World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

In his book, Whistling In The Dark, Frederick Buechner writes, “There is perhaps no better proof of the existence of God, than the fact that year after year he survives the way his professional friends promote Him. If there are people who remain unconvinced let them tune into their TV’s for almost any of the big time pulpit pounders almost any Sunday morning of the year.“

People from most religions aspire to live according to a code of good morals, and Christians are no different. The Judeo-Christian morals are best summarized in the Ten Commandments. However, when it comes to how to live a moral life, Christians who believe the Gospel view things vastly different from other religions. Within Christianity there are two very different schools of thought; one based on the Gospel of grace, and the other a moralistic view of Christianity. The Gospel view is that good morals are unattainable by human effort. Though an appearance of morality can be obtained through various rules, rituals and behavior modifications, true morality starts with a transformed heart.

The Bible contains thousands of promises. In the Old Testament we find promises concerning the coming Messiah, God’s salvation plan for the world, and promises for the Jewish nation; promises of blessing, inheritance and divine favor. All these promises, no matter who they are promised to, have one common denominator, one thing which regrettably has eluded millions of Christians. Look at these words:
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ…was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen.“  (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)

One of my absolute favorite characters in the Bible is Andrew. We hardly know anything about him. There is virtually only 5-6 scriptures that mention his name and none of them are overly specific, but even amidst the little that we know; he amazes me. Every time Andrew is mentioned he is bringing people to Jesus. Whether they be Jew or Gentile it didn’t matter to him. He knew that everyone needed Jesus and that Jesus was here for everyone.

The devil has no power. His only means of influence is to deceive believers, and if we believe the devil’s lies we empower him. Consider the demonic opposition recorded in the books of Acts; believers were made homeless, taken to prison and beaten. Philip went to a city dominated by witchcraft. Paul preached in cities where idolatry and magic held sway over the people. How were these evil forces were dealt with?

No matter what your job, career or experience, one of the ditches that any person can fall into is overconfidence. Especially when you focus on yourself and your own strengths and experiences. Here Peter pledges his unwavering devotion to Jesus, but there is one element of his commitment that is lacking - humility. He doesn’t come to the Lord in humility and proclaim it; he boldly pronounces it to both Christ and all of His disciples that he will never fall away. Peter’s bold proclamation reminds me of some of the worship songs that we sing on Sunday: “I will do this Lord”, “I will do that”, “I will go here” “I will go there”. These are fine, but if they are missing the needed reliance/dependence on God’s grace then they aren’t going to amount to too much.

Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?“ JOHN 18:10, 11

Her wizened face expressed bewilderment; “I don’t understand, who are you talking about?” I was taking a stroll with some of our team members in the outskirts of Bali’s capital, Denpasar. This was the third person I had stopped to talk with and her answer proved to be the same as the previous two responses.

There is no better time to reflect on the joy of being a Christian than at a funeral. This past week Toronto experienced a tragic loss (if you want to you can google the young man’s name Jordan Manners) a wonderful 15 year old boy who died under mysterious circumstances at his school in the North West end of the city. While the circumstances surrounding his death may be mysterious the cause was not - he died of gun violence. At the funeral there was a tremendous amount of grief, anger and resentment (emotion in general) expressed. Why did this happen? Who’s to blame? What will be done about it?