Monday, March 31, 2014
God's Plan for You
This is the "Life Verse" of a young lady that I used to talk to. A verse that she could call back to memory and lean upon at any time in her life journey and depend upon no matter the situation and circumstance at that particular time, stage and place in her day. She realized that God's plan was not laid out, but was constantly being laid out in front of her, rolling out daily in her walk with the Holy Spirit as she put her full trust in the promises of God, thereby being her blessed hope and assurance in love, joy and peace. trust in God's plan for you.
In Christ, Brian
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Jesus - God, the Son
John 11:25 Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even
though they die.”
This
last Sunday Pastor Phil was “under the weather”, so we were blessed to once
again to have Senior Chaplin Mike Reed of the Los Angeles Sherriff’s Department
“fill in”. Chaplin Reed posed the question: “Who is this Jesus?” - Was Jesus a
great man?, a great prophet?, or was He God? What did Jesus do to show us the
answer? Let’s see.
In
John 1:4-5, Jesus speaking of
himself said “In him was life, and that life
was the light of all mankind. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In John 19:19, Jesus said, “Light has come into the
world”, then declares in John
8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” What is light; that
darkness flees from its presence? Christians, too, are the light of the world (being salt and
light – Matthew 5:13-16) as we push out
darkness of sin and unbelief by reflecting and revealing the light of truth in
Christ Jesus.
When Jesus turned the water into wine in John 2:1-11, he changed the molecular
structure of the atoms to do so. Hebrews 1:2-3 tells us that “God promised everything
to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The
Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he
sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.” The atoms
are literally held together by His mighty power, because John 1:3 agrees that all things were made by Jesus.
Matthew 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns
and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the
kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. Historians
believe that in Jesus’ three year ministry on earth, He healed upwards of
30,000 people. They came to Jesus and he healed them all. Luke 7:22 - Jesus controls life. In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus claims the storm and the disciples say: “What
kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” He had
control over the weather. In Matthew
8:28-34, the demons knew and obeyed the Son of God.
When
we become a Christian (receive Jesus and believe in His name), we become a
child of the family of God (John 12-13)
and a citizen of the kingdom
of Heaven (Philippians 3:20). The devil has two
goals: (1) he wants to make sure that you never know Jesus, and (2) for
Christians to keep their faith and the gospel to their selves and ruin their testimony.
Many people trust the Lord for mere temporal matters of life, but saving faith
is trusting Christ to save us eternally. Just think if every sin was exposed.
In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus walks on water.
In order to do that, He must control gravity. In John 6:1-14, Jesus displays the power to replicate and produce material
(in this case food) from nothing. Nobody has ever done this. This is good news
... Jesus is God.
Chaplin
Reed challenged us; “Get out of your comfort zones and do something for the
Lord. In all of God’s work, He equips us. Anything that God brings to us, He
helps us thought it. Prayer is the way to communicate with God and we suffer
when we fall short in our prayer life. Go to people and pray for them, showing
the love of Christ and Christians (the children of God). The devil doesn’t want
us to pray, but stay as far from our relationship with God as possible. Prayer
doesn’t only better the life of those prayed for, but the one praying also.
In John 11:1-44, Luke 7:11-16, Luke 8:52, and Matthew 9:18-25, Jesus demonstrates power to raise people from the
dead. Finally, in John 20: 1-17, Jesus
defies death itself. Funny thing about all
of the His supernatural miracles of Jesus is that the only one contested is “the
Resurrection”. Do not be afraid of death, even though we dread the process of
death, because Christ has power over death, conquered death (John 10:18), and
the power to raise it again. Jesus was crucified because He claimed to be God,
and in the resurrection He proved that He was. We do not serve a dead God.
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Why won’t
people accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? There is no other place to go
for salvation. The minute after we die, what’s going to happen to us? Where
will we go to spend eternity? Take the time to find Jesus and know Him more.
Trust in the Lord completely, changing everything about us from the inside out,
and be a light to the world. The greatest miracles that God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life (John 3:16).
In Christ, Brian
Friday, March 28, 2014
God’s Not Dead
Psalm 74:22-23 “Rise up, O God, and
defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all
day long. Do not ignore the clamor of your
adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.”
