Fifty years ago, a person’s “world view,” that set of values and morals and sense of responsibility or lack of it that a person’s life decisions are built out of, was “set” by the age of 18 or so. Twenty years ago, the age had dropped to 15 or so. Now, I think it has dropped to 13 or so. The more information is made available to children, the earlier […]
Author Archive: Douglas Thomas
Am I a Soldier of the Cross?
Am I a soldier of the cross,A follow’r of the Lamb?And shall I fear to own His cause,Or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried to the skiesOn flow’ry beds of ease,While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me to face?Must I not stem the flood?Is this vile world a friend to grace,To help me on to God? Sure […]
Kingdoms Under The King
Cause us to succeed at following this instruction to Your colonists, Lord. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am […]
Jesus the Center
It seems that humans are typically self-centered, with a will to control those they encounter. It seems that what Jesus described as the two laws in which every other law from Heaven were enveloped would say we should be different. And most of the Scriptural explanations of those two laws seem to indicate we should be Jesus-centered, with a will to control ourselves. Love your God with all that you […]
Evil is a Parasite
A leech needs a host. “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ And when it arrives, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. Then off it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they […]
Mob or Ekklesia
32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly [ekklesia G1577] was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Then some of the crowd [ochlos G3793] gave Alexander advice when the Jews pushed him to the front. So motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. 34 But when they recognized that he […]
The Lord’s Life
Contemplate, please, the difference between believing that my life belongs to me, and that I should find a way to fit a relationship with Jesus into it, and believing that my life belongs to Jesus, and that I should find a way to a relationship with Jesus that makes me able to live the life in a responsible way. For through the law I have died to the law, that […]
Humble, so Grace-full
Humility is not cowardice. Fear will not make me humble. Faith will. Love will. Confidence will. Patience will. Allowing the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus to give me the power to be humble will give me access to grace, which is His power. But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says:God resists the proud,but gives grace to the humble.(James 4:6 HCSB ©®) But by God’s grace I am what […]
My Unbelief
When you write a check to pay a bill, you are not focused on the debt, but on the payment. The value of the check is sufficient to overcome the strength of the demand for payment. When we pray with more confidence in the strength of the need than in the likelihood of an answer being sufficient, we are bending under the power of the debt rather than being carried […]
Occupy Until I Come Back
As they were listening to this, He went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away. Therefore He said: “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then return. He called 10 of his slaves, gave them 10 minas, and told them, ‘Engage in business until I […]