Friday, May 22, 2026
Phil 3 Finally! Rejoice in the Lord outline
Phil 3 Finally! Rejoice in the Lord
"Finally" but then goes on for 2 more chapters. "Daddy, what does the pastor mean when he says, "Finally"; to which his father responded, "Absolutely nothing, son." "Now then". The Big protection is to Rejoice in the Lord! It's a command. joy is not an emotion. Joy isn't a temperamental characteristic. Joy isn't related to circumstances or health or bank accounts. To rejoice in the Lord means that you find in the Lord your source of joy; He is the highest object of your joy; He is the treasure and fellowship of joy. It is also a safeguard. A protection. Like a protective barrier. Matthew Henry, "The joy of the Lord is a divine armor against the assaults of our spiritual enemies and puts our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks . . . the taste of joy in our mouths makes the tempter's offerings seem bland by comparison." Psalm 34:5, 'They looked unto Him and were radiant.' 'Emerson came into our house this morning with a sunbeam in his face.' Peter described it as joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is a duty for us to cultivate this joy. Don’t murmur and complain; or find fault with God's dealings; resist the temptation to depression. Moreover, we are to rejoice 'in the Lord.' 'In His presence is fulness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore,’ the 'deep, sweet well of joy.' We may not be able to rejoice in our circumstances, friends, or prospects, but we can always rejoice in Jesus Christ. Rejoice at home too. 'Thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the Lord thy God giveth thee'; iv. 4. To quote his own words, 'To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe.' Apparently, he was constantly exhorting them to Christian joy.
To Maintain Joy Your Must Be Aware
Beware of dogs. quarrelsome and contentious folk, defiling in their influence. Is there one whose influence lowers the tone of our own life? Perhaps his coarseness and abusive speech rubs off on you too.
'Beware of evil workers.' fanatical, unbalanced, and unable to distinguish between essentials and non-essential beliefs, magnifying some microscopical point in Christianity until it blinds the eye to the symmetry, proportion, and beauty of Heaven's glorious scheme. These people are the ' Cranks ' of our Churches; they exaggerate trifles ; they catch up every new theory and vagary, and follow it to the detriment of truth and love. It is impossible to exaggerate the harm that these people do, or the desirability of keeping clear of them, they are the pests of every Christian community they enter. Exaggerating a truth can be as bad as denying a truth.
Beware of the false circumcision (NASB) mutilation. The Apostle's life was embittered by the antagonism of the Judaising teachers who dogged his steps. They did not deny that Jesus was the Messiah, or that His Gospel was the power of God unto salvation, but they insisted that the Gentile converts could only come to the fulness of Gospel privilege through the Law of Moses; they urged that Gentiles must become Jews before they could be Christians; they asserted that if the new converts were not circumcised after the manner of Moses, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1). Throughout his whole career, the Apostle offered the most strenuous opposition to these men and their teaching. He went so far as to say that they were traitors. As in every generation so also in ours we must beware of those who say that we must pass through certain outward rites before they can be saved. In addition to faith in our Lord, there must be certain acts of obedience to the institutions of the Church. They demand baptism, baptizing of all children in the family, attendance at the confessional, strict obedience to fasts, acts of self-denial, as conditions of salvation. Against all these we must be steadfastly on our guard, because they obscure and belittle the Gospel, and divert men's thoughts from Him who is the only way to the Father. It is specially difficult to be on our guard against these false teachers, because they approach us under the guise of being earnest Christians. They show sympathy to the church, and have religious feelings. It is not so difficult to watch against the outwardly profane and rebellious, but even the most careful can be caught up by those who seem more religious or more spiritual. And the super spiritual are not adverse to lying about others to achieve power in the church. It was therefore that the Apostle feared that “as the serpent beguiled Eve with his subtlety, so the minds of his converts should be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ (2 Cor.10:3). It is when Satan comes to us as an angel of light that he is most to be dreaded. We should examine ourselves first to keep our hearts close to the Lord.
To Maintain Joy Your Must Be Self-Aware
Do we worship God in the spirit ? The word translated worship λατρεύοντες means first to do servant's work, then to do religious service, and sometimes priestly duty. Do we understand what it is to live in the temple of worship, performing every duty as to the Lord i Is our worship, whether in public or private, mechanical in outward posture and routine, or do we know what it is to worship the Father 'in spirit and in truth,' and 'to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.’
Do we glory (exult) in Christ Jesus? Is He our boast and pride ? Is following Him our highest ideal? Is the pursuit of His 'Well-done' our loftiest endeavour? Are we amongst those who put no confidence in the flesh ? All through the Epistles the flesh stands for self-the self that seeks to justify itself, that endeavours to sanctify itself, that is always fussily endeavouring to win men for God, but has never learned to be submerged beneath the mighty tide and current of God's Spirit. If your religious life is one of self-effort and self-complacency, you must stand back; it is not for you to handle the priceless pearl ; your eyes cannot detect its superlative beauty, excellence, and worth. But let all humble souls, who have nothing in which to glory, save the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who put no confidence in themselves, but wholly rest upon the unmerited grace of God, lift up their faces with exceeding great joy. These are the true children of Abraham.
