Reformed Blogging

Fasting is one issue in the Christian church today. Some may think fasting is just an Old Testament command but it's not. Fasting was done in Acts 13-14. Jesus also mentioned in Luke 2:37 and 5:33 that prayer goes with fasting in the Christian discipline. Fasting is most often associated with a reduced intake of food intake. Sometimes, fasting can be confused with abstinence. More often, I hear a comment that says Lent has become more associated with eating delicious food that's not meat in contrast to fasting. Me eating a vegetarian meal doesn't always equal fasting. I might end up eating more when I'm on my days when I abstain from meat to get the energy I need in contrast to when I eat meat (or fish) with vegetables and wheat (or rice). I guess that's why God gave permission to mankind to eat meat after the Flood because the conditions of the Earth would wear people out faster than the pre-Flood times. Meat would allow you to get full faster while vegetables were...

"Forgive as you have been forgiven!" is a command that the Lord Jesus gives. Yet, I find myself tempted to remain vindictive over very petty issues. The command is clear that if someone strikes you on one cheek - turn the other also. If you noticed, turning the other cheek means warding off the blow without using violence. It's all about letting it bounce or letting it go. However, I've found myself in the situation of the unforgiving servant. The king pardoned a huge debt that couldn't be paid yet the servant couldn't forgive someone who owed him much less. The king represents God who wouldn't lose anything pardoning such a huge debt that nobody can pay. God owns everything so pardoning a debt that huge means nothing to Him. So what petty issues am I getting vindictive over with? It's all about insults and petty bullying. I tend to remind myself if I can forgive people who I had a feud with for years then why I can't do the same with people...

How often Jesus has warned about the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6-12, Mark 7:1-9, Luke 12:1). Here's the question that I want to ask right now, "Am I guarding my heart from the leaven of the Pharisees?" It's so easy for me to criticize the Roman Catholic clergy to be like the Pharisees or the Pope to be a modern day Caiaphas but the question is am I sharing certain bad traits that the Pharisees have? If so, then I would find myself in a situation no better or no different than any modern-day Pharisee I may be criticizing right now. It's so easy to be self-righteous in a world gone wrong. The Pharisees were pretty much separatists in their own way. You can see how strict they were in following a strict moral code. But the problem of the Pharisees was how often they looked down at others. I decided to write a self-evaluation that I struggle with the leaven of the Pharisees. The struggle with sin has no exemption. If the Christian men struggle against...