How Important Is Your Worldview To Solve Everyday Problems?

"The only worldview that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."--Athanasius
"Christ is the centre of Christianity; all else is circumference."--John Stott
"If I want to know how to live in reality, I must know what God is really like."--Plato

Theology has been called the Queen of sciences, and Christianity is the Mother of modern science because its worldview has shaped Western Civilization; the point is that if there is a God who judges, creates, rules, legislates, and loves, then this is the most important study, but if there is no God, all religion and theology is a waste of time and irrelevant. Thus, the first major question of whether there is a God is posed by A. W. Tozer, who says, "What we think about God is the most important thing about us."

We are all on a great quest for certainty, dignity, purpose, fulfillment, and meaning in life, and this is where our worldview comes into play. But note: Only in Christianity is man's diagnosis sin, and solved (salvation) via God's grace through an act of faith in Christ--Christianity is unique in contrast to all religions in this perspective of man. We must be forewarned that today's society has become highly pluralistic and isn't a melting pot anymore, but multicultural, many believe no religion can be true, but all are equally valid, contradictions are fully acceptable, and therefore we must tolerate every faith, and live and let live.

There are a plethora of worldviews or "isms" out there in academia and religious establishments, and one eventually must fly the colors of one or the other, choosing one that suits his fancy, as it were--they cannot be avoided! But one should never choose a worldview that just makes him feel at ease and comfortable, that he has no objections to or cannot be controversial--the truth can be stranger than fiction and our imagination. Sometimes the truth hurts and causes a sword to be drawn, even dividing families because of their convictions.

Our ethics and morals are determined by our worldview too, and what we think we can get away with. If you don't believe in ultimate justice, you might tend to desire to take the law into your own hands, and won't limit your revenge to the eye-for-an-eye principle. To get more concrete, believing in hell is an uncomfortable proposition, but Christians affirm this, despite the rejection by other worldviews. We don't just believe to be safe and not to offend people, sometimes we must be willing to pay the price for what we believe, even willing to die for our convictions (not opinions, though). If you aren't willing to die for your faith, you probably don't have one worth believing or living.

The chief reason academics affirm the theory of evolution is fear of rejection by their peers and possibly losing the tenure of their professorship. Evolution offers answers without God in the metric!  They say evolution is a "time-honored, scientific tenet of faith," yes faith! Peer pressure is a prime motivator for some people. We all, including scientists, make decisions based on reason (it seems rational); emotions (it feels right); culture (everyone is doing it); and even tradition (we've always done it).

We don't necessarily discount these factors, but must put them in their place and perspective: Tradition must bow to conviction and be concordant with Scripture; culture must be Christ-centered and have values consistent with it; our reason must be valid and defensible in the public marketplace of ideas, and our emotions must not rule our thinking, but the result of our faith and will, not its slave. We must stand up for the truth and fly our Christian colors!

The major worldviews, mostly Secularism, Islam, Marxism, Postmodernism, New Age, and, of course, Christianity are all in contradistinction, except that they all (except Christianity) agree that Christianity is dangerous and evil and must be debunked and not even tolerated. Marxists say, "God does not, cannot, and must not exist"--Secularists will not let a Divine Foot in the door! Their goal is to kick Christ out of the open square, the classroom, and all of academia! The reason for all this is that Satan is the author of them all except the true one of Christianity, for he is the author of confusion and no truth is in him.

The most dangerous factor is that there is just enough truth to deceive and allure the weak and naive and to inoculate them from the real thing (knowing Jesus). The prevalent idea of truth is that it's only relative and there is no absolute and universal truth to aspire to.

Most secular worldviews dodge the no-truth bullet and take values, morals, ethics, creation, and all this entails as a given, without any plausible explanation! Only those of the truth hear the truth and Christ's voice of reason (cf. John 18:37) and those who "reject the truth" are the unredeemed (cf. Rom. 2:8). They tell you in school that you can know nothing for certain, and they are certain of that--this has no truth value!

We must experience Jesus personally to know He is good and will guide us into all truth through the Holy Spirit's ministry (cf. John 16:13; 1 Pet. 1:2). Many people rule out the Christian worldview without a fair appraisal and have presumed there is no God from the get-go, and have therefore concluded that evolution (the building-block of Secularism) is a valid theory, despite that fact that evidence is hard to come by and there is no fossil evidence of missing and transitional links to prove it. It is unproven and cannot be proved, since one-time historical events, such as creation, are outside the province of scientific empiricism. History and therefore creation are unrepeatable events.

We can thank the Founding Fathers for having a Christian worldview, even though most weren't professing believers, and we should be concerned that other worldviews are ascending the stage in our nation, even forcing out the God-oriented-and-focused one. For instance, be glad, that we have rights because we are in the image of God, as foreseen by our Forefathers, and human life has dignity. We have inherited these views, but they are under assault and must be defended.

The Christian worldview outshines all others and provides answers that others are at a loss to solve. But secularists are prejudiced and will believe anything as long as God is not in the picture and they can make up their moral code and compass and live by their own rule of faith, being free from the constraints and limits of the Christian faith, which might be too high a price to pay.

Christ promised that the truth will set us free (cf. John 8:32) and it turns out that He is the Answerer and we are illuminated by the Holy Spirit as we accept Christ by faith and God shows us the way to live (hence the faith was referred to originally as The Way). If someone doesn't know Christ or is naive, he is susceptible to erroneous worldviews and becomes drawn into their net, because he doesn't have the answers, is ill-prepared to defend his faith, and may not even know what he believes!

It is not necessary to examine every worldview, or find a guru, to choose the correct one! Christ can open a person's eyes and show the way, the truth, and the life to set him free. All religions are basically the same and man essentially believes he is good and can work his way to heaven or God, and can please or ingratiate God on his own; if one assesses the depravity of man in the Bible, it teaches contrariwise and shows us depraved, inherently and evil--only able to sin, or unable not to sin, needing redemption and salvation (for sin is the problem, not being unenlightened).

