NowTHINK!AboutIt

2 Categories of People Jesus Can Really Help

November 22, 2020 by EnnisP 2 Comments

Jesus Loves Everyone Equally
Even When They Don’t Know It

To be clear Jesus is more than capable of saving any and every soul. He died for everyone. Not just the elect or the specially chosen or those that actually believe.

He died for every single soul.

And that isn’t just an opinion. The Bible states this clearly in spite of anything you’ve heard to the contrary.

He (Jesus) is the propitiation (payment for) our sins (believers sins) and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

The meaning is clear. Jesus didn’t die for believers only but for the whole world.

There is a figure of speech used here that further emphasizes this truth. The figure is called Epanorthosis in Greek and it means “Correction.” In this case, it corrects the original limitation of He died for believers’ sins by extending the meaning to everyone, even nonbelievers.

Instead of Jesus dying for believers only, the meaning is extended to He died for the whole world or every person. The word “World” is also a figure. It refers to the physical world and to everyone in it.

I don’t want to over labor the point but John 3:16 also says God loved not just those who believe but the whole world.

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The question, though, is who are the two kinds of people that Jesus can really help? The answer is simple. The best among us and the worst among us. [Read more…] about 2 Categories of People Jesus Can Really Help

6 Observations From Jesus Healing A Leper

November 14, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

God Sees The Less Privileged Differently
And Honors Them With Accountability

Jesus is often referred to as a personal Savior but you have to break that down to understand what it really means. Saying He is a Savior is one thing. Calling Him personal is another.

The Savior part isn’t that difficult to understand. He died for our sins, all of our sins, a price we could never pay ourselves. That sacrifice makes salvation from eternal condemnation possible.

But what about the Personal part?

We could say “Personal” means He’s interested. His sacrifice was motivated by concern for us. The Bible clearly says that His death was an expression of love (Romans 5:8). What that means is He really cares about the individuals He saves. He not only saves them, but He also wants them to be saved.

He’s disappointed when they don’t get saved and elated when they do.

He’s spiritually and emotionally involved.

That’s personal.

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The caring part shouldn’t be assumed. There are many people whose work involves saving people from calamities: lifeguards, Firemen, EMTs, police, and more. Lifeguards are required to be strong swimmers. Caring about the people they save from drowning is an added benefit but isn’t required.

Jesus did, however, care. He was emotionally involved and His caring is evident as the following story indicates.

12 Reasons Belief Beats Politics

October 10, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Belief Is Easily Possible And Results In Endless Benefits

I’ve been a Christian for decades – more than I care to share – and I’ve spent a lot of time in church services, Bible studies, and general conversations with other Christians. The topics were always related to God, the Bible, theology, Christian living, and the like.

More recently, politics has dominated those conversations and it’s changed the perspective a lot. Now, favored political candidates are as popular as Moses and David. The opposition, of course, is worse than Pharaoh.

Participating in the electoral process is right up there with daily devotions. If you don’t vote you’re backslidden. Even worse, if you vote for the wrong candidate you’ve spurned the will of God. Blasphemous!

When the candidate of choice wins office, it’s the emotional equivalent of crossing the Red Sea!

That line of thinking is problematic. You can’t synthesize government and religion. The purpose of one is totally different to the purpose of the other. The two will never fully mesh.

The church is commissioned to evangelize the world. The government is commissioned to manage it. Neither is commissioned to make it absolutely right. They act separately and for different reasons.

We obey the church not because we have to but because it is supposed to represent the voice of wisdom and reason. Or, that’s the hope. There’s no guarantee. Several churches and church leaders (all denominations) have gone off the deep end (adultery, pedophilia, embezzlement, etc.).

Those that don’t go quite that far can still border on the moronic and we should be careful enough not to follow.

Belief Exercises Reason

No names mentioned but several years ago I came across an individual who was instructed by one of his church’s elders (the prophet) that God wanted him to marry a certain person. The church’s teaching was that elders speak directly from God so he complied.

He married the young lass and after several years of intentional effort, the relationship never gelled. It was then they realized that God had nothing to do with it.

