It seems to me that as we, at least occasionally, reflect on our world and the meaning of life, that we can get bogged down in detail and miss the bigger issues. As Christians, we can accumulate a quiver of Scriptural “proof texts” with no idea of the immediate context, the subject of the book, or even the message of the Book.
I posted the following on Facebook as help started coming into Texas with Hurricane Harvey lingering onshore on 30 August 2017. I am still waiting to hear of any relief groups from those mentioned below:
I’m not sure how to say this. It seems to me that I’m missing something in the news from the storm center. I’m hearing of all sorts of Christian relief groups already moving in. 
I can’t find any reference at all to the atheist, humanist, feminist, LGB whatever, or Muslim relief groups.
Is it possible that the terrible Christians aren’t so terrible after all? Just possible?
It seems to me that we can go through life like a water skier, or as a SCUBA diver.
The water skier skims along the surface at breakneck speed making waves and enjoying the exhilaration of the run. But, after he has passed, the water returns to its own level, leaving no trace of the skier.
The SCUBA diver moves at a much slower pace, not making any waves, but diving deep, quietly enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. The sea will cover the tracks of the diver, too, but the diver will be enriched by the experience, experiencing joy rather than exhilaration.
The analogy is this: we each set our own pace relative to what we consider important. We can ski through life, bouncing from wave to wave with no depth to our lives, each thrill requiring the next to be bigger and better; or, we can immerse ourselves in the things of God and experience a growing personal relationship with the Creator and Sustainer of all, with each new experience getting better and better.
The offer is His: the choice is ours.
It seems to me that in living for today we sometimes lose track of the goal. Are you making a life—for you and your family—or just making a living?
It seems to me that abortion is like executing the victim instead of the criminal–without even the benefit of a trial.
“The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory.” (Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, 2007)
“Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” (Albert Einstein)
“Everything you do is based on the choices you make. It’s not your parents, your past relationships, your job, the economy, the weather, an argument or your age that is to blame. You and only you are responsible for every decision and choice you make. Period.” (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer)
It seems to me that too many of us read the Bible to find something to say about it instead of allowing it to speak to us. The Bible, the very Word of God to man, whom He created, was given by that God as His revelation to man.
It is not a source book for quotes to be used to coerce others to conform to our will. It is the Living link between a rebellious fallen race and their righteous Sovereign. It is the only link with man’s Savior.
Ultimately, it is the most personal experience possible this side of eternity.
“In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college” (Joseph Sobran)
It seems to me that sometimes we let pagans dictate our practice of Christianity. When you complain that something–a day, a building, a place–was once used by pagans and is unfit for Christian use, consider Mt. Tabor (Heb. Har Tavor). Used as a high place in Old Testament times (See Hosea 10:8) it was in Jesus time the site of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1). It is not history, but God that makes a place–or a person–holy. The cleansing comes from God, who will one day cleanse all as He removes the curse of man’s sin.
Teacher and taught will for the most part enrich themselves together. (Trench)
Human theories live for a day; the truth of God abidith forever. (Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross)
It seems to me that the miracle of answered prayer is not in changing God’s mind, but rather bringing the person praying into line with God’s will.
Our principles do not grow out of our religion, but our religion out of our principles. We begin with principle, not with feeling. The religion of every man is just what his principles make it. (Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross)
It seems to me that we might learn a lesson in perspective from John the Baptist. Scripture tells us that he was “sent from God” to announce the imminent coming of Jesus, the Son of God.
The lesson is this: Although John drew quite a following, his message was always about the coming Christ, the Messiah. John was careful to maintain the proper balance: He was the voice, Jesus was the message.
Is Christ our message today, or does “I” dominate our conversation? John’s example on perspective is applicable and pertinent today. Not in the abstract, but to me personally. How about you?
“Truth loses its distinctive nature and properties, it is pointless and powerless, when once severed from eternity.” (Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross)
Some thoughts on sin:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
“Sin is a wanton display of egocentricity.” Martin Luther
“Sin is not only a falling away from God–a separation–but a fleeing from Him.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
Every sin is a final act, complete unto itself. Each is inexcusable and of our own power irreconcilable with our Creator. Only thru the sacrificial atonement of Jesus can each sin be reconciled.
“A crime, a sin, can never be undone. Punishment invoked, or vicarious salvation, is payment due, but not a reversal of that crime or sin.” Gardiner Spring
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. Romans 6:1-2a
If nothing else does, Christ’s death on the cross justifies eternal damnation in an unquenchable Hell for any and all who refuse His great sacrifice for our redemption.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31
“The cross saves not in sin but from sin. The great reason why a world that lieth in wickedness is so hostile to this method of grace is that it proclaims a holy salvation, demands the sacrifice of every idol, and asserts the undiminished prerogative of the Supreme Lawgiver.” Gardiner Spring
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
It seem to me that atheists argue from silence while Christians, from experience. The silence of no evidence and no experience is deafening. Too often the silence is replaced by a roar as evidence and experience shatter old presumptions. You might question my experience, even discount it, but you cannot prove it untrue.
