So I haven't done this in a while. Maye it is because I've been lazy, or maybe I just needed a reason to be inspired :). Sorry these always tend to come out in sermon form... I can't seem to help that.
"I do not understand what I do. For What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do...It is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives within me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can not carry it out...For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Oh what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
-Romans 7:14-24 (as written by the apostle Paul)
I know what I ought to do and do not do it. Instead I do the things I despise. Who has never felt that way? If you have not, I want to meet you and learn your secrets. Even the apostle Paul wasn't able to escape this trap, and he wrote half the new testament. This tells us 2 things; one is good and one is bad. First the good; If even one of the most respected founders of Christianity, and arguably the most successful evengelist who ever lived has admited to this struggle, we should not bediscouraged that we find ourselves entrenched in it today. The bad side, however, is that our enemy, the devil, is crafty enough and sneaky enough to pry his way into the life of a man who was as spiritually sound as Paul. Meaning he could easily do it to most of us.
So what does this mean for us? Do we simply say: "Well Paul dealt with it, so it must be ok?" And then we just move on continuing in the same things, in the same ways, just because we feel better about it? NO! Is that why Paul wrote this? To justify your sins? I doubt that seriously, and you know it is not true either. Paul simply did not want you to feel as if you were the only one dealing with this. He wrote this to show his inner struggle. He was trying to beat it. It was not his purpouse to make his readers feel good about sinning. He was working hard to escape the trap he had found himself in, and he wanted to show that. Why? So that his readers would approach this problem with the same seriousness he had himself.
"But because of your stubbornness, and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God." -Romans 2:5
Paul knew the danger of letting sin run wild in his life. Giving sin such a foothold in one's life severely messes with their mind. If you let it sonsume you you will act upon it before you can clear your mind enough to choose not to.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -Romans 8:1
Wait a minute! Doesn't that conflict with what Paul just said in Romans 2:5? How can I not be condemned if I am storing up wrath with my unrepentant heart? Let's look at this 2 ways.
1st: If you are a parent, this will make complete sense to you. Parents love their children. god loves His children. But Parents have to discipline their children to teach them right from wrong, and ultimately shape them into adults who know how to conduct themselves in a civilized manner. Likewise, God must discipline His children so that they know how to act when they are with Him. Does it mean He does not love them? No. Does it mean he condemns them to Hell? No. Quite the contrary. God disciplines His children, because He loves them, in order to make them better.
2nd: Here is where you have to analyze yourself. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That is a fact. I am in Christ Jesus. Is that a fact? Sure I said a prayer a few years back and asked Jesus into my heart, but what has happened since then? I am told that if I am in Christ I am a new creation. The old ways have gone, and new things have come. (2Corinthians 5:17)
Do I see that? Have I changed? Has there been a transformation in my life? Or, do I still act as I did before I "met Jesus." Jesus said "if you love Me, you will keep my commandments." -John 14:15 Do you love Him? Then why don't you? I bet if you are honest with yourself, you will actually find that you love these other things more than you love Jesus. Change that.
So back to the struggle with sin. We don't want to do it, yet we still do, and because we still do we are storing up wrath for oursleves. So how do we stop? Plain and simple... you have to want to. The problem is that, chances are, you really don't want to stop. Until you do, you will have no success in overcoming your desires. But when you do decide you want to, you will find it easier if you have a brother/sister in Christ to help you. By that I mean find someone you trust to confide in, and someone who cares enough to get on your case about it. Also, A little self discipline doesn't hurt either.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that there is nothing that can keep us from our God, and that through Him we are more than conquerors, meaning that we have the power to overcome anything. In Pilippians 4:13 Paul says that we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. Notice Paul did not say some things. He said All things.
So where will your desires take you? Closer to God or farther away? What is the desire of your heart? do you want to get closer to God? Or would you rather chase your earthly pleasures and build up a harsher punishment later?
God is a just God, and he does vindicate himself. sooner or later you will see that for yourself.
"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus The Lord, so walk in Him" -Colossians 2:6
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
That would be perfect...... but I'll pass
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
This is a promise of God. He knows what is best for us. He has a purpose for us that He has already laid out. He wants our lives to be successful. Why doesn't it happen? Who wants to blame God? I bet lots of hands would go up if I asked that in a crowded room. But God has stated that He wants us to be successful. If that is what He desires, would He really try to keep us from that?
We have all felt abandoned by God at times. We struggle with feeling adequate about our lives. We simply want more fullness, more happiness, more satisfaction. after all, that is what God promised us. Why hasn't He delivered? Why does He just sit there while I suffer? Why doesn't God intervene and make me happy? Well I ask this... Why won't you let Him?
God has not moved. That goes against His nature, against His promises, and, most of all, against His Love for you. God has told us in John, Hebrews, Joshua, and probably other places, that He will never Leave us, never abandon us, and never forsake us. So why aren't we fulfilled? We have moved away, and what is worse, we are still choosing to do so.
We can probably look back over just the last 24 hours and see situations where we chose not to obey God. Why should we obey God? I am not naive enough to think that people don't ask that question everyday. Well here are a few ideas.
