bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Luke 6:28, ESV
Retaliation and complaining are not the Chrisitian way, because we know that apart from Christ their comeuppance will be eternal. Therfore, we show grace and mercy toward those who mock and abuse us and our Lord.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
James 1:13, ESV
God does not tempt us. The devils, maybe. God will allow us to be tempted, but it is our own desires and lack of will that lead us astray. Turn to God in those times and find His will to overcome.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6, ESV
Instill principles and guidelines, and – often – that is what is fallen on in times of uncertainty and fear or just out of habit.
Use God and His Word as the basis for those principles and guidelines, and your way is true.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13, ESV
Only in Christ by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father can we find true peace and joy, and it is bolstered by the hope of Jesus’ imminent return in power.
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11, ESV
Reading and memorizing Scripture draws us ever closer to God amd then helps us to combat temptation and thwart the schemes of the Devil.
Our little congregation reacted very similarly to Grace Community Church (John MacArthur’s congregation) by initially closing and having online church (live over Zoom with open time after to “meet and greet”), but we reopened in June maintaining online delivery. We are about 50% older and immunodeficient as a congregation, so we knew we needed the online access. I have had a limited number of meetings with the youth group as we plan for the future. But, like GCC and other churches, we know we are “not to give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25) while living in a state (Arizona) that has decided to not put restrictions on religious institutions (due to the First Amendment of the federal Constitution). We also agree that this is an individual church decision, that each leadership team should make that call for their congregation. (We do have hand sanitizer and masks on hand with the means to have overflow participation outside, so as to allow for social distancing, so that the wary can participate and feel some level of preparedness and care during these times.)
Daniel
Our “This Sunday” series will be another a Corona Virus edition. Two weeks ago I wrote “Pray for your Church to be able to meet again.” For this Sunday here’s what you can do: Pray for other Churches to be able to meet again.
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“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11, ESV
God deserves our worship, for He is our mighty Creator of all things.
Yes, Adam was given several large tasks to do on His first day alive. Much of those are continuous. Is not the naming of animals also continuous? As said here, naming the animals would also be not so monumental when confined to the Garden with a God we know can easily bring animals to His man with a job to do (like Noah). Did Adam have to name all the sea creatures to know none of them are like him? Did he have to name all of the flying creatures first? Did he indeed need to name EVERY creature before realizing there was probably none other like him, especially with God there with Him to tell him … if he asked?
Daniel
Dr. Ross sent me his book almost a year ago and I finished reading it and annotating it within a few months. So, as I have gone back and read through the chapter again for the book review, I am not really finding anything new. From beginning to end, I have found that Dr. Ross although he claims that the Bible is his highest authority, he sees the modern academic paradigm as the highest interpretive authority and conforms his reading of the Bible to accommodate it.
In his personal testimony, we see evidence of this
I did not converse with a Christian about spiritual matters until I was 27. Studies in science consumed all my time and eventually convinced me, at age 15 that a transcendent God must exist. At the time, I doubted that a God who created a hundred billion trillion stars would care…
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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV
God’s foremost goal is not giving us all we ask for, rather it is to grow us more like Christ for His glory which will bring more people to Him.
That is the foremost work in us: the salvation of others to His glory as we look more like His Son.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16, ESV
We are not freed and empowered to merely make ourselves happy or make up our own rules for life.
We are freed and empowered to share the love, grace, and forgiveness of God, and we are His, sealed with the Holy Spirit.
