Tag Archives: obedience

The Foundation of Godly Faith

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According to Scripture faith is essential to salvation. Without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Those who have genuinely repented and had their sins remitted are no longer under the death penalty brought about by their sins (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:10). So such are saved from the second death, but under the condition that they continue to walk in the true faith (Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 10:26-27). Once converted we must continue to overcome, or as Jesus warns we may have our names blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5).

It’s a matter of life and death then that we understand the proper foundation for saving faith. What is the foundation of your faith? Is your faith based on what you’ve always heard or been taught? Is your faith in your own powers of reasoning and rationalization? Is it based on popular opinion, or what others in your circle of influence believe? Is your faith in some personality? Is it in an organization? Continue reading →

A Nation At Risk

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As I write I’m spending a few days with my youngest son, who just finished college.

He’s extremely blessed to have been granted a job offer upon finishing his degree program, as many college graduates are having a difficult time finding any employment, much less employment in their fields of interest and at salaries they might have expected as graduates.

We’re in Northern Arizona, hiking some of the many trails in the area. Thursday afternoon and night, it snowed about seven inches where we are. But on Friday we managed to find a snow covered trail we could hike up a mountain, and view other majestic peaks in the distance, across a snow covered landscape of Ponderosa Pine forest.

Like many others his age, or any age, my son wants to explore and sample the good things of life. Trying new restaurants, new varieties of foods and beverages, and in general experience life to the full. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s done in the proper balance. Though we’re separated by a generation, I haven’t lost many of the interests we share in common.

As we were traveling across the country, I couldn’t help but think of the incredible blessings we in the U.S.A. have been granted as our heritage. We saw huge stores of grain piled high on the ground at a number of grain elevators we passed on the road (cf. “Bumper Grain Harvest Overwhelms Ships, Trains,” December 9, 2013, Reuters.com; “Finally, Kansas wheat is a cash crop again,” theolathenews.com, July 12, 2013). Continue reading →

What Are the True Values?

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Not infrequently in public discourse we hear the word “values” mentioned. Many of the issues we face as a nation and a world boil down to a question of values. For example, the questions of abortion, human rights, women’s rights, homosexual rights, religious expression, out of control government spending and national debt? Do these issues have anything to do with values? Continue reading →

Thanksgiving

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We are admonished throughout the Bible to offer thanksgiving to God (Psalm 30:4-5; 92:1; 97:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Psalm 100:1-5, a psalm of thanksgiving). Lack of an attitude of thanksgiving can lead to spiritual blindness and sin (Romans 1:20-21). It’s always fitting for us to reflect on our obligation to give thanks.

Each fall in the United States the nation observes a thanksgiving holiday. Yet, how many are truly thankful? How many of us in this country or in this world acknowledge God as the source of our blessings and take the time to express genuine and heartfelt thanks to God for all he gives us? Continue reading →

It’s Time to Be A Real Christian

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The Apostle Paul warned us, “ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (1 Timothy 3:1-5).

As Paul warned, we are living in perilous times, and as things progress, the world promises to become even more perilous. Are you prepared for what is coming? How should we prepare? Each of us needs to ask himself these questions. Continue reading →