Ray Comfort refers to the modern gospel as a "Life Enhancement Gospel."
When we hear a person express their Christianity in terms of their better life because they came to God, we can be sure that they do not understand the real gospel message.
Christ does His work in our inner soul, we learn that we are wicked and in need of a Savior. The focus of the true believer, who has been changed into a new creation, is not his better life, but his changed heart.
No one can come to Christ in sincerity if they do not confess their sinfulness and need to be cleansed by God.
Our "quality" of life is not the reason we come to Christ, many people lose everything because they have trusted Christ. In fact we are to be willing to lose our cushy lifestyle to follow Christ.
Matthew 19:21
"Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.""
God does not call everyone to physically give up everything, but that should be our heart. If we have to lose all our friends, our possessions and even our health to follow Christ, then we should be content with that. Our desire is to be holy and growing more in the mind of Christ.
Our possessions are not very important except that we use them for the glory of Christ.
The "Life Enhancement Gospel" is no gospel at all, it causes many to focus on what they can get from God instead of what they must give to Him. He already gave us everything, He had, even His own life that we might live. When we focus on the spiritual, the material will seem like nothing in comparison.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Excellence in all Things is Best
A Grammar lesson!
Most people today are using the word "decimate" to mean completely destroying something.
The word "decimate" means to reduce by one tenth. If we want to convey that something has been completely destroyed, then we can use that phrase; "completely destroyed."
When we say the city was decimated, we mean that it has been reduced to one tenth of its value.
Also many people are misusing the terms "less" and "fewer."
When we have a quantity that has to be measured, such as flour, then we say "we have less flour in the bin."
When we have items that can be counted, we say "there are fewer apples in the bin."
The English language is becoming based on slang, too many people are uninterested in excellence in anything, we are sounding more uneducated even among the educated, as the news casters mispronounce and misuse the English language regularly and many people couldn't care less how they sound.
Perhaps it is time to attempt to clean up our speech, so that we can be believable when we claim to know something. We can all learn more, let us not stop learning because of arrogance and refusal to admit we have been lazy in this matter of English.
We cannot expect a person who is using English as a second language to be versed in all the different nuances of the language, however, those of us who have been raised in this country, been in school at least 12 years of our life and more, should be much more adept at the language than we are.
Most people today are using the word "decimate" to mean completely destroying something.
The word "decimate" means to reduce by one tenth. If we want to convey that something has been completely destroyed, then we can use that phrase; "completely destroyed."
When we say the city was decimated, we mean that it has been reduced to one tenth of its value.
Also many people are misusing the terms "less" and "fewer."
When we have a quantity that has to be measured, such as flour, then we say "we have less flour in the bin."
When we have items that can be counted, we say "there are fewer apples in the bin."
The English language is becoming based on slang, too many people are uninterested in excellence in anything, we are sounding more uneducated even among the educated, as the news casters mispronounce and misuse the English language regularly and many people couldn't care less how they sound.
Perhaps it is time to attempt to clean up our speech, so that we can be believable when we claim to know something. We can all learn more, let us not stop learning because of arrogance and refusal to admit we have been lazy in this matter of English.
We cannot expect a person who is using English as a second language to be versed in all the different nuances of the language, however, those of us who have been raised in this country, been in school at least 12 years of our life and more, should be much more adept at the language than we are.
Do You Speak To Shells or Dead Pictures
I am so grieved that some Christians are equating a picture of our spouse with a picture of a man depicting Christ.
First of all the picture of our spouse, really is whom the picture portrays, we know what our spouse looked like, we see them every day.
When someone makes an image of a man to show who Christ is, we know it is not Him. It is a human idea of Him. God told us expressly not to do that.
Acts 17:29
""Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, AN IMAGE FORMED BY ART and thought of man."
I actually saw a site that was defending these images, lying against God by saying He is flattered when we make images of him. He is not only not flattered, He is angry when we disobey His Word.
When we need a picture of a man depicting Christ to remind us of Him, then we are lacking faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7
"for we walk by faith, not by sight."
God wants us to "worship Him in Spirit and in truth." The picture of a man depicting Him is a lie, it is not Him.
Do you look at a picture of a man longingly as though it were Christ,? If the answer is yes, then you are worshiping.
Do you say your prayers in front of the picture and think the man in that picture can hear you? If the answer is yes, then you are worshiping the man in the picture.
When we look at a picture of a spouse on the wall, we do not talk to it? Not usually, we find our spouse and go talk to them directly.
Some people do this at the grave, they speak to the dead in the grave as though they can hear, this is worship and a departure from truth. The person in the grave cannot hear you, nor can it respond, it is not alive nor does it not have powers.