1. He created you. We call Him father for a reason. He gave you life. Without Him you would not be here at all. Ideally there is a form of respect that is shown to a father from his child, that is if the father is deserving. I know not everyone has been raised by a father who was worthy of that respect, if they even had a father at all, and for that reason God has given us more reasons to respect him.
2. He died for you. Without the death of Jesus Christ where would yo be? I'm willing to bet your life would have even less purpose than it does now. If you need a tangible example try this: put yourself in the shoes of a 15 year old child. You have no family, no home, and occaisionally no food. Each day is a new experience in suffering. Common people scoff at you and make fun of you as they pass by. Then one day you actually encounter a caring person. They are deeply moved by your situation and decide to take you into their home. they offer everything they have to you, their food, their home, their finances, their friends...... their life. How would you feel toward them? Do you insult their generosity by refusing to obey them? would you run away from someone who has saved you from so much? I doubt it. But you do it with God all the time don't you?
3. How about a purely selfish reason... God promises to give you what your heart truly desires. That means pure happiness. It is not a promise to give everything your head desires, your envious nature and greedy personality desire, or your lustful body thirsts for. These things don't bring true happiness. Oh sure you are feeling great when you get these things, but how long do those feelings last. If you can sustain it for moer than a couple of weeks I'd be impressed. These worldly pleasures are very shortlived, and if you are truly honest with yourself, you will probably see that they don't really satisfy you. all they do is make you want more of them. But God promises to know your heart, and what it really desires. Does that mean you will have it tomorrow? Probably not. Does that mean you don't deserve to have it tomorrow? Not necessarily. Most likely it means that if in fact you got it tomorrow you would do 1 of 2 things. Either you would not appreciate it yet, or you would fluff it up to the point where it is not enjoyable at all in the future. But rest assured that He promises you will have it. And if He knows what to give better than you do yourself, isn't it safe to say that He also knows when to give it better than you do yourself?
Sothat brings us back to the question... Why do we run away? Why won't we obey? Because we like to play god and be in control of our lives. If you are anything like me you hate not being in control of things. You feel like the worst could happen at any moment, and then you would have no way to fix it. But what I have found is that when I am "in control" the worst still happens, and I still have no way to fix it. you know why? Because I don't have the power to control everything that happens in my life. But I know someone who does. But don't get me wrong, just because I know this amazing Guy that will hold me in the palm of His hand, and protect me from anything, and set me on the perfect path, does not mean that I let Him do it. No No No..... I am an incredibly selfish person. I want everything now. Regardless of whether I am ready for it. I want to be in control. I want to live my life the way I choose. I want to be god in my life. Bet you never realized you felt that way sometimes. Did you ever really think that your selfishness is pushing God away, and saying you want to control things, and in effect take His job. I didn't for a long time.
God spoke through Isaiah inchapter 55 of his book, and He told us that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. Bottom line... that means He is smarter than us. It means His timing for things is better. It means that when I want something now, I should seek His will, and first see if I can handle it yet, and then see if it is intended for me yet. Yeah this is getting long...... I'll do patience later.
Just think about this.... why are you running? Why won't you let Him take care of you. What makes you want to have the power in your life?
This is a promise of God. He knows what is best for us. He has a purpose for us that He has already laid out. He wants our lives to be successful. Why doesn't it happen? Who wants to blame God? I bet lots of hands would go up if I asked that in a crowded room. But God has stated that He wants us to be successful. If that is what He desires, would He really try to keep us from that?
We have all felt abandoned by God at times. We struggle with feeling adequate about our lives. We simply want more fullness, more happiness, more satisfaction. after all, that is what God promised us. Why hasn't He delivered? Why does He just sit there while I suffer? Why doesn't God intervene and make me happy? Well I ask this... Why won't you let Him?
God has not moved. That goes against His nature, against His promises, and, most of all, against His Love for you. God has told us in John, Hebrews, Joshua, and probably other places, that He will never Leave us, never abandon us, and never forsake us. So why aren't we fulfilled? We have moved away, and what is worse, we are still choosing to do so.
We can probably look back over just the last 24 hours and see situations where we chose not to obey God. Why should we obey God? I am not naive enough to think that people don't ask that question everyday. Well here are a few ideas.
1. He created you. We call Him father for a reason. He gave you life. Without Him you would not be here at all. Ideally there is a form of respect that is shown to a father from his child, that is if the father is deserving. I know not everyone has been raised by a father who was worthy of that respect, if they even had a father at all, and for that reason God has given us more reasons to respect him.
2. He died for you. Without the death of Jesus Christ where would yo be? I'm willing to bet your life would have even less purpose than it does now. If you need a tangible example try this: put yourself in the shoes of a 15 year old child. You have no family, no home, and occaisionally no food. Each day is a new experience in suffering. Common people scoff at you and make fun of you as they pass by. Then one day you actually encounter a caring person. They are deeply moved by your situation and decide to take you into their home. they offer everything they have to you, their food, their home, their finances, their friends...... their life. How would you feel toward them? Do you insult their generosity by refusing to obey them? would you run away from someone who has saved you from so much? I doubt it. But you do it with God all the time don't you?
