The Word of God Preached

The Word of God Preached Genesis – Revelation March 20, 2008

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2a and applied it to Himself; “¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, " ¹⁹"To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. "

Jesus was anointed and sent to preach- the gospel, deliverance and recovery, and the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Father was the first preacher. He has anointed and sent and will anoint and send other preachers. But He and His are not the only preachers.

The Bible uses several words that are translated “preach, preaching, preached.” In the Old Testament, the words all mean to call out, as in to pronounce or announce. In the New Testament, preach can mean to evangelize, to herald divine truth, to talk/ preach/ speak, or divine expression itself (logos).

Let us look at the Word of God preached.

(Much of the outline of this sermon is from a National Resurgence/Act 29 Network Conference I attended at Marshill Church in Seattle February 2008.)

GOD, THE FIRST PREACHER When God's word goes forth, something gets accomplished. In Genesis 1, 10 times the Bible says “God said”.

o By the spoken word of God: God is revealed

o Order is created

o Life is created

o Things are separated/divided

o “Good” / “very good” is pronounced

o God’s authority is displayed

GOD IS NOT THE ONLY PREACHER Satan preaches to our parents

Ø Genesis 3 Satan preaches to our parents

o Undermines God’s word

o Undermines God’s authority

o Brings together what should have been separated

The question is not; “Will there be preaching?” but “What will be preached?”

THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON Genesis 3:15

Ø Jesus is coming; conflict; wounded; victory

THE PROPHETS PREACH

Ø Repentance and the coming of Jesus

JOHN THE BAPTIZER PREACHED

Ø Repent, Jesus is at hand

After Jesus’ baptism and another sermon by God, the Father (Matthew 3:16-17 ” ¹⁶ And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
¹⁷ And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”) there followed

PREACHING IN THE WILDERNESS Matthew 4

Ø Satan’s sermon – Life w/o God; Kingdom w/o a cross; Glory w/o humility; and included the same invitation offered to Adam.

Ø Jesus preached as well. In His sermons, He quoted God’s word.

After the time in the wilderness being tempted,

JESUS BEGINS HIS PUBLIC PREACHING MINISTRY Matthew 4:17 ¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Ø Notice: Jesus went preaching. Ministry begins with PREACHING, not sharing, proclaiming: “Repent, turn from your foolishness and false doctrine!” Later the Apostle Paul says that what he preaches is: Jesus Crucified for our sins. 1Corinthians 1:23; 2:2

God preaches; God sends preachers (prophets); God comes as Preacher (Jesus)

Jesus preaches for about 3 years and then...

Ø Jesus is crucified, rises, and ascends, but he tells his disciples, “Don’t go preaching yet. Wait for the Fortifier, the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

The Holy Spirit descended on the church in Acts2 as He had on Jesus and the believers PREACHED Acts2:11,14-ff

Ø One evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence is PREACHING THE GOSPEL

o Acts 2 and 3 Peter preached and people got saved

o Preaching exalts Jesus – crucified, buried, and resurrected The church is born by the Holy Spirit and God uses Preaching to bring forth the church (NEXT WEEK: The Word of God preached and the church)

GOD CHOSE PREACHING AS A MEANS TO SAVE Romans 1:16 The Gospel proclaimed is what God uses to lead people to Himself.

As church history progressed, the church left the tradition of preaching and changed the emphasis to the sacraments (the mass). Part of the reformation brought about by Luther and Calvin and others was God refreshing the emphasis on His Word proclaimed from the pulpits and streets and in homes and workplaces.

GOD CALLED HIS CHURCH BACK TO PREACHING

WHEN:

God Proclaimed > Creation followed

John the Baptizer Proclaimed > Ministry of Jesus followed

Jesus Proclaimed > Hope in the resurrection life followed

Peter Proclaimed > Church; Having all things in common; Teaching; Administrating … followed

THE SERPENT HAS NEVER STOPPED PREACHING

He still preaches through big cathedrals and flashy preachers with audiences in the thousands and budgets in the millions. He still preaches in small gatherings that few who do not attend are even aware of. He is still making the same offers:

Ø You are your own authority

Ø You are equal to God

Ø You can contradict the Word of God

Ø Therefore you can live as you please

Ø He never preaches Repentance!

