Category Archives: Uncategorized

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S MOST FAMOUS QUOTE, "DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET."

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As I compose this blog, the image below has been shared [perpetuated] 612,134 times.  Lies can take on a life of their own.  I have no idea why someone would deliberately create an Meme like this except to satisfy their own egotistical pride.

A Facebook friend innocently reposted this Meme which prompted me to do a little research.  I went to official Government websites to garner factual information…

Pay rates for Armed Forces can be found here. Assuming a 5-day week/52-week year, Armed Forces salaries start at $32,042 for a Second Lieutenant A and range up to $153,072 for a Lieutenant General. The highest paying job in the Armed Forces is a Brigadier General Medical or Dental Specialist who top out at $163,124. Note: Members of the Armed Forces receive a daily rate rather than a conventional salary.

MP Pensions: Amount of annual pension collected in 2012-13, and the number of parliamentarians (and their survivors and dependants) collecting it:

$90,000 and over — 89 former MPs and senators, one survivor.

$65,000 – $89,999 — 129 former MPs and senators, three survivors.

$40,000 – $64,999 — 180 former MPs and senators, 43 survivors.

$0 – $39,999 — 151 former MPs and senators, 126 survivors and dependants.

Harper’s total annual salary is $315,462, when you include his Prime Minister’s wage of $157,731 and equivalent basic allowance for members of Parliament.  Currently, Prime Ministers who serve four years or longer receive two-thirds of their $157,731 in additional salary — or about $105,000 — in annual pension once they are no longer an MP or reach age 65, whichever comes later. That total is in addition to the pension paid to all members of Parliament who serve six years or longer.

The average combined monthly benefit from Old Age Security and the Canada Pension Plan is $11,300 per person, so a typical working couple can expect to get about $22,000 a year from the government. If you both worked and contributed to CPP your whole lives, you could get as much as $32,000 a year. This is on top of any private or public pension income.

So, where is the spiritual application in all of this you ask?  Well, yesterday at church the speaker made reference to John 14:6.  We can read it every Sunday as it spans the baptismal tank at the front of the church. Quoting Jesus it says, “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE”.

As I once again meditated on these words I asked myself the question, “If these words are not true, then what?”  Well, the opposite of the truth is a lie.  In this instance it would have to read “I AM THE WRONG WAY, THE LIE AND THE DEATH”  The truth in this instance applies to the world’s ways and to satan – even if he didn’t actually say them.  So, here is a truthful meme you are free to share…


As an aside, one of the best places to validate outrageous internet claims and rumours is www.snopes.com

WEIGHING IN ON FERGUSON

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Jesus well known commendation, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” is an ideal we should all strive for.  Matthew 5:44
But, and it’s a big but, God also gave us minds to use [He even promises to give us wisdom] and limbs to get us to the polling station.

That the African American community is [still] in an uproar over the Michael Brown affair, would infer that there is still a lingering sense of injustice.  But I ask the question: why has the African American community done nothing to change their lot?  Obviously there were problems long before the death of Michael Brown.  It COSTS NOTHING to vote.

The following demographics are taken from Wikipedia:

As of the 2010 census, there were 21,203 people, 8,192 households, and 5,500 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,425.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,322.6/km2). There were 9,105 housing units at an average density of 1,470.9 per square mile (567.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 67.4% African American, 29.3% White, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population.

The Mayor of Ferguson is directly elected for a three-year term.  Voter turnout in the most recent mayoral election was approximately 12%. The Mayor ran unopposed. The Ferguson city council is composed of six members.

Why, I ask, have not the offended lot exercised their constitutional rights, to run for elected office** and to vote for those you wish to see serve/rule over them?  With a two-thirds majority the African American community are [statistically] without excuse.  They complain but choose, yes choose, not to do anything about it.  Looting and burning is an exercise in criminality – not of civic responsibility.  Using rope whips and overturning tables is OK though when, and only when, obvious wrongdoing is in process.

The old adage, as you sow [indifference] so shall you reap [oppression] seem most appropriate under the circumstances.

In the same way, I find it truly hypocritical of President Obama today to accuse the leadership/police of Ferguson City of being “oppressive and abusive” towards blacks when he does nothing to hold these oppressed and abused citizens to account for not exercising their civic duty.  And, yes, it is a duty.

