A New Year’s Poem

For all of those of you who are making New Year’s resolutions, here is a poem to think about.  It is called “A New Year’s Poem for Christians” by Mary Fairchild.

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution

Consider committing to a biblical solution.

Your promises are easily broken

Empty words, though earnestly spoken,

But God’s Word transforms the soul

By His Holy Spirit making you whole.

As you spend time alone with Him

He will change you from within.

Every year people make resolutions that focus on the physical.  At first glance, this poem seems to suggest that we do not making any New Year’s resolutions.  However, maybe the greater message behind this poem is to focus more time and energy on the Lord.  We can make resolutions to change ourselves, but the greatest changes will actually occur when we let God’s Word change us from the inside out.

This year, let’s focus more of our resolutions toward aspects of eternal importance.  Are their sins in your life that need to be overcome?  Are their religious aspects of your life that desperately need to be improved (Bible study, prayer, worship, etc)?  Resolutions are great, but the challenge this year is to focus your resolutions toward something that will not only improve life today, but most certainly will improve life into eternity.

Expanding Our Bibles

I have decided to expand my Bible.  The Scriptures seem so limited sometimes.  Life could be so much better with an expanded Bible.  There is plenty of unfamiliar, yet inspired material out there to do this with.  In the upcoming months and years, I have made the decision to expand my Bible.

Now, before anyone keels over, I am not talking about adding to the 66 books found in the Bible.  This is very clearly commanded against (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 22:18-19).  What I am talking about is approaching the Scriptures with a renewed seriousness.  I am talking about actually knowing and studying more of the 66 books in the Bible.  Too often our knowledge of Scripture is terribly limited.  No, we should not expand our physical Bibles, but we should expand the Scripture found in our head; our “Mental Bible.”  We need to expand how much we know and what books we know.

We only seem to focus on certain “popular” passages and books even though there is so much more to be found in our Bibles.  We have studied, restudied, broken down, had laser-like focus, and analyzed certain books to death.  Yet, we don’t even know the general message of some book and possibly do not even know where they are in the Bible.  It seems like these are rarely opened.  We emphasize a few books in the Old Testament and typically skip over most others.  When is the last time you have studied through 2 Chronicles?  Have you cracked open Amos or Habakkuk lately? We do a better job with New Testament books, but there are still several books we push off to the side.  For example, when is the last time you looked at 2 Corinthians or 2 Thessalonians?

In fairness, some books of the Bible carry much more application and relevance for today, and some are more difficult to understand than others.  However, all Scripture is directly from the Lord and is immensely valuable (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Through Jesus’ ministry, He quoted from 24 Old Testament books (From Bible.ca).  Jesus was certainly a man who was not limited by His knowledge of Scripture.  We should strive to follow in His footsteps.

There is so much more we can draw from Scripture if we are willing to expand our knowledge of the Bible.  There are an infinite amount of benefits when we do so.  The Lord has given us ALL of the Bible.  Certainly we should not physically take anything out of the Scriptures, but let’s also not take out and limit the books we do study.  The challenge for all of us is to “expand our Bibles,” or in other words, to “expand our knowledge of the Scriptures.”

Life Without Christ’s Resurrection

Imagine with me for a moment.  The year is 2075 and technology has advanced in ridiculous proportions.  Through these advancements, researchers have been able to find out, with 100 percent accuracy, specific details of major historical events.  Using these tools they discovered the answers to questions like who killed John F. Kennedy, what happened to Amelia Earhart, what happened to the Angkor Wat civilization, and what happened to the dinosaurs.  Most importantly, the researchers found, again with 100 percent accuracy, that Christ was not raised from the dead and was actually a normal man.

What would life be like if Christ actually had not been raised from the dead?  Just posing this question sends painful chills through my body.  In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul was posing this exact question.  If there was no resurrection (Vs. 13) and Christ had not been raised (Vs. 13-14), then what would this mean?  Here is Paul’s answer…

If Christ Had Not Been Resurrected…

- Preaching Would Be Vain (Vs. 14). Anything that would be preached from Scripture would be meaningless.  There would be no point in coming to church and worshipping.  The Bible would be degraded down to a “good book” about moral living.  There would be no point in believing what was preached or making any life changes.

– Faith Would Be Vain And Worthless (Vs. 14, 17).  If Christ remained in His tomb, faith would simply become ignorance.  There would be no point in having faith.  It would just be a waist of time.  If there is no faith, then there is also no hope (Vs. 19).  No hope in or after this life.

- The Apostles Become False Witnesses Of God (Vs. 15). All of the apostles’ writings and teachings would be trash.  Instead of being witnesses of God, they would be liars.  So for us, there would be nothing meaningful to tell people about Christ.  There would be no conversions.  No one would, or even could, be saved.

- We Would Be Lost In Sin (Vs. 17). This is definitely the most painful point to grasp.  We would not be going to heaven.  There would be no hope of salvation or peace after this life.  The burden of our sins would be ours alone to bear.

