"AMEN!"Written by Terry Dashner
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Now in light of this information, consider power of “AMEN!” To say “Amen” at promises of God is to affirm them. It is to say, “Yes! And so let it be.” So promises of God are in Christ “Yes and Amen,” right? That’s what Bible says, and it doesn’t lie. When we go to praying in name of Jesus, we go to where “Yes” is. God says, in effect, “Yes, I will answer you. Call on me. Prove me faithful. Watch me bless you.” When we conclude our pray with “Amen!” we are affirming God’s Glory. We are affirming by oath, as it were, “God you will do this for your Glory’s sake. God you will Glorify name of Jesus. God you want to manifest your Glory through us by blessing us…” We are going to God through Jesus empty, devoid of resources, without strength, weak and frail but, nevertheless, trusting that God will fill us with His Holy Spirit, grant us His everlasting resources, strengthen our hearts, and give us grace, more grace and all grace sufficient to lift us up. Glory to God! (I wish I could attach shout of praise). Let me conclude with these final words from Pastor Piper: “When we pray, we say Amen to God through Christ, because God has said Amen to all his promises in Christ. Prayer is confident plea for God to make good on his promises of future grace for Christ’s sake. Prayer links our faith in future grace with foundation of it all, Jesus Christ.” So, it really is all about Jesus. Isn’t it? Keep faith. Stay course. Jesus is on His way for you. A place has been already prepared for you. Pastor T.—by grace.
Pastors a church in Broken Arrow, OK. He writes articles that are used for daily devotions through his mailings:tdash0355atnetzerodotcom.
| | Theology, Hollywood StyleWritten by Terry Mitchell
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Third, God does not demand that people obey Him/Her/It, nor is He/She/It concerned about certain types of moral values. Since obedience is not a requirement, repentance is never necessary. One's personal moral turpitude and how one relates to God are non-issues as well. For example, God doesn't really have a problem with any of following: homosexual activity, sex between couples that aren't married to each other, profanity, or use of God's name in vain. Only moral values governing a person's treatment of other people matter to God, according to Hollywood gospel. For example, it's okay to be a complete hedonist as long as you give your fair share to charity and serve your community. The bottom line is that God's primary concern is that we do best we can to be "good" people and model citizens. How we perform in that area will determine whether not we "make it" to heaven. Never mind fact that this notion creates a theological imbroglio, i.e., how would you ever know how good is good enough? What is this Hollywood-style theology based on? It is certainly not based on teachings of Holy Bible, although Tinseltown brigade likes to selectively quote from it now and then. Obviously, this theology is based on way Hollywood would like for things to be. Like many other entities and individuals, Hollywood molds concept of God into something that fits in well with its own lifestyle and agenda. True Christians know that, while Jesus (the only path to God) is always waiting for us with open arms, we must come to God on terms that He has established, and not other way around. I normally stay away from proselytizing, but that's just plain old unvarnished truth.
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.
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