Do we put no confidence in the flesh? In one of His most exquisite parables, our Saviour depicted a man leaving his house in the morning with a heavy bag of gold, and making his way to the market-place, where pearl-sellers displayed the precious ocean gems. He was seeking good pearls, and passed from stall to stall with the eye and touch of the connoisseur; but from each stall he turned away dissatisfied. At last he approached one of the sellers, and saw before him on the tray the most exquisite, perfect, and transparent pearl that his eyes had ever lit on. Asking the price, he discovered that it would take all the pearls he had bought, and all the gold in his pouch, to procure it. When he learnt that to win that he must sell everything else; and so he does. He counts the rest a loss and the pearl far better. He counted all things else but loss.
You see, now, because of the sacrifice of Christ and His finished work on our behalf, salvation comes through faith in Christ alone. No physical mark, no symbol, no act, no ritual, no ceremony can ever change the heart or transform the heart anyway – they all pointed to Christ's sacrifice. If it isn't Jesus alone, it is Jesus plus something. That's legalism at its core. It steals your joy by suggesting that God's love and favour have to be earned and you'd better do more and you'd better be better. God will never be pleased with you unless your hand accomplishes something that can be added to the cross of His Son.
Phl 3:4-6. Jesus plus baptism. Jesus plus church membership Jesus plus Sabbath worship Jesus plus tithing Jesus plus pilgrimages Jesus plus prayers Then . . . maybe . . . God will be satisfied with you – which implies God the Father isn't satisfied with His Son. Your baptism doesn't save. No one is saved by an act you might do, whether its religious ritual, race, religion, rules or reputation. My orthodoxy won't save me My activity won't save me My sincerity won't save me My ability won't save me. We are those who trust in ourselves least. We put no confidence in the flesh.
Nothing in my hands I bring Simply to Thy cross I cling.
Foul I to the fountain (of His blood) fly Wash me Saviour or I die.
Just as I am without one plea But that Thy Blood was shed for me And that Thou bidst me come to Thee , O Lamb of God I come I come.
3:7,8 Nothing either great or small— Nothing, sinner, no; Jesus did it, did it all, Long, long ago. "It is finished!" yes, indeed, Finished every jot: Sinner, this is all you need— Tell me, is it not? When He, from His lofty throne, Stooped to do and die, Everything was fully done; Hearken to His cry: Weary, working, burdened one, Wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing; all was done Long, long ago. Till to Jesus' work you cling By a simple faith, "Doing" is a deadly thing— "Doing" ends in death. Cast your deadly "doing" down— Down at Jesus' feet; Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete.
1. Don’t put your confidence in a ritual. Baptism won't save you.
2. Don’t put your confidence in your race or ethnic heritage. Being Dutch don't make you much! You can't ride to heaven on your parents religion.
3. Don’t put your confidence in your rank. Being an elder or a deacon doesn’t make you saved.
4. Don’t put your confidence in your tradition. 5. Don’t put your confidence in your rule keeping.
6. Don’t put your confidence in your religious zeal.
7. Don’t put your confidence in your obedience to the law.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:04 AM
Sometimes I feel discouraged at the events of life
Ecclesiastes 3:16 – 4:12 What To Do When Corrupt People Oppress You
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 And God’s Sovereignty
All Is Appointed in God’s Time All Is Appropriate in God’s Time
All Is Adjudicated in God’s Time
The issue of Power, Oppression, Bullying and Corruption are not new issues that suddenly raised their heads in the last few years. They are a reflection of the sinfulness of man and the horrendous and unloving way we treat other people. Corruption. You don’t have to look far to see it. The problem is that people so blur the lines that they just can’t see it.
Hatton used parliamentary privilege to expose organised crime in the Griffith mafia, police corruption and malfeasance within government departments and agencies.
[7] In 1994, by 46 votes to 45, he forced the minority Fahey Government to establish the
Wood Royal Commission into Police Corruption. During the period of the Wood Royal Commission, I understand more than 8000 police in NSW were dismissed. From the report :
“By 1995, the Commission had uncovered hundreds of instances of bribery, money laundering, drug trafficking, fabrication of evidence, destruction of evidence, fraud and serious assaults in the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) at Kings Cross. Participation in misconduct was the norm in the detective division and the senior levels of the CIB in Sydney's inner city were in corrupt relationships with major drug traffickers and the local criminal milieu. " In 1995, the
Independent Commission Against Corruption referred a matter to the Commission regarding the possibility of collusion between organised paedophile networks with members from the legal profession, media and political establishment, and the senior ranks of the NSW Police Service and judiciary. The network operated as a mutual syndicate and was designed to facilitate the distribution of child pornography, the procuring and sharing of underage sexual partners by members, investment in property such as an underage male brothel in
Surry Hills and a pooling of resources and information for the purposes of evading law enforcement and maintaining access to illicit markets. Syndicate members also carried on an amphetamine-trafficking enterprise to raise money to help with the significant expense imposed by the requirement to pay bribes, and the high price of illicit materials and services. The relationship between the network and the group of corrupt detectives was extensive and multifaceted, including regular bribe payments to the detectives in exchange for advance warning of law enforcement scrutiny, consignment of large amounts of methamphetamine to the network members on a profit-sharing basis and the planning of insurance frauds and financial crimes. There was an overwhelming body of evidence suggesting the existence of close relationships between police and those involved in the supply of drugs. This encompassed a variety of activities ranging from police turning a blind eye to the criminality of the favoured in return for regular payments, to active assistance when they happened to be caught, to tip-offs of pending police activity, and to affirmative police action aimed at driving out competitors.
