Don’t Serve the Lord in Automatic Mode

 

       

                Have you ever driven home from work and, as you got out of the car, realized that you don’t remember anything at all about the trip? You were probably thinking about a problem you had at work that day or about the argument you are about to have with your wife. You drove a large metallic vehicle weighing several thousand pounds among other vehicles also driven by distracted persons, all in automatic mode, no thought involved. Everyone involved placed their bodies, and even their lives, at risk.

                Recently, I noticed a church organist who obviously looked down and adjusted his feet on the organ’s pedals before he began to play. He was paying attention to what he was doing because he was serving the Lord. At this particular church, there are three morning worship services so this was the third time the organist had played that morning.  He gave the third performance as much of himself as he did the first.

               "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24.

                Be intentional, not automatic. Not just while playing the organ, but also at work, while washing dishes, while working at the free clinic, and while driving home from work.

Book Comment: Shocked by the Bible

 

In his book, Shocked by the Bible, Joe Kovacs points out numerous things which you probably did not know about the Bible. Kovacs makes no claim to be a Bible teacher. In fact, he says, ”I’m just a journalist fed up with the lack of accurate knowledge about what’s in the Bible.”

As with most books such as this, the author is not trying to tell you what to think. He specifically says that he does not expect you to agree with everything he says, He is trying to challenge you to read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe anything just because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

Some of the subjects Kovacs mentions include:

The Wise Men did not visit Jesus on the night of his birth in the manger in Bethlehem. No one knows how many wise men there were.

Some Christian theologians believe that Jesus appeared numerous times in the Old Testament.

Sex within marriage is celebrated.

What does “we are God’s children” really mean?

Information you will need to search for this book: Kovacs, Joe, Shocked by the Bible. The Most Astonishing Facts You’ve Never Been Told ((Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008).

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

The Fine Structure Constant: 1/137

 

In physics, the fine structure constant, a,  is 1/137, or 0.0072973525693, the reciprocal of which is 137.03599084. Paul M. Sutter, an astrophysics professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, has said, “It’s a measure of the strength of the interaction between charged particles and the electromagnetic force … if it had any other value, life as we know it would be impossible …”

a was first noticed in 1916. Going back, physicists began to see it in many earlier calculations. The speed of light, atoms, numerous physical constants, gravity, stars, Fibonacci numbers, dark energy, parts of Einstein’s field equations, and electromagnetism are a few. It occurs almost uniformly around the subject of physics.

http://www.fine-structure-constant.org/

Some see from this that the ultimate nature of reality is mathematical. Others deny this but say that we can exist only because of the fortunate occurrence of the exacting physical conditions necessary for our reality, the anthropic principle. They would say that mathematics is a strictly human invention used to describe reality.

To those who see reality as mathematical, this is one of the arguments for the existence of God. They say there is an external reality totally independent of man. 1/137 cannot prove God, but some see it as a finger pointing to him.

Book Comment: Documents of the Christian Church.

 

In his book, Documents of the Christian Church, editor Henry Bettensen presents hundreds of the most important documents of Christianity from the earliest days up until the modern era. The latest, an Amendation to the Constitution of the World Council of Churches, is from 1961, in the second edition of the book.

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. This one is not an easy read, but, if you have a more scholarly bent, it can be used to track the development of Christian ideas and doctrines such as ecumenism or the Trinity.

Some of the subjects, in no particular order, include: references to Christianity in classical writers, creeds, church councils, anti-heretical documents, writings of the Church Fathers, the Church in the Middle Ages, Anglican documents, Vatican Council documents, the World Council of Churches, scholasticism, doctrinal disputes, church-state relations, controversies, monasticism, the Reformation, and the Dissenters. This is not an exhaustive list.

Information you will need to search for this book: Bettensen, Henry, ed., Documents of the Christian Church, 2^nd ed., (New York: Oxford University Press, 1975 paperbound reprint.)

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Modern Names of Places Mentioned in the Bible

 

Antipatris                   Acts 23:31                   Rosh HaAyin, Israel

Cuthah                       2 Kings 17:24              Tell, Ibrahim, Iraq

Dedan                         Ezekiel 8:13                 Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia

Elim                            Exodus 16:1                Wadi Gharandel, Egypt

Hamath                      2 Samuel 8:9               Hama, Syria

Medeba                      Numbers 21:30            Madaba, Jordan

                                    Joshua 13:9

Noph                           Isaiah 19:13                Memphis, Egypt

Qiryat Arba               Joshua 14:15               Hebron, West Bank

Rhegium                     Acts 28:13                   Reggio Calabria, Italy

Syene                          Ezekiel 29:10, 30:6     Aswan, Egypt

Hello Kiribati!

 

Kiribati has just been added to the list of 144 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The total number of blog views as of today, 3 March 2025, is 514,192. The Church is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

Find a Penny

 

Find a penny and pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck. I heard this chant many times as a child in the southern portion of the United States but it is not restricted to the American South.

            The “lucky Penny” superstition has been known for thousands of years. Ancient peoples, just like many moderns, often believed in the power inherent in coins. Finding a coin was considered to be a sign of good luck, or of coming prosperity, because metals were considered to represent wealth and protection.

            Making a wish after throwing a coin into a fountain may have originated as giving a valuable offering to water deities.

            “A penny for your thoughts” carries the idea that your thoughts are valuable because the coin has value.

            After a coin flip, a coin landing with its head-side up (obverse) is considered to be a positive sign. A coin with the tails-side up (reverse) is considered to be negative. Some people will not pick up a coin from the street if the coin is in the tails up position. In American football, the referee determines first possession of the ball by the use of a coin flip.

            This may seem like a trivial and harmless holdover of an ancient superstition. Most people would view it in this way and, for the most part, it is. The children gleefully throwing coins into the fountain outside a restaurant and making a wish are totally innocent. Most adults have no idea of the origins of the superstition and have not given it a single thought, and probably never will. In its origins it is a demonstration of the use of Magick.

            Magick, as opposed to harmless stage magic (where you do not actually see what you think you see) is an ancient concept. The actual modern word, Magick, seems to have been originated by Aleister Crowley, an utterly evil and awful man who described himself as The Great Beast. His most famous quotation is “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”

            Magick is the intentional attempt to control reality by performing certain actions or saying certain words. It is an attempt to impose one’s will on the universe. It is an assertion of self as the master. If you gave them a coin, the water deities were obligated to grant you a wish. If you rubbed the lamp, the genie was your slave. If you said the correct words in the correct sequence, a demon could be forced to obey you.

            Simony is the practice of buying or selling objects held to be religiously sacred. It does not include the selling of modern Christian merchandise which, of itself, is not inherently holy or sacred.  Simony would be the selling, for personal profit, of materials or items or powers used in the official functions of the church. The word originates from Acts 8:18-24, where a magician, Simon Magus, offered money to Peter in an attempt to purchase the power to perform miracles. Peter angrily rejected Simon’s offer of money.

            The Bible clearly says that we are to avoid the intentional use of magic and the occult. Deuteronomy 18:10-11, 18:2; Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31, 20:6,27; Isaiah 19:1-4; Ezekiel 13:20-21; 2 Kings 21:6; Revelation 21:8.

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            Your innocent child can probably still enjoy throwing a few coins into a fountain.