Other Thoughts

Long ago in my younger days when I was in my rebellion, I wanted a tattoo of Garfield holding his Pookie bear on my left shoulders. I love Garfield and I used to have a stuffed Garfield. But unbeknownst to me, I became legalistic and found out that it was a sin to have Tattoos when I read that God commanded his people not to mark their bodies. I felt it was his abomination and i didn't want to displease him. Up until recently I continued to feel that way and I would try to make my point to friends who felt other wise. I have found that to be a lost cause. There are many commands God gave his people in the Pentateuch such as women shouldn't wear pants and yet women do. So if I point out what God said about marking our bodies, they will point something else out. I have decided to use scriptures in the New Testament to prove my point again until recently. When we use scripture to help others we need to be careful not to take it out of context. I thought when Paul wrote that our ...

There are many opinions about whether Christians should listen to secular music or not. In the Bible, we can only imagine that the music was good. Nothing is mentioned about whether listening to certain music will vex you. The saying  "Music calms the savage beast" is true when you look at King Saul. He was vexed until David played his harp. Later Music was also used to bring on the prophetic when you read about Elisha who couldn't  give a word until music was played-- in both cases music was used for good. Most of the hymns that were sung in the New Testament were probably songs written by David (all found in the book of Psalms). Even the song "Create in Me Clean Heart" was taken from Psalms 51. Music has changed over the years. Some were written or composed by people who believed in God or worshiped God. For example the popular song Hallelujah written by Handel was taken from scripture (old and new). But is it considered  Christian music? Handel's music ...

When you are in school, you are taught lessons. The teacher expects you to learn and in the end she test you on it. She will not give you the answers or even help you with it. All you have is the lessons you retained in your memory. Sometimes we are given memory tools to help us take tests. For example, you can use a sentence for each letter of the word to remember like grace: (God's riches at Christ Expense). The test is to show how much you have learned. In the book of Deuteronomy, God told us  people through Moses that he tested his people to see whether they would obey God or not. Of course already knew who would or who would not yet he tested them. The tests are there to help us grow and mature. James wrote that God will give us wisdom during our trials if we ask without doubting (James1:5) That my friend is our memory tool in helping us with our tests. One way to find Wisdom besides prayer is through God's Word. For example you are in a relationship with a man who want...