The Idols of Christianity
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve been back, and I’m not going to offer up any excuses, but I am back.
If you haven’t read the passage yet, I would recommend that you do so in order to keep in mind the context. Never take my words at face value; I am but an individual with my own interpretation, and I don’t like misleading. If you disagree with something I say, tell me, I am not a closed book. With that said, let’s continue.
Today, what I wanted to discuss is worshiping idols. Let me first say how I define an idol. An idol is a person or object that has been given power and priority in your life over God’s. In verse 4 it says, “There is no God but one.” So placing an authority on a person, or an object will take away from the authority of the One God. The preceding phrase from verse 4, “an idol is nothing at all in the world,” clearly states that idols are nothing and that means they have no power, or priority over God.
Are Christians immune from this practice; definitely not. Take a look at the cross, and the Bible; now before you get bent out of shape, let me explain. The historical purpose of the cross is torture, and death, and by coming back to life the third day, Christ beat the power of death. By wearing a cross around your neck, or having one in a visible place, it is meant to symbolize the power of Christ over death, but by believing that the presence of a cross can ward of evil spirits, or even by holding it out in front of you that evil will flee, it is given a power it doesn’t have; therefore making it an idol.
As far as the Bible is concerned, it is meant to be a guide book, nothing more. It is first and foremost a book (paper and ink). I’m not saying it is useless, it is extremely useful in learning about the relationship between God and man. It is also useful in learning about life, but I have seen churches split over translations, and I’ve seen people who place every authority in the book itself. If your bible were to get destroyed in one way, or another, it can be replaced, and it can’t stop the word of God.
All I’m saying, is objects should be viewed in their proper context, and not idolized. Now the same goes for people. I’m not talking about entertainers; though it still applies. What I am talking about are saints. Making someone a saint is not necessarily making them an idol, but the act of praying to them is. When you pray to a saint you are giving them authority over your problem. That authority is strictly the property of God.
If you keep a cross, keep it only as a reminder of Christ’s power over death. If you have a bible, use it as a guide book and reference to God’s words, but don’t let the book rule your life. Just keep things in proper perspective. Verse 6 says there is one God; and one Lord; don’t give anyone else, or anything his authority. That is the essence of idol worship.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Saturday, June 19, 2010
The path of responsibility!!!
One of the most ridiculous debates going on in science right now is “heredity vs. environment”. The problem with this debate is that neither side is right. There are valid points to both arguments, but there are too many exceptions to call them correct. I will try to put this into perspective.
Heredity: “My family comes from Ireland, and everyone in my family drinks, so is it any wonder I’m an alcoholic?” We’ve all heard this logic. I come from a family of alcoholics, from a country that is known for drinking, so I bear no responsibility for my actions; it’s genetic.
Environment: “My favorite band says drugs are OK, and all my friends are doing it, so I have to do it too.” In other words, I do it because that’s the way things are. I’m not responsible.
I think you see where I’m going with this. In my last blog, “The blame game”, Adam and Eve placed blame on someone else, trying to say they weren’t responsible for their own actions. God held each one responsible for their own part, and he holds us responsible for our own walk of faith. This is the message of Proverbs 4:23-27.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Our parents are responsible to warn us about evil, and teach us about the world; it is not to protect us from the world. We can’t even protect ourselves from the world, but we are responsible to protect our hearts from its influence. We are also responsible for the words that come out of our mouths.
We are also responsible to keep our eyes leading us in the right direction, not allowing evil to take our eyes from the path that will lead us to God. I’m not saying there won’t be obstructions in the path, but by avoiding the distractions on the side of the path, we can keep our eyes where we need to, and avoid the obstructions.
We are the only ones who can take responsibility for our walk with God, and no amount of blame is going to change that. Stay on the path, avoid the distractions, and we will be able to guard our hearts, otherwise we will be too busy trying to blame others for our lack of faith.
Enjoy,
Allen
Heredity: “My family comes from Ireland, and everyone in my family drinks, so is it any wonder I’m an alcoholic?” We’ve all heard this logic. I come from a family of alcoholics, from a country that is known for drinking, so I bear no responsibility for my actions; it’s genetic.
Environment: “My favorite band says drugs are OK, and all my friends are doing it, so I have to do it too.” In other words, I do it because that’s the way things are. I’m not responsible.
I think you see where I’m going with this. In my last blog, “The blame game”, Adam and Eve placed blame on someone else, trying to say they weren’t responsible for their own actions. God held each one responsible for their own part, and he holds us responsible for our own walk of faith. This is the message of Proverbs 4:23-27.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Our parents are responsible to warn us about evil, and teach us about the world; it is not to protect us from the world. We can’t even protect ourselves from the world, but we are responsible to protect our hearts from its influence. We are also responsible for the words that come out of our mouths.
We are also responsible to keep our eyes leading us in the right direction, not allowing evil to take our eyes from the path that will lead us to God. I’m not saying there won’t be obstructions in the path, but by avoiding the distractions on the side of the path, we can keep our eyes where we need to, and avoid the obstructions.
We are the only ones who can take responsibility for our walk with God, and no amount of blame is going to change that. Stay on the path, avoid the distractions, and we will be able to guard our hearts, otherwise we will be too busy trying to blame others for our lack of faith.
Enjoy,
Allen
Friday, May 15, 2009
Prioritize love, and trust God
Matthew 6:24-33
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, What you will eat of drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?”, or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There’s no doubt about it, God places the highest priority on our love for him. In day two of the book he goes into the priority of our relationships. Verse 33 of Matthew 6 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we give God the priority in our lives, we will have what we need.
