Bad Things Archives - NowTHINK!AboutIt

God’s Power, Our Power, And The Gospel

June 5, 2021 by EnnisP 1 Comment

Which deserves more attention, the power we fail to use or the power we cannot access

God’s Power Is Regulated
By His Wisdom
Not Ours

Christians know that God is powerful and when problems arise, they often cry out to Him hoping for an intervention.

And it’s true. God does have the power to solve our problems and on occasion, for reasons we may never know, has done so but there is no guarantee.

It’s a mystery. We can’t say why unexpected problems arise and we’re quizzed as to why God doesn’t prevent them beforehand or remedy them afterward. These are questions not easily answered. Suggested explanations fill volumes but the rationale often contradicts and is never entirely convincing.

Things We Don’t Know And Rarely Mention

It’s not often mentioned but we also don’t know and can never calculate the number of times God has actually prevented tragedies. We loudly complain about the tragedies that do happen but what about the ones that didn’t happen. The ones we never experienced or knew about because God didn’t allow them to materialize. Those aren’t mentioned.

Obviously, we weren’t aware of them but they surely would have happened had God not intervened.

Maybe we should pause briefly to offer a moment of gratitude for the events we weren’t aware of and will never know about because God graciously held them off.

In spite of there being no conclusive answer on the horizon, this discussion still gets a lot of mileage. Maybe we should just be satisfied that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and He has chosen to keep some of His ideas to Himself.

What We Do Know

But we aren’t left entirely in the dark. [Read more…] about God’s Power, Our Power, And The Gospel

4 Things Failure Is Not

January 19, 2016 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Failure Catalyzes
Clarity And Focus

Is failure a good thing or a bad thing? When does it happen? Should I avoid it? How does it work?

Failure provokes many questions and it’s common. Is there anyone who hasn’t been body slammed by its after effects?

Some think failure is synonymous with loser. Not a nice idea. Also not true. People who succeed greatly also fail badly.

In order to get through failure effectively, and use it to win rather than lose, we need to manage it like popular winners. The first step toward doing that is understanding what it is not. [Read more…] about 4 Things Failure Is Not

8 Resolutions For New Beginnings Every Year

January 18, 2016 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Failure Is The Doorway
To New Beginnings

Fortunately, we get more than one attempt at success. In fact, life constantly moves from New Beginnings to Failures and back to New Beginnings. It’s the universal cycle of personal experience. The cycles begin when we take our first breath and never end till we take the last. Unfortunately, Failure is the center piece of that cycle.

We don’t like it, but what that means is failure is inevitable. Not bad. Not regrettable. Not unusual. Everyone fails. It is unavoidable, but perceptions notwithstanding, failure isn’t entirely negative.

Winston Churchill said:

Failure is not fatal!

It may feel like you’re dying at the time but with the right approach, failure becomes the mechanism that helps us improve. The number of people who have succeeded through failure is endless.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to bore you with the entire list of every person who failed and then succeeded. Someone else has done that elsewhere.

More to the point, Failure is why there are Refresh buttons on browsers, Restart buttons on Apple TV and Ctrl+Shift+Esc on PC’s. Software development, like life, is an imperfect science and constantly needs updating. Happily, the outcome of that process is a new start and a better experience.

Since we live the process, we should own it and following are eight ways to refresh your life, whether your aiming to improve the next year or the next week. [Read more…] about 8 Resolutions For New Beginnings Every Year

6 Lessons From The Life Of Moses

November 9, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Moses Breaks
All The Molds

Moses is the guy that intrigues us all but I don’t know of anyone who wants to trade places with him. King David, yes, but not Moses.

Moses accomplished more in his life than any other Bible figure and he wore many pairs of shoes in the process: statesman, historian, judge, commander, prophet, author, teacher and intercessor, but that doesn’t make him appealing. Interesting, maybe, but not appealing.

I’ve never aspired to lead a nation, and can’t understand why anyone would, but Moses didn’t just lead a nation. He did something much more complicated. He built one.

People who read Moses respond in two ways. They love God or accuse Him. Let’s talk about it.

Three Stages In Moses Life Each Lasting 40 Years

The life of Moses is divided into three stages that make it easy to analyze.

Infant To Adulthood (Pharaoh’s house)
Exile in Midian
Exodus to Canaan

Significant events in the first two stages shaped Moses in ways that prepared him for God’s ultimate purpose. The high points are:

Stage One:

Spared from destruction as an infant.
Adopted into Pharaoh’s house and enjoyed the privileges of a family member.
Tradition (Josephus) says he successfully led military campaigns.

Stage Two:

At the age of 40 he makes an unsuccessful attempt at alleviating the suffering of his people, the Israelites.
Rejected by the Israelites and threatened by Pharaoh, he escapes to Midian.
In Midian, he meets Jethro and marries one of his daughters, Zipporah, with whom he has two sons.
Becomes a shepherd.
Called by God out of the burning bush.

Stage Three:

Returns to Egypt.
Meets with Israelite leaders.
Confronts Pharaoh.
Leads Israel out of Egypt, eventually arriving at Canaan.

Observations: [Read more…] about 6 Lessons From The Life Of Moses

3 Reasons Christian Living Is Not Ideal

September 30, 2015 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Consequences For Christians
Are Opportunities To Grow

Let’s start with a question. What do Christians talk about most, when they discuss their spiritual lives?

It’s a good question, and I have no hard evidence to prove my answer, but the conversations I’ve witnessed firsthand are a bit introspective, revolving mostly around personal issues like:

Am I a Christian?
How can I know I really did what is necessary to become a Christian?
How can I be sure that I’m still a Christian now?

And so on.

The focus is inward, not outward or onward. It’s the proverbial all-about-me, in-the-moment mindset.

The Philippian jailer expressed it well:

What must I do to be saved (become a Christian)? (Acts 16:30)

He, of course, had a very good reason for asking the question. But as far as we know, he never asked again. He didn’t repeatedly harangue Paul for reassurance.

Today things are different. People often ask over and over and over again, “how can I be saved” or “Am I really saved” or “How can I really be sure?” The question is overworked. [Read more…] about 3 Reasons Christian Living Is Not Ideal

God’s Power Is Regulated By His Wisdom Not Ours

Things We Don’t Know And Rarely Mention

What We Do Know

Failure Catalyzes Clarity And Focus

Failure Is The Doorway To New Beginnings

Moses Breaks All The Molds