defined as, “Predetermined by divine will or fate,” many might understan...
For those of us that would call ourselves "Christian" we must reconcile ourselves to sin. Now I understand that there are "Christians" that do not believe in the "inerrancy of Scripture." The problem with that is that if Scripture is not inerrant, we are left with no solid truths or guidelines for our lives. We are free to pick and to choose those things from God's Word which best match up with our own thinking. There are consequences to this line of reasoning as pointed out in the book of...
Before attempting to serve God, we must first know whose ministry it is. By this I mean we must examine our motive for service. We must ask the question, am I doing this service for personal recognition, that people might say, "What a devoted servant he (she) is!" or am I serving because God has called me to serve Him in some way? The call of God is essentially expressive of His nature; service is the outcome of what is fitted to my nature. Service becomes a snare if it is based on self-will....
When we ask ourselves this question, we must look for the answer in the light of the Biblical definition of seeking, as described in Deuteronomy 4:29: “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with your whole heart and your whole soul.” We have become so commercialized that we must ask ourselves this question: “Do I truly seek Him, or am I instead seeking a cleaned up version of myself that is filled with the Holy Spirit? Do I find myself, like the man described in Luke 9:59, saying, “I will follow...
Perhaps you've heard the expression, "Born once, die twice" or "Born twice, die once." These are both references to the verse in the book of John where Jesus explains to Nicodemus what it means to be "Born again. Jesus explains the first birth is a physical birth, and the second is a spiritual birth, or awakening. Paul explains in Romans 6:4, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism unto death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too...
Often I find that our human nature is at war with our spiritual nature (God's plans and desires for us). Galatians 5 beginning in verse 17, offers a picture of that struggle. In Romans 12:2 Paul says, "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." All too often, I find Christians try to replace the Word of God with some reasoning of their own...
I often reflect on the perfection and precision of God's design; on how the leaves and the animals change their colors with the seasons. This past week, however, as my wife and I vacationed in Mexico, I found those reflections focused on God's design for his church, as outlined in Acts chapter 2. My wife and I have been vacationing in Mexico for over 35 years now. In many ways it has become a second home to us. Some 25 plus years ago we discovered a church down there and have attended every visi...
Having spent 40 years attending church, I was offended when a Christian friend announced she was a "Born Again Christian." I brought her to tears arguing that "Born Again Christians" were simply snobs that thought they were better than other Christians. This dear friend is one of the primary reasons I am a "Born Again Christian" today. When Nicodemus questioned Jesus as to how someone who had already been born from the womb could do so again, Jesus explained the first was a physical birth, the...
I'm guessing that often we can fall into the category of having just enough knowledge to be misleading, or even dangerous. As Christians, it is possible, though we may have memorized some verses, to still overlook others. In so doing, we miss the big picture painted by Scripture. Homosexuality is a very difficult subject in today's society. Often we hear someone say, "You are being judgmental," or "they were born that way." Actually, considering the whole of Scripture, they are right in both...
Someone once said, if you're not worried you're not paying attention. The apostle John recorded in his gospel, these words: "In this world you will have trouble." John 16:33. And anyone that's paying attention has certainly noticed the world seemingly crumbling before our very eyes. How then are we to find peace in a world of chaos? First, let's take a look at the words Jesus used preceding His pronouncement that we would find trouble in this world. His warning, "you will have troubles" is prece...
If you're like my wife you're probably asking what is "unconscious unreality?" It's a phrase I picked up while reading Oswald Chambers, one of my favorite authors. Chambers made the statement that, "The deadliest Pharasaism today is not hypocrisy but unconscious Unreality. What he was getting at is our ability to (without even being conscious of it) commit sin and then justify it to ourselves. Let me give you an example: If you've ever been guilty of being angry with someone and then justified i...
As I advance in years, I find there is a temptation to want to just sit back and rest on my accomplishments. It is tempting to just say, "I've worked hard, I've done my work and it's time for someone else to pick up the burden." And yet as I examine scripture, I see that this is clearly not God's plan. In 1st Thessalonians 3:6 I read: "Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the...
This is a response to last week’s letter to the editor from Joan, regarding her response to an article the previous week regarding the impeachment proceedings. While I respect you both and acknowledge that both articles were passionately written, written according to both of your beliefs, I would suggest that it may be time in this country for us all to just step back and take a deep breath. I am neither taking a position to defend the president, nor the Democratic party for attempting to impeach him. As to our Constitution, I suggest we leave...
