My Church Notes- Absolutes

Feb 2, 2020 “The Bible Sure Things”

As always I walk away blessed from my Pastor’s preaching and today hit topics close to my heart. I am very thankful my church preaches from God’s word found in the King James Bible. I am filled with gratitude when God hears my cries for help and answers them with his word.

This morning the title of the message was “The Bible Sure Things”

Although the following is not the sermon but what God has put on my heart to search out and write about to my readers.

Today we are living in times of “fluidity” –

1828 Websters Dictionary states – FLUID’ITY, noun The quality of being capable of flowing; that quality of bodies which renders them impressible to the slightest force, and by which the parts easily move or change their relative position without a separation of the mass; a liquid state; opposed to solidity. fluidity is the effect of heat.

1994 Merriam-Webster states – Gender fluidity is the ability to freely and knowingly become one or many of a limitless number of genders, for any length of time, at any rate of change. Gender fluidity recognizes no borders or rules of gender.

In today’s society, we even have moral fluidity.  At this time does not have a definition found in the dictionary but yet if we google it, it’s easily identified.  As I have found on the site: Ethics Daily – Oct. 15, 2018

Younger generations in the U.S. are more likely to see morality as fluid and changing, according to a Barna Group report released Oct. 9.

When asked whether they agreed with the statement, “What is morally right and wrong changes over time based on society,” 24 percent of Gen-Z (born 1999 to 2015) respondents agreed.

By comparison, 21 percent of Millennials (born 1984 to 1998), 18 percent of Gen-X (1965 to 1983) and 12 percent of Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) did so.

A similar trend was found when presented with the statement, “What is morally right or wrong depends on what an individual believes.”

This view was held by 23 percent of Millennials, followed by Gen-Z (21 percent), Gen-X (18 percent) and Boomers (17 percent).

Generational differences on these broad perspectives were also reflected when respondents expressed their views on specific moral issues.

For example, 61 percent of Elders (born before 1946) said that lying is morally wrong, while only 34 percent of Gen-Z agreed.

Of the five specific issues presented in the survey, the only one without a notable difference between the oldest and youngest generations was regarding the morality of sex before marriage.

Twenty-two percent of both Elders and Boomers strongly agreed that “sex before marriage is morally wrong,” compared to 26 percent of Gen-X, 19 percent of Millennials and 21 percent of Gen-Z.

“Young Americans have come of age in an incredibly complex world with access to more information and ideas than any other generation before them. They are also the most diverse generation in history,” the report said. “These realities have not only broadened their horizons and sources of input, but inculcated a deep sense of empathy. For instance, Gen Z as a whole are generally opposed to challenging others’ beliefs, likely driven by a desire to avoid offense or to acknowledge the value of other perspectives.”

We are now living in a time of no absolutes and everything relative.

absolutes as defined in 1828 by Webster is:  Existing independent of any other cause

relative as defined in 1828 Not absolute or existing by itself; considered as belonging to or respecting something else.

So, what can one do to find truth and where can we find absolutes?   Praise God, we can always rely on God’s word as our truth, set of standards to live by and our absolute.  So how do I know this as truth – easy because God’s word is sure.

1828 Websters Dictionary – sure:

1. Certain; unfailing; infallible.

The testimony of the Lord is sure Psalms 19:7:

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

We have also a more sure word of prophecy. 2 Peter 1:10:

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

2. Certainly knowing, or having full confidence.

We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth– Romans 2:2:

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”

Now we are sure that thou knowest all things. John 16:30:

Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.”

3. Certain; safe; firm; permanent.

Thy kingdom shall be sure to thee. Daniel 4:26:

And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”

4. Firm; stable; steady; not liable to failure, loss or change; as a sure covenant. 2 Samuel 23:5. Nehemiah 9:38. Isaiah 28:16:

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.”

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.”

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”

The Lord will make my lord a sure house. 1 Samuel 25:28:

“I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.”

So we say, to stand sure to be sure of foot.

5. Certain of obtaining or of retaining; as, to be sure of game; to be sure of success; to be sure of life or health.

6. Strong; secure; not liable to be broken or disturbed.

Go your way, make it as sure as ye can. Math.27:

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.”

7. Certain; not liable to failure. The income is sure

To be sure or be sure certainly. Shall you go? be sure I shall.

Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure 2 Peter 1:10:

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

SURE, adverb Certainly; without doubt; doubtless.

Perhaps you are thinking, why do I refer back to the 1828 Websters dictionary so often and the reason is simple:  in 2020, I have found we are so removed from God’s truth and set of standards that I need to go back to a time where those standards were seen in our society. And for me it’s shown clearly in the 1828 Websters dictionary that God’s word and set of standards were being used.

May you continue to search the word of the living God and lean not unto your own understanding.

Feast of the Passover – Unleavened Bread

This past several weeks I have been studying the book of Mark, today I am digging deeper into Mark 14:1 and 2

Mark 14:1, 2

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

My two main words to focus on are: passover and unleavened.  How do these words apply to me today as a bible believing saved Christian by the blood of Jesus Christ?

What I love about the bible is the answers are always in scripture.  Scripture answers scripture, when we as a Christian start to rely more on man and less on God and his word, it is then we stumble and fall.

We need to head back to the beginning, in the days of Moses, to learn about the feast of the passover.  Exodus Chapter 12 tells us when the passover is and the details of a the passover.  After reading this we know four important pieces:

1. lamb is spotless and unblemished
2. the instructions are to be followed-the first month and the 10th day and kept until 14th day, killed in the evening, with the blood strike on the two sides posts and on the upper door of the house.
3. the blood is a token
4. eat the flesh in night roast with fire and unleavened bread

 

Passover – (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

P`ASSOVER, n. [pass and over.] A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the providential escape of the Hebrews, in Egypt, when God smiting the first-born of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites, which were marked with the blood of the paschal lamb.

1. The sacrifice offered at the feast of the passover.

 

Now let’s look at the word unleavened:

Unleavened – (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

UNLEAVENED, a. unlev’ened. Not leavened; not raised by leaven, barm or yeast. Exo 12.

And let’s look what leaven means:

Leaven – (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

LEAVEN, n. lev’n. [L. levo, Eng. to lift.]

1. A mass of sour dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it and renders it light. During the seven days of the passover, no leaven was permitted to be in the houses of the Jews. Exo 12.

2. Any thing which makes a general change in the mass. It generally means something which corrupts or depraves that with which it is mixed.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mat 16.

LEAVEN, v.t. lev’n.

1. To excite fermentation in; to raise and make light, as dough or paste.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 1 Cor 5.

2. to taint; to imbue.

I really like using the Webster 1828 Dictionary – as I find it’s importance to the meaning of words as they pertain to the bible.  As a forward progressive society words lose meaning and change; and with change we need to be reminded of our history and what these changes once were.

By reading 1 Corinthians 5: 6-8 we have a clear understanding of why unleavened bread is used at passover.

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

How does this relate to me today as a child of God? Are you surrounding yourself with godly men and women who are faithfully serving the Lord with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth? Or are you surrounding yourself with the old leaven bread full of malice and wickedness? As we read in Mark 14:1, 2 both the chief priests and the scribes knew they could not put Jesus to death on the passover or it would cause the people to roar.  So, do you think the chief priests and the scribes were unleavened or leavened?

 

Again, I love how scripture answers scripture by reading 1 Peter 1:18-19

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

To wrap this up in a full circle – Jesus became our passover – he was without blemish, no sin, without leaven and only unleavened. His blood become our token for our SINS, so that we are to have eternal life with God.  To observe the feast was a duty and privileged but until the crucifixion of Christ there was not a guarantee. It’s because of Christ, God’s grace and mercies we have a guarantee of going to eternity with our Lord.

HAVE you submitted to Christ today?

May you continue to not lean unto your own understanding but search the word of our living God. May you find peace in knowing you can have eternal life.

Times of Distress – My Church Notes

My Church Notes- May 22, 2016

1 Samuel Chapter 30: 1-25

VS 6: And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in theLord his God.

Do you go through distress?  How many times do we blame God for our stress?  Why do we blame God for our distress?  Is it perhaps we need correction ourselves or conviction?

Webster’s definition of distressed–  Suffering great pain or torture; severely afflicted; harassed; oppressed with calamity or misfortune.

What kind of day do you have?

1- Mountain Top Days (these are the best brightest days and nothing is wrong and you don’t have a care in the world)

2- Ordinary Days (these are the uneventful, nothing to exciting, nothing is wearing us down)

3-  Dark Days (drudge and despair, confusion and distressed)

Webster’s definition of despair– 1) Hopelessness; a hopeless state; a destitution of hope or expectation. 2) Loss of hope in the mercy of God.

