Posts Tagged ‘ Religion ’
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27, ESV
God’s commands are based on His nature, and His example is caring for widows and orphans in His holiness. He call us to the same standard helps us to love others.
On the holiday the USA celebrates freedom, how about a throwback to my first ever post on this blog 12.48 years ago (give or take). I took a look at the religion/relationship debate, and the implication is what our freedom in Christ means for us.
Daniel
That’s right. I love religion, and I hate religion. One of the first sayings (not the first, mind you) I learned as a young believer in Christ was “I hate religion” because “It’s a relationship!” Everyone knows that religion is a trap that constrains all who practice from truly knowing God! Everyone knows that religion […]
I Love/Hate Religion.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27, ESV
In His mercy, God overlooks our man-made attempts to please Him. In His grace, He showed is what is right.
We should seek His righteousness and show mercy and grace to those who most need it.
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
Micah 7:18, ESV
Of all the world religions, only one has a God who gave Himself to give us a way to eternal life and forgiveness, rather than our needing to earn our way.
Because He loves us.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6, ESV
All roads do not lead to God. Different religions do not show different aspects of or paths to God.
Jesus is the only true way to eternal life.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27, ESV
Religion is not inherently bad.
Neglecting loving our neighbors, especially the least of these, is.
One simple rule in two parts: Love God by loving others.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12, ESV
Jesus is the only answer for how to get to God. No other path, work, or deity can do it.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
[This is a little late. We did some remodeling and cleaning, and I forgot to upload on Saturday night! We have more storage area in our garage and a green bathroom, now, though! And this explains why I look tired in this video. I had worked hard all day!]
It is about time for a short message series.
Over the next couple of months, I will upload short messages based on the book of Malachi. It will probably be eight total and based on the section divisions in the English Standard Version of the Bible.
No special titles. Just taking a quick look at what was said.
So read along with me, and let us study what Malachi said to his people about 2,400 years ago.
Remember that Malachi literally means “my messenger”, so he is God’s messenger, as all the Prophets were.
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor?
God is our heavenly Father, and today we see evidence that He is not given the honor that is due. But Paul reminded us what the times before Christ’s return would be like in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
This certainly describes much of our world today, even within the Church. But especially seeing as, as a world, we barely acknowledge our heavenly Father, let alone give much honor to our earthly parents. We are too busy seeking our own pleasure and thinking we are right about everything.
But back to Malachi:
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.
God was talking to the priests of ancient Israel. But we see polluted offerings today.
We see it in the Prosperity gospel or the so-called New Apostolic Reformation with all of these new apostles and prophets and such who say we should be living our best life now and be healthy, wealthy, and happy. If you are not healthy and wealthy and happy, you have weak faith. It is your own fault for not trusting God enough.
It is these people making claims that “thus saith the Lord” when He has not spoken.
Like what?
Like these preachers and prophets who said the C-19 pandemic (at the time of this message) was going to end by Passover. Here I am two weeks after Passover having seen that it not only is not over but hit its worst days AFTER Passover (in the US, at least, which is what most of these people were talking about).
It is people trying to declare the weather act a certain way, such as Kenneth Copeland declaring a heatwave to kill the virus … and a cold snap hitting the very next day. Nationwide.
These are people claiming to be speaking for God, when they make false prophecies and have no actual power. This is blasphemy and taking the Lord’s Name in vain.
It can also be seen in a too-close, buddying up with politics.
It is saying “Our party is the Christian party” or “the Republican party is the party of Christianity.” It is saying that God is not only okay with such-and-such a thing but endorses it, such as saying abortion and gay marriage are godly acts.
I just stepped on the toes of Republicans and Democrats, but they are far from alone in this.
When we let our politics influence our faith, instead of the other way around, we put forth an offering polluted by the world. [Our religion should influence our politics, though!]
Back to Malachi:
9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
Costi Hinn – Benny Hinn’s nephew – worked for his uncle’s ministry. However, he “shut the doors” by walking away from that ministry. Today, he is a pastor – in the Reformed tradition – and speaks out against his uncle’s ministry and other Prosperity Gospel, the NAR, and other hyper-charismatic ministries.
