NCarolinian

I have a question for you and a teaching for myself.  Do you desire to be a person who is honest, lawful, upright, just, agreeable, level-headed?  If you are inclined to seek after these qualities in your life's journey as ways to be remembered and ways to serve your God then I have some brotherly advice, in Christ, that will aide you in this quest. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" "Lean not on your own understanding" "In ALL your ways acknowledge Him" ".......and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6 Besides what is listed to you in my question above, the phrase "make your paths straight" has a flavor of someone who "shoots straight from the hip".  This is a direct, but sincere individual who will tell you the truth about all things and is good to have on your team in pressure situations. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" means to surrender every part of your life to God.  ...

The Jews had laws in which the violation thereof called for death.  Before any kinds of government (i.e. Roman or otherwise) were domineering over the Jewish people, stoning the guilty seemed to be the common method of the death sentence.  So, to me at least the Pharisee's response to Pilate - "But we have no right to execute anyone" (John 18:31) - was a lie!  This is further supported by the next sentence - "This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled."   So, there were two methods of death - one that man had ready for Jesus and one that God had ready for Jesus.   One of the Jewish laws that demanded death was someone claiming to be The Son of God.  Jesus agreed with the statement from the High Priest that He was the Anointed One.  So, why was Jesus not stoned to death by the religious leaders of the that day instead of crucified by the Roman occupation of Israel? The number o...

My God, the God I worship is the God of order .  There is a being that likes to generate chaos or confusion, but he is not a god - he is a fallen creation, a fallen angel.  There are many Godly orders that have been ordained.  The "natural order " with all of it's cycles and relationships. The "angelic order " with the angelic hierarchy that helps categorize the different levels of powerful spiritual servants of God.  The "spiritual order " of laws that the Spirit set which cannot be reversed - like the Law of Sowing and Reaping.  However, there is an order that does not necessarily have a name but exists none-the-less.  I will call this order - "Jews Got Dibs On Life Order ". This order is exemplified through the life of Paul.  When Paul and Barnabas entered Pisidian Antioch and taught, they had some initial success.  However, the next day when Paul and Barnabas were going to continue, there was a large crowd amassing to hear th...

When I was growing up under my mom and dad's roof I heard the phrase - "What?!  Do you think money grows on trees around here?!" - often utilized.  It is not that they did not wish to grant whatever my request was at that moment, but I have always had a slight case of my eyes-bigger-than-my-stomach mentality.  Just like vision can take in much more space than the area in a stomach, my desires could always imagine much more than what dad's two careers and mom's career could handle.  I learned quick to temper those imaginations, but would push the envelope every now-and-then.  Usually I received some form of the phrase above, but occasionally I would be awarded what I desired and that was special. I believe NOT getting everything I wanted at the drop of a hat helped me tremendously in shaping my appreciation for when God blesses me with the little things as well as the big treasures in life.  He has definitely kept me from being a materially-speaking, spoi...

Many of us have heard the slogan concerning challenges in life - If God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it .  However, sometimes God elects for us to taste the challenge for a purpose and then rescue us in the midst of it for that purpose or possibly many others.  With Peter, Paul, and Silas this seemed to be the case.  Individually they would be challenged even to the point of death for the spreading of the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ.  Then in addition to the original challenge there would be what I will call an "Above And Beyond" event by God.  Allow me to elaborate. In the account of Peter's miraculous escape from prison in Acts 12:1-19 , Peter was arrested (v.4), thrown into prison (v.4), "guarded by four squads of four soldiers each" (v.4), slept between two soldiers (v.6), "bound with two chains" (v.6), "and sentries stood guard at the entrance" (v.6).  Wow!  Talk about a hard criminal (sarcasm inserted)....

You know what I have found out about God in Acts 9 and 10?  God is the God of specifics or details . In Acts 9:10-12 Scripture records: "In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.   The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.   In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."   God calls Ananias by name! God tells whose house He wants Ananias to visit ("the house of Judas") God supplies the address ("on Straight Street") God then tells Ananias what to do at that location by supplying him with gender, hometown, name, and what his target is doing at that moment. ("ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying") God informs Ananias that Saul knows he is coming, what he is going to do, and the...

