Thursday, September 3, 2009
BIBLE QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Would it be wrong for a Christian to buy a Buddha idol, as a gift, for a Buddhist?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Don't Loose Sight of Your Horizon
Don’t Loose Sight of Your Horizon
Written by Mary Elizabeth Tyler
© 1/1/2009
As a preacher and evangelist of God’s holy word, you must believe with all your heart, soul, and mind, that Christ is the ONLY way to eternal life (the way, the truth, and the life (Jo 14:6). And be willing not only to make this proclamation in the public arena of the church, but also be able to defend it with unflinching nerve, when conversing with TV talk show hosts such as Larry King, and many other notables in the public media. Several theological panel discussions, on the Larry King show, have unearthed some surprising false beliefs held by certain stalwarts of the Christian faith.
There have been a few well known, some even seasoned TV evangelists and preachers, men of great renown, lately, who have diverged in the woods, opting for the broader road that leads to destruction; straying far from the road less traveled. Many have dodged the question when put to them point blank by Larry King, “Is Jesus Christ the only way to get to heaven?” They duck such perceived, near indignities, as if some ominous black bird were making grand sweeps and lobs at their foreheads. With much chagrin they sigh, shrug their limp, perplexed shoulders, and give some mumbled, off topic, garbled retort, of, “I cannot judge any man’s heart only God can, I am only called to love God and all people alike.” That’s it??? Is that all there is? Hmm! Why not just say what’s in your heart? Christ “IS” the only way. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. My son at five years old could articulate better than that, he could even tell you that peanuts made peanut butter, lemons made lemon aid, and milk came from cows. How much more should we expect from preachers and evangelists, who are infinitely wiser than children, and whose “divine milk” does not come from a cow? So, are we asking too much? Is Christ, or isn’t Christ, the only way?
Some evangelists, who are prone to the cheeky, positive, gospel message (grins and more grins), joyfully receive the question, and still manage to obfuscate and bungle the good news. And say silly things like, “ You owe it to yourself to be happy, and be the very best person you can possibly be, so think positive.” Is that possible? A Johnny be good! Most of us folk come from a floundering line of the Johnny “Apple Seed” variety; we are born of bad seed, bad to the bone, rotten to the core, and in desperate need of something more than a mere positive possibility (grins included). These do for yourself something good, gurus, relish the opportunity to be all things to all people, conversing on topics that they know little about, and talk in round about circles as if they were well informed (I guess nonsense is tolerable and preferable to the foolish. Only Mr. Ed [the talking horse] would “never talk” unless he had something to say). There may be a lesson here, if you are willing to believe horses talk (but we do know-donkeys can).
My serious deep concern in all of this is for the evangelists who court the world’s affections and desire the love of all men. It does happen. Which is sad and most regrettable. This world has its potentates, princes, popes, and presidents, who all need the redeeming message of Jesus; all people need Christ as their Lord and Savior. But the snare of the fowler stands ready and waiting when gifted men of the pulpit find the pleasures and the powers of this world more enticing and more desirable than Christ’s offer for life. We, as Christians, are to be in the world but not of the world. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17).
There is a balance that one needs to cultivate: we are to go among the unregenerate, as to influence them for Christ, preaching Christ crucified, but we do not partake of their questionable entertainments, lifestyles, philosophies and or their apostate religions. Many have found this difficult to do while courting the world’s elite on the golf course. The more the world beckons them their feet remain entrenched in the world.
The core gospel message that Christ is the “ONLY” way to heaven then becomes muddied, foggy, and a hard to articulate doctrine for some evangelists, and instead comes out in sweeping, twisted phrases like, “The Pope is a magnanimous God fearing man, who is God’s voice to the world at large. It is time for all evangelicals everywhere to unite and accept all people of all faiths because all roads lead to heaven.” This is an alarming statement! The preacher… the evangelist... the teacher… the keeper and mouthpiece of God’s most precious holy word, has just lost his horizon. Jesus!
