We are stewards of this world,servants not owners. We are here to manage not control.
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Free Will Is Not the Same As Freedom
In its recent decision to nationally legalize gay marriage the Supreme Court has said, “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. “Syllabus OBERGEFELL ET AL v HODGES, DIRECTOR, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL pp.4,5
What I see here is another example of our culture’s penchant for redefining terms. We have done it with words like love. It used to be said, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails- I Cor, 13, 4-8
But today, love is most often confused with lust… OR… in cases where we “love” somebody we wouldn’t think of sleeping with it gets easily mixed up with “co-dependence”.
When I was a kid growing up if I was tolerant of somebody that meant I put up with them even if they were idiots towards me. Today tolerance means I don’t just put up with people. It means I have to agree with what people do even if I think it is idiotic because “everyone’s truth is true for them.” Has anyone ever actually sat down and tried to figure out what the heck that actually means? It’s about as nonsensical as the poem Jabberwocky (which I have memorized so you would think I should get that statement but I just don’t).
Now, what we have done is redefined the word liberty. Liberty use to be defined as “freedom” – which is: the quality or state of being free: as
a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous – Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
That definition becomes more clear as you put all the pieces together. True freedom liberates you from things that bring you into bondage, addiction, destruction or onerous positions. It does not liberate you into bondage, addiction, destruction or onerous positions.
Freedom is not the right to choose whatever the heck you want. Choosing to do whatever you want is called free will and free will does not always lead us to freedom. In fact in our fallen state (which I realize whole bunches of people no longer even believe in but that is a whole other post on truth) most often our free will leads us directly away from freedom and into slavery which is first a spiritual condition and then ends as a physical condition.
Freedom requires an embracing of the truth:
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:7
“Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32″
Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1
This statement would seem to indicate that there is a freedom which can actually lead us away from freedom and into slavery.
It needs to be understood that true freedom is not about doing what we want but about having the ability to do what we ought.
I do recognize that in a country that no longer believes in Christ it is perfectly natural to lose a biblical understanding of words like liberty. What else could the Supreme Court do but redefine it? Without the Truth (Christ) true liberty is impossible; So changing the definition to something attainable like letting people choose what they want is a lot less painful than admitting that because they have no faith in the Truth, actual liberty is impossible to achieve.
Still and all, whatever the Supreme Court may decide Free Will is not the same as Freedom. Sadly many people feeling comforted by their decision will only learn that truth too late.
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Little Problems Pt. 2
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” 2 Cor. 4:17
I have been reblogging a lot of great thoughts from other writers these last few weeks, mostly because my own schedule continues to remain massive as far as ministry is concerned. Our pastor’s wife fell in the church fellowship hall a week or so ago and shattered her knee. She had surgery on Wednesday to put in a plate. Pastor has been staying with her and working from home for the last few days. So I am running the services at church tomorrow and planning the funerals for Monday and Tuesday (yep two more folks).
A few day ago I wrote a post entitled Little Problems.
This post is a continuation of those thoughts and I write it in light of all that has gone on in our church this last month.
Now perhaps our present problems aren’t quite as big as Paul the Apostle’s (or maybe they are). I guess it doesn’t really matter problems are well… problematic and by their very nature they cause us pain. Problems and pain…pain and problems…the two things are inextricable. They are two sides of the same coin. Whether it’s a broken toe or bankruptcy or someone’s taken a hit out on us problems are painful. But there is something else problems can be. They can be creators of glory.
Paul said just that very thing to the Corinthians in his second letter.
James the Lord’s brother said it this way, ” 2Count it all joy, my brothers,b when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Jas. 1:2-4
And Peter said this, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed’ 1 Peter 4:12
In the world as it stands in order to get glory released there must be affliction. Victory comes at the end of a battle. Miracles come to resolve unresolvable conflicts and resurrection only happens after death. It is the way it works in the fallen world. Even secular voices understand that.
“No pain, no gain.” Jane Fonda
“No guts no glory.” Cath Crowley
“Be still sad heart and cease repining;
Behind the clouds the sun is shining,
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life a little rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.” Longfellow
Here’s the thing, not every problem creates glory. Some problems just create pain. What becomes of all our little problems is determined by what we do with them. Do we wallow or do we worship? In the face of our difficulties do we blame others or do we become new and better in our own behavior? Do we groan or do we grow?
What eternal weight of glory is being released in your life today?
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Little Problems
Paul the apostle wrote, “ we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ” 2 Corinthians 4:16,17
Now I don’t know about you, but when I think of momentary light afflictions I think of things like having to wait too long in the line at the grocery store or forgetting my wallet at home and realizing it after I have pumped the gas into my tank at the gas station. These are problems easily solved and while irritating, in the grand scheme of things they don’t really change our lives for better or worse. But Paul defines the things he considers his momentary light afflictions a few chapters later in 2 Corinthians and let me just say the things I mentioned certainly don’t make his list. Here are Paul’s momentary light afflictions:
…far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?
30If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands. 2 Cor. 11:23-33
This list kind of makes most of our afflictions look like luxuries doesn’t it?
Let me ask as I finish up today, What do you think made Paul consider his list, of what I can only call tragedies, as momentary LIGHT afflictions?
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Truth and the Kingdom
Last Sunday our Lead Pastor, Barry Risto, preached a message entitled “What Is Truth” from John 18:36-38
“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The passage and the message got me thinking:
Men are always seeking kingdoms, power, authority or positions of strength. But Jesus taught that while He was a king, He had not come to rule but to “testify to the truth”.