There is a spirit of necromancy in our country, it is subtle, many believers have bought into it, the honoring of the dead at a grave site is a form of worship. How can it be anything else? If we know the person who has died is not in that grave, only their lifeless shell is there. Then why do we speak to this shell? Part of us wants to believe that the person can hear us.
When we walk with the Lord, we can let go of our loved ones, knowing they have passed on to another existence, does not depress us, unless we refuse to let go of them. The memory we have of them should be enough, and we should be able to get on with our lives without them.
Our love for them is not diminished because we have moved on when their life here is over. Loving them after death, does nothing for them and keeps us in bondage to the past. The feeling of love for our passed friends and relatives will always be there, but it has no value for the person who has left us. Their life on earth is over, we need to focus on those who are alive and still with us.
I have heard of people who celebrate birthdays of their dead relatives, this makes no sense, if we remember that the birthday party is for the person we honor. When the person cannot see or hear the party, then the party makes no sense. In fact it is rather goolish to celebrate the birth of someone who has passed on. Perhaps birthday parties are more for those who give them rather than the one they say they honor.
I think this comes from the fear of being without someone. Christ is always with us, He is not gone if we are believers, we need not look at a picture to know of His presence.
When our loved ones pass, we need not fear their leaving, but celebrate their home going if they were saved.Then move on to complete our mission in the Lord.
Perhaps it would be good for believers to begin questioning all the rituals they observe, comparing them with the Word of God, willing to let go of anything that is not Biblical. I assure you, when we seek truth, we find that we don't miss the meaningless traditions that have no other value than to make us feel food temporarily.
Let us release our dead to God and be satisfied for Christ to live in us, without need of props and rituals that are not mandated in the Word.
First of all the picture of our spouse, really is whom the picture portrays, we know what our spouse looked like, we see them every day.
When someone makes an image of a man to show who Christ is, we know it is not Him. It is a human idea of Him. God told us expressly not to do that.
Acts 17:29
""Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, AN IMAGE FORMED BY ART and thought of man."
I actually saw a site that was defending these images, lying against God by saying He is flattered when we make images of him. He is not only not flattered, He is angry when we disobey His Word.
When we need a picture of a man depicting Christ to remind us of Him, then we are lacking faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7
"for we walk by faith, not by sight."
God wants us to "worship Him in Spirit and in truth." The picture of a man depicting Him is a lie, it is not Him.
Do you look at a picture of a man longingly as though it were Christ,? If the answer is yes, then you are worshiping.
Do you say your prayers in front of the picture and think the man in that picture can hear you? If the answer is yes, then you are worshiping the man in the picture.
When we look at a picture of a spouse on the wall, we do not talk to it? Not usually, we find our spouse and go talk to them directly.
Some people do this at the grave, they speak to the dead in the grave as though they can hear, this is worship and a departure from truth. The person in the grave cannot hear you, nor can it respond, it is not alive nor does it not have powers.
There is a spirit of necromancy in our country, it is subtle, many believers have bought into it, the honoring of the dead at a grave site is a form of worship. How can it be anything else? If we know the person who has died is not in that grave, only their lifeless shell is there. Then why do we speak to this shell? Part of us wants to believe that the person can hear us.
When we walk with the Lord, we can let go of our loved ones, knowing they have passed on to another existence, does not depress us, unless we refuse to let go of them. The memory we have of them should be enough, and we should be able to get on with our lives without them.
Our love for them is not diminished because we have moved on when their life here is over. Loving them after death, does nothing for them and keeps us in bondage to the past. The feeling of love for our passed friends and relatives will always be there, but it has no value for the person who has left us. Their life on earth is over, we need to focus on those who are alive and still with us.
I have heard of people who celebrate birthdays of their dead relatives, this makes no sense, if we remember that the birthday party is for the person we honor. When the person cannot see or hear the party, then the party makes no sense. In fact it is rather goolish to celebrate the birth of someone who has passed on. Perhaps birthday parties are more for those who give them rather than the one they say they honor.
I think this comes from the fear of being without someone. Christ is always with us, He is not gone if we are believers, we need not look at a picture to know of His presence.
When our loved ones pass, we need not fear their leaving, but celebrate their home going if they were saved.Then move on to complete our mission in the Lord.
Perhaps it would be good for believers to begin questioning all the rituals they observe, comparing them with the Word of God, willing to let go of anything that is not Biblical. I assure you, when we seek truth, we find that we don't miss the meaningless traditions that have no other value than to make us feel food temporarily.
Let us release our dead to God and be satisfied for Christ to live in us, without need of props and rituals that are not mandated in the Word.
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