Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

“What satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” —C.S. Lewis

“Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer?” —A.W. Tozer

[INFOGRAPHIC] Christ’s activities during the Passion Week.

I am proud of my heritage in the Assemblies of God, which is celebrating its centennial this year. Read the history of the fellowship’s creation here and here.

[VIDEO] Logan finds out he’s going to be a big brother.

Astronomers may have found some dark matter at the center of our galaxy. That’s cool, but if we can accept this science by faith, why can’t we accept the biblical version by faith?

Research says forgiving yourself makes you healthier physically.

“When should a Christian, then, be like Jesus Christ? Is there a time when he may strip off his regimentals—when the warrior may unbuckle his armor, and become like other men? Oh! no; at all times, and in every place let the Christian be what he professes to be.” —Charles Spurgeon

The Central Miracle

C.S. Lewis at his deskI recently re-read C.S. Lewis’ book Miracles (you can read my full book review by clicking here). As you may have noticed, after reading and reviewing books on this blog, I also like to share some quotes that caught my attention. Doing this with Lewis is difficult, because in order to get the context of a particular quote, I think I would have to cite almost a full page or more. So over the next few weeks I plan to share some quotes from Miracles that require not as much context, or I will provide a bit of background to set the stage.

Lewis talks a great deal about the Creator entering His creation, quoting from passages in the Bible that talk about Christ’s pre-existence before Time, and His choice to descend into Nature.

“The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this. … Everywhere the great enters the little—its power to do so is almost a test of its greatness. In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strongman stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden.”

For other quotes from this book see Miracle Or “Cheating”?Miracles And NatureChristianity And PantheismCorrecting The Pantheist, and Absolute Fact.

Links & Quotes

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” —Abraham Lincoln

The “settled science” of the origin of the universe is far from settled: Einstein’s Lost Theory Uncovered

“Pastors must be students of God’s Word, continually reviewing and digging deeper into the Scriptures in order to discern what is right and true and essential for the equipping of the saints. The pastor’s study of the Word must be, first, for his own edification and enrichment. From there, he must consider the application of Scripture to the needs of his congregation and the temper of the times. The more we are furnished with the sure Word of God, the more we will grow to be like Jesus, and be equipped to help others in this same calling.” —T.M. Moore

“Jesus observed the law and fulfilled the law. He did not throw the law away, for the sake of love. For the sake of love, He threw Himself away. That’s another counterintuitive lesson He gave to us, as we all proceed together, slouching toward ‘tolerance’ and carrying our consciences along the way ” —Elizabeth Scalia. Read more of her post Jesus Might Bake The Cake, But Would He Perform The Nuptials?

Disgusting! Michigan’s ‘House Of Horrors’

“God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship.” —A.W. Tozer

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Wise words from John Maxwell: A Leader′s Need For Humility

“Many people preach and teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God’s work. But if the power of God’s Spirit does not have freedom to energize all they do, these workers might just as well stay home. Natural gifts are not enough in God’s work. The mighty Spirit of God must have freedom to animate and quicken with His overtones of creativity and blessing.” —A.W. Tozer

Very thoughtful post from Frank Viola: Rethinking The Second Coming Of Christ. Frank references the book he co-authored with Leonard Sweet entitled Jesus: A Theography; I highly recommend this book!

Max Lucado writes in Like A Child, “Quit looking at life like an adult.  See it through the eyes of a child.”

[VIDEO] Greg Koukl on Discussing The Age Of The Earth With Other Christians

5 Reasons To Attend Church Regularly

“To be humble, and, like a little child, afraid of taking a step alone, and so conscious of snares and dangers around us, as to cry to [God] continually to hold us up that we may be safe, is the sure, the infallible, the only secret of walking closely with Him.” —John Newton

“One of principle that today’s intellectuals most passionately disseminate is a vulgar relativism, ‘Nihilism with a happy face.’ For them it is certain that there is no truth, only opinion: my opinion, your opinion. They abandoned the defense of the intellect…. Those who surrender the domain of the intellect make straight the road to fascism. Totalitarianism…is the will-to-power unchecked by any regard for truth. To surrender the claims of truth upon humans is to surrender Earth to thugs…. Vulgar relativism is an invisible gas, odorless, deadly, that is now polluting every free society on earth. It is a gas that attacks the central nervous system of moral striving…. ‘There is no such thing as truth,’ they teach even the little ones. ‘Truth is bondage. Believe what seems right to you. There are as many truths as there are individuals. Follow your feelings. Do as you please. Get in touch with yourself….’ Those who speak in this way prepare the jails of the twenty-first century. They do the work of tyrants.” —Michael Novak

Cool story on how The Detroit Tigers Hired Sparky Anderson

The Journey Begins

Tom KaastraAs Tom Kaastra introduced our study of Ephesians he said, “There is no other book in the Bible that is as exalted in its thought and yet as earthly practical.” Our series is called Sit Walk Stand (three words that Watchman Nee gave to the overview of Ephesians), and Tom shared what those mean.