Only Christianity speaks of a Savior and a God who rescues us from ourselves, sin, Satan, death, and hell. In contradistinction to all religions, Christianity says, "Tetelestai," "Done," or fait accompli ("it is finished," or "Paid in Full" or it's a Done Deal); religion all says, "Do." The whole point of religion is lifting ourselves by our bootstraps and it's all a "do-it-yourself" proposition, while Christianity is what God does for us.

Thus there is a common thread throughout all "isms" except Christianity, and for this reason, we can eliminate all the competition as being fallacious and a lie from Satan. There's a caveat: There's a war of "isms" out in the real world or the secular world that doesn't know Christ, and ideas have consequences--it does matter what we believe!

Each worldview tends to answer the ultimate questions and dilemmas of mankind: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Is there such a thing as right and wrong and are we responsible and culpable? Is there a God? Each worldview attempts to "save" mankind in some manner of religious activity, (you don't have to be a member of a religion to be religious or exhibit religiosity). The most perplexing problems are whether life is worth living and whether there is meaning to life, besides basic hormones and instincts.

Religions are wholly inadequate in their solutions and come up short in explaining reality--they escape from it and avoid it. People want to believe they can be good without God, thus justifying themselves (the basis of Secular-Humanism) and that God is irrelevant, if He does exist, and cannot help us--we must save ourselves!

However, man will not admit he needs God and is a sinner by nature, by choice, and by birth without intervening wooing and conviction of the Holy Spirit--this is what's wrong with man! The all-encompassing question that must be answered is this: How then shall we live? Man is a religious being and "will worship something" (Dostoevsky), if not God, for man is hard-wired for worship, thus denying God is the epitome of wrong living and all of society suffers the result.

We don't have to be able to prove everything we believe to believe in Christ or accept Him by faith, and being a believer doesn't mean one has all the answers, because faith is a continuum of doubt from skepticism to certitude, but experience in Christ is designed to satisfy the soul's hunger for the truth and gives true peace with God, others, and ourselves. We just go ahead and believe and become Christians despite our doubts and questions can believe anyway, and are rewarded by the experience of Christ in our hearts, which cannot be denied, but can only be known first-hand, not second-hand (but we must take the leap of faith).

The error we must avoid is to cast only Christians as people of faith because Secular-Humanism is a faith and a declared religion too--they place their faith, even betting the farm on it, that science has the answer and will solve our problems eventually. Faith in science is still faith! It's not a matter of faith versus reason, but which set of presuppositions you accept as your starting point, i.e., is there a God? There are consequences of living in the here and now and not in light of eternity, to live for pleasure and self--and only Christianity rescues man from this plight.

We must realize our Christian faith is relevant to all of life, and every major academic discipline is rooted in the Bible there is no such thing as a secular versus a sacred area of academics, but Christ is the basis for all truth, for all truth is God's truth (Augustine) and meets at the top (Aquinas). God wants us to get our thinking in line with Scripture and to cast down every imagination of man that opposes the truth (cf. 2 Cor. 10:4-5). Romans 12:2 exhorts us to "renew our minds" in the image of Christ (think clearly with a divine viewpoint); get your thinking straightened out!

The building block of Secularism is evolution, and we deny that it changes the narrative. The Bible sheds light on the truth that we are created in God's image by a loving Creator who has provided redemption through Christ. In the final analysis, we must wonder whether our faith is not only valid, and supplies the appropriate answers, but whether it's worthy of our faith, not just that it works, for even yoga works--just being rational is no reason per se either--Christianity has a rationale, is defensible, a rational, but it's not rationalism. Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Problem With Christianity?

 "'What's wrong with the world?' I am, yours truly.  G. K. Chesterton." 

The biggest objections to Christianity are that it seems to be "pie in the sky," that the morals are too high, and that it is undermined by science.  I don't talk about a life that only Christ lived and we can only hope to live and that everyone is a hypocrite who claims to live the Christian life. Well, this is true the Christian life is not hard it is not difficult, it is impossible and we have these ideals that we all fall short of. How to strive for perfection but we will never achieve it we just drive our holiness but we will never achieve it whereas strive for good work but we will never do enough alright let's realize that the Christian life is all about grace but God has done for us not what we can do for God. 

To answer the question of the title of this post the problem with Christianity is Christians don't live up to their ideals or the standards of the Christian life you know they are impossible for anyone. They compare us to Christ. Christian history is littered with bad deeds and evil and as a dark history and a dark side, we must explain to people that as a church has grown and learned more truth as time has passed the problem with Christians is not Christ it is Christians we do not actually believe in we do not turn our creeds into deeds.  It is said that Gandhi said he would have become a Christian but he never met one.  

We should not misplace our hope and think that we can satisfy ourselves with things of this world and hope and love the things of the world rather than the things of God let's realize that Jesus himself is our hope and have constant expectancy that he will come again to save us from our hopeless world. This world is doomed, yes, it is and we must realize that Christ will come and bring about a new world. This world is not headed towards utopia but dystopia.   God alone will save it too many people Christians even think that they can bring about or usher in the Second Coming of Christ or the Second Advent or the Millennial Kingdom for that matter this is all wrong in bogus because only Christ can do that and we must live and keep our own business and do our business until Christ comes I just hope that he will bring about his will and his own good timing and timetable in the fullness of time he will come

Christianity is not pie in the sky it is very realistic though it inspires idealism, and God rewards his believers for good deeds that they do with future rewards and future responsibility in heaven because they have proved themselves faithful servants. We're not to strive for success necessarily but faithfulness and obedience, which will be rewarded by God's response for success, not us. So we are not called to success but we are called to serve the Lord faithfully and let him bless us as he sees fit the world has had much misplaced hope we've had many people who claim to be the ones who can fix it all actually false messiahs and Antichrist and figures in history with conquered much territory but none of the hearts of people. 

