Discourse or Violence

Charlie Kirk said, “When discourse ends, violence begins.”

And Jesus said, “It is finished.”

The dialogue began with Adam (a-dam’ = man). God had much to say to Adam, considering he was a brand new creation, one of his kind, not another like him. Adam may not have had any questions, but God had much knowledge to give him... and a warning-- “Do not eat of that one tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you, dying you shall surely die” Gen. 2:17. And then the violence began.

Vanity Fair

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” Eccl. 1:2-3

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed, all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.” Eccl. 2:11

1 THESSALONIANS 1

[Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is considered to be one of Paul's earliest letters, and yet rich in the great doctrines of the faith, namely: Election, the Holy Spirit, Assurance, the Trinity, Conversion, the second advent of Christ, the believer's walk, Sanctification, the Day of the Lord (Jehovah), the Resurrection, the tripartite nature of man.] ~Scofield Notes

1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

IS ANYONE POINTING A FINGER AT YOU?

We should not finger-point, unless we are using that finger to point out scripture. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works"  2 Tim. 3:16-17.

Or, to point the way to salvation, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me" John 14:6.

CHRISTIANS AND POLITICS

I am prompted to write this because of a post I saw on another blog, the subject of which was something I have been thinking about for a long, long time. Politics! …the most sanctimonious, self-centered, self-serving, self-righteous, two-faced, backstabbing, anti-God goings-on in the world (in my opinion). I would hope to raise more questions than ire, but I believe the Bible speaks to this. The aforementioned blog essentially said that we should vote for Mike Huckabee because he is Christian. Now, I want to premise my thoughts by saying if God wanted Mike Huckabee to be President, all the professing “Christians” in the world could stay home on election day and Mike Huckabee WOULD be elected! Does any REAL Christian doubt that?

CHRISTIAN EXAMPLE

“…And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”  Acts 11:26
The word “Christian” may have intended to mean, those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, or it may mean those who ARE like Jesus the Christ. With the former, one would not necessarily be demonstrating what it is to live as a Christian. With the latter, there would be no doubt.

If Jesus were physically among us (as then), I presume He would still be as controversial as He was. But, as with those who then heard His Word and understood His Gospel message, and were enlightened to Him being the Son of God, and saw His convicting example, so the world, too, today would recognize the example of a Christ-like life. The reality is that the responsibility of example falls on true believers. I do not say “the Christian community” because as a whole, ecumenism has messed things up. The world of Christianity today is just that…The World IN Christianity! It is a mortal compromise.

CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL Part 2

The Carnal Christian?
I do not presume a carnal Christian to be one who only wants Jesus as a kind of hell-insurance policy, as some describe them. I suppose I believe such a person to not be a Christian at all. Because if such a person made any kind of profession of faith motivated solely by “give me a get-out-of-hell-free-card” then such a person does not understand his sin, nor his judgment, nor God’s Holiness, and least of all…the person of Jesus Christ. And chances are such a person’s life would demonstrate the lack of a regeneration which the spiritually discerning would recognize.

GRACE

I am grieved, I mourn, I lament, I am distressed, I am pained by sorrow to hear/see/believe there are people who do not understand the gospel message…
G R A C E !!!  How then can anyone be saved?

One cannot have salvation if one does not understand Grace. That is to say; there is nothing of "works" in it. One cannot understand Grace if one does not understand sin; it is undeserved and unearned. One cannot understand sin if one does not understand what happened in the "garden"; man became totally separated from even coming to God without first repenting.

GO AHEAD… ASK

I have heard and read many times that God HAS to do whatever "YOU" ask of Him. Let me assert... God does not have to do anything. Oh He is true to His Word alright. But one must read the rest of His Word. There are major requirements from us before God starts "lavishing" upon us.

SO THAT WAS CHRISTMAS

There’s a song in which we find the lyrics... “So this is Christmas, and what have we done?” 
Many opinions on Christmas, most, probably, of no ultimate consequence. However, in the present, there is strife.

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

1 Chronicles 16:8: Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples.

1 Chronicles 16:34: Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

TEACH US TO PRAY

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Luke 11:1

Are we having conversations with our Father, or is it more like a monologue? Or… are we barely speaking. Do we fully realize the reality of God, or do we just accept the “tradition” of a supernatural, spectral Divine Being?