Pastoral Musings

2 Cor 3:18
We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
KJV

Scripture is a revelation of God.  Theologians speak of it as a special revelation.  We are given a general revelation of God in nature.  Even within ourselves the knowledge of the existence and power of God are inherent (Rom 1:18-21).  This revelation is not enough to save us, however.  Neither is it enough to sanctify us.  We need a special revelation of God that will show us more of His character and His ways.  This is provided in His Word.

God has revealed Himself to us in His Word.  We are told that God appeared to Samuel by the Word of the LORD (1Sam 3:21), and revealed Himself to Samuel by His Word.  By coming to the Scriptures, studying, and meditating on them, we can be changed to be like Jesus.  Not only so, but it is the only pathway of true happiness.  We are told that by abiding in the Scriptures we shall be blessed (made happy) thereby (Jas 1:21-25).

Let us seek to come to the Scriptures more and more that we might learn more of the Lord and be changed into His glorious likeness.

Ben Witherington says:

“Human history is not merely a preordained play, played out perfectly to a pre-ordained script. On the contrary while there is a blue-print, or a general script, God has allowed, indeed invited us to make the drama like a night at the Improv, improvising our roles as we go, and making viable choices of moment and consequence along the way. Are we supposed to follow the general instructions in the script? Well yes, as they provide the boundaries beyond which we ought not to go and show us what character and kind of roles we should play. But of course we may fail to play our parts well, or indeed at all.”

How does he come to this conclusion?

“One of the more interesting sayings of Jesus with equally interesting theological implications is found in Mt. 18.18–” I tell you whatever you (i.e. Peter and the gang) bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The Greek here is straight forward, and the contrast between the present and future tenses have clear enough implications. One can point out of course the use of ean plus the subjunctive form of verbs, which with the future of the verb ‘to be’ in this case refers to a ‘future more probable’ condition, but the point remains the same. If the Evangelist, and/or Jesus before him had wanted to say “whatever is bound on earth, was already bound and determined in heaven” he could certainly have done so, first in Aramaic and then in a Greek rendering of the same. The fact is that Jesus here says the opposite…”

I believe in the sovereignty of God.  I believe in it much stronger than many that I know.  On the other hand, however, one cannot discount the fact that God exercises His sovereignty in such a manner as to allow men to make choices (which God does foreknow, but does not facilitate so as to render the choice of man effectually null), and He exercises His sovereignty in response to those choices.  This does not mean that God is not in control.  It does mean that God chooses to control things differently that you and I, who believe strongly in His sovereignty, would wish to acknowledge.

Just musing…

The blogmaster at Tithe Stewardship, And Church Tithing posts a news account of an elderly woman who received a letter stating that she would lose her church membership if she didn’t pay her tithes.

It seems that this sort of pseudo-journalism is his forte’. The aforementioned foolishness and sin is used to discount the teaching of tithing and to declare it is wrong. The issue is that this is not representative of all who teach tithing. In fact, it is a misrepresentation of most who do teach tithing.

I do not agree with a rule stating that one must tithe to be a member of a church. I do believe that tithing is required of Christians today.
None of us should judge a teaching or philosophy by its worst fruits, but rather by what it produces in general. For every tithing teacher who practices Simony there are many others who are humble and living simple, godly lives without pressuring people to give.

I’m sure the flames will start again, but I’m on vacation this week, so comments will not be accepted. Post your flames over here. I’m sure they will be glad to interact with you, since I’m out of town

Just musing….

Deut 8:3
He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
(KJV)

I am on vacation and have this post scheduled for Monday.

Lord willing, I will be away until Friday.

I wonder how many people take their Bibles on vacation.

I wonder how many people read and study their Bibles daily while at home.

We live in a time when Christians are anemic and very weak.  Perhaps we should remember wherein our life truly rests.  It is not in wealth or material things.  Neither is it in power, position, or prestige.

We must live by the Word of the Lord.  We must daily seek His face in His Word (2Cor 3:18).  We should crave it as a babe does milk (1Pet 2:1,2).

Let us recover a hunger, thirst, passion for God’s Word.  We’re dying without it.

The Pastor

“Let us assume the worst of the FLDS. Let us say, for the sake of argument, that it is true that they like giving several 15-year-old girls to one 50-year-old lecherous fiend. I quite agree that such action is reprehensible and if we were living in times where there was justice to be found in the magistracy I would support the State practicing the doctrine of interposition in order to involve itself in the situation. However, the times we are living in suggests that the last place we can look for justice, especially in foster care situations, is from the State. In the link that Carmon provided in her last post the evidence is amply provided for how disastrous the foster care system is in the state of Texas. To take these children from the FLDS parents and place them in the hands of the Texas foster care system is like rescuing souls from purgatory and transferring them to hell.”

Read the complete article here.

Not only did this CPS office abuse their power, but they were essentially let off the hook.

See it here.

Yet people say that I have warped ideas? Why is it warped not to trust a government that is corrupt at practically every level.

Just musing…

Read it here.

While the facts may never come out about the FLDS “church” and children, we do know that the Waco incident (also Ruby Ridge) was not as it appeared. Neither did the media and government spin cover up the fact that it was a violation of Posse Comitatus (which Mr. Bush has managed to do away with), and that Koresh’s followers seem to have been found guilty of nothing serious once all was said and done.

With the loss of freedoms that we see going on today one cannot but wonder if these things are simply a prelude to the eventual subjugation of all religious groups to the government. Oh, yeah, I know….a conspiracy theory. I can only say that people should wake up and see this world as it is…. a desperately wicked place with desperately wicked men at the wheel.

If you do not believe that something is going on, read the following:

From Worldnet Daily,

Another

The above brings to mind the “fruit of a poisonous tree.”

From The Wilderness

Act 2

Check the archives of Worldnet Daily

Where is the outrage?

Just musing…

For follow up, consider the fact that there is an attack in our nation against traditional, Christian faith and practice:

CA Wants to Outlaw Spanking

Christian photogs penalized for refusing ‘gay’ ceremony
State slams couple with $6,600 fine for violating anti-discrimination law

Be A Christian, Fail This Class

And….while many may not agree with the manner in which Marcavage approaches things, it is still sad to read about the following assaults on Christians:

1

2

3

Oh well, I’m sure that I’m still warped in the minds of many. The question is this: Why is it so hard to see that there is a pattern of abuses by our government?

Here

A Baptist Press article states:

The feminist movement was supposed to free women from being mere sex objects. But these collegians are pursuing this indignity. Women sought, and have attained, educational equality with men. But some have also adopted men’s baser behavior, made possible with widely available and fairly effective birth control. Today, college students across the nation inhabit a hook-up culture. No close relationship is required. The guy doesn’t even have to buy dinner. And this is supposed to build a young woman’s confidence?

In reality, Christianity is the only way women will ever be exalted to their rightful state.  The Word of God highly exalts women and frees them from being sex objects.  How sad that people reject that for their own foolish and vain philosophies.

Just musing…