‘Thank you Lord, that I am not like other men.’

Posted on March 12, 2008 by theoldadam

A friend of mine recently told me that he was doing a lot better now at not sinning than he was doing before he became a Christian.

This struck me as an odd thing to say. What would possess a Christian, who’s been freed from sin by the blood of Christ, to say something along those lines?

It seems as though his personal performance is pregnant on his mind. I hear a lot of performance based preaching these days from the mega church preachers that seem to dominate the radio waves here in Southern California.

 Is there some correlation to the preaching of the law for betterment and the notion that one could actually be improving on the ‘sins‘ scorecard?

                             – Steve

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‘Getting Busy’

Posted on March 11, 2008 by theoldadam

San Clemente PierWhy do Christians, ‘get busy’?

  Is it because they are told to do so? “It says so right heConstruction Workerre in 3rd Smithsonians that we ought do X,Y, and Z”

“Well, now that you’re a Christian ( did the deal , accepted Christ , made your decision, yada yada yada), you just can’t live any way you want!”

“You need to show the fruits of the Spirit!”

Is this ‘getting at it’, inspiration of the Spirit…or a response to the demand of the law?

Is there a difference, and how can you tell the difference if there is one?

   Thanks,

             – Steve

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‘A Dismal Failure’

Posted on March 9, 2008 by theoldadam

Another day has come to an end.  And as I think about the day, and what I did for others and how much I thought about my Lord, I have to admit…I was once again, a dismal failure at loving God and my neighbor as myself.

If the equation is: that 100% of my time loving God and my neigh
hbor as myself is passing, or what’s expected of me, I’d have to say that today I was at about 5% God and my neighbor, and about 95% me and my concerns.

Shall I try harder tomorrow to even out that ratio a bit? Or will I, in the trying, actually worsen the ratio because now my motives will be shot to hell?

      – Steve

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‘The Impulse to “DO”…

Posted on March 1, 2008 by theoldadam

We just have to contribute . If not…then we are nothing.

We will not to be nothing. We must be something. So then, where does God fit in?

If we will not let God be everything (because we want a piece of the action), then we relagate Him to nothing, and we become everything (with the best of intentions), we have just replaced God with ourselves. 

This turns everything upside down. That probably tickles the devil to no end.

 “Doing” was the status quo before Jesus arrived on the scene. So He lives a sinless life, and is crucified on the cross for…the status quo to continue?

If we are all going to be lined up and judged according to our efforts, than what was that death for? Was it even necessary?

                            – Steve

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