Head-dibs

Thomas Brookes (1608 - 1680) answers the objection, "But there are worse people than me!" "Whatever evil you behold in other men's practices, realize that you have the same evil in your own nature.  There is the seed of all sins, of the vilest and worst of sins—in the best of men. When you see a drunkard—you may see the seed of that sin in your own nature. When you see an immoral man—you may see the seeds of immorality in your own nature. If you are not as wicked as others—it is not because of the goodness of your nature—but from the riches of God's grace! Remember this—there is not a worse nature in hell than that which is in you, and it would manifest itself accordingly—if the Lord did not restrain it! There was one who was a long time tempted to three horrid sins: to be drunk, to lie with his mother, and to murder his father. Being a long time followed with these horrid temptations, at last he thought to get rid of them, by yielding to what he judged the l...

"Mythology exists to show the wickedness of men through the depravity of their gods, whose deeds are so repulsive that man abandon them.  The Bible records the depravity of men against a righteous God, who alone can save them." (Kenneth Prior, " The Gospel in a Pagan Society ")

What is the difference between the one who keeps silent when he knows to speak up, and the one who turns a deaf ear (ignores) a warning? There is a poster in our house that says, “If you don’t have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over.” Our baby granddaughter is fascinated with the sign (to the dismay of few other house-hold occupants). Certainly the sign is encouraging enough for daily tasks and responsibilities, but when reading Psalm 58, one realizes there may be only one chance to do “it” right (whatever “it” is). Approaching Psalm 58, we must remember that these words are not limited to the time of the writer. People have not been living righteously with one another since long before David, the justice system certainly isn’t getting any better since then, so this is an excellent opportunity to learn from scripture what God thinks about justice, and make certain we get “it” right in application. "Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods? Do you judge uprightl...

We don’t live in the best of neighborhoods. Most law enforcement officers in our county know our neighbors well, having put most of them in jail or prison from time to time. When we first moved in, we discovered dogs with heavy chains held in the woods behind our house. Drugs are not uncommon with our neighbors, and traffic comes and goes regularly. We were burglarized once, but nobody “knew” anything. For the last three years, we’ve survived all night parties, shootings, domestic violence of various kinds. And this is perhaps the fourth generation, carrying on the patterns of their fathers (if any of the kids know who their fathers are—one lady boasted her many kids with no clue who any of their fathers are) while one dear very old lady, the matriarch of the family, picks up her Bible and goes to church every week. My wife called me at lunch today to tell me that a car wrecked in another neighbor’s yard. If you stand on my porch, looking at the street, our friends described above are ...

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, 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 .”

The reason the proud don’t seek after God is that they don’t want to—they will not seek after God because they don’t want to leave their sins. It’s not that they cannot find Him, but that they will not [ any more than a thief will find a policeman ]. Scripture gives us insight: 1) Pride keeps one from seeking God. Any admittance of guilt is a blow to the pride of the human heart; 2) Because he’s self-centered and self-sufficient, one feels no need to even consider God; 3) One thinks that she’s in control of her life and that adversity will never come to her; 4) One’s willful ignorance leaves him without understanding of God’s righteous judgments; 5) One believes that either God is blinded to his sinful lifestyle, or that God has no sense of justice and will therefore not require any account for his lawlessness. “ For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his t...

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...

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.

Psalm 112 Have you ever wondered, “ What do I get by being a Christian ?” Short answer: God. Long answer: The Christian does not get a “what” but a “whom.” The person who puts God before his eyes, who reverences God in the highest way receives from God blessing and delight to do what pleases God. The righteous person makes a mark on those around him (this will be clear later) and those that follow this same uprightness receives blessing as well. The righteous accumulates about him things of eternal significance. Things that matter to God matter most. Also, he sees clearly in the light of fellowship by walking with God, being cleansed from sin and made righteous by God’s provision. Furthermore, there are is tangible evidence of that walk that is distinctly different and certainly noticed. The one who fears God gets to show grace and compassion by sharing what God provides. The one who fears God gets a solid foot-hold on an unmovable foundation. When he gets bad news, he gets to t...

Psalm 34 1. God is the focus of praise (1-3). I am firmly convinced that this very psalm was the content of David’s mutterings of madness. Remember the occasion when Br’er Rabbit (or Bro’ Rabbit) was once again in the clutches of Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear, who sought to pull out his ears and yank of his tail, to enjoy him for their dinner? One his Rabbit’s plans to escape including his convincing his captors to PLEASE eat him, and never to throw him into that most horrid and dreadful place, the briar patch. He begged and pleaded to be eaten—anything, just PLEASE don’t throw him into that briar patch. Fox and Bear thought the torture would be better if they did throw him into the briar patch instead of eating him and when Rabbit found out, he set to hollerin’ so. Finally, the Rabbit was launched through the air and plompt right smack into that ol’ briar patch, where instead of screaming and yelps of death, Bro’s Fox and Bear heard laughter. They quickly learnt that that ol’ briar patch w...