Never Forgotten - Purity 820
Purity 820 08/26/2022 Purity 820 Podcast
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a slowly setting sun and sand dunes
comes to us from an anonymous friend who shared this scene on social media back
in March. I would imagine this beach is
somewhere in Florida but could be mistaken as any memory of the photographer or
the location that I may have had has been lost. But the good news is that their
photo wasn’t lost and it can be used today to welcome us to the last day of the
work week and cause us to remember the Lord who created the heavens and the
earth and who will never forget about us.
Well, Thank God for that, and Thank God it is
Friday! Although I this Friday doesn’t have that anticipation of finishing another
work week because today is the last day of my “stay-cation”, it still has the
excitement that comes from knowing that I will be reunited with my wife later
today.
Although it was a vacation, I decided to utilize my
time off to prepare for the ministry work I will be doing after Labor Day, and
although I haven’t accomplished as much as I would have liked, I am satisfied
that I got a lot of my ducks in a row and made a good start on my ambitious
effort to do something new.
I am currently preparing power point presentations
for a “course” or “book study” of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship” that I always wanted to do and
although creating lesson 1 was akin to the visit to the dentist office, it
dusted off my “mad” power point skills and creating lesson 2 has been a little
less painful.
Remember when people used “mad” like that? Like it
was cool. It was more my younger brother’s
generation that talked like that, I think, and I always thought it was a little
stupid, like “He was mad angry!” but it was probably in that general cultural
time frame or when “mad” was dwindling if not totally dead,( it is dead,
right?), when I was getting my Associates degree in Telecommunications, Class
of 2013?, maybe? That I last had to use power point. So it has been a trip down memory lane as I
try to create something for people to look at, as I will fumble and fawn over
Bonhoeffer’s words and encourage people to love the Lord our God and to follow Jesus
like one of the first apostles, who literally dropped everything to answer His
call to discipleship and who dedicated their lives to telling others of the new
life they could have in Christ.
As I went through the growing pains of reorienting
myself with power point, I would get tempted to quit and just give the idea of
doing this new thing and just stick with the comfy confines of the Freedom in
Christ courses that I facilitate but I have persisted for a few reasons.
I really believe that our life in Christ encourages
us to do something new, to do something more for God’s kingdom. Whether it is gaining victory over another
part of our own lives that is worldly, or choosing to edify ourselves by
learning something new, or if it is choosing to serve our local churches in
some way or if it is deciding to step out in our local communities to go good
works, I believe that God wants us to stretch ourselves to discover new capacities
in ourselves and to discover our purpose in Him.
While we have to be careful not to “burn out”, I
think we should also not grow complacent in our faith and in the things that
would demonstrate we have some. Although
I would also recommend that we examine our hearts and minds as we decide to
walk in faith.
In addition to creating power points for my new
venture, I have also immersed myself in some Christian teaching by
Crossexamined.org, Dr. Frank Turek. Turek is an apologist, and his teachings
are rich and effective for challenging the current culture of atheism and moral
relativity. Turek reveals how the common beliefs in our society go against reason,
natural law, and the Bible. His work is first rate and I have learned a lot from
his teachings, and I believe that being equipped through them was just as
important as doing the work on my new class.
Because I know the grace of the Lord , I know I don’t
need to work to be approved by Him, but when I stretch myself and grow I
benefit from the process. I believe that the Lord wants us to learn and grow to
be better equipped to encourage others and to stand strong in our own walk with
Him.
But sometimes the work can be daunting and you,
because you know the Lord’s grace, might be tempted to just “rest”, to kick
your feet up and do nothing, secure in the Lord’s love. But then you realize that the peace you have
in Christ is unknown to so many people out there and that it wouldn’t be loving
to not at least try to introduce people to the life of love, joy, and peace
that you have come to know.
So I have been working this week and have been a bit
tired in the process and in my struggle to create something new-”ish”, I was tempted
to quit but reminded myself that I wanted to do it and that it didn’t have to
be perfect and that it could benefit somebody else, so I’d press on.
And yesterday I was blessed with some positive
feedback. Someone reached out to me to
tell my that yesterday’s blog post was “great” and I received an email thanking
me for the work I have done with my discipleship classes saying that I have
personally impacted their life and that they are sharing what they have learned
with others in their local church.
And when those encouragements come, I know that this
is what the Lord would have me do: to keep going, to keep growing, to keep
speaking, and to keep encouraging others to follow Him.