It will be interesting to see if anything changes in the next municipal election.  Unfortunately, I am not too optimistic.

**While the Mayor may not have direct control over the Police Chief and his hires, he/she will certainly have sway over the City Manager who does. 

THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? CREATION OR EVOLUTION?

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If we read the biblical account it starts with the chicken,  And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23

Every bird reproduced after its own kind, which is still true today.  Only same kinds can interbreed.

When God creates, the matter doesn’t need any further explanation or dialogue, it simply ends there.  God created the chicken [and birds, fish and reptiles] with the innate ability to reproduce through egg-bearing or laying.  God designed and created a finished, closed system of reproduction with all necessary components in place.

It almost seems a copout to simply leave it there, but there it is. In math, we know indisputably that two plus two equals four.  It’s a simple statement of fact.  So it is with Creation… God created.  It’s a simple statement of fact that needs no further embellishment.  How He created no one knows.  He just did.

From an evolutionary perspective, the question of the chicken or egg coming first is very much more complicated.  As I scoured the internet I found many articles and commentaries with varied opinions, but, I could not find one, single article on how the first egg came to be.

The dilemma for evolutionists is that egg-laying is a very complicated and closed process.

1. First, you need a male and female chicken with functioning reproductive systems; the female chicken to produce the unfertilized ‘egg’ and the male chicken with the sperm necessary to fertilize the ‘egg’.  This means that before the first egg ever appeared on the scene someone, or something must have considered the end result – the egg.  Once the rooster deposits sperm in the hen, she keeps it in a little internal pouch. As a new egg passes by, still without a shell, it is fertilized by that sperm. This now fertilized ‘egg’ is the entity that will eventually be encapsulated in the outer shell.

2. Next you need an egg-producing system.  A system that will envelop the fertilized egg, a single cell, in the yolk and sequentially wrap the yolk in a membrane.  This is followed by the creation of the albumen, the ‘egg white’ that surrounds the yolk.   In turn, the albumen is enveloped in a second membrane which is then enveloped by the shell, a mineralization and calcification process.  The chalazae are the two opaque strands of egg white that keep the yolk suspended in the middle of the egg.  Astoundingly, this whole process takes approximately 24-hours.  The chicken lays the egg.  

3. The complexity doesn’t stop there.  The whole system needs to carry the highly complex DNA, not only encoded with all the information for the chicken to grow but also carries the process information, the blueprint, for the cycle to carry on infinitely from generation to generation.

4. During the course of the next 20-days an even more impressive process takes place as the young chicken is formed.  Of course, the process includes a temperature control system (the brooding chicken), ventilation (porosity of the shell and membrane), etc.

5. Take any single element out of the process and you don’t have an egg or the life cycle it produces.  The entire system must be in place from the very beginning for the very first egg to be produced.  This limitation is known as irreducible complexity.

Evolutionists have long taken issue with the idea of irreducible complexity.  In his 2008 book Only A Theory, biologist Kenneth R. Miller challenges the claim that a mousetrap is irreducibly complex. Miller observes that various subsets of the five components can be devised to form cooperative units, ones that have different functions from the mousetrap and so, in biological terms, could form functional spandrels before being adapted to the new function of catching mice. In an example taken from his high school experience, Miller recalls that one of his classmates struck upon the brilliant idea of using an old, broken mousetrap as a spitball catapult, and it worked brilliantly….It had worked perfectly as something other than a mousetrap….my rowdy friend had pulled a couple of parts –probably the hold-down bar and catch– off the trap to make it easier to conceal and more effective as a catapult…[leaving] the base, the spring, and the hammer. Not much of a mousetrap, but a helluva spitball launcher….I realized why [Behe’s] mousetrap analogy had bothered me. It was wrong. The mousetrap is not irreducibly complex after all.

Other systems identified by Miller that include mousetrap components include the following:

  • use the spitball launcher as a tie clip (same three-part system with different function)
  • remove the spring from the spitball launcher/tie clip to create a two-part key chain (base + hammer)
  • glue the spitball launcher/tie clip to a sheet of wood to create a clipboard (launcher + glue + wood)
  • remove the hold-down bar for use as a toothpick (single element system)

The point of the reduction is that – in biology – most or all of the components were already at hand, by the time it became necessary to build a mousetrap. As such, it required far fewer steps to develop a mousetrap than to design all the components from scratch.