WHAT WE PREACH TODAY

Ø Man is a sinner. The Word of God says it. Your experience says it.

Ø God is righteous judge executing wrath. Man’s problem is not a small flaw. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Man apart from Jesus is totally sinful and headed for eternal, deserved, punishment for his rebellion against God.

Ø God is also love and grace. He loves us first because we have nothing to love with since we are without any good in us (the condition being inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve). I hear people talk about who their parents and grandparents are … what a godly momma they had; how many preachers have been in their family… that does not impress me and most importantly, that does not impress God … because if we all go back far enough we will find that we descend from a lying farmer and a drunken sailor… The farmer being Adam and the sailor, Noah.

But God, in His grace, without us having any merit to offer, sent His unique Son, Jesus, who lived a sinless life and then offered that sinless life to pay the death penalty that had been imposed upon all men since Adam, including you.

Ø God’s love is demonstrated in the incarnation, the life, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for us

Ø God requires repentance and gives the power to repent. If you understand your need of a savior to make you right with God, that is evidence that God is offering you salvation in Him. What a total arrogant fool you would be to postpone accepting God’s offer today.

Ø There is salvation and life eternal and abundant in Jesus Christ and none other.

Ø If you want salvation, you can have it in Jesus.

ANGEL PREACHES THE LAST SERMON Revelation 22:17

Some extra scriptures:

Ezekiel 3:17-19 which places the blood of those who go lost upon the head of the preacher who does not warn the wicked of his evil way, and only by warning the wicked can a preacher escape the possibility of being responsible for his destruction.

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16:15).

Is. 55:1-3: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Mt. 11:28: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Rev. 22:17: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Words Matter to God

Words Matter John 17:6-26

We were taught that sticks and stones could break our bones but words could never hurt us. That is not true. Words can hurt the one they are directed at and the one who speaks them. God takes words seriously. God is a communicating God. The one true God, whose name is Jesus, is involved in our world and in our lives. He is a God of revelation and communication, and relationship. God is three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three persons of God communicate with each other. Jesus prayed to the Father when Jesus was walking the earth. The Father spoke to Jesus, saying “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus told his followers that he would send another fortifier like himself, speaking of he Holy Spirit. He communicated with the Spirit. In the first book of the Bible, God says to God “Let us make man…” Jesus said that words reveal what is in a person’s heart and that by our words we will be justified or condemned (Matthew 12:34, 36-37). Jesus chose his words carefully. The Holy Spirit breathed effective words into the writers of Holy Scripture. We need to learn God’s word, how to apply His word in our everyday lives, and how to effectively communicate His word to our generation.

The world in which we live does not take words as seriously as does God. As a matter of fact the farther a society moves from God, the less trustworthy are the words of that society. Ie. Communism. Atheism. We had an experience of having a Russian exchange student in our home. We found out that lying was part of his life; that the godless culture from which he came did not expect a person’s or a government’s word to be binding. Laws were only guidelines to be breached by deceit or money. He expected immigration laws to flex with money or influence. His signature on the agreement with the student exchange organization was nothing more than ink on paper. He was not detestable. We love him and were honored to have him in our home. But he did not have God’s attitude about words.

WORDS AND THE NEW SPIRITUALITY (New Earth, New Age,…)

Ø Spoken words are not as important as feelings. Truth is what you feel is true (since god is in you and you are god).

Although words are plentiful in this day and age, they are not valued by many. The attitude is: We are not bound by our words or the words of anyone else. Feelings are the only things we can trust. Because feelings come from inside where the divine light of our “goodness” resides. People talk about the economic recession in the US. That is nothing compared to the inflation of words and the depression of their value.

Ø Thought is the enemy of the new spirituality. Words can express thoughts that cause division, so to get in touch with the divine spark within, use mantras (which require no thought).

MANKIND AND WORDS Jesus said that a man will be held accountable for every idle word spoken and that he would be

Ø Judged according to his words. Matthew 12:34, 36-37

James, the brother of Jesus, writes in the general letter given his name that our words (or the tongue that speaks them)

Ø Need to be controlled. James 3:5,ff

The most important words on earth are

GOD’S WORDS.

God’s words are

Ø Written Word - God wrote them down so that they would be preserved accurately. Exodus 31:8 The Hebrews were among the first on earth to have an alphabet which allowed them to keep records. God set down a written record of His character and His requirements for fellowship/relationship with Him. That revelation of Himself and His standard is in His law that he gave to His chosen people through Moses.

God’s words are

Ø Eternal Words. – God’s word will outlast heaven and earth, Jesus said. Matthew 24:35

Gods words are

Ø Faithful Words. – The “Promiser” (the One who promised) is faithful Hebrews 10:23 We can learn God’s word and not have to have an update of the program in a few months or a few years (although we should be looking for support and updates in language). We can build our life system and our expectations on the word of God.; Numbers 23:19 God is not a man. God does not lie. Titus 1:2 in the King James version says God cannot lie. I He spoke something, it would become truth. Jesus said of Himself,
I am the Truth.”

We can trust the word of God and we as followers of Jesus Christ say that we do. We say that the word of God takes precedence over our feelings. But watch out. What if the written word of God says that we are disqualified from something or some position we want because of our being female instead of male, or because of some event in our past over which we are convinced we had no control? We are not going to get into that today. I just want us to be really honest with ourselves and the faithful God of the trustworthy Word. Do we put feelings ahead of words of God sometimes?

God’s word is reliable. God’s word, like Him, does not change.

However, God’s word changes those who pay attention to it.

God’s words are

Ø Life-changing Words. – God’s word can Make[ing] us holy, like Jesus. John 17:14, 17

Ø Revealing Word – God revealed His character and His standard through the words of the law that He wrote. But also, God showed himself through “the Word” becoming flesh, Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. “And we beheld His glory…”

I believe and I believe the bible itself teaches the verbal, plenary inspiration in the original manuscripts, meaning that every word (not just the overarching ideas or concepts) is meaningfully chosen under the superintendence of God.

An example of the precision with which God gave his breath to the writers of the holy scripture can be seen in the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…”John 1:1

The gospel of John was written while John (the beloved apostle) was in Ephesus. It was written to Greek speakers and Greek thinkers. It was written as a supplement to the other three accounts of the life of Jesus. The other gospels were written to people who had a Jewish context and understanding. Matthew and Mark were surely Jews. And although Luke was most likely a Gentile, he wrote with an understanding of and a demonstration of things that were important to descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel. John, on the other hand lived among people who had no understanding of Judaism and therefore no interest in the geneology of Jesus. If anything Jesus said or did lined up with prophecy from the scripture, it would need to be pointed out and explained because the primary readers had not studied the scriptures as youths. Of course, John also was filling in some important facts that he remembered, having walked closely with Jesus. And he saw and heard some things that others might have missed or overlooked the significance of since he was “the disciple who leaned on Jesus’ breast.”

So John’s words needed to communicate on a deep level with people who had not Jewish religious background as well as those who did. Let us look at the Greek word for word = logos.

CONTEXT: (adapted from Daily Study Bible by William Barclay)

o Greek understanding of “word” included word and reason. Logos was the force that caused order such as seasons. Logos equaled the mind of god (whatever concept of god they had)

o To the Greek, logos was also what gave man the power to think. It was the mind of god in man.

o It was the creating and directing power of God – the instrument of God’s creation, God’s stamp upon the universe, and the tiller with which the world was steered.

o Jewish understanding of “word” was more than a sound. A word did something. It had an independent existence. For instance the words of Winston Churchill during WWII did things to the people of Britain that moved them to hang on and fight.

o To the Jew, a word had a power to perform, such as to create or heal as God did by His word. Genesis 1; Psalm 33:6; Psalm 107:20

o Also, the term “the word of God” had special significance to the Jews in John’s day because of its use in the Targumim (Aramaic interpretation of the scripture). In the Targumim, great caution was taken to not make God seem human, so any time there was an anthropomorphism, giving God human characteristics, the term “the word of God” was substituted for YHWH. So Jews knew “the word of God” as a description of God at the time that the Gospel of John was written.