A week
ago, the newest Christian movie “God’s Not Dead” came to the “big screen”
across America and by the end of the opening weekend took in more than $8.5
million, with a fifth place in box office numbers while just playing in 780
theaters nation-wide. Why did so many go see this faith-based movie centered on
a College student defending his faith in God against a misuse of position and
power of his college professor in class in an attempt to destroy and silence
Christianity by attacking God, stating categorically that God does not exist as
fact. Sure, it has a great cast of stars of Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Willie
Robertson (Duck Dynasty), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark), Actor, Dancer, Singer Shane
Harper (Good Luck Charlie) and David A.R. White and excellent plot, tremendous character
development, outstanding side-stories, and brilliant humor elements, but people
see a real attack on America’s freedom of Religion issue here and that is
troubling to them. In a nation that defends Freedom, Liberty and Life of its people, where does
oppression, repress and suppression of those freedoms and liberty (especially
where In God We Trust” is our national motto) have a place? It’s un-American. This
movie doesn’t pretend that it isn’t happening in our colleges today, but takes
the issue head-on because, sadly, our students face the reality of these anti-God
professors in our institutions of higher learning daily. Opposing world-views
are expected, but intolerant exclusion and exclusivity is unacceptable. Philosophy is the study of general and
fundamental arguments, such as those connected with reality, existence,
knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. There are both Christian and
Non-Christian philosophers (past and present) and both side’s arguments should
be heard. Discussion, debates, questioning, presentation and defense of all world-view
truth-claims are supposed to be offered and welcomed, without embracing as
equal. Truth is not relative. That’s the point of the movie.
Jeremiah 22:16 “He defended the cause of the poor and
needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares
the Lord.”
In the movie, the College
freshman and devout Christian Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) correctly states from the
beginning that the existence God (who is Spirit and invisible) can neither be
proved or disproved because the “finite” man cannot define the “infinite” God. How
do you define “infinite”, “all-powerful”, “ever-present”, “all-knowing”, “Creator”?
Yet, the evidence is plainly seen around us in nature, supernaturally created …
the fingerprints of God. The natural cannot explain the Supernatural. But,
nature is not the issue; unbelief is. Atheism (the doctrine or belief that there
is no God) is, by definition, a religion that is contrary to the
belief in one God as the transcendent Creator and sovereign Ruler of the
universe. Kevin Sorbo,
the actor who plays the atheistic philosophy professor, said: “There's a negativity towards Christians in Hollywood and a
negativity towards people who believe in God. The silent majority is starting
to get annoyed with what’s going on,” the Christian actor continued. “I think
more people need to start speaking about it instead of just sitting there and
taking it.... It’s happening; you’re getting attacked; you need to stand up for
yourself and your beliefs.” Negativity is not what Christianity is about. God
is real, God is love, God is merciful and without a doubt “God is not dead”. Loving
God and loving your neighbor are the great Commandments of our Almighty Creator.
Silence about Him is not an option. I hope that you get a chance to go see and
support this superb movie. Here is the Website, so you can get more
information: http://godsnotdeadthemovie.com/.
God’s not dead; He is surely alive!
Philippians 1:4-8 “ In all my prayers for all
of you, I always pray with joy because
of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you
in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming
the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
In Christ, Brian
Thursday, March 27, 2014
The Word of God Endures Forever
John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
Continuing this
study in lesson four of Focus on the Family’s 12 part video series: “The Truth
Project”. There are so many foundational Christian issues presented for our
examination that splitting topics into separate posts for your consideration is
helpful for thinking and understanding. Some subjects are not pleasant because
they deal with the “evil” in this fallen world, but the purpose is for us to be
aware of both sides of issues involving “belief and unbelief” (the two
worldviews and the center of the cosmic battle), that we can beware of entities
and see where they are coming from, as we “speak the truth in love” of what we
believe and why we believe it, with the goal of setting the captive free in
Jesus Christ and making disciples of all nations as we advance the kingdom of
Heaven.
Revelation
19:11-13 “I saw heaven standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called
Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a
name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is
dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”
Dr. Del Tackett asks:
“Should we be surprised than that it is the knowledge
of God, the character of God and the Word of God that is under the fundamental
attack from the unholy trinity of the God-rejecting world-system, the fallen
sinful flesh desires of man, and the devil?” We are told by the Apostle Paul in
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “The weapons we fight with are not the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Attacks on God come in the forms of twisting, distorting
His nature or denying and ignoring His existence. Attacks on God’s Word come in
attempts to extinguish, suppress, discredit, destroy, dilute. deny or ignore
their truth, authority and message. Yet, it is the number one selling book in
the world. The claims to destroy Creator God and the Holy Bible have all
failed.
