Adolphus Writer's Blog, page 13
July 6, 2016
In Spirit and in Truth
How do we worship? Is it by actions or by attitudes? Do feeling count? Is there one right way, place, and time? As Jesus Christ confronted the Samaritan woman at the well with the truth of who He is, He said:
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 English Standard Version (ESV)
Rem...
June 28, 2016
No Other Name
‘’ is one of the most recognizedcurse words the world over. Beyond this, there are many who profess that theirs is the right way to God. However, the Acts of the Apostles records Peter as saying:
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-12 English Standard Version (ESV)
Oops, we all must be mistaken....
June 23, 2016
Why Do You Look at Me That Way?
Don’t you hate it when your significant other gives you that look? You know what they mean. Maybe what you’re doing is something they warned you off months ago and there you are doing it again. They told you about how it hurt them when you did it. You even had words over it. May be you told them you’d never do it again.
The Apostle Peter had a similar experience but the stakes were much higher. Warned by Christ that the devil sought to have him and sift him like wheat, Peter said he’d follow...
June 15, 2016
Get Behind Me
No one likes a stern rebuke for something they’ve done wrong. Perhaps our father, a coworker, or our boss reprimanded us. Rejecting correction from the former could have led to punishment if we weren’t repentant (and sometimes even then.) Rejecting the same from the latter could lead to job termination. Often, however, chastisement brings with it wisdom.
But, what if the one you’ve offended has a world-changing responsibility to carry out? Performing that responsibility will affect untold mil...
June 9, 2016
Manifest
The word manifest is a terribly abused word (check YouTube, for instance.) It is also an interesting word:
man·i·fest [ˈmanəˌfest]
VERB
1.display or show (a quality or feeling) by one’s acts or appearance; demonstrate: “Ray manifested signs of severe depression”
synonyms: display · show · exhibit · demonstrate · betray · present · reveal · evince
antonyms: hide
* (be manifested in) be evidence of; prove:
“bad industrial relations are often manifested in disputes and strikes”
synonyms: be evid...
June 1, 2016
Pray for Peace
Where do we find ourselves now? Is this the country you thought you’d be living in? Are you fed up and ready to “burn it all down?” Or do the alternatives we have scare you? Imagine what exiles from their homelands must feel.
We have an example of just such exiles in the book of Jeremiah. The people of Judah and Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet Jeremiah exhorted the exiles to live in obedience to God for seventy years, the term God decreed for their banis...
May 27, 2016
Angry Friends
We all want friends we can rely upon. We want friends we can confide in, freely discuss things of importance, and shoot the breeze with. That’s why it’s so disappointing to have angry friends:
Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
Proverbs 22:24-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
Our usual source for commentary, John Calvin, did not comment on the book of Proverbs. We therefore go to Matthew Henry....
May 20, 2016
Make Friends
The following saying has always held mystery for me. Parts of it make sense. It’s the idea of ‘casting your bread upon the waters.’ However, some of it almost sounds like buying your way to heaven.
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9 English Standard Version (ESV)
The theologian, John Calvin, dismisses the notion of a ‘pay to play’ entry into heaven. Instead, he says:
Make...
May 12, 2016
Confused Language
A recent Economist magazine review on Noam Chomsky’s work [paywall] comments:
Since he wrote “Syntactic Structures” in 1957, Mr. Chomsky has argued that human language is fundamentally different from any other kind of communication, that a “linguist from Mars” would agree that all human languages are variations on a single language, and that children’s incredibly quick and successful learning (despite often messy and inattentive parental input) points to an innate language faculty in the brai...
May 5, 2016
God or Money?
Which will it be, God or money? The God spoken about in this context is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; one God in three persons. Money, or mammon, on the other hand, is any earthly means of exchange or gain (i.e., possessions).
While speaking with His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ was overheard by the religious rulers of the day. They scoffed at what He said to His disciples:
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be dev...
