Weighing in on the Gay Rights/Marriage debate

Feeling isn't just for sissies...

Kingdom Coming pt 3: Creative Servants

Looking through Matthew in a section recommended from a holy week study I came across the parable of the Talents. This passage caused me a little uneasiness. I hope it is to make circumspect and call me to action for Christ, and not my own fear motivating me. 

In this passage Jesus tells the of three servants who are given (according to their abilities). Talents are units of reckoning in NT times, (weight in OT times (so says my study bible)) when calculated are about 20 years wages. 

Well the Master hands em out and we see that two return on their talents, using them in a way to be gainful. One hides his and gives back the amount given, no increase, no work done. He has wasted his time and talent. 

Lazy, wasteful and poor stewardship are what labels await this slothful servant (vs 26 ESV). 

Now for the introspection. I have felt like this servant. Watchful and fearful that God will strike me down if I try too much! I’m now afraid I don’t do enough!? Well maybe I should have a little less say in the matter. Prayerful consideration of the gifts and talents God has given us is an important step in using them. It is wise to do so. But don’t rest on them. Do not put them in the ground, or use them for your own devices. 

Creatively pressing on with the gifts God has given you is the only fulfillment to be had. Sort of a peaceful pacing or restful rush can be accompanied by being fueled by the God given creative activity of our hearts and minds. Whether you work with software, inmates or paperclip suppliers there is a way for you to use your talents. Maybe you run a race for technology in the classroom or bake for the inmates. Turn your paperclips into triangles for info-graphics on triperspectivalism (all in good humor fellow seminarians). Our situation is guided by the Almighty imprint on us. As individuals we must pray for awareness and to forget ourselves. The King is returning and He wants to say “well done, good and faithful servant” (Vs 23 ESV). Be creative and be intentional. Do not be afraid. 

Grace and Peace.

Holy Week 2013: Parts 1 & 2

Oh, let me hear Thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will!
Oh, speak to re-assure me,
To hasten or control!
Oh, speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul!- O Jesus, I have promised.

Holy week: King(dom) Come, pt 1:

“You have to know these things when you’re King”

Jesus’ mission on earth was to bring an awareness of the Kingdom of God (Mk 1:15). His ministry on earth ushered in the dawn of the Kingdom and his Kingly office. However, the first two offices of Prophet and Priest paved the way for the acknowledgment of his Kinghood.

 Matthew 22

Jesus claims his Kinghood to the teachers and leaders looking to catch him and sentence him to death. He does it by providing solid, king answers to the very bitter questions of the leaders. He even knows what they are doing. By the end Jesus also gives them fuel for their fire.

Mt 15-22

Jesus says to pay Caesar what’s owed him, and give to God what is God’s. Jesus was not instigating a political coup, which would have made it easy for them to arrest him on the spot. Instead he answered to the heart of the matter. Every ruler is put in place by God and should be revered and acknowledged as such. In addition, God will deal with them accordingly. All reverence, honor, and glory belong to Him.

In 23-33

 Jesus answers the question about marriage and who is whose in the kingdom.

He doesn’t get caught here by giving an incestuously positive response. But he removes all of the fire by saying there is no marriage beyond this earth and God is not a God of the dead. Asking the wrong questions it seems will get you a clearer answer than you may want. You may be shown what you have previously thought you have known, is wrong.

In 34-40

Jesus reminds us of our duties as citizens in the kingdom. 

Jesus succinctly quotes the Shema from Deut 6:5. For the second like it, in Lev. 19:19 we see to love our neighbor as ourselves. He is not tripped up by there inquiry as this is the very life of his ministry. They again find no fault with him.

41-45

Jesus gives the teachers what they were after by way of questioning them. The teachers agree the son of David will be the Christ. However, how will David call him “Lord” Jesus asks?

The Christ is the eternal King, sovereign and only one to rule over the earth justly. The teachers have no questions after Jesus lands this one home.

    

In Matthew 23 Jesus rebukes the leaders for being haughty, know it all self righteous tyrants. They have tied up all their beliefs in the wrong objects (holding to the law only, wealth, false teaching, hypocrisy, etc). The leaders for all their conniving have themselves open as books to be put on display by this wise King. His lament over the city of Jerusalem in 37-39 underlines his authority in all three offices.

Jesus as a servant-king paved the way for his people to follow him. We suffer, are short listed, ridiculed and cut down for the Kingdom to come.

