Filed under: Uncategorized
Time doesn’t forgive sin.
- Jeff Noblit
Filed under: Fundamnmentals
There are certain issues in our society that must not be ignored. We must Biblically discern whether or not things in our culture are truly right and or pleasing to God. I am surrounded by people who are always talking about rules, always making gestures towards regulations or the way things should or should not be done. I do not think one day has gone by without hearing something directed in this manner for the last four years of my life. Not that four years correlates with the time it takes to get a bachelors degree or anything. lol Do not get me wrong rules are a great thing and we do need some order in our lives or less man would be out of control. But really who’s responsibility is it to give us these rules? How far should we take them? If we do not listen to them are we out of line? Questions are running through my head constantly regarding things like this. I do not want it to consume myself with it but at the same time I want to do what is right. I want to honor God in everything I do and if wearing a tie to church is what honors Him then I will do it. But until I hear that from Him I do not want to continue believing it is the mark of my spirituality much less look at others to gain my approval. Mind you I do not have a problem wearing ties, I really like them. They come in all different shapes, colors and patterns. But more importantly why have they and so many other minor issues become major issues. Why is our conversation always directed in such meaningless or empty, self-fulfilling manners. It makes me sick how man centered Christians have become. I think somewhere along the way man in His effort to please God ended up creating this list of rules that is destroying the relationship we ought to have with our Savior. I do not know how the list was made or gathered but I am sure it was somewhere in the South. If I were to guess they sent out a post on the front page of the Sword of the Lord calling all families to send in their requests. A bunch of Amish people sent in there letters and BAMMMM!!!! Now we have the holy list of rules to live by. It is an insane thought but someone has to figure this thing out. Someone has to figure this out because its breeding something wrong in the lives of many Christians. It is giving us a false view of the Gospel and bringing man to a guilt driven lifestyle. A preacher once said, “Satan brings guilt, God brings conviction.”
“Rules without relationship breeds rebellion.” This statement at shows at first glance that giving rules out to people without getting to know them just develops a group of rebellious followers. They all start to do things not because they want to but rather because they have to. Now that is so true but at the same time I want you to see a deeper Truth. God did not just come to die so we could be saved and then send His rule book so we know how to act. We have all heard the saying about how dangerous the Bible can become just another textbook, now lets apply that saying. The law was simply given just to show us how much we cannot keep the law. Now we all know that we are no longer under the law but under grace. So how do we apply grace to our lives in order that we may live a God honoring life?
I think first we must take into consideration that God has no favor in anything that we do! That is a bold and disturbing statement to most legalists but is so true. Ultimately God is only pleased in glorifying Himself. Yes, he uses us in many ways to glorify Him but if all glory is due His name then our motives must be right. If the rule is right but done in the wrong motive the rule becomes self-righteous and self-rewarding, therefore God is displeased with it. Yes we are to strive at pleasing God, but before we can, our motive in pleasing Him must be acknowledged.
Like I said before man has good intentions for giving out rules but I think it has a dark reverse effect that breeds not only rebellion but complaining, gossip, critical-spirits, hypocrisy, pride… In this world cheat sheets work, trust we all have used them. lol Unfortunately they do not in the Spiritual. But so often we want a cheat sheet or just a list of what I can and can’t do. If only we had this sheet it would be so easy to do things. Wrong! This list of good intentions is beginning to replace the Word of God and it is a danger that I would never wish upon anyone. You cannot expect to follow God and be right with Him if you are not reading His Word. You cannot expect to discern right from wrong if you are not daily abiding in Him. Daily we are called to be conformed into the image of Christ and deny ourselves. I see so much of this traditional christianity that it makes me sick. To think that everyone before us did all the work and now we can just sit back and enjoy the benefits. It does not work that way.
I beg you all to search yourself to see your motives in doing things. May nothing be done self-righteously. In everything we do may it all bring glory to God and God alone.
Filed under: Creation / Evolution
“Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” is a new documentary movie that just came out in theaters on April 18th. Check out the preview it seem very interesting!
Filed under: Fundamnmentals, Preaching, Thoughts, Truth | Tags: Preaching, Thoughts, Truth
Is the Christian life all about our performance? It seems as if I am surrounded with people trying to always measure up. I have to let a little steam out right now and the only place I can do this is my blog. I cannot speak freely in my school because it is unheard of, misinterpreted, unbiblical and most of all, against the authority. It can be overwhelming when every day is like a day at boot camp. I am about done with this whole Christian Boot Camp Training, its time to get my certificate and move on. With all do respect I want to make the most of my college years and gain all the good in what I find in every man. Many of you will never understand what I am saying but hopefully there are a few out their who know and understand where I am coming from.
I can see how easily legalism scares people off into the deep end of liberalism. Never feeling as if you can get anywhere with people who have it all figured out. “Their way or the high way mentality.” Not knowing what or why they believe something but rather knowing someone before them said it this way and it sounded right. Anybody can compile a list of verses and make it sound right. You cannot hold a conversation with them because the question “why?” is always taken as disobedience. A friend recently told me that if we were living in Jesus’ day we would be the pharisees. I think what he said was so true!
Back to this Christian Boot Camp Training. It makes me laugh sometimes thinking about it. As if we are some soldiers of the Lord marching around in our suits. To think that for one moment God is going to look down at our rules and attire and say “well done thou good…” Its a funny way of looking at it but it is so true and yet so wrong. Somewhere along the way in mans curiosity this was engraved into our list of things to do as a Christian. To tell you the truth I almost feel as if pride slipped its way in and engraved that thought into our minds. Somehow it got carved into the minds of all the soldiers and the minute another soldier is out of line or messes up or does not cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s… Then its time for a good old fashioned drill sergeant ripping of the face. Yeah to think God thought this whole concept up for us is rather bizarre. It is the most unbiblical, man centered, pharisuetical (if thats even a word) way of thinking.
I can see how easily it is to fall into this trap though. Its like a man-centered guilt trip that appeases the moral conscience of man. If I am following this list of rules in my life then somehow God is pleased of me and if someone is not following the rules… Then it is my duty as a fellow soldier to look down on them, point the finger or give them the shameful “God would not be pleased with what your doing look.” I pray to God that I myself would grab hold of the Truth from His Word and never fall into meaningless traps like this.
It is all about Him! Would God by His grace and mercy transform us into the image of His dear Son. If the only thing that pleases the Father is Himself then why is conforming to the image of Christ the last thing on our list? Probably because it is the hardest. You see for some people its easier to do everything right, to look the part and to wear themselves out in the ministry. Always laboring and doing the hard tasks that a Christian ought to do.
Some friends and I were speaking with Paul Washer one night after a service and He gave us some advice. He said, “one of the most dangerous things in ministry is the sin of busy-ness.” At first when I heard him say that I was like… “yeah of course, I get it.” You become too busy maintenance wise and never have time for the people or ministry. But the more I thought about what he said, the more I realized what he was getting at. You see it is so easy to become comfortable in having a task or list of things to do each day. You can spend the rest of your life accomplishing to do lists and never get anywhere. God is not pleased in our accomplishments or our sweat, He is pleased with Himself. There is too much emphasis on what we do instead of who we should be. There are necessary elements in being a Christian and those things cannot be replaced! This Christian walk is not based on our performance but rather becoming more like Him. This short clip of Paul Washer’s message should shed more light on the subject of what I am trying to get at.
Filed under: Truth
“A true recognition of God’s sovereignty humbles as nothing else does or can humble, and brings the heart into lowly submission before God, causing us to relinquish our own self-will and making us delight in the perception and performance of the Divine will.”
-A.W. Pink
