The upcoming primary and general election has brought a key question back to the forefront. What are we looking for in a president? That is an important question, but, in this blog, I would like to address another question that often goes overlooked. What are we not looking for in a president?
Anyone that runs for public office is fallen and has baggage. Even the best Christian representative is still in need of the grace and mercy of God. We must take that into account when we elect our officials; if we don't, then we are only setting ourselves up for disappointment and future apathy. No man will ever be perfect this side of death, and so we must not see any candidate as our potential Savior.
A politician is not our Messiah. He must govern with a righteous attitude, but he is not the King of kings and LORD of Lords. Only Christ is our Savior. He alone washes away sin. He alone laid down His life for His sheep who were enemies of God. No one else can do that.
Therefore, when we vote, we must consider what an official must possess, but we must also know who he is not.
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The King of Glory May Come In!
Christ is the King of Glory! He is the One Who has clean hands and a pure heart. He is the Suffering Servant who laid down His life for His sheep.
No other was capable of atoning for the sins of sinners, so let us be thankful that the LORD strong and mighty died upon a cross to set men free. May we never take for granted the burden that Christ lifted from His people: their sins.
No other was capable of atoning for the sins of sinners, so let us be thankful that the LORD strong and mighty died upon a cross to set men free. May we never take for granted the burden that Christ lifted from His people: their sins.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
More Than Luck: Consistency In Disciplining Your Children
Disciplining children can get old rather quickly, but it is a critical element of parenting. Though it may not seem to bear immediate fruit, you will notice changes over time Lord willing. For example, our oldest one is much quicker to obey than the younger ones, and both of the older ones can usually sit and behave in Church. Wow, aren't we lucky! No, it's called work!
The Scripture is adamant that we neither provoke our children to wrath nor exercise too much leniency. It does take time to discern when and how to be gracious, yet it can be done. For example, when the child is seriously ill, we are quick to be gracious, though not condoning any particular sin. However, when there is nothing provoking the child, the rod is always quick to its work.
Will my children be afraid of me if I use the paddle? No, if you do it right. It actually builds respect, and children are out playing and hugging again in just a few minutes after a spanking. It gets to the point quickly, and then the day goes on. Bottoms were made for sitting and spanking; that's why they're padded.
Therefore, love your children by disciplining them when it is needed, and, remember, delayed obedience is disobedience.
To Him be the glory! Amen!
The Scripture is adamant that we neither provoke our children to wrath nor exercise too much leniency. It does take time to discern when and how to be gracious, yet it can be done. For example, when the child is seriously ill, we are quick to be gracious, though not condoning any particular sin. However, when there is nothing provoking the child, the rod is always quick to its work.
Will my children be afraid of me if I use the paddle? No, if you do it right. It actually builds respect, and children are out playing and hugging again in just a few minutes after a spanking. It gets to the point quickly, and then the day goes on. Bottoms were made for sitting and spanking; that's why they're padded.
Therefore, love your children by disciplining them when it is needed, and, remember, delayed obedience is disobedience.
To Him be the glory! Amen!
Monday, December 19, 2011
In the New: Death of Christopher Hitchens
Prominent evolutionist Christopher Hitchens has died. He was an ardent anti-Christian, yet he was still a man made in the image of God. Though we do not endorse his message, we do mourn his unrepentant heart, unless there was a recent unknown conversion to Christ. Today is the day of salvation, and no man knows the number of his days. Let each man take heed, for our days our numbered as well.
It is always a sad commentary to see great intellect used for the ills of an evolutionary worldview, and Hitchens had a passion for the evolutionary worldview.
Ironically, every false worldview must steal from the Christian worldview in order to argue against it. How? The Christian worldview is the only worldview that possesses the preconditions for intelligibility. What is that? Preconditions are those conditions that come beforehand and intelligibility is the ability to make something meaningful and understandable.
The Triune God is the bedrock of meaning, knowledge, logic, ethics, etc. Apart from Him, there is no such thing as these concepts or even the concept of a concept; it would be an illusion at best, which itself is a concept. In this, we see that the non-Christian assumes the Biblical God and all that He accounts for in order to then argue against Him. Van Til once wrote that this is like a father who must put his child on his knee in order for the child to slap his father in the face. This is no different.
Man is totally depraved, and his suppression of the truth in unrighteousness is magnified by his unwillingness to submit to Him who is the foundation of all things, for man would rather die in unbelief, judgement, and inconsistency than surrender to God in Christ. What foolishness!
