Thank You

Thank you for all of your prayers, dinners, calls and Facebook messages!  My prayer for my family is that Bethany, John V and I will grow closer to God during this trying time.  I trust this is your prayer as well.  We know that all things will work out for our good.  His timing is our best whether we can figure out why or not.  Yesterday we thought our car was dying on top of everything else (hospital bills coming too) and I jokingly told Bethany that we were starting to sound like the Job family  (see Job 1:13-20).  I'm thankful we are able to grin at such things.  Again, thanks for all your prayers.

By they way, if you are looking for the answer to the question "if God is so powerful and so good, why do bad things happend?", click here and listen to the correct question

Thursday I started a post I intended to title "Christians sin, repent and change".  I read a depressing post online about homosexuality and how Christians can live this kind of "lifestyle" and be okay with God.  They linked to a pastor who is living this way!  I can not remember this very second how they got around Romans 1:27, but I do remember how they talked about the Old Testament can not be used to direct us because there are laws regarding sex that we choose not to follow, therefore, how can we say which laws we should follow?  I am not sorry I quote Voddie Baucham so much, but he makes points that I think should be heard.  Christians are so confused about what is true and what isn't true that when somebody questions what we believe and then throws in a Bible verse to make us "think", we tend to question ourselves and immediately think we ought to open our minds to new thinking because we might be wrong, especially since we are not studied on such and such subject(s).  Mr. Baucham talks about how most Christians don't even know the basic law of God.  Ten Commandments?  How can we say we are following God if we don't even know what He commands? (Ecclesiastes 12:13, Matthew 19:17)  I added both Old and New Testaments to avoid confusion...  

Anyway, I am not saying that homosexuals can not be Christians, I am saying that Christians can not be homosexuals.  ??? What does that mean?  I guess there is some scientific studies and what not claiming that homosexuals are 'born that way'.  People are also born liars, future alcoholics, workaholics, thieves, murderers, and so on, but we don't excuse these people saying 'they are born that way, God will understand'. I am prone to laziness, perhaps I was born that way... this is not an excuse.  This is something I must fight.  This is something that nailed Jesus to the cross.  This is something I need to repent of and change.  This is not something I was born with so God will understand.

I am cutting this short to retire to bed.  Until next time.

John Edgerton Stone IV

The Universe

These things I write to myself:
We watched the first hour of the Shepherding a Child's Heart Conference last night.  Tedd Tripp is a great person to listen to.  It was interesting and easy to understand.

Tedd Tripp talks about something that I wish I was more conscience of during the day, and that is using the entire universe as a school room.  Tripp talks about different times he had opportunity to use the universe as a classroom, like when lightening struck a barn while they were driving by.  Using this as a display of the power of God even in nature.  Doing this (using creation as a classroom) will not seem weird or rehearsed when it is a habit or something that is done all the time.  Our lives should be consumed with searching for ways to teach our children about God and God has given us a massive universe to use.  The Bible itself uses creation and things of creation as teaching tools.  "Consider the raven..." (Luke 12:24).  Sheep, wolves, snakes and doves. (Matthew 10:16)  Racing, Olympics (1 Corinthians 9:24).  Strength (Mark 3:27).  Gold and silver (1 Peter 1:18 1 Peter 3:3)  The universe is massive, probably bigger, so there is no end to teaching using things we can see or not see.  Try explaining how you skin is actually skin cells.  Explain why time works.  Show how God tells the waves that they can go this far (point to wet sand and dry sand) and no farther (Job 38:11).  Read the latter part of Job, start at chapter 38.  There is a ton of things God controls that man stands in awe of.  God waters the land where no man lives! (Job 38:25-26)  And my favorite: when does a mountain goat give birth?

Our God is an awesome God.  If we believe that, why do we not explain his majesty to our little children?  Lets not hinder the children from coming to Jesus. (Luke 18:16)

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Just realized Matthew has 2 T's in it.

Another Idea Without A Patent

Sometimes a genius idea pops into my head and instead of taking the idea and using it for my own obvious financial gain, I choose to share the ideas to everyone else and let them take the idea and run with it.  This idea is so simple yet so spiffy that I am going to pause a moment to see if it has already been acted on...

No, can not find it online.  Wonder if that means it isn't that great an idea or if it is one of those once-in-a-lifetime ideas.  I'll let you decide.  Here it is.

It would be a fairly short, small, paperback book that contains short stories of the reactions of people in the Bible to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  For example, Job 42:1-6 where Job stands in awe of the Glory of God revealed to him by God himself in a storm.  So it would be the actual text of Job 42:1-6.

Or Mathew 8:27 and the verses before and after to keep it in context.  Where the disciples, who feared for their lives, looked at Jesus and were amazed by his ability to control the wind and the waves.

There is a ton of verses in the Bible that tell of what happened to mere men when God was revealed to them.  Some fall to the ground, some go literally blind, some get off their mats and run and dance, some faces shone like the sun, some were cured of life-long diseases.  All of them were affected much more than we seem to be today.  These days, it seems that when we see the hand of God at work we simply breathe a thankful prayer and go on with our lives.

Imagine making it a monthly or even yearly goal to read the new book (coming soon, maybe) Mere Men Meet Maker - short stories of men in the Bible meeting God Almighty (or some other catchy title) and asking ourselves why we do not react the same way though we are always in the presence of God and have His Spirit dwelling in us.




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It Would Be Sin For Me

The Pursuit of Holiness
Yesterday in the high school Sunday School class, we had some good discussion I thought I'd share.  We are going through the book above and we in Chapter 9.  We opened with a discussion of convictions and how it is sin to go against your own convictions.  That means that if you honestly believed that drinking Coke or wearing shorts was indeed a sin (whether or not there is good reason in scriptures) to drink Coke or wear shorts would be a sin.  A young man found this hard to believe.  How can something be sin because you think it is sin?  I know that drinking Coke is not sin, how could it be for Bobby Joe Roberts sitting next to me?  (These are not exact quotes)

Great question.  Why would it be sin for a person who believes you can't eat pork when Paul was told that he could eat whatever he wants?  Paul repeats that very idea in I Corinthians 10:25-26.  So eating pork can not be a sin for anyone... can it?  It can and is.  Look at Romans 14, especially Romans 14:23 Romans 14:14.  Anybody who doubts that eating pork is not sin, sins because he does not eat in faith and anything not done in faith is sin.  We may say that it is obvious that you can eat pork, but then we must not have read all of Romans 14.  Romans 14:13.

So, if we believe that pork is okay, (or Coke, tatoos, wine, meat, TV, movies, beer, naps, shorts, football on Sunday, ect.) first we must remember that we will give an account of us to God. (Romans 14:12)  Second, we must not look down on those considered weaker.  The one who can not drink the Coke or eat the meat. (Romans 14:10 Romans 14:1 Romans 14:13)  Third, and very important, do not do anything that would cause your brother to stumble. (Romans 14:13)  If your brother does not drink Coke, do not offer him a Coke and do not drink a Coke in front of him lest he is tempted.  Tempted to think wrongly of you, tempted to drink the Coke.

Does that mean giving up Coke altogether?  Not necessarily.  But what about getting a tattoo?  You may be convinced that getting a tattoo is perfectly within the bounds of Scripture, but there are many who do not.  Why would you get a tattoo (which is not necessary) if there is a chance of offending your brother?  For it is better not to eat the pork, drink the Coke, get the tattoo than to cause a brother to stumble. (Romans 14:21)

We must be sure of our convictions.  The Pursuit of Holiness has a 'formula' for determining sins that are not specifically mentioned in Scripture that is great.  Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves! (Romans 14:22)

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