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Advent 2022 – Day 9: Isaiah 40:3-4

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

Isaiah 40:3-4, ESV

At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.

Our sins have stacked up to heaven, deeper and more vile than we could know.

The sin we all commit and have committed have left rocks in our path that we trip over, created potholes that we stumble in, and knocked down debris that block our way and push us to different paths.

The Prophets of old worked to prepare people for God.

John was born to begin preparing hearts for the coming Messiah, claiming he was the fulfillment of this passage. (Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 3:1-5)

The Baptizer called us to repent, to change our thinking and actions, to prepare for our Savior.

We still struggle to be clean and clear, to obey and love.

Yet, God came to us, He comforts our souls and does the initial work of removing those rocks, filling the potholes, and moving debris from our way.

We can prepare ourselves by seeking our Creator and Savior who is capable of leveling out our lives, knowing that only in Him is it completely possible.

We will still stumble and deal with consequences for our sins, but the way is made easier in Christ.

May we seek the Lord who helps us, preparing ourselves by seeking His path.

2022
12/05
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Advent 2022 – Day 8: Isaiah 40:1-2

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Isaiah 40:1-2, ESV

At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.

Our sins have stacked up to heaven, deeper and more vile than we could know.

The pain those sins have caused have made this world and much of our lives dark and burdensome.

We have hurt ourselves and each other as we have ignored and run from God.

We have caused so much pain and grief to ourselves and each other as we acted selfishly and without regard for others.

Yet, God offers us comfort for our souls if we merely turn to Him, seeking His goodwill and grace.

We can prepare ourselves by beginning to look at our own wickedness and need for forgiveness.

We can prepare ourselves by seeking our Creator and Savior who is capable of removing our burdens and sins.

May we seek the Lord who offers His comfort, preparing ourselves by seeking His truth.

2022
12/04
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Advent 2022 – Day 7: Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:6-7, ESV

At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.

We may do horrible things to ourselves, to each other, and against God.

We tend to commit so many injustices against each other, to seek manufactured kindness and perceived justice that still harms others, even intentionally.

Yet, God came to show us His kindness, the depths of His justice and love, using our horribleness and injustice to redeem us as our Savior and King.

His Kingdom is growing in this world, but there is still much work to be done.

Our mighty God is destroying strongholds and bringing peace to individuals and groups.

He became one of us here onthe earth, being born in the natural way, but He is currently reigning from Heaven. He has sent His Counselor to live in and through us to spread His rule across the globe and time.

We have failed time and again, yet He works in and through us – the redeemed of the Lord – to bring about righteousness.

So we do not lose heart in this broken and wicked world, rather we join with our Lord in zealously seeking those whom will be saved and ushering in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

May we seek the Lord who works in us to spread His kindness and grace and justice.

2022
12/03
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Advent 2022 – Day 6: Isaiah 9:17

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:17, ESV

At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.

We do horrible things to ourselves, to each other, and against God.

We don’t seek God, but instead we think we know better than He does.

We even accuse Him of evil and being a moral monster for not doing things the way we think He should.

As a whole, we have turned from God and chosen to do our own thing far more than we have chosen Him and His ways.

Look at history and see how much we have rebelled against God and hurt each other, through cults, tyranny, bullying, murder, war, and so many other horrible things.

Because “we know better.”

If we are ignoring God and His commands, why should He care for us? If we want nothing to do with Him, why should He be kind to us?

Yet, God came to show us His kindness, mercy, and grace, forgiving us for our rebellion if we believe in the work of the cross of Christ.

May we seek the Lord who has given us kindness and grace because of His great love for us.

2022
12/02
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Advent 2022 – Day 5: Isaiah 9:16

for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

Isaiah 9:16, ESV

At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.

We do horrible things to ourselves, to each other, and against God.

We want to hear about the good things in this world and that good things will come to us.

We want to surround ourselves with people who will tell is what we want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

And there are people who are willing to tell us those happy things, saying many of the right things while also ignoring or omitting the things that don’t sound as good.

In other words, there are teachers willing to teach what others want to benefit themselves. (1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9)

But this is not new. Many of the prophets and priests of Israel had done that for centuries (which is something Isaiah is talking about), and it clearly stretches throughout history.

