Posts Tagged ‘ Corinthians ’

Becoming An Atheist

I have a really bad habit.

I just can’t pass on atheists!

As much as I want to and as much as I realize so many of our discussions are going to wind in the same circles, I can’t yet resist the desire to debate and discuss our differences.

Why?

I don’t really have a suitable answer.

How far should I go?

Recalling Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:22 in which he said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” I am left with that quandary…where should I draw the line?

How atheist should one go in their quest to reach atheists for Christ?

I have realized in several debates with atheists that the only way that I will truly be able to express my faith in Christ to them is to have arrived at that faith from where they are…from their perspective.

So I’m embarking on a journey. On this voyage I hope to see Christianity through a different set of eyes.

I’m going to attempt to view my faith, and Christianity as a whole, through the eyes of the atheist.

I’m going to face many challenges during this time. My hope and prayer is that I will be drawn closer to our Master and in the process will be used by Him to draw others with me.

So, if you are reading these posts, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Where should the line be drawn? How far is too far?

Just how atheist can one be and still be in Christ?

In the Lamb,

Mark

2014
02/08
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Christian Lifestyle
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Daily Reading & Comments 7 April 2013: Mark 2, 1 Corinthians 6, Psalm 78, Joshua 15-17

Mark 2:22 – Jesus ushered in a new era, a new heavens and earth for the descendants of Abraham. This new wine needs fresh, new wineskins so that the expansion of the fermentation (transformation) has the room necessary for change.

We must realize that only God can make men’s hearts into new wineskins. Only God can make people ready for the transforming power of the Gospel.

We must also realize that change is impossible if the foundation and preparation are not in place for change to occur.

Mark 2:27 – Jesus is still trying to pour His new wine into old wineskins. The Sabbath was made for man, to give him a day of rest, to give him a day to honor God. The Sabbath was not made to be the judge of man.

We need rest and God designed the Sabbath to insure mankind the rest we need. We all drag around tired these days because we don’t set aside a day to rest.

It was also designed as a teaching tool to point us to the true Sabbath rest in Christ Jesus. In Christ, we rest from all our works and fully trust in His works.

1 Corinthians 6:7 – We should be ashamed of the state we are in. How often are believers suing believers in a legal system run by unbelievers? We are so unwilling to suffer and be defrauded in this world.

Saints will one day judge the world and even the angels, and yet we are both unwilling and unable to make wise, holy judgments in this life.

Psalm 78:38 – We are remiss if we fail to recount how faithful and compassionate our God is. In His compassion He atoned for our iniquity so that His holiness would not have to destroy us. In Christ, He satisfied His own holy requirement in order to redeem us from our sin.

Joshua 15:63 – Israel allowed the thorn to stay put. The Jebusites should have been driven out of the land.

Joshua 16:10 – Another story of those who should have been driven from the land but were not. Israel allowed these thorns to stick around.

We should allow Christ to conquer everything in us so that no thorn can remain and cause trouble in our walk with Christ.

Joshua 17:13 – The story of Israel is our story. We have so many opportunities to drive out the former life and yet we do not fully drive them out. We act as though we may be able to forever enslave our former self rather than destroy our former self. We cannot enslave our sin nature, we must destroy it.

2013
04/07
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Radical Rants
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Daily Reading & Comments 6 April 2013: Mark 2, 1 Corinthians 4-5, Psalm 76-77, Joshua 10-14

Mark 2:10 – The most important thing, the whole goal and emphasis of the kingdom, is found not in power to heal from sickness, or ailment, but in the authority to forgive the sins of mankind.

1 Corinthians 4:20 – God’s kingdom is about His power to cleanse us from our sins. His power over the darkness of this world. His power to bring about His kingdom and impose His will on this world.

1 Corinthian 5:10 – We seem to follow the opposite rule in modern churches. We acquit those who call themselves by the name of Christ and yet live forthrightly in sinful behaviors. We even go as far as to find means to excuse their behaviors rather than hold them to account.

Yet, we stand in judgment against those who are lost for living in sin when what they need most from us is a semblance of the same mercy we are so willing to give to those who name the name of Christ.

Psalm 76:8 – God is the only one who can still the entire earth at once. Here He stills the earth with the majesty of His judgment.

Psalm 77:13 – As much as it may seem to us from our perspective that God is absent or that He simply doesn’t care what we need is a dose of His perspective. Everything that God does, He does because He is holy. His holiness is the common denominator of our entire existence and for Christ’s life, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Joshua 10:14 – We serve a God who is able to make the heavens stand still in their place. How courageous should we be when we have chosen to be in His army and fight in the battles He is waging? Let us go and make disciples of the nations!

Joshua 11:23 – Joshua took the entire land as God had commanded Him through Moses. Jesus took the entire world as God had commanded Him through the Law.

Joshua 12:24 – When Christ returns in victory He will win agaisnt all the kings of this earth just like Joshua defeated all the kings of the land.

Joshua 13:33 – Joshua dispersed the land to the tribes as was commanded by God. The Levites received no land inheritance for God is their inheritance. We Christians are the new Levites, God is our inheritance.

Joshua 14:12 – Out of all the places in the land that Caleb could choose for his inheritance, he chose Hebron which was occupied by giants (the Anakim) and was filled with foritified cities. It may very well have been that Caleb saw this area as a spy 45 years earlier and has desired the area ever since.

May our faith be as such that the giants and fortified territories of this world do not frighten us away from living by our faith.

2013
04/07
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Radical Rants
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