Monday, November 3, 2014
Titles Can Reveal Pride
People who like to give themselves titles are putting on heirs. We need no titles to serve the Lord. Every born again believe should be serving in one way or another, not seeking to be noticed or rewarded by man.
Morality Without Christ
Morality without Christ is a melting marshmello, it starts out looking and tasting good, It's white at the beginning and turn black when placed in the fire, under a little hot sun or humidity it melts away or turns moldy.
Many times I have experienced the elderly who were upstanding moral citizens, until the laws were changed and then they began to do the things that they would never have done before or encourage others who want to do them.
When our level of morality is based on the culture rather than Christ, it will melt away at the slightest pressure from family and friends.
I have recently heard of the "baby boomers", who mocked and ridiculed the hippy generation with their drugs and loose morals they called "free love", beginning to shop at the pot dispensaries. The baby boomers were the generation who were born after world war II. They had higher morals in many ways than the generation that came after them. Now they are enjoying the drugs they once condemned and all because it is legal.
We can discern those who did things out of commitment to God and who were just fitting into their culture, when they make their choices after sin is legalized.
If God's Word is not the reason for our adherence to certain moral standards, then they will fall away when the cultural stigma is removed.
As believers, we do not follow the culture, we follow Christ, His principles never change and are not based on our popularity.
Joshua 24:15 ""If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.""
Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."
John 12:43 "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
Do we love God more than we love our family and friends?
Luke 14:25-27 "25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.…"
Many times I have experienced the elderly who were upstanding moral citizens, until the laws were changed and then they began to do the things that they would never have done before or encourage others who want to do them.
When our level of morality is based on the culture rather than Christ, it will melt away at the slightest pressure from family and friends.
I have recently heard of the "baby boomers", who mocked and ridiculed the hippy generation with their drugs and loose morals they called "free love", beginning to shop at the pot dispensaries. The baby boomers were the generation who were born after world war II. They had higher morals in many ways than the generation that came after them. Now they are enjoying the drugs they once condemned and all because it is legal.
We can discern those who did things out of commitment to God and who were just fitting into their culture, when they make their choices after sin is legalized.
If God's Word is not the reason for our adherence to certain moral standards, then they will fall away when the cultural stigma is removed.
As believers, we do not follow the culture, we follow Christ, His principles never change and are not based on our popularity.
Joshua 24:15 ""If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.""
Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."
John 12:43 "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
Do we love God more than we love our family and friends?
Luke 14:25-27 "25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.…"
No More Starbucks
As much as I have enjoyed the fancy coffees at Starbucks and even the home like atmosphere where one could sit and visit with a friend or use their ipads while having a nice warm cup of coffee on a winter day, those days have to come to an end for me.
Every time I would enter one of those shops, I would be reminded of their foolish and blatant, in your face, promotion of homosexuality. I was willing to ignore their first statement that "if you are against gay rights, we don't want your business", because I thought that the employees and underlings who worked there might not necessarily agree with the CEO of that company.
I had also reasoned that this was a passing comment and would die away, every company now supports evil in one way or another, just look at the fashions in Walmart, JC Penney and other anchor stores at the mall.
HOWEVER, when I am informed that the commercials that Starbucks are producing and promoting openly homosexuality with cross dressing actors and strange make up and hair, I decided they had crossed the line.
For me it isn't about harming their business, even if all believers stopped going to their shops, they will not be hurt by it. For me it is about my own conscience. I must preserve the one thing no one can take from me and that is my conscience.
God speaks of not worrying about eating meat offered to idols, go ahead and do it when it is sold in the stores. God is not angry with this. If the merchants were bragging that their meat was offered to idols and endorsed and encouraged everyone else should worship those idols, then that crosses the line from using their product into endorsing their religion.
I only went to their shops rarely, for two reasons, the coffee was too strong while the price was too steep.
I would rather have coffee at an obscure shop run by decent people, in quaint parts of town, even if the coffee were not as fancy, than to encourage in any way the proliferation of evil.
I am at the point in my life that affords me the luxury of avoiding all the evil I can in the world. If the Lord told me to go to a shop to witness that would be another matter entirely, until He does that, I will avoid Starbucks.
Every time I would enter one of those shops, I would be reminded of their foolish and blatant, in your face, promotion of homosexuality. I was willing to ignore their first statement that "if you are against gay rights, we don't want your business", because I thought that the employees and underlings who worked there might not necessarily agree with the CEO of that company.
I had also reasoned that this was a passing comment and would die away, every company now supports evil in one way or another, just look at the fashions in Walmart, JC Penney and other anchor stores at the mall.
HOWEVER, when I am informed that the commercials that Starbucks are producing and promoting openly homosexuality with cross dressing actors and strange make up and hair, I decided they had crossed the line.
For me it isn't about harming their business, even if all believers stopped going to their shops, they will not be hurt by it. For me it is about my own conscience. I must preserve the one thing no one can take from me and that is my conscience.
God speaks of not worrying about eating meat offered to idols, go ahead and do it when it is sold in the stores. God is not angry with this. If the merchants were bragging that their meat was offered to idols and endorsed and encouraged everyone else should worship those idols, then that crosses the line from using their product into endorsing their religion.
I only went to their shops rarely, for two reasons, the coffee was too strong while the price was too steep.
I would rather have coffee at an obscure shop run by decent people, in quaint parts of town, even if the coffee were not as fancy, than to encourage in any way the proliferation of evil.
I am at the point in my life that affords me the luxury of avoiding all the evil I can in the world. If the Lord told me to go to a shop to witness that would be another matter entirely, until He does that, I will avoid Starbucks.
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