The religious leadership added rules to or new interpretations of God’s Word. Balaam accepted money to speak and fight against Israel (even if he still only spoke blessings). All the way back to the beginning, the serpent twisted God’s Word to “help” people be more like God.

And we have allowed ourselves to be consumed with selfish lies.

Yet, God came to give us the truth and lead us back from false teachings by revealing Himself as the Truth.

May we seek the Lord who has given us truth through His Word (The Bible) and His life, death, and resurrection.

2022
12/01
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Give Me 5: The Five Solas

Yep. I missed last week. We had family in town, and I never had a long enough, quiet enough stretch of time by myself to record a video. Here is a new one, though! Here is the new Give Me 5:

Out of the Reformation of the 1500’s came what we call “The Five Solas or Solae”, but what do they mean?

The Five Solas

The Reformation started as a call to return to a simple faith not dogged down by man-made or superfluous rules and dogmas. (This is not the time for a debate about Catholic versus Protestant and denominational separation.)

It does lead to our first sola: Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone. Basically, this means that all of our traditions and understanding about God, Jesus, and humanity should be based on what the Bible says. There is value in traditions, the various councils, and books/teachings, but they must conform with what Scripture – as a whole – teaches.

This includes the matter of salvation, covered in the next solar: Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria – By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

This was summarized by Paul in Ephesians chapter two, when he said,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
(vv. 4-9, ESV)

We still need to confess our sins – primarily to God, but also to each other (James 5:16).

We still do works – but as an act of obedience and love for the One who saves us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

But it is only by grace through faith in the work Christ to the the glory of the Father as revealed in Scripture that we are saved.

Now, this is only a brief overview. We can continue to discuss this in the comments or through e-mail at Together@asimplemanofgod.com, or even on our Facebook page, a simple man of God. I am sure more videos and articles will be made discussing these.

2019
03/21
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A Simple Look at the Trinity

Look at the wisdom available at Proverbial Thought!

There is an objection to Christianity, or even within Christianity, which may be raised: the Doctrine of the Trinity.

There are various sources of this argument: Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarians, Muslims, Jews, and many other sources including some people from church who may have doubts.

The biggest reason is that the word “Trinity” is not used in the Bible. The Trinity is the belief that God is one Being with three distinct Persons (not simply personalities): God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.

This is true, but there are many things that are believed by Jews, Christians, Muslims, and various cults and belief systems that are not found in scriptures. They are inferred from readings. (One example could be “falling in love with Jesus”. Not in the Bible, but the phrase conveys the need to discover the truth, grace, and love of God that can change your life.)

However, the title says this is a simple look at the Trinity. Therefore, I will merely give a mental exercise which can also be used as a form of apologetics:

To the objection that there is no Trinity and Christians worship three gods:

Look at this man (any man, really). He is a father. There is his child. Do you dispute he is a father?

Look at this same man. Here is his father. Is this man also a son? How can he be two different people.

Look at this same man. He has a license to heal the sick and prescribe medicine. Is this man also a doctor? How can he be three different people.

Obviously I must be talking about three different men, right?

Please remember, there is no perfect analogy for describing/explaining God. This is not me trying to say I understand God. This is merely a tool to help us understand a little better how God can be three and one at the same time.

It is my prayer that this may help you in understanding your faith in a better way or in sharing your faith with others.

If you are not a Christian as you read this, I pray you may understand better what Christians truly believe. Naturally, I hope you would also come to believe as I do in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world!

2013
10/29
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Bad Teacher

First of all, do not forget to get some wisdom from Proverbial Thought!

Today’s post is not about a movie starring Cameron Diaz. Rather, true to this blog, today’s post is about theology.

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience(and a sincere faith.Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
1 Timothy 1:5-7

To tell you the truth, this passage scares me.

I am a big believer in God speaking through dreams (but not all dreams). I am big believer in God speaking through visions. I believe prophecy still happens.

