Examine Yourselves

Forgiveness, Must I forgive someone who is not rependant?

2012-02-22T23:53:00.000-08:00

If I were to sin against you, are you under obligation to forgive me even if I refuse to acknowledge and turn from what I have done against you? This is a not nearly as complicated as most of us make it. I have heard to many times to recall from someone who has betrayed their spouse, stabbed their co-worker in the back, or taken something from another person that the one who has been injured just needs to forgive them and get on with their life. It is a coldly callous and self serving attitude along with a distorted Christian viewpoint. Frequently I wonder just why the individual supposes that God has forgiven them of their sins, when the Bible clearly says otherwise.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray ‘Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’ Matthew 6:12. Does that mean that we have to forgive someone even when they refuse reconciliation, someone who refuses to repent? That question is far more important than most of us realize, it is a hard question, one that cuts to the heart of our faith, the individual who seeks to forgive, and to the individual who needs the forgiveness.

First, we must acknowledge that the debts we owe one another pale in comparison to the infinite debt we owe God, our heavenly father. It is because we have been forgiven an infinite debt, that it would be an horrendous act of evil to remotely consider withholding forgiveness from those who (and this is important) seek it. Thus we must always be willing to manifest the kind of love that is willing to forgive those who wrong us.

Furthermore, forgiveness is by simple definition a two-way street, one that leads to the restoration of fellowship. By that I mean, that it requires someone who is willing to forgive, and someone who wants to be forgiven. If you are to forgive me for the sins I have committed against you, I must be willing to turn from those sins, I must be willing to seek to restore that which I took from you; I must be repentant; otherwise, there can be no restoration of fellowship (i.e. forgiveness). Nowhere in the Bible does God offer forgiveness without repentance on the part of the individual who has sinned.

Finally, we must never suppose that our standard of forgiveness is higher than God’s standard. He objectively (something that actually exists) offers us forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with Him. However His forgiveness is not subjectively realized (it does not belong to you), until you repent.

For those who need to forgive and for those who need forgiveness these two verses might well be worth taking to heart.

“Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:37-38

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you; leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

2012-02-19T02:02:00.000-08:00

As I have said before, If your faith can not save you from your own self-centeredness, your own selfishness, then it will not save you from Hell. Is it possible for you to say this prayer and mean every single word? If you want to get over yourself, this is a good place to begin.

Lord,

Make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen

St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

Adultery American Style

2012-02-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day is over and with it comes the end of the “American Divorce Season”; that is not to say that the continued onslaught by Christians against their marriages will not continue; it will just slow slightly. But just a word to those who can hear.

If you are a Christian you would probably agree with this statement ‘Continuing in sin does not cause it to cease being sin’. A person who steals from his neighbors continues to sin, a person who slanders his co-workers continues to sin. If a practicing homosexual comes to Christ it is expected that they repent of their sin and refrain from further homosexual acts. If an unwed person in a fornicating or adulterous relationship comes to Christ it is expected that they repent of their sin and refrain from further sexually immoral acts. If a person continues in this sin his conversion is suspect since the fruit that is borne does not match the verbal profession. If a professing Christian enters into adulterous relations they should be disciplined by the local fellowship for sexual sin and treated as an unbeliever until they repent (Matt. 18:15-18; I Cor. 5:11-13). One cannot have sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife and then claim that since he committed adultery with her once he is now free to continue sexual relations with her.

Now here is where it gets difficult for the American Christian and the American church…. The Bible teaches that when a person enters into a marriage with a divorced person they enter into an illegitimate sexual relationship with another person’s spouse. That is why it is called adultery. Since this relationship is adulterous at its inception the only logical conclusion is that it remains adulterous through its entirety.

Jesus did not say that they commit adultery only during the first sexual act and then it stops. Paul uses the future tense when he states that the remarried woman “will be called an adulterous” (Romans 7:2). This is contrasted with his statement “And such were some of you” (I Cor. 6:11). Paul uses the imperfect tense to show that they were forgiven of the sins listed in verses 9 and 10. He warns them against further practicing theses sins because those who do “will not inherit the kingdom of God

Most believe that they have not sinned by remarrying after divorce. However The New Testament states seven times in six passages that remarriage after divorce is adultery. The Bible does leave some room for grace for the individual who is rejected and divorced by their spouse, by transferring the guilt of their adultery to the one who committed the divorce, “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery”. Matthew 5:31-32. But it is still adultery.

However there is absolutely no indication of any grace given to the one who commits adultery, who decides they are not in love anymore, or just wants to abandon their spouse for any other reason. In fact it clearly states time after time that there is no room in Heaven for those guilty of unrepented adultery. Just because some do not believe these actions are sinful does not make it so. All it makes them is a hypocrite, they excuse their own sexual immorality while condemning others.

I use to believe that most if given the opportunity would choose love, honor, faith, loyalty, and forgiveness; however I have come to realize that when Jesus revealed that the path to Heaven was narrow, that in fact what he was revealing is that most blindly and bitterly choose Hell.

Previous Post on Christian Divorce

The Wrong People, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Thing

2012-02-12T02:03:00.000-08:00

“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4

I have seen so many rational people who know better do the most insane things imaginable under the power of sin, thinking that they can handle it; of course they never do. When you hang out with the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time, then it is only a matter of time until you do the wrong thing. Consider Peter and Judas.

Peter, after Jesus has been betrayed, followed at a distance; he was trying to blend into the woodwork. Hours earlier he had declared that He would never deny Christ, yet we find in Matthew 26:58 that he had been following Jesus at a distance and became cold, so he was attracted to the warmth of the enemy's fire. At this point, Peter was worn down, defeated, weak, and vulnerable. Why was he even in the high priest's courtyard? "he went in and sat with the servants to see the end." Peter had forgotten all that Jesus had said about His resurrection from the dead. Now he was just waiting for the end—the end of Jesus' life . . . the end of his dream . . . the end of everything he held dear. But it was not the end. It would be a new beginning.

Judas has made the decision to betray Christ, and in John 18 the betrayal is carried out, it must have looked something like this. A small army was marching toward Jesus. Swords and spears and shields and torches moved toward Him in the dark as a mass of people came to arrest Him. They were in a frenzy, spurred on by their mob mentality: Yeah, let's get Him! Who are we getting again? You know how mobs are, they kind of play off each other; they don't even know what they are protesting. They get caught up in the emotion of the moment. That is probably what was happening as the mob closed in on Jesus. However just to show that Jesus was not a helpless victim, but a powerful victor, He stood up and said, "Who are you looking for?" "Jesus the Nazarene," they told Him. So He said to them, "I am He." And at those words, all of the people who had been pressing in so close to each other "drew back and fell to the ground!”. Have you ever played dominoes? That is probably what it was like as this crowd flattened out. This would have been a good moment for Judas to reconsider his decision to betray Jesus. But Judas apparently could not wait to do what he was about to do.

Here was Peter and Judas’ problem: they were both in the wrong place with the wrong people, about to do the wrong thing. And when that passion in our heart begins to die, the fire we had for Christ will grow cold, and we will look elsewhere for warmth.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1–3

Old saying get to be old sayings because they are the truth, and this is one of the oldest - When you hang out with the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time, then it is only a matter of time until you do the wrong thing. The difference between Peter and Judas? One wept bitterly which lead him to repentance and the other bitterly and blindly followed his course to hell. Which are you?

The Atheist, the Agnostic, and the Sophisticated 'Christian'

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

What path are your decisions taking you?

