Category Salvation & Judgement

The man whose measure of his manhood is based in his sexual conquests is a pitiful example of masculinity. When the benchmark is something wild animals rush to, and rodents and reptiles, for survival, rather than those qualities and characteristics that place humanity on a different plain from brute beasts, the mark is set very low. Is manhood exclusively about copulation, or is there not something more powerful, more noble, more worthy of recognition in the character of the male human? Where is honour? Where is courage? Where is integrity? Where is goodness? Why when there are many laudable and beneficial qualities of which only humans are capable, do so many limit their consideration of value to something that requires no strength, no passion, no brains?

Are these men such simpering cowa...

“And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14)

The physically blind and the physically lame came to Jesus in the temple, and He healed them.

To be blind is to lack the ability to see. To be lame is to be unable to walk. Without knowledge of God, all men are blind, unable to see the truth about themselves, the world in which they live, or the creator Who placed them in it. They cannot see the right path to follow, nor the impediments in the way in which they find themselves travelling. They don’t see the spiritual influences on their lives or environments, nor do they perceive the eternal significance of their actions or ideas. They cannot see the ‘end of the road’; in fact they cannot see the road itself at all.

On their own, the blind...

Forgiveness is releasing the debt. The offender doesn’t owe you anymore.

It is not about forgetting. We may never forget and some offenses should not be forgotten. We are not obligated to volunteer for more offenses to be committed against us, although we may be obligated to endure them when they come.

By forgiving an offender, we release their debt to us. They don’t ‘owe’ us, we seek no revenge or restitution. We are not held captive by the pain of their wound, and we don’t wish they could suffer the pain themselves.

This does not mean we don’t hurt. Instead, it means that we willingly bear the hurt without anger, without malice, without revenge. We give them freedom from their obligation to us. We choose good-will toward them, despite the pain.

Some offenses cause too great...

Do you have to get everything right to be a Christian? No, but there are some things you cannot get wrong and still be a Christian. For instance, you must believe in God in order to be a Christian. But you can’t believe in just any god. You must believe in the God Who has revealed Himself through His Word to men, through His prophets, through the Law, and through Jesus Christ. If you believe in a false god, you are not a Christian, no matter how sincere you are or how well you behave. [1]

Then there is the matter of Truth. You must believe that truth exists, and that it is knowable, because Jesus declared that the Father requires men to worship Him in spirit and in truth. If there is no truth, or it cannot be known, we are unable to obey God’s clear requirement for worship. [2]

A Chr...

People have a passion for the concept of Jesus rather than for the person of Christ; for “reaching the lost for the Lord” as opposed to sharing the Gospel of Christ. People like being spiritual, but don’t care to be holy. 

The message of salvation from sin and death has been replaced with a message of salvation from a pointless life, and mundane existence. The new preachers want us to be saved from the hurts of sin in this life, and be drawn into the fullfilment of feeding the hungry, healing broken hearts, stopping wars, curing diseases. 

Jesus Christ did not come to redeem our human institutions. He came to redeem us from the power of sin and death, to reconcile us to God so we can have eternal life...

The logical extension of ‘do not judge’ as applied by many people would necessarily be a total lack of laws, otherwise known as anarchy. 

The job of government is to protect its people – the whole from enemies outside and individuals when necessary from each other. The well-being of the community is partially dependent upon the faithfulness of the government to perform its responsibilities. 

Each time a law is made, the related action is being judged. Making murder or theft a crime is to judge the murder or theft, and judge one who commits them as guilty of crime. 

Some will argue that some crimes hurt only the perpetrator or no one at all, calling them ‘victimless’ crimes. This is false; there are no ‘victimless crimes’...

“… upon this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matt 16:18b

Jesus speaking to Peter is recorded as saying that the gates of Hell should not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. He did not say that the armies of hell shall not be able to destroy the church, but that the gates of hell shall not prevail against – or withstand – the church of Christ. This is battle language with the church on the offensive.

The church of Christ is called to storm the gates of hell. Hell is the prison of every man and woman who has not faith in Christ. Every cult member, and every person without Christ is presently consigned to hell.

Jesus was not telling Peter to dig in and hold ground until He returns...

Political and social unrest dominate the news , and economic distress grips the entire world. People are easily overcome with a sense of hopelessness and fear. As we approach Christmas this year, it seems appropriate to refocus our attention on the reason we celebrate at all. Christ entered history in times like ours: the Mediterranean world was under the occupation of the brutal Roman Empire. Corruption and abuse abounded. Taxes were high, the common man oppressed, the ruling powers capricious and often malevolent. Citizens were disillusioned; the nation of Israel had lost sight of their calling, having lost sight of the God Who had called them. The effects of wide-spread paganism were superstition, devaluation of life, and a lack of natural affection among men.

I wish to offer you a medi...

That He gave His only begotten Son:

A twig comes forth from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall be fruitful. The Spirit of YHWH rests upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the YHWH; He delights in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and corrects with equity the meek of the earth, and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the belt of His loins and faithfulness the belt of His heart.” Is 11:1

“Behold the angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying ‘...

“But you Bethlehem Ephratah, little among the thousands of Judah; from you shall He come forth for Me, to be ruler in Israel, and his goings-forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and swaddled Him and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

And shepherds were in the same region, staying in the field, and keeping night-watch over their flock. And lo, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For look, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you was born today a Saviour Who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David...