Satan

The grass is not always greener on the other side

How many times have you heard a family member, a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor, or even an acquaintance complained about how much they hate their jobs and how they cannot wait to find a new job? This is a particularly common occurrence in the work place today. I have even found myself in a similar situation once before. I still regret making the transition.

But, my situation was not half as serious as one of my best friends’. We both worked at the same place and were doing very well; until, for some unknown reason Tim developed an eagerness to jump ship for greener pastures.

Sadly, it was no more than seven months after Tim left his old job for the coveted greener pasture, he got laid off, and that was the beginning of a string of bad luck for the poor guy.

As I reflected on mine and Tim’s poor decision making skills from many years ago, I cannot help thinking about my late grandmother. She mastered the art of idiomatic expressions. She had one for every situation. Her favorite ones were, “A bird in the hand is worth a million in the bushes”. “Don’t be like the greedy dog who let go the bone to catch its shadow”.

Now that I am older and wiser, I understand that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It may look green from afar, but a close up view reveals the faults and blemishes.

That is kind of what Satan, the adversary does to us Christians. He paints a nice and fuzzy picture of the world to trap us back into the old way of living, and if we are not careful we will find ourselves eating among swine like the prodigal son. Thank God,  many of us have been there and done that, so we know exactly what it is really like on the dark side–dismal. Nevertheless, some of us still allow the adversary to scam us time and again.

Friends, there is no short term result in the Christian race. That is the reason the apostle Paul who gave up the pleasures of the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, advises us to run with endurance the race God has set before us. He even tells us how to do it–by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Paul goes on to say, “Because of the joy awaiting Him (Jesus), He endured the horrible cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in a place of honor beside God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT). ( Isn’t that wonderful?)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, our reward is not temporary like the glitz and glamour of the world. It is real and lasting, but do not look for it on earth. It is in heaven.

Should the Church shut out sinners?

Church of the Holy Spirit in Dúbravka

Church of the Holy Spirit in Dúbravka (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The church has to shut out sin, even if it meant shutting out sinners.” Those are the words of the Revernd Woodrow kroll of Back to the Bible. Mr. Kroll who is a Biblical scholar and arthor, is doing a radio series, titled “Journey through Revelation”.

In his latest episode he talked about the toleration of the post modern Church. He compares such toleration to that of the Church in Thyatira, one of the seven Churches in Asia John writes about in the book of Revelation. Mr. Kroll referred to the Church in Thyatira as the “Universal Church of toleration”. (Revelation 2:18-29). “Here is what I (Jesus) command you (John) to write to the church in Thyatira.

Here are the words of the Son of God. He is the One whose eyes are like blazing fire. His feet are like polished bronze. He says, I know what you are doing. I know your love and your faith. I know how well you have served. I know you don’t give up easily. In fact, you are doing more now than you did at first.

But here is what I have against you. You put up with that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet. With her teaching, she has led my servants into sexual sin. She has tricked them into eating food offered to statues of gods.

I’ve given her time to turn away from her sinful ways. But she doesn’t want to. She sinned on a bed. So I will make her suffer on a bed. And those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly. Their only way out is to turn away from what she taught them to do. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who searches hearts and minds. I will pay each of you back for what you have done.

I won’t bother the rest of you in Thyatira. You don’t follow the teaching of Jezebel. You haven’t learned what some people call Satan’s deep secrets. Just hold on to what you have until I come.

I’ll give authority over the nations to all who overcome and who carry out my plans to the end. It is written,

He will rule them with an iron rod.
He will break them to pieces like clay pots.”(Psalm 2:9)

I have received this authority from my Father. I will also give the morning star to all who overcome.

Those who have ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.

Mr. Kroll said, “If we (the Church) tolerate what goes on in the world around us, rather than point it out in love as sin, we only aid the enemy”. When asked, “What is it going to take to get us get over feeling uncomfortable to stop looking the other way and just take some action? He replied, “Backbone”. “It is going to take the Church having a lot more backbone than it shown in the last quarter of a century”.