3. How about a purely selfish reason... God promises to give you what your heart truly desires. That means pure happiness. It is not a promise to give everything your head desires, your envious nature and greedy personality desire, or your lustful body thirsts for. These things don't bring true happiness. Oh sure you are feeling great when you get these things, but how long do those feelings last. If you can sustain it for moer than a couple of weeks I'd be impressed. These worldly pleasures are very shortlived, and if you are truly honest with yourself, you will probably see that they don't really satisfy you. all they do is make you want more of them. But God promises to know your heart, and what it really desires. Does that mean you will have it tomorrow? Probably not. Does that mean you don't deserve to have it tomorrow? Not necessarily. Most likely it means that if in fact you got it tomorrow you would do 1 of 2 things. Either you would not appreciate it yet, or you would fluff it up to the point where it is not enjoyable at all in the future. But rest assured that He promises you will have it. And if He knows what to give better than you do yourself, isn't it safe to say that He also knows when to give it better than you do yourself?
Sothat brings us back to the question... Why do we run away? Why won't we obey? Because we like to play god and be in control of our lives. If you are anything like me you hate not being in control of things. You feel like the worst could happen at any moment, and then you would have no way to fix it. But what I have found is that when I am "in control" the worst still happens, and I still have no way to fix it. you know why? Because I don't have the power to control everything that happens in my life. But I know someone who does. But don't get me wrong, just because I know this amazing Guy that will hold me in the palm of His hand, and protect me from anything, and set me on the perfect path, does not mean that I let Him do it. No No No..... I am an incredibly selfish person. I want everything now. Regardless of whether I am ready for it. I want to be in control. I want to live my life the way I choose. I want to be god in my life. Bet you never realized you felt that way sometimes. Did you ever really think that your selfishness is pushing God away, and saying you want to control things, and in effect take His job. I didn't for a long time.
God spoke through Isaiah inchapter 55 of his book, and He told us that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. Bottom line... that means He is smarter than us. It means His timing for things is better. It means that when I want something now, I should seek His will, and first see if I can handle it yet, and then see if it is intended for me yet. Yeah this is getting long...... I'll do patience later.
Just think about this.... why are you running? Why won't you let Him take care of you. What makes you want to have the power in your life?
Monday, October 02, 2006
theology 101
So some of the kids in the youth group have really started asking me some very intelligent questions. They were so good and so complex that it has inspired me to write about christianity in General. Rather than doing this in Random Q and A fashion... I figured I would try to create one really big picture, and we could just have ourselves a little theology discussion and debate. Feel free to comment on this one. God and Theology are things that I really love to talk about and discuss (but not argue). Be patient with me... it will be long, but I'm painting a very large picture. So here we go:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That's Genesis 1:1 In case you have never opened a Bible. The 1st chapter of Genesis goes on to detail the entire creation process. On Earth, God created Land, sea, skies, plants, animals, and finally humans in His own image. First God created a man, and then a woman from him. (Adam and Eve if you will, but if you study closely you will not find names for them) After God created each thing, He said it was good, but when man was created God said he needed more. Man needed someone else, a helper, a lover, a friend to complete him. Then God declared that to be good, as well.
We describe God as good.... so what do we mean by that? We have diminished the word "good" in our modern vocabulary. If we really enjoy something, or find something acceptable or desirable, we say it is Awesome, great, fantastic, amazing, or maybe tight, the bomb, sweet, thunder, or whatever tomorrow's word on the street will be. The word good was all that God needed. Why? Because the word good meant the absence of anything bad. Can you say that about any other word mentioned above? I doubt it. They are great words, but when we use them we are not always describing something in a good way. Example: The flood caused by Katrina in New Orleans was both awesome and amazing, but you cannot say that nothing bad was present, therefore it was not good. But we call God good, and He said the same of His creation.
We established that God created everything and that God said it was good. Does anyone have a red flag waving frantically yet? The meaning of good is the absence of anything bad right? When you look around God's creation today chances are you see things that are bad. So how does God get off calling it good? When He created it it was. So you ask, if Evil was not present where did it come from? How did it arise and create the world we live in today? Excellent question.
We seem to either forget or ignore that first part of Genesis where God states that He created the Heavens and the Earth. The heavens were created first. And who was in the Heavens? God was, and so were the Angels. To focus we will focus on the three Arch Angels we know about. All three were Angels created by God for a specific purpose.
First Michael: Mos of us have seen the movie "Michael" that starred John Travolta, and we have a small idea of who Michael is. For those who do not, view Michael as the high commander of God's armies of Angels. second Gabriel: He was God's announcer. He makes several appearances throughout the Bible in order to proclaim God's word or instructions to God's people.
Third Lucifer: or as we know him- Satan. God Named Him Lucifer. Lucifer was designed to give praises to God. (how ironic is that?) It is not that Lucifer simply led the angels in praising God. When you think of this don't think of your church organist or praise leader. No, Lucifer eminated music wherever he went. If it helpd you to view a music box sticking out of his chest, do that, it was probably something close to that idea. He could not help but to praise God wherever he went.
So how did Lucifer fal to what he is today? The same way you did... free will. WHAT!?!?! God gave the Angels free will too? But they are perfect. They can't choose wrong! That was your thought wasn't it? If not, I bet it was at one point in time. It was for me. But Lucifer Got greedy. He wanted everything that God had. He was and is powerful, and his pride blinded him and made him believe he was as strong and as powerful as God was. His Greed and Lust for Power became his downfall. Because of it, he was cast out of heaven and made to rule over the underworld. Unfortunately, Satan managed to convince one third of God's angels to choose to come with him. now tell me you don'tbelieve in Deamons, because that is who they are. Satan has introduced the evil temptations into the world, and that is why we are as messed up as we are today.
