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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Thursday, April 16, 2015
How much do we help others to do the right thing?How much do we
help others to do the right thing?
“God is so immense that if he were 'too visible,' people would give forced compliance
without expressing their heart. So God made it possible, in enormous love, for us to live as if he were not there.”
~ John Ortberg Jr., The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You
To what extent do we get involved in helping others to do the
right thing?
Have
you ever had the experience where you know someone is about to do something that will become a problem for themselves and
they refuse to agree with those trying to help them.
People seem to almost drive themselves to believe lies at times.
When we see someone doing this,
and want to help them, to what extent should we apply pressure?
Many Christians say we should never do so. That it is the persons will and that once
the case is made that is it.
This is partially true. I doubt that Christians are permitted to use force. Jesus seemed to be against that. Even when
people came to take him away and the following occurred we see his disagreeing with force.
“Judas, are you handing over the Son of
Man with a kiss?”
49 Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen. So they said, “Lord, should we use our swords against them?”
50 One of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, “Stop this!” And he
touched the man’s ear and healed him. Luke 22
Jesus rejected force as a way out of a situation.
Does this mean he and his apostles did not use verbal pressure to get people to believe
and do the right things?
No!Jesus spent hours of his life telling stories
and explaining God’s way so that others would change their mind.
How about the apostles?
Consider the letter Paul wrote to Philemon about his (runaway?) slave Onesimus.
In this Paul spends the whole letter trying to motivate Philemon to accept Onesimus without prejudice. I think the
one statement that was most telling was when in pleading Paul states…
Then welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. 18 Has
he done anything wrong to you? Does he owe you anything? Then charge it to me. 19 I’ll pay it back.
I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I won’t even mention that you owe me your life. 20 My
brother, we both belong to the Lord.
That statement “I won’t even mention that you owe me your life” is what most of us would consider
manipulative.
He is being a bit crafty isn’t he?
Yet notice
there are no lies, only truth.
Yet the truth is presented with force and
pressure to get Philemon to respond.
We as Christians do not need to be weak. We are to put our case as hard and focussed as we can in love.
We need to move people towards truth and love and sometimes that means calling on arguments and putting ourselves out to do
so.
That’s
true Christian love in action.
Let’s remember that as we deal with issues today!
Thu, April 16, 2015 | link
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Man can now play around with the length of life. How long could we live?Man can now play
around with the length of life. How long could we live?
Recently it was announced scientists had found a way of changing part of a mouse
genetic makeup and by adjusting telomeres could make old mice become young again.
The reality is that I know of the same research
being done on the human genes.
Soon we will be able to reverse aging!
i.e. we may able to reconstruct eternity form a human perspective.
What does this mean?
I guess it means a lot of class distinction.
I guess it also means that life will become less invigorating and focussed.
The problem with living on and on, is that life on this earth is not
exactly bliss. That’s why God talks of a new heaven and Earth. We need a complete remake to get it right. Sin has destroyed
our temporary abode and we are fast destroying what sin has not yet got to.
I for one am glad that my eternity state is not based on changing my genes, but rather changing my environment
completely for something far better.
Just imagine doing
what I am doing today for the rest of time. How boring and rather unpleasant that could become.
God is the one who knows best, not our scientists. They simply
mimic his majesty.
That’s
a thought for today.Have a good
one!
Wed, April 15, 2015 | link
Monday, April 13, 2015
Time eternal in a negative state would be terrible God and Nature first made us
what we are, and then out of our own created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let
the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement. ~ Marcus Garvey
People should be satisfied
with all their hard work. That is God’s gift to them. 14 I know that everything
God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it. And nothing can be taken from it. God does that so people will have
respect for him. Ecclesiastes 3
Work is always with us. In order to survive we work. It is a God ordained part of life after men fell from
their appointed place with God in Eden. Day by day we have to apply effort to generate enough to enable us to live.
We can see this in two ways.
Either as a blessing or a curse. Without Jesus it is a curse, with Jesus who restores the nature of life into it’s original
purpose it is a blessing.
This is the difference between believers and non-believers. Believers know work is a blessing and we are not meant to
have a time of bliss on earth. Non-believers kid themselves that by working for a period they achieve this bliss.
More than this after work is
a short time before we reach the end of our lives. Those who have worked hard with joy can go into eternity with joy. A joyful
eternity is good.
Those
who resent having had to have worked hard and have a negative view of life, go into eternity with the negative attitude. Eternity
with even a morsel of negativity will become unbearable will it not.
Therefore is it not wise to accept God’s grace and enjoy our work with joy
each day.
After all
there is not much else we can do to make our days and eternity joyful.
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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on XML Click here =>  to be told of new blogs
| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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