Wonderfully Significant!

Opinion Or Argument?

2012-02-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

There is no truth...All statements are false...Nothing can be known of reality...

The aforementioned claims are a few self-refuting statements that I love to collect. I do such a thing for two reasons:

1. I want the truth to stand out and be the guide for all discussions

2. I want to make sure that I articulate in a clear and logical manner and thus never use self-refuting statements

Well, this morning, I heard another wonderful, self-refuting statement, and had to add it to my list. Now that I think about it, it is one that comes up in many debates, articles, and discussions on controversial topics...here it is:

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

My response to this statement is simply, "No, everyone is not entitled to their own opinion."

If they agree to my statement, then by default, their statement is incorrect. If they disagree with my statement, then they are not allowing me to have my own opinion, which, by default, makes their view incorrect as well...in other words, it falls into one of the three classic laws of logic, the Law of excluded middle, which states, "for any proposition, either that proposition is true, or its negation is true.

One of the main reasons the statement, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion," is self-refuting, is because it makes a universal statement and applies it in a non-universal situation. Including the word "Everyone" in an improper context, simply allows me the opportunity of being the exception to the rule.

Why It Matters
In a day and age of political correctness, fear of offending, and subjectivity rules, we will certainly have someone try to use "opinion" rhetoric on us as we discuss The Truth of Jesus of Nazareth. So we need to tear down these illogical "opinion" statements and never allow them to intimidate us.

The Solution
The solution to defeating the "opinion" claim, is to use arguments based on reason. This forces one to think about what they say, and to give substantiation to their claim...substantiation that can then be deemed true or false.

On another note, I can say, "Everyone is entitled to their own argument based on sound reasoning," and it would not be self-refuting because someone would then have to give me reasons if they agree or disagree...which would then prove my statement correct.

So if you are ever listening to a debate, reading an article, or having a discussion, don't ever be persuaded by the "opinion" rhetoric...instead, demand an argument based on reasoning, then the opinions will fall, and the truth will stand!

Religion, Relationship, Or Reality?

2012-01-15T06:47:00.001-08:00

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
God making his appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:20 ~

Many have said, myself included, that Christianity is a "relationship, not a religion." What do you think about this statement?

I believe it comes down to Columbo Tactic #1, which would ask, "What do you mean by religion?...What do you mean by relationship?"

Wanting to clarify this topic, I would say that Christianity is Reality...

If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend checking into one or all of these links...here, here, and here.

Here is an excerpt from Wintery Knight:

My concern with the notion of Christianity as a relationship is that people will cash it out as a subjective thing that they do for fun privately and that it is never the basis of public actions or words. And my fear is that without theology, people just project their own character onto God and discern his character through their feelings and intuitions, instead of through a study of the Bible and theology (emphasis added).

How Champions Think

2012-01-14T07:37:00.001-08:00

Good quote I learned from a tennis mentor, and it is a great philosophy that helps us to see how Champions think:

"Your next shot is more important than your last mistake” ~ Tom Veneziano

How can you apply this to your life? Have you made the wrong career choice? Bad decision making in a relationship? Did you double fault on 30-40? Maybe you did not speak up when you should have?

In terms of human history, we made a bad decision in the garden, but God, through Jesus of Nazareth, has given us our next shot in life...What will you do with it?

Process, Not Product

2012-01-02T10:26:00.001-08:00

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature
and in favor with God and man.
~ Luke 2:52 ~

Inspired from Luke 2:52, I have thought about some new ideas to implement in gaining wisdom, stature, and favor...How can I best gain knowledge and abilities this year and use what God gave me for His Glory? Hoping to avoid a "self-help" entry, I have provided, not an exhaustive list by any means, but a few tips and tactics for getting to that next level for 2012...Four focus areas:

1. Focus on the process instead of the product
Too many times, all we think about is having a bigger bank account, or a better physique, without thinking about what needs to be done, or how it needs to be accomplished. Determine your end product, but focus on how to obtain it...working on the process in chunk's of time and effort...and then be persistent: Losers quit when they're tired. Winners quit when they've won. -Unknown

2.Implement the MIKE Tactic
Mike Singletary, famous linebacker for the Baylor and Chicago Bears, was always known for intensity...his eyes showed it and his play backed it up...so as you establish new goals this year, get intense about them and establish the MIKE Tactic:

M- Motivated = You must be motivated for change
I - Inspire/Influence = find someone who inspires you and think of someone you can influence
K - Knowledge = If you want to change, you must arm yourself with the knowledge of what to do and how to do it (see below).
E - Evaluate = a key step to see if you are on pace with your goals

3. Multiply and Subtract
We need to multiply certain areas that direct us to transform, and we need to subtract things that are holding us back. There is a quote that reads, "In 5 years you will be the sum total of the books you’ve read and the people you’ve associated with." Let's condense that down to one year...by January 2013, you could be the result of what you allowed to enter your mind by what your read and who you ran with...our readings and our associations have a profound effect on who we become. It is why Psalm 119:93 says “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life,” and why Proverbs 4:23 states, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." So we must focus on the input if we desire a certain output. Here are some tips:

• Do you want to know what you believe and why? Then read On Guard by William Lane Craig, and then form a study group and watch the DVD Companion to it...you read and discuss, read and discuss, constantly shaping your mind and your transformation.

• Do you want to gain muscle and lose fat? Then subscribe to fitness magazines/blogs, and form a fitness group. Read books and associate with people who are like-minded to get strong and healthy. (If you can't find a workout partner, then I highly recommend DVD programs, I know it sounds crazy, but for real, get Insanity or P90X 2...they will at least motivate you because you see other people getting fit, and it lays out the program in a plug-n-play method.

• Do you want to establish better finances? Then read books and hang out with people who have become rich through smart investments and a savings plan.

4. Who Do You Play For?
A favorite quote comes from the movie, Miracle, the true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad. It is a simple quote used by the coach, and it goes like this:

"Who do you play for?"

This one quote totally shifted the players mentality from selfishness to self-giving! One reason they were able to beat the Russians is because they realized they played for their country, their family, their team. Listen, if you want to transform in 2012, then ask yourself, "Who do I play for?"

Are you a parent? Do you want your kids to know Christ? Then study The Scriptures, serve on Mission Trips, be a leader in your Church and your community. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”- Proverbs 22:6

Do you want your kids to get into Harvard or Stanford? Then don't just tell them to study and work hard, let them see you reading intellectual books and making new discoveries.

Do you want your organization or your team to improve? Then don't tell others to work or play hard...you work hard, you play hard and they will echo your efforts.

When people see you learning and growing Spiritually, Intellectually, Physically, Financially, etc, then they will follow as well. So not only will you be achieving your goals, you will be helping others achieve their goals.

So for 2012, don't just expect success, train for it...think process...think influence...and you might find the product is better than you expected!

Evidence? It Goes Both Ways!

2011-12-24T07:13:00.000-08:00

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas Day, we can't help but think and ponder about one of the greatest miracles of all-time...The Virgin Birth, God entering the world in human flesh...which leads me to then meditate upon The Resurrection Of Christ...God redeeming all of humanity.

...but what about those who don't believe? I often hear the atheistic theme song of "evidence, I need more evidence." Or if it's not their theme song, perhaps it's the famous sound bite that says, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

...Well, to the atheist, the game goes both ways...you state that "God does not exist" and that "miracles are not possible," so I would like to say to you, "prove it!" You make an extraordinary claim so you better give me some extraordinary evidence!

So what will the atheist do? Here are some attempts:

1. Only science can show us what is true. Oh really? This statement is one that is philosophical in nature, and itself is not testable by the scientific method.

2. Macro-evolution is true and Darwin is god...Oh really? Give me some extraordinary evidence that shows this extraordinary claim to be the case. How does a Darwinian mechanism create the first replicator? Where are all the fossils showing transitions between species? How do you explain the Cambrian explosion? Please show me evidence how random mutation and natural selection gets around the problem of irreducibly complex mechanisms such as the human eye, ATP Synthase, and Bacteria Flagella. Please show me evidence on how disorder can create order and how time and chance can create the detailed code and the specified complexity of DNA language. In short, why is there something rather than nothing?

3. You can't prove a universal negative. Oh really? You think you are going to escape the burden of proof do you? There are no zebras who play for the New England Patriots. There are no married bachelors. There is no water molecule made of CO2...how is that for proving universal negatives!

I will conclude with a dialogue from William Lane Craig:

The claim on the lips of today’s New Atheists, "We have been given the tools of reason, inquiring minds and a good education and we judge religion as we judge everything else" now appears to be empty posturing. If this assertion is really true, then when you say, "As an atheist I assert that God, and your God in particular does not exist," you’d better be prepared to respond when I ask, “Really? What proof, evidence, or argument can you provide to convince me?”

Praise Be To God who provides more than enough evidence for His existence and for His Love...demonstrated as He entered into time, space, matter, and energy...stepping into our lives through Jesus Christ. The Scriptures speak of it, creation concludes it, and reality reflects it! Victory IN Christ and Merry Christmas!

Rightly Handling The Word Of Truth

2011-12-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ~ 2 Timothy 2:15 ~

It's been quite a while since I have read the brilliant writings of Oswald Chambers, so it was very refreshing to peer into his mind tonight by reading his thoughts on 2 Timothy 2:15...

...Chambers sees the importance of knowing what and knowing why you believe...he sees the importance of studying The Scriptures and believing based on truth...he sees the importance of knowing how to express the truth of Christ to others...

...here is an excerpt and a link to his Dec 15 entry!

"If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else."

Koukl: "100% God - 100% Man"

2011-11-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

In the last post, I mentioned how Wintery Knight discussed the importance of an accurate understanding of Christianity...I want to follow that post with the following link to an article written by Greg Koukl, another great thinker...

It's called "100% God - 100% Man," and to summarize, Koukl states:

"There's is not a sharp dichotomy between God working and our working.
They go hand in hand. God works through our initiative."

...how God uses our wills and our actions to accomplish His ends..."

• • •

"Pray toward Heaven. Row toward shore." ~ Lee Ezell

The Brilliance of Wintery Knight

2011-11-23T20:04:00.001-08:00

Here is a link to a brilliant blog, written by a favorite thinker, Wintery Knight...most Christians have a misunderstanding of God, and it leads many of them to "de-convert"...they are simply misinformed...so WK hits on key elements to show how Christianity truly relates to our lives, and why it is so important that our understanding of correct Christian Theology and Doctrine, be accurate, instead of some superstitious nonsense...

...here are few excerpts:

"This is why accurate theology matters. No serious Christian thinks that you stop sinning after you become a Christian, and no serious Christian thinks that prayer alone is a solution to sin. To stop sinning, you need to engage more than the spirit, you need to engage the mind. Most people want to spiritualize things because prayer is easier than study. But if you want to stop sinning, the best way is a combination of prayer and study."

"Some people want to dumb Christianity down to the level of superstition then they complain that it doesn't work. But Christianity is better when you learn more and work harder..."

...People become Christians because they want to be like Jesus, and they understand that Jesus was not having fun. He was doing a job, and he wasn't happy or appreciated."

"It's so strange to me that people think that the best way to see God interfere is to pray. The way I see God working in my life is when I go home and listen to some debate about the problem of evil, and then the next day some atheist asks me out to lunch to talk about why God allows evil. Maybe instead of doing easy things, we should actually invest in our relationship with God and then see if he responds by giving us work to do. Maybe a relationship with God is about serving him, and the joy is about seeing him reward those efforts by working with us and through us. Maybe God has more for us than just entertainment."

Fallacies: Genetic Fallacy #2

2011-11-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

In a prior post, I had mentioned an example of the Genetic Fallacy...here in this post, I would like to expose a second example of the Genetic Fallacy...

"Christianity is just a crutch."

In other words, the person is fallaciously inferring that the origin of a Christian's belief simply stems from his/her dependency on a safety mechanism or a support system. But as stated in the prior post, the origin or how one comes to believe in something does not necessarily prove or disprove the validity of such a belief...to make a claim that "Christianity is a crutch" is totally irrelevant to whether or not Christianity is true, and simply shows that the person who makes the claim does not have a clue about logic or rationality.

So once again, take a tactical approach to turn this on the atheist or whoever makes this fallacious claim...here is a great way to do it, from Greg Koukl, (author of Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions).

"Some say Christianity is just a crutch. But let's turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways. Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they've had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God's existence? Think about it."

The Pro-Abortion Contradiction

2011-11-06T12:19:00.001-08:00

Ronald Reagan once said:

“Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.”

• • •

Those who are pro-abortion should stop and think about their contradictory position...the only reason they are able to vote or advocate for pro-abortion legislation is because they were not, themselves, aborted...

It's also funny how one of the main things pro-abortion advocates bring up is the issue of having rights...the right to privacy, the right to autonomy, the right to reproductive status...give me a break...again, stop and think about why you have rights to begin with...you were given life...you were not aborted...your rights were not taken away...

...You want to talk about rights...how about the right-to-life for the fetus?

...and understand, that a potential you was not born...you were born...if the embryo you once were was aborted, a potential you would not have been murdered...you would have been murdered...

...so the next time a pro-abortion advocate wants to celebrate their right to abort, they need to stop and think about why they have been given such a right to begin with...

Fallacies: Genetic and Appeal To Pity

2011-11-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

Most non-believers claim to be champions of reason, logic, rationality...but to the contrary, the non-theist usually ends up being the more illogical when it comes to world view issues, evident by numerous fallacious statements made in any given conversation. Normally, this comes about because the atheist, agnostic, etc are very good at making assertions, but very bad at making arguments. Two very common fallacies include the Genetic Fallacy and the Appeal to Pity.

Genetic fallacy#1 "You are only a Christian because you were born in the United States."

Notice, this is an assertion...not an argument, and therefore, the non-believer is in a tricky situation because the one who makes the claim, bears the burden...and this presents a problem for someone who commits the genetic fallacy because the origin of one's beliefs or claims does not confirm nor deny the validity of such a belief or claim.

I can believe that 2+2 = 4 because I learned it from a text book or because I learned it from Sir Isaac Newton...it does not matter what my source of belief is, what matters is whether or not the belief is true (i.e Explanatory Power, Cumulative Support)

So if the non-believer really wants to be a champion of reason, they must provide an argument with valid reasons, not simply dodge reality by stating fallacious assertions.

Tactic: Use a question to show them their fallacy by turning it back on them:

"So is it your belief that the only reason I am a Christian is because I grew up in a Christian society?"

They have to answer yes to this question based on their claim...

...now simply reply, "Well, you just believe that because of the society in which you grew up in."

In the next few posts, look for Genetic Fallacy #2, (“Christianity is a crutch for the weak”) and the Appeal to Pity fallacy, (“You mean that all of those other religions are wrong and their followers are going to hell?”)

Christ, Reason, and Salvation

2011-10-27T05:02:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts on salvation...

We are saved by faith, but our faith is based on reason and truth...it is not a blind faith, to the contrary, it is a reasonable faith...it is one substantiated in the reality of truth...

There is much to say about this that can be combined from the fields of apologetics, philosophy, history, science, mathematics, cosmology, etc, but here are a few verses that speak to Faith, Reason, and Truth

Faith
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

Reason
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. ~Isaiah 1:18

Truth
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ~John 17:17

Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit

2011-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Without Him [Jesus], we are stuck with that absurd formula of the evolutionist: Nothing times nobody equals everything. ~ John MacArthur ~ from his blog post, Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit ("Out of Nothing, Nothing Comes")

Unfolding Patterns Of God's Plans

2011-08-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Good thought I heard from Wayne Grudem the other day...he was talking about the way that God unfolds His purposes and reveals His Glory gradually over time, for instance:

Creation Of The World - Whether you hold a "Day-Age" view or a "Literal" view, etc, God gradually created and sculpted the world over time.

The Calling Of The Jews - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Twelve tribes...

The Sending Of The Messiah - centuries passed before Jesus was incarnated.

Spreading Of The Gospel - gradually over centuries, we are seeing God's Purposes unfolding.

The more I think about it, the more all of life is like this. There is a development process to all things that have life, meaning, value, and purpose. The only things that are really made in an instance are material and expendable.

