By Jim Mettenbrink
“If the Foundations are Destroyed….”
Restoring the Foundations begins with You
God vs Naturalism
We live in a world that increasingly believes in naturalism, i.e., everything must have a “natural” explanation vs a supernatural cause. In a discussion with a young person who claims to be an atheist, said he does not believe in anything he can not see (matter). He is a naturalist. To acknowledge God, would contradict his belief. Is his belief reasonable?
By Jim Mettenbrink
Each generation grows up thinking everything is normal, that is, it has always been like this. Such is the failure to read unrevised history. Currently, we live in an increasingly anti-God culture. Or has it always been this way? The scattered churches across the countryside, in the USA testify otherwise. But how did this transformation happen?
By Jim Mettenbrink
Although God has planted a sense of His presence in the spirit of each person, man in his rebellious selfishness wants to deny that so he can be his own god, i.e., do what he wants to do without impunity – no accountability to anyone – let alone to stand before God. This the #1 weakness in each of us.
By Jim Mettenbrink
We have been considering Secular Humanism, which was first set forth on the American stage by two men both ministers in the Unitarian church, supposedly honoring Jesus of Nazareth as the Divine Savior. One of these was Curtis Reese, whom in 1909 declared God was “philosophically possible, scientifically unproved and religiously unnecessary” – We don’t need God!
by Jim Mettenbrink
Consider what it means for the Christian to love God with all his being (heart, soul, mind and strength), which Jesus called the first commandment (Mark 12:30, 31). Jesus continued by expanding on this characteristic of love (Greek – agape) – “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (v32). About six months earlier, Jesus was asked what a person must do to inherit eternal life. He gave the same answer about loving God and one’s neighbor. But when the scribe asked, who is my neighbor, Jesus answered with a story. Note, Jewish thought loving one’s neighbor was to do no harm (passive), now Jesus’ command was to love (active) one’s neighbor.
By Jim Mettenbrink
In order to be faithful to Jesus, the Christian must sacrifice much. To some, if not many or most, that is just too much. But Jesus gave His lifeblood for the forgiveness of the sins of each one of us. He was willing to die a cruel and unjust death because He loves each of us! A love which promises eternal life for the faithful Christians. In past articles we have considered the sacrifice necessary to put God first in our life, to truly love Him.
Part 2 (Part 1 – Being Faithful to Jesus)
To love God with all of one’s being is not only an expectation by God for all of mankind, but it is His command for Christians. That Christians must sacrifice much for Jesus is a given – “…whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Part of this sacrifice is taking a firm and unwavering stand for Jesus. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23).
That we humans have the desire to be included and accepted is very obvious. Folks go along to get along. Folks will grumble about their dissatisfaction, but not to take action to resolve the problem, and thereby be excluded from the group. So it takes strong conviction and courage to oppose the flow. The political correctness being increasingly infused into our thinking for over 30 years has even spawned legislative action – hate crimes.
By Jim Mettenbrink
One of the fortunes of the New Year is the resolve to be and do better – lose weight, (especially after holiday feasting), paint the house, more discipline in chores and work, better work and the list goes on ad infinitum. We call them “New” Years resolutions. Often the same ones are repeated year after year, but like a firecracker dud, soon fizzles and are forgotten. Unfortunately, these resolutions are all focused on the temporal, the here and now.
By Jim Mettenbrink
Thanksgiving Day! Recently stated was folks who live at the poverty level in the USA have more living space than the European middle class. A few years ago, the comparison revealed the standard of living for American people living at the poverty level is better than 80% of the rest of the world. We live in the lap of luxury and yet so many are dissatisfied and unhappy. Pop quiz! – “Are you humbly grateful or grumbly hateful?”