Archive for the ‘ Religion ’ Category
I realized after publishing my Groundhog Day post that it was my 500th post on this blog!
I think it rather fitting that on such a milestone, God let me share the first steps to receiving the Gospel message.
Excellent.
Father, help me to remain a faithful servant and witness for your glory. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to always point our fallen world to the sacrifice and resurrection of your Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
While there may be nothing new under the sun, one constant we can trust is God’s wisdom. Get a taste at Proverbial Thought!
As I type this, the world has been reminded time and again about what groundhogs across the United States have said about the coming of Spring (or the extension of Winter). While the first official day of spring is March 20 (which happens to be six weeks from February 2nd), a lot of people are really wondering if there is going to be six weeks more of snow and cold or if it will come to an end soon.
What has been the primary mode for people reminding each other on social media of this grand revealing by a groundhog of the start of Spring?
Groundhog Day (1993) poster, from IMDb.com
Talking about Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day.
The basic premise of this film is that a bitter man (played by Bill Murray) keeps waking up on February 2nd, the same day, over and over again. It is not until he learns to appreciate life that he can break the cycle.
The Bible touches on this, as well:
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9, ESV
The Bible gives similar, albeit more focused, advice for breaking the cycle of repeating the same things over and over:
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
But this life is not the end. As Proverbs 1:7 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” so we need the full story.
This little story out of Acts 16 (vv. 24-34) demonstrates where the fear of the Lord should lead us:
Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
Choose a life of wisdom, and get started at Proverbial Thought!
Anniversaries are important. We are even told to remember history.
the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews …
Esther 9:27-28, ESV
You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 16:3And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2
Unfortunately, today has not been a holiday of much joy for many people, though some may claim it as such.
It was 42 years ago today that the Supreme Court made a decision that changed the nation dramatically.
Now for a little sensationalism …
Forty-second anniversary of Roe vs. Wade – Answers in Genesis, 2015
Now, I depends on who you talk to, so I will not really get into a big numbers argument over who has died from abortions or how many abortions happened before and after the Roe vs. Wade decision.
My real argument for today is what we should remember.
You may remember I discussed the interesting parallel between the times of Moses’ birth, Jesus’ birth, and today.
You may remember I discussed the misunderstandings that have arisen about what people believe and what love is.
Most importantly, you may remember when I discussed birth control (and other related things).
(If you want to take a moment to read those, the rest of this post will still be here when you are done!)
Most people on both sides of the issue agree that lowering the number of abortions is good. At the least, fewer abortions means less risk of complications for women. At best, there is no issue.
What we need to remember is that this is an important issue. Regardless of when science finally decides when life begins, the Bible does tell us that even these little lives are important:
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-14Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you …
Jeremiah 1:5
The point in these two passages is that God cares for people, even inside the womb.
What we need to remember is that legislation and science will not necessarily lower the number of abortions.
What it will take is for a complete life change to happen in women AND men. It is making responsible and moral decisions.
And that only fully happens when Jesus Christ is involved.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:22-24
That is what we need to remember most. The loss of over 50 million babies in about 40 years reminds us that we need Jesus to move in our lives through His Holy Spirit.
Only God can heal and change lives.
For starters, I know that a Quinceañera is a celebration for young Latinas becoming women at the age of 15!
In reply, I refer you Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
That being said …
Fifteen years ago today, at 6:47 pm (CST), the Holy Spirit got a hold of me, and to the glory of the Father I knelt down for the first time to make that blessed confession (see Matthew 16:15-16):
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [Daniel M. Klem] replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:3-21, ESV
Relax in the Father’s wisdom, and find some at Proverbial Thought!
These year, our church has a renewed focus on evangelism, specifically by better equipping the saints to reach out to their friends, families, and co-workers.
It is therefore fitting that the next poem on my list and the first one for the year is based on Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV)
If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
May all of us who call on the name of the Lord find this passion to share that Name above all names, even when (as in the context of this passage) it is difficult and even dangerous to do so!
right now my mind is racing
and my heart palpitating
struggling to concentrate
on anything but Your face
longing to be in Your Presence
searching out Your countenance
that You would look on this servant
to whom You have said “We are friends”
knowing that You will always love me
want me with You for eternity
is hard for me to grasp and believe
but this love set me completely free
knowing all this has taken me aback
my spirit stirred and i cannot relax
because Your love is keeping me held back
in a constant almost panic attack
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 27 trips to carry that many people.
Hear the voice of wisdom through the thoughts at Proverbial Thought!
There is no better reminder for the coming year than to seek first the Lord our God and worship Him alone.
You have probably heard the Christmas carol “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” … and many times in the past few weeks.
I have also heard teachings that, because they do not get to experience redemption as humans do, angels do not sing, and this is based on no biblical references to angels actually singing.
Regardless, there are many references to the redeemed of the Lord singing His praises.
Can you hear the music?
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” SelahCome and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. SelahBless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard
Psalm 66:1-8, ESV
Hear the music?
