"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."CNN’s FringeMail reports … a coffin company in Indiana, eager to sell more merchandise, has derived 101 uses for a wooden coffin. Your Coffin Company builds and sells home decor items such as bookshelves, coffee tables, wine racks and entertainment centers -- all made out of coffins.1 John 2:15-17
God says we should not covet the things of this world. All too much and money is spent on things. The truth, as revealed in Hebrews 9:27, is this “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”
Showing posts with label 1 John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1 John. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2008
MATERIALISM: What do I care? I'm dead!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
SALVATION: Open those doors!
"The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."The Associated Press is reporting Pope John Paul II will open special doors to symbolize entrance into the new millennium. The doors symbolize the gateway of salvation. These special doors are referred to as "Holy Doors"; apparently most basilicas have such a door. John Paul has decreed (for the first time in history) Rome's basilicas will open their Holy Doors at the same time.1 John 5:10-12
The reports say the Roman Church’s celebration of “Holy Years” dates back to the 1400s; each celebration is commemorated by the opening of a Holy Door in at least one of its basilicas.
This year the Pope will open the Holy Doors of every basilica in Rome: St. Peter's, Christmas Eve; St. John Lateran, Christmas Day; St. Mary Major, January 1; and St. Paul's, January 18. St. Peter's has at least two Holy Doors, since the Pope has mandated they will both be opened in a ceremony typifying the church's past and future. [Religion Today]
Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.” [John 10:9] There is only one Holy Door, and that is through the One who tore down the veil which previously kept the door shut.
Jesus added, “No man comes unto the Father, but through me.” [John 14:6b] He said, “I am the way.”
And Luke recorded for all with ears to hear and eyes to see that there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. [Acts 4:12]
Four things are really special about Christ as our door: first, He’s never closed for salvation business [Matthew 28:20]; second, no one must decree He be opened; and, third, He doesn’t need to be duplicated every time someone erects a building in His name … His Church is everywhere present.
Monday, December 19, 2005
FELLOWSHIP - No Lone Rangers!
SET APART TOO FAR! [1 John 1:6-7; Sanctification, Trials, Unity]
Some time ago, Harry Pidgeon sailed around the world … in a 14 foot sloop … ALONE! After the trip a reporter asked Pidgeon, “What is the most dangerous thing for a lone sailor on the open sea?”
He told the pundit:“It’s not the storms or other vessels which endanger the solo sailor, but the clear, calm weather accompanied by a gentle breeze. The sailor loses focus and becomes careless under such conditions.”So too the Christian. It’s the calm of the Christian walk which poses the greatest danger to the lone believer, causing a loss of focus on things above and careless living.
Perhaps that’s why the Lord’s brother, James, admonished us to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” [James 1:2, 3]
And perhaps that’s why the writer of Hebrews tells us to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together … encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” [10:25, 26] There is little room in the Body of Christ for fear ridden Lone Rangers … members who go it alone.
Yet in the midst of our foolish pride all believers have His promise, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Matthew 28:20] We are never truly alone!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
LIGHT - Let the be no darkness at all!
BETTER TO BE BLIND! [John 8:12; Illumination, Jesus, Life] (Added 3 June 2006)CONSUMED BY HIS POWER! [2 Corinthians 4:4; gospel, power (God's)]Imagine no red rose, no blue sky, rolling but grey hills, and a several shades of grey Monarch Butterfly. Without light, there is no color. Color is just bands of light reflected off an object; which bands are reflected depends on the nature of the object. Without light, things would be very plain … AND VERY DARK.
So too without Christ … imagine no hope, no love, no future, and no present purpose for living.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Without the light of Christ, there would be no spiritual blessings, no sustaining grace, and no “daily bread” worth eating. Just as it is impossible to receive mail without a delivery address, it is impossible to receive a true blessing outside the person and authority of Christ but it is the individuals nature that brings His ultimate blessing.
