In the book of Genesis, the serpent tempts Eve to sin by asking a very important question. “Did God really say…? This phrase was said by the serpent in the Garden of Eden to make Eve question God’s word.

At the time, he was asking if God really said not to eat from any tree in the garden (knowing it was only one particular tree). Then, the serpent questions the severity of God’s consequences (surely you won’t die).

So, the first couple sinned not because they indulged in fruit but because they disobeyed God concerning this action. They missed the mark in this regard for many reasons, and these reasons had nothing to do with being hungry.

What causes sin to win battles in our hearts, minds, and actions? Understanding this may help us to avoid future pain, and even set us up for healing.

Sin gestates in our lives when we become prideful about our spiritual situation. “I can avoid temptation on my own”, we say to ourselves…or, “if I can just discipline myself, then I can resist.”

We also see this occur when we deceive ourselves into becoming entitled to the desired results of our sin. Finally, as implied earlier in this post, we subconsciously doubt God’s sufficiency and thus ignore His promises (His word).

There is hope in all of this. If we humbly approach God, give Him control, and rest in His promises, then we will find victory from sin and healing from pain.

Wait…did I just say victory from sin? Uh ohh……now we are getting into some controversial stuff……Well, at least with the next post we will.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos.  For the original post, go to:  http://other-words.net/2012/11/27/battling/


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BE A MAN.

Did God create sin? This is an intriguing question for many because it certainly seems that this could be a feasible origin. I think it is important for us to define sin first.

In scripture, when the first humans sinned it started a domino effect that still cause residual “ripples” today.

Some people have a problem with the identification of what sin truly is. Sometimes it is easier to have a list than to follow a principle. Is it things like sex before marriage, drinking, or dancing? Or, is it things like skipping church, playing cards, or saying bad words? Then again, what if it was something like child abuse or animal cruelty? These things get confusing.

The basic definition of sin is living in disobedience to God. The word “sin” is an old archery term that literally means “to miss the mark”. So, if we understand sin in this way, we can see that sin wasn’t actually created, but was a free will response.

Next question, did God know Adam and Eve were going to sin…even though He knew it would separate them from HIm? Ahh….this is a good question and one that a few scholars debate. I am no scholar, but I believe He did know. Why? Well, I am glad you asked.

When humanity was created, God already had a mechanism in place that would alleviate the weight of sin. This idea of forgiveness and mercy was ready to be deployed any time Adam or Eve messed up. It was a pretty straight forward transaction and an effective teaching tool.

Adam and Eve, with the first sin (to be like God and reject His truth) had this mechanism available to them. God even still walked among them to search for the couple after the sin was committed. It was their shame (a result of sin) that created the separation. Their shame was what made them hide, and to them it was sacred.

Tomorrow, we will continue our discussion.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos:  http://other-words.net/2012/11/20/hiding/

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BE A MAN.

I've been excited about heaven recently.  It's kinda strange because I have been preoccupied with  looking forward to going there.

This is different than what I have had in the past.  I have written about a dream that I had about heaven.  I have speculated about my reaction to heaven possibly being similar to how our kittens experience transition from one home to another.  I have also considered how people with disabilities may experience heaven.    But this time, my thoughts about heaven seem different.

This is not about my frustrations of living in a sinful world.  This is not about my frustrations of living in a body that is aging.  This is not about my desire to finally be free of my sinful tendencies.  This isn't a reaction to the bad news that I read about everyday and wanting Jesus to return to end suffering.

This time, for the past couple of weeks, I have been filled with excitement about the prospect of heaven.  I don't know what started this emotion but I am enjoying it.  Maybe I spend too much time in my head pontificating about what things could be like.  Maybe I'm too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.  

But, I'm just putting this out there.  
Heaven is something that gets me really excited.  

I don't envision all the imagery found in Revelation.  
I don't think about flying around playing harps and acting all righteous.  

I see heaven as a place very similar to this world but being at total peace with myself and everyone else.  

God's Peace will rule heaven. 

I imagine running and not getting tired.  
I imagine climbing mountains and not worrying about gravity.  