I have met a lot of people like Jonah in the Old Testament in my life, and truthfully so have you. They are easy to spot, they are the ones are openly running away from God, racing as fast as they can in the opposite direction. They know that they have rejected God’s calling, they know that they are disobedient, and they can’t run away far enough.

However on the other hand I have meet far more people who just kind of do the "Christian Sidestep" from the will of God. They, like those who run from God openly, know that they are out of God’s will, out of His plan for their life, but they do it in a little more ‘sophisticated’ manner. In a method they believe that perhaps you and God won’t notice. Of course deep inside they know that while maybe you won't notice their sin, that God does.

They still attend church, talk about spiritual things, even give to the church, and perhaps even serve in the nursery or so other area at church. However deep down inside they know they are running under cover; living with secret (or not so secret) sin, rationalizing their sin and their conduct, giving an excuse for their Sins.

They say things like ‘nobody is perfect’, ‘I am facing this temptation, and I just can’t seem to overcome it’ they get to the point where they rationalize their sin, by professing that ‘God understands, he understands the difficulty I am facing, the financial issues I am facing, he understands the needs I have that my spouse is not fulfilling, the stress I am under’ etc. etc. Or they emphasize the good things they have done, stressing that they a ‘NICE’ person. All the time, deep within their soul they know the truth that they are refusing to obey God’s commands and are running away from His will for their life.

They have stepped out of God’s will to do their will, in their way, in their time, all the while claiming to be covered by God’s grace. They think that by going to church, by giving money, by appearing to others to be ‘nice’ and to appear to be serving God, that they are not that bad, that they are somewhat obedient, so God will overlook their non-obedience in all the other areas of their life.

What they chose to overlook is that the price is expensive, the consequences are far more than they realize, far more than they can pay. The amazing thing is that when/if they were to stop and look down the road and ask themselves where does this sin take me? What I have discovered is that, they tend to rationalize it and pretend that things are going to turn out better than they will. When the truth is, eventually it leads you to the place where you are thanking God for the sin that you commit. Eventually you forget that while God is a loving God, He is also a just God; and as Jonah can attest to, the longer you run from God, the longer you refuse to obey, the higher the price.

The Selfish Christian

2012-02-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

Most people who claim to be Christians recognize Christ as Savior, but few recognize His authority as Lord of their lives. Truthfully I admit that I am still work in progress in this respect. However have you noticed that many Churches and most Christians today seek primarily God’s personal blessing for themselves (see - Joel Osteen, Tim Story and the prosperity gospel) rather than discovering His purpose and allowing their lives to fit in to that purpose?

What about you? Did God really call you to divorce your spouse, cheat on that exam, steal that shirt, talk behind your co-workers back, sleep with your friends wife, or if you are busy patting yourself on your back for not doing any of those, did God really call you to come and sit in your seat every Sunday and then leave?

Isobel Kuhn, a missionary to China, once said: “Everywhere I go, I constantly meet with men and women who say to me ‘When I was young, I wanted to be a missionary but I got married instead, or my parents dissuaded me, or some such thing.’ No, it is not God who does not call; it is man who did not respond.”

Matthew 19:16-22

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

The meaning of this story probably seems obvious. The rich guy loved his stuff more than he loved God, right?

Well, yes, that is part of it, but there is more. I think it illustrates what I have been trying to say in post after post about selfishness. Let me ask you this: If the young man did what Jesus said and sold his possessions and gave to the poor, would that mean he was not selfish?

I don’t think so. If he had done as Jesus said, it would have meant that what he REALLY wanted was eternal life and a relationship with God, and he would have shown he was selfish enough to sell all he had to get what he wanted. As it turns out, what he really wanted was his stuff.

But in the words of the infamous info-commercials 'But wait there's more'. I think this story demonstrates the importance of trust. If what we really want is Jesus, there are things we will have to stop trusting in, and the only way we can do that is to trust in God — to abandon ourselves to Him. The young man in the story trusted in his riches and was not able to shift that trust to where it really should be– in God.

In your life, it doesn’t have to be money that you trust in. It could be your own cleverness, a relationship, it could be a person, a job, a hobby, and it could be any number of things. It could be what we see as our own righteousness. Desiring and trusting in these things keeps us from the relationship with God that we really want; or perhaps if the truth were admitted to, you really don’t want that relationship more than you want your stuff. They are barriers. They are walls between us and God.

There is no doubt that most American Christians are selfish and self-forgiving about that selfishness, Jesus however is not so accommodating. Ask yourself this question, when it is your turn to kneel before God for judgment, do you believe you will find the young man in Matthew 19:16-22 in Heaven?

We need to get selfish about wanting God. Selfish enough to abandon ourselves to Him.

God Just Wants You to be Happy

2012-01-31T00:48:00.000-08:00

“Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God. Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do. But evil people are not like this at all; they are like straw that the wind blows away. Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God's own people. The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord, but the evil are on the way to their doom.” Psalms 1

If you were to examine the lists of sins in the previous two posts, you will notice that sin is usually a result of us doing what makes us feel ‘happy’. Yet the mantra that you hear being preached to the western world is “God just wants you to be Happy” or so says the vast majority of not only secular Americans but Christian Americans as well. The pursuit of individual happiness has begun to eclipse their obedience to the Word of God… after all, they muse, “God wants me to be happy.” There is just one problem with that belief, ---- IT”S A LIE. What if my own personal happiness interferes with your happiness? Or what if doing what I want to do to make myself temporarily happy happens to violate human law, or worst yet God’s law? If the prime purpose for your life is to be happy there would have been no reason for Jesus to come and die on the cross?

I do not know if a study has ever been done on the matter, but what I have discovered in my life is that those same people who are busy proclaiming that God just wants you to be happy (and by you they mean themselves) that you will frequently hear these same people telling everyone that they are not as “bad, as greedy, or as selfish as you may think. That they are a nice person.” I have also noticed that those who I have discovered truly are genuinely a nice, generous, self –sacrificing, good person never mention it.

There is a collation of course between the two sets of statements; the individual who speaks either of them is focused on themselves, their own desires, their own pleasures, their own rewards. Their focus is inward and not outward. If they are unhappy they will take matters into their own hands, and do whatever they feel like doing to give themselves that fleeting feeling of happiness. Of course it does not last so they do it again and again and again, always focused on their own personal happiness. In their wake they leave a trail marked with greed, betrayal, immorality, pain and abuse. But just in case you forget they will remind you that they are a ‘nice’ person, a ‘nice’ Christian.

I wonder how one of these Christians would respond if I were to tell them that what would make me happy (temporarily of course) would be to smack them in the mouth to silence them? This, if the truth were known, would be a gentler thing than what they do to others in pursuit of their happiness. Is that what God really wants me to do?

I am not saying that these happiness seeking ‘Christians’ are mean, but anyone who is focused on their own personal happiness can not care about other people's well-being, they are devoid of ethics, having no empathy and no compassion beyond what serves their own selfish desires, They are corrupt people who play by their own rules, for their own gain, they are hollow inside. But they are a ‘nice person’. Psychologists call them Sociopaths, Psychopaths, and Narcissists; the Bible calls them evil.

Conversely you will, if you look, realize that the most joyful people are those that exhibit the traits of being the most loving people, they are kind, caring and compassionate; ethics and integrity are byproducts of their life. They are pursuing holiness which is what God wants for each of us.

Pursue Happiness and you will receive the byproduct of it... doom. Pursue holiness, and you will receive the byproduct of it…. Joyfulness. The choice is yours.

