Tag: Religion
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Vanity, Vexation & Victory
The book of Ecclesiastes seems to be the diatribe of a man who has taken wisdom and philosophy beyond the borders of most peoples’ thinking. Most people are vaguely and sometimes acutely aware of the vanities and vexations of life, but never pause to understand the whole system behind their suffering. Solomon underscores many different…
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The Promise, The Battle & The Wilderness
There are certain patterns in the Bible that repeat themselves enough that they should establish themselves with a certain degree of firmness in our minds. One of these patterns is the way in which God, His people and the enemy interact with the promises God makes. There are recurring themes with regard to God’s promises,…
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Being The Same Person In All Places
Hypocrisy is an insidious thing. The problem is, we are all naturally evil, but we all have an innate desire to appear good. With these paradoxical aspects of us so deeply entrenched, we can become hypocritical without even thinking about it. To deepen the complexity, let’s add the fact that most of our social circles…
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Imagination: A Good Servant And A Bad Master
Francis Bacon—an English statesman and philosopher, whose life touched the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—once wrote that “money is a great servant but a bad master.” Since that time, a few variations of the servant vs. master theme have been contrived and used by different people. One that I saw was applied to fire, another to…
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The Comforter
Throughout the Bible we see various descriptions and roles for the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Some are emphasized more than others depending on our denominational affiliation or personal experience. In the past century or so, there has been an increasing awareness of the fullness or baptism of the Holy Spirit—an outpouring that…
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Counting The Cost
There are contradicting views out there concerning the cost of following Jesus. Some say that everything spiritual we receive is free. Or rather what they probably mean is that it’s paid for by someone else. Others will tell you that following Jesus and receiving His benefits will cost you everything. Which is right?
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More Than We Ask Or Think
Most of us interact with people every day. At home, on the job, and in the public square. As we do so, it’s easy to become cynical because of all the shortcomings we see in those around us. And we can become discouraged because of the failures we see in ourselves. But the real tragedy…
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Biting The Hand That Feeds
In his natural state, man walks through life using the faculties and talents that are most readily available for his use in achieving his desires. Most never seem to pause and think of where their abilities come from or what they were intended for. As far as most seem to know, their abilities are happenstance,…
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The Lord Alone Will Be Exalted
So many people go through this life seeking accomplishment, honor and prestige. Everyone naturally wants to be someone. It’s in our DNA. But, some of us read the Bible and discover that temporal glory and wealth is vanity, and we supernaturally steer away from the extreme zeal the world has for these things. Ideally, we…
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Truth: An Anchor Or A Club?
In exploring the concept of truth and its function in our lives, I suppose we would do well to begin by defining it. Primarily, I understand truth to be a person and not just a concept. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life…” In saying this, He…
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I Won’t Surrender—Unless It’s To You
We’ve been taught to never give up, To fight the good fight every day. To never surrender, to hold our position And keep our eyes fixed on the Way. These are good precepts—great to remember, In times when we’re down and feel blue. I cry to the Lord when evil draws nigh: “I won’t surrender—unless…
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The Test Of Praise & Pleasure
Most of us have heard of God’s refining fire—mostly in the context of suffering and pain. Much of the testing we receive by fire certainly does produce suffering. That’s why we’re called to endure to the end. There would be no need to endure if all was beauty and ease.
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A Future & A Hope
The other day I was watching a debate between John Lennox and Peter Atkins on YouTube. Debates are not something I typically enjoy, but I find John interesting, so I indulged. John Lennox is a Christian apologist with a background in math and bioethics and Peter Atkins is an atheist with a background in Chemistry.
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Is Isolation Healthy?
Is isolation healthy? I know this sounds more like a psychological question than a religious one, but the Bible lends clues and directions in all facets of life. For example, if you read through the Gospels, you’ll see that Jesus frequently got away from the crowds and went off by Himself.
