Unfortunately, the biggest hindrance to church as the New Testament shows it …
Is church as we’ve come to know it.
Category: Simple Faith
An unresolved past will thwart your future.
To find resolution:
Acknowledge before God – verbally and fully – the hurts, wrongs or regrets your heart’s been carrying;
Openly give or ask for forgiveness as appropriate – in your own words – whether of others or from God;
Then quietly and reverently bundle up the related burdens of your heart and release them in your spirit to the Lord;
Once you do and the Lord takes them, ask Him who you are to Him and how He sees you.
Then stay quiet before Him and let your spirit gently receive His empowering truth and peace in return.
Often the listening ear and patient encouragement of a trusted, Godly friend can help.
Ultimately, though, closure and freedom are always your choice.
Those who claim that the Holy Spirit no longer convicts them of sin because of grace …
Know not grace.
God wants us to occasionally chill out by taking time out …
So our emotional batteries don’t run out.
Faith isn’t about believing God will do what you think He ought …
But trusting He will do what He says He will.
Let’s see:
Morning cup of coffee. Check.
Log on and notice all the social media posts about the latest outrage du jour. Hmmm.
Wisely decide to wait a few days until the real facts come out. Priceless.
In the meantime, continue to live a life that makes a difference in this world by loving God and obeying His commands. Eternal.
Joy seldom comes without risking failure …
In love, faith, business and all of life.
The best bulwark against human authoritarianism in all its many forms …
Are the precepts of God’s written Word.
By which, history shows:
Free men stand;
Liberty springs; and
Tyrants fall.
Until we stop using narcissistic labels like “ultimate”, “grand”, “deeper”, “insurgent”, “radical” and “beyond” to describe our faith …
And learn to walk humbly with God and others …
We’re not much good for His Kingdom …
Or anything else.
God’s saving grace is freely offered, but costs everything to fully accept.
Forget this, and we pervert the Gospel.
God is covenantal:
He doesn’t force His rule on anyone.
But neither has He surrendered His sovereignty to anyone …
In any aspect of life, culture or history.
Some cast the nets, some build the boats.
In God’s Kingdom, no one person or calling is more essential than another.
Love without truth is just as corrosive …
As truth without love.
Faith that’s not relevant to all of life …
Is relevant to none of life.
Scripture doesn’t address everything, nor does God choose to explain all things comprehensively.
That’s His right.
The plenary authority of Scripture, therefore, means not claiming more from Scripture than it actually says.
But make no mistake:
What Scripture does, in fact, actually say is ultimately authoritative …
On its own terms and contexts, not our’s.
It’s easier for a walking concordance to know God’s heart …
Than an existentialist to know His mind.
Sometimes God uses our frailties and afflictions …
As sacraments of His grace.
God owes us NOTHING.
Get over it.
Only then can we begin to apprehend the wonders of His grace.
In the cool of the day, God walked side-by-side and fellowshipped face-to-face with Adam …
Amidst the beauty of Adam’s garden and the fruit of his labor.
It’s OK to be human …
That’s where God wants to meet us too.
“Radical,” “deeper life,” “insurgent,” “movement” this and “movement” that …
Are disingenuous distractions from Biblical imperatives to simply grow up and make a difference by living lives of simple truth, simple faith and simple virtue.
Don’t buy the lie …
It’s really not that complicated.
Why?
Because He’s God and I’m not.
Because His Word stands eternal while I am but an uncertain reed blowing in the wind.
Because it is by His will that history bends, not mine.
Because He is the sovereign creator of all, including me.
Because He defines what is true, real and right, not me.
And because He is Lord of all and bids me “go” into a world He yet loves.
Modern concepts of “worship” with weekly “sermons” by a “senior pastor” at staged “services” – along with mortgages, buildings and Old Testament tithing – were not part of the church in the New Testament.
Surprised? Search Scripture for yourself.
But they do seem to go hand-in-hand these days …
Because, after all, professionally staged shows that attract dependable weekly audiences don’t come cheap or easy.
What if your church gave up the show for Lent?
Sin which ignores grace, perverts the Gospel …
As does grace which ignores sin.
Although we can have doctrine without fully knowing Jesus …
We can’t fully know Jesus without doctrine.
Jesus: He’s more than a feeling.
Plumbline Faith 