Worth Fighting For

Lately it seems like there has been a lot of temptations in my life to start foolish arguments with people. Or get wrapped up in a debate that isn't even important.
The reality is is that there are going to be a lot of people in your life who just want to argue about everything. They want to argue about your opinion, they want to argue about your liberties, they want to argue about every little thing they disagree with you on.
I get that that can be frustrating, and I get that you can be tempted just to fight back.
But as Christians, that's not how we are supposed to be.
We aren't supposed to argue with everyone about things we don't agree on, whether it's about your choice in music or in books, or your preferences. It doesn't really matter in the big picture.
We were not made to fight about the little things, we were made to fight over the things worth fighting for.
There are a million things that you can fight over in your life, a million. And a lot of people just stick with the little things, arguing about things that won't even matter in eternity. Foolish things.


Then you might ask, what is worth fighting for then?
Truth.
Don't let anyone ever pull you into a little one-on-one brawl about foolish things like opinions. Just shows how foolish that person is for even starting it, and shows how foolish you are for giving in.
We were meant to fight for the truth. We are called to defend the truth with everything we've got.
Your opinions aren't worth arguing over, just let it be. Sometimes that's the best thing.
If you are going to fight over something, let it be truth. Don't be swayed by the words of others. Don't prove the world you are a fool by arguing over your opinions. Sometimes it is best to let things be.
If you are going to fight, find something worth fighting for.
Make every word count. Let every word you put out there bring Glory to your Maker.
Arguing proves nothing other than how foolish you are.
Find something worth fighting for. And push it with all you're worth.


God Bless,
  A.W.

"We see, therefore, that God created two groups of intelligent, moral creatures. Among the angels, many sinned, but God decided to redeem none of them. This was perfectly just for God to do, and no angel can ever complain that he has been treated unfairly by God.
Now among the other group of moral creatures, human beings, we also find that a large number (indeed all) have sinned and turned away from God. As with the angels that sinned: God could have let all of us go on our self-chosen path towards eternal condemnation. Had God decided to save no one out of the entire sinful human race, he would be perfectly just to do so, and no one could complain of unfairness on his part." --Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

The Diary Of a Bible

"*January 15. Been resting for a week. A few nights after the first of the year, my owner opened me, but no more. Another New Year's resolution gone wrong.


*February 3. Owner picked me up and rushed off to Sunday school.


*February 23. Cleaning day. Dusted and put back in my place.


*April 2. Busy day. Owner had to present the lesson at a church society meeting. Quickly looked up a lot of references.


*May 5. Grandma's back in town. Back in her lap. A very comfortable place.


*May 9. She let a tear fall on John 14.


*May 10. Grandma's gone. Back in my old place again.


*May 20. Baby born. They wrote his name on one of my pages.


*July 1. Packed in a suitcase. Off for vacation.


*July 20. Still in the suitcase. Almost everything else taken out.


*July 25. Home again. Quite a journey, though I don't see why I went.


*August 16. Dusted again and put in a prominent place. The minister is to be here for dinner.


*August 20. Owner wrote Grandma's death in the Family Record. He left his extra pair of glasses between my pages.


*December 31. Owner just found his glasses. Wonder if he will make any resolutions about me for the new year?


What story would your Bible tell? Are you reading your Bible daily? Are you memorizing portions, hiding them in your heart? Are you obeying the Bible? Are you letting it guide your life? Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.""

--God Wrote a Book, James MacDonald

Open Or Private?

The worst thing that has happened this week was going to my favorite blog, and finding an open letter to one of my favorite preachers. It's a sad thing when you find the people in your own camp shooting not at the wolves who are leading people astray, but firing at their own fellow men.
That breaks me.
Perhaps it is because I already know so many people who either are led astray by false teachers, or many of the other people I know who have alright theology just go along and support the heretics and false teachers blindly.
After reading comments and talking to people, I realized I don't know quite how to say how I feel about it all. I am disappointed, and maybe that is just because I am so sick of the Reformed camp arguing about the little things when they could be shooting the real wolves.
There are some things that I won't argue with people about because I don't think the Bible is all that clear about. Some of which are the end times and spiritual gifts.

Am I against open letters to people? No, not at all. What I am against is bringing up the little things and making them a huge ordeal. Seems like once a well respected person attacks someone for something that isn't heretical, like having a vision from God, everyone else follows.
I think in this case, the person who wrote the letter should have gone to the other person in private. Now there is this huge ordeal developing again, and is giving people more of a reason to hate.
I don't like that. That really bothers me.
Maybe that is just because I am so used to people dealing with heretics and false teachers the wrong way.
I think it would be wise to draw the line between going to your brother in private and calling him out openly.
I think that if the person is preaching every week continually to his whole congregation about something like that, there is a problem. And perhaps that person does need to be called out openly. But I do believe that there is a point in which the best thing to do is to go in private to someone and to tell them where they disagree with them.
It's sad to see the people in my own camp argue with and fire at their own men. And at times, instead of writing open letters and calling out someone in public for the small things, they need to aim their guns at the wolves who are sneaking their way into the flock. Though they are important things to discuss with one another, I think that we have to draw the line between making your disagreement with someone open and going to them in private.

God Bless,
  A.W.