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Riches & The Cares Of The World
What do riches and the cares of the world have in common? Many would think that they are in diametric opposition to one another. When you have riches, worldly cares disappear. If you have worldly cares, riches are obviously absent. So goes the conventional wisdom. And there is truth to it—to an extent, but many…
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There But For The Grace Of God, Go I
I have always enjoyed reading older books for multiple reasons. In my opinion literary art peaked during the Victorian era. Writers used flowery poetic language that would be considered disruptive to narrative by modern masters of the art. But I love language, so it is no disruption to me, but a delight. Another thing I…
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The Power Of The Word
There are many negative views regarding the word of God that swirl around, searching for minds and hearts that are vulnerable and ripe to be turned against it. Some samplings of such views might go as follows: It’s outdated. How could a book this old possibly provide for the complexity and nuances of our modern…
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In Whom All The Families Of The Earth Are Blessed
As a Gentile, I need to remind myself from time to time what the foundations of my faith are and to whom I owe it. It is popular these days to view the Gospel as universal—and it is, in the sense that it is universally available to everyone. But the fact is, God chose a…
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Concern For Posterity
5 Isaiah then said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of armies,6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be…
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Secret Place Or Secret Sin?
The carnal man is one who by definition lives by the flesh and not by the Spirit. He is one who sees life with a darkened understanding. And he fulfills the desires of the flesh—that is to say he sins. There are some who do so flagrantly without the least vestiges of shame. Then there…
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Lightly Healing A Wound
In Jeremiah Chapter 8, the prophet lays out some strong condemnation and dire warnings for the kings, priests, prophets and people of Judah. And while most of what he says pertains directly to the way God was dealing with and will deal with the Jews, I found a little nugget in there that can be…
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Facing Rejection Like Jesus
Rejection is something all people face to varying degrees. And it can be one of the hardest issues to cope with depending on severity, frequency, and source. I faced a lot of rejection throughout childhood and adolescence—mostly from peers. And I spent a long time trying to make sense of how to deal with it.
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The Valley Of Humiliation
As 2019 drew to an end and 2020 was coming in, a lot of people made the remark that this would be a year of 20/20 vision. Most seemed to think this would be a positive thing—as in God giving us vision in our enterprises and endeavors. What I found, as we marched through a…
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Waiting For & Hastening
2 Peter 3:10-12 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people…
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The Snare Of Indecision
Have you ever been at a cross-road where making a Spirit-led decision seemed impossible? I’ve been there more times than I care to count. Romans 8:14 says that all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Many of us take this to heart and as sons, we wait to hear…
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The Lion & The Lamb
So many of us have a hard time finding a balanced perception of God. Or put another way, we struggle to find an all-encompassing view of Him. Some of this has to do with the finite nature of our minds grappling with the magnitude of an eternal God. A lot of it has to do…
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The Laodicean Church
In the book of Revelation we have an account of seven different churches, all of which Jesus sent a message to, by way of the Apostle John. Most of these had a mixture of good and bad reports, with affirmation for the good and a call to repentance for the bad. A few had only…
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Toiling With All His Energy
“By what authority are you doing these things?” This was a question posed to Jesus by the chief priests, scribes and elders as he taught and preached in the temple. (Luke 20:1-2) He refused to answer their question, but it’s obvious to we, who have the advantage of hindsight, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that…
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Before I Was Afflicted
Being afflicted is something people can’t seem to reconcile with a loving God these days. Why all the pain and suffering in this life if there is really a good God in charge of it all? If He can do anything why doesn’t He change circumstances? Why doesn’t He wave His hand and remove the…
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Youth & The Dawn Of Life
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for…
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The Work We Do
Something I’ve struggled with over the years is finding purpose. Everyone wants their life to count. To be meaningful. To have value. Taken to an extreme, this can cause Christians to endeavor, carnally, to do spiritual work. And it can cause believers to disdain work that seems mundane by nature. Both are the result of…
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Do Not Be Conformed To This World
Have you ever noticed that the world system in which we live, is a mold? In the same way molten metals are poured into a mold and are formed into the shape of it, so are the lives of the masses poured into the mold of the world. Most people who are poured into this…
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Where Is The Fear Of The Lord?