Unchecked injustice and oppression make it difficult to see the beauty and coherence in God’s design, and such realities raise questions about God’s moral governance of the universe. These tensions make it difficult to see how God can be sovereign and also good and just. Delays in God’s response to such situations are inexplicable and defy our sense of how things should be. The section connects back to earlier material and confronts us with the tensions for which Qoheleth is well known, as he presents ideas that seem to stand in hopeless conflict.
Justice was a value widely affirmed throughout the ancient Near East. A reform edict of Urukagina of Lagash (ca. 2400 BC) freed the inhabitants of Lagash from usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, the seizure of their property, and slavery. As a result “the widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man.” Similar comments can be found in other Mesopotamian law codes. The oppression of the weak and poor is also recognized as evil in several Egyptian wisdom compositions.
4:1 I looked and saw all the oppression. Few things call the moral governance of the universe into question like oppression, an idea emphasized through repetition (“oppression . . . oppressed . . . oppressors”). The mistreatment of others raises questions about how such things can be allowed to happen and why nothing is done to stop the evil. Whether this involves the economic oppression in a Dickens novel, slavery in the American South, or the genocides in Africa or the Balkans, such acts epitomize evil and things that ordinary moral sensibilities recognize should never be. The egregious nature of such acts calls into question the nature of humankind and the evil of which humans are capable. Oppression also raises questions about the moral governance of the universe in that many who are oppressed have done nothing to deserve the treatment they are receiving. Another aspect of the tragedy is emphasized by the repetition of the phrase “no comforter.” Some people demonstrate their contempt for fellow human beings made in God’s image by oppressing them; others show their lack of compassion by failing to show suffering people the basic kindness and respect they deserve.
Look, it is one thing to know this. It is another to experience the effect of cruelty and corruption.
When you experience it, sometimes it affects you deeply. :2–3 dead . . . happier than the living . . . better [yet ] . . . one who has never been born. His shocking statement reflects what oppressive suffering can do to people. Such declarations are not positive statements about death but reflect the reality that suffering under an evil system can be so terrible that death is a welcome relief. Seow says, “The point is that the living still have to witness [and perhaps suffer from] the injustices of life, whereas the dead . . . no longer have to do so.” The person who has never been born escapes all the suffering and misery that is often a part of life. On the other hand, she or he also misses all of life’s pleasures and opportunities.
Job once thought the same thing about himself. After he lost his children, he said, May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, “A male child is conceived .” . . . Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? —JOB 3:3, 11
In a world that seems so out of control, where bad things happen to you and those you love while reward falls on those who deserve the opposite, it’s hard to believe that God is sovereign.
How could the one who declares himself to be perfect, wise, good, and loving in every way also be in absolute control of the universe and let all of this happen on his watch?
Much of our regular anxiety, worry, fear, and discouragement results from thinking that when things are out of our control, they are out of control completely. But the Bible tells us that if we want to properly understand what is happening around us, we need to remember what’s happening above us.
BUT WHEN IT GETS PERSONAL THEORY DOESN’T CONSOLE
16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
God will get them! Were all going to die anyway!
THE FAILURE OF JOB’S COMFORTERS THEODICIES
Keller “God has a free will yet is not capable of doing wrong—why could not other beings also be likewise constituted? Also biblical authors teach us that eventually God will give us a suffering-free, evil-free world filled with redeemed human beings. Suffering and death will be banished forever. That means we will be in God’s world but not be capable of choosing evil. Yet we will obviously still be capable of love.
Finally, many Christian theologians point out the biblical teaching on the nature of freedom differs sharply from modern views. The Bible characterizes all sin as slavery, never as freedom. Only when we are completely redeemed from all sin will we experience complete freedom (cf. Rom 8:21). We are free only to the extent that we do what God built us to do—to serve him. Therefore, the more capable you are to commit evil, the less free you are. Not until we attain heaven and lose the capability of evil are we truly and completely free. How, then, could the ability to sin be a form of freedom?
