Doing What is Right “In Your Own Eyes”
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Fidelity, Obedience, Deuteronomy, Judges
This is a Word File outline which considers the folly of what seems right to us rather than what God has said. It considers examples from Judges and Deuteronomy.
“God Spoke to Me”???
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Apostasy, Faith, Obedience, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, 1 Corinthians, 2 Thessalonians
No doubt most folks have had a conversation in which the other person intimated that God had in some way spoken to them. There are two different "types" of people who claim that God speaks to them: 1) those who are trying to get fame, a following, and financing; or 2) those who really believe that God speaks to them. Does He? How do you know? How can we tell the difference between these two types? And what's the proper response to members of each group?
Bearing Witness For or Against Yourself
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Apostasy, Commitment, Deuteronomy, John, Romans
The scribes and Pharisees of John 8:12ff attempted to use a principle of O.T. Law to indict and discredit Jesus. They accused Him of "bearing witness of Yourself..." The principle of Law to which they were appealing was that one could not be condemned on the basis of only one witness, Deut.17:6. A corroborating witness was thus required. Their conclusion was that Jesus testified of Himself as only one witness, and that therefore His testimony was untrue. The "testimony" they sought to discredit was that He was "the light of the world"- that He was "God." While the lesson goes through this part of the passage, it also extrapolates the point out to us. We "bear witness" of ourselves every hour of every day. Is our "testimony" true? What does our "witness" confirm or deny about us?
Emerson, Faith and Trust
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Faith, Trust, Deuteronomy, Hebrews
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." “Trust” is a constituent part of faith, Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Trust is included in this verse because of the part about “rewards.” While a faithful life is replete with blessings in the here and now, its true reward is only achieve after death. Thus, we live “by faith” in that we trust God as a “rewarder of those who seek Him.”
The Condition of the Sinful World
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Apostasy, Repentance, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Luke, Philippians
This lesson was presented at the Eastside Church of Christ in Palestine, Texas as a part of their Summer Series for 2009. The approach of the lesson is not so much to chronicle the sins and atrocities of the world by either number or degree, but to instead consider how such affects the thinking of the world about God. Many today seem to reason like Epicurus of long ago- that surely either God doesn't exist, or doesn't care about the suffering that is in the world by evil. Some look at the perponderance of "evil" in the world, and the suffering which results from it, and can't fathom a loving and caring God allowing it. So they retreat from faith into atheism or agnosticism. Does God care that we try to live right amidst such a "crooked and perverse" world?
How Do We Express Love to God?
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Commitment, Fidelity, Deuteronomy, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Thessalonians, Hebrews, 1 John
1John 4:20, among other things, highlights the difficulties we have as mortal and finite beings expressing our love to an immortal and infinite God. So, how do we express love to a God whom we cannot "see"- let alone touch and embrace?
“Thou Art God”- Attributes of God
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Growth, Obedience, Trust, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians
Of those people whom we purport to "know well," we usually know a lot about their character and attributes. But when it comes to God, we kind of get stuck. We are taught, and perhaps even teach others, the 3 O's (Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence), but besides these, what do we really know about the Creator and Ruler of the Universe? The human mind, bound by time at least, does not possess the ability to comprehend all there is to know about God, His wisdom, or His ways, Rom.11:33-36. We can certainly ascertain the existence of God, and even understand something of His power, through His creation, Rom.1:18-20. But for the greater part, we are completely dependent upon what God chooses to reveal about Himself to us through the Bible. So, what can we know about the attributes of God that make Him who He really is?
Honoring Your Mother
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Fidelity, Obedience, Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, John, Acts, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy
The text does not specify whether or not Dorcas / Tabitha was either a wife or a mother. It does indicate the she was greatly loved and mourned at her death because of her attitude and activity in life, Acts 9:36,39. The text says that she, "abounded with deeds of kindness and charity..." Such are surely "motherly" characteristics! Our country sets aside the second Sunday in May to honor "Mothers" with their own special day. While the day is not commanded specifically in the Bible, certainly the concept is encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments. This lesson seeks to highlight the biblically-given characteristics of "Mothers" that cause us to seek to honor them as God commands.
Man’s Problem of Perspective
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Jeremiah
Passages such as Jeremiah 10:23, Isaiah 55:8-9, and 1Corinthians 1:18ff all highlight the massive superiority of God's ways and wisdom over man's. No one who believes the Bible thinks man knows more or better about anything than God. But here's the question: Is man's problem of understanding one we inherited from creation, or, are there things we do or fail to do that either contribute or cause the problem? In other words, is it just "the way God made us" or can we do something to improve the situation? Perhaps a look back into the history of Israel will help to answer the question.
Immorality 4
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Immorality, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Hebrews
This is the fourth entry into this series. It deals, sensitively, with the subject of "Christian Sex Education" by endeavoring to replace modern concepts of sex with biblical understanding.