Thus the development of the mousetrap, said to consist of five different parts which had no function on their own, has been reduced to one step: the assembly from parts that are already present, performing other functions.

The Intelligent Design argument focuses on the functionality to catch mice. It skips over the case that many, if not all, parts are already available in their own right, at the time that the need for a mousetrap arises.  From Wikipedia.

Picture1

The Achilles’ Heels of Keneth Miller’s argument, that the irreducibly complex mousetrap had been reduced to a “single step”, are twelve-fold:

  1. The mousetrap needs a purpose to exist (to catch mice).
  2. The mousetrap needs a design or blueprint [a very specific arrangement of all the parts] to function (see patent illustration above).
  3. The mousetrap, to be a mousetrap, still requires all five components (eight if you include the three fasteners—and you can’t make it without them).
  4. Specific design features (the patent design drawing notes 26 features)—all essential for operation.
  5. All eight components must be simultaneously and locally available.
  6. All eight components must themselves be of a specific design, dimension, suitable material, etc., e.g., the spring is made from a specialty formulated heat-treated steel, of a specific gauge, wound around a form with ends for creating a fulcrum and trimmed to an exact length to mate with the other components.
  7. The mousetrap needs a specific process (sequence) for the assembly of the parts.
  8. Someone, or something, is needed to assemble the parts (the Divine Watchmaker analogy[1]).
  9. Someone, or something, needs the dexterity and ability to follow the assembly instructions as all the parts must be assembled in a specific order, starting with the base.
  10. You need a bait to attract the mouse—the ninth component.
  11. Someone is needed to set the trap and, finally,
  12. A mouse is needed to activate the trap so the trap has a purpose and can carry out its function—the tenth component.

This is also where evolutionists (and atheists by default) run into the dilemma of concurrency.  If you take an absolutely minimalist view of a mousetrap’s construction, the 26 design features, 8 component parts, and the first 10 of the listed criteria, all must be concurrently available (perfect timing).  Not a single element can be missing and there still be a functioning mousetrap. When one considers the laws of very large numbers, the odds of a mousetrap coming into unguided existence (based on the absurd assumption that all the pre-designed parts are in fact immediately available) are greater than 1 in 244, one in almost eighteen trillion (1:17,592,186,044,416).  As we know, that is not how things typically work!

For Miller to argue that the individual components can be reutilized for other purposes, or other gadgets can be assembled from the parts, is simply a red herring fallacy[2] of the worst kind.

Besides, chickens, eggs, and life are all exceedingly more complicated than a simple mousetrap.

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmaker_analogy

[2] A ‘red herring’ falls into a broad class of relevance fallacies. Unlike the straw man, which involves a distortion of the other party’s position, the red herring is a seemingly plausible, though ultimately irrelevant, diversionary tactic.

David Harrison © 2014

TEN THINGS ATHEISTS GET WRONG

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1. Things don’t need to be scientifically proven or testable for us to know that they exist, e.g. beauty, joy, grief, etc.  Why should the spiritual realm be any different?
2. Anything that is experiential or relational is unique to the individual, as are all relationships.  Please don’t tell me it’s impossible to know God or that I am deluded.
3. God and gods2 are not the same thing.  Truth is singular in this instance.

