I had an interesting invitation today on my LibraryThing account today that left me just a tad confused. Somebody commented on my profile, saying that they thought I'd enjoy a new group they've started called "Transsexuals for Christ." lol
Now anyone who knows me is free to take a look at my library, and if you can figure out why exactly they were led to believe that I would even consider joining such a group, please share that with me!
The invitation did make me think, however, about how all kinds of groups that lead lifestyles contrary to the teachings of Christ are so set upon claiming His name for themselves. Why is that? Seriously, if you want to take part in such behaviors, that is up to you. But don't try to justify your behavior by pasting the word "Christian" in front of your group name! I know that all of us have some area in our lives that we just don't seem to have complete control over...that challenges us daily even. None of us who call Jesus Lord, however, would try to excuse their behavior by suddenly saying, "hey, it's not really a sin! I'm a "Christian" gambler, or a "Christian" adulterer! ;-)
No, whatever struggles we face, let us strive to defeat them for His glory and through His grace. Don't call it what it is not.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
I was really struck this morning by the power of these words, and they made me think of something from last night. At the time I was working out at the gym...those of you who know me are well aware that I put plenty of effort into maintaining the incredible physique with which God has gifted me! Okay, not really, the truth is that my body is more of a giant cathedral than a humble temple and I'm trying to downsize...but that's not the real issue here so let's move on. ;-)
While at the gym, I happened to walk near a group of fellow Hispanic guys who were talking about someone else they knew, mentioning that this individual was a member of La Raza. Now, to any conspiracy buff who may be reading this, La Raza does not refer to some secret club of Hispanics whose ultimate goal is to "reconquer" the Southwest for Mexico. While that makes for great scare tactics, Christians should let go of such silliness. But I digress again. What the unintentional eavesdropping made me think about was my own life. You see, when I was a young teen I used to swell with pride at the thought of being a member of La Raza, the People. To be a part of some kind of brotherhood was humbling, even if most of our time and energies was then spent in trying to beat the living daylights out of those poor fellow brothers who happened to claim some different affiliation (okay, gang).
What about now? Well, I've matured that's for sure. I still am very proud of my heritage...it will always be a part of me. But far more important than anything else to me is my Christian heritage. I am proud to be a slave to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters more to me than this, no other identification causes me more joy. To be called by His name is my greatest desire, and to serve Him all the days of my life is my ultimate goal. Family, work, all else comes as a distant second in my affections. And why is this? Why, if not for the simple truth that upon being sealed by the Holy Spirit I became a new creation. Whereas I was once spiritually dead I am now alive. Whereas I once despised and considered it a weakness to believe in God, now I consider it a joy to be called a fool for Christ.
These were my thoughts today, and even now as I prepare for bed I think about who I used to be and marvel at what He has made me. Truly it is He that gives the increase, for there is no other way to explain how the person I used to be has become the person I now am.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
I was really struck this morning by the power of these words, and they made me think of something from last night. At the time I was working out at the gym...those of you who know me are well aware that I put plenty of effort into maintaining the incredible physique with which God has gifted me! Okay, not really, the truth is that my body is more of a giant cathedral than a humble temple and I'm trying to downsize...but that's not the real issue here so let's move on. ;-)
While at the gym, I happened to walk near a group of fellow Hispanic guys who were talking about someone else they knew, mentioning that this individual was a member of La Raza. Now, to any conspiracy buff who may be reading this, La Raza does not refer to some secret club of Hispanics whose ultimate goal is to "reconquer" the Southwest for Mexico. While that makes for great scare tactics, Christians should let go of such silliness. But I digress again. What the unintentional eavesdropping made me think about was my own life. You see, when I was a young teen I used to swell with pride at the thought of being a member of La Raza, the People. To be a part of some kind of brotherhood was humbling, even if most of our time and energies was then spent in trying to beat the living daylights out of those poor fellow brothers who happened to claim some different affiliation (okay, gang).
