Roots by the River

There are at least two types of knowledge: 1. information, facts, truth, 2. personal experience of the facts. It is possible to know that Barack Obama is president of the United States without knowing Barack Obama. It is possible to know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior without knowing Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Much of the world does not have either kind of knowing Jesus Christ. Much of the United States knows who He is but still doesn’t know Him. How can we correct this anomaly? It is by using the facts with love, kindness, and the Holy Spirit. We seem to be short of speaking the truth in love in the power of the Holy Spirit, in joy, in peace, in patience, in kindness and goodness. These are the things that will make people want to know Him, and not just know about Him.

Here are two definitions of words that are related. Agnostic: unknown or unknowable, 1870, from the Greek gnostos, known, one who holds the view that any ultimate reality (or God) is unknown and probably unknowable. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:20-21 Ignorant: destitute of knowledge or education, lacking knowledge or comprehension. Because he has chosen not to know the agnostic says it is not knowable in order to excuse his sin and ignorance. Now that he has chosen ignorance he is now incapable of knowing. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand ...

Here are a few home truths about atheists. Atheists for some reason become strident. If God does not exist there is no reason to become hysterical. However, if God does exist and you think He does not, then there is a good reason to become hysterical. Here are some expressions which describe such people: “Whistling in the dark” “Argument weak, shout here” Atheists find that they cannot stay off the subject of this non-existent being. Two famous examples in recent history of this are George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell. Three contemporaries are Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

A few rational thoughts on atheists. There are three kinds of self proclaimed atheists: 1. The most common kind says, “I do not believe in God.” Notice the grammar. The “not” modifies “believe” not “God”. What he is really saying is: “There is a God in whom he does not believe.” 2. The second most common kind of atheist says, “I believe there is no God.” In this case the “no” modifies “God.” However the “atheist” says he believes there is no God. His basis is belief. His is a faith position. He is saying either that he has a positive faith in nothing or a positive belief in something . If it is nothing then he is a faith atheist. If it is something , the something is his god. 3. The rarest kind of atheist says, “There is no God.” He makes a dogmatic statement as if he was declaring a fact. His is not a faith position. It is a factual position, not a theoretical position. However, when he makes a factual statement the burden of proof rests on him. A believer has no bu...

A few biblical pronouncements on atheists. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. Psalm 53:1 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools Romans 1:19-22 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowle...

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. Proverbs 18:12 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 14:11 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:14 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. Daniel 5:20 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. Ezekiel 28:17 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:6 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ...

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you o...

CSD is C. Stephen David. We have been in touch with him for several years. His wife’s testimony is in “How to Be Free From Bitterness.” He had the booklet translated into Telegu. I am passing this link on for information and prayer. http://www.sakshitimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=363&Itemid=43 CSD lives in Hyderbad, India.

There are two answers to the following question and statement, 1. What are the lyrics in Heaven? 2. Search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are true. The first quotation is from “90 Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper. Over 3 million copies of that book have been sold. “As I stood before the gate, I didn’t think of it but later I realized that I didn’t hear such songs as “the Old Rugged Cross” or “The Nail-Scarred Hand.” None of the hymns that filled the air were about Jesus’ sacrifice or death. I heard no sad songs and instinctively knew that there are no sad songs in heaven. Why would there be? All were praises about Christ’s reign as King of Kings and our joyful worship for all he has done for us and how wonderful he is.” Page 3, 90 Minutes in Heaven Don Piper The second quotation is from Revelation 5:9-14. And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased ...

The Lord Jesus, about 2000 years ago said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” John 3:19-20 Maybe 200 years before that Job (24:13-17) said the following: There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up and kills the poor and needy; in the night he steals forth like a thief. The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, 'No eye will see me,' and he keeps his face concealed. In the dark, men break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light. For all of them, deep darkness is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness. We who know the Lord Jesus are His light in...

There have been many evil dictators, kings, emperors, popes, and sultans in the Bible before and since. There have been relatively few good and godly heads of state. People, when choosing a leader, will overlook immorality, infidelity, and lack of ethics but will not stand for incompetence. They would rather have a competent man who lacks integrity than the other way around. It would be nice to have both. It is rare. If this is of interest to you, make a list of leaders to make your case.

The following is a quotation from a letter from Abou-Elia. I remember as a child sensing the eerie calm as a storm approached. Gaza is in the midst of a violent storm… though for you who live far from that patch of real estate bordering Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it may appear to be a storm that impacts only that local vicinity. This will probably not be the case. There are good guys and bad guys on both sides of the issue, as well as a lot of spiritual blindness. I’m not a Muslim and am strongly opposed to extremist ideas, forcing others to accept Islam or Islamic law or harming people who want to further understand spiritual truth that conflicts with Islam. The Islamic side is so focused on honor and gaining better world positioning that they’d sacrifice every Gaza resident. Additionally they would never, EVER admit to fault as they cannot bear the possibility of not being right. But then I look at the Jewish side and am appalled at their dullness, spir...

