October 15
To some the mental image of God is a blur of disappointment. “Here,” they say resentfully, “is One whom I trusted, but He let me down.” The rest of their lives is shadowed by this letdown…God is a Disappointment. Some, of course, rather enjoy this never-failing well of grievance. The years by no means diminish the details of the Prayer that was Unanswered or the Disaster that was Undeserved…finding this the best possible excuse for those who do not wish to be involved in any moral responsibility.…People who feel that God is a Disappointment are wanting a world in which good is rewarded and...
Read MoreOctober 14
Ray Comfort tells about a poster promoting atheism. It features pictures of Darwin, Jefferson and Lincoln, Ben Franklin, Einstein, Carl Sagan and Ernest Hemingway. “Atheism:” it says, “good enough for these idiots.” But is that true? Franklin wrote: “It is that particular wise and good God…that I propose for the object of my praise and adoration.” Einstein said, “There are yet people who say there is no God. But what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views.” Darwin said he was compelled to look for an intelligent mind behind the universe “and I deserve to be...
Read MoreOctober 13
Hypocrisy is the great impediment in evangelism. Our Lord prayed that His people might be marked by reality. “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth” (Jn 17:17). A.W. Tozer writes: Truth, to be understood, must be lived. Bible doctrine is wholly ineffective until it has been digested and assimilated by the total life. The essence of my belief is that there is a difference, a vast difference, between fact and truth. Truth in the Scriptures is more than a fact. A fact may be detached, impersonal, cold and totally disassociated from life. Truth, on the other hand, is warm, living,...
Read MoreOctober 12
Peter Waldo (c. 1140 – c. 1218) lived in the darkest days of the Dark Ages. A wealthy merchant of Lyon, Waldo was enjoying dinner with friends one evening when one of them suddenly fell lifeless to the floor. This was such a shock that he abandoned his occupation, giving his attention completely to the salvation of his soul. The priests were no help. He knew no one who understood the gospel so he turned to the Scriptures and there discovered God’s way of salvation. Immediately he began to distribute his wealth to the poor, paid for the translation of the Bible into the Romance languages, and...
Read MoreOctober 11
Confucianism: The insistence that human beings are perfectible through personal and communal endeavor. The main religious belief of China looks back to Confucius (the anglicized form of Kunk Fu-tzu, or Kung the Master) about 1000 years after Moses. Confucianism is an optimistic humanism that assumes man is basically good, being opposed to the biblical doctrine that man is sinful by birth, inclination, and practice. Due to this fatal flaw, there is thought to be no need of a Savior. Confucian teachings include filial piety (devotion of younger to elder family members), benevolence, loyalty to...
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