A list of Sins (Sins of Omission)

2012-01-25T20:34:00.000-08:00

"He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination." Proverbs 28:9

So you somehow have convinced yourself that you are not guilty of any sins of commission (Really??), but just for good measure how are you doing with the sins of omission? Again God is not asking your opinion on this. As smart, as religious, as important as you may think that you are, God does not care about what you feel, or think; this is not a discussion.

God declares that these are sins against Him. If you don’t agree, if you have “buts”, if you have “tolerance”, if you are politically correct, you need to get this one idea not only though your brain but your Heart. You do not get to decide what a Sin is, You do not get to decide what is right and wrong, nor do you get to decide if you are forgiven (even if you have forgiven yourself), and God is not interested in your opinion on the subject. You will either repent and receive grace, or you will receive what you deserve. YOU ARE NOT GOD.

Just a short list of Sins of Ommission (all of which have numerous verse references)

Not Forgiving (Matthew 6:15)

Failing to honor others (Romans 12:9)

Failing to keep your Fervor (Romans 12:9)

Failing to serve or give (Romans 12:9)

Failing to live at peace (Romans 12:18)

Failing to love God (Mark 12:30)

Failing to love your neighbor (Mark 12:31)

Failing to trust God (Isaiah 26:4)

Failing to trust Christ (John 14:1)

Failing to worship God (Deuteronomy 6:13)

Failing to honor God (John 5:23)

Failing to honor the Son (John 5:23)

Failing to believe in Jesus (John 3:16-18)

Failing to honor one’s parents (Exodus 20:12)

Failing to give thanks to God (Romans 1:21)

Failing to glorify God (Romans 1:21)

Failing to fear the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:13)

Failing to test new teachings by Scripture (Acts 17:11)

Failing to discern and guard against false teachers and prophets (Matthew 7:15-20)

Failing to learn and believe Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15)

Failing to guard life and doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16)

Failing to repay debts (Romans 13:7)

Failing to care for orphans and widows in distress (James 1:20)

Failing to defend the faith (1 Peter 3:15)

Failing to share the gospel (Matthew 28:19)

Previous Post - Sins of Commission

A list of Sins (Sins of Commission)

2012-01-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

God is not asking your opinion on this. As smart, as religious, as important as you may think that you are, God does not care about what you feel, or think; this is not a discussion.

Just a word of caution, a word of truth - "He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination." Proverbs 28:9

Just a short list of Sins of Commission (all of which have numerous verse references)

Wrong Teaching (Matthew 23:15)

Insincere love (Romans 12:9)

Causing someone else to sin (Mark 9:42)

Fornication (Romans 1:24)

Adultery (Exodus 20:14 and many- many - many more)

Homosexuality (Romans 1:24 and many – many- many more)

Greed (Romans 1:29)

Blasphemy (Mark 3:29)

Misusing the Lord’s name (Exodus 20:7)

Selfish Ambition (Galatians 5:20)

Fits of rage (Galatians 5:20)

Slave Trading (1 Timothy 1:10)

Lying (Exodus 23:1)

Hypocrisy (1 Peter2:1)

Drunkenness (1 Corinthians 6:10)

Sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:10)

Witchcraft (Deuteronomy 18:10)

Divination (Deuteronomy 18:10)

Interpreting Omens (Deuteronomy 18:10)

Consulting the dead (Deuteronomy 18:11)

Astrology (Isaiah 47:13-14)

Depravity (Romans 1:29)

Envy (Romans 1:29)

Deceit (1 Peter 2:1)

Murder (Romans 1:29)

Strife (Romans 1:29)

Malice (1 Peter 2:1)

Gossip (Romans 1:29)

Slander (Romans 1:30)

Hating God (Romans 1:30)

Insolence (Romans 1:30)

Arrogance (Romans 1:30)

Boastful (Romans 1:30)

Inventing evil (Romans 1:30)

Disobeying parents (Romans 1:30)

Next Post - Sins of Omission

Forgotten God (when Christians fail)

2012-01-19T01:52:00.000-08:00

Today's posting is a personal one and I write this because when writing on the subject matters that I write, it is easy to pretend that I do not commit the very sins I hammer away at; that I am somehow better, holier, or more developed than those of you who read my writings. When in truth, I am simply a man trying and failing at being the man that God wants me to be. Which is the exact reason Jesus died for me.

Tonight was my weekly Bible study, we are beginning a new study on the Holy Spirit (Forgotten God, by Francis Chan), which I have been looking forward to; it is a subject that intrigues me and that I wanted to throw myself into. However, I had previously mistaken the date that I was to pick a friend up from the airport (it was today and not tomorrow), but being a man of my word, I was there to pick them up and drop them safely off at their hotel. All of this put me behind schedule so I was running late when I arrived at the Bible study, I was thankful that the leader had delayed starting the group until I managed to squeeze in a ½ hour late.

There was one chair left empty and as I took it I noticed that the person sitting next to me was new. I then remembered that I had earlier in the week received a phone call from a woman who was asking about where she go to attend a bible study, and I had recommended this one, because of the people in it and because of the new subject matter we were undertaking. The leader for tonight had everyone introduce themselves and tell just a pinch about who they were, when it got to me, I said my name and then simply said ‘I am the one who stirs the pot’ (Which is true, I am the one who will challenge you on your feelings, your beliefs, your actions, always testing...)

After introductions a short DVD was played and during it I noticed that the new woman was tearing up. It was taking every bit of self control she had to not break down and begin to cry. I reached over and asked her if she was alright, to which she gave me a brief explanation as to why she was emotional. My response was to tell her that I would talk to her later, that I may be able to help her after the Bible study. The DVD continued to play and as it was finishing up Francis Chan mentioned that we should keep ourselves open to the Holy Spirit interrupting what we had planned, to be open to the idea that perhaps God had something else planned for us, that it may not be the Holy Spirits desire that we finish this study right now. I nodded my head in agreement

Shortly after the DVD was over she had to leave (we started late - remember). As she was leaving, the leader of our Bible study walked her to the door and was briefly visiting with her as I approached to touch base with her. It was obvious that she was troubled, and that she needed to talk, but just did not have any more time tonight. I gave her my phone number and told her to call, and I would be glad to sit down and listen. She said she would. With that she left.

Tonight I failed! Tonight I was so rushed, so self-absorbed, so self-focused, so self-centered, so self concerned about what I wanted to get out of tonight’s bible study that I missed the obvious. Tonight I was there to step into the gap, tonight I was to do - rather then listen. Tonight God had brought a hurting individual to the chair next to me; tonight God had brought someone who I am uniquely qualified to help to my very side. Tonight, the Holy Spirit wanted me to be open to the idea of not starting the study tonight. Tonight I failed.

We all fail, and when we do we can view it in one of two ways. The first, which is the easiest and by far the most popular, is to say that we are thankful that the Holy Spirit has convicted us of our missed opportunity and that we have learned from it; in other words we pat ourselves on the back for being aware of the fact that we did nothing. The other way is to let the conviction penetrate your very soul, to acknowledge that you failed, that it was your sin that caused you to fail, and to not let yourself off the hook with being alright with the fact that you did nothing when you were asked to do something. To ask for a second chance and mean it.

It is my heartfelt prayer that I am given another opportunity to step forward into the gap, instead of standing still. I know that God’s plan for this woman will not be altered by my failure to do what He wanted me to do, I might be given another opportunity, or God will simply send someone else to do what I did not.