I have had dreams and visions in which I speak to a large audience (perhaps blogging will be that realization?). I have had others (both Christians and non-Christians) say or speak over me (either specifically as prophetic or “in passing”) that they see me one day leading ministries and/or a congregation (or congregations) or speaking to large groups.

This scares me simply because I know my past and how I have treated theology and teaching. What if God eventually calls me to be a pastor/priest over First Church of Hometown, USA?

I hate to break it to you (tongue-in-cheek), but there are many teachers and preachers today who simply should not be. These are men and women who replace love of God and/or people with a love of money, power, influence, or popularity. These are men and women who either do not have or have lost a pure heart and good conscience. These are men and women may or may not have a sincere faith, but the question becomes where that sincerity or where that faith truly lies.

I may step on some toes and perhaps offend here, but here are some examples of things people teach and confidently affirm without really knowing what they are talking about:

  • God wants you happy and financially rich in this life. There is never a biblical guarantee that all godly people will have both or either of these in this life. In fact, there are promises of the opposite for the believer in Christ.
  • There is no Trinity. Quite frankly, Christianity falls apart without the Trinity. My Catholic brother Richard has begun covering this over at CatholicBoyRichard.
  • Women have no place in ministry. Let me just say that people who believe this are complete idiots. They may be very intelligent, but they really stupid.
  • Jesus sinned. The faith falls apart if this is true. I cannot express enough how important this is and how false and straight from the pits of Hell this is.
  • God hates ... This one is taken specifically from Westboro Baptist Church, the people who say “God hates fags” along with many other people. It is this kind of “christian” (not just those who blatantly call for the destruction of others, but also those who promote hatred through favoritism, indifference, and bigotry [misunderstanding mixed with fear]) who gives the Church the bad name we seem to see and hear about today.

There is a long, long list, and I know I have been guilty of at least all of these at one time or another. Paul listed a few others to Timothy:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
1 Timothy 1:3-11

How can we – how can I – know we are staying true to good teaching? How can we know our teachers and preachers are staying true to good teaching?

The simple answer:

We must continue studying together. We must not give up on the traditions from Church history (and before some complain, where do you think our Bible and even most of our liturgy, keeping in mind I currently attend and serve in a non-denominational church, came from? Why do we know many of the facts we know about the early Church? From what did Christianity arise?). We must always strive to express the love of God to all people.

2012
06/05
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Black Mark

There is the belief among most Christians that since Adam and Eve all of humanity is under the curse of sin. Many argue that it is inherited through birth. Many others argue that it comes through our own decisions in life. Many others still do not care enough or feel they are not smart enough to grasp the concept; it is enough for them to know that the Bible says we are sinful (see Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20; Romans 3:9-12) and in need of a Savior.

How could it be possible to carry forward sin?

Is it not as though God is condemning everyone for the fault of two?

Consider:

A woman does drugs for years. In a time of desperation, she has sex with a dealer to get her drugs, and this act led to pregnancy. The woman is so dependent on drugs that she continues abusing them throughout her pregnancy. Her baby is then born addicted to those drugs. The child did nothing wrong, but must suffer for the sins of the mother. It was passed along.

A man acquires AIDS through his promiscuity, but he does not realize it until he is married. He and his wife now have AIDS and then have a child. This child is also born with AIDS, again at no personal fault. It was passed along.

A single dad plays the lottery with the dream of making the life of his family better. He squanders his money on lottery tickets to the point of neglecting bills. He dies as his child comes of legal age. The child inherits the father’s debt and follows the example given and gambles to attempt to raise the money needed. The child did not create the financial mess. It was passed along … as well as the behavior that created the mess.

Is sin something that is genetically passed on? Quite frankly, I do not know. However, we can see evidence that a sinful nature is present early on in the way our children only think of themselves. Granted, they cannot help it too much. Children are born rather powerless to change their situation and require a lot of help.

A friend of mine shared a story a few years ago. His family runs a business making plastics. People have to help the system along and inspect the final product. Part of the process is to move some containers from one part of the machine to another, but they have to be careful to not touch them with their hands otherwise a black mark appears on the plastic. It is also possible that touching part of the machine that handles the plastics can cause each of the containers to get identical black marks. Another part of the process is for the inspectors to watch for damaged, misshapen, or tarnished items and pull them off the line. If they miss one, it ends up going out on the market where someone buys it, takes it home, and discovers the problem. The only way to remove the stain or fix the impurities is to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of cleaning the machine and sending the product back to be melted down, refined, and sent through the process again.