Both in ancient Israel and today, we have horrible sacrifices and offerings.
Today we see churches offering Mountain Dew and Doritos or beer and chips as “communion” so that their congregants can partake of the elements no matter what they have around. Or they change who the communion is done toward while using skittles and iced tea.
Churches say “gay marriage” is okay, when the Bible forbids it.
Churches say “No matter what you believe or how you live, why don’t you lead this bible study or lead this ministry … or become ordained and lead a church.” No repentance nor confirmation of beliefs.
God was not happy with sacrifices and offerings when Israelites offered lame and sick sacrifices.
God is not happy when we offer teachings and leaders that are contrary to His Word.
But there is good news! (And you probably know where this is going …)
God offered the ultimate sacrifice in our place when He offered His own Son, Jesus Christ for the atonement of our sins.
Jesus was the perfect, unblemished sacrifice.
He endured violence, but it was to redeem our violent nature by being beaten and killed on our behalf. He suffered death at our own hands to redeem our actions and make us holy as He is holy by washing us in His blood.
Our sacrifices and offerings have never been good enough. So He offered Himself.
And all we have to do is believe that and let the Holy Spirit change us to be more like the Son.
And this is the good news that will spread His fame throughout the nations, a pure offering of praise made by His redeemed, as we make His Name known.
And one day, Jesus is returning to renew the world. And all who live on this planet will worship Him.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus!
Next week, we get into chapter 2!
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36, ESV
The hard truth is that full belief in Jesus means obedience to Jesus. It is not strictly about rules but knowing how He has said to love Him.
It is time to look at that super-non-controversial word “religion”!
Some claim religion is for unthinking idiots or contrary to a relationship with God.
Some Christians claim “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.”
Atheists and other irreligious folks claim that religion is an opioid for the masses (Marx) or for those who don’t like to think.
Many scholars agree that our word for religion comes from the Latin:
religare: to bind, to connect
And therefore …
religio: obligation, bond, reverence
We therefore can understand religion as binding oneself to a set of obligations. Is this helpful?
Both Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries have several definitions (look them up!), but I will focus on just a few:
Merriam-Webster uses:
With some definitions of religious being:
Oxford defines religion with:
Personally, I would also clarify with a religion being:
This all should quell the religious fervor with which Christians deny that Christianity is a religion. We still set boundaries for any relationship which we faithfully follow, so this particular relationship is a religion. (But I get their meaning, so I will not harp too much on them for it … unless it gets in the way of or directly refutes firm doctrine.)
Conversely, this all implies that even atheism is a religion. Why?
The argument some atheists offer, that it is a lack of belief, is, frankly, stupid. It is a belief. It is incredibly difficult to prove scientifically that something supernatural (Beyond the natural) exists, so a lack of evidence in something beyond our understanding of space-time can only lead to one believing something … without evidence.
And before anyone argues atheism is not a blind faith, how did the universe or life on Earth begin? No experiment or evidence has yet to reveal these from a naturalistic origin. To claim we know how either of these began (apart from God) is being intellectually dishonest and anti-science. You must believe on faith that we may someday find these answers, even with little to no evidence supporting any of the myriad of claims for each beginning.
How is atheism (and along with it evolution and the climate change movement) not a religious belief, especially with the cultish celebrity-worship, demand for strict adherence to the teachings, and excommunication of people who disagree (or raise challenging questions, even from a sincere perspective)?
No matter the religion, Christian Scripture tells us what our religion should look like:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
Matthew 23: Basically, Jesus tells us that hypocrisy is setting rules and demands on others while not holding yourself to them. Do not make it more difficult for people to follow, make yourself look good, and take care of your own needs, yet neglect mercy, justice, and true faithfulness without really changing yourself.
Religion is not relationship denying nor for unthinking idiots.
Wise people have religion, for it sets the boundaries to live by to protect relationships and truth. To remove those rules and guidelines is to allow for any “truth”, and this leads to cultish behavior and/or anarchy. Just look at the state of the Western Church and pop-atheism and the global climate change scare.
Madness.
a simple man of God 