Thursday, September 27, 2012

Quotes from Lutzer's Book

From Erwin Lutzer's 2010 book When A Nation Forgets God (my emphasis in bold):

...have we forgotten that God's power is more clearly seen in the message of the cross than in any political or social plan we might devise?...Do we cling to the cross with the deep conviction that it is not simply a part of our message to the world, but rightly understood it is the whole of it? (p134)
He refers to an analogy by a Christian writer of Christianity having become an empty bottle and then says this:

Regrettably, today the Christian bottle has been filled with many different agendas: pop psychology, environmentalism, and a nationalistic spirit that cannot distinguish between Christianity and the American way of life.  The cross has become an an ornament hung around the neck, not an instrument that changes the heart.
Some political activists have filled the Christian bottle with a strategy for political reform.  Salvation, it appears, is electing conservatives to national and local office.   Important though the right leaders might be, we must always remember that God is neither Republican nor Democrat.  When the cross is wrapped in the flag of a political party, it is always distracted or diminished.  Even for some who have experienced its power, the cross has become an addendum to what is thought to be more pressing agendas. (p 36) 
 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Helpful Books for Understanding Our Times


Two books I am reading...one for the first time, another is a re-read:  When A Nation Forgets God by Erwin Lutzer (2010) and World Chaos: Its Root and Remedy by G.H. Lang (1949).  Both are insightful and provide food for thought of parallels between what occurred in Germany prior to and during WWII and what is happening in our world today.

Lang's book, among many other valuable things, provides an in-depth look at the belief system of Hitler and his advisers that relied heavily on Fate (i.e. Karma, Kismet, etc.) and, thus, allowed them to, in delusion, rid themselves of any accountability to the God of the Bible.  Any belief system that accomplishes that, including evolution, is exactly what the natural man craves and what the enemy of man's soul will provide.  When one succumbs to such, they find themselves open to a wide range of ultimately destructive ideas.  For Hitler, the state became his god.  For some of Hitler's closest advisers, when Hitler died, they saw no value in living and thus took their own life.

Lang's book is available through Schoettle Publishing.  Lutzer's book is available from a variety of sources.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

In Everything Give Thanks?


Ephesians 5:20 KJV - Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

In everything give thanks, Lord?
Even the pain, the hardships, the heartaches?
It is easy to give thanks for the good things: 
The health, the comforts Thou hast blessed me with.
But Thou alone, can make me thankful 
For trials that try my faith.

As Paul wrote, "I have learned in whatsoever 
My state, to therewith be content." (Philippians 4:12)
As he so learned by his trials, so I must learn.
Only by thy grace, can I learn to give thanks
For all things.

Thank Thee, Lord, for grace to do so.

- Becky Coffey