"The apostle Peter wrote this regarding Jesus:  'Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously' (1 Peter 2:23).  The word 'committed' is the Greek word paradidomi , a compound of the words para and didomi .  The word para means alongside and carries the idea of coming close alongside to someone or to some object .  The word didomi means to give .  When compounded together, it presents the idea of entrusting something to someone .  The prefix para suggests that this is someone to whom you have drawn very close .  It can be translated to commit, to yield, to commend, to transmit, to deliver, or to hand something over to someone else . The Lord Jesus yielded Himself to the Father who judges righteously when He found Himself in this unjust situation.  In that difficult hour, He drew close to the Father and fully entrusted Himself and His future into the ...

Acts 8:18-24 As a young convert, just verses old [ verse 13 ], but probably minutes old, Simon the Sorcerer had supposedly laid down his "magic wand" for belief in Jesus as Christ.  However, Simon still operated under his old thinking even though he believed in Christ's first gift - the gift of salvation. This first gift had been taken by faith.  The second gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit, "was given at the laying on of the apostle's hands" ( v.18 ).  Simon's past and old nature still haunted him strongly.  He evidently was a man who used to learn tricks, deception, or his trade by paying for the right of the next new "power".  I suggest this because now, Simon offers money to Peter and John for the "power" he sees on and in them - The Holy Spirit.  Simon is doing what he has always done in these situations.  His old habits and lifestyle still govern his steps.  His belief in Christ is merely intellectual consent.  His belief i...

I am at a point in my life and walk with my God where I know there is plenty of opportunity for me to be impatient.  There is a dream I have not seen come to fruition that I long to see materialize. I have had this dream since I was a Junior in High School (1987).  I am now 42 and have not seen it via anybody else in all these years, which is promising but makes me want to speed up the process a little.  Scripture says this is inadvisable. The first Scripture passage that comes to my mind that warns about impatience is Genesis 16 .  Sarai, Abram and Hagar form a love triangle that is reminiscent of some soap opera relationships I have seen.  God promises Abram countless descendants and his wife, Sarai, who has been barren for years on end suggests to Abram that he "have relations" ;) with her maidservant Hagar (maybe to speed up the process and help God along with His plan).  First, this plan did not come from God.  Secondly, this plan was not blesse...

There was a time, early on, when the Church truly devoted themselves to God, His Son's teachings, and each other.  Now-a-days I see pockets of the early devoted church exemplified throughout the world.  However, I believe the world-wide Church will need to return to this devotion now , more than ever, if True Believers are to weather the coming challenges and keep the "fire" burning for Christ. Acts 2:42 says that the early Church devoted themselves to four things: 1) to the Apostle's teaching, (2) to fellowship, (3) to meals together, and (4) to prayer.  The actual verse in the NIV reads - "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."    The following verses elaborate on this atmosphere of love, teaching, and provision. "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.   All the believers were together and had everything in c...

In my humble observation there have been revivals of the true Christian faith (mindset, spirit, and action), but no real staying power once the revival hits.  Now-a-days it seems longer in between periods of revivals.  Some of these historical revival periods are mentioned in a book by Elmer Towns and Douglas Porter called From Pentecost to the Present:  10 Greatest Revivals Ever . THE TEN GREATEST REVIVALS EVER 1. The 1904 Revival, Beginning in Wales Evan Roberts, Korea, Moravian, Azusa Street 2. The First Great Awakening, 1727-1750 Zinzendorf, Wesley, Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards 3. The Second Great Awakening 1780-1810 Cane Ridge 4. The General Awakening 1830-1840 Charles Finney, Hawaii, Jamaica 5. The Layman’s Revival 1857-1861 Phoebe Palmer, Lanphier, D. L. Moody 6. The World War II Revival 1935-1950 Billy Graham, Duncan Campbell, New Zealand 7. The Baby Boomer Revival 1965-1970 The Jesus People, The Prairie Revival, Asbury 8. The Reformation, 1517 Martin Lut...