From jefferis at petersonsales.net Thu Apr 12 15:28:25 2007 From: jefferis at petersonsales.net (Jefferis Peterson) Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:28:25 -0400 Subject: [Roundtable] Who is perfecting whom? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > " For we are God?s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, > which God prepared in advance for us to do. ... for it is God who works in you > to will and to act according to his good purpose." My son is struggling with the same conflicts I have experienced: the difference between knowledge of the Word and the ability to live it. Why is is it that study of and meditation upon the Word of God does not produce immediate, noticeable fruit and effectiveness in our lives? Why is there such a gap between knowledge of the principles of the Word and our ability to live them? I have found in my own life that the scriptures point me to Christ and point out my own inadequacies and inability to live the life that scripture holds up as a standard. The difference between what Ought to be and what IS forces me to throw up my hands in hopelessness and cast myself upon the mercies of God! "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner!" However, like a flash of light in a darkened room, I suddenly caught a glimpse of God's perspective on the matter. I saw his purpose and his agency. You see, we think we are going to do all sorts of good and glorious things for God. We have big dreams and big visions. But often we find ourselves frustrated by circumstances, our dreams shattered, and our vision crushed. In fear of failure and with the sense of shame, we feel as if we have disappointed God as well as ourselves. But the truth is: IT is GOD who works in us to Will and to Do. The Lord showed me something about this passage which speaks of grace and much more. You see, God is interested in adorning his Bride [that's us folks] for his wedding. He wants her to be spotless and unashamed; adorned with the rubies and pearls of good deeds and the diamonds of faithfulness. And he has a plan! He has a plan to deck us out and adorn us with beauty that will satisfy him and make us pleased with us every time he looks at us. In fact, all the good deeds he requires of us and all the ornaments which please him have been ordained for us: > For we are God?s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which > God prepared in advance for us to do. > In Greek the word ?workmanship? is poema, from which we get our word Poetry. We are God?s poetry, and because he has created us for good works, we are his poetry in motion. We are not the poet, he is. He is the craftsman, putting together words in rhyme and meter to make it sound pleasing and to reveal his purpose, his beauty and his glory. These lines he strings together are the works he PREPARED for us to do IN ADVANCE!!!! He already has the plan on how we will do the works that will please him and cause us to sparkle in his eyes!!! You see, it isn?t our work or our plans, which fail and fall, and get up-ended. It is the plans He planned that cannot fail because they were ordained for us from the beginning. In other words, God is not going to present to himself a shoddy bride, dressed in rags, ashamed of her appearance. Rather we will be successfully delighted and wondrously glad that God has made our lives such beautiful poetry. Our human problem is that we cannot see how our path of seeking is fulfilling that grand purpose because we are so filled with fear and dismay and confusion. What I?m saying is that our adornment, our good works, our purpose, are hidden from our eyes but not his, and this glory that pleases him will be fulfilled IN SPITE of all our mistakes and missteps and feelings of failure. God does not require much of us: simple confession of our faults, asking for forgiveness, and the desire [not the ability of our strength, but just the desire] to seek him, please him, and obey as best we understand it. If we so have a heart towards God, he will accomplish the most important things in our lives, even if we never see them or understand them. Even if our dreams go unfulfilled, we remain his poetry, which he is crafting towards a glorious conclusion: to reflect his nature and his name! > Here are a few scriptures which show God?s unchanging purpose in his desire to present us to himself as a beautiful bride! > "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the > firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the > supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and > through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or > things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once > you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your > evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ?s physical body through > death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from > accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved > from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and > that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, > have become a servant." Colossians 1:18-23, NIV. > > "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from > yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no-one can boast. > For we are God?s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which > God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, remember that formerly you > who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call > themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--" > Ephesians 2:8-11, NIV. > > "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-- not only in my > presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your > salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and > to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:12, 13, NIV. > > 2Co 11:2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to > one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. > > Re 21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven > from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. > If we can see that it is God?s work in us, that it is assured and planned out for us, even our good works he wants us to do are already prepared for us to walk into ? maybe we can relax a little bit and be thankful, instead of just striving to earn his praise and please him. Jeff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jefferis Kent Peterson http://www.scholarscorner.com jefferis at scholarscorner.com Feeling Guilty? Are you "Pardoned or Paroled?" Such is God's economy: "One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers lack." - Proverbs 11:24 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jefferis at petersonsales.net Wed May 2 09:12:19 2007 From: jefferis at petersonsales.net (Jefferis Peterson) Date: Wed, 02 May 2007 09:12:19 -0400 Subject: [Roundtable] Hate Crimes? Or Thought Police coming to arrest you for your beliefs? Message-ID: I don't think there has ever been a greater threat to our 1st Amendment rights to Freedom of Religion, and the Nanny State wants to criminalize not actions but beliefs and thoughts and expressions of faith that originate from those beliefs. I wonder where the ACLU is on this. They fight to preserve rights of Nazis to spew anti-Semitism, but not the Christian who believes the scriptures are true. It is an odd state of affairs where the only thing that is illegal to talk about is Jesus, who must be excluded from the public debate, but all manner of immorality is heralded as the epitome of liberty. I thought this issue serious enough to warrant a warning that if we do not take action to prevent it, we may go to jail simply for preaching the whole Gospel... Jeff : >From Chuck Colson http://www.afa.net/colson050107.asp Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill. It?s called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not about hate. It?s not even about crime. It?s about outlawing peaceful speech?speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong. Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already have laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals?far less than even 1 percent. Another problem is that in places where hate crimes laws have been passed, hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks?and even peaceful speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even in some places in the United States. If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like Exodus International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, could be shut down. In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent attack worthy of punishment. This is the unspoken goal of activist groups. We know this because during the debate over the bill last week, Congressman Mike Pence (R) of Indiana offered a Freedom of Religion amendment to this hate crimes bill. It asked that nothing in this law limit the religious freedom of any person or group under the Constitution. The committee refused to adopt it. It also refused to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes?like members of the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless and senior citizens, also often targeted by criminals. Nothing doing, the committee said?the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals. Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Its passage would strike at the very heart of our democracy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This law does not define "sexual orientation," leaving open the definition of the term. What are Sexual Orientations that would be protected under the hate speech law? http://www.afa.net/sexualorientations.asp Necrophilia - sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse Pederasty - Sex between an adult and a child, usually an adult male and a male child. Pedophilia - Sexual contact between an adult and a child Bisexual Pedophilia ? term used for an adult who derives sexual gratification from sexual contact with a child without regard to the sex of the child From jefferis at petersonsales.net Thu Jun 14 14:20:46 2007 From: jefferis at petersonsales.net (Jefferis Peterson) Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:20:46 -0400 Subject: [Roundtable] How to Respond to Mormon Missionaries Message-ID: I've put up a brief article in the Apologetics section: http://www.scholarscorner.com/apologia/mormons.html How To Respond to Mormon Missionaries Pointing to the Free Gift of God's Righteousness as Sufficient for All our Needs ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jefferis Peterson, Pres. 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