Head-dibs

“Whenever someone has done wrong by you, immediately consider what notion of good or evil they had in doing it. For when you see that, you’ll feel compassion, instead of astonishment or rage. For you may yourself have the same notions of good and evil, or similar ones, in which case you’ll make an allowance for what they’ve done. But if you no longer hold the same notions, you’ll be more readily gracious for their error.” (MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.26)

( part 4 ) When the Apostle Paul was inspired to conclude his greeting to the Corinthian church, we find that greetings are extended “ from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ” GOD OUR FATHER What comes to your mind when you think of God as Father? Homer (the ancient Greek philosopher, not the cartoon character) reflected how his culture thought that mankind was the “paignion theon” (plaything of the gods). Ideas like this show the huge difference between our personal idea of God (who we eventually find is no greater than ourselves, and we get disgruntled with that image and blame him) and what God revealed about Himself by revelation. We are designed to receive greater ideas than we can imagine. One can’t help but wonder: if we live in a world of fate, how can we know peace? If God does not care, how can there be peace? A god who has not revealed Himself cannot be our “Father.” Just think of all a Father can do: He is a Lover; the family founder; the marriage-arranger;...

( part 3 ) Some say he means nothing by it, but what if he really does? The Apostle Paul was inspired by God to start nearly every letter he wrote the exact same way: " grace to you and peace ". It’s difficult to imagine how God would inspire someone to write empty words that mean nothing more than, “howdy.” Would he not have used different words other than "grace and peace" if he meant something other than these? “Grace to you.” John R.W. Stott defines grace as “Love that cares and stoops and rescues.” This describes a goodness of God that man can never earn because man does not deserve it. What is most striking about grace is that grace is not a “thing” but is an attribute of God -- grace is part of who God is. God has two kinds of attributes: those He shares, and those He does not. Attributes God does not share include Omnipresence (He is present everywhere all at once); Omniscience (He is infinite in knowledge); Omnipotence (He is all powerful and does wh...

Ephesians is decorated with sparkling jewels of Christ. The first chapter alone mentions Christ directly or indirectly at least 18 times in the first 14 verses. Everything is summed in Christ and He is the object of our inheritance. My grandparents did not have much money, so they did what they could in preparing for birthdays and Christmas by visiting garage sales. I did not catch on to their pattern of shopping until I was much older, and felt rather embarrassed—yet each birthday and Christmas, they lavished gifts on us grandchildren. They did what they could within their means as an expression of love—and they prepared all year long for 15 minutes of childish delight. God’s loving gift of grace in Christ Jesus is not second-hand, and it includes a present as well as a future reality. “ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will ” (Ephesians 1:11). He gave Himself as payment in ...

When we read through Ephesians 1:3-14 we find the Apostle Paul highlighting three aspects of salvation: God’s work in the past (1:3-6); God’s work in the present (1:6-11) and God’s work in the future (1:12-14). Salvation (as we use the term) is not limited to mere hell-fire rescue. This was God’s plan since before the creation of the world that through Jesus Christ we can be free from the power of sin and enjoy a restored relationship with Him as we await the final reconciliation to Him, when we see Him face to face. The riches of God’s grace ais seen in the fact that we are made His children. Certainly we are His children by virtue of creation, but because we broke His moral law, we are separated from Him. Through the gift of His Son, we can turn from our sin and be made what we were not already—sons by adoption. Why does He do this? Because He is kind (Eph. 1:3,5). “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of...

If you have a hard time finding evidence for the grace of God , perhaps you are not looking. Here are three reasons why Power Point preaching is not prophetic . I'm gonna start a band just so I can do this . Who is faster in a Honda Civic:  Darth Vader?  The Dalek?  The Sixth Doctor?  Ming the Merciless?  The Cyberman?

“Grace” is a word so often used in Christian contexts that the meaning can be quickly lost, leading to confusion in terms of application. The Greek word “charis” (we get the word “charity” here) was translated “grace” and has often been understood to mean “love,” “favor,” or “pleasure.” Originally, “charis” was used as a greeting, as Paul often demonstrated in his letters: “grace to you.” The implication includes joyfulness, rejoicing because of favor or a gift given for the sake of someone else. Grace makes effectual our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), but there is a broader meaning. Robert C. McQuilkin (the first president of Columbia International University from 1923-1952) wrote a short book called “God’s Law and God’s Grace” (published posthumously by Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1958) wherein he stretches our understanding of the way the word is used in the Bible: “We may think of grace primarily as that which belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Gr...

Abu Lahab, the uncle of Muhammad, as representative of Muhammad’s own father, was expected to look after his nephew as if he was one of his own children; but, Abu Lahab would not accept any of the teachings of Muhammad. Understand that at this time, Muhammad was just starting to preach the message of Islam and many people had not yet believed him to be the Prophet. Abu Lahab’s animosity was seen in how he forbade his own two sons to visit their own father unless they divorced their wives (they were married to two of Muhammad’s daughters). Also, as Muhammad began preaching Islam, Abu Lahab would follow him, throwing stones and warning people not to listen, even calling Muhammad a liar. Abu Lahab’s increasing hostility to Muhammad was considered to be an obstruction to the progress of Islam. The Qur’an records that Allah Himself placed a curse on Abu Lahab (by name!) and his wife because of their opposition to the spread of Islam. Surah 111 of the Qur’an is called “Al-lahab,” which reads...