To Him be the glory! Amen!
It is always a sad commentary to see great intellect used for the ills of an evolutionary worldview, and Hitchens had a passion for the evolutionary worldview.
Ironically, every false worldview must steal from the Christian worldview in order to argue against it. How? The Christian worldview is the only worldview that possesses the preconditions for intelligibility. What is that? Preconditions are those conditions that come beforehand and intelligibility is the ability to make something meaningful and understandable.
The Triune God is the bedrock of meaning, knowledge, logic, ethics, etc. Apart from Him, there is no such thing as these concepts or even the concept of a concept; it would be an illusion at best, which itself is a concept. In this, we see that the non-Christian assumes the Biblical God and all that He accounts for in order to then argue against Him. Van Til once wrote that this is like a father who must put his child on his knee in order for the child to slap his father in the face. This is no different.
Man is totally depraved, and his suppression of the truth in unrighteousness is magnified by his unwillingness to submit to Him who is the foundation of all things, for man would rather die in unbelief, judgement, and inconsistency than surrender to God in Christ. What foolishness!
To Him be the glory! Amen!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Holiness of God In Evangelism and Lies That Breed Wolves
One of the greatest and most damning lies today is how
we evangelize the lost. We must not simply come up to people and ask
them if they have accepted Jesus into their hearts! For what Jesus did
they accept: the Hindu Jesus, the Buddhist Jesus, the Muslim Jesus, the
Mormon Jesus, the Jehovah's Witness Jesus, the Evolutionist Jesus, or
some other false god that enslaves men?
On the contrary, let us proclaim to men everywhere to repent of their sin and cast themselves upon the mercies of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, Who is King of kings and LORD of lords, and what He did on the cross for wretched sinners!
God is Holy, Holy, Holy! He is not an idol forged by the wicked hearts of men! Amen! Father, forgive us when we preach a gospel that caters to the sinful flesh, for that is no gospel at all! God does not compete against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; He is God Almighty and not a creation of man! Amen!
When men ask us how to be saved, we must tell them to repent, which is to turn from sin, and turn to Christ putting all of their trust in Him alone for salvation! When asked if someone is a Christian, many people say they are Christians because they said a sincere prayer a long time ago asking Jesus into their heart and then got baptized, yet they live like devils who chase after the vanities and myriads of idols of the world! That is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Father forgive us if we ever believe and preach such lies as that, lest we breed wolves who seek to destroy the sheep of God! O God, strike us down if we tell such lies! Amen!
When a man wants to know how he can be sure he is saved, we must do as Paul declared to Corinthians. We are to examine ourselves and see that we are in the faith lest we not be in the faith! A true believer will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as is written in Galatians 5:22, and those that see no fruit in their lives don't know God and shall be gathered and cast into the everlasting fire of eternal Hell!
We as mere men cannot declare a man to be saved, for only the Holy God of all creation knows the heart. All we can do is command men to repent as God has said in His Word and then tell them to examine their lives. A true believer loves God and hates his sin! A true believer, though he struggles and wars against the sinful flesh, wants Christ and nothing else! Amen!
I want Christ and to know Him more everyday! He who saved me from my sin and made me into a new creature is worthy of all my praise and worship and nothing else!
To Him be glory! Amen!
On the contrary, let us proclaim to men everywhere to repent of their sin and cast themselves upon the mercies of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, Who is King of kings and LORD of lords, and what He did on the cross for wretched sinners!
God is Holy, Holy, Holy! He is not an idol forged by the wicked hearts of men! Amen! Father, forgive us when we preach a gospel that caters to the sinful flesh, for that is no gospel at all! God does not compete against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; He is God Almighty and not a creation of man! Amen!
When men ask us how to be saved, we must tell them to repent, which is to turn from sin, and turn to Christ putting all of their trust in Him alone for salvation! When asked if someone is a Christian, many people say they are Christians because they said a sincere prayer a long time ago asking Jesus into their heart and then got baptized, yet they live like devils who chase after the vanities and myriads of idols of the world! That is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Father forgive us if we ever believe and preach such lies as that, lest we breed wolves who seek to destroy the sheep of God! O God, strike us down if we tell such lies! Amen!
