Devotionals
The One Purpose of Prayer
Submitted by drwayman on Tue, 04/24/2012 - 7:40am"Now, the whole thought in prayer is to get the will of God like that done in our lives and upon this old earth. The greatest prayer any one can offer is, "Thy will be done." It will be offered in a thousand different forms, with a thousand details, as needs arise daily.
But every true prayer comes under those four words. There is not a good desirable thing that you have thought of that He has not thought of first, and probably with an added touch not in your thought. Not to grit your teeth and lock your jaw and pray for grace to say, "Thy will be endured: it is bitter, but I must be resigned; that is a Christian grace; Thy will be endured." Not that please. Do not slander God like that.
A primer on prevenient grace
Submitted by drwayman on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:19amOne of John Wesley’s finest contributions to theology was his understanding of prevenient grace. Broadly speaking, this is the grace that “goes before”—that grace which precedes human action and reflects God’s heart to pursue his creation. It testifies to God’s being the initiator of every relationship with him. While prevenient grace is an orthodox teaching held by the historic church, it becomes distinctly Wesleyan in its reach and scope. For John Wesley, prevenient grace is available to all, such that there is no “natural man” left in a purely fallen state without a measure of God’s restorative grace. Furthermore, prevenient grace is salvific in direction. This means the Spirit of God works not just to restore certain faculties of humanity or to limit human sin, but ultimately directs people to the work of Christ. This is one of the marks that sets Wesley apart from Augustine and John Calvin.
I Bless God
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.
I bless the Arms of God that reached out to me during times of loneliness and despair.
I bless the Artistry of God for the beauty in nature and in every sunrise and sunset.
I bless the Authority of God that makes Him the great and undeniable, “I AM”.
I bless the Breath of God that gave life to all living creatures great and small.
I bless the Brightness of God that outshines the blinding brilliance of the sun.
I bless the Closeness of God that He regards me as His friend.
I bless the Compassion of God that looks beyond my faults as He continually cares for me.
I bless the Creativity of God for all creatures that walk, run, crawl, hop, swim, leap, jump, and fly.
I bless the Cross of Christ that assures the promise of eternal life to every believer.
I bless the Desire of God in that He wants me to be at one with Him forever.
Response to Piper's "What Made It OK for God to Kill Women, Children in Old Testament?"
Submitted by SEA on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 8:38amThis was written by SEA member Bob Anderson in response to John Piper's recent post "What Made It OK for God to Kill Women, Children in Old Testament?" He gave us permission to post it here:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/what-made-it-ok-for-god-to-kill-wom...
I read Piper’s post and want to comment. I will begin by saying that I consider John Piper a brother in Christ, one who follows a different tradition than I do, but a brother none the less. He confesses the same God and same King as I. We differ in an internal understanding of how God works, but this difference does not exclude us from fellowship with each others as members of God’s family.
The above link is to a post that seeks to answer a difficult question, one which has been wrestled with for centuries – how are we to understand the goodness and righteousness of God in the light of human sinfulness.
So let’s examine the argument presented in the post.
Ephesians 2:10; A Devotional
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 10:11pmFor we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared for us to do.The beautiful thing about this verse is how close one feels with God when thinking that He has shaped us with His own hands. Many times we wonder why God would love us so much. Well, for much of the same reason why I still have some art projects I made in 6th grade. It isn't the quality of the piece, it is its relationship with me. Likewise, it is our relationship with God that causes God to love us so.
But it is also important to remember the context. Overall Paul is comparing faith to works, where faith is the means of salvation instead of what humans would expect: works. So why does Paul take the time to celebrate good works in this verse? After all, that is precisely what he is doing.
Ephesians 2:8-9; A Devotion
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 9:13amFor you see it is from grace that you have been saved through faith; not from yourself. This is a gift of God, not from works so that none may boast.
Ah yes, we are all familiar with this verse. I think it is important to understand what Paul's theology is here really. It is important to note that the basic clause of the first sentence is "you have been saved through faith". Everything else in that first sentence, and even the entire above passage, relies on us understanding that this is the basic view that Paul has about the salvation process. Indeed, the fact of salvation by faith isn't even Paul's point; it is Paul's assumption.
Enjoying The Good News Of Christ’s Birth From An Arminian Perspective
Submitted by SEA on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 12:40am[The following post was authored by Ben Henshaw, and has undergone some revision with the author's permission for inclusion here.]
Calvinists often argue that God’s love has failed if Christ’s atonement was made for all and yet not all are saved. I find it strange that Calvinists, who are so quick to criticize Arminians for holding to a man centered religion, argue that unless man responds to God’s love in saving faith, then His love for them has somehow failed. How is it that they feel comfortable equating the success or failure of God’s love with man’s response to that love? Is the nature or validity of God’s love dependant on man’s response? Doesn’t that seem a little man centered?
Gerald Owens, Exodus 34:5-7
Submitted by geraldowens on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 6:39am"Why do you love me?" This question from the beloved strikes terror in the hearts of the unprepared lover, for the answer will be taken with more seriousness than the response to "what movie will we go to tonight?" This is because the answer also answers questions like "How much do you know me? Do you value the same personal qualities that I do? What are you after? What is it that you truly admire in a person, and what does that say about you? Have you been paying attention to the 'deep me' that determines what I reveal of myself?" Wise is the lover who has previously asked the beloved the question "Tell me about yourself!", for in the beloved's answer is the mine from which the lover digs out the answer to this most significant of "why" questions!
In Exodus 33, Moses asks God to show him His glory. His request is answered in Exodus 34:5-7.
Ephesians 2:4-5; A Devotional
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 11:10pmBut, being rich with mercy, God, through His great love with which He has loved us though we were dead in trespasses, has made us alive with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
The point of Paul telling us where we have come from in the past couple of verses is to make clear to us the boundless mercy and grace that has been giving to us. The point of the concepts of mercy and grace is that we do not deserve them.
And that is one of the principle differences between Christianity and any other faith (at least that I am aware of). In man-made religions, humans achieve a particular end, by some means. In Christianity, we are rescued from our own nature.
Lord, Thank you for the marvelous salvation that you have bestowed upon us! Thank You for Your unending grace to us. I can never fully understand it Lord. I can never fully grasp why You would sacrifice so much for us, who are so little. We praise Your name!
Ephesians 2:3; A Devotional
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 11:52amAlong with them, we all once lived by the passions of our flesh, doing the desires of the body and of the mind. Like the rest of them, we were children of wrath.
What do you think when you see a non-Christian? One of the problems of American Christianity is that most Christians do not understand the difference between the Church and America. This has caused a few problems. One, we don't tend to trust non-American Christian bodies. Two, we except someone to behave like a Christian simply because they are an American.
However, the world is worldly. We need to remember this. We do not look down at those in the world and see how far beneath us they are. We look at them and recognize that of ourselves, we are no better. We are the same. Any good aspect of ourselves comes strictly from God's grace!