“Faith, like grace, is not static. Saving faith is more than just understanding the facts and mentally acquiescing. It is inseparable from repentance, surrender, and a supernatural longing to obey. None of those responses can be classified as a human work, any more than believing itself is solely a human effort.” MacArthur, John. “A Look At The Issues” The Gospel According to J esus. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2008. P. 46

“God’s grace is not a static attribute whereby He passively accepts hardened, unrepentant sinners. Grace does not change a person’s standing before God yet leave his character untouched. Real grace does not include, a Chafer claimed, ‘the Christian’s liberty to do precisely as he chooses.’ True grace, according to Scripture, teaches us ‘to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12). Grace is the power of God to fulfill our new covenant duties (cf. 1 Cor. 7:19), however inconsistently we obey at times. Clearly, grace does not grant permission to live in the flesh; it supplies power to live in the Spirit.” MacArthur, John. “A Look At The Issues.” The Gospel According to Jesus . Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2008. P. 46

The tract simply read, "Overwhelmingly The Greatest Life Insurance and Investment Plan Ever Concieved: A Contract Everyone Can Afford with Unlimited Assets, All Benefits (Free Health Care), Great Building Policy Underway." At the end it said, "Just sign here and you've got Jesus!" Another tract said, "Free! Beautiful Homes Given Away in the Perfect City! No Bills! Pure Water! Beautiful Music!" No wonder people are confused.

"The source of strength lies in God's grace, not our will power, or in our spasms of earnestness. When we attempt to strengthen ourselves through self-effort, we are like the man who tried to make his stalled boat move by pushing against the mast. We exert ourselves a great deal, but actually get nowhere." N.A. Woychuk, "Exposition of 2 Timothy."

" Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ' If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My di...

[repost from Thursday, April 13, 2006] “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast .” This last week was very exciting in terms of evangelism. My daughter went with me to Finlay Park last Sunday and we talked to 11 people about their need for Christ. We have to remember that as we go out, we are only sowing seed. We only spoke with about 4 at USC Wednesday night and all professed Christ. I like one guy’s response—he got right to the point and proclaimed Christ’ payment for the penalty of his sin. All I could do is grin and shake his hand. It’s hard to see people’s face change when they realize their sinful state before the LORD then choose to hang on to sin and not repent. Last Sunday each couple we talked to had a very different dynamic. One girl delighted in her admitting that all the bad she had ever done was break the 9th commandment. Her delight was quickly turned to distress when she learned...

"Little sins, like little thieves, may open the door to greater ones outside. Christians, recollect that little sins will spoil your communion with Christ. Little sins, like little stains in silk, may damage the fine texture of fellowship. Little sins, like little irregularities in the machinery, may spoil the whole fabric of your religion. The one dead fly spoils the whole pot of ointment. That one thistle may seed a continent with noxious weeds. Let us, Brethren, kill our sins as often as we can find them. Someone said—'The heart is full of unclean birds. It is a cage of them.' 'Ah, but,' said another Divine, 'you must not make that an apology— for a Christian’s business is to wring their necks.' And so it is. If there are evil things, it is our business to kill them. Christians must not tolerate secret sins. We must not harbor traitors. It is high treason against the King of Heaven. Let us drag them out into the light and offer them upon the altar, givin...

[One thing I greatly admire about my Kenyan students is that they really know how to ask questions. If you've been following along since late last week, I've been sharing questions students asked me when I traveled to Kenya in 2004. It seems that once the questions began, the more difficult they became--stay tuned to see what I mean.] As I consider the question, two thoughts come to mind: first, the fear of the Lord is one theme that deserves serious study by every believer. We see in scripture that communication with God brings about such deep reverence, fear and respect on the part of the one with whom God is talking. The second matter that comes to mind is that there does seem to be a careless attitude, a lack of fear and respect on part of many who say they know the Lord; however, such flippancy does not go unnoticed in scripture. Recall with me the Sinai experience. Moses is on the mountain, and the people gathered around with the stern warning not to come near nor touch t...

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...

“The twofold message of grace is: 1.) “All flesh is grass!” and 2.) “Behold your God!” This is the message that takes away all of the glory and dignity of the flesh and proclaims the redemptive Glory of Christ. The results of this message will be a sense of the awesome holiness of God, the inability and sinfulness of the flesh and the total sufficiency of the Person and work of Christ. Perhaps once again we will hear men and women cry, “Depth of mercy can there be, mercy still reserved for me? Can my God, His wrath forbear, and me, the chief of sinners, spare?” Rolfe Barnard (1904-1969)

Coming April 22, 2008 "Am I enough, Lord? Can I trust you, Lord? Can I be free from the past? Can I trust? Do I trust? Am I enough? AM I WORTHY? In Freedom from Myself: One Woman’s Diary of Gods Unceasing Love , author Fay Barlow shares her deepest hurts in the process of discovering the truth about her worth in Christ. Full of raw emotions and issues that most women are afraid to admit that they feel, Freedom from Myself reveals healing through biblical counsel and scripture in an entertaining but brutally honest manner. Laugh a little, cry a little, and heal a little as you delve into the heart and mind of one woman on a quest for meaning." Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises ISBN: 9781604624731 Buy this book at: Amazon Barnes and Noble Books-a-million Buy.com

Isaiah 6:3 ; Revelation 1:8 ; Isaiah 43:25 ; 1 John 3:18-22 ; James 4:13-16 ; Micah 4:2 The Lord our God is enthroned on High, and we live in His world unstunned by His glory. The angels in God’s presence don’t dare to look or be uncovered in His sight; yet they dare not look at anything but Him nor do anything that is not pleasing to Him. They dare not say anything beyond calling out who He is. They are not merely overcome with astonishment, but are mobilized by the fear of who He is. Men live, move and have their being without guilt or shame, uncovered with high-handed sin in His sight. There is no fear of God before our eyes. If we did fear Him, He would receive much higher praise, louder and longer praise by all we say and do. “ Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had every imag...