GraceWay Baptist Church Serving Kiowa-Serving Christ

Remembering Sanctity of Life Sunday Sunday, January 21 was Sanctity of Life Sunday and once again this controversy strikes a cord deep within me as it does with many on both side of the life issue.... Remembering Sanctity of Life Sunday Sunday, January 21 was Sanctity of Life Sunday and once again this controversy strikes a cord deep within me as it does with many on both side of the life issue....

...sometimes I fail to take him serious today, opting to credit sin in my life or a lack of obedience for the negative consequences I experience. There are two kinds of Christians, those that believe in Satan and those who don’t. Of the former, most don’t often think about Satan and that is a huge mistake.

 

I often segregate God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into a set of roles, separate boxes calling to one but not the other, calling upon whomever seems right or proper at the time for prayer, praise or worship.... I watched the film The Nativity Story on Christmas Day and I wondered what was in the minds of Mary and Joseph as they made their way to Bethlehem, as they contemplated the birth of mankind’s Saviour.

Jesus cannot be added to one’s life, He must be the focus of that life... Nash: “One of the reasons why many people aren’t serious about the Christian faith is that they have not grasped the total, comprehensive view of life and the world contained in the Christian worldview.”... Let’s look a what Barna discovered in that 2003 national survey: “Upon comparing the perspectives of those who have a biblical worldview with those who do not, the former group were 31 times less likely to accept cohabitation (2% versus 62%, respectively); 18 times less likely to endorse drunkenness (2% versus 36%); 15 times less likely to condone gay sex (2% versus 31%); 12 times less likely to accept profanity 3% versus 37%); and 11 times less likely to describe adultery as morally acceptable (4% versus 44%).

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t do a great job extending grace to those who need it and I am uncomfortable accepting grace from others.... Often the grace we extend to others comes with strings attached; unintentional expectations on how that person should accept our help and unintentional expectations on how they should show their gratitude.

I thought that instead of setting a few goals for the entire year like: exercise, be more of a spiritual leader to my family, watch less TV and read more books, etc., etc., that I would be more intentional, set more focused goals.... Now I haven’t worked out all the particulars, but the first thing I think I’ll work on is being more of a man of my word.

Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

 

“An off-duty police officer being credited with helping stop the shooting rampage said his experience helped him react quickly to confront the gunman.”

But tomorrow is uncertain, tomorrow is not promised, and tomorrow will, one day, be too late, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night (1Thessalonians 5:2, NASB).... But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin (1John 1:5-7, NIV).”

The Dangers of Entitlement

Do we get what we deserve or do we deserve what we get?

Unfortunately, some Christians have a sense of entitlement because they are Christian. Some Christians feel that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be happy, that that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be successful and that that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be free of worldly desires. Unfortunately we are sinners and we are not entitled to anything. A relationship with Jesus should engender a sense of humility not a sense of entitlement.

I know I have talked a lot about the sin of “busyness” and the damage it causes in the lives of Christians, but there is another sin that is just as debilitating and far more pervasive. It is the sin of not hating sin, “...the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful (Mark 4:19, NIV).”