When a man wants to know how he can be sure he is saved, we must do as Paul declared to Corinthians. We are to examine ourselves and see that we are in the faith lest we not be in the faith! A true believer will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as is written in Galatians 5:22, and those that see no fruit in their lives don't know God and shall be gathered and cast into the everlasting fire of eternal Hell!
We as mere men cannot declare a man to be saved, for only the Holy God of all creation knows the heart. All we can do is command men to repent as God has said in His Word and then tell them to examine their lives. A true believer loves God and hates his sin! A true believer, though he struggles and wars against the sinful flesh, wants Christ and nothing else! Amen!
I want Christ and to know Him more everyday! He who saved me from my sin and made me into a new creature is worthy of all my praise and worship and nothing else!
To Him be glory! Amen!
Monday, December 5, 2011
In The News: Currency Crises and Gold
The Euro, which was strong at one time has become increasingly weaker. This is in turn continues to send tremors through Europe and the rest of the world. As debt mounts in the world with very few nations willing to tighten the belt strap, there is no reason to suspect anything positive out of the Euro and many other fiat currencies in the long term. How should we think about this Biblically? Why have precious metals been on the rise, and why were they important in the Biblical world?
Fiat currencies, which are those currencies not bound to a commodity (especially that of precious metals), tend to inflate quickly over time. The government can print money at will in order to increase its purchasing and borrowing power, not to mention redistribute wealth. However, that devalues the currency and can make it worthless.
Currencies that have survived any amount of time are those bound to a precious metal or other strong commodity standard of some sort, though precious metals are the best long term because of their ability to withstand environmental elements like rust, rot, rats, mold, etc. For this reason, even those that have remained while going fiat, only go fiat for a short time and then return back to a precious metal standard.
For this reason, the patriarchs and the great kings of times past and present stored great volumes of precious metals. They hold their value long term because they have the intrinsic ability to outlive just about everything on earth. The primary concern is basically thieves, which is a concern with all commodities like food storage for that matter. However, food can spoil but precious metals hang around.
Precious metals may not increase wealth over time, but they do maintain it, which is something of great value when wealth is passed down from one generation to the next. It doesn't have to keep up with inflation because it rides parallel with it for the most part. That's not to say that its value doesn't fluctuate, but it does remain over decades, centuries and millennia.
Therefore, because having an asset like gold and silver is not condemned Biblically and is even considered the norm for maintaining wealth (not necessarily massive amounts but just any wealth), we should not condemn others as foolish for having it nor should we consider ourselves fools for possessing it. That doesn't mean we sell the farm and put everything in it because it does fluctuate. Rather, a diversified mentality is best. Even Solomon, who had an enormous amount of wealth in precious metals, also had vineyards, swords, shields, land, and, most of all, Divine Wisdom from the LORD.
Ultimately, any security in the world is illusory, which is why our hope must be in Christ not in the treasures of this life. We are to be good stewards of any material treasure, yet such is not our everlasting hope. That only comes in Christ.
Fiat currencies, which are those currencies not bound to a commodity (especially that of precious metals), tend to inflate quickly over time. The government can print money at will in order to increase its purchasing and borrowing power, not to mention redistribute wealth. However, that devalues the currency and can make it worthless.
Currencies that have survived any amount of time are those bound to a precious metal or other strong commodity standard of some sort, though precious metals are the best long term because of their ability to withstand environmental elements like rust, rot, rats, mold, etc. For this reason, even those that have remained while going fiat, only go fiat for a short time and then return back to a precious metal standard.
For this reason, the patriarchs and the great kings of times past and present stored great volumes of precious metals. They hold their value long term because they have the intrinsic ability to outlive just about everything on earth. The primary concern is basically thieves, which is a concern with all commodities like food storage for that matter. However, food can spoil but precious metals hang around.
Precious metals may not increase wealth over time, but they do maintain it, which is something of great value when wealth is passed down from one generation to the next. It doesn't have to keep up with inflation because it rides parallel with it for the most part. That's not to say that its value doesn't fluctuate, but it does remain over decades, centuries and millennia.
Therefore, because having an asset like gold and silver is not condemned Biblically and is even considered the norm for maintaining wealth (not necessarily massive amounts but just any wealth), we should not condemn others as foolish for having it nor should we consider ourselves fools for possessing it. That doesn't mean we sell the farm and put everything in it because it does fluctuate. Rather, a diversified mentality is best. Even Solomon, who had an enormous amount of wealth in precious metals, also had vineyards, swords, shields, land, and, most of all, Divine Wisdom from the LORD.