The Words of God are

Ø Words to be Spoken. - Ephesians 4:14-15 We… speaking the truth in love may grow up… So the Word of God is both

o Cure and preventative for immaturity. v.14

Speaking God’s word is to be an

o Exercise (v.15 NOTE) “in love”

HOW DID JESUS DO IT? He Taught: scripture - Luke 24:27; Eternal truth (the character of God) John 17:6-8; Expecting change – vv.14, 17; He taught In the context v.15 in which his hearers lived; He taught His learners to teach v.20; His promise Included [ing] support and updates v.26

Our job is:

First of all to believe and accept the Word of God – the power and reason and person of God who was named Jesus – the revelation and the demands of God which say there is a standard of holiness for eternal and abundant life that can only be realized by believing and following Jesus. Jesus said we must be “born again.” God the Holy Spirit explained that as admitting your separation from God being the result of your own rebellion against God, as your changing the master of your life to Jesus rather than yourself as a result of understanding your rebellion, and as our agreeing with God that Jesus lived a perfect sinless life (which only God could do), that Jesus died on the cross as a sufficient payment for your sin (according to the scripture), and that on the third day Jesus arose from the dead (according to the scripture) and is now seated in the position of authority in heaven saving as many as will believe His words and act on them. = admit, repent, confess. One way to confess Jesus as Lord is to follow his command to be baptized as a witness of your death to your running your own life and being buried to the charges God had against you which are now forgiven due to Jesus’ payment and being raised to a new life in resurrection power to live under new rule.

Secondly, our job is to learn the Word of God and use the word of God to point others to the New Life that is only in Jesus.

MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD

My spiritually astute daughter-in-love recently published comments on her blog about the need for young women to learn to submit in everyday relationships in preparation for the marriage relationship. As she pointed out, the Bible tells us to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21). The Bible also tells us that a purpose of the Body of Christ , the church, is to build each other up (Ephesians 4:15-16). Galatians 6:1-10, among other things, tells us to look after one another.

I tell people in our church that it is their job to make their fellow church member look good. It is the preacher's job to make the minister of music and the custodian look good. That does not preclude the pastor pointing out, in private, music that does not go along with the sermon topic or dirty spots on the carpet. But if there are songs he wants sung, he can tell his fellow minister. If there is trash on the floor, he can bend over and pick it up. If the sound cords need to be neatly coiled, anyone can do that, even if the custodian or the minister of music gets credit for the orderliness of the stage area when he did not actually order it.

Ultimately we want Jesus to look good. To show Him off, we do not always have to do stuff for others, sometimes we need to do things with others; come along side them and share their burdens...even if they are not members of our church.

The Party is not the Problem, It's the Praise

Daniel chapter five is the account of the handwriting on the wall which appeared to King Belshazzar as he was partying with his lords and wives and concubines. Perhaps the King intended to soothe the fears of his guests as the army of the Medes and Persians surrounded the city.

To calm fears is not a bad thing. To party is not a bad thing. But as the party/therapy session progressed. Belshazzar decided to take it up a notch by bringing in the vessels that had been taken from the Temple of God when God gave Jerusalem into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's grandfather. He might have gotten by with that as a confidence builder and a demonstration of the power of the army of Babylon (or at least their former power). But when the king began to praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, a hand was sent from the presence of God to proclaim that Belshazzar had been measured and found lacking. And that night he would lose everything as the Medes, unopposed, invaded the city and killed Belshazzar.

Belshazzar not only took the things of God for granted, but as he held in his hand what should have made him aware of God's god-ness, he gave praise to the symbol. We as image bearers of God need to be careful that we do not get too impressed with us, the symbols...or other little symbols God has brought into our lives to remind us of Him, for us to surrender to Him, for us to care for and shine up to make Him more impressive.

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He shall be my salvation...

Job would not hush because he trusted God.

He did not understand God, but he trusted God. Job 13:15: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him... "(KJV) The NIV puts it thus: "Though He slay me , yet will I hope in Him...(v.16) Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance..."

