All posts tagged: Christianity

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


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?


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 …

Let my words be few!


Check these out: Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence. –Spanish Proverb Never miss a good chance to shut up. –Will Rogers The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone? — Ecclesiastes 6:11 We speak thousands of words every day. Good words, bad words, criticized words. We’re so flippant with our words; quick to criticize, quick to slander. We stab and we injure and we hurt, argue. we swear multiple times each day using words. It’s said that both men and women speak more than 27.000 words combined daily. But talking too much is not cool. God calls us to let our words be few in prayer, in conversations, yes, in every sphere of life. Ecclesiastes 5:2 – Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; let your words be few. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger Here is why: It …

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


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 …

Pastors in the order of Antiochus Epiphanes


I would hate for this little post to come across as another pastor bashing other pastors. So I hope you will take this post as just notes of a pastor who is trying to avoid the mistakes of a historical figure and at the same time sounding the alarm for others to avoid as well. This historically, scriptural figure, Antiochus Epiphanes, is the little horn in Daniel 8:9. The name Epiphanes means the Illustrious One and the prophecies of Antiochus Epiphanes you can find in Daniel (Dan. 8:9-14; 23-25; 11:21-35). I am going to take or use different episodes or events in his life to urge myself and others to avoid. Here we go – Pastors in the order of Antiochus Epiphanes: 1. They forget where you came from… Antiochus grew to become a great power from a small beginning. Notice that the little horn of Daniel 7:8; 8:9 waxed exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven (Dan. 8:9-10a). Unfortunately, he forgot where he came from. Pastors in …

Extra Extra Read All About It


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?


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 …