The theodicy assumes that if God gives us the gift of free will, then he cannot control the outcomes of its usage. , Jesus’ crucifixion was clearly foreordained and destined to happen, and yet all the people who, by God’s plan, brought it about were still making their choices freely and thus were responsible for what they did (cf. Acts 2:23). This indicates that it is possible to be free and nevertheless to have our course directed by God—at the same time, compatibly. There are scores of other examples of this. So God can give free will and still direct the outcomes of our choices to fit into his plan for history
- The Finite God theodicy God is good but not powerful
- The Best of all possible worlds theodicy,
- The Original Sin theodicy.
- The Ultimate Harmony theodicy
Keller “Taken all together, the various theodicies can account for a great deal of human suffering—each theodicy provides some plausible explanations for some of the evil in the world—but they always fall short, in the end, of explaining all suffering. It is very hard to insist that any of them show convincingly how God would be fully justified in permitting all the evil we see in the world. Peter van Inwagen writes that no major Christian church, denomination, or tradition has ever endorsed a particular theodicy. Alvin Plantinga himself wrote: “I must say that most attempts to explain why God permits evil—theodicies, as we may call them—strike me as tepid, shallow and ultimately frivolous.” And we can add to these warnings the book of Job itself. Surely one of the messages, as we will see, is that it is both futile and inappropriate to assume that any human mind could comprehend all the reasons God might have for any instance of pain and sorrow, let alone for all evil. It may be that the Bible itself warns us not to try to construct these theories.”
LEARN CONTENTMENT IN THE WISDOM AND POWER OF GOD
If God has good reasons for allowing suffering and evil, then there is no contradiction between his existence and that of evil. So in order for his case not to fail, the skeptic would have to reply that God could not possibly have any such reasons. But it is very hard to prove that.
“If God is infinitely powerful as you say—why doesn’t he stop evil?” But a God who is infinitely more powerful than us would also be infinitely more knowledgeable than us. So the rejoinder to the skeptic is “If God is infinitely knowledgeable—why couldn’t he have morally sufficient reasons for allowing evil that you can’t think of?” To insist that we know as much about life and history as all-powerful God is a logical fallacy, howsoever much the immanent frame of our culture would incline us to feel that way. And we also now can see why Charles Taylor is right, that the “problem of evil” was not widely perceived to be an objection to God until modern times. Human beings operating within the immanent frame have far more confidence in their reasoning powers and their ability to unlock the mysteries of the universe than did ancient people. The belief—that because we cannot think of something, God cannot think of it either—is more than a fallacy. It is a mark of great pride and faith in one’s own mind.
As in the book of Job, Solomon comes back to the Sovereignty of God. Like Job, we may not be able to trace God’s hands and purposes in the personal crucible of pain inflicted by others, but we can know that God in His Sovereignty is behind it.
James Russell Lowell Truth forever on the scaffold Wrong forever on the throne
Yet that scaffold sways the future And beyond the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadows Keeping watch above His own.
William Wadsworth Longfellow elaborated on Lowell’s original sentiment, saying:
Though the mills of God grind slowly Yet they grind exceedingly small,
Though with patience He stands waiting With exactness He grinds all.
This is my father’s world, And though the wrong seem oft so strong God is the ruler yet.
For years, C S Lewis rejected the existence of God because he believed the logical argument from evil against God worked. But eventually, he came to realize that evil and suffering were a bigger problem for him as an atheist than as a believer in God. He concluded that the awareness of moral evil in the world was actually an argument for the existence of God, not against it. Lewis describes his awakening to this point in Mere Christianity. Lewis explains that “there is, to be sure, one glaringly obvious ground for denying that any moral purpose at all is operative in the universe: namely, the actual course of events in all its wasteful cruelty and apparent indifference, or hostility, to life.” So the existence of cruelty and evil in the world was the reason Lewis could not believe there was a good God, a “moral purpose” operating behind the universe. But then he began to realize that evil in the world was “precisely the ground which we cannot use” to object to God. Why? “Unless we judge this waste and cruelty to be real evils we cannot . . . condemn the universe for exhibiting them. . . . Unless we take our own standard to be something more than ours, to be in fact an objective principle to which we are responding, we cannot regard that standard as valid.” Here was the conundrum for Lewis as an atheist. His objection to the existence of God was that he could perceive no moral standard behind the world—the world was just randomly evil and cruel. But then, if there was no God, my definition of evil was just based on a private feeling of mine. So Lewis wrote: “In a word, unless we allow ultimate reality to be moral, we cannot morally condemn it.” And he concluded with a vivid idea: “The defiance of the good atheist hurled at an apparently ruthless and idiotic cosmos is really an unconscious homage to something in or behind that cosmos which he recognizes as infinitely valuable and authoritative: for if mercy and justice were really only private whims of his own with no objective and impersonal roots, and if he realized this, he could not go on being indignant. The fact that he arraigns heaven itself for disregarding them means that at some level of his mind he knows they are enthroned in a higher heaven still.”
