God Is... Holy

Friday night at Home Bible Study we looked at the topic of temptation and how Jesus dealt with it when He was tempted by the devil. I'll save some of the details of the lesson for another day's post, but the attribute that we see of God when we talk about temptation is that God is holy.

I wish I could get a grasp on the holiness of God. He has absolutely no tolerance for sin. He does not allow the smallest, most seemingly insignificant sin to go overlooked. Uzzah touching the ark of the covenant to keep it from falling, caused him to die. Adam taking a bite out of a piece of fruit caused a world of trouble - just taking a bite! Giving to the church, but claiming that they gave a greater percentage than they did, caused Ananias and Sapphira to be killed. Some children mocking the prophet of God because of his bald head, caused God to bring two bears to kill the children.

Some of those examples, we would see as being so ridiculously insignificant. I mean, really, so some people make a joke about one of God's men - and He has them killed? (Um, maybe I better watch what I say about any preacher - not just the ones I like.) God is pure from absolutely any sin. He is not the author of sin, and He will never allow sin in His presence! So much that He even turned away from His Son when Jesus bore all of my sins on the tree. Thank You, Jesus for that.

I think we could all take a step back, consider those things which God hates, take a look at our lives and find some stuff to clean up. And you know those little things, that you know aren't right, but they're just small... well, they're not small in God's eyes. Those little things caused Jesus to go to the cross as much as the big. I mean really, it was simply a bite of fruit that required it. How "small" is your sin compared to that?

"Be ye holy, for I am holy."

Just a thought...

God Is... Calm

The economy is collapsing. The war in Afghanistan is getting worse. Iran broke away from the international nuclear agency and is working on developing nuclear weapons. Gas prices are so high. If the democrats win, they'll want to grant the same "civil rights" to gay couples as to married men and women... and Winter is coming!

There are many things which could be cause for worry and concern for us. My work-life has been quite out of control the past couple weeks, and it looks like it will stay that way for a couple more weeks if not months. It is Crazy! Pandemonium! Hectic! If I believed in stress, I think I'd be facing it right now.

The good news though, is that we have a God that is calm. God does not get all worked up when He sees the problems that we cause in this world. He is not biting His nails, wondering what will happen next. True, He does know in detail what's coming up, so I guess He has an unfair advantage in that area. But our God is calm - in the sense that He's not worried. (I couldn't think of a better antonym for "worried." Anyone else think of a better?) So, as we focus on God more and more, and recognize His sovereignty and His power, we will see that He is calm and collected. Then we can and should be just as calm, just as careful for nothing, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God.

Take it easy, Andy...

Just a thought...

God Is...

After being rebuked last week because I had more tags for "Homosexual" than I did for "Holy Spirit" and such, I would like to do a series of posts on God. Now, I may have another thought that interrupts it, but for now... God.

The first in this series I want to share is that God is. He is. The way that He said it was, "I am." I love how the Bible starts off, "In the beginning God..." It doesn't try to defend the existence of God (only a fool would believe that He does not exist), but rather simply states what He did. While we can not see Him, hear Him audibly, or touch Him, we know that He is, because of what He has done.

What do we do with this attribute? It is easy to be distracted by the things going on around that we can observe with our physical senses. Unfortunately, we need to be reminded that there is in fact a God. That He is. He is not just a fairy tale. He is not just something that we tell our kids to scare them into obeying us. He is not just something that we have to fill up our Sundays. God is. He is the great I AM. Let's not forget it.

Just a thought...

Let It Crash

I may not be very liked for this post, but this is my perception of what to do with the whole economic issues going on. Now, I do not claim to be an expert on matters in this area. Financial wisdom is not my strong point. But, why don't we just let the whole thing crash? Why don't we allow us to reap the error of the ways we've been travelling?

"Maybe it would lead us into another depression." As horrible and difficult that would be, I think it would probably help my generation and the next to kind of grow up. It would teach us that we may not have everything handed to us on a platter, but rather we'll have to actually work hard to get by. And this isn't a charge against everyone; I know many work very hard to earn what they have. I like to think that I do too (even though "work" is just plugging away at a keyboard, doesn't quite seem to fit, but that's another issue).

But maybe the best thing for this generation would be for it to have to face extreme economical difficulties. We'd have to limit the amount of food that we eat. We might even need to consider growing some of our own food. We couldn't keep up to date with the latest technology toys that we call tools - we'd really just get the things that we need. It might be good for us...

Anyway, just a thought...

Troubles with a Testimony

I get to teach in Word of Life for the Junior Highers tomorrow night, and the topic is: being prepared with your salvation testimony. We find that the Apostle Paul used his personal testimony a couple of times when presenting an argument, a defense, for his faith. He used it as a witnessing tool.

So, as I'm preparing to teach the kids, let me ask you: Would you be prepared to give a good presentation of your personal testimony to someone that is interested? Well, we probably should be.

But my thought for the day is the trouble that having a prepared testimony could be. The problem comes if there is a false conversion. That is, if there is someone that has never had their life changed, has never been born again, does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling him, and if he is taught how to prepare a testimony, then all that is being done is that he is encouraged and strengthened in his trust in his false conversion.

Look at it this way. When you want to help someone know that their saved, what's the first question you ask them? "Mister, Mister, I want to know if I'm saved or not." "Well, Johnny, you need to be able to go back to a time or place, when you put your faith in Jesus...." Is that the right answer? I don't think so.

Is that not teaching the questioner to trust in an event that happened in their life? "If you can't go back to a time or a place..." teaches the trust to be put in the events of that time and place. The correct answer is, "Well, Johnny, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved." The trust needs to be in the event of 2000 years ago, not just a little while ago. Let's be sure that, while it's good to have a prepared testimony, we don't end up teaching people to trust in the wrong thing. The publican that prayed, "God, be merciful to me a sinner," does not look back at that moment in time, but rather looks at the God that is merciful to him, the sinner.

Just a thought...

Happy Birthday Timothy!

Today is my son's 6th birthday. Timothy Andrew Hinds (I love that name!) is my musician. He loves to sing, and he can actually carry a tune pretty good for a little kid. I just wanted to use my post to say,

Happy Birthday Timothy!

Christian fellowship is a great thing. And family is a great thing too. I am blessed to have good friends, and brothers who are Christ-minded servants. Last night, a missionary friend of mine who had been flying standby was going to have the pleasure of sleeping in the Atlanta airport. There were no plans made for him once he got there, and I couldn't get hold of him while he was on the plane. So, I called up my brothers who live in the Atlanta area, and they drove up to the airport (a good 45 minute to an hour drive), not sure if when they got there he would want to just stay there or come back with them or what...

Well, from the sounds of it, he was happy to sleep in a soft bed, not worrying about someone grabbing his stuff or anything - even if it was on a Lightning McQueen pillow! But, anyway, isn't it great to be a part of a bigger Family? To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Now, if only they can get him out of Atlanta today...

Just a thought...