tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83087294927409865132024-03-13T16:56:52.274-07:00ThesaurosThesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.comBlogger1698125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-78671471521097241522014-08-11T11:24:00.001-07:002014-08-11T11:24:12.130-07:00<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So,
this is it. I'm all done. I have Stage 4 Bone and Prostate Cancer. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
my brothers and sisters in the Lord, I look forward to seeing you as
we celebrate with Jesus, the One before whom every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess that He and He alone is Lord of lords and King of
kings.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Stay
strong. Stay faithful.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">See
you there!</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rod
Holmgren</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-58581012219225304722014-04-04T08:41:00.003-07:002014-04-04T08:41:33.366-07:00<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am going to stop
blogging for awhile. I'm writing another book which is taking most of
my time and energy. I want to thank all those who have been
following as regular readers. When I'm back is TBA. </span></span></span>
</div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-90361138573496874442014-04-03T08:26:00.003-07:002014-04-03T08:26:56.473-07:00The Existence of God<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
existence of the universe is such a powerful proof of the existence
of God that only a fool could and would deny that fact. Most people
capable of reading and discerning are well aware of the multiple
levels of “proof” for the existence of God.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Bible presupposes the existence of God. “In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While
the First Cause does not automatically point to the God of the Bible,
with a little thought it quickly becomes apparent that it can be no
other. For example, there can be only one Greatest Conceivable Being.
This fact eliminates all religions that are not monotheistic. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
Bible teaches that God can be known through faith, the result of
which is a revelation from God to us about Himself. Even those fools
who purport to live by reason alone soon succumb to the need for
faith to support their own arguments. This is a result of the fall
in which sin limits our ability to rationally understand anything. </span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-26908259658040439342014-04-02T09:01:00.001-07:002014-04-02T09:01:45.085-07:00<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer
of St. Francis</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lord,
make me an instrument of The peace:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">where
there is hatred, let me sow love;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">where
there is injury, pardon’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">where
there is doubt, faith;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">where
there is despair, hope;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">where
there is darkness, light;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and
where there is sadness, joy</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">O
Divine Master,</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">grant
that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">to
be understood, as to understand</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">to
be loved as to love;</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">for
it is in giving that we receive,</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">it
is in pardoning that we are pardoned,</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">and
it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.</span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-12054269100598178572014-04-01T08:53:00.003-07:002014-04-01T08:54:22.506-07:00Atheists Will Tell You<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Atheists
will tell you that there isn't any war on Christians. Nevertheless,
twice as many Christians were killed in 2013 as in 2012.</span></div>
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 100%;">from
Open Doors USA in its report “World Watch.”</i>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-42189553441892171762014-03-31T09:18:00.000-07:002014-03-31T09:22:46.259-07:00No Worries!<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Jesus said, "Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;
or about your body, or what you will wear. Is not life more important
than food, and the body more important than clothes? But seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given
to you as well." Matthew 6:25,33.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">This
is a radical statement. So radical is this statement that not only do
atheists and pagans discount its veracity, many if not most of those
who claim to be followers of Jesus also live out their doubts. Yet we
have a guarantee of its trustworthiness. That guarantee is the
resurrection of Jesus.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
same power that brought the material universe into existence out of
literally nothing material, the same power that raised Jesus from the
dead, is the same power that will bring security and safety and meet
the needs of everyone who dies to self in order to follow their Lord
and Saviour.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
resurrection is a powerful message to the whole world. Within 2-3
centuries after Jesus rose from the dead, Christianity supplanted the
most compelling world-view of the time, the Greco / Roman philosophy of the time.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
resurrection is historical fact. It's certain and it's for you. The
resurrection was proof to the eyewitnesses, and it's proof to you
that you are not just dust in the wind. Creator God values you, His creation so much that He not only died to pay the penalty for <b>your sins</b>, He rose again to ensure the defeat of your greatest enemy - death.</span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-49248434913120481002014-03-28T08:38:00.002-07:002014-03-28T08:38:45.975-07:00Friday's Thoughts on Marriage<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">This
is number 14 in a weekly series I began on December 21</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">st/13 </sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">
with a post called, “Married Forever?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Christian
marriage is not lacking a supernatural element. As Paul highlights
and John 17 expands, a Biblical marriage is to pattern itself after
the union of the Trinity; a relationship between God the Father, God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit who live in perpetual love and sacrifice.
