Tag Archives: Christianity

All things Christ

Stupid Intelligence

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Stupid signs

Stupid signs (Photo credit: pkevinconnell)

I cannot understand us.  How do I put this?  I guess I’ll start with what we all know.

Men love selfishness.  And I guess that’s natural.  I’ve often said that we are born defensive.  After all, we can’t get outside our vulnerable skin.  So we are on the defensive from the moment we notice we have fingers.  Ok, I got that.

Now I know that this selfishness lends itself to rebellion against manipulation of any kind.  Even if we try to help another man understand his responsibility to others, it’s like pulling teeth without pain-killer.  Isn’t that what we face raising teens?

And what if a teen has not learned responsibility when it was due to learn?  He becomes an adult full of selfish and childish attitudes about life.  In this way, we see rebellious adults all over the place.  So we know about rebellion first hand.  Yea?  I think we can all nod about that.

Now we don’t really know a whole lot about pure good and perfect responsible behavior.  We all take stabs at it as best we can.  But we all know we fall short of purity in one way or another.  Again, I think we can all nod to that.

Here is what I don’t get:

Perfect isn’t a word that lends itself to interpretation.  Perfect is perfect.  That also means perfect is eternal by nature.  So why do we find men trying to water down the word “perfect”?  Why don’t we find them, instead, admitting that they are far less than perfect?

I am astounded that certain men, who know better, believe and teach something other than the whole Gospel.  Some how they have been duped into something far less than the perfect message of the Gospel.  And they seem to think that it’s ok to just kind of tear away at the concept of perfect.  I’m sorry.  I’m just amazed at us!  In the end we have to say this (as it was said by that wonderfully deficient character), “Stupid is what Stupid does.”

Two Sets of Legs

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Lamb

Lamb (Photo credit: freefotouk)

Are you a Christian who has sin in your life?  I want to mention something you may not be aware of:

There is a story of how the shepherd breaks the leg of a lamb who continues to wander off from the herd.  The problem is that the sheep will teach others how to disobey his master.  So to keep the flock in line, it is necessary to resort to radical means of insuring obedience.

Now, in the matter of breaking the legs of His people, there are two sets of legs every Christian owns.  One set of legs enables that Christian to chase after things he shouldn’t.  Breaking those legs may mean taking away the means the Christian uses to rebel against his Lord.  In this we are talking arms, legs, eyes, lungs, etc..  It also might mean taking away any other means to sin, money, social contacts, mental ability, etc..

There is another set of legs the Lord has at his disposal to break.  These are the legs we use to enter the Throne Room of the Holy Father.  It is quite possible that these legs will leave a far deeper impact in the Christian.  Only Jesus knows what is necessary, and will work for each of His people.  But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak about His correcting actions in this manner.

Regardless what happens to you (those who are living a life of sin), I urge you to listen with understanding to see if any of this fits your condition.  If you are not caught in sin, don’t apply this to your walk with the Lord.  However, if you’re caught in something you know you shouldn’t be in, it might be wise to consider what He has done already.  And consider that He is quite able to do far more to entice us back into the fold.

By His Grace.

Tough Stuff Requires Tough Response

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Sayer fight

Sayer fight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We live in a very controlled space.  Vacuum above, rocks below, winds, storms, great cold and heat, all assault our experience here.  Then there’s bugs of various sorts, some can cause harm, others are simply a bother.  Animals abound; some to eat, some to treat, some to abhor, and some would love to eat us.

Then we have the humans themselves.  To make a friend is a milestone in our experience.  To keep a friend is a milestone in itself.  But we can be sure we will be assailed by humanity, along with all the other plagues we encounter here.

Added to this boxing match, arrives political, social, economic troubles, personal thoughts and attitudes that need adjusting every day all day long.  We all know about these things.  But what has arrived among us is something a bit out of the ordinary.

It was that sins were a bit isolated among men.  One city would embrace a certain sin.  But you could always walk or ride to another place to escape their folly.  But with the advent of communications and faster, more reliable, transportation, the isolation of the sins of man have encountered a boundless habitat.  Now I challenge anyone to point to a place on earth where we can set up a roof and live a life absent of the refinement of wickedness we have come to teach each other.