Tonight I forgot God, I was busy thinking about me. Tonight I failed, but with the Holy Spirit's help, I will do better tomorrow.

God calls us to step into the gap regardless of what we planned or want. We are not just blessed, we are called to be a blessing.

The Easiest Place for Satan to Hide.

2012-01-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

—Hebrews 2:1

You know them, that person who goes to church on Sunday, smiles, listens intently to what the minister says, sings the songs, maybe even serves in the nursery, hospitality or some other area of the church. But then they go home, back to their life of SIN, they continue the adulterous relationship, the backstabbing at work, ‘shacking up’, betraying their family by seeking a divorce, shoplifting from the local grocery store, slandering their neighbor, the church is full of them… you know the Christian, who ‘feels’ forgiven without repenting, who ’feels’ God love, believes but does not follow. Those who think that simply going to church and going through a little ritual will bring them closer to God are in for a big surprise. Because the easiest place to get a hardened heart is in the church. It is the easiest place in the world for Satan to hide those who he has a firm grasp on. As I have said before, the same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay.

As the Word of God goes out, some people are impacted by it, some people are changed by it, and others are hardened by it, because they have no intention of believing it or they believe it, but refuse to follow it. Continual exposure to God's Word is actually doing more harm than good and in the very place where they could be transformed; they will be worse off than ever. You know them.

Am I saying that some people shouldn't go to church? Yes . . . if they have no intention of applying what they are hearing. We can see miracles and hear truth, but if we don't have a desire to apply it, then our hearts will get hardened. You know them.

Someone who is living a double life like Judas Iscariot will experience an increasingly hardened heart. Judas walked and talked with Jesus for three-and-a-half years. He was hand-chosen by the Lord. He had heard Christ give His greatest sermons. Judas heard the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse with his own ears. He saw Lazarus rise from the dead. He saw blind men receive their sight. He saw deaf men receive their hearing. Judas saw miracle after miracle, yet his heart grew harder. You know them, those just like Judas.

And even though Jesus knew what would take place, Judas, of his own volition, deliberately betrayed the Lord, reminding us that the foreknowledge of God does not change the responsibility of man. You know them.

So the answer is not to stop going to church; it is to go with a desire to know God.

You know them; in fact one of them may be the very one who stares back at you in the mirror every morning – the 'Judases'

Five points of Christianity

2012-01-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

You have Christianity wrong if do not understand and have not internalized these 5 points.

1. God can not be Loving - without being Just

2. There is no forgiveness without repentance.

3. There is no salvation without surrender.

4. There is no life without death.

5. There is no believing without following.

Most who fill our churches today want the benefits of Jesus, but are not interested in the sacrifices; they want Heaven but are unwilling to bear the cross. They want a free ride. We memorize John 3:16, but ignore John 9:23

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. John 9:23

Are you doing it His way? Or have you put a whole new spin on it - “if it feels good do it” otherwise know as doing it your way; and one day when you kneel before God is it your plan to simply proclaim “But I was just doing what made me happy.”

Twenty times in the New Testament, Jesus issued a compelling and challenging invitation: “Follow Me.” John 6 tells of Jesus at the height of His popularity, feeding 5,000 men plus women and children (to put that in context: this crowd was nearly as large as was the capacity of the largest theaters in the major cities of that time), afterwards knowing their hearts He left to cross to the other side of Lake Capernaum, the crowd followed not because of who He was, but because they wanted free food. On the other side, Jesus delivered hard words to the crowd and to the disciples - after which “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John 6:66

Jesus did not chase after them, Jesus did not try to appease them with entertainment, trinkets or donuts and ice cream, Jesus did not try to please the majority, Jesus did not make his teachings softer, in fact Jesus ratcheted up his teachings. Jesus came to sift the wheat from the chafe. Jesus is NOT looking for fans... He's looking for followers.

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold —I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:14-16

Are you a Christian? Or just one of the many fans who are okay with following Jesus when it is easy - when it feels good, or when you want to be forgiven (without actually repenting) all of which sounds like free food to me; but are unwilling to press on in difficult times, to do what God says to do, instead of what you want to do; unwilling to internalize:

1. God can not be Loving - without being Just

2. There is no forgiveness without repentance.

3. There is no salvation without surrender.

4. There is no life without death.

5. There is no believing without following.

It's time to decide if you are okay with being lukewarm.

The Holy Spirit - the breath of life

2012-01-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

There are many people who will only believe in and of that which they are able to see, to touch, to taste, to feel, to smell. Yet they live in a world where the single most important element to their existence remains unseen, they know it is there yet they can not see it, they can not taste it, they can not touch it, or smell it (okay they maybe you can in Los Angles, Beijing, Mexico City). It can demolish a landscape, or ravage city in a matter of minutes when pushed by a hurricane or tornado. Yet when harnessed it can lift airplanes (which is a good thing as I live in Hawaii and the only way anywhere is an airplane), stop a train or a speeding truck in a matter of feet, break concrete, loosen the lug nuts of the wheels of your car, or lift an acre of granite ten inches thick ten feet in the air as easily as I lift a piece of paper. It keeps you alive every moment of your life; we can not live without it. It is an amazing, and powerful thing - this that we can not see, but can not live without – Air.

Never think that because you can not see something that it does not exist or that it is weak. The Bible talks a great deal about it, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit. Much of what I write about is impossible for us to do on our own. Jesus knows this, God knows this, that is why Jesus had to go away (in life, He could only be in one place at one time), so that the Holy Spirit could come and dwell among and in all of us. Where Jesus came in the visible form, the Holy Spirit comes in the invisible, for no faith is required to believe in that which you see. But can you imagine the hell that this earth would be if the invisible Spirit of God were suddenly removed.

I do not have to moralize to those who are immoral, they know they are immoral; I do not have to tell unbelievers that they lack faith, they know they are faithless, I do not have to do this because that is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit does not merely accuse men of sin he brings them an inescapable sense of guilt. For some it is that guilt that brings us to God, for most they do everything in their power to hide from that guilt; and hide beneath a layer of alcohol, drugs, career, good works, or church.

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:7-15

The Holy Spirit is available and desires to be with us all, but not all desire Him, because to desire Him means to turn from your own desires and follow Him. Many want some of Him but not all of Him; they want to reap the benefits of the Holy Spirit without giving up their own desires. The Holy Spirit will not force Himself into your life, you must seek Him, you must truly ask Him to dwell in you, if you truly do desire Him, truly desire to repent from your sins He will come to you.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you...” John 14:15-18

Imagine what it means to have the presence of the living God within you. Pause and ponder this, the third member of the Godhead, the invisible, yet all-powerful representation of deity, is actually living inside your being. His limitless capabilities are resident within you, since He indwells you.

Just before Jesus’s ascension back into heaven, He met with a group of His followers. To give us good news, Jesus’ last words to us was the crucial news regarding the Spirit who would soon come to take His place.

“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8

You think you can’t handle what life throws at you? You think you can’t stand firm or, when necessary, stand alone in your life? You think you can’t handle the lure of life’s temptations? You are right, you certainly could not if you were all alone. You—alone—can’t do that anymore than I can fly from Hawaii to South America alone. But with the right kind of power put into operation, the very power and presence of God, you can handle it. You can do it. As a matter of fact, all the pressure will be shifted and the weight transferred from you to Him. It’s a radically different way to live, and because He is God, He can handle it.