I imagine traveling, visiting, remembering, spending an eternity with those whom I have only read about.  

I imagine hearing story after story of God's faithfulness and grandeur.

I imagine meeting people that the world threw away and trashed but are highly prized by God.  

I imagine getting to REALLY KNOW people and not worrying about time, expense or image.  

I imagine time spent with Jesus.  

I imagine times of review of people's lives and seeing where God intervened and nobody knew about it.  

I imagine that I will be surprised at how involved God's Holy Spirit has been with us.  

I imagine there will be no concept of time.

I imagine...

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BE A MAN.

It was kind of a surreal experience....   We had just arrived at our mission in Quito and here I was less than 48 hours later standing at the graveside of a man I didn't know and hadn't even met.

I watched as the gravedigger dug the grave by hand.  He would occasionally stop and put his chin on top of the shovel and seem interested in what was going on as he rested.  There was hardly anybody there.  Just the man's wife, a couple of other people, the pastor, myself and the Ecuadorian gravedigger.  Being one of the few English speaking churches in town, the widow called the pastor with whom I served on staff and asked that he do the funeral.   I was there as support.  

The story of this man's life ended sadly.  He was a very successful American businessman who had visited Ecuador frequently and ended up buying some lucrative property in Quito so that he could retire.  He had quite a nest egg.  His goal in life was to retire with his wife at this property in Quito and live a life of ease and luxury.  

What was interesting was that this man and his wife arrived in Quito about the same time my wife and I had arrived.  We may have even been on the same airplane.  What he hadn't considered, as he grew older, was that his health wasn't as good as it had been in the past.  Quito has an elevation of over 9,000 feet (btw - Denver has an elevation of just over 5,000 feet) above sea level.  People who visit Quito often come done with Soroche (altitude sickness).  The symptoms are very similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.  The stress of the Soroche that he was experiencing taxed his body and his heart stopped working.  

So, here we have a man who saved his whole life, gathered quite a bit of money and bought some nice property in Quito so that he could retire, and within 48 hours of achieving his goal, he died.  From what his wife described, it also appeared that he died without knowing Jesus as his Savior.  

Jesus talked about this.  He said, "Now what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?"  

Jesus, who taught a parable about a man who amassed fortune and trusted in himself, said, "You fool!  You will die this very night.  Then who will get everything you worked for?"

Having a goal is not bad in and of itself.  However, if your goal excludes God and is just to please yourself, know that you may never reach it.  If you do, it won't last forever.  

Everyone dies.

Then there is reward or payment.

Yet, if you have a goal and it includes God and pleasing Him, you WILL reach it. 
 
"Don't store up treasure on earth..."  

Make heaven your goal.

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BE A MAN

I’ve been reading much on blogs and other sites that we are heading toward persecution here in the West.  As our society grows more and more tolerant of sin, they will begin to turn their hatred toward anyone who preaches against sin or who cries that their view is the only true truth such as Jesus being the only way to God (John 14:6) or even that Jesus is the only true God (1 Timothy 6:15-16).  Postmodernism loves tolerance (so long as you agree with them on what is right) and embraces ambiguity as a virtue.  Thus our culture adores anyone who claims that they embrace mystery (such as emergents) above truth or who teaches that they we all are accepted by God no matter what our lifestyle or what god we worship or don’t worship.  Our culture will indeed lash out at anyone who claims absolute truth such as true disciples of Jesus (John 17:17) or who claim that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ or even the fact that we need a Savior is offensive to them (Romans 3:10-18).

Yet I am convinced that Satan doesn’t care about the church that meets and doesn’t seek to preach the gospel both to the church and to the lost.  Satan doesn’t care that you meet in a house with other disciples so long as you do nothing in the process.  He doesn’t care that you read your Bible.  He doesn’t care that you claim Christianity.  Satan will only begin to attack when you begin to step out of your comfort zone and begin to seek to glorify God through faithful evangelism and praise to Jesus’ name openly and without shame (Acts 4:29-31).  The church that just meets, sings a few songs, talks about Jesus, prays a little, and goes home is not what causes havoc in the kingdom of darkness.  It is those disciples of Jesus who follow Him daily and seek to engage our world with His gospel whom Satan despises and will attack.

