Bad Boys, Long Hair and Commode Seals | 1 Sam. 17:1-50a
Behind that hair and beard and helmet and motorcycle, there was a quiet shy person who hoped no one would talk to him. He just wanted to be left alone.
Behind that hair and beard and helmet and motorcycle, there was a quiet shy person who hoped no one would talk to him. He just wanted to be left alone.
Who do you want as your priest? Do you want Aaron or Jesus, a Shaman soothsayer or Jesus, Joseph Smith of Mormonism or Jesus, an Islamist cleric or Jesus, an ecclesiastical Catholic or Jesus, a guru of Eastern mysticism or Jesus, Shirley McLaine and Madonna or Jesus? Checking the fine print just might be a good idea.
God wants us to feel good about ourselves. I don’t mean that there are never times for sorrow and/or repentance. However, we are to live from joy to joy and strength to strength due to the resources He has poured into our lives. Though everyone may defy the power of God in our lives, what matters is what we – as individuals – believe.
The commandments, rituals, and regulations of the Mosaic Law cannot get men and women to God. The law, as well intentioned as it may be, cannot produce human perfection, which is the minimum requirement for access to God. So, what hope do we have? Actually, we have a better hope, says the writer of Hebrews, a hope that makes us perfect before God. Sound crazy?
Forgiveness is free. Forgiveness comes to us totally and completely. There is no such thing as partial or gradual forgiveness. It doesn’t come by inches. You’ve either got it or you don’t. Get this. You can have it today – 100 percent, and start again.
Christianity is neither an addition to Judaism nor does it adorn Judaism. To the contrary, Christianity is a new order. Essentiality, Judaism gives us the symbols while Jesus gives us the substance. If you’re looking for spiritual, life-changing power, then cease clinging to the symbols and open your life to the substance.
God will give as much grace as we need to work through the mess we’ve created, as much mercy as we need to experience full and complete forgiveness, as much power as we need to turn our lives around. God will give us as much peace as we need to overcome our fears and as much acceptance as we need to be free from guilt.
Did Jesus have a twin? Is it possible that Jesus slipped in and out of a fleshly covering many times in Scripture, now you see Him – now you don’t? Is it really essential to see Jesus as the unique, one of a kind Son of God, or has He appeared many times in history? The answer might change your life.
Does fear, trepidation, and anxiousness ever overwhelm your daily life? Do you have any interest in overcoming that fear, trepidation and anxiousness? The writer of Psalm 121 shows us how to live in the delightful reality of a moment-by-moment grace-filled life.
Perpetual feelings of guilt aren’t part of God’s plan – not for any of us. The Countryside Baptist family, along with its pastor and staff, do not exist in order to burden anyone with guilt. We’re here to help unload that guilt and overcome it. God’s purpose is not to rub guilt in our faces – He wants to rub it out altogether.