Jesus on the Cross, speaking words “not My own,” was an example
of this loving and sacrificial relationship.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
are created in God's image. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We were not created to live in our own
glory. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We were not created to worship ourselves. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Love the Lord you
God with all your strength, heart, soul and mind, AND love your
neighbour as yourself.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
we fail to serve God by loving others, by serving others, we fail live
out the nature with which we were created. Violating our nature leads
to misery and the breakdown of relationships. </span></span></span><br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Who
ever wants to save his life must lose it, but whoever loses his life
for My sake will find it.” If you seek life as this world
understands life, seeking self-protection above all else, you will find misery. If you seek Jesus and put Him
first in your life, in your relationships, in your marriage you will
have a full and abundant life.</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>More
on this next Friday</b></span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-54629931986967237322014-03-27T08:19:00.001-07:002014-03-27T08:19:17.735-07:00Go Tell Peter<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">What
I’m about to write strike so close to the heart that I can hardly
begin. Go tell Peter. “Let him know that I want him to be there.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You
know where that’s from? Mark 16:7. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
disciples had all deserted Jesus. Peter’s knee jerk reaction to
fight the Romans had been rebuked by Jesus and then, well, then, in
the face of a crucifixion, confused Peter denied even knowing Jesus
at all. And they scattered. Who knows to where? Hiding here. Skirting
down darkened allies there. Somehow, all but Thomas had gathered
again in the last place they’d been together with Jesus, the upper
room. Was it prearranged? Who knows? It must have been terribly
difficult. Losers and failures to a man. Each in his own way a
coward. And Peter. He had only done what most every one of us would
have done yet, betrayal is betrayal. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The worst kind of betrayal -
that of a friend. </b></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">And
what does Jesus do? He makes extra sure that the message gets to
Peter, “You’re not excluded. I want YOU to be part of My group. I
don’t care that you turned tail and ran. I want YOU back.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">O
God! How much love can You pour out on us? How much forgiveness can
You grant us?</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What
kind of a person would turn away from that great a love?</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-11032057697254973112014-03-26T10:24:00.001-07:002014-03-26T10:24:30.492-07:00God is Just<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">While followers of Jesus do good, not to gain salvation but because we have been saved, we
can know that our good deeds will be rewarded.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God
does not give to those whom He has saved, what they justly deserve -
eternity in hell. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
does give punishment to those who persist in evil because He is Just.
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
does give good for evil, because He is good. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
does give good for good because His grace and mercy endure forever. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
will never give punishment for good because He is not unjust. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
will give punishment for evil and He will give grace for evil to
those of His own pleasing. </span></span></span>
</div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-15120652910694001972014-03-25T13:12:00.001-07:002014-03-25T13:12:19.499-07:00The Human Will<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Are
we at the mercy of our chemicals exchanges? Are we driven by a
Selfish Gene? Do we have free will or are we robots?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According
to Jesus, neither the elect nor those destined for hell have had
their free wills removed. Rather the will of humans is either left in
its rebellious state or it is changed to a will that is predisposed
to accept the reality of Creator God. And whether we accept or reject the evidence for Creator God, our will is then
assisted toward one destination or the other. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
is God who converts bad wills into good ones. Both types of people,
within the context of who they are, choose this over that, this one
and not the other, evil or good depending on who God has made them.
