Kerri Nohr

Where there is no faith, positive or negative reinforcement is required. But neither will be effective any longer than force applied. For lasting change, pray for the faith that sustains.

I thank my God for you. We owe so much to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to God who has placed us in His great big family. We would never have even met many of the people we call family, except God brought us together as one body. Yes, we fuss and fight because we are still struggling to overcome the flesh that hangs on for dear life. But the prayers of the saints hang harder and are more effective in the end, because Jesus lives and He lives in us. Philippians 1:3-5 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Reading through Isaiah, the corollaries between today's culture, politics, and the state of the world in general, and the same in that day are inevitable and depressing. Reading through Philippians to counteract the heaviness of Isaiah, which idea should I express in evangelism? God hates sin, God is angry with sinners - or God loves the sinner enough to die for their sins? Both are true, absolutely true because of Christ. God is not beholden to time. For Him, He can love a sinner now, who in time will become a repentant believer in the future. God can hate a sinner now, even while he has not yet passed judgment on their sins. God is not subject to time, but Jesus always is. Jesus died for those who believe in Him. Jesus received our punishment for our sins before we were even born. You can be a 'they' all you want to be and sin to your heart's content (though you never will be content in your sin - you will always need more to reach satisfaction and your true potential), but God's love is reserved for His own.

Sinclair Ferguson’s paraphrase: “There are actually only two pastoral problems you will ever encounter. “The first is this: persuading those who are under the dominion of sin that they are under the dominion of sin. That’s the task of evangelism. “And [second], persuading those who are no longer under the dominion of sin that they are no longer under the dominion of sin because they are Christ’s.” — Sinclair Ferguson

An initial dunk into the bucket of Philippians shows that while the Apostle Paul is residing in Roman incarceration, he remains steadfast in faith for one overwhelming reason - well, two, in fact. We know his steadfastness originates from the Lord God Almighty. It is always God who keeps His own. It is always God's power and grace that hold us together in Him, regardless of circumstances or inner unwellness. In the first chapter of Philippians, the word of God through the Apostle Paul doesn't hit the Philippians with what needs to be fixed or done first. The initial salvo is to set, reset, and firmly fix our focus on who we are in Christ Jesus. That alone is what keeps any believer in awareness of the love of God. Many of us struggle to feel God's love. Whether from trauma, upbringing, or personality, the love of God feels very far from our consciousness. Set, reset, and firmly fix your focus on the fact that you are His and He is yours, and you will find yourself more aware than you were before of His love. You are His if you believe in the Jesus of the scriptures, the Son of God, the Son of Man, and God Incarnate. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

The lure of an idol is the hope that something outside of a person can fix what's wrong inside. Money, position, safety, comfort - nothing inherently wrong with any of these things, it's just that what's wrong with you and me is well, you and me. We are what's wrong with us - our character is selfish at heart, our minds by nature drift to the obscene, we're entertained by evil because we are at heart evil. Jesus works from without and within to change the heart of the believer. By faith, Jesus at once regenerates the soul born dead in sin, but by faith in Him, now reborn alive. But from that one moment of salvation grows little by little the work of redemption. Jesus at work within His new creation is the most extraordinary miracle - that you can be transformed from what you once were, a slave to sin, into the new creation He has called you to be. He will help you from within, grace upon grace. Who ain't a slave? Tell me that. --Herman Melville, Moby Dick

You are right. Jesus is God. Jesus is our God and Savior. He said it, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live." John 11:25 Theology is helpful, interesting, supportive of the truth, but what Jesus said is necessary, perfect, life-giving truth.

原罪とか、福音の三要素とか、難しい神学はよう分からんけど、イエスキリストに忠実にしたがっていれば、救われる。 大切なのは、イエスキリストを神だと認め信頼する事だと思ってる。 原罪とか、福音の三要素とか、パッさんが言い出したことやろ。 パッさんの神学は難しすぎてよー分からん。

It doesn't matter who you are, you will fulfill God's plan for your life. (Isaiah ch 45)

We are refugees in our Father's house. All who trust in Jesus formerly belonged to the world but now belong to that kingdom which we can't see - the kingdom of God. What kind of refugee enters their new life wanting to change how it works? An ungrateful one. We see the effects all around us from those who want to steal from their new home because that's how it was done in their previous country. Or by violence to dominate their new neighbors. The lack of gratitude (not to incumbents, but to God!) for a new start in life is appalling. A lack of moral character can't be hidden in any community. It's amazing and thrilling to see a refugee thrive in a new place with different laws and ways of thinking. Surely God must feel the same about how we adapt in His kingdom.