4. Unicorns do exist.  The narwhal is an obvious example.  Single horned oryx and elands are not uncommon although the single horn is the result of genetic defect.  The one-horned goat portrayed in Daniel 8:5 is figurative and, as often referenced in the Bible, the horn represents strength and power.
5. To say, “I don’t know and you don’t either” is simple arrogance.
6. All the atheists in the world combined know less about God than a single born-again Christian.  An atheist’s ignorance of God proves nothing – only their ignorance.
7. In a court of law the first-hand testimony of three or four people is generally accepted; in which case the first-hand testimony of billions of born-again Christians should be more than adequate to acknowledge that is possible to have a personal, two-way relationship with God.
8. Anyone who claims to be an atheist (or agnostic) simply hasn’t taken up God’s offer.  God knows from experience that miracles are not necessarily going to convince anyone, so He decided there is a better way, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:13.  A Christian knows this promise to be true.
9. Believing there is a God and relationally knowing God are two different things.
10. Faith is not blind.  Blind faith and atheists are blind1.  God says in Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:…” or to put it in the vernacular credited to John Heywood, “There is none so blind as those who will not see.”  For a Christian faith is experienced it two different ways; first the knowledge of the unseen (the faith that God exists even though I can’t [literally] see or tangibly touch Him) and second, the faith that God is absolutely faithful and trustworthy regardless of any circumstance he or she might find themselves in.  The latter is the faith that ‘grows’ as we experience the faithfulness of God day-by-day.
1To say that atheists are ‘blind’ is not intended as an offensive criticism, rather, a statement of fact.  When it comes to denial of the existence of God, the apostle Paul teaches us, “Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away…”  This veil, as solid, opaque and impenetrable as any castle door, is constructed entirely of pride and is reinforced with a portcullis made of thick iron bars of willful ignorance.  Yet the wonder of it all is that this veil, this seemingly impenetrable door, can be demolished by a simple change of heart.  How do I know this to be fact?  I used to be an atheist on the other side of the door.
2Christians and Moslems both believe there is a God, but do they believe in the same God?  No.  Two people can say, “I believe there is a president of the United States.”  Both would be stating a simple truth.  If one says, “I believe Hilary Clinton is President” and the other says, “I believe Barak Obama is President” only one of these two statements can be true.

TFSA’s vs. THE RICH AND POOR

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It seems that everyone in the media is flapping their arms about a Broadbent Institute report that says the proposed doubling of TFSA [Tax Free Savings Accounts] is a terrible thing.  Exactly what one would expect to hear from a socialist think-tank.
From a biblical perspective Jesus talked more about money than any other subject.  Here are a few of the things He had to say:
On being extravagant: “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”  Mark 14:6-8
On our attitude to the poor: “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”  Mark 14:6-8
On making wise investments (at the very least): “Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” Matthew 25:27.  The greater point in this parable was that you don’t get rich without taking some risks.
As I read many of the readers’ comments it is apparent that many have no idea of how the world actually turns, how taxes get paid, or how and why monies (wealth) needs to be invested.

Here are my Top-10 Thoughts on the comments I have been reading:

1. We need the very wealthy.  Typically, these are the masters of invention and innovation and builders of business.  These are the individuals whose businesses provide employment to a large portion (I did not say majority) of the masses.  Their companies produce profits, which provide dividends for your RRSP’s and, yes, even your Canada Pension Plan.  They are the big philanthropists – imagine where many of our benevolent institutions would be without them.

2. The wealthy for the most part are entitled to be wealthy.  If they make a better widget and sell a whole lot more of them so why should they be penalized?  They don’t owe me (or the Government) anything extra for being smart business people or shrewd investors.

3. The wealthy, the smart ones anyway, invest their wealth in other companies.  An individual who simply keeps his millions or billions in a chequing account somewhere are not going to stay wealthy for very long.  I say, follow their example.  Invest.  See Matthew 25.

4. Some of the commentators noted that the majority cannot afford to contribute monies into a TFSA.  The median family income in Ontario (according to Stats Canada) is $74,890. We make it our choice to max out our TFSA’s. Which ‘majority’ are they talking about?

5. We choose to live a modest lifestyle now so that are able to save for a comfortable retirement. It is choice, rather than ability, that dictates who will save and how much.  Read God’s advice in the Book of Proverbs.

6. The world (or the Government) doesn’t owe me anything other than the ability to work hard and be productive.  I expect exactly the same of the Government as they invest my taxes.

7. I am disheartened by the number of independent contractors and businesses who will offer us a ‘deal for cash’.  It ends up being a double whammy for the Government; they lose the HST I should have paid and the income tax the contractor should have paid.  I can only imagine how much our taxes might be reduced if everyone paid their fair share and the Government(s) got rid of waste and increased their productivity simultaneously.  All the talk about lost Government revenues by doubling TFSA allowances is but a pin-prick by comparison.

