Month: March 2022

I write about my personal experiences as a Christian; I quote what other people smarter than me have said or written; but I always tie my blog posts to the infallible word of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit within me.  I very seldom write about doctrine except when I run across one that is so  enticing, dangerous and wrong that I am prompted to warn Christians not to fall for it (as I did last Sunday). I was reminded why I normally avoid doctrine when a dear friend sent a very detailed response fully explaining the doctrine of eternal security. I apologize if any other of the millions of people who accept that doctrine (including my wife who is in heaven as I write this) feels slighted in any way. That certainly was not my intent.

My friend felt my brief description of the doctrine of eternal security left a lot to be desired. Doctrine is a particular understanding of scripture by a group of Christians She and I agree about forgiveness of future sins not being a part of that doctrine, but we see that subject from a little different angle. She concluded her response with an old adage that is worth sharing with you. “In essentials unity; in non-essentials freedom; in everything charity.”  I had never seen it worded like that before, but I have always felt that it is so sad that doctrine separates us into denominations and factions, when our Father in heaven, Jesus Christ our Savior and the Holy Spirit within us should unite us with love (charity) instead.

Even the non-denominational church to which I belong is more “charismatic” than the Baptist churches I grew up in. When I went through the four step program to become a member over six years ago, one of the questions I was asked was, “Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?” I went to our senior pastor and told him the Holy Spirit has been dwelling in me for more than sixty years, so I wanted to answer yes, but I know that is not what charismatic Christians mean by that. He explained to me that receiving the gift of a prayer language has nothing to do with salvation. I could then answer that question no, without any doubt about my relationship with God through Jesus Christ, or my interaction with God’s Holy Spirit within me since I accepted God’s grace, mercy and love at the age of eleven                                                                                                                                                        

.One author likens doctrine to the lines on a highway. Some are like solid lines that keep everyone from crossing them under any conditions, while others are like dotted lines that permit some people to cross when they can do so safely. The Holy Spirit will determine for each of us whether it is a solid line or if it is unsafe for us to cross a dotted line. One example; the Bible doesn’t say that everyone should abstain from wine or alcoholic beverages, but the Holy Spirit will caution a person who is prone to alcohol addiction to avoid drinking them. That doesn’t make it a sin for others to do so as long as they don’t become drunk.

My Christian brother or sister, seek out others who display the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their life and unite with them. Don’t let non-essential doctrine separate you from other Christians. However, run everything past the Holy Spirit whether you read it in this blog or hear it in a sermon to make sure it is based on the truth of God’s word. Love your pastor or religious leader, but don’t idolize them above God by failing to keep them accountable.      

In my last blog post I pointed out how Christians let the light of God’s love in us sparkle and shine showing how very different we are from the world around us and that we are also very different from who we were before we became Christians. I have found a couple of mega pastors who are teaching a doctrine that would interfere with our sparkle and even our purpose, It is the doctrine that when we believe in Christ for salvation all of our sins past, present and FUTURE are forgiven.

That teaching is a new twist on an old doctrine called “eternal security”. The Christians who I’ve known in the past who believe that old doctrine believe once you are saved by grace you are always saved for eternity. They simply say if a person drifts back into sin after accepting Christ as their savior, they weren’t really saved at all. Of course since no one except God and that person know if that is true or not it is impossible to prove one way or the other. This new form of that doctrine actually states that God not only forgives us for our past sins, but also forgives our FUTURE sins and covers them with the blood of Christ. So, if a Christian continues to fall into sin he or she is still fine because God has already forgiven those sins. There are several reasons that I cannot accept that doctrine which allows the light of our Christian witness to the world to be dimmed or even extinguished because we would no longer seem any different than the sinful world around us.