Those who reject God truly believe they are somehow free because,
well, they are not under the spell of God. Wrong. Read Romans
9:22-23. Whether we are part of God’s family or part of those upon
whom God’s wrath remains, it is the doing of our Creator and it is
within that frameworks that our free will operates. The guilty cannot
complain because they are in fact, guilty and the forgiven cannot
brag because it is God who has chosen to forgive.</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-76416736115429443582014-03-24T10:01:00.001-07:002014-03-24T10:04:29.718-07:00Nothing Else Like It<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">“</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint. My heart
has turned to wax; it has melted away within Me. My strength is dried
up like a potsherd, and My tongue sticks to the roof of My mouth; you
lay Me in the dust of death. Dogs have surround Me; a band of evil
men has encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet. I can
count all My bones; people stare and gloat over Me.”</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus,
the Son of God placed Himself into the hands of men and we did our
absolute worst to Him. As the song says, “How can it be; that you
my King would die for me?” God, nailed to a Roman cross by the
humans He came to save from sin. The King of kings, Lord of lords,
Creator of the Universe gave His life for ours. Such was the love of
God for His creation, a creation that of its own free will turned
against the greatest love in the universe. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
in that process, Jesus, by the same power that brought us into
existence, defeated the great enemy of human-kind, death itself. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
the road to Emmaus, after His resurrection, Jesus spoke with two of
His disciples. “And beginning with Moses and the prophets Jesus
explained all that had been written about Him.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus
came in weakness to save those who admit they are weak; to those who
admit they need forgiveness. He laid down His life of His own
freewill, for us. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once you know the ending of the story, it is
impossible to read the Old Testament without seeing Jesus. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The resurrection of Jesus; there's nothing else like it! </span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-30917631679862994492014-03-21T08:56:00.000-07:002014-03-21T08:56:30.470-07:00Friday's Thoughts on Marriage<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">This
is number 13 in a weekly series I began on December 21</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">st/13 </sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">
with a post called, “Married Forever?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
title of this post could be called, “Squandered Love.” It is not
uncommon in marriage to see one or both partners disregard one of the
main tenets of, or one of the main definitions of “love,” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Real
love does not keep a record of wrongs.</b> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
remember working with a woman who was livid because her husband
didn't pray with her. Never mind that he wasn't even a Christian. In
her mind, a husband is the spiritual leader of the home and a
spiritual leader should pray with his wife for the family. As time
passed, she was able to nag him until he did pray with her from time
to time. She was happy for one week; until she realized that he
didn't pray with her all the time. Real love for another person
simply does not keep track of offence, whether the offence is
intended or otherwise. There is no need to keep track because real
love is simply doing good to another person; nothing more, nothing
less.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
many marriages I hear things like, “Yes he left me a nice card that
said nice things, but they're just words.” When I ask for further
explanation, the person relates that at some point in the past, the
“offender” had criticized or said unkind things. Therefore, in
this person's mind, any good that is now done is discounted as being
worthless. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What
a tragedy! </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We,
all of us have good days and bad. Some days we're able to act in
love, and other days we're self-obsessed. Some days we say mean
things and mean them, but other times we say kind things and mean
those as well. It is such a waste of opportunity, such a squandering
of the potential to be loved to push it away, to reject it, to lose
the chance to absorb love because of a desire to cling to the past.
This type of thinking is usually tied to depressive thinking; the all
or nothing thinking.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
If something went wrong this morning, the whole day is ruined.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
If I failed at this, I'm a failure.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
If she was angry at me for not taking out the garbage, she hates me.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
it's the same with God. God, our Creator clearly dislikes those
thoughts and behaviours that are destructive to ourselves and others.
He hates sin. Some people read our Creator's views on the sin in our
lives and completely ignore the fact that “All good things and
every perfect gift is from God.” They completely ignore the fact
that “If God did not withhold even God the Son, Jesus, from dying
to pay the penalty of our sins, there is not the slightest chance
that He will withhold anything good from us.”</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't
squander the offerings of love in your life. Grab them. Hold them.