The Holy Spirit will either empower you or convict you. He leaves the choice up to you, but every single day of your life you move closer to your own personal day of judgement. The reason I write, the reason I do what I do is to encourage you to cross the bridge to His side of eternity.

Christian Divorce - The Biblical view

2012-01-06T00:54:00.000-08:00

“The Christian’s love for the person for whom he has committed himself is called on to remain faithful even when rejected; and to pursue relentlessly, powerfully, sweetly, even when its object flees it – as men did God’s” Gordon Fee

So you call yourself a Christian. However you are planning on divorcing your spouse. Hmmm… Just in case you have somehow missed what the Bible (that would be God’s word) has to say about it, I have listed both the Old Testament and New Testament verses that address divorce and adultery. Because adultery is what you commit when you remarry, and God is very clear about the fate of adulterers.

Now some will tell you that you can do whatever you like and you will be forgiven because you are a Christian, and you may like hearing that, but it is not the truth, and there is not one verse in the bible that supports such a claim. Others, perhaps more reasoned will tell you that divorce is a sin, but you can be forgiven for it if you repent; I tend to fall into that viewpoint, however there is one huge question to that answer - and it is a pretty sticky one, ‘How do you repent from divorcing the one God joined you together with?’

“You shall not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14 The 7th of the Ten Commandments

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17 The 10th of the Ten Commandments

If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. Deuteronomy 22:22

‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. Leviticus 20:10

And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “ For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “ Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “ Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 2:13-17

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Romans 7:1-3

Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. 1Corinthians 7:10-11

The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Mark 10:2-12

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. Luke 16:18

“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery”. Matthew 5:31-32 (part of the Sermon on the Mount, do not miss Jesus' warning at the end of it)

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, even for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:23-27 (Jesus’ warning at the end of the Sermon on the Mount)

Your legacy is about to be written, it is either about you, or about God, time for you to choose. If you choose your will over His will, let me know how that repenting from divorcing the one God joined you together with works. Share with us how repenting from all the destruction, hurt, broken dreams, pain and suffering you caused to your spouse, children, friends, family and society works.

As I have said before - You are either a fan of Christ or a Christian, however ask any football fan, being a fan is not the same as being on the team. You can not divorce your spouse and call yourself a Christian, the two are mutually exclusive.

Previous Post on Christian Divorce

Is God primarily concerned with my personal happiness?

2012-01-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

The dawn of the new year is often times seen as a opportunity to start fresh, to begin anew, and for some reason this year it has reminded me of an old story that I heard years ago growing up on the northern plains of America. A story of two wolves, told by an old weather-beaten Cherokee to his grandson…

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Yesterday was the beginning of the New Year and like many of you I spent it visiting with friends. The greeting that everyone extended to everyone else that day was as is always the greeting on New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve “Happy New Year”. Which got me thinking, is that how God would greet us?

Think about that for a moment, before you answer the question.

Is God primarily concerned with my own personal happiness?

I know that many, if not most of those in the churches spread across America today would answer yes ‘God - wants me to be happy’. The problem with that answer is… what happens when you do something that while it may make you happy – hurts or injures another person either physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, or spiritually?

Your belief that God just wants you to be happy, elevates you and your desires above everyone else, including God. It is the root of evil in its purest form. From this one seed, anger, jealousy, greed, lust, resentment, pride, lies, and ego all sprout and grow to consume the individual; happy but not joyful.

God is concerned with your holiness, a holiness that grows and develops and as it does so, you discover that as a side benefit to pursuing His holiness you find joyfulness. Which is not be confused with happiness, anymore then worldly regret is the same as Godly sorrow. In the end, just as the Old Cherokee warned his grandson, you will feed either your pursuit of your personal happiness or holiness.

I wish you a Holy New Year.

Christian Divorce - The Divorce Season

2011-12-28T23:16:00.000-08:00

As the Christmas season draws quickly to a close, we (at least in the United States) are about to enter another season - Across America there are ten of thousands of husbands, wives, and children who will shortly discover that this past Christmas was the final Christmas for their family. A husband or a wife will have decided that it is their spouse that is making them unhappy and seek to end their marriage; “The Divorce Season” will have begun. Shortly after the New Year has commenced, divorce filing surge in the United States. There has been a lot of energy, money and time spent trying to ascertain exactly why that is, which I find particularly disturbing. Does it really matter why or when? There is no good time to divorce. But more disturbing is the reaction to it within the churches and Christian community, as “professing Christians” in greater numbers then agnostics or atheists swell the ranks of the newly divorced.

It seems that in America at least, that the Christian community and churches have decided to pay only lip service to the permanency of marriage. We have become a tolerant culture, individual happiness is what we have decided God wants most for us; being holy is something only radicals concern themselves with. This is snapshot of what that attitude has brought America, all of which cause these words to flash across my mind; ‘Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart… Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them.” ’ Jeremiah 11:8 & Jeremiah 11:11

America has the highest divorce rate in the world – Twice as high as the next country.

Professing American Christians make up the majority of that number.

The divorce rate among Christians is higher then that of any other religion, agnostics or atheist.

Each 100 additional divorces causes two additional suicides, 1 additional murder, 6 additional rapes, 33 additional armed robberies, and puts another 100 men in prison.

Divorce increases the premature mortality rates of fathers, mothers, and the children of divorce.

Children whose parents have divorced are increasingly the victims of abuse. They exhibit more health, behavioral, and emotional problems, are involved more frequently in and drug abuse, and have higher rates of suicide.

Only 42% of all children between the ages of 14 to 18 live in an intact two-parent family. And each year over 1 million American children are forced to endure the divorce of their parents.

70% of children coming from divorced families consider divorce an adequate answer to marital problems (even if children are present), compared to only 40% of children from non-divorced families.

Recent sociological studies have pointed to a variety of long-term economic, social, physical, and mental health consequences that divorce has on the families, men, women, children, and society. Conversely no study thus far has been able to find even one benefit to society or the family as a result of divorce. However that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is simple and over the next several weeks I will address this issue a couple of times in hopes of perhaps saving one family from the devastating consequences of divorce.

I have mentioned before that it is rare to hear a minister give just one sermon on repentance or obedience, let alone a series. It is so much easier to fill the pews with sermons on prosperity, and immunity. So it should come as no surprise that the topic of divorce as a sin of gigantic proportions, one that leads to the loss of all moral authority, of eternal consequences, as the ultimate act of narcissism and selfishness; a sin that left un-repented, leads to the eternal separation from God. As churches across the nations turn a blind eye to the behavior choices of those who fill the pews on Sunday morning, it is rapidly becoming apparent that divorce is the single most critical issue facing the church today.

With that said, the next statements may offend some of you, perhaps most of you, however they are connected, and if you can not see the connection then you simply do not wish to, and nothing I say or write can alter that.

In an article in the New York Times (12/28/2011) Mr. T.K. (I have omitted his name), a male teacher in Marion, Ill., who was turned away by Catholic Charities three years ago when he and his longtime partner (also a man), tried to adopt a child, said: “We’re both Catholic, we love our church”. Likewise, is the husband or wife who chooses to divorce his or her spouse while professing to be a Christian. You must understand this point – You can not choose to live a lifestyle that chooses to directly disobey the word of God, and then claim to be a Christian (or Catholic), while you may ‘feel’ like you are a Catholic or a Christian, your actions say otherwise. You cannot seek to divorce your spouse and call yourself a Christian. They are mutually exclusive. To do the first and claim the second, simply makes you a liar.