“A proposition cannot be true unless there is truth. Moreover, since some propositions are never false, truth must always have existed and will always exist. (Anselm, De Vetitate 1, Monologion 18)
Jesus, the incarnate WORD (John 1:1-2) and Creator (Ephesians 3:9), said this: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 8:46)
“None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; so that whether we lice or die, we are the Lord’s.” (William Wilberforce, British statesman who spearheaded Britain’s end to slavery.
It seems to me that I bring forth my ideas by the ‘power of my word,’ that is, my association of words and ideas. God, the indivisible three in one, brings forth and upholds “all things by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3)
Pardon thru the blood of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is preliminary to advancement throught its righteousness. Too often we want to shortcut God’s plan and replace it with our own. That never works. We are but finite in all respects while He is infinite beyond comprehension. (Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross, 1845)
“Infinity is greater than “endless,” because the Beginning is freedom, and we can never conceive of freedom except in terms of necessity, and thus as one thing among others, but never as the one thing that utterly precedes all other things.” (Detrich Bonhoeffer)
“We need to place ourselves between our loved ones and Hell.” (Rev. Freeman Weems, August 2016) sermon
It seems to me that the rich young ruler of Matthew 19:16-22 was shekeled by a heavy burden. Sorry about the pun (relate the shekel to today’s silver dollar). But, he did have a problem with his wealth–he was attached to his money and what it offered him.
He came to Jesus with the most important question that any man can ask, and all men must come face to face with. But he skewed the question to his perspective, not God’s: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do to have eternal life?” He claimed to have kept all the commandments–at least in his opinion–from birth. “Jesus said unto him, If thou wit be perfect, go and sell (all) that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” That is the way we all have to come to our Savior: give up ourselves that we may have Him. We can only receive His salvation on His basis. It is His gift to us, on His terms. It was too much for the young man: “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.”
Salvation is the end that marks the beginning. We ‘trade-in’ our old being that we may–thru Him–become something entirely new. This thru His mercy, not our merit.
“The best of saints would be the worst of sinners without God’s preventing and sanctifying grace.” Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross, 1845
It seems to me that we sometimes overlook the lessons that life is trying to teach us. Here’s one that comes to mind. Have you ever tried to match paint and found out that the choices are mind-boggling? The ‘simple’ ones are sometimes the hardest: black and white. Once you try to match either, you find out that there are seemingly unlimited choices in shade and texture. Black isn’t totally black and white isn’t wholly white. You think, maybe, that our perceptions of the world could be that way, too?
It seems to me that there is a vast gulf between the prayer of the church today and that of the first century church.
Today we sit in our stately churches lamenting the evil we must endure and we pray, “Even so come quickly, Lord. We’ll be ready as soon as we finish singing How Great Thou Art.”
The early church prayed, “Tarry, O Lord, that we may tell others of Your saving grace. When we are persecuted we will endure thru You. When we are killed for your sake, You will raise up others. Thy will be done.”
Do we understand the difference?
It is possible to err in many ways, for evil belongs to the infinite; but to do right is possible in only one way. (Aristotle, Ethics)
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16)
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)
“Hearing the Word of God requires practice,” according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a lecture entitled Creation and Fall in 1932. He described the lecture series as a ‘first attempt to do theology in direct dialog with the Bible.
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. (I Peter 3:12)
It seems to me that those who refuse to see God as Creator have much more faith than I do.
If evolution were true, the bee in the picture would have to have evolved as a new and distinct kind (species)–male and female–at the same time and in the same place, and would have had to mature from a reproductive standpoint at the same time.
The flower–or at least a compatible food source–would have to have had to have been hanging around in bloom waiting to be pollinated so that it, too, could reproduce.
And all this in an appropriate climate.
Now, that takes a leap of faith that I just can’t make. I’ll stick with “in the beginning God created . . .”
It seems to me that many Americans are calling for a change in our country–a turn to something better than what we have become. Some see the Republicans and conservatism as the answer, others the Democrats and liberalism. Trying not to oversimplify the very real concern that Americans feel, it is essentially the difference between fundamental, or at least conservative Christian values, and a humanist–probably secular humanist–approach.
Some good intentioned folks pray that God will (again) bless our nation, to return us to the values that we believe our founding fathers had. God has promised that when even two or three of His Children pray in His will, that He will answer. The key here, I believe, is “in His will.” Here is a relevant promise from God to Christians through the chosen people, the Jews:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
He clearly states that He will–in order–1) hear from heaven, 2) forgive sins, and 3) heal the land. IF the conditions are met.
The question remains–do we really want our land healed? Enough to meet God’s requirements? If not, I suggest we stop praying that prayer until we are ready to meet His conditions.