- Those Who Lived A Life For Christ And Died Are Not In Heaven (Vs. 18). One of the single greatest hopes after this life is to be able to see the ones we loved in heaven again one day.  However, if Christ was not raised, then they lived a pointless life.  We will not see our grandpas, grandmas, moms, dads, or our brothers and sisters in heaven because it’s a lie.

– Christians Are To Be Most Pitied Of All Men (Vs. 19). We are to be most pitied because we have chosen to live a life abstaining from all the “pleasures” in this life.  Instead of “living life to its fullest” we have chosen to miss out.  But all of this turns out to be for nothing.  In addition, we have taught others to obey the Gospel, based on false promises, thus robbing them of this “good life” as well.

No Christ, no faith, no eternal expectations, no heaven, and certainly no salvation.  What a miserable life this would be!  Sadly, this is exactly how many people in this world live.  Everything is about the here and now.  There is simply no hope to be found and as a result there is very little purpose to life.  If everyone in the world came to this conclusion, there would be nothing to stop people from committing heinous crimes day in and day out (Genesis 6:5).  People could do whatever they wanted (Judges 17:6; 21:25).  It’s hard to imagine, but this world would be even more sinful and corrupt.

However, praise be to God that Christ WAS raised from the dead!  This being the truth, it makes everything we do as Christians worth it.  Preaching becomes significant, faith becomes valuable, the apostles’ writings become meaningful, evangelism becomes beneficial, and most of all, we can be saved from our sins, which is unimaginably precious.

Christ has been raised from the dead!  Therefore, the service we do as Christians is priceless.  It’s sad that Christians who know Christ has been raised are actually living their lives as if He had not been.  Do not get discouraged by the daily challenges and struggles that come with living a godly life (1 Peter 1:6-9; James 1:2-4).  It is meaningful and valuable.  Keep pressing towards the goal that has been promised to the faithful (1 Peter 1:4-5; Colossians 1:5; Matthew 5:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:1-2).  Christ has been raised, therefore we too will be raised one day (1 Thess. 4:13-18).  Since this is the truth, let’s live our lives like we believe Christ was resurrected.

Collapsing Under Pressure

A powerful storm blew through Minneapolis, Minnesota, over the weekend.  This blizzard brought very strong winds, about 23 inches of snow, and completely shut down the city.  As the snow began to pile onto the Metrodome (the stadium the Minnesota Vikings play in) engineers became seriously concerned about the roof collapsing.  Thankfully, the Vikings game was cancelled, because the snow and strong winds continued to pound on the stadium.  The result?  The roof collapsed under the pressure (Watch Video Here).

Has your life ever felt like the roof of the Metrodome?  It is horrifying to see how many issues and stressful situations people have to endure in this life.  The problems start out as little snowflakes, but too often they develop into one nasty blizzard.  Soon the pressure of those problems becomes overwhelming.  Sadly, many collapse under the weight of their problems.  This collapse, both physically and spiritually, can come in the forms of extreme stress, sickness, meltdowns, depression, giving in, giving up, and others.

This is exactly what James was referring to in James 1:2-5.  People were encountering both physical and spiritual trials.  That word “encounter” literally refers to falling into an unexpected condition.  This was not something they saw coming.  So, James is trying to encourage people not to give up and to keep pressing on.  God wants us to keep pressing forward, but how can we do this?

1.   Know That You Can Handle It (2 Peter 2:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13). The word translated “temptation” in these passages is the same word translated in James as “trials.”  Whether we are dealing with physical problems or spiritual struggles, the point is that we can handle it.  We can get through it.  God is not going to put too much on our plate.  In fact, the more we have to endure shows how strong God knows we are.  There should be comfort in knowing that we can handle what life throws at us, and there are ways to overcome these problems.

2.   Know That You Are Not Alone (1 Peter 5:6-11). A common mindset among people who suffer is that they are all alone.  This is not true.  While every situation is slightly different, people go through the same type of problems everyday.  There should be comfort in knowing that people have not only gone through similar problems, but overcome them as well.

3.   Know That You Will Become Stronger Afterwards (James 1:2-5). This point applies to every single situation.  Even if we don’t see any benefit or lesson in our suffering, we are certainly learning and becoming stronger.  We do not remember everything we have ever eaten, but we have most definitely grown from those meals.  When the situations we face come to an end, not only will we be better equipped to handle it if it ever happens again, but we will also be better equipped to help others.  There should be comfort in knowing that through our problems we will become stronger.

4.   Know That God Is In Control (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 55:8-9). Try to look for the “silver lining” in these situations.  We may be in the places we are for a reason.  We may be dealing with our problems for a reason.  The Lord has plans for people.  Most men in Scripture are recognized because of what they overcome and, more importantly, how this fits into God’s plans.  There should be comfort in knowing that God is in control and He will work everything out.