The Church and Christians alike hesitate to take a hard stand against the immorality of those who choose to practice a lifestyle of homosexuality in part, because they have failed to obey God’s command in regards to marriage and divorce (is it any surprise that gay marriages are now becoming the law of the land). You can not excuse your own sexual immorality while opposing another’s without being a hypocrite.

Make no mistake about it; Jesus drew a very hard line on divorce and subsequent remarriage. He repeatedly commanded against it, calling those who chose to do so and especially those who forced it onto their spouse an adulterer. While you may feel differently, as we have exampled in previous postings, what you feel has absolutely no bearing on the truth. If you feel differently it is time you go to the Bible, learn the truth and OBEY it.

Your actions are about to declare for the world to see if your are in fact a Christian or just a ‘fan’ of Christ’s. Saint Ambrose wrote this warning to those who were about to chose this path “You dismiss your wife, therefore, as if by right and without being charged with wrongdoing; and you suppose it is proper for you to do so because no human law forbids it; but divine law forbids it. Anyone who obeys men should stand in awe of God.”

And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, even for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9

“ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

We will visit this issue again, this is only my opening salvo on this subject as we enter “The Divorce Season” and perhaps I would not have to write as much on it, if our churches and those who fill the pews each Sunday took a more diligent approach to the subject.

Next post on Christian Divorce

Christmas around the World

2011-12-24T01:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas the opening chapter of a new book, that ends at the cross.

One God, One child, One sacrifice for all.

Everlasting hope for all who believe and obey.

So many tongues all saying the same thing.

English: Merry Christmas

Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka

Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon

Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom

German: Fröhliche Weihnachten

Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Sheng Dan Kuai Le
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Lao: souksan van Christmas
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Luxembourgish: Schèine Chreschtdaag an e gudde Rutsch
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philippines: Maligayang Pasko!
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese:Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tamil: (Tamizh) Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym or Z RIZDVOM HRYSTOVYM
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

God announces the birth of Jesus Christ "The Star of Bethlehem" part 2

2011-12-21T02:02:00.000-08:00

God sent forth His only begotten son…… and God writing unimaginable beautiful poetry in the Heavens and sky proclaimed the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. Two thousand years later ‘science’ catches up to the Star of Bethlehem, to the visible symbol written in the sky to announce the birth of Christ; the symbol that prompted the magi to drop all they were doing and head for the small town of Bethlehem to worship the new born king. Rediscover it for yourself in the second of a two part video.
No other religion, no other lack of religion - claims are backed up by the Heavens them self.

Part 1 of video

God announces the birth of Jesus Christ "The Star of Bethlehem"

2011-12-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

"The Star of Bethlehem"

You can watch both part 1 and part 2 by clicking on the Videos above.
To read more about the 'Star of Bethlehem' go to the Free PDF Downloads tab above

Examined Christian Faith 'Faith part 3' 3.12 What is Christainity

2011-12-16T00:17:00.000-08:00

There are certain things about Christianity that in all honestly can only be understood from the outside, from those who are not Christians. However there are a great many things that cannot be understood until after you have traveled a certain distance along the Christian road. These things are like directions on a map, directions on how to deal with particular intersections, and obstacles on your journey; and they do not make any sense until you have reached those places in your journey. This may be one of those places, Faith in the second sense that I previously alluded to, that higher sense of Faith.

I mentioned in my previous post that Faith in this sense can only arise after a person has tried his or her best to practice Christian virtues and come to the same realization that we all come to… that we failed. Then realizes that even if he or she could have succeeded they would only have been giving back to God what was already His. As we in this culture tend to relate things to financial worth, the other way to describe this realization is to discover that you are bankrupt. Before I go any further this would seem a good place to once again remind you that what God cares about is not ‘exactly’ our actions. What He cares about is that we should become creatures of a certain quality – the kind of creatures He intended us to be – Creatures that are related to Him in a certain way.

When I said “discovered” in the previous paragraph, I mean really DISCOVERED; not something as simple as a parrot learning to repeat a word. Any child, if they are given a certain religious education will soon learn to say that we have nothing to offer to god that is not already His own and that we find ourselves failing to offer even that, without holding something back. No I am talking about really discovering by experience that you are bankrupt is the truth.

We cannot in that sense discover our failure to keep god’s law except by trying to do so with everything that we have (and then failing). Unless you really try, there will always be something in the back of your mind whispering that if we try harder the next time we will succeed in being completely good . Thus in one sense the road back to God is one of moral effort, of trying harder and harder; but in another sense it is a road of not trying that is going to bring us home. All of which if you have honestly tried, brings you to the point where you throw up your hands in despair and turn to God and say “I can not do this, you must do this, I am leaving this up to you”.

I know that the words "leave it up to God” can and is frequently misunderstood; but the sense in which a Christian leaves it to God is when you put all your trust in Christ, that Christ will somehow share with you the perfect human obedience which Christ carried out from birth to Crucifixion. That Christ will make you the person more like Himself, that He will share his “sonship” with you. In a sense the entire Christian life consists in accepting this remarkable offer; that Christ offers something for nothing, more than that, He offers everything for nothing. The difficultly is reaching the point of recognizing that all we have done and can do is nothing.

To Trust Him means of course trying to do all that He says. Only a fool or a liar would say that they trusted a person yet refused to take His advice. Thus if you really have handed your life over to Christ, it follows that you are trying to obey Him. Trying in a new, less worried way. Not doing things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for you, rather wanting to act in a certain manner because a first faint glimmer of heaven is already inside you.

A serious moral effort is the only thing that will bring you to the point where you throw in the towel. Faith in Christ is the only thing to save you from despair at that point and out of that Faith in Him, good actions must inevitably come. There are however two different views of this truth that Christians have debated over the years, the first is that “Good actions are all that matters, and by extension the best good action is charity. The best type of charity is giving money, so just hand over $1,000 or $1,000,000 (depending on how deep your pockets are) and you are in good standing. My answer to that nonsense is that good actions done for that motive, done with the idea that Heaven can be bought (by what ever action) would not be a good action at all, only a business transaction.

The other view is one that I hear frequently (perhaps more frequently because I do not have $1,000 yet alone $1,000,000) is that “faith is all that matters”. Consequently, if you have faith (at least proclaimed that you do) it doesn’t matter what you do. Sin away, have a great time and Christ will see that it makes no difference in the end, that by faith you have been given immunity. My answer to that pile of rubbish is that, if what you call ‘faith’ in Christ does not involve taking the slightest notice of what He says, then it is not Faith at all – not faith or trust in Him, rather simply an intellectual acceptance of some theory about Him.

The Bible is of course has the final word on the matter, and seems to clinch the matter when it puts the two things together in one astonishing sentence. The first half is ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” – which looks as if everything depended on you and your good actions; however the second half reads ‘For it is God who worketh in you” Philippians 2:12-13 – which looks as if God did everything and you did nothing. I am afraid that is the sort of thing we run up against in Christianity. I am perplexed, but not surprised. I personally am not certain that the human language can express the idea, as God is not just one part, of the equation; He is not either inside you or outside you, He is inside you as well as outside you. In an attempt to express the idea, different churches say different things, however you will find that even those who insist most strongly in the importance of good actions tell you that you need Faith, and those who insist most strongly on Faith also tell you to do good actions. That is as far as I am prepared to go with it.

I do think however that all Christians will agree with me that at first Christianity seems to be all about morality, all about duties, rules, guilt and virtue, yet if you let it, it leads you out of all of that into something beyond. It leads you to glimpse a place where everyone is filled with what we call goodness, yet goodness is not called anything and it is not though of there, but instead everyone is focused on the source from which it comes.

