I have it so easy....

This is the last time this blog will be fed to Facebook; they decided to stop importing blogs automatically starting in Nov 22 2011; so as a way to say good bye to FB I decided to write some more about myself, heck, I am the center of the universe, remember? And so are you. So we like to think.

I am sure some people are going to be happy about this though; they are the ones that say things like "your blog is too long", and "some people spiritualize everything"; and "I'm sure if you look at the sky long enough, you'll see something", and one more "that sounds like Calvinism"; and I forgot about this one: "you are impatient and judgmental". Well, rejoice because you will not be bothered anymore by my theological exactness, or my spiritualizing-Gideon-like existence. This voice will be crying in another wilderness.

But guess what, I'm still writing, and I will not be stopping any time soon; at least the three or four people (OK, maybe just one) who enjoy reading the blog will rejoice about that, I hope; but it really doesn't matter if they don't because I might not be here tomorrow anyway; I don't have life guaranteed for one more day in this planet. No one does...besides they only read it once.

So, what's my point? Besides the sarcasm? My point is that life goes on, even without Facebook; I seldom check my account anyway; and by the way, my list of friends is decreasing in number, I wonder why.

Seriously now; my point is that God is in control of all things in my life, I really believe that. That is why I write about it; I like to boast about God being in control of all things in my life, it is awesome to know that.

In my opinion it is the only way to live; if I didn't believe it, I would live in constant fear. Fear of the future, fear of sickness, fear of old age, fear of lack of retirement funds, fear of getting to be 65, fear of being alone, fear of not being accepted, fear of terrorism, fear of Iran and their capability of building weapons of mass destruction, fear of the dark, and the boogie man, and rats, and flies, and earthquakes, and death, and etc, etc.

God says that everything works together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28); and what a wonderful purpose it is! That's the word of God; the same word that created the universe; the universe God measures with the span of His hand; the word that lives and abides forever; the word that sustains me and gives me comfort.

God's word is the only stable thing I know that I can handle with my hands, see with my eyes, think with my brain, and live with my life. It has changed me more that I expected or dreamt about and it is the only way for me to know Him and His glorious grace; I just can't get enough of it, even when my heart rebels against it and my flesh does not want to comply with it.

This, of course, has nothing to do with what I want to do; God reigns and He will get His way in me whether I like it or not, but I do like it, He gets glorified and that is His purpose and design for me; and for you if you are a believer. I have it too easy compared to some of my brothers and sisters around the world; some of them don't even know what Facebook is.

I get this magazine called "the Voice of the Martyrs"; it is all about the persecuted church all around the world, the stories are amazing. On their last one there is a picture of a pastor in Asia standing with his open bible next to a 50 gallon drum filled with water, and inside the drum is a brother with his arms crossed coming out of it; he just got baptized, with his clothes on.

A rusty 50 gallon drum was the means to get this brother baptized, "hey, there is some water in that drum let's get baptized"; I was weeping thinking about it, what an amazing thing faith is.

The cover of the magazine has the picture above; the caption says "we are not angry, we are proud; our son died for Christ"; and the mother is holding a picture of her martyred son; the father is not looking at the camera, his thumb is bandaged with some tape, he looks devastated; the mother's eyes are red, their only son remaining sits on his father's knee; their hearts, and mine, is broken; I wept again. God reigns in North Africa too.

I have it so easy. Remember to pray for our brothers and sister around this earth.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

The death of death.....

God is extremely good to me. In His goodness and mercy and glorious grace He has blessed me with the privilege of being able to read books written by people who have been dead for hundreds of years.

God has also blessed me with OCD, did I say that before? I think it is OCD because I can't stop reading all these books written by all these dead people. The new one on the list is "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ"; by John Owen. Published in 1648.

About two years ago, maybe even three, and by recommendation of Pastor Barry, I read "The Mortification Of Sin" and "Overcoming Sin and Temptation", also by John Owen, and let me tell you, those two were the kind of books that I had to read a paragraph about three or four times just to understand what he was saying but they were worth every minute of the labor.

Reading "The Death...." was really prompted by my reading of "A Quest For Godliness", by J.I. Packard. Packard dedicates a whole chapter on that book--chapter 8-- to talk about Owen's book; specifically about the erroneous doctrine of universal redemption. Here is a portion of his introduction to Owen's work:

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen Works, X:139:148) is a polemical piece, designed to show among other things, that the doctrine of universal redemption is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel. There are many, therefore, to whom it is not likely to be of interest. Those who see no need for doctrinal exactness and have no time for theological debates which show up divisions between so-called evangelicals may well regret its reappearance.

Some may find the very sound of Owen's thesis so shocking that they will refuse to read his book at all, so passionate a thing is prejudice, and so proud are we of our theological shibboleths. But it is hoped that this classic may find itself readers of a different spirit. There are signs today of a new upsurge of interest in the theology of the Bible: a new readiness to test traditions, to search the Scriptures and to think through the faith. It is to those who share this readiness that Owen's treatise is now offered, in the belief that it will help us in one of the most urgent tasks facing evangelical Christendom today - the recovery of the gospel.

This last remark may cause some raising of eyebrows, but it seems to be warranted by the facts.

There is no doubt that evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor's dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and or equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead.......

We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be 'helpful' to man - to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction - and too little concerned to glorify God.

The old gospel was 'helpful', too - more so, indeed, than is the new - but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its center of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man.

This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach people to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.

From this change of interest has sprung a change of content, for the new gospel has in effect reformulated the biblical message in the supposed interests of 'helpfulness'. Accordingly, the themes of man's natural inability to believe, of God's free election being the ultimate cause of salvation, and of Christ dying specifically for his sheep are not preached. These doctrines, it would be said, are not 'helpful'; they would drive sinners to despair, by suggesting to them that it is not in their own power to be saved through Christ. (The possibility that such despair might be salutary is not considered: it is taken for granted that it cannot be, because it is so shattering to our self-esteem.) However this may be (and we shall say more about it later), the result of these omissions is that part of the biblical gospel is now preached as if it were the whole of that gospel; and a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.

Thus, we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of his redeeming work as if he had make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God's love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence 'at the door of our hearts' for us to let them in.

Wow; what can I say, that is just part of the introduction to the book; and I assume that it will not only raise some eyebrows but also shock some people. I am not shocked because besides the fact that I have OCD, I also agree; I agree with Owen, and I agree with Packard; and most of all I agree with what the bible teaches, and with what Jesus taught and Paul taught.

You have a nice day; just remember: Soli Deo Gloria.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Who are you voting for?

So tell me; who are you voting for this coming election? "Time for change" huh?

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