So this leaves us with a question. What if evil and suffering in the world actually make the existence of God more likely? What if our awareness of absolute evil is a clue that we know unavoidably at some level within ourselves that God actually does exist? Alvin Plantinga writes that a secular way of looking at the world “has no place for genuine moral obligation of any sort . . . and thus no way to say there is such a thing as genuine and appalling wickedness. Accordingly, if you think there really is such a thing as horrifying wickedness ( . . . and not just an illusion of some sort), then you have a powerful . . . argument [for the reality of God].”
LEAN ON COMPANIONS
Stabilizing One Another 9,10 : "For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is a lone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" you need a friend when times are tough. "But woe to him who is a tone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" Solomon says you are doomed if you are alone when you fall and have no one to pick you up. CHARLES SWINDOLL :" Friend ships must be cultivated. They don 't automatically occur when calamity strikes. And I have never heard of a rent-a-friend business either." You cannot be determined to walk alone and expect everyone to be running toward you when you fall. Cultivate friendships now, while you are still on your feet.
Supporting One Another 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? you can accomplish more when you work together with others. ALEX HALEY, had a picture in his office of a turtle sitting on a fence. When someone would ask him about it, he would explain that if you ever see a turtle sitting on a fence, you know it had some help getting up there.
two are better than one when you go to work. It's called synergy: parts of the body working together to accomplish human goals no individual part could accomplish by itself. And he applied that lesson to the Church, the Body of Christ. Each Christian is given gifts by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11) in order to build up the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).
Paul Simon gave a song in 1969 in the time of the Vietnam War when everything was disturbing and distressing. "When you're down and out, when you're on the street, When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you, I'll take your part. Oh when darkness comes and pain is all around, Like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down." In times of stress, find an eternal companion, find your earthly companions. Remember to be there for them to. That's mutual friendship and support.
Strengthening One Another 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. "A friend is someone who will walk into your house when the whole world has just walked out." The highest honour in the Church is not government but service. John Calvin
Sharpened by One Another And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. There is the necessity of helping the other stand up to the stress, that we all might hold together. Prov 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Stimulating One Another Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
THERE ARE SOME REASONS GOD IS NOT STOPPING INJUSTICE TODAY.
1. We live in a fallen world. Romans 8: 18-23
2. God sometimes allows injustice to produce a greater good in our life. Psalm 73 James 1:2-4
3. God sometimes allows injustice to show us that we need a Saviour.
The Cruelty of Corruption can instill humility in us
The Cruelty of Corruption can instill eternity in us
4. God allows injustice only for a season.
Romans 12:19 "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is Mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."
# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:00 AM
NTWright and Justification by Stevens
WHY WRIGHT IS WRONG ON JUSTIFICATION
Doing a bit of work on Romans 3v21-25, including reading NTW commentary in NIBC.
Wright is at one level immensely insightful. He rightly emphasises the way that God has fulfilled his covenant promises to Abraham and his people in Jesus the Messiah. Jesus has done what faithless Israel failed to do, thus bringing the promised blessings/future.
He is clear that the death of Jesus is a sacrifice of atonement that propitiates the wrath of God, as well as expiating and removing sin. On the cross sin is punished and justice done. Jesus’ death is a ransom paid to set his people free from their slavery to sin, accomplishing what is pictured in the redemptive-martyrdom imagery of Isaiah 40-55, Daniel & 2 & 4 Maccabees.
He gets that justification is a forensic declaration of status, a declaration of innocence in a law court and of covenant membership on the basis of faith alone.
In these regards he affirms classic protestant/evangelical convictions, but argues for them on a deeper covenant basis and more precise exegesis of the text that does not just see it as using the terminology of an abstracted systematic theology. This is why I appreciate him and learn much from him.
However, I think he gets the basis of justification entirely wrong. He argues that justification is the ‘verdict of righteous to be issued in the future on the basis of the totality of the life led is brought forward into the present.’
I don’t think there is anything that would suggest this in the passage, or indeed anywhere in Paul/NT. Justification is based solely on the faithfulness of Jesus and the removal of the condemnation that sin deserves (propitiation and expiation) through the cross. It is a declaration on the basis of present faith in Jesus, trusting his sacrifice for us (in his blood), and the life led in the future contributes nothing to this verdict.
Whilst justification as a judicial verdict of status is not based on a person’s future works, a person who is justified will live a different life because justification is always accompanied by redemption (freeing from sin) and regeneration (new life in Christ) that enables mortification of the flesh. This is the result of salvation in a holistic sense of that term, not the basis for justification. Our future works in some sense reveal that we were justified by faith, but they do not in any way contribute to it. The future post-conversion/post-justification works are evidence of our salvation not the basis for it.
Justification is the verdict of the future final day of judgement brought into the present, but it is a verdict delivered now on the basis of the work of Christ alone, which results in future works that are the fruit of it not the basis for it.