Cherish them, and then freely give to others what you have freely
received.</span></span></span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 100%;">More
on this next Friday.</b>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-64106582470192680302014-03-20T08:33:00.000-07:002014-03-20T08:34:14.176-07:00Why No Unity?<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Many
a fool has pointed to disagreements in Church denominations and made
some claims as to disagreements equalling irrelevance or worse. First
of all, unity does not mean uniformity. Right from the beginning
there were different forms of worship. The unity that Jesus demands
is in worshipping Him as Creator and Saviour of the universe,
regardless of the form that worship takes.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
regardless of what people think, those who have been born again into
faith in Christ via the leading of God and the transforming power of
the Holy Spirit are one in Christ. In my opinion, the many different
denominations simply reflect the diverse nature of humans and the
dynamic power of Christianity. Jesus relates to all people in all
times in all cultures. The Bible appeals to different people in
different ways, and Jesus says that in heaven there will be people
from every language, race and tribe. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
the other hand, our fallen nature dictates that we see ourselves as
right and others less so. This is wrong, and atheists are correct to
criticize this fault in human nature, theirs included. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Paul
understood that peace and unity cannot exist apart from the truth of
the Gospel. To compromise the Gospel of truth would be to lose what
creates our unity and peace. When a decision must be made between
unity and truth, unity must yield to truth; for it is better to be
divided by truth than united by error. We test the church by truth,
not truth by the church. </span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-83933799952390207962014-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:002014-03-19T08:44:20.833-07:00Whatever Is, Is Okay<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Yesterday I asked one of our 13-year-olds (who functions at about a 5-year-old level), "Why does God love you?"</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">He thought for a bit and then said with a tone of wonder, "I don't know. He just does. And that makes me happy."</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">That
attitude is a sign that you have truly come to understand God's love
and working in your life. </span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">For myself, after 32 years of learning about and
revelling in my relationship with Jesus, I've come to know beyond a
shadow of doubt that because of God's love for me, whatever is, is
okay, i.e. whatever circumstance I face, it's going to be okay. </span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
sure sign that one does not know God is when h/her life is not going
as s/he wants, there is not just sorrow or worry, but a deep anger
and bitterness.</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-37817228159437176592014-03-18T08:52:00.002-07:002014-03-18T08:53:10.782-07:00Who Are We?<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Modern
secularists love to see present day humans as the pinnacle of
evolution. In reality, human nature has change not one iota since
Adam and Eve.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;">We
tend to have this idea of Neanderthals as these stereotypical cavemen
that must have been different from us because they're not around
today,” Riel-Salvatore said. “And what we’re seeing, in fact,
is that the more we look at the record of Neanderthals ... the more
their lifestyle appears to have been similar to those of modern
humans at more or less the same time.”</span><span style="color: black;"><i>
</i></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: #333333;">“</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;">The
big difference between them and us is shrinking by the day —
literally, at this point,” Riel-Salvatore said. “And so instead
of seeing them as this extinct offshoot on the human family tree, we
should think of them more as extinct cousins, fairly close relatives.</span>
</span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/neanderthal-caves-organized-as-pleasant-places-to-live-1.2483451">http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/neanderthal-caves-organized-as-pleasant-places-to-live-</a><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/neanderthal-caves-organized-as-pleasant-places-to-live-1.2483451">1.2483451</a>
</span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Regardless
of either option, monkey or man, Darwinists plead with us to believe
that we are nothing more than a mass of chemical exchanges and firing
neurons even as they, the atheists, display a whole range of personal
thoughts, emotions and pseudo arguments when their beliefs in this
area are challenged. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These
people look at the human abilities of self-reflection, art, medicine,
the enjoyment of music and say it comes from an illusory direction of
will. In fact, they say that self-will or freewill choice are also an
illusion. Even though the development of our vocabulary is enormous,
our grammar complex and our conversations deep and meaningful, it all
comes, say materialists, without purpose or meaning. These atheists
look at the human ability to codify language, our unbounded
creativity, selflessness, love, the exercising of our rational
faculties, our ability to develop an argument, follow a line of
logic, draw conclusions and frame hypotheses and call it the simple,
random and unguided firing of neurons. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our strong spirit of enquiry,
our research in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine and
physics while noteworthy for some, is nothing of lasting consequence
to an atheist, for all will, according to atheists comes to an absurd
and meaningless end. Yearn for meaning in life? It too is of no
lasting import. It’s the same illusion that causes us to devote so
much of our time to philosophy, theology and ethics. Or so the
materialist world-view claims. Atheists say that our religious
sentiments and practices and our intense and endless quest for
meaning can be traced to some random mutation eons ago. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The
concept of atheism forces us to say that it’s only the illusion of
the “I” that questions not only our origin but also our destiny.
