Things for which I am Thankful

Thanksgiving is the holiday of which I have the most fond childhood memories. I think it was, and still is, the combination of the time of year, the gathering of family, and the great food that makes thanksgiving special for me. I don't remember reflecting on the things for which I was thankful when I was young but, being older now, there are some things for which I am truly thankful. 1) God has made our nation the freest, most prosperous nation in the world. Our ability to worship, play, move about, as well as our tremendous national resources makes ours the greatest nation on earth. 2) God blessed me with a family that cared enough to instill morals and values and a love for God. For that I am truly thankful!

Be prepared to give an answer

Despite the fiscal and other problems that the United States is currently undergoing we remain a nation that is blessed beyond measure. We have many freedoms that are simply not afforded to citizens in some other countries and chief among these freedoms is the freedom to worship our God. Worshiping and living for our God should give us such great joy that people are forced to question the hope that we have. With that question of that hope we are to "...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..." (1 Peter 3:15) The hope that we have is that Christ is in our lives and working powerfully on our behalf!

A New Command

In John 13:34 Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Much is mentioned in the new testament regarding the need for humans to love one another. Indeed, in Galatians 5:14 Paul writes, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." What Jesus and Paul are saying here is that if we love one another, there is no need for the law as written in the old testament since love for one another automatically fulfills the law. What does this mean? The law as written in the old testament spells out things that people should not do. But, if we live by love we will look out for the best interest of our brother and neighbor and will do the right thing. This love for brother and neighbor must be reciprocal to fully work. If I look out fully for the best interests of my neighbor and he looks out fully for my interests then there would be no need to say "Thou shalt not covet" or "Thou shalt not kill." If each of us makes an effort to love one another this world would invariably be a better place!

More than just a book

As a Christian I will be the first to admit that I don't read the Bible as often as I should. The fact that I don't read the Bible often enough is perplexing because each time that I make time to read the Bible I am struck with how perfect it is. The Bible contains 66 books that were written over a 1500 year time span. It describes God's interaction with man from creation to the fall of man into sin and ultimately to the good news of the sacrifice of Christ to free humanity from sin. There is incredible harmony in the Bible. Nothing contradicts which is incredible given the time span and the fact that over forty people were inspired to write The Word. According to Paul as written to Timothy "16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) This means that everything that is written in the bible is instruction for the way in which we should live our lives. There are non-believers that feel that the Bible is merely a book of old legends and tall tales that has no applicability to modern society. I feel that the bible is timeless in it's ability to guide people in the moral path through life. If you don't believe what the Bible has to say I urge you to take another look!

Survival of the fittest?

I categorically reject the concept of survival of the fittest as it applies to the false theory of biological evolution but, as it applies to economics, I'm a believer. There is now talk of the gubment bailing out General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, etc. General Motors et al. dug their own graves by being beholden to the unions, paying exorbitant wages, and paying unthinkable pensions to retired auto workers. According to the Washington Post "In the past two years, GM has put almost $30 billion into its pension funds and a trust to cover its OPEB obligations. Yet these accounts are still a combined $54 billion underwater." All this driving (Ha!) deeper into debt while reducing quality (think cheep plastic lug nut covers) to keep their heads above water. I understand the need for adequate pensions and adequate pay but I think something got out of control here. I think the root cause here is our ever increasing entitlement society and with the party of entitlements knocking on the door of the white house we will have more of the same on a national scale. I just can't wait! Survival of the fittest? Let the dinosaurs die.

