Christmas

Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"

This is the true meaning of Christmas - the real "reason for the season." We probably have heard, "Jesus is the reason for the season" and it is true. I am not generally a fan of bumper stickers, but there is one that is accurate and appropriate for this season - "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace." This is what Romans 5:1 is all about.

I recently read this:

"It is the peace of salvation, the end of all spiritual enmity, the glorious harmony that comes from the propitiation of divine wrath.

But for whom is this peace designed? The angelic chorus leaves no doubt. The Lord God bestows the peace of redemption on those “with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). Perhaps a better translation would be, “those on whom His favor rests.” The angels are not proclaiming the merits of mankind, but the sovereign grace of God! The point is that true peace is the experience of those who are the saving focus of God’s distinguishing love. The angelic emphasis is on God’s free choice of His people and the peace He sovereignly bestows on them through the redemptive sufferings of his Son.

Peace on Earth!

GRACIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITH ME

This is a hymn I recently discovered. I had never sang it, heard it, or heard of it until recently. We have sung it for a few weeks in a row now at Fellowship. I pray we grow. The words speak a great truth and hope. Another testimony of the depth of the old hymn writers. Author, I thank you. Though simple, the accompanying music can be heard here.

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would gracious be;
And with words that help and heal
Would Thy life in mine reveal;
And with actions bold and meek
Would for Christ my Savior speak.

Truthful Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would truthful be;
And with wisdom kind and clear
Let Thy life in mine appear;
And with actions brotherly
Speak my Lord’s sincerity.

Mighty Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would mighty be;
Mighty so as to prevail,
Where unaided man must fail;
Ever, by a mighty hope,
Pressing on and bearing up.

Holy Spirit, dwell with me!
I myself would holy be;
Separate from sin, I would
Choose and cherish all things good,
And whatever I can be
Give to Him Who gave me Thee!

"... I myself would Holy be..."

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Oct. 31 and Christians

Ultimately, what's the point???

While I have a position on what the world calls "Halloween," it is not my desire here to have anyone adopt my view. However, I do believe the "Christian" community has, once again, been taken in by its culture. Because "it has always been that way" we just do it.

What is it about this activity that attracts the Christian? Why does the Christian pick the same day as Satanists to dress up and walk around asking for free candy. THINK, what is behind the idea of normally sane people dressing up, even in supposedly innocent costumes, and walking the neighborhood and ask neighbors for candy? I dare say very few "Christians" have given literally one second of thought to this. What is it about this activity that attracts the Christian?

I now share a few thoughts that are not my own, but that I have come across and admittedly agree with to varying degrees:

1 - Religion Today, October 27, 2000

French Christians don't want the latest American import: Halloween. The dark holiday was introduced into France a few years ago to help increase fall department store business, but Christians consider it a satanic festival that could traumatize children and endanger older people, Reuters reported ..... Halloween is a "veritable resurgence of druidical beliefs," the Protestant Evangelical Committee for Human Dignity reported. All of France should be alarmed that Oct. 31, a day dear to fans of witchcraft, will be observed in public schools, because psychologists have found that the holiday can harm children psychologically, it said. Society "must not focus its attention on the death cult that surrounds Halloween," the group said. Catholics in the resort town of Saint Raphael have organized a protest against the holiday, according to Reuters.

2 -What's Halloween about? Narcissism, if anything.

• Look cute.
• Get candy.
• Soap windows.
• Throw eggs.
• T.P. the coach's house.
• Scare the bejeepers out of everyone you can.

That's it. No be nice to others, no gather with family, no wave the flag.

• Juvenile irresponsible pranks? You get a free pass! Everyone's going to be up until midnight anyway.
• Attempt to make the little second-grade wimp down the street wet himself by pretending to attack him with a knife? Go for it.
• Portray a gory disembowlment with corn syrup and food coloring? Have at it.
• You're a homeowner with some minor property damage that night? Kids will be kids, don't worry about it.

3 -What does the Bible say?
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 (“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”)
James 1:27 (“keep oneself from being polluted by the world”)
3 John 1:11 (“do not imitate what is evil”)
Romans 12:9 (“abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”)
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (do not learn to imitate detestable ways, including spiritists, sorcerers and witchcraft)
Ephesians 5:11-12 (“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness” / “live as children of light”)

4- Churches frequently disapprove of Halloween because it is really a modern version of ancient, satanic traditions which were originated by the pagan Celtic religion, and their druid priests, long before Christianity.

However, the Dictionary of the Occult and Paranormal, states "Halloween was originally a pagan festival of darkness, fire, and death. All Hallows Eve was celebrated by the Celts of northern Europe... Halloween was also an important date for the witches' calendar."

