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The Lion's Roar
  
"You don't need to be afraid of wolves, your best friend is a lion"

Graham Cooke.
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An Analogy on Free Will and Faith Dec 20, 2007 11:32 am
1180 Views
Here's an analogy that might help explain free will and salvation.

Two men are standing on a sinking ship. The coast guard arrives and comes alongside the sinking vessel. All that is required for the men to be saved is that they step from the sinking ship onto the deck of the Coast Guard Cutter.
Doing so is a choice, they can avail themselves of the rescue and take that one step (a step of faith) or they can stubbornly insist that they are going to save their own ship.
The humanist is the man who insists he doesn't need rescue and goes down to a watery grave.
The Christian takes the step by faith into the rescue provided.
He didn't build his own vessel by taking the step, he just understood the reality of his situation and accepted the rescue.
The Calvinist says that no one can even step across, that the Coast Guard must board his ship and take him by force.
The problem with that is that there is no faith required, no trust, no believing.
That is why I'm not a Calvinist.
It is also why I'm not a humanist.
21 Comments
Palin Power! Sep 3, 2008 8:32 pm
336 Views
Just watched the Speech by Sarah Palin at the RNC. I feel sorry for Joe Biden (OK not really)
when he has to take her on in the VP debate.
Whatever the outcome, it is obvious that he will meet a confident, poised, intelligent, and knowedgeable opponent.

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air, as Fred Thompson put it last night.
If you are a committed Obama supporter, be afraid, be very afraid.
19 Comments
Why Arizona Has No Daylight Saving Time Sep 2, 2008 1:47 pm
215 Views
The state of Arizona listened to the Wise Old Indian.
When told the reason for daylight saving time the
old Indian said, 'Only a white man would believe that
you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to
the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.'
4 Comments
What is Trust? Sep 2, 2008 11:47 am
248 Views
It is a decision, is it not?

It is a choice to trust someone. Those who are naturally trusting are so because they have not been hurt by the betrayal of others, and so think everyone is trustworthy.

After we have been hurt, that openess of trust does not come easily and takes more of an effort.

Trust makes us vulnerable. It opens us up to the hurt and pain of betrayal. Yet we are exhorted to put our complete faith in and rely completely on God.

But what is the alternative? It is to shut out God and the people around us in the hope that we won't be hurt.

But trusting only in ourselves is just as foolish as trusting the wrong people.

Only Jesus is worthy of our complete trust, but He will not allow us to sit back and cut ourselves off from the rest of the world.

The Holy Spirit will draw us out, coaxing, prodding, into the community around us.

He draws us out to help us grow up in Him.
He brings people into our lives that help us grow in grace. They are people who will challenge us to truly trust in the grace and mercy of God to deal with them.

All God's children have "grace growers" given to us by the Father for our instruction.
If you don't have one, consider carefully whether or not you ARE one to someone else!

God wants us to trust Him completely, but we must choose to do it. We must choose to spend time with Him. We must choose to step out in faith and obey Him if we are ever to grow up into the fully mature son's He desires us to be.
6 Comments
Lord, Forgive me. Aug 19, 2008 10:57 am
328 Views
I apologize to the BC community for allowing myself to be drawn into juvenile bickering and
fomenting strife.

I apologize to anyone who has been truly injured
by anything I have said.

To anyone whose desire is to continue senseless
bickering, go somewhere else to plant and water your crops of bitterness.

If anyone feels a further apology is needed, repent of your egotism and move on.
5 Comments
You Might Be a Pharisee...... Aug 12, 2008 2:21 pm
388 Views
If you believe the Lord has given you a ministry of "correction" you might be a pharisee!

If you think an electric guitar is a tool of the devil you might be a pharisee!

If the continuous expression of joy on your face
looka like you've been baptised in prune juice,
you might be a pharisee!

If a $20 bill looks small when you take it to the grocery store and big when you take it to church, you might be a pharisee!

If your favorite words in the bible are the ones you wrote in the margin,you might be a pharisee!

If the most holy person you know is you, you might be a pharisee!

If you believe Jesus turned water into unfermented grape juice, you might be a pharisee!

If you have a credit card with the name of a Goodwill store written on it, you might be a pharisee!

If you gave yourself a prophetic word that you were an apostle,you might be a pharisee!

If an episode of the Jerry Springer show recently changed your life, you might be a pharisee!

If the the waffle house has more annointing than
your local church, you might be a pharisee!