It is the same with pilots, you know. When flying over the ocean they can loose sight of the horizon. The ocean and sky become a wash, the sea becomes the sky: the sky the sea. They cannot distinguish the blue overhead from the deep blue, cerulean sea: zenith from nadir. Their focal point, the horizon, is gone. They are not even aware of their free falling until the hard, thunderous crash comes, and by then it is too late to pullback. They plunge headlong into the black abyss, irretrievably lost because of the sheer depth and expanse of the sea.
The evangelist, too, faces the same fate as the pilot when he looses his horizon. The man becomes the world, and the world becomes the man, you can no longer tell them apart. All because he did not listen to the voice of God, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate….”
Written by Mary Elizabeth Tyler
© 1/1/2009
As a preacher and evangelist of God’s holy word, you must believe with all your heart, soul, and mind, that Christ is the ONLY way to eternal life (the way, the truth, and the life (Jo 14:6). And be willing not only to make this proclamation in the public arena of the church, but also be able to defend it with unflinching nerve, when conversing with TV talk show hosts such as Larry King, and many other notables in the public media. Several theological panel discussions, on the Larry King show, have unearthed some surprising false beliefs held by certain stalwarts of the Christian faith.
There have been a few well known, some even seasoned TV evangelists and preachers, men of great renown, lately, who have diverged in the woods, opting for the broader road that leads to destruction; straying far from the road less traveled. Many have dodged the question when put to them point blank by Larry King, “Is Jesus Christ the only way to get to heaven?” They duck such perceived, near indignities, as if some ominous black bird were making grand sweeps and lobs at their foreheads. With much chagrin they sigh, shrug their limp, perplexed shoulders, and give some mumbled, off topic, garbled retort, of, “I cannot judge any man’s heart only God can, I am only called to love God and all people alike.” That’s it??? Is that all there is? Hmm! Why not just say what’s in your heart? Christ “IS” the only way. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. My son at five years old could articulate better than that, he could even tell you that peanuts made peanut butter, lemons made lemon aid, and milk came from cows. How much more should we expect from preachers and evangelists, who are infinitely wiser than children, and whose “divine milk” does not come from a cow? So, are we asking too much? Is Christ, or isn’t Christ, the only way?
Some evangelists, who are prone to the cheeky, positive, gospel message (grins and more grins), joyfully receive the question, and still manage to obfuscate and bungle the good news. And say silly things like, “ You owe it to yourself to be happy, and be the very best person you can possibly be, so think positive.” Is that possible? A Johnny be good! Most of us folk come from a floundering line of the Johnny “Apple Seed” variety; we are born of bad seed, bad to the bone, rotten to the core, and in desperate need of something more than a mere positive possibility (grins included). These do for yourself something good, gurus, relish the opportunity to be all things to all people, conversing on topics that they know little about, and talk in round about circles as if they were well informed (I guess nonsense is tolerable and preferable to the foolish. Only Mr. Ed [the talking horse] would “never talk” unless he had something to say). There may be a lesson here, if you are willing to believe horses talk (but we do know-donkeys can).
My serious deep concern in all of this is for the evangelists who court the world’s affections and desire the love of all men. It does happen. Which is sad and most regrettable. This world has its potentates, princes, popes, and presidents, who all need the redeeming message of Jesus; all people need Christ as their Lord and Savior. But the snare of the fowler stands ready and waiting when gifted men of the pulpit find the pleasures and the powers of this world more enticing and more desirable than Christ’s offer for life. We, as Christians, are to be in the world but not of the world. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17).
There is a balance that one needs to cultivate: we are to go among the unregenerate, as to influence them for Christ, preaching Christ crucified, but we do not partake of their questionable entertainments, lifestyles, philosophies and or their apostate religions. Many have found this difficult to do while courting the world’s elite on the golf course. The more the world beckons them their feet remain entrenched in the world.
The core gospel message that Christ is the “ONLY” way to heaven then becomes muddied, foggy, and a hard to articulate doctrine for some evangelists, and instead comes out in sweeping, twisted phrases like, “The Pope is a magnanimous God fearing man, who is God’s voice to the world at large. It is time for all evangelicals everywhere to unite and accept all people of all faiths because all roads lead to heaven.” This is an alarming statement! The preacher… the evangelist... the teacher… the keeper and mouthpiece of God’s most precious holy word, has just lost his horizon. Jesus!
