tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629Mon, 07 Oct 2024 05:20:34 +0000Coaching.Christian TeachingPublic PolicyFuzzy ThinkingGovernmentMediaMotivationState of the WorldWork Lifehttp://withoutvision.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (pg)Blogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-2242981753361216648Mon, 04 Sep 2017 10:45:00 +00002017-09-04T07:23:03.755-04:00It is a right and proper claim that Jesus came to seek and save the lost and to give His life a as ransom for many.  (Luke 19:10;Matt 20:28).  Salvation is mentioned over 165 times in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.  This is a major theme for us in scripture.  We all want to be saved.  Salvation is core to our belief in Jesus.  He gave His life for ours so http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2017/09/it-is-right-and-proper-claim-that-jesus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8233869858101179681Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:35:00 +00002017-07-25T11:35:45.723-04:00Christians more than any people should have a pretty solid understanding of human nature. When we come to Christ we first admit and confess that we are sinners, slaves to sin, unable save ourselves or even fix ourselves. Scripture teaches us clearly who we are as humans. "for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2017/07/who-can-we-trust.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8333987869644781873Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:11:00 +00002017-07-25T11:11:45.266-04:00 I admit that I have authority issues. My character is such that I question the "why" of everything and choose what I want to obey. However, I do obey those in authority not for fear of consequences from those authorities but voluntarily as obedience to God. The Scriptures found in the Bible are the Word of God and therefore the final authority over creation. "Every person is to be http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2017/07/i-admit-that-i-have-authority-issues.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-7690818954286473985Mon, 04 Jul 2016 15:14:00 +00002016-07-04T11:30:38.317-04:00 "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." - Lincoln's Gettysburg address, Introduction "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2016/07/four-score-andseven-years-ago-our.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-6188537347757843277Thu, 25 Feb 2016 09:52:00 +00002016-02-25T04:58:32.971-05:00 "Hulk is the alter ego of Bruce Banner, a socially withdrawn and emotionally reserved physicist who physically transforms into the Hulk under emotional stress and other specific circumstances at will or against it; these involuntary transformations lead to many complications in Banner's life. When transformed, the Hulk often acts as a disassociated personality separate from Banner. Over http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-green-monster.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-3022708612489570682Wed, 27 Jan 2016 15:06:00 +00002016-01-27T10:06:19.138-05:00"Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." John 2:24-25 Humans have a difficult time understanding how to love as God http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2016/01/we-are-not-lovable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-2621700147732799504Mon, 06 Jul 2015 10:22:00 +00002015-07-06T06:22:47.708-04:00 "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on his continent a new nation, conceived in liberty…."  -Lincoln, Gettysburg address, Nov 19, 1863 If he had spoken these words today, they would say 11 score and 18 years.  A score of years is 20. In America, we tend to feel that liberty is our own unique value that suddenly came on the historical scene with our http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-holy-nation-conceived-in-liberty.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8451266134679450849Sat, 14 Mar 2015 12:22:00 +00002015-03-14T08:51:44.917-04:00In your personal Bible reading have you ever done this?  Take a small section of verses and paraphrased the meaning to yourself and amplified with your own words? This can be especially helpful for verses you have read many times before and have a tendency to blow through quickly. The Lord, the creator of heaven and earth, and galaxies, stars, and trees and oceans, and every living thing, http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2015/03/psalm-23-amplified-and-paraphrased.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-4494678139556588115Sun, 28 Dec 2014 20:47:00 +00002014-12-28T15:52:48.991-05:00 Calendars About 24 years ago I lost the job I had in California.  It was a good job that paid well but I had accumulated some debt and an expensive car lease.  Some may recall that 1990-91 was a period of a recession in the economy and good paying jobs were not easy to locate.   Around that time some cousins came to visit from Massachusetts and encouraged me to move backhttp://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-normal-christian-life-fasting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8764667744017745787Wed, 30 Apr 2014 13:31:00 +00002014-04-30T09:31:36.812-04:00 In John 3:16 Jesus tells us that whoever believes in Him would inherit eternal life.  We have other words from Jesus that indicate that He means something more about believing than we do.   When reading the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), we often forget why Jesus told that story.  He was answering the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". Luke http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-normal-christian-life-faith-part-ii.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8967798174951205321Sat, 19 Apr 2014 14:38:00 +00002014-04-19T11:09:41.260-04:00 Everyone lives by faith. How do you know that the Earth is round?  Have you ventured up to the space station and observed it first hand?  Really, how many of us can say that?  Not many of course.  We trust those who took pictures and those who claim to have done this and even measured it.  We trust our teachers. We trust the media who publish the reports of others. &http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-normal-christian-life-faith.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-581409650885411685Thu, 10 Apr 2014 13:14:00 +00002014-04-10T09:14:21.926-04:00 As Christians we try to influence our society for the Kingdom of God much like yeast or leaven influences a batch of dough hopefully becoming bread. In doing so we are often in a struggle about whether we Christians are influencing society or if society is actually influencing us. Recently I heard a Christian woman justify her affair with the phrase, "You don't know the whole story". Even http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-worlds-influence-among-christians.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-7188522934151527391Mon, 07 Apr 2014 10:06:00 +00002014-04-07T06:07:56.176-04:00 I read an article recently about the difficulty getting people to read the Bible. Some said that it was a bit intimidating since it appears longer than 'War and Peace' and it feels like you need a key to understanding how the parts fit with the whole.  