The most welcome refugee in any country is anyone who is grateful for the opportunity. No difference among the children of God. The honorable child remains grateful for the life given through faith in Christ Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. "Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You. But for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works." Ps 73:23-28

If it helps to understand... Jesus often spoke in spiritual terms. No one's hand causes them to sin - body parts only ever take direction from the heart and mind. Jesus is saying that the things we need to cut off (by Him being at work within us) are our evil desires, which we all have.

イエスはこんな厳しいことを言っています。 「もし右の手があなたをつまずかせるなら、それを切り取って捨てなさい。からだの一部を失っても、からだ全体がゲヘナに落ちるよりはよい。」（マタイ5:30） イエスに賭けるのはリスクが大きいんじゃないんですか？ ところで、権力者でもない貴方がイエスの教えに従うと壊れてしまうことって何ですか？ こういうことですか？

人間が罪人である以上、キリストに従おうとすれば現実の人間性と衝突します。キリストに従いたいのだけれど、従いきれない自分を思い知ります。そこで無理をして従おうとすれば人間が壊れてしまいます。神はそんなことを望んではおられない。わたしに従いなさい、あなたのできる限りで、でしょう。

Why bother remembering what was done thousands of years ago? Because of Who did those things. A miracle is fantastic. Even more awesome is that God made something out of nothing. Great things can happen. Only God can decide to act outside the norm of our reality and put that new thing in our physical reality. Yes, those things happened a very long time ago, but our God did things for a reason, not just for ooh's and ahh's, but for a meaning and for His glory. That meaning will never change and the message is eternal - Christ is necessary, Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is as much God as God is God.

You may not yet agree, but if you are a believer in Christ, it is only because He gave you the faith to believe in Him. That's a good thing. It means He will sustain that faith in you. Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

@murai_salmon How perfectly true are His words.

『あなたがたがわたしを選んだのではない。わたしがあなたがたを選んだ。ヨハネ15:16』 洗礼式の後、教会員のおばちゃんに「キリスト教を選んでよかった」と言ったら、「あなたが神様を選んだんじゃなくて、神様があなたを選んだのよ」と言ってもらえたことがある。 それ以降この聖句が好きになった。

I was reading a chapter this evening from a book by Stephen Yuille "The Heart Taken Up". He referenced a Swedish warship called the Vasa built in the 1600's. Sweden was at war with Poland, so they wanted to quickly launch a powerful ship. The builders spent their resources and efforts to outfit the ship with heavy artillery - they meant to win the war. But, um, they forgot to account for the extra weight in the ship's ballast. The first light wind caused the ship to rollover. The water rushed in the gun portals and the Vasa sank. It reminds me of how we as believers can get caught up in preparing for the "war" with unbelievers. We work to have suitable answers for every poke, jab, and parry an unbeliever might hit us with. But have we lost sight of the battle within. I'm certain I need more weight of God's truth within. I have focused too much on having a fit answer and not enough on living that answer.

It's an apt metaphor to compare the life of a believer in Christ with the sailings of a ship at sea. It certainly feels apropos, relying on a Savior who is always on the move. He isn't seen, but the waves of change are in His wake. Sometimes, we can only hope and pray we are making progress toward a distant, unknown shore. Jesus is enough, even though it doesn't always feel like it.

We have access to salvation not only because Jesus died for our sins, but because God the Father accepted His sacrifice for our sins. Couldn't God have just made a perfect human - made one person do all the right things? Yes, but that person would still have been born in sin. Only God was perfect in every way, perfect enough (which means perfectly perfect) to satisfy His requirements. There's something wrong inside each of us. No one is perfect. We know this. But God is perfect. It had to be Him.

What has been done can't be undone. In Christ, God forgives the sin of it; the stain on the soul is cleansed. But what He has not done is erase the action, the thought, the intention that was present. We may live with the regret, but we needn't live with the guilt or the future judgment. We want Him to erase our regret, but those icky emotions can teach us so much. There will be a day when He wipes away every sorrow.

The greatest wealth America has is the freedom to follow Christ without impediment of any kind. We have access to a rich history of well-educated Christian examples written down and widely available. We have no idea what it's like for those whom God saves by faith alone amid overwhelming cultural pressures. God bless them all.

No one would ever imagine a god who died for their sins. It just wouldn't happen. We have too much pride to imagine a creator - too much self-absorption to imagine this life isn't all about us. Imagined gods are so far removed from reality. Jesus is real.

@RadioGenoa Yeah, but during that entire altercation, she almost looked at her son once to make sure he was ok. Doesn't that count for something?

Her son wants a scooter so she decides to steal it and gets very angry because the shop owners won't let her steal it in peace.