1 Peter 1:24-25 For, “All people are like
grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers
and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word
that was preached to you.
French philosopher, Voltaire
(François-Marie Arouet), said in 1776: “100 years from my day there will not be
a Bible in the earth except one (in a museum) that is looked upon by an
antiquarian curiosity seeker.” 100 years later Voltaire’s home was used as a
warehouse for the distribution of Bibles in Europe .
In 1778, Voltaire proclaim: “it took 12 men to start Christianity; one will
destroy it.” Voltaire died that same year.
Robert Green Ingersoll
(1833-1899) American politician and lecturer known for his adamant support of
scientific and humanistic rationalism, once held a Bible high and stated: “In
15 years I will have this book in the morgue.” 15 years later, Ingersoll was in
the morgue. A Pastor purchased Ingersoll’s desk and spent his life writing
sermons on it.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates
even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.”
Dr. Tackett tells
us, “Do not be surprised when the God-rejecting world attempts to rip away the
validity of the Word of God.” A world in slavery to sin doesn’t want to listen
to biblical truth of the Bible. A fallen world wants to do whatever they want,
whenever they want, and this Word of God stands in their way, not to mention
the just and holy Sovereign Lord God behind it all. It should be expected that anything contrary
to the word, will and way of God will be offensive to sinful man. The question
is, “Do we really believe the holy Scriptures to be the Word of God?” – written
by the Holy Spirit through inspired vessels of God. Then, “Do we trust Him and
His word?” What is being revealed to us? We have begun a life-long quest to
know Him and make Him known. May we hunger and thirst for the Word of God
resulting in us drawing nearer to God’s revelation to us and bring the light of
Truth to the world around us. This world is passing away, but the Word of God
endures forever.
In Christ, Brian
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Knowing What is Eternal Life?
John
17:1-3 Jesus spoke these words,
lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has
come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him
authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Continuing this study in
lesson four of Focus on the Family’s 12 part video series: “The Truth Project”.
Dr. Del Tackett explains that Jesus is not just the clinical
intellectual knowledge of God, but an intimate relationship. We are talking
about true relationship – the social order, the personal communion, and the
objective, real relationship that exists between God and man in heart, mind and
soul. Eternal life is bound up in our intimate relationship with Him. Jesus
spoke on this subject on many occasions: Luke
18:18-22, John 3:12-15, John 4:13-14, John 5:24 and 39-40, John
6:27, 54 and 58, and the opening verse above. Jesus is not demeaning the
Scriptures; He is stating that some stop there. Not clinical knowledge, but a
relationship is necessary.
Philippians
3:8-10 “What is more, I consider
everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them
garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that
which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes
from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to
know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming
like him in his death.”
Hosea 6:6 “For I delight in
loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God
rather than burnt offerings.”
Jeremiah
9:23-24 “Thus says the Lord, “Let
not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man
boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands
and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in
these things,” declares the Lord.
Dr. Del Tackett
explains what is meant in Deuteronomy
4:23-24 “So
watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a
graven image in the form of anything against which
the Lord your God has
commanded you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”,
that the Hebrew word for jealous is קַנָּא
, pronounced qanna.' What does it mean for God to be jealous? I thought
that jealousy was not a good thing. Yet, it is repeated in Zechariah
8:2 “Thus
says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous
for Zion , yes,
with great wrath I am jealous for her.”, and again in Exodus 34:14 “for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”God; El Qanna, has jealous
zeal arise when sin threatens the covenant relationship between Him and His
people. Do we show the same zeal towards our Father in Heaven?
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer longs
for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the
living God.” In gazing upon the face
of God Almighty, we not only begin to know Him, but also begin to know
ourselves. This is what truly transforms us, and it came through the word of
God.
In Christ, Brian
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Who is God?
John 17:1-3 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that
Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that
He should give eternal
life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Sticking
with Focus on the Family’s study of the Truth Project, we’ve moved from lesson
three on anthropology to lesson four on Theology, where Dr. Del Tackett tackles
the question of: “Who is God?” How does one define or describe God? The answer
is “We cannot completely.” It is like trying to define eternity, because God is
infinite. The amazing thing is that the omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent
(ever-present), Creator of the universe has chosen to reveal Himself to us.
