“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” ~ Acts 17: 22, 23
These poor people living in Athens were so superstitious (and religious) that they actually made an altar, beside the ones that they had for each of the gods which they worshipped, for this unknown god. Their whole lives revolved around keeping their gods placated so that they could have a good life, and be successful, and not die. They so believed this, and were so scared, that they had dedicated an altar to [fill in the blank] just in case they missed someone. You see, if there was some god out there that they were not taking care of, he wouldn’t appreciate that, and he might curse them; their economy would fail, they would lose their wars, they would be destroyed—so they thought, at least.
Just as then, this World is dark. They don’t know what they need to fill the longing they have; they think they know, but it never works. For some people, there lives are full of fear: What if I lose my job? What if my child fails? Does this President know what he is doing? Will I have enough money to retire? How long will I live Doctor? Others may seem to have it under control, but inside there is some fear and uncertainty. Everyone has something to worry about, whether it’s as insignificant as whether or not their team will win (don’t tell them that’s insignificant) or as important as whether or not the world is going to end, or at least theirs. Depression, drunkenness, drug abuse, and so on are all rampant. Suicide is all too common. This World has no answer.
That is, they won’t accept the Answer. As my Pastor’s banner says: “Got problems? Jesus is the Answer!” The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Light: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world:” (Jn 8:12) As for darkness, there’s none of that around Him. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn 1:5) I truly believe that Jesus is the answer to all of men’s problems. He definitely cares more about each of us than anyone else does.
So if you’re a Christian, you have The Answer. You know the true God; the only God. There’s no worries about leaving a god out, or on how to please God. You now walk in the light of the Word. You are a child of the Light.
“He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” ~ Jn 8:12b
His Perfect Will
I was recently encouraged, by this year’s graduating class. I graduated four years ago and like some near my age, and probably older as well, I have—not necessarily doubts—but concerns and fears for the upcoming generations. I know what it’s like for them; I’m still going through it. I also realise that a lot of the future depends on them; that’s what everybody tells me.
So this year was good. Our pastor tried something new: the day after our homeschool graduation every grad came to the front of the church and, as a group, answered every question anyone wanted to ask them. Some of them they may not have done too well on, (“Do you clean your room?”) but one was a blessing. Now, the day before, almost every one of them said something to the effect that they put their parents through a lot while growing up and going through school. But when asked if they would homeschool their own children, all nine of them said “Yes”, several emphatically so. They weren’t asked about family size, but if they were I’m sure each of them would say it is totally up to God.
I know those two questions aren’t really the “most pressing” ones and they don’t cover everything, but they are areas that are increasingly under attack, more expensive, and make a difference. This just shows that when you surrender to God’s will and do your best to follow and serve Him through that with joy, your children are likely to catch the vision. They will see that it is worth it even though it will cost. It was good to hear.
Did You Wash Behind Your Ears?
The other day, while I was brushing my teeth, I thought about the studies showing that cleaning your mouth reduces your risk of disease—besides gum and teeth diseases. If that is really the case, it’s sad to think that people who otherwise take care of their bodies can still end up with heart disease or arthritis simply because they didn’t take the time to brush their teeth. The same point can be made about many different things: If you don’t take care of wounds they can get infected, if you don’t regularly bathe you can end up with skin problems, stay out in the sun too long without protection and you will get sunburned and possibly, down the road, skin cancer, etc.
What’s worse is that many Christians make the same mistakes in their spiritual lives. All too often, we neglect something in our daily “hygiene”. Prayer, reading and meditating on the Bible, and other things are all necessary; stop doing one of them and you will be “overtaken in a fault” (believe me, I know it). It doesn’t matter what else you are doing and taking care of, if you don’t take care of everything something will go wrong. Other times, we get an “injury” or an “illness”. If we ignore these problems they will eventually catch up to us, even if we are healthy in every other area; Steve Jobs proved that.
Proverbs 4:26 says “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.” Once you neglect part of your daily hygiene routine or get hurt or ill, your feet start going down a different path, away from the Great Physician. Please take a spiritual physical; if you don’t pass make an appointment with the Doctor.
A Passion For Souls
Last week, I was reading my Bible in Romans:
“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”~ Romans 9:1–3
Ouch. I don’t think I can honestly say that even my grandparents or other close family, much less the average American or Briton, my ancestors. Not even my own siblings. Is that wrong? Is Paul saying that we need to so badly want our family, fellow-citizens to be saved that we would go to Hell if it meant they would go to Heaven? I don’t know. I don’t think so; but could we perhaps want it enough that we would go outside our comfort zone? You could spend $2,000,000,000 on tracts, missions, etc and it would be easier than going to Hell. Could you give $20, $50, $100? It would be far easier to spend the rest of your life as a missionary in Africa or China. Are you willing to go on a missions trip, knock on some doors, hold a banner? “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (1 Pt 3:9)
There is no greater reward than to know that someone has come to Christ through something you have done. Your reward will be great in Heaven. Let us see souls the way God sees them, get a passion for them, and get out of our comfort zone and do something for them. “Hear their cry…”
“The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy.”
