Obedience

Little Slips

“Whoever is faithful in very little–is also faithful in much; and
whoever is unrighteous in very little–is also unrighteous in much.”
Luke 16:10

We are apt to under-estimate little failures in duty.

It seems to us, a small matter:
that we do not keep an engagement,
that we lose our temper,
that we say an impatient or angry word,
that we show an unkind or harsh spirit,
that we speak uncharitably of another,
that we treat someone with discourtesy, or
fail in some other way which appears trivial.

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Sins Of Righteousness

What’s the ultimate sin?

I’ve always figured sin was sin, none any better or worse than others. I’ve always wondered about folks who seem to categorize sins and set themselves apart as though there’s something admirable about belonging to a better class of sinner.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that my small group is studying The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. Last night we discussed Keller’s assertion that one sin underlies all of our other sins and our righteousness—in his words, “the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord.”

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Faith as an Overcomer

For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4

One of the fruits of the new birth, is a faith which not only enables its possessor to overcome the sensual and sinful customs, and the carnal maxims and policies by which the profane world is regulated–but also the lying delusions and errors by which the professing world is fatally deceived.

The only thing which will or can “overcome the world” is a God-given–but self-exercised faith.

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It’s All About Choices

Life… it’s all about choices. What to study, where to work, who to marry, what to buy, where to live, what to think, what to do…The list is endless of the possible choices we have to make each and every day of our lives.

The idea of choice is not new. Long before the world was every created, choices were already being made. God always has been. He has always existed (it’s a thought we will never comprehend this side of Heaven.) God, the Great I Am, is the “author” of choices. He’s made trillions of choices – likely even more. Perhaps His like of having choices is why He gave us the option of choosing, ourselves.

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The Deed in the Jar: Contemporary Crises and the Christian Future

An old friend called unexpectedly in mid-January to talk about the economy. He has been in the bullion and numismatics business for decades, and he is usually optimistic. But now he was deeply concerned about the future, and for the first time in his life he was “paranoid.” His economic prognostications were bleak, he explained, because God promises to bring judgment on a faithless nation. Since the United States is grossly immoral, he could only expect tough times ahead.

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From Hearers to Doers: The Alpha and Omega of Faith

The book of Ecclesiastes ends with a straightforward directive,

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Eccl. 12:13–14

This statement presupposes that God’s law-word is the rule for all areas of life and thought, and calls us to obedience to it as a duty. Anyone who takes this admonition seriously will naturally need and want to know, how do we go from being hearers of the Word to being doers of the Word?

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And What is Man?

And what is man
That you are mindful of him?
A fleeting breath
A whispered prayer
There…and then gone.
His days are numbered,
Joys can be few,
Perhaps you are mindful of him
So that, in kind,
His mind can be full of You.



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It’s No Joke

The world may laugh at “right” and “wrong”,
Assuming it’s a joke,
As Simpsons change the golden rule
To “Brother’s eye I’ll poke”,
Many are the clever ways
To package corporate greed
So lemming-like consumers feel
Like dashing knights on steeds.
Bigger houses, bigger cars
Disguising psyches bearing scars,
Depression rates, divorces soar
But no one cares about the score.

Sometimes I wonder when this building wave
Will crash and spawn
A new appreciation for
The path we’re really on,
Life is more than grabbing for
The latest, greatest buzz,
All the while enriching those
Who fill our brains with fuzz.
Bring the dawning, let it come,
Lord we sorely need the Son
Of Righteousness to heal our wounds,
Eclipse the madness, breach the tomb.

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Identifying Values

Like many of us on the path to recovery I was the ultimate party girl as a teenager. When I reached my late teens-early twenties friends started saying things like, “you’re fun when you’ve had a few but not when you’ve had a few too many.” Eventually, my friends stopped asking me out to the bars with them. Once in while a brave heart would invite me along and then proceed to “keep an eye on me” throughout the night. They feared I would do something atrocious to embarrass them or I would do something incredibly stupid to hurt myself. These people really loved me and genuinely wanted to enjoy my company. They were ever so hopeful this time would be different. It rarely, if ever, was. At the age of 21 I was introduced to crack cocaine and I incorporated that into my partying as well.

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