In Luke 13, folks asked Jesus (prayed) what could have happened that God would allow a godless ruler like Pilate to kill innocent worshipers who were sacrificing to the Living God?

And Jesus changed the focus from "why this?" to "what should we do, understanding that we do not understand?"

Jesus did not explain or excuse God. As a matter of fact, He added another example of unexplained tragedy, a tower in Siloam falling on 18 people.

After the description of each imponderable, He said (in effect) " Your responsibility is not to understand, but rather, to see that you are where God wants you to be."

Repent means to turn from self-interest to God-interest.

God is good. He cares for you. He cares more for those over whom you weep than you do.

"His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him" (Lamentations 3:22-24)

"...He careth for you." 1Peter 5:7

You need not hush, but also trust...even in what you do not understand.

Thanks

This Thanksgiving holiday has been a genuine occasion of thanks.

I cannot express in words all that I am thankful for, nor can I sufficiently express my gratitude.

Perhaps, it is lack of practice.

Maybe, I am not even sure what all makes the good part of my life so good.

But in spite of my inability to properly express thanks, let me say, "Thank you," to Jesus and to the family that He has blessed me with.

The grace of God demonstrated by Him and by those He has put into my life constantly amazes me.

I continually feast on meat that nourishes and satisfies in ways far greater than food for the belly.

And though to simply say thank you is meager compensation for the abundant fare of the love of God in Christ and the love of God in my family, I offer my two mites and pray that it is understood...

that though it makes a faint tinkle in the trumpet,

...of my want, I cast in my whole living.

Thank you.

More Friends on the Other Side

Two parts of pastoring that I really like (along with all the others) are weddings and funerals. Weddings are great because the pastor has something that the "to-be-weds" want, power vested in me by the state of Texas to pronounce husband and wife. That being the case, a pastor can ask pointed questions and expect answers.

Funerals afford the opportunity to address people aware of their finiteness. Most people seem to plug along in life without considering that they will breathe a last breath and whatever needs to be done before that last breath, such as making peace with Holy God, can and should be attended to.

But today's funeral was good because it was for a man who for a year has been setting his house in order. Just a couple of weeks ago marked a year since his beloved, grade school aged granddaughter was killed in an accident. Now this man had been around church for all his life, but he had never secured a relationship with Jesus, the only way to the Father and to heaven. He was convinced that his granddaughter was in heaven, being of a tender age and unaccountable for sin, not fully understanding sin, God's hate of it, and His provision of Jesus to deal with it.

This man knew enough Bible to know the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), who each died - Lazarus opening his eyes in a place prepared for those who have trusted God - and the rich man in Hell, the place prepared for those whose sole focus is on themselves and their stuff. When the formerly rich man asked that Lazarus be sent with a drop of water to quench his thirst, he was informed that there was great gulf between those with God and those separated from God and no one could cross that chasm. The fellow we funeralized today said that he wanted to be on the same side of that gulf as his granddaughter. And he has spent the year reading his Bible, studying, meditating on scripture, attending and becoming part of our local church, and turning his life over to the control of Jesus.

His quest has not been just a church thing. The men he drank coffee with knew about his pursuit of God. His grown sons knew about his pursuit. And in the last few months he had them that he was not particularly anxious to die, but not at all afraid to die. He knew he would be on Jesus' side of the gulf.

His death was unexpected. It was a shock to see him in church Sunday and on Monday morning get a call saying he had suddenly dropped dead. But his funeral was easy because it was a celebration of victory in Jesus. Practically everybody in the small south Texas town where he had been a third-generation owner of a mercantile store knew him as a "good" man, honest, fair, generous...but in his 75th year he became God's man. And everyone who had been near him knew it.

I don't think that God caused a little girl died so that her grandfather would come to know Jesus as savior and Lord, but I believe God used that which seemed beyond comprehension to help a grandfather see that the Son of God died and was raised from the dead so that there would be eternal life for a little girl and her grandfather.

Anybody who attended that funeral heard about a man who sought and found God and it wasn't thousands of years ago. It was this year...but he is fixed up for thousands of years.