So this gradual revealing of God's purpose certainly has personal application to us as well. He wants our lives to have meaning, value, and purpose, and the only way to do that is through a gradual development via a daily relationship with Christ.

In fact, Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon delivered on the Sabbath Morning, January 7th, 1855, stated the following: "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity."

I think that God unfolds His purposes gradually, so that we can "continually investigate" His greatness...Allow me to draw a parallel from the outstanding Christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century, Saint Anselm, who coined the phrase, fides quaerens intellectum...translated to mean, “faith seeking understanding”...Perhaps God has so arranged life that our faith seeks an understanding, and then our understanding leads to a revealing...then purpose...

Faith --> Understanding --> Revealing --> Purpose

For Anselm, "faith seeking understanding" was “an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.” He believed that true faith is a love for God and a drive to act as God wills...Ultimately, our purpose is to become Christ-like...Jesus was everything God is, and He was everything that we were meant to be...so what happened was that sin entered the world, we became separated from God, and our image became distorted...man has been on a search for purpose ever since...a search for God through Christ...a desire beyond all desires in which C.S. Lewis beautifully summarized in the following quote:

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

...God, through His gradual unfolding of meaning, value, and purpose, wants us to first have a "deeper knowledge" of Him...and a deeper understanding of Him...a desire to become Sanctified and Christ-like...so that when God unfolds our meaning, value, and purpose in life, we see Him as the architect, the composer, and the designer of it all.

Determinism vs Free Will, Part 1

2011-08-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I will be recording a few thoughts as I ponder Libertarian Free Will (Molinism and Arminian) vs Compatibilism/Determinism (Calvinist) ...I also want to toss in some thoughts about hard-lined, scientific determinism, such as materialistic atheism/philosophical naturalism...and while I certainly do not desire "in-house" fighting among fellow Christians, I do think the discussion leads us to a better understanding of God's Word, so it should prove to be a fruitful endeavor!

...so, for the first entry, a question and a thought for those who believe in determinism...

1. How do you know that determinism is true? From an epistemological viewpoint, you could not be able to logically affirm the validity of determinism, because you would simply be determined to believe in determinism...it results in circular reasoning...it is self-defeating to try and come up with reasons for why determinism is true or how you know it to be true, because the second you invoke reasoning, you have canceled determinism...one can not be determined yet at the same time use any sense of reasoning...can a computer give you a reason for why the input leads to the output? No, it simply does what it is told, but it has no concept for why or how it works...this is how determinism works, there is no way around it...

...on the same view, I find it puzzling when someone who holds to determinism as doctrine, tries to persuade me to believe in determinism...they do not see the logical incoherence that is inherent in doing so, because it would mean, if persuaded to believe in their argument, that I CHOSE to believe in determinism...but I can not freely choose anything if I have been pre-programmed for determinism...

They could say, "well, this just means that you were determined not to believe in determinism." Then by default, if, for the sake of argument, determinism was true, this would mean I was determined to believe in free choice...but this would be another logical blunder to be pre-programmed to believe in choice because it would lead me to the option of not believing in determinism....which means I would never defend determinism as a realistic truth and thus would be self-defeating for me to be determined as a determinist who believes in free choice...

More to come on this issue, next up...Do Calvinist's have accountability groups?

Defend And Destroy

2011-07-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

We destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the
knowledge of God.

2 Corinthians 10.5

• • •

As Christians, we need to be well-educated so that we can win the battle of good over evil. I like how Wintery Knight puts it:

"...if we study everything very well, people will link our intelligence to our faith. They’ll say “if you’ve put this much thought into economics, then you must have a well-thought-out faith, too”. Being well-rounded makes you more convincing, more influential on moral and cultural issues, and more effective at
turning conversations to the gospel."

The reason I bring this up is because it amazes me how we live in a society of so-called tolerance, inclusiveness, and diversity, yet Christians are the only ones who are not tolerated, not included, nor accepted into the diversity club. A prime example of this can be read about in an amazingly well written and shocking article over at Townhall.com, called the Cisco Kid. It's discusses how Dr. Frank Turek, the well-known Christian Apologist, author, speaker, radio host, and leadership consultant, got fired from his position at Cisco, simply because he is a Christian who has moral and ethical values. So it appears the definition of tolerance has been transformed to only tolerating those you agree with...which is an absurdity because one can only tolerate what one disagrees with. I like how Dr. Turek describes how we now see inclusion and diversity being applied:

..."'inclusion' and 'diversity' only applies when an employee agrees with them."

In other words, "it is not inclusion nor diversity when a person is excluded because of his or her different view."

So as Christian who can influence culture, we must take the commandment of 2 Corinthians 10:5 seriously. We nee to educate ourselves and be clear thinking Christians. We need to know how to articulate and how to be equipped to discuss the issues of our time...we need to know how to Defend and Destroy the nonsense that is going on in our culture...Christians need to understand things such as the First Amendment, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act...we must be able to take a stand in the market place of ideas...we must put aside the pseudo-humility and non-involvement so that we can think and take action.

One last note: Do you want to know how the devil is working today? Take a look at our companies who fire Christians...take a look at our politicians and what they legislate...the enemy uses two words to destroy our culture: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS...

So what can we do? Begin by educating and equipping yourself. Here are some great books to get you started on how to transform culture instead of culture destroying you:

Tactics - by Greg Koukl
Moral Relativism - by Greg Koukl and Francis Beckwith
Legislating Morality - by Dr. Frank Turek and Norm Geisler
The Case For Life - by Scott Klusendorf
Christian Ethics - by Norm Geisler
Basic Economics - by Thomas Sowell
Correct Not Politically Correct - by Dr. Frank Turek
Politics-According To The Bible - by Wayne Grudem
Money, Greed, And God - Why Capitalism Is The Solution And Not The Problem - by Jay Wesley Richards
Body & Soul - by J.P. Moreland and Scott B. Rae

Calvinism, Election, And False Love

2011-07-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Just read a great entry from the Wesleyan Arminian blog about Calvinism and Election. They mentioned a movie illustration from the film, When In Rome, to teach how the process of election preceding faith leads to a "false" love...a love that is merely pre-programmed instead of authentic and genuine...

Click here to read the short blog entry from the Wesleyan Arminian blog, and then take a look at the clip from the movie that I have provided here:

So you can see, these individuals may "think" they actually love Beth, but they have no way to know other wise because they have been simply "programmed" or "elected" to do so.

On the contrary, God wants those who freely choose Him. That is why in Revelation 3:20, Jesus offers us the "If-Then" option...an option that establishes the possibilities for counter-factuals and libertarian free will. He showers all of mankind with a Prevenient Grace...a grace that we must have before we can be justified and sanctified, but it is also a resistible Grace that leads to an authentic love via free will...

Allow me to summarize by quoting A.W. Tozer, who stated,

"A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so."

Be sure to read Tozer's excellent article, The Sovereignty of God, which demonstrates how the free-will of man does not limit God's Sovereignty...it actually Proves God's Sovereignty.

Reasoning And The Resurrection

2011-07-12T07:55:00.001-07:00

1 Peter 3:15 states, "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy..."

So how do we do this? Do we do it through subjective feelings? Do we honor Him as Holy by telling people that Christianity is true for me even if it is not true for you? Do we honor Him as Holy by telling others that we believe in Christ, but we don't want to offend them if they do not.

Do we honor Christ as Holy by saying that Christ simply lives in our heart, and that I don't need to read my Bible as long as I have a warm fuzzy feeling in my subjective experience about reality?

No...to the contrary, 1 Peter 3:15 actually combines the heart with the mind...

In our HEARTS we honor Him...by giving REASONS...

Take a look: 1 Peter 3:15 goes on and tells us to honor The Lord as Holy by "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..."

One way to do this is to give REASONS for why you believe in The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Intellectual, scientific, and historical REASONS of why you are a sane individual who actually thinks and has common sense to believe in the Trans-Cultural and OBJECTIVE Truth of Jesus Christ.

Click here for your weekend homework: How Every Christian Can Learn To Explain The Resurrection Of Jesus To Others

This kind of reasoning will catalyze any and all type of evangelism...If we really want to witness, preach The Gospel, and be powerful Ambassadors of Christ to transform culture, then providing REASONS will allow us to overcome emotionalism with intellect and allow Christians to take a stand and be front runners in the market place of ideas...a market place that has been overturned by secularist for far too long!

4th Of July Challenge

2011-07-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Abraham Lincoln once observed, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next.”

G. K.Chesterton’s observation about Russia has come true here, “Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

• • •

Great article by Frank Turek, titled Country a Mess? Blame the Church...

I have been very motivated and challenged by this article, and I believe you will be as well. So I would like to issue a 4th of July challenge to all Followers of Jesus Christ...we need to transform culture and society by infiltrating it instead of avoiding it...so...

Let's put an end to the anti-intellectual movement that leads believers to separate from society rather than reform it. Let's reform society by thinking, writing, influencing, and creating.

Let's stop bifurcating life into two separate spheres—the sacred and secular. We need to saturate society with the Truth of Christ, morality, and ethics...not separate from it. And forget about being PC and non-offensive. Our softness is allowing culture to spit on The Cross of Christ.

Let's stop substituting Reason for emotionalism, and thinking that only activities that directly save souls are deemed sacred. A saved soul is wonderful, but we must make the connection that a saved soul is a transformed person...and transformed people lead to a transformed culture.

Eternity is at stake, but so is our present day...May God's Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven...

**Bold captions are derived from Frank Turek's article, Country A Mess, Blame The Church

Men - wear the pants - be a pillar

2011-05-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

"Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz."

Men, wear the pants. Be worthy of being called a "man."

Skirts
We've got a lot of men today wearing skirts. Not to be inappropriate but truthful, if there not wearing one, their lusting over woman who are in one...acting like a bunch of chauvinists pigs.

I'm all for the metro-man and using as much hair paste as possible...being aware of boot cut or straight leg jeans...what I'm not for are those who don't know how to put on the work jeans...what I'm not for, are the boys who think they are men - pleasing themselves instead protecting woman - God's daughters.

Ford Truck Man
If we are going to be men who protect our ladies in holy, Jesus-like love, and shape our children in the power and might of God's Holy Spirit, we need to beat our chest and give out a war cry when a ford truck commercial comes on while we're on our way to bring our wife a cold glass of iced tea! That's a "worthy man"! Ladies, can I get an "Amen!"

Worthy Man

Let's get a sense what it means that Boaz is a "worthy man". As one preacher puts it, and I paraphrase, you're not a man just because you can shave - that's not what makes you worthy. According to a commentary I read, where the ESV says, "a worthy man", the Hebrew literally reads, "a man mighty in substance."

The Orthodox Jewish Bible reads, "an ish gibbor chayil."

Let's look at these two Hebrew words: gibbor chayil.

Gibbor

When you think "gibbor", think "champion," "valiant men", "helper", and "hero". Picture in your mind the "Mighty Thor". Whoever wields this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. Had to put that in there!

Gibbor refers to the vitality and strength of a victorious warrior...excellence.**(see resource notes for this at double asterisks below).

Men, you got any "gibbor" in you? Do you "help" your wife? Stop sitting there expecting her to do the "woman's" job. Be a man. Help her with the kids. Are you a "hero" to your kids? Are you "victorious" over sin? Man up!

Chayil

This is the word for "wealth." It can mean valiant, power, strength, might, power, virtuous, riches, and of course, wealth. Interesting enough, it is the exact word chapter 3:11 of Ruth uses to characterize Ruth as an "excellent" woman.**

Men, are you "wealthy" - not just talking financial stuff here - are you "rich and mighty" in the Word of God and prayer for your wife and kids? Are you "rich and mighty" in your witness at the workplace and in the gym? If single, are you "rich" and "mighty" in holy living, prayer, church life, "water cooler discussions"?

This is where it gets cool

Another interesting word concerning Boaz being a "worthy man" is the Greek word, ischus - it means "strength" or "ability".

The name "Boaz" means, "In Him (the Lord) is strength". If you have read Boaz chapter 4:17, you know that Boaz is King David's great-granddad. If you know the Bible, you know that David is Solomon's dad...making Boaz King Solomon's great-great granddad. 2 Chronicles 3:17 and 1 Kings 7:21 tells us that King Solomon built God's Temple in Jerusalem. Now, watch this - watch what Solomon, great-great grandson of Boaz named one of the pillars of the temple:

"He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz." (2Chr 3:17, 1Ki 7:21)

Could it be that Solomon's great-great granddad left a lasting generational impression on his family?

Even More Cool

The Septuagint LXX, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, could give some insight to the meaning of Boaz here in 2 Chronicles. Here is how the English translation of the Septuagint reads:

"He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left: and he called the name of the one on the right hand 'Stability,' and the name of the one on the left Strength."

Do you remember our greek word, "ischus"? It is the word in 2 Chronicles for "strength." Have you ever read Mark 12:30? Love the Lord your God with all your what? Heart, soul, mind, and "ischus" - strength.

Stand Strong - be a pillar

As one person has said, we need to be careful with interpreting the significance of Solomon naming the north pillar, "Boaz"; however, it is insightful. According to one commentary, a pillar was an ancient symbol of strength and security. When destruction would come about and everything else had fallen, the pillar would often still stand - strong and tall.

Leave a mark

Also in ancient times, someone of great worth is society, would have a pillar erected in their honor and their name would be etched in the pillar - it would "leave a mark" - recognizing the impact they had on their and all future generations.

Build a legacy

I wonder what our actions as men are "etching" into the hearts of those we love? I wonder what kind of "mark" we are leaving for our children - what kind of legacy? I've heard one preacher say, and he's right, that too many men today want a good time or a good weekend - not of a good legacy. God forgive us.

Jesus

Jesus, the most worthy Man of all time, says in the Book of Revelation, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God..." (Rev 3:12). Men, your faithfulness to Jesus, to your wife, your kids, your church, your country, your neighbors, will not be forgotten.

Boaz is a pillar in the temple of Jesus' God. He was a pillar for Ruth, Noami, and his boy Obed. - grandfather of David. From his line, came Jesus.

What is coming from you as man? Anything worthy?

Next time - Boaz as a man who fights for those he loves...a man who takes action - quickly

**RESOURCES FROM http://www.preceptaustin.org/ruth_21-7.htm#2:1

T-Time..."Going Boaz"

2011-05-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

Men. It's "T-time".

"Testosterone" time. I'm NOT talking about being an idiot...acting like a CHAUVINIST or a COWARD. I'm talking about "HOLY Testosterone; Sanctified Testosterone." I'm talking about being a MAN like CHRIST. Men, we have 3 options, as one pastor says...to be a Chauvinist, a Coward, or Christ like.

"T-time" is about being Christ like.

There was and is NO greater MAN than Jesus Christ. Of course, He was and is the "GOD-MAN". 100% GOD. 100% MAN. Other great men in the historical, accurate, and reliable documents of the Bible were John the Baptist and Boaz.

GOING BOAZ
Boaz is one of my heroes. He is a great picture of Jesus Christ. His name means, "strength, mighty man". In other words, he didn't drink "decaf" and drive a mini van (just kidding - driving a mini van actually shows you are more of a man because you are laying your life down for your wife and kids, you're willing to bleed; seriously - that's my view on mini vans). "BOAZ" is where we get the term, "BO-UP". Not really; but it sounds good!

A WORTHY MAN
Boaz's story is interesting. He's a man's man; a dude's dude, according to one preacher; yet his story is found in an Old Testament Scripture with a woman's name as the title, the book of Ruth. Chapter 2 verse 1 of Ruth tells the Boaz's story and it begins by describing him as "a worthy man".

WORTHY or WIMPY?
That's the FIRST things said of this guy. I don't know what the first thing that would be said or thought of me...or you...I hope it would be something like that. Men, what is the FIRST thing your wife or the those closet to you would say about you and me? I hope it's a "worthy man and not wimpy man." Are we "worthy men"? Does the church have any "worthy men"?

