Divine Accomplishment vs. Human Achievement

All religion fall into ONLY two categories, one where God in Christ accomplishes salvation of whom he wills apart from any effort by man OR one where man by some effort or achievement of his own gains salvation.

DIVINE ACCOMPLISHMENT = The Christian Doctrine
HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT = Every other religion

Everyone's conscience confirms that we are not righteous in and of ourselves. We know this innately and always seek to justify ourselves by comparison. "At least I'm not like that person." So when someone becomes convinced of their condition they resort to religious systems that encourage positive attitudes, right thinking, good living, moral behavior and good works (helping others). The problem with this kind of thinking is that it supposes that by doing these things we can somehow please God and convince Him of our worth. According to Heb 11:6 It is impossible to please God without faith. You say "Ok fine, but faith in what?" Well faith that God exists and that Jesus Christ is his son and that he lived a completely righteous life and died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins and was raised again in a bodily resurrection. So that God imparted our sinfulness to him and imparted his righteousness to us. Finally God declares us righteous in his sight by the blood of Christ. See no human achievement involved in this plan at all.

The deadly sin of Discrimination?

The Supreme Court of the the United States is hearing oral arguments in the case of Christian Legal Society v. Hastings. Which at issue in this case is whether the Christian Legal Society at the University of California - Hastings Law School should be defunded because of it's refusal to recognize gay and unbelieving students into its leadership.  Based on the school's policy of nondiscrimination, the law school argues that it should be. This ruling will be of great importance to all civic recognized institutions which comprises it's membership or leadership by a common set of exclusionary beliefs or convictions. At the heart of these arguments is the question of which doctrines will supersede. Will the Court hold that anti-discrimination laws or policies trump religious liberty and the freedom of association? Or will it affirm that matters of religious liberty and the freedom of association are exempt from such policies.

Unfortunately logic is on the side of discrimination but our culture is certainly not. To deny discrimination is to deny good judgment. We discriminate against child molesters as babysitters, against embezzlers as accountants and children as licensed drivers, right? The problem we face is that as a people we have been found to be morally bankrupt at times and have robbed ourselves of the right to discern or should I say discriminate in our decision making. From a purly logical standpoint anti-discrimination is no more sound than tolerance. As a position you cannot remain tolerant in that you will have to ultimately tolerate those who are not tolerant. A policy of anti-discrimination immediately discriminates against those who would hold to an opposing belief system.

Discrimination is good. "Discriminating moms agree." If our discrimination is based on scripture (discernment) than we are morally and ethically out of step but ultimately pleasing God. Jesus was very discriminating when he said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Come let us Reason

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

I think that it is important to recognize that God calls us to use our ability to reason. He wants us to use our understanding and logic as it relates to his revealing himself to us and his directives for us. To think critically and evaluate the arguments presented. The incomprehensibility of God does not preclude us from knowing anything about God. God reveals himself to us in several ways, chiefly through the scriptures which are made up of divinely inspired words that communicate divinely inspired thoughts. These thoughts can and should be understood to have meaning in a very real sense. To quote a somewhat fundamental idea "words mean things."

In the case of Isaiah 1:18 God is calling on his people to make an argument for themselves as if in a court of law. By presenting their case and in turn God presenting His case they would become convinced that the position they held was wrong and God was right about their condition. Their acknowledgment of their sinful condition and repentance was needed before God would cleanse them. Being convinced by means of reason strengthens ones faith it does not diminish it.


In the following video clip I am struck by the comment about how there are so few believers who think critically and it is because of this they will be carried about by every wind of doctrine. Eph 4:14

Forgiveness

I was following this Blog :: Desiring God by Tyler Kenney at Desiring God and it reminded me of a great book I read this last year.

Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns.

Chris did a commendable job of outlining the biblical model that we are to use when confronted with both repentant and unrepentant offenders. I hope I don't do a disservice to his work by attempting to summarize what I remember, as I gave the book away. He points out the importance (Christian obligation) of making an offer of forgiveness to all that have offended. However it is only through repentance that actual forgiveness can be granted. Luke 17:3

Now I think I'll ask if i can have the book back.

A+ for Effort.

"It's not done until its perfect and it's not perfect until I'm done messing it up."

I'm a superfreak! I love to obsess about all of my new and old passions. I spend endless hours researching and pouring over data, reviews, images and instruction manuals and books. I am addicted to magazines. Oh, and not the type your thinking, I'll leave those obsessions to you and your psychotherapist. It's at that moment when I start buying magazines about subject's I've never obsessed about before that I realize I am about to be overcome. "Hi my name is ...... and I'm an information junkie."

I was never blessed with raw talent or some remakable ability, but I do have a better than avarage memory and an apptitude for learning new stuff. You couple that with some solid obsession and there you have it, moderate proficiency. Now all in all thats not a bad thing because very few are truly gifted. However, take a guy who is addmitedly obsessive and leave him with a touch of perfectionistic tendancies, then watch him chase his tail. Talk about frustrated!

As I had mentioned before I am a conniosseur, an afficianado of sorts. I have a keen sence for that which rises to the level of greatness. I can spot it, I can tell you all about it and let me tell you that you cannot fake it. This greatness however, has seemed to elude me to this point. But I am as focused and determined as ever to posses it for myself even if every other attempt has fallen short. I am sure that I forgot to mention that I have been known to be somewhat lazy at times, though not a slacker by any means. I really think its a matter of succumbing to the utter frustration of imperfection.You know the goal that is ever set to high, shoot for the moon.

Over the span of a fairly short life I have had hopes for greatness as a musician. No! I never wanted to be a rockstar. Well, until now! More about that later. But I did want to play guitar just like my heros Robben Ford, Eric Clapton, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Van Halen, Dweezel Zapa.......oh sorry about that. I'm sure you get the point. Needless to say you have never heard me play. I was also never an accomplished studio drummer not for lack of study and practice. Well actually more practice may have made me much better but I fear it would never have made me great.

Get to the freakin point! Some photographers are truly genius. They create, sculpt with light and produce images that are in fact art in it's highest form. They are the gifted. I am Not. I am however, obsessed with greatness and beauty and need only to be near it. Near enough to record it through the lens of a camera.