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Showing posts from May, 2009

How to Get Beyond “Thou Shalt Not”: A Lesson on Song of Solomon

Text : Song of Solomon 1 Main Idea : Romantic love is ideally an enchanting relationship. Introduction The Ten Commandments gives us the basics for morality. There is a temptation to see all of life through the Ten Commandments in a way that only emphasizes the negative. This negative starting point has made some people believe that the negative aspect of ethics is all that is required. Our Lord and Savior however taught two things regarding the Commandments, that they are to be interpreted beyond the surface level and that they are summed up in positive acts. He shows the Ten Commandments are to be interpreted beyond the surface level when he says thing like that a man is guilty of murder by simply calling someone else names. (Matthew 5:21-26) He shows they are better summed up by a positive act when he says that the sum of the Law is to love God with all our heart, soul and might and to love our neighbor as ourself. (Matthew 22:34-40) Despite these interpretations, some thr

How to Enjoy Life: A Lesson on Ecclesiastes 12

Text : Ecclesiastes 12 Main Idea : We are to use all that is within us to serve and worship God. Outline of Ecclesiastes 12 1. Use Your Capacity to Enjoy by Worshiping God (Ecc. 12:1-8) a. Worship the Creator Before Pleasure Fades (Ecc. 12:1) b. Pleasure Fades In Old Age (Ecc. 12:2-5) c. Pleasure Fades Completely at Death (Ecc. 12:6-8) 2. Use Your Capacity for Wisdom by Being Discerning (Ecc. 12:9-12) 3. Use All Your Capacities to Live a Self-Examined Life Before God (Ecc. 12:13-14) Introduction As Christians we are often not that different from the world in understanding the meaning of life. The world sees the meaning of life is enjoying relationships, wealth or simply a good day on vacation Christians want to find meaning in life by enjoying Christian pleasure; Christian family life, Christian financial freedom, or an adventure on a missions trip. Sometimes these pleasures are more distinguished by demographic association rather than by something spiritually

How to Understand What We Can Understand About Suffering: A Lesson on Job 38 - 39

Text: Job 38 - 39 Main Idea: To understand suffering one must understand the wonder of understanding. Introduction Beauty is best described rather than defined. When we see a morning sunrise, we can predict with mathematical precision when the sunrise will occur. But a sun rise that is beautiful is better described as awesome, radiant or spectacular. Beauty is not limited to a sunrise; it is in all sorts of things, fish, a family picnicking at the park, rock formations, birds, cattle, volcanoes, clouds, and a host of other things have beauty. The beauty is not simply in the lines and form, but in the associated phenomena. The movement of clouds can have its own way of fascinating the mind and eye. Those things that are not beautiful are in someway not good, they cause pain, they are ugly. Suffering in this world come through the fall, that is the sin of the first pair of humans. When they sinned, they affected not only the human race. Suffering was multiplied on the human

Os Goes For It

I just finished reading an article by Os Guinness reviewing the book by Frank Schaeffer "Crazy for God". Os goes toe to toe with Frank over the book and basically calls him a spoiled brat who never got it. Both are strong personalities. For this one, I am taking Os as the one I'm believing, Francis Schaeffer was a strong personality who loved God and people but was a flesh and blood human with many and asundry flaws. I do not beleive that he was a con man who conned himself.