Even before His sacrifice on the cross Jesus demonstrated His power to forgive sins. On one of those occasions, He forgave the woman caught in adultery, but He didn’t tell her that her future sins were also forgiven. What He actually told her is “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11) After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Peter wrote to Christian believers, “Now you must be holy as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’. And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites He will judge or reward you according to what you do.” (I Peter 1:15-16) Did Peter get it wrong? Later, Paul wrote to a church of beliers about one of their members living in sin with his step-mother. Paul told them to expel him from the church, but to welcome him back with open arms once he repented and stopped his sinning What Paul didn’t write to them is that they shouldn’t worry about him because he is still one of them and his sin was already forgiven back when he became a follower of Christ. (See First Corinthians 5) Did Paul get it wrong? We know that Peter and Paul couldn’t get it wrong because the Bible is the infallible word of God.

In 68 years, the Holy Spirit within me has never prompted me that my sin is OK because it was forgiven back when I accepted Him into my heart at the age of eleven. If you think He is telling you that, you are listening to a different spirit. Instead of labelling my sin as previously forgiven, the Holy Spirit has warned me of sin and given me strength to overcome temptation more times than I can count. Trust the Holy Spirit to help you avoid sin as a child of God. He won’t ever guide you down the wrong road.  Let your light continue to shine and sparkle brightly and continue to serve your God-given purpose with love and obedience.

I saw this on social media and I thought it summarizes our responsibilities as children of the living God. “Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.” These all apply to how Christians should interact with those around us. 

Of course those fruit of God’s Spirit within us are not limited to those parts of our body. It all begins and not ends with God’s love in our heart. Kindness is actually that love put into action by our voice and our actions. Compassion can be expressed in many ways, but attentively and quietly listening is one of the best ways. We often think of charity in terms of monetary donations, but donating our time and physical energy for a charitable cause can be even more effective and rewarding. If our mind is filled with truth, our words will also be true. Mark Twain once said, “When you speak the truth, there is nothing to remember.” 

Truth is the only thing above that is not listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as fruit of the Spirit, but it is an essential part of our Christian life mentioned many other places in scripture.         Jesus is the Truth.  Other fruit of God’s Spirit within us that apply to our interaction with others are patience and faithfulness. The other fruit of the Spirit are what make us who we are as God’s son or daughter; joy, peace, goodness and self-control. Those are things the world will see in us even though they may not understand the source. ::;

These are things that will set us apart from the world around us. We are in the world, but we are no longer of the world. Have you ever looked down at a city sidewalk on a bright summer day and notice that it is sparkling? The contractor added ground glass to the cement to keep the surface from being smooth and slippery when wet. The glass is in the sidewalk but it is not the same as the cement all around it. Like that glass, we reflect the light of God’s love for all to see how different we are from those around us. Also like the glass, the Great Contractor has placed us where we are for a very good reason. We have a purpose for being here.  

We need to examine ourselves often to make sure we haven’t lost our sparkle and our purpose. If you have any trouble with that, just ask the Holy Spirit and He will show you. 

I have shared with you an accurate description of what it has been like to live the Christian life. But you can’t live a Christian life unless you are a Christian. What makes me a Christian and an adopted child of God? I have been a member of several Christian churches in my lifetime, but that didn’t make me a Christian. I have empathy for others and try to give them a helping hand when I can, but that didn’t make me a Christian. I have been water baptized, but that didn’t make me a Christian. I have taught a Sunday school class, but that didn’t make me a Christian. I have even preached the Gospel in several churches as a young lay evangelist, but even that didn’t make me a Christian. I have written this Christian blog twice a week for more than five years now, but that hasn’t made me a Christian. So what was it that made me a Christian and a child of the living God at the age of eleven? The answer is love; not my love, but God’s love for me when I was unworthy of it.

As I knelt at that church altar nearly sixty-eight years ago seeking a personal relationship with God, a woman kneeled beside me and asked my name. Then she led me to recite John 3:16 like this; For God so loved Jim Anderson he gave his only begotten son so that Jim Anderson can believe in him and not parish, but have everlasting life. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I said those words and when she asked if I truly believed that, I told her that I did. At that moment God’s love flooded my soul, my spirit was reborn and God’s Holy Spirit took up residence in my heart to teach and guide me through my new life.

Paul wrote about God’s love within us and why none of those other things I wrote about in the first paragraph matter until we have his love in our heart. “If I could speak every language of earth and of angels, but did not love others, I would be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophesy and understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had faith that I could move mountains but didn’t love others I would be nothing. If I gave everything I had to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it but if I didn’t love others I would have gained nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:1-3)  It is only through God’s love in us that we and our actions become Christian.   