If you like to dance, you know how awkward it can be if both partners are trying to lead. If you recall what happened with Moses when he was still a young man and decided God needed his help looking out for the Israelites. The story is recorded in Exodus chapter 2 beginning in verse 11, "Moses...went out unto his brethren, and looked to their burdens." Needless to say, Moses's efforts, apart from God, did not go well. Sometimes we, like Moses, get out in front of God. Whether because of...
Often we receive advice: advice from friends; advice from family; advice from fellow workers. Advice generally comes in two types: good and bad. Though usually well intended, it is not always sound advice. We should always take care to seek advice from Godly people. People we know will give Godly counsel. I recently did just that. As I struggled with a problem, I received some of the best advice I’d ever received. This longtime friend of mine advised, “Pray about this!” But, he continued, “...as you pray about it, pray in the Spirit, not in...
A good friend once used the illustration of what he referred to as, “The Faith Train.” He pointed out that our faith is the engine, fed by the coal car of facts and followed by the caboose of feelings. When we let our feelings, or emotions, be the engine (as I recently did) we are misled and do not allow God to work. Sometimes it is because we are over anxious and unwilling to wait for God’s timing, sometimes we are misled by our feelings. But regardless of the reason, we must allow God and the Holy Spirit to do Their work, and not attem...
For those of us who are old enough to remember the song “Hokey Pokey” you may remember the words went something like this, “You put your right foot in, you put your left foot out, then you do the Hokey Pokey and you shake it all about.” Why in the world did this song from years ago suddenly pop into my mind? I’m guessing it’s because I was reflecting on the scripture verses, both in the Psalms and in the book of James that talk about a “double minded man.” These verses reminded me that Christians often try to live with one foot in their faith...
We have a good Christian friend who was taking a class at the U, who reported to us that her instructor had made a comment something to the effect, “Watch out for those Christians, you can’t trust them.” Our friend’s responded, “Can you tell who they are?” To which the teacher replied, “Oh yes, you can.” I believe that, as Christians it is possible that the world sometimes misunderstands our Christian faith and beliefs. For example you may hear someone say, “Those Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites.” To which I would answer, “Indeed I a...
My brother-in-law was a true intellectual. Having served as a past dean of the faculty at Cornell University, he was a truly humble man. He was always more interested in what he could learn from others than in telling others how much he knew. This always felt to me like a point of separation between a true intellectual from a pseudo intellectual. You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “Remain quiet and people may think you ignorant, or speak up and remove all doubt.” My father used to advise me, “Know what you know and know what you think a...
And no, I’m not talking about the extra pounds I put on over the Easter holiday...rather I was reflecting on the verse from Chapter 4 verse 10 of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” The thought that occurred to me as I read this verse was that the reality of my life is that, too often my life is more often a reflection of me, of my human nature and not often enough a reflection of Christ and His nature. I have found o...
Have you ever wondered why a world in such obvious trouble would choose to resist good? In the midst of a world which is filled with misery and dysfunction, does it not strike you as odd that we seem to look in all the wrong places for answers to the problems which beset out culture today? Some years ago I was looking at statistics on our schools to see if there were any correlation between the removal of the Bible and school prayer from our schools. On June 25, 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States decided in Engle versus Vitale that...
A friend once told me that when he had invited a neighbor to church, the neighbor’s response was, “Why would I want to go to church? They’re all just a bunch of hypocrites.” My friend responded jokingly, “Don’t let that stop you, we’ve always got room for one more.” The reality is that non-believers often misunderstand Christians. The misunderstandings are generally based on false assumptions or false impressions. First, they may assume that Christians seem to act superior (and certainly that is an impression we might leave) assuming that t...
Not so long ago we had a President that declared, “We are not a Christian nation.” A statement which would likely have surprised and upset our founding fathers. And though today’s headlines might lead one to discouragement and despair, this present darkness should hold no surprise for the Christian. While reflecting on the state of the world in general, and our nation in particular, I was reminded of two things that point to a future hope: The first, a theory by Scottish historian, Alexander Tytler who observed in the early 1800’s a pattern...
