The World's First Murder

We all know the story. Cain and Abel both bring an offering to God (Genesis 4:3-4) ). Abel is looked on with favor while Cain is not, which makes Cain quite angry (Genesis 4:5). The Lord then says to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:6-7). After this Cain takes Abel out to a field and kills him (Genesis 4:8).

I have wrestled with these verses. I used to always wonder what was wrong with Cain's offering. It really bugged me. After talking it over with my pastor a while back I came to realize that it wasn't the offering that was the problem. It was Cain's intentions with the offering. There was something in Cain that God saw that was not good. The text doesn't tell us what sin Cain was dealing with (my personal thought is that he was jealous of his brother even before the offering incident). The actual sin isn't the point though. The point is that Cain was not coming to God with an open and honest heart. He was giving an offering not to honor God but to make himself look good.

After God tells Cain that if he does what is right he will be accepted Cain's heart doesn't change. Once Cain was convicted of his sin he did the same thing we still do today. He rebelled even further against God. Now most people don't go out and kill their sibling when they are convicted of sin but we do try to hide it. It is crazy that we try to hide things from God. Cain tired to hid the fact that he killed his brother. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God too after they rebelled.

It is hard to admit when we have done wrong. We all struggle with it. Our human pride gets in the way. The way to defeat it is prayer. We must go to God with open and honest hearts. If we humble ourselves before Him, He will bless us. We honor God by being humble.

Family and Parenting

Brent over at Colossians Three Sixteen has made a very good post about family and parenting titled As Goes the Home….

God & Natural Law

by Jason Lisle, Ph.D.

The universe obeys certain rules—laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature. Natural laws are hierarchical in nature; secondary laws of nature are based on primary laws of nature, which have to be just right in order for our universe to be possible. But, where did these laws come from, and why do they exist? If the universe were merely the accidental by-product of a big bang, then why should it obey orderly principles—or any principles at all for that matter? Such laws are consistent with biblical creation. Natural laws exist because the universe has a Creator God who is logical and has imposed order on His universe (Genesis 1:1)...


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This is a wonderful article from the folks at Answers in Genesis. Iillustrateses how the design of God is in every single part of the world around us.

An Emerging Church Primer

By Justin Taylor

Some of you may be called to be experts on the emerging church. We need experts. But I'm not that expert. And perhaps it's good for you that I'm not. In conservative evangelical circles, we can be tempted to listen to experts so that we can hear the person's conclusions: "Just tell me what to think—don't bother me with how you got there." We want the Cliff Notes on the emerging church. We want to read the cast of characters—"this guy's a wolf, that guy's a sheep," and so on.

I'm not going to do that. One of my goals is to help you understand the "emerging church." But my deeper goal would be for us to become the sort of people who know how to think about things like the emerging church. After all, the "emerging church" is not here to stay. It's a movement, and this is its season. It might be replaced in a year or so; it might stretch out for decades. Yet one thing's for sure: Emerging Church Version 2006 is going to look different next year. And the next.

As Christians, we want to train ourselves to have the mind of Christ, so that we can respond like well-trained tennis players to whatever ball flies in our direction—no matter the angle, the spin, or the speed...


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This is an excellent article that anyone who wants to know what is up with the Emerging Church Movement should read.

The Intolerance of Tolerance

by Gregory Koukl

Probably no concept has more currency in our politically correct culture than the notion of tolerance. Unfortunately, one of America's noblest virtues has been so distorted it's become a vice.


There is a modern myth that holds that true tolerance consists of neutrality. It is one of the most entrenched assumptions of a society committed to relativism.

The tolerant person occupies neutral ground, a place of complete impartiality where each person is permitted to decide for himself. No judgments allowed. No "forcing" personal views. Each takes a neutral posture towards another's convictions.

This approach is very popular with post-modernists, that breed of radical skeptics whose ideas command unwarranted respect in the university today. Their rallying cry, "There is no truth," is often followed by an appeal for tolerance.

