Psalms 95:1 - 7, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand."
An outward look at creation makes me thankful. Who can gaze upon the wonders of this earth and not acknowledge God? When I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, I am thankful. Sitting in the Rocky Mountains in Winter or Summer beholding the immense beauty, I am thankful. Seeing the thousands of stars littering the sky from the bush of Mozambique on a clear night, I am thankful. With my toes in the sand on any beach in the world, I am thankful. Looking with wonder and amazement at the balancing rocks or the great Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, I am thankful to the God of Creation.
An outward look at the world makes be thankful to be a Christ follower. If the 6.5 billion people of earth were reduced to a village of 100 people, 60 would come from Asia, 14 from Africa, 11 from Europe, 8 from North America, 6 from South America and 1 from Australia and Oceania. 34 world be Christians, 18 Muslims, 16 non-religious/athiests, 15 Hindus, 5 Buddhists and 12 others. The majority of the starving and illiterate people in that village would come from the countries with the least amount of Christians. Most of the wealth would belong to those from the predominately Christian nations. I am thankful to be a Christ follower, because He takes care of His followers much better than the other "gods."
An outward look at salvation causes me to be thankful. I realize that I cannot save myself. My sins have separated me from God. I have been given the gift of eternal life through my belief in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. God loved me, before I loved Him.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Stan
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Word of Faith
Romans 10:6 - 8 (NASB) 6But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching...
Faith speaks. Unspoken faith is incomplete, and will not produce desired results. Faith believes God and parrots what God has said. Faith will not speak what is contrary to God's Word. So we read the instruction, "Do not say..."
"Who will ascend into heaven?" Many try to get prayers answered by becoming spiritual enough. Many believe that God only hears the super-saints, like Billy Graham or their beloved and gentle Grandma. This is based on a mentality of works righteousness. This begs the question, "How spiritual must I be to get a response from God." Our righteousness is based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. He became a curse, so we could become righteous. According to James 5:16, the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective.
"Who will descend into the abyss?" Others try to move God through brokenness and suffering. Debasement of self does not gain access to the throne of God. Our access in gained for us through the finished work of Christ We therefore can boldly approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:14-16). Jesus Christ suffered for us, so we can be righteous.
"What does it (faith) say?" 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching..." Your answer is near you—in your mouth and in your heart. You do not have to climb up to heaven or lower yourself into hell to find your answer. Your answer will come through the word of faith that we preach (speak). Jesus said, "You will have whatever you say," in Mark 11:23.
Faith is conceived in the heart and given life through words spoken (mouth). Confession is not just a religious exercise. Confession here speaks of our daily conversation. Your faith will never go farther than your confession. You will never possess more than your confession. Jesus Christ is the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1).
Let's learn to say what God has said, and not say anything contrary to His Word.
Faith speaks. Unspoken faith is incomplete, and will not produce desired results. Faith believes God and parrots what God has said. Faith will not speak what is contrary to God's Word. So we read the instruction, "Do not say..."
"Who will ascend into heaven?" Many try to get prayers answered by becoming spiritual enough. Many believe that God only hears the super-saints, like Billy Graham or their beloved and gentle Grandma. This is based on a mentality of works righteousness. This begs the question, "How spiritual must I be to get a response from God." Our righteousness is based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. He became a curse, so we could become righteous. According to James 5:16, the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective.
"Who will descend into the abyss?" Others try to move God through brokenness and suffering. Debasement of self does not gain access to the throne of God. Our access in gained for us through the finished work of Christ We therefore can boldly approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:14-16). Jesus Christ suffered for us, so we can be righteous.
"What does it (faith) say?" 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching..." Your answer is near you—in your mouth and in your heart. You do not have to climb up to heaven or lower yourself into hell to find your answer. Your answer will come through the word of faith that we preach (speak). Jesus said, "You will have whatever you say," in Mark 11:23.
Faith is conceived in the heart and given life through words spoken (mouth). Confession is not just a religious exercise. Confession here speaks of our daily conversation. Your faith will never go farther than your confession. You will never possess more than your confession. Jesus Christ is the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1).
Let's learn to say what God has said, and not say anything contrary to His Word.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Complain Easy, Solution Harder
I came across these thoughts on churchinverted.com from Saturday, October 27, 2007 titled, The Dead Horse, "There are still blogs out there that primarily devote their energies to deconstructing American churches. These missed the boat long ago as everyone else has since moved onto solutions. There is always still room for identifying issues, but still dwelling primarily on these is now beating a horse that was dead long ago. Its past time to begin focusing our collective energies on not thinking church is inverted from what it should be, and instead focusing on what will flip it. For example: you say that service is irrelevant, but what does church have that is MORE relevant? Let's find those areas and exploit our strengths."
I agree. It is past time to criticism the church. It is time to do something about it. Complainining is easy, finding solutions is harder. You and I can't abandon church, it is God's answer to the "gates of hell."
I'll offer one solution today. Church is bad when it is something one attends. Church is awesome when it becomes something one does. I often tell my children, if you have the opportunity to watch something or to do something, do something. Church is something we do. If you want to fix your church, do something. Help someone. Teach someone. Serve, invite, and give. You don't even need special permission or a specific call. Jesus already said, "Go." On what further instruction are you waiting?"
The harvest is still great, and the laborers few. What you can do, you must. To see a need that I can fill, while doing nothing is sin. I can't fix the whole entire church world, but I can repent and get myself on the right track. Let's stop complaining, and get busy doing something.
Peace,
Stan
I agree. It is past time to criticism the church. It is time to do something about it. Complainining is easy, finding solutions is harder. You and I can't abandon church, it is God's answer to the "gates of hell."
I'll offer one solution today. Church is bad when it is something one attends. Church is awesome when it becomes something one does. I often tell my children, if you have the opportunity to watch something or to do something, do something. Church is something we do. If you want to fix your church, do something. Help someone. Teach someone. Serve, invite, and give. You don't even need special permission or a specific call. Jesus already said, "Go." On what further instruction are you waiting?"
The harvest is still great, and the laborers few. What you can do, you must. To see a need that I can fill, while doing nothing is sin. I can't fix the whole entire church world, but I can repent and get myself on the right track. Let's stop complaining, and get busy doing something.
Peace,
Stan
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