Thirsting for The Springs of Living Water

 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” (John 4:13-15)

My day to day secular job requires me to do door to door marketing. Here in the deep south, it is very hot and staying hydrated is essential. One day I forgot to bring a bottle of water and so I became thirsty very quickly and began to feel the effects of dehydration. Fortunately a neighbor offered me some water and I was grateful for the relief. Without water we die.


Jesus promises us a spring of living water welling up to eternal life. My experience with the absence of real water reminded me that we cannot be absent of Jesus' life giving spirit. We are refreshed from within. For the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at the well, she recognized the Messiah for He told her everything she did. (John 4:39) Often we deny whatever we have done excusing our sins. As Paul reminds us it is our trespasses that makes us dead. (Eph. 2:1-3) But Jesus desires us to know our sins so that we recognize who we are and appreciate the life giving spirit He has to offer. For indeed we are thirsty. No wonder those who thirst after righteousness will be satisfied as it is Christ's righteousness that we need and it is His righteousness we thirst after. (Mt. 5:6)


When Jesus died upon the Cross, one of His last words was "I thirst." (John 19:28) He became death so that we may have life. In order to be made right with God we need to see the drought of our lives and thirst for the righteousness that only God provides through the Cross of Christ. 

Why is Grace So Hard to Understand?

Why is grace, God's unmerited kindness toward His elect, so hard to understand? Specifically, why is it that people refuse to acknowledge that we cannot enter into Heaven by our own merits? Actually, I do know the answer. It's called pride.


A recent article in the New York Times mentions that charitable donations can be counted as an indulgence that may diminish one's time spent in purgatory for Catholics. Evidently Catholic teaching never really did away with indulgences. Now the problem here is that Catholic teaching does not put much stock in the death of Jesus as being once and for all for the payment for our sins. And here is the rub. Jesus died once for the remission of our sins. Nothing we can do can earn our way into heaven. As an Anglican I don't believe in purgatory. The cross of Christ is sufficient for me to be saved. Whatever good works I do is a fruit of faith, not a bribe to God. The doctrine of purgatory is repugnant to Scripture. When one dies, one will either go to heaven or go to hell. Scripture is clear as to who goes where.


Now watch these next two videos. One is from a Catholic teacher and the other from a Protestant evangelist. And tell me where you want to put your faith, in yourself or in Christ who stood in our place on that first Good Friday granting us eternal life for those who repent. And that my friend is grace!




Now let us be clear what St. Paul taught: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26


Now hear the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ as proclaimed to a sinner in the street:

Paganism, The Default Mode of Humans

pa·gan

   [pey-guhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. Synonyms:polytheist.

2.

a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. Synonyms:heathen, gentile; idolator; nonbeliever.

3.

an irreligious or hedonistic person.

4.

a person deemed savage or uncivilized and morally deficient.

adjective

5.

pertaining to the worship or worshipers of any religion that isneither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim. Synonyms: heathen,heathenish, idolatrous, polytheistic. Antonyms: Christian,Jewish, Muslim, monotheistic.

6.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pagans.

7.

irreligious or hedonistic. Synonyms: unbelieving, godless,atheistic, agnostic; impious, profane, sacrilegious, unholy,ungodly. Antonyms: religious, pious, devout.

8.

of a person deemed backward, savage, or uncivilized ormorally or spiritually stunted. Synonyms: primitive,uncultivated, uncultured, heathenish, barbaric, barbarous,philistine. Antonyms: civilized, cultivated, cultured, urbane.

We are all born pagan. By that I mean no one is born a Christian. If there is no regeneration of the heart by Jesus Himself, we remain a pagan.


We may be religious. We may go to church. We may say we believe in Jesus Christ or the God of the Holy Bible. But without a true conversion of the human heart, we remain the same as those who profess a belief in modern day paganism.


I say all of this now as many in the USA decry our nation's lack of moral leadership as abortions are protected and marriage is redefined. The truth is we come into this world as murderers and sexual idolators. Why else did God give us the Ten Commandments? In order for us be the people we must be in God's eyes, we must change. And the only way we can change is by God's mercy for nothing is impossible with God. The solution to our problems is the preaching of the Gospel plain and simple. Our political leaders need to hear the Gospel and the person in the street needs to hear the Gospel. That my friend is the business of the Church. 

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (Gal. 4:7-9)

Resurrection

We die because we are supposed to. Our earthly life is not forever. But that was not how it was supposed to be. We were to enjoy our life forever. But our first parents, Adam and Eve, thought of themselves more highly than their Creator. So we die.

We die because of the evil we carry in our hearts. If we compared ourselves to our Holy God we can see how filthy our hearts are. But even then God isn't happy leaving us in such a pitiful damnation.

No God sent His Son to be among us. He took our flesh and nailed it to the cross. In our place He met the demands of the Law. For every time we broke God's Law in thought, word and deed, He paid the penalty on our behalf. And how do we know this is true? Jesus, the Son of God, rose from the dead. Death has been defeated.

Do we see our need to die? Do we see our hope in the Resurrection. This Easter, let us rejoice knowing that Jesus paid the debt for our sins by every single drop of blood on the Cross.

2012 Easter Message from Archbishop Duncan

2012 Easter Message from Archbishop Duncan:

'via Blog this'

Be Angy! Just Don't Sin!

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.  ( Eph. 4:26-27)

Many of us are familiar with this passage from Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus. He is reminding the young church they are not to act like the Gentiles whose behavior does not glorify God. As Christians, we are to put away greediness, thievery and lying. And so Paul admonishes his spiritual children with a quote from Psalm 4, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,” but adding to it his own words, “and give no opportunity to the devil.”

When we are angry, it is usually because we are reacting to something out of our control. Anger really is a secondary emotion resulting from frustration, disappointment or some other feeling. When Cain was jealous of his brother Abel because his sacrifice found favor with God, he became angry. And sin was crouching at the door. Even after God warned Cain to master his feelings, he succumbed to them committing the first murder. So how are we to interpret Paul’s use of Psalm 4?

St, Paul probably was reminding the early Christians what the Psalmist already knew and that is God is control. A portion of the Psalm states:

But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
5 Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the LORD.

As true Christians, we are set apart for God. We are in His care. When something makes us angry, as we lie in bed, think about what it really is that makes us angry but make no plans to act on it. Ultimately our trust is in God as He is in control. After all, when we are angry, it’s usually because we want to control our world. But we must give up our control and let God have his rule in our lives. It is with this confidence that David could pray, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep;  for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
(v.8)

Good People Don't Go to Heaven

We all think we are good. We seek to do those things that help not harm others. Well, there are some out there who are bad. They care only for themselves and don’t care how their lives effect others. But not us. We are good people. We even get compliments from others about how we try to do good. For the most part, we want to be good.

But what does God say? We know He is good, too. He is perfect and holy as well. He created the heaven and the earth.  To know what God says we look to the Scriptures. Jesus tells a law abiding citizen that no on is good but our Father in Heaven. (Mk. 10:18) Strong words. But it was the character of man that brought about the flood. (Gn. 6:5)

We think we are good. But it makes no difference what we think. What is important is what God thinks. You see, our righteous deeds are considered polluted garments. (Is. 64:6) No amount of good works will make us clean. Sobering words indeed. But what help is there for us? Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

To think we can earn our way into heaven by our goodness is to put our trust in ourselves. But God wants us to trust Him alone. We must decrease and He must increase. (Jn. 3:30) The less we trust in ourselves, the more we can trust in Him. And how do we do this?

First we must realize who we are in the eyes of the Lord. If we just compare our thoughts to the 10 Commandments, we will indeed fall short. And if we are falling short, we fall short of the glory of God. (Rm. 3:23) Second, we must understand the judgment we deserve. Are we going to heaven or going to hell.?  Third we must admit our need for a redeemer, someone who will pay or fine to the jailor. And then we can understand what Jesus did on that cross. He paid our debt meeting the legal demands of the Law. By His death He destroyed death. This is all God’s doing for He is that good.  (Col. 2:14)

So let us have a healthy perspective on our own goodness.

You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, 
those who remember you in your ways. 
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; 
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 
We have all become like one who is unclean, 
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. 
We all fade like a leaf, 
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Is. 64:5-6)