Why are we so inspired by people who overcome adversity?  Because it gives us hope that we can do the very same thing in our own, typically less severe, struggles.  There friends of mine, and even people I don’t know, who are weighed down with problems in their lives.  Yet, I am so impressed with the way they handle their troubles and grow from them.

Right now you might be one who is dealing with some very serious challenges in your life.  Don’t give up.  Don’t collapse under the pressure.  There is light and warmth at the end of this cold, dark tunnel.  Just remember: you can handle it, you are not alone, this will make you stronger, and God is in control.

Recreating the Big Bang

For several years now, elite scientists have been attempting to create a miniature version of the “Big Bang.”  They have had nearly unlimited resources at their disposal.  The machine they built cost over ten billion dollars.  Essentially what this machine does is smash atoms together at very high speeds, with hopes of learning more about the Big Bang.

After several failed attempts, the scientists finally had a “successful” test.  They reached temperatures about a million times hotter than the sun, some of the highest temperatures every recorded.  Since particles were being smashed together at ridiculous speeds, it also produces some very dense material.   David Evans, one of their researchers, said this, “At these temperatures even protons and neutrons, which make up the nuclei of atoms, melt, resulting in a hot dense soup of quarks and gluons known as a quark-gluon plasma.”

In other words, by creating intense heat, and smashing things together, they were able to make a hot ball of mass they are calling “quark-gluon plasma.”  However, here are some interesting observations:  First, the entire goal of this machine is to “recreate the Big Bang.”  However, all that we really see being done is particles being smashed together.  Second, there was no matter created on any level.  They took particles, super heated them, and smashed them together.  If we did this with virtually anything on this earth, certainly we would get a hot, dense, ball of matter.  Also, where did they get these particles in the first place?  They certainly did not create it.  How do they explain even the creation of those particles?  In the end, all they did was take some particles and mold them into something different.  Think of this as producing the billion-dollar version of silly-puddy.  Third, they are spending billions of dollars to do this.  With so much poverty in this world and people out of jobs, money is going towards something like this?  Sad, but this is the world we live in.

It is almost humorous to watch people try to “play god.”  No one has ever created something from nothing.  The entire premise behind this experiment is flawed since there was no Big Bang to start with.  We all know Genesis one tells of the creation of the universe.  God created this world.  To this day, no one has come even close to disproving this conclusion, despite what news reports say.  True science always agrees with the Bible and with God.  We cannot even come close to creating something on this earth.  Our God is truly powerful and awesome!

What People Search For On The Internet

Have you ever wondered what people search for on the Internet?  Well, wonder no more.  Since 2001, Yahoo has been adding up the most popular searches each year.  This year, about 631 million people came together and produced billions of searches.  If nothing else, these tallies give an enlightening look into the mindset of our culture.  So, what is our culture most interested in?  Take a look at the top ten searches of 2010:

1. BP Oil Spill.
2. World Cup.
3. Miley Cyrus.
4. Kim Kardashian.
5. Lady Gaga.
6. iPhone.
7. Megan Fox.
8. Justin Bieber.
9. American Idol.
10. Britney Spears.

There are a couple observations to draw from this list.  First of all, according to Yahoo, this is the first time a news story has taken the Number 1 spot.  In years past, the Number 1 spot has been occupied by Brittney Spears (several times), American Idol, Kazaa (a music download service), and others.

Second, look again at what this list is mostly comprised of.  Five out of the top ten are women.   Beyond this, seven out of the top ten are related to either music and/or women.  If this does not say something about our society then what does?  Our culture has a laser-like focus on women and music.

Remember, this is only the top ten.  What would happen if we took a look at the top fifty or top one hundred?  Would we ever come across something spiritually significant?  It would not be a huge leap to assume there would be many other searches about music, women, technology, and sports.

While none of these are inherently sinful, these results should throw up a big caution flag.  Pop culture symbols and celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Megan Fox, and Britney Spears have become sex icons and the very definition of worldliness.  Now, even American Idol is sending strong worldly messages about homosexuality by having gay contestants and a gay judge.  Regardless of whether boys/men or girls/women are conducting these searches, they are being exposed to the worldliness of our culture.  With the exception of major world events like the BP catastrophe and the World Cup, it seems fair to conclude that our culture is about women, music, and technology.  If we are not careful, we can get sucked into these in ungodly ways.

The Bible delivers some very powerful words on this topic: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).  Looking at the top ten list, our world is truly comprised of “lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.”  Let’s be ever so careful with what we engage in, and even more so with our children and teens.  These topics generate more pull on our younger ones every day.  Let’s take this list to heart and remember that we are to be in this world, but not of this world (Romans 12:2; John 15:18-19).  “This world is passing away,” therefore, let’s focus on the things of eternal importance.

Source:  http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/us_top_10_searches#us_top_10_searches