READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Define humanity: Arrogantly self-centered egotist. Courage demands thinking under pressure or in panic situations, and thinking demands calm. The more we live in fear, the more we live with intimidation. The reality of Bible doctrine confronts life. It is interesting that as children, we strive to please our parents. As adults, we strive to please God….
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Why does the creek search for the river and the river for the sea? Both are determined in two ways: 1) Direction and 2) the easy way. The easy way is for rivers and creeks, the hard way is for humanity. If we take a stroll, we only go half the distance – half our steps…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… The perceptive ability of the mind is not as critical as the content of the mind. If God’s Word of Truth does not fill the God-shaped void in the soul, falsehood will fill the soul instead. Remember, God’s perfect integrity is not impressed with anyone’s self-righteousness, nor with humanity’s integrity – He is impressed with how…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… One must know the difference between what God said… and what the clergy say He said. If I had a DE-vice (or anti-vice) it would be true, beautiful, and good, but I, like everyone else, have a vice that is deceitful, ugly, and evil. If I have a Savior, it is Christ. If I have righteousness,…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Meditation is private soliloquy… thought in private solitude. Meditation can divorce us from the external world while we search or contemplate the abstract or certain concepts. For example: God is perceivable and conceivable based on certain evidence that defy any other explanation. Therefore, faith makes God appear to be real, whereas empiricism, even intellect, utterly rejects…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Iron is resistant, man is stubborn. A Gospel that is not the same for everybody is not salvation for anybody, it is ruination. It is the laws of divine establishment, which impose moral restraint, which governs social order. We have our being in God – there is no being/existence worth living apart from God. Truth and…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Fear weeps – Faith smiles. Because we know the Creator, we can pursue life optimistically in the devil’s world. Final reality is not by chance, it is by design. Tyranny established for the good of all makes all into victims. The collision course of good and evil shall remain inevitable as long as there are those who…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Christ propitiated the Father for you and for me (satisfied His justice). The grace of God depends on the works of Christ on the cross. This salvation does not depend on the merit a person achieves by doing something worthwhile. Salvation is a gift from God because Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on Calvary (Reference…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… I read a true story once about a forest fire in Yellowstone Park. Forest Rangers, after the fire, were ascending a mountain to assess damage to the forest. One of the Rangers noticed what looked like a bird petrified in ashes, perched on the ground at the base of a large tree. The Ranger touched the…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… TRUTH: Truth is incomparable. Each of us must learn to live the truth – let us begin by speaking it and learning it. The deviation from truth is a journey of regret. Truth is priceless and self-sustained – truth is self-evident. We exist in untruth – truth is a constant reminder; pay attention to truth –…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… The uniqueness and depravity of human self-hood – the nature of humanity. The amazing thing about destiny is when two separate and unique lives, by chance (or is it?), come together. One fulfills, one completes – creating one life, stronger and more beautiful than if they had remained unknown and alone. Humans are unique to all…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… It is imperative to stay near the Lord, stay in the Word, and remain occupied with Christ, without discipline or with discipline. When you learn to stay near the Lord without discipline, then God will bless you without discipline. Either way, God blesses you – always with love and mercy, always with kindness and patience, always…
READ, PROCESS, LINGER… Life has reason, which reason does not know. The mills of faith grind slowly but surely; they grind exceedingly fine when mixed with Biblical Truths. To mature is to learn discipline, respect, control, and tolerance for the lack of same in others. The journey begins with the breath of soul-life, and ends with its removal. Yesterday…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Intellect wants to receive glory, to be the God it denies. So intellect is a spiritual battle between unregenerate humanity and God, leaving God out of the equation. Whisper, wonder, and wind – perhaps akin. Wisdom is both knowledge and discernment – the exercise of judgment – as opposed to folly, yet there is wisdom in…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Jesus Christ became incarnate to save us… so that truth can become incarnate through us to a lost and dying world. We are the living truths of God. The best apologists of Christ are those who demonstrate His life outwardly to the world. Regardless of what happens to you or to me, history is written before…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Old age finds and delivers weak hands and feeble knees. The Lord God numbered all the generations of man, from the very beginning to the very end. “I, the Lord, the First and the Last, I AM that I AM.” The Lord blots out our transgressions, or the Lord blots out our names (Isaiah 44:22 and…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Knowing how trivial we are, how depraved, should keep us humble in the pursuits of life. Just as the bud of a flower injured by the frost will not open, so too a child or person injured without encouragement or warm praises of affirmation may not open themselves to the world outside themselves. Retreat into oneself is…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Before the cross became the symbol of Christianity, it was used to mark graves. It is interesting that the cross of torture, suffering, and shame became a symbol of hope and faith and honor. The cross of death is the symbol of eternal life. The vertical beam points to Heaven, to a Holy God. The horizontal…
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… What we see around us is the evidence of God’s existence. Try to think of something that doesn’t exist. What did you come up with? Honestly, you can come up with nothing. So, this is how we know that God must exist, because we can conceive of Him. Incarnation Time is a creative extension of God….
READ, LINGER, PROCESS… Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. No need to. God is the street light, the city light, the heavenly light – God is light. Look out for number one, Make your own rules, Win at all costs, Nice guys finish last, The power is within you, blah, blah, blah, ad nauseum… These clichés certainly expressed the…