Jesus has a kingdom bigger than anyone else ever has achieved but he has not done it by the sword but by the act and power of love itself he is the Emperor of love in other words. the kingdom of God is within you as Jesus said with realize that is a kingdom of hearts and a kingdom of love was caught as love conquers all. Is our hope because he becomes real to us and lives within our hearts making us realize that we can bring others to Christ no matter who we are and what we do.

You probably have your own sins not just certain sins or our pet sins but sin itself or sin nature we have a tendency to sin and we cannot do good except with God's grace. We are not inherently good but inherently evil in God's eyes we all fall short we all are totally depraved in that all of our hearts souls minds and bodies are affected by sin even our willpower is affected by sin we have free will but we choose evil so our free will is a curse. We can only choose Christ by the power and God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ opens our hearts to kindle faith within us.

Even many Christians have so-called misplaced hope. Was built upon Christ only as it says we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We must not put our faith in the church or in our leaders in our Bible in our family in any institution at all or in any great revelation that we personally have but our faith must be in the person and work of Jesus Christ itself that is the only sure anchor and hope or so. There's only one Savior the church does not save and we cannot save ourselves no matter what we come up with any ideas or revelations we cannot invent ourselves or reinvent ourselves to become saved or worthy of salvation.

We must come as we are and let God change us to be the kind of person he wants us to become and not stay the way we were!   No matter how many great works, we achieve what we accomplish in life does not make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven what is faith in Christ which is nonmeritorious and the gift of God. So that no one build a boast in God's presence I was on wisdom or works. God's not looking for our achievements anyway he's looking for our obedience to the gospel that is. Soli Deo Gloria!

Is There Freedom From The Mosaic Law

 The concept of freedom from the Mosaic law is a topic of theological and philosophical debate within various religious traditions. The Mosaic law, also known as the Law of Moses or the Old Testament law, refers to the religious and moral code given by God to the ancient Israelites through Moses.

Different religious groups and individuals interpret the role and significance of the Mosaic law differently. For example, within Christianity, there are varying perspectives on the relationship between believers and the Mosaic law. Some Christians believe that with the coming of Jesus Christ, the Mosaic law has been fulfilled or superseded, and believers are no longer bound by its specific regulations. This viewpoint is often associated with the concept of "freedom from the law" or "freedom in Christ."

The Apostle Paul, in his letters in the New Testament, discusses the relationship between believers and the law extensively. He argues that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ rather than through adherence to the Mosaic law. Paul emphasizes that believers are justified by grace through faith, and not by observing the law.

On the other hand, other Christians believe that while the Mosaic law may not be necessary for salvation, it still carries moral and ethical guidance that is relevant for believers today. They may see the law as an expression of God's character and principles that can inform their conduct and guide their lives.

In Judaism, the Mosaic law continues to play a central role in the religious life of observant Jews. It is viewed as a covenant between God and the Jewish people, and its commandments are seen as binding obligations.

Ultimately, whether there is freedom from the Mosaic law depends on one's religious beliefs and interpretations. Different religious traditions and individuals within those traditions hold diverse perspectives on this matter.

God's Plan Cannot Be Thwarted

 "The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand." Isaiah 14:24 NKVV 

"For the LORD of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?" Isaiah 14:27  NKJV

"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion..." (Phil. 1:6).

It is pretty difficult not to deplore, decry, and bemoan the condition of the present-day church. What can be done and what can we do?  Is this our problem or God's problem are we to blame? Usually, if something is wrong in the church we must start with ourselves and our problems rather than blame the church come on once said what's wrong with the church I am. There are many reasons to lose heart about what's going on in the local church because of the false teachings, especially in these are valid reasons that when we put our faith in God we realize that God is bigger than our problems. 

It is not how big our faith is but how big our God is matters. This is not a big deal in God's eyes.  He sees from the vantage point of eternity and the big picture while we don't. We might say that the Christian life is hard in the church but it's not just hard it's impossible!  No church is perfect no perfect people need a ply the church is a hospital for centers, not a hotel for saints and all the work so we are going to see shortcomings in the church, and losing heart is only normal but, when we do, we can come to God in prayer with boldness and access the majesty at his right hand, the throne of God on high. the power of God!  God's open-door policy gives us the right to go right to the top.

It is a mystery how God works through his church this was not revealed in the Old Testament where the church is composed of Gentiles and Jews and we must realize that this is all going according to plan.  God has no Plan B, no backup plan. When Jesus was discipling the Twelve, if they had failed he had no backup plan--they were his plan and his only plan and he put all his faith in them.  This shows that God uses humble instruments because they are all ordinary men.  

Only one of the apostles that was not ordinary was Paul and he was an intellectual giant and educated as a Pharisee,  probably more than in his era.  We find out that God can use these humble instruments and also use us which humbles us God doesn't always choose the scholars of the world to be the great leaders of the church. So we see the wisdom of God in the church that God orchestrates all history to bring about the completion of the church.  It's all going according to plan and no one can stop, thwart, or frustrate God's will.  We do not have the power to interfere with God's plan.

""Oh the depths both of the riches and knowledge of God. (Rom. 11:33).  We seem to want God to make sense to us but God is beyond words for the finite cannot grasp the infinite.    He is beyond description and his thoughts are deeper than ours and we cannot fathom the profundity of God. Canst thou search to find out God? Job 11:7. So the deep things are hidden from us but that which is revealed belongs to us (Deut. 29:29).  it says in the army god does have mysteries but in that day when we're in heaven we shall ask Jesus nothing 'cause Jesus will answer all our questions.

We should never lose heart and seek God's will because we can always go to God in prayer.  He's always there ready to hear us with an open ear the door is open and we do it by the power of the Holy Spirit on our own power and the authority in the name of Jesus Christ we can go right to the Father.   We don't have to pray and invoke Saints or Mother Mary or anybody else we go right to God the Father and pray directly to him to the throne of grace.  We live our lives in Christ to reflect and showcase God's glory in our lives as we do God's will but God enables us by the Spirit's anointing and filling. 

