Often times what appears to be a short cut turns into a short circuit.
Archive for the ‘Commentaries’ Category
Thought for the Day – Short Cuts
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged short circuit, short cut on March 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Thought for the Day – Running Away
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged fugitive of the truth, running from your problems on March 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Running from your problems doesn’t make them go away, it just turns you into a fugitive of the truth.
Thought for the Day – Return to The Sender
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged charismatic, Christ is us, earthen vessels, Holy Spirit, hope of glory, pentacostal, prophets, send the fire, show me your glory on March 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »
In my nearly twenty years of involvement with the Charismatic movement I have been blessed to discover that God is much more interested in my daily life than I ever could have imagined, and for that, I am truly grateful. But as time has gone on, I’ve become increasingly aware of the pension for Charismatic/Pentecostal folks to immerse themselves in Old Testament imagery and aesthetics. We imagine ourselves to be like Moses, as we cry, “Show me your glory”; or like Elijah, as we sing, “Send the fire!”; or like any number of other Prophets, as we parrot their words and mimic their actions. And while all of these stories have their place in our journey to know the Lord, there is an event that happens in the second half of the book that was meant to revolutionize the way we walk with Him.
After years of sending floods, and fire, and plagues, and angels, and prophets, He sent a perfect Lamb, who was slain “once” and “for all”. And I believe that when Jesus said, “It is finished”, He was declaring that the work was done, and that God wouldn’t need to send anything else from heaven, because His Spirit would now dwell within those who truly believe. Indeed, God’s answer to what the world lacked was Himself (in the form of His Son) and His provision for the future was also Himself (in the form of His Holy Spirit). The Apostle Paul spoke of the treasure that had been deposited in our earthen vessels, and declared that it was “Christ in us” that is the “hope of glory”.
In light of this, there is something wickedly perverse about the picture of a people, who have the Spirit of the Most High God living inside of them, crying out for God to send them something else. And while some might want to argue whether it really matters if God’s power comes from within or if it comes from heaven, I would submit that it does. Ultimately it is the difference between waiting on a million dollar check to arrive in the mail, and knowing that there is a million dollars in gold nuggets buried in your backyard. In the first instance, all you can do is wait, and maybe pester the mailman. In the latter, you can get a shovel and start digging.
Thought for the Day – “Cut Him in Two”
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged jealousy, King Solomon, unyielding on February 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
In the first book of Kings, chapter 3 (verses 16-27), there is a story about two women, who lived in the same house, and who both had babies of similar age. One night, one of the women inadvertently rolls over on her baby, killing it; and so she sneaks into the other woman’s room and exchanges her dead baby for the other woman’s live baby. When this second woman wakes up in the morning, she sees the dead baby in her bed, but quickly realizes that it’s not her child. Both women eventually wind up before King Solomon, claiming that the living baby is theirs. Upon hearing their story, the King proposes the simple solution of cutting the baby in two, and giving each woman half. At hearing this, one of the women concedes the fight, while the other says, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
From their reaction, King Solomon deduces that the woman who wasn’t willing to allow the child to be destroyed was the real mother, but my concern is with this other woman. It’s hard for me to fathom what allowed her to justify that destroying the child was somehow a better solution than yielding her position. Maybe she was jealous that the other woman still had her baby, or maybe she couldn’t accept that she was no longer a mother, or maybe she was afraid of what people might think of her, or maybe she was filled with regret over the way her baby perished, or maybe she was offended that God allowed this to happen… And while this story may seem rather extreme, I see situations like this all the time. People who claim to love their family, but who would rather cut it in two than to yield their position. Parents who claim to love their children, but who are willing to rip them apart rather than yield their position. People who claim to treasure relationships, but who would rather sever them than to yield their position. People who claim to be a body of believers, but who would rather split apart than to yield their position.
I am not suggesting that there aren’t legitimate reasons for some relationships and/or situations to come apart. But I am saying that we need to be careful that we don’t become like the woman in this story; so entrenched in our position (e.g. jealousy, insecurity, woundedness, regret, offense) that we are willing to facilitate the destruction of the very thing we claim to care for.
Thought for the Day – Fruitfulness
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged bearing fruit, character of God, children of God, fruit of the Spirit, Holy Spirit on February 12, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Just as an apple seed produces an apple tree, which in turn produces apples, the seed of God is meant to produce children of God, who should then manifest the character of God to the world around them. This is ultimately what the fruit of the Holy Spirit (i.e. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness) is all about. The scripture tells us that He has destined us to be transformed into His image (2Cor. 3:18); thus, bearing this fruit is really not meant to be optional. In fact, the gospel of John (chapter 15) speaks of a rather dire fate for branches that don’t produce any fruit.
