What To Believe...

I love the following two quotes from Ravi Zacharias:

“We have a right to believe whatever we want, but not everything we believe is right.”

“I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him.”

Washington State

I was moving some pictures from a flash drive to a hard drive and came across these pictures of a trip a few years ago to the Pacific Northwest. 

Theological Term of the Day

Foundationalism

Foundationalism is the philosophical position dealing with epistemology (the study of knowing) which asserts that there are essential beliefs that must be known and/or assumed before other truths can be known since those truths are built upon the essential beliefs.  The essential beliefs are said to be self evident and are acquired through the senses and/or reason.

CARM.org

Today's Prayer

I'll Try!

Lord,

I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail,

Than attempt to do nothing and succeed!

I'll try - with your help!

Amen.

Positive Prayers for Power-Filled Living.

Spiritual Leadership

A great example of Spiritual Leadership in the Home is Jonathan Edwards, the Puritan Preacher from the 1700s.  Jonathan and his wife Sarah left a great godly legacy for his 11 children.

At the turn of the 20th century, American educator and pastor A.E. Winship decided to trace out the descendants of Jonathan Edwards almost 150 years after his death.  His findings are astounding, especially when compared to a man known as Max Jukes.  Jukes’ legacy came to the forefront when the family trees of 42 different men in the New York prison system traced back to him.

Jonathan Edwards’ godly legacy includes:

1 U.S. Vice-President,
3 U.S. Senators,
3 governors,
3 mayors,
13 college presidents,
30 judges,
65 professors,
80 public office holders,
100 lawyers and
100 missionaries.

Max Jukes’ descendants included:

7 murderers,
60 thieves,
50 women of debauchery,
130 other convicts.
310 paupers (with over 2,300 years lived in poorhouses)
400 who were physically wrecked by indulgent living.

It was estimated that Max Juke’s descendants cost the state more than $1,250,000.

This is a powerful example showing how a parent’s leadership can

have a profound effect on their children.

Taken from unlockingthebible.org

Theological Term of the Day

Fool

Hater of God. One who is morally weak, who misuses what God has given him for selfish purposes. He is lustful (Prov. 7:22), lazy (Eccl. 10:15), does not fear God (Prov. 14:2), hates knowledge (Prov. 1:22), and is self-righteous (Prov. 12:15). As Christians, we are to avoid foolishness (Eph. 5:4). (See Eccl. 7:25; Prov. 3:35, 10:8.)

 CARM.org

Discipleship Article

The following is an excerpt of an article from Mike Breen about discipleship. I thought it was very good and wanted to pass it on to my friends who are Jesus Followers.

___________________________________________________

If we want to know how Jesus discipled people and how the early church (including Paul) certainly seemed to disciple people, this is what we need to know: Discipleship requires imitation. This is the nitty gritty of what it means to be a learner.

Jesus asked his disciples to imitate His life. That was His process. It was how He passed on the "DNA."

Our lives don’t have to be perfect, or close to perfect, for us to begin multiplying the life we have in Jesus into others. But people desperately need a flesh-and-blood example to look at, watch, ask questions, receive teaching and apprentice themselves to. If they are struggling to read Scripture, it’s not enough to toss someone a book on reading the Bible or point them to a podcast.

We don’t simply tell people to pray; we teach them to pray as we pray. We don’t just instruct people to forgive; we show them what it looks like to forgive when we’ve been stabbed in the back. In the end, we need to be at a place of enough stability and maturity in our own spiritual lives that we are confident it would be a good thing if people did imitate us. This is the way of discipleship.