All posts tagged: Bible

It is finished: Shout heaven and earth, this Sum of good to Man

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When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit John 19:30 It is finished! I have executed the great designs of the Almighty When God made man and put in him a free will, all the angels thought He was out of His mind. He had a plan. A plan, from the foundation of the earth, to reconcile the world through Jesus His Son. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be Holy and blameless before Him (Eph. 1:4). That plan was accomplished today, 2000 years ago. I have satisfied the demands of his justice God is holy and just. His nature demands justice. The wages of sin is death and somebody had to pay for our rebellion. Jesus answered that call. The LORD was “pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would give Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper …

Can you Hear me now?

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The Call of Wisdom Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did …

Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani: A Commentary on Matthew 27:46

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And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is the point of no return in Jesus’s mission to reconcile man back to God. At that point, all of humanity’s sin fell on Jesus. God the Father placing and seeing all the filth and sinfulness of man caused Him to turn away from Jesus His only begotten Son. In that moment there was a separation between father and son. Something that broke the heart of God and left Jesus crying – “Eli Eli, lema sabachthani – my God my God why has thou forsaken me?” What did Jesus really mean by this and how significant is it for us today? My God, My God: In quoting Psalms 22, Jesus declared His fulfillment of that prophecy, in both its agony and it exultation. The Psalm goes on to say, You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You. (Verse 21 says – “Save me from …

Extra Extra Read All About It

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It always starts with one word First, somebody told it, Then the room couldn’t hold it, So the busy tongues rolled it Till they got it outside. Then the crowd came across it, And never once lost it, But tossed it and tossed it, Till it grew long and wide. This lie brought forth others, Dark sisters and brothers, And fathers and mothers– A terrible crew. And while headlong they hurried, The people they flurried, And troubled and worried, As lies always do. And so evil-bodied, This monster lay goaded, Till at last it exploded In smoke and in shame. Then from mud and from mire The pieces flew higher, And hit the sad victim And killed a good name. I am looking forward to the day when people would realize that they should never say anything about anybody behind their back. I hope people will realize that if they can not say something about somebody in their presence, they cannot say it at all to anybody else. By overlooking this simple principle, some people …

What happens to those who have never heard the gospel?

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Sooner or later, everybody exploring Christianity wrestles with this issue. It can be especially difficult for a seeker because it raises suspicions about the very character of God. The question goes like this: If Jesus is the only way to God, what about all the innocent people who have never heard about Christ? Would God really punish them for something that wasn’t their fault? Sometimes people raise this question as an avoidance maneuver; they look for difficult theological questions to validate their unwillingness to believe. But many skeptics have genuine concerns about worshiping a God who, from their perspective, is so unjust. Thus, we should not take the issue lightly, but seek to better understand how the Bible addresses it. It’s important to recognize that the Bible offers little direct or sustained instruction on this matter. Related topics are discussed, which are helpful for constructing some valuable inferences, but the lack of direct attention suggests we should hold our conclusions tenuously. In addition, it’s misleading to use the word “innocent” when describing people who have never heard …

Keep your Vows even when it Hurts

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A few weeks ago, I felt compelled to meet with a brother from our congregation. I didn’t want to scold him, nor rebuke him, I simply wanted to talk to him about standing me up several times. He is one of those guys who’s very quick to volunteer for a project. You know, guys with very good intentions, willing to help, but really do not realize that they are over committing. I didn’t want to break out in a brand new teaching series on how to make and keep your vows; neither did I want to discourage his enthusiasm. But I had to tell him that he didn’t have to approach me every week to commit to something and not actually do the thing. I wanted him to actually think and plan about how he wanted to serve, than pursue it passionately. However, I did share the following scripture and thought with him: the faithful followers of the Lord, keep their promises even when it hurts. Psalm 154 NLT What I do not mean by keeping …

Detours

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Life is sometimes full of twists and turns: You are up – than you are down. You are in love – you are out of love. You are Healthy – than you are ill. You are Employed – than, unemployed Other times, life is great, you are moving toward your dreams, goals and your destination is just around the corner and boom – roadblock. All of a sudden, you hit a brick wall. What do you do when you find yourself on this roller coaster ride of ups and downs? What do you do when disappointment hits? How do you handle detours, opposition and roadblocks? Quite often, when life serves us an unexpected blow or a pill too hard to swallow, we quickly get discouraged and think it’s the end of the road. Sometimes we blame others or simply just give up. A few years ago a young violinist by the name of Lukas Kmit was playing at a Jewish Orthodox synagogue in Prseov, Slovakia. While he was performing, the cell phone of one of …

I am 100% Recycled Trash

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There is a growing awareness and an increasing effort to recycle in our world today.  It is going on all around us: I read an article some time ago about a house in Colorado called the Earthship. It is not only beautiful, it is also an environmentally friendly, 10,000 square foot home-made of used tires, aluminum cans and other recycled materials. The Earthship is made of junk, but it has been featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Home and Gardens, the Discovery Channel, and PBS. If you want to buy one, it is all yours for only 3.3 million dollars. There are not many things that are not being recycled today:• Recycled paper products• Recycled glass and metal products• Salvage yards recycle car, truck and machinery parts• There are many reports that Habitat for Humanity opened a used building materials outlet   in Denver a few years ago• Even our thrift stores and garage sales are ways people recycle. What am I trying to say to you? God is in the recycling business. He’s been in the business longer than anyone. It …

Two Steps to a Miracle

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The Lame Beggar Healed/ ACTS 3:1-9 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.  But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.  And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.  And all the people saw him walking and …