As young Catholics gather in Brazil, awaiting Pope Francis’ visit in celebration of World Youth Day, an analysis of census data finds that the share of Brazil’s population that identifies as Catholic has been dropping steadily in recent decades. Over the same period, the percentage of Brazilians who belong to Protestant churches has been rising.
A few years ago we were renovating the basement of our home. It wasn’t anything major, but it did involve adding a bathroom and some basic plumbing skills. I have a friend who builds houses so he came in and used his expertise to install the toilet, sink, hot water heater and run all the […]
I have a scar on the palm side of my left hand, near the base of my thumb. I once had an accident while hunting and cut it open. The only thing I had on hand in the woods was some crazy clue I had in my bag. I poured that into the cut and […]
I, like many of you, recently came across the viral video of a pastor going off on His congregation. He said to one guy, “You are the worst church member I’ve got. You aren’t worth 15 cents.” But he made sure to follow it up with, “You know I love you, right?” (FYI – that’s […]
My recent studies in the Scripture concerning the Presence of God have lead me to revisit a Word our Church received in January concerning “Order.” At this point, I am not completely clear on how order fits into a pursuit of the Pre…
Image Credit Only God can transform a bad life situation, but His first desire is to transform you through your surrendered dependence upon Him alone. Twenty years had gone by, and the day Jacob has been dreading is now upon him. He is about to run into his brother Esau. God has asked Jacob to […]
“Oh be careful little ears what you hear…”
Do you remember that song as a child? Well, Jesus told us in Luke 8 in his Parable of the Lamp in vs. 18 “So pay attention to how you hear.”
What exactly do we obey this command from the Master, to pay attention to HOW we hear?
Let’s read the rest of that verse…
To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”
The whole human race can be classified into 3 classes: those who have, those who have not, and those who seem to have! The last group has no clue that they don’t even have, or should I say are unconscious of any lack.
Christ NEVER asked for morbid introspection, however this self-examination is certainly necessary.
Yes, self-deception may be brought about from many, many causes, let’s look at a few of them:
1) first and most innocent of them all is inexperience
2) intimately connected to self-love
3) the pressure of life in general around us;
It is difficult for man to deceive himself, and God!
We must remember
it rains on the just and the unjust;
get under God’s umbrella!
~ Psalms 91:1
When trouble comes we dial an emergency number 9-1-1 and seek help from emergency services and this verse has been my 911 reference and go to all my life.
Whatever the cause of the self-deception is, God can open your eyes to show you where the problem lies. The question is how open are we to hear from God what the problem is, or do we look to other opinions of ‘who can I blame’? (that is another blogpost.. ‘Blame Game’ to come later)
So, to continue in the Parable from Jesus, verse 17 “..all that is done in secret will be brought to the open, everything that is concealed will be brought to the light and made known to all.”
Examine yourself and make sure that all that you are listening to is beneficial to “the house.” Garbage in ~ Garbage out!
Loading comments...