A Father’s Love
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Salvation, Romans
From time to time, I have the opportunity to study with a young couple who want to get married, regarding what God intended and requires marriage to be (actually, it’s mandatory if I perform the wedding). In trying to underscore the importance of true love and maturity to the relationship, I’ve often utilized statements along these lines:
Consistency is the Key
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Commitment, Fidelity, 2 Kings, Matthew
Have you ever split firewood the “old fashioned” way? You know, the way where the “splitter” has a handle that is not attached to a hydraulic cylinder, but an ax or maul head? Although I have sometimes used the gasoline/hydraulic kind, mostly I still use the other kind of handles to split our firewood. When the boys were younger, they would see me bursting open the blocks and want to give it try. Invariably, they would swing as hard as they could, and also just as invariably, they would miss the spot they needed to hit to get the wood to split. Such is not uncommon- I did the same thing when I was just learning. But the trick is not how hard you hit it, but hitting it with consistency- meaning hitting the same place multiple times. Otherwise, you wind up making more kindling splinters than firewood! It occurs to me that many of us approach Christianity and our service to God the same way...
Saints and Sinners
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Fidelity, Obedience, Matthew
A “saint” is not a long-dead godly person who performed miracles while they were alive. The Bible nowhere defines or uses the term that way. Instead, a “saint” is a Christian, whether alive or dead- one who is “sanctified” (set apart from the world, PCS)in Christ,” 1Corinthians 1:2. Contrastingly, everyone is a “sinner” in the sense of having violated the law of God- so says Romans 3:23. But the New Testament also uses the term “sinner” to describe those who are supposedly the antithesis of God’s people. I say “supposedly” because the line between “saint” and “sinner” is not always as distinct as it ought to be. 1John 3:10 says it should be “obvious.” The blurring of this line of distinction is not due to the “sinners” becoming more “saintly” either!
The Effects of Atheism, and Practical Atheism
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Atheism, Psalms, Romans
The news has been filled lately with stories which, if they turn out to be true, reflect very badly on a couple of major college sports programs. More importantly, they reflect very badly on society as a whole. The sexual abuse of anyone, but especially children, is a deplorable thing; so is the taking of an innocent, unborn life; so is taking another’s life and property to support a drug habit; so is “I was too drunk to know/remember what I was doing;” so is…you get the point. How did we, as a society, get here?
Horses and Carts
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Salvation
Most of us have probably at least heard of “getting the cart in front of the horse”- it is more likely that we’ve all done just that, at least in one form or another. The phrase has to do with getting things out of order. Perhaps more specifically, it has to do with attempting to do one thing before something else that must necessarily come first. For those unfamiliar with carts and horses, the cart always hitches up behind the horse, rather than in front of him. Thus, those who get things out of the proper and necessary order are “getting the cart in front of the horse.” It’s kind of like trying to “push a chain”- but that’s another story for another time, I suppose. As you may have surmised by now, there is a spiritual application to this whole “horse and cart” thing....
“Being Right” vs. “Helping Others to Be Right”
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy
In most cases, the reasons we act (or don’t act) matter tremendously. Our motivations and intentions often determine how we act, even if the decision to act has already been made. Hebrews 4:12-13 makes it clear that God recognizes and judges our motives as well as our actions. This also seems to be the point Jesus was trying to get across in Matthew 5:21-48.
The Hard Way
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Commitment, Salvation, Matthew, Hebrews, James
On September 12, 1962, at Rice University Stadium in Houston, TX, President John F. Kennedy gave his famous “Moon Speech.” In this historic discourse, the President announced, “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...
The Person in the Mirror
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Faith, Obedience, James
I have said it so often, others have begun quoting me back to me- but I still believe that “The greatest power of the human mind is the ability to justify self” is absolutely true. We can always find a way to justify doing what we really want to do- even if we profess it to be wrong in most “other cases.” The underlying cause of this ability often has to do with self-perception. We just see ourselves differently than we really are. Our self-perception is, therefore, skewed.
The Powers of Satan
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Fidelity, Genesis, 1 Chronicles, 1 Peter
This lesson is a "follow-up" of sorts to the article, "Feeding the Lion." Due to the space limitations for articles in our local newspaper and church bulletin, there were some additional points that could not be included there which were deemed beneficial, and therefore are included in this lesson.
Feeding the Lion
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Commitment, 1 Peter
During the time and in the general area that the New Testament was being given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to those who wrote it, the most ferocious beast around was probably the lion. Doubtless, many people were attacked, maimed, or killed by them at that time and in those places. Given these things, it is no wonder that the Spirit chose to use the image of the lion to describe the danger, ferocity, and destructive power of Satan- “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1Peter 5:8) But perhaps we ought to think more about this particular analogy….