RestartLife

2nd November 2011

Post with 127 notes

Sin is always in a Hurry

What I have come to realize over the past few years is that my story isn’t just my story. It is all of our stories. There is a fundamental truth about sin in all of our lives and that truth is this: Sin is never slow, it is always in a hurry.

The pace of sin is why no one ever prays about charging up their credit card beyond their ability to pay. It’s why we don’t stop and pray about downloading porn or watching that movie. No one prays about losing their temper and going off on their kids. No one ever takes a day or two to pray about flirting with the guy at the gym. No one pauses at the bar and prays right before the one night stand. No one prays about lying to their spouse and takes a few days to calculate the damage that lying will do to their relationship. No one does a quiet time and talks to God about chatting with their old girlfriend on Facebook. We don’t pray about inappropriate text messages or our excessive gambling.

Why? Sin is always in a hurry. Sin is impulsive. Sin is manipulative. It is always trying to convince you that its consequences are small and its payoff is large. The truth is that it seeks to destroy you and those you love as quickly as possible.

Sin races against logic.

Sin races against conviction.

Sin races against consequences.

Sin races against your faith.

It is never slow, it is always in a hurry.

Sin tries to convince you as quickly as possible that there is only one choice; you deserve it; no one will ever find out; you’re not hurting anyone; you can get away with it; you have needs; it isn’t that big of a deal; she doesn’t love you anyway; it’s only text messages; you’ve gone too far to go back now.

Slow down today. Talk with God. Maybe for the first time in a long time look around. Is there a sin that you’ve allowed more space in your life than you thought?

It isn’t too late. With God, it is never too late.

Tagged: Theotheologysinhurryflirttextmessagetalkphone calllol

Source: refineus.org

30th October 2011

Post with 6 notes

Would you make a distinction between a pastor or priest and a theologian? or do you see them as the same thing?

There used to be a time when simply being a pastor or a priest meant you were also a theologian. There is no doubt that many contemporary pastors and priests study their Bibles and seek to know and teach others about God. In that sense, they are doing “theology.” What primarily accounts for the distinction between theologian and pastor / priest today has everything to do with the breadth and depth of study. The sad truth is that many contemporary pastors spend more time reading modern-day self-help, leadership books, and biblical commentaries than they do the Church Fathers. If Augustine, Aquinas, or Bonaventure happens to be quoted in a sermon, usually it’s because they read it in a commentary on the book they’re studying rather than from actually reading Augustine or Aquinas
themselves. I realize there are exceptions to this; but the trend—at least as it appears to me—is that many contemporary pastors and priests have made themselves more dependent on biblical commentaries for their homilies than they have on some of the greatest theological minds of all time. It would behoove them to give up on the Top Christian Bestsellers lists and read a book or two from one of these theological giants. Their soul would be the better for it. Their sermons would be the better for it. Their congregations would be the better for it. And their wallets would be the better for it: most of these works are available for free.

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Tagged: theologytheology

Source: toddvasquez.com

12th September 2011

Post

God has Long Nostrils Check it out in hebrew.. LOL 

Tagged: hebrewtheologyBible