The Semantics of Salvation
I have a personal rule that if I feel the need to make air quotes whenever I say a certain word, it means I need to start rethinking how I express the concept I’m trying to get across. Lately I realized the word “saved” is one of those words I need to rethink. The reason I air quote “saved” is because if I don’t, this is what I believe people hear when I say it: that when I was in elementary school I recited a prayer written or led by someone else, either because I knew someone expected me to do it or because someone had told me I was going to live forever in a lake of fire if I didn’t, and this experience means now I can go around saying I’m “saved” even though you can’t tell I’m any different from anybody else. I don’t want...
Cheap Grace
I love being cheap. I love it when people give me gift cards for Christmas. I love finding coupons for either Ruby Tuesday or Olive Garden in the Sunday papers. And I love shopping at Goodwill, and browsing through the local library’s used book section. It’s amazing what kind of stuff you can find for only five bucks! I do, however, make an exception on some things. For example, when I buy coffee grounds I get the fair trade stuff, even though it costs more than the regular coffee. People often say to me, “You’re paying way too much! You need to get the cheaper stuff.” That’s usually when I get on my spiel about how major corporations exploit humble farmers, and how the middle man takes all the money. I figure if my money is going to help...
P R I D E – it's all about "I"
Out of all the top sins in my life, I don’t think pride would have made my top 3 or even 7. Yet in the six (yea, seven) things God hates, “A proud look” makes the first on His list. (Proverbs 6: 16-17) In the New Testament, pride shows up again as one of three on a list as “the pride of life”. I John 2:16 Ever notice that the Bible also makes some very emphatic and exclusive statements and conclusions about pride? “Only by pride cometh contention: . . . ” Proverbs 13:10 and “Pride goeth before destruction, . . .” Proverbs 16:18 If God takes the issue of pride so seriously, why don’t I? The only answer I could come up with: my pride. As I began to delve into my own research to be able to teach...
False teachers
Those who know me realize that I am a little bit of a history buff. So it is no surprise that I have really enjoyed teaching some of the lessons for our Sunday school class lately that concern the history of the books of the bible. During the study a couple of things really struck me. The first thing is how little I really understood the timeline of the writing of the bible. Before this study I had never really had a clear picture of how long it took to complete the Old Testament or exactly the order and timing of the New Testament book’s appearance. The second thing that jumped out was the number of times in the New Testament that the authors wrote against false teachers. Until this study I don’t think I realized how much time was spent...
The way up is down
James 4:7-10 (English Standard Version) 7Submit yourselves therefore to God Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. This past Sunday, I heard a great sermon on James 4:7-10. In the sermon, the pastor spoke extensively about drawing near to God, and what that would take given the passage. The introduction to the sermon was around a Christian in the 1700s who kept a diary over 30ish years where he consistently notes that he tries to get up early in the morning. Again...