It is the same with pilots, you know. When flying over the ocean they can loose sight of the horizon. The ocean and sky become a wash, the sea becomes the sky: the sky the sea. They cannot distinguish the blue overhead from the deep blue, cerulean sea: zenith from nadir. Their focal point, the horizon, is gone. They are not even aware of their free falling until the hard, thunderous crash comes, and by then it is too late to pullback. They plunge headlong into the black abyss, irretrievably lost because of the sheer depth and expanse of the sea.
The evangelist, too, faces the same fate as the pilot when he looses his horizon. The man becomes the world, and the world becomes the man, you can no longer tell them apart. All because he did not listen to the voice of God, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate….”
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Holiness of God
John Piper shares his thoughts on the holiness of God.
When the object of our delight is moral beauty, the longing to behold is inseperable from the longing to be. When the Holy Spirit awakens the heart of a person to delight in the holiness of God, an insatiable desire is born not only to behold that holiness, but also to be holy as God is holy.
When the object of our delight is moral beauty, the longing to behold is inseperable from the longing to be. When the Holy Spirit awakens the heart of a person to delight in the holiness of God, an insatiable desire is born not only to behold that holiness, but also to be holy as God is holy.
Robinson Crusoe's Text
Charles Spurgeon once preached a sermon on prayer and called it "Robinson Crusoe's Text."
Robinson Crusoe has been wrecked. He is left on the desert island all alone. His case is a very pitiable one. He goes to his bed, and is smitten with a fever. This fever lasts upon him long, and he has no one to wait upon him--none even to bring him a drink of cold water. He is ready to perish. He had been accustomed to sin, and had all the vices of a sailor; but his hard case brought him to think. He opens a Bible which he finds in his chest, and he lights upon this passage, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." That night he prayed for the first time in his life, and ever after there was in him a hope in God, which marked the birth of the heavenly life.
Robinson Crusoe's text was Psalm 50:15. It is God's way of getting glory for Himself-----Pray to me! I will deliver you! And the result will be that you will glorify Me!
Spurgeon's explanation is penetrating:
God and praying man take shares....First here is your share: "Call upon me in the day of trouble." Secondly, here is God's share: I will deliver thee." Again, you take a share--for you shall be delivered. And then again it is the Lord's turn---"Thou shalt glorify me." Here is a compact, a covenant that God enters into with you who pray to Him, and whom He helps. He says, "You shall have the deliverance, but I must have the glory..." Here is a delightful partnership: we obtain that which we so greatly need, and all that God getteth is the glory which is due unto His name.
Robinson Crusoe has been wrecked. He is left on the desert island all alone. His case is a very pitiable one. He goes to his bed, and is smitten with a fever. This fever lasts upon him long, and he has no one to wait upon him--none even to bring him a drink of cold water. He is ready to perish. He had been accustomed to sin, and had all the vices of a sailor; but his hard case brought him to think. He opens a Bible which he finds in his chest, and he lights upon this passage, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." That night he prayed for the first time in his life, and ever after there was in him a hope in God, which marked the birth of the heavenly life.
Robinson Crusoe's text was Psalm 50:15. It is God's way of getting glory for Himself-----Pray to me! I will deliver you! And the result will be that you will glorify Me!
Spurgeon's explanation is penetrating:
God and praying man take shares....First here is your share: "Call upon me in the day of trouble." Secondly, here is God's share: I will deliver thee." Again, you take a share--for you shall be delivered. And then again it is the Lord's turn---"Thou shalt glorify me." Here is a compact, a covenant that God enters into with you who pray to Him, and whom He helps. He says, "You shall have the deliverance, but I must have the glory..." Here is a delightful partnership: we obtain that which we so greatly need, and all that God getteth is the glory which is due unto His name.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
WILL WE SEE GOD IN HEAVEN ?
Will We See God In Heaven ?
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Heaven is the biblical term for God’s dwelling place (Psalms 33:13,14: Matthew 6:9). And while in our present bodies the realities of heaven are unseen, and we know them only by faith. Yet when we die and our spirit returns from where it came (Ecclesiastes 12:7), to be eternally in the presence of the Lord, will we be able to see Him?