I wasn’t involved in counseling that particular situation.

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All of that is to say that obedience should be taken with a grain of salt. Instead of obeying one person or one tradition, we should learn how to ascertain collective wisdom. Speak to many people and gain a broad understanding of the issues.

There is an art or skill to learning how to do that and the discussion could be quite long but there is no space for it in this post.

From a parenting perspective, however, instead of teaching your kids to do what you say, teach them to think about the “whats” and “whys” of their choices before imposing commands. They’ll be better served in the future.

But you’ll need to be ready for the unexpected. They may choose something different to what you planned and you need to be big enough to live with that.

Back to my line of thought. [Read more…] about 12 Reasons Belief Beats Politics

4 Tax Reveal And Campaign Chaos Takeaways

October 3, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

“This Man Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About”

It’s been a long and frenetic week for the candidates in this year’s general election. It’s fun for the public but not so much for those running the race. Let’s start with a few tax reveal takeaways.

Trump’s In The Dumps Financially

The New York Times finally opened the door to the Trump financial closet. What they found wasn’t bankruptcy but it could get there soon enough.

What we learn from the revelations is that even though Trump’s lifestyle keeps everyone watching, like reality TV, it’s more fantasy than real.

He flies around in a private jet emblazoned with his name on the side, splashes at all the big dinner events, plays golf at his many personally owned courses, and refuses to take his Presidential stipend but his tank is running on empty. He’s broke and with several hundred million in debt coming due soon and only an estimated $873,000 in stocks and bonds left to sell, it’s about to get worse according to reports by the New York Times.

It’s no wonder he wanted to be President and turn the oval into a spotlight for his family. It provides millions in free advertising for their related businesses. It’s amazing that he does all of this in plain sight and no one sees it as a problem.

With personal loans valued at more than $400 million coming due in the next few years and apparently no ability to pay, his lenders will be in the difficult position of deciding whether or not to foreclose on a sitting President should he win.

Maybe instead of voting for him, you should send a personal donation.

$70,000 In Hair Styling Costs

One of the endearing things about Trump is his hair. How many times has that crown been the focus of comedic fun?

The public loves it. I always thought he knew this and used it to his favor but, whether he likes being poked at or not, it’s become a trend among world leaders. Just have a look at Boris Johnson.

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The difference is Boris paid approximately $5000.00 for haircuts (at the very most) during the fifteen years the Apprentice aired while the Don paid $70,000.00. Both get a lot of attention for their hair and their antics. Boris paid a lot less for it. [Read more…] about 4 Tax Reveal And Campaign Chaos Takeaways

5 Reasons Not To Trust Trump

September 25, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Salvation Doesn’t Change Your Basic Nature

When people ask why I didn’t vote for Trump, my answer is short and simple. I don’t TRUST him.

That’s a fairly uncommon answer. Many people don’t like Trump but liking him and trusting him are two different things.

Likability is not a primary issue anyway. It is a good quality to have but it doesn’t really qualify anyone as presidential.

Evangelicals started the like/dislike campaign when they claimed he is born again implying, of course, that that made him a good candidate. The problem with that theory is born again doesn’t qualify anyone as presidential either. I know many Christians I wouldn’t vote for.

“Born again” also doesn’t qualify anyone as likable. I’ve listened to many biblically sound messages delivered by people who weren’t that likable. But not to worry, saying someone is unlikable isn’t the same as saying they are bad. If someone is unlikable to you, it only means you and he or she don’t necessarily mesh.

The goal for Christians is to be Christlike but I don’t mean that in the absolute sense, nor should it ever be taken that way. No one is 100% like Jesus. Not you, not me. Not your parents, siblings, or the people at church.

Christlike means you’re different from what you were. Not perfect. Not likable. Just different.

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Trump may be different from what he was but, likable or not, his flaws are still quite obvious. Taken together, those flaws raise many questions but none of them alone make him untrustworthy. There is one flaw, however, that I believe makes him unfit for the job. Let me explain. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Not To Trust Trump