Head-dibs

[This is an excellent question not asked in the spirit of a disagreeing argument, but of serious investigation. When the Kenyan student asked this question, the whole room got silent as everyone went to their thoughts. I don't even remember exactly how I answered the question during the conference, but I'm sure it went something like this (as I think about this all the time):] God exists outside time and space; therefore, He was "where he was" when He created the world. This is very much in relation to His very name, "I AM." He IS, and that's where He was--where He was "being." Have you ever noticed that God never says, "I was," or "I will be"? His being is found in His name, "I AM"; that is, He is always contemporary. Only those who worship Him call Him "who Is, who was and is to come." This is not a statement of chronological linage, like moving from point A to point B in order to get to point C...

The late Dr. Walter Martin delivers an astounding lecture on “Miracles” beginning with an examination, critique and response to David Hume’s influential philosophy and how we as Christians can believe that God is Truth. Listen to this two-part lecture here .

"To every man there openeth A way and ways and a way; And the high soul treads the high way, And the low soul gropes the low; And in between on the misty flats The rest drift to and fro; But to every man there openeth A high way and a low, And every man decideth The way his soul shall go." (John Oxenham, 1852-1941)

This last Saturday, Steve and Jan and I went to Finlay Park to share the gospel with folks attending the Summer Concert Series. As most people set up chairs close to the stage, it was hard to find a good place to actually converse with people--the music was just too loud. Besides, one of the "ground rules" of evangelism is that when an event is taking place (such as a concert) great care must be taken concerning "breaking in" to the event; that is, getting between the event and the person or persons attending. Most conversation takes place outside the event; that is, with people walking around on the periphery. After I spoke with this family, I spent two hours talking with one young man near the fence. After taking him through the law, and his admission of sin and how God saw his heart, we spent our time wrestling through questions that he was wrestling with. Though he was sincere in seeking resolutions to ethical delimmas, doctrinal and philosophical issues, ...

From Desiring God: The following is a guest post by Ben Reaoch, pastor of Three Rivers Grace Church in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. It started in the Garden. Adam said to God, " The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate ." (Genesis 3:12) The first man, caught in the first sin, turns to blame his wife. And he extends the blame to God as well! He implies that he would have remained innocent if God hadn’t put Eve in the garden with him. The blame-shifting in the Garden continues today. Our proud hearts send us desperately looking for someone else to point to every time we’re confronted with our own sin. There must be someone else—our spouse, sibling, parent, boss, co-worker, pastor, friend, or God, himself. We are so desperate to justify ourselves that we become irrational. Here are 12 examples .

With all due respect to the Kenyan student who asked the question, the answer is found in the preceding statement: "happiness comes from God;" in other words, "the devil cannot give happiness." Let us first consider who the devil is, and what he brings to the table. Jesus describes Satan as " a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. " (John 8:44) Satan, the murderer brings truthlessness. So if Satan comes along and says, "this will make you happy," can he be speaking the truth? Notice Satan is also called the devouring enemy. " Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour ." (1 Peter 5:8) If Satan comes around offering happiness, remember that he is not coming as my friend, with any best interest in mind. " Satan himself masquerades as an ang...

The first question is best answered by recalling the origin of Satan. Ezekiel 28:12-18 is a good starting place, where we are reminded that this is no mere human being we are talking about, but “the anointed cherub who covers” (v.14). The one who stood over God’s throne was found with unrighteousness, specifically with prideful rebellion against God (v.15). God cast this angel from Heaven to be destroyed (v.18; Isaiah 14:12-15). Also, we must not miss how this angel, once called Lucifer (whose name means “star of the morning”) became Satan (“accuser”) when God cast him out (Ezek. 28:12; Luke 10:18). Isaiah 14:15 shows us God’s response to Satan’s sin, and ultimate destruction (Revelation 20:10). The second answer is not far from the first. When Satan fell, he “swept away a third of the stars of heaven” (Revelation 12:4). These are angels who aligned themselves with Satan (Revelation 12:9). Because God is just in His punishment of sin and Satan nor any of his angels will not have redemp...

A student asked, “God sent Jesus to fulfill all the promises of God to man. What is the need of the Holy Spirit? If we have Christ Jesus, why do we need the Holy Spirit?” Jesus actually answers these questions in John 14 (just one place among many we could consider). First, we learn that Jesus Himself asked the Father to send another Helper, the Spirit of Truth (14:15-17a). This Helper, the Spirit of Truth, is sent of the Father in Jesus’ name (14:26), and is not of the world (14:17b). Second, Jesus makes it clear that the Helper will abide with us, not leaving us as orphans (14:17c-18). Third, Jesus makes it perfectly clear, “I will come to you,” reinforcing the unique relationship of what we call “The Trinity.” Jesus helps us understand that the Holy Spirit will teach, bring to remembrance all He has taught (14:26). Jesus elaborates further on the special ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 16. First, if He does not go away, the Helper will not come (16:7). Second, when The Spirit do...