According to witchcraft organizations, witches have eight major festivals throughout the year. Four are the solar festivals: one at both equinoxes, and one at both solstices. The other four occur almost midpoint between the Solar festivals; the most famous of these are Samhain (Halloween to non-witches) and Beltane (May day). Samhain, or Halloween, is the beginning of their new year, and is the time when they claim that they can most effectively communicate with the dead.

Please feel free to educate me on the benefits of recognizing Halloween - for anyone, especially the Christian.

How to read the Bible

"Always study God's word in the spirit of an unreserved surrender to obey."

Andrew Murry

College Football

Well, sports fans, it is finally here! THE season - college football. For me, the summer is the worst sports time of the year. Nothing to watch. No reason to watch ESPN. Boring.... However, 2008 was slightly better (only slightly) due to the Olympics, if that's your thing. But now... It begins. I circled Aug. 30 on my calendar literally months ago... probably right after the NCAA Final Four - congrat's KU fans. Fall is almost in the air and footballs are flying. The question... which SEC team will beat which Big 10 team this time!

And then it hit... the day arrived and it was just another day. Something has changed. It was just another day. Priorities change as we age. Not only that, but perhaps the sports patch I have been wearing is working. Psalm 34 tells us: "Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." I have finally realized what that means. It does not mean "seek God and He will be so pleased with you He will give you what you want. It DOES mean He will put desires into your heart. He will clean out the old ones, and replace them with other desires, better desires. The "desires of your heart" will be the ones He gives you. Therefore, all the desires we seek will be toward what He has put there. That is when and why He will give us the desires of our hearts!

College football is here... I better get some sleep.

What's Missing?

What happened in the case of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5)?

This information may be found at: Missing the Mark

“What is pure is corrupted much more quickly than what is corrupt is purified.”
JOHN CASSIAN (A.D. 360-435)



"The decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church. No longer concerned with maintaining purity of confession or lifestyle, the contemporary church sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members, with minimal moral accountability to God, much less to each other.

The absence of church discipline is no longer remarkable—it is generally not even noticed. Regulative and restorative church discipline is, to many church members, no longer a meaningful category, or even a memory. The present generation of both ministers and church members is virtually without experience of biblical church discipline."


Whose church is it anyway?

BIG church

Personally... I am heading toward the smaller church. I don't believe a Christian should go where he can fit in and not be noticed / recognized. Big mega churches... I don't get 'em. I believe "all in one accord" means ... among other things.... we are all together in the Spirit because we know one another, we know what one another believes, we know why each of us is here - to Glorify the Father and His son, through the power of the Spirit, we know one another's needs, we know every one here is a believer-not a pretender, we know this because we truly fellowship.

I do not believe "seeker sensitive" services have any place in the life of a church. The fellowship (what others call church gathering / building) is for believers. The harvest is OUTSIDE the church. Sadly the believers think "bringing in the sheaves" means bringing the lost into the building so a staff person can tell them about the wonderful love of the Father and the same staff person can lead them to salvation. The harvest is white OUTSIDE in the fields. Each believer - lay and pastor - is to go into the harvest fields. We are to go and tell, not bring and listen. Seek and save, not sit and soak.

2 Cor. 6 - 14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

Eckhart Tolle ....

Regarding Tolle's book, "The Power of Now" she said, "I am still a Christian who believes Jesus died for us and Jesus is in my heart….I don’t believe I AM GOD. How could SOME of these principles explained in this book, "The Power of Now," but are not EXACTLY the same principles I have learned in the church all of my life (explained perhaps using different terminology) be so bad and wrong?"

My thoughts....
Here is a line from a slightly older book:
"How can one walk the streets of our cities and towns and see the daily fare of obscenities, vulgarities, and pornography offered up to the eyes of our children and not be angered and sickened. We cannot allow this to continually weaken and destroy the minds of our children, our future. This moral decay must be ended."

This was written in 1926 by a little-known person named Adolf Hitler. It had several ideas that were very moral and "decent." He encouraged parents to love, guard and protect their children from indecencies, pornography, etc. Of course, you would have to take that along with a few other "minor" details one might not completely agree with. The book was Mein Kampf.

So what's wrong with Tolle??
A)Christianity accepts Jesus as THE Christ, not a "type" of Christ, not a "good, moral teacher." The Christian bases all his/her life on the Word of God, since
1) Jesus is the Word in flesh - see John 1:1;
2) The Bible tells us to beware of wolves inn sheep's clothing.
3) Jesus said, "I AM THE WAY..." Meaning there is NO other way. Period! Oprah and Tolle clearly, explicitly, and unashamedly deny this. They outright say a) Jesus is NOT the only way, b) what you call God may not be what I call God... and that's OK. WRONG!!!!! Satan is laughing his head off when Christians and other "religious" individuals even consider this guy or give him a moment of light in their life.
4) Jesus says, I am the way and THE TRUTH... for one to reject anything Jesus says, or accept anything Tolle says which contradicts Jesus (which is the same as rejecting Jesus!) is to say Jesus is not the Truth, hence a liar.