Five Unknowns

1. I used to wish I could walk on my hands. I can some, but when I was walking home from school, I imagined that I could just switch and walk on my hands instead of my feet. I think I lost the desire when I started carrying more stuff in my pockets.
2. I have a recurring dream that I can sort of fly. It is not flying like a bird using my arms as wings and it is not like Super Man with the dive pose. I just sort of jump and pick up my feet into a sitting position and just glide along. No one around seems to think anything of it. I guess I don't fly, I just jump really smooth and as far as I want to.
3. I served in the Army and several years after I got out of the Army, I enlisted in the Navy. I took tests and physicals and all kinds of things and then the Navy lost all my paper work. At that point I remembered what it was (besides the baggy britches) that I hated about the military in those days...they were sooooo inefficient... so government.
4. I was a dancer in a semi-professional chorus line in the musical "Take Me Along," and a tragedian in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead."
5. I have to get a new password everytime I write on this blog because I can never remember how to log on or what my password is.

None of that absentee Father stuff

Several times this week, I have been reminded of how my Heavenly Father is so unlike most earthly fathers. We want our kids to grow up. God wants us be always like children. We would sometimes like to find a place to just hide for a while. God, our Father, is always available. He treasures our company, even when we are so unlike him. Jesus said, "Do not hinder the little children from coming... Anyone who comes must come as a little child." We try to teach our kids to be independent. He wants us to know that we are dependent on Him. When we are "finished" we will look exactly like His Son.

Efficiency in following Christ

A few observations about the shooting in Nickel Mine, PA:

I only saw one Amish person speak to a microphone. It was a woman who said that the man who killed the little girls was just doing what he had been taught.

The next thing I noticed was the high-powered news folks with no one to talk to...no one to try to draw out some response of misery and hopelessness, because the separation from the world practiced by the Amish is real.

I heard an "expert" on the Amish say that they are very efficient in dealing with evil and good within their own society. Now that is a very flattering statement from the secular media. The only reason I would like to have seen some Amish allow interviews is so the lost world and the secularized followers of Christ could see how efficient dependence on Jesus can be.

In our moving about yesterday, we met a couple of Amish wagons on the Texas highway outside of Beeville. I commented to Judy that they probably did not even know about the meanness that had taken place in Pennsylvania. They were involved in what God had for them to do where they are. How efficient!

Perhaps the world would be more open to hearing the message of Christ if they could see, not how we can make it look like and fit into the popular culture, but how efficiently the Christ-life is regardless of the culture around it.

How about some free jams?

Assigning myself homework

What have I done? I have not updated this blog because I have a full and meaningful life; the kind of life that I hoped I would have back when I was in school. Of course, when one is in school he can have practically no life (especially if he has female teachers) because he is constantly doing "required work" to get a passing grade so that someday he can have that perfect life that comes with a proper education. I say "especially if he has female teachers" because it seemed that at whatever level, whether high school, university, or post graduate, a female teacher/professor's life was her course. I always had more reading and writing from the lady educators than from the men (unless they were effeminate men).
And now look at me. I have taken on a blog that really should be updated if it is going to exist. I have given myself homework - right here in the midst of the perfect life for which I was properly educated. Dang! Well, I have heard people say that things seldom turn out the way you expect them to. So, there you go.

If God is not gracious enough

If I get to judgement and find that God is not as gracious as I thought He was, I certainly hope that I find He is not as holy as I think He is. Because, there has never been a day, or for that matter an hour, when I have looked back and seen that I had lived perfectly God-honoring and holy for that period of time.
If God is not totally gracious and merciful...If the blood of Jesus does not cover each of my sins, confessed or unconfessed...If my faith in Jesus is not enough to have saved me and to keep me...If God grades on the curve, or if there is a sliding scale...Let me be in a group of sluggard at the throne.
Hebrews 7:25

A Whirl

What? No Comic Sans? I always write in Comic Sans. I have had a thought from time to time about what could be on a blog. Now I will give it a whirl. I hope something profound eventually occurs to me. Today is "set-up" day. Perhaps tomorrow profundity.