Yes, but not in the same way we physically see by sight in the physical realm. Spirit to spirit our soul will have a super natural mindful, emotional, and willful visual sense of Jesus’ awesome presence in ways we can not imagine. Until Resurrection Day, we in spirit will dwell in heavenly Paradise with Christ in the invisible spirit realm along with the saints and angels spending our time worshiping, exploring God’s creative handiwork, learning, growing, and developing together in a never exhaustive journey getting to know our One triune God in three person’s (Revelation 7:15-17).
Paul alludes to his experience in the third or farthest heaven also called Paradise where God dwells (2 Corinthians 12:2,3).
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” (2Corinthians 12:2). He is confirming that there is eternal life in heaven in the presence of the Lord.
In Christ
DID JESUS DESERVE HELL ?
Did Jesus Deserve Hell ?
If eternity in hell is what is necessary to satisfy Gods justice, and Jesus paid for all our sins, then doesn`t Jesus deserve eternity in hell?
It Was Finished At The Cross
According to Scripture Jesus would have never been deserving of eternity in hell to satisfy God’s justice for humanities sin debt. On the contrary, He is Holy and fulfilled and finished Father God’s requirements for forgiveness and reconciliation at the Cross. Jesus, the perfect and sinless God Man, did not become sin but became the sin bearer who battled victoriously defeating the grip of sin so that by grace through faith His people would be saved. As an ultimate act of Love Christ was “lifted up” to die on the Cross not to become a defeated foe but to overcome both Satan and sin and then arise and be “lifted up” (John 12:32,33), victoriously, gloriously, and righteously resurrecting back to life and ascending to heaven to be seated at Father God’s right side. Jesus wins, Satan loses.
The will of Father God was to lift up and glorify His Son Jesus for His willingness and obedience to die for humanity. This glorious love and power raised Jesus from the dead and it is at work in believers (Ephesians 1:19-23).We must consider too, that because Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity, He is inseparable from Father God and thus it would be impossible for Him to lose and be cast “down” into hell. Hell is a place of evil, defeat, destruction, and eternal separation from God who created it to separate evil from good. Christ was predestined to be “lifted up” into heaven not cast down into hell.
Sin Debt Paid in Full At The Cross
When Jesus Christ finished His sacrificial atonement mission at the Cross defeating Satan and sin, His perfect sinless Blood was shed to cover human sin by blotting out offenses and giving satisfaction for wrongs done all for the purpose of making amends with Father God. Christ’s Blood not only made it possible for humanity to be reconciled with Father God, but also made it possible for us who love Him to be freed from the bondage of sin giving hope to be adopted as son’s and giving blessed assurance of the resurrection and redemption of our bodies (Romans 6:22, 23; 8:20-24).
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).
God’s plan of salvation is not about Christ being in eternal hell but about what He did at the Cross where he propitiated Father God -that is, His Blood satisfied Father God’s wrath (anger), against us and at the same time covered and removed our past, present, and future sin from HIS sight (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).
Jesus’ resurrection proves that He was righteous and glorified and not condemned. And because He was fully redeemed and glorified He returned in spirit and body to heaven and was seated at the right hand of Father God having all sovereign authority and judgment over the heavens and earth (John 12:32,33: Colossians 1:15-23).
“I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father" (John 16:28).
We can conclude from Scripture that Christ’s resurrection demonstrated,
1. His victory over death (Acts 2:24), and hell.
2. That He was vindicated as being righteous (John 16:10).
3. His divine identity being made known (Romans 1:4).
4. Forgiveness and justification for salvation (Romans 5:15-19).
5. Eternal life for believers (John 11:25, 26).
What Christ fulfilled and finished at the Cross is of a divine heavenly purpose-that is, Father God redeemed HIS Son and was fully pleased with him. Christ’s Blood and resurrection reveals God’s plan of redemption for us too, in that all because of Jesus, we will follow Him to heaven after we die and one day experience the reality of our full redemption when in His perfect timing we will be resurrected and reunited in perfect spirit and physical body for eternal life in His completed New Kingdom where Paradise lost becomes Paradise restored and where He continues to reign forever as our Lord and King. Until then, “Father God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13,14). “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19, 20).
In Christ
Friday, July 17, 2009
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