Theology is the study of the existence, nature, and attributes of God. We are
all theologians, because study to know God and know Him more. The ultimate
source of all truth is the nature, character, being and attributes of God
Himself. Nothing that is true can contradict the Nature of God.
Deuteronomy 32:3-4 “For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and
without injustice; Righteous and upright is He."
The Westminster Confession of 1646
stated “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and
perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body parts, or passions,
immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy,
most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his
own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; … most loving,
gracious, merciful, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forging
iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and
who wiiby no means clear the guilty.” How does the world respond to the question: “Who is God?”
Not an easy question. It depends on which worldview you use to frame the
question. American Theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul states that the knowledge of God
has not been destroyed, but rather eclipsed in our day; in that God exists, but
metaphorically speaking, a shadow has been put over His face to attempt to stop
the light of God to shine upon us.
Colossians 2:2-3 “that
their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches
of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God,
both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.”
What keeps us from understanding that God is really
who He says He is? Our passion should be to remove the filters which hide who
He is – in our lives and in the lives of others. Our eternal life is bound up
in our intimate relationship with Him. Charles Spurgeon stated that the highest
science, the loftiest speculation, the
mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God is the
name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the existence of the great God
which they call their Father.” Let’s think on these things for now and pick up
here on the next post.
In
Christ, Brian
Friday, March 21, 2014
What is Evil? Part Two
Picking up in Focus on the Family's Truth Project lesson on "Evil".
If man’s moral state, without God, is basically
good, but evil is inherent in man, then where does evil come from? Secular
humanists believe that evil comes from something, but not man. Dr.
Tackett showed how the blame for evil in the world is given to mankind meeting
their material, physical and emotional needs. American Psychologist Abraham Maslow outlined his theory of a
hierarchy of needs, whereby people are motivated to reach man’s ultimate
objective in the highest level called self-actualization, because he believed
that “sick (evil) people are made by a sick culture”. Humanistic psychologist Carl
Rogers agreed with the main assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a
person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with
genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with
unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood).
He states that “experience leads me to believe that it is cultural influences,
which are the major factor in our evil behaviors.” Note, no mention of God. This is the pernicious lie that doesn’t go away, that all we need is to get in touch with your inner
nature by following our needs. No, the answer is not all about us getting
what we want, when we want. The truth is that you don’t need to find yourself,
but lose yourself. Don’t buy the lies.
Colossians 3:5-10 “Put to
death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You
used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you
must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy
language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have
taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
If
mankind is basically good, then that means we do not need a Savior or God.
Christianity stands in opposition to self-actualization. Romans 3:22-24 says: “Righteousness is given
through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by
Christ Jesus. What is evil? Maybe you’ve heard that as cold
is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light, evil is the
absence of God. I’ve also read before that evil is the presence of Satan
(possibly referring to John 8:44).
But evil basically is that which is contrary to God’s character and nature.
God, Himself, is the standard by which all that is good is measured by. Creator
God, who rightfully determines "right" from "wrong" by His perfect character and nature, is who we are accountable and responsible to. Fallen and rebellious man
must indoctrinate against and destroy God’s social design in order to do what
they want to do, wherever they want to do it. But we must remember that every
unbeliever is a (P.O.W.) prisoner of war, held captive by sin, and needs to be
set free by faith in Jesus. Not a single human being is worthless because they
bear the image of God. That’s what John 3:16 is about. What is evil? -
Something to get rid of by knowing and obeying God. It is the Truth that will set you and I free. The Gospel Truth is :Good News!"
In Christ, Brian
Thursday, March 20, 2014
What is Evil? Part One
This
lesson three of Focus on the Family’s “The Truth Project” examines the
questions of: “Who is man?” and “Who is God?”, because these two questions form
the foundation of one’s worldview. American Theologian Jonathon Edwards stated:
“Of all kinds of knowledge that we can ever obtain, the knowledge of God, and
the knowledge of ourselves, are the most important.” Professor Dr. Del Tackett speaks in our
Wednesday night Bible Study video series at our church, about the problem of
evil in the world. Everyone acknowledges that evil exists. What is it and where
did it come from? Why is there evil in the world? These are some of the most
popular questions posed to Christians today by secular society? Christianity
has answers this the question of “What is Evil?”, but if the question is passes
back upon the God-rejecting world, they come up empty, because if one excludes
Sovereign Creator God, they are left in a very difficult position in how to
answer these questions. The Word of God reveals the ultimate answers. God
created mankind as “dualistic” (both flesh and spirit), but secular man with a
Naturalistic philosophy sees themselves and life as “monistic” (purely
material), living within the closed universe of the “cosmic box” with no gods
or purposive forces, no foundation for ethics, no free will, no life after
death, and no meaning for life; just meeting man’s needs.