Paul said, "I will not venture to speak of anything but of what has accomplished through me!" (Rom. 11:18).   God is working through us and accomplishes will through us we are his instruments or vessels of honor for the work he has chosen to use us to do his will. (Eph. 2:10).  So we must learn that we can be ourselves with God;  frank, candid, and open and not hide anything from him, for he will accept us as we are he will not let us stay that way.  He will work in us to transform our lives make us new creatures and soften our hearts so that we are transformed from the inside out. We are his works in progress so we should be patient as God isn't finished with us yet!  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Kingdom Living

Are you guilty of just laying bricks when you should be building a temple? Do you see the big picture, in other words, do you know what you're doing and what you're called to do? When you're on the job do you see yourself as doing God's will? You will never see a monkey building a temple because they do not have the consciousness of God and are oblivious to God?  We are called to a higher purpose to know God. If we do not worship God we will worship someone else. 

In God's economy, the way up is down and we get filled by being empty.  We are never poor when we belong to God who cares for us and looks out after our needs.  he is our Provider: "The LORD shall provide!"   There always is success when we know God because God is the one who causes us to grow and to be blessed.  He is the One "who causes to be...." God doesn't call us to success (however, he prospers us in doing his will) in the world's eyes but to faithfulness; well done, thou good and faithful servant!  We are members of a new kingdom when we belong to God we've been translated from the Kingdom of darkness and evil and slavery to sin into God's freedom be it free from the power of sin able to serve God in the Spirit.  

Now we can bear the fruit of the Spirit which we could not do before this is a given as we are filled with the Spirit. Our citizenship is of Heaven but it is dual citizenship because we are also citizens of our earthly country God's citizenship is the most important and defined we must realize that all good things come from God who is a supreme good and we measure all good things by God's standards not ours. There are many fringe benefits to knowing God and being in God's kingdom we have security or salvation and we can know for sure that we are saved and going to heaven.  We have the right to be called the children of God! 

We also know that God is protecting us from evil and the evil one cannot touch us we know that we can have power over sin we're not the slaves of sin anymore and we know that our past is forgiven and neutralized and will not haunt us or give us a kelp trip anymore we are free from any such psychological disorder. And we have a sure foundation in Christ to live to build upon and our hope is secure in Christ for our salvation is secured also in heaven.  Let's realize we were dead in our sins with a dead spirit but now we are alive and made able to know God and experience him or counter him in our daily life.

It is so easy once we are Christian to go back into slavery and to be entangled again in the yoke of the Law.   We must realize we are free from the Law and no longer obligated to obey it but we obey the Spirit and are subject to God's will which we can know because we have the Spirit.  Our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to him.  It is of God through faith in Christ not because we do the works of the law let's remember that the letter of the law would kill in the spirit of the law gives life we must remember some people think that they just obey the letter law that justifies down there they don't forget the spirit of the matter. 

Jesus died to set us free from this slavery and break the dividing wall that separates us from the Jews in their yoke of the law.  Our yoke is in Christ and the love of Christ constrains us now, and Christ's yoke is easier than the law which was a heavy burn that even the Jews could not carry We must realize that kingdom living is a privilege and an honor there are many fringe benefits and we should be honored even to suffer for Christ and fulfill his sufferings to be a blessing to others as we are salt and light we are here to be a blessing to others after we get saved not just to bless ourselves. 

We died and our life is hidden with Christ in God we are salvation to beat the no Christ better to love him better and to serve him better. Our faith must grow we go from face-to-face and they grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as we do good works and have very good works that bring forth and strengthen our faith. If we have doubts, they can be resolved we must doubt our doubts not doubt our faith doubt is not the opposite of faith but an element of it is just as certain as antibodies to bodies.  We are all united in Christ, we are one in Christ with no class of people to separate and there is no dichotomy.

There is no class system, in other words, no nationality we're all equal we're all one in Christ, no male no female, no poor no black or white.  God sees us all as family and we are adopted as his family and equals, therefore, we are all united and want only because Christ did this and reconciled us all to God as his family.  Therefore, we must not find fences and walls but build bridges to unite people.  We're a lot alike spiritually which means we see life with a whole whole new attitude and a whole new perspective or outlook. Our eyes were opened,  the eyes of our understanding and hearts.

We are not only citizens of our country or nation but of heaven itself, which should be even more real to us as we live day to day in the light of eternity. We have responsibilities to both but heaven takes priority. Paul said he was the citizen of no obscure city in Acts 21:39 and claimed to have been born a citizen of Rome. He also says we are all "fellow citizens with the saints" and that "our citizenship is in heaven. " (cf. Phil. 3:20).

It was said of a great missionary that when he arrived home at the same time as Pres. Teddy Roosevelt returning from Africa, got a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City, and he was depressed that no one welcomed him home. God told him, "You aren't home yet!" Don't get so comfortable in this world that you aren't ready to meet the Lord in the air at the rapture--Matthew Henry said we ought to live each day as if it's our last, but we really ought to always "love His appearing," and look for His coming per Heb. 9:28 instead.

Why are we dual citizens? So that we can represent Christ on earth and do His bidding and divine will according to Plan A of the Father (God has no Plan B!). God does not need any other plan. Paul called us ambassadors in 2 Cor. 5:20 and ambassadors are the spokesmen for a state and have the legal authority to speak on its behalf. We speak for Christ and are commissioned to bring the gospel to the whole world and be His representatives in this evil age. God has interests that we are to look out for and we are responsible according to our time, talent, money, relationships, blessings, resources, and opportunities to serve Him the best we can.

But it is Christ who lives and works through us, it is not of our own power ("'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD," --Zech. 4:6), for we can do nothing apart from Christ (cf. John 15:5). Paul said in Romans 15:18, ESV, "I venture not to speak of anything, but of what Christ has accomplished through Me." Isa. 26:12 (ESV) says, "[You] have done for us all our works." This means all we have accomplished God has done through us and used us as vessels of honor to accomplish His will.

