"At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.'"
- Zephaniah 1:12
I never thought of complacency as believing that God is not something--I always thought it was something about us believers, how we don't do much for the kingdom of God. But thinking more about it I realized that the reason we become complacent stems from our lack of faith in God's power. We put him in a box and set limits on what he can and cannot do, where he can and cannot work. Ultimately we start losing that childlike faith we once had and become complacent to our faith. Do I hold that mentality that the Lord will do nothing, either good or bad? I think a lot of times I pray that God will do something but I don't really believe it. The other day I was praying for God to heal someone's mother from cancer and it felt wrong to pray for God to actually heal her. Maybe it was because medically speaking she wouldn't last much longer or I could just have little faith in the power of healing. We can all reasonable say that God is good and not have much doubt in that because he has blessed us aplenty, but I know for myself I cannot say that God can do the very good, or the extraordinary good. I forget that passage in Ephesians that talks about the power of God manifested in what Christ did on the cross, how he rose him from the dead and placed him as the head of the church, with all power and dominion. I constantly fail to connect the saving power of the gospel with the ordinary dealings in my life, and as a result, my view of God is chipped away bit by bit. May we all use the gospel as a measuring stick against what we believe God can and cannot do. If he can save us from our sins, from what separated us from him in the beginning, what can he not do?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
If you haven't been keeping up with current news, maybe this will be a shocker: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/penn-state-scandal-timeline-jerry-sandusky_n_1084204.html
After reading this article and many related articles, I am still in complete and utter shock. I usually don't post about current events but this is beyond belief. How can so many people cover for this one man, this one institution's reputation? How can the lives and innocence of 8 children not matter more than one's career and prestige? How can someone say, "We all need to pray a little prayer for those affected," and expect that that will be good enough? Just a little prayer?
There's so much wrong with this picture, but I think one thing that we can all learn from this how depraved this world really is becoming -- to the point where personal gain overrides moral responsibility to others. Evil spirits in the traditional sense may not be present in America, but evil does reign in the hearts of many. I just pray that those who were perpetrators in this scandal may see their need for the one true Savior, the only one who can save them from their sin. No philanthropy, good deeds, future amends to past wrongs can heal the hurt that has been afflicted. I pray for the families of the afflicted children, especially the ones who have probably been forgotten, that God would heal the agony and suffering they have been through, and through God's forgiveness, they can forgive those who have so terribly wronged them.
Things like this make me wish Jesus could come back just a little sooner...
After reading this article and many related articles, I am still in complete and utter shock. I usually don't post about current events but this is beyond belief. How can so many people cover for this one man, this one institution's reputation? How can the lives and innocence of 8 children not matter more than one's career and prestige? How can someone say, "We all need to pray a little prayer for those affected," and expect that that will be good enough? Just a little prayer?
There's so much wrong with this picture, but I think one thing that we can all learn from this how depraved this world really is becoming -- to the point where personal gain overrides moral responsibility to others. Evil spirits in the traditional sense may not be present in America, but evil does reign in the hearts of many. I just pray that those who were perpetrators in this scandal may see their need for the one true Savior, the only one who can save them from their sin. No philanthropy, good deeds, future amends to past wrongs can heal the hurt that has been afflicted. I pray for the families of the afflicted children, especially the ones who have probably been forgotten, that God would heal the agony and suffering they have been through, and through God's forgiveness, they can forgive those who have so terribly wronged them.
Things like this make me wish Jesus could come back just a little sooner...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
coming home
oh, and they sing well.
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