Category Archives: teaching

Sayings Worthy of Acceptance

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Sayings that are worthy of retention, contemplation, and sharing:

1.  Receiving the Gospel from a man makes the receiver twice blessed.  For you have kissed your sweet brother with an eternal joy, and you have the assurance of sharing that joy together for eternity.

2.  Christ Jesus is first in absolutely everything.  He is not some passing fanciful and ecstatic joy during a worship session.  He is first and comfort even in the most extreme and horrific circumstances.

3.  Rejection of the Gospel does nothing to eternity.  You were dead before you heard it, and you remain dead as you reject it.  The dead are no loss to the Living God.  Pride makes you think you’re something.  Frankly, you’re just not that important.

4.  A Gospel of extortion is no gospel at all.  God does not desire a people who are under duress to serve Him.  The Gospel is free of manipulation.  It does not demand acceptance.  It is a declarative call for free will.  As we love Jesus we will obey.

5.  God is not isolated from anything.  Only the perception of man can isolate one thing from another.  The concept of “Object Permanence” is taught in pediatrics.  Hide a baby’s fingers and watch his face turn to anxiety. 

God owns eternity, for eternity is of God.  Equally, God owns this wicked place of testing.  For every sin is a distortion of eternity.  Just because the hand of God is unseen, doesn’t mean it’s gone

6.  Every man knows he lives a lie.  Ignoring the truth of Christ Jesus does nothing to fix a lie.  Receiving the fullness of the Gospel of Christ, this is the fix. 

7.  Nostalgia brings no permanent joy.  Soon enough, you will be nostalgia for others.

8.  Everything in this world points to Christ Jesus.  For nothing is created here that was not created by him.  And our misuse of his creation does not nullify his signature.

9.  Fear is no excuse for remaining ungodly.  For Christ did not fear to do the will of His Holy Father in heaven.  Fear has to do with unbelief.  As if the one who fears, calls the Holy Son a liar.  What kind of reception should the fearful receive on that Great Day of Judgement?

10.  There is a difference between weakness of flesh and rebellion of soul.  God is able to distinguish between the two.  The one he will comfort and encourage toward boldness.  The other he will dismiss without regret.  The wisdom of God among men gives discernment.

11.  Death brings an eternal seal to every man; what we had become in life, to that we are sealed forever.  It is of the father of lies to speak anything differently.

12.  Let the acceptable threshold of Christianity remain elevated.  The expectation is godliness.  How then shall we set the bar at 0?  Not one man but Christ can reach 100%.  Yet surely there is a number in between, which we can grasp with an iron grip.

There are hundreds more worthwhile sayings.  But these are enough to keep us busy for the remainder of our life.

By His Grace

“Keeping” our Brother

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Have Christians coddled one another to the point of eternal death?  Have many gone to the grave destined to suffer eternal loss?  And has the reason been, that no one confronted them in regard to the seriousness of rebellion?

let every man do what he knows the Gospel demands.  If our brother displays a weakness that is inherent from his former life, then let us encourage him towards strength.  Let us fill his mind with the promises of God for those who are faithful.  Let us continually remind him of those who have gone before us through great sufferings.  Let us strive to point out how trivial our sufferings of this day are, compared to that which is to come.  By all means let us encourage such a one.

But let us make a distinction between weakness and rebellion!  Is Christ in us not wise enough to make the distinction?

Coddle weakness in the hopes of overcoming.  But confront rebellion for what it is!  Even our unwillingness to distinguish between the two, is rebellion in itself.  For God has promised us the gift of wisdom, given freely and without judgement.

We do well to point out rebellion as an abomination before the Living God.  We do well to encourage such ones with Holy Terror.  Let us bring a simlatude of the Judgement Day before their eyes.  Let us help them perceive their destiny as eternal death. 

We will most assuredly regret our fear of confrontation.  Gather together the boldness of Christ that lays dormant within you.  Strike out with confidence, and Christ will bless your way.

Jude said these things best.  22 “Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

But I must also add this.  Do these things with the utmost of godly care.  If the beam in your eye remains, you will not weild the wisdom of God with reliability.  But if you are submissive to the will of God in Christ.  If you have endured the purification offered by the Holy Spirit.  If your own life begins to depict the righteousness of Christ.  You have an obligation to apply these things. 

The putrid reply of Cain is unacceptable.  Yes we are our brothers keeper!  Yes we will be held accountable the death of many.  If you are not willing, then prepare yourself for the rebuke of God.

Amen.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.

By His Grace

Describing Desire

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What kind of burning desire emboldens the Christian?  It would not be right to say, they think of themselves as righteous folks; as if they look down their nose on those who do not believe.  Rather, they burn with a desire to share.

But what words might be used to describe this consuming desire?  If we speak of the enticement of eternal life, we would miss the mark.  To speak of the clean conscience born by the forgiveness of Christ, is fully insufficient.  And to say that they love God, is to make a mockery of the love of God.  For a love toward God, as seen in the Christian, is easily shown as less than full.

So perplexity attends the building of this article.  Because the consuming fire within my heart is more than all these things put together.  The fire is Christ Jesus himself.

In this place of testing, man will lack any ability to describe the Majesty that is Christ.  The best any Christian can do, is to allow the Lord to display himself (By this I mean we simply agree with the Lord).  And in this we recognize what was told the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you”.

By command of Eternity, the Gospel has been handed to men.  Even so, in this it finds restraint.

But now perceive what God has done.  When he enclosed his Majesty in restraint, he intensified desire near to the point of explosion. 

It is as if one closes the door on the oven.  When it is open, the intensity of heat is lessened.  But close the door and you can melt metal.  All this he has done in the frailty of a human life.

Today, this is as close as I can come to describing the desire of a Christian to preach the word to all men.  If you would know more fully about these things, dedicate yourself to things of Christ.

By His Grace

Relinquish With Joy

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The world looks on compassion as a weakness.  They consider that a weakened man cannot sustain his hold on the things he has.  So their hideous greed approaches, emboldened.

Let them take the things their eyes see.  For they do not perceive the Christ of God.  But let your precious belongings be those of Christ.  For these things you will keep though you die.

They cannot steal what they cannot perceive.  They will not take those things which are distasteful and worthless to them.

But let the man add to his treasures, those things of Christ Jesus.  Amass the things that are unspeakably beautiful.  Pile up the things that are eternal.  Become a connoisseur of what is Holy. 

No one will touch your riches.  And you will find yourself void of fear to protect.  Sleep will be peaceful.  And you may even encourage the thief to take more.  For the things of this world can only detract from the riches you are amasing.

If the wisdom of our Holy Lord is determined to take from us all that can be held, how does the man of God say no? 

“No” comes from the lips of the one who is not yet complete.  The weakness in him causes him anguish to consider relinquishing what is filthy.  How can it possibly be right that a Christian should do such a thing?

By His Grace

Steps to Christian Maturity

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5 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1)

Curiously enough, I have found personally, that the order of these qualities can be trusted.  Attempt the last one first and you will find yourself in error. 

Maturity in Christ begins with faith filled repentance, and finds its culmination in love.  It is written that the fear of the living God is the beginning of wisdom.  It should be well noted the Godly love is dispensed in Godly wisdom.

By His Grace

Toward Easter

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Much to my surprise, evidently there is conflict over which day of the week Jesus was crucified.  Ok fine.  But the day does not matter as much as what God has done.

Those who should have known him.  Those who should have been able to embrace him.  These became the instrument of His glory.

It is not ours to hold it against them.  I have often been reminded that men will do what they do.

But as it was true and Joseph’s words, so it is true in Christ.  It was meant for evil, but God has used it for good.

By His Grace