For all their confident bluster, the relativists' appeal actually asserts two truths, one rational and one moral. The first is the "truth" that there is no truth. The second is the moral truth that one ought to tolerate other people's viewpoints. Their stand, contradictory on at least two counts, serves as a warning that the modern notion of tolerance is seriously misguided...

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One-Stop Shopping

Our once-a-year buying plan started of necessity. But it paid off big time!

By Eric Reed


"Do you own a restaurant?" a cashier at the warehouse club asked us.

"No," my wife, Donna, replied.

"But—the green beans!" the woman protested.

We snickered. It was an easy mistake. Our contractor's cart was stacked with 42 giant cans of kitchen-cut Blue Lake green beans and cases of peas, tomatoes, applesauce, and ketchup, mostly in school-cafeteria sizes.

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Dead-End Thoughts about God

by Greg Koukl

Most speculations about God lead to a dead-end. Here's what I mean.

Imagine a lonely young man who sits by himself every night and wonders, "Does anyone love me?" He takes comfort in the hope that somewhere there's a young lady who cares. She hasn't spoken to him or made her affections known, but he's sure she exists.

"She's probably brunette" he muses, "maybe quiet like me, gentle and uncritical." For years he consoles himself, developing a detailed picture of what she's like. He's not concerned that she's been silent; she's there (or so he hopes) and that's what counts.

Our lonely friend has a problem, though. His belief can never be verified. At best, it's an empty hope, a fairy tale; at worst a sad and pitiful delusion. And in the long run it does him no good. His mystery lover can do nothing for him. He's at a dead end.

Man, left entirely to his own devices, can speculate about God. He can invent ideas about Him. He can wish and hope and surmise. But man's ruminations on God rarely rise above mere speculation. One man's opinion is as good as another's, and for the most part, just as useless. Like our lonely young man, he clings to an empty hope, a sad delusion. In the end it does him no good because his ideas can never be verified. It's just guesswork, a dead-end.

But What If...?

But what if our friend goes to the mailbox one day and finds a letter? It's from a girl who loves him. She's not a shy brunette, though. She's a redhead with fire in her blood. Though she loves him, she's been watching him closely, and there are a few things she doesn't care for. Can they meet?

This changes everything. It isn't a dream or a fantasy. What he holds in his hand is concrete, something he can test, something he can act on. It's a real letter written by a real person who has a real name. She can be known and experienced and loved. What's more, she can love him tangibly in return.

This is the Christian message: God speaking to man. He doesn't ask us to guess who He is and what He wants. He sends us a letter, tells us His desires, and asks, "Can we meet?"

Because God has spoken, we can know about Him. But what if we don't like what we learn? What if He's more than we bargained for? What if He cramps our style?

What we think we know about God must always be surrendered when God makes the effort to reveal Himself clearly. When He speaks, that's the end of the debate.

God with a Face

This is why Jesus is so offensive. If you talk about God, everyone smiles and nods approval. The concept of God is general and benign--no real threat. But if you talk about Jesus, sparks fly. Jesus is God with a face, not the fill-in-the-blank variety we conform to our own tastes. He can't be twisted and distorted and stuffed in our back pocket. And that bothers people.

If God is silent, it's anyone's game. We can speculate all we want and think what we like. But if God speaks, then our opinions don't matter. He's the authority on what He's like and what He wants. We have to take Him as He is, shy brunette or fiery redhead, on His terms not ours.

© 2005 Stand to Reason ARR
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Sin

Such a small word. Just three little letters. But the results of that little word, those three little letters, are huge. The word sin, as defined in the original translations of the Bible, means to "miss the mark". Adam and Eve missed the mark when they rebelled against God and mankind has been drenched in sin ever sense. After that one rebellious act the relationship with God was broken.

