Head-dibs

Solomon was right: there is nothing new under the sun. I am amazed at the ongoing objections concerning the relevance of the Bible today, yet within those very objections is proof enough that the Bible is indeed very relevant. Objectors do not realize how they confirm scripture by their very act of rebellion. We find ourselves in the unique position to view an incredible display of God's omniscience as He reveals what is on the hearts, minds and in the actions of His enemies. This, too, demonstrates the relevance of God's Word today as what God reveals continues without abatement today. They bring nothing new to the forum, but a tired excuse to disbelieve God. When David was inspired to ask, " why are the nations in an uproar ," he was reflecting on old news and from our perspective, nothing has changed in that regard: the nations are still in an uproar as they try to cast off the rule of God. What should the nations be doing? The book of Psalms alone contains a small...

"Rumor is a pipe Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures, And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted heads, The still-discordant wavering multitude, Can play upon it." (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Act 2). " But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh ." (James 3:8-12)

"Doctrine and doing are like the two parts of salt: salt is composed to 2 poisons, sodium and chlorine. If you should take either of the two poisons, you would die. But if you combine them properly, you have sodium chloride, and that is common table salt, without which there is no savor for our food, and indeed, no life and health to our bodies." Donald Gray Barnhouse, "Romans."

Let Hedonism be your guide. Try anything once and do the fun things twice—just don’t hurt anyone in the process; Stand up for your rights. Nobody has the right to tell you what to do—and be loud about it. Stay away from intolerant people; Follow your heart, your feelings. Soothe the conscience by referring to Step 1; Discover your hidden potential; Truth is what you make it, so do what seems right to you. Believe in yourself; Whatever you desire, go for it. Let nothing get in your way. Give yourself permission to get whatever you want even though people are not going to simply give it to you. The world is there for the taking—after all, you deserve it. The sooner you get it, the better. (" Send me $95 and I’ll show you how!") “Quarrels are a part of life. We grow up understanding them, we are competitive, we are even taught to be competitive. Little children fight. The kids fight over the toys, they go to school and they fight over the games in the playground, th...

“Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Also Sprach Benjamin Franklin . At one point in my life, I saw Franklin as the wisest person who ever lived—his contributions to mankind were so numerous that in my eyes, none but the most wisest could perform so many noble acts. Franklin’s inventions include water-wings, bi-focals, the lightening rod. He made contributions to the fields of medicine, agriculture, banking, printing, heating and air. He was an educator, a politician, founded libraries, published, and was the first to go postal. Ironically, when it came to personal and spiritual development he made many failed attempts at morality and sought to arrive at perfection by his own means, admitting at last that he could not. Regardless, Franklin was a leader. When we look for leaders, two facts come to the surface: first, we should strive to see wise people in leadership positions. I say, “should” because when I think of something grand like the Presidential ...

A counselor at church camp told of his experience with a nine-year-old boy who started to cry when they turned out the cabin lights the first night. "Was he afraid of the dark?" the counselor asked. "No," the boy replied; "he just didn't want to be attacked by the 'killer rabbits.'" Some older kids at home had told him that there were "killer rabbits" that would come out at night and attack the campers. Jesus was constantly reassuring the disciples with the words, " Fear not ." Their fears betrayed their lack of faith. When one traces these words and their usage throughout the Bible, it seems that one of man's constant needs is to be reassured of the presence and comfort of God almighty. Christians can draw on this presence to find comfort and destroy their fears. The problem is that when many have gotten into the habit of “whistling through the cemetery,” trying to be brave and do whatever it takes to get through. Many ...

My Bible reading today caused me to consider a very serious, sobering thought about heaven, which was this: there’s going to be a lot of people there. Think about that for a minute . . . a lot of people. Who are those people? The Bible tells us those in heaven are those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! That’s who they are, people from whom all blemish and spot of sin has been removed! But who are those people on this side of heaven? They are the tax-collectors, the Zaccheus’s of our locale. They are the stinky, the dirty, the poor whom perhaps we have told to sit “over there,” out of the way, where we can’t smell them or look at them. We prefer to associate with people who draw crowds, not with those who chase crowds away. We like beautiful people. The truth of the matter is: heaven is going to be populated by people who don’t fit our preferences. Heaven is going to be filled with people God loves—without our consent. “Sunday Morning Worship” has become the most segregated hour of al...

"There are two selves: one that reacts to circumstances; the other responding from God to the situation." These words open a study on depression and despair. This is an intriguing thought as it exposes one of the most unique wonders of the universe found in man that will not be found in any other place or event in nature, namely that man can exist as two separate beings when he is only one. This is found in the statement "there are two selves"--by definition, man should not be able to exist in two selves simultaneously, yet he does. The book of James (in so many words) gives examples of how this strange phenomenon of works out in mankind. James begins right at the heart of the issue: temptation. Man has a choice of responses to temptation that he will go through--when it is set before him he cannot do anything but experience it. Man has a choice in his experience of temptation: he can either be joyful because the endurance of the temptation (and non-submittal to it...