It’s only the illusion of the “I” that has a refined aesthetic
sense that admires beauty and longs to be surrounded with it. When we
cultivate a garden, put flowers in a vase, or hang up a painting,
it’s the illusion of the “I” that is expressing a love of
beauty and a strong creative impulse. Our poetry, painting, dance,
drama and music, our weekly craft groups where baskets are woven,
wool is spun, shawls are knit, and photo albums are covered, all
this, says the ardent materialist, is carried out for no particular
reason save to follow the command of chemical exchanges. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Reason,
language, enquiry, wonder, longing, religion, morality, aesthetics,
creativity, imagination, aspiration and humour, to such intangible
but fundamental qualities, atheists like Bertrand Russel can only
respond, and in the total absence of proofs or evidence, yet driven
by a desperate desire to be free from all accountability to one’s
Creator, they hope that you will agree: </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“That man is the product of
causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that
his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and beliefs
are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no
fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve
an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the
ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday
brightness of human genius are destined to extinction . . . that the
whole temple of man’s achievement must inevitably be buried - all
these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain,
that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within
the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of
unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely
built.” </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The atheist’s philosophical and powerful emotional
reaction to the fact of a universe with a beginning and to the
impossibility of life arising unaided from non life shows that we are
far, far more than a mass of chemical exchanges, more than mere
thinking machines. Bottom line, we're a lot less simian than atheists
would like us to believe.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>From "Trolling for Atheists" Rod Holmgren</i></span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-56567179454625383582014-03-17T08:40:00.002-07:002014-03-17T08:40:48.940-07:00There's Nothing Like It – Anywhere!<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
resurrection of Jesus, that is. The resurrection is an amazing event
that changed history forever. It was an event that caused people to
worship a nobody from a dusty Roman outpost called Nazareth. It was
an event that caused people to be willing to die rather than deny
what they claimed to have seen.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">As
today with atheists, there were those back then who were deeply offended that human beings
could be so gullible as to believe that someone had come back to
life. A man known now as the apostle Paul, especially took exception
to the claim of several dozen people, that Jesus of Nazareth, who
had been crucified and buried, had then risen from the dead. So
offended was Paul that he tortured and killed followers of the risen
Christ in order to make them stop talking foolishness.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">And
then it happened.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.18cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Jesus,
the risen Jesus, stopped Paul in his tracks. Paul encountered the risen Jesus, and Paul was
forever changed. A man who already had a world-view and a powerful
religion changed them both, completely, because he met and was
changed by Jesus the Christ who was raised from the dead.</span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-64539406196239741082014-03-11T08:20:00.003-07:002014-03-11T08:20:33.544-07:00<blockquote style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then
the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident,
and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all
our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product
of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the
materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else. But if their
thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental
by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason
for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct
account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the
accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milk-jug should
give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was
upset.”</span></span></span></blockquote>
<div style="line-height: 0.64cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>C.S.
Lewis (1898–1963), The Business of Heaven, Fount Paperbacks, U.K.,
p. 97, 1984.</i></span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-65791030579037801922014-03-10T08:59:00.000-07:002014-03-10T09:02:16.733-07:00Atheists Fume Over Dalai Lama's Prayer<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
Dalai Lama apparently said a prayer in one of the Houses of
Government in the U.S, a few days ago. How dare that man bring
religion into the political sphere?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Actually
no. To the best of my knowledge, not a peep was heard from atheists regarding this prayer in the public sphere. It's only Christian prayers that are raged against by the fickle hearts of atheists. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However the prayer itself is of interest to me.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #282828;">"Speak
or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you like a shadow
that never leaves"</span> </span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Dalai
Lama</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That's
true of course. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The trick however is that according to Jesus, and any
casual observer of human nature, who we are as humans precludes our
ability to speak and act with a pure mind. So corrupt is human nature
that even the teaching of Jesus, the most sublime philosophy on
earth, becomes corrupted, leaving every generation shredded by those
who claim to follow Messiah Jesus. </span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-14221941646789080962014-03-07T07:25:00.003-08:002014-03-07T07:25:45.085-08:00Friday's Thoughts on Marriage<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">This
is number 12 in a weekly series I began on December 21</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">st/13 </sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">
with a post called, “Married Forever?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Self-centredness
will destroy your marriage! Does that surprise you? If it does you're
in more trouble than you imagined. A self-centred spouse will always
trigger resentment in the other spouse. What I mean is, the
self-centred behaviours of one spouse will ultimately trigger
self-centred behaviours in the other spouse. Self-centred is who we
are – Unless we allow Jesus to change us. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
problem of course is that a self-centred character is blind to its
own existence. What's more, our self-centred character is almost
allergic to the same characteristic in others, especially one's
partner. Our corrupt self-love triggers thoughts like, 'Why weren't
you thinking about me? You should have been thinking about what I
want. How could you not be thinking about me?' </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Only an obedient
relationship with Jesus can create an other-centred focus that
destroys self-pity.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Holy Spirit Who displays a giving and serving character will bring
about this type of maturity in you. Jesus' Spirit destroys pride and
brings about a humility that exudes generosity and deals with the
selfishness of others in a mature fashion. The Holy Spirit does not
keep score. As seen by the reaction of the world to the mere word
“submission,” it's easy to see that without the indwelling of the
Spirit, submission is impossible. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
your only source of love is from other people, what happens when
those people fail to love you? As the saying goes, “To what will
you look to for help if not to that which is stronger than yourself?”
