Come back in 3216: Same old, same old.

I know it is tradition back to time immemorial, but why, oh, why do we continue to countenance the "purchasing" of politicians via big money interests?

Oh, I get it.  The politicians who are bought are the same people who make the laws.

Then, too, there is the entertainment of the occasional court challenge to someone stepping over some imaginary line.

facebook

Have you any idea how much time you are actually wasting looking at facebook?  Me neither.

So I scrolled down the homepage just for fun, counting the posts and noting the number of them that were actually personal in nature, you know, something someone wrote or family pictures and the like.

I stopped counting at sixty-eight (even I have only so much time to burn).  At sixty-eight, exactly seven of them were of the type I described in the previous paragraph.  The rest of them were memes or links to "The ten worst fails,"  or the "Twenty best---" (whatevers, you name them)

Barely ten percent of the items were anything I would remotely like to see.  And imagine how much more time is frittered away if one actually follows any of the links.

Like all technologies, it is not the thing in itself but the uses to which it is put.

The Principle of First: Testing the Heart

This is neither a sermon outline nor an attempt to present the sermon.  It is a collection of telling statements the auditor heard this morning.  
 
Luke 16:10-13  Read the scripture.  Actually, start with verse one.

Under the Old Testament law, the first born must either be sacrificed, if it is "clean" or redeemed if it is "unclean."  Redemption of the unclean is an Old Testament principle.  In keeping with this principle of substitutionary atonement, Christ stepped in to take our place.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

The first-fruits must be given to God.  God always requires the first.  In Genesis we read of the sacrifices of Abel and Cain.  Why did God accept Abel's offering and reject Cain's?
Abel gave of the first fruits.  Cain sometime after the harvest offered "leftovers."

The tithe must be first.
Tithing is a test; it is biblical; it is a minimum of gifts, not the maximum.

The O.T. taught that God's people should render to Him a tenth.  Jesus upped that.  He said we are to give our all.

Think about this.  Jesus gave His all that we might have eternal life.  The least we can do is offer our all to Him in return.

Tithing is a faith issue.  Allow the Holy Spirit to examine you heart, your motives, your faithfulness.

"I need Thee, oh, I need Thee; every hour I need thee.
Oh, bless me now my Savior, I come to thee.

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Heaven or Hell, or Annihilation

Bob and the Skeptic were discussing their opposing beliefs concerning the afterlife, or absence thereof.  After some time in debate, Bob said

Our positions are diametrically opposed.  One of us is right, the other wrong.  If you are right, we have nothing to worry about.  If I am right, I have nothing to worry about.

Now I am Entertained

In the event you noted my previous post and thought it silly, consider this.  I now know that that was a truly serious-minded and philosophical rumination in comparison to, oh, say the presidential campaign.

I discovered today that the big news on the campaign trail is-- are you ready?-- footwear.

Seems the campaign has truly descended to ground level.  People are apparently greatly entertained, and I include myself as "people," by Rubio's choice of shoes.  Or someone's display of gold and black wingtips.  Social media have been lit afire with discussions of these matters.  And the mainstream have jumped aboard as well.  Why is this important?

It is important because to date it is the most substantive matter seriously discussed by candidates and electorate alike.  Sartorial and tonsorial displays are definitely more important than any of the frippery we might focus on instead.

"Democracy contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction."

I wonder how many men got a toenail snagged inside a sock while they were dressing this morning.

I wonder why I don't have anything more important to wonder about.

My mind wanders as it wonders.  

Living According to God's Plan

God has assured us that our every need will be supplied, food, raiment, and whatsoever we need.  God never promised us that every desire would be satisfied.  He said our need would be supplied.



Recently I heard a televangelist say we are to tell God exactly what we want.  When we receive it we have no doubt that it was a provision from God.  This is the sort of testing which is both self-serving and God-limiting.  He knows our every need.   It is my belief that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them a model of a sincere prayer which we should emulate.



"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us .  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."



Thus to approach God in prayer, we recognize and honor His place and His holiness.  We plead for the coming of His kingdom; we submit our will to His will.  We ask only for provision for the day.  We ask for forgiveness of our sin against our fellow-man; and we commit to forgive those who have wronged us.  We ask for shielding from temptation and deliverance from evil; then we reiterate our recognition of God for who He is, the Supreme Being, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and worthy of all honor and glory.

Priorities.  When Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God, he did not list a second or third goal.  The priority list contains one item and one item only:  seek the kingdom.

I have heard people say that their priority list reads “God first, my family second, and my church third.”  No.  Again, there is no second or third item on Jesus’ list.

In whatever life endeavors we are engaged, the first order of business is to assess the  effect of our actions on the kingdom of God.  Do our choices glorify God?  Do the choices mesh with God’s plan for our lives?  Have we really sought his will?

2016

 

Yes, it is.

May this year provide you 366 joyous days.