The Seal

169 Let my cry reach You, Lord;
give me understanding according to Your word.
170 Let my plea reach You;
rescue me according to Your promise.
171 My lips pour out praise,
for You teach me Your statutes.
172 My tongue sings about Your promise,
for all Your commandments are righteous.
173 May Your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, Lord,
and Your instruction is my delight.
175 Let me live, and I will praise You;
may Your judgments help me.
176 I wander like a lost sheep;
seek Your servant,
for I do not forget Your commands.

Source: The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Ps 119:168-176)

A Good Conscience

For my Sister - "Shi"
Happy Birthday
(I know how much you like David Jeremiah)

Acts 23:1
Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

On August 18, 1788, as he prepared to become the first President of the United States, George Washington wrote to Alexander Hamilton, saying, “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”
Character is to leadership what wood is to a tree—that inner “stuff” that provides its sturdiness and strength. Many a tree has blown down because it rotted on the inside. The notion that a person’s personal life has no bearing on his or her leadership is an unbiblical streak of postmodern thinking that ravages not only leaders, but their followers as well.
Each of us is a leader—of a group, a home, a project, a segment of God’s work. We need to maintain a clear conscience and be worthy of the calling we’ve received. “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men,” wrote Paul in Acts 14:16. That’s important not only for ourselves, but for those we’re influencing.

Source: Jeremiah, D. (2002). Sanctuary : Finding moments of refuge in the presence of God (Page 369). Nashville, TN: Integrity Publishers.

Love at Christmas - Emmanuel

My friend (well, I've never really met him, but I still consider him a friend and brother in Christ) Frank Turk has wrapped up his posts on Christmas. I found these posts to be very informative. If you haven't read them and would like to, see the
links below and give them a read:

1st Post
2nd Post
3rd Post
4th Post
5th Post
Final Post

I started to make a comment on his final post. Well, actually I did write one out. Here's what it said:

"Can you really end this series on this post? See, here's what I'm thinking. You've made us consider this pretty deeply. But all through this series I've been beating up on myself for NOT doing the things I ought to be doing. I struggle with this continually, actually. I know I should love God with all my heart, soul and mind. I know I ought to love my neighbor even as I love my self. It's commanded of me. But I don't do those things reliably. I struggled for a long time with even the concept of "expressing" love for this great God who seemed so abstract to me. So, when you say things like "the stupid little punk with a blog who cannot even love his family as he ought to" it gives me hope. I don't feel alone in struggling with these inadequate feelings of my own love for God and my fellow man. You also say "The kind of joy we can receive and we *ought* to receive in this season is the joy of God being with us". Here's the clincher for me. I fight this fight...and I fight it hard. I stir myself, I press forward, I train and run this race with the intention of taking the crown. But with all of that I find myself utterly lacking in exemplifying a love for God and a love for my fellow man that is acceptable. The gamut of my senses have been severely exercised over this topic and I still find myself endeavoring to "nail down" a cogent support for my success. Most of the time I feel the force of TEKEL; like I have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

Nonetheless, I've found the series encouraging. I just wish there was one more post. One completely dedicated to an explanation of "What it means to Love God: The means and instrumentation of accomplishment".

But see, here's my problem if I post that comment. Frank will say something like "Dude, did you miss the part where I said 'God is with us'? Does the name Emmanuel mean something -anything - to you?" And, of course, he would be right in asking. Has God indeed poured his love into us? Scripture says he has:
5 This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Ro 5:5).

Now, how did He accomplish that? (Hint: "Emmanuel")
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (1 Jn 4:9)

How do I show my love for God?
3 For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden, 4 because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (1 Jn 5:3-4)

Can you do this without His assistance?
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (1 Jn 4:7)

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to God’s love and Christ’s endurance.
The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (2 Th 3:5)

BUT, How can I be sure?
3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, captives of various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.
4 But when the goodness and love for man
appeared from God our Savior,
5 He saved us [Eternally by the way....not temporally] - not by works of righteousness that we had done,
but according to His mercy,
through the washing of regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
6 This ⌊Spirit⌋ He poured out on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that having been justified by His grace,
we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Tit 3:3-7)

So here's what I recommend to you the next time you begin to doubt your love "For" God. Go to his word and see how the things written there resemble what it is you are trying to achieve. Are you trying to do those things? Can you see maturity in your life concerning the things of God? Don't let doubt creep back into your life! Feed on His word. Memorize particular verses concerning things which you have developed a doubt over. God's word will never fail you.

See, here's the thing. You will never be able to accomplish a perfect love for God on this side of glory. You will face doubts. But Jesus Christ has accomplished everything we need. The Holy Spirit is applying those things we need to develop into a more mature Christian. You are being made holy. God himself has set you apart when he called you in eternity past. The Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to do His part of trinitarian redemption. The Holy Spirit will not fail in doing His part in trinitarian redemption. That should put a smile on your face and put the thought "I love you, God" in your mind....with true feeling!

