For more on Martin Luther and the Reformation click HERE
Monday, October 31, 2011
HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!!!
For more on Martin Luther and the Reformation click HERE
"Quote" of the Week
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
WHERE DOES HUMAN WISDOM LEAD US?
Scripture is clear
that when you hang your hat on human wisdom—when you elevate
it above everything else what naturally results is a rejection of Christ and
the cross. This should make sense to us shouldn’t
it? Think about the
characteristics of those who value human wisdom—they elevate self, they promote
human reasoning and self-effort and believe those things to be what truly makes
the world a better place.
Well the message of
the Gospel tells us the exact opposite. It
teaches us that our thoughts and our actions are corrupt. In fact, Scripture teaches that human wisdom
is the reason why our world is a mess to begin with. Didn’t Adam and Eve prove this to be the case
in the very beginning?
Even though God
told them that if they ate of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden
they would surely die, they chose to listen to Satan and trust in themselves
rather than believe and trust in God. As
a result of that act, sin came into the picture and ruined and wrecked God’s perfect
world. Though they thought this decision
they made apart from God was going to make their life better as if it wasn’t
perfect already, what happened as a result of them trusting in themselves is
that their lives got much worse.
Scripture is clear that though good has come from human wisdom, it falls short in the most crucial of ways. For example, though we have made all these advancements in the field of medicine,
there really hasn’t been any real progress in explaining what life is all about. Though we have made
great strides in our legal systems--in our theories on the way the law is to be
applied, we cannot explain why people continue to hate, exploit, abuse and
kill one another at an increasing and alarming rate.
Though we have some
of the most advanced forms of communication in the world, we are really not any
better at communicating with one another, which is the reason why we have
families at odds with one another and why
divorce rates are through the roof.
Truth is when answering the most fundamental and foundational
questions of life. Questions like, “Does God exist and if so what is he like? Who are we, why are we here and what’s
wrong with the world?”
The good news is that where human wisdom has fallen short, God has come through for us. He has provided answers
to those questions in His word. The Scriptures
tells us who He is and what He has done for us--that we are special
because we are created in His image and that sin is what is wrong with the
world. His Word also tells us that He
has created us to live in relationship with Him and how that relationship can
be restored through the person and work of Christ.
"Quote" of the Week
"Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him." -Proverbs 26:12
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
THE RIGHT KIND OF STAND TO MAKE
Though we don’t know much more than
this about Chloe and her people from the Scriptures, their mention here is
significant. They are the ones who
appealed to Paul to let him know about the disunity within the church at
Corinth.
When they were made aware of the
issues within this church they went to the right person for the right reason. They had a desire to see the church in
Corinth unified and prove it here by taking the matter to Paul so that he can
come alongside them in an attempt to bring unity to the church. They like Paul rightly saw disunity for what
it truly was—a threat to the church—something that can tear the church apart.
Believers, when there is disunity
in the church we need to recognize it for what it truly is—a poison—something
that is toxic—something that can divide and destroy God’s church. When you see the church being divided over an
issue let me ask you, “Will you like Chloe and her people take a stand and be
bold for sake of unity?” Will you be
willing to say, when issues threaten to divide the church, “I am going to make
the matter known to the right people for the right reason?”
"Quote" of the Week
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Have you ever noticed how easy it is
for believers to let their “so-called” sense of calling be determined solely by
their circumstances? I have known of
people to say, “I feel as if God is calling me and my family to serve in this
way” and then at the first sign of trouble they say, “You know I think God is
calling me elsewhere.” Pastors
are the worlds worst at this. I once met
a guy who had been in the ministry for six years and had served at four
different churches.
Is this the response we see in Scripture? Though I believe that God equips us for what He calls us to do, is what He calls us to do always easy? No. Just look at the events in David’s life. David was a man after God’s own heart—He was greatly loved and favored by God. Did he have an easy rise to be king? No. Was it God’s will that he became King? Yes. But for fourteen years King Saul and his men hounded David and sought to kill him. Though David had been anointed by Samuel, he was uncrowned and literally on the run for his life and had to hide in caves for fourteen years.
What about the Apostle Paul in the New Testament? Was Paul being disobedient when he ends up in prison or when he is beaten and left for dead? No. He was following God—He was going where God called Him to go and doing the work God had called him to do. Yet listen to what he says about himself in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.
With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Boy this passage really takes the air out of the sails of the health and wealth crowd. Though Paul was being obedient, he had been put through the ringer. Yet he knew he was right where God wanted him to be doing what God had called him to do.
Believers, at times God calls us to do things that
are hard, but though that’s the case we have to be careful not to let our circumstances
be the deciding factor when it comes to discerning God’s calling. God has called you to be a part of His
ministry and to serve Him in His church and in His world. Let me encourage you this morning to let that
sense of God’s calling in your life be the anchor that keeps you going and serving especially when times
are tough.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
READING THE BIBLE WITH THE CHURCH IN MIND
One
of the big problems that happens with Bible reading and Bible study today is
that people, if they read it, only read it for themselves. They say, “How does this relate to me and
only me?” Though
the Bible is supposed to relate to us as individuals, the bigger question we
need to ask when reading God’s word is, “How do the Scriptures relate to me
within the context of the local church?”
It’s very important that this be our perspective because so much of the Bible is written to God’s people and is meant to be read and shared collectively. So as we study Scriptures instead of asking, “How does this relate to me and only me,” ask, “How does this relate to me within the context of the local church?”
It’s very important that this be our perspective because so much of the Bible is written to God’s people and is meant to be read and shared collectively. So as we study Scriptures instead of asking, “How does this relate to me and only me,” ask, “How does this relate to me within the context of the local church?”
"Quote" of the Week
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