In this world, with the economy in an uproar, and unemployment at very high level, it’s very easy to place a high importance on getting a job so you can make money for food, clothes, and shelter. This is important, but God knows what we need and, if we make him our priority, we will have what we need. That doesn’t mean we go to sleep, and wake up with our daily needs waiting at our feet. By placing him first, he will send us opportunities that will give us the money we need. We just have to listen to him.
We need to think in the long term. When we worry about money, food, clothes, and shelter, that worry can turn into panic, and that panic can change our priority from God to money. The saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a meal; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Is very true. By worrying, people are looking for the fastest way to get something. They expect the government to give them handouts, but they don’t think that they are tapping into a limited resource. They will never accept the responsibility for their own future, and when the government stops giving them what they want, they will end up with nothing.
What God offers is long term. All we have to do is love him first and trust that he will supply us with what we need. He will show us job opportunities that may not be fortune 500, but they will give us what we need.
Tom Holladay mentioned a quote, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” What you do in your life is not important. What is important is that you love God first, and trust him to know what’s best for your life.
Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities. There are three priorities, and depending on where each one falls will give you how much success you will have. The three priorities are God, man, myself.
I will go into these later. For now, I want to leave you with this thought. “Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities.”
Challenge: Write down the quote that Tom Holladay mentioned, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” Put it in a highly visible place.
Enjoy,
Allen
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, What you will eat of drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?”, or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There’s no doubt about it, God places the highest priority on our love for him. In day two of the book he goes into the priority of our relationships. Verse 33 of Matthew 6 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we give God the priority in our lives, we will have what we need.
In this world, with the economy in an uproar, and unemployment at very high level, it’s very easy to place a high importance on getting a job so you can make money for food, clothes, and shelter. This is important, but God knows what we need and, if we make him our priority, we will have what we need. That doesn’t mean we go to sleep, and wake up with our daily needs waiting at our feet. By placing him first, he will send us opportunities that will give us the money we need. We just have to listen to him.
We need to think in the long term. When we worry about money, food, clothes, and shelter, that worry can turn into panic, and that panic can change our priority from God to money. The saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a meal; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Is very true. By worrying, people are looking for the fastest way to get something. They expect the government to give them handouts, but they don’t think that they are tapping into a limited resource. They will never accept the responsibility for their own future, and when the government stops giving them what they want, they will end up with nothing.
What God offers is long term. All we have to do is love him first and trust that he will supply us with what we need. He will show us job opportunities that may not be fortune 500, but they will give us what we need.
Tom Holladay mentioned a quote, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” What you do in your life is not important. What is important is that you love God first, and trust him to know what’s best for your life.
Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities. There are three priorities, and depending on where each one falls will give you how much success you will have. The three priorities are God, man, myself.
I will go into these later. For now, I want to leave you with this thought. “Your definition of success will determine your life’s priorities.”
Challenge: Write down the quote that Tom Holladay mentioned, “God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.” Put it in a highly visible place.
Enjoy,
Allen
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The greatest commandment
I know I wanted to go through the book of Proverbs, but the church I’m going to has started going through the program called, “The 40 days of love” and I felt it would be worth writing about the observations I make as I go through this wonderful program.
The Bible is more than just a book about knowledge and wisdom. Even more than that it is a book about the greatest love, and the relationship between God and man. The Ten Commandments are all about love. Mark 12: 28-31 says: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "O“ all the commandments, which is the most important?" ”
”The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
The Ten Commandments all have to do with how we relate to God, and others. There are many people who give to charities, go to church, and pray loud, and long in public places. They do this so that everyone will know how great they are. They do all this in the name of Christ, but none of it matters if the only reason they do it is so that everyone will notice them. Doing things with a reward in mind is putting yourself first, and others second.
Many religions believe that you have to convert people, or give something up, or do charities to get to heaven, but that is thinking about the reward and not God or others. The commandments are all about putting others first. People will watch what we do, and call us great, and tell us things that build up our ego, but God sees what’s in our heart, and he knows our motivation. If we do something for recognition and people call us great, then we will have what we want. If we do something out of love, we do it regardless of the recognition, and what people tell us won’t make one bit of difference.
When we leave the world, and stand before God, he will judge us by our love of him and others, not by our actions.
Challenge: If you want to follow along with the program, the name of the book is, “The Relationship Principles of Jesus” by Tom Holladay.
Enjoy,
Allen
The Bible is more than just a book about knowledge and wisdom. Even more than that it is a book about the greatest love, and the relationship between God and man. The Ten Commandments are all about love. Mark 12: 28-31 says: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "O“ all the commandments, which is the most important?" ”
”The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
The Ten Commandments all have to do with how we relate to God, and others. There are many people who give to charities, go to church, and pray loud, and long in public places. They do this so that everyone will know how great they are. They do all this in the name of Christ, but none of it matters if the only reason they do it is so that everyone will notice them. Doing things with a reward in mind is putting yourself first, and others second.
Many religions believe that you have to convert people, or give something up, or do charities to get to heaven, but that is thinking about the reward and not God or others. The commandments are all about putting others first. People will watch what we do, and call us great, and tell us things that build up our ego, but God sees what’s in our heart, and he knows our motivation. If we do something for recognition and people call us great, then we will have what we want. If we do something out of love, we do it regardless of the recognition, and what people tell us won’t make one bit of difference.
When we leave the world, and stand before God, he will judge us by our love of him and others, not by our actions.
Challenge: If you want to follow along with the program, the name of the book is, “The Relationship Principles of Jesus” by Tom Holladay.
Enjoy,
Allen
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