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When Science Catches Up To God
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Jul 3, 2009 12:58 pm
288 Views
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"The invisible, formless, energy that constitutes the genes environment is the architect that turns the blueprint into this mystery we call life... There's a field if invisible energy with the total absence of physical properties that creates the particles that we calls cells" -- Bruce Lipton, Ph.D, Cell Biologist. Formally at the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine.
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made ..." Romans 1:20
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Sabbath / Sunday -- What day to worship on?
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Mar 22, 2009 9:11 am
512 Views
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This is a post I had on Claudia's blog on the 'Sabbath being changed to Sunday'. There are several scriptures which brings up the 1st day of the week, which we call Sunday. Most Christians point to these as establishing Sunday as the day of worship. On the other hand there are scriptures which speak of a sabbath services and Paul attends several of these in the New Testament. Sabbath keepers use these scriptures as evidence as the sabbath should be kept on the 7th day.
Any opinions?
(verses in NLT)
Claudia, I agree with you as the 1st day of the week is brought up, what we call Sunday, there isn't a lot of proof those scriptures establishes Sunday as a day of worship.
However, lets take a look into those scriptures in Acts which talk about the sabbath.
I'LL bring up two examples.
1. Acts 16:13-15. "On the sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who were gathered there."
Paul was on his second missionary journey. His commission was to deliver the gospel message to the Jews and to the Gentiles. The message that was usually delivered on the sabbath was the books of Moses. Paul didn't preach the books of Moses. He wasn't there by commandment. He was there on the sabbath because he knew he would run into Jews and some Gentiles who needed to hear the gospel message -- the message of salvation through Christ. There was one there, Lydia who's eyes were opened and she accepted what Paul was saying.
2. Acts 13:14-50. "On the sabbath they went into the synagogue for the services. After the usual readings of the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message, Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come up and give it. Paul stood up... Men of Israel...God fearing Gentile, listen to me..."
Once again, Paul is not there necessarily by commandment, but he is there to deliver a message they were not use to hearing -- salvation through Christ. He goes through a short history of the nation of Israel. He talks about Jesus was rejected and killed. He continues in v. 32 "And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus." He continues in v.38 "Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God -- something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don't let the prophets words apply to you."
Claudia, under the New Covenant I have not seen there is "one" day to worship on. What I have read is we need to come together to be taught, worship , and learn from one another. It doesn't matter what day that is, how many times a week you do that or whether its done in a house or a "church" building, outside, or even how many are there.
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Smile ... you deserve it.
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Jan 20, 2009 3:29 pm
400 Views
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A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.
'Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday.'
Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.
Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.
The frog says, 'Sure. I have this,' and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.
Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.
She finds the manager and says, 'There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral.'
She holds up the tiny pink elephant. 'I mean, what in the world is this?
The bank manager looks back at her and says...
'It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan, His old man's a Rolling Stone.'
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Legalism is ...
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Jan 7, 2009 2:45 pm
318 Views
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... any system, rules, expectations or regulations that promise God's love in return for human effort and obedience. Under the cloak of Christianity legalism offers salvation as a reward for performance. Legalism is a spiritually toxic virus unique to humans, spread by religion, best treated by God's unconditional and amazing grace.
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Grace on a Sugar Cone
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Jul 20, 2008 9:26 am
510 Views
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By Susan Reedy, column writer for plain truth ministries.
Some people say having kids changes
you. But I say that having kids unveils
the real you. Before I had kids I was patient,
kind, magnanimous and upright. After
kids I discovered I was selfish, petty and
downright ugly. My generous spirit grew
weary of well-doing when I actually had to
do it well. In fact, I now believe that the
concept of parenting is Gods idea of a good
joke. He lets us think were in the position
of guiding vulnerable little beings into all
knowledge and wisdom, when in reality he
is using them to meticulously unfold the
truth of our own brokenness. Without my
kids, I might still be under the illusion that I
was a good person. With them, I recognize
how desperately I need Gods grace.
But before moving too quickly into my lesson
on grace, I would like to first address the
law. The law demands penalties and one of
the penalties for impertinence in the Reedy
household is losing dessert. A tragedy on
any given day but made worse one fine Saturday
afternoon due to the fact that we were
planning a family bike ride to Baskin Robbins
for a taste of heaven on a cone.
DJ my youngest and most recently impertinent
child rode somberly to the store and
stood by the door while Dan, Rachel and I
taste tested everything from Perfectly Peachy
to Jamocha Almond Fudge. It hurt my
Mommy heart to watch DJ gazing down at
the floor, sliding the toe of his tennis shoe
along the valley of grout between the tiles.
The law stinks, I thought. Maybe today we
should have grace.
So, I bought my ice-cream cone, sat across
from DJ and took a few long licks. I finally
asked, DJ, do you know what grace is? Before
he could answer, my vociferous sevenyear-
old, Rachel, blurted out, Its when you
get love when you shouldnt. DJ nodded in
agreement, and I launched into an eloquent
speech on how Gods grace makes us right
with him, taking away the punishment we deserve
and offering us a new, blame-free,
shame-free life. As the dramatic conclusion to
my monologue, I handed over my cone.
