Sin, The Hostile Takeover of Society

Either we live in support of the degradation of our society or we work actively to overcome these things, which most in our culture, would say we find abhorant. You fill in the topic with your favorite theme from today's headlines.

There is no in between. Sin ...is a hostile takeover of God's plan. The only way to combat sin is through trusting Jesus Christ; that He is Lord, and wilfully surrendering to Him as Lord of our own lives. Then, we begin to grow in Him, in His teaching, through God's word. Under our own power ...we will fight sin for a day, before we simply find ourselves agreeing to a way to just live with it. -Steve Terrell

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God." (1John 5:1-5 NLT)

United, We Stand

Until we, as a nation, figure out for what it is we are united ...we will only become more and more divided. All while the rest of the world watches. Communities killing communities. Division over symbols. Racial hatred conjured from self-destruction. It is mere distraction, for now. Instead of community ...we are equally at war with ourselves as with others throughout the world. This is a slow national suicide. Flags do not define us, but they do remind us, and symbolize a heritage long sought after by other countrymen from all over the world. Is our great land still desirable? I believe it is! The ex-patriots who still take up her turf are not so desirable. We really need to revisit why we are who we are, then be that nation, together. One nation, under God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all. Join us in being a community nation, or feel free to move on to somewhere where your selfish extreme individuality can be fleshed out and burned out. It is time that we stand together for a single, good purpose ...instead of fighting the un-winable battle for individuality. You'll soon have no platform on which to stand.

-Steve Terrell

It Is Time

Time for what? And who am I speaking to? Time to get honest, real honest, about the broken world we live in. I'm speaking to all of us, all of you. Saved, un-saved, and those who believe such monickers are nonsense. Again, let's get real honest. Before I read another article demonstrating how our society is flying apart.

It is time ...to stop soft-selling Christianity. And when I say it's time ....it is surely way past time. But we can't undo the past. Onward. Forward. Trusting God to fill in our gaps, if we are faithful ...to His faithfulness. Believer... do we mean it when we proclaim Jesus as "the way, the truth, the life?

Stop! Look at the world around you. Look at our culture, and how it is changing. I'm sorry ...we are not getting "better". I'll not list the examples to prove that. I won't insult your intelligence by quantifying the statement.

Flying a flag, or denying one, won't succeed in making a better place to live. It'll never be good enough. Our marches won't succeed in changing hearts and minds. We'll only succeed in clarifying or division. "Equality" is a myth. Those who strive to find it will be the very ones to ultimately break their own rules. We are selfish. We ARE all sinners ....fallen short of God's glorious standard. Only faith in Christ can change how we live, who / what we are.

Give me a better eternal solution than Jesus Christ, as Scripture promises Him to be?? The living word, the same yesterday, today, and forever. We're not going to save this world. That's reality. It's time to find yourself a part of Christ' community, with a group of equally imperfect believers, a church! It's time to really open God's word, study it, hide it in our hearts. The day soon may come that it is the only place we might dwell on it. The GOOD NEWS!

The more hopeless this world becomes ...the more our hope is solidified in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That used to be a firm truth. It has "progressed" as cliché, silliness. Now, it is "offensive". Soon ....it will be vilified.

So, it is time. Pick a side. Choose, this day, whom you will serve. It won't be pretty, whatever your choice. But, pick a side.

And indeed ...I say this in love. Not subtleness. Not cultural, nor political, correctness. But in LOVE. Love for you, as God's creation.

Pick a side. It is time.

-Steve Terrell

Minding Our Business (Relevance Is Relative)

"...and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." (1 Thes. 4:11-12)
http://bible.com/59/1th.4.11-12.ESV

I am a little concerned that the church, today, may be overly-concerned with "being relevent", to the neglect of good practical advice, such as that given to the Thessalonian church by Paul (scripture above).

That said, and before someone uses it against me, I fully realize that Paul, himself, believed in being relevent to the culture around him. (1 Cor. 9:20) Rightly so. Indeed, the church should, with wisdom and with discernment, be selective about what lengths it goes to in order to be "in the world, not of the world"; if I dare use the old, and vague, cliché.

I think that is precisely my point. Let's not allow relevence to become an idol. Should we go to all, any, ridiculous lengths to be so acceptable to the world? Are we not different? We ARE set apart. We ARE different. Indeed, a peculiar people.

Let's allow faith to do ITS' work. We should pray, constantly, as to how we act, or react, to "the world", and how much we look or sound like it.

A Beautiful Request

If you pray, "how" do you pray? What do you ask for? And why? Do we think that whatever we ask, of God, it will satisfy (us or Him)? Do we think it will last? Or like everything we own, ever have owned, or ever will own, do we know that it will all turn to dust? And I use the word "own" loosely. What is or our motivation? What is our purpose? What is the point?? The point in living, in dying? What can possibly be worth pursuing?

Here's what I mean by... a beautiful request! In scripture, King Solomon (David's son) asked for something seemingly simplistic. It might even appear that he just wasted an opportunity when God said to him.... "What do you want? Ask, and I shall give it to you." (2 Chronicles 1:7) http://bible.com/59/2ch.1.7.ESV

Wow! Talk about your genie in a bottle scenario! I wonder what I might have asked for. Therein, lies the "wow" of this transaction between God and Solomon.

1. For starters, and this may be the single most important point, A. Solomon recognized who God is, what He had done for, and through, his own father (David). B. He "trusted" that God could do the same with him, and had a desire to do so. Why? Because, like his father's,  Solomon's heart was after God. Not perfect! But discernable enough to God, and that should be the aim.
"And Solomon said to God, "You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place." (2 Chronicles 1:8) http://bible.com/59/2ch.1.8.ESV

2. Solomon understood where his own ability came from. If he was doing, or was to do, any real good, that ability was from God. "....for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth." http://bible.com/59/2ch.1.9.ESV Whatever Solomon accomplished.... it was from God. It was for God. It begs me to ask... what if our kings, our leaders, our elected officials thought this way? What if they prayed this way? Do you or I pray this way?

3. So, Solomon asks for the big ticket item! Not wealth. Not fame. Not tangible things at all. "Give me now WISDOM" (emphasis mine) http://bible.com/59/2ch.1.10.ESV "Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?" Solomon could not imagine doing his job, serving his role, living his life ....without God's help. He wasn't intending to try it without God's help, His direction, His plan, His will.

4. God answers BIG, when our motivations are toward His will. "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." http://bible.com/59/jhn.14.13-14.ESV

God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like." http://bible.com/59/2ch.1.11-12.ESV

God's will, and desire, are that people may know Him, and trust in Him. He does this work "through" us, imperfect people. Solomon wasn't perfect either. But, like his father, his life and will were focused and directed toward God, and the things OF God. He didn't lock himself in a room and only pray? He did pray. Then he acted. He LIVED. He did so, however imperfectly, for God.

We can do the same. It's s matter of changing our thinking, changing our mind, changing our heart.

Oh right... don't miss the end of that last part. Yes, God did bless Solomon with riches. I wonder how it might have been if more riches were what he asked for? I'm glad Solomon asked self-lessly. And in that too, trusting God pays dividends. When God gets the glory, we get the benefit. In this life, or in our eternal life with Him. Do you, will you, trust Him?