Giving yourself over to Jesus Christ
Ushers you into the symphony of life.
Jesus is the Perfect Note of this song,
Beginning the song and moving it along.
Those who believe and call on His Name
Hear His Note and help Him sing.
Are you able to hear the music?
Have you stepped away and need to come back?
Remember that as we sing this medley
It is a love song for eternity.
It is God singing His love for us,
And our harmonizing as a chorus,
To return that love He lavishes
By raising up our once quiet voices.
Do you hear the music of heaven?
Do you hear the voices of the repentant?
It is the outcry of broken hearts,
Of people ripping there lives apart
To clean out anything that could hinder
The notes we sing to our Father.
Tune into the heavenly song,
Sung by all those who now belong
To the Father through Jesus Christ.
Hear His music that transcends time,
His music that goes beyond Creation,
That causes death and reconstruction.
Do you hear the music playing?
Do you hear the voices singing?
Add your life to this masterpiece,
Led by the Master of true peace.
Join in with the Chorus of the Saints
Giving our Lord our utmost praise.
A little birdie told me to tell you to find some wisdom at Proverbial Thought!
I remember seven years ago, I was sitting on Arizona State University’s main campus waiting for some friends to get out of class. We were going to meet up for a quick dinner (I was not a student, but they were … in fact, I was practically homeless at the time!), and then go to the weekly Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) meeting. I was sitting in the middle of the watery area near the Union reading my Bible, specifically Matthew 26 (verses 25-27, in the NIV):
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?“
Immediately after reading this, I looked up to see a bird flying overhead, performing all sorts of aerial acrobatics.
Then this poem came into my head.
It is rather fitting considering we just celebrated Thanksgiving in the good ol’ USA, as it is a reminder to focus on how God provides for us.
O birdie
O birdie in the air,
flying to and fro and everywhere,
what is it that you think about?
Do you worry about the clouds?
Is God a concern of yours?
That He is your real food source?
Do you contemplate people?
Do you wonder if they are real?
If God made you, then He made them,
so do you think about heaven?
Of all the cares that you have,
is it where you get your next bath,
or just maybe … perhaps …
that this world will not last?
But why should you care about that?
Do you know God controls your path?
O birdie flying oh so free,
Will you please share your thoughts with me?
Discover the everlasting wisdom of God through some of the thoughts at Proverbial Thought!
If you have followed my blog for a while, or read up recently, you probably know that I fall under the category of “Young-Earth Creationist”. I have plenty of scientific, philosophical, and biblical reasons for holding this view.
Today I want to focus for a brief moment on something that is more of a theological food for thought.
The funny thing about Evolution, specifically Darwinian evolution, is that we are generally taught as fact that the Universe is about 14 billion years old, the earth is about 4 billions years old, life on earth has existed and been evolving for about 2 billion years, we evolved from an ape-like creature which evolved from something else that evolved from something else that evolved all the way back to the first single-celled organism.
Yet, we have no definitive proof of any of this. There is a lot of evidence for a lot of things, but since a lot of it has not been and currently can not be directly observed (i.e. how the Universe came to be, the origin of life, one animal kind becoming another animal kind) it all comes down to worldview and faith.
On all sides.
The thing Christians have is a book (or, technically, a collection of books) with the claim that God inspired the very words (a debate for another time) in which He claims to have not only seen how all things happened but caused them to happen and in which He made claims about the future, most of which have come true and the rest are yet to happen.
Instead, we find many churches and Christians listening to atheistic scientific theories full endless cosmological and biological connections with little or no need for a Creator.
It might sound like a call to blind faith, but I encourage you to study the evidence and the arguments. Then look again at this question:
Who do you trust: men who were not there and have to keep changing their theories, or a God who claims to have been their and caused it all and does not change?
. . . so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
1 Timothy 1:3b-7
Find reminders of the source of wisdom at Proverbial Thought!
Two years ago I typed up this little post. I re-post today with only a few edits (to account for the change in date and add a couple sentences).
This past day saw celebrations in many nations for those who have served in the military. Whether it is called Veterans’ Day, Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, this is a time to recall those heroes who have served, fought, and even died in the service of country and/or freedom.
This is good. We should remember those who have gone before and fought for freedom. We should thank those who have served in the military, for it is a great sacrifice for most who do serve. It can mean the loss of time (doing preferred tasks, with family and friends, pursuing a career), limbs, and/or family. Soldiers have often given much and deserve to be remembered.
But, dear Christian, there are more who are at least as deserving if not more deserving of remembrance.
Hebrews 11 reminds us of some heroes:
These were people who stood firm for God and laid the framework for the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
Yet, there are more!
The New Testament has a list of heroes:
Notice there are even women listed! If we dug through the Old Testament we would find more women, such as Ruth, Esther, and Deborah, to name but a few.
We need to also remember history since the end of the First Century, those who have carried the Church forward:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Hebrews 12:1-8
a simple man of God 