The territory that ambassadors reside in is considered sovereign to the nation they represent, and in analogy, our property belongs to God and He considers any infringement on it as an attack on Him from Satan. Churches are like oases where Satan has no authority! Like Christ said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am" (cf. Matt. 18:20). In sum, don't get too comfortable--we're not home yet!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners

 "But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." Rom. 5:20 

One may ask: How much grace do we need?  It is often said by cliche even that we're saved by grace, everybody has heard that but nobody understands what is meant by that fully or comprehensively.   For the grace of God is infinite.  And like God's mercy cannot be measured or limited,  God's grace abounds to the chief of sinners wrote John Bunyan and Paul would say God save me the chief of centers. Often it is the worst kind of sinner that God shows the greatest grace to And the greater the sin the greater the grace or abounded grace abounded all the more. (Romans 5:20).  But it says we're saved by grace and this means grace all the way from first to last, beginning to end, we do not participate in our salvation we're only recipients of it. 

This is called synergistic salvation.   God does everything from beginning to end. He makes believers out of us he kindles faith in us he makes us believers by grace or an act of grace and in fact, faith and itself is a work of grace a gift of God, and the work of God (John 6:29).   Now Paul went through great effort to teach that we receive the grace we received faith like all brethren we don't achieve it we receive it does not work if faith were a work then salvation would be by works this is what the Catholics believe that faith is a work and not a gift they deny it's a gift.

 For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself it is the gift of God, not works and so forth in this verse we see that that is the antecedent of faith so it's referring to faith as not the is the gift and faith is not of ourselves Jesus himself said you can do nothing of yourself nothing apart from me (John 15:5).   Peter said that we receive a like faith  (2 Peter 1:1).  We are not saved by works of righteous which we have done. (Titus 3:5).  In a faith world, work that would be a reason or crown for boasting in God's presence would say while I was smart enough or wise enough or good enough to have faith no one will get with this for this faith is a gift it's what we do with our faith that matters not our faith itself. 

Faith is not salvation it's the object that saves Christ. We do not put faith in faith we put faith in Christ it's the object of the faith that matters not the amount of faith we can have faith as a grain of mustard seed and it will be sufficient to move mountains.  Now Romanists will tell you that faith is merely acquiescence or an assent or consent to the doctrine of the dogma of the church. Not true, faith is active faith is living faith is growing and faith is commitment and dedication and renewal.   We must first have the correct body of knowledge to have faith but must believe the right things secondly we must have trust in that knowledge that it is correct, thirdly, we must commit our dedicated ourselves to that knowledge and live it out and this is not just a one-time event but it continue all ongoing resolution day by day. 

So living faith means you are growing in it is alive is going somewhere is not stagnant or static. The whole gist of Reformed theology is that we are saved by the Lord not by ourselves (monergism) as Jonah said "Salvation is of the Lord."   What this means is that it is not a joint effort between us and God or synergism. Is not our efforts alone that bring salvation either no one can do much for salvation even though mankind is addicted to doing something for his salvation. But Salvation is wholly a work of God and his grace and we contribute nothing we receive it by grace as a gift to do anything for it would be to insult God in a mustache to the Mona Lisa it's an insult to add something to a perfect masterpiece such as salvation our salvation work of God. 

You know if God required some work for salvation a lot of people would celebrate because they think they could do it but you know the work would be impossible if it were possible and no one could achieve it in fact only Christ did and he lived the perfect life he's the only one that did it he obeyed the law completely. But if people are just like an argument had to do something then feel secure because they wanna put their confidence in their own works. 

But to put our confidence in our faith in God requires a belief of faith and trust and dedication to God not ourselves not our self-esteem but our God-esteem. We have to give God the credit, not ourselves credit in other words if God did make some work available to due for our salvation you know we would blow it because we are only human we would mess up our own salvation it's a good thing we receive it by faith we do not achieve it. 

It is not something we conjure up or imagine or conceive, it is something that is kindled in our hearts as they become alive by the spirit of God and open the eyes of faith within us? You see what matters in the final analysis is what we think of God not what we think of ourselves our estimation or appraisal of our self matters that we are worthless and can do nothing for our salvation this is nothing but music to God's ears when we realize that we are helpless I need God to have mercy on us. We must file for spiritual bankruptcy in other words and realize that we are at God's hands in our salvation our destiny is in his hands not ours he controls our future.

Having A Need To Know

 "Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them..." John 13:17

"...I had faith; therefore I spoke." 2 Cor.4:13 

"They have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge." Rom. 10:2

"Therefore, my people go into exile because they lack knowledge." Isaiah 5:13

"A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength." Prov. 24:5

"I will make youths their leader and unjust rulers will govern them." Isaiah 3:4

"Knowledge is power. " Sir Francis Bacon

God has secrets and things that he will not reveal to us according to Deut. 29:29. God says some things are none of our business!   God is a God of mystery and he works in mysterious ways and his thoughts are higher than ours and his ways are higher than ours than the heavens above the Earth. Isaiah 55:8-9.  Some people think that ignorance is bliss but with God, ignorance or willful ignorance is worthy of condemnation we must always seek the truth and have a love for the truth.   Unbelievers are those who reject the truth and do not seek the truth or love the truth. But we shall know the truth the truth shall set us free if we seek it with our whole heart. And we will know it if we are willing to obey it and do it. John 7:17. 

As far as these things that we must know, we must not just take an academic interest in the Bible to increase our knowledge or even trivial pursuit of it. But we must read it and study it in order to have our lives transformed by its power and we acknowledge that God's Holy Spirit enlightens and informs us about the way of life in Christ.  In other words, there is a practical interest in the study of God's word it is not merely academic otherwise it becomes knowledge that puffs up if not applied.  We will not be judged according to our knowledge or even according to our faith but according to how we acted upon it and what fruits we bore as a result of it. God is not interested in our knowledge as much as in our achievements but in our obedience that we comply with God's will as our yoke.

