NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Heaven Closed To Sow’s Ears!

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Jesus to Nicodemus
“You Must Be Born Again”

When Jesus made that statement, Nicodemus didn’t understand what He meant. I offer the following as an illustration of what it means and why it is so.

Sow’s Ears and Silk Purses

My mother said it, your mother said it and anyone with common sense knows the following statement is true…

You cannot turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

This maxim is recognized universally and is usually interpreted to mean:

  • Inferior materials can’t be used to make superior products.

But it also implies that…

  • The nature of two vastly different materials can never be the same.

One thing cannot become another: water can’t become oil, salt can’t become sugar, tree trunks don’t become steel, fat doesn’t convert to protein and so on.

And in the case of a sow’s ear there are no conditions under which that principle doesn’t apply: [Read more…] about Heaven Closed To Sow’s Ears!

“Home” In Perspective

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Institutions Stabilize Society

Following are a few thoughts I threw together for a group discussion on the topic of the “Home.” The intention was to see the home in perspective, relative to other important institutions.

So the discussion began with:

The Home is one of three primary institutions

An institution is any organization or structure in society which influences or regulates human behavior or encourages social interaction. There are two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary Institution

A Primary Institution is an organization that…

  • Is designed and created by God
  • Derives its authority to exist from God
  • Is sustained by God
  • Is regulated by God

The three primary institutions are: [Read more…] about “Home” In Perspective

Calvinism – Devil Doesn’t Believe It!

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Sinners are born sullied not senseless.

The Devil Thinks Calvinism
Is A Great Idea!

And why not? One of his tricks is to make people think they can’t get saved, so anything that encourages doubt works right into his hands.

But, even though he thinks Calvinism is a good idea he doesn’t believe it.

In case you’re not familiar with the tenets of Calvinism it is a philosophical concept – nothing theological about it, although some would argue otherwise – that says God selected certain people to be saved and consigned everyone else to hell. His choices were made in eternity past and are fixed. No appeals allowed.

Yes, if you are a thinking person the logical inference is any individual not chosen for salvation IS chosen for hell. Offensive thought, hey? Calvinists think so too and have responded with long drawn out discussions designed to camouflage the reality. They even came up with a term for it, “double election.”

Google it and read for yourself. One post admits to the offense and suggests ways to soften it, without admitting any error, of course. I won’t take time to explore it here.

But, getting back to my original thought, the Devil doesn’t buy it. Not only does he focus on EVERY person – not just the elect or non-elect – he also works to blind them all to the truth of the Gospel – a condition Calvinists suggest is already existing and is curable only by a special, mystical, enabling by God.

Instead, however, the Bible says the following: [Read more…] about Calvinism – Devil Doesn’t Believe It!

Comment Savvy – Be Nice!

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Because many websites are designed to elicit responses, people feel quite free to say what they think and many brave souls do. But after reading through various comments it is obvious that the skills for communicating respectfully, rather than down or slightingly, are not apparent.

And to make it worse, some, in an expression of contempt, will sprinkle their remarks with all kinds of unwanted language, usually aimed at other people. More like a diatribe than a dialogue.

Feeding this tendency is the fact that we don’t see the other parties and will probably never meet them so why worry about the rage our comments provoke. Let it rip. Say what you really think. Fire off a response with no regard for the person at the other end.

And if anyone doesn’t like it, who cares! Haven’t we fought for the right to speak freely.

Yes, the first amendment protects the right to speak freely but those who wrote that principle into law were well experienced in making and responding to arguments respectfully. They sometimes spoke heatedly in the process of carving out constitutional rights but they remained focused on the issue not the respondents.

And they made the assumption that we, the constituents, would understand that insulting, hateful, dismissive, contradictory, vindictive and threatening remarks aimed at individuals were not fundamentals of free speech.

We have proven them wrong on that account and that is why recent laws have been written to curb our vicious free speaking tendencies.

Yes, it is a great privilege not only to think but also to share our thoughts but remember the following rules before and as you write. [Read more…] about Comment Savvy – Be Nice!

“Holy Spirit Experience” Explored

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The Holy Spirit receives so much attention these days it sometimes seems He is talked about more than Jesus. A few might think that is OK but I’m not so sure.

If everyone said the same things that would make it easier to accept but they don’t. Very different things are being said and that begs multiple questions.

Why is the Holy Spirit so prominent and how do we explain the divergent, sometimes contradictory, interpretations?

Outside of Jesus, He is the most common topic among Christians and the differing opinions not only confuse they sometimes cause conflict. One person’s ideas are often countered, not with “different” ideas, but with opposing ideas offered in a fractious manner. How do we understand this phenomena?

The one thing most Christians agree on is the Holy Spirit’s place in the Trinity. He is the third person of the Godhead and that, of course, means He is God. He has all the attributes of personality and divinity.

But, that also means we should be careful what we say about Him. Our teaching should be shaped in carefully worded statements all of which are substantiated by biblical reference. Spontaneous gushings, though sincere, may be ill informed.

A Word About Experience

That brings us to a very important topic, “Experience.”

People often base their ideas about the Holy Spirit on a personal experience they believe He caused. The experience becomes the guiding principle for everything they say or believe afterward. It is so paramount in their thinking that the experience is imposed on the Bible rather than the other way around.

That isn’t the way it is supposed to work. But, on the other side of the coin, those who oppose this approach aren’t very helpful. Merely mentioning the word “Experience” sends them into overdrive attempting to deny, not the theological implications, but the possibility that an experience ever occurred.

Dismissing “experiences” out of hand gives no one the right to claim higher intellectual/spiritual ground. [Read more…] about “Holy Spirit Experience” Explored