~ A. W. Tozer
“Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervors, or un-commanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills.”
~ John Brown
Psalm 84:10
This has been my life verse for a while now, and I always thought of it as a pretty small job; you know, he would rather be a doorkeeper. But on more thought I realized it’s actually somewhat of an important job. What? How could a doorman be an important job?
Well, what does a doorman do? The most obvious thing is that he opens the door for people to come in. Yes, he helps people get into the hotel, big deal. But let’s “spiritualize” this (no I am not going weird on you). What are we, as Christians, commanded to do? “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” ~ Mk 16:15 That’s right-we are to open the door to Christ, and to seek out people who will come in(Lk 14:21-23). But the doorman’s job doesn’t stop at simply opening the door; that would be too easy. A real doorman will help you get your luggage into the hotel as well. This can not be letting in the baggage of the World with the new believer, but is helping the brethren (new and old) out with their struggles, etc. (Ph 2:4)
If you think about it, a doorman not only lets people in, he keeps certain things out. How would it look if the Ritz let all the homeless people on their street hang out in the lobby? Or lets in an unsavoury character? Rich people pay more so that they aren’t bothered by these types of people. (Eph 4:14) Are you keeping sin out of your life? Are you on the lookout for false doctrine and teachers? They are out there, and they will try to get in to your life, your family, your church. You must be on the alert outside your door.
One last thing. When you look at a hotel, what do you see? You know the name, you can see the sign, the outside of the building looks good, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the inside is good. Hotel chains have standards, but unfortunately, not all places will always match up; or you might be looking at one that isn’t part of a chain. But if you look at the employees, their appearance will nearly always tell you what that place is like. Take that Ritz for an example again. The doorman is almost certainly more dressed up than you (unless you’re actually staying there). Am I saying you you should live your whole life in a suit, that anywhere you go you better be dressed up? No, I’m simply saying that those employees know what they are representing and they dress the part. And they act it as well. You are an ambassador for Christ-can people tell? Would they want to be like you? (Mt 5:16)
Will you be a doorkeeper? Can you say that you would prefer that to anything else? The future depends on you. If you let the wrong things in it will affect generations. Lots of people. Are you bringing people in? They will go to hell if you don’t. Help your brethren. The stakes are high, but the rewards are great; here and in heaven.
Hello World 2.0
All right, let’s try this again :). Last year sure went by rather quickly. Between unreliable or no internet, a bit of laziness, forgetfulness, bad health…. You get the picture. I had every excuse (although some were a little more than an excuse). This year, i plan to post every other week or at least once a month, even if it’s just a short quote or a photo. I’ll be posting on two other blogs, 1 Love for Christ and Romans 10, as well. My next post will be in a couple days; something I’ve meant to preach a few times, but something always came up. So, you get to have it first!
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
Click here to see the complete report.
Friday Nights in Auckland
My apologies again for taking so long, but with institute, a computer science course, and several repairs on the house, car, and computer, I haven’t had much time :). However, here is something about one the things we did in New Zealand.
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with 1,377,200 people living within its limits. The city is 402 sq. mi (1042 sq. km) with a high point of 2,257 ft (688m), and a low point of sea level (It is on the coast, after all ;)). Auckland is known as the City of Sails due to the large number of sailboats based there. It was to this city that we went, every Friday night, with our Bible, tracts, and Scripture signs.
Auckland City’s location within New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Auckland has a bit of the feel of New York City, but without quite as many people. But just because there were not as many people does not mean that there was no one to talk to; there were too many! We did what we could, but there were many people nearby that did not get the message of Christ. Throughout the time that I was in New Zealand, the only people we saw more than once in Auckland were the police patrol in that area and the shop owners, with the exception of three young men that we saw twice. The good news is that we were not alone. Almost every night there were people right across the street from us, and a few times Pastor Gustafsson came out with a few of his members. Of course, we had the typical strange encounter now and then, such as: a drunk man arguing with me about something so crazy and mystical I can’t even remember what it was, a man dancing to music from another man (the funny thing was that he looked like a marionette), and the cookie vendor who gave Matthew and I some free macadamia nut cookies, which were a premium cookie, although this was more nice than strange. All in all, we had a great time while giving out the gospel. It was also during one of these nights that Jillian met Vicki, a student at Auckland University, which led to a Bible study at the University. That’s all for now; I’ve got to leave some for more posts, after all.
I am so sorry I haven’t updated in such a long time. I am now home and about to start Institute again. Thank you very much for all of your prayers as that is what kept me going. Now that I have a bit more time, I will be posting more about what the Snyders and I did.