Election Results

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Free Moral Decline Essays

I was doing some research into the moral decline of the united states and came across the title as a search result. Look at the title....let it sink in.....have a good laugh. Most people that care about a moral decline in the United States would probably agree that the moral fabric is seriously stretched, maybe even torn, in this great land of ours. We see signs of it in our movies, on television, on our streets. What is the cause of this decline? I think that a number of things have contributed to it but, if I had to select a couple, I would narrow it down to the turning away from God that has taken place in this nation and the growing belief in moral relativism. Our turn from God and his moral influence has caused a cascade effect; our families fail, our schools fail, our government fails, and ultimately our nation will fail if we don't turn this nation back to God. The ever increasing pull of moral relativism has had a major effect as well. People question, "who are you to place your Christian values on me" My question to them is "by what values are you playing then if you reject God and His word?" Proverbs 3:5-6 says "5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." The moral relativist could say "big deal, your God has no effect on me." From what rule set do you work? your own? What if each person is working by their own rules with no moderation from God or government? Are we not better than animals? God gave us a soul created in his own image that is far and away from the animals' and it is time for humanity to realize that! It is time for Christians to rise up and fight the moral decline! Push yourself to fulfill the great commission and win souls for Christ.

Brothers, what shall we do?

There are many different ways in which various denominations of protestant churches describe the steps to be taken for salvation but is there really one way that should be followed to ensure that salvation? It's this question that I will look at here. Some denominations believe that one only needs to ask God "into their heart" to effect salvation, others believe that praying "the sinners prayer" will accomplish the same salvation. Few highlight the role that baptism plays in the steps for salvation. Does the bible provide clear instructions for the method of salvation? I believe it does. The first step is the hear the good news or "gospel" of the death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. We see an example of this in Acts 2:14 when Peter addresses a crowd on the day of Pentecost. Peter tells of the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ and the crowd hears. The next step is to believe the gospel of the death, burial and Resurrection. Again, in Acts 2:37 the crowd believes and is "cut to the heart" and asks "brothers, what shall we do?" Peter answers, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." We see two other important steps in Peter's answer to the crowd; repent and be baptized. Repent means to turn away from your former lifestyle and choose God's ways as described in the bible. The step of baptism is the one in which a lot of denominations differ from the new testament model. In a great many churches we see infant baptism, baptism for admittance into the congregation, baptism as a symbol of your acceptance of God, etc. In the new testament there is but one reason to be baptized and that is described in Romans 6:3 " Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." This description of baptism in Acts is of necessity an act performed by adults and at the time of their salvation, not infants and not later to signify addition to the congregation. Virtually every example of salvation in the new testament recognizes the necessity for baptism; the Ethiopian eunuch, Paul's conversion, those added to the church in Acts. In no way does the new testament describe "the sinner's prayer" or "asking Jesus into your heart" So, brothers, what shall we do? If you have not followed the instructions provided in the bible to ensure your salvation I urge you to find a church that places emphasis on these instructions and become a brother or sister in Christ!

Seeing is believing

I took a nice long motorcycle ride today in the beautiful desert of Arizona. I started early in the morning and watched the sunrise and couldn't help but notice how wonderful God's creation is. Such a diverse collection of animals, birds and desert plants all wonderfully designed to exist together. How do I know that these animals, birds and plants were designed? Faith and sight. Take the hawk that I saw this afternoon, he displayed masterful control of the sky. The shape and structure of each wing eclipses the efforts of man to build something comparable yet there are people who believe such structures could come about spontaneously. I believe that it takes more of a leap of faith to believe that the beautiful hawk evolved than it does to believe that the hawk was created. Why is it so hard to believe that there is a creator who is responsible for the earth and everything in and on it? To believe that there is a creator is to believe that we are accountable to that creator as part of the creation. We, as the created, would be subject to the rules of the one that created us. Some people don't like to think that there is an authority above self and therefore can't believe that there is a higher power to which we are accountable. It all comes down to belief and God has provided all the evidence we need to believe in him as stated in Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." The evidence of God's hand in nature is too strong to avoid! For more on God's revelation of his creation please visit http://www.growingchristians.org/dfgc/without.htm

Free stuff is good! Right?

With all the political talk regarding what the Obama camp intents to provide to us, especially free health care, you would think that free would be a good thing. The first thing to realize when you hear the siren song of "free" is that the item or service is most definately not free. Someone will end up paying for it in the end, and that someone will be most of us tax payers. Nothing is Free!