Ultimately, any security in the world is illusory, which is why our hope must be in Christ not in the treasures of this life. We are to be good stewards of any material treasure, yet such is not our everlasting hope. That only comes in Christ.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Better in a House of Mourning than Feasting
Every man faces death, and we tend to be cynical or insular. Neither are Biblical, which is what makes Homeward Bound by Edward Hartman so refreshing.
Hartman brings the reader face to face with death without diminishing one's responsibilities in this life. If we are not heavenly minded, we will value that which is fleeting today. We are to value this life and the blessings in it, but we must take care not to hold on too tightly to that which we cannot keep. We are stewards, and God will honor right stewardship, yet that must be understood in the face of eternity, whether beholding the glory of God in Christ or bearing His wrath in Hell.
I love how Hartman uses Ecclesiastes (a great treasure in my heart), for Solomon goes to great lengths to describe the vanity of life apart from God. It is better to be in a house of mourning than feasting because it forces us to come to grips with our own mortality. To insulate ourselves from the reality of death is foolish, for there will be Hell to pay for dismissing the Lord's admonition to the impenitent. This is why the gospel is so glorious. Those who repent and bow before Christ no longer fear death. On the contrary, they are ever preparing to behold the Lamb of Glory into the ages! Amen!
I have said this many times and it never gets old. My greatest desire is to behold the glory of God in Christ face to face for all eternity as I fall at his feet in worship. That focus always leads me to repentance, for I do not desire sin but detest it. Woe is me when I take my sin lightly and trample upon the grace of God!
Face your own death and embrace the Lord of Glory, He who is King of kings and Lord or lords! Amen! Amen!
Hartman brings the reader face to face with death without diminishing one's responsibilities in this life. If we are not heavenly minded, we will value that which is fleeting today. We are to value this life and the blessings in it, but we must take care not to hold on too tightly to that which we cannot keep. We are stewards, and God will honor right stewardship, yet that must be understood in the face of eternity, whether beholding the glory of God in Christ or bearing His wrath in Hell.
I love how Hartman uses Ecclesiastes (a great treasure in my heart), for Solomon goes to great lengths to describe the vanity of life apart from God. It is better to be in a house of mourning than feasting because it forces us to come to grips with our own mortality. To insulate ourselves from the reality of death is foolish, for there will be Hell to pay for dismissing the Lord's admonition to the impenitent. This is why the gospel is so glorious. Those who repent and bow before Christ no longer fear death. On the contrary, they are ever preparing to behold the Lamb of Glory into the ages! Amen!
I have said this many times and it never gets old. My greatest desire is to behold the glory of God in Christ face to face for all eternity as I fall at his feet in worship. That focus always leads me to repentance, for I do not desire sin but detest it. Woe is me when I take my sin lightly and trample upon the grace of God!
Face your own death and embrace the Lord of Glory, He who is King of kings and Lord or lords! Amen! Amen!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Government Can't Save You!
If you are looking to anything or anyone except Christ for salvation,
then you are deceiving yourself. Even confessing Christians continue to
seek salvation in something or someone else besides Christ. Among the
many idols that can draw us away from Christ, entitlement programs are
surely at the top of the list, with the government being the origin of
such benevolence.
The government is ordained by God do punish evildoers and maintain order in a society, but it cannot save the soul, and it definitely cannot create a utopia of some sort. Government cannot save because it is made up of sinful people that are at best instruments in the hands of the Almighty God.
Christ alone can bring salvation, ultimate justice, peace, joy, love, and prosperity. Such an absolute system will not occur in its fullness until Christ returns and imposes His right hand upon the world with wrath upon the wicked and gracious merciful love upon His sheep.
Therefore, cling to Christ, and do not put your ultimate hope in a politician or a political system.
To Him be the glory!
The government is ordained by God do punish evildoers and maintain order in a society, but it cannot save the soul, and it definitely cannot create a utopia of some sort. Government cannot save because it is made up of sinful people that are at best instruments in the hands of the Almighty God.
Christ alone can bring salvation, ultimate justice, peace, joy, love, and prosperity. Such an absolute system will not occur in its fullness until Christ returns and imposes His right hand upon the world with wrath upon the wicked and gracious merciful love upon His sheep.
Therefore, cling to Christ, and do not put your ultimate hope in a politician or a political system.
To Him be the glory!
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