Encouragement to do right

I was mulling over being discouraged over how things can look bleak for those that are trying to follow God and flourishing for those seeking self first. I often struggle with this and maybe you do too! Some verses in my study this morning jumped out at me as encouragement for both of us.
2 Cor 4:16-18- NIV
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Paul was sorely abused and misused for the gospel as he went around sharing. But he never gave in or gave up, he always did right and honored God above all else. Thinking about that got me going and 2 things stuck out to me.

1) Satan trys to discourage us from continuing in doing right be having us look around at how the rest of the world seems to be blooming as they do wrong. Comparison always leads to discontent and frustration. He wants to discourage you from hanging in there, doing right and trusting God to take care of you.
2) God is more concerned with our best internally than our lives externally. For instance, He would rather have you learn trust in him than give you a new car. Think about your own kids. Woudn't you rather your child learn honesty even when it is hard and change her character and life for the better long term than give her a new "littlest pet" that she will love for a minute and then forget all about?
He wants you to learn trust, righteousness and patience for the long haul, even if it is tough, rather than just give you a job or new place to live. He loves you enough to want your best instead of the temporary good.

So I hope this encourages you as much as it did me. May we bring glory to the King as we learn to follow after him. Keep your gaze upward!

Why is everyone talking about worldview?

Have you noticed that the word "worldview" is cropping up all over the place? Seems like every Christian speaker, teacher, TV program, radio station, and publication is talking about "worldview." Wonder why? Since a worldview is a system of making sense of the world around us, maybe people are feeling that the world around them is not making sense at all - at least not to anyone who really thinks about things. There seems to be a hunger in each of us to understand our world - to have a way of thinking that is integrated, not dis-integrated. When we watched the World Trade Centers become disintegrated, we were shaken to our very core. When we see people become disintegrated by bombs planted by human beings in the Middle East, we shudder. We don't like things that are broken, shattered, dis-integrated - including our own lives. I have found that the worldview espoused by God's Word to be the only worldview of integrity - it just makes sense - of everything! Shalom = wholeness; integrity; peace.

Women engaging Women for Christ

I am so excited about what God is doing, I just have to share a little!
I have had the opportunity to talk about a book that has been getting a lot of press lately, The Shack. Perhaps you have heard of it. It is a liberally creative allegory about the Trinity, life, evil and how we as humans relate to all of them. This book has some good points and some bad ones. I can safely say that I have not read it for spiritual understanding as much as to know what the world is reading and have some tools to open dialogue with others.
Just this week, I had the opportunity to chat with a woman that asked about the book, what I thought and what it meant. We had a lively discussion on what the true definition of God is and how relative perspectives don't lead to truth. She claimed that we can't really know truth and shouldn't hold others to our version of it. I presented some basic thoughts of God as the creator of truth so we have a moral standard and fiber of truth. We did not see eye to eye on everything but I know God created that opportunity to talk and to delve into spiritual matters.
Then I learned that another friend is hosting a summer book club and they are going to discuss this book. We discussed about the importance of knowing what you believe and why so you can engage the culture at their interests. I am encouraged that we can talk, share and perhaps learn more deeply from each other. Even when we may not agree!
I hope you are excited to have a meaningful conversation with someone this week too!

America The Beautiful

America, America, Land that I Love

After spending the weekend in Washington DC taking my husband's grandmother on a tour of the capital for her 80th birthday, I have been contemplating a few of the blessings that we have here in America.


Here are a few:

A beautiful land that God created, diverse and unique in each state. We come together to form a powerful and blessed place to live.

An environment of freedom. We saw many protestors and people with a cause out in the national mall and I was blessed by the fact that although we may not agree, we all have the right to speak out and participate in our country.

A place that honors our past and aims to inspire our future. As we visited the different monuments and memorials, I was in awe of the history that America shares and the future that it inspires. Lives have been lost, hearts broken and dreams shattered only for others to be created. I wish I could say thank you to all those who have sacrificed for America.

And lastly, while many may want to wipe God out of our history or stop acknowledging him now, He is everywhere in our nation's capital. In inscriptions, speeches, monuments and memorials, God's prescence can be felt. What a testament to the biblical worldview that our country was created upon and modeled to follow.

Take the time to visit and contemplate if you can.

God bless America,

Esther White

What is True Wisdom?

Lynn’s Definition:

(these are my notes that I used to teach the women at my church)

Knowing that there is someone who is transcendent over me, who is the sovereign ruler of all deserving the whole earth’s allegiance; I look to Him for my very subsistence, my happiness, my sustaining grace and bow before Him who is the only one worthy of worship.

Wisdom:

1. The quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
2. Scholarly knowledge or learning: the wisdom of the schools.
3. Wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
4. A wise act or saying.