July 2004 I went to Kenya, Africa to speak in two Pastor’s Conferences on the subject of Man, Sin and Salvation. At the end of each day I left just over an hour for questions (half the time were questions touching the subject of my lectures, and the other half for “open questions”; that is, people could ask anything). For the next few weeks, I will be sharing the questions that were asked of me, and my answers—and believe me when I say these people really know how to think! Question from Kenya #1: “Men and women who saw God in the Bible: Why did they not all die?” [“ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! ’” (Exodus 33:20) was the basis of the student’s question]. Answer: First, consider those who did see God—how did they respond when they saw Him? They were instantly aware of their sinfulness, and God’s holiness and righteousness (to name a few. And notice also that each responded in an attitude of worship, bowing down): Abraham built altars, wors...

I received the above question in an e-mail from a web-surfer who tried very hard to blaspheme and deny the true and living God. Actually, the question is an excellent one, and here is my answer: According to Genesis 1: 26, God created man for Himself; that is, for His own glory, not man's. " And God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness .'" God could not have complimented man more than to make man like Himself. Man is the crown of God's creation. We need to recognize that we were made for God and in His likeness and image. We fulfill our eternal purpose when our lives honor God and reflect His glory.

I recently read an article reprinted from a 1994 Leadership magazine called "Why people don't pray." The writer's friend suggested an examination be done as to why people avoid devotions. He reports in the article four factors people "weigh" as they consider their embracing or resisting an activity (see if any of these is "you")" People ask themselves: 1) Will it work for me? 2) Can I do it? 3) What's it worth for me? 4) Will it cost me? The article began with this pastor confessing his sparse prayer life and Bible reading to a psychologist friend. My first thoughts as I read: confessing to a friend, that's one thing; but, confessing to a psychologist? Wincing at the thought of how easily people replace the Bible with human reason, I braced myself for the rest of the article. The question is: why don't people pray? Each of the considerations listed above do not answer the question, only makes the problem worse. People don't pra...

Truths That Transform (Dr. D. James Kennedy's national radio ministry) will be airing “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” on June 10-11. This will be the third time they have broadcast the teaching. TruthsThatTransform.org will stream the program the day of airing and afterwards. If you haven't heard "Hell's Best Kept Secret," you can freely listen on www.livingwaters.com ( just click here ). ht: The Soap Box

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a lady in the park. She claimed to have a Christian background, though was surprised to be caught by the law and her exposed sin. She admitted her guilt before God, and that the punishment for sin is death. She also said that though she did not deserve heaven knew she would be there because God “just forgives.” I asked her what she meant by that. She told me that she knew she would go to heaven because her mother was an atheist, and God would not send her mother to hell, so God forgives and lets everyone into heaven. My heart breaks right there. Recently Steve Sanchez shared on his blog : “But what can you say to someone who realizes that a deceased loved one might already be in eternal torment? One lady ran up to me after a recent open air sermon, furious about what she had just heard and shouted at me, ‘You mean to tell me that my 11-year-old son is in Hell for stealing a piece of gum? That’s a bunch of $#%&*!$%!’ Then she stormed away.” ...

by Greg Gordon, at Sermon Index A warning against preaching an unbiblical modern gospel. A POPULAR PERVERSION. Is it possible that modern popular Christianity is preaching a spurious, superficial, shallow Gospel in the 21st Century? If you look carefully at the history of the people of Israel many times the “popular” majority of priests and prophets turned from preaching the truth before the people and became profane in their speech and life’s. In Jeremiah’s time we see this recorded in Holy Scriptures: “For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.” What horror! what dismay to see almost all of the spiritual leaders of Israel speaking lies in the name of the Lord. Could this happen again? Is it possible that in our modern day evangelical circles there are many that are not preaching a true genuine, Biblical Gospel? True Christianity is never popular Christianity! True Christianity is accepted by few and rejected by many. True ...

Lately I’ve been asked my opinion of Todd Bentley and the so-called “revival” in Lakeland, Florida. My response is: “ At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather .” (Matthew 23:23-28)

Have you ever gotten a blank, signed check on payday? I haven't, but it would be nice to write your own check, wouldn't it? On my paychecks, and probably on yours, the amount is already filled in. But we still look forward to each payday. That's because we count on our paycheck to pay our debts, or to pay for a house, a car, food, clothes, and many other things. For many of us, it seems there's "too much month at the end of the money," but sometimes we might have some money left over to put away for the future. We work all week, or even all month, to get our paycheck. Then we are paid what we have earned, or according to the contract we have negotiated. But wouldn't it be nice to get a big check and not even have to work for it? It's possible! But, it's also possible to get a paycheck that we wouldn't want to have. A check that we wouldn't want? Yes, there are wages that I think none of us would like to earn if we had a choice--" the w...

(repost from January 17, 2004, for my friends who lovingly take a few minutes to read my meager postings) "Head-dibs" includes three ideas: 1) This blog is an online journal, so here will one find a record of some of my thoughts; hence, the "head." 2) The Puritan mindset of being "God saturated" is the goal of my Christian walk. Think of a sponge filled to capacity, every part having fully absorbed that in which the sponge is placed. When squeezed, the fluid comes out. I want to be "God saturated." 3) The definition of "dibs" is seen in the second definition listed just under the title of this page. It is the "honey" of fruit. Recently I was challenged to evaluate what God's Word means to me. Here is the scenario: Between the ages of 6 to 10, Jewish boys dedicated their first years of schooling to the memorization of the entire books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Rabbi would pass around fre...