A cold is upon me. I have to remember to thank Micah, my toddler son for that. My task this evening is to study for my church history class tomorrow, where we will be teaching on the crusades. As I prepare, the Bible Study at Towson University is happening, and I wish I was there. Also, the team meeting for VL JHU is in progress, and I wish I were there, as well. We have opportunities in various schools throughout Maryland and other states, as well as some in other countries. I wish I were there, and there, and there....
But God knows, and He will provide. We have some amazing team members in our organization. I am routinely humbled by their walks with God. He has provided, and will provide more.
We will soon be initiating a team in Ghana, Africa. Stay tuned for details concerning this.
I must get back to preparation. I love to teach, and I love the campus!
Don't you?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Imaginations, The Framework of Thinking
The human has a framework to his thinking. I think you agree with me. Each one has a way of thinking, with a predisposition in temperament and context. Some think more analytically, others more subjectively. Some have a greater capacity for learning, and some are creative thinkers. I have seen people attempt to alter their framework of thinking and then struggle with self-image issues. What we discover is that we can change how we think, but our framework of thinking is a part of what makes us an individual.
How do I change how I think? I believe it is by appropriating truth. Our minds are created to find the absolute in a given dynamic. We do not cope well with imaginations that stray from the static of truth. Our minds tire easily if allowed to wander from truth, and if the process of attempting to re-align is interfered with, the thoughts can become unstable and imbalanced.
I must say here that I have no laboratory analyses or comprehensive studies to scientifically support my thoughts on this subject. These are thoughts that I have formulated through the years, in the learning process of discerning truth and applying it to life.
In the Bible, in 1 Chronicles 28:9, we see that God understands each of the frameworks of man's thinking. In other words, He knows how He made me, and He leads me into right thinking within that framework of thought. Thus, the analytical thinker can have an anointed thought life, and be a blessing to others with his type of thinking. Similarly, the creative mind becomes valuable when God is allowed to instruct it in the ways of thought. Each of us, in our God given constructs, can become extraordinary in our relationship to life and living, when we accept the truth of the Word of God, and humbly receive His instruction.
We do not have to change ourselves. God molds us into the treasure that we are. It is a wonderful thing.
So think boldly in your imagination, or your framework of thought. Open yourself to God's loving intruction. You will not be disappointed.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Examine the Evidence
Good leadership displays many characteristics. We can look at a leader's history and find keys to the successes in their life. It is a fascinating and enlightening exercise to study the lives of influential people, and I recommend it.
I have discovered an attribute that is common to great leaders. These are people who have cultivated the ability to gather evidence and formulate decisions based upon reasoning derived from said evidence. This may seem like an understatement, after you think about it. But, amazingly enough, there are relatively few men and women that form their decisions and ideals based upon proven evidence. Most times, a person's direction comes from emotional need, peer pressure, or herd mentality. I am a watcher for those who are sound in their thinking and communication.
Jesus, during His time walking on the earth, was a master at discerning the thinking of men. I was reading Matthew 21:23-27. In this portion, the religious leaders asked Jesus to tell them from where he received His authority. His answer to them was that first they must answer a question for Him. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? The priests began to reason. The evidence took second place to reasoning which was based in suppositions of what might happen upon whichever answer they gave. Neither of the 2 possible answers would leave them in a postive light, so they said that they could not answer the question. These were leaders. Men who were influential in other's lives. Men who had the evidence. They were aware of the facts and they chose to ignore them for the cause of self-protection. Jesus revealed their wrong thinking for the ages to see. It is one of many examples for us to distinquish non-thinking rhetoric. It was prevelant in the 1st century, and is much more prevelent today.
God gives us information. He supplies all the evidence necessary to reason correctly in any situation.
My advice is to gather up the evidence that God has given us. His Word contains the evidence. Get it. Read it. Learn it. Love it.
I have discovered an attribute that is common to great leaders. These are people who have cultivated the ability to gather evidence and formulate decisions based upon reasoning derived from said evidence. This may seem like an understatement, after you think about it. But, amazingly enough, there are relatively few men and women that form their decisions and ideals based upon proven evidence. Most times, a person's direction comes from emotional need, peer pressure, or herd mentality. I am a watcher for those who are sound in their thinking and communication.
