Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2, NIV)
| More than 30 pro-life organizations are calling on senators to investigate Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's record with regards to partial-birth abortion while serving as a Clinton administration attorney. |
WASHINGTON—The Congressional Research Service (CRS) confirmed in a report released today that abortions can be funded under ObamaCare. Concerned Women for America (CWA) President Wendy Wright stated:
Government officials have threatened scores with arrest if they pray and counsel on a public sidewalk leading to Planned Parenthood in Washington, D.C. Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, was arrested June 8 for peacefully praying on the public sidewalk. Is this the future of free speech and the First Amendment under President Obama?
James Dive spent more than three months painstakingly researching the Biblical locations – including the crucifixion of Christ and Noah's Ark in the floods.Making waves: James Dive's image shows what the parting of the Red Sea would have looked like from space
There are people who have nothing to look forward to. Without hope, without expectations, without something to look forward to beyond today, you will just give up. Yes, the Return of Christ is the greatest hope there is, but if you have no hope for this life, then you will give up and settle.
Having hope in God is expecting God's goodness and care when you don't know specifically what to believe God for at the present moment. Have you ever been there before? We all have, many times.
When we don't know what to believe God for specifically, and don't understand what's going on, or can't just figure it out, we can choose to have hope in our God to bring us a solution. We can ask God for help to bring us something specific to believe. I think it's really simple.
When we believe God, we are believing a specific promise for a specific situation. That promise from God can either be written, spoken or revealed to us. We can then choose to accept it as true, believe it, and it will come to pass.
Having hope in God is when we do not know specifically what to believe. We don't understand what's going on. We just can't figure it out. But, we can choose to have hope in our God to bring us a solution; to bring us to a point where we do have something specific to believe. You can put your hope in God that He will bring a solution to you. Read the rest of this entry »
Like many people in these troubled times, a number of things in my life have changed. My wife Kathy and I had to make lots of adjustments. But there is one thing that we will never ever consider letting go of; it is our lifeline.
I know what it's like to be laid off. I was unemployed for almost 9 months. I know what it's like to work two jobs. I am now working two jobs and I am not earning as much as I did before I was laid off.
But, I have been through down times before; you probably have too. Life has an ebb and flow; there are lean times and then there are days of plenty. Just because you are experiencing a down time does not mean that God has left you or that He does not care.
My wife and I have been practicing a basic fundamental principle since 1976. Some refer to it as tithing; others call it giving, abundant giving or abundant sharing. The Apostle Paul called it "giving and receiving." I think what he said sums it up very nicely.
Now, some people may jump up and adamantly declare that tithing is Old Testament Law, and that it does not apply to Christians. I might remind those who feel that way that Abraham is the first person mentioned in the Bible who practiced the tithe. He was called the "father of all that believe," as well as "the friend of God." He lived long before the Old Testament Law was even given, let alone written.
The purpose of this article is really two-fold. If you practice the principle of giving and receiving, don't stop now, especially in the days that we are living in. And if you don't practice it, then you ought to really consider starting.
Copyright © 2010 Scott F Paradis
Imagine living in a magnificently beautiful setting, warm and comfortable surrounded by great bounty — life is good, you might say grand. Existence is always and forever in the bliss of now. No yearning for yesterday, no anxiety about tomorrow, no concern today. What is, is. For the ego however, everything is not even close to enough. The ego has an insatiable desire for more – more power, mastery, dominion. The ego seeks it all, for itself. The ego does not realize it is inseparable from others, inseparable from what is, inseparable from the divine. In the quest to have it all, the ego moves people from unity to defiance and then to domination.
Examining the story of creation in the book of Genesis we see that Adam and Eve's original sin was not so much in the act of disobedience as it was in the indulgence of ego. Adam and Eve considered and attempted to gain something they thought they did not have. They coveted a false idol – power. What they secured instead set mankind on a path to wrestle lifetime after lifetime with an ego intent on leading to ever more pain and suffering.
When Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, they realized they were naked; they were ashamed. For the first time they saw themselves as separate from each other, separate from creation, and separate from the Creator. In one fell swoop they moved from actor to judge. The ego seized the intellect, they realized they were naked and they determined their state to be bad.
I've heard an expression many times over the years: God is never late. On the other hand, perhaps, a good expression for us would be: we are never patient. So how can we figure out God's timetable?
First, let's admit that we really are impatient. We have become a product of our modern conveniences. We microwave "instant" foods that are ready to eat in mere seconds.
It irritates us if our two hour flight, that takes us hundreds of miles in less than two hours, is delayed by ten minutes. We expect our fully cooked "fast food" to be ready by the time we get to the pick up window.
These and many more examples that you can probably think of, show clearly that we have lost a lot of patience. And so many times when it comes to asking God for something, if it doesn't happen very quickly we get frustrated.
So, when you pray and petition God for something, how long are you supposed to wait? Is He going to answer? Could I please take a quick peek at His timetable on this one?
Too often people just think that God either doesn't hear their requests, or that He just doesn't want to answer them. Some often wonder if maybe they haven't been good enough for Him to respond in kind.
No one knows God's timetable. In fact, honestly, there is a lot we don't know about God. He says in the Bible, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." So, maybe we ought not to be so presumptuous to think we have God all figured out.
How dead is dead? Either a person is or isn'd. Death doesn't have shades or tones, it's either yes or no. On or off, black or white. Alive or dead, it's as simple as that.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. – Gal. 2:20
In this verse we find that just as Christ died on the cross, as was the will of His Father in heaven, Paul requires a crucifixion of himself, which is also the will of the Father in heaven. If it was necessary for Paul, it's necessary for you and me. Dead to self was a popular phrase in our church back in the 90′s, and its premise is that an individual is completely destitute of any self-motivated action. Based on the examples found in scripture, Christians clearly need to be dead to self. But are we?
There are 3 ways we as Christians need to be dead to self:
1. Dead enough – to not be Offended 2. Dead enough – to not be Afraid 3. Dead enough – to not be Busybodies
1. Dead enough – to not be Offended If people have to walk on eggshells around you, you've still got way too much kick left in you. If you find fault with every little thing that the preacher says, or get bothered at the sight of a brother, I got news for you: YOU'RE NOT DEAD ENOUGH.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. – Philippians 2:3
Attitude, Apostasy and Disillusionment
Christians whose motto is "Positive and Encouraging" will never express the content of 1 Corinthians 11:17 — or ever consider those aspects of the biblical message that disturb or offend anyone. They know that people want encouragement and do not want chastisement, so they pander to the former and ignore the latter. The problem with such "positive thinking" is that its criteria for evaluation is not the content of a particular thought or idea, but one's own feelings about it. It is based upon a purely subjective criteria and tends to eliminate any thought or idea with which one is uncomfortable. In short, positive thinking is not based upon objective reality, but upon one's own subjective desires and feelings.
In contrast, Paul tells the Corinthians that he will not praise them with regard to certain aspects of their coming together for worship. Inasmuch as they imitate Paul, he does praise them. However, in certain aspects of worship they have not imitated him but have indulged their own selfish concerns. Calvin hit the nail on the head when he said of this verse, "that they were not of one accord as becomes Christians, but every one was so much taken up with his own interests, that he was not prepared to accommodate himself to others."
Paul went on to say that they did not gather "for the better but for the worse" (1 Corinthians 11:17). The gathering together of selfishness magnifies selfishness, just as the gathering together of selflessness magnifies selflessness. In other words, their attitude — that complex union of beliefs, feelings and values that each of us bring to all that we do — was not in proper alignment with Christ. Something was wrong with their worship. An unchristian attitude was undermining their worship.