You may listen to the episode here: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/back-to-the-bible/listen/thyatira-the-universal-church-of-toleration-299721.html

Where was God in Aurora Massacre?

It’s been one week since the Aurora theater massacre, and people are still searching for answers. Some are even asking,” Where was God in Aurora massacre?” CNN asked the question on twitter. The following is some of the responses. What do you think?

By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor

(CNN) – Where was God in Aurora?

It’s a fresh take on an age-old question: Why does God allow suffering, natural disasters or – if you believe in it – evil?

We put the question to Twitter on Tuesday and got some starkly different responses.

“In short, God was in complete control, exercising His will,” wrote @PastorRileyF, who leads a church in Bethune, Colorado.

That riled @TheTrivia Jockey, who tweeted, “If that was God’s will, God is definitely not deserving of my worship.”

Watch: Survivor of massacre says he forgives gunman

@trentpayne also took issue with the Colorado pastor: “I’m going to respectfully disagree with you Pastor. God gives free will to man, but it wasn’t his will that they die.”

The back-and-forth provoked other believers to chime in on the theological issue of God’s sovereignty vs. human free will, with many Christians seeking to explain how a sovereign God could preside over seemingly senseless bloodshed.

“It is not God’s will or want that people died in Aurora,” wrote @GospelBluesman20m. “God allowed man’s inhumanity to man, rather than intervene.”

The conversation and debate continued in the comments section of this post, with some insinuating that the massacre might be a kind of divine punishment, or at lease divine neglect:

Lenny
We as a country have been telling God to go away. We told him to get off our currency, get out of our schools, get out of our Pledge of Allegiance, take your Ten Commandments out of our courthouses, get those Bibles out of hotels and no graduation ceremonies in our churches. How can we expect God to give us his blessing and his protection if we demand that he leave us alone?

Jesse R
Liberals have made it impossible for God to be anywhere during the upbringing of a child. Can’t have any religious connotations in schools, libraries, government offices, etc., etc. Young men (and women) are growing up with no real sense of right and wrong. … We no longer have the right of religion, but rather the right from religion. Parents no longer have the ability to discipline their children. We are always looking for the excuses … violent video games and movies, bad teachers and schools … when we should be looking in the mirror. We as a society are the reasons these massacres happen. We have allowed our children to become social misfits that lead to the kind of carnage we have seen on several occasions since religion and God disappeared from what the Founding Fathers once said was a necessity of a successful democracy … faith.

Lots of readers used religious takes on the shooting to challenge the whole idea of God:

Who invited me?
How do you know the people that were killed didn’t go to hell?, and how exactly does any of this show there is a reason? Reason is obviously something that you have replaced with belief, and you threw out logic with it.

Kyle
“God doesn’t exist, so he wasn’t anywhere. Get over it. A man was evil, and he was evil because he was crazy.

Plenty of others said the shooting was the devil’s work:

Harleyxx
Evil things like this happen because Satan is the god of this world … for the time being. God will undo all the damage caused by Satan’s rebellion and man’s disobedience when the time is right. In the meantime we all experience trials and tribulation due to living in an ungodly world. That is why Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer … ‘to pray for God’s kingdom to come.’

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How To Use The Word Of God To Endure Temptation?

The Temptation of Christ, 1854

The Temptation of Christ, 1854 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Everybody faces temptation. It pursues you like a predator stork its prey. Young or old, temptation entices your wish. It follows you wherever you go. It enters into your thoughts, your dreams, and even into your prayers.

In the book of Matthew 18:7-9, Jesus warns that temptation to sin is sure to come:  He says:”Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or disabled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than  to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”

There is absolutely no doubt that God could spare you from such enticement, but He has decided not to. Instead, He uses Jesus as an example for you to emulate. According to Matthew 4:3-7, He endures temptation after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights.

“Now when the devil came to Jesus, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

However, Jesus answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’

 Then the devil took Jesus up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you.’

And,

‘In their hands; they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.’

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

So when temptation comes, do as Jesus did. He uses the Word of God to turn back every sinful challenge the devil throws at Him. He knew the flesh by itself cannot endure temptation. Still temptation is sure but yielding is sin.