mgomez's blog

Eccl 7:10 “Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”

Have you ever considered the past…lingering too long on things better left in the past? Everyone reflects on the past, some reflect on it entirely too much and for all of the wrong reasons. There are some good reasons to look back, and there are reasons to not do so.

Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife.”

Gal 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”

My wife and I were talking the other day about how everyone has the same twenty-four hours in a day. Time is not suspended for anyone, although there is that one time in the Old Testament when time stood still so Joshua and the armies of Israel could defeat their enemies. (Joshua 10:13) Oh, and there was that other time when King Hezekiah had his length of days extended with a sign of the sundial turning back. (2 Kings 20) So, other than that, no one gets a different twenty-four hours than anyone else.

Exodus 21:14 "If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him {even} from My altar, that he may die.”

On June 18, 2010 a prisoner was executed in Utah by firing squad. The event was national news since this type of execution is not a normal process in America any more. The event of course has brought with it national controversy. Human rights groups have condemned the execution, seeing it as barbaric unreasonable treatment. Others on the opposing side have debated that it was best to kill the inmate since his crimes warranted the death sentence.

Whose fool are you?

1 Cor 4:10 "We are fools for Christ's sake…"

I recently posted this verse to my facebook account. I was surprised by the responses I received. One of the responses was negative…not unusual for my posts on facebook actually. So I responded to the comment about my belief being an increasingly unsupported premise:

If an increasingly unsupported premise means holding to, believing in, or otherwise grasping something that has no proof or validity; then I am not a fool in that sense. I would be a fool to believe that Obama is a good president who is doing good things for the country...this is increasingly an unsupported premise.

If I were to believe that God is not there; I would have to believe that nothing produced something, or that random chance produced something as perfect as an eye that functions in a way that is not reproducible by human science with long years of deliberate efforts...truly I would be a fool to believe this.

Acts 18:24-26 “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

What a description that is given about Apollos. He was eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. Who better to have speaking the gospel to the community, especially when he was also fervent in spirit and accurately taught about Jesus? Oh that it could be said about all of us. If someone were to describe you, what would it sound like? “Well, he loves the Lord…” or “Well, she tries…” or maybe even, "Wow, that dude really says it well."

1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Maturity lives out the reality of the life within us because it is not theoretical methodology or simple philosophy. Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “When all is said and done, there is far more said than done.”

Ephesians 4:13 “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

As we consider the idea of maturity I think it is best to have some sense of what this should look like overall. By knowing what the overall goal is, we can know where we are headed.

Christ becomes the image of the mature man. It is his earthly life that provides for us a standard by which everything else should be measured. In this way it is not the demands of our family and friends, or even the measure of a particular church group or denomination. How does the life of Christ translate into my world and my culture and how do I apply it to daily living.

1 Cor 14:20 "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature."

The apostle uses the word "infant" here in regard to how our thinking ought to be about evil. Not the word toddler or even child. An infant has so little consideration about their world; it generally consists primarily of eating, comfort, and sleeping… and also pooping I guess. The point is that it is limited thinking, non-extravagant thinking on a subject. About the issue of sin then, we are encouraged to maintain limited thinking about it and avoid sinful thinking. While it is a backwards manner of saying it, nevertheless the believer demonstrates spiritual maturity by maintaining this limited thinking about sin.

James 3:2 “For we all stumble in many {ways.} If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”

There are some who believe that maturity comes with age. While this could be the case, it is not a given by any means. I know far too many who are older in age but lack real maturity. Then there are those who believe that maturity is seen in the gray hair of a man or woman, or even your station in life after achieving great status through years of work. (Proverbs 20:29 supports the gray hair idea.) This is also well and good, except that I have also seen foolishness in these folks. Age can mean nothing, gray hair simply gives away that your body is conceding to age, and status just gets you respect from those who admire your station in life and wish they had it.

Jesus said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." – Mark 5:19

Large crowds followed Jesus wherever He went, literally thousands of people each day from all over Israel. His miracles, his teaching, and his compassion for the people drew them in. When he delivered the man of the tombs from the legion of demons that haunted him, the man wanted to follow as well. But instead of allowing him to also follow him, Jesus sends the man home to tell his story to those who knew him.

I am not particularly young, but there is an "older than myself" generation that has grown up with the idea of keeping their faith and religious issues private. I have had them tell me that such matters are private and that I should not be speaking of such things in public conversations.