What about now? Well, I've matured that's for sure. I still am very proud of my heritage...it will always be a part of me. But far more important than anything else to me is my Christian heritage. I am proud to be a slave to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters more to me than this, no other identification causes me more joy. To be called by His name is my greatest desire, and to serve Him all the days of my life is my ultimate goal. Family, work, all else comes as a distant second in my affections. And why is this? Why, if not for the simple truth that upon being sealed by the Holy Spirit I became a new creation. Whereas I was once spiritually dead I am now alive. Whereas I once despised and considered it a weakness to believe in God, now I consider it a joy to be called a fool for Christ.
These were my thoughts today, and even now as I prepare for bed I think about who I used to be and marvel at what He has made me. Truly it is He that gives the increase, for there is no other way to explain how the person I used to be has become the person I now am.
Thank you Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Luke 4:1-12 (for kids)
I prepared this lesson for our children's Sunday school class and it went exceptionally well. The 8 kids (ranging in ages between 6-10) had lots of questions and made some very profound comments as well. Anyone who does not think young children have the intellectual capacity to take in Biblical lessons without having to draw a picture or watch a movie are just plain wrong!
Here is the lesson (presented on 10.11.08)
Here is the lesson (presented on 10.11.08)
Jesus in the Wilderness
Ÿ Lesson
Read Luke 4:1-4
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
The Holy Spirit is one of the Persons who makes up our Triune God
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be controlled by God
Ask: Who is Satan?
Satan is the Devil. He is the enemy of God and of all of mankind. Satan wants to cause man to sin, using various temptations and lies. He is, indeed, the father of lies.
We see that Jesus is fasting while in the desert, going without food for 40 whole days!
Ask: Could Jesus have done this?
Of course! For Jesus performed greater miracles in order to establish His claims!
Ask: How would turning stone into bread have been a sin?
Jesus’ miracles were performed to attest to His divine nature and the Truth of His claims…to establish the Gospel. He would not be honoring the Father by using His power selfishly.
When Jesus said “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God…” what did He mean?
He meant that the Word of God…the Old Testament at this time…taught that being fed spiritually was more important than being fed physically. Think about it…what happens if you don’t eat? Eventually you will die!!
If being fed spiritually is more important than keeping yourself physically alive, then it is obvious that studying the Word of God is VERY important!
Ask: What can WE do to help fight off temptation?
We can memorize the Word of God so that when we are tempted to sin we will remember it and obey it!
Remember that Satan will always use our weaknesses to tempt us, but God’s Word will always be able to help us if we have it hidden in our hearts.
Read Luke 4:5-8
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
Ask: What did Satan want Jesus to do?
Satan wanted Jesus to worship him instead of the Father!
In 2 Corinthians 4:4 we are told that Satan is the god of this world! Therefore he had the power to offer up the kingdoms to Jesus…except that Jesus being the One True and Living God was Master of all things! Even of Satan!
Think about this too: Jesus came to earth as a man in order to establish His kingdom, a spiritual one in the hearts of men. Jesus did not need the physical kingdoms of men when He came to redeem people from every kingdom!
Jesus says to Satan, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
The Word of God commands us to worship only God and Jesus correctly reminds Satan of this! Basically, He tells Satan to “shut up!”
Read Luke 4:9-12
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ’He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,‘ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
Jesus would have been testing God, and our faith demands that we always trust God, no matter what our circumstances are.
Did you notice that Satan used Scripture to tempt Jesus? There are many people today who, like Satan, will use the Bible incorrectly in order to mislead you. The only way we can defend ourselves is to know the Bible even better than they do!
James 4:7 tells us that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us!
Isn’t that a wonderful promise? No matter how powerful Satan is, we as Christians have the power to make him run away from us!
Are there any questions or comments?