It seems to me that our churches have wandered far from the model of the first century church. I am here distinguishing between the mission of the church and the activities of individual Christians. The mission of the first century church seems to have been twofold: 1) Preaching, teaching, and witnessing, and 2) Social services for their group and like groups elsewhere. Looking at the Scripture in text and in content, or overall message, we do not see the first century church engaged in entertainment, sports, politics, or any other activities than teaching and preaching the Gospel, and taking care of their own. Perhaps the drifting of America from a Bible-based morality has been led by the drifting of the church from its primary missions. This from the perspective from one layman. May you always seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit thru prayer, fasting and the Word.
The Cross “is the Deity Himself bearing witness to His own doctrines.” Gardiner Spring, The Attraction of the Cross)
Got to thinking–always a dangerous proposition. I find that I have reached my very late 60s somehow. If my life were expressed in grammatical terms, my earthly existence is more past tense than future tense with the present tense moving quickly. In contrast, my spiritual life–the life of my soul–is future perfect tense thanks to my Savior, Jesus Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 1:9-10)
It seem to me that effective teachers strike a balance between knowledge–which should always be greater than their students, but won’t be–and an empathetic presentation that focuses on imparting knowledge and awakening curiosity. Knowledge is so much more than just cold facts. Curiosity leads the student far deeper than the teacher can go. The subject, not the teacher, should be remembered.
It seems to me that actors and politicians spend their entire professional lives convincing us that they are someone else, and their private lives convincing themselves the same. Do you really see any reason to hold these people who have no context of reality up as idols?
Language is the armoury of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past, and the weapons of its future conquests. (Coleridge)
It seems to me that God bides His time to give man an opportunity to redeem his. I’m afraid God’s time is better spent.
Out idle words, servants to shallow fools! (Shakespeare)
Take the best and 
make it better. If it doesn’t exist, create it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough. (Sir Henry Royce, founder of Rolls Royce)
Reverse the teachings of Jesus and you have the world today–‘hate your enemies, bomb those that curse you, and shell the life out of those that despitefully use you.’ (Rev George Steward, Second Congregational Church, Newton MA, 1939) (See Matthew 5:43)
It seems to me that it is not so much what we do for Christ as what we do thru Him that counts.
Adam’s disobedience damned us all ere we ourselves wrought evil; and Christ’s obedience saveth us all ere we ourselves work any good. (Luther on Romans 5:15)
All of God does all that God does. (A.W. Tozer in “The Attributes of God”)
Morality is the outward manifestation of religion (Tolstoy)
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forebearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
There are some things which we believe only if we understand and other things we understand only if we believe. (Augustine on Isaiah 7:9)
It seems to me that we must understand that the laws of God are immutable, yet subject to the Creator’s intervention in what we call miracles. We must realize that the first commandment (and following) are no less immutable than the law of gravity.
We should carefully consider the truth of power vs. the power of truth. (Miroslav Volf)
It seems to me that it is impossible to please God until we understand that we can never please God.
The trouble with heroes is that too often their families don’t get them back. God bless them and their families.
We have abandoned the worship of the living God of creation, substituting the worship of our own minds. We have transposed the Creator and the creature. (From William Jennings Bryan)
It seems to me that God is never finished with us. We go thru his life from conception to the grave then transition to eternity. Scripture suggests that Heaven will be anything boring. I’m afraid that Hell will be the same.
Satan cannot cast out Satan. It is love that breaks the course of evil. The supernatural love of God working in and thru man is the only answer to overcoming sin. (From Rev. Harry Fosdick, Riverside Church, NYC, 1939) (See John 3:16-17)
Every ransomed man owes his salvation to the fact that during the days of his sinning God kept the door of mercy open by refusing to accept any of his evil acts as final. (A.W. Tozer)
There is a distinction between an act of faith and the content of faith. (Anselm)
When you listen for the voice of God, remember that He has no limits. His communication with man range from the still small voice in which He addressed Elijah (1 Kings 19:11-13) to the sound of many waters that John heard (Revelation 1:14-16). He is never limited by our expectations.
It seems to me that if God can’t get the Christian out of the church to obey His command to evangelize the world, He may take the church as we know it away from us. We have precedent: Read the book of Acts and understand that the early church was dispersed by persecution.
Faithfulness to faith leads to a growing understanding and wisdom, producing a developing comprehension of, and immersion in, God’s Grace and Truth. (A.W. Tozer)
It seems to me that we are missing the distinction between fact and theory. Facts support theories, not the other way around. Today we throw out the facts that contradict our theories, building our grand schemes on nothing. Evolution is one such theory. Credo quia absurdum (I believe that to be absurd)
Crede un intelligas–Believe that you may understand. (Augustine)
Gospel benefits come with gospel precept. (Charles Spurgeon)
Can’t find God? Look around you and let the awe of his creation drive you to His written Word, the Bible. For the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. (Psalm 19:1)
Since creation, the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)
If the Bible is not authoritative, what is?
Unattributed thoughts by Bob, most likely with inspiration from other more worthy sources. Any omission of credit, or failure to recognize a source is strictly an unintentional failure on my part).