The good thing about entering these dark days is that the true Church will arise.  Those who have been playing games with faith, not truly saved by the Lord, and those living in sin will be exposed.  A time of separation is coming.  True disciples of Jesus need not fear (John 16:33).  We know from God’s Word that true disciples will face persecution (2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-19).  We know that God is faithful to those who remain steadfast in Him (Revelation 2:10).  Our lives do not matter.  Only eternity matters (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  Even now prepare yourself to embrace Jesus as your everything being willing to lay all down for Him and His glory (Luke 9:23-25).  Do not dread but rejoice because our God is the one true and living God and He will reign forever and ever!

This post is written by the Seeking Disciple.  You can view his original post here: 
http://arminiantoday.com/2012/11/18/satan-doesnt-mind-you-if-you-remain-comfortable/

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BE A MAN.

Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Psalm 103:1

There comes a time when we find ourselves seeing life in an entirely different way. Along with the pain, we sense with increased clarity that life is fundamentally a good gift from God. This is the experience of gratitude. Gratitude is a kind of participation in and response to God's grace. Without it, life would be a cheerless, and probably impossible journey.

The experience of gratitude is a response of our inmost being to God's grace. When gratitude breaks through, we are able to stop our frantic efforts to earn our way through life. In these moments of calm we see that our inmost being belongs to God. We are God's creation. Sometimes that is all we need. Other times this thought that we are God's creation is so far beyond all we could ever have asked, hoped or dreamed for, that our heart fills with praise and joy.

It is difficult to explain how, or why, or when gratitude comes. Sometimes we try to force gratitude on ourselves. Sometimes other people try to force it on us. But it cannot be coerced. It will not come from pretending. It will not come from telling ourselves that some people are worse off than we are. But it does come. And, when it comes, it breaks through our pain and surprises us with joy.

We cannot insist on gratitude today. But we can remind ourselves that we are God's creation. And we can wait for a new awareness of God's grace to surprise us with joy.

Give me a capacity for gratitude today, Lord.
Break through the clouds of pain in my life.
Surprise me with joy.
Fill my soul, my inmost being, with gratitude for life
and with praise to you.

Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

Rise up, O men of God! 
Have done with lesser things. 
Give heart and mind and soul and strength 
to serve the King of kings. 

Rise up, O men of God! 
The kingdom tarries long. 
Bring in the day of brotherhood 
and end the night of wrong. 

Rise up, O men of God! 
The church for you doth wait, 
her strength unequal to her task; 
rise up, and make her great! 

Lift high the cross of Christ! 
Tread where his feet have trod. 
As brothers of the Son of Man, 
Rise up, O men of God!

Text: William P. Merrill, 1867-1954 
Music: William H. Walter, 1825-1893 


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BE A MAN.

“Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.” Nehemiah 9:1 (NKJV)

There are a couple of things we need to understand about this verse. The first is that their sorrow for sin is in connection with hearing the Law. In Nehemiah 8 the Law was read and explained to them. As the Law was preached they were made aware of their transgressions of God’s Law and this brought a deep conviction upon them. Conviction of sin is almost always connected to hearing God’s Word.

The second thing we have to notice is their response to this conviction. They assembled while fasting and wearing sackcloth and dust on their heads. This was all a sign of great mourning for their sin. When you read the Scriptures, particularly the Old Testament you find that the people fasted when they were mourning over sin. I’m not 100% sure of the significance of fasting when accompanying mourning unless it was to show that they were so distraught over their sin that they couldn’t even eat. The significance of the sackcloth and ashes was that of humiliation. They were showing outwardly what was going on inwardly. Inwardly they were so grieved over their sin against God that they were humiliated by it. So they demonstrated their grief and humiliation by wearing a burlap sack and putting dirt on their heads.

Biblical repentance always includes a godly sorrow for the sins committed.

“Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NKJV)

One of the things that’s important to take away from this passage is not all sorrow is a godly sorrow. The Bible says that there is a godly sorrow for sin that leads to repentance and salvation. There is also a worldly sorrow for sin that leads to death. We have to know the difference so that we can ensure that the sorrow we feel at our sin is the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and salvation.

