[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)
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.
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.
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?
But the thing is, knowledge to Solomon is not something in and of itself. He defines "knowledge" as an understanding at which the very foundation is the fear of the Lord (Prv. 1:7). In other words, whereas the fool - the very fool who in his heart says "there is no God" (Ps. 14:1) - whereas he is one who literally "hates knowledge" (Prv. 1:22, true knowledge), the godly man (in God's sovereign mercy) understands that true knowledge can only be attained by beginning with the fear of the Lord (Prv. 1:7, 9:10).
True knowledge (and I say true knowledge because there is in Scripture something described as a knowledge falsely so-called - 1 Tim. 6:20): True knowledge does not merely conclude with the fear of the Lord, nor does it merely accept the fear of the Lord along the way. True knowledge begins - at its most basic point - begins with the fear of the Lord. And that certainly has implications for the Christian life and how we go about the business of "back to school."
Indeed, in that context, I have hardly any agreement.
But I do think giving ourselves sufficient attention (in a Biblical sense) is lacking at times - at least in my own life I can personally testify to that. But what does that mean? Could you really learn to love Jesus more by focusing on yourself? What is a Biblical reason to give more attention to myself - for all of us to give more attention to ourselves? Today's Google Doodle was in honor of Nelson Mandela. And as usual with Google, it was done incredibly well. But it's when things are so appealing to our visual enjoyment and emotions that we might do well to be even more attune to how to interpret it in light of God's Word. Now I need to be clear up front: this post is not intended to attack Nelson Mandela in the least.(1) It is, however, intended to provide an analysis of the message Google presents in honor of Mandela (at least in part from his own words) and how that message is at polar opposites with the message God provides in His Word. So if you examine with me the beautiful doodles of Google compared to God's Word, I hope you'll discover with me that as at many other times, there is an important clash of worldviews - that is - an important clash of understanding of truth, that is at stake here. So what is so opposite the Christian message in today's doodle? Let's take a look. After clicking on the arrow to the right of Nelson Mandela we're taken (in a Pixar-esque fashion) to the next doodle, which I believe is taken straight from Mandela's autobiography.
Even in my lay-level reading of the document it seems that a general survey of the Declaration of Independence will provide us with at least two things to consider during this time of year - and especially during this time of our own nation's history.
These two things will provide (what I believe to be) some thoughtful considerations of which to be mindful. So it's the 4th of July - Independence Day! What really was it from which we were declaring our independence? And by what authority were we doing so? Let's consider... Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers...
However, I do not believe that the judgment for teaching false doctrines is what James is himself concerned about in this passage.
To be fair, I’m sure there are many husbands out there who feel the same way about their wife (and praise God for that).
While the following will be a commentary on how thankful I am for my own wife and for all the things she’s done in the line of Proverbs 31, it’s also a sort of devotional commentary on the text of Proverbs 31 that I think others might benefit from as well - so feel free to keep reading even for that aspect. But in all honesty, the following is truly to let you know that whatever good you see in me, there is an amazing, wonderful wife whom God has provided to me as my helper in this world who is behind it all – to His glory. |
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