Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Mar 9, 2009
Without exception, everyone of them is a perversion of something which is in itself good. Immorality, impurity, licentiousness are perversions of the sexual instinct which is in itself a lovely thing and a part of love. Idolatry is a perversion of worship, and was begun as an aid to worship.
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Mar 2, 2009
People mark off times and celebrations in different ways. In Belgium (since 1394, in Binche), Brazil (a four-day celebration in Rio de Janeiro), Italy (in Venice, six months of celebrating in the 18th cent., now 12 days), Trinidad and Tobago (featuring a daylong competition among calypso bands),
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Mar 2, 2009
IDOLATRY IS ABOUT "GETTING"
William Barclay makes this important observation about ancient idolatry: "The essence of idolatry is the desire to get. A man sets up an idol and worships it because he desires to get something out of god. To put it bluntly, he believes that by his sacrifices and his
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Mar 2, 2009
WHAT OTHER GODS?
What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and Stomach (an unholy
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 15, 2009
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STEP BY STEP
He does not lead me year by year
Nor even day by day,
But step by step my path unfolds;
My Lord directs my way.
Tomorrow’s plans I do not know,
I only know this minute;
But He will say, "This is the way,
By faith now walk in it."
And I am glad that it is so,
Today’s enough to
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 15, 2009
In the early church Jerome, that hardy and stern disciplinarian, removed himself far from the lurid temptations of the city only to find that he had not escaped them at all. As he confessed:
“O how often I imagined that I was in the midst of the pleasures of Rome when I was stationed in the
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 15, 2009
At the close of World War II, two pictures appeared in a magazine showing a soldier in conflict with a tank. The first showed a huge tank bearing down on a tiny soldier, about to crush him. The picture was proportioned to show the odds involved when a foot soldier with a rifle faced a tank. The
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 8, 2009
Someone has pictured legalism and libertinism as two parallel streams that run between earth and heaven. The stream of legalism is clear, sparkling, and pure; but its waters run so deep and furiously that no one can enter it without being drowned or smashed on the rocks of its harsh demands. The
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 8, 2009
Bruce Thielemann, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, told of a conversation with an active layman, who mentioned, “You preachers talk a lot about giving, but when you get right down to it, it all comes down to basin theology.”
Thielemann asked, “Basin theology? What’s that?”
The
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 8, 2009
In understanding the new reality in Christ with the law, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) explained it in this way:
“What is God’s law now? It is not above a Christian-it is under Christian. Some men hold God’s law like a rod, in terror, over Christians, and say, “If you sin you will be punished with
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 1, 2009
Benjamin Franklin wrote: “For want of a nail the shoe was lost,; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jan 26, 2009
The story is told of an aspiring artist who was commissioned to do a large sculpture for a famous museum. At last he had the opportunity to create the masterpiece he had long dreamed of. After laboring over the work for many years, he saw it grow not only in shape but in beauty. But when it was
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jan 26, 2009
When the Judaizers told the Galatians that they had to get circumcised to become good Christians, they were adding the law to the gospel. They were saying that Moses had to finish what Christ could only begin.
To illustrate the problem with this kind of theology, consider the man who had an old
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jan 26, 2009
People often think that works they do that they think are righteous are going to outweigh any faults they do?
Imagine a motorist driving down a city street and deliberately driving through a red light. He is pulled over by a policeman who asks to see his driver’s license. Immediately the driver
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jan 12, 2009
Hagar, Horeb, earthly Salem,
Works of Flesh will not avail them.
Sarah, Zion, heavenly Salem,
Christ, their Lord, will never fail them.
(William Hendriksen: Galatians New
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 28, 2008
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For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and Stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving trio, Pleasure,
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 28, 2008
Backsliding:
Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.
There fiery seeds of anger lurk,
Which often hurt my frame;
And wait but for the tempter’s work,
To fan them to a flame.
Legality holds out a bribe
To
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 21, 2008
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Mary Had The Little Lamb
Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth. (Micah 5:2)
Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall—
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall. (Isaiah 7:14)
Mary had the little Lamb,
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 21, 2008
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Can This Be Christmas?
What's all this hectic rush and worry?
Where go these crowds who run and curry?
Why all the lights--the Christmas trees?
The jolly "fat man," tell me please!
Why, don't you know? This is the day
For parties and for fun and play;
Why this is Christmas!
So this is Christmas,
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