We must realize that God will give us the spirit of revelation, knowledge, enlightenment, and wisdom in the seeking of his truth. It also stands to reason and wonder that we realize God's will.   God's revelations are cumulative and progressive and it must be a growing relationship to knowledge wisdom and truth as we grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. It was due to a lack of knowledge that God rejected Israel because they refused to accept it. (Hosea 4:6; cf. Isaiah 5:13). Ignorance of God gives us judgment!  

We have a need to know and we have a need to know the truth we shall set free and we must pass on this knowledge as our marching orders. We must have the can't-help-its, as Paul said, "We cannot stop speaking of what we have heard and seen." Acts 4:20.  We want to share the truth of what we know to others because it changes us. Once you have experienced it, you want to pass it on!  The true fruit of our knowledge is when we share it with others and spread the Gospel of the kingdom.  Bear fruit in every good work as we increase in the knowledge of God true knowledge will produce fruit when the soul is in the right place. 

We study in order to be inspired and motivated to learn more and to apply more of our newfound truths, we must have a thirst for the word of God a philosopher merely has a love for wisdom but not necessarily for the application thereof. But we noticed that Jesus not only preached but he preached what he practiced and he practiced what he preached that is a big difference he was no hypocrite he had no knowledge that just became academic but was practical and applied to everyday life. Therefore, the true love of wisdom is when we apply that wisdom not just when we store it up and make ourselves proud what we believe most humble is the most should not be those with the greatest amount of knowledge but those who practice their faith and turn their creeds into deeds. 

The reason Israel went into captivity was because of its lack of knowledge of God he said in Hosea 46 that God said there is no faithfulness no kindness no knowledge of God and land that was God's complaint against Israel they did not know him it is not the knowledge of a fact that we're talking about it is a knowledge of a person religion wants to believe in a creed but we believe in no person there's a big difference. Viva la difference!  God is able to open our eyes and to kindle an understanding within us and a little bit of truth opens the door to more truth but if we shut the door to truth even will become more ignorant and God will send a strong delusion that we will believe that which is false and a lie.

 That'd be interesting that our understanding of the Bible has to do with our comprehension of doctrine the more doctrine we know the better we are able to understand the Bible and know the beat or the solid food of the Bible and we are ready for these deeper truths. We must not remain baby Christians forever and feed only on the milk of the word we must have a need to know and recognize that we must know we must have this thirst for God's word which will only make us have a more thorough for God's word when we take it in a thirst which makes us thirsty.  

The Christian life is not one of the pursuit of knowledge but a pursuit of the Lord and it is a way of life not just a rule or code of conduct there's a way to know God and never relationship with him and to increase in that knowledge there's a difference between knowledge of God and knowledge about God we can know all about the Bible and not be saved we must have a true knowledge of the Bible that changes us. In summation, there must be a balance between what we know and our pursuit of knowledge and our practice of it and applying it. 

Are You Defending Christian Wordlview?

"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you." (1 Tim. 6:20-21, ESV).

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2, ESV).

"My people perish for lack of knowledge" (cf. Hosea 4:14).

"For lack of knowledge My people go into exile" (cf. Isa. 5:13).

Our worldview, which outshines all others, the terminology taken from the German Weltanschauung, is our outlook or worldview (i.e., the sum total of convictions [e.g., is there such a concept as sin, a God, life after death?], ideas [philosophy and interpretations], beliefs [religious], values [patriotism?], but not opinions--note: you hold opinions, but convictions hold you!) and our worldview concerns our viewpoint in toto on life, our view of God, man, and the relationships and duties they owe each other--on reality in general.

The ultimate questions we must answer are as follows. How do we make sense of the world when we encounter ideas whose time has come? It also answers the basic questions of life: Where did we come from or who are we? What is our purpose and meaning in life? What is wrong with mankind and how can we solve his dilemmas? And where are we going, or what is our destiny? Athanasius said that the only worldview that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point! "Christianity is Christ," according to John Stott, "all else is circumference!" If we take God out of the equation, we head into natural catastrophe and disaster--our lives become chaotic with no purpose or aim, busy, but to no avail, going nowhere.

The Bible is basically our Owner's Manual to guide us to do God's will on earth. We are basically here "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (cf. Isaiah 43:7; and The Westminster Shorter Confession of 1646). The only worldview that gives dignity to man is the Christian one, for we see man as in the image and likeness of God, though tarnished by sin, it's still there and we are not dumb animals (cf. Job 18:3). If you see yourself as a grown-up germ or descended from blue-green pond scum or algae, it will affect your self-esteem and worldview. Teach man he's an animal and he will act like one! We become disoriented from God's design without God in the reckoning, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, "Men have forgotten God." The word "purpose" is a dirty word to secularists, who deny that there is meaning and purpose in life, which is true without God in the picture and the end result of futile speculation and a fool's errand searching trying to "find oneself" or one's purpose in life.

We have a purpose in being here to do God's will: rule or subdue the earth; be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth; fulfill the Great Commission, and be lights in the world representing Christ doing good deeds in His name. We don't own anything but are only stewards of God's blessings. We were designed to know God! However, culture has run amok in its abandonment of God and taking Him out of the reckoning. God sets the agenda and to disobey His will is called sin--which is the root of the problem.

And so man rebelled against the loving God and chose his own way over God's wisdom and provision--he chose not to trust God; we do the same thing and only duplicate that sin and folly. We are not victims of circumstances or of nature and are not pawns of our genes and we can blame no one but ourselves since we are all born in sin and all have fallen short of God's glory and ideal. This was called the Fall and we all dittoed that sin and are individually responsible to God and it's a cop-out to blame anyone for our own faults and shortcomings or sin. The crux of the problem is that sin has entered the innocent world that God created.

God's remedy is the cross whereby He paid the price to redeem us and set us free from our sins. We are at the mercy of God because He is a God of justice and will judge all sin. What we need, is not an educator, nor an economist, nor a scientist, but a Savior to stand in the gap and put a hand on both us and God in reconciliation. God has solved the sin problem by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!