BLOG SERIES - going Boaz
I'm starting a blog series of what a "worthy man" is. We'll look at the life of Boaz and see how he is a picture of Jesus Christ, the WORTHIEST MAN OF ALL TIME! We'll look at the characteristics that the Book of Ruth lay out for us. Just to give you a sneak peek: Boaz was a:

"Fighter",
"Lover",
"Redeemer",
"Protector",
"Planner",
"Leader"
"Bless-er"
AND MANY MORE!

GOING TONKA
In other words, when he was a little boy, he was "bi-lingual". He could speak English and "Tonka"..."vrummm, vrumm'. If he was alive today, he would work out to "insanity workout videos"; he would have loved Chuck Norris movies; he would watch WWE on Monday nights and College Gameday ESPN on Saturday mornings; he most likely would have had lots of camouflage in his closet; and because he was the kind of MAN we need today; he would have fought for sexual purity/holiness. That's a real man.We don't have enough "real men; worthy men" in the church today. Sure, we have some. Not enough. I want to be a "worthy man." I want to be a picture of Jesus. Dude, do you?

CASTRATION
I recently came upon an article written by Brian Mavis on how to reach men in the church...how to "fix" men (it gave me the vrumm, vrumm illustration idea by the way). The article talked about how the church is failing in this endeavor. The following paragraph is an INCREDIBLE - and I think, ACCURATE explanation of what the church has done to MEN...PLEASE READ...

"In many cases the church hasn’t done much better than the world at “fixing men.” They’ve put a 21st century spin on a similar first-century problem. Two thousand years ago, there was some confusion about what it took to become a Christian man. Some people believed that Gentile men had to be circumcised to be real Christians. Today the church has moved the knife a few inches, no longer performing a circumcision but a castration. I’m speaking metaphorically of course. But the problem is real. Just like the world, the church often tries to take the “manliness” out of a man instead of taking his God-given strengths and finding their rightful use in the kingdom. God wants man as He made him. Man isn’t meant to chase skirts, but he’s not meant to be in one either (unless you’re Scottish—and it still looks weird)."

NO SKIRTS ALLOWED
I believe all churches should post a sign outside it's doors for men: MEN, NO SKIRTS ALLOWED. I'm all for the "metro-man". I'm one myself. Metro does not mean you wear skirts though. It simply means you have enough fashion sense to stop tight rolling your jeans. You can be a metro man and still drive a GMC Sierra.

In the next couple of posts, we'll begin to look at "going Boaz." I hope you'll check in. It's "T-time."

Frameworks Of Interpretation

2011-04-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

A few notes on interpreting Scripture:

Take a look at the following verse:

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." ~Matthew 18.20~

I want to ask you a question: "Is God Omnipresent?" Or to the contrary, are there certain conditions to where God shows up or to whom God is with? Do you have to have two or more people with you in order for God to be present in your life?

Now of course, God IS Omnipresent and He is with you whether you are by yourself or if you are in the presence of others...So what's my point? Well many times, the aforementioned verse and a host of others, are taken way out of context. For instance, read alone and without a proper framework in which to understand it, Matthew 18.20 is sometimes used to say that we must have two or three gathered in order to know that God is with us...this is not in line with what the passage actually teaches, nor with what The Bible as a whole teaches. So what do we do?

To start, we must read in terms of a framework instead of simply pulling a verse out in isolation. Scriptural references and verse numbers are great, but think about it, in our own day-to-day conversations, we don't speak in sentence-by- sentence manner...we have a context of person, place, and time in which we say certain things.

In the same manner, when reading Scripture, we must read with the proper framework, and this framework is based around certain understandings of context, genre's, observations, etc.

In terms of context, we have the context of content and the context of culture. With content, we must read the surrounding paragraphs in order to understand the verse at hand. Our minds work in a whole-parts-whole manner, so we need to interpret the part in light of the whole. In terms of culture, we need to know the who, what, when, where, and why of the passage.

So going back to Matthew 18.20 noted above, we need to, at the very least, start at verse 15 and see that Jesus is speaking about a situation where a brother in the Church may need to be ex-communicated due to non repented sin and unchanging behavior. In this process, there needs to be two or three witnesses, and so Jesus is saying, if these witnesses and the Church are in line with Biblical teachings and find that this particular brother is turning his back on such teachings, then Jesus will agree with the two or three witnesses and "will be among them" in this ex-communication process.

In conclusion, here are a few more frameworks that anyone can implement in order to better understand The Scriptures:

> Use the two types of context: content and cultural

> Use OIA
• Observation (ask who, what, when, where, why?)
• Interpretation (what is going on then and there?)
• Application (How do we apply it here and now?)

> Understand the proper Genre of Scripture - just as we read newspapers, magazines, ads, announcements, articles, etc, we need to know Biblical genre's as well...is the genre historical narrative, law, wisdom, psalm, prophecy, apocalyptic, Gospel, or epistle (letter)?

> We need to interpret the New Testament in light of the Old Testament

> Be objective instead of subjective: Never ask, "what does this verse mean to you?" The better question is "what does this verse mean?"

Here are two really good books for gaining proper insight into God's Word:

How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

Never Read A Bible Verse - by Greg Koukl (FREE 20 page book from Stand To Reason)

Love Wins? No, Jesus Saves!

2011-03-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

I just watched the promo video for Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins, a title he chose because he states that the Good News is that "Love Wins." It's a hidden message that takes Scripture out of context and leads certain people down a road to destruction...

...The Good News of The Bible is not that "Love Wins," but rather, "Jesus Saves." What does Jesus save us from? He saves us from the "disease" of humanity known as sin. Bell has it all wrong...another blasphemous statement he makes in the video is that Jesus is saving us from a wrathful God, as though it is God versus Jesus instead of God versus satan.

Jesus is not saving us from God...Jesus is bringing us to God...Jesus is the path to God, and the only path at that! Jesus brings us to God by saving us from sin and death and a life of eternal torment. We are on a sailboat to hell and Jesus thankfully was sent on a rescue mission by God The Father to reverse our direction and redeem humanity back to Himself, restoring the image that sin tarnished...this is the core message of Christianity...one look at John 3.16 shows this to be true, and you don't have to have a Ph.D. in Theology to understand it!

Bell's message is basically saying to do whatever the hell you want because everyone ends up in Heaven...

That would be like a doctor who knows his patient is sick, yet tells them to go ahead and live on without worry, because in the end everything works out...

Let me conclude with one final thought. If a diabetic needs insulin to live yet chooses not to take it, they would not die just because they refused insulin. They would die because they refused to receive what insulin and only insulin can do. To an even stronger extent, people do not go to hell simply because of a refusal to believe in Jesus, as though He was some pride and joy trophy that satisfies God's ego...no, they end up in hell because Jesus not only sustains life, He restores the life God desires for us to live...Jesus is Salvation...He is THE cure to the disease...Jesus gives us victory over sin and death...

Love wins because Jesus Saves. Jesus diagnoses the problem and offers the solution. I pray for Rob Bell and his followers to come to this understanding...

Adam & Eve...Predestined To Sin?

2011-01-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

The next few posts, I want to run some thought experiments...they deal with the issues of inconsistency in reference to our Calvinist brothers and sisters...

Not having the perspective of God Himself, I by no means claim a dogmatic declaration that my Arminian view is correct, but I want to at least put a "stone in the shoe"* of the Calvinist viewpoint, and make them think about some inconsistent doctrines they hold...I could give many examples and even point out tons of Scripture, but that will just lead to the prooftexting battle that has already gone on for centuries...so I want to take a more philosophical approach...

Calvinist will say the following: "God created Adam and Eve for a relationship with Himself, but their sin brought an end to that. God became an object of hostility to them and to us (Romans 8.7), and we all became 'objects of wrath' (Ephesians 2.3) to Him." **

Stone In The Shoe Response: If the Calvinist view is correct, then this means by default, that God predestined, and thus determined Adam and Eve to sin...God determined for the human race to be hostile towards Himself...God determined humans to be "objects of wrath."

Yet, at the same time, Calvinist will claim that God is good, loving, and perfect...which He is...but, by being good, loving, and perfect, God can not be the author of evil and sin.

Friends, how do Calvinist sleep at night? I don't see any way around this...if God is the screenwriter of determinism and predestination, then He deliberately chose Adam and Eve to sin and thus desired the human race to be separated from Himself...

Prooftext all you want, try to cherry pick your Scripture references of election (election will be discussed next) all day long, but that is simply skimming the surface instead of obtaining a deeper and more contextual understanding...

...but on the other hand, when one views Scripture as a WHOLE instead of pieces and parts, God's true character shines through...He is a God who desires***, but does not will us to love Him...thus, because of our choosing, we became objects of wrath, not because He determined it...as a result, through the incarnation, Christ becomes the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, sent on a rescue mission to redeem our incorrect choice of lust, not to cover up his predetermined plan of sin...

The next post will deal with choosing and rejecting God...What exactly does "elect" mean, and Do we have a choice in all of this?

*Greg Koukl, in his amazing book Tactics, (a MUST read for all followers of Jesus Christ) discusses this great concept of "putting a stone in their shoe." Greg is of the Reformed/Calvinist persuasion. Again, I love Calvinist, and I learn from them...I am simply trying to put a "stone in their shoe!"
**This is an excerpt from a fabulous book, The 5 Minute Theologian. Again, the author is Reformed, so it is a great book, I just happen to disagree with The Doctrine of Salvation from the inconsistent Calvinist viewpoint.
***You may claim I am prooftexting here, but I simply provide this link to show that my philosophical viewpoints are grounded in Scripture, not my own opinions.

No Chance For Chance

2011-01-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

I was curious this morning, as I am most mornings, and I was hoping someone, specifically a naturalist, or perhaps a group of evolutionary biologists, could help me understand the pictures above.

How is it that the architecture of the PowerMac computer MUST have a designer responsible for it's creation, and that anyone with a sound mind knows that there is NO way, that it could have been put together by random events...but when some people see images from the human anatomy and think about life as we know it, they actually come to a conclusion that we are nothing more than the products of time and chance?

...there is no chance for chance...

The sooner everyone realizes this, the sooner our world will improve. Belief in evolution and naturalism does not simply stop at the discussion of origins, it bleeds into the outcomes of our decisions. The way we view and understand God shapes every fabric of life...

...it's time to stop believing in science fiction.

...Jesus is Truth. Jesus is reality.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
~ John 1.1-3 ~

Loving God With All Your Mind

2011-01-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

Wanted to follow up the last blog post with a few thoughts on Luke 10.27 and the emphasis on loving God with all our mind...

• Loving God with all of our mind would facilitate Followers of Jesus Christ in the re-shaping of culture from secular to sacred...

This is so important because understanding and loving God with our mind leads to an understanding of Christian truth...and Christian truth is the truth of reality...therefore, if there is a lack of mental discipline, then our understanding of truth goes from objective to subjective (the famous cry of "what is true for you may not be true for me.")...and a subjective truth is the foundational issue to most political, social, and cultural problems we face today...i.e. political correctness...so we need to get back to the objective truth and away from postmodern relativism...

• Knowing and Loving God with our mind is a benefit, not a detractor...when it comes to the mind and knowledge of God, some will go as far to say that knowledge takes away our need for faith...this is not true, because faith and knowledge are not enemies of each other...they complement each other...one strengthens the other...

...if knowledge is harmful to our faith, then that would mean any evidence whatsoever for Jesus Christ would actually be a bad thing...even General and Special Revelation...why would anyone believe or have faith in something in which they have no reason for believing it?...the anti-intellectualism has to stop...as important as experience and feelings are, we must base them off of truth...what happens when your friend or family member does not "feel" the need for God? Does that mean that they don't need Him? Of course not...our feelings should not be our spiritual compass...

...the Buddhist, the Hindu, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, atheist, etc, all have a faith in something, they all have fuzzy feelings, and feel good experiences, but that does not mean what they believe is true...The Christian on the other hand has a world view that lines up with reality...

• I am not saying we have to be sold out on Evidentialism, because I am a firm believer in The Holy Spirit and how He reveals truth...I also believe that most of what we believe as true is not something that has to proven with empirical evidence. (i.e. Love, Aesthetics and beauty, morality, thoughts, etc)

• I do want to stress what another Biola professor has stated, when he says, "our picture of God in written revelation should harmonize with what we already know about God from natural revelation." And that is precisely what The Christian, Biblical, Trinitarian God does!

• people may quote 1 Corinthians 8.1, and state that "knowledge puffs up," but I love the rebuttal J.P. Moreland gives, "If knowledge “puffs up”, the solution is not IGNORANCE. The solution is HUMILITY."

[Jesus] answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and,
'Love your neighbor as yourself."' ~ Luke 10.27~

Three Ways Christians Must Change

2011-01-15T05:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a must read blog entry...it's a real quick read, titled, Three Ways Christians Must Change...it references J.P. Moreland, distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.

Moreland holds degrees in Chemistry, Theology, and Philosophy...he also wrote a book (among many others) that should be required reading for all Christ Followers, called Love God With All Your Mind.

God, Gekko, and Greed:Discerning Truth From Superstition

2010-12-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas night 2010...1930 hours...as things were settling down we had decided on how to wrap up the day (pun intended)...and as huge movie fans, what better way to do it than by inviting Gordon Gekko into the living room! So I gathered together with the fam, sat by the Christmas tree, sipped on hot organic apple cider, and watched Wall Street:Money Never Sleeps.

One of my favorite things to do as I watch movies or read books is to evaluate the writing and the characterization from a world view perspective. I was pleasantly surprised tonight, because one can not watch more than a few minutes of this movie before they are rushed into worldview content!

The movie starts out with Gekko being released from prison, and as he is walking out to freedom, we hear Shia LaBeouf's character, Jake Moore, narrating about the Cambrian Explosion (mentioned at least twice in the movie) and then whether or not the human race is a product of evolution or design. I will paraphrase his narration, as he says something to the effect of, "There was a single event in history, The Cambrian Explosion, where we all evolved at once...some say we are here by evolution, some say it's by design...no one can explain it, but now we are all here."

Now, I will not go into depth about the Cambrian Explosion and evolution vs design, but suffice it to say, the Cambrian Explosion poses serious problems for those who try to defend Darwinian Macro Evolution, and there is overwhelming evidence for Intelligent Design overthrowing evolution as the origin of life.

So to move on, I want to get into a thought experiment. The movie is plastered with stereotypical Wall Street persona...the cut throat, stab-in-the-back, 'eat your own,' strategies of big business, where personal worth is defined by net worth and egos are measured by the size of one's bank account. Thus, we see an evolutionary theme peppered through out the movie...characteristics of social Darwinism, where Wall Street traders and corporate raiders are on the prowl in a contest of 'survival of the fittest.'

So here is the thought: If Darwinian evolution is true and we do live in a survival of the fittest environment, then why would it matter if people used insider information and spread false rumors in order to make personal gain? Why do we see pain and suffering in the characters of this movie who get wronged? Why did Gekko ever go to prison in the first place in the original movie? If evolution is true, then this is how things should work, and those who get destroyed in the process simply are not fit to survive and the evolution mechanism continues to do its thing...

...but those who are intellectually honest know why. It's because man is made "Imago Dei"...in the Image of God...we are created in God's image and therefore have inherent value independent of our utility or function.

Unlike animals in the wild, we have a moral code, a moral law, and a moral law needs a moral law giver = God of The Bible. Even those who believe in evolution know it. They just simply deny it. They may, in theory, believe in evolution, but in reality, they live in God's world.

We know this is true because as the people of Wall Street are cheating and scheming, those who believe in evolution say that it is wrong and that those guilty should be punished. But on what grounds do those who believe in the origins of life happening via chance, have to call something right or wrong?

Even Gekko's famous quote, "Greed is good," has implications. When it comes to cheating and lying, or whether greed is good or bad, if evolution is true, how do we know how to categorize lying vs honesty or good vs bad. Dishonest actions and evil scheming should simply be strategies for survival and greed should simply be a technique used by the fittest of all...but anyone who actually thinks about life and is aware of truth, knows deep down inside that explanation of life outside of God is mere superstition.

We even see this in the movie, as Jake Moore goes onto say, "It's funny. The more we found ourselves as the slaves of chance... the more superstitious we become."