Why? I mean really....Why would Satan care at all about the people on earth? What use does he have for them? Honestly, none that I can think of. It's not like he is going to take humans to war against angels. Even he knows that is idiotic, no matter how many there are. Michael could probably let out one scream and kill them all. No. There is one reason. This is why satan cares about you, and tries to come after you. God kicked him out of heaven and forced him to the underworld. This without a doubt infuriated him. If you are mad at someone it is your natural instinct to want to take from them what they value the most. That is what Satan does. He goes after what God desires the most.... a relationship with his people. Taking that away is how he could hurt God the most, and Satan knew it.
So we move on to a new question. Why did God give us free will if it woul lead to evil, death, and destruction? Why let people choose if they are going to choose to hurt themselves? Why give the ones you love the chance to walk away? Let's look at it this way: Put yourself in the role of a mother or a father (please choose the one that applies). you have conceived a son, and have also built a fully functional human robot. This robot is programmed to do everything you ask, listen to everything you say, and choose the correct response in every situation. It is bound by its programming. It can not go against it, and it is true that it will not give you any problems. But you also have a son who, probably taking after his parent, is deceitful and mischevious. Which will bring you more joy? Seeing that Robot take off running to embrace you, because that is what it is programmes to do? Or seeing your son take off running to embrace you, because he has chosen to and because he loves you?
God has the ability to make us do what He wants, when He wants it, and do it how He wants it done, but where is the love in that? There is no love in creating a bunch of machines to do your every request. That is how a factory works, it is not how a joyful and loving relationship works. In order for God to love you, he had to give you the opportunity to choose whether you would return that love. If not, he would be no different than you autocratic tyrant of a boss, or a slave driver operating a sweat shop in Taiwan.
That was the easy part :) Now it gets fun.
Some say that if God truly loved us, He would not allow any of us to be separated from Him and spend an eternity in Hell. still others would step farther, and twist scripture and say that God has predestined some of us to spend eternity apart from Him. This comes down to how you define predestination. I see three approaches to defining predestination pretty often. 1st some us it to support that God is all knowing, and He knows what you will do before you decide to do it. True statement, but don't call it predestination. It defines God's knowledge well, but does nothing to speak of His actions. The 2nd group would say that predestination is like fate, and that God has already purposely set into motion a chain of events that we can do nothing to change. For example: God programmed you to be reading this very blog, at this exact moment in your life. choice is just an illusion. this takes us back to the machine complex we discussed earlier. It is contrary to God's character, and leaves out the chance for true love. If God wanted to control everything in such a way, He would never have allowed Evil into the world in the First place. 3rd Still others say that god is only active in predestining those who will find His salvation, and those who will not. For these I almost pull my hair out, because they are so close.
Predestination has everything to do with people finding salvation. They did great there. However was not God predestining certain humans to be saved and certain humans not to, but rather God predestining how those humans were to be saved. They would be saved by faith in Him, and faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. This salvation is for all God's people. Let that sink in. All God's people. Your church family, the disciples who followed Jesus, Paul, Billy Graham, a tribal church in Kenya, your little cousin billy Ray who was just baptized yesterday. But what about Abraham, Noah, Moses, David? Did Jesus save them? Absolutely!
WHAT!?!?! They lived and died before Jesus. How did Jesus Save them? They could never have even heard of Him!! I ask this.... how are they saved without Him? Do you really think they managed to make an atoning sacrifice for every malicious or lustful thought that passed through their mind? I can't even keep track of mine. There is no way. God Preached Faith to those in the Old Testament just as he preaches Faith to those in the New Testament, and just as it is preached to you and me.
To understand this we must understand that God transcends time. Meaning God is above it, operates outside of it, and is not bound by it. How would you define eternity? Pause....... seriously think about it.
Most would say eternity is time that never ends. Well...... did it begin? We as humans are bound by time. In fact, we are slaves to it. Our entire lives run on time schedules, we can't escape it. You always have some place you have to be at some time. don't you? But for God, Eternity is the absence of time. No beginnin. No end. No nothing. Does your head hurt yet?
God knew how He would save mankind even before He created it. He knew before time as we know it began, that Jesus Christ would save all of His creation. How's that for predestination?
If that confuses you tell me, and we will talk more. I didn't want to write a novel..... so believe it or not, you got the short version. I'm going to stop for now. I was going to get into ordinances and sacraments, but this is long enough, and that would have added too much. Hopefully I have worked your mind enough to allow you to sleep tonight. Comments and questions are welcomed. Stupid arguments are not. God bless you all.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That's Genesis 1:1 In case you have never opened a Bible. The 1st chapter of Genesis goes on to detail the entire creation process. On Earth, God created Land, sea, skies, plants, animals, and finally humans in His own image. First God created a man, and then a woman from him. (Adam and Eve if you will, but if you study closely you will not find names for them) After God created each thing, He said it was good, but when man was created God said he needed more. Man needed someone else, a helper, a lover, a friend to complete him. Then God declared that to be good, as well.