The love that we need to give away in order to maintain and grow a
healthy marriage must come from a source greater than ourselves. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here
is a reality of life, You will not, and cannot find happiness until
you've placed your own happiness in submission to that of someone
else. Not just for today but as part of a commitment, <i>a life-long
commitment</i> to putting the well-being of at least one other person
(hopefully that of your spouse) ahead of your own. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Christian maturity
does this, not in order to get in return, but simply to give. Freely
we have received. Freely we are to give. This type of obedience to
Jesus, because of what He has done for you, cannot fail to provide
peace and contentment. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>More
on this next Friday.</b></span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-70510707569843485912014-03-06T07:43:00.003-08:002014-03-06T07:46:33.379-08:00It's Not Enough<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Don't
you ever wonder why it is that you long for something; for those
things that you don't yet have? And then you get it? And not long
after you get it you find that you're longing for something else?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Have
you figured out why that is?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">C.S.
Lewis did and so has every Christian on the planet. Lewis wrote, “If
I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world
can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for
another world.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
want and want and want, never seeming to understand that our deepest
desire cannot be filled by anything this life can give. We continue
to be unsatisfied after the new car, unsatisfied after the new love (I'm certain that 99.9% of love songs are written within two months or less of the start of the relationship),
unsatisfied after the promotion. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
things of this world cannot give you what your soul longs for the
most. And what your soul longs for the most is a healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus, your Creator.</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-81722855616804324872014-03-05T07:36:00.003-08:002014-03-05T07:37:18.421-08:00Rod Bell and satan<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">The
more famous “Red Letter Christians” making the Christian News
seem to have one thing in common. And it's not good. I'll use Rob
Bell as my example but they all share a similar outlook – with
satan -</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>satan
speaks three times:</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
Did God really say?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
You will not surely die</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
You will be <i>like</i> God</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rob
Bell et al. speak three times:</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
Did God really say?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
You will not surely die</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">.
You will be </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 100%;">with</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"> God </span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-28176392966127536342014-03-04T08:07:00.001-08:002014-03-04T08:11:34.537-08:00Peace!<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;">“</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Peace,
Man”</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Peace
out.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Peace
to ya.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's
coming back. The phrase that “my generation” made ubiquitous, is
now being repeated by my grandchildren. “Peace.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's
being said at a time in history, “when the third angel was given
power to remove peace from the earth.” <i>John's Revelation</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Where
is peace? How does one attain it? My generation thought, believed
even, that drug induced feelings of peace and love were the real
thing. Certainly they were more real than anything we'd found without
chemicals.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tragic
but true.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
then, for some of us, we met The Prince of Peace. The One whose
mission on planet earth entailed bringing Shalom. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">"Peace on earth to all those who please God." That line from Dr. Luke's biography of Jesus is oft repeated at Christmas. 'Peace on earth to all men . . .' Interesting how people almost always leave off the last and most critical part of the sentence - ' all men who please God.' And then they accuse Jesus of not bringing peace as promised.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By the grace of my Saviour I
know shalom. I have shalom, but personally, I don't understand it. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus
said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me.
Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart,
because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus
has done that for me and maybe that's why I don't understand it.
Finding peace, possessing shalom had nothing, absolutely nothing to
do with me. There was no effort on my part. It's a gift from Jesus to us.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Suddenly,
Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He
said." John 20:19 </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
one point I didn't have Jesus and I didn't have peace. And then,
Jesus had me and I had peace. It just happens. It just happens.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;">“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I
give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or
afraid. John 14:27</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">O,
and what a gift it is. There is none better.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't
miss Jesus' offer. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's
for you! </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;"><b>Jesus
died for you!</b></span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-85967411026147745762014-03-03T07:59:00.001-08:002014-03-03T08:01:48.390-08:00Into the Dark<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">I
can recall at least half a dozen countries this winter that experienced a million or more people without power due to seasonal
storms. That's a lot of physical discomfort. That's a lot of money
spent on recovery efforts.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You
think that's bad?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
any given time on this planet, there are several billion <i>more</i>
people living in spiritual darkness with a corresponding level of
misery and suffering as a result. Trillions of dollars in needless spending is required by our governments to deal with the
results of the behaviours that come from spiritual darkness. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trending
forward does not look encouraging. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Forty
years ago in North America roughly 80% of people said that Jesus was
important to them. Roughly 20% said that sports were important to
them. Today that figure is almost exactly reversed. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
we don't worship Jesus, we WILL worship something else.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Two Sundays ago was the Olympic Gold Medal Game in men's hockey. Canada
vs. Sweden. The day before the game I heard on TSN, “If Canada
wins, it'll be a great reason to get drunk Sunday morning.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now
there's something to live for (sarcasm). </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
important are mood altering chemicals to the lives of those who
reject Jesus, that the liquor laws were changed in Saskatchewan so
that Sports Bars could open at 5:00am Sunday morning so alcohol
lovers could congregate to watch this hockey game. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Priorities
of those who reject Jesus are profoundly disheartening. Jesus said,
“Where your treasure is, there you will give the greatest among of
time and energy and monetary resources.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some
day, everything you see will be in the dump, rusted, rotted, useless.
Yet those are the things that are important to those who live in
spiritual darkness.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Where
is your treasure?</span>Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-77939972057084963742014-02-28T07:40:00.000-08:002014-02-28T07:40:49.981-08:00Friday's Thoughts on Marriage<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">This
is number 11 in a weekly series I began on December 21</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">st/13 </sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">
with a post called, “Married Forever?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'd
done a post yesterday referencing the human tendency to name as
“love,” what is really nothing more than manipulation. That is,
we are sometimes intentionally “good” to someone in the midst of
a struggle, be it relational, or financial or addictions etc.. We
call tell ourselves that these good behaviours on our part are
motivated by love. The sticky part comes when, over the next few
months or years, the person in need fails to change or improve. In
that case many people become exasperated and pull the plug on what
was termed love. The point I'm trying to make is that when we pull
the plug, it wasn't love that was driving the “good” behaviours.
It was an attempt to manipulated someone into change. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
pattern is seen no less often in marriage. We start off treating our
spouses with kindness. We overlook their quirks – for awhile. In a
few years however, we begin to think, “If I have to live with that
behaviour for the rest of my life I'll go crazy.” And the quest to
change another human being begins.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
a Biblical marriage that's not all bad. A Biblical marriage is a
union of a man and a woman who have made a commitment before God to
“love” each other until the death of one of them ends the union.
