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| It's been a long, long time...It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I've just been so busy. I teach music at a community college, and this past semester I was put in charge of a new music degree program. That means we were going to accept music majors and issue a two-year Associates degree in music. I was excited, but I knew that it would take a lot of work to recruit and build the program. Well, it took a lot out of me. I was working 60 - 80 hrs. a week, and that cut down on pretty much all my free time. I am teaching only one class this summer, so I am enjoying time catching up on some R&R and spending time with my family. My two children, a boy who's 4 and a girl who's 2, are so cute and fun to be with. This upcoming semester should prove less demanding since I expressed to the administration my concern. We are also looking for a new church home since moving about 20 mins. away from our home church. We now live in Seaboard, NC. It's very small and quiet, but we are renting a great brick home with lots of room and a large yard for the kids to play in. Please pray that God will lead us to a good church and that I will continue to grow in His grace.
Chris
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| WAY OF THE MASTER RADIOMany of you might have already heard about the daily, two-hour radio program called WAY OF THE MASTER RADIO, but have you given it a listen?
I went for about 4 months knowing about it but didn't check it out. When I did, I was hooked. I listen to the show during "dead" time during my day - you know, driving to and from work, cleaning the house, cutting the grass, etc. Thank God for mp3 players!
Check it out! http://www.WayoftheMasterRadio.com
Easy download site: http://www.WOTMRadio.com
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| HOW CAN GOD FORGIVE HITLER?
I think the ability to forgive someone like Hitler would have to be.......supernatural.
Super = above
Natural = what comes about by nature
Our nature is contrary to the will of God. It's NATURAL for us to lie,
which is why so many people say, "human" when you ask them, "So what
does that make you, if you tell lies?"
We struggle with grace because we are not graceful by nature.
We always lower the standard of holiness because we are not holy by nature.
We misunderstand righteousness because we are not righteous by nature.
The good news is that our sins can be forgiven. The GREAT news is that
God is so gracious, He doesn't just want to save us from hell but sin
itself. He promises to give us a new nature so that His work might be
brought about naturally (with clean hands and a pure heart - see Psalm
25.)
Praise God Who not only washed away my sins but
cleaned my filthy heart and gave me a new nature. May I continue to die
to myself daily and my old man stay nailed to the cross! | | |
| INFUSED RIGHTEOUSNESS vs. IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
If you don't understand the difference between the two, here is a basic definition of both:
INFUSED RIGHTEOUSNESS (or JUSTIFICATION):
Salvation is a given through Christ, but only if accompanied by good
works. Believers of this doctrine will tell you that Christ died to
save us from our sins, but in the same breath they will also tell you
that you have to earn salvation by doing good works. Christ is said to
have infused Himself with the believer, not just covering their sins
but obliterating them over time by having an increasing influence on
the believer through the practice of good works. So, the Good News
comes out as this: You are a sinner, and you will perish in hell if you
die in those sins. But here's the Good News: God sent His Son, Jesus
Christ, to suffer and die in order to give you a choice in that matter.
If you choose to believe and serve Him, He will help you to be found
acceptable in God's eyes. You have done some good in your life, but you
can be so much better with the help of Christ. God will be so impressed
with you once Christ cleans you up some more.
This doctrine is privailent in Catholicism, Mormonism, and Jehovah's Witness.
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS (or JUSTIFICATION):
Salvation is a GIFT from God, His wrath against our sins being
satisfied through the atoning death of His Son, Jesus Christ. A sinner
can only receive this forgiveness by first realizing his inability to
satisfy God, that he/she may do some good, but it is ultimately tainted
by thier sin (the breaking of God's Law.) This is the beginning of
repentance, which is not a work but the Word of God bringing about a
change of heart and mind that leads one to see sin as what it really
is, hating what is evil and loving that which is good. This change is
necessary for the sinner to even see a need for a Savior, and once he
arrives at repentance, he will begin to hunger and thirst for
righteousness because he will realize that he is a slave to sin without
being first forgiven of his sins and then given a new nature that
stands in contradiction to the old one. Nothing that the sinner does
earns him the right to be called a Son of God other than being obedient
in repentance through faith, both of which are not works of
righteousness but works of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the those
with godly sorrow and humility. It is not a person lifting themselves
up but casting themselves down.
This doctrine is the more Biblical of the two. It is not putting all
the responsibility on God nor does it dump it all on man (Calvanism vs.
Armenian.) There is a stable balance between the two. The MAIN
DIFFERENCE is that GOD gets all the glory in inputed righteousness, and
we must remember that no flesh will glory in His prescence (1
Corinthians 1:29.)
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| Do Animals Have A Soul? (or Do Dogs Go to Heaven?)Are animals created in God's image?
That settles it for me. I think there MIGHT be animals on the new
earth, but I
don't think the Bible authoritatively speaks on this issue. Some think
because animals are mentioned in Revelation (the white horse, the lion
and the lamb, etc.) that means animals go to heaven. Well, much of
Revelation
is to be taken allegorical, but that's not a very edifying
conversation, so let's avoid that and move on to the real issue. A
question like this sounds like a rabbit trail to derail the discussion
away from God's judgment of
sin.
What about a dog who feels sorry about doing wrong?
A dog has to be trained that it is wrong to disobey his master, and once he
LEARNS that, he might be clever enough to know what is obedience or disobedience,
to read the master's body language, but there is no law written on his heart.
Outside of learned behavior, the only impacting force on animals is instinct.
Man alone was born with the light of a conscience. Sure, our consciences can be
encouraged by having authority figures and culture instruct us as to what is
right and wrong, or those authority figures and culture can help silence our
consciences (sear it, as the Bible says.) But this does not mean that we have a
LEARNED response to good an evil. It is a very subtle thing, but I think anyone
who thinks on this subject will realize that humans have been given superior
attributes over animals, being shaped in the very image of God (not in a
physical sense but in a spiritual one.) Man, although he is superior in many
ways to animals, still has the inborn desire to worship something, to be
subject to something despite him being king of creation. You see, we all have a
God-shaped hole in our hea.......just kidding - I wasn't trying to say that, but
what I trying to say is that this is evidence that man has knowledge of the Law
of God impressed into the fabric of his being. He will try to obey that Law
mostly or totally rebel against it. Those who rebel will, of course, be
condemned by it, and those who try to obey it should ultimately realize that
they cannot because their nature naturally rebels even when their soul desires
righteousness. This will lead them to faith and repentance. | | |
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