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A Famine of the Word: [Amos 8:11-12]
[The third sermon in the series: “Give Me the Book!”] When we keep the Son at the center of the universe all things hold together in their proper orbit. But when we try to make one of the planets the center, chaos is the result. When we keep God at the center of their lives and seek to honor Him and serve Him, health, order and joy are ours. When any society exchanges the glory of God for that which he has made, and when it chooses to follow a lie rather than his truth, and when it chooses to ignore the God who created men, confusion reigns and society breaks down. That is the point of William Butler Yeats’ poem: Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
William Butler Yeats |
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God’s Perspective on Man’s Problems:
[God’s Truth verses Man’s Theory] I. God’s perspective on life’s problems and mankind’s opposing view: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Prov 14:12 A. Man’s Theory: “Man is a Victim” “This approach sees man’s fundamental problem as ignorance of himself and his psychic injuries, rather than deliberate disobedience to and ignorance of the living and true God. Man’s primary need becomes esteeming himself more highly rather than dying to self and living for God. Its methodology of “man as victim,” rather than “man as sinner” challenges the biblical doctrines of man’s absolute culpability before the cross, the supremacy of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s sanctification, and most importantly the sufficiency and authority of Scripture for the believer.” [Jim Owen: “Christian Psychology’s War on God’s Word.”] |
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Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thess 5:8-11 No matter how hard you try, sometimes you can’t avoid conflict. At the picnic last week I was given the choice of either playing volleyball or spoons. Knowing volleyball and some of the persons who would be playing I decided that spoons would be a much safer place to recreate. I was wrong. A Russian lady tried to yank a spoon out of my hand and I still have scars to prove it. I didn’t let her get it. My sweet little Yvonne whacked me on my forehead with a spoon until I had a head ache. I tell you, conflict will follow you wherever you go. Because we live in world of conflict you will be under great pressure. There will be times that the pressure will seem so great that you will be in danger of being overwhelmed. So, you will need to fight to maintain your peace. When I am struggling with my weakness, when I am dealing with disappointment, when I am feeling like a failure and when I am feeling like the task is too great for me, when I am feeling like all is dark and ugly, I look for help. I go to where I can find something, so great and so beautiful that it could only have been built by God. There I am brought back to the reality of how awesome and wonderful my God is. Surrounded by the physical evidence that God is powerful and beautiful I am giving the encouragement to go on |
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