Romans 8:5-13 “Those
who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who
live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit
desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind
governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not
submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please
God. You,
however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the
realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ
is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of
sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in
you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore,
brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live
according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will
live.
I will post part two of this truth Project lesson notes and thoughts tomorrow.
Blessings, in Christ, Brian
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Man’s Essence
Romans 8:5-14 “Those
who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who
live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit
desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind
governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not
submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please
God. You,
however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the
realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ
is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of
sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in
you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore,
brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live
according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will
live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the
children of God.
Last
week, at our church’s Wednesday night Bible Study in the “Truth Project”, the
lesson was looking at the Apologetic of Anthropology in the primary Doctrine of
“Who is man?” and “Who is God?” Professor Dr. Del Tackett stated that the
answers to these two questions form the foundation of everyone’s worldview. In
the description of human essence, Dr. Tackett illustrates the states of man as
first being “innocent” - Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created
them.” Second, as “fallen” - Romans
5:12 “Therefore, just as sin
entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all people, because all sinned.” If mankind dies in this state of “fallen
in sin” then the result is “eternal damnation in Hell” forever - (a reality that,
if we grasp completely, will drive us to reach the lost in sin) - Revelation 20:13-15 “The sea gave up the dead that were in it,
and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was
judged according to what they had done. Then
death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was
not found written in the book of life was thrown into the
lake of fire.”
Revelation 21:3-7 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look!
God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be
his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear
from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He
who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said,
“Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He
said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To
the thirsty I will give water without cost from the
spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit
all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
The third state is “Redeemed in Christ” – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” When the “fallen” are “redeemed” by
saving faith in Jesus - the Savior of the world, then the result is
“glorification” in eternal life. Hallelujah – Praise God! Hear the voice of God
in His holy Word, depend upon the providence of God, and live in obedience to
the Lord.
Next post, we’ll explore the battle between dualistic and
monistic Philosophy in the Anthropology of life. It is what Dr. Tackett calls
the “cosmic battle” of the sin nature of man in constant conflict with God’s
Spirit.
In Christ, Brian
Monday, March 17, 2014
Captive Philosophy (Part Two)
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will.”
Hollow
and deceptive Philosophy takes us to depression, despondency, and despair
because godlessness is failing in their quest “inside-the-box” to find
universal truths. Postmodernism philosophy claims that there is no truth and
ultimately life itself has no purpose – playing a game of non-reality. You
simply cannot do that to the foundations, because “right is right and wrong is
wrong” – there are absolute and universal truths – and that is the fundamental
problem. When the truth of sovereign God and His Word is escorted out of life,
then “Might makes right”, meaning that power and strength establish the ruling authority
to follow inside the closed box. But God is ultimate truth and a lie is “wrong”,
because lying is counter to His very nature and character. What is your
worldview?
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we
all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the
Spirit of the Lord.”
What
do you believe is really real? Buy the lies inside the empty box and you will
conform to and go the ways of the God-rejecting world system that use deceptive
philosophy to captivate. Yet, our Father in Heaven transforms the heart and
sets the captive free. The Greek word for transformed is metamorphoō and is the same word used in Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9, when Jesus was
transfigured in His glory. What is behind the way that we act? We must be
transformed, believe and act for the next generation being held captive by
hollow and deceptive philosophy. The hard part of a believing metamorphosis is
the struggle within the chrysalis stage of the cocoon, our life transformation, our desire and decision for the
Lord that answers the questions of the soul and conforms us to His image, or we
can believe the same old things in the “cosmic box” that conforms us to their image.