Rick

A Society of Marthas

"It is a sad situation when people spend six days a week dealing with the troubles and distractions of daily life and when they get to church on Sunday they hear practical advice on the troubles and distractions of daily life and not God’s word! Much of the contemporary church has turned into a society of evangelical Marthas, wanting only help with this life and having little concern with everything God has spoken. Not unlike the liberals of past generations, many neglect key Biblical teachings such as: heaven and hell, atonement and redemption, sanctification and glorification or other important scriptural themes. In their place we get help in making our ride through this life to an unknown destination smooth and carefree."

Source: The Whole Counsel of God, Bob Dewaay

Justification by Faith

The Protestant doctrine of justification differs from the Roman Catholic, as defined (very circumspectly) by the Council of Trent, chiefly in two points. Justification is conceived as a declaratory and judicial act of God, in distinction from sanctification, which is a gradual growth; and faith is conceived as a fiducial act of the heart and will, in distinction from theoretical belief and blind submission to the church. The Reformers derived their idea from Paul, the Romanists appealed chiefly to James (2:17–26); but Paul suggests the solution of the apparent contradiction by his sentence, that "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love."
Faith, in the biblical and evangelical sense, is a vital force which engages all the powers of man and apprehends and appropriates the very life of Christ and all his benefits. It is the child of grace and the mother of good works. It is the pioneer of all great thoughts and deeds. By faith Abraham became the father of nations; by faith Moses became the liberator and legislator of Israel; by faith the Galilean fishermen became fishers of men; and by faith the noble army of martyrs endured tortures and triumphed in death; without faith in the risen Saviour the church could not have been founded. Faith is a saving power. It unites us to Christ. Whosoever believeth in Christ "hath eternal life." "We believe," said Peter at the Council of Jerusalem, "that we shall be saved through the grace of God," like the Gentiles who come to Christ by faith without the works and ceremonies of the law. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved," was Paul’s answer to the question of the jailor: "What must I do to be saved?"
Protestantism does by no means despise or neglect good works or favor antinomian license; it only subordinates them to faith, and measures their value by quality rather than quantity. They are not the condition, but the necessary evidence of justification; they are not the root, but the fruits of the tree. The same faith which justifies, does also sanctify. It is ever "working through love" (Gal. 5:6). Luther is often charged with indifference to good works, but very unjustly. His occasional unguarded utterances must be understood in connection with his whole teaching and character. "Faith" in his own forcible language which expresses his true view, "faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing and it is impossible that it should not do good without ceasing; it does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is put, it has done them already, and is always engaged in doing them; you may as well separate burning and shining from fire, as works from faith."

Source: Schaff, P., & Schaff, D. S. (1997). History of the Christian church.

Pain a Gift???? Are you Crazy?

Have you thanked God today for the gift of pain? Sounds like a crazy statement, doesn't it. Well, not when you think of it this way: Did you know that the main reason lepers suffer the loss of digits is the fact that they are insensitive to pain? Because of that they continue to do damage to them until they end up losing them.

Consider pain as a gift from God? Yes, just at it should be!

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Source: The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (Heb 5:14)

A Recent Interview with John MacArthur

"At a recent Bible conference, I spoke on the exclusivity of the gospel, and I set forth the distinctiveness of Christianity. And afterward some guys who were seminary students and philosophy majors came up to me and said, “What’s really interesting about your message is that you gave us a philosophy of thinking, a worldview. But we’ve never heard anyone give that kind of worldview without a very intricate philosophical defense.” And I said I didn’t need to give an intricate philosophical defense, because this is exactly what Scripture says, and there is no need to defend it. You just proclaim it. See these guys were struck by the fact that what they heard was an absolute authoritative statement of a worldview that takes on postmodernism, without having to fuddle around and make all kinds of philosophical and rational arguments, and without having to answer every objection that arises."

To read the entire article go HERE

A Book Recommendation

The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith
By: Alan Wolfe
Simon & Schuster Trade Sales / 2003 / Hardcover

Product Description:
God is not dead in America, but the way He lives and breathes has nothing in common with the old-time religion dramatized in Inherit the Wind. In this groundbreaking work, leading American religion has been transformed beyond recognition. God has met and struggled fiercely against American culture--and the culture has won. On the face of it, religion in American seems to be booming. Church attendance remains high and God talk is omnipresent. Yet after traveling across the country, visiting with clergy, joining in worship services, and digesting reports from every corner of the land, Wolfe discovered that the reality of religion as we actually practice it is utterly different from the stereotype. Gone is the language of sin and damnation. Forgotten are all the doctrinal differences that were once of burning importance. Worship and prayer serve the needs of the inner self. Witnessing is another lifestyle option. In short, American religion has been tamed, and God has become a friend rather than an authority figure. Even conservative religion has become part of the culture of narcissism. Evangelicals are more interested in planting and growing churches than they are in saving souls. People change denominations as frequently as they change jobs. Americans continue to take their religion seriously, but as a group we have thoroughly domesticated what was once a matter of spiritual life and death. We are witnessing the end of religion as our grandparents understood it--and the start of a new religion we are just beginning to know. This book offers nothing less than a roadmap to our new national faith.