There are times we need to journey through distress or despair in order to allow us to learn something new.  The good news God always sees us through. If we are in the wilderness of life and don’t know where we are or where we are going, we need our Lord to get us through this journey.  Walking this journey alone is not what the Lord intended for us.

We know this by reading his word-

Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

and

Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

When you are going through a dark day – reading God’s word, writing a poem, reading Psalms which are praises to God or perhaps write a song may help with your dark days.

Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. Fanny’s work produced more than 100 million copies printed, despite being blind from shortly after birth. 

“Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home” by Fanny Crosby

1. Jesus is tenderly calling you home—Calling today, calling today,Why from the sunshine of love will you roam Farther and farther away?

   • Refrain:
     Calling today, calling today,
     Jesus is calling, is tenderly calling today.

2. Jesus is calling the weary to rest—Calling today, calling today,Bring Him your burden and you shall be blest; He will not turn you away.

3. Jesus is waiting, oh, come to Him now—Waiting today, waiting today,Come with your sins, at His feet lowly bow;Come, and no longer delay.

4. Jesus is pleading, oh, list to His voice:Hear Him today, hear Him today,They who believe on His name shall rejoice;Quickly arise and away.

In Job we read how he has many dark days, however, we know by reading Job 13:15 he never gave up on God.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

In Isaiah we read about his dark days, however, Isaiah does not give up on our God.

Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Have you given up on God today?

May you not lean unto your own understanding but trust and read the living word of God and know he is a good God all days not just on mountain top days ………….but all days.

 

Go Your Way and Tell

My church notes:  April 2016 – Luke 7

Did you know the Baptist church can be traced back to John the Baptist?

We know from reading the bible John the Baptist is about 6 months older than Jesus and a cousin to Jesus. It was John the Baptist who baptizes Jesus. The calling from our Lord to John the Baptist was to point out to Israel who the Savior and Messiah was and this one called Jesus was here to save the world – you and me.  What a sacrifice and a love that one can’t even begin to comprehend from both, John who ends up beheaded, and Jesus who dies on the cross for us.

How easy it is to have Satan put doubt in your mind? John knew his calling was to prepare the way for the Messiah as read in Matthew 3-1,2.

3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

² And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

John knew Jesus was the Messiah but expected him to immediately save the world.  John didn’t understand God’s timing.  John was a man who like all of us was thinking in a worldly man’s view and not God’s.  How easy it was for Satan to place doubt in John’s mind – this can’t be the Messiah he is not saving man kind. During this time of doubt John was in prison for at least two years and heard of the miracles Jesus was preforming.  John was like we are today, a world which wants instant gratification.  We want, want and want more without ever thinking we may need to wait and wait and wait some more before getting our answers.

We read in Luke 7:19-29

27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,which shall prepare thy way before thee.

28 For I say unto you,Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist:but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans,justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

John’s calling was used in a mighty way.  Remember your calling and God’s will for you might seem unreasonable or you might doubt it, but we know by God’s living word we need to be patient and wait on God’s timing and not ours.

As we read about John the Baptist – a quick fix is not always the answer.  So continue to Go Your Way and Tell – just as Jesus said in Luke 7:22

22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

May you continue to search the word of God and lean not unto your own understanding.

Comments are welcomed and likes are appreciated.

What is a Christian?

My Church Notes:  April 3, 2016

Are you a false Christian?  Are you 100% sure you will go to heaven, when you time is up here on earth?

1 Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on his behalf.

Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people.  And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

• In order to be part of God’s family, you have to be born into his family

John 3:3

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

• A Christian’s life will reflect Jesus Christ
  • Do we bear the characteristics of Christ?

It is evident we should humble ourselves as Christ did on the cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humble himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

• What do we practice?
• What do others see when first meeting us or have know us for a very long time?
• What do others hear when we speak?
• Do we pray?
• A Christian will follow the cross no matter what.
  • where do we find the direction – God’s word – it’s the living word of God which will never fail us when man does.

What is a Christian?

• One who has the Character of Christ
• One who is Committed to Christ
• One who is Commissioned to share Christ

 

May you continue to search the word of the living God and not lean unto your own understanding.