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In Search of Knowing

By on in Theology

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Lk 9:23

I’ve been looking high and low for extra reading on the person of Christ. There are this sense and urgency within that I just have to know Him. Through and through and not just about Him, His attributes, His character, or about His doing, but about Him and His perfect will.

The Christ of Heaven and the Son of God, and to God Himself I just have to know Him. I’m not explaining it well, but it’s just to see, hear, and understand him. How he was, what he said, and what that means as one who seeks after Him. I want to make absolutely certain that when I stand before Him, it is never reasoned, ‘I never knew you’.

So the search is on and that is my prayer and mission for this week. To see what might happen and where that would go. An exercise in faith because I just know He’s the only way.

Words of Renewal

By on in Theology

GREAT prayer time today. About coming back to basics and a softening of the heart. So, I’ve reordered a TMS (Topical Memory System) again to start fresh. You might want to consider the same.

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26:3

Having memorized these over and over some while ago, they brought such life and renewal. And clarity and promise. So for today, I’m reciting some of them off from memory and I’m so pleased and grateful they came back to mind.

I very much miss them, so I’m getting back to it just to review and build upon what’s there. This Spirit is going to grow within because something is stirring inside much like my passion for wilderness and music, only much more and this is everlasting. Day by day heaven nears and even if this is just a single day at a time, that is enough because there is peace.

Topical Memory System

LIVE THE NEW LIFE	PROCLAIM CHRIST	RELY ON GOD’S RESOURCES	BEING CHRIST’S DISCIPLE	GROW IN CHRIST
Christ the Center 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20	All Have Sinned Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6	His Spirit 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 2:12	Put Christ First Matthew 6:33, Luke 9:23	Love John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:18
Obedience to Christ Romans 12:1; John 14:21	Sin’s Penalty Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27	His Strength Isaiah 41:10; Phil. 4:13	Separate From the World 1 John 2:15-16; Romans 12:2	Humility Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Peter 5:5-6
The Word 2 Timothy 3:16; Joshua 1:8	Christ Paid the Penalty Romans 5:8 1 Peter 3:18	His Faithfulness Lam. 3:22-23; Num. 23:19	Be Steadfast 1 Cor. 15:58; Heb. 12:3	Purity Eph. 5:3; 1 Peter 2:11
Prayer John 15:7; Phil. 4:6-7	Salvation not by Works Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5	His Peace Isaiah 26:3; 1 Peter 5:7	Serve Others Mark 10:45; 2 Cor. 4:5	Honesty Lev. 19:11; Acts 24:16
Fellowship Matt. 18:20; Heb. 10:24-25	Must Receive Christ John 1:12; Revelation 3:20	His Provision Rom. 8:32; Phil. 4:19	Give Generously Proverbs 3:9,10; 2 Cor. 9:6-7	Faith Heb. 11:6; Rom. 4:20-21
Witnessing Matt. 4:19; Romans 1:16	Assurance of Salvation 1 John 5:13; John 5:24	Help in Temptation Hebrews 2:18; Ps. 119:9-11	Develop World Vision Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19-20	Good Works Gal. 6:9-10; Matt. 5:16

Acuity of a Blind Man

By on in Theology

The “Works of God” through the disabilities of others (John 9:3). And not just for those of who have physical handicaps, I suppose.

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” – Rev 3:17

This afternoon on my Twitter stream, I saw an article come through, and it led me to get a second look and read further into it. I was not sure what it was going to be about, but I chose to spend the time with the article’s link anyway. The article is entitled “When Men Forget Who They Are” by John Knight. It’s on the desiringgod.org site.

What got my attention was the call for Pastors to join a Conference about “God, Manhood & Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ.” The time spent to involve somehow, “Fathers of children with disabilities need you to get biblical manhood.” It’s not clear to me what was meant, but it was enough to continue in the article.

The author’s boy is blind. And it feels like men or parents under such circumstances aren’t a priority given the church’s condition today and what is comparatively needed elsewhere relatively speaking. Still, here by happenstance, or by Providence, some will attend and maybe make a difference among some who have children with disabilities.

So, I spend some time thinking about who’s paying attention and what they would possibly do. Hoping for the best.

Quenched

By on in Theology

“Likewise, the Holy Spirit is a fire dwelling in each believer. He wants to express Himself in our actions and attitudes. When believers do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our actions, when we do what we know is wrong, we suppress or quench the Spirit. We do not allow the Spirit to reveal Himself the way that He wants to.

To understand what it means to grieve the Spirit, we must first understand that this indicates the Spirit possesses personality. Only a person can be grieved; therefore, the Spirit must be a divine person in order to have this emotion. Once we understand this, we can better understand how He is grieved, mainly because we too are grieved.

Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we should not grieve the Spirit. We grieve the Spirit by living like the pagans (Eph 4:17-19), by lying (Eph 4:25), by being angry (Eph 4:26-27), by stealing (Eph 4:28), by cursing (Eph 4:29), by being bitter (Eph 4:31), by being unforgiving (Eph 4:32), and by being sexually immoral (Eph 5:3-5). To grieve the Spirit is to act out in a sinful manner, whether it is in thought only or in both thought and deed.

Both quenching and grieving the Spirit are similar in their effects. Both hinder a godly lifestyle. Both happen when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, and farther away from the world and sin. Just as we do not like to be grieved, and just as we do not seek to quench what is good—so we should not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit by refusing to follow His leading.”

– C. Stanley

Theater of Order

By on in Cosmology, Theology

Today I spent time going through Ligonier’s lecture on causality or the nature of cause and effect. That with every effect in this physical universe, there must be a cause. R.C. Sproul proceeded to refute each argument about the idea that there are some effects without a cause. And that more specifically, according to Hume, all effects are simply a series of events ‘in contiguity’.

Sproul contends that with every effect, there’s something that sets it in motion. That something must at some point exist independent of a cause to produce an effect. To forward the thought that there is no separate being outside of what it takes to produce cause and effect, Hume’s idea is a self-spawned point of convenience. Or at best, a misunderstanding about the nature of God and His independence from the dimension of time. Contrary to Hume’s view, God is not somehow co-mingled with “everything” or put into effect by some cause.

Rather, it’s logically accurate to conclude that you can not expect to see anything come out of nothing (i.e., the law of contradiction). Or, more specifically, concerning Creation and the existence of God, something out of nothing when God is independent of time and our physical universe. God isn’t required to exist through external cause. God is an eternal being. An uncaused cause. For us, God is the first cause, either through order not understood or otherwise.