COME INTO THE LIGHT! [1 Peter 1:19; Revelation, Sin, Truth]One of our church janitors was in my office the other day and told me a fascinating but sad story.
A hardworking man finally had time to go to a night baseball game with his family. They were doing the usual things: eating hot-dogs and peanuts, drinking cokes, and complaining about the prices.
His wife, a registered nurse and mother of his three kids, said something and he turned in such a way that the park lights were directly in his eyes. She gasped and took his face in her hands to have a closer look. Her suspicion was correct, his eyes were jaundiced, a sign of several serious diseases. Within a few weeks her childhood sweetheart and the father of her three children was dead.
Man must come into the light of God to see the ravaging affects of his sins. He is little more than the walking dead without the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb. The Light reveals the truth for all to see. Many will come into the light too late. [1 Corinthians 4:5]LAVA LAMP BELIEVERS! [1 John 1:6,7; apostasy, believers, nominalism, testimony, witness]My associate pastor, Dan, used to work for Orkin (the pesty people); he was pulpit supply for me this morning and I was blessed to hear an illustration he used on the whole armor of God [Epesian 6:10-17].
Orkin evidently had special Maglites with custom commercial grade batteries in them ... make that battery. Instead of four D-cells it had a single, long battery. I gather They're like those used by law enforcement. At any rate he said it was a blessing when he was crawling around in attics and under houses; it would light up the area from one end to the other.
He used this tool to illustrate the power of the Light of God, Jesus our Lord. When an ordinary flashlight was shined directly into the beam of light coming from his Maglite the beam from the common flashlight was consumed by the power of the more powerful light.
So too the power of Satan, when it is exposed to the Light of God.Lava Lamps have made a comeback in recent years (2002). Many of today’s versions are more creative than when they were first introduced some forty years ago.
All lava lamps have one thing in common, none of them are adequate as a source of light. They're called a lamp, but they're not a lamp.
The age of their introduction was an age of darkness and half-light. People in that day didn’t want a lot of light. You might say they wanted just enough of the real thing so they could call the facsimile by name of the real thing.
Unfortunately, many Christians aren’t much better than lava lamps; they don’t really want the whole Light of God, just enough so they can go by the name of the Genuine Light yet remain in the shadows.
TURNING TOWARD THE LIGHT! [Ephesians 5:7-10; other topics - Holiness, Righteousness] (Added 3 June 2006)Our adopted daughter, Naomi, was admiring one of her mom’s houseplants. Her older sister, Jennifer, asked her if she noticed how the plant leaned toward the light coming through the front window. She said, “Yeah!” He sister then told her, “If you turn the plant around halfway, the plant will lean back toward the light inside of a week.” Naomi said, “Wow!”Likewise genuine Christians; separate them from the Light, or turn them away from the Light, and inside a short period of time they will have leaned back toward Him.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
TEMPTATION - The Devil made me do it!
FAMILY PRAYER CLOSET [1 John 2:15; Television]A pastor was preaching an impassioned sermon on the evils of television. He said, “It steals away precious time which would be better spent on other things." He advised the congregation to do what he had done. "I put that confounded box of ours in the closet.” He roared with great satisfaction.
To which his wife was heard to mumbled, "And it's really crowded watching movies in there!"
[ Adapted from CLEAN LAFFS - Thursday, November 1, 2001]HOLD THE SAUCE [Various Scripture; other topics - Sin (Cost of); Righteousness; Pornography; Testimony; Voyeurism; Walk; Witness]
In Chicago, Illinois, health officials are investigating the explosion of two bottles of Col. Johnson’s Thermo-Nuclear barbecue sauce.
According to a report from United Press International, the explosions occurred in people’s kitchens. No one was hurt, but the spicy, hot sauce caused hundreds of dollars in damage to curtains, carpeting and furnishings.
Man continues to play around with dangerous items on a daily basis, not knowing for sure where the next explosion will come from or when it will happen.