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for
the Lord has anointed
me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will
be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who
mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s
anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel , he will
give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive
praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
In
Christ, Brian
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Captive Philosophy (Part One)
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental
spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
This last week’s mid-week Bible Study lesson in the
“Truth Project” was too jam-packed with thought-provoking Theological reality
that it is just going to take a couple posts to pack this box-full of teaching
from Professor Dr. Del Tackett from “Focus on the Family”, because nobody
really wants to be taken captive through empty and deceptive philosophy. What
is Philosophy? The Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English
Language defines Philosophy as “Literally, the love of wisdom. But in modern acceptation,
philosophy is a general term denoting an explanation of the reasons of things;
or an investigation of the causes of all phenomena both of mind and of matter.
When applied to any particular department of knowledge, it denotes the
collection of general laws or principles under which all the subordinate
phenomena or facts relating to that subject, are comprehended. Thus, that
branch of philosophy which treats of God is called theology; that which treats
of nature, is called physics or natural philosophy; that which treats of man is
called logic and ethics, or moral philosophy; that which treats of the mind is
called intellectual or mental philosophy, or metaphysics. The objects of
philosophy are to ascertain facts or truth, and the causes of things or their
phenomena; to enlarge our views of God and his works, and to render our
knowledge of both practically useful and subservient to human happiness. True
religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same principle.” American Theologian R.C. Sproul adds that Philosophy is the love
of wisdom to discover ultimate reality.
Psalm 78:7-8 “That they may set their hope in
God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious
generation, a generation that did not set
its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
Some questions were posed, in which the
intent is not to insult, but to get us to ponder and reflect upon for growing
and improving. Do we live like God is not there? Do you and I believe in the
Omnipresence of God - that God’s presence is with us? When men and women reject
God, humans don’t like to live in a vacuum, so add spirits into the “God is not
real” cosmic box. Thus we have false religions, spiritual naturalism, idealism,
materialism, empiricism, rationalism, determinism, relativism, mentalism,
mechanism, solipsism, subjectivism, intuitionism, hedonism, higher powers and
forces, et cetera for that which cannot be explained “inside-the-box”. We see
now that God is being left outside the definition of life because the sovereign
Creator of the Cosmos has been thrown outside the “cosmic cube” of deceptive
unbelief, yet we look for reality inside “an empty box”, for answers to the
universal questions of life. What is existence? What is thought, reason, and
knowledge? What is the meaning and purpose of life? The particulars of creation
and life fall into place when the universal truths are known.
So that this post doesn't get too long, and that we came take a day to absorb these deep thoughts on life, let's stop here and pick this lesson up right here tomorrow.
In Christ, Brian
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Outside the Box
2 Timothy
2:24-26 “A servant of the Lord
must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient
with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God
will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they
will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been
held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”
Our church’s Wednesday night
Bible Study is taking a tour though the ‘Focus on the Family’ 12 weeks of
lessons in the “Truth Project”. This last week, the lesson was looking at
Christian Philosophy and Ethics. The Professor Dr. Del Tackett points to the
opening Bible passage to state that our culture has been taken captive by the
devil’s traps. Proverb’s 23:7 says; “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
There is a formal and vital connection between our ideas about the
philosophical nature of the world and our understanding of right and wrong
behavior. When astronomer Carl Sagan launched "Cosmos," an epic 13-part TV
series, he stated: "The cosmos is
all that is, or ever was, or ever will be. Come with me. ", but this is deceptive language
and empty philosophy that equated to simply saying: “There is no God.”
Colossians
2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive
through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends
on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on
Christ.”
The warning from the Holy Scriptures to Believers is “Beware, because we
can be taken captive by lies. This form of knowledge is “assumptive language”
of truth claims, caught and bought without opinion, so that we will buy the lie.
With an unfounded assumption that there is nothing beyond matter, energy and
time gives a contemporary culture the picture that reality is a “closed box” – a
“cosmic cube” – in which there is no room for anything that cannot be sensually
or materially perceived. The problem is that with the lid of this cosmic box
closed with sovereign Creator God excluded, is that philosophy is deprived of a universal reference point
and thus crippled in its “scientific quest for reality.” As a result, it cannot
answer the most basic questions about right and wrong behavior. What does it
look like? The “nothing beyond star stuff” Cosmic cube implications are that
nothing exists outside the cube. The God-rejecting world system is looking for
answers to life’s questions inside the box of a cosmic cube, when the answers
are outside the box with God.
Romans
12:2 “Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will.”
In Christ, Brian
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