King(dom) Coming part 2: John 12:17-50

Jesus presents himself here with unprecedented wisdom and humility. This is shortly after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and many people went out to see him. Following Jesus we learn is not just about following his followers. We are directed to follow Jesus directly. So far prior to holy week, that means things like being concerned for God’s Kingdom on earth the poor, sick and lonely. Following Jesus does not get us a pass on the dirty work. It assures us that the dirty work is necessary and ever present. The dirty work is gospel work. When it sucks, that is probably right where you should be. It was pleasnt for Jesus to die, but necessary: vs 27

     Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to your name.

Jesus death is the catalyst for new life. Comparing it to a kernel of wheat that dies, then is buried and sprouts a field for harvest-we get a small glimpse of the supernatural in the natural of the elements of Jesus’ life. He alone dies that death so that many more may have life in God by believing that Christ is King, he is Lord.

Looking to Jesus from our vantage point we see him lighting our way in a very dark world. It just does not get any clearer than what he says to the people, and to us:

     ‘Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. 45 For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain          in the dark. 47 I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48 But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. 49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”’

Jesus brings stability and clarity to our world, relationships, internal and external perception. He illumines the truth of God in a world that despises it. It keeps us assured of our faith along the trials and heartbreaks of the world. He also will have the last say as King. What will he say to us? To you?

Galatians 6:1 () 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. #Bible http://j.mp/vqHnjL

Galatians 3:24-26 () 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. #Bible http://j.mp/sY2G8N

1 John 2:15-17 () 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the worldthe desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessionsis not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. #Bible http://j.mp/mLrc5P

Pactum Salutis

The pactum salutis or counsel of peace is a decree and covenantal agreement between God and the Son. It belongs to the heavenly and intrinsic counsel of God. It is a bond between Father and Son that is the basis for grace and surety; moreover a source of the covenants throughout God’s decree.  It is known as the covenant of redemption as well. In considering it, the aim is to reveal this covenant as eternal representation of the covenantal nature of God expressed throughout the scripture by his covenants.

             The pactum salutis is only between the two ‘parties’. The two persons of Father and Son divide the covenant. The Father gives ‘the commands and conditions, promises related…and the confirmation of these promises by oath and sacraments;” and the Son accepts ‘ the conditions and promises…fulfillment of conditions, and his demand relative to these confirmed promises’ (a Brakel CRS, p 251-2). This also Brakel calls an intrinsic work (in the being and between the two parties) over an extrinsic or transient work. I think the emphasis is important on the scriptural supports for this decree as well. It is noted in 1 Pet 1:20 that Christ was foreordained before creation (elsewhere as eternal mediator: Jn 14:16, Isa 42:1, Heb 13:18: cf Bav 214. This covenant certainly fits the description there. Moreover, the counsel of God through history is applied and illumined in the life of the Son. He fulfills scripture and must be fulfilling those that describe his work as everlasting and eternal [Heb 7:22, 13:20, Isa 54:10].  This covenant then is an “eternal foundation in the counsel of God’ and as such it is a covenant between the three persons of the divine being itself” (Bavinck, 213).  We see through out scripture there is a bond between Father and Son, LORD and Christ (Ps 22:2; Isa 53:10; Jn 6:38, 10:18, Jn 17:4: cf Bav 214). These passages show in kind how the Lord serves, communes and is rewarded by God according to the will of the Father in Heaven. Confessionally we affirm that WCF III.6.014 is highlighting the counsel of God as the source for the covenantal form. It is believed that his very nature produces covenantal form to express the Trinitarian persons of the one substance. This covenantal form eternally expressed in the covenant between father and son; that peace will be made and kept between the father and the son and established for eternity, ultimately for us to be partakers in (cf Zech 6:13, WCF ch 3). Objections that the pactum salutis is not scriptural or otherwise confessional are untenable in light of scripture and history itself. For the covenants to have meaning they need rooting, for perdurability it is necessary they have a foundation in eternity to rest on. These and other evidences show the everlasting covenant to be archetypal to all the covenants we know and partake in through and because of the counsel of peace. Barth’s argument that somehow the righteous of remains in abstracto and his mercy and righteous remain to reconciled would be true if the nature of the covenant of reconciliation (Barth CD 4.1). This covenant serves as a foundation, formed before even the world was created! This covenant is the fountain from which covenants shower forth. The bond of Father and son is communicated as not just an agreement between; it is the life between them. Righteousness and mercy were not the issues to be bonded; this is the being of the Godhead producing the intrinsic work of His being and persons. Salvation it can be argued was attained; therefore, righteousness and mercy ultimately reconciled: God did not have to save us. What is formed is an imperishable reward for the son and himself, namely eternal communion. From this communion we have access to the riches of the kingdom through the God-man Jesus, because Christ must, does uphold his bond as servant, and glorifies the father through obedience to the preeminent covenant of covenants. 

