February 25, 2008
Opposing Proverbs?
Prov 21:5 and Prov 21:31 provide an interesting contrast.
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
and
The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the LORD.
The wisdom that can be drawn out seems to say: be diligent, make plans and most of the time you'll see abundance and victory; but ultimately God is in control and will rule the outcome.
I find it reassuring in considering these verses to remember that our God is not only fair and just but he is also good.
Posted by paul at 11:33 AM
August 06, 2007
Bigness is my Weakness… Pt2
An interesting related point to my last post is this:
There is a sense of complete predestination within how our actions relate to God receiving the glory due him.
In my last post I talked about how having the right type of weakness allows God's power to be perfected in our lives, but when you stand back and take a hard look at the elements needed for God to be perfect, what he does to be perfect and when/how is power is perfected; you can only conclude that his power is perfect as often as he is. Which is all the time isn't it.
Therefore God is glorified and shown to be perfect whether it is through my weakness or my pride. His power working through me or against me is perfect no matter what I do. How's that for predestination?
I guess it just comes down to the question of wanting God to work through you and be perfect through you or against you and perfect against you.
Posted by paul at 03:08 PM
July 31, 2007
Bigness is my Weakness…
“Bigness is my weakness, oh yeah, bigness is my weakness” we would sing in syncopated rhyme as our Super Mario character was reduced in size by an enemy goomba. It always appeared like having an enlarged, mushroomed-up character (giving you a free hit before death) made you a bigger (and therefore more vulnerable) target for the koopas and other enemies, while having a smaller and therefore weaker (one touch leads to death) character gave you a greater chance to slip by unscathed.
So here it is… the theological tie in. You knew it was coming. This is so much like the spiritual life! When we are weak then we are strong and that sort of thing.
2 Cor 12:9-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)
The trick comes in attaining the right kind of weakness so that you can have that elusive supernatural strength, because as experience tells us not all weakness leads to added strength.
When I am in false pride having a pity party about how hard my life is I don’t think that God’s power is being made perfect. When I am in weakness giving in to sin, God’s power is definitely not being made perfect.
But when I am in humility striving to obey what I know but yet struggling in hardship and trial while enduring not for my own good image but for the glory of God and his kingdom, I am small and all of his bigness, his omnipotence, the very power that raised Christ from the dead rests upon me.
Pride, fear, sin, thinking more highly of myself then I ought… all that puffs up – the bigness – is truly my weakness.
Now if only I could find one of those mushrooms that makes you invincible to enemies…
Posted by paul at 07:35 PM
April 23, 2007
I am now 21
Last Thursday I turned 21.
It was a wonderful day... that day, April 19th 1986.
It was the day that I accepted Christ as my savior, friend, father and God.
It's been a wild ride since then.
Posted by paul at 10:26 AM
April 17, 2007
The Virginia Tech Shootings and what I will do about it
Yesterday I was debating with myself. Today I am not.
Pain, suffering and death. My prayers go out to the family and friends of those killed and wounded in Virginia. It was not right, it was not moral, to do such a thing and there is no argument with that. It is natural to feel outrage and sorrow from the injustice of murder.
Walking around Lake LaVerne this morning I considered such a terrible event happening here. It was very sobering. My mind wandered to the upcoming VEISHEA celebration and the masses of people who would be soon flocking to campus intent on doing what Americans do: feed and entertain themselves.
We try and distract ourselves from the reality of death. Are you ready to see everyone around you die? Of course not. But the truth is this: every person you see is in a sense on their deathbed. Every person you talk to is mortal and has death in their near future. For some death is nearer then others and for us who are young it can seem a long way off, but we are so very fragile.
I know of a truth that can remove the sting of death and diminish it to mere absence for a time. What chances will I take this weekend to interrupt the feeding and entertaining of a few to catch them on their deathbed and provide a chance to hear the truth and love?
No, I am no longer debating. At the risk of offending or even damaging some, those near to death must be interrupted, convicted and offered true life in exchange for death.
I will share the gospel.
Posted by paul at 10:55 AM
