Archive for December, 2008

How Can Predestination Be Fair?

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

To many of us, the Bible seems to teach the doctrine of predestination, but we’re somewhat afraid to accept it, because it seems so unfair. How could God be a god of justice, and yet elect some to salvation but not others? How can some claim to possess freewill, and yet God overrides that freewill and chooses them anyway?

Read the article, What Is Predestination?, and then please feel free to provide your feedback here by clicking on the Comments link below.

The Doctrine of Humility

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Humility is one of the most important traits a Christian can possess It even takes a certain amount of humility to confess our sins and accept Christ as our Savior when we first become Christians. However, humility is also one of the most difficult traits to achieve. It seems that as soon as we recognize some hint of humility in our lives, we immediately become proud of it!

Read the article, What Is Humility?, and then please feel free to provide your feedback here by clicking on the Comments link below.

Evangelicals – Who Are They?

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Do you know what an evangelical believes? If you don’t consider yourself to be an evangelical, and you believe what the mainstream media says, you probably think that an evangelical is a right wing ultra-conservative religious fanatic. If you are an evangelical, do you know what differentiates you from other believers?

Read about evangelicals in the article, What Do Evangelicals Believe?, and then please feel free to provide your feedback here by clicking on the Comments link below.

The Truth about Personal Bible Study

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

I have two troublesome fears about Bible study:

1) I’m afraid that most believers think if they go to church on Sunday and absorb everything that their pastor says, whether it’s right or wrong, then they can be assured of eternal rewards.  The truth is that when we each stand, individually, before the Judgment Seat of Christ, it will do us no good to say, “… but my pastor said …”

2) I also fear that most believers think they don’t have to “waste” their time studying the Bible, because when they die and go to heaven, their minds will automatically be transformed and they will be omniscient.  The truth is that God is the only one who is omniscient.  The spiritual maturity that we gain in this life will be the foundation upon which we continue to renew our minds in the presence of God.

Read the article, How Important Is Bible Study?, and then please feel free to provide your feedback here by clicking on the Comments link below.

The Doctrine of Grace

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

Do you know what the word “grace” means?  It is usually used to describe a charming trait, or the ease of movement such as by a ballet dancer.  However, in the biblical sense, grace refers to the blessings that God gives us that we can never repay.  In fact, it could be said that grace is the single most important thing for us to understand.  Read about grace in the article, What Does the Bible Say about Grace?, and then please feel free to provide your feedback here by clicking on the Comments link below.

The Root of All Evil

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

What was Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s thinking when he tried to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder?  To answer that question, let’s take a closer look at the specifics of the charges against him.  Here are some of the personal benefits that he was after: 

– High-paying jobs for himself at nonprofit foundations or labor union organizations
– High-paying jobs for his wife on corporate boards or as a lobbyist
– Corporate contracts
– Campaign funds
– A Cabinet post
– An ambassadorship

I submit that the motivation behind Blagojevich’s illegal, immoral, and evil actions can be found in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 

Blagojevich said, “It (the Senate seat) is a valuable thing — you just don’t give it away for nothing.”  The farthest thing from his mind would be to give away something of value.  He also said, “If they’re not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it (myself).”  In this regard, he hoped to use the U.S. Senate seat (or the Cabinet post or ambassadorship) as a springboard to a presidential run in 2016.  I would contend that even this lust for power was rooted in his love of money, and the hope of raking in even more cash.  Perhaps his most telling quote was, “I want to make money…” 

The governor sought campaign finances as kickbacks for state funding for a children’s hospital. He planned to provide state assistance to the Chicago Tribune only if the newspaper would fire members of its editorial board who had been critical of him.  His scheme of corruption was blatant, his attitude is arrogant and brazen, and his speech is usually punctuated with profanity.  He is a man who reminds us of Genesis 8:21, “… every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” 

Blagojevich is a symbol of the breakdown of moral character in our country.  Perhaps the best thing we can take away from this situation is the confirmation of how valid and profound God’s Word is. 
It seems that every inclination of the governor’s heart is indeed evil, and that his love of money has caused him to pierce himself with many griefs, including a long prison sentence and lost dreams of any further political advancements.

The Threat of Socialism

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

Our country seems to be heading in the direction of socialism, especially on two fronts:  taxation, and government ownership of corporations. 

Movements are growing to shift an increasingly unfair tax burden upon those successful corporations and individuals who stimulate the economy by creating new jobs.  This practice has recently become known as “spreading the wealth,” where the government becomes the great equalizer.  The wealthy are made poorer by the increased taxes, while the poorer people not only pay no taxes, but they’re subsidized by the government with the taxes collected from the upper middle class. 

The current trend of bailouts is equally socialistic.  Although the politicians like to refer to these bailouts as loans, the truth is that the government is indeed providing bailouts for the poor decisions of corporate executives, at the expense of the taxpayers.  The rescue of financial institutions and automakers is only the first of what could grow to $7 trillion in bailouts.  Even worse, not only is the federal government going to oversee corporate operations (such as with a “car czar”), but there is now talk of Uncle Sam taking a stake in the company stock of these unstable corporations. 

For those freedom-loving Americans who still believe in democracy, one question comes to mind:  How did it come to this?  I wonder if this movement toward socialism didn’t get a subtle start some 70 years ago, and then it just gradually became worse.  With hard times during the depression, folks were all too eager to have FDR start taking over their responsibilities for themselves with the New Deal, Social Security, and welfare.  Then, LBJ brought Medicare and Medicaid.  Various groups of people began to view themselves as being discriminated against, or disadvantaged, and they were willing to swap their pride for a free check, especially when they saw others doing it.  When the bailouts started with the financial institutions, I don’t remember hearing anything about the automakers wanting a bailout, until they saw how eager the government was to step in. 
 
I believe that the awful explanation is rooted in what the Bible calls the “sin nature.”  We have an inborn inclination toward doing the wrong thing (Gen. 6:5), especially when it appeals to our laziness by getting something “free.”  We would do well to remember Proverbs 12:24, “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.”