8. TFSA’s aren’t limited to meagre bank-rate interest.  In the past year we have seen annualized growth of 7% and this in a relatively low-risk investment.

9. In the same manner that it pays to save – it pays to tithe (give to the work of building up God’s Kingdom).  I save a full third of my taxes on the donated amount, it makes me feel good to see my monies bring a smile to a child’s face and then, the icing on the cake, God says He will bless me for doing so!

10. Finally, to quote Jesus on making wise investments, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

UNDERSTANDING PARADIGM SHIFTS –GOD IS GREATER THAN MY FAILURES – PART 1 OF 9

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Last spring I received an email from Steve Brethour, pastor of the Bridge Community Church in Bancroft.  Let me share part of it with you….

David, I have a favour to ask of you. I am wondering if you would be interested in speaking at The Bridge this summer. It would be the long weekend in August. We are doing a series entitled “God is Greater Than….”
Now here is the reason that I am asking you. The first week is “God is Greater Than My…. Failure”. 
Now, I am not calling you a failure [thank you Steve!] but knowing you and your story you have experienced the highs and the lows and yet you have seen God carry and meet you in both. And you have a great way of articulating what you learned about God in both.
Now in there Steve makes a very valid statement, “you have experienced the highs and the lows and yet you have seen God carry and meet you in both…”  This is a fundamental truth of my life.  As to whether I “…have a great way of articulating what you learned about God in both.”?  I will let you be the judge.  So, let us begin this journey of discovery…
What is a paradigm shift?
One of the on-line dictionaries describes it this way:
paradigm shift— noun.  a radical change in underlying beliefs or theory.
I doubt you need or want to be reminded of your failures.  My objective, my prayer for you in sharing these thoughts is that you will experience a paradigm shift in your ‘underlying beliefs’.  That you will better understand how God sees you, rather than how you might perceive yourself.  God does not view you as a failure – in fact He specifically says that you are His masterpiece! Ephesians 2:10 NLT.
I would never be so arrogant as to suppose you need to change your thinking but, as I have asked five critical questions of people I have met (I’ve added a sixth for this series), virtually all of them answered the majority incorrectly and left the conversation having experienced a paradigm shift or, at the very least, they left contemplating their understanding of the wonderful reality of exactly who they are in Christ.
I want to be very clear that I am not challenging the Gospel Message.  How one becomes a believer, a follower of Christ, has not changed two-thousand years.  In Romans 10:9 the apostle Paul distills the way of salvation into a single sentence:  “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  The minute we add a single condition to these words we corrupt the Gospel.  It really is that simple!  See also: Ephesians 2:10 The Message.
So, let’s begin our journey of discovery and see what God has to say about who we are and what He thinks about our failures.  
Am I a failure?  Are you a failure?  What happens when we fail?  Do we disappoint God?  Let’s compare your present understanding to what the Bible says.  What God says.
I only discovered the answers to these questions having been in a Bible study group, going through The Grace Walk, by Steve McVey.  It’s an 8-week study that took our group a full year to digest.  Even now I am challenged by many of the paradigm-shifts I experienced.  I believe them intellectually, simply on the basis of what the Bible says, but the intrinsic joy and the freedom these truths are intended to provide have yet to fully migrate to my heart. 
So, here are our six statements.  Are they TRUE or FALSE?
  • I am a sinner
  • I am a slave to sin
  • I am holy
  • I am righteous
  • I disappoint God
  • I am a failure
Why not write these six statements down and your present belief or understanding beside each, TRUE or FALSE?

David Harrison © 2014

I’M NOT A SINNER! – GOD IS GREATER THAN MY FAILURES – PART 2 OF 9

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How many times have you heard a preacher say, “We are sinners saved by grace”?  The real truth of the matter is, “We WERE sinners saved by grace.”