Creation and Covenant, Creature and Election

*These items are not mutually exclusive and this entry is not exhaustive of the content of each notion.*

     What is is what is given to us by God of his own creative power and grace. God was not lonely, not seeking an outlet because he was bursting with creative juices. He simply extended his grace in the creative speech act of saying all things into existence.
Of existence it was apparent that man was enable to remain faithful. God could not have created himself totally in us, but made us a reflection, flawed and dependent on his illustrious grace, discipline and blessing. We find the scripture, at the beginning that we did not die instantly, as though once our parents ate all creation went back to nihilo. Rather perimeters for death were set so that sin could not be immortal (H. Bavinck quoting Irenaeus, Reformed Dogmatics, III, 200 (#343).
     In an increasingly disconcerting time, the Christian needs the work and promise of the covenant all the more preached to him, in love. Against the dogmas of science, philosophy, secularism and radical Islam, the whole of the Christian Worldview is in question. It is in stark opposition to the nothing as something supposed by agnostic/pop-atheistic thinking and the diligent militantism and viol-igion of Radical Islam (Robert Webber's book "Who Gets to Narrate the World" for more). We are also then poised to love our enemy and neighbor more than ever. Let us not fall short of our obedience in and Christ, given to us freely that we may carry on in his spirit of righteousness responsibly.
     That Creation is groaning is of no small coincidence, either. That christians are as if not more highly persecuted since the time of the early church, should not be a surprise. This covenant of grace also is no surprise, but a relief. It allows us to rest fully in the Lordship of the trinitarian God, gives us hope in future glory and equips us with understanding to reach the heathen, lost and weary.
     Grace flows from the fountainhead of Christ. He is our great priest, mediator and sustainer. He is triumphant over sin and death alone, bestowing his riches of life everlasting from his inestimable love and mercy. We sit at a time where right doctrine, right belief, right action and self-control (over emotions) are of the utmost to our witness and testimony.
     I hope this encourages you, perplexes you (but does not lead to despair) and brings understanding to you wherever you are.
Grace and Peace.

Everything about love, you thought you knew, is wrong.

Love is not what we give. Love is not even from us. Love is for us, by God. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10). The love that we experience and share is not a chemical, not a manifestation of our will, in fact if it is anything, it is strange to us do to our proclivity for evil, hate and harm. The only way to reconcile our 'dual nature', the old man, is that Christ would come to the world, by the Father's will, through the Spirit (all working equally together) to make us co-heirs of the Father's love and riches of mercy and grace. 
     The three together give us the co-regency of the three-ness of God. God is manifold to us through the work of each of the persons of the trinity. Not in different guises or modes; but each one fully Him.
      To begin this discussion, the look we will take is surveying the Genesis and the book of John. John's rich christ-centric theology is the front runner to much of the reformed or calvinistic tradition. The original synthesis of Old and New Covenant Theology, spouting from the Christ. The love of God, an active state, not a potential for motion, energy, emotion etc. but a supremely active state of being, was the catalyst for God's creation. His own glory, I would say, so overwhelmed the cosmos that creation came from his lips as a song or poem like none of us would ever come up with. In Genesis 1 the act is began in a suspense, a pause or dramatic silence "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The purposefulness of the image shows God's nearness and magnitude (after the void there must have been a considerable amount of water for the spirit to be hovering). We he spoke, there was no hesitation.
"And God said, “Let there be light,' and there was light". The cause and effect nature of creation cannot be painted in a more beautiful picture. From the mouth of our God came creation. His speech caused everything in reality to become what it was. 
     This love, prayed by Christ in his High priestly prayer, recorded by the apostle John, shows of the intimacy and cosmical scope of God's heart. " 'I made known to them your name, I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them'" (John 17:26) 
     The love of Christ is the love of God, because God is in Jesus and Jesus God, both having the same spirit. It is by this love and this grace that men are saved. Faith in this real love is only to 'measure' up to anything. Faith in this real love is submitting the self to the standard of the perfect man-God Jesus Christ in all his glory and terrifying awesomeness. In Christ Alone, by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, as revealed in Scripture Alone, to Glory of God Alone.

Thankful for an honest pastor.