Jesus, during His time walking on the earth, was a master at discerning the thinking of men. I was reading Matthew 21:23-27. In this portion, the religious leaders asked Jesus to tell them from where he received His authority. His answer to them was that first they must answer a question for Him. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? The priests began to reason. The evidence took second place to reasoning which was based in suppositions of what might happen upon whichever answer they gave. Neither of the 2 possible answers would leave them in a postive light, so they said that they could not answer the question. These were leaders. Men who were influential in other's lives. Men who had the evidence. They were aware of the facts and they chose to ignore them for the cause of self-protection. Jesus revealed their wrong thinking for the ages to see. It is one of many examples for us to distinquish non-thinking rhetoric. It was prevelant in the 1st century, and is much more prevelent today.
God gives us information. He supplies all the evidence necessary to reason correctly in any situation.
My advice is to gather up the evidence that God has given us. His Word contains the evidence. Get it. Read it. Learn it. Love it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration
Don't you think it is remarkable that this nation has maintained such a great system of leadership for over 230 years? The amazing thing about the inauguration is that demonstrates a peaceful transfer of power. We each have strong opinions about the issues in our society. I have my own beliefs, (which I do not want to voice in this posting), about this particular presidential change. Yet, we do not allow our differences to interfere with the due course!
We are a peaceful nation. We are a nation rooted in the notions of care, service, protection, and rights. The USA was founded on such beliefs, backing them up with Scripture and with unwavering faith. We have maintained it, and for that we can be proud!
There is another issue inside of all of this, however. It is the issue of the individual, and his/her ability to hear and make decisions based upon a world view that does not waver or contradict itself. If this nation's government has kept to it's precepts, then why not the individual, and the the governing of the soul? It is an apathetic system of thought that leads a person to believe that whatever they feel must be truth. Truth itself, then, changes with the emotions of the individual, with no standard from which to voice itself. Without truth, how can there be care, service, protection? Who would define it? Would it be the one with the greatest need? Who would determine that? There has to be a reference point, and the founders of this great found it! It was the Word of God. The unchanging Word!
Maybe you do not agree with this. Well, many have not and do not, but yet, the Word has not changed. It is old news to disagree with God. It is older news, however, that God prevails!
I think inauguration day would be a good day to swear, in faith, that you will follow Truth and Righteousness in your life. Join the fanfare that is going on today, but apply it to your heart that you will seek for truth, not opinion, in the remainder of your walk on earth. If you commit to that, God will show you Truth.
I promise
We are a peaceful nation. We are a nation rooted in the notions of care, service, protection, and rights. The USA was founded on such beliefs, backing them up with Scripture and with unwavering faith. We have maintained it, and for that we can be proud!
There is another issue inside of all of this, however. It is the issue of the individual, and his/her ability to hear and make decisions based upon a world view that does not waver or contradict itself. If this nation's government has kept to it's precepts, then why not the individual, and the the governing of the soul? It is an apathetic system of thought that leads a person to believe that whatever they feel must be truth. Truth itself, then, changes with the emotions of the individual, with no standard from which to voice itself. Without truth, how can there be care, service, protection? Who would define it? Would it be the one with the greatest need? Who would determine that? There has to be a reference point, and the founders of this great found it! It was the Word of God. The unchanging Word!
Maybe you do not agree with this. Well, many have not and do not, but yet, the Word has not changed. It is old news to disagree with God. It is older news, however, that God prevails!
I think inauguration day would be a good day to swear, in faith, that you will follow Truth and Righteousness in your life. Join the fanfare that is going on today, but apply it to your heart that you will seek for truth, not opinion, in the remainder of your walk on earth. If you commit to that, God will show you Truth.
I promise
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Daddy Help!
My toddler son awakened me very early this morning with his call for daddy. It seems that something had scared him, something visible only in the imaginations of his little world.
Of course I went to him and brought him, safe and sound, to that place where everything is alright, that is, close to daddy.