Thought for the Day – A Roadblock to the Lost
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged hypocrisy, Pharisee, pure doctrine, religion, religious practice, zealousness on February 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Religion has a tendency to make the person of God seem distant, and to add unnecessary complexity to our walk with Him; while the scripture indicates that He has fashioned everything so that any lost child can find Him. If we are not careful, zealousness for our particular brand of religious practice can lead us into the same trap that the Pharisee’s fell into (Matt 23:13-39). Though they considered themselves to be the dutiful guardians of pure doctrine, Jesus described them as, “whitewashed tombs”, who make a big effort to keep up appearances, but who are inwardly corrupt (Matt 23:27). He not only rebuked them for their hypocrisy, but also for blocking the way for others who wish to come to Him (Matt 23:13).
The Battlefield of the Mind
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, tagged animosity toward others, anxious thoughts, battlefield of the mind, change of mind, deceptive philosophy, double minded, fear of the future, hurts of the past, repentance, spiritual battle, take every thought captive on February 4, 2016| 1 Comment »
On this side of eternity, there is a battle that goes on every day of our lives, and if we do not discern it, we can quietly live an existence of turmoil and defeat. It begins with our first thought of the day, which sets the tone for everything that follows it. And while the objective of this war is ultimately the fidelity of our hearts, the battle itself is most commonly waged upon the fertile ground of our minds. Even if the enemy never successfully wrestles away our allegiance, succumbing to this daily struggle can drastically impact the fruit produced by our lives. When Jesus spoke of the greatest commandment, He not only told us to love God with all of our heart and soul, He instructed us to love Him with “all” of our mind. But what does that really look like?
First and foremost, our journey with God must begin with a change of mind, which is commonly referred to within the scripture as “repentance”. The book of Proverbs says that as a man thinks, so is he (23:7); therefore, when we surrender our lives to the Lord, our ways of thinking must also be placed on the altar. We can no longer be conformed to the patterns of this world, and we need to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). It is not simply resisting “evil” thoughts, and having “good” ones. The Apostle Paul warns that those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. He adds that the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:5). Similarly, the book of James (1:8) warns us that we cannot have it both ways, as a double-minded man is unstable in everything he does.
While those words are clearly ripe with implication, how to apply them may not always be obvious. Thankfully, the scripture gets very practical on this matter. It tells us that we shouldn’t allow our minds to be consumed with earthly things (Phil 3:19, Col 3:2), or to let our hearts be troubled or afraid (John 14:27), or even to worry about tomorrow (Matt 6:34). It says that because “seen” things (i.e. natural) are perishing, we need to stay focused on “unseen” things (i.e. spiritual), which are eternal (2Cor. 4:18); and that we need to fix our attention on the person of Jesus Christ (Heb. 12:2). In a more general way, it tells us to look for those things which are noble, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and praiseworthy; and to set our minds on them (Phil 4:8).
The Bible acknowledges that all of this won’t come easy. While it concedes that we will have to take “every thought captive”, it also assures us that through the power of God’s Spirit, we can demolish every argument and pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of who He is (2 Cor. 10:5), and that by carrying our concerns to Him in prayer, we can experience a peace that will further guard our hearts and minds (Phil 4:6-7).
This picture stands in stark contrast to the paradigm of our culture, which encourages us to open our minds (including our imaginations) to every possibility, and to lend equal weight to every viewpoint. The scripture warns us to “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition, and the elemental spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ (Col. 2:8)”. But that guidance is challenging, especially in an age when our senses are relentlessly bombarded with images, ideas, opinions agendas… Readily drinking these things into our soul is akin to swallowing untreated water from the river; it is bound to make our hearts and minds sick.
I would suggest that upon hearing news of break-ins around our neighborhood, most of us would consider taking additional steps toward keeping our home secure. And so it should be with our minds. If we consistently battle anxious thoughts, or find ourselves mired in the hurts of the past, or are consumed with fear about what the future holds, or recognize that our outlook has become overwhelmingly negative, or are filled with animosity toward other people, or catch ourselves wondering whether God & His promises are even real, maybe it’s time to call on the Holy Spirit and to invite Him to become the new filtration system for what flows in and out of our minds.
Thought for the Day – Growing Up
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged getting older, growing up on February 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »
There is a rather significant difference between getting older and growing up. It is similar to the contrast between voluntary and involuntary muscles.
Bjcorbin's Blog 
Thought for the Day – Truth, Justice and the American Way
Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Social / Political, Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged justice and the American way, truth on March 15, 2016| 1 Comment »
We Christians need to be careful that we don’t confuse God with Superman. While the “Man of Steel” may be committed to the fight for “truth, justice, and the American way”, our God is only bound to two of those three causes.
Rate this:
Read Full Post »