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Showing posts from April, 2012

Who is the bully now?

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Christian Whack-a Mole

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Verses like I John 3:6 scare the heck out of me! "No one who abides in [Jesus] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." So why then does my life constantly feel like a living version of whack-a-mole? Do you know that game? You stand in from of this machine with mole-holes cut into the top of it holding a large mallet. When a mole sticks its head out of a hole, you whack it. But then two more pop up, and you whack those. Then two or three more. Then pretty soon you are so busy thumping moles over the head with your mallet that the rest of the world seems irrelevant. Finally the game is over and the moles go back to rest. I push down one sin, and another quickly takes its place. I think I have rid myself of greed only to have anger and pride creep up. How long can this go on? Can I really be a Christian when sin keeps popping up in my life faster than I can whack it down? That is when I must also take comfort in passages like

Witness

"Wherever such witness [to the light and truth of Christ] is borne, there certainly will be some fruit. The witness never fails to effect. Some surely will be reached; some will accept and believe it. Since it is the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the apostle [John] says here, the Spirit beareth witness, he will be effective, producing in us that to which John refers when he says we are children of God, and have the victory and eternal life. So the Word--or the Gospel message accompanied by the witness of the Spirit--and faith are vitally related. In the last analysis they are inseparable." (Martin Luther, Sermon for the Sunday after Easter, I John 5:4-12) Grant us such faith dear Father in Heaven. Grant us such faithfulness.

An Unlikely Quote

"[The Biblical scholar] may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there his authority ends. He must never sit in judgment upon what is written . He dare not bring the meaning of the Word before the bar of his reason. He dare not commend or condemn the Word as reasonable or unreasonable, scientific or unscientific. After the meaning is discovered, that meaning judges him; never does he judge it." (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy . emphasis his) I could not agree more. (There are a few diamonds in the ruff within this book.) But I would also quickly respond, "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgivene