Wow, if I were a new believer and searching the internet for good speakers I might be tempted to pull my hair and give up. There is criticism for every preacher and attacks that could confuse and frustrate.
Every person, every preacher will have errors, until we are all taken home. Some preachers are false teachers and must be avoided, we will know them by their blatant foolishness that is not just error but defies the Word of God.
No person on this earth will have it all right, but some will have more right than others.
It is good to pray over everyone we listen to, asking the Lord to show us truth through them and expose the error.
When we place our trust in man, believing every thing one man says as though he were god, then he has become an idol in our minds. The only One we can completely trust is Christ in us.
God commended the Bereans for being diligent in testing all that the apostle Paul said. They could have been elevating him as a god since he was an apostle, but they did not elevate him above God, but after he preached they went back to the Scriptures to see if what he was saying was true.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;"
Acts 17:11 "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
Don't get worried about what to believe, God will show you if you ask Him.
James 1:5 "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
You can believe God when He says He will give you what you need when you need it, that is if you have placed your trust in Him alone.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Correction and Rebuke are Commanded by God
We might be surprising to learn how many people will not correct someone when they are being rude. We are called to challenge one another, but most believers won't do it. I do not challenge a non-believer, the gospel is more important to share with them, but believers should correct one another.
Perhaps we recoil at the prospect of correcting and rebuking because we know in our present culture the narcissism has cause over sensitivity to correction, many people are incensed at the idea that they have to be challenged.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
" 4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with[a]great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 andwill turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you,be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. "
Perhaps we recoil at the prospect of correcting and rebuking because we know in our present culture the narcissism has cause over sensitivity to correction, many people are incensed at the idea that they have to be challenged.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
" 4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with[a]great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 andwill turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you,be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. "
Cell Phone Use Can Be Very Rude!
I wish more people would enforce manners while in the company of others. We have basically taught "anything goes", in the company of other people. Manners or lack of them is a reflection of our attitude toward the people we are with. Our culture does not correct rudeness anymore, we simply let it slide, to solidify the narcissism that permeates our society.
LOL, I once took a young woman to lunch for her birthday. For the first 15 minutes we were at the table waiting for our meal after ordering, she was checking her cell phone, laughing at the texts and responding to them. I felt sort of left out.
Having felt insulted, disrespected and minimized, I waited until she looked up from the phone and told her that she had a choice, she can visit with those people on the phone or she can visit with me. I brought her out because I wanted to bless her on her birthday. She continued to do it a couple more times as though she was addicted to that phone.
I then informed her that if she chose those people on the phone to visit with, I was going to leave so that she could be alone with them. Thankfully she understood and put away her phone. We had a nice lunch together after that. Perhaps if everyone would teach about cell phone manners, we would have a new trend, putting away the phones or turning them off when in the company of others.
You know.....like in the old days when the phone was only at home and we didn't even know if someone had called until we got back home. In the early days we didn't even have answering machines, a person would have to call back later to catch us. We were free all day from the bother of a ringing phone unless it were important. 99% of what is being texted today is foolishness and completely unnecessary distraction from better things.
When we look all around the room while someone is talking to us, or check our cell phones continually while in another person's company, it is the same as saying "I would rather be with someone else other than you." It is also saying "you are of no interest to me."
Ignoring or minimizing others through lack of attention to them, is rude and arrogant. We show others what we think of them by our attention or lack of attention to them when in their company.
I know there will be those who read this who already know it, but there are so many who have never been taught manners, attentiveness to the needs of others or even how to bless another person.
When I am treated with disrespect and dishonor, my conclusion is that I can not be of help or blessing to them, they are not respecting me, so anything I say or do would be of no value to them. It is not likely I will spend more time with them later, if it is an habitual practice with them.
Let's not negate and minimize others through flippant disregard for them. God tells us to love one another, that means that the needs and feelings of others must come before our own.
Mark 12:31
"31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Luke 6:31
"31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you."
Luke 6:35
"35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, [a]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."
Romans 13:10
"10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away."
1 John 4:7
"7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."
LOL, I once took a young woman to lunch for her birthday. For the first 15 minutes we were at the table waiting for our meal after ordering, she was checking her cell phone, laughing at the texts and responding to them. I felt sort of left out.
Having felt insulted, disrespected and minimized, I waited until she looked up from the phone and told her that she had a choice, she can visit with those people on the phone or she can visit with me. I brought her out because I wanted to bless her on her birthday. She continued to do it a couple more times as though she was addicted to that phone.
I then informed her that if she chose those people on the phone to visit with, I was going to leave so that she could be alone with them. Thankfully she understood and put away her phone. We had a nice lunch together after that. Perhaps if everyone would teach about cell phone manners, we would have a new trend, putting away the phones or turning them off when in the company of others.
You know.....like in the old days when the phone was only at home and we didn't even know if someone had called until we got back home. In the early days we didn't even have answering machines, a person would have to call back later to catch us. We were free all day from the bother of a ringing phone unless it were important. 99% of what is being texted today is foolishness and completely unnecessary distraction from better things.
When we look all around the room while someone is talking to us, or check our cell phones continually while in another person's company, it is the same as saying "I would rather be with someone else other than you." It is also saying "you are of no interest to me."
Ignoring or minimizing others through lack of attention to them, is rude and arrogant. We show others what we think of them by our attention or lack of attention to them when in their company.
I know there will be those who read this who already know it, but there are so many who have never been taught manners, attentiveness to the needs of others or even how to bless another person.
When I am treated with disrespect and dishonor, my conclusion is that I can not be of help or blessing to them, they are not respecting me, so anything I say or do would be of no value to them. It is not likely I will spend more time with them later, if it is an habitual practice with them.
Let's not negate and minimize others through flippant disregard for them. God tells us to love one another, that means that the needs and feelings of others must come before our own.
Mark 12:31
"31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Luke 6:31
"31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you."
Luke 6:35
"35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, [a]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."
Romans 13:10
"10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away."
1 John 4:7
"7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."
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