If they only time you are in unity is when you and your friends are destroying someone else,you might be a pharisee!

If you function in the gift of suspicion, you might be a pharisee!

If you believe the song "He'll be Comin'Round the Mountain" is the best worship song ever written,you might be a pharisee!

If you can dance without moving your body, you might be a pharisee!

What's a pharisee's favorite book in the Bible?

JUDGES!

What will pharisees be doing at the second coming?
Convincing CNN that it really is the wrong date!

If a pharisee walked on water, how far would he get?
About fourteen fathoms!

What's the difference between pharisee bible college and American Idol?
American Idol is looking for gifted people!

If a prayer meeting is a place you go to pick up gossip,you might be a pharisee!

If you think that God is mad at everybody else but you,you might be a pharisee!

If you changed your name from Bubba to Buddha because you think it sounds more "spiritual",
you might be a pharisee!

If all your memory verses are about SIN and DEATH,you might be a pharisee!

selah.
11 Comments
The Elect and the Saved. Jul 25, 2008 8:17 am
537 Views
Consider these two terms. Ask yourself this question: Is salvation exactly the same thing as
election?

I don't have the time to delelop this right now fully, because there is a rather a lot to cover.
But contemplate how there is is an apparent conflict between the simplicity of the message embodied in Romans 10:9,("9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and (M)believe in your heart that (N)God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved) and the verse so often quoted by the reformed thinkers Romans 8:29-30 (29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.)
One of the biggest conflicts in theology over the last two thousand years has been between those who say that there is a freedom of choice in salvation and those that say predestination has us all locked in to one camp or the other. The saved or the unsaved.
But what if being saved and being one of the elect are not precisely the same thing?

I welcome your opinions on this.
5 Comments
O For a Thousand Tongues! May 16, 2008 8:23 am
522 Views


O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone
And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life
I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed,
Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received
To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God,
For me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true,
Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew
When written on my heart.

Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

A Hymn written in 1739 by Charles Westley
to celebrate the first aniiversary
of his conversion to Christ.
3 Comments
Grieving the Heart of God. May 14, 2008 1:34 pm
550 Views
I have not been here on BC since last weekend, so I missed most of the fighting here. This time the
bickering has been over "living in sin".

I realize that people have strong opinions about this issue. I tried to read a number of the blogs posted about this issue and find myself saddened.

I have been party to some very spirited debates here on BC and have no regrets about defending my beliefs. However, This is more than a disagreement over doctrine. This has degenerated into a personal feud that has very little to do with proving one doctrinal position to be superior to another.

I have one question for all the many people who have savaged each other here on the blogs: Did anyone try to approach anyone else privately first?

Did anyone send an email expressing their concerns before blasting away at someone in another blog post?

For those who did, well done.

To those who attacked or counter attacked in their blogs without first approaching a brother or sister in Christ privately:
SHAME ON YOU.

You have only succeeded in making an already bad situation worse.

The only real cause of strife like this is plain old sinful human pride.

It is pride operating when the "truth" is more important than God's love.
It is pride operating when people feel the need to boast about their sin and not expect anyone to call them on it.
Proverbs 13:10
10 Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

The fruit of this pride is abundant here on BC, and it grieves the heart of God to see his children destroy one another.
4 Comments
How Firm a Foundation Apr 25, 2008 8:12 am
534 Views
How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Words: From A Se­lect­ion of Hymns from the Best Au­thors, by John Rip­pon, 1787; at­trib­ut­ed var­i­ous­ly to John Keene, Kirk­ham, and John Keith.
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Most Recent Comments by Others
PostPosterPost Date
An Analogy on Free Will and Faithlovegrace3Oct 7 3:43 pm
Palin Power!BristerBateSep 12 8:06 am
What is Trust?lovegrace3Sep 11 6:31 pm
You Might Be a Pharisee......Aslan17Sep 9 11:40 am
Why Arizona Has No Daylight Saving TimeAslan17Sep 3 10:28 am
Lord, Forgive me.Aslan17Aug 20 10:08 am
The Elect and the Saved.Aslan17Aug 2 3:35 pm
O For a Thousand Tongues!Aslan17May 19 8:29 am
Grieving the Heart of God.Aslan17May 14 5:27 pm
How Firm a FoundationanelehMay 9 6:23 pm
Bridge Over Troubled WaterAslan17Apr 27 9:02 pm