I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit to show me my responsibilities as an obedient child of God. He even guides my fingers on the computer keyboard as I write this blog post.  

I once read about two boys who were raised by an alcoholic father. One of them grew up to be an alcoholic. When asked why he drank to excess he replied, “I watched my father.” His brother never drank alcohol. When asked why he never drank he replied, “I watched my father.” Their environment was exactly the same, so what made the difference? It was their different perspective and perception of that environment that sent them in different directions.  We are not a product of our environment. We are a product of our own perspective of it.

I’m sure you have heard the example about a partial glass of water. The pessimist says the glass is half empty and the optimist says it is half full. While those two are arguing about it, the opportunist drinks the water. Those are three different perspectives of the same situation. What causes people to have different perspectives?    One thing is attitude; when we have a positive attitude, we tend to see the good news and look past the bad news and when we have a negative attitude we concentrate on bad news and ignore the good.   

Another thing that determines our perspective is positioning. There is a cartoon on social media that shows two men facing each other. On the floor between them are two numbers. One off them is yelling SIXTY-SIX and the other one is yelling NINETY-NINE. They are both correctly reporting what they see from their respective positions, but the numbers can’t be both so one of the men is out of position to have the correct reading of the situation,

You are probably wondering what all of this has to do with living the Christian life. Environment, perspective, attitude and positioning affect everyone, but Christians have the advantage of the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the fruit produced by God’s Spirit within us, as described in Galatians 5:22-23, all of that positivity makes it impossible to have a bad attitude no matter how bad our environment may be at times. God will also continually position us to see clearly the truth. With the right attitude and position, we will always be able to make decisions in life that will be pleasing to God and best for us.

Some people feel the rain, while others just get wet. Feel the rain when you are going through a storm in life. Live the life God has planned just for you as His unique son or daughter.       .

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart; do not depend on your own understanding, ‘Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

The important thing about that familiar scripture passage is the use of a little three letter word. All is what God expects of us. It reminds me of the message on the sign in front of our church a while back; “God wants full custody of you, not just weekend visitation.” We cannot dip our toe in the blood Jesus shed for our sins and be born again. We have to allow it to penetrate every hidden part of our life. We can’t be content to sit on the fence between God and Satan. Don’t you know that Satan owns that fence? He is happy when people think they can avoid making a decision to dive into God’s mercy, grace and love and still be saved somehow.   

Jesus tells that us we can’t split our loyalty between two masters but people continue to try to do just that when they separate their religious life from their social or political life. A line from the theme song of an old movie comes to mind. “One day of praying and six nights of fun. The odds against going tp heaven – six to one.” There is some bad news for people who live like that; the odds against going to heaven are actually 100%. God wants us to turn ALL of our life over to Him. Adam couldn’t hide from God and neither can we. We certainly can’t keep a secret from God because He can see right through us. So why not be completely open in our relationship with Him?

In the book of Revelation Jesus warns us not to be lukewarm. He wants us to be ALL in, with a hot passion to serve Him; or we might as well be ALL out, with a cold heart. Have you turned ALL of your life over to God? If not, I pray that you will do it today. It is the only way to live life as His child with the blessing of your heavenly Father.

I ran across another great quote from Corrie ten Boom “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within, you will be depressed. If you look at Christ, you will be at rest.” Those words have never been truer than they are today.

Our world today can be more than distressing, especially to us old timers who see history repeating and no one seems to have learned to do better. China is aligning together with Russia with plans to dominate the world with the same iron hand they use on their own citizens. I’ve read that there is a prison sentence of up to 15 years in Russia for even mentioning the “war” they are waging; Even foreign athletes in China for the winter Olympics were warned to watch what they said; We take our freedom of speech for granted in the U.S. but we must be alert to protect it, Sin seems to be everywhere we turn. Lies are believed and truth is labeled as false.

It reminds me of something I heard Billy Graham say in a sermon years ago.” If God doesn’t judge the United States, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomora.”     