Our actions always have consequences. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad. Our ancestors took an action that they technically knew was bad. Ever since, we are all stained with a black mark. It is as though they took God’s creation, us, and handled it improperly. Their fingerprint stained us.

God, however, inspects every single one of us. He was not content to let us remain with that stain. He sent His Son to show just how rough the remaking process would be. He took the time and paid the price. His blood cleansed the dirt. Our part is to let Him work us through the furnace that removes that black mark we carry, to let Him reshape us in the image of His Son.

2011
08/02
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One in Heart and Mind

There is a lot going on in the world today. There always has, but there are definitely more ways in which everything can happen.

Also, we often have almost instantaneous access to the news about almost everything.

We are also able to say what we think about everything almost instantly. Sometimes mistakes are made (such as John Piper bidding a “Farewell, Rob Bell” to the wrong Rob Bell), and sometimes toes are stepped on (such as Rob Bell’s, as of late).

Rachel Held Evans talked about this very thing in relation to the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed. I completely, 100% agree with what she said.

She also is encouraging some fun and togetherness. Rachel was inspired by our nation’s two favorite “news authorities” – Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert – to declare this week the “Rally to Restore Unity” for Christianity. We are even trying to help our world’s water needs with Charity: Water. I have failed to make a sign, but here is my contribution to the blogging part:

D.O.C.T.R.I.N.E.

People have a tendency to forego reason if for only a moment to voice their opinion. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes they think they are right for one reason that is actually wrong even though they are right. Sometimes … we just can not know.

Sometimes there are good reasons for coming to the reached conclusions. Sometimes conclusions are reached simply to go against what is commonly held. It is never a good idea to disregard history. Many Protestants have done this in the last five centuries, often to their – and our – detriment, but of course not always.

Hank Hanegraaff came up with an idea for agreeing on church doctrines that should work in unifying believers. I have modified it slightly, but you can find the original article here (subscription required). Using the letters of doctrine, he made an acrostic:

  • Deity of Christ
  • Original sin
  • Canon
  • Trinity
  • Resurrection
  • Incarnation
  • New creation
  • Eschatology

Basically, we should all agree that Jesus is God (John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, Revelation 1), all humans are sinful (Romans 3:23), we have divinely inspired scriptures on which to base our understanding of God and ourselves (2 Timothy 3:16), being one God is also three (1 Corinthians 8:6, Hebrews 1:8, Acts 5:3-4), Jesus died and rose again and will resurrect believers (1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), God became man – fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14), we are a new creation and all things will one day be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:18-25, Revelation 21), and this world will one day cease to exist as it is – even non-Christians believe this, we just hold that God shall renew it (mentioned in Resurrection and New creation).

We might disagree over what sin is, what “divinely inspired” means, what exactly “canon” and “scripture” entails, or how and when this world comes to an end; but that should be secondary. The only thing that comes from arguing about these meanings is division. The only arguments that are valid are those that bolster truth and unity. If we resort to declaring all angels have wings and only 144,000 people get into heaven and blue carpeting is better than beige (for a couple examples out of countless others) and declare it as ultimate truth, we are saying we fully understand God how His plan works. This is blasphemy and unscriptural (yes, I declared an absolute truth that can offend, and we should not dare to presume we understand God. See also here and here). The first believers were Jews who could not agree on whether or not the scriptures should be read in the original Hebrew/Aramaic or Greek, yet the Bible says that in Christ they were united in one heart and mind.

We should agree our God loves us. Everyone, even Osama bin Laden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush. Even you. Even me.

We should agree God is God and we are not.

We should agree that we need God.

We should agree that we need each other.

We should agree that only God knows what is truly happening and will happen.

We should stop bickering and fighting: Jesus said so. Paul reminded us. At least twice more.

Love one another. Please, for Christ’s sake. Literally.

2011
05/02
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