August 30, 2007 – Man’s attempt to verbalize and define God has always fallen far short, whereas when man gives himself over to live God, we witness dramatic transformation by grace. There are four areas wherein man has put God in a box and separated Himself from the gift that gives life.
Monthly Archive for August, 2007
Who is there that KNOWS the divine intention of God? Before starting this series, I asked myself if the title wasn’t in and of itself impossible. But we ALL have our own interpretations of that exact question, don’t we? I think we can agree though that some theories or opinions are far more “probable” than others. Not everyone camps the same distance from the Spirit. Very foundationally, I think most could agree that the divine intention of God was to send the best model possible that would reveal His “intentions“. Jesus, the Christ was that being. Continue reading ‘# 4- Divine Intention Of God’
It’s not all said and done. The deal is not over. Man is not a static automaton. I’m amazed at how some people take the election doctrine so far as to totally abrogate any free will of man. God is not “up there” pulling our strings and making us behave. If He were, He’s sure not doing a very good job of it. Man is a “becoming human being” and God is right there with us all the way, encouraging us with His unlimited love. Continue reading ‘# 40- God Isn’t A Puppeteer!’
As a young man I saw all these church people as weak, sniffling, and milk-toast kind of people that I didn’t want to be like. No way. Well, in some ways I have become just like them, but in other ways I have not. I remember the last few lines in the movie We Were Soldiers- (Mel Gibson). While the returning vets from Viet Nam were scorned by the public, it didn’t matter. Soldiers know what civilians don’t. The man with a rifle in his hand isn’t fighting for his country as much as he is fighting for the man on either side of him: the man behind him and the man in front. If they die, he’ll probably die. If only the CHURCH could hear, get that! You probably don’t want to hear this, but that means dying to save homosexuals, abortionists, and the arrogantly religious. Continue reading ‘Love Is Not Weakness!’
No amount of believing that something is true can actually make it so. What we need to concentrate on are those foundational truths that are obviously the intent of God towards all. Here are four to begin. Every man is related to God as creature to Creator. We are ALL related to God as objects of His love. We are agents of God’s will, however slight or great that might be. And, we are related to God through prayer (or meditation-contemplation). And we have acquired that position thanks to the personhood of Jesus. Man was made for God and Jesus accepted that offer, fully! It is in God that man finds his fulfillment and completion. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? Continue reading ‘# 3- Divine Intention Of God’
Try as we might, and as we do; however, words are insufficient for religious language. What are we saying, what do we mean Is this in any sense normal language? Can we interpret such a phrase literally?when we say that “God comes to us“? From whence does He come? From where to where and then what? What are we saying when we say that “Jesus sits at the right hand of God?” How’s a secular person to interpret that? Religious language must by it’s very nature be more POETIC than anything else. Continue reading ‘Words Don’t Work’
The only way to get through life without cratering over and over again is to be a true Son of God. Jesus was. He received ALL that God offered. William Scott Palmer said it this way, “We learn that what we call Sonship in God must at least mean the capacity of receiving Him into ourselves and penetrating into His desire for us.” Sure makes sense to me. Wonder why we see so little of it? Continue reading ‘A True Son!’
Our homeowners insurance comes due on an annual basis most often, car insurance semi-annually, or monthly depending upon the risk. But, most people buy a fire insurance policy against hell when in their teens, and they never take it out and look at it again. My recommendation is that you review that old policy and that you trade your fire insurance for a life assurance policy! Continue reading ‘Change Your Insurance Policies’
God is not an intruder, nor is He a visitor from out space. While theism carried the water (no pun intended) for so many centuries, the bucket is now empty. Theism defines God as one who is somewhere “out there” who intervenes in human affairs from time to time. This is in large part, why I developed the web site, Beyond Theism. Like this post modern world that we live in, I don’t know what’s after modern, so we call it “post” modern. I don’t know what’s beyond theism, but I have a hunch there is a lot of enlightenment. God is not an intruder because God is EVERYWHERE at work, in varying ways (can you say Omnipresent?). Why is this? It’s because it is the INTENTION of God to see that ALL are saved! It’s what your Bible says. Continue reading ‘# 2- Divine Intention Of God’
# 5- Divine Intention Of God
Let’s bring this five-part series to a close with the more than obvious statement that whatever the intention of God IS, that’s what WILL BE! Dr. W. R. Inge said that “A man is never so truly and intensely himself as when he is most possessed by God”. That would be yet another description of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is God’s ultimate and most complete self-expression of Himself. That said though, Jesus is Totus Dues (God through and through), but not Totum Dei (Everything that God is). God is the Creator of ALL. Continue reading ‘# 5- Divine Intention Of God’