Let me take a minute and explain what godly sorrow is not. Godly sorrow is not being sorry you were caught. If the only sorrow produced in your life when you sin is a result of someone finding out about your sins, you are not genuinely sorry for your sins. You are sorry you got caught in your sins.

Godly sorrow is not being afraid God is going to punish you for your sins. If the only sorrow produced in your life when you sin comes because you are afraid that God is going to break your leg, burn down your house, do something to your children or do something else to punish you, you are not genuinely sorry for your sin. You fear God’s punishment. To fear God’s punishment and to be sorry for sin is not the same thing.

To be sorry you were caught or be sorry because you are afraid of God’s punishment are examples of worldly sorrow that leads to death. The reason they lead to death is because they do not really turn us to God and they do not produce a change in our lives. When someone is sorry they were caught they are only sorry and only pretend to change while the shame of being caught remains. Once the shame is over the change goes out the window and they go back to doing what they were doing only this time they are more careful.

When someone is sorry because they are afraid of God’s punishment they are only sorry and only pretend to change while the fear of punishment remains. Once the fear of punishment is gone the change goes out the window and they go back to doing what they were doing before.

Godly sorrow is very different from this. With godly sorrow we feel grief or sorrow for the sin committed whether anyone finds out or not. With godly sorrow we feel grief or sorrow for the sin committed whether God chastises us for that sin or not. Basically it means that you are sorry you committed the sin regardless of any other circumstances. It is to be sorry you have sinned against God.

In the world we live in one of the greatest crimes you can commit against humanity is to make someone feel bad about themselves. We live in a world where people feel they are entitled to always feel good. On the other hand the Bible teaches that if we sin against God, we won’t always feel good about ourselves because Biblical repentance always involves a godly sorrow for the sins we’ve committed against God.


This post was written by Rev Ross.  You can find the original post at:  http://stacyjross.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/sorrow-for-sin/

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BE A MAN.

During the First Great Awakening Jonathan Edwards preached his famous message Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God.  Reports from this time say that Edwards wasn’t an eloquent speaker. Instead of walking around and preaching with dramatic flair, Edwards looked down at his manuscript and read this sermon in a flat and monotone voice. The reports from this time also say that as Edward preached men and women would hold on to the posts of the church for fear of dropping into hell. Others would stop of their ears and run screaming out of the church. Undeterred Edwards kept preaching. Edwards ended his sermon with this appeal, “Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come.”

Flee they did. Many fell on the ground and cried out for Christ to save them. While there is no official number of salvations during this time most estimates put the number in the thousands. From what I’ve read few of these were the flash in the pan decisions that don’t last once the emotional fervor wears off. Instead most of those who were saved during the Great Awakening lived faithful Godly lives the rest of their days.

For someone who has never seen men or women respond to conviction as it is described about the Great Awakening I can easily find myself saying, “Ah I bet that’s not quite how it happened.” The truth is though; there are Biblical examples of people responding in very similar ways. At the end of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost the Bible says the people were cut to the heart and asked, “…what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37) The picture of being cut to the heart is very similar to what we hear about from the Great Awakening.

The question this leaves me with is why? Why don’t we see this sort response to conviction in our day? I’m convinced that one of the main reasons for this is that our culture has a low view of repentance. To many in our world repentance is simply asking God to forgive us for our sins, without any real plans to making the necessary changes in our lives that will prevent us from falling into that sin again. We are like a guy I saw in a movie once. He said something like, “I like to sin. God likes to forgive sin. It’s a very good arrangement.”

Biblical repentance isn’t just asking God to forgive us for our sins. Let’s be honest, we can ask for forgiveness and still remain unchanged. In Scripture we see several examples of people who confessed, “I have sinned” and yet this really didn’t mean a thing to them. Let me remind you of a couple of these.