We describe God as good.... so what do we mean by that? We have diminished the word "good" in our modern vocabulary. If we really enjoy something, or find something acceptable or desirable, we say it is Awesome, great, fantastic, amazing, or maybe tight, the bomb, sweet, thunder, or whatever tomorrow's word on the street will be. The word good was all that God needed. Why? Because the word good meant the absence of anything bad. Can you say that about any other word mentioned above? I doubt it. They are great words, but when we use them we are not always describing something in a good way. Example: The flood caused by Katrina in New Orleans was both awesome and amazing, but you cannot say that nothing bad was present, therefore it was not good. But we call God good, and He said the same of His creation.
We established that God created everything and that God said it was good. Does anyone have a red flag waving frantically yet? The meaning of good is the absence of anything bad right? When you look around God's creation today chances are you see things that are bad. So how does God get off calling it good? When He created it it was. So you ask, if Evil was not present where did it come from? How did it arise and create the world we live in today? Excellent question.
We seem to either forget or ignore that first part of Genesis where God states that He created the Heavens and the Earth. The heavens were created first. And who was in the Heavens? God was, and so were the Angels. To focus we will focus on the three Arch Angels we know about. All three were Angels created by God for a specific purpose.
First Michael: Mos of us have seen the movie "Michael" that starred John Travolta, and we have a small idea of who Michael is. For those who do not, view Michael as the high commander of God's armies of Angels. second Gabriel: He was God's announcer. He makes several appearances throughout the Bible in order to proclaim God's word or instructions to God's people.
Third Lucifer: or as we know him- Satan. God Named Him Lucifer. Lucifer was designed to give praises to God. (how ironic is that?) It is not that Lucifer simply led the angels in praising God. When you think of this don't think of your church organist or praise leader. No, Lucifer eminated music wherever he went. If it helpd you to view a music box sticking out of his chest, do that, it was probably something close to that idea. He could not help but to praise God wherever he went.
So how did Lucifer fal to what he is today? The same way you did... free will. WHAT!?!?! God gave the Angels free will too? But they are perfect. They can't choose wrong! That was your thought wasn't it? If not, I bet it was at one point in time. It was for me. But Lucifer Got greedy. He wanted everything that God had. He was and is powerful, and his pride blinded him and made him believe he was as strong and as powerful as God was. His Greed and Lust for Power became his downfall. Because of it, he was cast out of heaven and made to rule over the underworld. Unfortunately, Satan managed to convince one third of God's angels to choose to come with him. now tell me you don'tbelieve in Deamons, because that is who they are. Satan has introduced the evil temptations into the world, and that is why we are as messed up as we are today.
Why? I mean really....Why would Satan care at all about the people on earth? What use does he have for them? Honestly, none that I can think of. It's not like he is going to take humans to war against angels. Even he knows that is idiotic, no matter how many there are. Michael could probably let out one scream and kill them all. No. There is one reason. This is why satan cares about you, and tries to come after you. God kicked him out of heaven and forced him to the underworld. This without a doubt infuriated him. If you are mad at someone it is your natural instinct to want to take from them what they value the most. That is what Satan does. He goes after what God desires the most.... a relationship with his people. Taking that away is how he could hurt God the most, and Satan knew it.
So we move on to a new question. Why did God give us free will if it woul lead to evil, death, and destruction? Why let people choose if they are going to choose to hurt themselves? Why give the ones you love the chance to walk away? Let's look at it this way: Put yourself in the role of a mother or a father (please choose the one that applies). you have conceived a son, and have also built a fully functional human robot. This robot is programmed to do everything you ask, listen to everything you say, and choose the correct response in every situation. It is bound by its programming. It can not go against it, and it is true that it will not give you any problems. But you also have a son who, probably taking after his parent, is deceitful and mischevious. Which will bring you more joy? Seeing that Robot take off running to embrace you, because that is what it is programmes to do? Or seeing your son take off running to embrace you, because he has chosen to and because he loves you?
God has the ability to make us do what He wants, when He wants it, and do it how He wants it done, but where is the love in that? There is no love in creating a bunch of machines to do your every request. That is how a factory works, it is not how a joyful and loving relationship works. In order for God to love you, he had to give you the opportunity to choose whether you would return that love. If not, he would be no different than you autocratic tyrant of a boss, or a slave driver operating a sweat shop in Taiwan.
That was the easy part :) Now it gets fun.
Some say that if God truly loved us, He would not allow any of us to be separated from Him and spend an eternity in Hell. still others would step farther, and twist scripture and say that God has predestined some of us to spend eternity apart from Him. This comes down to how you define predestination. I see three approaches to defining predestination pretty often. 1st some us it to support that God is all knowing, and He knows what you will do before you decide to do it. True statement, but don't call it predestination. It defines God's knowledge well, but does nothing to speak of His actions. The 2nd group would say that predestination is like fate, and that God has already purposely set into motion a chain of events that we can do nothing to change. For example: God programmed you to be reading this very blog, at this exact moment in your life. choice is just an illusion. this takes us back to the machine complex we discussed earlier. It is contrary to God's character, and leaves out the chance for true love. If God wanted to control everything in such a way, He would never have allowed Evil into the world in the First place. 3rd Still others say that god is only active in predestining those who will find His salvation, and those who will not. For these I almost pull my hair out, because they are so close.