In a Biblical marriage, this love entails submission to the other as
well as a servant's heart. Just as there can be a subtle twist on
love which is in reality manipulation, so too with serving one
another. In fact, in a marriage there can be a double twist on
serving. Here's what I mean.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
first twist is of course “serving” your spouse with the intent of
motivating change. This is simply another case of manipulation. The
second twist is more subtle. Most people know the parable of the Good
Samaritan. A Jewish man is beaten and robbed. Two religious Jewish
people see the man lying in the ditch and pass by on the other side
of the road. Each individually ignores the man's plight. Then a
“despised” Samaritan comes along and without hesitation he helps
the injured Jewish man recover from his injuries. He pays for his
medical care. He shows him true love. When discussing the parable, we
usually talk about those who help or refuse to help and see if we can
identify their lack of love in ourselves. Not often do we talk about
what it's like for the Jewish man to be helped, regardless of whether
it's by a Samaritan. Not often we we talk about our struggle with
allowing someone to serve us.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
marriage it's one thing to serve your spouse. It's quite another to
be served by your spouse. Secular people gnash their teeth in outrage
at the very thought of submitting to and serving one another. That
should not surprise. It's pride and corrupt self-love that keeps us
from wanting to serve, even the one we claim to love. However it's
also pride and corrupt self-love that bristles at the thought of
being served by our spouse.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
we serve someone else, when we do good for someone else, it puts us
in control. Our worldly (un loving) thinking senses that at some
level, helping someone else puts that person in our debt. That kind
of serving, like the pseudo love mentioned earlier in this post is
also manipulation. People with this mindset keep score regarding who
did what for whom. Men especially cringe at the thought of anyone
doing for them and this includes their wives. This is pride saying,
“I am not going to allow you to put me in your debt.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
thing is, in a Biblical marriage, there is no such thing as debt. We
serve Jesus by serving others – Period. Jesus gave His life for us
so we give our life for Him. In a Biblical marriage we live out the
Gospel in which there is no score keeping. Jesus freely loved us and
we are to freely love one another. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
a Gospel marriage we aren't loved or served because we deserve it.
Real love comes with no strings attached. Real love is gladly given.
Real love is gladly received. It's a wonderful thing to allow
yourself to be fully accepted, fully loved. In Biblical love we don't
earn our love. And again, as men, as the husband, as the spiritual
leader of the home, we take the lead in demonstrating servant
leadership. We model for our spouse and children grace and mercy and
love and kindness, patience and submission. We freely give love
because real love is patient and kind. Real love doesn't envy or
boast and it is not proud. It isn't rude or self-seeking. It isn't
easily angered and it doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Real love
doesn't delight in evil but takes joy in Truth. Real love always
protects, always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres. Real love
never fails.</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308729492740986513.post-53940124830800627142014-02-27T07:31:00.003-08:002014-02-27T12:59:57.551-08:00“I'm Done With Her”<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 100%;">Have
you ever heard something similar?</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Have
you felt something similar? </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've
lost count of how many people who have told me about trying to love
someone, a friend, an acquaintance, a family member who was
struggling in life. Perhaps it was drug addiction, or relationship
issues, or maybe trouble with honesty or the law. The person in
question may have had a mental illness or a personality disorder.
Regardless of what was causing the problem, the person in front of me
had resolved to demonstrate love to the troubled person. These
“helpers” were reaching out because they sensed that the
offensive person had never really experience proper love. The helpers
wanted to show the troubled person what it was like to be loved. The
helpers may have believed that demonstrating love was their real and
only motive. Circumstances proved the lie in that belief. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
scenario usually played out like this. Several months down the road,
perhaps even a year or two, the offensive person remained the same.
“The nerve,” thought the helper. “All that I've done for her
and she's still using dope, or she's still moving from one crappy man
to another.” In more cases than we'd like to think, the troubled
person even “used” the helper in some manner.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Can
you imagine? That's about the time that the helper says something
like, “I'm done with her.” Or him as the case may be. Were true
motives known, this result could have been predicted. You see, real
love never fails. Real love is not dependent on circumstance. When
these kind of relationships come to an end, it's always always always
because love was not the motivating factor in what the helper was
doing.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
helper wasn't loving the other person. The helper was manipulating.
The helper was doing something that was <b>calculated to change
another person</b> and when that didn't work, the helper decided to
withhold h/her fake love as punishment. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That's
why the fact that Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies,
before we even knew of His existence is so meaningful. God the Father
loved the world so much that He gave God the Son as a means of
forgiving our sins – no strings attached. The sacrifice was made.
The debt was paid. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Turn your allegiance toward Him in appreciation,
or reject Him out of pompous self-adoration. The choice is up to you.
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Regardless of your choice, God's love is the real deal.</span></span></span></div>
Thesauroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.com0