In the book of Exodus, Pharaoh was overwhelmed with the plagues that came upon him because of his hardened and sinful heart, and he cried out and said, “I have sinned” (Exodus 9:7 and 10:16).  But he didn’t really mean it because he never let the people go. In the book of Numbers, the heretical prophet Balaam said, “I have sinned” (Numbers 22:34), but his repentance wasn’t sincere because he still tried to help Balak cause the destruction of the Israelites.

In the book of Joshua, Achan said, “I have sinned” (Joshua 7:20), but it was too late; he said it only because he was caught and it did not represent heartfelt repentance. In the book of 1 Samuel, King Saul said, “I have sinned,” (1 Samuel 15:24), but it did not come from a humble heart.  He was still speaking in defiance and pride. In the book of Matthew, Judas said, “I have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4), but he didn’t really repent. Instead he went out and killed himself.

My favorite definition of repentance is that repentance is a change of mind about God and sin that results in a change of life. Biblical repentance always brings about change in our lives. Repentance involves total change in the direction of our lives. We turn from our sin and we turn to God with the intention of forsaking the sin and serving God. This will obviously require more from us than shedding a couple of tears and asking God to forgive us. It will require a total change in our outlook, our expectations and our commitments.

When you read the Bible and see the messages of John the Baptist, Jesus and Paul you don’t find a shallow view of repentance. Jesus called on repentant people to deny themselves, take of their cross and follow Him. John the Baptist and Paul both called on people to repent of their sins, believe the Gospel and then do works that demonstrated their repentance.

Another way we see this shallow view of repentance is in the way that it’s almost seen as optional by many in our day. In fact there is a whole movement of people who teach that repentance is not necessary at all at any time in your life. I personally find this attitude fascinating considering that in Luke 13 Jesus says “Lest you repent you will likewise perish.” Jesus didn’t get the memo that people didn’t have to repent and so He went around and commanded people to repent. Not to mention that in Acts 17 we are told that God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

This may lead us to wonder what Biblical repentance looks like. That’s what I’m going to talk about tomorrow.

This post was written by Rev Ross.  For the original post, go to:  http://stacyjross.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/repentance/


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BE A MAN.

A new study from the Journal of Neuroscience, published in their November 14, 2012 edition has some interesting research for men.  No longer do we need God's aid to control ourselves.  A simple snort of oxytocin is all that is needed:  

The "love hormone" oxytocin may help maintain romantic relationships by prompting men to keep their distance from attractive women, a new study from Germany suggests.

In the study, men in monogamous relationships who were given an oxytocin nasal spray stayed about four to six inches farther away from an attractive, woman they didn't know, compared with men in monogamous relationships who received a placebo.

The oxytocin spray had no effect on the distance that single men chose to keep between themselves and the attractive woman.

The results suggest the hormone promotes fidelity in humans, said study researcher Dr. René Hurle­mann, of the University of Bonn. The findings agree with previous research conducted on prairie voles, which suggested the hormone plays a role in pair-bonding.

In humans, oxytocin has been found to promote bonding between parents and children, increase trust, and reduce conflict between couples. And earlier this year, a study found that couples with high levels of oxytocin in the early stages of a relationship were more likely to be together six months later than couples with lower levels of the hormone.

But until now, there has been no evidence that a dose of oxytocin given after a couple gets together contributes to the maintenance of the relationship, the researchers said.

The study involved 57 heterosexual males, about half of whom were in monogamous relationships. After receiving either a dose of oxytocin or placebo, participants were introduced to a female experimenter who they later described as "attractive."

During the encounter, the experimenter moved towards or away from the men, and they were asked to indicate when she was at an "ideal distance" away, as well as when she moved to a distance that felt "slightly uncomfortable."

The effect of oxytocin on the attached men was the same regardless of whether the female experimenter maintained eye contact, or averted her gaze. Oxytocin also had no effect on the men’s attitude toward the female experimenter — whether men received the oxytocin or the placebo, they rated her as being equally attractive.

In a separate experiment, the researchers found oxytocin had no effect on the distance men kept between themselves and a male experimenter.

Future studies are needed to determine exactly how oxytocin might act on the brain to affect behavior, the researchers said.

This post was adapted from NBC News medical team To investigate this matter further, click here for the original post.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.