Tag: God

My God is Holy, is yours?

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If you believe in and follow an unholy God, you do not have to be concerned about being holy in your conduct.

“I sin daily in thought, word, and deed?”  …Hmm… you might want to re-examine that because the God of the Holy Bible commands that His people be holy

Romans 6:19-22

“I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!   But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

  • In the Old Testament, things were sanctified. • The Tabernacle was sanctified (Exodus 40:9). “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.”
  • The mountains were sanctified (Exodus 19:23). “Moses said to the LORD, ‘The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, “Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.”’”
  • The nation of Israel was sanctified (Exodus 19:10-11). “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’”
  • First born children were sanctified (Exodus 13:2). “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.”
  • In the New Testament people were sanctified (Acts 2:1-4). 16

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

“If Jesus Christ is not Lord of all, He will not be Lord at all.” —R. S. Nicholson

Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Talking About God

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Jesus v Muhammad

I’m a theologian.

Now I don’t know what thoughts just came into your head when you read that.  What I know is that I tend to have a slightly erroneous picture formulate in my own head. (But i’m getting better)

Many of us Christians tend to think of theology as an abstract academic discipline with little bearing on day-to-day Christian life and activity.  Therefore one of the first things we ought to do is to understand what theology is.  Theos (God) logos (word); it means a word about God.

There is Christian theology, Muslim theology and atheist theology as well as a few others.  …Atheist theology?  …Oh yes, some atheists absolutely obsess on the God whom they vehemently deny exists and then they go to great effort, expending lots of energy and time, to try to get rid of the God they claim to not believe in…is that weird or what?

It is no wonder, then, that God calls them what He does.

Muslim theology is based on the Koran while Christian theology is talking and thinking about God in a distinct way based upon the Holy Bible which, even the Koran acknowledges, is the uncorrupted holy book of God.  Sadly, for the followers of Mohammad, most of them don’t seem to be aware of that fact.  That is understandable because of all the confusing contradictions contained in each of the various versions of the Koran.

Every Christian, by definition, knows God, thinks about God, and makes statements about God.  Therefore every Christian is a theologian; some are better at it than others but every child of God is supposed to be a good theologian and that is accomplished by studying and knowing what is actually in the Holy Bible and what is not.  Some, if they are asked to open their Bible to something like 2nd Hezekiah 3:16 will search and search while others will quietly smile.  It is an indicator of the level of theological understanding, not the best indicator, but it is one.

I am an above average theologian but every Christian should be at least at my current level.  I did not get to my current level of theological comprehension without lots of study and help from fellow Christians; however I am far from where I really should be.

If every Christian were a better theologian the world would be a far better place than it currently is.

…to be continued…

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Are You a Child of God?

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Some people think nothing of spending hours in a bar but can’t stand the idea of spending an hour in Church; that should tell them something about their spiritual condition.

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Mark 8:38

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“I will keep my religion to myself,” says one; if you will not confess The Christ to men then He will renounce you before, in the presence of, God.

Let it always be remembered, that to be renounced by The Christ is to have Him neither for a savior nor for a mediator.  Thus there is a fate worse than human persecution; to be repudiated, or renounced, by Jesus Himself before the Father.  The “first hearers” of this statement heard, in this statement, a clear declaration from Jesus that He, not God the Father, it the final determiner as to whom will be allowed to enter into and abide in Heaven and who will not.  Rejection by humans is temporary; rejection by Jesus is forever.

Fear of men is a self-interested, self-deluding cowardice; fear of God is a healthy response of awe and obedience.  The latter is positively commended upon throughout the Bible while the former is condemned by God as well as by men everywhere.

–Pastor Ward Clinton

George Washington

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George Washington Christian.jpg

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Follow the Holy One of God

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In Matthew 10:40 [Jesus said:]  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

As there is a way of partaking of other men’s sins, so there is a way of partaking in other men’s holy services.

We can be like Mohammad who, as the Koran and himself revealed, was a sinful man or we can be like Jesus whom even the Koran called the “Holy one of God.”

The old knight that clapped Luther on the back when he went to the Diet of Worms, and said to him “Well done, little Monk!” shared in Luther’s victory and in Luther’s crown.

“I am going down into the pit, you hold the ropes,” said Carey, the pioneer missionary.   They that hold the ropes, and the daring miner that swings way down in the blackness, are one in the work, may be one in the motive, and, if they are, shall be one in the reward.  So, brethren, though no coal of fire may be laid upon your lips, if you sympathize with the workers that are trying to serve God, and do what you can to help them, and identify yourself with them, and so hold the ropes, my text; will be true about you.  “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet; shall receive a prophet’s reward.”  They who by reason of circumstances, by deficiency of power, or by the weight of other tasks and duties, can only give silent sympathy, and prayer, and help, are one with the men whom they help. – Dr. MacLaren

Choose you this day to follow the holy one of God for His reward is good, the sinful one’s reward is not good.

Christian, Be Diligent

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Matthew 10:40 [Jesus said:]  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

10:41  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

10:42  And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

What completely different spheres of duty are assigned to the clergy and the laity!  And we are told that he who labors with great earnestness in the work of a clergyman has a reward of peculiar splendor within reach, inasmuch as “They who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.”  But it is evident from this text that the same reward is attainable by others who have never been called to the clergyman’s work.  They who have not been “prophets” may “receive a prophet’s reward,” and if an individual have upheld a clergyman in his arduous and most responsible calling, strengthening him by such assistances as the occasion demands, sustaining him when assailed, cheering him when disheartened, and all out of love for his office, and desire for his success, so that he receives the pastor in the name of a pastor, we may say of such an individual that in God’s sight he takes part in the clergyman’s labors. [and shall be rewarded by his Lord]. – H. Melvill, B.D.

Be blessed, be encouraged, and whatever you do, whatever your line of labor is, do it as though you are doing it for our Lord, Jesus, The Christ — Pastor Ward Clinton

Moral Goodness is Essential to a True Prophet

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In other walks of life a person may attain high distinction without this condition.  He may be a successful lawyer and, as many examples have routinely shown, obtain the chief prizes and positions of his profession without possessing much, if any, positive moral character.

A man may obtain fortune and fame as an artist or writer and be addicted to the lowest of pleasures.

A man may be quite successful at the stock market and have not one ounce of spiritual principle.  All of that is possible but, no matter the age in which he lives or lived he cannot take the title and function of a prophet of God, be a pro claimer of His truth and His message, and at the same time not keep his steps in this life in line with the supreme morality of heaven’s highest law without being a self-confessed monstrosity fit only for the abode of the wicked.

Messiah Jesus is the holy one of God…listen to Him…obey Him.

Know Jesus, Know Heaven

No Jesus, No Heaven

–Pastor Ward Clinton