So I worked out this diagram of the whole Bible that most of us could use to share to answer the question "What is the bible http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-read-article-recently-about.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-7091934339017354963Wed, 15 Jan 2014 15:58:00 +00002014-01-15T14:28:24.693-05:00 How are we any different than the world when it comes to death and dying?   So many followers of Jesus still value this life over the eternal, immortal life offered by God in Christ. "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/01/living-with-hope.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-3754157907196195586Sun, 12 Jan 2014 12:47:00 +00002014-01-12T07:47:28.112-05:00 'Imagine being in Sudan.  You walk into a Thatched hut with a small group of Sudanese church leaders, and you sit down to teach them God's Wrod. As soon as you start, you lose eye contact with all of them. No one is looking at you, and you hardly see their eyes the rest of the time.   The reason is because they're  writing down every word you say.  They come up to you http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/01/receiving-or-reproducing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-2116815678340100961Thu, 09 Jan 2014 09:23:00 +00002014-01-09T04:23:21.781-05:00 When reading the story of the good Samaritan, we often forget why Jesus told that story.  He was answering the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". Luke 10:25-29  One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking Him this question: "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-enemy-of-eternal-life_9.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-7871560732115484520Tue, 31 Dec 2013 12:54:00 +00002013-12-31T07:54:46.910-05:00 As the new year begins it is often a time to re-evaluate where we have been and where we are going.  For those of us, followers of Jesus, we may need to renew our vows to Him to give Him our lives.  We know that God loved us long before we said “Yes” to Jesus as our Lord. Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ diedhttp://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2013/12/new-year-do-what-jesus-did.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-6715912439849709444Sun, 29 Dec 2013 12:58:00 +00002013-12-29T07:58:53.284-05:00 There was a time when I dreaded the calendar.  I hated it.  Each day that ticked over meant another deadline…a deadline to pay a bill, to deliver a project, to update the registration on my car, file my taxes, etc.  I often did not have the money for everything either making those kind of deadlines the worst.  Now I have learned to appreciate the calendar.   It http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2013/12/follow-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-1550670725086172401Mon, 04 Nov 2013 15:24:00 +00002013-11-04T10:24:55.841-05:00 When we come to faith in Christ, we confess that we are sinners in need of a savior.  We accept His free gift of grace and mercy and we "Repent".  We turn away from our old lives and turn toward Him who saved us.   For many that is the last time they confess and repent as though somehow they have stopped sinning completely and become so much like Christ that Repentance is not http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-normal-christian-life-confession.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-6677090556179127300Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:32:00 +00002013-10-28T09:06:11.847-04:00 In the old testament there are many teachings about putting God first in their lives.  God had saved them many times from oppression by foreign armies in some very spectacular ways.  And yet, the people always returned to their old selfish ways.  One of the last times God raised up the Babylonian King to come and deport the last of the Jewish people to Babylon as slaves.  http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-does-life-look-like.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-8266376142360742036Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:17:00 +00002013-10-28T08:17:06.539-04:00The church is the body of Christ including each local church that calls Jesus "Lord". Each church can be a conduit for the fire of the Holy Spirit that lights each of us.  Do you need renewal? Are you missing the fresh feeling that you had with Jesus? Why not bring your stick to a gathering of Jesus' followers today and renew your fire.  If you don't have a gathering of Christians http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2013/10/bring-your-stick-to-fire.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-5933762146131082260Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:07:00 +00002012-11-18T11:09:27.413-05:00  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  (Proverbs 9:10) God created us with fear as defensive tool.  Just like He created love in us that the enemy distorted into all kinds of self serving behaviors, he gave us fear as a positive to protect us but too often the enemy has again twisted that positive fear into a http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2012/11/fear-is-good.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-2371763803534736382Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:23:00 +00002012-11-18T11:11:40.751-05:00 The famous Serenity Prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. So many people find life complicated and challenging every day. So much so that they stop with the first line of this prayer assuming that there is little that they can change.  This is a great hiding place.  Some http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-wisdom-to-know-difference_11.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-6281709648381390853Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:29:00 +00002010-03-06T03:32:12.264-05:00Are you annoyed by other cars that play their music too loud while you are stopped at a signal?  Are you annoyed by people who stop suddenly in front of you while you are walking?  Are you annoyed by people who agree to meet you at a certain time but regularly show up late?  Are you annoyed by loud, rowdy children in public places?  Are you annoyed by someone snoring in the http://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2010/03/footprints.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426224917278407629.post-7960346125793433226Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:37:00 +00002010-01-08T08:37:31.129-05:00Have you ever been listening to someone tell a story and it seems to take forever to get to the point if they ever do?  Have you ever been telling a story that you weren’t finished with when someone interrupts or their eyes glaze over or in some way they are no longer listening? There are many ways to tell a story but the two most common ways are  1) a novel where the characters arehttp://withoutvision.blogspot.com/2010/01/helping-others-listen-to-your-stories.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pg)0