Tried With Fire

I think these are important questions to ask in regard to forgiveness. - Does God forgive the unrepentant? - Does God forgive the unregenerate? - Is forgiveness unconditional? - If to forgive is to declare a person as not guilty, is it possible to forgive someone who is unrepentant? - Should I forgive someone who views sin as just a mistake, a bad judgement call, an error, etc. but will not acknowledge sin as an offense against God? - Is it possible to not be bitter or resentful against someone who has sinned against you and still having not forgiven that person because they are unrepentant? - When Jesus said,"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.", was He saying, "I forgive them", as a blanket statement? I think forgiveness has lost its meaning, just like sin has lost its meaning. If there is no right understanding of sin and its consequences before God, forgiveness is meaningless. Today, it seems there is an expectation for the victim to say "I...

I was up later than was good for me and woke up before the alarm this morning with worry twinges. Although I believe in the total sovereignty of God, there are times when I revert. A thought crosses my mind that if I don't do X or Y, somehow that will hinder what God has willed. Even now sometimes dread will come over me because I did not do the right thing at the right time and in the right way . As I was lying awake and praying about this, it hit me that the root is pride. I want that sense of security that comes from my doing something rather than God doing something. I also want the sense of accomplishment even in my obedience. Jeremiah was right to say that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I believe that John Bunyan said that there was enough sin in his best prayer to damn him. The flip side is when I fail and blow it, God isn't the least bit surprised or shocked. When I fail to trust Him or have mixed motives even in my desire to...

We will begin our study of 1 Peter next week. Although we didn't start the actual study, we took some time to share where we were in our respective journeys with the Lord. Although some of us are in the midst of tangible trials and others are not, we can still encourage one another to press on. I still marvel at God's grace in bringing me to a new place of fellowship and a new place in my walk with Him over the last two years. His ways are past finding out. Sometimes His means are painful and it is very tempting to doubt His intent but He is worthy to be trusted. John MacDuff says it very well - " No! trust His loving heart, where sense cannot trace His hand !"

In December, I was able to take some time to wrestle through issues related to justification, sanctification, and "deeper life" teachings. It was very helpful to "play detective" as it were regarding some faulty views I had had about those subjects. It helped to trace certain teachings back to the source. Andy Naselli's talks on the Early Keswick Teaching gave a lot of insight. Since then, I have a mental list of things that I would like to study. It would be wonderful to sit down with the Bible, a notebook, some good resources and delve into some serious study. Some of the things on my list are: - Taking T.U.L.I.P. each in turn and finding scripture for each one. If you get the wrong view of one of these points, how far off does it lead you? - Is man three parts or two? What are the implications of holding either view? - Take a closer look a eschatology. I was raised mid-trib overcomer/elitist only rapture. I don't think that is the case now. What shoul...

I am still pondering this morning's message. I can't get away from something Pastor Ryan said in describing those who would "crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt." He said it was as if they were saying "You are no Messiah to me " and were in full agreement with the verdict to crucify Him. I am typing this in tears because of the grief I am feeling. The thought that someone would want the benefits of what Christ would give them and then turn around and reject Him as worthless is heartbreaking. It would be as if someone said to Jesus, "Thanks for taking away my sin by dying for me and suffering God's holy wrath. Now, I can continue to indulge in that sin that nailed You to the cross and still go to heaven. And BTW it's great to know that I can keep on sinning knowing that You are going to forgive me. I want what You do for me and what You give me but I don't want You ." This reminded me of ...

This morning Pastor Ryan spoke on Hebrews 6:4-12. This was a very difficult passage in it of itself and the message was very sobering. It is frightening to think of those who believe they are spiritually okay and yet in the end crucify afresh the Son of God. I am very thankful that God gave the pastor the grace and the boldness to preach from such a hard text. It was also very moving to hear him plead with any who were there who might be in that condition of being deceived as to their true state before God. So much hinges on our correct understanding of what it means to "be saved". That phrase has become so common place that it could mean anything and it does mean just about anything depending on who you talk to. We can be self deceived and deceive others if we don't know what it says in the Word regarding salvation. We can believe that we are fine with God and lead others to think likewise when we are still under the wrath of God. I know in the past that I thought it was...

This was something my DD asked today. "If people trade money for goods , what are bads ?"