Category Archives: the gospel

Living Truth

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I see a fearsome mistake that men far too often make.  I see it for two reasons.  First I see the mistake because I saw it in other men.  Then the mistake came to life as I saw it in myself.

The mistake is that any man should think he holds the truth in his own hand.  And the mistake becomes evident when our actions and words do not reflect perfection and purity.

I know that many will not understand this.  They will think that the body of religious words have power in themselves.  But this mistake happens when people forget that the body of religious words are but a shadow of He who is immeasurably pure and brilliantly righteous.

The mistake happens when people look to their own history, or even the history of any other man, and think the truth they perceive can belong to man.

Man, in himself, can never hold the fullness of what is true.  I used the word never and meant it with all the fullness that that means.  Man’s reliance on the Living God’s Holy Son does not cease at our eternal appearance in heaven.

Truth is the Living God himself.  Truth is not a body of evidence among men, whether in word or in deed.  Truth is the Living
Person of Jesus the Christ of God. 

Failure to pray will surely lead us into things that are not completely true.  Failure to humble ourselves before the Majesty of God, will surely cause us to live abundantly in a Body of Lies.

Nothing

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In a fancy room, removed from the prying eyes of the general public, debate has taken place.  All members of the conversation emerged.  Each one went to his expected place. 

As if rising to crescendo from the stillness of breath, the leader begins to speak.  With great confidence of his unalterable position, the Pope has declared that Jesus is no better and no worse than any other version of God on the face of this planet.

I look around and I see no change to the grass.  It is still green.  I look around and I see that all the buildings are still on their foundations.  I woke from sleep and took note that my eyelids functioned just fine.  Even my cell phone obeys my command to write.

See, the Pope’s power to bring Christ down is of no effect at all.  But I do wonder what the response of Islam might be.  I wonder how Islam feels about having their God brought level in a mud puddle with the Christ.

Any man can say anything he wants to say, it does not make his words true.  Any man can fill himself with truth for the grace of God abounds.  Or any man can revert from speaking the truth and become a blatant liar, for free will abounds in this place of shadows.

The world will be a buzz.  Heaven does not even notice.

Love Wins

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http://www.10tv.com/content/mediaplayer/embed.html?ooid=5zNWx4dTqDyHO2mOE5AwHgSyucl_qwZI&cmpid=share

A new billboard scars the land of man.  “LOVE WINS”.

I was in the room while the news spoke of this.  They showed an old man with a white beard saying that they chose this message because it is not offensive to either side.

With what control I could use, I restrained my voice as I muttered, “Define love, son.”  Love honors what is Holy.  It is the lust of man that renders Holy as if it were some evil thing.  It is the “love of man” that obscures the Love of God.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

So I have some questions about this:

Is it love to demand your own way at the insult of others?

Is it love to redefine a great volume of words so that they match your ideology?

Is it love to force your preference of sexual experience on others, simply because you think you have “rights”?

Hey folks.  Listen to this.  “God is Love”.  Man is, by his nature, an offence to the Love of God.  Are we exempt from offence because we nullify the Love of God; the Holy One before whom NO evil will ever stand?

You think you’ve come up with another victory because you think you can use the word love to uphold your selfish choices.  You think, “Surely, they will respect this message.  ‘Love Wins” can’t possibly upset anyone.”  Have you considered the Only One who matters?  Have you consulted His eternal wisdom as you make your plans to retain your sins?  God is Sovereign.  Why do you allow yourself to “guess” about what offends Him?  All the while, the Bible stands ready to be read with understanding.

But this is your day to do as you please.  I, and many others, stand to warn:  The day is soon coming when all Man will be silenced.  God will have His Holy Day to do as pleases Him.  No longer will there be a redefinition of words.  He will speak with eternal clarity.  He will not hide behind crafty words.  Who will be able to bear what He will say?

So much to say.   Who will bother to listen?

What is the Nature of Love?

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The parents of a murderer are pressed hard against the wall.  They remember when he was a baby; purely innocent and full of potential.  But now, like he, they must face the fact of the things he has done.  If he is sentenced to life in prison, they have to wrestle with the understanding that he will never come home again.

With the purest possible love, and the greatest possible regret, they remember him when he lay so sweetly in their arms.  But mistakes, the influence of outside forces, and the choices of the man, have ripped potential from their dreams.  Who can voice a sadness like that?  Tell me that loss isn’t personal.

Tell me they don’t think of how much better it might have been if their sweet baby had been stillborn.  Better for the victim’s family.  Better for the society that was robbed of precious potential.  Better that a prison cell should house anyone else, and that for lesser crimes. . . PLEASE!  Better for the sounds that the walls of their house remember.  Better for their aching hearts that cannot find healing.

They cannot love their child to the potential they once desired, for once a deed like that is done it cannot be erased. 

But you will not rip away what love remains, from their hearts.  For they will seek with great diligence to find the shreds of their baby that remain in their son.

Love is not passive. 
Love is not blind. 
Love is married to wisdom.
Pure love understands what is pure. 
Love makes way for reality.
Love may experience restriction.
Love may be forsaken!
But it is impossible for love to die.

Fearless Proclamation

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People keep telling us we have no right to judge.  In the language of this world I have responded that we have the right to make assessments.  But the Apostle Paul went much farther than that.  Read this and understand.

14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2)

There is no truth to what they say, we are compelled to make judgments according to the rule of our Lord.  But even if we water it down to simple assessments, still they rage in our direction.   Do not let that stop you.  For unless they hear, they will surely die.

God has spoken his expectations.  If we perceive a man refusing to obey, we have an obligation to step forward and help him.  If he throws back in our face, “You have no right to judge me”, ponder in your heart; is it better for him to hear your words or the words of the living God on the final day of his life?

Who will rise to the things of God?  Who will willingly dawn the mantle of the Gospel and go with strength?  The only thing they throw at us are words, my brothers!  Why do we let them make us afraid?!

Opinion?

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Will you help a beggar in the street?  Will you look the other way when you see a drunk?  In your opinion, what is the difference between the two?

Are not both bodies in a posture of weakness?

You praise the soldier whose pride lets him run toward the enemy, mindless of death.  And you agree with the average Joe who is proud to say he does not worry about the coming judgment.  In your opinion, what is the difference between the two?

Are not both of them bent on self reliance?  Do you think death cares?

Do you fear God?  Do you think the fear of God is a matter of opinion; as if it’s okay to let another man think he has a choice.  As if God has said he is willing to give eternal life to those who refuse to love him.  Or do you realize that that man will surely die?

All day long, everyone of us are witness to people who despise the teaching of God.  When you see them, do you realize you’re looking at a dead man?  Or do you just say to yourself, “It takes all kinds to make the world go around”?

Do you shake your head in pity when you consider what people are doing in this world?  Are you doing anything to bring the judgment of God to your fellow man?  Is shaking our heads in pity putting an end to the violence in our streets?

Do you know what the Bible says about the coming judgment?  Do you use the Gospel simply as a motivator for social righteousness?  Do you honestly believe that’s all it is?