We never grow out of the basic need for help in time of trouble. We are not self-sufficient creatures, or, at least should not be. We are created to need our Father. When we were young children, we needed our earthly father in times of need or distress. When we became older, our earthly father deferred to our Heavenly One, and our more substantial needs and fears were met by an infinitely more capable Father. He is a "very present" help in trouble! (Psalms 46:1)
I think of the times that I have had fears that are only seen through the imaginations of my own little world. They are the sum of the accumulated details of life. When I, often in the dark of night, consider them, they add up to calamity or distress. It is then that I can, and should, call upon my Father, just as young Micah called upon me this morning. He called me by the only name that carries great authority and comfort for him in trouble, daddy. For us, that name is God!
Call upon Him in your time of trouble today. He will run to you, and bring you to that place of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
Of course I went to him and brought him, safe and sound, to that place where everything is alright, that is, close to daddy.
We never grow out of the basic need for help in time of trouble. We are not self-sufficient creatures, or, at least should not be. We are created to need our Father. When we were young children, we needed our earthly father in times of need or distress. When we became older, our earthly father deferred to our Heavenly One, and our more substantial needs and fears were met by an infinitely more capable Father. He is a "very present" help in trouble! (Psalms 46:1)
I think of the times that I have had fears that are only seen through the imaginations of my own little world. They are the sum of the accumulated details of life. When I, often in the dark of night, consider them, they add up to calamity or distress. It is then that I can, and should, call upon my Father, just as young Micah called upon me this morning. He called me by the only name that carries great authority and comfort for him in trouble, daddy. For us, that name is God!
Call upon Him in your time of trouble today. He will run to you, and bring you to that place of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3)
Monday, January 12, 2009
Belief Without Doctrine?
I was reading this morning of a church group that does not believe in adopting a doctrinal statement. The contention, they say, is that such statements of faith, or creeds of any kind, exclude people from fellowship. This church group, which is very large, with nearly 4000 churches, holds a decidedly liberal view of worship and faith, yet still claiming to be christian and Christ followers. Salvation, for them, can mean many things. It can mean deliverance of any kind. It seems that such deliverance is obtained through a kind of redirection of thinking, or a different outlook on things.
This is interesting. No creeds. No absolutes. But still church. That is convenient. Let's not exclude anyone by revealing the error of their ways to them. (Of course, if I am lost, it is the error of my way that I want defined, isn't it?)
This is not new thinking. The original creeds in 3rd and 4th centuries were intended as measuring rods of doctrine. The need for such a thing was becoming evident, as the New Testament church, with it's dogmatic belief in 'the Apostles doctrine', (Acts 2:42), was being contested by groups looking for something with a more liberal stance, or something that would not isolate those of differing beliefs.
There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
I am glad for doctrine. I struggle with wrong thinking in my life, and I need to be reproved, admonished, by the standard of thought. For me, doctrine is God's way of informing me throughout life. Without it, my thinking becomes subjective, autonomous, and liberal (nonliteral, nonspecific, imprecise).
Oh, fyi, you can hear the leader of the church that I was reading about this morning speak, if you want. She is giving the inaugural sermon at the National Prayer Service on January 21st.
Hmmm...
This is interesting. No creeds. No absolutes. But still church. That is convenient. Let's not exclude anyone by revealing the error of their ways to them. (Of course, if I am lost, it is the error of my way that I want defined, isn't it?)
This is not new thinking. The original creeds in 3rd and 4th centuries were intended as measuring rods of doctrine. The need for such a thing was becoming evident, as the New Testament church, with it's dogmatic belief in 'the Apostles doctrine', (Acts 2:42), was being contested by groups looking for something with a more liberal stance, or something that would not isolate those of differing beliefs.
There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
I am glad for doctrine. I struggle with wrong thinking in my life, and I need to be reproved, admonished, by the standard of thought. For me, doctrine is God's way of informing me throughout life. Without it, my thinking becomes subjective, autonomous, and liberal (nonliteral, nonspecific, imprecise).
Oh, fyi, you can hear the leader of the church that I was reading about this morning speak, if you want. She is giving the inaugural sermon at the National Prayer Service on January 21st.
Hmmm...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Power vs. Power
Twice in the Bible the following two words are used together: all power.
Once it is used in Matthew 28:18, and is speaking of the power of God in Christ Jesus.
The other time is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and is referring to the power of Satan.
So how can both God and Satan have all power? I am glad you asked. The answer is that these two words for power are really very descriptive in the original language. In Matthew 28:18, the word is "exousia", which speaks of authority. Judicial, managing, governmental authority. God has ALL of that.