What is Truth?  That which conforms to all of reality.   Truth is what we are to seek above all else-John 14:6  Jesus said He was the truth.  He encompasses all of reality, He is the metaphysical reality.  He is our ultimate question. 

False Views:

• -Relativism; (is basically childish, and never gives you the outward focus that produces unselfishness.)  Truth is whatever you want it to be.
• -Pragmatism; not external reality; it is what ever I think is right at the present time.  Truth is what works.
• -Empiricism; can’t always be trusted.  Epistemology tells us we will be lost to things that cannot be. Truth is what we can sense and sensually perceive by our senses, such as justice, goodness, and morality, past and future events.  
• Truth is what Reason declares, cannot be proven through reason alone.
• Truth is what ever I feel; Affections.

Truth is:  

• Truth is what corresponds to reality.  Jesus is reality.  He is the metaphysical reality.
  
• -truth is discovered not created
  
• -opposite (create reality; selfish, and the definition of insanity).

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.” (1 Corinthians 3:19)
Have you ever thought about the things that you do not know, or the things that you have very little knowledge of? What about those situations that come into your life and you have no answers for? Have you ever sat across from a friend who is having much difficulty in life and said in your heart, “I have no idea what to tell her?”
Each of us have some insights, knowledge and wisdom, but the scope is usually fairly narrow and limited to our sphere of influence and knowledge. We are good at some things, maybe some special interests that we have sought to know more about., and have knowledge in areas that we are interested in, but do we have knowledge about it all? The older we grow the more we have knowledge and experiences that the young are yet to go through. Those experiences allow us to share with those that are young insights and wisdom that they have yet acquired. What we do know and have gained wisdom and foresight we are admonished to share with others. One of the best ways to demonstrate wisdom is to know our limitations.
What is wisdom? The Bible tells us,
“The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).
Fearing the Lord is more than just reverence awe. It is about knowing our limitations.
“Nothing is perfect except your words. Oh, I how I think about them all day long. They make me wiser than my enemies, because they are my constant guide. They make me even wiser than the aged” (Psalms 119:96-100).
Next time you think you are wise in your eyes, remember, you may be knowledgeable and have some insights in your small world, but compared to total wisdom, you (and I) know little. And even if we added all of our combined wisdom, compared to God’s, it is nothing.

Knowing these realities, how does that change you as a person? How will it affect your week?

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Book Review: The Reason for God by Tim Keller

Tim Keller, a pastor in the heart of New York City, writes with the mind of an apologist and a  pastor's heart.  He has labored in probably one of the toughest areas of the country and God has seen fit to bless his ministry with around 6,000 people coming every week to three services.  Having read many different apologetic books, this one is the best I have ever read.  It is easy to read, understandable, and has some wonderful practical ways in which to talk and witness to your non-Christian friends.  

What makes this very different from some of the other works that I have read, is his assumptions about the lost among us.  His premise is that with the rise of the atheistic books that have come out this last year, including The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens' book God is not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everythingamong others, the openness and rise of theism is also prevalent.  The other premise that is unique to Keller, is that he points out that even though relativism is the philosophical belief of the day (note my previous post on relativism), the young non-Christians that he witnesses to are not morally neutral at all.  In chapter nine titled The Knowledge of God, he recounts a conversation with a young couple that say that they are moral relativists until Keller asks them to tell them something that they believe is really wrong.  The woman says that repression of women is always wrong.  Keller says he agrees with her because all human beings are made by God and should be treated with human dignity.  Then he goes on to ask her why she thought it was wrong.  She responds saying that everyone knows it is wrong to violate the rights of someone.  He points out that that is a western view of human rights.  Not all cultures in the world would say that women are afforded the same rights as men.  Then Keller says if there is no God then we have evolved from animals. Is it wrong to trample on someone's (animal) rights, then?  The husband says yes.  Keller then asks him why is it not wrong for animals to eat other animals.  The young man only held humans guilty of trampling on others rights.  He then asks them, "Why this double standard? Why did this couple insist that human beings had to be different from animals? Why were animals allowed to act as was natural to the rest of the animal world, and not humans?  Why did the couple keep insisting that humans had this great, unique individual dignity and worth?  Keller makes the point, "People still have strong moral convictions, but unlike people in other times and places, they don't have any visible basis for why they find some things ot be evil and other things good.  It is almost like their moral intuitons are free-floating in midair-far off the ground."  (pp. 144-145)  

This view of presuppositional apologetics is not unique, but the way in which he approaches it is.   

The last part of the book is the best of all.  Keller presents the Gospel in beautiful language that personally I need to read and meditate on daily.  I read constantly, I have read over 300 books in the last 2 1/2 years, and this one is one of the best non-fiction books I have read.  

Please tell me what you think.  Either on this blog site, lynnsmusings.blogspot.com, or email me ominbuscross@yahoo.com.

Awaiting the Bridegroom.......Lynn