| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Why was last week's article entitled - "Ever Been Spewed?" Because Jesus tells us in the book of Revelation that He would rather you/we were hot or cold. Since however, many of us choose to be just warm, he will "spew" or better vomit us out of His mouth. He has no time for fence walkers. He desires sold out, no compromise, I don't care about the worldly consequences, blood bought, Bible loving, Barbarian type Christians. Yes this stems from an unexplainable love, and has to be tempered with humility and grace, = "not thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to" Romans 12, but never practicing Condemning Tolerance. What is that? It is where God says something is absolutely sin, and in the interest of inclusion, we tell folks it is OK to continue therein, condemning them to judgment (along with ourselves --- see Jeremiah w/regard to not telling folks the truth). We need to be like Generation X as Christians and be "radical". So what does that look like? Well remember from last week: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10: 28, 32 and 33 Last week we looked at a few ways we tend to deny Him in our daily life, so this week let's rehearse some ways to "confess" Him. First, Baptism. Many people tell me they believe in/on Jesus, yet refuse to do the first thing He commands us to do. Nuff said. Second is Be Unashamed - Romans 1:16. We all hear: "silence is golden", but Adrian Rodgers said: "Silence is yellow". Third would be to remain faithful even under threat, whether persecution or death. This is the supreme loyalty and is Radical. Nugget: Remember the Hebrew Children who were thrown into the Fiery Furnace? To me, the coolest thing about that event was their reaction. The insecure king said: "This is your last chance. I'll have them play the music, and then you can fall on your face and worship my image or else I'll toss you into that furnace. Do you think your God can deliver you out of my hand?" The youths (likely thirteen or fourteen) replied: "Oh king life forever; we want to be the best subjects you have, and have always treated you with respect. But you may as well know, we aren't bowing to your stupid statue". Note the absence of the holy huddle. These youths had determined their course of action long ago; not when the crisis arose, but way before. So should it be with us. Settle it now. Number four is to abstain from things "everyone else" is doing. Live so "radically" different, that the world has to take notice. The lost world is looking for something different, while unfortunately we keep showing them the same old thing. Finally, FORGIVE. It is for your sake. You are never more like your Lord than when you forgive, and never less like Him than when you won't. Jesus told us when we come to worship and have something against our brother (or him us) we should leave our offering on the steps and go be reconciled to that one - Matt. 5:23-24. It is more than a commandment. Mark Twain said: "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it". God bless. |
 |