Sit—(1) to be in a place of authority (Ephesians 2:4-7; Hebrews 1:3); or (2) a rest from work. We sit down to enjoy what Christ has done for us, we don’t work to try to achieve it for ourselves. “God works and then He rests. We are invited to rest and then work” (Watchman Nee). Look at the Creation story: God’s seventh day of rest after working six days was man’s first day of rest before he started working.

Walk—an act of progression modeled by Jesus (Ephesians 4:1-3). A typical rabbi built a synagogue and invited people to come to where he was. Jesus always went to where the people were, and He invites us to follow Him in this walk. We cannot have a “just Jesus and me” mindset. If Peter wanted to walk with Jesus, he had to walk with Matthew too; there are no Lone Ranger followers of Christ.

Stand—firmly in place for spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10-17). Ephesians deals with our warfare against satan more than any other book in the Bible. Sadly, George Barna reported that 60% of Christians think satan is a only a “force,” not an actual person. Paul uses this word stand as a military term to place our feet in a position ready for action.

ConclusionsConclusions:

  • Keep your head in the clouds resting in the embrace of Jesus, while you are
  • Keeping your feet on the ground walking with others, and
  • Keeping your feet on the ground standing against satan.

Join us next Sunday as we continue our look at this amazing book.

Forethought Or After-Thought?

What is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet. (Psalm 8:4-5)

forethoughtafterIn mythology, humans are an after-thought, a nuisance, slaves and servants of the gods, and usually pawns in the gods’ scheming against each other.

But Jehovah God created man as a part of His creation. He created mankind in His own image and breathed His own life into him. After the first five days of creation, God said, “It is good.” But on the sixth day, after creating man, He said, “It is very good!”

Jehovah God has man at the forefront of His mind. He not only calls us into a relationship with Him, but the Trinity works in divine cooperation to make it possible for us to come to Him.

He doesn’t see a mass of humanity, but He sees each one of us individually and uniquely. And He is attentive to us—“For the Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer” (Psalm 6:9).

As David burst into praise with this realization of God’s forethought of us, let us echo this praise (Psalm 8:9)—

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

The Cell’s Design (book review)

The Cell's DesignAfter my years in the medical science field, I’m still fascinated by the findings and operations of the many disciplines of science. I used to engage in frequent debates with my fellow students who believed our world was a result of chance and mutation spread over billions of years. But I always found it so astronomically improbable that such beautiful intricacies could result from chance. In The Cell’s Design biochemist Fazale Rana delves even deeper into the cell’s inner workings to make a powerful case for intelligent design.

Time and time again Rana shows us where there is such high-level, picture-perfect designs and operations at the smallest levels of the cell. Wherever scientists used to think, “This is as much design as we can expect, anything lower than this will be random,” they are now discovering unexpected and perfect designs.

This book is definitely not “layman” reading, but is geared for those with a working knowledge of scientific vocabulary and principles. But if you want to dive into it, you will find the results of the research to be absolutely astounding. And I think you will also find the case for a Intelligent Creator to be harder to refute. 

This quote is not in The Cell’s Design, but I think it accurately captures the essence of Rana’s findings—

“There is something in the nature of things which the mind of man, which reason, which human power cannot effect, and certainly that which produces this must be better than man. What can this be but God? … The celestial order and the beauty of the universe compel me to admit that there is some excellent and eternal Being, who deserves the respect and homage of men.” —Cicero

Yahweh Vs. Polytheism

I have been reading through the Bible chronologically for awhile now using The Archeology Study Bible, and I am really enjoying the new insights into Scripture that I am gaining.

A couple of weeks ago I saw this chart (on page 408) contrasting the monotheistic characteristics of the one true God (Yahweh) with the polytheistic characteristics which the nations surrounding Israel adhered to. It’s quite a fascinating contrast!

Theological difference between Israel and others

(Click the image to see a larger view, or download a PDF version here → Theological difference between Israel and others. Or better yet, purchase a copy of this amazing study Bible for your own use.)

The monotheistic worldview presented in the Bible is the only worldview which makes the most sense of the universe in which we live. Therefore, the Bible is the filter through which I process all of the other books I read.

Jesus Is The Supernova

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

In astronomical terms, a supernova is an explosion almost beyond compare. For a brief moment the explosion is the brightest point in the universe, sending enriching energy reverberating in every direction.

There was a supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament—in the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1). There was an explosion of God’s love that was the brightest spot in the universe He just created. But shortly after a supernova explodes, it appears to go dark for a period of time.

In history this could be seen as the time in-between the in the beginning of the Old Testament and the time before Jesus is born. Isaiah describes this as a people walking around in darkness and gloomy distress. Then all of sudden Isaiah says a great light explodes on the scene—

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress…. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6)

The reverberation of God’s supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament show up again in the opening words of the New Testament—A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1). The light of Jesus exploded on the scene!

And the Christ became flesh and tabernacled among us; and we actually saw His glory, such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Because of the energy released in the supernova of Creation and the reverberation of Christ’s First Advent, we are the beneficiaries. Astronomers tell us that the explosion of a supernova makes it possible for other stars to be born. That’s you and me!

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright stars in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15)

May this Advent season remind you of the supernova explosion of love of Jesus Christ, and our ability to shine brightly because of His life in us. Shine brightly!

Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.

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