In this respect Wright gets justification wrong, and it is a serious error.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 8:31 AM
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Leadership INTRODUCTION
Warren WIERSBE writes. This story may be apocryphal, but I’ve met it often in my reading. During the French Revolution, a man was seen running after a crowd that was moving toward the barricades in Paris. A friend begged him to stop, because the mob he was following was no match for the troops at the barricades. But the man kept running and shouted back, “I must follow them—I’m their leader!”
A Russian Aeroflot jet crashed in Siberia in 1994, killing all seventy-five people aboard. When the authorities listened to the black box recording, they discovered that the pilot’s sixteen-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter had been alternately at the controls of the plane! When the boy pushed a certain pedal, the plane went into a spin 1,300 feet above the ground. The crew pulled the plane out of the spin, but not soon enough to gain the altitude needed—and the plane crashed. The pilot’s last recorded words were, “Everything’s fine . . . take it easy . . . take it easy I tell you!”
When I pondered that newspaper report, I thought of the words of the prophet Isaiah describing the political situation in ancient Judah: “Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling. . . . Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. . . . Youths oppress my people. . . . My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path” (Isa. 3:8, 9, 12). Effective leadership can benefit from experiments, but experiments must be balanced by experience. The young may be daring but the adults must be wise. Leaders must have the kind of maturity that comes from fighting battles and carrying burdens, maturity that is painfully developed in the school of life.
The American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said, “Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged.” The apostle Paul agreed with this counsel when he wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14). As Dr. Laurence J. Peter wrote, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”
If we desire to become leaders for God, we must give ourselves totally to the Lord and obey whatever orders He gives us (Rom. 12:1–3). He wants my heart so that I will serve Him joyfully out of love, for service without love is drudgery. He asks for my mind because I must know both His will and how to do it if I am to serve Him intelligently. Zeal without knowledge is dangerous and destructive. My will must also be yielded to the Lord so that I willingly obey what He commands me to do. After all, the will of God is the expression of the love of God for us (Ps. 33:11).
If we don’t love God, we will not truly love our co-workers and the other people who come into our sphere of influence; and then leadership will become dictatorship. The key word will be “authority” and soon we will become “authoritarian.” Leaders who must repeatedly remind others who is in charge are either running scared or just plain egotistical. I recall one company president who prefaced his “official” opinions with, “As the first officer of this corporation . . .” Real leaders don’t have to remind you where they sit or who put them there. They prove they are in charge by leading successfully, and that includes listening to you, being concerned for you, and helping you become a better worker and leader in your own sphere of service.
Like Jonah, unwilling leaders may get things done and even bring some blessings to the organization, but they themselves will not be a part of that blessing! Jonah in his anger sat outside Nineveh (where he ought to have been ministering), hoping God would destroy it. In his stubborn pride, he was missing a priceless opportunity for spiritual growth (Jon. 4). The prodigal son’s older brother stood sullenly outside the family home, giving vent to his envious anger, when he could have been enjoying fellowship at the feast and experiencing the joy that comes when we forgive others and God forgives us (Luke 15:25–32).
It’s possible to be a blessing to others and yet not experience the blessing ourselves. That’s why David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Ps. 51:12). If our hearts are not right, our service will be a burden and not a joy, and then we will become a burden to others.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Prov 4:23
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:42 PM
The church evangelistic
or that early Church, despite the select character of its assemblies, was nevertheless a passionately evangelistic Church. Its members rejoiced, and its persecutors complained, that its teachings spread like wild-fire.
“We are but of yesterday,” wrote Tertullian, “yet we have filled your cities, islands, towns, and boroughs; we are in the camp, the Senate, and the Forum. Our foes lament that every sex, age, and condition, and persons of every rank, are converts to the name of Christ.” And in three centuries the Roman Empire itself capitulated unconditionally to the triumphant Church! The Church had conquered the world, not through the attendance of the world at her services, not even by her public witness outside of her Church walls, but by the private influence of her members over those with whom, during the week, they came in contact. She brought the nations to her feet, not by public evangelism, but by an exquisitely beautiful representation, in private conduct, commerce, and conversation, of the merciful and majestic teachings of her Divine Lord. The individual captured the individual…We all remember how Bilney set his heart on winning Hugh Latimer, and thus lit a candle in England that has never been put out.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:16 AM
Friday, May 15, 2026
Preaching resources
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:12 PM
Leadership files
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:09 PM
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Thomas Watson
"Soon the battle will be over. It will not be long now before the day will come when Satan will no longer trouble us. There will be no more domination, temptation, accusation, or confrontation. Our warfare will be over and our commander, Jesus Christ, will call us away from the battlefield to receive the victor's crown."
~ Thomas Watson 1620-1686
# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:11 AM
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Pastors Kids
In honor of my dear friend, Evan Roberts Locke or "E-bob" to those of us who knew him well, (inarguably forever my favorite PK of all time.)
TEN THINGS EVERY PASTOR'S KID NEEDS:
1. They need parents who are emotionally present, not just physically available.
A pastor can be “home” while still carrying the weight of the church in their mind. PKs need moments where mom and dad are fully with them without sermon prep, crisis calls, meetings, or church drama sitting at the table too.