Turning our gaze inward can make us self-centered as well as depressed. When we view ourselves with our own eyes we tend to either concentrate on our faults and feel down in the dumps or we ignore our faults and get a false sense of pride. Neither of those options is good.

Now for the good news; when we look to Jesus Christ for salvation we begin to see the world through His eyes and we see a world-wide revival as Christ is gathering His church in preparation for His return. When we look within, we see God’s Holy Spirit and we see ourselves as God sees us – His children  and joint heirs with Christ.

I am not making any predictions about the rapture, but I will be ready when it happens and I pray that you will be too.    
 

My previous post deals with how Christians should be aware of and gentle with those around us who are wounded or dealing with stress or pain. We don’t want to inadvertently pile on to their suffering. This post deals with what we should do when we are the ones burdened with stress or when someone wounds us with their words or actions

Of course, the short answer is that we should pray and lay our stress, pain and hurt at God’s feet. He will give us relief, peace and healing; physically, mentally and spiritually-. It is important that we keep our relationship with God strong and healthy with daily prayer and study of His word. We must keep ourselves mentally and spiritually healthy if we want to be able to minister to the needs of those who are suffering. .Only the strongest Christians I know can minister to others while going through their own difficulties. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor as we love our self. That kind of self-love is not selfish or egotistical; it is simply seeing yourself as God sees you – a beloved and valued member of His family.

Our proper response to the hurtful words or actions of others can prevent us from being wounded by them. The first thing you must realize is that you may not even be the real target. It is often a response to what someone else has said or done to them and their wound is bleeding on you. If they are struggling against God, their attack may not be aimed at you, but at God’s Spirit they sense within you. Don’t automatically take it personally. Then, forgive them even if it is a personal attack and even if they are non-repentant. (Jesus asked forgiveness for those who drove nails into his hands and feet.) Those steps can be great stress and pain relievers, but when the attacker is someone you love or trust, you will need God to handle it.

In this age of fear, uncertainty and panic, you can see the results of stress in the world around you. Short tempers, road rage incidents and even violent physical attacks are becoming far too common. It is more important than ever that Christians remain calm and above the fray. To paraphrase Kipling, if you can keep your head and your temper, while those around you are losing theirs and blaming you – then you are a child of God my brother or sister..

If you visit an animal shelter you will probably find the heart wrenching sight of a dog lying on the concrete floor with their face toward the corner of their kennel and paying no attention to the bed or food provided for them. The animal is obviously scared, depressed and sad. Either they have been abused by a human or, just as bad, the loving family they thought they were a part of has deserted them. Either way it will take a whole lot of love and patience in order to rescue them, gain their trust and give them a new home and new life.

We are sensitive to an animal who is suffering like that, but we often aren’t aware of people around us who are suffering from similar abuse or loss. That is because people are better at hiding their pain than other animals. We may not sense their pain until we inadvertently say or do something that hits a nerve and we are shocked by their defensive reaction, Even then, we can’t understand why they are so upset. It might have nothing to do with what we said or our action, but they just need to release some of their pain on someone else.

Last Saturday morning at breakfast, one member of or group told aa joke that involved his ethnic group and we all laughed with him. There was nothing vulgar or hateful said. A little later, a woman came by our table on her way out and yelled, “You guys may think that is funny but I am teaching my daughter to be more sensitive than that.” We tried to explain, but she had made her judgement about us and just wanted to vent her pain on us and leave. At the time I was offended by her false impression of us, but now I just hope her rant made her feel better about whatever was causing her pain.

How can we, as children of God, be more aware of someone’s hidden suffering?  If we pay close attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, He alone can give us that kind of discernment; like He did for that new preacher in the story I shared last week. We can also treat everyone we meet with love, kindness and gentleness. There may still be someone who overhears a portion of a conversation and misunderstands; like the woman at the restaurant, but we must not take their reaction personally.

The last two years with fear of illness and the limits imposed have put some added stress on all of us. Don’t take it out on those around you. Just accept the peace that only comes from a close relationship with God and the help others to find that peace too.