Right or Wrong?

If Christianity is wrong, then when I die I would just be dead and I will not be aware of anything. I will be "as dead as a door nail." At best, I lived a good life and maybe I will have left a legacy for my children to follow. Hopefully, they will have become responsible adults. However, if Christianity is right, then not only would I have lived a good life and hopefully left a legacy for my children, but I would be with Jesus for eternity.

Now, if the fool who says there is no God is right, then he would be "as dead as a door nail" also and aware of nothing once he died. He would have lived a life indulging in as many sinful acts as he could to satisfy his selfish desires. Hopefully, his kids will learn from his life, do the opposite, and become responsible adults. But judging from the world today, I doubt it. However, if he is wrong, then he will have to face his choice (to deny God) in hell for eternity.

I don't know about you, but I am going to follow Christ, because either way, I think that I'll be a winner.

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Ecumenism-Good or Bad?

The word “ecumenical” comes from the Greek word oikoumenē.[1] The Greek word can be found in Matt 24:14; Acts 17:6; and Heb 2:5 where it is translated “world.” The idea of unity in the Church comes from different passages in the Bible, some of which are John 17:21; Ephesians 4:3-5; Galatians; Colossians; 1 and 2 Corinthians. All of these passages speak of unity in Christ, or “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5b).

Early ecumenical councils gathered to deal with heresies and doctrinal disputes in the Church.[2] More modern ecumenical councils seek to battle social issues as well as to unify the Church, but evangelicals have pretty much stayed out of councils like these, as they are more concerned with evangelizing than social issues. However, evangelicals created unifying organizations among their own kind that would aid with humanitarian relief while promoting evangelism and the Bible.  

By the 1990s, there were two types of “ecumenism,” one of which that did not stress doctrinal positions for members of the ecumenical councils, but instead wanted social justice. The second type stressed evangelism, hoping that people’s hearts would be changed and, as a result, there would be a more visible unity in the churches.

As I read the Declaration Toward a Global Ethic from the Parliament of the World’s Religions, I could not help but think about how utopian in nature this document is.[3] The document pointed out all of the injustice in the world against the poor, women, and children. These are important issues that the Church should not ignore. However, there will never be a utopia on earth before the second coming of Christ. Human nature is a fallen nature and there will always be contention between the religions of the world, and there will always be those that take advantage of the weak. The Church does need to focus more on taking care of the poor and less fortunate. This is ministry, and ministry is not an option, it is a mandate by our Lord (see Matt 25:35-36).

With that said, I do strongly believe that evangelism is the way to approach the world’s injustice. If you, with the help of the Holy Spirit, change the hearts of the people, it only makes sense that everything that the Declaration Toward a Global Ethic set out to achieve would follow. Without heart change there is no change and things will continue with the status quo.

So as I read the document I kept thinking, “Well this is all nice but it will not work unless there is heart change.” It all starts with one person or one family at a time, and if we stay committed then we might see real change. However, the focus should never be to change the world; the focus should always be redeemed souls. The focus is on Jesus Christ and His redemptive work for the sinners of the world.

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[1] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2001), 363.

[2] Ibid., 363.

[3] http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/_includes/FCKcontent/File/TowardsAGlobalEthic.pdf

Thanksgiving Thoughts

When you do a word study in the Bible on the word thankfulness, you get the sense that you are giving something to whoever has given something to you; that someone being God. Giving is a deliberate action that is thought about before acted upon.

The Bible tells us over and over to be thankful and to give thanks to God. Therefore, when you sit down and think about what you can be thankful about, think about your health, your family, your material possessions, and your freedom. These are the things that come from God, and these are things that we as Americans take for granted every day; in other countries they are hard to come by.

Here is a short list that you can start with to thank God for:

1. The Bible

2. Answered prayer

3. Heaven

4. Forgiveness

5. The Holy Spirit

6. Your Church

7. The ability to see, walk, taste, and smell

8. A place to live, clothes, food, transportation

9. Ability to read

10. Lessons that He has been teaching you in your life

11. The people in your life (friends, neighbors, family, and fellow workers)

12. Pastors, missionaries, and spiritual leaders

Above all always give thanks to God for His perfect gift to us all for all time, Jesus Christ. Who died on the cross and was resurrected the third day so that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life. The greatest gift of all is Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.  

So whether you are spending time with family this Thanksgiving Day, or you are going through a rough period in your life, remember that all things work together for good for those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. And even in rough periods we can be thankful for the good things that have blessed us in the past.

But before you begin to give thanks today, take a minute and think about the following verses:

• 1 Tim 4:4 “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.”
• Jam 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
• 1Thes 5:18 “[I]n everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
• 1 Cor 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
• 1 Tim 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service.”
• 2 Tim 1:3 “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.”
• Heb 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
• Eph 5:20 “[A]lways giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”

When you sit down at the dinner table, give back to God by praising Him and thanking Him for all that He has done and is yet to do. Amen!

Can You Hear Me?

There are times when I wonder if my prayers are falling on deaf ears, and I remember that God already knows what I am praying about. Prayer is not just asking for things, it is being in the presence of God and spending time in His presence. It is worshipping God more then it is to make my petitions known. God knows my needs before I do, so even though it may at times not feel like it, He is listening when I pray.


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Idolators

By nature we are idolators. We worship things other than God. Mostly we worship ourselves. More often than not we have made ourselves gods because we worship our inner nature.

We do not seek the things of God but instead we seek the things that are self fulfilling. We follow our own will and our will is made up of those things that make us feel good, although short lived, not knowing that eternal happiness—true happiness—comes only from God. This is happiness that lasts forever.

It is when we realize this fact that we turn from worshiping the wrong things to worshiping the one true God. It is at that point that we leave behind our idolatrous behavior.


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Finite Fame

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has died today at age 82. What a feeling it must have been to know that you were the first man on the moon. No other man or woman will have a feeling like that. That feeling of prestige died with Mr. Armstrong today. It is humbling to know that not even that can escape death. I don't know if Mr. Armstrong was a Christian, but he is standing in front of Jesus today either way, moon or no moon.


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JC Ryle quote

JC Ryle was a great preacher in his day. Here he gives a warning that is on time for today's culture:

"Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just. Such a God is an idol of your own." ~ J.C. Ryle



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The Sower- A farmer; someone who sows or plants seed.

Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite preachers that has ever expounded upon the word. Here is a quote that comes from his words on Matthew 13:3;

"You must go forth to sow! You cannot sit at your parlor window and sow wheat--and you cannot stand on one little plot of ground and keep on sowing there. If you have done your work in that place, go forth to sow elsewhere! Oh, that the Church of Christ would go forth into heathen lands! Oh, that there may be among Christians a general feeling that they must go forth to sow! What a vast acreage there still is upon which not a grain of God's wheat has ever yet fallen! Oh, for a great increase of the missionary spirit! May God send it upon the entire Church until everywhere it shall be said, 'Behold a sower went forth to sow.'"


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