Superstition sums up evolutionary theory. It's nothing more than a way to rationalize one's denial of a Creator God. And as Moore's character at the beginning of the movie says, "...no one can explain it, but now we are all here," I want to say that it's not a matter of explaining, it's a matter of accepting...

The explanation comes via accurate historical documents contained in The Holy Bible as well as Jesus of Nazareth, The One who was sent on a rescue mission for all of humanity. The Bible teaches it and reality confirms it. All one has to do is observe life and accept the reality of truth.

Greed is not defined by what something costs, but by what it costs you.

If anything costs your faith or your family, the price is too high. ~Max Lucado~

The Doctrine Of The Trinity

2010-11-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." ~2 Peter 2:1~

The Doctrine Of The Trinity...if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we must know and be able to articulate the correct Biblical view of The Trinity...we must also look out for destructive heresies...The Christian understanding of The Trinity is what separates us from heretical teachings and false religions...but more importantly, having the correct view of The Trinity will bring us closer to the Trinitarian God.

A real short rendering of the correct view of The Trinity is demonstrated here:

The Trinity
- God is three persons - click on the schematic above!
- Each person is divine and coequal
- There is only one God. (Monotheism)

...now, as far as incorrect views of The Trinity (there are many, polytheism, Subordinationism, etc) there is one that is perhaps the most common misunderstanding and it is known as modalism...

...if you ever hear anyone describe The Trinity using H2O (The water molecule) as an illustration, then you just heard a heretical teaching of The Trinity (and in this case, one who holds the view of modalism). This is important because the person teaching in this manner may be well intended, yet not know that this is incorrect. In this view, one attempts to describe God as having three "modes." Hence the three states or 'modes' of water existing as solid, liquid, and gas. God is not one entity with three manifestations. For instance, the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry gives the following illustration that exposes the incorrect teaching that modalism holds, and I emphasize the word "mode" for clarity:

"[Modalism states]...God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son. After Jesus' ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another. Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ."

...opposite to modalism, the correct view of The Trinity shows how God is The Father, God is The Son, God is The Holy Spirit...One God, Three separate persons existing simultaneously...not one person manifested in three forms, nor at separate times in history...i.e. God is three persons, coexisting (simultaneously not consecutively) and coequal (equal Divinity)...

There are many, many other incorrect teachings of The Trinity, and it is very important to know these because The Trinity is one of the Doctrines that separates Christians from Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Mormons, etc...

For more information, I highly recommend reading and viewing the following links (Note: the following readings are very short readings, but packed with clear understanding!)

Trinity (CARM) - great nutshell understanding of The Trinity
What Is The Trinity? another great nutshell understanding of The Trinity
Trinty (The Resurgence) - amazing page of resources
For His Glory - great teachings of The Trinity and a great schematic that illuminates an understanding of The Trinity juxtaposed with associated heretical beliefs... (8 part series, written in readable time saving chunks).

"Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep,
but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. Matthew 7:15

Losing For A Purpose

2010-10-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

...Just read the latest question of the day over at Jesus.or g, called, A Gospel for Losers? It really made me think that we need to put such a topic in the proper perspective and in the proper context.

In the article, the author speaks of truth, but does not contextualize it...not to do so is a major weak point of any type of teaching. He states the following:"Jesus came to show us that the gospel explains success in terms of giving, not taking; self-sacrifice, not self-protection; going to the back, not getting to the front. The gospel shows that we win by losing, we triumph through defeat, we achieve power through service, and we become rich by giving ourselves away."

But what does all of this mean? When do we do this? Why do we do this? We must qualify statements such as this by looking at WHY Jesus taught these amazing principles. Statements like this that are isolated from a proper perspective simply sound like feel-good slogans or cheesy bumper stickers.

Jesus does not want bumper stickers, He wants bold servants. He wants people that serve while leading, not those who serve simply to lose. I am seeing a lack of leadership in the Christian community (which includes myself) to take a stand against all the moral filth and secularism that is infecting our country. Moral relativism and religious pluralism have invaded every area of life like a bad virus. And one of the reasons this is occurring is because Christians are saying, "well, I need to just stay quiet and triumph through defeat."

Let me digress for a moment and qualify where I am coming from on this issue and state what I am for and what I am against so that my statements are not taken out of context...

What I am in favor of: I am all for The Gospel and believe in everything Jesus said. I firmly believe in Classical Christianity because I am a firm believer in objective truth. I am in favor of the proper Exegesis of Scripture (explanation of then and there) and the proper use of Hermeneutics of Scripture (interpreting for the here and now).

What I am against: I am totally against Eisegesis (interpreting a text in such a way that it introduces one's own ideas)... I despise relativism and the claim that all truth is subjective truth...

...so to get back to my main point, Jesus tells us such counter-intuitive teachings not so that we can look all humble and sweet, but so that we can live for a higher purpose...His purpose. He exhibited this in His own life. He did not simply take a punishment or die on the cross so that we could say, "Wow, what a nice man." Instead, He willingly laid down His life for a purpose. He came on a rescue mission to save all of humanity from eternal torture in order that we could be justified, sanctified, and glorified.

So could it be that all the secularism that has taken over our planet, the removal of school prayer, the corrupt politics and political correctness, the immoral lifestyles, the pro-choice movement, the double standards, and all the filth that we see in the media is because as Christians, we see it happening, but we are too soft to stand up and do anything about it? Is it because we have an improper view of the definition of humbleness? An improper view of what it means to save our lives by losing them?

There could be other reasons of course, apathy for example, or wanting to take a stand but not knowing how...but when it comes to giving and not taking, self-sacrifice instead of self-protection, and winning by losing, it must be in the context of purpose...If we "lose" then we "lose" in order to assure a greater victory...we need to have a context for our convictions instead of a cop-out for our cowardice...

Do Christians and Muslims Worship The Same God?

2010-10-22T09:18:00.002-07:00

If someone were to ask you, "Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?" what would you say?

There are some great discussions going on at Stand To Reason and the Denver Seminary on this specific topic, but I think the best way to answer this question is not necessarily if it is The same God, but rather what are the paths taken to get to such a God...

...I must preface by saying that the identity of God is of utmost importance because Christians believe in the Trinity yet Muslims do not, so we need a way to help deduce the identity of The Christian God and the Islamic God, and this deduction comes through the path...the path in which we get to God...

For instance, John 14.6 states, "I am the way, the truth, and the life!" Jesus answered. "Without me, no one can go to the Father." So let's say, for arguments sake, that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, then we must focus on how to get to Him...

Imagine you and your friend want go to the moon one day. You decide to take NASA's path and head up through the earth's atmosphere, but your friend thinks he can get there by heading East on Interstate 10...You both want to go the same place, but only one of you has the correct path...

...therefore, since Christians believe that Jesus is The One and Only Son of God, and Jesus claims that He is the only way to God, then Christians and Muslims definitely worship a different God...how do I know this? Because if you believe that there is more than one path to the same God, then you now believe in religious pluralism, and this goes against one of the fundamental laws of logic, the law of non-contradiction: something can not be true and not true at the same time...for example, Jesus can't be The only way to God, and not the only way to God at the same time and in the same context.

Bottom line: you can accept the Christian view of The Trinity and that Jesus is The Only Way to God, or you can reject it, but you must understand one MAIN issue that separates all beliefs... Jesus Christ changes everything...Lee Strobel puts it this way:

"In short, if the Resurrection is false, then Christianity is refuted. But if it's true, then regardless of what any world religion teaches, Jesus is the one-and only Son of God. And that changes everything." (see 1 Corinthians 15)

Free Will Or Determined?

2010-09-26T18:48:00.001-07:00

When it comes to decision making, are you a believer in free-will or determinism? Do you think our choices matter or is our fate already set in stone?

Why am I asking this question? The reason is because we live in a world of irony. We all want God to tell us what to do, but if we lived in this kind of reality, we would all be complaining to God that we never get to choose. So what gives? Take a look at how the Book of Proverbs sheds insight to this subject:

Proverbs 16.1 says, "We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer."
Proverbs 16.9 says, "A person may plan his own journey, but the LORD directs his steps."

This creates an intellectual dilemma for the human mind. To our thinking, it must be one way or the other, or at least a 50/50 partnership with God...a type of supply and demand relationship, "God I demand this, so you supply it." But Timothy Keller in Your Plans:God's Plans, comments on how The Proverbs teach us that we actually have 100% free will with 100% of the results being under God's Sovereign outcomes.

Despite the intellectual perplexity of such a situation, it actually makes perfect sense. And the reason is that God, in order to know His Will, wants us to know Him...not the other way around. Therefore, He grants us the freedom and the gift of choice, but at the same time, governs the results. Our wisdom to choose is built on The Foundation of our relationship with God. So we now have the solution to the aforementioned question because when all is said and done, would we really want to live in the extremes of an either/or situation. All free will or all determined?

Think of it like this...given the state of the human condition, would we really want 100% free will to shape our outcomes? NO! And at the same time, do we really think 100% of our life is already determined? Of course not...what would be the point of getting out of bed in the morning?

I like how Steven Furtick puts it, "I still believe God gives us enough ink to write our story in His Story."

This is why I love The Holy Scriptures. Even if one denies the existence of God, they have one problem. They live in God's World. Only the writings from God, such as Proverbs 16.1 and 16.9 can give us such insight to our thinking and our actions.

So here is my final point and why I am convicted of it. If Hebrews 11.6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith, then we are living in sin with indecision. Why? Because indecision is a lack of trust and trust is the action form of faith. Don't let indecision force your hand. Forget the fear involved from making a wrong decision from free-will and let go of the depression of believing that everything is already determined. Praise God for our freedom and trust God for His Sovereignty.

Christ-Awareness

2010-08-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Japanese martial artist have a saying, "Miso No Koro," which translates, "Mind Like Still Water." It is comparable to what most athletes refer to as "The Flow" or "Being in the zone." Basically it is an 'unconscious,' or quiet state of mind that allows peak performance in a chosen endeavor. When you are in the zone, you don't analyze, you act. Your training and experience become one and you reach moments of near perfection.

But what happens when such a state of focus is broken? Worry and panic creep in. Questions begin to be raised. Doubt overcomes trust and faith turns into fear. Why is this? Because we fall into a state of self-awareness and our left brain logic over runs our right brain readiness. What is suppose to be a complete unity has been disconnected into unrelated parts.

This is what happens in our relationship with Christ as well. When we have a Christ-Awareness, instead of a self-awareness, we are "in the zone" and the natural flow of life takes place without any question to what God's Will is. It's what Psalm 16:8 means as it states, “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

- Think of Peter. He walked on water when he had a Christ-Awareness, but he sinks when he had a self-awareness. Take a look at how Oswald Chambers states the difference between Christ-Awareness and self-awareness:

A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.

Where have you been rattled into self-awareness? Where have I become disconnected with Christ? As Chambers states, "Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute."

“Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the
boat and started walking on the water toward him.
Matthew 14.29 CEV

* The 'X' in the graphic represents the greek letter Chi as in Chi Rho, one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ ( Greek : "Χριστός" ), chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the monogram ☧. Although not technically a cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ^[1]

Pray Like Jesus

2010-07-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

"Preaching a pagan-style gospel teaches that as long as we
have enough faith in Jesus, then we don't have to be like Jesus."
...a paraphrase from Mark Driscoll,
~ Pray Like Jesus:The Gethsemane Prayer ~

Tired of hearing the pagan practice of the prosperity gospel?...the prosperity gospel is when we use Prayer, Scripture, and experience to try and align God to our will. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is when God utilizes Prayer, Scripture, and experience to align us to His Will.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect,
the prosperity gospel is pagan...

...Mark Driscoll, in his sermon called, Pray Like Jesus: The Gethsemane Prayer, explains (and I paraphrase) that "so much of what we hear today is a brand of theology that will not be strong enough for us when we need it the most."

Christianity is a belief in a person (Jesus Christ)...it is not a coping mechanism or some magic trick for material wealth and prosperous gain...it is a relationship based on a theology that will be everything for us when we need it the most...Driscoll goes on to say, "being a follower of Jesus Christ may not get us around the obstacles of life, but it will get us through the obstacles of life."

At the end of the sermon, Driscoll outlines and speaks briefly on eleven questions about prayer... questions that challenge us to see if our prayer life is in line with God's plan...Below, I have included the eleven questions...but along with those questions, I highly encourage you to either watch Driscoll's sermon or listen to it on the Mars Hill App or via podcast.

01. Do you pray to get from God or to get God?
02. Do you pray to move God or for God to move you?
03. Do you pray to get around pain or through pain?
04. Do you courageously punctuate your prayers with "Your - Will - Be - Done...?"
• We do present our requests to God, but we should always end with, "Your Will Be Done..."
05. Do you pray out of Holy or unholy depression?
• Holy despair/depression = due to sin and its effects
• unholy despair/depression = not getting our way
06. Do you pray in faith knowing that God is not the author of sin, but is the author over sin?
07. Do you ask your friends to pray for you even if you know they will fail to do so?
08. Do you pray to both hear and accept God's will for your life?
09. Do you accept that God will answer your prayers with a "yes, no, or later?"
10. Do you know that knowing God's Will is far easier than walking in it? (Hebrews 5.7-8)
11. Do you know a godly wife who lived like Jesus Prayed? (1 Corinthians 11.3)
• You have to listen to his explanation to understand this question...

"God’s main purpose for you is not what you do. It's who you become."
~ John Ortberg ~

Improv

2010-07-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

If you are a fan of comedy, then you know how amazing actors are when it comes to Improv. Now I am all for being proactive and planning, but when it comes to life in Christ and following the leading of our Counselor, The Holy Spirit, then we must be ready to do a little Improv ourselves, which actually brings excitement into life.

Mark Batterson, in his book, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, says it like this:

"I know that part of us wants God to take us to a three act play with a clearly defined plot that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But Jesus takes us to the Improv instead. We want the entire script up front, but that would undermine our dependence upon the Holy Spirit."

The whole point of following Christ is Trust...The peak at the mountain top of our Faith is Trust. Living life in Christ as though it's an Improv forces us to lean on Christ...if we had a script, would we really develop a relationship with Him?

Batterson goes on to say, "Following Jesus and keeping in step with the Spirit requires the art of improvisation. We've got to develop an affinity for uncertainty and learn to enjoy the journey."

The Scriptures reveal many things that increase our certainty. For instance a spiritual certainty. We know we are saved, forgiven, and redeemed. But for circumstantial uncertainty, that is something we must embrace and that is what Faith in Christ is all about!

Evil via Subtraction, God via Sanctification

2010-07-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

I was listening to John MacArthur this morning, in his sermon about The Origin of Evil, and he said something that really grips what evil is and how it exists...MacArthur states,

"Evil is not the presence of something, evil is the absence of righteousness."

Very interesting...evil is a negative...it results due to a subtraction. MacArthur goes on to say, "God created absolute perfection. Wherever a lack of that exists, sin exists. And that cannot exist in the nature of God or in anything that God makes.

This confirms what my Preacher Bro informed me of the other day...we need a Jesus Culture...A Culture of Christ...if we object to that, it is probably because our idol is standing in the way...you see, if our culture, our lives, our homes, our families, our computers, our iPhones, our video games, our social outings, our thoughts, our actions, our words, etc, were saturated in Jesus, in Prayer, in Praise, then evil would have no place. But what do we do...we push God out of every area of our lives and then we wonder why people are addicted, lost, and messed up.

Joshua 3.5 gives us a great look at ridding ourselves of evil, becoming Sanctified so that God can work miracles into our lives:

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

And then in The New Testament, James 1:21 tells us, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

...sin can not exist in The Presence of God...Fill yourselves with Christ and evil will flee.

Visions Become Reality

2010-07-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

The following post comes from www.utmost.org (Oswald Chambers)...

Awesome post for anyone who is being molded or shaped before the vision becomes a reality!

Visions Become Reality

Jul

2010

The parched ground shall become a pool . . . —Isaiah 35:7

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

The Responsibility of The Revelation

2010-07-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Albert Einstein was once asked what he would do if he had sixty minutes to save the world...I love his response, "I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution."