With those words Jesus helps us to understand that the truth must always come before kingdom, power, authority or strength because truth is the foundation of any kingdom if it is to govern in actual power, authority or strength. In fact any time the truth falters a kingdom’s power, authority and strength are reduced incrementally. If truth falters long enough that same kingdom’s power, authority and strength will eventually come to nothing.
“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3
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Bigger Angels
I once heard Joyce Meyer preach a message in which she said that when you go to a bigger level you are going to face a bigger Devil. That is the truth. The enemy tends to oppose us in increasing strength as we grow closer to God. While I think there is some merit in recognizing this truth, so as not to be caught unawares; It is important to remember that this is only a part of the truth.
As we grow closer to God we may face greater attack or resistance from the Devil but we also receive more power from the presence of the Living God. if we are confronted by “bigger devils” then God will always be faithful to send us “bigger angels” to war on our behalf.
We have to remember that God and Satan are not coequal. However much power the Devil might have at His disposal, he is quickly outmatched by the power of God. In fact, comparing the devil’s power to God’s is like comparing a static electric shock to an atom bomb. And God’s power is dedicated to seeing us through every valley of shadow the Devil with his power creates.
However else it might sometimes feel, Christians never fight from a disadvantage. We always wage our warfare (which by the way looks different from any other warfare in the world) from the already-won victory of the cross and resurrection.
Bigger levels (growing closer to God) bring bigger devils, ’tis true. But the far more important info to cram into your head is that bigger levels also bring bigger angels.
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The Rapture Is Not Of the Devil!
I have been watching Hollywood’s growing penchant for the apocalypse with interest. First because I believe that the world is slated for apocalypse. Second because what Hollywood is disseminating about the biblical apocalypse is so inaccurate it goes beyond heresy (if there is such a thing). I know the writers of the apocalyptic shows currently crossing our airwaves would say that these offerings are just stories not meant in any way to depict a biblical theology; But the borrowing and redefining of Christian language is creating, at the very least, a pop theology based on misinformation that is actually polar opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Case in point the CW’s new show, “The Messengers” is about 7 people who are irradiated by a meteor and turned into “the seven angels of the apocalypse”. They are tasked with stopping Satan and holding back the apocalypse by stopping his four horsemen of the apocalypse from arising, thus cancelling “the rapture”.
The storyline is filled with so many inaccuracies it leaves me wondering if the writers were actually trying to create a line of misinformation about the Christian apocalypse. Please! Please! Please! If you actually watch the show understand there is no Christian anywhere on the face of the planet who actually thinks this is how the end of the world is going to go down!
First there are no angels of the apocalypse trying to stop Satan from ending the world. Satan cannot end the world. He doesn’t have that kind of power, and frankly he doesn’t want the world to end. He likes the way things are going. The apocalypse is not just about destroying the planet. The Tribulation (the Christian term for Apocalypse) is about God coming and setting things right in this fallen world by beginning the process of healing the darkness and evil that has overtaken our planet. It is God cutting out the cancer of sin.
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.a
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.b That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Pet. 3:3-11
Second, if there were angels of the apocalypse they would not be humans changed by radiation. Angels are not humans and humans are not angels. We are as different from angels as humans are different from elephants.
Third, the rapture is God’s plan not the Devil’s and therefore it cannot be stopped and should not be stopped. Christians throughout the centuries have looked for the rapture to come. It is understood as God’s escape plan from the Tribulation.
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thess. 4:13-18
Well my rant is almost done. I guess I believe that this surge of crazy Apocalyptic shows on the telly are really some entertaining form of propaganda geared to prepare the world at large for the very events the Bible predicts (such as the Rapture). I suppose if millions of people suddenly vanished off the Earth, shows like “The Messengers” would offer an explanation that could be readily adapted for public consumption however erroneous and even hokey those explanations might be.
I’ll end with the words of one of my Bible college professors. Reuben Hartwick said, ” When it comes down to a choice of choosing Hollywood’s version of things or the Bible’s version of things we must always choose THE BIBLE!”
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Enter Their Pain!
Here are some great quotes from our guest Missionary at Cornerstone yesterday…
“Jesus really is the Savior of the world”- M.G.
” Jesus has not called us to shrink back from the sin and pain of the world. He has called us to enter into it, to minister to it.”- M.G.
“We have to help people understand what it is they already long for.”- M.G.
“The deeper the pit the stronger the search for God.”- M.G.
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Caddo’s Seven Word Sunday 6-7-15
CHRIST’S COMING DRAWS CLOSER EVERY SINGLE DAY!
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Friday Fictioneers: Letters From Malta
photo by: C. Hase
It is time once again for Friday Fictioneers the flash fiction writing group led by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Click the word “Fictioneers” above and it will take you to her site. A quick click on the little blue froggy and you will be deluged in a sea of stories based on the photo prompt above.
Here is what I took from the picture.
Letters From Malta
by JE Lillie
What’s left of the ship still surfaces during low tide. I come to see it everyday, still amazed we all made it out alive. Paul said we would. God tells Him things and no one doubts that now.
When he got bitten by the snake after the shipwreck everyone was sure it was the gods’ judgment, but the man walks in the miracle. He didn’t even swell.
Now he’s been invited to the magistrate’s house. We hear there is dysentery there so of course off we go. Paul says “Every problem is just a miracle in disguise.”
This is a snapshot of Acts 28, Paul’s time in Malta.