OK.  Here’s our first paradigm-shift, mind-bender number one.
We have to ask the question, “Will the real me please stand up?”
The Bible talks about the ‘old me’, my body (or flesh) and the ‘new me’.  
Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 
If I have received Jesus as my Saviour then the Bible says the ‘old me’ is dead. D-E-A-D.  Crucified. Dead. Buried. Never to rise again. Finito!  I am already  [presently] living my eternal life in Christ.
In this one verse we have four very important principles to take in:
  • The ‘old me’ has been crucified and no longer lives;
  • The ‘new me’ lives by faith in the Son of God;
  • The ‘new me’ still lives in the ‘old body’
  • Christ lives in the ‘new me’.
This is the essence of what Jesus was saying when He told Nicodemus, “…you must be born again.”
The ‘new you’, or the ‘new me’, is now so intimately intertwined with Christ, that if I point an accusing finger at the ‘new you’, calling you ‘a sinner’, I am simultaneously pointing the finger at Christ.  Heaven forbid!
So, what gives? What about all the sins I committed since I woke up this morning? Well, this is where Paul helps us to distinguish between the ‘real me’ and this ‘old body’ (and I must say that I’m looking forward to the new and improved version!)
In Romans 6:11-12, Paul writes, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not [the new you] let sin reign in your [old] mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”
Here Paul clearly distinguishes between the ‘new you’ and your mortal body, and that it is your mortal body that has a problem with evil desires.  The job of the ‘new you’ is to keep the mortal body in check, with Christ’s help.
Each time your mortal body fails, don’t give up.  Even the Apostle Paul screamed frustration at his sin, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” and in his next breath exclaimed, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
So the correct answer to question number one is, the ‘new me’, the ‘real me’ that is one with Christ, is not a sinner, yet I do live in a mortal body that sometimes sins.
As long as we go around believing that we are sinners we provide Satan with the ultimate weapon of guilt to use against us and disable us.
I want to emphasize that we should never use this truth, that it is our old body that sins, as an excuse to indulge in wilful sin. 
Again, as Paul wrote, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Romans 6:1-2

As a postscript; after I first shared this truth my wife, Wendy, observed that it is Satan, the great accuser that would try and convince us that we are, not were, sinners.  As Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

I’M NO LONGER A SLAVE TO SIN! – GOD IS GREATER THAN MY FAILURES – PART 3 OF 9

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How did you answer the question, “I am a slave to sin.” ?

Let’s see what the Author of Life has to say on the subject:
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:31-36
Yes, our fleshly body may feel like it’s a slave to sin but our fleshly body has no place in God’s family.  It will soon enough become topsoil!  But the ‘new you’, the ‘real you’, is free indeed!  
If you are ‘in Christ’ you have been SET FREE!  You [the real you] is no longer a slave to sin!
The best analogy I can give, one that has helped me comprehend this paradigm-shift-thinking, this understanding of the difference between the real me and this fleshly body, that wants to keep on sinning, is this:
I think of my fleshly body as a corpse the real me has to drag around in this life.  Sort of like a ball and chain.  If I let this corpse of a body get wet (by sinning) it begins to get heavy and starts to smell pretty awful.  On the other hand, if I endeavour to protect this body from sin, the load gets lighter and the foul odour seems to dissipate.  All of a sudden the flowers in God’s garden become a lot more fragrant, the sun shines brighter and I am at peace.

But, no, praise God, the new me, the ‘real me’ is not a slave to sin

I AM HOLY. YES I AM! – GOD IS GREATER THAN MY FAILURES – PART 4 OF 9

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Dictionary definition of Holy:

Holy
  1. Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.
  2. Regarded with veneration or specified for a religious purpose: a holy book; a holy place.
  3. Living or undertaken with highly moral or spiritual purpose; saintly: a holy person; a holy way of life.
  4. Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence: The pursuit of peace is our holiest quest.
As a Christ-follower, it is important to note that our holiness is imputed – it was never earned by us.  Imputed means that your holiness is assigned to you, credited to you, or ‘laid upon’ you.  Our holiness comes from our ‘oneness’ with Jesus Christ.
There is a worship song by Matt Maher, Lord I need you and in the lyrics were the words, “Holiness is Christ in me.”  It is Christ in me who makes me holy.
We also need to note that, we are called to ‘work out our salvation’ or make our salvation count for something in this world, so we are called to ‘active holiness’.  “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
We are not to smugly sit, warming the pews, confident in our imputed holiness.  We are called to take it and let our holiness shine into this lost world.

Being holy is an action item.