Today we are just as rebellious as Adam and Eve were. We have hope though. Through Christ we are saved. The sacrifice of Jesus paid for all our sins past, present, and future. This doesn't give us a license to sin though. Once someone has accepted Christ he or she is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit. They are new creatures in Christ and can no longer disobey God without feeling remorse and the desire to repent.




"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

A Prayer Before Surgery

My 9-year-old's last-second request surprised his doctor and taught me a valuable lesson about sharing the gospel.
by Tina Blessitt


Last fall my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, Austin's anesthesiologist came to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat."

The doctor explained that he had two choices—he could either try to start the IV, or he could wait until Austin was up in the operating room. In the OR the doctor would give Austin some "goofy" gas, and start the IV when he was more relaxed. "So, Austin," he asked, "which do you want?"

Austin replied, "I'll take the gas." But when the doctor started to leave, Austin called, "Hey, wait."

The doctor turned. "Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"

"Do you go to church?"

"No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don't."

Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said, "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider."

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well, you should, 'cause Jesus is great!"

"I'm sure He is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.

After that a nurse took me to the waiting room. Someone would come and get me when Austin's surgery was done.

After about 45 minutes, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room. He told me the surgery went well and then said, "Mrs. Blessitt, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."

Oh boy, I thought. What did that little rascal do now?

The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something. When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!" The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed, "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen."

The doctor admitted this touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn't even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs. Blessitt, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have."

A few minutes later a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator. "Mrs. Blessitt, I couldn't wait to tell you something exciting that your son did." With a smile, I told her that the doctor already mentioned Austin's prayer.

"But there's something you don't know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son's surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin's prayer. He said, 'Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus too.'" She then recounted how they joined the doctor as he prayed to receive Christ right there in the hospital.

Wow! Austin had played a small part in something wonderful. But then, so did the nurses who prayed and witnessed. I thought about John's words in his Gospel, "One sows and the other reaps" (John 4:37). Austin's experience taught me that, although we never know which role we may be called to play, in the end it doesn't matter. What's important is that we remain faithful in sharing the gospel.

Tina Blessitt, a freelance writer, lives with her husband and four children in Kentucky.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine.

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The Emergent Movement

I recently wrote this when in a dialogue with a friend of mine. We were talking about a book he is reading that is written by someone who is a leader in the Emergent Movement. I have been very weary of this movement because of the possible dangers of false teachings. During our discussion my friend asked me to read an article and asked for my thoughts. Below is the article and my thoughts.

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I really like that article. It points out where this Emergent Movement seems to be going. I think that we do have to be relevant to the culture to reach people but only relevant in the media we use (types of music, DVD's, the ad at the theatre, etc). The dangerous side of being relevant to the culture is to accept what the culture is accepting (liberal theology/doctrine, relative/not absolute truths, etc). We need to make sure the message isn't lost in the delivery method.

I think Rob Bell is a minority in the current Emergent Movement. It has been taken over by an MTV generation that is interpreting the Christian religion in to what they feel is right. This is postmodernism and I have heard a few preachers that seem to be influenced by that method of thinking. They usually stay in a gray area and when asked if they believe that the only way to be saved is through Jesus they give a response like this "Well its right for me or a Christian but for others...". Quite honestly when there are people on national TV that are supposed to be influential Christian leaders giving these PC answers I get angry and sad all at the same time. Angry because this person ends up leading people astray with this false teaching and sad because they honestly believe what they are telling people is the truth.

I have known for quite a while now that MiddleCross came from the emergent movement but I have not seen anything that has made me think that anything was wrong and I still don't. I do think though that it would be easy for our church (or any church for that matter) to slide into teaching false doctrine. I think we need to be ever mindful of this. In the end it comes down to relying on the Bible and not interpreting anything according to how we feel but relying on God's truth. Even though our culture constantly changes, God's nature always has and always will be the same.

WHEN I SAY, "I AM A CHRISTIAN"

by Carol Wimmer

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!"
I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"

When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride
I'm confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it

When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name

When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge
I have no authority--I only know I'm loved


Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer