Reformed Blogging

I remembered back when I read the book by the late R.C. Sproul Sr. called "The Holiness of God". One of the chapters talked about God's justice. One line from the book says to be careful when you ask for justice - you might get it. How many times do I find myself really singing "Amazing Justice" instead of "Amazing Grace" never mind that I was forgiven of debt I couldn't pay? How many times have I really ignored the fact that I'm just a flawed human being in the need of God's grace to do right? Genesis 18:25 has Abraham talking about the Judge of the Earth doing right. Any truly saved person wouldn't want to punish the innocent along with the guilty. Such are poor standards today like in Communist countries or in Nazi Germany - the innocent suffered along with the wicked. Yet, one can also question God's justice such as the incident with the Tower of Siloam which caused 18 bystanders to die, or Pilate's massacre during the minis...

The topic of Hosea can be a very touchy one. It's very common to easily forgive a husband who has committed adultery but not the wife. It's really something to admire a woman who re-accepts her husband after siring a child out of wedlock but not when it's the other way around. Hosea's tragic love story had God command the prophet to marry the wanton woman Gomer. I was even assuming that Gomer's two other children were probably not Hosea's. Gomer went to other lovers for some time. However, the pleasures of sin are rather fleeting one way or another. Israel, like Gomer, went after other lovers in the form of idol worship. Israel soon split away from Judah and Benjamin after the death of Solomon. Israel was a kingdom characterized by apostasy. The names of the children of Hosea and Gomer were Jezreel, Lohru-Hamma (No Mercy), and Lo-Ammi (Not My People).  If I were to talk, I would really want to abandon Gomer for good. I don't want to endure such an unhealthy ...

Holy Week usually gets devoted to reading from the New Testament. One of the many things taught in the New Testament is the Golden Rule or what is taught as such. Many tend to think that the negative form which says, "Don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you." is by Confucius. However, it must be noted that Confucius' moral code is not completely original nor was he the first person to say that rule. It's sometimes attributed to Jewish teachings. Leviticus 19:18 is a clear principle against revenge which the Pharisees had ignored. Revenge was never allowed in the Old Testament either - something that would be such a serious mistake to think about it. The principle of an eye for an eye is not about personal vendettas but not punishing people beyond their offenses. It's like you can get suspended for cheating in an exam but you can't get beheaded for doing so. The idea that Confucius originally said the golden rule is absurd. Confuc...

I've been reading Nehemiah for the nth time but I wanted to take a moment to pause as well. I was thinking about how often I get irritated by scoffers. Then I think of Nehemiah's statement that was given saying the following: Nehemiah 2:19-20  19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?  20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem . I was thinking about how am I reacting towards insults and letdowns from other people? Nehemiah was insulted by the three scoffers with how they tried to stop him from rebuilding the wall. Rather than throw a tantrum - Nehemiah chose to remain calm, trust God, and do his work that God assigned to him. Nehemiah chose to rely ...

I remembered how easily I get worked out or get into useless fights because somebody called me a name. Yes, all over being insulted or called a name. There are times I get called a fool because of my reaction . That is somebody called me an idiot or a faggot and I decide to either slap, punch, or even choke the person with my bare hands in retaliation. I was referred to Proverbs 12:16 where the King James Version (KJV) says, "A fool's wrath is presently known but a prudent man covereth shame." I wanted to protest the rendition of the New International Version (NIV) since I tend to dislike modern English translations of the Bible. However, it does mean the same thing when a fool's wrath is presently known but a prudent man covers his shame. What does it mean to cover his shame? That is to avoid doing anything that will cause shame. Such a thing is how to respond to insults. The teaching to turn the other cheek is not about allowing one's self to get physically hurt...

Today's reading from the Tecarta Bible is Ecclesiastes 3. I decided to focus on the first eight verses for my reflection today: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. There's a time for everything. You can see how the cycle goes with life itself. We notice how these eight verses tell us that both g...

I was listening to John F. MacArthur's sermon " How Should Christians Respond to the Riots? " I was thinking about how injustice is very common. There are many human rights organizations today that are emissaries of Satan. In what way are these human rights organizations emissaries of Satan? Some of them are meant to carry Socialist garbage to get rid of free markets, others are more focused on political correctness than human rights, others would rather side with the criminals than the victims provided that the price is right (at least for them), and others would make people undermine authority. True, there is such a thing as a healthy fear for authority but these human rights organizations are giving people an unhealthy fear of authority. Fearing authority is normal and healthy. However, fearing authority and hating it is abnormal and unhealthy. It's like I fear to break the law because I could get punished for the right reasons. However, it's not healthy for...

I remembered when I was newly saved and I would get mad over every trivial issue. I would argue religion a lot. While studying James (which right now is done rather slowly) - I got struck by Vernon McGee's commentary on James 1:20 which says that the wrath of man doesn't work the righteousness of God. How easy has it been for me to ignore that verse out of my pride in one way or another? Very much especially when I let my temper get the best of me. I could remember having methods like shouting and arguing or worse, even hitting others while witnessing the Gospel. I admit that it has made me become a poor witness because I couldn't enjoy my anger for long. James 1:19-20 actually says the following: 19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. (KJV) 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for...

I admit that I do have a lot of yesterday's junk. I do have some old research and articles that I've dumped because of how hateful they are. I was thinking about a lot of past dealings. I remembered starting a ministry with the desire to win people but I ended up in long-winded arguments. I was thinking about a lot of trolls who preach false doctrines. There are too many to mention. Times came when I even took pictures of their statements because I wanted to get even with them. I wanted to really beat them up in the face to tell them they're wrong. Many of these guys taught false doctrines and I felt it was my responsibility to shove the truths to their faces. What I didn't realize was that my pride was already getting the best of me. I remembered the times I would argue with them a lot in a battle of who's right and who's wrong. However, Mark Twain had warned that arguing with fools is a useless exercise. Many times, these fools argued and acted like the...

The Greek word for longsuffering in Colossians 3:12 is makrothumia . Vernon McGee defines it as "long-burning" or that it burns a long time. It's stated, "We shouldn't have a short fuse with our friends and Christian brethren. We shouldn't make snap judgments." Making snap judgments is making judgments without good judgment. That's what it means by don't judge and you'll not be judged. Judging righteously means to also include longsuffering in one's character. John Gill describes in his commentary as, "whereby a person patiently bears evil words and actions of others, and is not easily provoked to wrath by then, but puts up with injuries, and sits down contented with the ill usage he meets with them." Why do I fail in the makrothumia or longsuffering test? I would dare say it's mostly rooted upon pride. It's the sin in me that's like Haman who is too easily offended by a minor official who won't bow down. Mordec...