Predestination has everything to do with people finding salvation. They did great there. However was not God predestining certain humans to be saved and certain humans not to, but rather God predestining how those humans were to be saved. They would be saved by faith in Him, and faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. This salvation is for all God's people. Let that sink in. All God's people. Your church family, the disciples who followed Jesus, Paul, Billy Graham, a tribal church in Kenya, your little cousin billy Ray who was just baptized yesterday. But what about Abraham, Noah, Moses, David? Did Jesus save them? Absolutely!
WHAT!?!?! They lived and died before Jesus. How did Jesus Save them? They could never have even heard of Him!! I ask this.... how are they saved without Him? Do you really think they managed to make an atoning sacrifice for every malicious or lustful thought that passed through their mind? I can't even keep track of mine. There is no way. God Preached Faith to those in the Old Testament just as he preaches Faith to those in the New Testament, and just as it is preached to you and me.
To understand this we must understand that God transcends time. Meaning God is above it, operates outside of it, and is not bound by it. How would you define eternity? Pause....... seriously think about it.
Most would say eternity is time that never ends. Well...... did it begin? We as humans are bound by time. In fact, we are slaves to it. Our entire lives run on time schedules, we can't escape it. You always have some place you have to be at some time. don't you? But for God, Eternity is the absence of time. No beginnin. No end. No nothing. Does your head hurt yet?
God knew how He would save mankind even before He created it. He knew before time as we know it began, that Jesus Christ would save all of His creation. How's that for predestination?
If that confuses you tell me, and we will talk more. I didn't want to write a novel..... so believe it or not, you got the short version. I'm going to stop for now. I was going to get into ordinances and sacraments, but this is long enough, and that would have added too much. Hopefully I have worked your mind enough to allow you to sleep tonight. Comments and questions are welcomed. Stupid arguments are not. God bless you all.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
How do they see you???
"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants and stewards of the mysteries of God."
The apostle Paul scribed these words to the church at Corinth, but they are still appropriate for us today. How often do we allow ourselves to be regarded that way? Does it happen just by your normal course of action on any given day? My guess is probably not. It would not from mine. As I have thought about the people I come into conteact with daily, weekly, or with any sort of regularity, I can't say that most would regard me this way. Why? Because I do not give them the opportunity. If I do not act in this manner, I will never be regarded in this manner.
Although indeed, I may often liev up to the calling of acting in a way that is holy and pleasing to God, would those around me realize that that isactually my motivation for doing it? Would they even think it strange? Or would they just simply view me as being a nice person? there are a great deal of people I would never regard as a "servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God."
Ghandi is the perfect example. He was an incredibly respected world leader even though he never held any sort of political office, nor ruled any country. Ghandi held strictly to a policy of non-violence, and welcomed anyone into his presence. It would have taken a serious character flaw to leave Ghandi disliking him. But Ghandi had nothing to do with Christ, and he did not claim to.
Certainly, Christ is not the only motivation to live a life loving and caring for others. It is, however, the only motivation that brings eternal rewards.
And Although it is true that we are able to make it to heaven based on accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and not based on our actions, if you say that you believe something to be right and true, but then show the opposite by your actions, who is going to believe you? And possibly worse... whose perspective of Christianity have you tarnished beyond anything you can do to repair it? I think a great many believers can look back into their past and fell an overwhelming sorrow for actions they have commited in front of nonbelievers that have left deep impressions.
Regardless of our intentions, you are affecting lives everyday whether we realize it or not.
You see, like it or not, by embarking on this Christian lifestyle we have accepted a higher calling with more responsibilities. Our main one is to share the joy and rewards God has given us with others. We don't simply share that with words. You can not share joy if you don not have joy yourself. Is it possible to share anything you don't have?
Sharing is more than words. an overused, but very applicable cliche' is that our actions do speak louder than our words. Christians know that phrase well. After all, we are all hippocrites. we would have to be perfect not to be. Perfection is our role model, after all, and that is what we strive to be. If indeed no one is perfect, then all Christians are hippocrites. Deal with it.
I don't say that my like needs to be perfect. My point is that I need to pay better attention to the people I am around when I let my imperfections slip, as they are sure to do.
First, we mus adjust our lives to actually reflect the principles and morals we believe in. Afterwards, we have to find a way to convey where our morals come from. You will be rewarded for treating with others with love even if they do not know that it is Jesus that compels you to do it. But will that do anything to change their lives? They won't have a chance to receive that reward if you can't convey The saving Grace that has covered you. In the 10th chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that anyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved. But how can they call on someone in whome they do not believe? And how can they believe in someone they have never heard of? and how will they hear if no one tells them?
Treating others with love is great, but revealing to them why we do it is better. we have to ask ourselves this: If we treat someone well, show them love, always take care of them, but never introduce them to the savior that compelled us to do it....... are we really showing them love at all???
The apostle Paul scribed these words to the church at Corinth, but they are still appropriate for us today. How often do we allow ourselves to be regarded that way? Does it happen just by your normal course of action on any given day? My guess is probably not. It would not from mine. As I have thought about the people I come into conteact with daily, weekly, or with any sort of regularity, I can't say that most would regard me this way. Why? Because I do not give them the opportunity. If I do not act in this manner, I will never be regarded in this manner.