It is a challenge to live up to a Christian worldview because the whole world has become secularized and people want us to privatize our faith. The Bible is not passe or obsolete, but relevant to all our problems! The biggest problem is what Jesus said, "You are wrong because you do not know the Scriptures, nor the power of God," cf. Matt. 22:29. The Bible has all the answers to man's dilemmas, and his chief enemies are the devil, the sin nature in himself, and the world system. Equipped with Scripture, we will know what God thinks, get our thinking straightened out, and have a Christian worldview, so necessary to defeat the devil's world. The world has fallen for Satan's lies and is deceived, and we are to preach the gospel so that they can know the truth and the truth will set them free (cf. John 8:32).

Ideas and worldviews have consequences and affect how we live. "If there is no God," Dostoevsky said, "all things are permissible." Atheist mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless." Hamlet summed it up in Shakespeare's Macbeth: "[Life is a] tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," This is the bleak outlook and belief system without God in the picture. Will Durant, the famed humanist historian, said the biggest issue of our day is whether man can live without God. George Bernard Shaw said that no nation has survived the loss of its gods. The Bible has something to say about every major academic discipline and they all find their origins in Scripture. Modern man basically believes that science can solve our problems and has given up hope in religion as the solution. It takes faith to believe this! Secular Humanism is the prevalent worldview academically and socially, whereby the theme is "Down with God, up with man!" The deception of this worldview is that it strives for good without God! They see "man [as] the measure of all things" (in Latin homo mensura), and refuse God as the "moral center of the universe" with transcendent laws.

And the Postmodern era has become rather skeptical of the existence of absolute, transcendent truth, and posits all truth as being relative; relative to what? Saying truth is relative, with no Truth with a capital T; we can know nothing for certain, an epistemology of skepticism--it's a contradiction in terms and is itself a truth claim of no truth! Actually, the only truths they are really concerned about as being relative are the ones related to Christianity. This philosophy is in sharp contradistinction to the Bible's claim of propositional, incarnated, and absolute truth with no wiggle room for disagreement. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning point of all knowledge (cf. Prov. 1:7). All knowledge begins in faith, it's not just Christians who have faith, they just don't put faith in science as the sole arbiter of absolute truth.

What Secular Humanism does is deify man and dethrone God-man has wanted to make a name for himself ever since the tower of Babel (cf. Gen. 11:4). Their two main presuppositions are that evolution is unquestioned scientific fact and that the supernatural doesn't exist--they believe science has undermined the Bible! Christians are called to show their colors, be "Daniels," stand up and be counted, and be informed and show discernment: Men who "understood [interpret] the times, with knowledge of what to do," as it says in 1 Chronicles 12:32.

C. S. Lewis summed it up for our marching orders: "We must not remain silent and concede everything away [and lose by default]." That means our faith is defensible in the market square and open marketplace of ideas and we need not privatize it. We are in the world, but not of it (cf. John 15:19) and there is a war of "isms" going on, but Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power!" (Cf. Prov. 24:5). R. C. Sproul, an influential theologian, said it well: "With God we have dignity and without God we have nothing."

In sum, it is written: "In the beginning God..." meaning that we start with God and explain creation, we don't start with creation and explain or explain away God! In sum, the Christian worldview outshines all others and has the best explanation of reality. Soli Deo Gloria!

Church Friends

 A vital link or component to our spiritual life is how many friends we have or what kind of friends we have, if you're a friend of too many people, you're really no friend at all.  The Bible says that one must choose friends wisely because evil company crops good morals. We don't earn friendship by putting in the time like saying if I spend 200 hours, you must be my friend.  It's a matter of quality time that matters with God and you when a person bonds with another person of equal status in life they come together for the same purposes because they are friends.  In that sense, like men who watch football together learn to bond and tell her to go fishing they're hunting together they bond as men together (male bonding!) this is good with some people called themselves bros.  We don't achieve friendship despite making friends God gives us and opens the door.  I believe that friendship is given and it's by grace.  God gives everyone no matter how bad they are friend, in my opinion, this is the least of God's graces upon all that is good to all people even to the wicked.   God is good to all!   

When you're a friend of Jesus we have more opportunities still. Then a whole new family of God opens up in the church body do you have a whole new selection to choose from your friends, good friends, that is, ones that would do you good, not harm, and be good for your mental wellness. I realize and I believe that any friend of Jesus is a friend of mine! Sometimes we can find friends immediately if we have the right plan of attack, to be honest with somebody and to reveal ourselves to them and to be frank, to the point, not secretive, and friendly! There is something about the fellowship that means we are two fellows on the same ship when you are a friend of Jesus it means that you obey Jesus you are a disciple of Jesus there's no such thing as a Christian who does not obey Jesus--that's a whole purpose;  Lordship means obedience.

The famous Lutheran preacher in Germany that was persecuted and martyred by the Nazis known as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only those who believe are obedient; only those who are obedient believe."  They go together hand in hand!   Jesus said if you want to be my friend you must obey him.  That is the plain truth bottom line there also friends are who will meet our needs sometimes we need someone we can come to an emergency so we have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. There are benefits of friends: they come with fringe benefits, and there is an advantage to having a friend. 

A very good way to make friends is to find something in common known as a commonality and to come together possibly for a meal because most people enjoy eating together in fellowship breaking bread together as the disciples would call it. I recently met with one person in the church and we had a meal and immediately we realized we were friends with no doubt about it we shook hands on it friends can be that fast yet I have known people all my life who I still don't consider my friend, in fact, I know that I can't trust them.  I admire, like, appreciate, or love them despite their flaws and know they are not perfect. We accept people as they are who they are the way they are because we are what we are by the mercy and grace of God.  We must never think that some people are beneath us or not worthy to be our friends if they know Christ they have everything that is important to be a friend because friends of Jesus should be friends of ours.

