“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another…” I John 1:7
It’s not possible for a believer to walk in the light and not have any
fellowship with his brothers and sisters. It is strange for someone
who belongs to the family never to meet anyone else in the family.
It’s strange , but very common.
If all born-again believers would go to the church we would have
an amazing revival around the world.
Many don’t come. For various reasons they have chosen to believe
privately without any association with an organized religion.
Walking in the light speaks about convictions.
They don’t appear in a believer’s life automatically.
We need to learn convictions. We need to be strengthened
in them continually.
Our convictions are revealed in new, unexpected situations.
They are tested in times of uninhibited conflicts.
When you press a toothpaste tube, that what is inside comes out.
We function the same way.
A conviction is different from simply obeying the letter of the law.
It’s a strong, personal belief about something.
We don’t agree with everything.
We go the the church, not because we always like everything about it.
We go because we have a conviction about it.
We love and respect ourselves. Therefore we have convictions.
If nobody knows what our convictions are,
we are most probably not walking in the light.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
justice
“No injustice can last forever”, said the British Prime minister
in his appealing speech.
I think that most of those who enthusiastically applauded to this
statement were fully aware of the difficulty of finding justice in
today’s world. People seem to be even more careful in defining
justice. They don’t want to be irrational nor hypocritical.
It’s obvious that it is easier to draw a plan of justice for some nations
on the other side of the globe than it is for your own family.
When things get more personal, they become more real.
All justice is based on the concept of right and wrong.
This is the dilemma of Humanism. It works in a comfortable
environment, but it is confusing in conflict situations.
People who have tried to naively solve big international problems
by their personal efforts have often found out that the world beyond
the television screen is so much more complex than what the smiling
news anchors can tell you in their limited, but well designed,
few minutes.
In the Soviet times I heard the head of the Orthodox church claim
that the Soviet Union is the Millennial Kingdom that the Bible
describes as the time of peace and justice on the earth.
There seems to be no limit to how wrong your wrong opinion can be.
If there is no accountability to the Judge of all Judges there can be no
interest in true justice.
God’s justice includes grace , too.
People reacted strongly when Jesus ministered this way to those who
had been utterly condemned by the society.
All true justice is related to Eternity.
All true justice can be understood only if we agree that all our decisions
in time have eternal consequences. Otherwise justice is just another
political term that can be thrown around endlessly without any
connection to the reality.
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
Luke 15:7
in his appealing speech.
I think that most of those who enthusiastically applauded to this
statement were fully aware of the difficulty of finding justice in
today’s world. People seem to be even more careful in defining
justice. They don’t want to be irrational nor hypocritical.
It’s obvious that it is easier to draw a plan of justice for some nations
on the other side of the globe than it is for your own family.
When things get more personal, they become more real.
All justice is based on the concept of right and wrong.
This is the dilemma of Humanism. It works in a comfortable
environment, but it is confusing in conflict situations.
People who have tried to naively solve big international problems
by their personal efforts have often found out that the world beyond
the television screen is so much more complex than what the smiling
news anchors can tell you in their limited, but well designed,
few minutes.
In the Soviet times I heard the head of the Orthodox church claim
that the Soviet Union is the Millennial Kingdom that the Bible
describes as the time of peace and justice on the earth.
There seems to be no limit to how wrong your wrong opinion can be.
If there is no accountability to the Judge of all Judges there can be no
interest in true justice.
God’s justice includes grace , too.
People reacted strongly when Jesus ministered this way to those who
had been utterly condemned by the society.
All true justice is related to Eternity.
All true justice can be understood only if we agree that all our decisions
in time have eternal consequences. Otherwise justice is just another
political term that can be thrown around endlessly without any
connection to the reality.
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
Luke 15:7
Monday, October 29, 2007
honor
Honor is a beautiful principle in human relationships.
True honor leaves no room for religious hypocrisy.
It cannot be pretended.
Honoring people brings the best out of them.
God has shown this attitude towards man despite of
our fallen history.
He honors man because of himself.
We can go even so far that we can say that he loves us
because he loves himself.
We continue being his face on the earth.
Honor means recognizing a person’s value.
All people should be honored as the masterpiece of God.
In Rom.12:10 Paul encourages the believers to compete
in honoring one another.
There is no alternative for true honor.
For many of us the church is the only place where we have
experienced this.
Honor always reveals the sacredness of life, even in the midst
of the most mundane situations.
True honor leaves no room for religious hypocrisy.
It cannot be pretended.
Honoring people brings the best out of them.
God has shown this attitude towards man despite of
our fallen history.
He honors man because of himself.
We can go even so far that we can say that he loves us
because he loves himself.
We continue being his face on the earth.
Honor means recognizing a person’s value.
All people should be honored as the masterpiece of God.
In Rom.12:10 Paul encourages the believers to compete
in honoring one another.
There is no alternative for true honor.
For many of us the church is the only place where we have
experienced this.
Honor always reveals the sacredness of life, even in the midst
of the most mundane situations.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
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