2. They need space for their family to breathe.
Sometimes what a pastor’s family needs most is not another conference or leadership push, but margin to be "Normal". Sabbaticals matter. Rest matters. Uninterrupted family seasons matter. So many wounds could be prevented if ministry families had seasons where the shepherd could focus on his own home the way he’s expected to care for everyone else’s.
3. They DON'T need to live in a fishbowl.
PKs already know people are watching them. Every outfit, friendship, attitude, mistake, facial expression, and social media post gets overanalyzed. They do not need more commentary. If you wouldn’t say it to your own child, don’t say it about theirs.
They need permission to be human. Shut up, in the name of Jesus.
4. Pastors’ kids get tired. Confused. Angry. Discouraged.
Hormonal. Awkward. Emotional.
**They are not junior staff members or mascots for the church. They are people learning to follow Jesus too.**
5. They don’t HAVE to serve...don't expect that of them...but if they want to, fuel the fire.
Forced ministry creates resentment. Genuine calling creates passion. Don’t manipulate them into platform involvement because of their last name. But if they do show hunger for God or desire to serve, encourage them hard and help them grow without exploiting them.
6. They need safe people outside of their parents.
Every PK needs trusted adults who are not impressed by ministry titles and are not looking for church gossip. Mentors. Coaches. Youth leaders. Friends. People who love them for who they are, not for access to their family. And people they know they can trust to LISTEN and give wisdom without repeating or leveraging. People like that are few and far between.
7. They need prayer more than your assumptions or "advice."
People assume PKs are rebellious. Entitled. Wild. Spiritually mature. Spiritually damaged. The assumptions go both ways. They're stereotypes in country music, tv shows, and jokes for a reason... but, instead of creating narratives about them, pray for them. Quietly. Regularly. Specifically.
8. They need church members to stop weaponizing church conflict around them.
Never make a child carry adult bitterness. Don’t dump your offense with the pastor onto the pastor’s kids. Some PKs still remember the names and words of adults who attacked their parents years ago, I know I do...even when they were right about the things they said... they didn't need to be said to me.
9. They need to know they are loved apart from ministry performance.
If the only time they receive affirmation is when they sing, preach, serve, smile, or behave perfectly, they start believing love is earned. PKs need to know they matter even when they’re struggling, doubting, grieving, or sitting quietly in the back row.
10. They need a real relationship with Jesus for themselves.
Not inherited faith. Not platform faith. Not “my parents are Christians” faith. Real faith. Personal faith. Honest faith. The healthiest PKs are not the ones who perform Christianity the best, they’re the ones who learn that Jesus meets them personally, not just their family publicly.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:15 AM
HOW TO LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION
The Power Of The Cross HOW TO LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION Philippians 2:12-26
Some bring joy wherever they go, others whenever they go.
Dave Kraft Biggest Mistakes
Here is a complete list of all the mistakes:
Allowing ministry to replace Jesus
Allowing comparing to replace contentment
Allowing pride to replace humility
Allowing pleasing people to replace pleasing God
Allowing busyness to replace visioning
Allowing financial frugality to replace fearless faith
Allowing artificial harmony to replace difficult conflict
Allowing perennially hurting people to replace potential hungry leaders
Allowing information to replace transformation
Allowing control to replace trust
Allowing selfish ambition to replace godly ambition
Allowing reactive to replace proactive
Allowing discouragement to replace dreaming
Allowing teaching to replace training
Allowing tactical to replace strategic
Allowing politics to replace principles
Allowing talking to replace listening
Allowing careless firing to replace careful hiring
Allowing competence to replace character
Allowing pornography to replace purity My biggest mistake was allowing competence to replace character!
1. The Problem of Contention
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
Genesis 3:4-7 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. The Curse Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Sin perverts every aspect of life. Total Depravity Competition, Subjugation, Domination
Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Eccles 2:11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Its all thorns and thistles! till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
2. The Continuing Power of the Cross
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The Presence of The King 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Hold Thou Thy cross Before my closing eyes Shine through the gloom and Point me to the skies Heaven’s morning breaks And earth’s vain shadows flee In life in death O Lord Abide with me
3. Work down what God has worked in!
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Shalom –Peace in you and around you Do all things without complaining and disputing,15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
4.The Compelling Witness To The Cross
among whom you shine as lights in the world,16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
5. The Connecting Empathy Of The Cross
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state….
22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.
The Cross Produces Friendship and Fellowship in the Work Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; … and hold such men in esteem;30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
John 15: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
Love is Kindness and Caring 1John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
6. The Conscious Participation In the Work
so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.
Service, Sacrifice, Self-forgetfulness 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
The Joy of Fulfillment Fellowship Fruitfulness John 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 8:35 AM
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Deism by Dr.Noel Weekes
# posted by Groseys messages @ 7:11 PM
Chuck Swindoll
In my darkest ministry seasons, when unexpected and seemingly unfair blows left me feeling afflicted, confused, persecuted, and rejected, two profound truths became my anchor of stability.