Now the church body has a function and marching orders to bring us together for education, enlightenment, edification, fellowship, worship, discipleship, and mission and such things. We must all find our place in the body and work together and therefore we will be working together.  We can make friends doing that I'm focused on the church mission we are coming together for the same purpose and that is the commonality. We don't want to have too much competition or opportunity to outshine other people in our church body but we should aim to make our church outshine other churches and be a light to the community. There's a matter of commitment in the body and also we have the opportunity to share that commitment there should be a ministry that anyone and everyone can partake of that is not willing to. We all have a place in the church and in the church, there's a place for everyone. 

Too many churches focus on the wrong mission like culture wars social gospels or political politics itself. But we must not lose sight of our mission and keep the main thing the main thing and realize we are here for a purpose to ultimately save souls who are lost and need Christ. We don't just put in our time cards in church and think well I made my trip to church this week so I'm fine with God. This is a so-called "nod to God crowd."   They think it's their duty and when it is complete they go to church and that's where I wrap it up I think God is worth one hour of their time every week.   The church prepares us for the battle and equips us for the injuries of the angelic conflict that's taken place in our lives, so they can be refreshed and renewed in the spirit to have a spiritual checkup. Then we will know where we are and where we stand spiritually which cannot be done when we are spiritual Lone Rangers or hermits,. 

Therefore, we ought not to neglect to come together ourselves which has been gathered for seeing ourselves as 1 body.   We are one cohesive unit working for Christ as one entity and mission. Therefore, we all have to realize our marching orders so we're all marching to the beat to the same drum and get with the program and we must encourage ourselves to do this.  Church friends may be different from other friends in that we have a spiritual connection not just secular or mundane. We have Jesus in common this is a reason for fellowship in the birthplace it's all about him.

It is the job of the church to make opportunities and policies so that people can become friends.  What we need in addition to being friendly but to have a personality! Some people have brains but no wisdom or personality and are socially handicapped or challenged or have special needs.  That is why church programs and activities are so important: we all need to discover our spiritual persona and what makes us tick with Jesus in our lives. We need to find our true new inner man!  In sum, I know I have church friends and family even if not acknowledged, recognized, or realized.  My church would not let me down if I needed them or it.  Soli Deo Gloria! 

One Healthy Body...

 

"How is it then, brethren? whenever you come together each of you has a psalm, a teaching a tongue, a revelation, or an interpretation. Let all thee be done for edification." 1 Cor. 14:26

The Olive Garden restaurant has a slogan saying: "When you're here your family!"  I look upon the church body as the body of Christ and my family unit as my church family, as you might say, even in a family, there is diversity and people are not all clones of their parents the children do not necessarily take after their parents as chips off the old block, but are individuals and we celebrate that individuality. There is once a song that goes, "He ain't heavy. He's my brother!"   We all stand up for our brother no matter what and do not let someone bully or pick on our brother because he's a brother.  It's alright if we do but not somebody else as they say. Christians are one unit because they're one in the Spirit, not one politically agreed or socially agreed some concept of that word is not a club or a sorority fraternity type of thing but a unity of organism, not that organization and that's a very important point. 

They say that in America "We celebrate our differences," and our diversity is our strength too. We are a pluralistic society multicultural coexisting in harmony.  This also goes through the church the more diverse the members the stronger it must be. If only certain people and certain doctrines were there and no one could just dare disagree then the church would be weakened and might even lead to a cult. 

The concept of being a protestant is that you can say this I dissent I disagree I protest. We are not slaves to church dogma but have individual responsibility as well as the privilege to read our own Bibles to interpret them as we see God open them up to us. We need to search out the scriptures and see what these things are so that the pastor says as the noble Thessalonians did.  We must learn to create community and we do this by loving one another.  We love people into the kingdom we don't scare them into the kingdom with scare tactics or threats or shove the Bible down their throats.  We simply do good deeds and see that our testimony speaks for itself but we must not jeopardize our testimony by sin so we must be careful of how we act and live out our faith.   The faith we have is the faith we show, in other words.   A real church has the active presence of Christ you can sense Christ moving through the spirit because there is love in the body. 

There is a spiritual wellness when people practice their own gifting because they realize they are there for a purpose.   Each one has something from the Lord to share to give to others we all have a place in the body. A healthy body of Christ is when all members participate we are not jealous of one another and we realize our need for one another We are friends in the church in the sense that we probably would not be friends otherwise it's because Christ is the one who unites us and this will be in place in heaven there's neither Jew nor Gentile slave nor free male nor female we're all one in Christ.

As the Holy Spirit works in the body, it says we are all baptized into the body by one Spirit. It doesn't matter what gift we have as long as we have the Spirit that operates through us.  The spirit of the matter in which we practice it is that that is important.   It is too bad that some people hold things against Christ because Christians do not live up to specs or par and do not meet their expectations. Atheists like to poke fun at Christians and think we are hypocrites there's something wrong with you and people don't necessarily judge Jesus but they judge us Christians.  We ought to take note of that and realize that we do fall short. 

When I realize that it's all about Christ as Jesus said the scriptures bear witness of him that he is the Spirit of prophecy, we realize that we are here for the sake of God, not for not to promote ourselves or to make a name for ourselves or to celebrate ourselves but to celebrate Jesus he is the reason we are here in body. I bemoan the fact that Gandhi said that I would be a Christian had I ever met one or it wasn't for Christians I'd become one!  This is really a cynical viewpoint but that's the one that he thought that he was holy when he wasn't he was just a religious man in his own way. He had many virtues but that did make him a godly man. 

We must realize that people see Christ when they see us and they judge Christ by the way we act in our daily lives we are the only gospel that some people see.  When we can see the differences in our bodies our local family in Christ the church and realize we are one Spirit then we can say viva la difference.  We celebrate this diversity and realize it is a sign of strength the more alike we are, the less strong we become.  That means we cannot tolerate those who differ from us or it could be we're in a cult where people think they are right and everybody else is wrong or someone has a monopoly on the truth and has cornered the market of biblical truth claims.  Soli Deo Gloria!