     I am thankful to be involved with such a loving church, and learning from a pastor who is following Christ. Often we get blindsided by the reality of the human in our heroes. Well, when we talk it's as though Christ is present over our own selves. We are there, in a manner, as we are intended to be. Fully exposed, but unashamed intellectually, spiritually, emotionally. Explaining the dense matters of marriage, relationship, commitment and 'the dance' to me must have been like explaining pre algebra to a toddler.
     However, I am grateful for the love, gentleness, and patience that went into it.
This experience, commitment and accountability through Church and the pastor, is what I have dreamed it would be like and more. The honesty and love never seem far from each other and more importantly are manifest in the actions, not only the words of the pastor. It is my hope, as scholar or pastor, to reflect the same clarity of the gospel to those around through my life, to reflect the love of God through my relationships, and reflect the truth of the Lord through conversation and writing.
                                          Thanks be to God. 

I'm going to talk about Christ.
Christ is not your homeboy. He is the savior.
Christ closer than a 'homeboy'. He is in the heart and we were formed in his heart (John 1:3).

Cracked open sky, vision is blurry
Set in motion, catching glimpses
Static senses, erased viewings
One day, infinite horizons
One night, sleep in a star.
For now we remain,
Soon we will soar.
A glimpse of the invisible,
A touch of the unseen.
Experience the there between
you and me.
Hesitate. Drop into liquid.
The rippled surface, translucent
calm in motion.
Out of it, cleansing clarity of sight.

At the expense of time,
i give this rhyme.
it is to say that
though we wait,
we wait in hope
at the time
which christ inclines
to return and
retrieve us home. 

Washing of Water, Purging by Fire

 Reading Matt 3:11-13

A poem inspired by 2 Cor 10:5

            In Matt 3:11-13 we are introduced to John the Baptist and coming of the Messianic Kingdom. John the Baptist taught preaches that the one after himself, the Christ, will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. The fire will be punishment for those who are unrepentant. This can be viewed as similar for those who drowned in the great flood of Noah’s time. Those who are under the fire of damnation are as such because they have not obeyed God’s commands. They have not seen their need for repentance and have been passed over and condemned to the death. Christ comes, baptizing first with the spirit. He was baptized once for all, and will give us life upon repentance of our self-seeking, enmity with God and obey his Love. His fire for us will be hot and life giving. It will be a fire of purification to be manifest from our hearts in lives of purity. Seeking an uncompromising life of truth, love and fidelity to our Great Love should be our one desire. That desire moreover, will be fulfilled for an eternity and our lives, here we will live in honesty, truth and love.

            The cleansing effect of water, the purification by fire can give us a greater understanding of the inseparable nature of our being. We are composites of what we see and interact and then still something more. There is something beyond us which is unknown. However, that which is unknown, lofty and high, is but an introductory subject for the LORD of heaven who reigns, now and forever.

           

Christ Captivated Consciousness =

            In the mind of Christ,

            I will direct my thought.

            In the mind of Christ,

            I will see His face,

            In the mind of Christ,

            My place will be known.           

Captive thoughts, in the mind of Christ;

Anxiety, fear and contention,

                        They all become but naught. 

And now for something experimental...

Gracious Lord,
  Teach us, captivate our thoughts. Help us to seek after the will of the father. Give a desire for your word to your people to keep us from the devil's snare in the new year. Transform our minds to keep our focus on you, wrap us in your grace, and when we fill desolate and isolated, comfort us with tears so that we know you are present and in control.

  

Without Jesus I Suck

Check out this event for those in Jax! It should be nothing short of life changing!

www.withoutjesusisuck.com

Preach the incarnation - Reformation21 Blog

Preach the incarnation - Reformation21 Blog

Giving Thanks to Whom it is Due and a Joy to Praise.

¹Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
²Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³For the LORD is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.

To those reading,
      I hope your thanksgiving is enjoyed in the light of God's Glory. That you remember as you're with family that they are a gift from God, and even a part of your sanctification (How you love and interact with them). If you have any contention, lay it down, if you have any bitternes, enmity or anger, lay them down. Repent and believe in God's Gospel and enjoy fruits of fellowship, love, grace and kindness with your family. It is a glimmer of the banquet in some sense.
Grace and Peace to you.

Homework assignment...The best homework EVER @ RTS Orlando!

Jesus doesn’t just demand right actions in line with the law. These are certainly required but only out of the genuine faith given by grace because of the mercy of God. This summary is clearly stated in 2 Samuel 15:22 “Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than to the fat of rams” (ESV). This was true in OT times just as NT and ours. Sacrifice is only meaningful given our posture to God. If we are prideful or boastful in his presence he will knock us down. If we are humble and penitent he will hear us.

In this humble posture we may pray and ask God for those riches of the spirit he has promised. We have faith that believes the impossible, i.e. casting down a mountain into the sea, or a man being raised from the dead. We will have hope in the return of the Christ and the promise of the kingdom filled and perfected in glory.