DJ barely even glanced at me. His grubby
little paws reached out for that cone, and
before I could blink an eye, he was gobbling
it up with a look of utmost serenity and satisfaction.
I felt resentment surge up like hot
lava. Apparently, he had not received grace in
what I deemed an appropriate fashion. Yet,
what did I expect? For him to reject the offer?
Say he didnt deserve it? Maybe I expected
him to well up with tears, trembling as he
took the cone, pausing after each lick to stare
at me with saintly reverence too ashamed
to freely consume this unspeakable gift.
As I sat in judgmental resentment, icecreamless
and dejected, God showed up. He
patiently asked if I thought grace came with
contingencies. I replied, Of course not. Grace
is a free gift. Yet, here I was expecting obsequious
belly-crawling. I resented DJ gobbling
up that ice-cream cone because he didnt receive
it in a posture of supreme unworthiness.
God, however, found nothing wrong
with DJs receiving. DJ saw grace for what it
was a good thing worth grabbing. So he
took it. But the story doesnt end there.
The next morning a hurry up-and-getin-
the car for church morning found DJ
dressed and ready and buckled in his seatbelt
before I could even begin to holler at him.
Shocked at this drastic turn of events, I poked
my head in the back door of the van, looked
into those beautiful brown eyes and said,
Hey buddy, whats up? You were so helpful
this morning. Whats gotten into you? He
looked up at me seriously and said Well
Mommy you gived me your ice-cream. Tears
welled up in my eyes as I nodded in agreement,
Of course. I gave you my ice-cream.
Thats how the story ends and begins anew.
The story of grace turning lives upside down.
So, grab hold of the grace God offers, enjoy
the sweet flavor of forgiveness and love him
right back in complete surrender.
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Through the eyes of a child
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Jul 10, 2008 1:26 pm
561 Views
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A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
A friend e-mailed this to me.
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one', but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died
off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt
and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:
Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets.
One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then
barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn.
(I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying
to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.
He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.
A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???
Through the eyes of a child:
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one', but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died
off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt
and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:
Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets.
One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then
barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn.
(I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying
to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.
He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.
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Another look at Law and Grace
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May 25, 2008 5:26 am
391 Views
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Keeping a system of rules and regulations gives us a sense of security. It makes us feel good because were doing the right thing. When our spiritual lives seem to be taking a turn for the worse, we often conclude were not living up to some law(s), rules, or regulations. Perhaps were too focused on laws.
As Paul found out, trying to keep any commandment, resulted not in life , but in death.
"So the good law, which was supposed to slow me the way of life, instead gave me the death penalty". Rom. 7:10 NLT
Are we focusing on rules to guide us, to give us happiness and to slow us life?
"If the law had given us new life, we could have been made right with God by obeying it. But the scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to believe in Jesus Christ. Until faith in Christ was shown to us as a way of becoming right with God, we were guarded by the law ... But now faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian". Gal. 3:21-27 NLT
Now comes the question, do New Testament Christians have an obligation to keep the law, or a system of rules under the Old Covenant?
"Now, dear brothers and sisters, you are familiar with the law - don't you know the law applies to a person who is still living? So this is the point: the law no longer holds you in its power when you died with Christ on the cross. As a result, you can produce good fruit , that is, good deeds for God. Rom. 7:1,4 NLT
The law still has a purpose, but it is not intended for New Testament Christians - those who have the righteous nature of Christ within them.
"We know these laws are are good when they are used as God intended. But they are not made for people who do what is right. They are for people who are disobedient and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who murder their father or mother or other people. These laws are for people who are sexual immoral, for homosexuals and slave traders, for liars and oath breakers, and for those do anything else that contradicts the right teaching. 1 Tim. 1:8-10 NLT
Jesus Christ within us changes our desires.
"Those who have been born into God's family do not sin, because God's life in in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they have been born of God". 1 John 3:9 NLT
On a personal note, in the past I have struggled with the idea that keeping a law was a way of eventually overcoming it, but as Paul noted it doesn't lead to life or happiness just the opposite. It seems church denominations are known by what they do or don't do. What I have observed over the past 30 plus years, the less I focus on "religious" rules & regulations the more content and provided for I feel. We are far more blessed under Grace than Law.
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Who was Jesus
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Jan 27, 2008 7:01 am
471 Views
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This was sent to me. You may get a chuckle out of it.
Who was Jesus?
My theory is that Jesus was a white Cajun:
1. He liked to serve fish to his friends.
2. He could make his own wine.
3. And he wasn't afraid of water.
A black friend of mine had three good arguments that Jesus was black:
1. He called everyone "brother".
2. He liked gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.
A Jewish friend had three equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went into his father's business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his mother was a virgin, and his mother was sure he was God.
An Italian friend gave his three equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with his hands.
2. He had wine with every meal.
3. He used olive oil.
My California friends also had three equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut his hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.
A good Irish friend then gave his three arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.
But a friend had the most compelling evidence of all that Jesus was really a woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when he was dead, he had to get up because there was more work to do.
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To link to this blog (Tom45) use [blog Tom45] in your messages.
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