One of the problems I seek a solution for is the origin of sin. I desperately want to know everything in the realms of origin, purpose, morality, and destiny, but I especially want to know the nature of satan and the origin of sin. The reason is because life does not have to be as hard as we make it out to be, and if we would simply become aware of satan's strategy of deception and doubt, we can get on with God's purpose and plans...

I understand Genesis 3 and the fall of man, but I want to go farther back...satan was created before the creation of man, he was cast out of heaven because he desired to be God. We can read account s of who he was and how this happened in certain areas of Scripture, and even Jesus stated in Luke 10.18, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." But we don't know exactly why satan was so unsatisfied despite his perfection, and if satisfied, why would he rebel? Why would satan desire to be the king of hell instead of a servant in Heaven? One reason is due to the sin of pride, but I still wonder why satan has this internal pride?

So in my "fifty-five" minute search, God thankfully cuts to the chase and leads me to the "five minute" finding of the solution:

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions." ~ Deuteronomy 29:29 ~

...so what it boils down to is this: We have questions and we want answers, but our responsibility relies in God's Revelation. Forget about the secret things...leave those to God...

...God wants us to take care of the business we do know, and trust Him with the business only He knows..."Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD." ~Jeremiah 17.7~

So what do we do? We Trust God and we take initiative to do something with our lives. I like how Erwin McManus puts it:

"We must do something to seize divine moments
as opposed to sitting back and watching life happen."

"We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life that we fail to live...this requires initiative...

...those who change the world, who make a difference in history, who live life rather than simply watch it, have at least one common characteristic among them:

...they do something."

This is so rich because it points straight to the life of Jesus...look at what Jesus says in John 10:37-38 about the importance of what we do...

"Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (emphasis added).

Let's not focus on what we don't know to interfere with what we do know. Jesus said we will do "greater things" as we follow Him and believe. Plus, doing, as opposed to not doing, not only brings glory to God, but it makes satan cringe...

• satan does not necessarily care if we don't drink alcohol, but he hates it if we feed the hungry
• satan could care less if we don't cuss, but he hates if we Praise God
• satan yawns at the fact that we don't smoke or if we don't lie, etc,
but he hates it when we serve the poor and minister to the lost.
• satan could even care less if we read The Bible just as long as we don't live it...

So let's stop worrying about being perfect and knowing all the answers. Let's stop "defining holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to." Let's stop tucking in our shirts, brushing our hair and putting on an image of being Mr. or Ms. Nice who do not offend...

Let's start doing "greater things" and take responsibility for what God has revealed to us!

For a great read on doing "greater things" and taking responsibility from God's Revelations, take a look at the awesome post,
Does Jesus know you?

The Lamp Of Life

2010-07-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Do you have a ten or twenty year plan that lays out God's Will for your life? If not, you are in good company...Psalm 119.105 says the following, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

This Psalm shows us that God's Word, which tells us God's Will, guides us step-by-step; God's Word, being like a lamp, gives us just enough light for each step...showing us where we are going, but not necessarily where we are headed...

...Sure we all want a detailed map or an Excel spreadsheet that guides our every move for the rest of our lives, but God wants us to trust Him more than we trust our plans...God has plans for our lives, but He does not have to lay them out all at once.

By not laying His plans out all at once, God is actually giving us the focus to live each day at full intensity...to leave a mark on this world...To invest wisely...I like how Erwin McManus speaks of our lives in terms of investment...he says, and I paraphrase, "Our future is not determined by preservation, but investment."

Invest in each day, because planning is great, but life happens while we are planning, so let's not be so focused on God's Will for our lives that we miss out on God's Plan for our day...be sensitive to what The Holy Spirit wants you to do today, trust God for each step, and the future will take of itself!

Seeking Jesus

2010-06-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thoughts about seeking Jesus...

> We don't seek Him for His sake...I have heard that we can't search for Jesus because He is not lost...True, Jesus is not lost, but this does not mean that we can't seek after or look for Jesus...it's the frame of reference that defines what it means to seek or search for Christ...we look, not to find Jesus, but instead to find ourselves clothed in Christ.

The way The Scriptures speak of seeking Jesus is for our sake, not His...we are the one's who are lost without Him...

So it's not that Jesus needs us to find Him, it's that He provides what we are looking for...

There are loads of Scripture that speak of our necessity to seek Christ...but here are three great ones for reference:

* Psalm 34:10

The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

* Jeremiah 29.13-14

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.

* Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple

Charles Spurgeon On Prayer

2010-06-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Great thought from Charles Spurgeon about The urgent desire in prayer...

Along with a definite object for prayer, it is equally necessary that there should be an earnest desire for its attainment. “Cold prayer,” says an old divine, "asks for denial.” When we ask the Lord without passion, we actually stop His hand and restrain Him from giving us the very blessing we pretend that we are seeking. When you have your object in your eye, your soul must become so possessed with the value of that object, with your own excessive need for it, with the danger that you will be in unless that object should be granted, that you will be compelled to plead for it as a man pleads for his life. Feeling that the thing we ask for cannot be wrong and that He has promised it, we have resolved it must be given, and if not given, we will plead the promise again and again, till heaven’s gates shall shake before our pleas shall cease. Oh, those cold-hearted prayers that die upon the lips — those frozen supplications. They do not move men’s hearts; how should they move God’s heart? We must be earnest. Otherwise, we have no right to hope that the Lord will hear our prayer.

Prayer Quotes

2010-06-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Love the play on words in the following quote about Prayer!

"Seven days without prayer makes one weak."
Allen E. Vartlett

For more great quotes on Prayer, see the following link: Prayer

Opportunities Of Faith

2010-06-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 11.6, which states the following three things, has given me a framework for living...I know that God is always with us, but at times, it will feel like He is not. Why? Because He wants us to trust Him. Note the following three points of Hebrews 11.6:

1. Without faith it is impossible to please God
2. Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
3. We must believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Falling Backwards Leads You Forwards = Knowing and Trusting
You see, even though God is always present and active in our lives, we still must come to embrace the fact that it is impossible to please God without faith...so there is a dynamic juxtaposition of living a life of adventure and opportunity when it comes to following God...a "knowing" and a "trusting."

It's kind of like the "Trust" drill that you play in team building exercises...you fall backwards into your teammates arms...you know they are there to catch you, but it is still scary to fall backwards where you can not see...all you can do is trust they will catch you...sometimes we must fall backwards to move forwards...

God's Control, Our Opportunity
What this means is that while God is in control, He still gives us the opportunity to take responsibility in being major players in His game plan for life. We can't sit around wanting God to do everything...He wants our involvement...I see this as an honor and a blessing.

The drawback is that it can be scary and daunting and fear will creep in...but this is what I love about following God... He is going to lead us to Opportunities of Faith...we will be scared, but at the same time, we will be excited...I like how Mark Batterson puts it:

"Don’t let mental lions keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest experiences will often double as the scariest experiences. The defining moments will often double as the scariest decisions."

Batterson also says a great thing about how blessings come to be: "The genealogy of blessing always traces back to God-Ordained Risks."

God Creates So That We Will Conquer
You see, when it comes to God-Ordained opportunity, God will create them, but He then wants us to conquer them...God was with David, Joshua and Caleb, and Jesus, but at the same time, David had to sling the stone, Joshua and Caleb had to conquer the land, and Jesus had to embrace The Cross...

Your Stone, Your Land, Your Cross
What is it for you? Where do you need to Trust God...where do you need to offer up a faith that pleases The Lord?...Just like David, Joshua, Caleb, and Jesus, and a host of other Biblical heroes, It's the same for us...God has a plan and a will for our lives. We can achieve our best for His Glory if we simply stay on task...Here is a good statement from Rick Warren about God's Will in your life...

"God gives you enough time to do His Will. If you can't get it all done, you are doing stuff out of His Will or doing it a wrong way."

Do the impossible and you will find God. If you crave comfort you will miss out. If things are not working, then re-evaluate. It's Time to Trust and Conquer! Soli Deo Glori!

Science Will Win?

2010-06-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Just watched an interview on ABC news where Diane Sawyer interviewed astrophysicist and one of the greatest scientist of all-time, Stephen Hawking...

...in the interview, when Sawyer asked if there was a way to reconcile religion and science, Hawking said, "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."

Just before this statement, Hawking says that human life is an accident...here is his quote:

"They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible." (emphasis added).

...and then to conclude the interview, Sawyer asked what three pieces of advice Hawking gives his children...Hawking says the following:

"One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it," he said. "Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away."

Do you see the contradictions?

> One, how can science win if it can not explain with certainty the origins of the universe based on observation and reason?

> Two, if human life is an accident, why would someone tell their kids that work gives 'meaning' and 'purpose?'...and why would love matter?...if human life is insignificant and accidental, then nothing has purpose and love is just an illusion...

> Third, In his new Discovery series, "Into the Universe," Hawking said intelligent alien life almost certainly exists, even speculating on the shape of creatures that could exist on other planets and moons.

Wait, I thought science wins because it is based off of observation and reason? Has anyone observed an alien...and why is it that it's always intelligent alien life? If aliens exist, who says they are intelligent?

Look, Stephen Hawking is freaking brilliant, and I can understand that he may wonder why he was diagnosed with ALS...he was diagnosed with ALS at 21...he is now 68...once diagnosed, he was told that he would not live more than a few years...

...you know what I think? I don't think Stephen Hawking is an accident and I don't think it is a coincidence that he has defied all odds by living well into his 60's...I believe he has purpose and his contributions to life are significant...

In terms of family Hawking has fathered 3 children and has one grandchild...do you think they would say he is an accident or insignificant? Nope. And I don't believe he would say his children and grandchild are insignificant either...

In terms of work, as physicist Kip Thorn at last week's World Science Festival event honoring Hawking, said, "Stephen has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of the universe, particularly of warp space and warp time in the universe, black holes, the origin of the universe..."

...so could it be that God has used Stephen Hawking to show that despite circumstances, a human life is capable of doing incredible things...Life is not insignificant nor accidental...We know love because God is love...we have purpose because God created us for His Glory...I pray that Stephen will come to see that God loves him and has used him for specific purposes...

Is There Really A God?

2010-06-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

Great article by Ken Ham & Jason Lisle, who write for answersingenesis.org...the article is in reference to the often asked question, "Is there really a God?"

They offer great points and counter points that increase our faith and give substantiation to our logical and reasonable claims that God is the creator of all.

...here is the link, followed by a great excerpt (green ink) from the article:

Is There Really God?

"But if the universe were merely a chance accident, then why should logical reasoning be possible? If my brain is merely the product of mutations (guided only by natural selection), then why should I think that it can determine what is true? The secular, evolutionary worldview cannot account for the existence of logical reasoning.

Likewise, only a biblical worldview can really account for the existence of science—the study of the natural world. Science depends on the fact that the universe obeys orderly laws which do not arbitrarily change. But why should that be so? If the universe were merely an accident, why should it obey logical, orderly laws—or any laws at all for that matter? And why should these laws not be constantly changing, since so many other things change? (emphasis added).

The Bible explains this. There are orderly laws because a logical Law-Giver upholds the universe in a logical and consistent way. God does not change; so He sustains the universe in a consistent way. Only a biblical worldview can account for the existence of science and technology." (link added).

• • •

Those are great points, if we are created by accident and random chance events, why is order or logic even possible?...if evolution states that we are created via chance and adaptation, why is it that the very laws of the universe have not changed? It seems like the gravitational acceleration should no longer be 9.8 m/s squared...or why is the speed of sound still 340 m/s? You can not claim that we exist by random chance and disorder and then magically believe that we now exist off of order and structure...that violates not only Scripture and logic, but it violates science and the second law of thermodynamics...disorder can not create order...

Supernatural Explanation

2010-05-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

*I find it interesting that when creationists start talking about God's supernatural creation, evolutionists usually counter by saying that everything must be explained by natural science and divine intervention is not science. I find this remark extremely amusing. When we show them that the laws of natural science cannot explain the existence of chirality, evolutionists say that the process happened a long time ago by some unknown method that they cannot explain. Now who's relying on a supernatural explanation? Although they would never call it divine intervention, they certainly are relying on faith and not on scientific facts. Evolution just hopes you don't know chemistry. ~ Charles McCombs, Ph.D ~

Evolution Hopes You Don't Know Chemistry: The Problem with Chirality by Charles McCombs, Ph.D.

Creator, Chance, And Chirality

2010-05-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Infinite Creator
God is The Infinite Creator. By that I mean that He is the infinite spirit who created the finite being. The word infinite comes from the Latin infinitas or "unboundedness." Finite is defined as having bounds or limits.

Any time you talk with a skeptic or an evolutionary scientist, they resort to the same old question..."Well if God created life, who created God?" To put an end to this irrational and ridiculous question lets look at it like this...All things created, all things finite, and that is to say all things with a purpose, have a creator. God, being The Creator, The infinite spirit, does not need a creator because He is infinite and boundless.

Chance
The difference between infinite and finite leads us to Intelligent Design versus chance. Those who are anti-God say that we exist because of chance...a cosmic accident. What is even worse is when scientist say that the complex human can be created via chance. Scientist who study the laws of the universe and the forces of nature go totally against such knowledge when they believe that chance created us instead of God. Chance, as John MacArthur puts it, is not a force. Chance can not create anything. Chance in essence is nothing. The only thing chance can demonstrate is probability or outcome...for instance, if I flip a quarter there is a 50/50 chance of landing on heads. But it still requires an outside force to create that chance.

Chance Accident
If we are created via chance, that means that humans and all of life are an accident...a random cause floating around with out purpose...do they really believe this insanity, that life has no purpose? Our lives only have purpose if we have been created on purpose, for a purpose, and that comes through the Intelligent Design of God The Father Almighty.

Design Destroys Chance...The Problem With Chirality
Speaking of chance, what would you say the chance would be if I flipped multiple quarters, that every single one of them would land on heads? Not very good. Well the human body is made up of protein & protein is made up of amino acids. Amino Acids come in two forms L and R, known in Organic Chemistry as "Chirality"...(more detail can be read in the awesome article entitled Evolution Hopes You Don't Know Chemistry: The Problem with Chirality)...

...So what would you say the chances are that every single amino acid in the human body is in the L form? Not good? Maybe 50/50 if the mix is L and R?...Well EVERY SINGLE Amino Acid in the human body is in the L form...so much for chance...Every single amino acid in the human body being in the L form screams of Intelligent Design...there is no way that any skeptic or any evolutionary believer can argue this, especially by leaning on their so called "logic" argument...like the author of the aforementioned article says, "Evolution hopes you don't know chemistry."

Understanding
If we want Understanding and how we came into existence, we have to connect to The One who created us, The Carpenter of Creation:

Job 32.8 says, "But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding."

Psalm 111.10 states, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."

The reason people argue about God being the creator is not because their so called theories are correct, it is because they simply do not want God to exist. It's called rationalizing. Humans rationalize because of irrationality. We talk our selves into things. Evolution is an escape, some way to try and avoid the unavoidable.

Evolution Is A Belief, Not a Fact, Not even a Theory
To conclude, here is a nice concise statement from ICR founder Dr. Henry Morris who concluded long ago:

Evolution is, therefore, neither fact, theory, nor hypothesis. It is a belief--and nothing more.⁷

Morris, H. 1973. Evolution, Creation, and the Public Schools. Acts & Facts. 2 (3).

The Cross of Christ vs Darwinism's Rubber Ruler

2010-05-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
~ Hebrews 13.8 ~

An article by The Institute For Creation Research, entitled, Darwin's Rubber Ruler, made me think about our existence and how life began. Followers of Darwin or believers in evolution constantly keep changing their theories, altering their beliefs to "fit" whatever it is that will make their irrational minds sleep better at night.

The main problem I have with these so called "intellectuals" who follow Darwin, evolution, naturalism, or whatever crazy idea it is that they can use to rationalize their irrationality, is that they believe that they are the only ones who 'think' and that it is their thinking that leads to truth, whereas Christians on the other hand do not think because we only rely on faith.