In 2 Thessalonians, the word is "dunamis", which means strength, power, ability. But not authority.
Think about it. God has all power with authority. All authority. Over everything.
Satan is, at best, a strong man.
There will come a day when the Authority of God will pull the plug on the power of Satan.
Oh, and here is another thing. That which God has, we have when we are walking with Him!
Now, that is great news!
So, which would you rather have, power or Power?
Once it is used in Matthew 28:18, and is speaking of the power of God in Christ Jesus.
The other time is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and is referring to the power of Satan.
So how can both God and Satan have all power? I am glad you asked. The answer is that these two words for power are really very descriptive in the original language. In Matthew 28:18, the word is "exousia", which speaks of authority. Judicial, managing, governmental authority. God has ALL of that.
In 2 Thessalonians, the word is "dunamis", which means strength, power, ability. But not authority.
Think about it. God has all power with authority. All authority. Over everything.
Satan is, at best, a strong man.
There will come a day when the Authority of God will pull the plug on the power of Satan.
Oh, and here is another thing. That which God has, we have when we are walking with Him!
Now, that is great news!
So, which would you rather have, power or Power?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Richard Dawkins Might Believe in the Tooth Fairy
Richard Dawkins, the latest and greatest voice for skepticism and atheism, has launched a campaign in which he has paid to have large signs placed on the sides of some 800 buses in Great Britain. The signs say, "There probably is no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life".
Probably. I like that! Thank you, Mr. Dawkins. This is a good marketing campaign...for God. I can imagine hundreds, if not thousands of people viewing these signs, with the results being each of them having some thoughts about God. (I will get back to that thought.)
Mr. Dawkins is quoted to have said that he did not want to use the word 'probably', but that organizers wanted it because they did not want to be dogmatic like Christians are.
Hmmmm....skeptical about their skepticism, it seems.
Mr Dawkins said that the existence of God is about as likely as that of the tooth fairy.
So there is a chance that there is a Tooth Fairy! Profound!
Well, anyway, concerning probability, consider this. Say you were a healthy person who, one day began to have some chest discomfort. A friend might tell you that it is probably nothing. They might be right, but I think you would have it checked so you could know for sure. That is why I like this bus campaign. I think that when people read the sign, the word 'probably' will naturally cause them to question the statement.
And that is all it takes. Just a thought toward God opens the door for Him to reveal himself to a person who was previously closed to Him. Acts 26:18 speaks of opening the eyes of man, so that he may see the difference between darkness and light, and receive all that is for him.
There is much darkness in today's world. But, it cannot get so dark that light does not work! We want all people to see the Light of the World, and receive the new life of walking with God!
Oh, and, after much investigation (tonque in cheek), I am dogmatic that there is no tooth fairy! However, after one touch from God, I became absolutely dogmatic that God is with us!
Probably. I like that! Thank you, Mr. Dawkins. This is a good marketing campaign...for God. I can imagine hundreds, if not thousands of people viewing these signs, with the results being each of them having some thoughts about God. (I will get back to that thought.)
Mr. Dawkins is quoted to have said that he did not want to use the word 'probably', but that organizers wanted it because they did not want to be dogmatic like Christians are.
Hmmmm....skeptical about their skepticism, it seems.
Mr Dawkins said that the existence of God is about as likely as that of the tooth fairy.
So there is a chance that there is a Tooth Fairy! Profound!
Well, anyway, concerning probability, consider this. Say you were a healthy person who, one day began to have some chest discomfort. A friend might tell you that it is probably nothing. They might be right, but I think you would have it checked so you could know for sure. That is why I like this bus campaign. I think that when people read the sign, the word 'probably' will naturally cause them to question the statement.
And that is all it takes. Just a thought toward God opens the door for Him to reveal himself to a person who was previously closed to Him. Acts 26:18 speaks of opening the eyes of man, so that he may see the difference between darkness and light, and receive all that is for him.
There is much darkness in today's world. But, it cannot get so dark that light does not work! We want all people to see the Light of the World, and receive the new life of walking with God!
Oh, and, after much investigation (tonque in cheek), I am dogmatic that there is no tooth fairy! However, after one touch from God, I became absolutely dogmatic that God is with us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
