Church Blog (Page 76)
Truth and Lies.#3 “Liars and Thieves—Inseparable Siamese Twins.”
After 34 years, it almost sounds like a comedy sketch: The Corporate Precious Metals trader fleeing to Fiji to escape justice, while his girlfriend stayed behind to defend his integrity on TVNZ News. His deliberate theft of millions upon millions of dollars from precious metal investors (including my $1000 in silver), was counted as nothing in the end. The NZ government put him, and most of the 1987 Financial Market Crash in the ‘Too-hard basket’ and moved on. His deception…
Truth and Lies.#2 “Truth overcomes Denominationalism.”
The idea that you can chose the church of your liking is a popular one.Even in the Lord’s church there are some who speak of denominations as if they are a legitimate extension of God’s Kingdom. They are not! It amazes me when some of these same brethren become incredulous when members leave their congregation and go off to join those denominations. What do they expect?If the congregation that you are worshipping with is not “The Lord’s Church” you have…
Truth and Lies.#1 “You surely shall not die.”
Unbelievers dismiss ‘The Garden of Eden’ as a myth. Even some Christians prefer to doubt its historicity. After all, acceptance of the Fall of Man is acceptance of its direct impact upon one’s eternal destination. But despite their naive protestations, these ‘Christian’ sceptics will suffer the same fate as their unbelieving mentors. They will not escape the consequences of the law of sin and death.Our first parents knew that death would be their punishment for disobedience.So, with these five infamous…
The Company You Keep#6 “Jesus is my best friend.”
Invisible people are everywhere: among the old, the infirm, the lonely and those who need special emotional care. It is not hard to miss these souls. They are easily hidden from sight and easily ignored. Jesus ignored nobody! His ministry extended also to the chronically ill, the demon possessed and the destitute. We can be sure that if Jesus had restricted himself to charity work amongst the ‘nobodies’ of society, his enemies would not have bothered with him. Instead, Jesus…
The Company You Keep#5 “Not walking with Him anymore.”
A lot of stock is put in the sizes of congregations. Jesus saw his crowd of followers multiply after The Feeding of the 5000 (Jn.6). Many followed him to Capernaum hoping that he would be their new Moses. Being fed their daily bread from heaven for the rest of their lives was worth lining up for. Jesus had no time for these hangers-on. Even those who had identified as disciples were told that the only food and drink they could…
The Company You Keep#4 “Not of our number.”
Handing out that ‘Cease and Desist Order’ to that random exorcist must have made the disciples day. That was until John told Jesus about it. Up until then it seemed appropriate for John to let the stranger know that casting out demons in the name of Jesus was reserved for a select group, which did not include him. Jesus told them to let people like that go about their business unhindered. Then Jesus said some words that should challenge us…
The Company You Keep#3 “Added to the Saved.”
If those who preach: ‘Everyone is going to heaven,’ turn out to be right (which they most certainly are not), you will not hear a complaint from me. There will not be a happier person in heaven than yours truly. I have seen the blackness of my soul and I have seen the mercy of my God; how could I not have faith that Jesus saves? Some of my brethren spend too much time judging others and too little time…
The Company You Keep#2 “Friendship with the World.”
A friend of mine told me of a very unusual church service he attended. He said that there was no sign outside the building indicating who they were or when they met, and that the church building had no windows. But he said that the strangest thing occurred when the service was about to get under way. It was then that one of the men got up and bolted the door. The message was obvious, those who were in, were…
The Company You Keep#1 “The World Loves its Own.”
When old Gordon Scott greeted me, he would catch me off guard if I wasn’t careful.Gordon: “Hello brother, how’s the world treating you?”Me: “Good, thank you, brother.”Gordon: “Oh, that’s bad.”At which point he enjoyed, yet another, chuckle at my expense.His point rang true, and still does. Gordon would often talk about the ‘Gospel of John’ that he would carry around with him in the early days of his Christian walk. The roots of his humorous greeting went back to Jesus’…
Doers of the Word#4 “That Mirror!”
Mirrors are optional in the mind of boys. Having to be told to go and comb your hair or to go and discover the extent of the dirt on your face were jobs that required orders from your mother. Our church camp didn’t have mirrors in the men’s shower block for a couple of years and no one seemed to care enough to comment. James holds up the mirror as a prop to make his point (Jm.1:23-25). His point being…