Faith is a key player as followers of Jesus Christ, but God also blessed us with minds to think and He allows our logic to lead us closer to His love. I like how Steve Blakemore, Executive Director of The Institute for Third Millennium Faith puts it:

"Even if the grandeur and scope of our faith transcends the limits of human reason, we still recognize that belief in God is logical. This was certainly the case for the earliest Fathers of the Church, who understood the importance of right reason in the service of our faith. They often speak of our experience of Christ as fides quaestio intellectum — "faith in search of understanding."

See, as Christ Followers, we have a Faith that leads to an understanding. Evolutionist's and skeptics want an understanding that will then lead to faith. The problem is that evolutionist's do have faith, but it's faith in the wrong thing, that thing being chance and random accidents (more on this in the next post).

Evolutionist's and non-believing scientist's want an understanding that is derived from hard facts. They want a measure that proves that something exist. The problem with this is that the very thing they pride themselves on is their major contradiction. They claim precision, validity, reliability, yet when it comes to their beliefs, instead of pulling out a hard standard of measurement, they pull out their flexible rubber ruler that changes based on what they want the outcome to be. Their convictions are their contradictions.

Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The Cross of Christ does not contradict, and it allows the logical mind that God created us with to lead us to the logical reasoning, and the faith, that He is The Creator of all life.

Miracles:The Battle Of Jericho

2010-04-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

Great Sermon on Miracles: The Battle Of Jericho (Mark Batterson, NCC)

   This media relies on Flash.

The Fourth Dimension

2010-04-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

In mathematics the fourth dimension, or a four-dimensional space, is an abstract concept, obtained by taking the rules of our three-dimensional space and generalizing them to a space with one more dimension. It has been studied by mathematicians and philosophers for almost two hundred years, both for its own interest and for the insights it offered into mathematics and related fields.*

But for me, 1 Corinthians 2.9-10 gives a better definition of the fourth dimension, a more applicable definition:

But, as it is written,"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him"—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God (emphasis added).

You see, there are believers and there are skeptics in almost all areas of life, specifically when it comes to belief in God and belief in Jesus Christ. The problem most skeptics and at times, even immature Christians (myself included) have, is that they are only using "three dimensions," that is, only using the aforementioned "eye," "ear," or "heart." In other words, we try to reason everything out or want some sort of physical proof of seeing, hearing, or feeling. But God takes us to the next level, He gives us the "X" factor...the Fourth Dimension. God gives all believers of Jesus Christ The Gift of The Holy Spirit, and it is when we have The Spirit living with in us, this amazing gift of "the fourth dimension," that we can know "even the depths of God"

...I am all for questioning, all for seeking and research, all for a lifetime of studying, because this is what brings us closer to truth...closer to God...

...and in all reality, the mere fact that we have questions, that we need to seek, actually proves the point that God does exist and that He cares...our inability to know everything from a human perspective proves that we are not God and that we desperately need God...that we desperately need The Holy Spirit teaching us...and the fact that we are finite points to God being infinite...(what is created has a cause, we are created with a cause and need a creator = God...God is infinite and therefore does not need a creator, He is The Creator...but this is for another topic for another day!)

So how do we tap into this fourth dimension and take our life to the next level? It's all about having "The Mind Of Christ." It's what will take us from milk to solid food, (see 1 Cor 3) or as I like to say, from "milk to meat"...can't wait to cover this next topic!

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it (1 Cor 3.1-2)....

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.(1 Cor 3.9)

*Sources
wikipedia.org (The Fourth Dimension)
http://acm.pku.edu.cn/JudgeOnline/problem?id=1022 (Graphic)

Protective Instincts

2010-04-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

Protective Instincts
The other night I tuned in to watch the blockbuster hit, The Blind Side...it's the story of Baltimore Raven's offensive tackle Michael Oher.

The story is built on the fact that Michael scored in the 98th percentile for 'protective instincts.' This is where the movie obtains it's title from, because the offensive tackle is in charge of protecting the quarterback's blind side...

In a humorous yet serious part in the show, Leigh Anne Tuohy, the woman who took Michael into her family, tells Michael to treat his quarterback and his fellow teammates as family members, and therefore protect them at all costs.

Leigh Anne knew of her son's gift...she knew he scored in the 98 percentile for protective instincts. She knew if there was somebody to protect the blind side of the family that it had to be her son Michael Oher...

Jesus Sent To Protect
God knows His family...He knew we needed our blind side protected...He knew His Son Jesus had protective instincts...so God sends Jesus to protect the family...

You see, satan wants to hit us on our blind side...just like most cowards, satan wants to attack vulnerable areas in our lives...in fact, 2 Corinthians 4.4 says the following:

The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. As a result, they don't see the light of the Good News about Christ's glory. It is Christ who is God's image. (emphasis added).

Jesus Sent To Save
Christ is The Image of God, and He is the light of the world...satan wants to blind us of these facts. So contrary to cultural opinion, Jesus is The Savior, satan is the enemy...simply put, Jesus does not send us to hell, He instead saves us from the hell we send ourselves into...

John 3.16-17 states how Jesus was sent to save and not to condemn:

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!

Jesus saves us...Jesus protects us...without Christ, we send ourselves into hell...without Christ, our blind side is exposed...Thankfully, Jesus has our back and leads us into eternal glory with The Heavenly Father...Jesus lived, died, and was raised on the Third Day because He is The Image of God who protects His family...

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57

Privileged To Trust

2010-03-11T05:21:00.000-08:00

Our faith is to be placed in God himself, not in our understanding of him. We are invited to reason. And privileged to trust.
~ Taser ~

We all have questions in life, especially when it comes to questions about God. God invites our questions and loves our searching. Our faith is to be placed in him and through that foundation, we can and will come to understand more. We simply need to trust Him.

Just because we don't understand all things at all times does not mean we should reject, deny, or ignore the fact that God exist and that God cares. We need to use our God-given intelligence to reason things out and search for meaning, but this does not mean that we can not have faith like a child...

In fact, we have faith in other areas of life that we may or may not understand, yet it does not stop us from trusting that they work. We don't stop and ponder how gravity or cell phones work, or why ice floats, we just trust they do...And even when we do 'understand' how things SHOULD work, we find that sometimes they don't. For instance, a Yale physics professor has "proven" that it is impossible to hit a fastball, yet we see it happen over and over again.

Here's the deal. For us to become followers of Jesus Christ, it's not going to be through something we can explain...something that fits into a categorical "God Box" that makes us say, "Oh I get it now..." Rather, it is going be through something personal.

Andy Stanley, in his series called It's Personal, explains it like this, "To become a believer in Jesus Christ, it's not going to be categorical (explainable), it's going to be personal (undeniable)."

Let's keep seeking and searching, but even more importantly, let's keep trusting and believing, because as we do, we will realize that even if unexplainable, The life of Christ is undeniable.

Blessed is the person who trusts the LORD. The LORD will be his confidence. Jeremiah 17.7

Complete Faith

2010-02-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

There are many references to Faith throughout Scripture and I love studying them all. My Prayer has always been to have BIG Faith...a huge size faith...perhaps my answer to the infamous "superhero" question on "What would your power be if you were a superhero?" would be to have the power of Faith...

But as I was reading through 1 Peter 4 the other night, I came across verse 19 which states:

If you suffer for obeying God, you must have complete faith
in your faithful Creator and keep on doing right.

I love this verse because it has shifted my thinking...maybe Faith is not a matter of having more versus less or BIG versus small...maybe our Faith should be viewed as COMPLETE versus incomplete...

Jesus Rose from the tomb to complete our salvation...I look forward to walking closer to Him as I strive to complete my faith and live the life He has called me to live.

Keep on doing right. Persevere. Stay Strong. Obey God.
Complete your Faith.

• • •

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect,
but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Philippians 3.12

Fresh Start On Faith

2010-02-21T05:45:00.000-08:00

Awesome message by Erwin McManus about having a "Fresh Start On Faith." It's a Focused sermon about taking your Faith to new levels, especially during times of transition in your life! God wants us to rise to new levels of Faith and Trust, and when we do, He will do Amazing Things in our lives! click on the below link, and then choose the "Fresh Start" icon, subtitled, A Fresh Start On Faith.

http://mosaic.org/podcast/

Then Joshua told the people, "Make yourselves holy, because tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

~ Joshua 3.5-6 ~

6 + 0 = 7

2010-02-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,
as the Lord your God has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 5.12

Here is a simple rule that will remind me to Trust God more:

6 + 0 = 7

God can do more through us in six days

that we can do without Him in seven days.

The Holy Scriptures are loaded with God's wise principles and life-changing commandments...and the above reminder is the simple principle of less equals more. God gives us commandments to make us better. He gives us a day of rest to make us more efficient. This is just one example of His Strategic Intent in our lives...we simply need to follow His Plan...look through out The Bible and apply His principles to life...and the more counter to culture they are, the better they will allow you to become!

"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,

"I'll get you out of any trouble.

I'll give you the best of care

if you'll only get to know and trust me.

Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;

I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.

I'll give you a long life,

give you a long drink of salvation!"

~ Psalm 91.14-16 ~

Think Differently To Discover God's Will

2010-02-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

Do you want to know God's Will for your life? If yes, then here is what you must do:

~ Change The Way You Think ~

Here is how Romans 12.2 says it,

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (emphasis added).

In terms of changing the way we think, other translations say, "Renewing Of Your Mind." Ask God to renew your mind and change the way you think, then discover ways to do so through Prayer, Bible Meditation, talking with Christian leaders, family, and friends, listening to podcast, etc...Get involved with new experiences...serving, missions, ministries, etc...Read new books, learn a new activity, see from new perspectives and use Scripture as your filter...do whatever it takes to stop conforming to the world and its teachings, and start listening to God as He molds you into everything He created you to be...All For His Glory!

God Will Bless You...If...

2010-02-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

...we all want God's Blessings, but sometimes we must be in the proper context in order to receive them. We must remember what Galatians 6.7 tells us:

~ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows. ~

So here are two points James gives us in order to receive God's Blessings and to reap what we sow...

God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. James 1.12 CEV

But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. James 1.25 CEV

James 2

2010-01-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

Notes from James 2:

• No Favoritism - God's Kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. (2.1-7)

• Royal Rule of The Scriptures - "Love others as you love yourself." (2.8-11)

• All-or-None - God's commands are all-or-none, we can not pick and choose according to our liking. (2.8-11)

• We reap what we sow - (2.12-13)

• Demonstrate your faith through your action - "God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense." (2.14-18)

• Faith and works are interconnected - Faith expresses itself in works - our belief is demonstrated through our actions. We must have a child-like faith that leads to bold action. Abraham believed God and backed it up with action, led to Abraham being called "God's Friend." (2.21-24)

Main Idea of James 2: Seamless Unity of believing and doing. (2.25-26)

James 1

2010-01-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Notes from James 1 MSG

• Persevere and Endure. Don't look for the quick fix. Build and exercise your faith by overcoming challenges...this leads to maturity, proficiency, and development. (1.2-4)

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
~ James 1.12 ~

• Pray for Wisdom. Pray with the two B's (Boldness and Belief). God loves to answer this Prayer. (1.5-8)

• God does not trip us up. Our sin and lustful desires (which have a terrible snowball effect) trip us up. God is there to deliver us. (1.13-15)

• Stay On Course = No Distractions (1.16-18) and (vs 25)... (also see Ps 119.1). Every desirable (see Ps 34.4) and beneficial gift comes out of Heaven (1.16-18).

• God will Landscape us with His Word. (1.19-21)

• Act on God's Word (1.22-24). Our affirmation arrives through action. (1.25)

• Reach out. (specifically to the homeless and the loveless). Guard against corruption. (1.26-27)

Transformed

2010-01-20T05:16:00.000-08:00

I was inspired from Mark Batterson's post the other day, titled, Rewiring The Mind.

He gave a great illustration from a study that was performed at the National Institutes of Mental Health. The study was on a finger-tapping exercise and it showed how we can actually create new neurons in our brains, a process called Neurogenesis.

Like Mark said in his post, we can juxtapose this with Romans 12.2:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I love this thought because as we read Scripture, our goal should not simply be a gain in knowledge. I am a trivia junkie with the best of them, but we must shift our hopes from answering all the Bible trivia on Jeopardy one day, to a desire of transformation and gaining the Mind of Christ.

This is so applicable to all areas of life as well. If our end goal is merely knowledge, then nothing will ever get done because we are not meshing it with action. Without a transformation, without a rewiring, without a Neurogenesis in our lives, then we will never:

Be good stewards
Walk By Faith
Obtain our New Year's Resolutions
Break a bad habit or start a good habit
Love our neighbor
Get in shape
Save and invest our finances wisely
Form good relationships

You name it, the list goes on and on... As humans, we represent the most intelligent of all life forms. But you must agree, that we are also rationally irrational. We know what is right and wrong, good or bad, yet we still do the same things over and over again. Why? Because we have not changed despite our wealth of knowledge.

So to live according to God's assignment in our lives and complete down to the last detail what He has called us to do, to achieve our hopes and dreams during this generation of life, we must have new synapses fire, we must start "finger-tapping" in all areas of our lives so that new connections will be made. Attitudes must change and paradigms must be shifted...

...Easy? Not quite, Newton's first law of motion does not only apply to mechanics and laws of physics. We also have a resistance to change, an inertia, in our daily activities and thought patterns. So it is time to take our knowledge and mesh our beliefs with our works...

How do we get transformed?
1. Dig into God's Word (Landscaped with The Word of God) and then Act on it!
2. Grab a Glimpse of God's Revelation...eliminating all distractions
3. Be men and woman of action...we will find delight and affirmation in the action...

> God's Word + Action = Transformation <

I love how James puts it in his famous, Faith In Action, section of Chapter 2. "Dear friends, do you think you'll ever get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?

He goes on to say, how we have works of faith...The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

So go forward today being renewed with God's Word and being transformed by Faith fruitful works.

Why a person would sit when he can soar, spectate when he can play,
or atrophy when he can develop is beyond me - Bill Hybels

Context For Miracles

2010-01-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Cool thought I heard from Erwin McManus in his "Beyond Us" Message titled Poverty/Generosity...He said:

"The Context for Miracles is Sacrifice."

When you ponder that thought, it is very true. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and it turned into the ultimate miracle. From the miracle of birth to the miracle of breath, most if not all miracles, come via sacrifice. Usually a sacrifice is linked to faith, and the faith leads to a miracle.

The hard part is that we tend to view a sacrifice as a difficulty...we simply need a paradigm shift...

...Look at it like an ROI, a Return On Investment...specifically a gain from an ROI...When our sacrifices lead to miracles, then what we receive always outweighs what we give, and the great thing is, according to Ephesians 2.10, God has already planned in advance for us to make some great investments!

Look forward to making some sacrifices (investments) for 2010! Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Revelation, Our Perseverance

2009-12-29T09:41:00.000-08:00

¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6:18 (New King James Version) (emphasis added).

In his book, When The Enemy Strikes, Charles F. Stanley gives a different spin on what it means to persevere in Prayer. He does mention the typical things we think of with perseverance, but later he talks about how perseverance equates to availability...being available for God to speak to us. We all want God to speak to us, but Stanley gives a good explanation, that sometimes, God will wait for us to have three things before He will reveal to us His desires and His plans:

1. Quiet Heart
2. Calm Spirit
3. An Expectant Attitude

Quiet Heart
These three things may sound familiar, but if we really hold ourselves accountable, I imagine the majority of us don't really have a quiet heart when we pray. We probably are thinking about our to-do lists, the game on tonight, or perhaps how good the organic wheat grass cake is going to taste this weekend. When was the last time you really went to your "Whispering Chamber," prayed and said, "God what do you want to tell me?"

Calm Spirit
In the martial arts circles, the Japanese have a saying that reads, "Miso No Koro." It translates as "A mind like still water." The meaning is that in battle or combat, you can not be frantic and worried. We see this in sports all the time, Joe Montana was the king of 4th quarter comebacks in his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Joe's adrenal glands were pumping at full force, but his mind was always still, his spirit was always calm. We must have a calm spirit in our Prayer with The Holy God and realize He will reveal and that He is in control.

