Jonathan Edwards Talked Hell, Promised No Heaven
I’m not sure what you would call it but the congregation’s response to Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was not a revival.
He wasn’t speaking to heretics, hecklers or blasphemers. In fact, his hearers weren’t even skeptical. They were regular congregants and they were anything but slack. They endured long, dry, complicated, and often irrelevant or condemning discussions on Bible topics every week.
Deadening, yes, but showing up every week was a sign of determined commitment. They weren’t indifferent.
The services were probably lifeless – the effect had to be numbing – but we can’t blame the attenders for that and there is no reason to accuse them of being spiritually casual.
Mr. Edwards was clearly a very intelligent man with a remarkable ability to articulate his thoughts. But in spite of these abilities those who heard him found his theology difficult to assimilate. Read more
“Roots of Responsibility” by John Rosemond
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Chapter Review – “Roots of Responsibility”
In The New Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children
But before we get into the meat of this chapter the following ideas define the character of a responsible person.
A responsible person:
- Doesn’t allow feelings to control their actions.
They do what they should do even when they don’t feel like it, at least most of the time.
- Can be trusted to make only the commitments they can reliably fulfill and to keep those commitments once made.
In the words of Jesus, “let your yes’s be yes and your no’s be no.” (Matt. 5:37)
Children need to understand that a commitment is not really made until it is kept.
- Understands that the reward of responsible living is counterbalanced by consequence.
“Material reward” is not the only motivation. “Consequence” is a second and equally important issue.
There is no guarantee you will always be rewarded appropriately for being responsible but it is absolutely certain you will suffer consequences if you aren’t. And we all occasionally suffer the consequences of our failures to perform.
A person who isn’t sensitized to both the positives and negatives – rewards and consequences – doesn’t really understand what it means to accept responsibility.
Allowing children to face the consequences of their actions, instead of insulating them, conditions them to be reliable rather than flippant. They learn to derive pleasure from a job well done, as much by avoiding the consequence as they do from receiving the reward.
- Is pragmatic. They are focused on the result and don’t get hung up on methods.
Notable achievements are often accomplished through collaboration but it is rare that each participant agrees on how things should be done. There are many acceptable ways to accomplish the same task. One method may be better than another but as long as the goal is reached and nothing immoral is done, fine.
A responsible person is willing to hear other ideas and is more attached to the outcome than the methods used to reach it. We call that working smart and not just hard.
- Is reliable and supportive.
Reliable in the sense that whatever part they play in the overall scheme of things they personally own and diligently execute.
You don’t have to tell them to do something or constantly remind them to do it. They embrace their chores and once there chores are done, they will gladly assist others.
Children must learn to find things to do without being told.
Chores
John suggests that one of the best ways to mold children into responsible individuals is to give them age appropriate chores and he suggests five practical outcomes to prove his point: Read more
How Did God Speak To Moses’ Mother, Jochebed?
Mention the name “Jochebed” and most people give you a blank look. But refer to Moses’ Mother and the light comes on.
Everyone knows the story of Moses. He features prominently in Exodus through Deuteronomy and, in fact, wrote all four books. There is little question that he edited the Book of Genesis also – with God’s guidance, of course.
There is also little question that Jochebed gets a lot of credit for everything Moses did.
Of the many unusual things about the life of Moses, the one that is rarely mentioned is the fact that the Bible covers his complete bio from birth to death. Very few have that distinction: Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus to name a few. It is also interesting that the lives of these people are accompanied by miracles, at least at birth.
Unlike the others, however, Moses’ conception wasn’t miraculous. His survival immediately following birth was.
Pharaoh, the reigning monarch when Moses was born, had decreed that all male born Israelites be sacrificed to the Nile. Not only did Moses survive that decree he was also protected in the safest possible place, the palace of Pharaoh.
It was a miracle, yes, but not in the normal sense of the word. This miracle required a large dose of human activity by someone with a lot of courage, tenacity and ingenuity.
Enter Jochebed, a little known figure otherwise, but one that will forever be associated with the miraculous survival of Moses. The question is, did God speak to this woman and if so, how?
The story unfolds like this: Read more
Sincerity Is Not Salvation
Cornelius was a very interesting person. The Bible actually says he was so convincingly devout that his family followed in his steps. He also gave generously (much) to charitable needs, he feared God and he prayed constantly. He was trusted and had influence with many people.
The least you could say about Cornelius is he was sincere. It was in response to his sincerity that God spoke to him in a vision and on the basis of that fact alone we conclude that sincerity is important.
- The quality of every relationship is measured by the sincerity of those involved.
- Sincere people are honest and trustworthy. The opposite is duplicity, i.e., operating with ulterior motives and hidden agendas.
- Sincere people never say one thing while intentionally meaning another. When they disagree with others they are honest about it without being disagreeable.
- Sincere people are forthright. They say exactly what they mean and mean exactly what they say.
- Sincere people look for truth, they don’t try to reshape it.
- A sincere person can never knowingly be compromised.
- Insincere people are complacent about error and glib toward truth. They aren’t so easily led by God.
- God responds to sincerity.
But being sincere does not automatically make you Christian and Cornelius’ experience proves it. You can read his story in Acts 10. Read more
Contending For The Faith Or With The Faithful?
Sovereignty. Everyone believes in it but we don’t all measure it the same way. For some sovereignty means God has all the power and all the will. He isn’t just omnipotent He is dominant. Everything that is or will be, was determined (pre – before it actually happened) by Him (salvation particularly). You can accept His outcomes and go with the flow or not, (you can only buck His plan if He decided you would, even if you didn’t want to) but you can’t change it.
In this scheme, God has pre-knowledge of all things because He planned it. He knew what would happen because He caused it. Taking this idea to its logical end, we don’t have to do anything. In fact, we can’t. Do you have a career path? Only if God wants it. Can you tell us what it is? Only when God shows it. If God’s will is such, why do we need a will at all? Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration