Would you knock down religion because some religious people are extremist, some practice it for the wrong reasons, and others are hypocrites? Why knock down caring for God's green earth for those weak reasons?
"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
---------------------------
My cousin posted this article on Earth Day: "Think Globally; Act Irrationally". It's an article decrying the intelligence of state run recycling projects. Makes some good points, but I'm left wondering, so I guess because it's expensive to recycle our garbage, we should just step back and build bigger barns, er, landfills.
My response to him, which I only post here, because it's just me rambling, follows:
Now I see why you hate Greenies. Think of it this way; using the foolish simplicity of recycling by governments (who are quite often clueless of details because of the myriad of stuff they're involved in) as an example of why caring for the earth more than has been done for the past century or so, is like learning about Christianity from a Christmas-and-Easter Catholic teacher following a school curriculum containing shallow doctrine and man-made tradition based on expediency, control and money. Do you "throw out the baby with the bath water"?
OK, granted that recycling glass and plastic is expensive. So try buying less stuff in the first place, buy in bulk to have less garbage, shop at second hand stores, carry your own shopping bags, grow some of your own food or herbs so we don't have to ship everything in... all changes in a lazy "serve me" lifestyle, and only small steps that anybody can do to show that the human brain is being used to care for the green earth God gave us to care for. It's LIKE the old story of the kid who earned his first truck and works to take care of it versus the kid who is given his first car and wraps it around a phone booth first month out.
We don't need to be wasteful landfill and barge filling slobs to stand up against people who worship the earth, as if to try to prove to them that if the Earth were a god it would wake up and save itself from our exploitation. Nor do we need to slander and put down those who only believe the little bit of media that they hear about something as lame as what is considered needful recycling programs - rather we can educate them in a gentle way. Consider how you feel belittled when a Greenie tells you how ignorant you are and it makes you want to just be all the more wasteful: when you (or some talk show host) belittles them in a sarcastic way that leaves no margin for their having a brain to even consider your point of view, then they want to cling more tightly to their ways. Some weaker minds just might give up all together, change nothing and just learn to live with the problems which are staring us all in the face. If this article's title hadn't included the words "act irrationally" to thinking globally, then more people on who are trying to think globally would read it; as it is, they realize right away that they're being considered ignorant for what they're trying to do, and who wants to jump in and say, "oh, yeah! I'm acting irrationally in my supposed noble ideals - I'd better read this!"?
All I'm saying: Take the time to learn about Green things that work and are being learned, watch "the story of stuff" and other greenish materials, share some of these things with those who are ignorant about waste and trashing the world, realize that there are extremes on both ends, and then realize that there are appropriate things that we can all do to act more rationally.
---------------
For more on this topic, see "The Greenness of God" at Answers in Genesis.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Longing and Contentment
Today, read the daily entry from "Reaching Forward" daily thoughts: "Joyful Longing".
It begins with this simple statement: "IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE CONTENTED AND UNFULFILLED AT THE SAME TIME."
Sometimes I so long for perfection, for heavenly places, for true realized joy, that I am very aware of being unfulfilled, and I am not content. Some days my imperfections, and the imperfections of my spiritual family, seem to be so loud that I cannot hear the peaceful calming assurances that this life is to be enjoyed, that we are to "rejoice always". I do not count this as a discouragement, and so I don't look for encouragement from others. I do logically know and understand that I am to be confident of this very thing: that he who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. But some days are gray.
Oh, what a melancholy choice this is: wanting home and wanting him.
But my longing is more desperate than joyful. And yet I am confident.
I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me,
yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
And the mental peace and confidence? "Being persuaded of this, that my continuance on earth is desirable for your welfare, and that the Lord has a work for me to do, I confidently expect that I shall be permitted to live."
It begins with this simple statement: "IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE CONTENTED AND UNFULFILLED AT THE SAME TIME."
Sometimes I so long for perfection, for heavenly places, for true realized joy, that I am very aware of being unfulfilled, and I am not content. Some days my imperfections, and the imperfections of my spiritual family, seem to be so loud that I cannot hear the peaceful calming assurances that this life is to be enjoyed, that we are to "rejoice always". I do not count this as a discouragement, and so I don't look for encouragement from others. I do logically know and understand that I am to be confident of this very thing: that he who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. But some days are gray.
Oh, what a melancholy choice this is: wanting home and wanting him.
But my longing is more desperate than joyful. And yet I am confident.
I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me,
yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
And the mental peace and confidence? "Being persuaded of this, that my continuance on earth is desirable for your welfare, and that the Lord has a work for me to do, I confidently expect that I shall be permitted to live."
For your furtherance and joy of faith - For the increase of your faith, and the promotion of that joy which is the consequence of faith. Wetstein has quoted a beautiful passage from Seneca (Epis. 104) which strikingly resembles this sentiment of Paul. He says that when a man had meditated death, and when on his own account he would be willing to die, yet that he ought to be willing to live - to come back again to life - for the sake of his friends. Pagan adds: "It pertains to a great mind to be willing to come back to life for the sake of others; which distinguished people often do." -- Barnes' Notes on the BibleThis is why C.S. Lewis pointed out so often that true joy is not the same thing as circumstantial happiness. It's more cerebral than emotional.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Leadership
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus, Mark 10:42-45
How do we lead? I have just been invited to join the exclusive social network called, 'Triiibes'. I had to look it up to see what Tribes was all about. It seems that the author of the network and the book for which it is named has come up with a new notion that a group or "tribe" is the most ideal way to get things done; in a tribe every one is a leader of sorts, I take it. This group is composed for leaders and marketers. I applied to join.
In the application to join 'Triiibes' is a list of questions about yourself: what is your tribe?, what can Triiibes do for you?, what is your passion? Then it left a space for the applicant's own 'self promotion'. While reading through and thinking of this list, I thought about leadership, and the type of leadership I use. I also thought about the type of leadership that God wants us to use.
You'll notice the pink colouring of this blog - it's pink. I want you to know that when I type, it is not from a male-type, dictatorial brand of leadership that tells or teaches you what you should know and do. I am trying to merely share, to think together. When I speak about these things, I do that wearing a headcovering, to mark my place as a woman. I believe that women are made for mankind - out of the same stuff, and yet different for a reason. We glue together, we build up, we encourage, we make work, we manage. This is the stuff of what many would call 'leadership', and yet it is not dictatorial or authoritarian so much as a leading by example. A pulling up, rather than a pushing on. I hope that is what I convey in all of my blogs - helpfulness, not pushiness. It isn't that I want you to do it MY way, but the BEST way, or the MOST APPROPRIATE way. Hopefully, that means to both you and I: GOD'S way.
Thing is, men and women are both to lead this way: by example, by getting in the fields with the sheep and leading them in the right way, by serving, by ... being submissive to one another. We lead, encourage, help, and 'teach' by being truthful, being noble, being kind, being pure of heart, being lovely and admirable and virtuous. Who doesn't want to follow that kind of man or woman? They don't push, they calmly and peacefully lead, and we clamour on to follow them. And so we should seek to lead others by example, by love.
That's how I want to always lead, and yet I sometimes get impatient or exasperated and become a bear. Perhaps, I think, if I would truly think on these things of Philippians 4:8 more, if I would think about what I am teaching others by my example, maybe even keep myself to it by writing about it and sharing about it more, then I would be able to be the kind of leader that God wants me to be.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Thinking about Education in America
Why teaching is 'not like making motorcars'
Watch this short video and read the article on problems in modern education at this link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is a reply, not meant personally, that I wrote after posting this link (with no personal comments attached) to my personal blog, and promptly getting some flack about it from a lady who is a really good teacher. For the record, I personally don't think that the problem is with the teachers so much as with the system that they are forced to try to teach under. Does the normal, average teacher really care about the students and try to inspire them rather than just teach to the tests? I think they do! But there are many problems for the normal, average teacher, and for the really good ones too. My thoughts?
The normal teacher goes through the heartaches of working with administrations that don't care as much about the teachers, putting them where they're needed rather than being able to place them where they'd be the best use, having to teach to the tests and comparisons with other school districts, all the while being paid a salary that means that many need a second income for their home;
the normal teacher works more hours than the average person works every day and on weekends in order to get it all done ... it's as if there aren't enough hours in your school day to get done all that you need to do, as if your kids have to achieve a certain number of standards or something by the end of the year and that's why you have to spend so much time cramming it all in;
all kinds of kids and parents are complaining all over the country about the number of hours of home work that they have on top of school hours in order to learn some preassigned amount of information by a certain time;
music and other electives are being dropped all over the country (it's good that some districts have started up specialization arts or tech. schools, but that apparently is highly not the norm according to what I'm reading);
parents need to be re-educated on how to raise a family, to encourage their own children in school, to find them electives and passions, to support them and teach them "outside of school skills" like morality and good manners, pointing to the fact that somewhere in their own education something has been taught wrong, or not taught at all, for years and generations possibly;
and education is and has been a high priority to our government for quite some time now - if things were looking up and not in trouble, would this be something that comes up all across the country, sometimes with anger, parents taking their kids out of some schools, strikes and unions for teachers and professors, and the numerous amounts of studies, books and opinion articles written about it?
I haven't even begun to think out the problems that have been brought up concerning our colleges and universities. But is it not obvious that something is out of whack in our education system? Not that it is like a family, and that there is not one that is perfect, but that this system needs fixing before it hurts someone. Or hurts more someones, perhaps.
What we're saying when we say there is something to think about in the video is that there's something wrong somewhere. And we need to think about it. No one is saying that everyone must home school. No one is blaming the teachers. (Well, some are blaming the teachers, but then some hated school all together, and apparently in some places maybe it was the teachers at fault). The system is cracked. If the system where you are is going well, then notice: is it mostly new ideas and charter programs? Maybe all that new stuff will eventually get out and help other systems too, and we will be glad for that. And then of course, the man in the video doesn't mean your system, so you don't need to get confrontational or defensive. Right?
But right now there is a problem with big schools. And standardization is part of it, and standardization is often illustrated by a production line where the product is supposed to all look alike. Boys and girls do the same work at the same ages. Secularization so that no religion is above any other and then all spirituality becomes demeaned. We've got more homosexuals and gender confusion in high schools, but rules against Christian and Muslim girls who want to wear modest headcoverings in class, or who fail PE because they don't want to dress "out". This all blends into the "everybody looks alike" secularization of the colleges and universities, and the modern workplace. Everyone must speak the same language, dress the same (which is generally grungy and or underdressed), watch the same popular, shallow, materialistic shows on tv, buy the same high prices commercially marketed products that we don't really need, and listen to what the news tells us is news, and what is important.
All I'm saying when I link to this video is that "big schools" and standardization is something to think about.
March 17, 2010 7:00 a.m. EDT
Watch this short video and read the article on problems in modern education at this link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is a reply, not meant personally, that I wrote after posting this link (with no personal comments attached) to my personal blog, and promptly getting some flack about it from a lady who is a really good teacher. For the record, I personally don't think that the problem is with the teachers so much as with the system that they are forced to try to teach under. Does the normal, average teacher really care about the students and try to inspire them rather than just teach to the tests? I think they do! But there are many problems for the normal, average teacher, and for the really good ones too. My thoughts?
The normal teacher goes through the heartaches of working with administrations that don't care as much about the teachers, putting them where they're needed rather than being able to place them where they'd be the best use, having to teach to the tests and comparisons with other school districts, all the while being paid a salary that means that many need a second income for their home;
the normal teacher works more hours than the average person works every day and on weekends in order to get it all done ... it's as if there aren't enough hours in your school day to get done all that you need to do, as if your kids have to achieve a certain number of standards or something by the end of the year and that's why you have to spend so much time cramming it all in;
all kinds of kids and parents are complaining all over the country about the number of hours of home work that they have on top of school hours in order to learn some preassigned amount of information by a certain time;
music and other electives are being dropped all over the country (it's good that some districts have started up specialization arts or tech. schools, but that apparently is highly not the norm according to what I'm reading);
parents need to be re-educated on how to raise a family, to encourage their own children in school, to find them electives and passions, to support them and teach them "outside of school skills" like morality and good manners, pointing to the fact that somewhere in their own education something has been taught wrong, or not taught at all, for years and generations possibly;
and education is and has been a high priority to our government for quite some time now - if things were looking up and not in trouble, would this be something that comes up all across the country, sometimes with anger, parents taking their kids out of some schools, strikes and unions for teachers and professors, and the numerous amounts of studies, books and opinion articles written about it?
I haven't even begun to think out the problems that have been brought up concerning our colleges and universities. But is it not obvious that something is out of whack in our education system? Not that it is like a family, and that there is not one that is perfect, but that this system needs fixing before it hurts someone. Or hurts more someones, perhaps.
What we're saying when we say there is something to think about in the video is that there's something wrong somewhere. And we need to think about it. No one is saying that everyone must home school. No one is blaming the teachers. (Well, some are blaming the teachers, but then some hated school all together, and apparently in some places maybe it was the teachers at fault). The system is cracked. If the system where you are is going well, then notice: is it mostly new ideas and charter programs? Maybe all that new stuff will eventually get out and help other systems too, and we will be glad for that. And then of course, the man in the video doesn't mean your system, so you don't need to get confrontational or defensive. Right?
But right now there is a problem with big schools. And standardization is part of it, and standardization is often illustrated by a production line where the product is supposed to all look alike. Boys and girls do the same work at the same ages. Secularization so that no religion is above any other and then all spirituality becomes demeaned. We've got more homosexuals and gender confusion in high schools, but rules against Christian and Muslim girls who want to wear modest headcoverings in class, or who fail PE because they don't want to dress "out". This all blends into the "everybody looks alike" secularization of the colleges and universities, and the modern workplace. Everyone must speak the same language, dress the same (which is generally grungy and or underdressed), watch the same popular, shallow, materialistic shows on tv, buy the same high prices commercially marketed products that we don't really need, and listen to what the news tells us is news, and what is important.
All I'm saying when I link to this video is that "big schools" and standardization is something to think about.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
God's Good Gifts
James 1:16-18
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comparative Scriptures
"Every good gift ... is from above"
Psalm 85:12
Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
John 3:27
John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven."
1 Corinthians 4:7
. . . What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
"the Father of lights"
1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
"no variation"
Malachi 3:6
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
"of his own will he brought us forth ..."
John 1:12-13
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:23
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
"that we should be a kind of firstfruits"
Ephesians 1:11-12
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:19-23
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alternate Translations
17Every good gift and every perfect ([a]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].
18And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comparative Scriptures
"Every good gift ... is from above"
Psalm 85:12
Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
John 3:27
John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven."
1 Corinthians 4:7
. . . What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
"the Father of lights"
1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
"no variation"
Malachi 3:6
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
"of his own will he brought us forth ..."
John 1:12-13
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:23
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
"that we should be a kind of firstfruits"
Ephesians 1:11-12
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:19-23
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alternate Translations
Amplified Bible (AMP)
16Do not be misled, my beloved brethren.Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
17Every good gift and every perfect ([a]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].
18And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].
16Be not led astray, my brethren beloved;
17every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variation, or shadow of turning;
18having counselled, He did beget us with a word of truth, for our being a certain first-fruit of His creatures.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
16Don't be fooled, my dear friends. 17Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. 18He wanted us to be his own special people, [a] and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.
Footnotes:
- James 1:18 his own special people: The Greek text has "the first of his creatures." The Law of Moses taught that the first-born of all animals and the first part of the harvest were special and belonged to the Lord.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Steadfastly Resisting Temptation
James 1:12-15
English Standard Version
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comparative Scriptures
"steadfast under trial"
James 5:11
11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen s the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Mathhew 10:22
21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
1 Peter 3: 13-17
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, . . . 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
2 Timothy 2:11-13
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also s live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
"crown of life"
1 Corinthians 9:25
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
"which God has promised to those who love him"
James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
"sin ... brings forth death"
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alternate Translations
English Standard Version
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comparative Scriptures
"steadfast under trial"
James 5:11
11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen s the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Mathhew 10:22
21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
1 Peter 3: 13-17
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, . . . 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
2 Timothy 2:11-13
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also s live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
"crown of life"
1 Corinthians 9:25
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
"which God has promised to those who love him"
James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
"sin ... brings forth death"
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Alternate Translations
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
12Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.
13Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one.
14But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).
15Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
Monday, January 18, 2010
What passes away
James 1:9-11 (English Standard Version)
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
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Comparative Scriptures
Jeremiah 9:23
Isaiah 40:7
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Alternative Translations
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
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Comparative Scriptures
Jeremiah 9:23
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."
A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
1 Peter 1:2422 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
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Alternative Translations
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
9Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his elevation [as a Christian, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God],
10And the rich [person ought to glory] in being humbled [by being shown his human frailty], because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.
11For the sun comes up with a scorching heat and parches the grass; its flower falls off and its beauty fades away. Even so will the rich man wither and die in the midst of his pursuits. New International Version (NIV)
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
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