OK. I borrowed this phrase from Rush. Rush Limbaugh, that is.
It’s a simple phrase that carries profound meaning.
Specifically, that a word holds a precise meaning. And it conveys an idea with boundaries.
A word has limitations of meaning dictated by rules of language, context, and culture.
Unlike feelings that are fuzzy, nebulous and fleeting, a word has weight and form.
Like a stone.
Another important aspect of our solitary walk with Christ is our willingness to be accountable for what we teach and the sources we recommend in our teaching.
This is not something that usually worries those within Evangelicalism. Unless it has to do with warning someone of a legalistic or very strange teacher.
Outside of that, we tend to recommend and quote most anyone in our sermons if that source is popular and if that source is advancing our point.
Continue reading “Outside the Camp: Conclusion – Accountable in Teaching”
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” (Hebrews 13:13)
When the Lord rode into Jerusalem on a colt, about a week before He would go to the cross, the people shouted and praised Him and spread palm branches and clothes in His path. (Matthew 21)
But the Lord knew that this would not last. He knew that He would soon hang on a cross outside the holy city. He would be despised and rejected of men. Cast out from the religious system and the world’s culture.
Hello Everyone,
Just took a break this week to finish a short slideshow of some of my photography work over the years. I live in North Eastern Ohio; not too far from the Cuyahoga Valley.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my life hiking all the Valley trails. Most of these photos are from that area. With a few nearer my hometown in Wadsworth.
Hope this gives you a lift during all the dark times we have been going through. Hope you are all doing well.
In His Grace,
Doug
There is a dangerous error which concerns the traditions of discipline practiced within popular Christianity and within many other religions of the world.
This teaching promotes a false basis for how we approach and commune with God. And for how we may please God.
Continue reading “The Satisfaction of God: Conclusion – What Does It Take?”
In recent posts, we talked about discipline and self denial as commonly practiced within “the church”.
All of these practices are based on a popular presumption about how to please God. Continue reading “The Satisfaction of God”
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:8)
When the Lord comes for us, will we “love his appearing“?
I believe the answer to that is based on our daily relationship to the Lord. Which, like any close relationship, involves our daily transparency and communion with Christ.
But how can we look forward, with joy, to seeing someone that we don’t know? Or, of whom we are afraid?
God will not reveal truth to whomever seeks it.
A man must seek God “in Spirit and in truth” in order to discover what God has said in His word.
This means, that even a highly-educated Christian, with a doctorate in Biblical studies, who has served as a pastor and preached countless sermons, and written many Christian classics, is not guaranteed to understand the truth whenever he chooses to know it.
It also means, that a Christian, trained in Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek, with a scientific background and a keen mind for technical studies, will be able to properly understand the meaning of Genesis.
Because mental ability, educational prowess, high academic pedigree, scientific training, and 10 doctorates in Divinity studies cannot open the meanings of the word of God to someone who is unwilling to accept the clear meaning of the scriptures.
The scriptures that God will reveal to a small child who has simple faith.
Continue reading “Seeking Clarity: Conclusion — The Simple Words of God”
The Carnal Disciplines
The techniques of spiritual discipline are very common among religions. For the most part, one has merely to change the deity of preference into the method used.
Even if that deity is simply the Higher Self !
Christians often fail to properly discern between good and bad religious practices. They make assumptions about the value of these disciplines for managing the flesh. And will casually apply a combination of spiritual techniques that are not biblical.
Believers assume that if they will dedicate themselves fully to do the Lord’s will, He will then change them. And that He will then help them to make changes in their lives.
It is not an error to trust in the Lord’s ability and promise to change us as we trust Him to do so; the error is in the confidence we have in our own will power, our own sincerity, and even our own devotion toward God.
The error is in our self confidence, our self determination and trusting in the value of our own will and devotion.
Or in the level of the pain, the level of sacrifice, or in the level of self denial we are willing to endure in order to please God.
Continue reading “What is “Lent” Anyway: Conclusion — The Worship of the Will”
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