Faith, no one said it would be easy.

Previous Post in this series "Faith part 2"

Examined Christian Faith 'Faith part 2' 3.11 What is Christainity

2011-12-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

Originally I was going to cover the topic of faith in two posts, however it has occurred to me that the only way to do that would be to write an extremely long second post as the second level or sense of faith is probably the most difficult subject matter I will have tackled in this series. So perhaps it would be best if I set the table first and before we attempt to digest it. Some time back in this series I touched on the matter of humility, and that the first step towards achieving it was to realize that you are proud. If that is our starting point then the next step would be to seriously attempt to practice Christine virtues. Not for a day or two, not even a week, because just about anyone can do so for a week or so, rather try two months, or even just one. Because by then you will have failed miserably at it and quite probably fallen lower then your original starting point. It is here that a person discovers some truth about themselves.

The undeniable truth is that no one knows just how bad he or she is until they have tried with all their might to be good. There seems to be a body of thought running amok in this country that god people do not know what temptation means. Try the above experiment and you will quickly realize what a lie that is.

Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. You do not know how strong the current in a river is by swimming with it, you must swim against it to understand its power. You never know how strong a bully is until you decide to fight him. A person who gives in to temptation after 10 minutes can in no way comprehend what it would have been like an hour or two later. That is why bad people (or more politically correct, good people who do bad things) know very little about badness. They have chosen to live a sheltered life of always giving in to temptation. You will never find out the strength of the evil impulses in yourself until you try to fight them; and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation is also the only one who knows to the full and final extent what temptation means.

The main thing that we learn from making a serious attempt to practice Christian virtues is that WE FAIL. I think everyone who has a vague belief in God, has the idea of an exam, or a bargain (God if... then I will…); however one quickly learns that he or she will always fail that exam (God does not grade on a curve). We are simply incapable of acing the test; there is simply nothing that we can do that would enable us to put God in our debt. If you still have that idea floating around in your head, I encourage you to try to practice all the Christian virtues for a month or two that should be about 4 to 8 weeks longer than needed to blow the idea into bits. Some when they realize this thinks that Christianity is a failure and give up, for some reason they seem to think that God is very simple minded. In fact one of the things Christianity is designed to do is to blow that idea up. God is waiting for the moment that you realize that there is no way you will ever earn a passing grade on this exam; there is nothing you can do that will put him into your debt.

It is only after you realize this that you make another discovery. Everything you have, every faculty you possess – your ability to think, move, feel, see, smell, taste, everything has been given to you by God. Even if you devoted every second of every day of your entire life to exclusively serve Him you could not give him anything that was not already His. As it is Christmas time, the next time you are doing something for God or giving something to God, think of it like this; Think back to when you were a small child and you wanted to get your father a present for Christmas, you approach your dad and ask “Daddy, would you give me $10 to buy you a Christmas gift with?” Of course your father does, and he is pleased with the gift that you give him. It is all very nice and touching, but only an idiot would think that your father is ahead $10 on the gift.

When you have made these two discoveries then and only then can God really get to work within you. If is after this that your real life begins. Now that you are at last fully awake, now you are ready to examine faith in the second sense.

Previous Post in this series 'Faith part 1"

Next Post in this series 'Faith part 3'

Examined Christian Faith 'Faith' 3.10 What is Christainity

2011-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

Faith, you have heard the word countless times, but just exactly what do Christians mean when we use the word “faith”. Generally speaking the word faith is used on two levels, and we need to examine both of them, today the first level and on my next post the second level, or sense.

On one level, faith simply means ‘Belief-accepting, that is regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity. That is fairly simple, however what does perplex a great many people is that Christians regard faith on this level as a virtue. The argument is that how can faith on this level be a virtue – what is there moral or immoral about believing or not believing a set of statements?

Obviously, a sane person accepts or rejects any statement, not because he does or does not want to, but because the evidence in support of that statement seems to be either good or bad. If the person is mistaken about the correctness (goodness) of the evidence that supports the statement that would not make him or her a bad person, only a not very clever one. Likewise, if the individual thought the evidence in support of a statement was poor and faulty, but attempted to force him or herself to believe the statement in spite of the evidence, that would only make them stupid. Almost everyone would agree with that conclusion.

Now this is what most people do not see and what most assume is that once a person makes up their mind and accepts a thing as true, they will automatically go on and on believing it is true, until some reason shows up to reconsider it. The assumption is that the human mind is ruled by reason. But we all know that is far from the truth.

Emotions tend to crowd out reason, as is evident in the lives of all those around us. People lose faith in all manner of things (their spouse, their company, their friends, and their leaders) not so much because of reason, but rather because of emotions and the imagination that emotions spark. The battle that is waged in each of us is the between faith and reason on one side and emotion and imagination on the other.

When you think about it you will see it playing out in your life and those of others. For instance, A man knows by experience, and by evidence that a particular beautiful woman he knows is a lair and cannot be trusted, yet when he finds himself with her, his mind loses it faith in that knowledge and he starts telling himself “this time it will be different” only to once again make a fool of himself and tells her something he should not have (you know how the story ends). His senses and his emotions destroyed his faith in what he knew to be true.

This exact same thing happens in regards to Christianity. Suppose that a person once reason’s and decides that the weight of evidence supports Christianity. But what to do when (and there are always ‘whens’) he or she wants to tell a lie, wants to cheat on their spouse, wants to make a little money that isn’t exactly fair and honest, when wouldn’t it be convenient if Christianity wasn’t true; here in these moments when emotions rise up; in these times when his or her wishes and desires carry out an attack on their reason.

Faith in the sense I have been addressing is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. It is only a fool who thinks their moods and emotions will not change, they always do. Everyone has moments of doubt, when all of Christianity seems entirely improbable. Just as those who are atheist have moments (probably much more then moments) of doubt when Christianity looks terribly probable (doubt however that they would admit it). This is the rebellion of moods against your reason, against your real self. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you lead your emotions they will lead you. You can not be a sound Christian, or atheist for that matter, if your beliefs are really dependent on what the weather is like, what is happening to you, or what you feel like. Like an athlete you must train the habit of faith.

First, recognize that your moods change; second, if you have accepted Christianity, then you must deliberately think about some of its main doctrines everyday. That’s whey daily prayer, reading scripture and going to church are necessary parts of the Christians life, not because it means you are not a Christian if you do not, but rather, because it helps to steady your mind when your emotions come calling. In a world such as ours, we have to be continuously reminded of exactly what it is we believe. Like anything else we must be fed.

If you examined those who have lost their faith in Christianity (or anything) rarely is it the result of it being reasoned out of it by an honest argument. More often it is a slow fade from light to dark.

Previous post in this series "Hope"

Next post in this series "Faith part 2"

Examined Christian Faith 'Hope' 3.9 What is Christainity

2011-12-04T01:38:00.000-08:00

The second of the three Theological virtues is Hope. The continual looking forward towards the eternal world is not escapism or wishful thinking, but rather one of those things a Christina is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to ignore this world and leave it as it is, you will find that if you study history that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. From the Apostles themselves to the great men of the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave trade, to those American Christians who engaged the world bringing the truth of Christ; all left their mark on Earth precisely because their minds were occupied with the next.

It is because Christians today have largely ceased to think of the next world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”; aim at earth and you will get neither. That seems a strange rule, but you can see it at work in other matters as well. For example, Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your primary objectives you start imagining there is something wrong with you, you feel aches and pains that were not there before. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more – food, games, work, fun, fresh air, etc… In the same way we will never save civilization as long as our civilization is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more.