Where is the fear of the Lord? If we gaze across the global landscape, it is an obviously missing ingredient in the vast majority of influential societies. It is probably beyond coincidence that our world is in chaos right now. I think the two are very much connected. In times past, there have been great…
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Receiving A Hedge Of Protection
Often, I’ve thought of a hedge of protection as something God sovereignly gives to people for reasons not practical or traceable. I’ve thought the only thing you can really do practically to obtain a hedge, is to ask for it. Of course, it is true that asking for it helps greatly. Many times we have…
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Freedom
Note: this post was first published on this site October 25, 2017 Freedom—the human spirit longs for it; people steal for it, go broke for it, even murder for it…and then there are people who actually fight for it and find it. This may come off as a strange or mysterious way to describe this…
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A Few Shades Less Proud
I remember when I first discovered I was very proud. It was a shock. I had struggled with inferiority most of my life and I had no idea that pride and inferiority operate together quite well rather than working against one another as I had supposed. The opposite of pride is humility and meekness—not inferiority.…
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Finding Great Spoil
Psalms 119:162 I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. – ESV God’s Word becomes precious to His saints who use it as it is intended. Hopefully we don’t read it as some religious rite, or duty to get out of the way. Rather, we should seek it as life-giving spiritual nourishment…
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Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us?
Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” – ESV Two of the disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus when Jesus appeared to them. They didn’t recognize His physical appearance, but after…
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Shepherds Feeding Themselves
Jude is not a popular book by most standards. It’s short, and it uses its limited space to mostly put forth some very stern warnings and convictions. It lists many attributes of fake Christians having snuck into the ranks of those Jude was writing to. The one that stuck out to me is found in…
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Suppressing The Truth
At some point in my walk with the Lord, I had a revelation concerning the seriousness of suppressing the truth. It occurred to me that it is the ultimate form of self-righteousness and evil. Suppressing God’s truth is like saying to God, “Your version of reality is a lie. I’d rather construct my own universe…
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Deception & Revelation: Twin Towers
The age we find ourselves in is fraught with deception. There are more ideas and opinions than ever before. This is a natural outcome of the breakdown of long held traditions. At a glance this seems like a tragedy. Many people are led astray by false teachers and prophets. Chaos and strife become the order…
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In Him All Is Victory
We have heard many times that in Jesus is all victory. This is true, but I’d like to raise the bar a little higher by stating that in Jesus all is victory. Basically this means that not only is every victory we have, found in Jesus, but that if we abide in Jesus continually, all we…
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Fearfully And Wonderfully Made
Psalms 139:13-14 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
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He Is Not A God Of Confusion
1 Corinthians 14:32-33 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. –ESV How many times do we find ourselves in doubt—questioning the will of God, our motives and even the path we are on? In a sense, these questions can be good. A person…
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Dealing With The Curses Of Balak
I am going through a major transition in business right now. My partner and I had two businesses together. We have agreed to separate, with him taking one business and me taking the other on negotiated terms. I have sensed that God has orchestrated this. I believe He has led me to this place, but…
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God, My Compass
There are many things that guide people, that people essentially use as a compass. Money, relationships, entertainment and pleasures of all kinds. Or perhaps in many cases these things are more like treats dangled in front of us, leading us one step at a time to an unknown destination. In our natural state, we are…
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Do We Count It All Joy?
When we first started out on our journey of faith it might have come as a surprise to us that we were destined for hardship. The first few bumps we faced certainly did not inspire joy, and probably caused us to pause and evaluate. What did we sign up for? Is it worth the cost?…
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The Spirit Of Religion—And The Aftermath
I have come down hard on some of the movements in modern Religion in a few posts on this blog. Some of this has been reactionary, coming from my own experience in some of these movements which produced frustration within me and a cry for something better. Something authentic, lacking men’s agenda and filled with…
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