Let us pray
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship by Michael Horton
isbn #0-8010-1234-1
Well this is going to be one very short book review! As some of you may know, I have been reaidng this book for quite some time and I have finally finished it. It is not that the book is boring or that I disagreed with much of it, but this was a real challenge for me to complete. This is not to say that I intend to get rid of the book, for I found it valuable and will probably refer to it again in the future. The problem, I think, is that Horton's presentation was rather dry. I've read books by Horton before, and this is not something I've encountered in his writings before...so it's sadly ironic that I should find a lack of true passionate writing in a book dedicated to (as the subtitle states) "rediscovering the drama of God-centered worship"!
As with all reviews ever written by anyone, this is my own opinion and it may be that someone else may find the writing filled with zeal! I certainly don't suggest that anyone NOT read this book, for as I've already stated before, it contains valuable information. Also, Horton does excel at bringing complex arguments to the level of a simple reader such as myself. I was able to follow his arguments and overall I found myself agreeing with his critique of what passes for worship in too many churches today.
Another thing that Horton does well in this book is to unapologetically examine the typical components of a service and compare them to what the Bible teaches. Where Horton lost me, through no fault of his own I might add, is when he makes his defense of infant baptism. I say that this is through no fault of his own for he clearly states in his book that he is writing from a Reformed position, whereas I identify myself more as Reformed Baptist, holding to believer's baptism and a premillenial eschatology. One thing I found out through this book is what our Reformed brethren believe about communion. As a baptistic leaning individual, I hold to the idea that communion is done as a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Horton's explanation, however, left me confused as to how exactly the Reformed view of communion differs from the Catholic view. If you are curious, pick up the book and read pages 116-118.
Despite this, (perhaps because of this) I found "A Better Way" to be valuable and thought-provoking. Perhaps I'll wait a few months and pick the book up again to give it a new try. Either way, I recommend it with only slight hesitation. Besided which, our Reformed brethren can never be accused of taking the Word of God lightly, and Horton proves true to this in his book.
Well this is going to be one very short book review! As some of you may know, I have been reaidng this book for quite some time and I have finally finished it. It is not that the book is boring or that I disagreed with much of it, but this was a real challenge for me to complete. This is not to say that I intend to get rid of the book, for I found it valuable and will probably refer to it again in the future. The problem, I think, is that Horton's presentation was rather dry. I've read books by Horton before, and this is not something I've encountered in his writings before...so it's sadly ironic that I should find a lack of true passionate writing in a book dedicated to (as the subtitle states) "rediscovering the drama of God-centered worship"!
As with all reviews ever written by anyone, this is my own opinion and it may be that someone else may find the writing filled with zeal! I certainly don't suggest that anyone NOT read this book, for as I've already stated before, it contains valuable information. Also, Horton does excel at bringing complex arguments to the level of a simple reader such as myself. I was able to follow his arguments and overall I found myself agreeing with his critique of what passes for worship in too many churches today.
Another thing that Horton does well in this book is to unapologetically examine the typical components of a service and compare them to what the Bible teaches. Where Horton lost me, through no fault of his own I might add, is when he makes his defense of infant baptism. I say that this is through no fault of his own for he clearly states in his book that he is writing from a Reformed position, whereas I identify myself more as Reformed Baptist, holding to believer's baptism and a premillenial eschatology. One thing I found out through this book is what our Reformed brethren believe about communion. As a baptistic leaning individual, I hold to the idea that communion is done as a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Horton's explanation, however, left me confused as to how exactly the Reformed view of communion differs from the Catholic view. If you are curious, pick up the book and read pages 116-118.
Despite this, (perhaps because of this) I found "A Better Way" to be valuable and thought-provoking. Perhaps I'll wait a few months and pick the book up again to give it a new try. Either way, I recommend it with only slight hesitation. Besided which, our Reformed brethren can never be accused of taking the Word of God lightly, and Horton proves true to this in his book.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Brief Thoughts on Acts 5:29-42
"...Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."