"I bear my witness that the worst days I have ever had have turned out to be my best days. And when God has seemed most cruel to me he has then been most kind. If there is anything in this world for which I would bless him more than for anything else it is for pain and affliction. I am sure that in these things the richest tenderest love has been manifested to me. Our Father's wagons rumble most heavily when they are bringing us the richest freight of the bullion of his grace. Love letters from heaven are often sent in black-edged envelopes. The cloud that is black with horror is big with mercy. Fear not the storm. It brings healing in its wings and when Jesus is with you in the vessel the tempest only hastens the ship to its desired haven." --C.H. Spurgeon

Parrots

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with someone I've known for over a year now. He isn't a Christian, but he never ceases to think out loud about the concept of being created by some sort of God.
He tried challenging me on whether there was a God or not last time we spoke.
At the beginning of our conversation, he asked the simple questions, and I could answer them just fine, but when he began asking "why" I was without answer.
"Why can't we understand God, if there is one?"
"Why can't we know everything?"
"Why does God keep things from us? It seems unfair."

When those questions came rolling out of his mouth, I could only answer, "I don't know. God doesn't have to let us know all of the answers. And obviously, He doesn't think we need to know them right now."
I could tell that after every time I failed to give him a firm, thorough answer, he would give me a certain look.  I didn't realize what look he was giving me until near the end of our conversation. Then I realized that he thought I was just a blasted parrot.
He thought I was just parroting what other Christians around me had said before. And now that I couldn't give him a thorough answer, he had knocked me off guard.
And yet, that was not the case.

This conversation wasn't the first where I couldn't give a full answer.
And I am sure that as you are reading this, you've already had at least one experience quite similar. It's a bit discouraging when you know someone thinks you are a parrot, isn't it?
Especially when you've done tons of study all over the Bible to make sure you really believe what you believe, and that you are firm in your faith.
After all of that, I think in the end it was foolish for me to be discouraged about that. The truth is that we will never understand the mind of God. We will never be able to answer all of the questions that are shot at us.
And just because you might fail in the world's eyes to answer, doesn't mean that you've failed to defend your faith.
I know that there are a lot of people out there who will let themselves be ashamed of their work in evangelism because of things like this.
If something like this has happened to you, then maybe God is trying to show you that you've been reading your Bible through rose-colored glasses. Or maybe He used it to humble you by realizing that you aren't invincible, that you don't have all of the answers.
Or maybe He was even showing you your need to learn discernment in what you hear.
Who knows what God meant to teach you in that situation. Maybe it was that you were being a parrot.
And then again, perhaps it wasn't.
Whether you are wearing rose-colored glasses and parroting what you've heard or if you have had much studying and are firm in your faith it is always good to go back and test yourself to see whether you are firm or not.
It's good to test yourself. To examine your faith.
But don't let what the world thinks is a "challenge" shake you up.
Just because God doesn't let us know all of the answers doesn't make us unsteady in our faith.
Answer the questions as best you can, even when you don't have a clear answer.
So overall, those conversations are good. God is always teaching us something. The goal is to see what He means to teach us after every conversation.

God Bless,
  A.W.

Just Some Random Quotes To Think About

"It is impossible for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God. God Himself could not make him happy any other way... There is nothing in the world worth living for but doing good and finishing God's work, doing the work that Christ did. I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing his whole will."

 “Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose”

"When you cease from labour, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: and while your hands are labouring, let your heart be employed, as much as possible, in divine thoughts."

--David Brainerd 

Does The Battle Stop on Break Time?

Does the battle stop in summer?
I've noticed that in churches a lot of times everything stops when summer hits. The book studies stop, the small groups stop, the youth group stops, pretty much everything besides the main church service seems to stop.
Do you ever notice that church activities tend to come to a halt in summer?
Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. Does the spiritual battle come to a pause in the summer?
No. The spiritual battle never ends in your life.
Just because some people have time off of work or school, doesn't mean that they need to have a break off of church activities too.
The need for Christian fellowship in places such as small groups is just as great through the rest of the year as it is in summer.

In fact, summer is one of the best times for church activites.
For one, people tend to have more time.
It seems that in summer, most people have too much time on their hands. And tend to let down their walls spiritually. And in result of letting down one's walls, sin dominates.
Letting down your walls leads to a wasted life. The moment you as a Christian feels relaxed is when the devil will capture you.
You'll start compromising your morals in order to have a "good time" with your friends, you'll start watching TV and playing games that will take up your whole day; you'll waste your life when your shields drop.
It's easy to waste your life when no one is keeping you accountable. So you see, it's important to not let your fellowship with Christians stop when summer hits.

At least to my thinking, it's important that church activities don't stop. We need to have fellowship with the body, even though it's so much harder when everything seems to stop at church.
The plain and simple fact is is that the spiritual batte will never stop in this life, not until Christ comes, of He takes you home.
But until then, never think it is alright to let your walls down, no matter what kind of time you have and no matter if it is summer or spring, or winter or fall.
The Christian life is not over during the summer.

God Bless,
  A.W.

"The trouble with all false evangelism is that it does not start with doctrine, it does not start by realizing man's condition...If you and I realized that every man who is yet a sinner is absolutely dominated by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, if we only understood that he is really a child of wrath and dead in trespasses and sins, we would realize that only one power can deal with such an individual, and that is the power of God, the power of the Holy Ghost. And so we would put our confidence, not in man-made organisms, but in the power of God, in the prayer that holds on to God and asks for revival and a descent of the Spirit. We would realize that nothing else can do it. We can change men superficially, we can win men to our side and to our party, we can persuade them to join a church, but we can never raise the spiritually dead; God alone can do that." 
--D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones