Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

Little Miss Don't-Know-It-All

“[Christians], at their best, know that often they don't know. They do not have all the answers. They do not have God in their pocket. We cannot answer every question that any bright boy in the back row might ask. We have only light enough to walk by.”

-- Howard A. Johnson

“But just as it is written,
         " THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
         AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
         ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit;

for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man

except the spirit of the man which is in him?

Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know

the things freely given to us by God,

which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom,

but in those taught by the Spirit,

combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-13

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:23 | link | comments |

Persecution Update

From Crosswalk.com:

MI6 Reports on Worldwide Christian Persecution

Written by Dan Wooding

The British Secret Service, MI6, has published an alarming report in the Sunday Express magazine revealing that some 200 million Christians in 60 countries around the world are at risk of suffering persecution, according to a report carried by the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

The report reveals that in the Sudan, for example, “thousands of Christians have been massacred and the fundamentalist government has done little to protect them.” In Iraq, “the situation is grave: Christians do not have their own militia to defend them, and Sunni and Shiite factions accuse them of collaborating with the American ‘crusaders’ and among the hundreds of victims of kidnappings this year there are a growing number of Christians.”

“The study also reveals that during the last year, at least seventy Christians were killed in Pakistan. In Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church are often looked down upon: in these three republics of the former Soviet Union, Muslim preachers, ‘under the influence of Al Qaeda,’ present Christians as followers of a religion closely associated with the despised Western colonialism and they call for their expulsion,” the report states.

The CAN story concluded by saying, “North Korea, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda are other countries where Christians are persecuted. North Korea has sent some 50 thousand Christians to concentration camps, while in China some 40 thousand have suffered the same fate. The report also notes the increasing difficulties facing Palestinian Christians due to the progressive radicalization of the Islamic masses in the Middle East.”

posted by: Jrobbins at 12:37 | link | comments |

Does it matter who we trust?

 "This is what the Lord says:
   “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
      who rely on human strength
      and turn their hearts away from the Lord.

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:58 | link | comments |

Prayer Request

Please take some time today and this week to pray for WWE wrestler Chris Benoit’s family and friends. He, his wife, and his 7-year-old son were killed over the weekend in what the police are calling a double murder-suicide. This situation is very real and so heartbreaking, and I just ask that you pray for those who were left behind in this tragedy.     -Joy

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:51 | link | comments |

The things you can't lose

“I invite you this evening to think…that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.

You are standing at the foot of His cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus' precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that.

Although by losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, "He is my Father still. In my Father's house are many mansions; therefore will I not be troubled." You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and Man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature-nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His."

Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose. Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope is above the sky, and therefore, calm as the summer's ocean; we will see the wreck of everything earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.”

-Charles Spurgeon

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:41 | link | comments |

Calvary Covers It All

Excerpts from

Pastor Erwin Lutzer’s series

“Restoring the Soul”:

Lewis B. Smeeds wrote, “A healthy sense of shame is perhaps the surest sign of our divine origin and our human dignity…We are the closest to health when we let ourselves feel the pain of it and be led by the pain to do something about it.”

**********

As Clapp writes, “The Cross creates a community of people who are no longer afraid of being defined and destroyed by shame, can admit their failures and allow their neediness.” (“Shame Crucified,” Rodney Clapp)

Calvary covers it all
            My past with its sin and stain [read shame]
My guilt and despair
       Jesus took on Him there
      And Calvary covers it all.

**********

“O God I pray that this sin might not have happened!”

That’s what Sandra told me she prayed the night she gave into the suggestions and demands of her boyfriend. She was, in her words, “tired of resisting the overtures of Bob, and tired of wondering what sex would be like.” Now she knew what it was like, or at least she knew what it was like outside of marriage with a man she never wanted to marry. Not only did she feel a deep sense of betrayal and regret, but she was overcome with burning shame—the feeling that she would have to live with the anguish of this all consuming secret. She believed herself to be “damaged goods” and as a result could expect neither happiness nor usefulness in the years that lay ahead.  She was amazed at how obsessed she was with what happened. How could one act, done in a few minutes of time have such a profound effect on her self-perception, her relationship with God, and nagging shame?

If the pain of those who voluntarily engage in perverse sexual activity is great—and it is—the pain of those who have been drawn into such relationships through manipulation and abuse is even greater.

These people and thousands like them are going to have to learn that there is life after promiscuity; there is life after abuse and there is life after emptiness and inner pain. Internal lessons about forgiveness, self-worth and the restoration of dignity will take time and personal commitment. Even if the soul cannot be completely healed, there is hope for better days ahead….

Click HERE to continue

reading the series

posted by: Jrobbins at 12:30 | link | comments |

Bold Faith

“If you kneel before God, you can stand before any man.”

-Pastor Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries

“Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favour that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith.”

-Martin Luther
Martin Luther Website 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust."

— Psalm 91:1–2 

“Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

-2 Corinthians 12:10

posted by: Jrobbins at 16:58 | link | comments |

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