- Acts 5:29-42
This last Wednesday at church we had a discussion of this passage and I did not get an opportunity to share some of the thoughts that went through my head as I considered this passage...so of course I've decided to share them here! ;-)
The part that makes me stop and think is the section in bold above. Everyone credits Gamaliel with incredible wisdom and forethought over his advice, but long ago I read something in a commentary that made me stop to think more closely about it. If we consider it from the long term perspective about how God indeed used Peter "and the other apostles" to bring about His plan for the church, then of course Gamaliel was right. His comment, however, is not the point of the passage, and to place too much emphasis on it can be a bit misleading.
Allow me to explain...
When we turn Gamaliel's comment into the primary teaching of this wonderful passage we set upon a path that leads to all kinds of erroneous thought. For example, if we take the comment at face value, what does it say about such things about Mormonism? Or Watchtower? For all intents and purposes, these are extremely successful movements. Does it follow, therefore, that they are of God? Well only in the sense that God is fully sovereign and that nothing happens outside of His eternal purposes. This does not mean that they are pleasing to Him or that in opposing their false teaching that we are placing ourselves against God! There are many things that purport to be Christian, that attempt to be defined as mainstream Christianity, but they are not. To say that what is successful must be of God is to open ourselves up to such foolishness as that which comes out in the form of the emergent church movement. To embrace it is to give credence to the idea that if we want to "grow" our churches we must adopt business models instead of Biblical Truth!
When one considers the success of Christianity in our day and age (any day and any age actually), then we must look at whether it embraces Biblical doctrines and upholds the five solas (sola scriptura; sola fide; sola gratia; solus Christus; soli deo gloria). Numbers are great, but only if they reflect a redeemed people rather than "seekers"; programs can be beneficial, but only if their purpose is to minister to the sheep and not to attract those ever important numbers. So success from a Christian perspective does not look at all like what the world considers success...and sadly, it does not look like what too many within the church would declare as successful!
Disagree if you must, it is possible (not likely though- ha ha) that I am wrong. But at least give it some thought.
God Bless
- Acts 5:29-42
This last Wednesday at church we had a discussion of this passage and I did not get an opportunity to share some of the thoughts that went through my head as I considered this passage...so of course I've decided to share them here! ;-)
The part that makes me stop and think is the section in bold above. Everyone credits Gamaliel with incredible wisdom and forethought over his advice, but long ago I read something in a commentary that made me stop to think more closely about it. If we consider it from the long term perspective about how God indeed used Peter "and the other apostles" to bring about His plan for the church, then of course Gamaliel was right. His comment, however, is not the point of the passage, and to place too much emphasis on it can be a bit misleading.
Allow me to explain...
When we turn Gamaliel's comment into the primary teaching of this wonderful passage we set upon a path that leads to all kinds of erroneous thought. For example, if we take the comment at face value, what does it say about such things about Mormonism? Or Watchtower? For all intents and purposes, these are extremely successful movements. Does it follow, therefore, that they are of God? Well only in the sense that God is fully sovereign and that nothing happens outside of His eternal purposes. This does not mean that they are pleasing to Him or that in opposing their false teaching that we are placing ourselves against God! There are many things that purport to be Christian, that attempt to be defined as mainstream Christianity, but they are not. To say that what is successful must be of God is to open ourselves up to such foolishness as that which comes out in the form of the emergent church movement. To embrace it is to give credence to the idea that if we want to "grow" our churches we must adopt business models instead of Biblical Truth!
When one considers the success of Christianity in our day and age (any day and any age actually), then we must look at whether it embraces Biblical doctrines and upholds the five solas (sola scriptura; sola fide; sola gratia; solus Christus; soli deo gloria). Numbers are great, but only if they reflect a redeemed people rather than "seekers"; programs can be beneficial, but only if their purpose is to minister to the sheep and not to attract those ever important numbers. So success from a Christian perspective does not look at all like what the world considers success...and sadly, it does not look like what too many within the church would declare as successful!
Disagree if you must, it is possible (not likely though- ha ha) that I am wrong. But at least give it some thought.
God Bless
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