Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I'm all fired up!!
Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is not A l (lower case l) lord. Jesus is Lord.
I simply can't believe that God would have every knee bow IN HEAVEN and on earth and under the earth to anyone but GOD himself, namely Jesus the Lord
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is not A l (lower case l) lord. Jesus is Lord.
I simply can't believe that God would have every knee bow IN HEAVEN and on earth and under the earth to anyone but GOD himself, namely Jesus the Lord
Palin for VP!
I have it so easy! I check the GDC blog just about every day. And, I'm constantly stealing Jared's stuff. Thanks Jared!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
GDC blog
Go to the Gospel Driven Church blog by Jared and check out his deal on Killing your idols. It's good stuff. For real.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tolerate This: part 2
Jesus did not preach tolerance.
Jesus did preach love. Jesus taught us how we are supposed to live our lives. Jesus fulfilled God’s law for us. He IS God. He is the Word of God made flesh.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. It’s really crazy to try understanding the Trinity. God as Father, God as Son, God as Spirit. But a doctrine that’s hard to understand, or even impossible to understand this side of eternity, doesn’t change it. Doesn’t make it less true.
ANYHOW… I’m rambling now. This isn’t what I wanted to talk about.
The point is this: God did not contradict Himself or His commands as the man Jesus.
Anyone who would say that Jesus taught, or preached, tolerance has to come to grips with this. To believe that Jesus taught tolerance is to believe that God said one thing and did another. If you believe this, then you believe that God is, in essence, a liar.
What did God command in the ten commandments?
Exodus 20: 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
No other gods before me. No idols. I am a jealous God. Pretty clear right. One God. No exceptions. No Buddha. No Mohammad. No Baal. No Asherah. No Zeus. NO OTHER gods!
By the way, looking at “Jesus taught tolerance” through the lens of the first commandment is only one way to show that it’s wrong. FYI.
Jesus could not have later come and taught that God would tolerate other religions, or other Gods. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (emphasis mine). Catch that? Jesus taught exclusivity!
NO ONE comes to the Father except through me! NO ONE.
You cannot possibly believe what you’re saying if you’ve ever said these words, or anything like them: “I believe in Christ, but who am I to say what’s right for everyone else. I wouldn’t be so audacious as to tell other people what their supposed to believe.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY WHAT’S RIGHT FOR EVERYONE ELSE. JESUS ALREADY SAID IT. Do you believe HIM or not????? If you answer yes, then you ARE saying what’s right for everyone else. It’s Jesus or it’s nothing. It’s Jesus or it’s not seeing the Father! That’s it!
Jesus Christ – THE Jesus Christ – is the judge of the whole world. Everyone will see Him face to face. Every single person will bow down before Him and every single person will say, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the King of Kings! Forever!”. And every single person will be told by Jesus whether or not they will experience eternal life with the Lord or not. Jesus will tell every single person to enter into life and a place prepared for them in God’s Kingdom, or to enter into the eternal death and a place prepared for NOT THEM per se, but a place God specifically made for Satan and the rebellious angels.
God’s desire is not that anyone should go to that place prepared for Satan, a place of fire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. But God simply CANNOT tolerate anyone who CHOOSES to reject Him and CHOOSES to worship ANYTHING ELSE.
God is not a “tolerant” God, with regard to our acceptance of Him.
God is merciful. God’s faithfulness is unmeasurable. God is so incredibly gracious to forgive anyone and everyone who asks. God WANTS to forgive and glorify Himself through that mercy. Please understand that mercy and forgiveness are completely different than “tolerance”. It’s important.
Jesus did not preach tolerance.
Jesus did preach love. Jesus taught us how we are supposed to live our lives. Jesus fulfilled God’s law for us. He IS God. He is the Word of God made flesh.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. It’s really crazy to try understanding the Trinity. God as Father, God as Son, God as Spirit. But a doctrine that’s hard to understand, or even impossible to understand this side of eternity, doesn’t change it. Doesn’t make it less true.
ANYHOW… I’m rambling now. This isn’t what I wanted to talk about.
The point is this: God did not contradict Himself or His commands as the man Jesus.
Anyone who would say that Jesus taught, or preached, tolerance has to come to grips with this. To believe that Jesus taught tolerance is to believe that God said one thing and did another. If you believe this, then you believe that God is, in essence, a liar.
What did God command in the ten commandments?
Exodus 20: 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
No other gods before me. No idols. I am a jealous God. Pretty clear right. One God. No exceptions. No Buddha. No Mohammad. No Baal. No Asherah. No Zeus. NO OTHER gods!
By the way, looking at “Jesus taught tolerance” through the lens of the first commandment is only one way to show that it’s wrong. FYI.
Jesus could not have later come and taught that God would tolerate other religions, or other Gods. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (emphasis mine). Catch that? Jesus taught exclusivity!
NO ONE comes to the Father except through me! NO ONE.
You cannot possibly believe what you’re saying if you’ve ever said these words, or anything like them: “I believe in Christ, but who am I to say what’s right for everyone else. I wouldn’t be so audacious as to tell other people what their supposed to believe.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY WHAT’S RIGHT FOR EVERYONE ELSE. JESUS ALREADY SAID IT. Do you believe HIM or not????? If you answer yes, then you ARE saying what’s right for everyone else. It’s Jesus or it’s nothing. It’s Jesus or it’s not seeing the Father! That’s it!
Jesus Christ – THE Jesus Christ – is the judge of the whole world. Everyone will see Him face to face. Every single person will bow down before Him and every single person will say, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the King of Kings! Forever!”. And every single person will be told by Jesus whether or not they will experience eternal life with the Lord or not. Jesus will tell every single person to enter into life and a place prepared for them in God’s Kingdom, or to enter into the eternal death and a place prepared for NOT THEM per se, but a place God specifically made for Satan and the rebellious angels.
God’s desire is not that anyone should go to that place prepared for Satan, a place of fire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. But God simply CANNOT tolerate anyone who CHOOSES to reject Him and CHOOSES to worship ANYTHING ELSE.
God is not a “tolerant” God, with regard to our acceptance of Him.
God is merciful. God’s faithfulness is unmeasurable. God is so incredibly gracious to forgive anyone and everyone who asks. God WANTS to forgive and glorify Himself through that mercy. Please understand that mercy and forgiveness are completely different than “tolerance”. It’s important.
Jesus did not preach tolerance.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
I'm so sad
Yesterday I saw something in the morning AND something separate in the evening that made me upset. Sad upset. Well, angry upset too I guess, but more sad.
In the Oklahoman newspaper, there is a report about a "sleuth" minister who goes to churches like a secret shopper goes to businesses. He visits the church and critiques it. He writes notes and reports and whatever, and the idea is to benefit the church by giving honest outside perspective. WHAT CRAP! The entire thing is based off corporate, consumer driven, marketing tactics. This guy can tell you if your church is doing well based on whether or not people see your church as friendly. Does your nursery have smells coming from it? Is your LANDSCAPING fresh and friendly?
Then, in the evening, I came across a flyer at the Cameron University seeking "Band Members" to "lead worship". The flyer makes it clear that this church, which, by the way, "isn't your grandma's church!!!!" want's people who know how to rock and like - and I'm not kidding here - smoke and lights!
The idea here is that the church need people who can put on a good show, in order to appeal to their target market (people who want to "rock").
We are so disgustingly full of ourselves, I feel ill.
Our "churches" seem to care very little about why we're gathering. WHO our worship is for.
"Come to our church. It's so cool / friendly / clean / landscaped / loud and rockin / ______ and on and on. Oh, and by the way, God, we're fine on our own but if you want to come too, that's cool with us. Just try to fit in though, OK?"
Yuck!
In the Oklahoman newspaper, there is a report about a "sleuth" minister who goes to churches like a secret shopper goes to businesses. He visits the church and critiques it. He writes notes and reports and whatever, and the idea is to benefit the church by giving honest outside perspective. WHAT CRAP! The entire thing is based off corporate, consumer driven, marketing tactics. This guy can tell you if your church is doing well based on whether or not people see your church as friendly. Does your nursery have smells coming from it? Is your LANDSCAPING fresh and friendly?
Then, in the evening, I came across a flyer at the Cameron University seeking "Band Members" to "lead worship". The flyer makes it clear that this church, which, by the way, "isn't your grandma's church!!!!" want's people who know how to rock and like - and I'm not kidding here - smoke and lights!
The idea here is that the church need people who can put on a good show, in order to appeal to their target market (people who want to "rock").
We are so disgustingly full of ourselves, I feel ill.
Our "churches" seem to care very little about why we're gathering. WHO our worship is for.
"Come to our church. It's so cool / friendly / clean / landscaped / loud and rockin / ______ and on and on. Oh, and by the way, God, we're fine on our own but if you want to come too, that's cool with us. Just try to fit in though, OK?"
Yuck!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tolerate this
Jesus Christ did not preach tolerance. He did not preach toleration.
Got it?!
He preached love. This is true. He did not preach tolerance.
Perhaps there is some story out there I'm not aware of, where Jesus saw the money changers selling and buying religion at the temple, that's different from the story I know.
Did Jesus see the church-turned-into-business and say, "Hhmm... well, I may not think it's right. It DOES violate God's law. BUT, we ought to show them we love them by tolerating their behavior. We don't want to offend them. Even though I think it's wrong doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong for them."
???
Just wondering.
Maybe I ought to be a better "Christian" and tolerate the crap people say Jesus taught, even though it's NOT IN THE BIBLE!!!
Got it?!
He preached love. This is true. He did not preach tolerance.
Perhaps there is some story out there I'm not aware of, where Jesus saw the money changers selling and buying religion at the temple, that's different from the story I know.
Did Jesus see the church-turned-into-business and say, "Hhmm... well, I may not think it's right. It DOES violate God's law. BUT, we ought to show them we love them by tolerating their behavior. We don't want to offend them. Even though I think it's wrong doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong for them."
???
Just wondering.
Maybe I ought to be a better "Christian" and tolerate the crap people say Jesus taught, even though it's NOT IN THE BIBLE!!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Couple of quotes
Does my faith cost me anything? Do I ACTUALLY know what it means to follow Christ, insomuch that I deny myself and take up my cross?
If I answer no, should that be a cause for concern? I think it might ought to be.
Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross.
When one knows that God will have the final victory, then suffering along the way is put into a larger perspective. Sharing Christ's suffering comes as a package with sharing Christ's resurrection glory. - these are both from "Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America."
Matthew 10:38 - anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 16: 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Yep, I think so.
If I answer no, should that be a cause for concern? I think it might ought to be.
Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross.
When one knows that God will have the final victory, then suffering along the way is put into a larger perspective. Sharing Christ's suffering comes as a package with sharing Christ's resurrection glory. - these are both from "Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America."
Matthew 10:38 - anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 16: 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Yep, I think so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