There is also a warning in the summary. We should constantly seek to lean on Christ during this life so as not to go astray from the faith. In John 15 Jesus teaches “¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV) John using the words of Jesus to teach the Jews and the gentiles shows that real ‘fruit’ or life can be ‘produced’ or lived in real faith or abidance in Jesus as Lord.

Riches of the Lord

I see a lot in the world about money, cars and clothes. It is apparent many people, Christians included have forgotten (including myself) what it means to believe in an omnipotent Covenant God who takes care of His children. In Genesis 15 God tells Abram " Look, now toward Heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them". And He said to him, "so shall your descendants be". Why would God have pointed Abram to the heavens? God created them out of the word of His mouth! If God can do that, surely God can provide the children of the covenant to a man far too old to have children and a wife of barren womb. God has all that we need. The faith in Him that He provides by Grace is more precious than any richness acquired on this vapor trail we live on. Christ's righteousness is a glory to which we can have under the blessings of faith from God by grace. I have to remember this constantly: that God is going to provide because of the righteousness He has provided unto me by the graciousness of His own heart. He has reconciled me to him and faith is now mine to believe. I want that. I NEED that daily; much less than a coffee fix or new guitar. I need to remember the Sovereign Lord loves His children and provides for them, NOT NECESSARILY by the accumulation of money and things, but the things that REALLY matter. Provisions of Love, Mercy, Faith, Hope, Trust, etc and even, yes even! in times of trial and affliction!
Moreover, this faith is only realized in the death of the old self. Righteousness can only be put on we God circumcises our prideful, disobedient hearts and puts in us a law of love. These are the riches of the Lord. Amen

Weightless in a Vaccum Through a Glass Darkly...

David wells writes

“It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God's existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers' sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned him after having nudged him out to the periphery of our secularized life. His truth is no longer welcome in our public discourse. The engine of modernity rumbles on, and he is but a speck in its path.” Quote http://members.aol.com/augusteen/Weightless.html

God's distance from us at times seems to be a great deal of perspective. I would argue that perspective has to do with our view of the scripture. God is never more real than through the illumined truth of the Bible, Old and New Testaments. This is His revelation to His people for all time.
We live in not just a period of time (the 21st c) but in a place that is at it's core dark and bleak. The hope however is in the washing of this earth in the blood of a savior that has come to heal and make glad his creation and people! We would do well to consider this as we go through the ins and outs of our daily routine and consider the immensity and intimacy of our God.

Amen.

The Sin of Watered Down Faith

Radical Reformation, Radical Redeemer

In Mainstream Evangelical Churches of the 21st century there is a lack of understanding about who Christ and is as Redeemer and Savior. Many tout bad, liberal theology that looks like marketing any number of insurance companies, real estate agents and mega-malls would us to promote consumerism. In fact, many churches do promote consumerism, "come and buy" salvation or spiritual healing, "listen and give me money so that I may be glorified". This is embezzlement of God's Riches: Mercy, Grace, Glory. 

The Church must repent, we all must, in order to allow God's Grace to shine through. 

The Five Solas Of the Protestant Reformation

1. Sola Gratia

2.Sola Fide

3.Solus Christus

4.Sola Scriptura

5.Soli Deo Gloria

Biblical Backing for the Solas: An Introduction to The Doctrines of Grace.

1 & 2. " Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by into his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1&2 [ESV](see also Romans ch. 3) By the gifts of God's faith and grace we are saved. Grace comes to us to allow us to understand, humble and submit to God's holy will. Faith is also a gift, not an action we do in order to gain or earn our salvation. It is a means of believing Christ and his word that God has bestowed on us, alongside grace, in order for us to work out our salvation according to His perfect will and sovereignty over all creation. 

3. "Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44) [ESV]. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"(John 14:6) [ESV]. God sent Christ as our ransom for our sins. The only way to salvation is through him upon God's sovereign calling in our hearts, which is the gift of grace, and we believe because of the gift of faith.

4.  " All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man (messenger) of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16) [ESV]. The bible is our sole means of discovering God's full plan through history and how we are to act as Christians. Without the Bible, there would be no understanding of God's direct involvement in history or mankind. We must study diligently with open eyes, hearts and humble minds as well. It keeps our attention on Christ and focuses on God's will over ours; as it should be. 

5. "For from him and through and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:36) [ESV]. 

"...To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Romans 16: 27) [ESV]. Life and the sustaining of the universe comes only through Christ the sustainer and for God's glory alone does it survive.