The Lord doesn’t forget us and He doesn’t want us to
forget that there is more to this world than meets the eye and that the work we
do to grow closer to Him and to promote His kingdom is worthwhile.
So keep on chugging along, I think you can, and I
know God is for you and can empower you to do the things He has prepared for
you. So keep walking and talking with
Him to discover all that He has for you.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible
Promise Book for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Isaiah 44:24 (NLT2)
24 This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer and Creator: “I
am the LORD, who made all things. I
alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth?
Today’s verse reminds us that our Lord is our Redeemer and Our
Creator and that He alone stands over and above all things.
The question of the Lord in today’s verse of : “Who was with me when I made the earth?” is either easily answered or a little complicated as the mystery of the trinity could give us pause.
The simple answer to the Lord’s somewhat rhetorical question is “Nobody.” And that points to a fundamental truth that really reminds us of who is in charge. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Nobody else was there. Just God. Before time and space were created, God was there to make it. Wow.
No one created God. He is self-existent. The “unmoved mover” is not an “effect” that had a cause. The “Great I am”, just was and always will be. God started the universe and He will determine it’s course.
God also made man and even though we went the way of Satan and rebelled against Him by sinning, God loved us enough to make away to make peace with Him, to redeem the lives of all who put their faith in Christ, to save the lives of those who rightly would go to hell by His grace alone.
So we should recognize God’s power and sovereignty. But we should also rejoice because through Jesus, God also redeems us and will call us to live with Him forever and ever
God started “alone” but in the end of this universe He won’t end that way. When He wills it, He will create a new heaven and a new earth and He will call the redeemed to live there with Him for ever and ever. Amen!
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from Clinton E. Arnold’s
“Powers of Darkness”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Clinton Arnold’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
The Powers Assail the Purity of the Church
This
past decade has witnessed perhaps one of the greatest discreditings of the
church in its history. Evangelical ministers have succumbed to temptations of
sensual lust, pride and wealth in unparalleled proportions. This fact is so
well known it needs no documentation or quantification. In the West the purity
of the church has been disgraced.
Ostensibly falling
victim to the temptations of the “flesh,” numerous evangelicals have also been
victimized by intense demonic attack. In the apostle Paul’s way of thinking, it
is really unnecessary to separate the cravings of the inner impulse from the
simultaneous activity of Satan who exploits these desires. Just as Satan
attacked Jesus in the desert at the outset of Jesus’ earthly ministry to thwart
him from his redemptive mission, so too Satan assaults the church—the body of
Christ—to deter it from fulfilling its mission. Satan entices people at the
points of their greatest vulnerability to act in ways displeasing to God,
whether it be through engaging in a sexual tryst or by using unethical means to
acquire wealth. The results of sin are never isolated to the individual; an
entire congregation, a denomination or the churches of an entire region feel
the implications.
Not only overt acts
of sin, but also idolatry hinders the growth and ministry of the church. The
early Christians faced the great temptation of combining their worship of
Christ with devotion to other gods and goddesses. This was the spirit of the
times (commonly known as syncretism). Paul was thoroughly convinced that
worshiping other gods was tantamount to worshiping demons. From his perspective
the powers of darkness were deeply involved in the non-Christian religions.
This tendency to syncretize continues to be a serious temptation faced by
Christians in polytheistic, non-Western cultures. It takes a major step of
faith to destroy the household gods and give one’s entire devotion to Christ
alone.
An inadequate
Christology is behind the desire to syncretize. Jesus has been exalted high
above the other gods and all other angels, spirits and demons. Christ seeks
wholehearted devotion from his people, and he deserves nothing less.
Paul also had a
broader view of idolatry that extended to an undue devotion to material
possessions. He warned one group of Christians to “put to death … greed, which
is idolatry” (Col 3:5). Paul was keenly aware of how the desire to accumulate
could so grip a person’s devotion and attention that it is comparable to
worshiping an idol. Many evangelical thinkers have pointed to the culpability
of the West in this regard—and rightly so. As our culture continues to become
so consumption-fixated, the attitude permeates the church. While this mindset
is something that comes from within (the flesh), it is a disposition that Satan
exploits and uses to his advantage to blunt the work of the church and its
devotion to Christ.[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
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These teachings are also available on the
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Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1]
Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness:
Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove,
IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1992), 191–192.
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