Month: May 2013

11 Signs that show you’ve fallen from Grace

Published by

You are hoping that works will get you what only faith can secure for you. Galatians 3:2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? You deliberately tolerate and indulge the sinful nature. Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, You have forsaken your first love Revelation 2:4, 5/ You walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway? Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen? Turn back! Recover your dear early love. You do not trust God, the scripture nor the church You are completely isolated from everything. That includes God and His people You have an unhealthy pursuit of money and material things You are vengeful and unwilling to forgive  You have no desire for worship, prayer, obedience and church fellowship You no longer feel His presence, hear His voice, or fear Him You demand perfection of others Yet, you are longing, …

The Modern Mood of Syncretism and Pluralism

Published by

There was a social worker in Nigeria who not long ago was visiting a young man in one of the back streets of Lagos. On the bedside of this student he found the following books: the Bible; the Book of Common Prayer, I’m glad to see; the Koran; three copies of Watchtower, the magazine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses; a biography of Karl Marx; a book of yoga exercises; and a popular paperback that he particularly needed entitled How to Stop Worrying. That is typical of the modern mood, a mood of syncretism and of pluralism. The correct name for this aspect of postmodernism is pluralism. Pluralism does not just affirm the obvious fact that there is a plurality of cultures and ideologies and religions in the world. It goes beyond that. It says that all these claims should be respected equally, and we must therefore affirm the independent validity of every religion and every ideology. We must therefore give up the naïve and arrogant notion that we should try to convert anybody, let alone try to convert everybody. To those …

The Devil Inside Me

Published by

I read an article today entitled: Amanda Bynes: A Reminder that Mental Health Woes Flourish in Our 20’s? Sometimes these stories are written to mock and ridicule people for their erratic behavior. But as Christians we are called to show compassion for people. Mental Illness is no laughing matter and as the people of God, we need to talk about the subject because some of our brothers and sisters in church suffer from this illness. Here is a thought-provoking story I read on preachingtoday that I think could share some light. Let me share it with you here and leave you to answer the questions posed at the end of the article. Please feel free to leave a response. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. NPR’s popular radio show This American Life featured an episode titled “The Devil Inside Me.” The show asked various people if they ever felt like they were under the spell of an “inner voice” that held them in bondage to unwanted thoughts. According to the show’s host, “It was like people had waited all …

Men die when they relax

Published by

2 Samuel 11:1-26 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. Read the rest of the chapter here Instead of going to war David decided to relax Instead of being there to lead, David decided to relax Instead of showing up to do his duty to country and to God, David decided to relax. Relaxation can be a good thing for a leader sometimes but not when the lives of …

Death is a greater deliverer

Published by

Thomas Brooks was an English Puritan preacher and author in the 1600s. Though he’s best known for his many books and theological treatises, we have several of his sermons in print, some of which are funeral sermons. In one funeral sermon, Brooks reminds his listeners that for the believer, death not only ceases to be our conqueror; death actually becomes God’s meek helper. He wrote: “Death is another Moses: it delivers believers out of bondage, and from making bricks in Egypt.” He continued: Remember this—death does that in a moment, which no graces, no duties, nor any ordinances could do for a man all his lifetime! Death frees a [person] from those diseases, corruptions, temptations … that no duties, nor graces, nor ordinances could do …. Every prayer then [when we die] shall have its answer; all hungering and thirsting shall be filled and satisfied; every sigh, groan, and tear that has fallen from the saints’ eyes shall then be recompensed. That is not death but life, which joins the dying man to Christ! I …

Dear Pastor: A Letter from a Humble Church Member

Published by

Dear Pastor, I don’t think I need to apologize for anything but here it is… I sincerely apologize for anything, or apparently the many things I have said and/or done to offend you and/or made you feel defensive towards me and my efforts to do what I have felt was serving the Lord with all the blessings He had provided. I truly respect your spiritual leadership. I feel that we are all purposefully imperfectly made with strengths and weaknesses. I definitely have a need for a spiritual leader. I am thankful that He has put you in my life. I have pride issues but I think you do too I realize that I have to fight the battle of pride and perhaps that is also why God has put you in my life. On the other hand, perhaps in this pride I felt you had been blessed for me to be put here to help YOU make our church even more successful than you have already made it. Pastor, I have often been successful and consider …

Never give up

Published by

What can I say to you today that will spark a fire in you? What can I actually bring today that will motivate you, get you out of that rut, shake you out that funky place, get you off your couch or get some adrenaline pumping. For some, it’s a seeming setback. For others, it’s boredom. Sadly still, it could be the ending of a dream, a dying relationship, a frustrating job, a long-awaited success or promotion that doesn’t seem to come. Whatever the case today, I want you to get up and try again. never, never, never, never give up – Winston Churchill you will need some determination to get you where you want to go… lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees – Writer of Hebrews (12:12) you will need some courage to keep you where you are going … I don’t have 22 reasons to tell you not to give up. I only have one. You owe it to yourself. You deserve a second chance. There is so much in you, …

listening: a greater service than speaking.

Published by

Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking. Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening. But he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there is nothing left but spiritual chatter. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), pages 97-8.