Although indeed, I may often liev up to the calling of acting in a way that is holy and pleasing to God, would those around me realize that that isactually my motivation for doing it? Would they even think it strange? Or would they just simply view me as being a nice person? there are a great deal of people I would never regard as a "servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God."
Ghandi is the perfect example. He was an incredibly respected world leader even though he never held any sort of political office, nor ruled any country. Ghandi held strictly to a policy of non-violence, and welcomed anyone into his presence. It would have taken a serious character flaw to leave Ghandi disliking him. But Ghandi had nothing to do with Christ, and he did not claim to.
Certainly, Christ is not the only motivation to live a life loving and caring for others. It is, however, the only motivation that brings eternal rewards.
And Although it is true that we are able to make it to heaven based on accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and not based on our actions, if you say that you believe something to be right and true, but then show the opposite by your actions, who is going to believe you? And possibly worse... whose perspective of Christianity have you tarnished beyond anything you can do to repair it? I think a great many believers can look back into their past and fell an overwhelming sorrow for actions they have commited in front of nonbelievers that have left deep impressions.
Regardless of our intentions, you are affecting lives everyday whether we realize it or not.
You see, like it or not, by embarking on this Christian lifestyle we have accepted a higher calling with more responsibilities. Our main one is to share the joy and rewards God has given us with others. We don't simply share that with words. You can not share joy if you don not have joy yourself. Is it possible to share anything you don't have?
Sharing is more than words. an overused, but very applicable cliche' is that our actions do speak louder than our words. Christians know that phrase well. After all, we are all hippocrites. we would have to be perfect not to be. Perfection is our role model, after all, and that is what we strive to be. If indeed no one is perfect, then all Christians are hippocrites. Deal with it.
I don't say that my like needs to be perfect. My point is that I need to pay better attention to the people I am around when I let my imperfections slip, as they are sure to do.
First, we mus adjust our lives to actually reflect the principles and morals we believe in. Afterwards, we have to find a way to convey where our morals come from. You will be rewarded for treating with others with love even if they do not know that it is Jesus that compels you to do it. But will that do anything to change their lives? They won't have a chance to receive that reward if you can't convey The saving Grace that has covered you. In the 10th chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that anyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved. But how can they call on someone in whome they do not believe? And how can they believe in someone they have never heard of? and how will they hear if no one tells them?
Treating others with love is great, but revealing to them why we do it is better. we have to ask ourselves this: If we treat someone well, show them love, always take care of them, but never introduce them to the savior that compelled us to do it....... are we really showing them love at all???
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Why I suck, and why that is OK
So, as I said before, I only do this when I get bored, and I got bored while giving the C.A.T.S. test one day, so I wrote this. (Those from Kentucky already know that I basically had 3 hours of silence.) It only took me about a week to find time to type it 
. So here goes. This is why I suck.
I suck , because I have been given free will. Now I realize that the fact that I have free will is the only reason I can love god and love others, and it actually be meaningful. But, it also means that I have the power to screw up, and do it well, and do it often.
It makes God harder and harder to fathom each day. That is, that He knew from the beginning that it would be better to allow us to make mistakes rather than function as machines that always do what is expected. In order to let love into the world, He had to let evil in, as well, and thus give us the right to choose between them.
So why don't I? Why can't I choose between them? One minute I choose to love someone, and the next, to ignore them. First I choose good, then I decide that evil is much easier, or more convenient. Why can't I simply be bold and choose to follow one path? why do I allow myself to go back and forth so many times that I ge myself tied in more crazy knots than a 5 year old's shoe laces? James only hinted at our problem when he saidnthat out of our same mouths come both praises and cursing. In reality, they both come from our mind, and even more exist that we do not speak. In fact I am sure many are like me, and what is thought in their mind is often much worse than what actually proceeds out of their mouth.
How often is it better? How often do we have a nicer thought in our mind than what we say? For me it is almost never. I can't even think of a time unless I was intentionally trying to be harmful with my words. We are always so quick to let everyone know that we have something good to say, but we always hide our true feelings if they are bad.
Most of the time I know what the correct decision is if I will just think about it. So why do I do otherwise? Why do I argue with God when He has already given me the ability to know what is correct on my own? Why, even though He knows what is best for me, do I made it seem as if it is the wrong decision to choose the one He has set before me? And why do I not see the irony that arguing with Him is arguing against the very power that gave me the ability to argue at all? Why do I use this gift that God has so graciously given me against Him?
This makes grace all the more amazing. That a no good enemy of God like I am (at times) can still have the chance to have a personal relationship with Him. I am glad that my salvation is not up to me. If it were, I would have no chance. But while, indeed, my ability to talk and be with God is nto up to me, my ability to please Him is. That is where I need to work on my life, and stop taking His grace and forgiveness for granted. I need to give God at least a fraction of the pleasure He has already given me.
. So here goes. This is why I suck.I suck , because I have been given free will. Now I realize that the fact that I have free will is the only reason I can love god and love others, and it actually be meaningful. But, it also means that I have the power to screw up, and do it well, and do it often.