B) He encourages there is NO one God. This is purely eastern polytheism -Hinduism, Buddhism, and others.... many gods... no one path. 1) COMPLETELY anti-Christian, completely!! If he is extremely anti-Christian, why do I even want his book near my house, let alone my children! 2) Slaps the face of my God and my Savior. "Yes, so and so is my mom. Well not really MY mom. She is one mom of many I have. I feel free to call others 'mom.' In fact the more 'Moms' i have the better, more safer I feel.' She has written many things for me to read to teach me, but I like reading other philosophies besides hers. They make me 'feel' more."

C) He teaches / encourages meditation (and not very well, I might add). What is one meditating on while meditating? Me!! That is the problem with Tolle and Oprah. They make it about "me." The Bible says it is all about Jesus. WE humans like "us" so much more. WE cannot give up "self" long enough to admit there is ONE God, when we think we are. We certainly cannot give up self to the point we make it all about HIM. That is really what Christianity is all about - HIM. This is why the USA and Europe are both full of individuals who THINK they are Christians but in truth are not at all. Think... How can one claim Christ and even give Tolle, meditation, "other gods" one second of our time??

All of this comes from Matthew chapter 7... wow, what a coincidence God put these three thoughts in one place...

On Christianity and heaven:
Ch.7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True Christians/Christianity
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

The Wise and Foolish Builders
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."


D) Afterlife... Tolle says, "I never even give it a thought." So let's say I follow him... What does that offer me, my children when this life is over. For the Christian that should be most disconcerting!!

We cannot have it both ways as a Christian. EITHER Jesus is the ONLY Savior, Son of God who came in the flesh, or he is a lunatic, a liar.

Acts 4:12 - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.


So what's wrong with a little bit of Tolle?
1 - Everything a Christian needs to live in accordance with God's word is found IN GOD'S WORD. I am not saying we should read only God's word (although that is a good start), we must be very careful who / what we do read. I do wonder how many of the Tolle disciples who claim to be Christian spend much time in the Bible. I have to wonder if they spent more time in the Bible how much time or credence they would give to Tolle, or any other false prophet. Daily time in the Word guards our hearts and minds against such.

2 - Go buy 5 gallons of the purest water you can find. Then run it through of the best filters and purifiers money can buy. Place it back into its original container. Then add one eye-dropper of poison to the water. Now give your children one small glass of it to drink. Does a little impurity affect your decision? Come on... it is such a small amount of poison. It can't really do any harm.


The fact that so many "Christians" are reading this book shows how many either don't understand this principle or how many really don't understand their Bible.

For more see this blog.

By Definition...

EVANGELISM – We can find many definitions. Here are a few:

• spreading the Christian message
• preaching the gospel , or sharing the good news of Jesus.
• sharing the good news of the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ.
and ...
• "that set of intentional activities which is governed by the goal of initiating people into the kingdom of God for the first time."


I read this recently...

We have turned from “go & tell” to “come & hear.” We invite people to come hear the teacher or preacher, but we should be going and telling those in the world around us.

Jesus said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He never said, "I will make you appointment makers between preachers and the lost."

Do we REALLY believe Jesus is the ONLY hope for the world?


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Singing Theology

I'm old but not that old. Still I say "today's songs are not like they used to be." Seems to me the "old timers" spent time in the Word and Prayer to get the substance they did in their songs. Before you get riled up, I am not saying no one today has substance, but some stuff churned out as "Christian" music... Well, I'll end with these lyrics below (Theology, not feel good, in each verse.)

Actually it's funny... I was with some youths lately and they were singing the "new" version of Wonderful Cross - redone by Chris Tomlin, I think. When I noted Isaac Watts wrote it, they had never heard of him. Those who had seen his name on the song assumed he was a contemporary writer. Before the Throne of God Above is not by Watts, (it is by Charitie Lees Bancroft and Vikki Cook. Here are some songs by Watts.

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me


Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

Keep singing!

Does my wardrobe fit (in)?

What conclusion must one draw from reading Matthew 5:10-12?

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Persecuted means "pursued, hunted, run down… because of / for a reason"

John 15:18-21 - "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

What does it mean (to me) if the world loves me?


2 Timothy 3:10-12 (NASB) "Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose,
faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, ... what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."


I Pet 3:14-17 - ???


If we pursue / desire Christ, the result will be persecution. Is this true? Do you have any experience in this? Any thoughts?


The world HATED him.
We think a bumper sticker or a cute “Christian” song will make them LOVE him now?

So, what are we to do?
2 Cor. 5:15 - And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.