Surveys tell us that huge segments of society are involved in Internet pornography; other data reveals the numbers are so large it must cross over the threshold and into the very sanctuaries of the household of God. It is statistically unreasonable to expect otherwise.
The Bible tells us our sins will find us out. The Bible tells us we will pay the price for our iniquities, both in this life and the next. We are to keep ourselves unstained from this world [James 1:27] but it appears that much of the church has been sleeping in a garbage truck.
[Adapted from David Miller, American Family Radio, News Network 1999]
Social Issues
Equally Hurt [1 John 2:15-17; other topics - Equality, Godliness, Roles, Sexes (Battle of), War (Cultural)]
A survey by MSNBC, September 1999, [1] asked the following question: are men really miserable? The survey offered four possible responses:
- You bet. They're expected to live to an impossible set of standards. (17%)
- No way. Men are just fine the way they are. (7%)
- It's all the feminists’ fault. (7%)
- Men and women have been equally hurt by a culture that values fame, power, and money above all. (69%)
The survey accompanied an article by Susan Faludi, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Male, Wm. Morrow & Co., on how culture conspires to make men miserable. [2]
What I see revealed in the results of this unscientific survey is a lack of awareness and sensitivity on the part of the shakers-and-movers of our society, something seemingly not lacking among the general populace. I'm beginning to see that most Americans aren't as stupid or as relativistic or as materialistic as most politicians, entertainers, educators, media gurus, and society mucky-mucks make them out to be.
Clearly, most respondents are aware that we all share the blame for the appalling condition of our culture and that fame, power, and money are not the answers.
[Adapted from [1] approx. 5,300 responses as of 9/15/99; no margin of error was given, if any. [2] MSNBC, 9/15/99]
Nonetheless [Psalm 49:16-20; other topics - Evil, Perseverance, Regeneration, Tribulation]
The shootings at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, reminded me of something I read a few years ago.
Wm. Bennett, Ronald Reagan’'s Secretary of Education, in a speech to the Heritage Foundation, shared a discussion he had with a Washington DC cab driver. The cabby, a native of Africa, was in the nation‘s capitol doing grad work; he told Bennett when he finished his studies he was going home, where it would be safer for his kids. He said he didn't want his daughter viewed as a piece of meat; he also said he didn't want his son to be " the target of violence from the hands of other young males." He said, "It's more civilized where I come from!"
This is the opinion of an African man concerning the greatest nation on earth.
Bennett also relates how a young Polish girl, here on student exchange, said, "When I first came here, it was like going into a crazy world, but now I am getting used to it." She compared the two countries in this way: "In Warsaw, we would talk to friends after school, [then] go home and eat with our parents and then do four or five hours of homework but now I'm getting used to it. I'm going to Pizza Hut and watching TV and doing less work in school."
Bennett says, "Something has gone wrong with us." [1]
The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators points out that during the last 30 years our population has increased 41%; gross domestic product tripled; while social spending rose from $144 billion to $787 billion ... a five fold increase.
Those figures sound good, don't they? Well, during the same 30 year period, we experienced a 560% increase in violent crime; a 400% increase in illegitimate births; a quadrupling of divorces; a tripling of children in single parent homes; a doubling of teen suicide; and a 75 point drop in SAT scores. [2]
None of this is encouraging news ... but we do have Good News; our voices just need to be heard [Romans 10:14, 15]. Who will go and tell them!
One young man tried to tell the shooter at Wedgwood, but it was too late and it cost him his life. Perhaps, as we reflect, we should wonder who our neighbor is and who we know that hasn’t heard the Good News while we still have time?
"Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the abundance of their riches." [Psalm 49:6] surround us, yet they arena’t the shooters. Nonetheless, their intense and sin-filled materialistic, greed is the reactant that seems to send the shooters over the edge.
[Excerpted from "America's cultural decline," William J. Bennett, AFA Journal, April, 1994 … 16, 17[1]; Ibid [2]]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