An Expectant Attitude
Human Optimism + Biblical Realism = An Expectant Attitude. God responds and rewards faith (Hebrews 11.6), but faith is different from optimism. For example, there are enough self-help books on the market to line along The Great Wall of China, and each one tells us how to think positively, but if our positive thinking is not lined up with God's Biblical Realism, then we are headed in the wrong direction. So what does an expectant attitude mean? It means being ready for God anywhere at anytime. Do we really believe that God exist, that He cares, and that He is Sovereign? If so, we must approach Him with an expectant attitude.

Quiet The Heart, Calm The Spirit, Expect The Unexpected, and you will Persevere in Prayer. I look forward to what God has to say to us all as we listen to Him like never before!

Science Points To God: Organized Packaging

2009-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Computer simulations show that if you want to pack a string into the least space, coil it into a helix. DNA is coiled into an alpha-helix molecule in order to fit into our chromosomes...

The molecule of DNA (2-nanometer diameter overall) in a single human chromosome ranges in size from 50 x 10⁶ nucleotide pairs in the smallest chromosome (stretched full-length this molecule would extend 1.7 cm) up to 250 x 10⁶nucleotide pairs in the largest (which would extend 8.5 cm).

Stretched end-to-end, the DNA in a single human diploid cell would extend over 2 meters. In the intact chromosome, however, this molecule is packed into a much more compact structure. [Link]. The packing reaches its extreme during mitosis when a typical chromosome is condensed into a structure about 5 µm long (a 10,000-fold reduction in length).

Random chance could not coil a string into peanut shell much less a DNA molecule into a human cell...

Science does not conflict with Christianity and a Creator God...Science confirms That a Divine being must have created the organization of the living species...to argue otherwise is intellectually disingenuous...despite scientific opinion, Christians are independent thinkers and approach life with an open mind, something in my humble opinion scientist should do as well...

How Does God Speak To Us?

2009-12-02T14:15:00.001-08:00

I have always wondered how God speaks to us...there are many references in Scripture on how this occurs, but I came across this one today:

“[The Son Superior to Angels] In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”- Hebrews 1:1-2

If we want to hear God, we must learn from Christ. Look at the Character and the accomplishments of Jesus...study The Gospels...Study the who, what, when, where, why, and how's of The Son of God, and by doing so, we will hear from God!

Done with Jesus?

2009-11-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

17 Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" ~Luke 17:17-18 (NIV)

God is not done with you yet!
A lot of times I will hear people say, and with eternal reason and significance, "God is not done with you yet!"

I love this reality because it helps me remember that though my life seems insignificant at times, God has given me a reason to live for and a cause to die for.

However, here is what I am wondering during this Thanksgiving week: "Not is gone done with you, but are you done with God?"

Are you done with God?
There is a passage of Scripture in Luke 17:11-19 where the majority of the people were "done with God" once He gave them what they needed. 9 out 10 people "got" what they needed from Jesus, and then, were "done with Him."

The 9
Who were these 9? They were the 9 lepers isolated in the village outside the borders of Galilee and Samaria. Jesus entered their village (no one else would because of their disease), paid attention to them (when no one else would), listened to their cry, and purified them of their illness. They were to go the priests and show themselves. As they went, they were healed. At that moment, 9 got all they needed from Jesus and walked away. Only 1 wasn't "done with Him yet."

17 Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"

Are you "done with God?" As Thanksgiving week approaches, we have so much to be thankful for (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ). However, here's the deal: we can easily find "9" other things to do "before" we thank Jesus..."9" other things before we thank Him for saving our lives..."9" other things to do before praising Him, worshiping at His feet.

The One
Nothing came "before" Jesus for this 1 man who was purified of his disease. As he was walking to show himself to the priests, his decaying fingers began to grow back; his skin began to soften and regain color; his eyesight got clearer; he could even feel the ground he was walking on. At that moment, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, ran to Jesus and fell at His feet. He praised Him with such a loud voice you would have thought he had a megaphone. He worshiped Him like He never worshiped before. He thanked Him like it was going out of style. I love what verse 15 says:

"One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God!"

He Came Back
He "came back". Everything about our relationship with Jesus Christ is found in those 3 words,

"He came back".
"He came back."
"He came back."

In other words, this one guy was NOT DONE WITH JESUS YET! He was healed, but wanted to be saved! He knew He was in the presence of God and He wanted more. "He came back."

That's what you do when you are not done with God yet. You keep coming back wanting more of Him...more of His presence...more of his healing...purifying you of sin...saving you from your hopelessness. Jesus was these 10 guys only hope. They had been cut off from family, friends, even worshiping at the temple. They had no options. No reason to live...until Jesus "entered" their village.

Jesus has entered
Jesus has entered our village. Your village. He not only came from Heaven to earth. He came from Heaven to your soul! You and I were dead in sin. No cause. No hope. Maybe that led you to cry out to Him like the 10 lepers did. Maybe He has healed you of your impurities. But even now, you may feel isolated, cut off, and worthless. You know you have eternal salvation, but what about daily salvation, practical salvation while on earth? You may only have a faint cry for Jesus to have mercy on you. I pray, when He does, and He will as you cry to Him in faith, even weak faith, that you will not walk away and be done with Him. I pray you will "see" your transformation, your healing, and stop dead in your tracks, "come back" to Him and desire more of Jesus...the very presence of God! That is a daily salvation! THANK GOD FOR OUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elemental Faith

2009-11-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

I want to follow up on Christian's excellent post, Be a pest, and mention that the reason we can come to Jesus on a constant basis and 'bug' Him, is because we have the faith that He is God. If we did not really believe Jesus could do anything, we would not come to Him in the first place.

The great thing about our faith and ability to come to Jesus, is that it is our foundation of Christian belief, our elemental building block of why we believe what we believe.

The word Element has a good number of definitions, one of them, as a noun, says the following:

an essential element of the game component, constituent, part, section, portion, piece, segment, bit; aspect, factor, feature, facet, ingredient, strand, detail, point; member, unit, module, item.

In Chemistry, an element is defined as: each of more than one hundred substances that cannot be chemically interconverted or broken down into simpler substances and are primary constituents of matter.

So basically, an element is the foundation of the whole, but a significant piece if not the most significant piece of the whole. And when it comes to faith, we must be ELEMENTAL. Jesus tells us the importance of this. He says we must have faith like a child...to simply believe...

Here is how Jesus puts it from Matthew 18.2-4

For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.

Constipated Faith
Erwin McManus puts the issue in a funny way. He says that we sometimes think that our faith is bottled up inside us. Its like we have a constipated faith and if we could just grunt and strain hard enough and get it out then we could live by faith through our actions.

Sometimes, we make faith to difficult, almost like there has to be some complicated formula to follow...Maybe I have spent a lot of time in the chemistry and physics lab, because at times I feel like I live in a lab of life where if I run the faith formula correctly then Jesus will answer accordingly...

On another level, I think we can even use faith as a coping mechanism instead of a way to trust. Faith develops from Following Christ, and if our faith starts to become a form of superstition or magic, then we are probably obtaining our faith in something other that Jesus.

The Size Of Our Faith
So what does elemental faith look like? Figuratively speaking, Jesus says in Matthew 17.20, that faith looks like a mustard seed. Jesus wants us to know that we don't have to have some giant sized faith before we can do anything or believe. He simply wants us to trust Him.

Holy Expectation
So why is having an elemental faith, a faith the size of a mustard seed so important? Because it leads to a life of Holy Expectation...we live each day to the fullest, knowing that God is in control and we watch Him work, and we expect Him to work...We take what He has given us and give our all, but at the same time we have a foundational trust, an elemental faith, a mustard seed belief, that God is in control. This allows us to live by faith instead of fear.

To summarize:
A coping mechanism faith is driven by fear. It says that we are in control and that God is our genie...it only leads to stress.

An Elemental Faith says that God is in control and that we are created in advance to do good works which He has already prepared for us to do...it leads to Holy Expectation and True victory! (Ephesians 2.10)

So what about you? Is your faith a way to cope or a way to trust?

Be a pest

2009-11-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

"Will you quite bothering me; you are bugging me!"

We don't like pests. You know some. I know some. Pests are people who just will not quite bugging us or bothering us. They nag, nag, nag us about the same thing over and over again.

Holy Pest
I want to suggest that we can be "holy" pests. We need to "bother" Jesus.

A man in the bible "bothered" Jesus. He would not quite. He was a "holy" pest. His 12 year old daughter was dying and would bother Jesus until He got involved.

Involved
Do you need Jesus involved in your life? Is there something in your life that is precious to you, like Jarius' daughter, and it's dying? Maybe it's a dream. You had hopes to become someone and do something, but it seems as if it is coming to an end. Maybe it's a relationship...it seems to be fizzling out but you want it to fire up. Maybe you are concerned about our country, our economy, our generation of teenagers. It all seems to be dying. You and I need to "bother" Jesus.

The problem is this: sometimes we go to Jesus and He seems involved in others lives, but not ours. Jarius quickly found this out in Luke 8:40 and following. A huge crowd surrounded Jesus. Jarius was one of the crowd. However, he was a very important man and so he was able to press through the people quit easily to get a front row to the Lord. He fell at His feet and begged his guts out for Jesus to come to his house and save his dying daughter.

Everyone else but me
Perhaps you have been begging your guts out for Jesus to save your dying situation, to come to you and help you. Perhaps you even really expect and trust Him too. But then, it seems as if our Lord gets sidetracked. You see, after Jarius begged Jesus to come to his house, a woman with a bleeding problem of 12 years came up behind the Lord and clung to the edge of His cloak (more about that in another blog post soon). When she did, Jesus ended up paying attention to her instead of Jarius.

Have you ever been trying to get somewhere in rush hour traffic and you say to yourself, "If only I would have left earlier." Jarius was probably feeling like this. "If only I would have gotten to Jesus earlier, we would not be stuck here with all these people. This is taking for ever. Why in the world is He ignoring me to deal with this lady?" Jarius may not have known this, but as soon as the woman touched Jesus, she was instantly healed. God's Son could have moved on to go save Jarius' daughter, but He asked who touched Him, wanting someone to come forward and testify. This would only prolong Jarius' waiting even more. His daughter was already dying. By this time, she was probably dead. That's when someone came from the home of Jairus and told him, "Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher any more." (Luke 8:49)

Bother Jesus
Have you felt like that? "I'll just stop bothering Jesus. My hope is dead. It's over." Maybe your situation has gotten this far. You've been begging Jesus and begging Jesus and begging Jesus. He helps others, heals others, saves others, provides for others while you just sit there and watch, wondering if He is going to get involved in your life like He is theirs. That's when Jesus says to us like He said to Jarius, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed." (Luke 8:50)

I don't know what your "she" is...a dream, a relationship, a job, a hope, a child, a marriage. I do know this: we must keep "bothering" Jesus to get involved. Don't allow yourself to stop "bothering Jesus". Don't let others or your situation tell you to stop bothering Jesus.

Bother Jesus and then bother Him some more! Nag Him. Be a "holy pest". Believe Jesus until He brings healing, whatever that may look like for you. Don't be afraid. Jesus is worth it all! He'll get involved in your life. He already is!

Informing vs. Forming

2009-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

God does not want you to read His Word simply to INFORM you of who He is...He wants you to read His Word and be a Christ-Follower in order to FORM you BECAUSE of who He is!

~ Erwin McManus, "Concrete" podcast, "What Is The Church And Why Should I Belong To One?"

Stop It!

2009-10-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

In response to Justin's amazing last blog Create Your Future,
and in response to Jesus not condemning the woman caught in adultery (see my blog, point 4), we NEED TO STOP CONDEMNING OURSELVES based off of our PAST sins!

"Therefore, there is NOW NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life SET ME FREE from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1, NIV).

"Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to LIFE---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:34b)

Did you see it? Jesus is at the right hand of God PRAYING FOR US...NOT CONDEMNING US! STOP IT! Stop condemning yourself for past sins! Stop letting others condemn you! Jesus does not condemn you! HE PRAYS FOR YOU!

Create Your Future

2009-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

“We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.” – Robin Sharma

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln

Overcome Fear of Failure

2009-10-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
~Matthew 8:26~

Thanks to www.litemind.com for today's posting. It is a portion from part one of a two part blog about how to overcome our fear of failure...Enjoy!

Failing is the only way to go far enough

“If you hit every time, the target is too near or too big.” –Tom Hirshfield

The only way to know that you’ve gone far enough is to go too far. And going too far is called failing.

That means that if you don’t go far enough — in other words, if you don’t fail — you’ll never know for sure where your limits really are.

Race car drivers know this to the bone. They even have a saying for it: “The one sure way to find out if you’re going fast enough is to crash”.

So if you decide to live a life of “playing it safe” — of avoiding failures altogether — you can be safe in the knowledge that you’ll most likely accomplish your goal — after all, that’s a dead easy target to take aim at. Just bear in mind, however, that you’ll never be able to get the most out of your life acting that way.

• • •

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

~Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) ~

Jesus and John 8 devo!

2009-10-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

John 8 devo application points:

(1) Gather with Jesus
We need to gather around Jesus to be taught by Him. Sit with Him daily and read Scripture (John 8:2). Let Him teach you richly!

(2) What are you caught in?
A woman was caught in adultery (v3). What are you "caught in"? Confusion? Hopelessness? Lust? Overeating? Gossip? Criticism? Doubt? Anger? Bitterness? What is it for you that you are "caught up in?"

(3) Ask Jesus
Question to ask (v5): "Now what do You say?" in reference to Jesus. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees asked this question trying to trap Jesus in order to accuse Him of something. However, we need to ask Jesus this question in order to receive truth in our given situation. Ask Jesus what He wants to say to you today for your given circumstances: "Jesus, here's my situation. What do you say about it?" Spend some time in Scripture meditation and prayer. Maybe He will "bend down and write into your life with His finger (v6b). Your circumstances...your life is not too low for Christ Jesus! He will put His finger in your life "again and again" (v8)...even if you feel like dirt!

(4) No stones
(v7)- No one threw a stone at the lady caught in adultery. They were sinful too. Guess what, Jesus was the only one capable to throw a stone because He was without sin. However, as one preacher says: Jesus did not have any stones in His pocket either! Christ is not out to "stone" you...condemn you...destroy you...Christ has come down to save you and help you out of your sin and difficult circumstances..."...neither do I condemn you...(v11). How great that was for a woman who was naked and embarrassed and feeling like absolute dirt. How great is that for you and me! By the way...if Jesus isn't throwing stones at you...quit throwing them at yourself! While you are at it...quit throwing them at others...the President, government, your enemies, your church, your family...stand with them as Jesus stood with the woman!

(5) Only Jesus was left
(v9) - hopefully there will come a day when "only Jesus is left with you standing with Him"...no more hopelessness...no more confusion...no more accusers...no more sin...no more stone throwers...may there be that day

In Jesus Name, Amen!

Lie: It's what's on the inside that counts

2009-10-06T10:39:00.001-07:00

Really eye opening to one of Satan's lies: after you read this, you may think differently about "it's what's on the inside that counts" -->click here

Make sure to read the RESPONSES!

Thanks to Milton Stanley at http://www.transformingsermons.blogspot.com/ for the link!

Fearless

2009-09-20T06:11:00.001-07:00

Max Lucado's new book, Fearless, has been released!

Imagine Your Life Without Fear

He also preaches the book in his new sermon series!!! Watch it now!

Fearless Intro: Why Are You Afraid? from UpWords Ministries on Vimeo.

God's Encore Through Your Persistence!

2009-09-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Bravo, God, Bravo!
Everyone join in the great shout: Encore!
In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might.
Psalm 96.7 MSG

Persevering Persistence
According to dictionary.com, the word Persistent is defined as, "persisting, esp. in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement, etc.; persevering." What is so important about persistence? Well being persistent and persevering through trials leads to blessings. The Bible tells us the following:

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”- James 1:12

In Scripture, (see the parable of the persistent widow), in sports, and in all of life, we see that persevering and persistence can be the determining factor that brings victory.

