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Showing posts with the label guilt

Lonely Cottage

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  “Among the few features of agricultural England which retain an appearance but little modified by the lapse of centuries, may be reckoned the high, grassy and furzy downs, coombs, or ewe-leases, as they are indifferently called, that fill a large area of certain counties in the south and south-west. If any mark of human occupation is met with hereon, it usually takes the form of the solitary cottage of some shepherd. Fifty years ago such a lonely cottage stood on such a down, and may possibly be standing there now. In spite of its loneliness, however, the spot, by actual measurement, was not more than five miles from a county-town. Yet that affected it little. Five miles of irregular upland, during the long inimical seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains, and mists, afford withdrawing space enough to isolate a Timon or a Nebuchadnezzar; much less, in fair weather, to please that less repellent tribe, the poets, philosophers, artists, and others who “conceive and meditate of ple...

"I don't feel bad, guilty or ashamed about sin."

And a fish doesn't feel wet either, because it is immersed.

"Guilty, guilty."

In the movie, “Papillon,” Steve McQueen played the part of a criminal who was imprisoned for life for crimes against the French state. The movie portrayed the dreams he dreamed while in prison. In one dream, he stood before a tribunal for a crime. He pleaded with the judge that he was not guilty of the crime for which he was being tried. The judge relied that he was not being tried for that crime, but for a crime which is the most heineous crime of the human race. Papillon asked what crime it was. He replied ‘The crime of a wasted life.” Papillon wept, “Guilty, guilty.” The judge pronounced the sentence of death.

“Men and women who saw God in the Bible: Why did they not all die?”

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...

Does it pay to commit crime? The income of a criminal.

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In the early 1900’s the great magician (“handcuff king” and jail-breaker) Harry Houdini researched court cases, interviewed police, detectives and criminals with the intent to make a contribution that would safeguard the public from fraud. In 1906 he published The Right Way To Do Wrong: An Expose of Successful Criminals . I found the first chapter very enlightening, answering the question, “Does it pay to commit crime?” ************ “This is a question I have often asked the chiefs of police and great detectives of every country in the world. How great are the money rewards of evil doing? Does a ‘good’ burglar have an income equal to that of a bank president? Can a pickpocket make more money than the fashionable tailor who makes the pockets? Is a gambler better paid than a governor? Can a shoplifter make more money than the saleswoman? In fact, does it pay to be a criminal, and, if so, how great is the reward for evil doing? I am aware that it is the general impression, considered simp...

If we look carefully within ourselves . . .

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"If we look carefully within ourselves, we shall find that there are certain limits beyond which we refuse to go in offering ourselves to God. We hover around these reservations, making believe not to see them, for fear of self reproach. The more we shrink from giving up any such reserved point, the more certain it is that it needs to be given up. If we were not fast bound by it, we should not make so many efforts to persuade ourselves that we are free. ” Henry Drummond (1851-1897), author of “ The Greatest Thing In The World .”

Jury Duty in the Murder Capital of America

Jury Duty seems to liven life up a bit for law-abiding citizens. This is a "must read" from Ray Comfort's blog: "I was called to jury duty in Compton, California, the city that has been called "the murder capital of America." As I sat with 44 other people in the jury selection process, the judge asked the prospective jurors in the jury box if they would give as much credence to the testimony of a gang member as they would to the testimony of an officer of the law. I looked across at the two gang members who were on trial for the murder of an Hispanic “human being,” as the judge had put it. They looked nice enough, in their plush suits and ties. I imagined them in their baggies, with their long socks and hats to the side, holding their guns the way gangs do. The judge also asked the prospective jurors if they would be prejudice against anyone who pleaded the Fifth Amendment, and didn’t testify on their own behalf. The next day I was called to the jury box. ...

What To Hold On To?

In a country village of Pennsylvania a physician gave books on infidelity [immorality, pornography] to a young man and persuaded him to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. When the young man was fifty years old, he lay dying and was attended by the same physician, the infidel teacher. As the end was approaching, the doctor told him to die as he lived—a rejector of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Hold on to the end,” the doctor urged. “Yes, doctor,” said the dying man, “there is just my trouble—you gave me nothing to hold on to.” The doctor could not answer.

A Powerful Lesson From ER

A number of people called attention to this clip from the popular TV series ER. It really is amazing for secular television. The "Fair Use" law allowed us to teach from it, without violating copyright laws.