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Real answers

Every four years we and our countrymen elect government officials to lead our nation, state, and local municipalities for the next 2-4 years (depending on the office). If I had to guess, I would suspect that most of you reading this are probably disappointed in the nature of our national campaigns and the mudslinging and personal attacks that characterize politics today. But in actuality, it is nothing new.

History tells us that our nation once elected a man who garnered 39% of the popular vote – the smallest percentage ever for a winning candidate. And if that wasn’t enough, when the same man ran for re-election four years later, he stuffed the ballot box in a critical swing state by exhorting his military leaders to give soldiers leave from their stations on election day. The result was that thousands of soldiers from various states all descended on the state of Indiana and voted – quite illegally – to re-elect the president, sweeping him to an electoral victory with this critical state.

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Free kittens?

As I was exiting the parking lot, trying to figure out which lanes of empty spaces I could dart across to reach the exit lane quickest, I noticed three girls standing near a pickup truck. One carried a cardboard sign: “Free Kittens.”

I chuckled to myself as I considered this misnomer. Let’s see,… free kittens require vaccinations (some repeatedly), spaying or neutering, regular grooming, housing, litter, food and water, to name just a few. Pretty soon it’s obvious: free kittens aren’t really free. Oh, I understand the sign was never meant to imply that raising a kitten would be free, but you get the point.

Paul wrote:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6.23

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Is it enough to be a “good person”?

There are a lot of good people in the world. A lot. Personally, I think the overwhelming majority of people are kind, humane, and tenderhearted. There are people who will do things for someone else – even a total stranger – people who will stop to help a stranded motorist, who will give a few bucks for a meal for a homeless person, and who will donate their time, money, and resources to help those who are less fortunate. Many will do much, much more. And this is a good thing. Jesus said, after all,

“For you always have the poor with you…” – Mark 14.7a

There is a lot of misery in the world – all of it the direct or indirect result of man’s failure – and it is not going to go away. So the world needs good people. And so many are doing this as a result of understanding that this is what Jesus did, and what he taught. As he said,

“The greatest among you shall be your servant.” – Matthew 23.11

Continue reading “Is it enough to be a “good person”?”

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The power of words

Words – often few – carry powerful messages. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 18.21…

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

But even a simple, cursory observation of the world – at any point in time – gives clear evidence that spoken words are a powerful tool. This divine gift – verbal communication – is perhaps man’s most distinguishing characteristic from the rest of creation – and can be a great blessing, or a great curse. God started early defining the parameters of the proper use of verbal communication. The second commandment in Exodus 20.7…

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

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How do we apply scripture: our attitude

In previous posts we have noted that applying scripture seeks to answer two very fundamental questions. When we read a passage, we are seeking to understand: Why does this matter? What do I do now? Let’s consider some thoughts about the subject of our attitude. James 4.1-10 reads:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Let’s break this down using the suggestions made previously. Continue reading “How do we apply scripture: our attitude”

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Receiving

In the hustle and bustle of life in the 21st century, it’s pretty easy – even for Christians – to forget how well God treats us, even when we don’t treat Him very well. Moses reminded Israel, as they were about to enter the promised land of Canaan:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. – Deuteronomy 8.7-10

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The church that Jesus built – Part 3

In Matthew 16.15-18 Jesus engaged his disciples in a discussion of his identity. But as his response to their confession that he was the Son of God, he turned the conversation to a Bible truth of fundamental importance – both then and now: “… on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (16.18)

In Part 1 we noted several metaphors from scripture that give us some sense of what this church really is. In Part 2 we noted how the church is discussed in the Bible in a universal sense – that is, all the people in the world who are or ever have been faithful disciples. In this Part 3 we will consider the other sense in which the church is described in the New Testament – the local church – that is, a congregation of individuals that meets in one location.

A local church or congregation is what Paul referred to when he wrote to the Romans that “all the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16.16) – several different local churches in various places. He also wrote to the Corinthians explaining that certain brothers were “messengers of the churches” (2 Corinthians 8.23). Paul also used the term “church” in this way when he wrote to the Galatians that he “was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.” (Galatians 1.22). Clearly Paul was referring to local churches of Christians in certain locations – not the entire body of all the saved people everywhere in the world. Continue reading “The church that Jesus built – Part 3”

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How do we apply scripture: the tongue

We have noted previously that applying scripture seeks to answer two very fundamental questions. When we read a passage, we are seeking to understand: Why does this matter? What do I do now?

Let’s consider some thoughts about the subject of the tongue. James writes:

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet hit boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. – James 3.2-12

Let’s break this down using the suggestions made previously. Continue reading “How do we apply scripture: the tongue”

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How do we apply scripture: growing faith

We noted in the first article on this subject that applying scripture seeks to answer two very fundamental questions. When we read a passage, we are seeking to understand: Why does this matter? What do I do now?

Let’s consider some thoughts about the subject of faith. James writes:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. – James 1.2-8

Now let’s break this down using the suggestions made previously. Continue reading “How do we apply scripture: growing faith”

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The church in God’s eternal purpose

The Bible tells us that Jesus came to the earth to establish His church. Matthew records an occasion when Jesus was questioning his disciples, and he asked them who people thought he (Jesus) was. After a couple of erroneous answers. Jesus asked the disciples:

And he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ – Matthew 16.15-18

Some people believe the church was established because Jesus failed in His mission to establish His kingdom. But the Bible says that the kingdom and the church are the same thing – and that Jesus established His kingdom on earth, exactly as God had planned. Jesus’ plan was to build His church – a church that belongs to him. And he built this church on the foundational fact that Peter confessed: Jesus the Christ is the Son of God!

Continue reading “The church in God’s eternal purpose”