For example, Thomas Alva Edison put it into perspective when he said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

God's Encore
As Christ Follower's, I believe Persistent Prayer, Persistent believing, and persevering under trial are testimony's of our faith in God's Power. As long as we are living, breathing, and meditating through the filter of scripture, as long as we are in the sweet spot of God's Will, as long as we are delighting ourselves in The Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalm 37.4)

Why or how do we believe with such persistent faith? Because we have seen how God has worked in our life in the past. Psalm 77.11-12 says,

"Once again I'll go over what God has done,

lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts."

You see, we believe in God's Encore, that He will do it again! We shout Bravo, God, Bravo!

God's power in the past gives us faith for our future.

Listen, you may be in a situation right now where you feel there is no way out. Maybe God has taken you on a detour, or perhaps you have run from God...maybe circumstances of life have left you feeling out of control. There is no better time than right now to believe in God's Mighty Power and shout Bravo God! ...Plead for God's Encore... Be persistent in your Prayer and persevering in your trials, because God is The One who makes things happen! ...He is The One who pulls us out of the worst kind of trouble! (Psalm 77.13-15 MSG)

I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth.
Stay with God!
Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.
Psalm 27.13-14

God's Quarterback Academy, Part I

2009-09-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Split Right 787 check swing, check V...Right Slot 93...Left Slot 82 and Go...

The above "code" is known as football nomenclature. This code represents information for a play or plays in football that a quarterback tells to his fellow warriors in the huddle as they prepare for glory.

Along with the nomenclature, there are many things a quarterback must learn in order to become a champion. Over the next three post, I will highlight three aspects of what all great QB's understand and see how we can apply them in order to be Champions For Christ!

1. Take What The Defense Gives You
2. The West Coast Offense
3. Road Tested and Battle Ready

Take What The Defense Gives You (Acts 28)
Now I am firm believer in setting the pace and being on the attack. I believe that the best defense is a great offense, but I also know that sometimes we must, as a good football team does, "establish the run in order to utilize the pass."...In essence, sometimes we must take what the defense gives us and use that to our advantage.

In a big defensive battle, a team will pound and pound the defense with a running game, and then when the time is right, they will STRIKE with a HUGE pass play. And even on pass plays, the QB has anywhere between 3 and 5 receivers to throw to. He reads the coverage and takes what the defense gives him.

Where are you in life right now? Do you feel like you are having to establish the run in order to utilize the pass? Perhaps you feel like Paul and it appears that God has possibly led you on a divine detour. God used a shipwreck and a snakebite in Paul's life, took him off his original planned course in order to use him for a specific purpose (Acts 28).

If this is the case in your quarter of life right now, what you need to do is simply "take what the defense is giving you." Read your options...if option is A is covered, throw to option B, etc...But don't stop the path God has led you to...keep picking away at the defense and soon you will score...

...it does not matter how you get to the end zone for the big touchdown...What does matter is that you are following and trusting God to lead you there. What also matters is the person, the "QB" he is making you to be on your path for the "winning touchdown."

If God can use a shipwreck and a snakebite as a Divine detour to fulfill his purposes through Paul, perhaps he is having you "establish the run in order to utilize the pass." Keep gutting it out, persevere, and sooner than later, God is going to show you the path, He will give you the game plan for your success, which will bring Him all The Glory.

Praise God The King!

2009-09-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Psalm 145.1-6,21 GWT

1I will highly praise you, my God, the king. I will bless your name forever and ever.

2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and ever.

3 The Lord is great, and he should be highly praised.
His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next.
Each generation will talk about your mighty acts.

5 I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty
and the miraculous things you have done.

6 People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds,
and I will tell about your greatness.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all living creatures will praise his holy name
forever and ever.

Storyboard Your Life

2009-09-05T18:33:00.001-07:00

Those of you interested in the Art of Storyboards will find the following link fascinating. They are the storyboards drawn for the cinematography for Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion Of The Christ," via Milesteves.com

I always love the foundation of any Creative project, and the raw storyboards of any piece of cinema always show the pure planning that goes into envisioning each and every shot of the movie!

Click Here for the boards: Passion Of The Christ

By the way, as a creative project for your life, try drawing a storyboard of where you want to be in the next week, month, year etc...really make a mental picture of your life...act like you are the director and writer of the movie of your life...then draw out or at least visualize each and every scene...what does it look like? feel like? Who are you helping, who are you blessing with your blessings?

Go create your Blockbuster for The Glory of God!

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1.1)...

O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! (Jer 32.17)

Trust In God To Make Something Of You!

2009-09-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

...make something of me. You can do it;
you've got what it takes — but God, don't put it off
(From Psalm 40.16-17 MSG)

The Book of Romans says that "we call Abraham 'father' not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. (Romans 4.17-18, emphasis added)

I don't know where you might be in your life, but if you are ready for God to make something of your life, no matter what the circumstances, take some encouragement from Abraham...

Here is how it happened:
• Abraham and Sarah wanted a family, Abraham was old and Sarah was infertile...no worries though, because they believed and trusted in The Almighty God

• Abraham dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.

• When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do.

*** We have the choice on what we believe...
we must DECIDE like Abraham
to live on the basis of what God WILL Do!***

• Therefore, God made Abraham father of a multitude of peoples

• Abraham was old and Sarah had decades of infertility...despite this, they never focused on their own impotence and said, "It's hopeless." Instead, God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"

• Abraham did not tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions.
• Abraham PLUNGED into the PROMISE and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what He said.

• Listen to what The Bible says next: "Abraham was declared fit before god by TRUSTING God to set him right." (From Romans 4.19-25 MSG, emphasis added).

We must go through training in athletics, studies, work, etc in order to be declared fit for those specific endeavors...if we want God to trust us, we must trust Him...allow your current circumstances to put you "in shape" so that you can be declared fit before God, ready to PLUNGE into the PROMISE that God has for your life!

Final note: From this same chapter, The Book of Romans says, "It's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we EMBRACE and BELIEVE The ONE who brought JESUS to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God."

Our salvation is set, Praise Christ!...Jesus has made us fit before God...now, if we want to live the abundant life God called us to, we must trust and believe like never before...Hebrews 11.6 says, without faith it is impossible to please God...

Trust Him, Worship Him, Believe In Him, Praise Him...The same resurrection power of Jesus Christ is available to us today, it's time to resurrect, roll away the stone that has been keeping you locked up, take off the bandages, and become what God has PROMISED for you!

Trust in God, He will make something of you!

God's Pattern = Your Purpose

2009-08-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

Pattern Recognition
As intellectual beings, humans love to learn. One way we learn is through pattern recognition. Wikipedia defines *Pattern recognition, (PR) as "the act of taking in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the data."

Types of data use by PR are found in various fields. For example The Medical Sciences use pattern recognition as the basis for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. You can also find uses of PR in typical applications as seen with automatic speech recognition, the automatic recognition of handwritten postal codes on postal envelopes, or the automatic recognition of images of human faces.

Not only do we use PR for learning technical information, but we also use it in everyday life. We learn to tie our shoes using a certain pattern...We use patterns to learn in all areas such as socially, vocationally, physically, financially, and spiritually.

Righteous Patterns
God gives us His patterns so that we can learn of His Righteous ways. Psalm 119.7 says the following:

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I'm going to do what you tell me to do;

If we want to do what God tells us to do, then we must learn His patterns. If you want to know the purpose of your life, then you must seek God and recognize His patterns.

God's Patterns = Your Purpose

You see, God reveals to us how to live. I think sometimes what happens is that we read other people's patterns or follow cultures patterns instead of God's Patterns. When that happens, our neural network gets all jacked up and we receive false signals on how to live.

Neural Network
In *neuroscience, a neural network describes a population of physically interconnected neurons or a group of disparate neurons whose inputs or signaling targets define a recognizable circuit. Communication between neurons often involves an electrochemical process.

Our communication and processing with The Holy Spirit is somewhat like this neuronal network. When we are interconnected with The Holy Counselor, He gives us inputs and signals that target and define a recognizable circuit for living according to His plans...His Patterns...the circuit of The Living God.

Don't get me wrong. I am not reducing God down to some formula...I am simply saying that just as my brain is signaling an electrochemical message to my hands to type right now, so it is with our relationship with God...our spirit receives a signal from God...a signal to recognize His Patterns and then act upon them.

Stay On Course
What has God been revealing to you lately? What patterns has He been showing you. Verses one and two of Psalm 119 say, "You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him."

Stay on Course. Seek God. Dig into His Word. Pray with every breath. Walk straight on the road He has set. Then you will begin to see how He works. And just like learning to tie your shoes, you will begin to pick up on His patterns, receiving his input and signals on how to live!

• • •

You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.

*source: wikipedia.org

Reconditioned Reflexes

2009-08-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

A reflex action*, also known as a reflex, is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus.

Why am I telling you this? Because our reflexes in life determine our destiny. We have all types of stimuli bombarding us on a daily basis, and our response, our reflex to such stimuli will determine our success or our failure.

When faced with challenges, sometimes we do not even think, we just react. Fear strikes and we either shrink back or attack forward. It generally comes down to our conditioning. Have we been conditioned to always give into fear or have we been trained to go forward despite any challenge we face?

Our response to challenges is much like the "knee jerk" test the doctor applies during a routine physical exam. The doctor is testing our reflexes. Specifically, the doctor is testing what is known as our reflex arc.

The Reflex Arc
A reflex arc* is the neural pathway that mediates a reflex action. In higher animals, most sensory neurons do not pass directly into the brain, but synapse in the spinal cord. This characteristic allows reflex actions to occur relatively quickly by activating spinal motor neurons without the delay of routing signals through the brain, although the brain will receive sensory input while the reflex action occurs. The main source of the reflex action is through the bottom muscles.

In short, when a response is given, the input is so quick that the signal bypasses the brain and goes straight to the spinal cord and then back to our muscle, and that is when our "knee jerks." We don't even have to think about it. It is instantaneous.

Stimuli of Satan
The enemy, satan, loves to hit us with his stimuli. He fills our minds with lies, with doubt, guilt, fear, discouragement...he tries to make us think we are not good enough, that we are too old, too young, undertrained, overzealous... and depending on how we have been conditioned, we will either believe his crap instantaneously or we will defeat him with The Word of God.

In his awesome book, "Wild Goose Chase," Mark Batterson mentions how Jesus has come to recondition our spiritual reflexes. Batterson says, "Satan uses guilt to turn us into reactionaires. Jesus came to recondition our spiritual reflexes and turn us into revolutionaries for His cause.

So here is your homework. Whenever you are hit with a stimuli of satan, like fear, doubt, guilt from the past, lies, etc, focus instead on God's Word, God's Promises, Scripture that you have meditated on, memorized, and internalized. Remember how God has worked in your past, how He is working in you in the present, and how He will grant you victory for the future.

Allow God to recondition your reflexes so that your new automatic/instantaneous response and reflex is to move forward in God's Strength and for His Glory!

"Our courage directly affects the speed at which the future unfolds."
Erwin McManus

*source: wikipedia.org

Courage

2009-07-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 20:3-4, 8 (The Message)

^1-4 When you go to war against your enemy and see horses and chariots and soldiers far outnumbering you, do not recoil in fear of them; God, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt is with you. When the battle is about to begin, let the priest come forward and speak to the troops. He'll say, "Attention, Israel. In a few minutes you're going to do battle with your enemies. Don't waver in resolve. Don't fear. Don't hesitate. Don't panic. God, your God, is right there with you, fighting with you against your enemies, fighting to win.

⁸ The officers will then continue, "And is there a man here who is wavering in resolve and afraid? Let him go home right now so that he doesn't infect his fellows with his timidity and cowardly spirit."

⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

Our Savior Christ is The Ultimate example of True Courage.
One sentence in Isaiah 53.11-12 says it all:

Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch

"Courage is not necessarily possessing boldness in the presence of fear...
True Courage is displaying bravery through the absence of self."

Destiny:Soul Cravings

2009-07-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

See below a Great excerpt about 'Destiny' from Erwin McManus, in his book, Soul Cravings:

As children we assume that greatness is within our grasp.

Whatever inspires us, we begin to dream that one day we will be the best. It is only as we lose our child like innocence that we begin to settle for far less. A part of growing up seems to be acquiescing to mediocrity. It's easy to say that we're just becoming realistic, that it's just a part of growing up. But, in fact, it's the death our our souls.

When we stop dreaming, we start dying.

For some of us, this has been a slow, painful death. Others are just walking dead. They died a long time ago, and its nothing less than a freak of nature that they're still breathing.

Are you alive? Are you dreaming for greatness?
We must dream in order to be great.
We must Pray to have a sense of destiny...We must LIVE with Holy Anticipation...

Mediocrity does not exist in this dojo...

Dream it...Live it...Think it...Do it...For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23.7)

Survey And Solve

2009-07-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Einstein is quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.

Well there is an interesting parallel with Frances Schaeffer, a great apologist, an amazing author, and like Einstein, very intellectual. Schaeffer was once asked that if he had 10 minutes to share the gospel, what would he say. He said, “I would listen for 9 minutes and talk for 1 minute.”

Pretty cool. Survey And Solve.

For I Am Your God

2009-07-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”- Isaiah 41:10

Schedule a daily appointment

2009-07-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Ignore the Word and suffer...
-Proverbs 13:13

...Jesus' time alone with the Father was His ultimate priority. It took priority over ministry, family, friends, even sleep...---Andy Stanley (The Seven Checkpoints, page 55)

Holy Spirit Prays For Us

2009-07-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Want to start living with Holy Anticipation? All we have to do is realize two facts that blow my mind: The Holy Spirit Prays for us and that our life is God's Prayer! Drink it in!

He Prays for us in accordance to God's Will! Soak that up...what if we really believed what God's Word is telling us??...What would we dare to accomplish for His Glory if we really believed that The Holy Spirit is Praying for us...It's time to start living what we believe!

Christian has even mentioned to me that he has heard one preacher make an interesting point, "that Christians really don't believe the bible. If we did, our lives would look completely different...as would our obedience to God!"

Romans 8.27 says "for the Spirit pleads for us BELIEVERS"...

It does not say "the spirit pleads for us who would like to believe..."

My point is this...I think sometimes we can get 'lost in translation.' We read a powerful scripture, we hear a good sermon, etc, but then fail to connect God's Word to our living...we go back to living the same lives, going through the same routine, wishing that things were different, hoping that somehow things will change without any action on our part...we must translate Gods' Powerful Promises to our Faithful Living...it's not enough to hear a sermon or read Scripture but then never act on it...

It's time to have a whole new perspective on life knowing and BELIEVING that The Holy Spirit is PLEADING for us in accordance to God's Will!

Psalm 42.6-8
Then God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God's prayer.

Romans 8.26-28
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them

God's Word

2009-07-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

...His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins...
Psalm 37.31

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

God's Spirit Beckons

2009-07-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Reading through Romans yesterday, came upon Romans 8.9-17...Amazing! It reads like a Manifesto! (all bold and colored lines are emphasized for visual interest)

^9-11But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

^12-14So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

^15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

God's Direction

2009-07-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

God is fair and just;

He corrects the misdirected,

Sends them in the right direction.
Psalm 25.8

Jonah ran away from God...God put Jonah in the belly of a fish and brought him back! What I have learned through Scripture study and life experience is this:

God will re-direct our misdirection

How? We must follow His "mile-markers." We must count the cost, we must be wise, we must be strategic, but the freedom in knowing that God will re-direct our misdirection gives us an ability to have a 'nothing-to-lose' attitude if we are following God...If we are following God, the path takes care of itself...If we are following God, then we can be fearless...we can take sanctified risks and we can have a reckless abandon for God! No matter what road we travel, all we have to do is watch for God's "mile-markers" and road signs to either keep us moving forward or to re-direct our path...look how Psalm 25.10 says it:

From now on every road you travel

Will take you to God.

Follow the Covenant signs;

Read the charted directions.

Bottom line is this...We must "hit the road." We can not be frozen in fear and stuck in over analyzing what direction to take...If we are truly following God, seeking Him in Prayer, reading His Word, and trusting Him with all of our heart instead of leaning on our own understanding, then whatever road we take, His signs will be there to direct our way...this gives us the freedom to attack life head on!

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3.5