From The Files: Our Great God!

Great God Examples

From The Files: DIGG This!

Making Wise Decisions – DIGG (Does It Glorify God?)
1 Cor. 10:31

1. Can I ask God to bless this decision?
Prov. 10:2; 10:22; Ps. 1:5, 6
2. After the decision is made, will I be able to thank God for it?
Col. 3:17
3. Will I be able to say that the decision was made for God’s glory?
1 Cor. 10:31
4. Does the decision spring from the influence of God in my life or of the World around me?
1 John 2:15
5. Will this decision be a stumbling block to the unbeliever or to my “weaker” fellow Christians?
1 Cor. 8:9
6. Because all decisions result in consequences, have I considered the consequences that will (or could) come from this decision?
Gal. 6:7
7. Will this decision create a “heavy weight” of responsibility for me to bear?
Heb. 12:1
8. Will this decision please God or will it please other people who don’t care what God thinks?
Eph. 6:6-7
9. Sometimes decisions are made unnecessarily. Is this decision necessary?
1 Cor. 10:23
10. Will this decision edify other Christians?
1 Cor. 10:23
11. Every decision made serves a Master. Will this decision serve God or will it serve His enemies (Satan)?
Matt. 6:24
12. Would God’s Word condemn my decision?
Heb. 4:12
13. Is my decision based on love?
1 John 4:10-11; cf. the Great Commandment
14. Since Jesus is coming back soon, will I be ashamed at His coming because of this decision?
Phil. 1:20

As a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Christ, it is my responsibility to continually study and implement the teachings of Jesus in my life. As a teacher and pastor, thus an equipper of the Saints, it is my responsibility to help the Saints better understand Scripture and the application thereof.

With this in mind, in the coming weeks I will begin a serious of Blogs called Controversial Concerns. The title reflects the two important aspects of the matters to be discussed. First, they are controversial so if you don’t want to be challenged don’t read them. You may not agree with me, in fact I know not everyone will. I encourage you to think deeply on the topic, search the Scriptures and pray.

Secondly, they are concerns because I see too many people claiming to follow Jesus giving advise that is contrary to one another and often contrary to the teachings of Scripture. I believe this is mostly due to lack of understanding of the Scriptures and/or an unwillingness to put it into practice. The latter is inexcusable for a follower of Christ (though we all fail at times and thus need others in our lives.), the former can be overcome by learning and taking the time to properly engage the Scriptures and let them speak to you.

Keep your eyes peeled…hopefully before the month is out the Controversial Concerns Blog Series will begin.

#God has called u to make #disciples Who has God put in ur path for u to help become like Christ? Who is helping you become like Christ?

“The #pastor is not the minister…the pastor is the #equipper, and #EveryMember of the church is a #minister.” Platt & Chan in Multiply

Christmas Blessings

This morning I was having breakfast with a friend and was again convicted of my patheticness as related to being thankful, particularly as it relates to God. My friend has a son who is s sophomore in high school who has lost all of his hearing and part of his vision over the past several years. 

Recently he had told his dad that the worst part was he wouldn’t be able to hear Christmas music. For Christmas he simply wanted to be able to hear Christmas music and see Les Mis (because his school has put on the musical previously and he had been part of the tech crew).

This young was learning to be content with his malady and was accepting his new lot in life. The miracle began at Christmas as the family was as Christmas Eve service and he signed to his parents “I can hear the music” The next day, Christmas afternoon, he went to see Les Mis, wearing a pair of Closed Caption Wireless Glasses you can get from the movie theater, he again revealed that he could hear the music as well. Words were garbled and other sounds too, but for at least these brief periods of time he could hear the music. 

Will this young man’s hearing be restored? I don’t know. I pray so.

What would my wish have been? Surely much more than just hearing Christmas music! 

Again, and in combination with my earlier post today on the Sovereignty of God and Goodness, how much I have to be thankful for. Have pagan I act when I am not (see Rom. 1).

Lord thank you that  you continue to teach us through humility and humble people.

Morning Musings: Sovereignty & Goodness

As I was reading Isaiah 19 this morning from the Message I was thinking through the idea of God’s sovereignty; the idea of Him being in complete control of all things. In conjunction with this thought was the thought of my own life struggles and the billions of people on the planet with their life struggles. 

How can I possibly deal with/cope with my own struggles and those of others? So much pain and hurt.

A willy-nilly God that does not care and is not involved (which it often seems) would be nefariously irrelevant.

But what about a compassionate all-consuming God that works behind the scenes for a bigger picture?

Is the big picture at the expense of individual?

Is there a plan-intervention-for the one caught up, trapped, and enslayed by self or others?

I am part of the plan-but more people are needed in the plan. (But as God told Elijah I have 7,000 others…)

I’m responsible for my downflow-for the influence I have in those that God brings in out of my life. I must be faithful to that, them and pray incessantly and unceasingly for those without, for the lead on no, for those not my life (billions).

But what of those who have no one – they have creation according to Romans 1 – to show them their is a God. Though I don’t recall creation ever pointing me to understanding that God exists maybe this is because I already believed there was a God. Or maybe our Western civilization has intuitively canceled that idea out.

So in the end, unless there is a sovereign a good God does anyone make sense of the mess we find ourselves in? The alternative option, a chance filled  evolutionary world, provides a lasting hope.

So I choose to believe in a God who knows everything and can change anything. That is Psalm 107 tells us we can turn our prosperity into bankruptcy in our bankruptcy and prosperity. But he can orchestrate a situation presented Joseph to Egypt years before famine strikes all of the good intention of saving an entire nation, though unbeknownst to Joseph. That’s what faith is, and today that’s what I choose – faith that God is both sovereign and good.