[Pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly
Even in the most well-known "Renaissance-man" passage of Scripture, which in context is no "Renaissance-man" passage at all - it's just been accepted as being so for the last however long (Phil. 4:13) - even then Paul goes right on to say: "It was kind of you [Philippians] to share my trouble" (Phil. 4:14).
If our own day's heroes of the faith are not above requesting prayer for their respective ministries, if not even the Apostle Paul was above requesting prayer for his ministry, how much more then do us lesser-servants of the gospel like myself need such prayer support for our ministries? (FYI: I'm not trying to have some back-door ("false") humility here when I say "lesser-servants." I'm just meaning those of us whose ministry is not a full-time vocation - and there are many of us out there)
"Pretend you are Muslim." Jay Sekulow has rallied the outcry against this assignment and collected over a hundred thousand signatures petitioning the Department of Education with the following: Public schools are a place for religious freedom, not indoctrination. Stop Islamic indoctrination in our schools and protect the religious liberty of students. Well, I could see how this assignment would be considered Islamic indoctrination. But what I'm wondering is, how is it any worse than the secular humanist indoctrination that takes place for virtually every other assignment in virtually every other class? We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins...the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.
But first I'm going to make a bold claim and ask you to keep reading.
Here is the claim: If you consider yourself a Christian and "Pro-Choice" in regard to abortion, then either (a) you do not know what the Scriptures teach regarding human life (including the life of the unborn), (b) you do not understand what abortion is, or (c) you are not really a Christian. Bold I know...but please, I urge you to keep reading. Refute the argument if necessary and able. But please keep reading at least to see the argument.
And there is certainly much to be appreciated about seeing solid teamwork being displayed right before your eyes. Everyone contributing their own unique gifts and abilities to oppose and conquer the opposition (these are similar reasons why I enjoy the Marvel Universe films). In reality, it gives a great picture of the church in that everyone in Christ contributes their own spiritual gifts (Eph. 4:15-16), and by so doing are opposing the gates of hell and eventually overcoming them (Mt. 16:18; cf. Eph. 3:20-21).
But times like this, for sports fans (just as times like the one coming soon for me when Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theatres) provides a good time and venue for a sobering reality check.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that Christ's resurrection is so powerful that He not only was Himself raised from the dead, but that He uses this same power to bring forth from the dead all whom He chooses, and that this same power is constantly at work within us who call upon Him as Lord.
If anyone has studied just a little on the subject of theonomy (the school of thought whose most controversial tenant is to follow consistently the Westminster Confession of faith and actually apply the teaching that the general equity of the judicial laws of Moses ought to be our standard and guide for civil government today - see Westminster Confession of Faith XIX.IV), then he or she would know that the the exegetical grounds of theonomy can be established from a various number of passages in Scripture - many in the New Testament (Rom. 3:31, 7:12; Gal. 5:14; 1 Tim. 1:8-11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 2:2; Jas. 1:25, 2:8-12).
But as for the movie Old Fashioned itself: What was the story? What did it teach? What did it glorify? In essence, is it worth watching?
And now comes the hard part of trying to review a wonderful movie without giving any spoilers. But try I will!
It's simply not about just loving your neighbor. When we see what the parable is really calling for we'll see that it's loving our neighbor in a very overwhelmingly inconvenient way. Then when we dig deeper into realizing who the characters are in the parable we realize that the neighbors whom we are to love are in fact our greatest enemies. After all that we ought to shutter in fear if we are really called to go and do likewise, especially given why we are called to do so.
But, oh the bliss, mercifully this fear drives us to our knees in turning to the Lord Jesus Christ who Himself can both save us from not being Good Samaritans and also empower us to be Good Samaritans to His glory. Care to revisit the parable with me?
This Thursday marks the 42nd anniversary of federally legalized abortion in the United States of America. Since then there have been over 57 million legalized murders of unborn children in this country.
Over 57 million! Can I please inconvenience you, even if just for a few minutes? He who sits in the heavens laughs... It's been a little over a year since I first launched this site. With this anniversary-of-sorts I'm pleased to have a long-desired facelift(1) to the homepage and facebook profile for this venue that makes up a part of my ministry to the body of Christ.
The main thrust of this ministry is to advocate or to teach to the body of Christ that God's Word is applicable in all areas of life, whether personal, social, political, or anything else. God has standards for every area of life. And He works through His children to accomplish those changes (Phil. 2:13). The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is Lord not just over the church (Eph. 1:22-23), but also society (Ps. 2) - and that He has concern not just for our salvation and prayer life but also for our life when it comes to interpersonal relationships, education, work, leisure time, entertainment, social obligations, political activity, and all the rest. To all of the world (the elect and the reprobate) He is the supreme ruler and the most sovereign potentate (Ps.2:1-12; Dan. 4:34-35), to whom everyone (whether believer or not) owes allegiance, submission, and glory (Ps. 66:1-4; Dan. 6:25-27, 7:13-14). To the redeemed community He is not only Savior from our sinful nature in all of these things (Rom. 3:21-26, 4:1-8, 5:1ff), but He is also Lord over our new nature in all of these things (Rom. 6:1, 6; Eph. 4:17-24). He is more than Lord in our spiritual lives, and He is more than Lord to only the redeemed community. To put it simply - He is Lord over all people, over all time, over all of life. I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
Herod the Great is a prime example of an unjust ruler. It wasn't that his power was being threatened that spurred his unjust decree to kill all children two years of age or under (Mt. 2:16). It was that he thought of it as "his" power at all. He was in a role appointed by God to act under God's authority carrying out God's vengeance upon evildoers (Rom. 13:3-4). Ignoring that, he carried out his own vengeance on innocent lives.
However, I have a many concerns regarding this book's true value in unifying the church with fresh and faithful insights into the Word of God.
While the Bible is certainly not a "textbook" on how to vote, I believe it has clear ethical standards that are worthy of our attention when going into the voting booth. Whether you're voting for a candidate or an issue there are always moral implications that go along with how you cast your ballot.
Of course one blog post won't suffice for all the different situations; but I think it's doable and relevant to lay down some practical considerations in the area of levies regarding property taxes. These generally appear on many local election ballots, and I believe the Bible has some clear principles and implications for this that are at least worth considering prior to next Tuesday...
In these writings we have a wealth of insight not only in seeing the Lord as our great example - the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2) - but also as seeing Him as our only Savior from our sin (Acts 4:12).(2)
With that in mind, I think it's helpful to study the Psalms to see how they relate to our gracious Lord and Savior. And what better place to start than Psalm 1? Consequently, in the high court of God our only escape from His just judgment for our sins is for us to place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who - though He was sinless - laid down His own life for His sheep, so that those who believe in Him will have life eternal (Jn. 10:11, 20:30-31).
But regarding the court of humanity, the lives of John Crawford III and Angela Williams, were innocent and not deserving of death. And I think it is important to remember this fact that two innocent lives were ended in this tragedy. The reason I regard this a tragedy is because they simply did not deserve to die. And yet one of them was shot and killed on sight, while the other, suffering from a heart condition aggravated by the events, died as a result of the shooting. It is in times like these where we cannot simply dismiss the events as a tragic loss and move on with our lives. Innocent people were killed. The whole community, along with the families of John and Angela, are, or should be, crying out, "Where is justice?" |
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