How I desire to be removed from the complicated garbage that man advertises as prime today.  The body has replaced the concentration on holiness of spirit.  Medical commercials, ways to play, and financial “get well quick” schemes abound.  It is getting to where we are more aware of the things of this world than of eternity where God lives; forever past and forever future.  The temporary has become man’s god en masse.

This is not the end to escalation for sins.  There is a place where man is allowed to abandon all trace of conscience.  If it is hard to live in purity today, what will happen in that day?  Gone will be any hint of a peaceful little town where you can leave your doors unlocked.  Gone will be the day when owning some kind of lethal tool to protect what you call yours is an option.

Most people I know simply don’t want to talk about what they see happening anymore.  And if you bring them the Gospel, you find them backing up.  They no longer see the Gospel as a message of hope.  They only perceive another demand.  And they are absolutely inundated with demands.

What a curious ruse has been set upon man.  He is in a position of defence, from waking to waking again.  Peace is no longer an option.  And this isn’t even the height of horror that is bound to come.  Slowly, man is being squeezed into a stark choice; Fight or die cowering.  The evil one has man just about where he wants them to be.  And the end of things can’t be far behind that point.

All this said, it is important to encourage one another to fight the good fight with even more strength.  Even the best of us today is plagued with a monstrous onslaught of sin.  Hold each other up.  Look for signs of tiring.  Strengthen trust between your brothers and sisters.  The silver lining surrounding all this is the grace of God in Christ Jesus for all who are struggling to obey.

I posted this to say that I see it clearly enough (the struggle you face every day).  Oddly, this is a post of encouragement.  May God bless this message to all His people.

By His Grace.

“You Didn’t Build That. . . “

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Walk through a grave yard and no one waves hello.  Smile at a blind man and he has no idea you even looked at him.  So it is with those who live in the land of the dead.  Though you introduce yourself they have no idea what you’re saying.  And even if you offered them the bounty of the King Jesus they would simply laugh.

With that introduction, we turn to the picture.  What business is it of the world if we prefer to do our Father’s bidding beyond the eyes of the dead?  And if we explained what we are told to do they would not understand it.  So they turn to insults against the King of Kings and His people.  Is this the best they can do?  Of course this is the best they can do.  They haven’t heard the Lord’s voice direct them in the things of the Father.  So they naturally think no one else has either.

Just as an aside:  The response to Chick-fil-a was more a matter of support for free speech than it was a Christian response to an unjust accusation.

JOY!

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christmas 2007

christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi)

Little Brenda and Thedore get their gifts for Christmas.  How delightful to watch them focus all their joy for a while.  But soon that joy finds another object of focus.

Right now is Christ Mass for the believers whom God has raised up.  Something so precious as the gift of eternal life should initiate such a focused joy as to never lose that first love of wonder.  He is so full of amazing beauty!

Lord, please renew my amazement and joy for who You are and what You’ve done here.  Please don’t let me act like a child at the giving of gifts.  May my joy increase.  May my amazement and wonder abound.  For Your Beauty is Astounding!

The Living Library

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Author Fair 2007

Author Fair 2007 (Photo credit: Homer Township Public Library)

We are tablets of clay in the form of a body and soul.  Apparently endless information is written upon us as we live our life.  We are witness of others.  We are testimonies to ourselves.  And if we are blessed to come to know Jesus, the Son of God Most High, we also contain that testimony of eternal life.

In this way we all write a book.  And though, from time to time, we find some who have something useful to read, we are not primarily written for man’s benefit.

I was considering this truth when a conclusion to this thought dawned within me.  There is nothing more precious about owning a book than to have met the author, conversed, and received his autograph within the binding.  The “dawning” is this:

How I desire to become one of The Author’s books in which He autographs His work with a name only He and I know.  There is a purpose to this life which reaches far beyond sky, ground, water, and blood.  And to that place we are destined to be shipped.  We are living tablets of clay which the Father will deliver to His Son as a beautiful bride.

While many are busy writing “trash rags” with their lives, there are a few who lay themselves down on the Lord’s writing-table.  They wait to be inscribed with marvelous words of living testimony.  How astoundingly beautiful it will be to read what each has brought to the wedding.  And we will have eternity to enjoy each other’s company as we read about the Lord who paid so much to purchase His Library of living books.