This quotation is from Bob Flynn, President of The Christian Military Fellowship. One day Jesus said to His disciples, “There will always be temptation to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” (Luke 17:1-4 NLT) I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something very different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing. Forgiveness says, “Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and e...

As soon as I sin I get disciplined, chastised by God. When God disciplines me, He takes away my joy. Why does He do that? He does so, to bring my disobedience to my attention so I will repent and confess. Let’s suppose God did not discipline me. Every time I sinned I would have more joy in the Lord. It is true that …where sin increased grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20). That did not mean …shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1) NO! God takes away my joy so I will admit my sin in repentance, be forgiven and have restored joy. This descent continued for three years. Yes, I confessed some sins during those years, but my state was gradually down hill. This is really a 6-step event. The first thing I do is sin, disobey. The second thing is I get disciplined. The third thing is I lose my joy. Now God takes away my joy by discipline when I sin, in order to get my attention so I will confess and repent, be forgiven and have joy again. Well, my joy started dow...

God disciplines believers. If you are without discipline, you are not a believer. It says in Hebrews 12:8, You are illegitimate children and not true sons. When you are disciplined it is not pleasant. That is the only biblical reason to lose your joy--the discipline of God. So, when you get disciplined, you say, "Boy, I'm so miserable; I might not be a Christian." Maybe that proves you are. Have you ever known anyone who seems to get away with murder and it doesn't bother them? Then you step out of line one little fraction and you get disciplined fast? It's because the Lord loves you. It is not pleasant. However, if you pay attention to it and respond to the discipline, and confess your sin, you are blessed and the joy returns. (An excerpt from How to Maintain Joy in your Life , p.3&4).

We would like to think there are other reasons for people losing their joy. One of the reasons we would like to think that people lose their joy is temptation. “Boy, if you went through the temptation I went through, you would not have joy either.” But the Scripture says: Count it all joy when you fall into divers (many different kinds of) temptations (James 1:2 KJV). Temptations are no reason to lose your joy. You say, “Well, if you were persecuted like I am persecuted, you would lose your joy.” What does the Bible say about that? Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness ‘sake” (Matthew 4:10 NKJV). You say, “But I just lost my mother.” And the scripture says, Do not sorrow, as others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV). The scripture also says, Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4 NKJV). The normal Christian life is a life of joy. The reasons we lose joy, we think are circumstantial. “If you were in these circumstances, you woul...

Last summer I printed the following post: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6, 7 NIV) Years ago a friend of mine told me he was not into evangelism because the more converts he had, the more backsliders he had. Of course that is not a reason to hold back on evangelism, but it makes us wonder why it sometimes seems to be so. Here is a major reason. The new Christian often is not taught to live the Christian life the same as he was taught to receive Christ. He is taught a different way of living than he was taught of receiving. That is why he falls. The new Christian received Christ by grace through faith. He did not receive Christ by “try” or by “effort.” He is not to live by “try” or by “effort.” He is to live by grace through faith. In other words, the Christian life should be like being born again every day. (An excer...

Let’s look at the 32nd Psalm: Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night ‘our hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgression to the Lord’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” There are two conditions here. One is where the person’s sins are covered, are forgiven, where he confesses his transgressions to the Lord. The other is when he keeps silent. David says his bones wasted away through groaning all day long when he kept silent. Have you ever felt like that, like you are just wasting away, that you are groaning all day long, that your strength is sapped as in the heat of summer? Or the King James Version says, “dried up, the drought ...

For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son…Romans 8:29 (MV) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in it lust…Romans 8:12 (NKJV) But now that you have been set free from sin, and become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life…Romans 6:22 (NIV) These texts tell us that we should be like Jesus Christ. He did not save us so that we could sin; rather He saved us so that we would not sin. One of the biggest problems a Christian has is what to do with sins in his life. How do you handle sin? It just seems to be endemic that Christians sin and they sin far more then the Bible allows for them to sin. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin…1 John 2:1 (NIV) The Bible does not command sin. It commands the opposite. What I am talking about in this article is not the major solution to sin in the Christian’s life, but part of God’s solution. It is more...

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…Romans 3:23 (NIV) The definition of “sin” is “missing the bull’s eye of the target.” The Glory of God is the bull’s eye. All of us have missed it. We have fallen short of God’s glory. “Falling short” needs forgiveness. However there are clearer and stronger words. Here are a few of them with the Bible references. Rebellion and Arrogance : For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king. 1 Samuel 15:23 (NIV) Wicked : Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed , you were sanctified , you were justified in the na...