Truly Free

The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.--Abraham Lincoln

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.--Winston Churchill

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.--Ronald Reagan

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.--John F. Kennedy

Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect.--Eleanor Roosevelt

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.—St. Paul

“Figures—The letter kills—Everything happened figuratively—Christ had to suffer—A humiliated God—This is the cipher St Paul gives us. [2Cor 3.6] Circumcision of the heart, true fasting, true sacrifice, true temple;[Rom 2.29] the prophets showed that all this must be spiritual. Not the flesh that perishes, but that which does not perish.[John 6.53-7] ‘Ye shall be free indeed.’[John 8.36] So the other freedom is just a figurative freedom.
‘I am the true bread from heaven.’[John 6.51]”—Blaise Pascal

If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.—The Lord of all, Jesus of Nazareth

A Half-a-Moon

Today we got only a half moon. I say only, because it could have been full. Is not a full moon better than a half? To me, it is. This half moon is at most halfway pleasing to me. If we could simply have a full moon today, then I would be happy. However, since I only see a half moon I will complain about it.

The moon today was ugly; it put me in a bad mood. It surely could have been bigger. It really could have been fuller. Brighter. Shinier. Clearer. Now that I am thinking about it, do we really need a moon at all? I mean if it is not going to be full, bright, and shiny, then what is the point of putting it up there? While I am at it, there were a few other things not quite right this morning. For one, my feet were sticking out, bare and cold, when I woke up. Furthermore, my coffee was a little bitter; I do not like that all. Not to mention the temperature drastically changed from the weekly average that we have been receiving. What’s the deal?

Now let me regain my composure. Well, now that I look at it again, these really do sound like silly things to grumble and complain about. Do they seem silly to you? They really do seem a menial and trivial thing when you take a step back and look at them from another point of view.  Though, I suppose, from God’s point of view, these things may not be trivial at all. They may have great importance in my life. I guess it is considerable to remember that God is the determiner of the importance of everything in each area of our life as it relates to His ultimate plan. So, maybe I should not complain about the half moon then. I really shouldn’t complain about anything. After all, I’m sure that Moses’ Israelites thought it was an insignificant thing to complain about having only manna and no meat to eat. Yet, Numbers 11 says this:

 ¹ Now the people began complaining openly before the LORD about hardship. When the LORD heard, His anger burned, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. ³ So that place was named Taberah, because the LORD’s fire had blazed among them.  ⁴ Contemptible people among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat? ⁵ We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”…
¹⁸ “Tell the people: Purify yourselves in readiness for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the LORD: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The LORD will give you meat and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, ²⁰ but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”…
 ³¹ A wind sent by the LORD came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them at the camp all around, three feet off the ground, about a day’s journey in every direction. ³² The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered 50 bushels—and they spread them out all around the camp.
 ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the LORD’s anger burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a very severe plague. ³⁴ So they named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved the meat.

To Judge or Not To Judge; That Is Romans 14

                In Romans chapter 14, Paul uses the analogy of one person judging another’s slave, according to their own standards, in order to show the absurdity of one person judging another Christian—mind you, this only works with believers and not unbelievers, who are not slaves of God. The absurdity comes in at the idea that says that the one judging knows the end of the slave’s task or works. He does not.

                One very large and important inference we can draw from this argument of Paul’s is that one cannot tell whether a slave of Christ is where he should be, because that slave of Christ has one very specific and predetermined goal: to glorify God; one certain end: to be sanctified. In order to judge, then, this servant of the Most High, we would need to know the order in which this life of sanctification is taking place and the means that God is using for this end.

To exemplify this point we can look at one other analogy. Consider a particular historical figure who had his own personal secret means to another certain predetermined end. Consider Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (a.k.a. Michelangelo) the sculptor—the artist. When Michelangelo was commissioned to create a certain work, the one paying the artist would often have a very good, if not total, idea of what the end would look like. However, if the commissioner came to the sculptor prior to the works completion and at various times, would he be justified in judging the work or not? Would he be right in telling Michelangelo that his partially carved piece of stone was not where it should be? No. He has no idea of where it should be. Even another artist would be unjust in making a premature judgment of a piece of art. How much more, then, should we not judge another Master’s work of art—a work of holiness?

Let Me Tell You About My Father

My Father doesn't give me stones;

     He uses them to strengthen my feeble arms and weak knees.

My Father doesn't give me snakes;

     He uses their venom to cure me.

He uses the roar of a lion to turn me back;

     and flaming arrows to enlighten me.

He uses wolves in disguise to make me discerning;

     and swine and dog to reflect my pride.

He uses my blindness to show me His glory.

He uses the sword to shed my thoughts and intentions from my heart.

He uses fire to purge my dross;

     and pruners to grow my knowledge of Him fuller.

He uses war to strengthen His armor upon me.

He used my disease to drive me to the Physician;

     my debt to drive me to the Forgiver of debt;

     and my trespasses to drive me to the One who justifies.

He used my heavy burden to seek out His relief;

     and my thirst to seek out His righteousness.

He used my darkness to discover His Light.

He will use my poverty to enrich me;

     and my hunger to satisfy me;

He will use my tears so that I can enjoy Him;

     and my insults so that I can exult Him.

Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn't we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.~Hebrew 12:7-11


Do you know who your father is? --Then Jesus replied, " I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.~John 5:19


They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.~~Johhn Chapter 8

Kingdom Triangle Discussion: Moreland's Response to CT Blog

Kingdom Triangle Discussion: Moreland's Response to CT Blog