It makes God harder and harder to fathom each day. That is, that He knew from the beginning that it would be better to allow us to make mistakes rather than function as machines that always do what is expected. In order to let love into the world, He had to let evil in, as well, and thus give us the right to choose between them.
So why don't I? Why can't I choose between them? One minute I choose to love someone, and the next, to ignore them. First I choose good, then I decide that evil is much easier, or more convenient. Why can't I simply be bold and choose to follow one path? why do I allow myself to go back and forth so many times that I ge myself tied in more crazy knots than a 5 year old's shoe laces? James only hinted at our problem when he saidnthat out of our same mouths come both praises and cursing. In reality, they both come from our mind, and even more exist that we do not speak. In fact I am sure many are like me, and what is thought in their mind is often much worse than what actually proceeds out of their mouth.
How often is it better? How often do we have a nicer thought in our mind than what we say? For me it is almost never. I can't even think of a time unless I was intentionally trying to be harmful with my words. We are always so quick to let everyone know that we have something good to say, but we always hide our true feelings if they are bad.
Most of the time I know what the correct decision is if I will just think about it. So why do I do otherwise? Why do I argue with God when He has already given me the ability to know what is correct on my own? Why, even though He knows what is best for me, do I made it seem as if it is the wrong decision to choose the one He has set before me? And why do I not see the irony that arguing with Him is arguing against the very power that gave me the ability to argue at all? Why do I use this gift that God has so graciously given me against Him?
This makes grace all the more amazing. That a no good enemy of God like I am (at times) can still have the chance to have a personal relationship with Him. I am glad that my salvation is not up to me. If it were, I would have no chance. But while, indeed, my ability to talk and be with God is nto up to me, my ability to please Him is. That is where I need to work on my life, and stop taking His grace and forgiveness for granted. I need to give God at least a fraction of the pleasure He has already given me.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Jesus died for everyone..... EVERYONE
Jesus........
I was sitting and thinking and reflecting the other day, it was kind of a quiet time, I just hadn't intended for it to be one. So I was just entranced with Jesus dying on the cross, and how difficult a step it must have been for Him to take to actually go through with it. He prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane the night before that if there was another way.... God should use it. I'm thinking I might have had a similar response, except I'm sure mine would have seemed more like begging than I simple request. I know we all love to think of how much Jesus loves us, and that He expressed that love by going to the cross. Now I don't discount that Jesus loves us, but there was more to it than the Love that my Savior has for us. God's entire plan for saving the souls of this world was to be fulfilled through this one act. This was God's plan. And God is first and foremost about God, and second about our lives and His love for us. If we were first (above His righteousness and Holiness) His Character would not matter, and therefore He would not be any higher than us. So God is all about His plan.
Well I began to realize that since God was all about His plan, Jesus had to be as well. His own life depended on it. Jesus had lived a perfectly sinless life. He taught those He came into contact with all about righteousness and purity while being faced with the same temptations I am faced with, plus countless others. Yet He never faltered to those temptations. If He had not been tempted as we were, He would not have been worthy to be a sacrifice for us. So Jesus was sinless, because He had never gone against His Fathers desires. So if He had not gone to the cross and died for all of us, He in turn would have been committing a sin, because He was making a willful act, apart from God, on His own power. That means if Jesus had not gone to the cross, he would not have been on His way to Heaven and would have been cut off from fellowship with God. That is why I say Jesus died for everyone....EVERYONE..... even himself
I was sitting and thinking and reflecting the other day, it was kind of a quiet time, I just hadn't intended for it to be one. So I was just entranced with Jesus dying on the cross, and how difficult a step it must have been for Him to take to actually go through with it. He prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane the night before that if there was another way.... God should use it. I'm thinking I might have had a similar response, except I'm sure mine would have seemed more like begging than I simple request. I know we all love to think of how much Jesus loves us, and that He expressed that love by going to the cross. Now I don't discount that Jesus loves us, but there was more to it than the Love that my Savior has for us. God's entire plan for saving the souls of this world was to be fulfilled through this one act. This was God's plan. And God is first and foremost about God, and second about our lives and His love for us. If we were first (above His righteousness and Holiness) His Character would not matter, and therefore He would not be any higher than us. So God is all about His plan.
Well I began to realize that since God was all about His plan, Jesus had to be as well. His own life depended on it. Jesus had lived a perfectly sinless life. He taught those He came into contact with all about righteousness and purity while being faced with the same temptations I am faced with, plus countless others. Yet He never faltered to those temptations. If He had not been tempted as we were, He would not have been worthy to be a sacrifice for us. So Jesus was sinless, because He had never gone against His Fathers desires. So if He had not gone to the cross and died for all of us, He in turn would have been committing a sin, because He was making a willful act, apart from God, on His own power. That means if Jesus had not gone to the cross, he would not have been on His way to Heaven and would have been cut off from fellowship with God. That is why I say Jesus died for everyone....EVERYONE..... even himself
getting a real blog
So I finally decided that I was going to not rely on myspace for this since many of my friends do not own a myspace account. And this is.... for lack of better terminology, a real blog. So here you will get my random thoughts.... mostly about God and how we relate to Him....... but maybe a few random entertaining things intermingled. My first posts will probably be some reposts of my myspace blogs, so if you have seen them, sorry this isn't new yet.... but eventually you might get some good stuff from me :)
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