Archive for the 'Worship' Category

Devotional Thinking, Meditation and Forgetfulness

Published
by
David
on 2008-08-15
in Bible, Religion, Theology/Doctrine and Worship
. Closed

I have been thinking recently, as I have been reading blogs by two members of my church, Lisa (my wife) and Cara (a friend). I been smitten by the plainness and forwardness that they have about their faith. At the same time, I have been saddened by my devotions: they have been short and I don’t meditate on them enough.

Continue reading ‘Devotional Thinking, Meditation and Forgetfulness’

How Excellent a Day

Published
by
David
on 2008-08-10
in Religion and Worship
. 1 Comment

The Lord has given us such an excellent treat and blessing in the sabbath: a day cordoned off from the rest of the week. It has kept me from getting homework done and maybe making some extra money on the side on a web job. However, those things fade in comparison to the excellency of the Lord who created, sanctified and redeemed that day for all men, not the least of which are his saints. The day is an excellent day to devote to his worship, and resting and a way to leave the mundane for a small—though perfectly adequate—reprieve. How merciful is the Lord who gave he so sweet a rest (and that every week).

Jesus, Son of God. God the Son?

Published
by
David
on 2007-06-23
in Atheism, Theology/Doctrine and Worship
. Closed

Many today deny the deity of Christ from the Scriptures, “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Mormons, many Liberal Christians (as in the Jesus Seminar, with notable fellow Bishop Shelby Spong, DD). Why would they say that he is not the Son of God? Maybe a more appropriate question would be, why would anyone say he is the son of God?

Consider John 9, where the man born blind saw Christ after being interrogated by the Pharisees:

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Note here that Jesus does not rebuke the man born blind for his worshiping him. That is not the only example. Consider also the example of Thomas’ worship of him after his seeing him following the resurrection. He worshipped him calling him, “Lord” and “God.”

27 Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

If he was not God, he would have been a liar, and a blasphemer as the Pharisees said often of him. More than that, the fact that he called himself the Son of God all the time was making himself like unto God, as the Pharisees often affirmed.

Consider also the following (from John 1), where Jesus is called God—“In the beginning was the Word,…,and the Word was God,” etc.:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

And Hebrews 1, where God calls the Son, God, and commands the Angels to worship Him, etc.:

6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

10 in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

Consider that no one is to be worshipped in this manner but God. John, when he received the vision was in the presence of an angel, and John worshipped him. Then the angel corrected John, calling himself a fellow servant, Rev. 22.8,9, and again, consider Peter, who when Cornelius worshiped him, corrected him (Ac 10.25,26). In the Old Testament (OT), Jesus is often foreshadowed, and known by David to be God, a member of the Godhead, as with the aforementioned passage in Hebrews, And the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand (Psalm 110.1). Consider from the OT: Isaiah 9.1-7, esp. 6; and from the NT: John 10.28-ff • Col. 1.16-19.

I will try to expound on this more later. But in the meantime, it would be fair to say that if the Bible is correct, and I believe it is, Christ is the Son of God. But if Christ be not the Son of God, because the Scripture shows that he is not, then the Scripture is full of error, because it also shows that he is, so cast off your foolhardy faith before this ship goes down. Consider the foolishness, darkness and fundamental flaw of this heresy, in the end, his name is Immanuel/Emmanuel, or “God with us.” Even the Pharisees understood that he ‘made himself like God (John 10.33).’ How much more plain must it be?

The Absurdity of PETA

Published
by
David
on 2006-09-01
in Philosophy and Worship
. Closed

PETA is an organization whose purported purpose it is to encourage kindness toward animals. The name is hard to argue against. Why would anyone be for the unethical treatment of animals? It seems silly to want to treat animals unethically. However, the desire of the folks at PETA is not borne by a simple affinity toward the animal kingdom, rather it is carried by a hatred for fellow humans and an inordinate view of animals.

The people at PETA think that there is no order but that which is ‘natural’. Ingrid Newkirk says we are all animals. Newkirk and her allies at PETA don’t understand the problem of their thinking. While we all exhibit animal-like qualities, we are not all animals. A calculator is not a word processor, just because they both have circuit boards. Her thinking is averse to God and His order. While it is a ‘natural’ order, it was divinely created and driven. As Romans 1 says, it bears witness against us, and many are punished for their abuse of that knowledge.

Her ideas are bound up in ideas that animals are cute, little, cuddly, fuzzy bundles of fur, not deserving of the wholesale slaughter that we meet out upon them with regularity in slaughterhouses across our cruel country. Consider if people are all animals as she says, there are no ethics. Whatever animals (which humans would be in this worldview) do is right, because they cannot help but abide by their impulses. That is essentially animalian. If a lion eats a poor, defenseless gazelle, no one would argue. If we are about the ethical treatment of animals, we should be lobbying against carnivorous animals, and bringing them into subjection to our laws and ethical construct. If, however, they can eat meat, why should other ‘animals’ be kept from it?

If her worldview were properly applied, either we are allowed to eat meat, because we are animals, and whatever we do is right (ethical), or we are not animals, and we admit that our position is distinct from animals, again allowing for the ‘ethical’ eating of meat.

It is noteworthy that there are not many opponents of the unethical treatment of plants. Does no one care about all of that defenseless corn in Western Kansas? What did an apple ever do to any of us? There are at least two possible reasons for this: even Newkirk realizes the absurdity of her foolishness taken to its logical end, and/or all those internally consistent atheists, who are so subversive and ardently opposed to admitting our God-ordered existence (whereby we may lawfully eat most anything) died while taking a stand against plant violence, since there is not much left to eat in that paradigm.

So then, eat meat, without scruples. Whatsoever you do, whether you eat meat or not, give thanks to God for it.