Like holding firmly to the mast in a violent storm, these principles kept me from becoming bitter as the wild waves of difficulty continued to crash around me.
Truth One: Divine Sovereignty
Nothing touches you that has not passed through the hands of your heavenly Father. Nothing.
Whatever occurs in your life today, remember: God has sovereignly surveyed and approved it (Job 2:3-6). We may never understand why, but our pain is no accident to Him who guides our journey.
Before any trial ever reaches you, it passes through Him first.
Truth Two: Purposeful Pain
Everything you endure is designed to prepare you for serving others more effectively. Everything.
Your current struggle isn't meaningless. Our heavenly Father, committed to shaping us into Christ's image, knows the ultimate value of these painful experiences (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
Each trial empties our hands of self-sufficiency and turns us back to the faithful Provider.
These principles transformed my journey through ministry's storms. I encourage you to:
Write them where you'll see them daily
1. Commit them to memory
2. Hold tightly to them when the seas of difficulty rise
3. The day will come when you'll be thankful you did. I assure you.
What scripture anchors your soul during life's storms? What truth has God used to keep you from becoming bitter in difficult seasons?
# posted by Groseys messages @ 1:21 PM
Monday, May 11, 2026
The Secret Power of the Cross
The Secret Power Of The Cross Philippians 2:12-26
Phil 1: 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy8 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
2: 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Pride, power and dominance have always been problematic in churches.
1. The Problem of Contention
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
The threat of AI. Depersonalisation in the technological age. 'Technological Isolationism'
Rationalism : Empiricism : Scientism: Secularism.
Genesis 3:4-7 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
2. The Continuing Power of the Cross
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The Presence of The King
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hold Thou Thy cross Before my closing eyes Shine through the gloom and Point me to the skies
Heaven’s morning breaks And earth’s vain shadows flee In life in death O Lord Abide with me
The Continuing Power of The Cross
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
3. The Compelling Witness To The Cross
among whom you shine as lights in the world,16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Aristotle’s Rhetoric Ethos -Character Pathos -Emotion Logos -Logic
Entertainment Education Evangelism
Shalom Do all things without complaining and disputing,15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
4.The Connecting Empathy Of The Cross
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state…. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.
Liminality. You and me together against the world.
The Cross Produces Friendship and Fellowship in the Work
Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; … and hold such men in esteem;30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
What a help Epaphroditus was, "My brother" - fellow-believers: as such born into the family of the Father. All His sons are brothers of each other. Alas, we don't always behave brotherly towards our fellow-Christians, as Galatians 6:10 says we ought "especially" to do.My "companion in labour" - fellow-worker: no distinction drawn between the foreman and the ordinary hand.
The apostle places his helper as on the same footing in this building operation. My "fellow-soldier" - fellow-campaigner in this "World War One" against all the allied forces of entrenched evil. Then Paul turns to simpler tasks performed by this helper.
"Your messenger" - the one sent by the Philippian church with the love and largesse of the believers there. He had doubtless, with gladness, accepted this commission. Lastly, "that ministered to my wants" - what were these wants, and how catered for, we do not know. What we do know is that he wore himself out in this "Temple ministry". As the passage ends, "to supply your lack of service toward me" - it doesn't mean that they were ignorant of his need, nor idle to supply it, but that, for some while, they had had no chance to do what their heart
longed to do.
All that distance over land and sea away, they had no one to take the supplies, until Epaphroditus had become available for the purpose. And now, Paul reports, his friend "was full of heaviness" - full of gladness that he was the better of his sickness, but so sorry because the news
of his grave illness had somehow reached Philippi, and he knew how grieved and anxious they would be.
Thus is revealed the deep affection of all to each.
How Paul loved Timothy and Epaphroditus; how they loved him. How Paul loved the Philippians; how they loved him. How Epaphroditus (and even Timothy, 20) loved the Philippians; how they loved him. See how these Christians loved one another!
are you a Christian? Here is the sign by which you may be sure: listen carefully: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love . . ." I John 3:14. Do others know we are Christians? Here is the test: listen carefully: "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love . . ." John 13:35.
"Served with me in the gospel.”
5. The Conscious Participation In the Work
so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
"Served with me in the Gospel" (22). A fellow-slave, for so strong is the word. It is interesting to observe how anxious Paul seems to have been to hold both these men as equal partners with himself in the pursuit of the great advantage. By the way, the word "in" could easily be "unto", unto the Gospel: Plummer translates it "for the promotion of" - you get the same thing in 1:5. Here, then, is Timothy slaving away, alongside his father in GOD, sharing the hardships, the perils, the chances of the campaign.
Here is Epaphroditus pouring himself out as a sacrifice for the gospel.
The Capacity For Joy in the Work
I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
The Joy of Fulfillment John 1: 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Eph 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The Joy of Fellowship
The Joy of Fruitfulness V. Frankl A meaningful life. John 12:24 "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:27 PM