Most of us find it extremely difficult to genuinely want “Heaven” at all – except as it means we get to meet our friends and family again who have died. There are two reasons for this, the first is that we are taught to fixate on this world, the second and more important is that we do not recognize the real want for Heaven in us. Most people, if they have really learned to examine their own heart, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all measures of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite live up to that promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some trip to a foreign country, or first take up some project that excites us; are all longings which no marriage, no travel, no completed project can really satisfy. There was something at the beginning that we grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which fades away under the glare of reality. I think you know what I mean; the spouse may be a good spouse, the hotels 5 star, the scenery may be beautiful and: computer programing may be a very interesting job: but something has evaded us.

There are three ways to deal with this fact, two that are wrong, and one right way. The two wrong ways will need little explanation as we see it played out in the lives of all those around us, the right way however may need a bit of an explanation.

1. The Fool’s Way – He puts the blame on the things themselves. He goes his entire life thinking that if only he was with another person, took a more expensive vacation, or whatever it happens to be; then this time he really would catch the mysterious something we are all chasing. Most of the people in the western world are this type. They spend their entire lives going from woman to woman, man to man (via divorce courts), from city to city, hobby to hobby, always thinking that the latest is “the Real Thing” – only to be disappointed once again.

2. The Way of the Disillusioned ‘Sensible Person’- He decides that the entire thing was an illusion, something one feels when one is young. But when you grow up, you‘ve given up chasing the rainbow’s end. So he settles and learns to not expect much, and to repress the part of himself which used to seek his deepest dreams. If life was finite, this would be the best approach, but suppose infinite happiness really is there waiting for us? Suppose one really can reach the rainbow’s end? In that case it would be tragic to find out the moment after death that by our supposed ‘common sense’ we had stifled in ourselves that faculty of enjoying it.

3. The Christian Way – Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hungry – there is such a thing as food, a duckling wants to swim, there is such a thing as water. Humans feel sexual desire, there is such a thing as sex. The only logical conclusion then is that if I find a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable and logical explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of the pleasures of this world does not satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. It means earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, rather only to arouse it, to hint at the real thing.

If that is so, then I need to take great care to never despise, or be unthankful for these earthly blessings, and on the other hand to never mistake them for the something of which they are but echo, a mirage to the living. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true home, which I will not find until after my death; I must never let it get buried under the sand, or tossed aside in the clutter of life; I must make it the main object of my life - to press on to that home and to help others that I encounter on my way, to do the same.

Hope is the pursuit of Home.

Next post in this series "Faith part 1"

Previous posting in this series 'Charity'

Examined Christian Faith 'Charity' 3.8 What is Christainity

2011-11-29T22:46:00.000-08:00

Much has been on my mind lately, as the Christmas season begins to rush by. It would seem that this is the perfect time to address one f the three Theological virtues that I mentioned in one of my earlier postings ('Cardinal Virtues' 3.3 ) if you will recall I mentioned that the three theological virtues were Faith, Hope and Charity. I will address ‘Hope’ in my next posting and work my way to ‘Faith’ before I close this series, but for now I would like to return to Charity. Charity was dealt with partially in the posting ( 'Forgiveness' 3.6 ) but there I stayed focused primarily on that part of Charity called ‘Forgiveness’. I occurs to me that I should add some more to the topic here.

First, as to what the word ‘Charity’ means, in our culture Charity now means simply what used to be referred to as “alms” that is, giving to the poor. However, originally it had a much wider meaning, the true meaning of ‘Charity’ means “Love, in the Christian sense.” But I must remind you again that love in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion that one feels. Love is not, nor has it ever been a state of feeling, but rather of will; that state of will which we have naturally towards ourselves, and must learn to have about others.

If you recall in my posting on Forgiveness I pointed out that our love for ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves. It means that we wish our own good. In the same sense, Christian Love (Charity) for our neighbors is quite different from liking or affection. Speaking only for myself, I like some people, but not everyone. I’s important to understand that is not a sin, or a virtue, but simply a natural response, just as I like some types of food, and dislike others (spinach for example). It is just a fact, however it is what we do with it that is either sinful or virtuous.

If I like someone it is easy (make that easier) to be ‘charitable’ towards them, it is thus our responsibility to encourage our affections to “like” people as much as we can. Not because liking is itself the virtue of charity, but rather because it is a help to being charitable. While natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be idiotic to think that the way to become charitable is to sit and try to manufacture affectionate feelings. We are not to waste our time concerning ourselves about if we ‘love’ our neighbor or not, we are to act as if we do.

Love is a choice, it is an action, and here lies one of the great secrets to life: when we behave as if we love someone, we will find our self coming to love them. As much as popular culture may tell you otherwise, Actions lead feelings, never the other way around. Think about this, if you hurt, someone you dislike, you will discover that you dislike them even more, however if you do him a favor, if you forgive him, show grace towards him (not out of a selfish desire to show him what a great person you are, or t make him owe you one), you will discover yourself liking him more. Whenever we do something good for another ‘self’ just because he or she is a ‘self’ made (like you) by God, and that ‘self’ desiring it’s own happiness as we desire ours, we will have learned to love that self just a little more (or at least to dislike it less).

So while those who live solely in this world treat certain people kindly because he or she ‘likes’ them; the Christian trying to treat everyone kindly, finds him or herself liking more and more people as they go on – including many whom he or she could not ever imagined themselves liking at all in the beginning. Day by day becoming more loving, FOREVER.

The exact same spiritual law works horribly in the opposite direction as well. The more cruel you are, the more you hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become – and so on in a vicious circle - FOREVER. All the while thinking that you are a ‘good’ person, for those who live in the dark choose not to see their own evil, until it is forced upon them, when they realize the steps coming to claim them are not those from heaven. At which point it is too late, Forever is a very long time.

Good and evil both increase at a compound interest rate. That is why all those little decisions you and I make everyday are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the strategic beginning point that in a few months you may be able to achieve victories you never dreamed of. Conversely, a trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the bridgehead from which adultery, fornication, divorce, slander, murder and all forms of evil is launched from.

Before I leave this subject I feel I should address one last point, we are all told that we ought to love God, yet there are times when we can not find it in ourselves to do so. For some this is a fleeting moment, for others it can be a haunting everyday presence. It causes great duress to those in those times. What then? It is the same answer as before, do not sit around trying to manufacture feelings, rather ask yourself “If I were certain that I loved God, what would I do?” When you find your answer, go and do it.

God’s love for us is a much safer subject then our love for him. Nobody can always have devout feelings, and even if you could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian love towards others or towards God is an affair of the will. If you are trying to do His will, you are obeying His commandment, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God”. Regardless of your feelings, His love for you is constant. It is not wearied by your sins, or indifference. Therefore, His love is quite relentless in it’s determination that we must be cured of those sins we choose, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.

Next Posting in this series 'Hope'

Previous Posting in this series 'Sin of Sins'

2011 Video Christmas Card - The Nativity

2011-11-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and today begins the Christmas season. The stores and malls will be filled to overflowing as in America the shoppers wait in lines for hours to save a couple of dollars on the latest gadget that they absolutely need, or Christmas will be ruined. With that in mind I post this years video Christmas Card, with a prayer that you do not let the real reason slip through your fingers.

To view last years Video Christmas Card go to the Video's page